CHAPTER 7
A few hours before sunrise, Elrond was over by the horses, currying his after taking care of Aragorn's. Not that there was much to do for either of them, but he found it soothing just to rub down the animals, and speak elvish to them. He was reaching under the horse to get the last bit of dirt off it's belly when both he and the horse tensed. Although his ears didn't' flick back as his horse's did, he stood quickly, listening. He felt the presence moving. Not directly towards them, but around them, to the left again, as if trying to…
He turned and ran back to wake Aragorn. He quickly responded to the elf's hand on his shoulder, but Elrond spoke first. "We need to head out, that presence is trying to cut us off up ahead. We must move out now."
Needing no more explanation, both quickly grabbed their packs, and because Elrond had already saddled his mount, were galloping off within a few moments.
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
It was midday now, and they had slowed their mounts to a canter. That presence was still off to the left, but now was riding equal to them, rather than ahead of them. It had taken most of the morning to catch up, but they had and now they were resting for a bit before continuing on as their previous pace. Their steeds were the best of both races, one with elven speed, the other with man's endurance. They were loyal, and were both holding their own, so neither king worried much about riding them to death.
" Elrond, what is the presence you keep speaking of? Do you know what it is? For some reason, I am unable to sense it, so it much not be natural, unless it's something unknown to this land."
"Aragorn, I honestly don't know the true nature of what follows us, but I do know that it is part of this darkness, for whenever it closes, my heart suddenly weighs heavy in my chest." Aragorn nodded, for he had noticed that as the night turned into day, his friend's glow had steadily grown dimmer as they closed upon the presence.
Nodding, he asked instead, "How long do we have to go?" They had left the fields a few hours ago and were now following a dried streambed through a sparse forest. All seemed wilted, but the season was wrong for such occurrences. They were close to their final destination, and once again he was slightly behind Elrond, so that the elf could hunt and locate the entrance.
In that garden back in Rivendell, the elf lord had told him where they could find the darkness.
" It was written here to find this darkness in a related prophecy. The first night after out interrogation of Talya, I went back and studied those prophecies. Again I won't go into detail, but from what it said, we need to first follow plain then stream. I know of which stream we need to follow, and where the two meet. Once we follow along the streambed, it's left to the simple task of following the senses."
"How so?"
"As elf, I am attuned to the light, and the center of this darkness is our source of light. As we near, the darkness of soul will weigh heavier upon me, but in the center of the maelstrom we will find what we need."
Now as they rode, though Aragorn was uneasy, Elrond seemed greatly more disturbed. As it was daylight, no inner glow could be detected by the eyes, but that brightness that seemed to permeate the soul and body of all elves seemed to be waning for the figure in front of him. He didn't like not knowing what his friend was experiencing, but he could tell that whatever he was enduring, it wasn't pleasant.
Elrond continued to ride slightly forward of the man, for he was looking for a sign of where to go. He has stated that he only needed to follow the feeling of darkness, and that was what he was doing, but as it kept getting darker and colder, he was starting to lose hope. Not that he didn't trust himself; it was just that the darkness weighing upon his soul was wearing him down. Poor Legolas he thought. What you must be enduring, at the center of all this. He cast his head down as he thought, not realizing he was doing so, but when he looked back up, he caught two surprises. First, there was Aragorn, looking concerned. The second was a shadow.
"How are you friend?"
"Not now Aragorn. Look there, to the left bank. Do you see that shadow?"
Looking over, he nodded. "But what of it?" He looked closer. "Wait, why is it there?" Glancing around, he couldn't find what was its source. It seemed to simply be a place of no light. He said so.
Nodding, Elrond motioned them to head towards it. It was right at that moment, that they heard a scream. A figure above them on the left bank jumped towards Elrond, screaming something about light.
Startled, both man and elf quickly grabbed at their swords, but neither were fast enough as the thing landed on Elrond and knocked him from his horse.
"Elrond!"
The two figures, matched size for size, fought on the ground, one of light, one of dark. It seemed that this place so enveloped him in darkness that he had lost the creature's presence amidst it. Now here he was fighting off that which had been pacing them.
"Elrond!" He dismounted and ran to his friend's aid. He went to grab and drag the figure off the elf, but paused when Elrond yelled at him not to touch it.
Grunting as the thing got a hold of his sword hand and tried to make him release it by breaking his wrist, Elrond saw what Aragorn was about to do and suddenly feared greatly for what was to happen. " No, don't Aragorn," he shouted. He didn't know why, but he knew that if his friend touched this thing that he would come to harm. As it was, the two grappled, each fighting for purchase, with Elrond still pressed to the ground underneath his attacker.
The thing, getting frustrated at their stalemate, bent and bit the elf's shoulder. Crying out in pain, Elrond squirmed to get away rather than flip his opponent, and the thing shoved away from him. They both stood, the thing between wary man and bleeding elf.
"What are you?"
He only got a hissing response before the thing turned and went after Aragorn, trying to escape. Quickly dodging the oncoming figure, both Aragorn and Elrond leapt after the retreating figure, and quickly dispatched it with their swords.
Holding his hand over his right shoulder, attempting to staunch the bleeding, Elrond felt something stir inside him. They were both now standing directly in front of the shadow. Brushing his companions worried questions away, he started towards the bank. He knew that what they were looking for lie somewhere back in that darkness.
"Elrond, stop." Aragorn's voice quickly had turned from concern to command, and the elf was brought up short by that voice. "I'm fine Aragorn, but this is where we need to go."
"Not before I get a look at that wound. Now stay still." He of course knew that elves healed much quicker, but something about that attack sat wrong with him. Why had the thing gone after Elrond while he was the closer target, and why had it simply run by him. It was almost as if he wasn't visible to that shadow creature. Elrond had sat down on the ground at this point, so he headed over to look at the wound.
Taking his friend's hand away from the wound, he immediately knew something was wrong. "Elrond, you're still bleeding."
Surprised at this, the elf lord looked down to see that he was right. By now the wound should have stopped bleeding, and quite possibly been healing, but the bite was still ebbing out his blood. He quickly shook off his slight panic, and shook off his friend's concern. "It'll be fine. My slowed healing must be due to the darkness of this place and my soul. Do not worry. Just let me bandage it quickly, for we must be off."
Being around Legolas had taught him not to dismiss their kind's pride when it came to battle wounds, so he just gazed hard to make sure Elrond knew he didn't approve, then went to his pack and got out some herbs.
After quickly wrapping the wound, they both stood and faced the left bank where the shadow was. Now that it had their full attention, the thing seemed not to be a shadow, but rather a hole. The darkness around it hinted that all light that came near was quickly destroyed and forgotten.
Shivering, Aragorn went back to the horse which had returned after the scuffle and took whatever supplies he thought they needed, then talked softly to them, pacifying them. They were still worked up, but neither seemed the worse for wear. He then returned to his friend's side, and handed him his pack.
The elf seemed barely to register his actions, still staring into the now assumed entrance. Worried about his friend, the ranger was about to say something, when Elrond started forward. Elrond held his sword in front, for he preferred to fight with it more than his bow, but that was swung over his shoulder just in case also.
Aragorn also held his sword in front, not knowing exactly what they were heading into, and followed the elf, jogging to stand by his side for whatever they might face once they entered. Soon, the darkness enveloped them.