Disclaimer: For full disclaimer, please see chapter 1.
A/N:
Well, that's it. The last chapter before I'm leaving tomorow. It's sad, I know... *fake sobs*
Okay, it appears that I will have no internet for at least a week there, but I'm taking the story with me so I can post the rest later. I think I will be able to update the weekend after the next, which would be ... *counts on her finger* ... around the 29th or 30th?
I'm sorry, but there's absolutly no way to update any sooner, my family thinks I'm crazy anyway, worrying about internet connections and posting schedules and stuff... *g*
Finally, the chapter in which someone (I'm not telling who! *evil grin*) will get to Aragorn is drawing nearer, just one more chapter and then the worst will be over. *re-reads chapters 19 and 20* Well, uhm, perhaps not really, but, ah, okay, you know what I mean! *chuckles evilly*
Very well, I won't annoy you further, here is chapter 18! Yay!!
Including a lot of Estel angst as promised and goblins ... lots of them, actually. They just appear out of nowhere, don't they??
*shakes head* Annoying creatures, really...
Enjoy and review, please!
I may be in England, but I still need reviews! *g*
Chapter 18
Elladan pressed his back against the wall as far as possible and tried his best to assume the shape, colour and texture of grey stone. Now he whole-heartedly thanked the Valar that it was so dark in here, in the pitch black they stood a slight chance. The fact that their natural elven light was dimmed due to injury and exhaustion, and their dark clothes actually helped them to blend into their surroundings, especially the twins' soft grey cloaks that seemed to have caught the exact colour of the twilight hours.
He shifted slightly, only to freeze in place when he heard the goblins draw closer, now only seconds away. Somehow he had problems to pretend that he was part of the rocks. To pretend being part of nature had never bothered any of them, but rocks?
'Probably even a dwarf would look more rock-like than any of us,' the older twin decided sarcastically, 'But then again, they look like that all the time, so they have an unfair advantage.'
Opening his eyes to slits so the gleaming orbs wouldn't attract attention, he took a last look at their surroundings. If this was the last place he was ever going to see, something which he strongly suspected by now, then he would at least make sure that he remembered it correctly so he could drive Legolas insane with details during their eternity in the Halls of Mandos. That was something he was actually looking forward to, describing to the prince again and again and again and then yet again what the place he had chosen as their last hiding place had looked like. The hiding place in the dark caves he had got them into in the first place.
Actually, it was quite a good place to hide, especially when one considered the alternatives, which had consisted in staying where they were and hoping that the approaching goblin horde was too busy looking at the ceiling to notice them.
While they had been listening to the quickly approaching goblins, his terribly smart twin brother and Legolas had remembered that there had been a small passageway that branched off leading roughly to the south, a few hundred feet behind them. As quickly as possible they had raced back the way they had come, his friend dragging that horse behind him. Unfortunately, the "passageway" had proven to be a dead end after two dozen steps, something which nobody of them had noticed in the darkness the first time they had passed by.
The loud rumbling telling them that they had no time to spare, the three elves had pushed the resisting animal into the short tunnel to the very end in the hope of putting enough distance between the still gleaming white beast and the torches some of the goblins obviously carried, judging by the faint glow that began to creep closer.
At this point Elrohir had suggested in a wicked voice that they leave the horse to the goblins, perhaps it would buy them enough time to escape, but Legolas' fiery glare had convinced both of them that they wouldn't get rid of the troublesome animal so easily. Sighing softly, they had joined their fair haired friend in the tunnel, ignoring the looks he shot them. Harder to ignore was the horse that had apparently heard what the younger twin had said and was glaring daggers at them, something which Elladan had thought impossible.
'But here I am,' he though with an inward grin, 'Hiding from goblins in a cave with a horse that wants to kill me. No one is going to believe this. Not even Estel.'
His thought were redirected quickly when he heard the foul beasts round the bend a few feet from their hiding spot. Giving his surroundings one last look, he made sure that Legolas' fair hair was covered by his cloak and turned to his younger brother who leaned against the rough stone wall next to him, grasping his dagger with his right. Elladan tightened his own grip on his sword and sensed Legolas do the same with his twin blades.
Well, if they detected them, they would have to come and get them, and, by Elbereth's stars, he would make sure that few of them survived!
Locking eyes with Elrohir, he smiled softly when he saw the emotions on his twin brother's face, and closed his eyes and inclined his head slightly when they conveyed more things with a look than most people would have been able to with many words. He reached out with his left and let his hand lightly rest on his twin's arm. They would get out of here together, or not at all.
At that moment the first goblins passed the small entrance, paying the tunnel the elves were hiding in no heed. As more and more of the beings walked past their hiding place, Elladan began to relax a bit. At least they didn't want to get to the small space they occupied right now; it would have been just their kind of luck if the goblins had wanted to visit their little tunnel to do Valar-know-what. Next to him, Legolas watched the goblins from under the hood he had pulled over his head to make sure that his blonde hair was not spotted by the foul things, counting them as they passed.
Countless seconds passed, and still more and more goblins were passing them. The three young elves hardly dared to breathe, if they were found now, they would not survive the encounter.
Elrohir turned to his friend and mouthed silently, lifting a dark eyebrow,
'Thirty??'
The elven prince shrugged lightly. Well, perhaps there were more than thirty. Right now he had counted about sixty, but did it really matter? It wasn't important by how many orcs or goblins you were cut into pieces, thirty or sixty or ninety, the results were just the same.
Finally, the last of the deformed beings passed out of sight, leaving three very relieved and slightly surprised elves behind.
Elladan blinked slowly, making sure that this wasn't a hallucination.
"They are gone?" he asked tentatively, not daring to believe their luck.
"It looks like it," his brother nodded, letting go of his knife he had grabbed so hard that his knuckles ached.
The older twin leaned back, letting out a long breath.
"That was close. Too close. Far too close."
"I agree, my friend," Legolas agreed and returned his blades to the sheath on his back, grimacing in pain as he did so. "Valar, that was lucky. We would have never been able to fight even a third of them. I wonder where they are going."
Elrohir snorted and shook his head, stepping away from the rock wall.
"Well, I don't. I don't care, as long as it's far away from here. Let's go on. The sooner I get out of here the better. I think I will go crazy if I have to spend more time here than absolutely necessary."
The other two elves nodded silently and stepped out of their refuge, peering cautiously round the corner into the direction the goblin horde had taken. The twins fell into step behind Legolas, careful to keep their distance from the white horse that didn't look as if the time it had had to spentd in a cramped space with three nervous elves, two of which had wanted to feed it to goblins, had improved its mood any.
Elladan watched the animal for a second before asking,
"What is it with you and goblins anyway, Legolas?"
Legolas stopped shortly and shot his friend a questioning look.
"What do you mean?"
The older twin shrugged and gave his friend an innocent smile.
"Well, you seem to run into them an awful lot. That's twice in about a week, you know. I have counted."
The fair haired elven prince narrowed his eyes and resumed his walk, contemplating if that annoying part of his brain that had told him the exact same thing a while ago was in reality Elladan, somehow. He quickly abandoned that idea again, it was just too scary to think about. Besides, a lot of the time it actually sounded like his father, but that wasn't something he wanted to think about either.
Elladan didn't seem to mind that his friend didn't answer him.
"You know, everywhere you go, you and Estel seem to meet them, somehow. Or orcs, or wargs, or wolves…"
"Don't forget those hill trolls they met last spring. Sweet Eru, was ada angry!" Elrohir chimed in, beginning to grin broadly now.
"Right, I had really forgotten all about them. Very well, and hill trolls, and highwaymen, and…"
"Do you want to name every single thing we encountered?" Legolas asked, hiding the smile in his voice.
"Yes," Elladan answered seriously, although his eyes danced merrily, "Unless you tell me how you do it."
"I have a theory. Do you want to hear it?" Elrohir asked his brother, a wicked sparkle illuminating his eyes.
Legolas groaned as he listened again to the younger twin's reasoning he had already heard, that evening they had talked by the fire while Elladan had been keeping watch over the human and Lord Elrond. It seemed like an impossibly long time ago.
"…and since they wanted to get rid of him once and for all, something which I still have to thank them for, they…" Elrohir stopped in mid-sentence, his eyes growing wide when he heard the sounds of shuffling feet, about a minute away. Shuffling feet that were coming their way very quickly.
"What by all the demons of Morgoth is that?" Elladan asked quietly, looking at them with pleading eyes. "Don't say it."
"Goblins," Legolas said shocked, feeling very much as if he were caught in a time loop. This couldn't be happening to him, not for the third time in a week!
"How is that possible?" Elrohir hissed and drew his dagger with his right, studying the empty tunnel in front of him. "We should have heard them long ago!"
"They must have stopped and taken a rest or something of that sort and are trying to catch up with the main group now," Legolas answered, surveying his surroundings. "Let us fall back a little, if we retreat behind the bend, we will be able to surprise them."
The twins nodded as they moved backwards, readying their weapons as they did so.
"What do you think? Thirty?" Elladan asked sarcastically as they took up positions next to each other, Legolas slightly behind them for he was the only archer they had.
"Something like that," the fair haired elf replied, grinning slightly.
"Do we have a plan?" the younger twin asked as he gripped his blade, a grim look on his face.
"Try not to get killed?" his brother replied wryly, widening his stance so he stood right before Legolas, shielding him. "Oh, and try to kill all of them, because I don't think I have to describe to you what will happen if one of them escapes and managed to alert the main group."
Elrohir took his eyes off the tunnel and shot his brother an annoyed look. Sometimes Elladan's comments were very hard to endure.
"No, please do. What will happen?" he asked in an equally wry voice, looking at Elladan innocently.
Elladan chuckled dryly, giving the horse that stood behind them an evil look.
"They will eat the horse."
Legolas shook his head, listening to the approaching goblins that were only a few seconds away now. These two were impossible. Aragorn had always claimed that they had actually scared off a bunch of orcs with their bickering once, but he had never believed that. Until now, that was.
He notched an arrow to his bow, wincing as he pulled the string taut and felt the remaining stitches in his side protest under the strain. Well, that was the least of his worries right now, he decided.
The brothers had fallen silent now as well, fixing dark eyes on the bend when they heard the goblins that would reach them any second now.
"If they rush us, fall back," Elrohir instructed his friend, shifting his grip on his long hunting knife a last time, "We need you to eliminate as many as possible before they overwhelm us. We'll try to keep them away from you as long as possible."
Legolas frowned at that, but nodded. They were right, the tunnel was narrow enough to block with two people, and he would be a lot more useful with the bow. The fair haired elf grimaced sadly; he'd rather used his own bow now…
He was torn from his thoughts abruptly when the first goblin rounded the corner, turning back while he told another one something in their black speech. The prince waited until it had fully rounded the bend before he released the arrow that hit the creature in the heart, killing it instantly. It sank to the floor, a very surprised look on its face. Reaching for another arrow and notching it quicker than the eye could follow, Legolas managed to shoot three more before the others started to realize that there was something funny behind that bend. When two of them rounded the corner simultaneously, things got interesting. The prince shot both of them without much effort, but the time he needed to reload his weapon was enough for the second creature to let out a scream of warning, shouting something in their foul language to the others before a Mirkwood arrow found its mark in its throat.
Suddenly there seemed to roll a great flood of goblin bodies round the bend, closing the distance to the three elves in almost no time. The twins stood their ground, furiously slashing at the creatures and dodging and parrying crude scimitars and other blades with which the goblins hacked at them, but they were slowly being separated as the sheer mass of the enemies pressed them away from each other.
Seeing what was happening, Legolas fired two more arrows, both of them neatly hitting a goblin in the eye, before drawing his knives and joining the fray, placing himself right between the twins and closing the gap that was threatening to appear in their line of defence.
"Well, mellonamin," Elrohir ground out as he was roughly slammed against the wall by a particularly ugly goblin that quickly lost its head to Legolas descending knives, "You underestimated slightly. I think there are a tad more than thirty."
"I am sorry, Elrohir. The next time we travel through here, I will make sure to pick a horde that has the right size. Would that make you happy?" the prince replied sarcastically as he dodged the wild swings of another creature that seemed quite intent on gutting him before dancing to the side and slamming his elbow into its face.
"Very, my prince. Ecstatic with happiness, actually," the older twin replied for his brother, killing another one that had got too close for his liking to burying its blade in his shortly distracted friend.
The three concentrated on the fight once more, slaying goblin after goblin, but it seemed that for every single one they killed two others popped up, armed and shrieking angrily.
'It's just not possible!' Legolas fumed inwardly, almost falling to his knees in pain as an armoured fist slammed into his ribs. 'They can't just form out of thin air!! There must be an end to them, they can't keep on coming!"
Giving the twins a quick glance before moving to the side to avoid a blade aimed at his left side, he decided that they needed to come to an end soon, before they had completely exhausted themselves. Elladan was paling rapidly now, swaying unsteadily on his feet, and his sprained right wrist threatened to give way under every hard thrust that he had to parry. Elrohir wasn't doing well either, being able to use only one arm, something which the goblins had realized amazingly quickly; Elladan and Legolas had to do everything in their power to stop the foul beasts from rushing the younger twin.
One of the things threw the prince against one of the walls, and when his head made contact with stone, the dark world exploded in bright light. Legolas had to concentrate all his will on the goal of staying awake and not losing consciousness as hot pain flared to life inside his head, and had it not been for Elladan's quick reaction, he would probably have lost said head right there and then.
'And you are not doing any better than the two of them,' a smug voice inside his head noted, this time sounding a lot like his human friend, 'Stubborn, reckless elf.'
Shaking his head, Legolas realized that, slowly, the enemy lines were thinning. There were no more than ten attackers left, they could do it.
Drawing himself up, he stood next to Elladan and Elrohir who were tiring rapidly now, the three of them weaving a deadly shield of steel with their blades. Flicking his remaining knife into the air slightly, he caught it by the blade and threw it at the last goblin that had decided that it didn't want to fight these three elves alone, considering what had happened to his companions who had tried. Before the creature had done more than ten steps, it fell to the ground dead, the knife sticking out of its back.
The three of them stood still, hands still gripping swords and knifes tightly that were dripping with dark blood now, breathing heavily and listening for sounds that would indicate that more goblins were to come. When nothing could be heard, they relaxed, the twins re-sheathing their blades and Legolas walking down the tunnel, collecting his knifes and as many arrows as he deemed salvageable.
Elrohir sank to the floor, trembling slightly now. The adrenaline that had sustained his tired body during the battle was spent, and he just couldn't keep his feet any longer.
"Elrohir!" his brother exclaimed worriedly and rushed up to his twin, "What is it, brother? Are you hurt?"
The younger twin was weakly trying to push his brother's hands away, scowling at him.
"Nay, I am fine, Elladan, don't worry. Just a little tired, that's all."
"Tired, yes?" his brother asked, having quickly found the deep cut that ran down the entire length of Elrohir's arm. "Just tired? I don't think so! What were you thinking? Have you invited the thing to cut open your whole arm?"
Elrohir grimaced in pain and tried to pull his arm away.
"Well, it was either this or the other one! And since I can't use the left arm anyway, I thought it better to let it cut this one rather than be unable to defend myself at all!"
Elladan gave his twin a stern look as he cut away his brother's shirt sleeve to get better access to the wound, trying to hide the concern he felt for his twin. Elrohir didn't look good at all...
"Wait till ada hears about this!" he threatened quietly.
"I don't know, mellonamin, I don't think it will make a difference anymore," Legolas said with forced cheerfulness as he dropped down next to the older twin, handing him the medical supplies he had brought from the horse. "He will take only one look at his face and will strangle him. And then you."
"Don't think he will spare you, Legolas," Elladan shot back, cleaning his brother's arm of the blood that was beginning to cake at the edges of the cut, "Under the calm façade he hides a rather fierce temper. He will have killed you before he even remembers your status."
"That's not too bad, I think," the prince said thoughtfully, scanning his friend furtively. Somehow Elladan's posture was a bit too stiff. "It's better than coming home, having to explain all this to my father."
Elladan finished wrapping up the cut, grinning slightly.
"Oh yes, I forgot. You have dungeons in Mirkwood, haven't you?"
Legolas shot his friend an evil look. He didn't really need to be reminded of that fact, especially not now.
"We do, Elladan. But don't think you can distract me like this. You are hurt as well."
"'Tis only a scratch," the older twin brushed the other elf's words aside, leaning back against the stone wall.
"There is no such thing as a scratch when dealing with orcs or goblins, you know that," the fair haired elf replied, poking Elladan softly in the side, whose eyes flew open as he doubled over in pain.
"A scratch, I see."
"I don't know which one of you is worse, I really don't," Elladan complained as Legolas opened his shirt to tend the knife wound the twin had taken during the battle, "Estel fusses just like you when one of us is injured. But I'm quite glad he isn't here at the moment, with both of us wounded, and you as well, he would probably have a fit. His look is rather impressive as well, for a human, that is."
The prince smiled, remembering the many times his human friend had patched him up, scolding him for getting himself injured, but Legolas knew that that only masked the worry and fear the human felt for him. And Strider was very good at feeling both, and in addition to that he usually added a huge heap of mostly undeserved guilt.
Legolas tucked in the edges of the bandage and nodded at his friends, who now looked definitely the worse for wear. Their elven bodies' soft white light seemed to become more insubstantial by the second, reminding him of stars that began to grow dim when the first light of dawn approached, lightening up the sky and banishing them into invisibility until the next night. He shook his head determinedly, tears appearing in his eyes as hot, blinding pain pounded behind his forehead at that movement, they needed to get out of here. They wouldn't survive much longer here.
He stood carefully, holding his head as still as possible, and addressed the twins.
"Come, my friends, we need to leave. The view leaves much to be desired, if you ask me," he nodded over to the piled up bodies of the goblins, "And it is possible that they will be missed and the main group sends someone back to check on them. If that happens, I would wish to be as far away as possible."
What he didn't say was that they needed to get out, as soon as possible, or goblins wouldn't be their most pressing worry. Every elf felt uncomfortable in a cave, but an injured elf trapped many hundred metres under the ground, surrounded by everlasting darkness and cold, hard, lifeless stone was in the very real danger of dying.
It happened very rarely, for Legolas couldn't remember ever hearing that such a thing had happened during his long life, but he knew it could indeed occur. When he had been an elfling his father had told him stories of elves who got trapped in caves, and whose spirits had fled, exhausted by their wounds and the darkness before rescuers could reach them. When he grew older he heard them more often, at a camp fire or during a long watch in the night. He had never known anyone who had actually died, and he didn't want that to change now.
Elladan looked up at his friend, narrowing his eyes as he saw the blood soaked bandage that was still wrapped around Legolas' head.
"I know, Legolas. But first you will sit down and let me change that bandage, you are not walking around like that."
The elven prince shook his head before he could stop himself, squeezing his eyes shut as it performed a very realistic imitation of a bursting rock, with cracking noises and everything.
Through the hammering pain that told him quite clearly that he had a rather severe concussion, he said,
"No, we need to go on. We cannot tarry here, think of Aragorn, and the darkness…"
He felt a firm hand grab his sleeve and pull him to the ground, pressing him back against the wall.
"Stupid wood-elf," Elrohir's voice noted dryly, pressing his uninjured hand against his friend's cheek, "You can hardly stand yourself! That last goblin banged you up pretty badly, I think. Let us work, five minutes will hardly matter. We will leave as soon as we have finished."
Legolas opened an eye grumpily, glaring at the younger twin that handed his brother fresh bandages, looking a little healthier now, even though every leader of one of the travelling acting groups would still have taken one look at his bruised face and pallid hue and hired him for the part of the fallen warrior, who had taken on a troll and lost. Badly so.
"You are stubborn, all of you. Did you know that?" he asked, trying not to wince when Elladan unwrapped his head wound.
"Yes. Now be quiet and relax."
'Relax!' Legolas thought, closing his eyes again. 'I will relax the moment I get out of here, not a second earlier."
"Do you know what this is?"
Aragorn groaned inwardly as he was abruptly jerked out of his dreams. Getting woken by a kick was bad enough, but when he thought about it, he would prefer it to being woken by Donyc's voice any time. Especially when the other human sounded happy, something which never was a good thing, as he had learned very quickly.
Still struggling to leave the last, inviting mists of sleep behind, the young ranger opened his eyes, giving his captor a tired look. He didn't like caves overly much, and having to spend the entire night in a tiny cavern in which even the stoutest dwarf would have begun to feel claustrophobic, tied to a rusty metal ring that was set into the stone wall and that Aragorn suspected had been put there just for such a situation as this one, had done nothing to ease that feeling.
'And to see him first thing in the morning…' he thought tiredly, studying the other human. Donyc looked really pleased about something, something which caused him to shudder in sudden fear. Whatever it was that made Donyc happy, he was sure he wouldn't like it.
"Well, ranger? Do you?" the human commander repeated, giving him a gleeful smile.
Aragorn's eyes came to rest on a small piece of paper that the man held in his hands, and he swallowed nervously. He had a very bad feeling about this.
"No, but I am sure you are going to tell me."
Donyc grinned at him, apparently unperturbed by his words.
"Right you are, boy, I will. It is a message I received by one of the carrier pigeons I gave to the elf before we parted company. Do you know what it says?"
The young human fought for composure, his thoughts racing. Had Cornallar killed his father? Was this the order to kill him as well? Or they had captured his brothers, or something had happened to Legolas, or…
A million scenarios appeared in his mind, one worse and more horrifying than the other.
The dark haired human grinned as he saw the fear in the young human's eyes that he so quickly covered with a look of indifference and calmness.
"Well, I will tell you anyway. Apparently, the elf has met with that other elf lord, you know of whom I speak, I see? Don't worry, he is fine – for now, that is. But his companions aren't, I'm afraid."
Aragorn's head shot up at that, silver eyes fixing on the man with such intensity that Donyc needed to blink several times and avert his eyes before he could continue.
"It appears that the elf we met a few days before, oh yes, the Prince of Mirkwood, now I remember, and the other elf's sons decided to follow them, even though they had been expressly warned against such actions. Someone would need to teach them some manners as well, wouldn't you agree?" Donyc asked as he gave the young ranger a friendly smile.
Aragorn didn't answer, ever-increasing fear almost choking him now.
His brothers and Legolas had followed Elrond, o Ilúvatar, please no…
Donyc resumed his tale, clearly enjoying Aragorn's fear.
"Where was I? Oh yes, they followed him, but they weren't as clever as they thought. The men I gave to the elf, they set a trap for them. They drove them into the caves of Nogrodrim and collapsed the entrance. The three are dead."
Aragorn closed his eyes, all colour draining from his face. The mocking words of Donyc seemed to echo inside his head, growing louder by the second. Dead, dead, dead, dead….
"You lie," he said after a few second during which he had desperately been trying to find his voice that he seemed to have lost the moment his heart had broken in his chest.
"Why would I do such a thing, ranger? You insult me," Donyc said, clearly pleased with his captive's reaction. "The elf writes that they are dead and that he and the rest will arrive here in two days."
If Aragorn could have pressed his hands over his ears to block out the ringing voice in his head, he would have. As it was, the noise increased even more, filling his whole head with one single word. Dead, dead, dead…
"No," he whispered brokenly, "They cannot be dead. They are not! You lie!!"
His voice had risen almost to a shout now, something which caused Donyc to chuckle evilly.
"I do not. They are dead. All three of them, crushed by countless rocks. Not a nice way to go, if you ask me."
At that the young human looked up, eyes blazing with emotions so fierce that Donyc unconsciously took half a step back.
"They are not dead. You can't kill them like that."
Donyc grinned at him, somewhat annoyed that even in his weakened and bound state the ranger could still cause him to shrink back as if he were the prisoner.
"But they are, boy. Trust me on this. But don't worry," he stepped closer and grabbed his captive's chin, forcing grey eyes full of pain and fear to look at him, "You will join them soon enough."
He turned and walked away, musing that he could hardly think of a better way to start his day.
Aragorn closed his eyes tightly to hold back the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes. The human commander was wrong, if Legolas and his brothers were truly dead, they would be parted forever. He wouldn't join them and they wouldn't see each other again, not in this life and not in the next. They would journey to the Halls of Mandos while he would leave the circles of this world, as it was a human's fate…
He tried to hold on to the hope that Donyc or Cornallar had been lying, that they were not dead, but all the despair, pain and fear of the last days dragged him down into a dark abyss from which there was no escape, and soon he wept helplessly for his best friend and the only brothers he had ever known.
Nólad climbed up the steep path that led up to the main cavern swiftly, effortlessly picking small ledges and roots to place his feet so the stony way wouldn't slide to the side under his very feet, something which had happened to quite a lot of the men, much to the fair haired elf's amusement. Once he reached the large hollow in the rock face, he stopped and took a look around, letting his eyes wander over the long shelves and neat sleeping places that lined the walls. If it had been possible to imitate Rivendell in a cave, they had done quite a good job, he told himself again.
The mention of his former home redirecting his thoughts to the person of the young ranger, he spontaneously decided to pay him a visit and see to his wounds rather than return to the men and have another pointless conversation about the positions of every single sentinel. Neither Donyc nor Addramyr could pick a strategic spot to save their lives, that was something he had found out many fruitless discussions ago.
Grabbing his pack that lay on top of one of the wooden tables that stood in the middle of the room, he headed for one of the tunnels that led away from the main cave, disappearing into the direction of the small cavern they kept the human in. It was not a very interesting place, and, to be honest, the elf was sure that he himself would go insane in there, so far away from the sky and open air, but it had only one exit and a rather handy set of metal rings set into the wall that Cornallar had insisted on placing there, "just in case". Nólad had always wondered what case that might prove to be, and now he asked himself somewhat suspiciously if his friend hadn't been planning all this for a lot longer than he had originally thought.
Rounding a sharp bend in the tunnel, he gave the guard that was leaning against the wall only one look that was enough to cause the man to take up his club and disappear down the tunnel the elf had just come. Nodding in satisfaction, the elf closed the small distance between himself and the small entrance to the cave, stopping just in front of it and studying the young human inside. He was still seated on the floor, bound to the lowest ring, but there was something different about him, something that spoke of despair so deep and choking that it made the elf's heart clench in sympathy. He knew exactly what that felt like. His keen eyes spied dried tear traces on the young face, and suddenly the pieces fell together into place.
'So that was where Donyc had to go so suddenly in the morning,' he thought, shaking his head in mild disgust, 'I might have known.'
At the sounds of softly shuffling clothes Aragorn looked up, silver eyes cold and lifeless.
"What do you want? Have you come to torment me even more? Then, please, go on. I don't care."
Nólad stepped into the little cave, seating himself opposite the man, which left about two inches between them.
"So he has told you."
The young man gave a short laugh, a sound full of despair.
"Oh yes, he has. In no unclear terms he stated that Legolas and my brothers are dead."
The pain in the ranger's voice caused the elf to flinch involuntarily. To lose so much on one day, that was enough to break even the strongest man. It was something that had very nearly broken him all those years ago. Nólad got up and turned to leave to give the other some time to come to terms with his grief. Somehow he had the feeling that his company wouldn't be appreciated very much right now.
When he had just reached the entrance, a soft but firm voice stopped him in his tracks.
"No. Tell me why he hates men so much. Tell me what the men of Westernesse have done to deserve such bitter hatred. Tell me why my friend and brothers had to die! I think I deserve some answers by now."
Nólad slowly turned back to the little cavern, staring at the young ranger. He was right, he decided after a minute during which the man had neither blinked nor averted his eyes, returning the elven gaze with ease, he deserved to know.
Sighing, he sat back down on the little ledge, trying to decide where to start.
"Well, you already know that we hail from Eregion, and that we lived in Rivendell after Sauron destroyed our home, don't you?"
When Aragorn nodded, the elf continued.
"Cornallar was one of the few lords that survived the slaughter, and he even managed to save his infant son, but for his wife … it was too late. When he came back to her, she was dead, buried under the remnants of their house."
Nólad stopped for a second, smiling softly.
"She was truly beautiful, with golden hair and eyes so green that every jewel smith would have given his right arm to have gems in that colour. After her death, Cornallar gave all his love to his son, who was so very much like her, and not only in appearance, for he had inherited her eyes. Tinánd grew up in peace in Imladris, and it was a long peace. For over 1700 years we lived in Rivendell without worries, but then, 3000 years ago, war once again came upon us, when the Last Alliance of Men and Elves was formed at the instigation of Elendil, the High King and your ada . No, I don't want to quarrel with you about this topic, dúnadan ," he raised a hand when Aragorn opened his mouth to say something, "But at their insistence it was formed. Tinánd joined the army, out of two reasons: First, because he was convinced that it was the only way to stop Sauron, and second, because he wouldn't let his friend go alone."
"What friend?" Aragorn asked, intrigued.
Nólad smiled again.
"One of your forefathers, ranger. Anárion, brother of Isildur and younger son of the High King of Gondor and Arnor, Elendil. Tinánd and Anárion had met when the prince was younger, before the destruction of Númenor, and they became friends quickly. Tinánd ignored all those who told him not to befriend a mortal, that it would only bring him pain, and when the war broke out, Tinánd wasn't willing to let his friend go to war without him. For ten years they fought side by side, protecting each other's backs, and never anything worse than scratches and bruises befell them. That changed though, one year before the Fall of Barad-dûr."
"What happened?" Aragorn questioned as the fair haired elf fell silent and stared at the ground, eyes wide and unseeing.
"They died," Nólad answered curtly. "Their troop was ambushed by orcs, and although they fought bravely and held them off for longer than anyone would have thought possible, they were still overwhelmed in the end and slaughtered, one by one. When we found them, they still lay back to back, protecting each other."
Aragorn closed his eyes sadly. Of course he had always known that Isildur's younger brother had been killed one year before the war ended, but he had never been told about the circumstances. Now he knew why.
"I am sorry," he said quietly, "I see what you meant when you said he would kill me. Thank you for not telling him."
Nólad rose to his feet, his face pale and drawn from the memories he had just relived.
"Think nothing of it, young one. I don't think his reasoning is correct myself."
"Then why do you help him, when you know he is doing the wrong thing?"
The elf looked at the young human sharply.
"We do not always do what we want to do, and neither do we always do what is best for us or what is the right thing. You should know that, Heir of Isildur."
Aragorn dropped his eyes, he did indeed know that. Suddenly he saw Legolas' earnest face appear in his mind's eye, smiling at him gently.
'You are not bound by their deeds, Aragorn,' his friend's voice told him softly. 'You decide your own fate, it doesn't matter who your ancestors were, mellonamin. Not to me, and not to anyone else that matters.'
Filled with new resolve, he raised his head and looked Nólad in the eye.
"I am not my forefathers, Nólad. I decide myself what to do with the things fate has given to me."
The elf just looked at him, cocking his head slightly to one side.
"You are indeed not, dúnadan. I see that now. Good Night."
He turned and walked away, his soft footfall barely making a sound on the hard, stony ground.
When the fair haired elf had left, Aragorn leaned back, shifting around for a second before resenting himself to the fact that he wouldn't be able to find a position in which he didn't hurt. It was either his back or his arms or his shoulder, he would simply have to ignore it. He closed his eyes with a tired sigh, carefully avoiding thinking of his brothers or Legolas so he wouldn't lose himself in the dark pit from which he knew he wouldn't be able to escape by himself.
'I just hope that only because I heard Legolas' voice that doesn't mean that he died and came back to haunt me,' he thought wryly, suppressing a yawn.
Just before he fell asleep, exhausted by the mental anguish he had experienced today, he came to the conclusion that this could not be the case. Elladan and Elrohir would never miss a chance to annoy him, if he had heard his elven friend's ghost, he would have heard the twins' as well.
Strangely comforted by this, he relaxed his hold on consciousness and let sleep carry him away to places where nothing could separate him from his friends and family.
TBC...
ada - father (daddy)
mellonamin - my friend
dúnadan - 'Man of the West', ranger
*grins sheepishly* Hey, a little angst is always a good thing, isn't it? Isn't it?? *shoots pleading looks at angry readers* Uhm, well, my plane will be leaving soon ... I've got to go ... Bye!! *runs off* Oh, before I go: Look out for the next chapter, which will be here as soon as possible, in which a lot of questions will be answered and Estel finally gets rescued. *grins evilly* In a way, that is...
Oh, usually I beg for reviews here, so: Would you? Please? I would be soooo happy! Please Please Please??
Additional A/N:
Zam - Yeah, well, I guess your orc horde is just not orcish enough for other orcs - or goblins, in this case. But they're great at playing Trivial Pursuit! *grimaces* Aragorn in a diaper? I soooo don't want to imagine that!! *g* LOL!! 'Is there any man flesh?'!! That's so great ... *reads on* ... 'monkey-sweater'?? What kind of insult is that?? You are weird, you are really weird... Uhm, I'm sorry, but Anárion wasn't Cornallar's friend, he was Tinánd's, Cornallar's son's. (wow, so many genitives in one sentence!! *g*) *grins evilly* Yes, Cornallar can be quite annoying, but he will get what is coming for him, believe me... *pats Zam's back* Don't worry, there's _always_ hope! Unless Donyc kills Estel, of course, then he/it's dead... *g*
ThE iNsAnE oNe - LOL! Your chapter is sooo funny! I still have to review it, but just in case I don't have enough time (why is there always so much to do when you go somewhere?? Huh??), don't be angry. I'll try to do it once I'm online again... Only one more chapter for ITB?? You can't be serious!! Please ... write more ... soon ... please ... But then post more of TMAATB (God, you've got to love acronyms!), now!! I demand it!!
E - I'm not telling you who is arriving where, and when. (*scratches head* Did that make sense? I guess not...) LOL, Donyc is indeed a bit stupid, and he underestimates his opponents, which can get you killed real quick... Donyc could never have a son! I mean, who would be willing to... Okay, I'll stop that train of thought _right here_. *grins smugly* Well, sometimes begging helps. Keep going. Just kidding!!!
Belle - *wide-eyed* Your profs are shouting "prof smash"?? That's definitely weird!! Sorry, I updated as fast as I could, and, believe me, you wouldn't thank me if I had posted ch19 already. That one is the mother of all cliffies, and you would hate me if you would have to wait for more than ten days... It's for your own good!! *g* Your college is a conservative christian one? I went to a catholic school, our head master was a Jesuit priest, as were a lot of the other teachers... I know _very well_ what you mean... *blushes* Well, I _am_ considering something like that. Perhaps I will study journalism as well next year. We'll see. *pats her back* Calm down, breathe, that's it... I'm posting, see? *raises eyebrow* Well, your college sounds weirder by the second! Don't worry, now you can do your homework! That's great, isn't it? *g*
Alexa - 'Lucifer - Satan of FF'?? Owww, that's so sweet, thank you.... I'm weird, I know, but that's the nicest thing someone has told me since they threatened to feed me to wargs and stuff... *g* Uhm, 0 % cliffhangers? That won't work, I'm afraid, since ch19 and 20 are both cliffies, and I'm very proud of them. They are evil!!
TrustingFriendship - *nods* Yes, he may have been in pain, but not nearly in as much mental pain as the others! We can't have that, fair's fair... Well, they _will_ get out, dont worry. Eventually... *evil chuckle*
Firnsarnien - SEE?? This isn't a cliffy!! See??? *under her breath* The next two chappies are, though... You didn't hear that, did you?? *grins smugly* Well, I did as you asked: Another chapter, relatively soon *ignores shouts of protest* and no cliffy! That's great, isn't it?? *g* Don't worry, more E/E/L in the next two chapters, read on!!
Mouse - LOL, you are going to drown me in M&Ms? Until I update again? There is a flaw in that plan!! I don't know where, but there is one, believe me... *g* Thanks so much for all your reviews, it's great to see that some people are actually following this ... weird ... thing ... Thanks!!
Alilacia - No, don't worry, I meant it will take me about three more weeks to finish the story. The next chapter should be up in a little more than a week, okay? But the first week I definitely will have no internet access, but I'll try to update as fast as possible. *g* Yeah, the twins are a little nuts, aren't they? There another scene jkust like that in this chappie... Thanks so much for all your reviews and keep your wargs out of the tunnel!! I can't have them ruin my story!!
Fliewatuet - *blushes* Owww, that's so kind of you! Someone likes my style of writing! (My sister: What? Weird humour, people out of character, stupid and evil villains? Who'd like that?) *sighs* Siblings... Yeah, well, they are all in tight spots right now, but things will get better! Soon ... not right now, of course... *g*
Kaeera - Wow! Ihr habt einen PC in der Pausenhalle? So was hatten wir auf unserer Schule nicht!! *neidisch guck* *zeigt stolz* Siehst du?? Elrohir is verletzt!? Na ja, der Rest eigentlich auch, und so viel angst war's dann auch wieder nicht, aber es sollte ja auch nur eine kleine Szene sein. *zuckt Schultern* Na ja, im naechsten Kapitel geht's dann ja auch weiter, aber das ist eher komisch... Mathematik-Wettbewerb? Wow! Da waer ich nur als Abschreckungsobjekt reingekommen!! Ich hab's ja auch nach dem 12. abgegeben... *g* Schoen, dass du die bloeden Sprueche mochtest, mehr kommen noch!! Goblins sind Kobolde, aber ich muss da immer an HP denken...
Alisha - *looks at Alisha* Well, that was an ... interesting reaction! Yeah, well, I know that elves glow in the dark, but they're injured and exhausted so they don't glow so much now ... *raises eyebrow* And the mysterious Mirkwood elves were trampling so loudly that they were confused with goblins?? *g* But I like the Glorfindel-to-the-rescue-bit! It's a nice idea... But it would be slightly improbable, wouldn't you agree? *g* *panicking* See?? It's here! No reason for nagging!!
Imbefaniel - What's the exact adress? I would love to check out your pics! Thanks for the review, I posted as fast as possible! Really!
CrazyLOTRfan - *evil grin* I agree! Poor everyone!! Was that enough angst? I was nearly crying myself when I wrote the end of the Donyc-Aragorn-scene, I've always thought that not-being-together-after-death-thing so sad!! Well, don't tell anyone, it would ruin my reputation...
Joanne - Well, let's say it this way: 'Soon' is a very relative term, isn't it? All I'm saying someone is getting to Estel next chapter, it might be Elrond. Then again, I might be someone else... I'm so happy you like it, thanks for reviewing!
Reginabean - Phew! Lucky you!! So you're really travelling to Mirkwood? Good choice!! *grins* There are no cliffs there, after all...
Miss Undastood - Sure you could - not German, maybe, because it's quite hard, but ... Latin is quite easy. As is Spanish, when you know Latin, that is... I'm not sure about Seobryn yet, that will be decided in the next chapter. *gulps* What kind of neighbours do you have? They eat bear glasses? Jesus...
Nikeie - *narrows eyes* How do you know Legolas' age?? I couldn't find it anywhere, and all the people I've spoken to didn't know either. So, how do you know? Tell me!! *g* Well, yes, I could have started with Legolas in Rivendell, but everybody does that. Besides, there are reasons for that, just wait for the next chapter... Well, the elvish is supposed to be Sindarin, but it's a bad dictionary, as I said, and I'm looking for another one. It's the Grey Company's, but they are role-players, so it's not really accurate, I think. And don't worry, the horse is not dead, only wounded. Well, Legolas is not even my main target, I'm more of an Aragorn fan... Sorry for hurting your elf. *evil cackle* Not.
MidnightLoner - I'm glad I coudl help. Thanks so much for your kind words, and I posted this asap! Really! Well, yes, they are going to have a lot of fun with the goblins... Not!!
Lina - Well, I'm sorry, Lina, really... *pats her back, eyeing Éomer lustfully* He is so ... cute sometimes... *g* As I said, I will try to post there, but I can't make any promises! *pouts* Great, now even Éomer is trying to get away from me ... nobody loves me ... that's so unfair ... *starts crying* LOL, well, Éomer, is a little stupid, after all...
Ciria - *looks scandalized* Well, I don't like Cornallar, of course. He's horrible - hm, what does that say about me, considering that I have created him? *looks at Ciria who is jumping up and down in excitement* You are obsessed with Nólad, d'you know that? But he's in this chapter as well, so don't worry! We? What we? Oh, and Eskadol mean Hidden Home, at least that's what it's supposed to mean. Well, in a way you are right about Nólad's motivations, he has been deeply scarred by the war, but _Cornallar_ is his lord, first and foremost. Elrond for a while, when they were living in Rivendell, but always after Cornallar. Well, I won't answer all the otehr questions, I would ruin the rest of the fic. You'll have to wait for a bit, I'm afraid. Oh, Nólad lost no one specific, just about all his friends and remaining family. Nólad's eyes are light grey. I'm glad you still like it, thanks for the long review!
One15 - *nickt ernsthaft* In der Tat, ich komme aus Deutschland. Ich wohne sogar da, stell dir vor!! *g* *rot werd* Oh, danke, ist doch schoen zu hoeren, dass meine Englischkenntnisse so gut sind - na ja, ich war vor einem halben Jahr 6 Monate in England als AuPair (da fahre ich jetzt auch wieder hin, zu Besuch), also sollte man so was aehnliches auch erwarten, nech?? Ta-taaaa!! Herzlichen Glueckwunsch!! Nur fuer dich, ein kleines Geburtstagsgeschenk! Wir wollen doch nicht, dass du den Tag damit verbringst, vor dem PC hin- und herzutigern, oder? *g* Tja, mit dem Geschichts-LK haben wir doch alle angefangen... Mach nur eins nicht: Nimm nicht nur Geschichte, da drehst du durch. Ich bin jetzt erst im 2. FS und glaub mir: Nur Geschichte macht dich fertig! *g* Was eine Erklaerung fuer das hier waere...
Sharkshape - *blushes* Oh, believe me, there _are_ mistakes. Quite a lot actually, somehow a few always manage to hide themselves somewhere. I think it helps when you're not a native speaker, I tend to be so insecure that I check things twice before posting anything. *blushes even more* Well, I like your review! It's very nice to read, even if it gives me delusions of grandeur... Yeah, well, Nólad... He IS quite predictable, I know, but I thought his motivations are more or less clear. He has lost people he loved in that skirmish just like Cornallar, and he doesn't like men or other races either. But he isn't insane and he doesn't want to hurt elves or people with elven blood. Ah well. It's my first story, and something like that was bound to happen... Thanks so much for telling me what you think of this! It helps a lot!
Aurienia - Uhm, great to hear. I'd hate to see you die. So you want more Cornallar-Elrond-scenes? Sorry, not in this chapter, but in the next, okay? Would YOU want to ride that horse?? I wouldn't, besides, this horse is very nervous because of the darkness. You can't calm a horse when you're sitting on top of it. Phew, I'm glad you decided not to write the review in French, because I don't understand a word except "Oui", "Merci" and stuff like that. I chose Ancient Greek instead, and never regretted it... *g* LOL, the look sounds interesting! You want more Legolas angst? Poor elf, he has had quite enough of that, don't you think?? But Estel angst is coming up now!!
Tbiris - Yes, how will they get past the goblins? Just read on and find out! Oh, and Aragorn isn't suffering without a reason, he is suffering because the author and the readers _like_ it!! Mhahahaha! We're evil, you know...
Salara - Hah, ich habe immer Zeit zum Surfen!! Tja, das Pferd *taetschelt es und bekommt fast die Hand abgebissen* ist eigentlich die Replika eines Pferdes, das ich kenne, und das genauso ist. Ganz genauso. Oho! Ich wurde von einem Leser explizit aufgefordert, unsere Helden zu peinigen! Nun kann keiner mehr sagen, das waere alles meine Schuld! Aber, holde Dame, Euer Wunsch ist mir Befehl!! Mhahahaha!! Und keine Angst, ich tu schon was, Kapitel 19 ist viiiiieeeel zu lang und vollgepackt mit mehr oder minder nachzuvollziehenden Handlungen und Entwicklungen! Danke fuer die guten Wuensche, und ich werde die Ferien damit verbringen, noch perfidere Abenteuer fuer unsere Lieblinge auszuhecken!
Elanor - *shakes her hand* Another Estel fan! He is just great, isn't he? *sigh* Stop it! *puts her hand over Elanor's mouth* Stop scaring him like that! He doesn't need to know what will happen to him - he will find out soon enough!! *tried to remember some Dutch from all the times she has been there as a child* I give up! Sorry! All I remember was that it was quite easy to understand when you know German, or at least to read. The languages are quite similar, wouldn't you agree? Thanks for saying that my English is good, so is yours! Thanks for adding me to your favorites! *huggles her* Vielen Dank! (I'm sure you'll remember that! *g*)
ManuKu - Tja ja, noch ein Nólad-fan; davon gibt es mittlerweile ziemlich viele! Ich kann leider zu seinem weitern Schicksal keine Aussagen machen ... Kein Kommentar! Den Trailer habe ich leider noch nciht gesehen, es war entweder das Kapitel hier fertig machen oder der Trailer! Ich bin sicher, du unterstuetzt meine Entscheidung... *g* Gottseidank gibt es ja auch Internet auf der Insel, sonst wuerde ich durchdrehen! Seid nicht boese, falls ich es nicht mehr schaffe, eure Geschichte zu reviewen, ja? Ich fiebere mit, dessen seid euch gewiss! Ich werde versuchen, es bei Gelegenheit nachzuholen! Aber ich muss noch packen und und und...
W - Cool name! Now I've got "E" and "W"... *g* Yay! Constructive criticism! Hey, don't look at me like that, I really like it! It helps a lot! *drops her eyes* You are right, and you cannot imagine how surprised I am as to why no one else has yet noticed that Elrond is acting, well, let's say 'strange', shall we? I know it's a bit weird, but I had this idea and it wouldn't go away... Quite frankly, I am surprised you didn't stop reading after chapter 3, shrieking "They are soooo out of character!!!" Well, for the other men: Addramyr is just plain sadistic, that guard Aragorn banged over the head doesn't like him for obvious reasons, and the rest isn't so bad, are they? I mean, okay, they are a bit evil, but they are not treating him overly cruelly, are they? It's just their job, and they're ruthless and they get paid for it and... *takes a deep breath* Okay, so perhaps you are right. But humans are like that, I think, once you give them a little power over others. LOL, yeah, they need a lot of rope. But that's something they could have taken into consideration, knowing that they would have to kidnap someone. Well, thanks for pointing these things out to me, and thanks for thr review! I'm glad you still like it!
Marbienl - *jumps up and down* Write faster, write faster! I want to read it! Please! Hey, your German is good! And the other language: That sounded like Dutch to me?! Is it? Did that mean "It's not that bad, is it?" (or somthing like that in English)? If it did, it once again proves my theory that you can understand a lot if you speak German... *pats her back* I know that poor Estel baby is cold and hurt, but, well, let's say Donyc doesn't see things our way. And I won't say anything about Nólad or Seobryn, it would ruin the next few chapters! Thanks so much for the review!!
Luce - *blushes* Thank you! It's great to hear that you like it so much! Don't worry, Legolas and the twins will get out of there soon - I'm not promising not to hurt them, though! *evil grin* You can't have enough Estel angst, can you?? Thanks for reviewing!
Wow, this is getting longer than the actual chapter! I will have to think of another way of responding to reviews ... not now though, I have still to pack my things and stuff. Another huge thank you to all of you! Reviews are just ... words fail me. Thanks!!
A/N:
Well, that's it. The last chapter before I'm leaving tomorow. It's sad, I know... *fake sobs*
Okay, it appears that I will have no internet for at least a week there, but I'm taking the story with me so I can post the rest later. I think I will be able to update the weekend after the next, which would be ... *counts on her finger* ... around the 29th or 30th?
I'm sorry, but there's absolutly no way to update any sooner, my family thinks I'm crazy anyway, worrying about internet connections and posting schedules and stuff... *g*
Finally, the chapter in which someone (I'm not telling who! *evil grin*) will get to Aragorn is drawing nearer, just one more chapter and then the worst will be over. *re-reads chapters 19 and 20* Well, uhm, perhaps not really, but, ah, okay, you know what I mean! *chuckles evilly*
Very well, I won't annoy you further, here is chapter 18! Yay!!
Including a lot of Estel angst as promised and goblins ... lots of them, actually. They just appear out of nowhere, don't they??
*shakes head* Annoying creatures, really...
Enjoy and review, please!
I may be in England, but I still need reviews! *g*
Chapter 18
Elladan pressed his back against the wall as far as possible and tried his best to assume the shape, colour and texture of grey stone. Now he whole-heartedly thanked the Valar that it was so dark in here, in the pitch black they stood a slight chance. The fact that their natural elven light was dimmed due to injury and exhaustion, and their dark clothes actually helped them to blend into their surroundings, especially the twins' soft grey cloaks that seemed to have caught the exact colour of the twilight hours.
He shifted slightly, only to freeze in place when he heard the goblins draw closer, now only seconds away. Somehow he had problems to pretend that he was part of the rocks. To pretend being part of nature had never bothered any of them, but rocks?
'Probably even a dwarf would look more rock-like than any of us,' the older twin decided sarcastically, 'But then again, they look like that all the time, so they have an unfair advantage.'
Opening his eyes to slits so the gleaming orbs wouldn't attract attention, he took a last look at their surroundings. If this was the last place he was ever going to see, something which he strongly suspected by now, then he would at least make sure that he remembered it correctly so he could drive Legolas insane with details during their eternity in the Halls of Mandos. That was something he was actually looking forward to, describing to the prince again and again and again and then yet again what the place he had chosen as their last hiding place had looked like. The hiding place in the dark caves he had got them into in the first place.
Actually, it was quite a good place to hide, especially when one considered the alternatives, which had consisted in staying where they were and hoping that the approaching goblin horde was too busy looking at the ceiling to notice them.
While they had been listening to the quickly approaching goblins, his terribly smart twin brother and Legolas had remembered that there had been a small passageway that branched off leading roughly to the south, a few hundred feet behind them. As quickly as possible they had raced back the way they had come, his friend dragging that horse behind him. Unfortunately, the "passageway" had proven to be a dead end after two dozen steps, something which nobody of them had noticed in the darkness the first time they had passed by.
The loud rumbling telling them that they had no time to spare, the three elves had pushed the resisting animal into the short tunnel to the very end in the hope of putting enough distance between the still gleaming white beast and the torches some of the goblins obviously carried, judging by the faint glow that began to creep closer.
At this point Elrohir had suggested in a wicked voice that they leave the horse to the goblins, perhaps it would buy them enough time to escape, but Legolas' fiery glare had convinced both of them that they wouldn't get rid of the troublesome animal so easily. Sighing softly, they had joined their fair haired friend in the tunnel, ignoring the looks he shot them. Harder to ignore was the horse that had apparently heard what the younger twin had said and was glaring daggers at them, something which Elladan had thought impossible.
'But here I am,' he though with an inward grin, 'Hiding from goblins in a cave with a horse that wants to kill me. No one is going to believe this. Not even Estel.'
His thought were redirected quickly when he heard the foul beasts round the bend a few feet from their hiding spot. Giving his surroundings one last look, he made sure that Legolas' fair hair was covered by his cloak and turned to his younger brother who leaned against the rough stone wall next to him, grasping his dagger with his right. Elladan tightened his own grip on his sword and sensed Legolas do the same with his twin blades.
Well, if they detected them, they would have to come and get them, and, by Elbereth's stars, he would make sure that few of them survived!
Locking eyes with Elrohir, he smiled softly when he saw the emotions on his twin brother's face, and closed his eyes and inclined his head slightly when they conveyed more things with a look than most people would have been able to with many words. He reached out with his left and let his hand lightly rest on his twin's arm. They would get out of here together, or not at all.
At that moment the first goblins passed the small entrance, paying the tunnel the elves were hiding in no heed. As more and more of the beings walked past their hiding place, Elladan began to relax a bit. At least they didn't want to get to the small space they occupied right now; it would have been just their kind of luck if the goblins had wanted to visit their little tunnel to do Valar-know-what. Next to him, Legolas watched the goblins from under the hood he had pulled over his head to make sure that his blonde hair was not spotted by the foul things, counting them as they passed.
Countless seconds passed, and still more and more goblins were passing them. The three young elves hardly dared to breathe, if they were found now, they would not survive the encounter.
Elrohir turned to his friend and mouthed silently, lifting a dark eyebrow,
'Thirty??'
The elven prince shrugged lightly. Well, perhaps there were more than thirty. Right now he had counted about sixty, but did it really matter? It wasn't important by how many orcs or goblins you were cut into pieces, thirty or sixty or ninety, the results were just the same.
Finally, the last of the deformed beings passed out of sight, leaving three very relieved and slightly surprised elves behind.
Elladan blinked slowly, making sure that this wasn't a hallucination.
"They are gone?" he asked tentatively, not daring to believe their luck.
"It looks like it," his brother nodded, letting go of his knife he had grabbed so hard that his knuckles ached.
The older twin leaned back, letting out a long breath.
"That was close. Too close. Far too close."
"I agree, my friend," Legolas agreed and returned his blades to the sheath on his back, grimacing in pain as he did so. "Valar, that was lucky. We would have never been able to fight even a third of them. I wonder where they are going."
Elrohir snorted and shook his head, stepping away from the rock wall.
"Well, I don't. I don't care, as long as it's far away from here. Let's go on. The sooner I get out of here the better. I think I will go crazy if I have to spend more time here than absolutely necessary."
The other two elves nodded silently and stepped out of their refuge, peering cautiously round the corner into the direction the goblin horde had taken. The twins fell into step behind Legolas, careful to keep their distance from the white horse that didn't look as if the time it had had to spentd in a cramped space with three nervous elves, two of which had wanted to feed it to goblins, had improved its mood any.
Elladan watched the animal for a second before asking,
"What is it with you and goblins anyway, Legolas?"
Legolas stopped shortly and shot his friend a questioning look.
"What do you mean?"
The older twin shrugged and gave his friend an innocent smile.
"Well, you seem to run into them an awful lot. That's twice in about a week, you know. I have counted."
The fair haired elven prince narrowed his eyes and resumed his walk, contemplating if that annoying part of his brain that had told him the exact same thing a while ago was in reality Elladan, somehow. He quickly abandoned that idea again, it was just too scary to think about. Besides, a lot of the time it actually sounded like his father, but that wasn't something he wanted to think about either.
Elladan didn't seem to mind that his friend didn't answer him.
"You know, everywhere you go, you and Estel seem to meet them, somehow. Or orcs, or wargs, or wolves…"
"Don't forget those hill trolls they met last spring. Sweet Eru, was ada angry!" Elrohir chimed in, beginning to grin broadly now.
"Right, I had really forgotten all about them. Very well, and hill trolls, and highwaymen, and…"
"Do you want to name every single thing we encountered?" Legolas asked, hiding the smile in his voice.
"Yes," Elladan answered seriously, although his eyes danced merrily, "Unless you tell me how you do it."
"I have a theory. Do you want to hear it?" Elrohir asked his brother, a wicked sparkle illuminating his eyes.
Legolas groaned as he listened again to the younger twin's reasoning he had already heard, that evening they had talked by the fire while Elladan had been keeping watch over the human and Lord Elrond. It seemed like an impossibly long time ago.
"…and since they wanted to get rid of him once and for all, something which I still have to thank them for, they…" Elrohir stopped in mid-sentence, his eyes growing wide when he heard the sounds of shuffling feet, about a minute away. Shuffling feet that were coming their way very quickly.
"What by all the demons of Morgoth is that?" Elladan asked quietly, looking at them with pleading eyes. "Don't say it."
"Goblins," Legolas said shocked, feeling very much as if he were caught in a time loop. This couldn't be happening to him, not for the third time in a week!
"How is that possible?" Elrohir hissed and drew his dagger with his right, studying the empty tunnel in front of him. "We should have heard them long ago!"
"They must have stopped and taken a rest or something of that sort and are trying to catch up with the main group now," Legolas answered, surveying his surroundings. "Let us fall back a little, if we retreat behind the bend, we will be able to surprise them."
The twins nodded as they moved backwards, readying their weapons as they did so.
"What do you think? Thirty?" Elladan asked sarcastically as they took up positions next to each other, Legolas slightly behind them for he was the only archer they had.
"Something like that," the fair haired elf replied, grinning slightly.
"Do we have a plan?" the younger twin asked as he gripped his blade, a grim look on his face.
"Try not to get killed?" his brother replied wryly, widening his stance so he stood right before Legolas, shielding him. "Oh, and try to kill all of them, because I don't think I have to describe to you what will happen if one of them escapes and managed to alert the main group."
Elrohir took his eyes off the tunnel and shot his brother an annoyed look. Sometimes Elladan's comments were very hard to endure.
"No, please do. What will happen?" he asked in an equally wry voice, looking at Elladan innocently.
Elladan chuckled dryly, giving the horse that stood behind them an evil look.
"They will eat the horse."
Legolas shook his head, listening to the approaching goblins that were only a few seconds away now. These two were impossible. Aragorn had always claimed that they had actually scared off a bunch of orcs with their bickering once, but he had never believed that. Until now, that was.
He notched an arrow to his bow, wincing as he pulled the string taut and felt the remaining stitches in his side protest under the strain. Well, that was the least of his worries right now, he decided.
The brothers had fallen silent now as well, fixing dark eyes on the bend when they heard the goblins that would reach them any second now.
"If they rush us, fall back," Elrohir instructed his friend, shifting his grip on his long hunting knife a last time, "We need you to eliminate as many as possible before they overwhelm us. We'll try to keep them away from you as long as possible."
Legolas frowned at that, but nodded. They were right, the tunnel was narrow enough to block with two people, and he would be a lot more useful with the bow. The fair haired elf grimaced sadly; he'd rather used his own bow now…
He was torn from his thoughts abruptly when the first goblin rounded the corner, turning back while he told another one something in their black speech. The prince waited until it had fully rounded the bend before he released the arrow that hit the creature in the heart, killing it instantly. It sank to the floor, a very surprised look on its face. Reaching for another arrow and notching it quicker than the eye could follow, Legolas managed to shoot three more before the others started to realize that there was something funny behind that bend. When two of them rounded the corner simultaneously, things got interesting. The prince shot both of them without much effort, but the time he needed to reload his weapon was enough for the second creature to let out a scream of warning, shouting something in their foul language to the others before a Mirkwood arrow found its mark in its throat.
Suddenly there seemed to roll a great flood of goblin bodies round the bend, closing the distance to the three elves in almost no time. The twins stood their ground, furiously slashing at the creatures and dodging and parrying crude scimitars and other blades with which the goblins hacked at them, but they were slowly being separated as the sheer mass of the enemies pressed them away from each other.
Seeing what was happening, Legolas fired two more arrows, both of them neatly hitting a goblin in the eye, before drawing his knives and joining the fray, placing himself right between the twins and closing the gap that was threatening to appear in their line of defence.
"Well, mellonamin," Elrohir ground out as he was roughly slammed against the wall by a particularly ugly goblin that quickly lost its head to Legolas descending knives, "You underestimated slightly. I think there are a tad more than thirty."
"I am sorry, Elrohir. The next time we travel through here, I will make sure to pick a horde that has the right size. Would that make you happy?" the prince replied sarcastically as he dodged the wild swings of another creature that seemed quite intent on gutting him before dancing to the side and slamming his elbow into its face.
"Very, my prince. Ecstatic with happiness, actually," the older twin replied for his brother, killing another one that had got too close for his liking to burying its blade in his shortly distracted friend.
The three concentrated on the fight once more, slaying goblin after goblin, but it seemed that for every single one they killed two others popped up, armed and shrieking angrily.
'It's just not possible!' Legolas fumed inwardly, almost falling to his knees in pain as an armoured fist slammed into his ribs. 'They can't just form out of thin air!! There must be an end to them, they can't keep on coming!"
Giving the twins a quick glance before moving to the side to avoid a blade aimed at his left side, he decided that they needed to come to an end soon, before they had completely exhausted themselves. Elladan was paling rapidly now, swaying unsteadily on his feet, and his sprained right wrist threatened to give way under every hard thrust that he had to parry. Elrohir wasn't doing well either, being able to use only one arm, something which the goblins had realized amazingly quickly; Elladan and Legolas had to do everything in their power to stop the foul beasts from rushing the younger twin.
One of the things threw the prince against one of the walls, and when his head made contact with stone, the dark world exploded in bright light. Legolas had to concentrate all his will on the goal of staying awake and not losing consciousness as hot pain flared to life inside his head, and had it not been for Elladan's quick reaction, he would probably have lost said head right there and then.
'And you are not doing any better than the two of them,' a smug voice inside his head noted, this time sounding a lot like his human friend, 'Stubborn, reckless elf.'
Shaking his head, Legolas realized that, slowly, the enemy lines were thinning. There were no more than ten attackers left, they could do it.
Drawing himself up, he stood next to Elladan and Elrohir who were tiring rapidly now, the three of them weaving a deadly shield of steel with their blades. Flicking his remaining knife into the air slightly, he caught it by the blade and threw it at the last goblin that had decided that it didn't want to fight these three elves alone, considering what had happened to his companions who had tried. Before the creature had done more than ten steps, it fell to the ground dead, the knife sticking out of its back.
The three of them stood still, hands still gripping swords and knifes tightly that were dripping with dark blood now, breathing heavily and listening for sounds that would indicate that more goblins were to come. When nothing could be heard, they relaxed, the twins re-sheathing their blades and Legolas walking down the tunnel, collecting his knifes and as many arrows as he deemed salvageable.
Elrohir sank to the floor, trembling slightly now. The adrenaline that had sustained his tired body during the battle was spent, and he just couldn't keep his feet any longer.
"Elrohir!" his brother exclaimed worriedly and rushed up to his twin, "What is it, brother? Are you hurt?"
The younger twin was weakly trying to push his brother's hands away, scowling at him.
"Nay, I am fine, Elladan, don't worry. Just a little tired, that's all."
"Tired, yes?" his brother asked, having quickly found the deep cut that ran down the entire length of Elrohir's arm. "Just tired? I don't think so! What were you thinking? Have you invited the thing to cut open your whole arm?"
Elrohir grimaced in pain and tried to pull his arm away.
"Well, it was either this or the other one! And since I can't use the left arm anyway, I thought it better to let it cut this one rather than be unable to defend myself at all!"
Elladan gave his twin a stern look as he cut away his brother's shirt sleeve to get better access to the wound, trying to hide the concern he felt for his twin. Elrohir didn't look good at all...
"Wait till ada hears about this!" he threatened quietly.
"I don't know, mellonamin, I don't think it will make a difference anymore," Legolas said with forced cheerfulness as he dropped down next to the older twin, handing him the medical supplies he had brought from the horse. "He will take only one look at his face and will strangle him. And then you."
"Don't think he will spare you, Legolas," Elladan shot back, cleaning his brother's arm of the blood that was beginning to cake at the edges of the cut, "Under the calm façade he hides a rather fierce temper. He will have killed you before he even remembers your status."
"That's not too bad, I think," the prince said thoughtfully, scanning his friend furtively. Somehow Elladan's posture was a bit too stiff. "It's better than coming home, having to explain all this to my father."
Elladan finished wrapping up the cut, grinning slightly.
"Oh yes, I forgot. You have dungeons in Mirkwood, haven't you?"
Legolas shot his friend an evil look. He didn't really need to be reminded of that fact, especially not now.
"We do, Elladan. But don't think you can distract me like this. You are hurt as well."
"'Tis only a scratch," the older twin brushed the other elf's words aside, leaning back against the stone wall.
"There is no such thing as a scratch when dealing with orcs or goblins, you know that," the fair haired elf replied, poking Elladan softly in the side, whose eyes flew open as he doubled over in pain.
"A scratch, I see."
"I don't know which one of you is worse, I really don't," Elladan complained as Legolas opened his shirt to tend the knife wound the twin had taken during the battle, "Estel fusses just like you when one of us is injured. But I'm quite glad he isn't here at the moment, with both of us wounded, and you as well, he would probably have a fit. His look is rather impressive as well, for a human, that is."
The prince smiled, remembering the many times his human friend had patched him up, scolding him for getting himself injured, but Legolas knew that that only masked the worry and fear the human felt for him. And Strider was very good at feeling both, and in addition to that he usually added a huge heap of mostly undeserved guilt.
Legolas tucked in the edges of the bandage and nodded at his friends, who now looked definitely the worse for wear. Their elven bodies' soft white light seemed to become more insubstantial by the second, reminding him of stars that began to grow dim when the first light of dawn approached, lightening up the sky and banishing them into invisibility until the next night. He shook his head determinedly, tears appearing in his eyes as hot, blinding pain pounded behind his forehead at that movement, they needed to get out of here. They wouldn't survive much longer here.
He stood carefully, holding his head as still as possible, and addressed the twins.
"Come, my friends, we need to leave. The view leaves much to be desired, if you ask me," he nodded over to the piled up bodies of the goblins, "And it is possible that they will be missed and the main group sends someone back to check on them. If that happens, I would wish to be as far away as possible."
What he didn't say was that they needed to get out, as soon as possible, or goblins wouldn't be their most pressing worry. Every elf felt uncomfortable in a cave, but an injured elf trapped many hundred metres under the ground, surrounded by everlasting darkness and cold, hard, lifeless stone was in the very real danger of dying.
It happened very rarely, for Legolas couldn't remember ever hearing that such a thing had happened during his long life, but he knew it could indeed occur. When he had been an elfling his father had told him stories of elves who got trapped in caves, and whose spirits had fled, exhausted by their wounds and the darkness before rescuers could reach them. When he grew older he heard them more often, at a camp fire or during a long watch in the night. He had never known anyone who had actually died, and he didn't want that to change now.
Elladan looked up at his friend, narrowing his eyes as he saw the blood soaked bandage that was still wrapped around Legolas' head.
"I know, Legolas. But first you will sit down and let me change that bandage, you are not walking around like that."
The elven prince shook his head before he could stop himself, squeezing his eyes shut as it performed a very realistic imitation of a bursting rock, with cracking noises and everything.
Through the hammering pain that told him quite clearly that he had a rather severe concussion, he said,
"No, we need to go on. We cannot tarry here, think of Aragorn, and the darkness…"
He felt a firm hand grab his sleeve and pull him to the ground, pressing him back against the wall.
"Stupid wood-elf," Elrohir's voice noted dryly, pressing his uninjured hand against his friend's cheek, "You can hardly stand yourself! That last goblin banged you up pretty badly, I think. Let us work, five minutes will hardly matter. We will leave as soon as we have finished."
Legolas opened an eye grumpily, glaring at the younger twin that handed his brother fresh bandages, looking a little healthier now, even though every leader of one of the travelling acting groups would still have taken one look at his bruised face and pallid hue and hired him for the part of the fallen warrior, who had taken on a troll and lost. Badly so.
"You are stubborn, all of you. Did you know that?" he asked, trying not to wince when Elladan unwrapped his head wound.
"Yes. Now be quiet and relax."
'Relax!' Legolas thought, closing his eyes again. 'I will relax the moment I get out of here, not a second earlier."
"Do you know what this is?"
Aragorn groaned inwardly as he was abruptly jerked out of his dreams. Getting woken by a kick was bad enough, but when he thought about it, he would prefer it to being woken by Donyc's voice any time. Especially when the other human sounded happy, something which never was a good thing, as he had learned very quickly.
Still struggling to leave the last, inviting mists of sleep behind, the young ranger opened his eyes, giving his captor a tired look. He didn't like caves overly much, and having to spend the entire night in a tiny cavern in which even the stoutest dwarf would have begun to feel claustrophobic, tied to a rusty metal ring that was set into the stone wall and that Aragorn suspected had been put there just for such a situation as this one, had done nothing to ease that feeling.
'And to see him first thing in the morning…' he thought tiredly, studying the other human. Donyc looked really pleased about something, something which caused him to shudder in sudden fear. Whatever it was that made Donyc happy, he was sure he wouldn't like it.
"Well, ranger? Do you?" the human commander repeated, giving him a gleeful smile.
Aragorn's eyes came to rest on a small piece of paper that the man held in his hands, and he swallowed nervously. He had a very bad feeling about this.
"No, but I am sure you are going to tell me."
Donyc grinned at him, apparently unperturbed by his words.
"Right you are, boy, I will. It is a message I received by one of the carrier pigeons I gave to the elf before we parted company. Do you know what it says?"
The young human fought for composure, his thoughts racing. Had Cornallar killed his father? Was this the order to kill him as well? Or they had captured his brothers, or something had happened to Legolas, or…
A million scenarios appeared in his mind, one worse and more horrifying than the other.
The dark haired human grinned as he saw the fear in the young human's eyes that he so quickly covered with a look of indifference and calmness.
"Well, I will tell you anyway. Apparently, the elf has met with that other elf lord, you know of whom I speak, I see? Don't worry, he is fine – for now, that is. But his companions aren't, I'm afraid."
Aragorn's head shot up at that, silver eyes fixing on the man with such intensity that Donyc needed to blink several times and avert his eyes before he could continue.
"It appears that the elf we met a few days before, oh yes, the Prince of Mirkwood, now I remember, and the other elf's sons decided to follow them, even though they had been expressly warned against such actions. Someone would need to teach them some manners as well, wouldn't you agree?" Donyc asked as he gave the young ranger a friendly smile.
Aragorn didn't answer, ever-increasing fear almost choking him now.
His brothers and Legolas had followed Elrond, o Ilúvatar, please no…
Donyc resumed his tale, clearly enjoying Aragorn's fear.
"Where was I? Oh yes, they followed him, but they weren't as clever as they thought. The men I gave to the elf, they set a trap for them. They drove them into the caves of Nogrodrim and collapsed the entrance. The three are dead."
Aragorn closed his eyes, all colour draining from his face. The mocking words of Donyc seemed to echo inside his head, growing louder by the second. Dead, dead, dead, dead….
"You lie," he said after a few second during which he had desperately been trying to find his voice that he seemed to have lost the moment his heart had broken in his chest.
"Why would I do such a thing, ranger? You insult me," Donyc said, clearly pleased with his captive's reaction. "The elf writes that they are dead and that he and the rest will arrive here in two days."
If Aragorn could have pressed his hands over his ears to block out the ringing voice in his head, he would have. As it was, the noise increased even more, filling his whole head with one single word. Dead, dead, dead…
"No," he whispered brokenly, "They cannot be dead. They are not! You lie!!"
His voice had risen almost to a shout now, something which caused Donyc to chuckle evilly.
"I do not. They are dead. All three of them, crushed by countless rocks. Not a nice way to go, if you ask me."
At that the young human looked up, eyes blazing with emotions so fierce that Donyc unconsciously took half a step back.
"They are not dead. You can't kill them like that."
Donyc grinned at him, somewhat annoyed that even in his weakened and bound state the ranger could still cause him to shrink back as if he were the prisoner.
"But they are, boy. Trust me on this. But don't worry," he stepped closer and grabbed his captive's chin, forcing grey eyes full of pain and fear to look at him, "You will join them soon enough."
He turned and walked away, musing that he could hardly think of a better way to start his day.
Aragorn closed his eyes tightly to hold back the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes. The human commander was wrong, if Legolas and his brothers were truly dead, they would be parted forever. He wouldn't join them and they wouldn't see each other again, not in this life and not in the next. They would journey to the Halls of Mandos while he would leave the circles of this world, as it was a human's fate…
He tried to hold on to the hope that Donyc or Cornallar had been lying, that they were not dead, but all the despair, pain and fear of the last days dragged him down into a dark abyss from which there was no escape, and soon he wept helplessly for his best friend and the only brothers he had ever known.
Nólad climbed up the steep path that led up to the main cavern swiftly, effortlessly picking small ledges and roots to place his feet so the stony way wouldn't slide to the side under his very feet, something which had happened to quite a lot of the men, much to the fair haired elf's amusement. Once he reached the large hollow in the rock face, he stopped and took a look around, letting his eyes wander over the long shelves and neat sleeping places that lined the walls. If it had been possible to imitate Rivendell in a cave, they had done quite a good job, he told himself again.
The mention of his former home redirecting his thoughts to the person of the young ranger, he spontaneously decided to pay him a visit and see to his wounds rather than return to the men and have another pointless conversation about the positions of every single sentinel. Neither Donyc nor Addramyr could pick a strategic spot to save their lives, that was something he had found out many fruitless discussions ago.
Grabbing his pack that lay on top of one of the wooden tables that stood in the middle of the room, he headed for one of the tunnels that led away from the main cave, disappearing into the direction of the small cavern they kept the human in. It was not a very interesting place, and, to be honest, the elf was sure that he himself would go insane in there, so far away from the sky and open air, but it had only one exit and a rather handy set of metal rings set into the wall that Cornallar had insisted on placing there, "just in case". Nólad had always wondered what case that might prove to be, and now he asked himself somewhat suspiciously if his friend hadn't been planning all this for a lot longer than he had originally thought.
Rounding a sharp bend in the tunnel, he gave the guard that was leaning against the wall only one look that was enough to cause the man to take up his club and disappear down the tunnel the elf had just come. Nodding in satisfaction, the elf closed the small distance between himself and the small entrance to the cave, stopping just in front of it and studying the young human inside. He was still seated on the floor, bound to the lowest ring, but there was something different about him, something that spoke of despair so deep and choking that it made the elf's heart clench in sympathy. He knew exactly what that felt like. His keen eyes spied dried tear traces on the young face, and suddenly the pieces fell together into place.
'So that was where Donyc had to go so suddenly in the morning,' he thought, shaking his head in mild disgust, 'I might have known.'
At the sounds of softly shuffling clothes Aragorn looked up, silver eyes cold and lifeless.
"What do you want? Have you come to torment me even more? Then, please, go on. I don't care."
Nólad stepped into the little cave, seating himself opposite the man, which left about two inches between them.
"So he has told you."
The young man gave a short laugh, a sound full of despair.
"Oh yes, he has. In no unclear terms he stated that Legolas and my brothers are dead."
The pain in the ranger's voice caused the elf to flinch involuntarily. To lose so much on one day, that was enough to break even the strongest man. It was something that had very nearly broken him all those years ago. Nólad got up and turned to leave to give the other some time to come to terms with his grief. Somehow he had the feeling that his company wouldn't be appreciated very much right now.
When he had just reached the entrance, a soft but firm voice stopped him in his tracks.
"No. Tell me why he hates men so much. Tell me what the men of Westernesse have done to deserve such bitter hatred. Tell me why my friend and brothers had to die! I think I deserve some answers by now."
Nólad slowly turned back to the little cavern, staring at the young ranger. He was right, he decided after a minute during which the man had neither blinked nor averted his eyes, returning the elven gaze with ease, he deserved to know.
Sighing, he sat back down on the little ledge, trying to decide where to start.
"Well, you already know that we hail from Eregion, and that we lived in Rivendell after Sauron destroyed our home, don't you?"
When Aragorn nodded, the elf continued.
"Cornallar was one of the few lords that survived the slaughter, and he even managed to save his infant son, but for his wife … it was too late. When he came back to her, she was dead, buried under the remnants of their house."
Nólad stopped for a second, smiling softly.
"She was truly beautiful, with golden hair and eyes so green that every jewel smith would have given his right arm to have gems in that colour. After her death, Cornallar gave all his love to his son, who was so very much like her, and not only in appearance, for he had inherited her eyes. Tinánd grew up in peace in Imladris, and it was a long peace. For over 1700 years we lived in Rivendell without worries, but then, 3000 years ago, war once again came upon us, when the Last Alliance of Men and Elves was formed at the instigation of Elendil, the High King and your ada . No, I don't want to quarrel with you about this topic, dúnadan ," he raised a hand when Aragorn opened his mouth to say something, "But at their insistence it was formed. Tinánd joined the army, out of two reasons: First, because he was convinced that it was the only way to stop Sauron, and second, because he wouldn't let his friend go alone."
"What friend?" Aragorn asked, intrigued.
Nólad smiled again.
"One of your forefathers, ranger. Anárion, brother of Isildur and younger son of the High King of Gondor and Arnor, Elendil. Tinánd and Anárion had met when the prince was younger, before the destruction of Númenor, and they became friends quickly. Tinánd ignored all those who told him not to befriend a mortal, that it would only bring him pain, and when the war broke out, Tinánd wasn't willing to let his friend go to war without him. For ten years they fought side by side, protecting each other's backs, and never anything worse than scratches and bruises befell them. That changed though, one year before the Fall of Barad-dûr."
"What happened?" Aragorn questioned as the fair haired elf fell silent and stared at the ground, eyes wide and unseeing.
"They died," Nólad answered curtly. "Their troop was ambushed by orcs, and although they fought bravely and held them off for longer than anyone would have thought possible, they were still overwhelmed in the end and slaughtered, one by one. When we found them, they still lay back to back, protecting each other."
Aragorn closed his eyes sadly. Of course he had always known that Isildur's younger brother had been killed one year before the war ended, but he had never been told about the circumstances. Now he knew why.
"I am sorry," he said quietly, "I see what you meant when you said he would kill me. Thank you for not telling him."
Nólad rose to his feet, his face pale and drawn from the memories he had just relived.
"Think nothing of it, young one. I don't think his reasoning is correct myself."
"Then why do you help him, when you know he is doing the wrong thing?"
The elf looked at the young human sharply.
"We do not always do what we want to do, and neither do we always do what is best for us or what is the right thing. You should know that, Heir of Isildur."
Aragorn dropped his eyes, he did indeed know that. Suddenly he saw Legolas' earnest face appear in his mind's eye, smiling at him gently.
'You are not bound by their deeds, Aragorn,' his friend's voice told him softly. 'You decide your own fate, it doesn't matter who your ancestors were, mellonamin. Not to me, and not to anyone else that matters.'
Filled with new resolve, he raised his head and looked Nólad in the eye.
"I am not my forefathers, Nólad. I decide myself what to do with the things fate has given to me."
The elf just looked at him, cocking his head slightly to one side.
"You are indeed not, dúnadan. I see that now. Good Night."
He turned and walked away, his soft footfall barely making a sound on the hard, stony ground.
When the fair haired elf had left, Aragorn leaned back, shifting around for a second before resenting himself to the fact that he wouldn't be able to find a position in which he didn't hurt. It was either his back or his arms or his shoulder, he would simply have to ignore it. He closed his eyes with a tired sigh, carefully avoiding thinking of his brothers or Legolas so he wouldn't lose himself in the dark pit from which he knew he wouldn't be able to escape by himself.
'I just hope that only because I heard Legolas' voice that doesn't mean that he died and came back to haunt me,' he thought wryly, suppressing a yawn.
Just before he fell asleep, exhausted by the mental anguish he had experienced today, he came to the conclusion that this could not be the case. Elladan and Elrohir would never miss a chance to annoy him, if he had heard his elven friend's ghost, he would have heard the twins' as well.
Strangely comforted by this, he relaxed his hold on consciousness and let sleep carry him away to places where nothing could separate him from his friends and family.
TBC...
ada - father (daddy)
mellonamin - my friend
dúnadan - 'Man of the West', ranger
*grins sheepishly* Hey, a little angst is always a good thing, isn't it? Isn't it?? *shoots pleading looks at angry readers* Uhm, well, my plane will be leaving soon ... I've got to go ... Bye!! *runs off* Oh, before I go: Look out for the next chapter, which will be here as soon as possible, in which a lot of questions will be answered and Estel finally gets rescued. *grins evilly* In a way, that is...
Oh, usually I beg for reviews here, so: Would you? Please? I would be soooo happy! Please Please Please??
Additional A/N:
Zam - Yeah, well, I guess your orc horde is just not orcish enough for other orcs - or goblins, in this case. But they're great at playing Trivial Pursuit! *grimaces* Aragorn in a diaper? I soooo don't want to imagine that!! *g* LOL!! 'Is there any man flesh?'!! That's so great ... *reads on* ... 'monkey-sweater'?? What kind of insult is that?? You are weird, you are really weird... Uhm, I'm sorry, but Anárion wasn't Cornallar's friend, he was Tinánd's, Cornallar's son's. (wow, so many genitives in one sentence!! *g*) *grins evilly* Yes, Cornallar can be quite annoying, but he will get what is coming for him, believe me... *pats Zam's back* Don't worry, there's _always_ hope! Unless Donyc kills Estel, of course, then he/it's dead... *g*
ThE iNsAnE oNe - LOL! Your chapter is sooo funny! I still have to review it, but just in case I don't have enough time (why is there always so much to do when you go somewhere?? Huh??), don't be angry. I'll try to do it once I'm online again... Only one more chapter for ITB?? You can't be serious!! Please ... write more ... soon ... please ... But then post more of TMAATB (God, you've got to love acronyms!), now!! I demand it!!
E - I'm not telling you who is arriving where, and when. (*scratches head* Did that make sense? I guess not...) LOL, Donyc is indeed a bit stupid, and he underestimates his opponents, which can get you killed real quick... Donyc could never have a son! I mean, who would be willing to... Okay, I'll stop that train of thought _right here_. *grins smugly* Well, sometimes begging helps. Keep going. Just kidding!!!
Belle - *wide-eyed* Your profs are shouting "prof smash"?? That's definitely weird!! Sorry, I updated as fast as I could, and, believe me, you wouldn't thank me if I had posted ch19 already. That one is the mother of all cliffies, and you would hate me if you would have to wait for more than ten days... It's for your own good!! *g* Your college is a conservative christian one? I went to a catholic school, our head master was a Jesuit priest, as were a lot of the other teachers... I know _very well_ what you mean... *blushes* Well, I _am_ considering something like that. Perhaps I will study journalism as well next year. We'll see. *pats her back* Calm down, breathe, that's it... I'm posting, see? *raises eyebrow* Well, your college sounds weirder by the second! Don't worry, now you can do your homework! That's great, isn't it? *g*
Alexa - 'Lucifer - Satan of FF'?? Owww, that's so sweet, thank you.... I'm weird, I know, but that's the nicest thing someone has told me since they threatened to feed me to wargs and stuff... *g* Uhm, 0 % cliffhangers? That won't work, I'm afraid, since ch19 and 20 are both cliffies, and I'm very proud of them. They are evil!!
TrustingFriendship - *nods* Yes, he may have been in pain, but not nearly in as much mental pain as the others! We can't have that, fair's fair... Well, they _will_ get out, dont worry. Eventually... *evil chuckle*
Firnsarnien - SEE?? This isn't a cliffy!! See??? *under her breath* The next two chappies are, though... You didn't hear that, did you?? *grins smugly* Well, I did as you asked: Another chapter, relatively soon *ignores shouts of protest* and no cliffy! That's great, isn't it?? *g* Don't worry, more E/E/L in the next two chapters, read on!!
Mouse - LOL, you are going to drown me in M&Ms? Until I update again? There is a flaw in that plan!! I don't know where, but there is one, believe me... *g* Thanks so much for all your reviews, it's great to see that some people are actually following this ... weird ... thing ... Thanks!!
Alilacia - No, don't worry, I meant it will take me about three more weeks to finish the story. The next chapter should be up in a little more than a week, okay? But the first week I definitely will have no internet access, but I'll try to update as fast as possible. *g* Yeah, the twins are a little nuts, aren't they? There another scene jkust like that in this chappie... Thanks so much for all your reviews and keep your wargs out of the tunnel!! I can't have them ruin my story!!
Fliewatuet - *blushes* Owww, that's so kind of you! Someone likes my style of writing! (My sister: What? Weird humour, people out of character, stupid and evil villains? Who'd like that?) *sighs* Siblings... Yeah, well, they are all in tight spots right now, but things will get better! Soon ... not right now, of course... *g*
Kaeera - Wow! Ihr habt einen PC in der Pausenhalle? So was hatten wir auf unserer Schule nicht!! *neidisch guck* *zeigt stolz* Siehst du?? Elrohir is verletzt!? Na ja, der Rest eigentlich auch, und so viel angst war's dann auch wieder nicht, aber es sollte ja auch nur eine kleine Szene sein. *zuckt Schultern* Na ja, im naechsten Kapitel geht's dann ja auch weiter, aber das ist eher komisch... Mathematik-Wettbewerb? Wow! Da waer ich nur als Abschreckungsobjekt reingekommen!! Ich hab's ja auch nach dem 12. abgegeben... *g* Schoen, dass du die bloeden Sprueche mochtest, mehr kommen noch!! Goblins sind Kobolde, aber ich muss da immer an HP denken...
Alisha - *looks at Alisha* Well, that was an ... interesting reaction! Yeah, well, I know that elves glow in the dark, but they're injured and exhausted so they don't glow so much now ... *raises eyebrow* And the mysterious Mirkwood elves were trampling so loudly that they were confused with goblins?? *g* But I like the Glorfindel-to-the-rescue-bit! It's a nice idea... But it would be slightly improbable, wouldn't you agree? *g* *panicking* See?? It's here! No reason for nagging!!
Imbefaniel - What's the exact adress? I would love to check out your pics! Thanks for the review, I posted as fast as possible! Really!
CrazyLOTRfan - *evil grin* I agree! Poor everyone!! Was that enough angst? I was nearly crying myself when I wrote the end of the Donyc-Aragorn-scene, I've always thought that not-being-together-after-death-thing so sad!! Well, don't tell anyone, it would ruin my reputation...
Joanne - Well, let's say it this way: 'Soon' is a very relative term, isn't it? All I'm saying someone is getting to Estel next chapter, it might be Elrond. Then again, I might be someone else... I'm so happy you like it, thanks for reviewing!
Reginabean - Phew! Lucky you!! So you're really travelling to Mirkwood? Good choice!! *grins* There are no cliffs there, after all...
Miss Undastood - Sure you could - not German, maybe, because it's quite hard, but ... Latin is quite easy. As is Spanish, when you know Latin, that is... I'm not sure about Seobryn yet, that will be decided in the next chapter. *gulps* What kind of neighbours do you have? They eat bear glasses? Jesus...
Nikeie - *narrows eyes* How do you know Legolas' age?? I couldn't find it anywhere, and all the people I've spoken to didn't know either. So, how do you know? Tell me!! *g* Well, yes, I could have started with Legolas in Rivendell, but everybody does that. Besides, there are reasons for that, just wait for the next chapter... Well, the elvish is supposed to be Sindarin, but it's a bad dictionary, as I said, and I'm looking for another one. It's the Grey Company's, but they are role-players, so it's not really accurate, I think. And don't worry, the horse is not dead, only wounded. Well, Legolas is not even my main target, I'm more of an Aragorn fan... Sorry for hurting your elf. *evil cackle* Not.
MidnightLoner - I'm glad I coudl help. Thanks so much for your kind words, and I posted this asap! Really! Well, yes, they are going to have a lot of fun with the goblins... Not!!
Lina - Well, I'm sorry, Lina, really... *pats her back, eyeing Éomer lustfully* He is so ... cute sometimes... *g* As I said, I will try to post there, but I can't make any promises! *pouts* Great, now even Éomer is trying to get away from me ... nobody loves me ... that's so unfair ... *starts crying* LOL, well, Éomer, is a little stupid, after all...
Ciria - *looks scandalized* Well, I don't like Cornallar, of course. He's horrible - hm, what does that say about me, considering that I have created him? *looks at Ciria who is jumping up and down in excitement* You are obsessed with Nólad, d'you know that? But he's in this chapter as well, so don't worry! We? What we? Oh, and Eskadol mean Hidden Home, at least that's what it's supposed to mean. Well, in a way you are right about Nólad's motivations, he has been deeply scarred by the war, but _Cornallar_ is his lord, first and foremost. Elrond for a while, when they were living in Rivendell, but always after Cornallar. Well, I won't answer all the otehr questions, I would ruin the rest of the fic. You'll have to wait for a bit, I'm afraid. Oh, Nólad lost no one specific, just about all his friends and remaining family. Nólad's eyes are light grey. I'm glad you still like it, thanks for the long review!
One15 - *nickt ernsthaft* In der Tat, ich komme aus Deutschland. Ich wohne sogar da, stell dir vor!! *g* *rot werd* Oh, danke, ist doch schoen zu hoeren, dass meine Englischkenntnisse so gut sind - na ja, ich war vor einem halben Jahr 6 Monate in England als AuPair (da fahre ich jetzt auch wieder hin, zu Besuch), also sollte man so was aehnliches auch erwarten, nech?? Ta-taaaa!! Herzlichen Glueckwunsch!! Nur fuer dich, ein kleines Geburtstagsgeschenk! Wir wollen doch nicht, dass du den Tag damit verbringst, vor dem PC hin- und herzutigern, oder? *g* Tja, mit dem Geschichts-LK haben wir doch alle angefangen... Mach nur eins nicht: Nimm nicht nur Geschichte, da drehst du durch. Ich bin jetzt erst im 2. FS und glaub mir: Nur Geschichte macht dich fertig! *g* Was eine Erklaerung fuer das hier waere...
Sharkshape - *blushes* Oh, believe me, there _are_ mistakes. Quite a lot actually, somehow a few always manage to hide themselves somewhere. I think it helps when you're not a native speaker, I tend to be so insecure that I check things twice before posting anything. *blushes even more* Well, I like your review! It's very nice to read, even if it gives me delusions of grandeur... Yeah, well, Nólad... He IS quite predictable, I know, but I thought his motivations are more or less clear. He has lost people he loved in that skirmish just like Cornallar, and he doesn't like men or other races either. But he isn't insane and he doesn't want to hurt elves or people with elven blood. Ah well. It's my first story, and something like that was bound to happen... Thanks so much for telling me what you think of this! It helps a lot!
Aurienia - Uhm, great to hear. I'd hate to see you die. So you want more Cornallar-Elrond-scenes? Sorry, not in this chapter, but in the next, okay? Would YOU want to ride that horse?? I wouldn't, besides, this horse is very nervous because of the darkness. You can't calm a horse when you're sitting on top of it. Phew, I'm glad you decided not to write the review in French, because I don't understand a word except "Oui", "Merci" and stuff like that. I chose Ancient Greek instead, and never regretted it... *g* LOL, the look sounds interesting! You want more Legolas angst? Poor elf, he has had quite enough of that, don't you think?? But Estel angst is coming up now!!
Tbiris - Yes, how will they get past the goblins? Just read on and find out! Oh, and Aragorn isn't suffering without a reason, he is suffering because the author and the readers _like_ it!! Mhahahaha! We're evil, you know...
Salara - Hah, ich habe immer Zeit zum Surfen!! Tja, das Pferd *taetschelt es und bekommt fast die Hand abgebissen* ist eigentlich die Replika eines Pferdes, das ich kenne, und das genauso ist. Ganz genauso. Oho! Ich wurde von einem Leser explizit aufgefordert, unsere Helden zu peinigen! Nun kann keiner mehr sagen, das waere alles meine Schuld! Aber, holde Dame, Euer Wunsch ist mir Befehl!! Mhahahaha!! Und keine Angst, ich tu schon was, Kapitel 19 ist viiiiieeeel zu lang und vollgepackt mit mehr oder minder nachzuvollziehenden Handlungen und Entwicklungen! Danke fuer die guten Wuensche, und ich werde die Ferien damit verbringen, noch perfidere Abenteuer fuer unsere Lieblinge auszuhecken!
Elanor - *shakes her hand* Another Estel fan! He is just great, isn't he? *sigh* Stop it! *puts her hand over Elanor's mouth* Stop scaring him like that! He doesn't need to know what will happen to him - he will find out soon enough!! *tried to remember some Dutch from all the times she has been there as a child* I give up! Sorry! All I remember was that it was quite easy to understand when you know German, or at least to read. The languages are quite similar, wouldn't you agree? Thanks for saying that my English is good, so is yours! Thanks for adding me to your favorites! *huggles her* Vielen Dank! (I'm sure you'll remember that! *g*)
ManuKu - Tja ja, noch ein Nólad-fan; davon gibt es mittlerweile ziemlich viele! Ich kann leider zu seinem weitern Schicksal keine Aussagen machen ... Kein Kommentar! Den Trailer habe ich leider noch nciht gesehen, es war entweder das Kapitel hier fertig machen oder der Trailer! Ich bin sicher, du unterstuetzt meine Entscheidung... *g* Gottseidank gibt es ja auch Internet auf der Insel, sonst wuerde ich durchdrehen! Seid nicht boese, falls ich es nicht mehr schaffe, eure Geschichte zu reviewen, ja? Ich fiebere mit, dessen seid euch gewiss! Ich werde versuchen, es bei Gelegenheit nachzuholen! Aber ich muss noch packen und und und...
W - Cool name! Now I've got "E" and "W"... *g* Yay! Constructive criticism! Hey, don't look at me like that, I really like it! It helps a lot! *drops her eyes* You are right, and you cannot imagine how surprised I am as to why no one else has yet noticed that Elrond is acting, well, let's say 'strange', shall we? I know it's a bit weird, but I had this idea and it wouldn't go away... Quite frankly, I am surprised you didn't stop reading after chapter 3, shrieking "They are soooo out of character!!!" Well, for the other men: Addramyr is just plain sadistic, that guard Aragorn banged over the head doesn't like him for obvious reasons, and the rest isn't so bad, are they? I mean, okay, they are a bit evil, but they are not treating him overly cruelly, are they? It's just their job, and they're ruthless and they get paid for it and... *takes a deep breath* Okay, so perhaps you are right. But humans are like that, I think, once you give them a little power over others. LOL, yeah, they need a lot of rope. But that's something they could have taken into consideration, knowing that they would have to kidnap someone. Well, thanks for pointing these things out to me, and thanks for thr review! I'm glad you still like it!
Marbienl - *jumps up and down* Write faster, write faster! I want to read it! Please! Hey, your German is good! And the other language: That sounded like Dutch to me?! Is it? Did that mean "It's not that bad, is it?" (or somthing like that in English)? If it did, it once again proves my theory that you can understand a lot if you speak German... *pats her back* I know that poor Estel baby is cold and hurt, but, well, let's say Donyc doesn't see things our way. And I won't say anything about Nólad or Seobryn, it would ruin the next few chapters! Thanks so much for the review!!
Luce - *blushes* Thank you! It's great to hear that you like it so much! Don't worry, Legolas and the twins will get out of there soon - I'm not promising not to hurt them, though! *evil grin* You can't have enough Estel angst, can you?? Thanks for reviewing!
Wow, this is getting longer than the actual chapter! I will have to think of another way of responding to reviews ... not now though, I have still to pack my things and stuff. Another huge thank you to all of you! Reviews are just ... words fail me. Thanks!!