CHAPTER 33 - Death Of Us All
Sitting beneath his favourite tree, Lindir played a tune on his black flute. He winced as he hit an incorrect note, and lowered the instrument, looking at it with sorrow. From the trees, he was being watched, although he did not know.
"Something is wrong with him," whispered Erestor to Glorfindel, "He never plays badly. That is the fifth time this hour he has tried to play that tune, and the fifth time he has failed. Something troubles him."
His companion nodded soberly as they watched Lindir hide his head in his hands.
"We must ask him."
Another nod. The pair dropped quietly from the dry branch they had been sitting on to the cold, leaf covered earth. Purposefully, they had made as much noise as possible, to attract the attention of Lindir. The young musician did not look up. Exchanging worried glances, the older elves tried making even more noise. When this failed to attract attention, Glorfindel sighed.
"Lindir!"
Lindir gave a startled jump, and leapt to his feet, nervously fiddling with the black flute in his hands.
"I. . . I am sorry, I did not realise you were there." He said, his voice trembling slightly.
"What is troubling you, Lindir? You never make a mistake with your music." Erestor looked at Lindir, his pale face full of concern.
"It is. . .it is nothing."
"I find that difficult to believe, Lindir. Look me in the eye and tell me the truth."
Biting his lip, Lindir looked Glorfindel in the eye. Glorfindel stared strait back, as if glaring right through the young elf, with his piercing blue eyes.
"The. . .the princes," he began, "They. . ." he shivered and trailed off, diverting his eyes.
"The princes, Lindir? What about them?" asked Erestor, kindly. There was a rustle from the bushes around them, and tall, cloaked figures stepped out, each one of them armed to the teeth.
"Yes, Lindir," said one, seemingly the leader, "What do you know about our princes?"
The speaker pulled the dark hood of his cloak back, revealing his face. Glorfindel gasped as he realised it was Silnan. He and the captain had become good friends during the stay in Mirkwood, but now he had become dangerous and hostile. In the blink of an eye, Silnan grabbed Lindir around the shoulders, drew his blade, and rested it across the throat of the young elf. Lindir let out a squeak of stunned surprise. The other elves, Erestor counted ten, each drew long, dazzling swords and aimed them at Erestor and Glorfindel. Glorfindel reached for his sword, but was stopped by Silnan's angry voice.
"I would not do that if I were you, Silnan. We have more archers sitting in the branches, just waiting for an excuse to shoot you more full of arrows than the orcs were at the small village outside Dale!"
Slowly, Glorfindel looked around at the trees. Sitting around, each with bows and arrows trained directly at him, were cloaked archers, glowering. The elf lord moved his hand away from the sword, glowering back.
"Now then, little elfling, shall we send one of your friends to fetch our princes? Sending a couple of our nice archers along with them so they cannot try anything, of course." The three elves of Imladris noted the sarcastic stress put on the word 'nice'. Silnan pressed his sword deeper in to the skin of his prisoner, so much so that a small drop of blood trickled down Lindir's throat, seeping in to his green tunic. The elf whimpered.
"The princes are no longer here!" hissed Erestor, angrily. "They have left for Valinor. You missed them by two days."
A few of the Mirkwood warriors, both on the ground and in the trees, cried out with anger and despair. Captain Silnan snarled angrily and opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted by Lindir.
"No! No, they have not."
He suddenly had the full attention of every elf in the vicinity. Glorfindel and Erestor looked at him, perplexed.
"Keep talking, little elf!" The blade at his throat shifted slightly, and Lindir began to blurt out everything he knew, terror taking over.
"They only said that so that you would not question why they wanted to leave. They are really going to find the realm of Angmar so that they can die and see their family again. I heard them talking about it a week before they left. I did not mean to eavesdrop, but I could not help it." As the sword tickled his throat, Lindir squeezed his eyes shut, a small tear escaping and trickling down his cheek.
For a moment, there was silent. Then Glorfindel spoke in a hushed and shocked voice.
"They lied to us!"
"You lied to them. A lie for a lie, you filthy creatures!" spat one of the warriors from the trees. That comment was greeted by angry agreement. Glorfindel narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to argue back, but Erestor shook his head quickly. Glorfindel closed his mouth, and satisfied himself with glowering at the elves of Mirkwood.
"It is time for us to go and find Angmar, I think." Said one of the warriors. Pulling her hood back, Culkemen strode up to Glorfindel and Erestor, lowering her sword. She looked at them both for a moment, and then slapped Glorfindel hard across his face.
"Tie them to a tree and leave them to be found by their people," she ordered. The elves on the ground grabbed the two unlucky elves and dragged them to two trees. Rope was brought out from somewhere, and Erestor and Glorfindel found themselves being bound up so tightly they could not move, and the cords bit in to their skin, leaving red marks. The knots where secured, and then the two friends were gagged so they could not call for help, and cloaks were thrown across their heads. From the darkness, they heard the voice of one of the elves saying; "We will take your young friend with us. If you try to follow him, we will not hesitate to slit his throat."
After that, there was silence.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The elven party jogged down the road, trying to find a trace of their princes. At the front of the party, Lindir was being dragged along by Silnan, his wrists bound with rope. The captain was still in a rage, his blood boiling. Others, however, were no longer in such a murderous mood as they had been earlier in the morning.
"Silnan, perhaps you ought to untie his wrists. It slows him down." Culkemen had begun to feel slightly motherly to the young elf being held as a hostage. She was missing her own daughter terribly, and was searching in her heart for a substitute. She had found it in the young and innocent musician. Her suggestion was met by a glare.
"Perhaps you ought to keep your mind on finding our princes."
Culkemen growled. She drew a white dagger, and with one quick swish she cut the bonds around Lindir's wrists. The elf gave a small whimper as Silnan stopped dead and glared at Culkemen. Around them, the other elves stopped and turned to watch.
"What do you think you are doing?"
"Perhaps you ought to ask yourself that question, Silnan. The young one is innocent. He had nothing to do with kidnapping our princes. If it was not for him, we would think that they had gone to Valinor. How do you think king Thranduil would react to that? If he has not yet died of a broken heart, that is."
For a few moments, the pair of angry captains stared at each other. Silnan spat on the ground.
"He is from Imladris. It is enough."
From the back of the group of elves, Lachion strode through to break up the argument, but he was not needed. A horse came stumbling around the bend in the road, two injured elves on its back. One was unconscious and the other could barely keep his eyes open, but there were no visible wounds. Silnan felt a surge of worry and pity for the two elves, but when he saw their identical faces, the worry and pity turned to black hate. Lindir gasped.
Silnan, with anger, grabbed the reigns of the horse and pulled it to a stop, then pulled Elladan off the horse, the conscious one of the two twins. Elladan stumbled and forced his eyes to stay open. When he realised he was being held up by an angry Mirkwood captain, he gasped.
"Where are our princes?" demanded Silnan. The elves behind him drew their bows and aimed them at the twins, but there was no need.
"I. . .I do not know." Replied Elladan
"What happened to you?"
"We were attacked by bandits. Mortals. We fought back. Thought they were all dead. Then someone hit my head. Must have still been a bandit alive. Only just woken up. The princes. . . they had gone. I do not know where. Only one horse left. Lost the other. Taking Elrohir back to adar. Then going to look for them."
The elf swayed, and almost collapsed in Silnan's arms, but somehow he managed to stay upright. He blinked dozily.
"He must have concussion," Culkemen said, hurrying up beside Silnan. Silnan swore beneath his breath. Lachion grabbed Lindir, making sure he would not be able to run away. Lindir stared at Elladan and Elrohir, working out in his mind what had happened. Although the twins had picked on him many times, the musician was terrified for them.
"We can not send them back to Imladris or Elrond will send elves out on a search for the princes and for anymore bandits. We cannot keep them here, or they will hinder us." Again, Silnan blasphemed. This time it was not under his breath.
"They know that if they follow us you will kill Lindir."
Elladan narrowed his eyes.
"You will not dare to hurt Lindir. The kinslayings were all in the first age."
"Do not dare to tell me what I will or will not do! History repeats itself!" Silnan shouted. His face began to tinge red. A vein pulsed in his forehead. Lachion's grip on Lindir tightened. Silnan carried on, his voice a low hiss.
"Culkemen will escort you back to Imladris. She will leave you there, and then she will come back and find us. You have no choice in the matter. If you even dare look around my dear friend Lachion will make sure Lindir is hurt. Do you understand?"
Elladan looked around at the hostile elves surrounding him, and tried to focus. He failed. Giving up, he nodded reluctantly.
"Why must I take them back?" argued Culkemen, her lips thin with anger and frustration.
"Because I told am commanding you to. Now go!"
With a low growl in her throat, Culkemen helped Elladan swing himself back up on to the horse, took the reigns, and marched off quickly down the path, muttering darkly under her breath about the madness that seemed to have taken over Silnan. He was not the captain she had known before the visit of the Imladris elves.
The warriors watched her go, and Lindir trembled. With Culkemen gone, he had nobody to defend him from the wrath of Silnan. He held his breath as Silnan looked at him, but sighed with relief as the captain turned away again and began to stride off in the opposite direction to Culkemen. The warriors quickly began to march off after him, pulling Lindir along with them.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
About an hour later when the sun had reached its zenith, the elves came across the spot where the bandits had attacked the elves. Twelve dead bodies lay there, blood staining the earth. They were all human bodies. They had, in life, been men with dark hair, scars on their skin and rusty coloured clothes. To the elves they all looked very similar. The only sign that elves had ever been there was a white dagger, similar to the one owned by Culkemen. It stuck out of the body of one of the mortals. Lachion pulled it out of the body, and the body groaned. The man was still alive. Lachion prodded it with a foot, and with difficulty, the mortal opened his eyes.
"You attacked a party of eight elves this morning," said the elf, "We have found two of them. Where are the other six?"
With a cough of spluttered laughter, the bandit looked up at the fierce elf above him.
"Why should. . . I. . . tell you?" he asked. It obviously took great effort to speak. Lachion knelt down next to the blood covered mortal and tried to look sympathetic.
"If you tell us, I can help you."
The black haired man narrowed his eyes.
"Promise?"
Nodding, Lachion smiled sweetly at the dying mortal.
"Yes, I promise."
"They went. . . Northwards. Knocked. . .out. . .their friends," he said. With every word, his voice grew rougher and quieter. "Looked. . .for. . .death. Now you. . . help. . . me."
"Help you?" asked Lachion. His voice lost all the sweetness it had held a moment. "Yes, I will help you. Help you to die."
With a flash of his sword, Lachion had slit the mans throat. He stood up and looked around at his companions.
"We go north."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
By the time Culkemen had managed to cross the fords of Bruinen and entered Imladris, the sun was setting and the sky was lit up dark oranges and deep, autumn like reds. She was in a bad mood. For the sake of it, she had tied the hands of Elladan and Elrohir, but only because Elrohir had continually pestered her to turn around and rescue Lindir. She had needed to find someway to shut him up. A few hours ago, Elrohir had woken up and since then he had continually grumbled at her, like Elladan had, to go back for Lindir. After wading through the fords of Bruinen her legs were soaking wet, making her mood worse.
Suddenly, Culkemen found herself and the twins surrounded by elves. She stared strait ahead, right through the one standing directly before her. She recognized him as the elf she had slapped earlier in the day. He glared at her.
"You brats, sir."
"Do not refer to the sons of Elrond as brats," came the cold reply. Culkemen glared.
"I will refer to them however I choose."
Elves helped Elladan and Elrohir down from the horse, and grabbed hold of Culkemen. They marched her quickly along with them down the leafy path. As they walked, the elves behind her fussed over the twins. To her annoyance, she heard them insulting her, Mirkwood, the rest of the elves with her and the princes. Wisely, she decided to keep her mouth shut.
The elves lead her in to the main building. It took all her will power not to look at her surroundings with fascination and awe, but she refused to let herself seem interested in anything to with the kidnapping thieves she saw them as. About half the group split away down a long, curved corridor to her left, taking the twins with them. Culkemen supposed that they were taking them to the healing rooms, but would not allow herself to try and see. She held her head high, telling herself that she was above every other elf in the area.
As Culkemen was marched along down corridor after corridor, elven faces appeared at the top of stairs and staring at her through archways and through windows. She felt blood rising to her face, embarrassed at such unwanted attention.
At last, she was lead in to a large room, filled with candle light, books and ancient scrolls. The elf guiding her, for the rest had left one by one, leaving only the one she had slapped, pushed her gently forwards. Culkemen found herself staring defiantly in to the eyes of Lord Elrond and Lady Celebrian. Not far away, their beautiful daughter sat watching, tear marks staining her cheeks. The former elf, dressed in robes of deep red with his silky black hair flowing free down his back, folded his arms and stared back at her.
"Your people have kidnapped a member of my household. Lord Glorfindel here has described to me exactly what took place this morning. If you want your princes back, holding one of the youngest members of my household captive will not help you in the slightest."
The pretty captain of Mirkwood stared ahead, her arms folded across her chest in defiance and her head held high. She chose not to reply.
"Tell me, captain, why did you kidnap Lindir?"
"Why did you kidnap our princes?" the reply came out harsher than she had meant it to sound, but there was nothing she could do about it. She bit her lip. Lady Celebrian gave an astonished gasp, not expecting such a sharp answer.
"They came to Imladris because they chose to, just as they left because you chose to."
"They came because you filled their heads with poisonous lies, making them think their adar hated them."
Where she was sitting not far away, Arwen began crying in to a handkerchief. Her sobs at first annoyed Culkemen, but then the motherly feelings began growing inside her again as she thought of her young daughter back in Mirkwood. Lady Celebrian glided over to her daughter and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders.
"We fed your princes no lies." Elrond said, defensive. Culkemen gave him a disbelieving look.
"Liar."
The elf lord looked towards his wife and daughter, and then back at the Mirkwood elf. He shook his head sadly.
"I am afraid that, until Lindir is returned to us safe and well, we will not let you return to your people. You had better hope that they do not kill him, as I am lead to believe is the threat."
In the soft candle light, Culkemen forced herself to swallow her anger. First they had taken away the princes, and now they were keeping her prisoner. What, she wondered silently, would come next?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: *gasp* Look! A chapter without the princes! How dare I write a chapter like that? Don't worry, the next chapter will be all from their PoV.
PERSONAL REIVIEW THINGY
KAWAII NINGEN KITSUN ~ I might kill him, I might not ;P. Who can tell? He is my favorite of my original characters as well.
MOONMIST ~ yes, Lindir is a lot smarter than most of them realize, but he puts his heart and soul in to his music. As you see, they did indeed run in to the Mirkwood elves. You're right. I can't kill Legolas. As for my own characters though. . . well, you'll just have to wait to find out. (
ORODRUIN ~ irony is fun. I love irony. Silnan does seem to be in a state of being permanently furious at the moment, doesn't he?
DISCODELIC ~ hey look, you got your wish! She updated. I have to go and review though. . . I haven't had time. I don't have any younger siblings, but I hate it when people read over my shoulder. Very annoying.
COOLIO02 ~ yes, I did upset. Sorry about the week before last. As for their plans being foiled or not, that'll all come out in the last chapter. Note: that isn't necessarily next chapter, but it will be soon.
SLIGHTLYINSANE ~ believe it or not, there is a whole forest of good stories out there! It just takes a lot of rooting around to find them. I recommend you read the stories by Treehugger.
LAINFAER ~ they are going to try their hardest to get to the halls, but you'll just have to wait to see if they manage it or not. I couldn't go telling you that now, could I?
ELIZABETHBLACK4 ~ Canon characters shouldn't be killed by fanwriters like that. If you have to kill a canon character, at least wait until *after* the original story! Yes, they are all the princes.
LARVLE ~ yup, he left Lin behind. Very bad luck. Mind you, I never said bad luck for who.
SARA ~ there could be more bad luck for the princes. Actually, scrap that. There WILL be more bad luck for the princes.
BULEGRISTWEN ~ I think you're mistaking Elrohir for Elhrohir. See, Elhrohir is a Mini Balrog. Explaining what a Mini Balrog is would take too long, so I'll just point you in the direction of OFUM by Camilla Sandman. I suggest you go and read it - it is truly inspirational.
Sitting beneath his favourite tree, Lindir played a tune on his black flute. He winced as he hit an incorrect note, and lowered the instrument, looking at it with sorrow. From the trees, he was being watched, although he did not know.
"Something is wrong with him," whispered Erestor to Glorfindel, "He never plays badly. That is the fifth time this hour he has tried to play that tune, and the fifth time he has failed. Something troubles him."
His companion nodded soberly as they watched Lindir hide his head in his hands.
"We must ask him."
Another nod. The pair dropped quietly from the dry branch they had been sitting on to the cold, leaf covered earth. Purposefully, they had made as much noise as possible, to attract the attention of Lindir. The young musician did not look up. Exchanging worried glances, the older elves tried making even more noise. When this failed to attract attention, Glorfindel sighed.
"Lindir!"
Lindir gave a startled jump, and leapt to his feet, nervously fiddling with the black flute in his hands.
"I. . . I am sorry, I did not realise you were there." He said, his voice trembling slightly.
"What is troubling you, Lindir? You never make a mistake with your music." Erestor looked at Lindir, his pale face full of concern.
"It is. . .it is nothing."
"I find that difficult to believe, Lindir. Look me in the eye and tell me the truth."
Biting his lip, Lindir looked Glorfindel in the eye. Glorfindel stared strait back, as if glaring right through the young elf, with his piercing blue eyes.
"The. . .the princes," he began, "They. . ." he shivered and trailed off, diverting his eyes.
"The princes, Lindir? What about them?" asked Erestor, kindly. There was a rustle from the bushes around them, and tall, cloaked figures stepped out, each one of them armed to the teeth.
"Yes, Lindir," said one, seemingly the leader, "What do you know about our princes?"
The speaker pulled the dark hood of his cloak back, revealing his face. Glorfindel gasped as he realised it was Silnan. He and the captain had become good friends during the stay in Mirkwood, but now he had become dangerous and hostile. In the blink of an eye, Silnan grabbed Lindir around the shoulders, drew his blade, and rested it across the throat of the young elf. Lindir let out a squeak of stunned surprise. The other elves, Erestor counted ten, each drew long, dazzling swords and aimed them at Erestor and Glorfindel. Glorfindel reached for his sword, but was stopped by Silnan's angry voice.
"I would not do that if I were you, Silnan. We have more archers sitting in the branches, just waiting for an excuse to shoot you more full of arrows than the orcs were at the small village outside Dale!"
Slowly, Glorfindel looked around at the trees. Sitting around, each with bows and arrows trained directly at him, were cloaked archers, glowering. The elf lord moved his hand away from the sword, glowering back.
"Now then, little elfling, shall we send one of your friends to fetch our princes? Sending a couple of our nice archers along with them so they cannot try anything, of course." The three elves of Imladris noted the sarcastic stress put on the word 'nice'. Silnan pressed his sword deeper in to the skin of his prisoner, so much so that a small drop of blood trickled down Lindir's throat, seeping in to his green tunic. The elf whimpered.
"The princes are no longer here!" hissed Erestor, angrily. "They have left for Valinor. You missed them by two days."
A few of the Mirkwood warriors, both on the ground and in the trees, cried out with anger and despair. Captain Silnan snarled angrily and opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted by Lindir.
"No! No, they have not."
He suddenly had the full attention of every elf in the vicinity. Glorfindel and Erestor looked at him, perplexed.
"Keep talking, little elf!" The blade at his throat shifted slightly, and Lindir began to blurt out everything he knew, terror taking over.
"They only said that so that you would not question why they wanted to leave. They are really going to find the realm of Angmar so that they can die and see their family again. I heard them talking about it a week before they left. I did not mean to eavesdrop, but I could not help it." As the sword tickled his throat, Lindir squeezed his eyes shut, a small tear escaping and trickling down his cheek.
For a moment, there was silent. Then Glorfindel spoke in a hushed and shocked voice.
"They lied to us!"
"You lied to them. A lie for a lie, you filthy creatures!" spat one of the warriors from the trees. That comment was greeted by angry agreement. Glorfindel narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to argue back, but Erestor shook his head quickly. Glorfindel closed his mouth, and satisfied himself with glowering at the elves of Mirkwood.
"It is time for us to go and find Angmar, I think." Said one of the warriors. Pulling her hood back, Culkemen strode up to Glorfindel and Erestor, lowering her sword. She looked at them both for a moment, and then slapped Glorfindel hard across his face.
"Tie them to a tree and leave them to be found by their people," she ordered. The elves on the ground grabbed the two unlucky elves and dragged them to two trees. Rope was brought out from somewhere, and Erestor and Glorfindel found themselves being bound up so tightly they could not move, and the cords bit in to their skin, leaving red marks. The knots where secured, and then the two friends were gagged so they could not call for help, and cloaks were thrown across their heads. From the darkness, they heard the voice of one of the elves saying; "We will take your young friend with us. If you try to follow him, we will not hesitate to slit his throat."
After that, there was silence.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The elven party jogged down the road, trying to find a trace of their princes. At the front of the party, Lindir was being dragged along by Silnan, his wrists bound with rope. The captain was still in a rage, his blood boiling. Others, however, were no longer in such a murderous mood as they had been earlier in the morning.
"Silnan, perhaps you ought to untie his wrists. It slows him down." Culkemen had begun to feel slightly motherly to the young elf being held as a hostage. She was missing her own daughter terribly, and was searching in her heart for a substitute. She had found it in the young and innocent musician. Her suggestion was met by a glare.
"Perhaps you ought to keep your mind on finding our princes."
Culkemen growled. She drew a white dagger, and with one quick swish she cut the bonds around Lindir's wrists. The elf gave a small whimper as Silnan stopped dead and glared at Culkemen. Around them, the other elves stopped and turned to watch.
"What do you think you are doing?"
"Perhaps you ought to ask yourself that question, Silnan. The young one is innocent. He had nothing to do with kidnapping our princes. If it was not for him, we would think that they had gone to Valinor. How do you think king Thranduil would react to that? If he has not yet died of a broken heart, that is."
For a few moments, the pair of angry captains stared at each other. Silnan spat on the ground.
"He is from Imladris. It is enough."
From the back of the group of elves, Lachion strode through to break up the argument, but he was not needed. A horse came stumbling around the bend in the road, two injured elves on its back. One was unconscious and the other could barely keep his eyes open, but there were no visible wounds. Silnan felt a surge of worry and pity for the two elves, but when he saw their identical faces, the worry and pity turned to black hate. Lindir gasped.
Silnan, with anger, grabbed the reigns of the horse and pulled it to a stop, then pulled Elladan off the horse, the conscious one of the two twins. Elladan stumbled and forced his eyes to stay open. When he realised he was being held up by an angry Mirkwood captain, he gasped.
"Where are our princes?" demanded Silnan. The elves behind him drew their bows and aimed them at the twins, but there was no need.
"I. . .I do not know." Replied Elladan
"What happened to you?"
"We were attacked by bandits. Mortals. We fought back. Thought they were all dead. Then someone hit my head. Must have still been a bandit alive. Only just woken up. The princes. . . they had gone. I do not know where. Only one horse left. Lost the other. Taking Elrohir back to adar. Then going to look for them."
The elf swayed, and almost collapsed in Silnan's arms, but somehow he managed to stay upright. He blinked dozily.
"He must have concussion," Culkemen said, hurrying up beside Silnan. Silnan swore beneath his breath. Lachion grabbed Lindir, making sure he would not be able to run away. Lindir stared at Elladan and Elrohir, working out in his mind what had happened. Although the twins had picked on him many times, the musician was terrified for them.
"We can not send them back to Imladris or Elrond will send elves out on a search for the princes and for anymore bandits. We cannot keep them here, or they will hinder us." Again, Silnan blasphemed. This time it was not under his breath.
"They know that if they follow us you will kill Lindir."
Elladan narrowed his eyes.
"You will not dare to hurt Lindir. The kinslayings were all in the first age."
"Do not dare to tell me what I will or will not do! History repeats itself!" Silnan shouted. His face began to tinge red. A vein pulsed in his forehead. Lachion's grip on Lindir tightened. Silnan carried on, his voice a low hiss.
"Culkemen will escort you back to Imladris. She will leave you there, and then she will come back and find us. You have no choice in the matter. If you even dare look around my dear friend Lachion will make sure Lindir is hurt. Do you understand?"
Elladan looked around at the hostile elves surrounding him, and tried to focus. He failed. Giving up, he nodded reluctantly.
"Why must I take them back?" argued Culkemen, her lips thin with anger and frustration.
"Because I told am commanding you to. Now go!"
With a low growl in her throat, Culkemen helped Elladan swing himself back up on to the horse, took the reigns, and marched off quickly down the path, muttering darkly under her breath about the madness that seemed to have taken over Silnan. He was not the captain she had known before the visit of the Imladris elves.
The warriors watched her go, and Lindir trembled. With Culkemen gone, he had nobody to defend him from the wrath of Silnan. He held his breath as Silnan looked at him, but sighed with relief as the captain turned away again and began to stride off in the opposite direction to Culkemen. The warriors quickly began to march off after him, pulling Lindir along with them.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
About an hour later when the sun had reached its zenith, the elves came across the spot where the bandits had attacked the elves. Twelve dead bodies lay there, blood staining the earth. They were all human bodies. They had, in life, been men with dark hair, scars on their skin and rusty coloured clothes. To the elves they all looked very similar. The only sign that elves had ever been there was a white dagger, similar to the one owned by Culkemen. It stuck out of the body of one of the mortals. Lachion pulled it out of the body, and the body groaned. The man was still alive. Lachion prodded it with a foot, and with difficulty, the mortal opened his eyes.
"You attacked a party of eight elves this morning," said the elf, "We have found two of them. Where are the other six?"
With a cough of spluttered laughter, the bandit looked up at the fierce elf above him.
"Why should. . . I. . . tell you?" he asked. It obviously took great effort to speak. Lachion knelt down next to the blood covered mortal and tried to look sympathetic.
"If you tell us, I can help you."
The black haired man narrowed his eyes.
"Promise?"
Nodding, Lachion smiled sweetly at the dying mortal.
"Yes, I promise."
"They went. . . Northwards. Knocked. . .out. . .their friends," he said. With every word, his voice grew rougher and quieter. "Looked. . .for. . .death. Now you. . . help. . . me."
"Help you?" asked Lachion. His voice lost all the sweetness it had held a moment. "Yes, I will help you. Help you to die."
With a flash of his sword, Lachion had slit the mans throat. He stood up and looked around at his companions.
"We go north."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
By the time Culkemen had managed to cross the fords of Bruinen and entered Imladris, the sun was setting and the sky was lit up dark oranges and deep, autumn like reds. She was in a bad mood. For the sake of it, she had tied the hands of Elladan and Elrohir, but only because Elrohir had continually pestered her to turn around and rescue Lindir. She had needed to find someway to shut him up. A few hours ago, Elrohir had woken up and since then he had continually grumbled at her, like Elladan had, to go back for Lindir. After wading through the fords of Bruinen her legs were soaking wet, making her mood worse.
Suddenly, Culkemen found herself and the twins surrounded by elves. She stared strait ahead, right through the one standing directly before her. She recognized him as the elf she had slapped earlier in the day. He glared at her.
"You brats, sir."
"Do not refer to the sons of Elrond as brats," came the cold reply. Culkemen glared.
"I will refer to them however I choose."
Elves helped Elladan and Elrohir down from the horse, and grabbed hold of Culkemen. They marched her quickly along with them down the leafy path. As they walked, the elves behind her fussed over the twins. To her annoyance, she heard them insulting her, Mirkwood, the rest of the elves with her and the princes. Wisely, she decided to keep her mouth shut.
The elves lead her in to the main building. It took all her will power not to look at her surroundings with fascination and awe, but she refused to let herself seem interested in anything to with the kidnapping thieves she saw them as. About half the group split away down a long, curved corridor to her left, taking the twins with them. Culkemen supposed that they were taking them to the healing rooms, but would not allow herself to try and see. She held her head high, telling herself that she was above every other elf in the area.
As Culkemen was marched along down corridor after corridor, elven faces appeared at the top of stairs and staring at her through archways and through windows. She felt blood rising to her face, embarrassed at such unwanted attention.
At last, she was lead in to a large room, filled with candle light, books and ancient scrolls. The elf guiding her, for the rest had left one by one, leaving only the one she had slapped, pushed her gently forwards. Culkemen found herself staring defiantly in to the eyes of Lord Elrond and Lady Celebrian. Not far away, their beautiful daughter sat watching, tear marks staining her cheeks. The former elf, dressed in robes of deep red with his silky black hair flowing free down his back, folded his arms and stared back at her.
"Your people have kidnapped a member of my household. Lord Glorfindel here has described to me exactly what took place this morning. If you want your princes back, holding one of the youngest members of my household captive will not help you in the slightest."
The pretty captain of Mirkwood stared ahead, her arms folded across her chest in defiance and her head held high. She chose not to reply.
"Tell me, captain, why did you kidnap Lindir?"
"Why did you kidnap our princes?" the reply came out harsher than she had meant it to sound, but there was nothing she could do about it. She bit her lip. Lady Celebrian gave an astonished gasp, not expecting such a sharp answer.
"They came to Imladris because they chose to, just as they left because you chose to."
"They came because you filled their heads with poisonous lies, making them think their adar hated them."
Where she was sitting not far away, Arwen began crying in to a handkerchief. Her sobs at first annoyed Culkemen, but then the motherly feelings began growing inside her again as she thought of her young daughter back in Mirkwood. Lady Celebrian glided over to her daughter and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders.
"We fed your princes no lies." Elrond said, defensive. Culkemen gave him a disbelieving look.
"Liar."
The elf lord looked towards his wife and daughter, and then back at the Mirkwood elf. He shook his head sadly.
"I am afraid that, until Lindir is returned to us safe and well, we will not let you return to your people. You had better hope that they do not kill him, as I am lead to believe is the threat."
In the soft candle light, Culkemen forced herself to swallow her anger. First they had taken away the princes, and now they were keeping her prisoner. What, she wondered silently, would come next?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: *gasp* Look! A chapter without the princes! How dare I write a chapter like that? Don't worry, the next chapter will be all from their PoV.
PERSONAL REIVIEW THINGY
KAWAII NINGEN KITSUN ~ I might kill him, I might not ;P. Who can tell? He is my favorite of my original characters as well.
MOONMIST ~ yes, Lindir is a lot smarter than most of them realize, but he puts his heart and soul in to his music. As you see, they did indeed run in to the Mirkwood elves. You're right. I can't kill Legolas. As for my own characters though. . . well, you'll just have to wait to find out. (
ORODRUIN ~ irony is fun. I love irony. Silnan does seem to be in a state of being permanently furious at the moment, doesn't he?
DISCODELIC ~ hey look, you got your wish! She updated. I have to go and review though. . . I haven't had time. I don't have any younger siblings, but I hate it when people read over my shoulder. Very annoying.
COOLIO02 ~ yes, I did upset. Sorry about the week before last. As for their plans being foiled or not, that'll all come out in the last chapter. Note: that isn't necessarily next chapter, but it will be soon.
SLIGHTLYINSANE ~ believe it or not, there is a whole forest of good stories out there! It just takes a lot of rooting around to find them. I recommend you read the stories by Treehugger.
LAINFAER ~ they are going to try their hardest to get to the halls, but you'll just have to wait to see if they manage it or not. I couldn't go telling you that now, could I?
ELIZABETHBLACK4 ~ Canon characters shouldn't be killed by fanwriters like that. If you have to kill a canon character, at least wait until *after* the original story! Yes, they are all the princes.
LARVLE ~ yup, he left Lin behind. Very bad luck. Mind you, I never said bad luck for who.
SARA ~ there could be more bad luck for the princes. Actually, scrap that. There WILL be more bad luck for the princes.
BULEGRISTWEN ~ I think you're mistaking Elrohir for Elhrohir. See, Elhrohir is a Mini Balrog. Explaining what a Mini Balrog is would take too long, so I'll just point you in the direction of OFUM by Camilla Sandman. I suggest you go and read it - it is truly inspirational.