Thank you, kind reviewers for both your praise and your patience. I
hope that patience will hold yet a while longer, for the next few chapters
are either imperfect or not written at all, but we will do our best to get
them to you for your viewing pleasure as soon as is Elvenly possible.
Without further ado, I, EHAB, give you Chapter Fifteen, "Disappearing Elf-
lords."
The next morning could not come quickly enough for poor Sivi, who had not slept at all after waking from her bizarre nightmare. She now awaited two visits: one by Joseph, Jeremie, and Legolas; the other by Gil-galad. Jeremie and Joseph arrived a bit earlier than she had expected, both with expressions of consternation.
"We can't find Legolas," Jeremie declared miserably. "He went outside last night - said something about stars --, and he didn't come back in. We figured, you know, he's an elf; he likes the outdoors; he wants to sleep outside; yippee skip. But we can't find him."
Sivi was, at this early hour of the morning, the only one who had made her way downstairs and had, in fact, already had breakfast. Alarmed, she rose from her seat at the table. What else was going to go wrong?
"Let's go upstairs and wake the others," she said tiredly.
Hurriedly, the three ascended the stairs and entered the widow's second-best bedroom, where five cots were lined neatly from one wall to the next. With a shock, they realized that three of the cots were unoccupied; one, of course, was Sivi's, for she had, as was said, risen early, but there were two empty cots besides. Sarah and Christina were gone.
Sivi immediately set about shaking Andrea awake, roughly and without regard for the younger girl's muffled protests. Andrea sat up breathlessly. She looked at Sivi with a mixture of surprise and reproach, but seemed too flabbergasted to say anything.
"Where are Sarah and Christina?" Sivi demanded sharply.
"I don't know. Aren't they downstairs?"
"No, they aren't downstairs!" Sivi fairly shouted. "Legolas is missing, too!"
Andrea began to pay attention.
Sivi turned on her heels and raced down the stairs. Jeremie stared after her.
"I've never seen her like that before," he commented. "Usually she's so calm."
"She's been a little stressed lately," said Megan from her cot. She had been quietly listening to the whole ordeal.
"I think it has something to do with this Gil-galad person. She's been having some weird dreams lately, too, or so I gather from what she says while she's having them: crazy stuff about the sun, the stars, making it to shore, etc."
"I hope she's okay," Joseph said worriedly.
Sivi charged out of the house into a garishly sunny morning. Where she planned to go, she had no idea, but she had to find her friends.
"Sivi!" came a fair voice from a little down the road. Hoping to see Legolas, she was nevertheless not disappointed to find Gil-galad hurrying towards her.
"Ereinion," she addressed him, using his all but forgotten birth name.
"Sivi, well met. I'm come to say goodbye."
"Please don't go out there," she begged him again. "I tried to tell you last night, but -"
"I think that we were both a little disoriented last night, even before the storm hit," Gil-galad said comfortingly. "You were saying something about a. 'lawnmower'?"
"The lawnmower isn't the point! The point is -"
"The point is that I am bound by duty, honour, and decency to be at the head of my army when they assault the Barad-dur," Gil-galad interrupted, shaking his sun-golden head.
"The battle will be at Orodruin," Sivi corrected in absent-minded agony.
Gil-galad shifted uneasily, unnerved by the way this young human so offhandedly foretold the future. She had warned him of impending death. A thought brought itself up out of his memory.
"Last night you spoke of the Great Rings, the Elven Rings. You spoke of them at our meeting as well. Why?"
"I have to come by those rings, Gil-galad. One way or another, I MUST take them with me when I leave. I tried to explain why last night, but I know I wasn't making any sense."
She sighed and looked so wretchedly miserable that Gil-galad could scarcely stand it. Quicker than a wizard's thought, lest he change his mind, he removed the silver chain from around his neck and placed it about hers.
"Melui, all that was lacking was for you to ask it of me," he whispered. "Im mel lle: I love you. Besides," he added, stepping back, away from her astonished gaze, "if your prophecies prove true, I soon won't have any more need of it."
Before she could respond, he hurried away, leaving her alone in the widow's yard. Thus Andrea found her friend. She was alarmed to see that Sivi was crying.
"Are you okay?" she asked urgently.
"Do you want to come with me?" Sivi inquired, enunciating each word through her tears.
"Where are we going?" Andrea asked in confusion.
"O, we're just going to go and mug a couple of Elves."
"WHAT?!"
The next morning could not come quickly enough for poor Sivi, who had not slept at all after waking from her bizarre nightmare. She now awaited two visits: one by Joseph, Jeremie, and Legolas; the other by Gil-galad. Jeremie and Joseph arrived a bit earlier than she had expected, both with expressions of consternation.
"We can't find Legolas," Jeremie declared miserably. "He went outside last night - said something about stars --, and he didn't come back in. We figured, you know, he's an elf; he likes the outdoors; he wants to sleep outside; yippee skip. But we can't find him."
Sivi was, at this early hour of the morning, the only one who had made her way downstairs and had, in fact, already had breakfast. Alarmed, she rose from her seat at the table. What else was going to go wrong?
"Let's go upstairs and wake the others," she said tiredly.
Hurriedly, the three ascended the stairs and entered the widow's second-best bedroom, where five cots were lined neatly from one wall to the next. With a shock, they realized that three of the cots were unoccupied; one, of course, was Sivi's, for she had, as was said, risen early, but there were two empty cots besides. Sarah and Christina were gone.
Sivi immediately set about shaking Andrea awake, roughly and without regard for the younger girl's muffled protests. Andrea sat up breathlessly. She looked at Sivi with a mixture of surprise and reproach, but seemed too flabbergasted to say anything.
"Where are Sarah and Christina?" Sivi demanded sharply.
"I don't know. Aren't they downstairs?"
"No, they aren't downstairs!" Sivi fairly shouted. "Legolas is missing, too!"
Andrea began to pay attention.
Sivi turned on her heels and raced down the stairs. Jeremie stared after her.
"I've never seen her like that before," he commented. "Usually she's so calm."
"She's been a little stressed lately," said Megan from her cot. She had been quietly listening to the whole ordeal.
"I think it has something to do with this Gil-galad person. She's been having some weird dreams lately, too, or so I gather from what she says while she's having them: crazy stuff about the sun, the stars, making it to shore, etc."
"I hope she's okay," Joseph said worriedly.
Sivi charged out of the house into a garishly sunny morning. Where she planned to go, she had no idea, but she had to find her friends.
"Sivi!" came a fair voice from a little down the road. Hoping to see Legolas, she was nevertheless not disappointed to find Gil-galad hurrying towards her.
"Ereinion," she addressed him, using his all but forgotten birth name.
"Sivi, well met. I'm come to say goodbye."
"Please don't go out there," she begged him again. "I tried to tell you last night, but -"
"I think that we were both a little disoriented last night, even before the storm hit," Gil-galad said comfortingly. "You were saying something about a. 'lawnmower'?"
"The lawnmower isn't the point! The point is -"
"The point is that I am bound by duty, honour, and decency to be at the head of my army when they assault the Barad-dur," Gil-galad interrupted, shaking his sun-golden head.
"The battle will be at Orodruin," Sivi corrected in absent-minded agony.
Gil-galad shifted uneasily, unnerved by the way this young human so offhandedly foretold the future. She had warned him of impending death. A thought brought itself up out of his memory.
"Last night you spoke of the Great Rings, the Elven Rings. You spoke of them at our meeting as well. Why?"
"I have to come by those rings, Gil-galad. One way or another, I MUST take them with me when I leave. I tried to explain why last night, but I know I wasn't making any sense."
She sighed and looked so wretchedly miserable that Gil-galad could scarcely stand it. Quicker than a wizard's thought, lest he change his mind, he removed the silver chain from around his neck and placed it about hers.
"Melui, all that was lacking was for you to ask it of me," he whispered. "Im mel lle: I love you. Besides," he added, stepping back, away from her astonished gaze, "if your prophecies prove true, I soon won't have any more need of it."
Before she could respond, he hurried away, leaving her alone in the widow's yard. Thus Andrea found her friend. She was alarmed to see that Sivi was crying.
"Are you okay?" she asked urgently.
"Do you want to come with me?" Sivi inquired, enunciating each word through her tears.
"Where are we going?" Andrea asked in confusion.
"O, we're just going to go and mug a couple of Elves."
"WHAT?!"