Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, they belong to Tolkien. But the storyline is mine.
Summary: One sleepless night Elrond takes a walk around Rivendell. What he finds is not what he expected. A younger version of.... To say more would ruin the story.
Reply to Reviewers:
Arabella Thorne- I don't think that Elrond really knows why he is leaving Rivendell except that someone is trying to take his Ring of Power. He is pretty depressed right now too. Thanks! I love all of your stories. When I saw who it was I was really excited!
Lutris- I don't know what is going to happen yet. Just keep your fingers crossed. Glad you liked that part, it is my favorite.
Midnight Dove- Yeah, I hate spelling too. Good, I will try and put more of those in this chapter.
Liriniel- I think everyone agrees with you on that point. Elrond is going crazy for no apparent reason. Ahhh! Don't worry I will keep going.
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Chapter Eight
Elrond mounted his faithful horse, Hathion, and started out of the Valley of Imladris. The wind had picked, up it looked like a storm was brewing. To Elrond this was bitter sweet news, he wanted it to rain so that his tracks would be washed away, but then again that would mean he would have to find some sort of shelter before the rain came. Right now he was too close to Imladris to seek a good spot to take up shelter for the night, he would have to ride a bit farther.
Gently Elrond nudged Hathion into a gallop and was soon out of sight of Imladris. Once he was that far Elrond was not quiet as worried about haste. This oncoming storm would detain anyone trying to find him a for a little while. Elrond was still not satisfied with his progress, but allowed Hathion to walk for a bit before he picked up the pace.
Dark thunderclouds were gathering in the sun, blocking out the light. By now it was nearing evening and the Elvish lord was becoming a bit hungry, not mention tired from having ridden in the saddle for most the day. Up ahead he could see the opening of a cave, it was just close enough to Imladris that Elrond was sure that it would not contain anything dangerous. He had is bow and sword handy if any danger should appear. As he neared the mouth of the cave Hathion because upset and snorted in fear, something was in there, Elrond was sure of it. Hathion tossed is head as his master dismounted and carefully crept toward the opening the rock face.
Elrond silently unsheathed his sword, not wanting to attract undue attention from whoever or whatever was in the cave. Cautiously he approached the entrance to the outcropping as he drew closer he felt his body tense, ready to spring at any given moment. The wind had picked up, muffling any sounds that might have been coming from inside, this meant that Elrond had to creep forward to the mouth of the cave so that he could see what was going on in side of it.
"Blast! This dang cave ain't wort' nothin', why'd we ever come 'er in the first place?" Elrond was now close enough to hear voices coming from with in. He could also see a bright fire burning with in as it played silhouettes against the cave walls. As Elrond peered into the cave what he saw was a pair of Orc's with their Warg mounts tied up at the back of the cave.
The Wargs seemed to sense that someone there and started tearing at their chains, trying to get loose, but luckily for Elrond the Orc's did not pay attention. "Aye, it were you that brung us here, so quiet your sniveling before I fill your belly with maggot holes." Actually only one of them was a Orc, the other was a goblin.
Elrond knew that it was not likely for there to only be two of them. He looked around for any signs that might show how many had been there. There were many tracks on the dirt floor of the cave, but they were confused and scrambled up together, making it hard for Elrond to separate them. All together he guessed that there had been around thirty or so Orc's and goblins in this cave during the last twenty-four hours.
Just as he was about to leave and try to find some other place for the night the rain started to come down in torrents. Elrond attempted to find his way back to Hathion when he heard a horrible scream. It did not take Elrond to place the sound as a horse being killed, he raced towards the sound, heedless of the danger he was rushing into.
When he reached the place he saw around fifteen or twenty Orc's and Goblins gathered around Hathion, ripping the meat off; each of them were trying to get a better piece than the other one. It was a horrible thing to see his horse killed in such a fashion, still partially alive. Elrond watched as two of the Orcs started fighting over a piece of meat until another Orc came up behind them and killed them a took the meat for himself. The others soon started to devour their fallen companions with a stomach churning relish.
Dejectedly Elrond slipped away from the Orcs who luckily did not notice his presence. He knew that he could not do anything for Hathion. If Elrond had attempted to save him, his life would have been taken as well; or even worse, he could have been made captive. Memories of the day the twins had brought home Celebrian came back suddenly. The look in her eyes, she did not want to live anymore and there had been nothing he could do for her.
Sounds of Orc shod feet brought Elrond out of his reverie. They must have finished off there meal and were now after him. If the two in the cave had Wargs, does the rest of their company have mounts as well? Elrond did not linger on these thoughts, but took off cross-country, trying to put as much distance between him and his pursuers. He was nearing a wooded area, and hoped to loose them in there.
Orcs and Goblins do not like to go into the small wood Elrond was headed too. Not even any of the Elvish folk would venture into the wood, it was haunted by something that did not like to be disturbed. But right now Elrond had no other option. He could risk going around the wood and be captured by Orcs, or he could go into the wood and see what fate held in store for him in the dense forest.
Elrond could feel the ground shake beneath his feet as the Warg riders grew closer with each passing second. The forest loomed ahead of him, his heart was in his throat. Elrond risked a quick look over his shoulder, he could now clearly make out the shapes of his pursuers as they steadily gained on him. A branch slapped him across the face as he plunged into the pitch-black wood.
A/N: This is a pretty short chapter, and I am sorry about that. Next chapter I promise that there will be a lot more of little Elrond. This just seemed so interesting I couldn't help but write about it, sorry about the delay.
