DISCLAIMER: They are not mine, you know it.

Author Notes: English is not my mother language, sorry for the mistakes. I know that elves aren't afraid of almost anything (including ghost, shadows, voices out of nowhere, crazy fanfic writers like me...) but in this story they are, not as humans but they can be scare.

PLEASE REVIEW I will really appreciate it. If you are a fanfic writer  you know what a review means. So please do it. And if you are not, do it anyway and make a girl happy (very, very happy)

Are you still bored?

"I'm bored" a little eight year old Estel said looking at his brothers. Elladan and Legolas exchanged amused glances while Elrond and Glorfindel looked at the little human with raised eyebrows.

"Sorry Estel, but I'm afraid the storm is worse" Elrohir said chuckling. They were all gathered in the Hall of Fire in the House of Elrond. It was a rainy and cold afternoon, Elladan, Legolas and Elrohir were sat in a big and soft couch reading, Elrond and Glorfindel were discussing some state business and Estel was sat on the floor looking at the fire in the chimney.

"It can't be that bad"

"Estel, we can hardly see what is two miles away" Elrohir said

"If we walk as close as you three always are, we won't get lost" the human insisted, at this Glorfindel cleared his throat giving the three elven princes a questioning look. Said princes pretended to have seen nothing.

"And what if you crush with a tree?" Legolas suggested without getting his eyes of the book he was reading.

"Well..."

"Or if you fall in the lake?" Elrohir continue

"Well..."

"Or if you fall in the waterfalls?" Elladan finished

"Alright! I admit it, we can't go out. But is pure torture" Estel said at last pouting

"For whom? You or us?"

"Elladan! That wasn't funny" The human said throwing a cushion to the older twin who avoided it, so the cushion hit Legolas that was peacefully reading ignoring the teasing. Estel's eyes grew wide and he stood up quickly and stepped behind Elrond.

"What is it?" the lord asked and sighed deeply when he saw the twins laughing at Legolas and the prince walking to Estel with two cushions "I should have guessed" and he pushed Estel out of his near protection.

"Come here little human" Legolas said, Estel looking that Elrond wasn't going to be the shield he wanted to he ran to the door, but Legolas anticipated his move and threw the cushions in that direction. What the prince didn't anticipated was that Mithrandir entered in the Hall in that moment, so the Istari was welcome with to cushions in his face.

"Next time I come to your house Elrond remember me to bring an armor" Mithrandir said, eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Sorry Mithrandir" Legolas apologized sheepishly. Estel, thinking that the prince archer was distracted he tried to go near Elrond again , but he was caught by Legolas who tickle him.

"Legolas you are going to suffocate him" Elrohir said laughing.

"We thought that you were in the library" Elrond said shaking his head with resignation.

"I found what I wanted, so I decide to spend some time with your crazy elflings"

"Elbereth helps you" Glorfindel said.

"And next time you throw a pillow to your brothers make it hit THEM, not ME!" Legolas said with a smile leaving an almost breathless Estel on the floor. Mithrandir chuckled.

"It's always refreshing to come here, the innocence of Estel is comforting, as well as the relation between those three"

"Ah, Mithrandir, be with them for a while and you will change your mind" Glorfindel said sighing

"We heard that!" The three young elves shouted

"Behave!" Elrond said, but the three didn't seem to listen.

"They only hear what they want" Elrond said sighing.

"You know, dear friend, instead of the Last Homely House, this place should be the Sighing Homely House" Mithrandir laughed

"Want to stay for a month?" The lord said raising an elegant eyebrow

"No thanks! I still have to do a lot of things before I die!"

"We heard that!"

"See what I mean?" Elrond said throwing his hands up, Mithrandir chuckled "Weren't you three reading?"

"No, Legolas was reading. We were interrupted" Elladan said

"And I was attacked" Legolas pointed.

"I'm bored!" Estel complained again and everybody facefaulted.

"Read" Elrohir said

" I've been reading all day!"

"We too" the younger twin said

"Elrohir, he's eight years all" Elladan said

"Point" Legolas and Elladan rolled their eyes amused

"Mithrandir why don't you tell us a story?" Estel said rolling his eyes at the three princes "An interesting one"

"A story?" Mithrandir said, a thunder fell lightening the Hall "Mmm. A story..." his eyes shone devilishly. Elrond and Glorfindel grinned knowing what was in the Istari's mind. "Well, I guess I can tell you a story that you will remember for a long time" Legolas sat between the twins where he was reading and they embraced each other for warm (or so they said), Mithrandir sat on a comfortable chair next to the fire, Estel laid on the floor among several cushions and Glorfindel and Elrond sat in two chairs close to the three friends.

"You are joining us?" Elladan asked

"I think we deserve a break" was all Elrond said looking amused at Mithrandir

"They are plotting something" Legolas whispered

"Lets see who turns to be the victim" Elrohir whispered back. A thunder made the windows trembled

"Well, this story happened to Lord Celeborn and me at the end of the Second Age. We were arriving here, to Imladris, for we needed to speak with Elrond of very urgent matters..."

THE MOCKING SHADOW

"The storm is getting worse" Mithrandir shouted holding his hat tightly, for the wind menaced to take it with it.

"I can already see Imladris" Celeborn said shouting as well "It won't take us too long"

"But with this storm we can get lost, we should stop for a while"

"No, I must return to LoriƩn soon, that is why I insisted in traveling without escort, to travel quicker"

"Elves..." Mithrandir whispered, Celeborn looked at him with a raised eyebrow. They continued walking side by side while the day faded and the night covered with darkness the already dark road. Suddenly Celeborn stopped and looked around them. The trees were just black spots dancing disturbingly, the rain was lighten by the often thunders and because of the clouds the stars weren't visible.

"What is it?" the old Istari asked frowning

"I don't know for sure, I thought that I had saw something but..." he shocked his head

"Orcs maybe?"

"No, even with the rain the orc's smell is unmistakable." He sighed "It was nothing, lets continue" as they walked, Mithrandir was more and more anxious, for he knew that the elves didn't got nervous for nothing and despite what the Lord of LothloriƩn said, the Istari had seen the elf a bit disturbed.

            It didn't passed half an hour when Celeborn unsheathe his bow and had an arrow ready, Mithrandir looked at him worried but alert. It was then when the Istari, by the corner of his eye, saw the shadow, deep black against black, but when he turned to see it directly there was nothing. They waited several minutes, but they didn't see anything again. Finally, Celeborn relaxed and lowed his bow.

"Now don't tell me it was nothing" Mithrandir said worried "But I understand why you thought that, it seems that it is only visible if we see it by the corner of the eye" Celeborn nodded

"But it is like a reflection, when I was taking aim it moved a little, it... I don't know how to describe it"

"We better hurry" and the Istari lighted his staff. The pale light made visible the nearest trees, but beyond them it was just darkness.

"Not even Thranduil and the silvan elves would like this night" Celeborn said

"Indeed" his companion nodded. "The trees look menacing"

"But I doubt they dare to harm a first born" Celeborn said with the arrogance of the elves, not malicious, but oblivious of it.

"Lucky you" said the wizard rolling his eyes. "Elves..." he thought a bit amused. Again they started walking. A sudden cold wind made them stop, the cold increased and the trees' branches seemed to move to touch the two travelers.

"This is not natural" Celeborn told his companion as they both started running "I had never see the trees like this, but I can't feel any evil"

" I can't as well, but something is happening here" suddenly they stopped. There it was again, the menacing shadow, with a twisted form. Taking aim, Celeborn shot his arrow as fast as it could hitting it in the middle. Everything returned to normal again.

"But when we got close" said Mithrandir to his astonished audience "We just found Celeborn's arrow stocked in a trunk, it's silver point had turned brown, so we broke it and leave it there. As we were leaving, we turned around and we saw in the trunk were the arrow was a pair of mocking eyes with a twisted smile fading with the rain" nobody spoke for a while.

"This is not a joke, is it?"

"Ask your grandfather" the wizard answer Elrohir's question. Estel gulped, the twins and Legolas were even closer to each other and the older elves were serious. Again a long silence.

TBC...

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