Chapters 9
Elrond's eyes were glassed over and he was barely moving at all, save a tremor every few minutes, through it all, the twins had no idea what to do!
They watched painfully as their father tossed and turned upon his bed, Arwen had found them a while ago and was now sitting beside the bed to make sure her father did not injure himself.
The twins, in all there living, had never seen a vision quite like this. The were frightened-
Each of the elf lord's children gasped when he rolled onto his back and sat up with a soft cry, his eyes darted from face to face and then to the room, he closed his eyes and shivered.
"Ada?" Elrohir stepped forward cautiously, and put a hand upon Elrond's shoulder.
The elf lord nodded and sucked in a breath.
Elladan crouched before his father, his eyes seeking out the older elf's troubled eyes.
"What did you see?" the elder twin asked, lowering his voice until it sounded almost lethal. He did not usually talk to his father in that tone, but worry and frustration cause him to do so.
He noted Elrond's pale features and tousled hair. The elf lord gulped and shook his head.
"Must I truly re-tell what I saw? I fear I will not be able to do so." he replied in truth, all the visions had been worse than one could ever imagine, and he did not want to relive them.
"It may help us." the twins said in unison, they hardly ever spoke that way, together, but when they did, it always made Elrond smile.
His eyes grew dark and he sat up higher upon the bed. "I saw many things, I saw darkness and light. I saw Glorfindel, though the sight of him was not a welcome one, this time. I saw Estel, then all darkened and I heard him cry out in pain, then I heard many voices. Not those of orcs, they were human. Alede, Legolas, and Adenen did not come to me in my troubled dreams, though I felt that they struggled. They have never before had to track without Aragorn. He is the best one, even though he is young, Galanion taught him well."
"What can we do?!" Arwen stood up, Elrond could see tears had spilled down her cheeks and he eyes were filled with pain.
He was confused why she had cried so, she hardly knew Estel and Glorfindel, well, that could be it; he pushed it aside and answered.
"We can do nothing. If I sent Elladan and Elrohir, it would cause more suspicion to arise, if anyone saw three groups of beings heading in the same direction, they would obviously think the worst, and there is a better chance that the enemy see. No. You Elladan and Elrohir have a much more important task." he looked to the two warrior's before him.
"You are to ride out each day, starting tomorrow and search the woods for Estel, Glorfindel, Alede, Legolas, or Adenen. Am I understood?"
The two nodded solemnly. They wanted to help, but they knew that if they disobeyed their father it would bring dishonor to the family.
"That way, if anyone comes back, you can help them. I can assure you," the elf lord smiled. "someone WILL be wounded. Having Legolas and Aragorn out there, as well as Alede, that does not bode well."
Arwen laughed softly and stood up, she still held sorrow in her face, but Elrond let it be.
~_~
Glorfindel spun, and brought his sword beneath the throat of an unsuspecting warg, it gurgled and fell, blood spilling upon the once dewy grass.
No longer was the dew the reason the warrior's slipped. it was the crimson and black liquid that spilled upon the soil.
The stench of warg breath hung on the air and Glorfindel coughed and felt his stomach heave. he swallowed and kept fighting.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Harlome shot an arrow into the eye of a warg. The dark elf's raven hair swirled as he fought, angry fire burning within the depths of his own black eyes.
"Glorfie!" a cry wrought the air and the blonde elf's head turned to see Vasadona, climbing higher into the tree, tears were streaming down her cheeks as a warg snarled and clawed at the tree.
Malice flashed through the balrog-slayers eyes and he ran towards the tree, bringing his sword up and slicing the beast's course fur.
The warg yelped and curled in upon it's stomach were the thin sword had sliced.
The beast's fangs gleamed white and red with man's blood as it carefully crawled towards it's enemy.
"Stay away from her scum of Morgoth!" he cried in clear elvish, his eyes ablaze with more fury than even the deadly warg could muster; the beast backed down a moment as he met the proud gaze of the Gondolin elf. Glorfindel leapt forward and twirled in a
graceful, but deadly swarm of movements.
The adan sword sang in his hands, he smiled grimly as he brought the blade down upon the warg. Unfortunately, the beast had finally summed a small bit of courage. It snarled and leapt at him, closing it's massive jaws around his left leg.
He yelped in surprise, and kicked the beast with his other foot, then brought his sword down once more, slicing the warg's head and ending the filthy scum's life forever.
Vasa shivered, holding the tunic around her thin frame, she watched as blood spilled from the leg-wound and fell upon the already crimson ground.
"Glorfie?" she asked quietly, trying to climb down the tree.
Another growl came from behind and she scrambled up the tree just in time, the warg's mouth snapped around air and she sobbed in fright.
Glorfindel, already weary with blood loss and lack of water and food spun to face the new foe.
Behind him, he could hear the battle dying down and could tell that the men were, indeed winning. For this he thanked Eru. He never could have defeated all the wargs.
He began forward, the blade gleaming dully in the moonlight as he prepared to meet the beast in battle, but he never got the chance.
His thoughts were all on the warg, so, when branches snapped beneath his feet, he hardly knew what was happening before he was falling once more.
He heard his own surprised howl as he descended down the hole.
Adrenaline rushed through the Vanya's veins and he spun, air blowing in his face and twirling his hair, Glorfindel saw a last chance. A small vine of ivy that had slid with them.
Yanking his good hand up, the elf grabbed hold, yelping slightly as his head hit the wall and he was brought to an abrupt stop.
A new ache began in his head and he groaned, he heard the distant warg howls and cries of dying and wounded men, but he could do nothing about it. He was stuck until someone else found him, and who knew if they ever would.
Blood dripped profusely from the gash, and he worried how more blood loss would affect his stability of holding onto the vine.
He only had one arm to hang on with, and he would need two to climb the rope, unfortunately one was broken.
A howl broke above him and he turned his bleeding golden head, a fiery pain shot up his head and he hissed. "Oh Eru!" he prayed silently, his head in agony and his sight beginning to darken. "Please, have mercy on me." he let his head drop in silent respect.
A soft girl's cry rent the air and Glorfindel let silent tears streak his cheeks, his body shaking with quiet sobs.
~_~
Aragorn, sighting the tracks taking a sharp left, turned his dapple-gray to the appropriate direction.
"Noro!" he cried as the sun began to sink behind a group of distant mountains.
The horse took the order and used it to his fullest, rearing up sharply, the beast snorted and headed for the valley ledge; each step being taken from his master's commands.
Swinging over to the right of the stallion, Aragorn peered down upon the dusty path, smiling as his tracking skills were put to use.
He could see no sign of any new elven horses, but he saw a few plain horse tracks.
Soon, the tracks lead up into a shelf. Upon it were many different camping utensils, Estel leapt down and followed many different tracks, trying to see the men's amongst the very old elven ones.
Smoke rose from the fire which showed the fact that it not been very long out of use.
Kneeling beside the fire pit, Aragorn brushed his hands along the charred stone.
"Oh, Glorfindel!" he moaned, it was not the elven warrior's fault that he had been captured. It was just the fact that he was missing that had worried Estel.
"Lad?"
The twenty-year old listened, surprised that any man had been able to sneak up on him, he would have to work on it.
"You lost, boy?" another gruff voice asked, the sound of steel against leather came to the young man's ears and he grinned.
Standing up, Estel turned slowly to face the three men that stood behind him, sword drawn; yet, the swords hung loosely in their arms by their side.
"No," he replied, slowly walking towards them. "I am looking for a friend of mine."
His mind replayed back to the days before; the dark strand of fair hair, the light footsteps with human boots, the arrow that he had found embedded in a tree. Shifting his weight craftily, the man stepped forward looking confident and smooth.
"Oh, and who may this friend be?" one man said while bringing his sword up, closer to Aragorn.
Slowly, the man shook his head and licked his lips, he had to play this cool. He could kill these three men, easy. But maybe if he pretended he were someone else, he could be led to Glorfindel. These men had to know where he was! They just had to!
No man traveled through this pass during this time of year without some reason. It took longer and was much farther away from and cities
"An elf;" at this comment, one the of the men's eyes glinted and he smiled wickedly, his eyes showing some unpleasant death that he wished to put on this boy. "dark haired, an arrow like this." with that, Estel pulled out the arrow he had found and showed it to the others. "You know him?"
Sighing, one man, obviously saddened by this find, slowly put his blade away. He did not know Harlome had friends, and friend with men at that, but it would be better to mess
up and have the wrong man than to kill the right man. Harlome was much better at the torturing and he would do it personally.
The other two did likewise, both also seeming a bit downtrodden.
"Well, then you best come with us." the one, what looked to be the leader, said. "You got a name, I am gettin' awful tired of callin' you boy."
Putting his mind to good use, Aragorn grinned ear to ear. "Just call me Strider."
TBC~
I KNOW! It was short, but I had to get it posted!
So, we got a very smart, kinda stupid, Aragorn. And we got a trapped and grieving Glorfindel! Woohoo! What will happen next? Will anyone find Glorfindel? Hehe. Well, technically, he could hang there forever. He is immortal after all!
Hope the chapter is good enough. I am sick and along with that, I have had an immensely busy week! Sorry for taking so long!!!
My next story after this will probably be called: The Blind Can Not See What the Mute Can Not Say
I know, VERY VERY LONG story title. It will be AU and the title says the whole story. But just in case, here is a summary:
A new take on how our favorite elf and ranger met. What if they had met because of an elven prince's need for medical help. Can a young and troubled boy learn a few things from someone who can not speak? And can an elf prince learn something from a blind man? Can these two overcome all odds and spare a friendship that matters most?
Anyway, let's get to these reviews!!!!!!!!
I am evil! Thanks Someone Reading!!!! I was son nervous that no one would like that chapter!! I hope this was enough. I hope it was good enough, as I have said, God has made me amazingly busy lately! THANKS AGAIN!!!!! I was honored by your wonderful review!!!!
Yes grumpy, he is good with children. Just as long as they are nice quiet ones. :) Things are definitely not looking good for Glorfindel right now, although, I am not sure Aragorn should have just done that. But we'll see! Oh wait! I am the author, which means I know?! Woohoo! Anyway, I am totally insane, my nose is stuffy, my eyes are red, I am tired and I keep having this itch that will not go away.
Sorry people for my weirdness, you want explanations, read my answers to Grumpy. That should help! And now, off I go! Tood-a-loo, off to help with my mom's birthday!!!! God bless you all!!! And I will try my best and update sooner this time!!!