When Curunír heard the news of what had happen, he gave in and offered his
assistance in the attack on Dol Guldur though Celebrian, Galadriel and
Elrond suspected that it was merely not to appear indifferent towards King
Thranduil and the elves of the Greenwood.
"You're staying here."
"The Mandos I am." Celebrian turned from packing a pair of saddle bags and looked to her husband.
"Elrond, making love is one thing, battle is quite another. There's the possibility that you could be shot or poisoned again. You know that your body could not handle another poisoning." Elrond exhaled, clenched his jaw and cast his eyes to the ground.
"I swore I would stay with you until the shadow had passed-."
"And if you wish to hold true to that promise then you must stay here." She crossed to Elrond and, lifting his head in her hands, looked into his eyes reassuringly. "What guarantees that this one battle will mark the passing of the shadow? You know he has other strongholds, other fortresses, other places in which to brood his armies." Elrond looked to her eyes as well as he slid his hands over hers and clasped them tightly.
"What guarantees that you will return?" Celebrian closed her eyes and leaned her head against Elrond's.
"As in all battles, with all warriors, nothing guarantees anything. Nothing guaranteed that you would return from the Last Alliance but did my Lord Gil- galad stop you from going simply on the basis that you Might not return?"
"That was different," Elrond whispered, "Ereinion went with me to battle…it is foolish to ask me to stay when you go." Celebrian wrapped her arms around his shoulder's and kissed his temple just as Glorfindel entered.
"My Lady, it is time to go." Elrond now wrapped his arms about her waist and clutched her to his chest, silently pleading. Celebrian, deliberately not meeting his eyes, lightly took his arms from her waist, slung her saddle bags over her shoulder and went to follow Glorfindel through the door.
"Wait!" Elrond called to her. Celebrian turned hesitantly, thinking it a plea for either her to stay or allow him to come. Instead, she found Elrond holding his coat of mail towards her. "I do not wish you to go without the finest." Celebrian stepped forward and took the mail from him.
"I does no matter what I take with me, I go without the finest." She replied as she squeezed his hand and turned from him, following Glorfindel once more.
Elrond listened to their hushed conversation as they retreated down the hallway.
"You will not allow him to go then?" Glorfindel's comment sparked a small feeling of anger in Elrond. As if he needed the permission and acceptance of his wife to go.
"I do not trust myself to protect him, nor anyone else for that matter." Elrond's blood boiled at that. His own wife saying that he needed to be cared for, looked after,…protected. His breathing caused his chest to heave as he stormed from the chambers. He didn't care if anyone saw him, his family was not there at the moment and they were all he cared to shield his anger from.
The Elves of Imladris stayed clear of the gardens for the rest of that day as their Lord's cursing could be heard from far and wide. He had been practicing his sword play for most of the day and shed his shirt in the process.
"I don't need her protection." He yelled angrily. "I do not need her…her…assistance." His sword, delicate yet with the strength of ages cut through the air with such speed that sound of it hurt his own ears. "I need no ones assistance. I can stand on my own!" The blade, bearing a thin elvish script carved from the hilt the point, spun about as Elrond whipped it back, brought it around his shoulder and whipped it forward, continuing on with the smooth movements. He didn't notice the scars of the burnings and whippings start to re-appear. "I am the rightful heir to the throne of the Noldor!" With that last cry, Elrond's pulsing muscles forced his skin too far and the scars that had just became visible split open once more. Collapsing on the ground, Elrond realized just how much the capture had changed him. The time he had to brood on it had not helped. He had become angry and bitter and this was only a shred of just what tore him inside.
"Ereinion…" He whispered to the earth.
"You may leave them here, of course." Thranduil said. "They will be housed with the utmost care." Celebrian walked along side him, down one of the many corridors of his home.
"I thank you for your kindness." Thranduil stopped and turned to her.
"No, my Lady, I thank you for yours. You did not have to come." Celebrian cast her eyes away from his.
"I wish we had come sooner…maybe some of the tragedies that have befallen the Greenwood would not have."
"Mirkwood 'tis now, without her light…" He paused a moment before he shook the thoughts from his mind and continued on. "Our archers shall lead you there and stay by your side through it, as shall I." Celebrian smiled weakly at him as they entered into the fresh air and the stables.
She looked about to see her own sons unsaddling a horse with Mirkwood's prince, Glorfindel now discussing the upcoming battle with King Thranduil but she found herself feeling rather alone and she wished at that moment, for nothing more than the feel of her lovers hand in hers. Celebrian stiffened after closing her eyes and taking a reassuring breath. She opened her eyes and looked out over them.
"Alright, it's time to be off. We want to catch them while the light still favors a longer stay." Everyone turned and began to march from the stables to join the Mirkwood elves after she had finished.
The host from Imladris had journeyed to Lothlorien before they came to Mirkwood and there ranks had more than doubled yet there was still doubt in Celebrian's mind as to whether or not they could succeed in driving Sauron from Dol Guldur. Curunír had joined them at Lothlorien as well but Celebrian felt, if anything, less confident in his presence.
"We approach on horse then?" Celebrian looked to her side to see him, his staff in hand, his eyes still placid as ever.
"Yes, meandering through these woods on horse is pointless and time consuming." He nodded and left her side which Celebrian was all to grateful for.
Celebrian had an easier time going through the woods than most of the other elves of Imladris as she was raised in Lorien. Glorfindel was always at her side, his sword drawn and ready even as they first walked into shadow. Elladan and Elrohir went a little ways in front of their mother, the swords their father had given them drawn as well. King Thranduil and his son were a few feet off to her side, bows readied with arrows.
Dol Guldur held an almost palpable sense of Sauron, it was as though you could taste and smell him in the air, feel him infecting the ground, poisoning the roots for indeed he had. Celebrian now understood the King's great distress more so. It was like seeing the Golden Wood or Imladris fall to ruin and being unable to stop it. The shadowed woods held many queer creatures, ones noticeable only by feeling their presence, others, by their piercing eyes. Still others, by their fowl smell and horrid battle cries.
"Orcs!" Came a shout from the left side of the ranks. The forest seemed to move as hundreds of dark green shapes hurled themselves through the forest. Arrows whizzed over Celebrian's head as she stood her ground and waited for the first orc to step out from the shadows. As one did, she whipped her sword straight into his shoulder, nearly slicing him in two. Kicking him to the ground and off the blade of her sword, Celebrian lunge at the next one that sprang forth, burying her blade in his leg and slicing it up to his abdomen with surprising strength. The blood flowed down the blade and to the hilt, soaking her leather gloves and it simply didn't stop, one after another, the orcs flowed as freely as their blood did on the arrows and blades of the elves.
Eventually, the lines of orcs thinned and they made way to the expansive yet low stone building. Just as Celebrian thought that they would make it soon, a new wave of orcs poured through the large, beaten iron gates and, following them, came five large, many eyed creatures, hissing and spitting gobs of black goo at the line of elves. Celebrian found her self at the front of the lines along with Thranduil. Together they gave a rallying call and charged forward once more. The many elves that still lived raised the call to a deafening roar as they followed their Lady and King. Though the elves took down hundreds more orcs with ease, the spider-like creatures were making sizable dents in their ranks. Celebrian, slicing off the arm of a rather large orc, saw Curunír step forward, his confidence and calm demeanor beginning to agitate her now, and hold out his staff to one of the large creatures who made to charge for him. She didn't, however, get to see exactly how he dealt with it for Celebrian saw then, just as she lifted her blade from the orc's carcass, a large, dark shadow, fleeing the building.
The shadow was deeper than the rest of the forest, if that was at all possible, and it carried with it that same palpable, infectious evil. Celebrian, picking up a bow from a lost elf and an arrow stuck in the ground a few feet from her, ran after the shadow, though it moved fast, she gained on it. Her breath came faster as, still running, she readied the arrow on the bow, pulled back and let it sail to it's fleeing target. Those fast breaths caught in her throat though, as the shadow turned and caught the arrow in a fast movement. The dark hands gauntlet crushed the arrow. Two hollow eyes looked up from their fist to her and Celebrian could swear that a smile was upon the face of the shadow.
Celebrian knew that the other elves were all preoccupied, no one else saw the shadow fleeing, they were all still intent on storming the building. He could advance on her, take her life in his hands and she was without the means to stop it.
Just as he began to walk towards her, the black hand reaching out, a flash of white lit the area and Celebrian was blinded for a moment. When she took her hand from shielding her eyes, all that was visible was Curunír, his stance betraying his readiness to fight, and the shadow, far away and still running.
Curunír turned to her and offered his hand. Celebrian smiled lightly but arose herself and dusted the dirt and crumbling leaves from her legs. She was glad to hear an elvish uproar of success.
"What happened?" Celebrian hollered to the healer who stood just outside her door. Her sons followed, still fully in their armor.
"He must have been…training and the fever overtook him." Celebrian stopped in the doorway when she saw her husbands form, sickly pale and bandaged, just as it was the first time he had returned.
"Elrond." She whispered as she went to the side of the bed where her daughter was seated.
His fever was much more than that. He seemed as though he was truly on fire, burning from within. His skin was almost yellow in hue and his veins were beginning to turn to a horrible shade of blue.
She laid a hand upon his chest to feel his week heart beat. When she took her hand from his chest and rested it on his cheek, he did not respond as he always did before, with a light flutter of his lashes. He was still. He was a living image of one deceased.
Ready your hankies for the next chap folks!(and, you know, review:)
"You're staying here."
"The Mandos I am." Celebrian turned from packing a pair of saddle bags and looked to her husband.
"Elrond, making love is one thing, battle is quite another. There's the possibility that you could be shot or poisoned again. You know that your body could not handle another poisoning." Elrond exhaled, clenched his jaw and cast his eyes to the ground.
"I swore I would stay with you until the shadow had passed-."
"And if you wish to hold true to that promise then you must stay here." She crossed to Elrond and, lifting his head in her hands, looked into his eyes reassuringly. "What guarantees that this one battle will mark the passing of the shadow? You know he has other strongholds, other fortresses, other places in which to brood his armies." Elrond looked to her eyes as well as he slid his hands over hers and clasped them tightly.
"What guarantees that you will return?" Celebrian closed her eyes and leaned her head against Elrond's.
"As in all battles, with all warriors, nothing guarantees anything. Nothing guaranteed that you would return from the Last Alliance but did my Lord Gil- galad stop you from going simply on the basis that you Might not return?"
"That was different," Elrond whispered, "Ereinion went with me to battle…it is foolish to ask me to stay when you go." Celebrian wrapped her arms around his shoulder's and kissed his temple just as Glorfindel entered.
"My Lady, it is time to go." Elrond now wrapped his arms about her waist and clutched her to his chest, silently pleading. Celebrian, deliberately not meeting his eyes, lightly took his arms from her waist, slung her saddle bags over her shoulder and went to follow Glorfindel through the door.
"Wait!" Elrond called to her. Celebrian turned hesitantly, thinking it a plea for either her to stay or allow him to come. Instead, she found Elrond holding his coat of mail towards her. "I do not wish you to go without the finest." Celebrian stepped forward and took the mail from him.
"I does no matter what I take with me, I go without the finest." She replied as she squeezed his hand and turned from him, following Glorfindel once more.
Elrond listened to their hushed conversation as they retreated down the hallway.
"You will not allow him to go then?" Glorfindel's comment sparked a small feeling of anger in Elrond. As if he needed the permission and acceptance of his wife to go.
"I do not trust myself to protect him, nor anyone else for that matter." Elrond's blood boiled at that. His own wife saying that he needed to be cared for, looked after,…protected. His breathing caused his chest to heave as he stormed from the chambers. He didn't care if anyone saw him, his family was not there at the moment and they were all he cared to shield his anger from.
The Elves of Imladris stayed clear of the gardens for the rest of that day as their Lord's cursing could be heard from far and wide. He had been practicing his sword play for most of the day and shed his shirt in the process.
"I don't need her protection." He yelled angrily. "I do not need her…her…assistance." His sword, delicate yet with the strength of ages cut through the air with such speed that sound of it hurt his own ears. "I need no ones assistance. I can stand on my own!" The blade, bearing a thin elvish script carved from the hilt the point, spun about as Elrond whipped it back, brought it around his shoulder and whipped it forward, continuing on with the smooth movements. He didn't notice the scars of the burnings and whippings start to re-appear. "I am the rightful heir to the throne of the Noldor!" With that last cry, Elrond's pulsing muscles forced his skin too far and the scars that had just became visible split open once more. Collapsing on the ground, Elrond realized just how much the capture had changed him. The time he had to brood on it had not helped. He had become angry and bitter and this was only a shred of just what tore him inside.
"Ereinion…" He whispered to the earth.
"You may leave them here, of course." Thranduil said. "They will be housed with the utmost care." Celebrian walked along side him, down one of the many corridors of his home.
"I thank you for your kindness." Thranduil stopped and turned to her.
"No, my Lady, I thank you for yours. You did not have to come." Celebrian cast her eyes away from his.
"I wish we had come sooner…maybe some of the tragedies that have befallen the Greenwood would not have."
"Mirkwood 'tis now, without her light…" He paused a moment before he shook the thoughts from his mind and continued on. "Our archers shall lead you there and stay by your side through it, as shall I." Celebrian smiled weakly at him as they entered into the fresh air and the stables.
She looked about to see her own sons unsaddling a horse with Mirkwood's prince, Glorfindel now discussing the upcoming battle with King Thranduil but she found herself feeling rather alone and she wished at that moment, for nothing more than the feel of her lovers hand in hers. Celebrian stiffened after closing her eyes and taking a reassuring breath. She opened her eyes and looked out over them.
"Alright, it's time to be off. We want to catch them while the light still favors a longer stay." Everyone turned and began to march from the stables to join the Mirkwood elves after she had finished.
The host from Imladris had journeyed to Lothlorien before they came to Mirkwood and there ranks had more than doubled yet there was still doubt in Celebrian's mind as to whether or not they could succeed in driving Sauron from Dol Guldur. Curunír had joined them at Lothlorien as well but Celebrian felt, if anything, less confident in his presence.
"We approach on horse then?" Celebrian looked to her side to see him, his staff in hand, his eyes still placid as ever.
"Yes, meandering through these woods on horse is pointless and time consuming." He nodded and left her side which Celebrian was all to grateful for.
Celebrian had an easier time going through the woods than most of the other elves of Imladris as she was raised in Lorien. Glorfindel was always at her side, his sword drawn and ready even as they first walked into shadow. Elladan and Elrohir went a little ways in front of their mother, the swords their father had given them drawn as well. King Thranduil and his son were a few feet off to her side, bows readied with arrows.
Dol Guldur held an almost palpable sense of Sauron, it was as though you could taste and smell him in the air, feel him infecting the ground, poisoning the roots for indeed he had. Celebrian now understood the King's great distress more so. It was like seeing the Golden Wood or Imladris fall to ruin and being unable to stop it. The shadowed woods held many queer creatures, ones noticeable only by feeling their presence, others, by their piercing eyes. Still others, by their fowl smell and horrid battle cries.
"Orcs!" Came a shout from the left side of the ranks. The forest seemed to move as hundreds of dark green shapes hurled themselves through the forest. Arrows whizzed over Celebrian's head as she stood her ground and waited for the first orc to step out from the shadows. As one did, she whipped her sword straight into his shoulder, nearly slicing him in two. Kicking him to the ground and off the blade of her sword, Celebrian lunge at the next one that sprang forth, burying her blade in his leg and slicing it up to his abdomen with surprising strength. The blood flowed down the blade and to the hilt, soaking her leather gloves and it simply didn't stop, one after another, the orcs flowed as freely as their blood did on the arrows and blades of the elves.
Eventually, the lines of orcs thinned and they made way to the expansive yet low stone building. Just as Celebrian thought that they would make it soon, a new wave of orcs poured through the large, beaten iron gates and, following them, came five large, many eyed creatures, hissing and spitting gobs of black goo at the line of elves. Celebrian found her self at the front of the lines along with Thranduil. Together they gave a rallying call and charged forward once more. The many elves that still lived raised the call to a deafening roar as they followed their Lady and King. Though the elves took down hundreds more orcs with ease, the spider-like creatures were making sizable dents in their ranks. Celebrian, slicing off the arm of a rather large orc, saw Curunír step forward, his confidence and calm demeanor beginning to agitate her now, and hold out his staff to one of the large creatures who made to charge for him. She didn't, however, get to see exactly how he dealt with it for Celebrian saw then, just as she lifted her blade from the orc's carcass, a large, dark shadow, fleeing the building.
The shadow was deeper than the rest of the forest, if that was at all possible, and it carried with it that same palpable, infectious evil. Celebrian, picking up a bow from a lost elf and an arrow stuck in the ground a few feet from her, ran after the shadow, though it moved fast, she gained on it. Her breath came faster as, still running, she readied the arrow on the bow, pulled back and let it sail to it's fleeing target. Those fast breaths caught in her throat though, as the shadow turned and caught the arrow in a fast movement. The dark hands gauntlet crushed the arrow. Two hollow eyes looked up from their fist to her and Celebrian could swear that a smile was upon the face of the shadow.
Celebrian knew that the other elves were all preoccupied, no one else saw the shadow fleeing, they were all still intent on storming the building. He could advance on her, take her life in his hands and she was without the means to stop it.
Just as he began to walk towards her, the black hand reaching out, a flash of white lit the area and Celebrian was blinded for a moment. When she took her hand from shielding her eyes, all that was visible was Curunír, his stance betraying his readiness to fight, and the shadow, far away and still running.
Curunír turned to her and offered his hand. Celebrian smiled lightly but arose herself and dusted the dirt and crumbling leaves from her legs. She was glad to hear an elvish uproar of success.
"What happened?" Celebrian hollered to the healer who stood just outside her door. Her sons followed, still fully in their armor.
"He must have been…training and the fever overtook him." Celebrian stopped in the doorway when she saw her husbands form, sickly pale and bandaged, just as it was the first time he had returned.
"Elrond." She whispered as she went to the side of the bed where her daughter was seated.
His fever was much more than that. He seemed as though he was truly on fire, burning from within. His skin was almost yellow in hue and his veins were beginning to turn to a horrible shade of blue.
She laid a hand upon his chest to feel his week heart beat. When she took her hand from his chest and rested it on his cheek, he did not respond as he always did before, with a light flutter of his lashes. He was still. He was a living image of one deceased.
Ready your hankies for the next chap folks!(and, you know, review:)