CHAPTER 32 - Dust And Tears
"Astaler, Oroweth, just listen for a moment!"
Four nights had passed since the princes of Mirkwood had first delved in to the thoughts of running away from Imladris to find their deaths, but they had only just told Oroweth and Astaler, who had not been present when the idea was first formulated. The two eldest princes, however, were taking a lot of convincing to go along with the idea.
Oroweth and Astaler looked at Nuryävié suspiciously. If any of the four could persuade them to hunt orcs and 'accidentally' loose their lives, it would be Nuryävié. The prince looked pleadingly at his elder brothers.
"The four of us are going to find a way to get to the halls of Mandos one way or another. Please, come with us. Do not split the family up any further than it already is."
"You are all insane!" muttered Astaler. "How do you know where there are orcs t be found on this side of the mountains? You would wander around the wilderness, lost and hungry, every day becoming more and more desperate, more and more insane! Can you not see that?"
The six princes paused in their conversation as a pair of elven maidens walked passed, one of whom was Aliela. She smiled sweetly at Legolas and waved to him as her companion watched Oroweth with interest. Legolas waved back at her, but his smile was fake. Aliela noticed and frowned, opening her mouth to ask what was wrong, only to be pulled away by her friend.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Legolas continued with the flow of the conversation.
"The realm of Angmar is to the north. All we need to do is follow the mountains northward, and we would find it eventually. I can find out about it from the twins. They do not suspect our plans. Please, do not desert us like adar did."
The last sentence, mixed with a look of such cuteness it could have envied Calensil, had she still been alive, made Oroweth and Astaler shift guiltily. Legolas felt a surge of triumph as he watched his brothers squirm.
"If we do go along with this. . ." began Oroweth slowly
"And we are not promising anything!" cut in Astaler
". . . Then you must do exactly as we say. Do not let a whisper of this plan escape, otherwise Elrond will never let us even look at the path leading away from Imladris, understand?" The four princes nodded soberly at Oroweth's words. They made a lot of sense, especially after recent events. They doubted Elrond would want the death of six elves, royal or not, on his hands.
As a cold wind blew through Imladris, brushing dead leaves that had fallen from sleeping trees with it, the princes wrapped their blue cloaks around themselves. The sun stared down at them, but offered little heat. A sign that autumn would soon come to and end, and that winter was fast approaching.
"So you will search for Angmar with us?"
After a moment, Oroweth and Astaler nodded their heads. Grins of relief lit up the faces of their four brothers.
"We were half scared you would tell Elrond our plans and force us to stay here!" exclaimed Nilwethion.
"Why would you think that?" asked Astaler, sounding hurt. "We would never betray you!"
"Well, in all fairness, you have told adar many of our plots before." Retorted Legolas. Astaler shrugged at this.
"Never again, little brother. Never again."
There was another pause whilst everyone tried to think of something to say. It seemed that, for the moment, there was nothing they could say. That was when another voice startled them.
"You. . .you really are planning to kill yourselves?"
The princes span around with shock, to see who had been listening to their conversation. Lindir stood there, staring back at them with wide, blue eyes, clutching in one hand the dark, wooden flute that Legolas had given to him four nights ago. For a moment, none of them spoke, and Lindir covered his mouth as he realised that what he had heard was true. He blinked twice, and then ran off.
Legolas sprinted off in to the airy house after Lindir, followed by the others, in an attempt to catch the singer. His prey, however, knew the building much better than Legolas did, and was soon lost, much to the terror of his pursuers.
"He will tell Elrond!" whispered Nilwethion. Thellind nodded frantically. The princes in exile stood nervously, looking around at the high arches, the detailed paintings on the walls, the branching network of corridors and the climbing stairs not far away. There was no way of telling which way Lindir had run.
"He might tell Erestor, or Glorfindel. He seems quite close to them."
"He could tell anyone."
"Who could tell anyone what?"
For the second time that day, the six elves jumped in shock and turned to see who had crept up on them. To their horror, Glorfindel was standing there looking at them suspiciously. His golden hair flowed over his shoulders, and his deep red robes hung over his shoulders, tiny scarlet threads patterning them to look like ivy creeping up a tree. Legolas felt as though he was shrinking to the size of an ant as Glorfindel strode over to them.
"Well?" he asked, "I am waiting for an answer."
"We. . .we were. . ." Legolas looked around for inspiration, and found it in one of the pictures painted on to the wall just behind the imposing figure of Glorfindel. "We were talking about passing west. We, um, feel as though we are intruding upon Imladris, and we have caused your people nothing but trouble and worry since we first met. If it was not for us challenging Elladan and Elrohir to that silly game of dares, the orcs would never have captured Elladan and taken him to the caves, and there would not have been the skirmish on the path when you were trying to save Calensil and naneth which cost your people lives! There is nothing left for us in Middle Earth anymore. We were not going to say anything, because we did not want to cause you any more trouble, but Lindir heard us and he thought we were going to try and kill ourselves or something stupid because we were talking about seeing our family in the halls of Mandos, and he ran off before we could explain anything. All we wanted to do was stop causing trouble." He paused, and looked at the floor sadly. "Knowing our luck, if we take a ship to Valinor, it will probably sink on the way."
Oroweth shut his eyes, not expecting Glorfindel to believe a word of the tale Legolas had spun so quickly, with so little thought put in to it. He expected Glorfindel to loose his temper and demand the truth, but it did not come. Instead, after a moment or two of silence, Oroweth opened his eyes.
Glorfindel was standing there looking at Legolas with a strange look in his eyes. Was it. . . pity? Or sorrow perhaps? The ancient elf shook his head sadly, completely taken in by the lie. Oroweth was astounded. He was used to Legolas spinning tales, but usually Thranduil saw right through them. Perhaps because he had so much practise, or perhaps just because he did not trust his younger sons to tell the truth unless, for some strange reason, it took their fancy.
"I assure you that your coming to Imladris has been no problem for any of us If you are sure, however, that you want to sail to Valinor, this is a case for Lord Elrond and Lady Celebrian, not me. Would you like to rest on the matter, and take it to them tomorrow?."
Legolas nodded, a sorrowful look in his eyes. Glorfindel bowed to them and turned around, walking off down one of the curved corridors. The six elven brothers breathed a sigh of relief.
After looking around to make sure that they were not being watched, Astaler spoke.
"We can convince Elrond tomorrow that we feel we must set sail for Valinor, leave Imladris and head west, and then turn northwards to find Angmar once we are a day or two away from Imladris." He whispered. His brothers nodded their agreement.
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A small party of twenty three elves was making its way up one of the Misty Mountains faster than any mortal could have thought possible to move up such a steep climb. The two in the lead were on weary, grey horses. The other twenty one were on foot, but keeping up very well. Rain drizzled down on them half heartedly, but failed to damped their angry spirits.
"Who would have thought it possible?" muttered Culkemen, her mossy green cloak pulled up over her head, protecting her from the elements. "From the boarders of Mirkwood to the slopes of the Misty Mountains in four days!"
Captain Silnan looked at her oddly. "Four days? Is that it? Now you come to mention it, I fail to be surprised. We have only stopped once. Then again, this miserable weather is doing its level best to slow us down!"
The elf shook his fist at the grey clouds above him.
"Is that the best you can do?" he yelled at the sky. "Your attempts to slow us down are pathetic!"
As if in reply, a thunderbolt struck the narrow path between Culkemen and Silnan. Their horses reared, throwing off their riders, and galloped off in to the distance. The two captains were helped up by the other elves, and Silnan swore under his breath. Culkemen glared at him and shook her head, keeping quiet. She picked up her soaked spear and clenched it in her fist. It was going to be a long march.
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Legolas lay on his bed, looking up at the dome like ceiling of his bedroom and sighed. The morning had gone well, with Elrond believing the hurriedly created tale of the need to sail west, but then Elladan and Elrohir had demanded to be given permission to ride to the havens with their friends. Elrond had also sent a messenger to Cirdan, telling him to ready a ship for the princes to take to the Valinor.
The six Mirkwood princes had argued, yes, saying that it was dangerous for Elladan and Elrohir to journey to the havens, in case they heard the cry of a gull and felt the need to go even further west than originally intended, over the sundering seas with the princes. The twins had shrugged at this, declaring that they did not care about gulls and that they would take the risk for their friends. They would have to find a way to dissuade the twins before they left.
That left five days.
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It had taken them two days to do it, but the elves of Mirkwood, now all on foot, had made it over the top of the mountain, and were on their way down. The weather changed, turning from rain to snow as the temperature dropped dramatically. It seemed that all the forces of nature were trying to stop the elves from reaching their goal of rescuing their princes.
Behind Culkemen, Silnan was jogging alongside Lachion, ranting about the Noldor, the weather and wizards interfering in business that did not concern them. Lachion, when he could get a word in edgeways, agreed wholeheartedly with his friend. The elves behind them stayed silent for the most part, occasionally letting their thoughts be heard on whatever it was Silnan was ranting about.
"Silnan!" Silnan stopped the flow of his words and looked up at Culkemen, running down the slopes ahead of him.
"Yes?" He asked her, slightly annoyed at being interrupted.
"Where is Imladris?"
Silnan and Lachion ran up beside Culkemen, speeding up their pace. They looked around at the land spread out before them like a table cloth. It took Silnan only a moment to find their destination. He pointed to a clear valley, full of reds and browns and other autumn colours, as if time there was slightly behind the rest of the cold world, verging on the very edge of winter.
"There." He said. His voice was brimmed with anger and hatred and malice, all aimed at Imladris and its residents. Culkemen looked down at it, anger refilling her heart as she thought of how the elves living there had stolen away her princes with lies and deceit, but failed to watch where she was going.
The elf stood on a loose stone, and it gave way, bowling her over. She tumbled down the craggy mountain side, and more and more bits of loose stone and rock gave way, falling after her, creating a landslide.
The landslide quickly caught the other elves in its deadly snares, dragging them all down the mountains. About twelve of them managed to keep their feet, including Silnan and Lachion, but the rest were thrown of balance, caught unawares. They slipped and slithered on the shale, arms waving about madly as they tried not to fall and be crushed.
The roar of the stone, suddenly brought to life, echoed around the hills, sending both small and large creatures scurrying for their lives to escape the landslide.
To the luck of the elves, it was the forest at the bottom that saved them. The rock fall sent them sliding and tumbling in to a wood of oak trees that stood higher up the mountainside than most. Some managed to catch hold of branches and swing themselves up out of the way of the stones, and then they caught hold of their companions who would otherwise have been swept away, and pulled them up in to the trees. There, in the trees, the elves sat waiting for the landslide to end, which at last it did. Like squirrels, the elves climbed from branch to branch down the rest of the slope, careful not to make the rocks and stones start sliding again.
When they reached the valley at the bottom, night had fallen. The first to drop to the leafy floor, having left the stones far behinds them, was Culkemen. As soon as her feet touched the ground, twenty two others followed.
"Is anybody hurt?" she asked, looking around at them all. The elves shook their heads. She breathed a sigh of relief as she took in the dusty faces.
"Good," shouted Silnan, taking control again, "Then we can go and find our princes!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Looking around at Imladris for what they suspected would be the last time, the six brothers from Mirkwood mounted their horses, accompanied, much to their hidden worry, by Elladan and Elrohir. They had not been able to find a way to shake the twins off them without insulting them or hurting their feelings, which none of the princes wanted to do. In the grey light of dawn, few of the household of Elrond had turned up to watch them go. Only six elves stood there in sight; Lord Elrond, Lady Celebrian, Arwen, Glorfindel and Erestor were there. Most of the elves had not been told the princes were leaving, as Elrond decided to keep the departure quiet. In the trees though, another pair of eyes watched them leave.
As the eight horses trotted under the archway, following the path that lead to the havens, Lindir began to play a mournful melody from his hidden seat in the high tree. Elladan and Elrohir looked up at him, and they smiled. Since begging his forgiveness, they had been as nice to him as possible. Almost too nice. Helping him do the smallest of tasks and complementing everything he sang or played.
When the eight elves had turned the bend in the woody path, and the farewell party were turning around to leave, a figure came running down the steps, deep blue skirts billowing out wildly.
Aliela ran under the archway, clutching something in her hand. A tear fell from her eyes as she realized she had missed the princes leaving, and she stared down the winding path. Letting the object she had been holding in her hand fall to the ground, she choked back a sob, and ran back in the direction she had come from, her face in her hands.
Carefully, Celebrian picked up the object Aliela had dropped on the path, and looked at it.
Whatever it was, it had wrapped in a lacy, flower embroidered handkerchief that had been tied with a pink ribbon. Celebrian untied the ribbon, unfolded the handkerchief and sighed. A little golden locket was resting in the middle of some fresh petals. She opened it up, and sighed again. On one side of the locket was a little sketch of a smiling Aliela, and on the other side was an equally small sketch of Imladris. Celebrian closed the locket and wrapped it up again in its handkerchief, slipping it in to a small pouch. She would leave it on Aliela's pillow in the afternoon.
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Staring strait ahead of him, Legolas refused to turn around and look back at Imladris as it became smaller and smaller behind them. He rode silently beside Thellind, who was watching the sun rising and turning the sky pale blue.
Ahead of them, Nuryävié was singing a mournful tune, lamenting for Calensil and their naneth. Legolas smiled softly. He would be seeing them again soon, oh so soon!
He reached in to the pack on his back, searching for something precious. As he fumbled about for it, his face fell. Desperately, he began to search through the pack, and his fears were confirmed.
He had left Lin the teddy bear in Imladris. Bad luck was to come.
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A/N: Didn't I promise you a nice, long chapter? Well, long for me, at any rate. N-e-a-r-l-y finished the story now. I'm really sorry about the lack of chapter last week. Really, really, really sorry. I won't do it again - with this story, at least.
PERSONAL REPLY THINGY
DRAGONFLY ~ yup, it's all going wrong for everyone. It always seems to. In a way, the princes WERE kidnapped by the Imladris elves. At least, as far as the Mirkwood elves are concerned.
ELIZABETHBLACK4 ~ sorry, um, who's Linden? *blink* Do you mean Lachion? Or Lindir? Or did I make a spelling mistake somewhere? The princes don't realize Thranduil is dying of a broken heart, because they don't think he cares about them any more.
LAINFAER ~ yeah, the twins are fine. No worries.
EBONY FALCON ~ Nah, Legolas doesn't get killed. He needs to be alive for Lord of the Rings, which hasn't happened yet. I can't promise you any of my own characters survive though. . . *evil grin*
COOLIO02 ~ thanks very much!
PMOCHIZUKI ~ the ages of the elves are mentioned in one of the A/N's at the bottom of the chapter. Can't remember which one right now though. *grins widely* thanks for adding me to your favorites list! I bet you realize how much it means, being an author yourself. I occasionally get the feeling my reviewers want to kill me, but not so often any more. *looks at reviewers* *sees murderous glares* um. . .
MOONMIST ~ didn't your sister mind you using her Barbie dolls? Thanks for the compliments.
DISCODELIC ~ *gasp* since chapter 24? How come you didn't review before? *looks hurt*. Do you mean the note Lady V left at the top of one of her chapters, or do you talk to her online? Don't you just love her stories? Lady V and her muses rock!
ORODRUIN ~ yeah, I feel really sorry for all the princes at the moment. Silnan will be more angry to find that the Imladris elves let the princes go 'hunting' than he would be to find them in Imladris. He would get blazing mad that the Imladris elves were careless enough to let the princes try anything LIKE what they're planning to do. Lindir is very forgiving, and he's just glad the twins have stopped picking on him. Um. . .y'know how you said I pretty much always keep to my schedule? Well, um, it *would* happen that the one week you choose to say that I would go and miss a week. *Cowers* 'M very sorry!
MORBID MIND ~ Thanks very much!
LARVLE ~ I made this chapter a lot longer. Do you think I made it long enough?
BULEGRISTWEN ~ yes, it was really mean, wasn't it? I don't think the princes realized how nasty they were being though.
"Astaler, Oroweth, just listen for a moment!"
Four nights had passed since the princes of Mirkwood had first delved in to the thoughts of running away from Imladris to find their deaths, but they had only just told Oroweth and Astaler, who had not been present when the idea was first formulated. The two eldest princes, however, were taking a lot of convincing to go along with the idea.
Oroweth and Astaler looked at Nuryävié suspiciously. If any of the four could persuade them to hunt orcs and 'accidentally' loose their lives, it would be Nuryävié. The prince looked pleadingly at his elder brothers.
"The four of us are going to find a way to get to the halls of Mandos one way or another. Please, come with us. Do not split the family up any further than it already is."
"You are all insane!" muttered Astaler. "How do you know where there are orcs t be found on this side of the mountains? You would wander around the wilderness, lost and hungry, every day becoming more and more desperate, more and more insane! Can you not see that?"
The six princes paused in their conversation as a pair of elven maidens walked passed, one of whom was Aliela. She smiled sweetly at Legolas and waved to him as her companion watched Oroweth with interest. Legolas waved back at her, but his smile was fake. Aliela noticed and frowned, opening her mouth to ask what was wrong, only to be pulled away by her friend.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Legolas continued with the flow of the conversation.
"The realm of Angmar is to the north. All we need to do is follow the mountains northward, and we would find it eventually. I can find out about it from the twins. They do not suspect our plans. Please, do not desert us like adar did."
The last sentence, mixed with a look of such cuteness it could have envied Calensil, had she still been alive, made Oroweth and Astaler shift guiltily. Legolas felt a surge of triumph as he watched his brothers squirm.
"If we do go along with this. . ." began Oroweth slowly
"And we are not promising anything!" cut in Astaler
". . . Then you must do exactly as we say. Do not let a whisper of this plan escape, otherwise Elrond will never let us even look at the path leading away from Imladris, understand?" The four princes nodded soberly at Oroweth's words. They made a lot of sense, especially after recent events. They doubted Elrond would want the death of six elves, royal or not, on his hands.
As a cold wind blew through Imladris, brushing dead leaves that had fallen from sleeping trees with it, the princes wrapped their blue cloaks around themselves. The sun stared down at them, but offered little heat. A sign that autumn would soon come to and end, and that winter was fast approaching.
"So you will search for Angmar with us?"
After a moment, Oroweth and Astaler nodded their heads. Grins of relief lit up the faces of their four brothers.
"We were half scared you would tell Elrond our plans and force us to stay here!" exclaimed Nilwethion.
"Why would you think that?" asked Astaler, sounding hurt. "We would never betray you!"
"Well, in all fairness, you have told adar many of our plots before." Retorted Legolas. Astaler shrugged at this.
"Never again, little brother. Never again."
There was another pause whilst everyone tried to think of something to say. It seemed that, for the moment, there was nothing they could say. That was when another voice startled them.
"You. . .you really are planning to kill yourselves?"
The princes span around with shock, to see who had been listening to their conversation. Lindir stood there, staring back at them with wide, blue eyes, clutching in one hand the dark, wooden flute that Legolas had given to him four nights ago. For a moment, none of them spoke, and Lindir covered his mouth as he realised that what he had heard was true. He blinked twice, and then ran off.
Legolas sprinted off in to the airy house after Lindir, followed by the others, in an attempt to catch the singer. His prey, however, knew the building much better than Legolas did, and was soon lost, much to the terror of his pursuers.
"He will tell Elrond!" whispered Nilwethion. Thellind nodded frantically. The princes in exile stood nervously, looking around at the high arches, the detailed paintings on the walls, the branching network of corridors and the climbing stairs not far away. There was no way of telling which way Lindir had run.
"He might tell Erestor, or Glorfindel. He seems quite close to them."
"He could tell anyone."
"Who could tell anyone what?"
For the second time that day, the six elves jumped in shock and turned to see who had crept up on them. To their horror, Glorfindel was standing there looking at them suspiciously. His golden hair flowed over his shoulders, and his deep red robes hung over his shoulders, tiny scarlet threads patterning them to look like ivy creeping up a tree. Legolas felt as though he was shrinking to the size of an ant as Glorfindel strode over to them.
"Well?" he asked, "I am waiting for an answer."
"We. . .we were. . ." Legolas looked around for inspiration, and found it in one of the pictures painted on to the wall just behind the imposing figure of Glorfindel. "We were talking about passing west. We, um, feel as though we are intruding upon Imladris, and we have caused your people nothing but trouble and worry since we first met. If it was not for us challenging Elladan and Elrohir to that silly game of dares, the orcs would never have captured Elladan and taken him to the caves, and there would not have been the skirmish on the path when you were trying to save Calensil and naneth which cost your people lives! There is nothing left for us in Middle Earth anymore. We were not going to say anything, because we did not want to cause you any more trouble, but Lindir heard us and he thought we were going to try and kill ourselves or something stupid because we were talking about seeing our family in the halls of Mandos, and he ran off before we could explain anything. All we wanted to do was stop causing trouble." He paused, and looked at the floor sadly. "Knowing our luck, if we take a ship to Valinor, it will probably sink on the way."
Oroweth shut his eyes, not expecting Glorfindel to believe a word of the tale Legolas had spun so quickly, with so little thought put in to it. He expected Glorfindel to loose his temper and demand the truth, but it did not come. Instead, after a moment or two of silence, Oroweth opened his eyes.
Glorfindel was standing there looking at Legolas with a strange look in his eyes. Was it. . . pity? Or sorrow perhaps? The ancient elf shook his head sadly, completely taken in by the lie. Oroweth was astounded. He was used to Legolas spinning tales, but usually Thranduil saw right through them. Perhaps because he had so much practise, or perhaps just because he did not trust his younger sons to tell the truth unless, for some strange reason, it took their fancy.
"I assure you that your coming to Imladris has been no problem for any of us If you are sure, however, that you want to sail to Valinor, this is a case for Lord Elrond and Lady Celebrian, not me. Would you like to rest on the matter, and take it to them tomorrow?."
Legolas nodded, a sorrowful look in his eyes. Glorfindel bowed to them and turned around, walking off down one of the curved corridors. The six elven brothers breathed a sigh of relief.
After looking around to make sure that they were not being watched, Astaler spoke.
"We can convince Elrond tomorrow that we feel we must set sail for Valinor, leave Imladris and head west, and then turn northwards to find Angmar once we are a day or two away from Imladris." He whispered. His brothers nodded their agreement.
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A small party of twenty three elves was making its way up one of the Misty Mountains faster than any mortal could have thought possible to move up such a steep climb. The two in the lead were on weary, grey horses. The other twenty one were on foot, but keeping up very well. Rain drizzled down on them half heartedly, but failed to damped their angry spirits.
"Who would have thought it possible?" muttered Culkemen, her mossy green cloak pulled up over her head, protecting her from the elements. "From the boarders of Mirkwood to the slopes of the Misty Mountains in four days!"
Captain Silnan looked at her oddly. "Four days? Is that it? Now you come to mention it, I fail to be surprised. We have only stopped once. Then again, this miserable weather is doing its level best to slow us down!"
The elf shook his fist at the grey clouds above him.
"Is that the best you can do?" he yelled at the sky. "Your attempts to slow us down are pathetic!"
As if in reply, a thunderbolt struck the narrow path between Culkemen and Silnan. Their horses reared, throwing off their riders, and galloped off in to the distance. The two captains were helped up by the other elves, and Silnan swore under his breath. Culkemen glared at him and shook her head, keeping quiet. She picked up her soaked spear and clenched it in her fist. It was going to be a long march.
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Legolas lay on his bed, looking up at the dome like ceiling of his bedroom and sighed. The morning had gone well, with Elrond believing the hurriedly created tale of the need to sail west, but then Elladan and Elrohir had demanded to be given permission to ride to the havens with their friends. Elrond had also sent a messenger to Cirdan, telling him to ready a ship for the princes to take to the Valinor.
The six Mirkwood princes had argued, yes, saying that it was dangerous for Elladan and Elrohir to journey to the havens, in case they heard the cry of a gull and felt the need to go even further west than originally intended, over the sundering seas with the princes. The twins had shrugged at this, declaring that they did not care about gulls and that they would take the risk for their friends. They would have to find a way to dissuade the twins before they left.
That left five days.
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It had taken them two days to do it, but the elves of Mirkwood, now all on foot, had made it over the top of the mountain, and were on their way down. The weather changed, turning from rain to snow as the temperature dropped dramatically. It seemed that all the forces of nature were trying to stop the elves from reaching their goal of rescuing their princes.
Behind Culkemen, Silnan was jogging alongside Lachion, ranting about the Noldor, the weather and wizards interfering in business that did not concern them. Lachion, when he could get a word in edgeways, agreed wholeheartedly with his friend. The elves behind them stayed silent for the most part, occasionally letting their thoughts be heard on whatever it was Silnan was ranting about.
"Silnan!" Silnan stopped the flow of his words and looked up at Culkemen, running down the slopes ahead of him.
"Yes?" He asked her, slightly annoyed at being interrupted.
"Where is Imladris?"
Silnan and Lachion ran up beside Culkemen, speeding up their pace. They looked around at the land spread out before them like a table cloth. It took Silnan only a moment to find their destination. He pointed to a clear valley, full of reds and browns and other autumn colours, as if time there was slightly behind the rest of the cold world, verging on the very edge of winter.
"There." He said. His voice was brimmed with anger and hatred and malice, all aimed at Imladris and its residents. Culkemen looked down at it, anger refilling her heart as she thought of how the elves living there had stolen away her princes with lies and deceit, but failed to watch where she was going.
The elf stood on a loose stone, and it gave way, bowling her over. She tumbled down the craggy mountain side, and more and more bits of loose stone and rock gave way, falling after her, creating a landslide.
The landslide quickly caught the other elves in its deadly snares, dragging them all down the mountains. About twelve of them managed to keep their feet, including Silnan and Lachion, but the rest were thrown of balance, caught unawares. They slipped and slithered on the shale, arms waving about madly as they tried not to fall and be crushed.
The roar of the stone, suddenly brought to life, echoed around the hills, sending both small and large creatures scurrying for their lives to escape the landslide.
To the luck of the elves, it was the forest at the bottom that saved them. The rock fall sent them sliding and tumbling in to a wood of oak trees that stood higher up the mountainside than most. Some managed to catch hold of branches and swing themselves up out of the way of the stones, and then they caught hold of their companions who would otherwise have been swept away, and pulled them up in to the trees. There, in the trees, the elves sat waiting for the landslide to end, which at last it did. Like squirrels, the elves climbed from branch to branch down the rest of the slope, careful not to make the rocks and stones start sliding again.
When they reached the valley at the bottom, night had fallen. The first to drop to the leafy floor, having left the stones far behinds them, was Culkemen. As soon as her feet touched the ground, twenty two others followed.
"Is anybody hurt?" she asked, looking around at them all. The elves shook their heads. She breathed a sigh of relief as she took in the dusty faces.
"Good," shouted Silnan, taking control again, "Then we can go and find our princes!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Looking around at Imladris for what they suspected would be the last time, the six brothers from Mirkwood mounted their horses, accompanied, much to their hidden worry, by Elladan and Elrohir. They had not been able to find a way to shake the twins off them without insulting them or hurting their feelings, which none of the princes wanted to do. In the grey light of dawn, few of the household of Elrond had turned up to watch them go. Only six elves stood there in sight; Lord Elrond, Lady Celebrian, Arwen, Glorfindel and Erestor were there. Most of the elves had not been told the princes were leaving, as Elrond decided to keep the departure quiet. In the trees though, another pair of eyes watched them leave.
As the eight horses trotted under the archway, following the path that lead to the havens, Lindir began to play a mournful melody from his hidden seat in the high tree. Elladan and Elrohir looked up at him, and they smiled. Since begging his forgiveness, they had been as nice to him as possible. Almost too nice. Helping him do the smallest of tasks and complementing everything he sang or played.
When the eight elves had turned the bend in the woody path, and the farewell party were turning around to leave, a figure came running down the steps, deep blue skirts billowing out wildly.
Aliela ran under the archway, clutching something in her hand. A tear fell from her eyes as she realized she had missed the princes leaving, and she stared down the winding path. Letting the object she had been holding in her hand fall to the ground, she choked back a sob, and ran back in the direction she had come from, her face in her hands.
Carefully, Celebrian picked up the object Aliela had dropped on the path, and looked at it.
Whatever it was, it had wrapped in a lacy, flower embroidered handkerchief that had been tied with a pink ribbon. Celebrian untied the ribbon, unfolded the handkerchief and sighed. A little golden locket was resting in the middle of some fresh petals. She opened it up, and sighed again. On one side of the locket was a little sketch of a smiling Aliela, and on the other side was an equally small sketch of Imladris. Celebrian closed the locket and wrapped it up again in its handkerchief, slipping it in to a small pouch. She would leave it on Aliela's pillow in the afternoon.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Staring strait ahead of him, Legolas refused to turn around and look back at Imladris as it became smaller and smaller behind them. He rode silently beside Thellind, who was watching the sun rising and turning the sky pale blue.
Ahead of them, Nuryävié was singing a mournful tune, lamenting for Calensil and their naneth. Legolas smiled softly. He would be seeing them again soon, oh so soon!
He reached in to the pack on his back, searching for something precious. As he fumbled about for it, his face fell. Desperately, he began to search through the pack, and his fears were confirmed.
He had left Lin the teddy bear in Imladris. Bad luck was to come.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: Didn't I promise you a nice, long chapter? Well, long for me, at any rate. N-e-a-r-l-y finished the story now. I'm really sorry about the lack of chapter last week. Really, really, really sorry. I won't do it again - with this story, at least.
PERSONAL REPLY THINGY
DRAGONFLY ~ yup, it's all going wrong for everyone. It always seems to. In a way, the princes WERE kidnapped by the Imladris elves. At least, as far as the Mirkwood elves are concerned.
ELIZABETHBLACK4 ~ sorry, um, who's Linden? *blink* Do you mean Lachion? Or Lindir? Or did I make a spelling mistake somewhere? The princes don't realize Thranduil is dying of a broken heart, because they don't think he cares about them any more.
LAINFAER ~ yeah, the twins are fine. No worries.
EBONY FALCON ~ Nah, Legolas doesn't get killed. He needs to be alive for Lord of the Rings, which hasn't happened yet. I can't promise you any of my own characters survive though. . . *evil grin*
COOLIO02 ~ thanks very much!
PMOCHIZUKI ~ the ages of the elves are mentioned in one of the A/N's at the bottom of the chapter. Can't remember which one right now though. *grins widely* thanks for adding me to your favorites list! I bet you realize how much it means, being an author yourself. I occasionally get the feeling my reviewers want to kill me, but not so often any more. *looks at reviewers* *sees murderous glares* um. . .
MOONMIST ~ didn't your sister mind you using her Barbie dolls? Thanks for the compliments.
DISCODELIC ~ *gasp* since chapter 24? How come you didn't review before? *looks hurt*. Do you mean the note Lady V left at the top of one of her chapters, or do you talk to her online? Don't you just love her stories? Lady V and her muses rock!
ORODRUIN ~ yeah, I feel really sorry for all the princes at the moment. Silnan will be more angry to find that the Imladris elves let the princes go 'hunting' than he would be to find them in Imladris. He would get blazing mad that the Imladris elves were careless enough to let the princes try anything LIKE what they're planning to do. Lindir is very forgiving, and he's just glad the twins have stopped picking on him. Um. . .y'know how you said I pretty much always keep to my schedule? Well, um, it *would* happen that the one week you choose to say that I would go and miss a week. *Cowers* 'M very sorry!
MORBID MIND ~ Thanks very much!
LARVLE ~ I made this chapter a lot longer. Do you think I made it long enough?
BULEGRISTWEN ~ yes, it was really mean, wasn't it? I don't think the princes realized how nasty they were being though.