Chapter 16
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"We should wait for the light of day to return to us." Haldir remarked in a strained whisper.
Night was quickly falling over Middle earth, wrapping the dark land of Mordor in an even darker blanket of inky blackness. The heavens weighed heavily upon the travelers from above, disallowing even the faintest glimmer of starlight show. Ahead of them by only a few paces was the cliffside that dropped for a good thirty leagues to end suddenly in the steaming, sulpheric, bubbling river of molten lava. It glowed with a treacherous heat, the bloodied light illuminating the mining fields just enough that the elves could see the soot- streaked faces of the prisoners on the other side.
"I concur. We should take refuge in the trees." Lirahall replied
Surprisingly, there was a small grove of thickly leaved trees not very far from their present location. They seemed unaffected by both the heat and the foul odors that saturated the very air. As they stealthily made their way to the grove, Cee turned to Élharma and whispered, "My husband and my baby girl are over there somewhere."
Élharma took Cee's hand in her own and gave it a reassuring squeeze, "We will get them out. I promise."
They managed to make it to the trees; Haldir found one that would suit as a safe hiding place for the four of them and ushered the others into it. Cee climbed first, finding a manageably comfortable position in the thick but rough boughs. Next came Élharma, deftly climbing into the heights. Haldir found himself watching the way her lithe body moved beneath the thick material of her attire. Even in this dim and uncomplimentary lighting, the shift of her muscles played alluringly upon his mind.
Haldir shook himself mentally; he felt too much amnesty towards that elf to let his mind wander in such a lucid manner. He climbed into the great limbs, followed closely by Lirahall. When he had settled himself into a relatively pleasant position in the arms of the tree, Élharma purposefully situated herself next to him.
"Don't bother me." He whispered grumpily.
"Haldir…" She said, her voice pleading, "I think we should talk."
He turned his back to her.
She laid her cheek on the broad expanse of his back, saying in a voice so low that only his ears could decipher the words, "I still love you."
Suddenly, he turned back to face her, he seethed, "I am so sorry, but I cannot return your favor."
Slightly shocked, she gasped, "Excuse me?"
His voice challenging, "Why are you acting like nothing happened?" he asked.
She gave a faint smile and answered, "Nothing did happen."
"Yes, something most certainly DID happen. I found out that you are an ASSASIN! How can you expect me to act the same when you are not the same?" He replied heatedly
She shook her head knowingly, "I AM the same." At his look of complete and utter shock, she quickly continued, "I am the same Élharma that came to Rivendell with you from Lothlorien. I have not changed. I am as passionate as always with the horses, I still like to watch the stars, I still love song and poem, and I still love live with all of its little twists and turns. I may be freer, but essentially the same. No, dear March warden, I am very much the same as before; it is your perspective that changed."
Dissuaded, he scowled, "I disagree. Beside the fact that you are an assassin, you were not truthful with me about your past."
She cocked an eyebrow and politely asked, "You were not very truthful either, as I recall."
He looked away crossly, "That is not the same." And turned away from her once again.
To his displeasure, he realized that she was correct in her thinking. She had, in fact lived with this past training for as long as he had known her. It was not as if something happened all of the sudden that she was one day, out of the blue, different. Well, he reminisced, she was a little different. When he had met her, she would not have touched him, let alone put her cheek so tantalizingly on his back. He could feel her breath on the back of his neck and it made his heart melt out of his chest. Definitely freer, no doubt about that. Stubbornly, he held on to the fact that she had not told him, that she had kept a secret from him.
His thoughts were interrupted by a harsh call from the direction of the path. Lirahall turned to them tensely, "It would appear that your little lover's spat has drawn some unwanted attention."
Élharma spat a curse beneath her breath in some language foreign to the listeners before she whispered, "Lirahall, there are only three of them. I will take the two goblins on the right, you take the big orc on the left and Haldir, you stay with Cee in the instance that either one of us fail." Before either could object, she silently leapt out of the tree into the gloom below.
She was frustrated. Very frustrated, as a matter of fact. She welcomed this opportunity to unleash her pent up anger as her learned instincts kicked in. Every sense sharpened to the point of driving her brain to madness, she smelled every scent no matter how faint; her eyes picked up every wave of light, seing every movement like it was in slow motion; in her ears every sound reverberated into her head deafeningly. Falling into the familiar trancelike state, she moved almost invisibly under the shadow of darkness with such prowess that the two goblins did not know what hit them until their heads fell lifelessly on the ground; severed from their still standing bodies. With ease her blade layed open the rancid hide, flaying through muscle, skin, tissue like butte. When she had finished, her sensitive ears heard the flow of blood a few yards away and she knew that Lirahall had been successful.
Haldir watched in a sort of repulsed awe. Part of him did not want to watch the evidence of her evilness embody itself, yet another part of him appreciated a good and effective warrior. He mentally kicked himself for ever falling in love with such a sinister being. How could she expect him to still love her when she had the blood of one of the brethren on her hands? She moved stealthily in the trees with practiced ease. His heart jumped into his throat as he watched her mercilessly draw her knives through the goblin's flesh. He noticed how she appeared totally calm, almost serene. She stooped to wipe the blood off of her blades with a withered leaf on the ground.
Élharma felt it before she understood it. She felt a black, ugly curtain fall between her and Haldir. It took her by surprise and she tripped slightly as she climbed into the tree. It was confusing. In her mind, she had made herself very clear to him, yet he was still fostering these spiteful thoughts. She was concerned that in his mind she had dropped to the level of being evil. It made her even more frustrated, considering the fact that she was here to get HIS granddaughter out of this hideous place.
Upon reaching the upper limbs, she met Lirahall's gaze and nodded: her mission had been successful. Cee scooted over to Élharma's location, "You have my applause."
Élharma answered, "I do not want your applause, I don't want anyone's applause. I hate having to kill any living thing, even something as evil as one of Sauron's goblins."
Cee nodded, "But you must also accept that sometimes for good to prevail, evil must be extinguished. Unfortunately, in that there must be some spilling of blood. Consider yourself lucky to have the skills to fight evil in Middle earth, if it weren't for you, my husband and daughter would be without hope of rescue."
Élharma pursed her lips, "You are wiser in that statement than you probably realize. I just wish that more of my kind could retain the understanding that you just exhibited."
"I hate to have to break up your little love fest, but we are here on a mission." Haldir interrupted rudely, "And we do still have to make a battle plan."
" Getting in is going to be a problem: There is one bridge crossing the river of lava. It has a guard tower blocking it on each side." Haldir said.
Élharma asked, "Cant we just use the attire from the sentries that we just discarded to use as a costume and get in?"
"Definitely not." Cee said, "They require all who go past the guard tower to take their helmet off."
Stumped, there was a slight pause.
Élharma finally broke the silence, "How long would you need to free all of the prisoners if there was no other beings involved?"
Lirahall thought for a moment before answering, "Judging from the size of that island, about seven or eight minutes. Why?"
"I could try something Galadriel taught me, she said that it helped her get out of several close calls on the battle field."
Haldir nodded, "Do it."
Cee held up a hand, "Wait, what are you going to do?"
Élharma drew her lips tight over her teeth as she hoarsely whispered, "I could go into the orcs and goblins and ogres and troll's minds and enduce a coma like state. My problem comes with the sheer numbers of beings out there."
Lirahall's brows knit together, "I heard that maneauvers like that were dangerous."
Élharma smiled, "No, not really, but I don't know how long I can keep it going, you may only get five minutes."
Lirahall scowled, "If it is our only option…."
Élharma closed her eyes, "Go. Wait at the edge of the path for them to fall asleep. Then you can go. I warn you, though: don't touch any of them."
And with a rush, they were gone. Élharma kept her eyes closed, reaching her mind out to the many foul and dirty conciecenesses surrounding her. Slowly, she worked herself into their minds and overpowered their concieceness into sleep, and from sleep into a coma. There were many strong minds and her effort at control was extreme. She felt sweat begin to bead on her forehead as she battled the last of the minds into submission. Finally, they were all silent.
Cee looked over her shoulder at the elf maiden who sat rigidly upon the branch of the tree. Cee could see sweat begin to stain the grey tunic black and the maiden's eyes darted back and forth beneath pale eyelids. "I think I should stay with her."
Haldir looked at Cee curiously, "If you insist."
"If you are going to stay with her, go now." Lirahall said as he jumped onto the path, "We have five minutes, be waiting for us here."
The orc in the guard tower had just slumped to the floor. Haldir rushed to follow Lirahall, calling over his shoulder, "What are their names?"
Cee yelled, "Ethia and Korodan!"
She pearched herself by the straining Élharma, whispering soothing words into the pointed ears. Élharma's back was ramrod straight, her jaws clenched and her hands balled tightly into fists. Cee saw a drop of blood form on the palm of one fair hand as the maiden's fingernails cut deeply into her own flesh. Cee considered trying to loosen the grip but decided not to, since Élharma was obviously physically stronger. Cee just sat there, offering her strength to the now dripping, trembling, straining, tensed form on the branch.
Haldir and Lirahall ran swiftly to where the slaves were kept, deftly leaping over the fallen bodies of the sleeping orcs.
The human slaves were tied to stakes that were stuck in the ground in hap hazardous rows. It made them ill, seeing the emaciated state of these men. Most were no more than bags of bones sagging lifelessly against their respective stake, their eyes staring listlessly into the air and an expression of mindless terror painted on their faces. There were about fifty of them, and the two elves began hacking at the filth-ridden bonds that tied the slaves to their steaks. As they made their way down the rows, they were careful to tell each prisoner, "Run for your home now, don't touch any of the creatures keeping you here, just run and never look back." At these words, most of the men took off at a slow but determined run for the bridge. Others, unfortunately, just sagged to the ground, their legs to weak to hold them any longer.
Finally, Haldir saw the miniature form of a child plastered against one of the smaller steaks. He rushed to the girl, kneeling gently in front of the tiny body.
"Ethina, wake up." He brushed her fingertips over the girl's brow.
The girl's eyes flew open and she regarded Haldir with terrified horror.
"Shhhhh. I came to bring you back to your mommy." He said tenderly.
"M a. m a?" The girl whispered, understanding sparking in her eyes.
"Yes." Haldir smiled, "But you have to listen to what I say. Do you understand?"
The child nodded solemnly.
Haldir took his dagger and cut the ropes that tied Ethina's hands to the steak. Blood was dripping on the floor from where the cord had cut into her wrists and her miniature fingers were a distinct purplish color. Much to his surprise, the girl walked up to him and put her tiny head on his chest. The little girl then proceeded to put the thumb of one hand in her mouth and a lock of his hair in another, and gave a deep sigh; apparently ready to be picked up. Haldir did so, wrapping his arms beneath the frail body and standing up. She nuzzled her face against his shoulder, rubbing the lock of his hair absently on her cheek while she sucked quietly on her miniature thmb.
"Come on!" Lirahall cried as he rent his knife through the ropes that tied the last of the prisoners, "To the bridge!"
There was a flurry of excitement and all of those still standing began running hap hazardously to the bridge. Haldir knew that they did not have much time left, it had been about seven minutes since they had crossed the bridge last. He wondered how long Élharma could keep it up, he desperately hoped that it would be just a few moments longer. The child clung to his shirt faithfully, not making so much as a peep. Haldir could no help but smile: now HERE was a brave hearted child.
Quickly approaching the hiding place, he heard Cee squeal. She ran to him and almost bowled him over in her enthusiasm, "Ethina! My beautiful baby girl!" as she scooped the tiny child into her arms. "Momma!" The girl answered, squeezing her tiny arms around her mother's neck. There was another rush of movement and Haldir felt something tall and dirty push roughly past him and converge upon the sobbing, crying, squealing, laughing Cee. It must be her husband.
"Don't get to comfortable." Haldir cautioned them, "We still have to outrun this fleet of orcs after they wake up."
He approached Élharma, who was now alone on the branch of the tree. He reached out and grabbed her shoulder. To his shock and dismay, he felt her skin cold against his touch and a trickle of her sweat ran in an icy rivulet down his hand. He shook her sharply, "We are all out. Wake up."
To his relief, she opened her eyes groggily. He heard a sound from across the bridge; the foul creatures were awaking. "Come on, we have to get out of here." He said. When he saw her leap out of the tree and land safely on the ground, he ran to the stragglers of fleeing prisoners, encouraging them on to freedom.
Élharma stumbled onto the path drunkenly, exhausted both physically, mentally and emotionally. The road swam in front of her eyes as she tried to follow Haldir back out of this terrible land. It was a valiant effort, but unproductive as all she did was reel slightly before falling unconciece across the road.
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