**Chronicle of the Fourth Age, Part 8**
Eldarion couldn't sleep so he rose early to join the watch. Miiriel was out there somewhere and he felt helpless. They had no idea why she'd been taken or where they were holding her. At least she wasn't alone, her mother was with her, but they were at the mercy of their captors. All he could do was wait for his father to formulate a plan.
Haldir tossed and turned under the watchful eye of Nárello who stood guard. Nárello had insisted he try to sleep, but Haldir's rest was plagued by dreams. He woke suddenly and sat straight up.
"What is it father?" Nárello asked.
"I am worried," Haldir said.
"We are all worried," Nárello said sympathetically.
Haldir stood and looked at his family that still slept. He loved his children, fine strong sons and beautiful daughters, but he felt lost without his wife. He decided to go for a walk, and soon ran into Eldarion.
"Can't sleep?" Haldir asked.
Eldarion just gave a grunt.
Haldir liked Eldarion. He was the future King and an honorable young man. From his father he would inherit the kingdom of men, save the land of Rohan. And from his mother he would inherit the remaining realms of the Elves for all the great Elf leaders had departed. Haldir smiled briefly when he noticed Eldarion's ears, only very slightly pointed. The young man looked sick with worry, and Haldir realized he was the only one here he could relate to.
"You want to talk about it?" Haldir asked quietly.
"Your beloved, and my beloved," Eldarion said. "It hurts to know we failed to protect them. I should have stayed until the raiders were caught."
"It is not your fault," Haldir said as he put a hand on Eldarion's shoulder. "We thought they were gone too."
The camp was stirring, and orders were quietly passed for everyone to eat quickly and prepare to break camp. Aragorn and Faramir were discussing the locations of all the tracks they'd found while marking the map. After a few moments, a pattern had been spotted.
"Look, these paths all lead toward this canyon," Aragorn said.
"Those cliffs are riddled with fissures," Faramir said. "They are hiding underground."
Aragorn's face was hard as he studied the map. He mumbled to himself, "If only word had been sent to Rohan sooner."
"I dispatched a messenger days ago," Faramir said. "Ẻowyn insisted that her brother be informed immediately."
Aragorn cocked a brow, "If he moves quickly, he can be here within the week."
"Sooner," Faramir said. "He can sail down the Entwash to the Anduin. They have a ship that will carry at least twenty horses and riders."
"Twenty," Aragorn said thoughtfully. "I brought thirty…"
"I brought thirty, and Legolas brought twenty," Faramir said.
"When do you think Ẻomer would get here?" Aragorn asked.
"I would expect him today," Faramir said.
"That is well," Aragorn said as he studied the map. "These hills are full of places for ambush. We will not be able to sneak up on them."
Aragorn sent two riders back to the river to watch for Ẻomer. The rest of them assembled and made ready while Aragorn and Faramir took ten riders, including Haldir and Eldarion, to scout near the canyon. Aragorn examined the tracks and noted something interesting.
"These tracks… look at the hoof prints…here and here," Aragorn said as he pointed. "See the stone? The same horse was on the south trail and that that other trail to the east."
Faramir cocked a brow, "What are you thinking?"
"They are toying with us," Aragorn said. "They are trying to make a show of more numbers than they have."
"Then let's go in and take them," Eldarion said quickly.
"Do not be too hasty, Prince," Haldir said.
"Yes, they could harm the ladies if they get cornered," Aragorn agreed. "Let's return to camp."
*****
It was cold in the pit, and Miranda and Miiriel were huddled together wrapped in their cloaks. The trap door opened and there was torchlight shining in. A voice called down.
"Soon this will be over," Deckion said.
"You need not lie to me, I know you mean to leave us here," Miranda said. "Why don't you just kill us and be done with it. I'm the one who killed your son."
"Your King brought the war," he said harshly. "There is no pleasure in killing a woman, even a witch like you. It will be more satisfying to let you and your daughter starve in this pit."
"My daughter is innocent, let her go," Miranda pleaded.
There was a long pause, but finally Deckion said, "No," and slammed the trap door down with a resounding thud.
"Oh, mother, please tell me that Eldarion will be alright. I can face this if I know he will live," she said.
"You and I are not going to die in this hole," Miranda said. "I will figure a way out of this." She stood and started feeling the walls. What she needed was light, so she closed her eyes and concentrated. Just a little, just a little… a little …light.
"Mother, you're glowing," Miiriel whispered as she stood.
Miranda opened her eyes and looked around their little prison. The room was only about eight feet across and round. The walls were smooth, and arched in toward the trap door. It was like a big cone, and the only way out was too high to reach, even if one of them stood on the other's shoulders.
"Perhaps we are trapped after all," Miranda said.
Miiriel started feeling the walls for weaknesses. Most of it was stone, but one side felt like dirt. "Wait, come and see," Miiriel whispered.
Miranda felt the wall and then grabbed a small stone from the floor and started scraping. It was hard packed dirt, but she was scraping it down.
"Find yourself a tool and start digging, quietly," Miranda said. "If nothing else, we will have something to occupy us."
*****
Back at the shores of the Anduin, a Rohirrim ship was mooring beside a Gondorian ship. Fwendor hailed the two riders that were waiting on the shore.
"Berstrad, what news?" Fwendor called.
"None yet," Berstrad answered. "We will take you to the King. He will be most pleased with the help."
Ẻomer was the first one off the ship, and his men quickly unloaded their horses. He approached the waiting riders and they bowed to him.
"Welcome, King of the Mark," Berstrad said.
"Where's Elessar?" Ẻomer asked.
"On the far side of the wood at the foot of the mountains," he answered. "They await us."
Ẻomer nodded and walked back to the ship. "Make haste, men," he said, "Time is valuable."
They were off loaded and assembled in short order, and Berstrad led them to the camp. They arrived shortly after Aragorn's scouting party returned. Aragorn greeted Ẻomer with a smile, but there was worry in his eyes.
"Welcome, brother," Aragorn said.
Ẻomer dismounted and embraced him. "What news of Miranda and Miiriel?" he asked.
"They are captives somewhere in a canyon about an hour's ride east," he said. "We do not know how many there are."
Ẻomer frowned angrily, "Then let's go and get them."
Aragorn's jaw tightened and he nodded, "Agreed."
The assembled force all mounted up and headed to the canyon. Aragorn and Ẻomer led them, with Haldir, Legolas and the Elves riding with them at the front of the column. It was only an hour away, but it seemed like the ride took days. As they neared the first trail, a single rider barred their way. He was dressed all in black, save a red sash girding his waist. He was old, gray bearded and weather worn, but still of impressive frame. He sat up tall in his saddle and hailed them.
"I see our captives are more valuable than I thought to draw so many rescuers," he said with a sneer.
Aragorn was furious with his insolence, and Haldir was ready to slay the man immediately.
"Do not taunt us," Aragorn warned. "Our patience wears thin. Speak your message quickly."
"My master would meet with the King of Gondor and his son alone to negotiate their return. I am to lead you to them. If any others follow, the women will be killed."
It was obviously some sort of trap, and all the riders took offense. Ẻomer's expression was one of fury, but he held his tongue and waited for Aragorn.
Aragorn calmly answered, "Your master insults me with this demand. Let him bring his hostages to me in a neutral place. If I can see they are unharmed, I will consider his demands."
The messenger cocked a brow at him, seeing that the King was wiser than expected. "You will merely set a trap for us," he said. "My master will not agree."
"And yet he expects a King and his heir to ride alone into the hands of an unknown enemy?" Aragorn asked angrily. "Your master is a madman!"
Haldir was not happy with the way this was going. His hand gripped his bow and he twirled an arrow menacingly.
The messenger stared at the angry faces and backed his horse away slowly. This was going badly and he needed to regain control. "I will lead five riders, but the King and his son must be among them."
Ẻomer looked at Aragorn and waited.
"I will take no less than ten," Aragorn said.
The messenger's face twisted in frustration, but finally he said, "Choose your ten." He turned and headed down the trail about fifty yards and waited.
Aragorn turned to Ẻomer, "What do you think?"
Legolas was the one to answer, "It is personal, against you. Their numbers are small."
"I agree," Ẻomer said. "He was surprised to see so many."
"Yes, but we cannot risk rushing them until we find Miranda and Miiriel," Aragorn said. "Eldarion and I must go, who is going to come with us?"
Haldir rode forward with his sons and Dairwen, and Ẻomer and Faramir joined him. That filled the number to ten, and Aragorn nodded. "So be it," he said. "Legolas, wait ten minutes and then split the men into four groups to cover each trail. Have them follow slowly, and quietly."
Legolas gave him a curt nod and Aragorn led the ten riders down the trail. They met the messenger who regarded them with obvious distaste.
"Follow me," he said.
They followed him down the trail for a while, and then he suddenly turned aside and they went through the wood. There was no trail but the messenger led on. They circled around until they came to a cliff face that was covered by thick ivy, and he halted.
He dismounted and said, "Leave your horses."
Aragorn nodded, and they dismounted and secured their horses. The messenger pulled the ivy aside to reveal a hidden cave entrance and he pointed to it. "In there," he said.
Aragorn could see that there were no sentries outside, and no way to see who was entering until they cleared the first passage so he played a hunch. He strode over to the entrance calmly, and then grabbed the messenger by his shirt and threw him against the cliff wall. He unsheathed his knife and pressed it against the man's throat and whispered, "Answer my questions quickly and quietly, and I may let you live."
The messenger was completely shocked by the speed at which the King had subdued him. The rest of the riders gathered around and stared at him angrily. There was nothing left for him but to surrender, so he nodded.
"Good," Aragorn said. "Are the women alive?"
He nodded.
"Are there any guards here," Aragorn pressed.
"Two, about twenty yards in," he said softly.
"How many men inside?"
"Twenty, that is all," he said.
"What do you want?" Ẻomer asked.
"The captain wants revenge," he said. "That is all I know."
"Where are the women?" Haldir asked.
"I did not see where he put them," he said. "There are many passages inside, and lots of pits and cages. This was once an orc stronghold."
Aragorn released him, and Thelyn and Alcon quickly disarmed, tied and gagged him.
"Revenge," Haldir repeated bitterly. "Let me kill him."
But Aragorn didn't hear him, for he had already headed into the passage with Ẻomer and the rest of them following closely. Haldir kicked the man who lay tied in a heap and then turned to Thelyn.
"Go tell Legolas where we are," Haldir said.
Thelyn nodded and then mounted up and headed back to the trail.
Haldir ducked into the passage. He didn't just want to rescue his wife and daughter anymore. He wanted blood in payment for their capture.
Aragorn crept silently down the passage until he heard voices. He could see two guards, and he motioned to Ẻomer to take the one on the left. They moved in silently and simultaneously grabbed them from behind and threw them to the ground. Ẻomer just broke the neck of his guard, but Aragorn subdued his. Everyone else quickly emerged from the passage, ready to fight.
"Which way," Aragorn whispered to the guard. "Take care to answer truthfully. This Elf here is father and husband to your captives."
Haldir stared down at the man with blatant hatred, and the guard just gasped and pointed to the left passage.
"Is there any other way out?" Ẻomer asked.
"Only Deckion knows," he said.
"I'm fresh out of rope," Alcon whispered.
Haldir just bent down and grabbed a stone and hit the man on the head. Aragorn cocked a brow at him, but said nothing. Haldir had shown extraordinary restraint for one who had lost his wife and daughter. The blow could have been fatal, but the guard was lucky.
"Well?" Haldir whispered in annoyance.
Aragorn looked down the passage, and he could hear faint voices. Eldarion was the one to make a suggestion.
"Father, you and I should go in first," he said. "They only wanted us in the first place."
Haldir nodded. "We will follow, but far enough back that they will not see us. There will be time, if it is revenge he wants, he will want to gloat for a while."
Aragorn agreed. He and Eldarion headed into the passage and disappeared into the darkness. After a moment, Haldir and Ẻomer led the rest inside. After a few minutes, Aragorn saw a light just ahead. He and Eldarion emerged into a vast cavern. There were a number of torches lit and a group of men quickly surrounded them.
"Welcome, King of Gondor," Deckion sneered. "I see you brought your whelp of a son… that is good."
"Where are the women?" Aragorn demanded angrily.
"Oh, they are fine," he said, "Nice and cozy in their little pit."
"What is your demand for their return?" Eldarion asked.
Deckion's face twisted into a sneer and he just glanced at one of his men. All of them jumped on Aragorn and Eldarion, roughly disarming and subduing them. The Easterlings forced them back to their feet to stand before Deckion.
"These men here were all at the gates of Mordor," Deckion said. "We guarded your little seer for the black rider years ago. I was their captain, and lost many good men that day, including my son. Imagine my horror when I stumbled upon his body. I would share that experience with you, king of Gondor."
Ẻomer and Haldir listened near the entrance to the cavern and waited for the best moment to strike. Neither of them liked the sound of the threats being made. They crept closer to get a look, and they could see that everyone's attention was on the leader. Aragorn and Eldarion were being held by two men each with their hands tied behind them. There were eighteen men including the leader who was ranting like a madman. Haldir had no intention of letting anything happen to Aragorn or his son, and he saw his opportunity to move in unnoticed. He slipped into the cavern and hid behind a large rock. Ẻomer, Faramir and Dairwen followed, and Nárello, Failon and Alcon slipped in and circled the other way.
Aragorn had listened to quite enough of this man's bluster. This Deckion was winding himself up for a strike and he needed to be distracted so the others could move in.
"If you would claim a life for your son, take mine," Aragorn said firmly.
"No, father!" Eldarion said as he struggled against his captors.
Deckion started swearing at his men to hold them, but was interrupted by the attack. The four men that held Aragorn and Eldarion suddenly fell to the ground with arrows in their backs, and the other men around were dropping quickly. Deckion unsheathed his knife and dove for Eldarion, but Haldir put an arrow in his throat. Deckion fell to the ground shaking as his blood pooled on the ground. The battle was over quickly with all of Deckion's men dead. Ẻomer and Faramir cut them free and Eldarion stared down at Deckion in horror.
"He was the only one who knew where they were," he said. "What do we do now?"
"Split up and start looking," Aragorn said.
Legolas emerged from the passage and Haldir greeted him.
"They are all dead, leaving no one to tell us where the women are," he said. "Get more men in here to start looking."
The search was organized and everyone split into groups of four or five to look. Haldir and his sons went down one passage while Ẻomer, Faramir, Legolas, Aragorn and Eldarion each led search parties. There was a honeycomb of passages and innumerous hidden pits and cells. They went slowly, and called to the women often but after hours of searching, they returned to the main cavern to regroup. Ẻomer could see Haldir was looking sick with worry so he went to Aragorn for suggestions.
"What do you think?" Ẻomer asked Aragorn quietly.
"None of the passages I saw looked disturbed for some time, I think they are here somewhere," he said.
Ẻomer's face suddenly became serious, "If he spoke true, but they could already be…"
Ẻomer was interrupted by Haldir's angry voice behind him. "They are alive, horse lord!"
Aragorn stepped between them quickly. "Let us all calm down. Search the cavern again; I'll take a party down the other passage."
Aragorn returned to the cave where the guards had been. There was another, smaller passage that they had not searched. Aragorn, Eldarion and Haldir ventured in and found a wall of rock only ten feet in. Aragorn held is torch closer to the ground and noticed something.
"The dirt has been disturbed here recently. It's heaped up here," he said and handed his torch to Eldarion. He started digging and quickly found what he was looking for. "A trap door!"
Haldir shoved Eldarion out of the way as Aragorn opened it. He called down, "Miranda! Miiriel, are you in there?"
They held their breath and waited for an answer, but none came. Aragorn took the torch and gazed down into the pit. There were two cloaks in a heap, and a pile of dirt, but no women. He looked closer and saw a hole near the floor.
"Get me a rope," Aragorn said. "They were here, but may have made their own way out."
Haldir pushed Aragorn aside and looked in. He mentally measured the distance and jumped in. He picked up the cloaks and recognized them.
He called up, "It's not too far to jump, send for a rope. I'll see where this hole leads."
"Get a rope son," Aragorn said and followed Haldir.
"But Miiriel..." Eldarion protested.
"Then you better hurry up," Aragorn called up as he dove for the hole.
It was little more than a crawl space barely big enough to fit through. It came out into another cave where they could hear running water. Aragorn held up the torch and Haldir called out.
"Miranda!" he shouted, almost pleadingly.
Aragorn looked for tracks, and found two sets of small footprints heading to the water. It was an underground stream, no doubt fed by a spring deep in the mountain. They followed them and could see their way out. They swam through the water outlet.
"Well, shall we go for a swim?" Aragon asked with a chuckle. He admired Miranda's ingenuity to make her own escape.
Haldir just headed into the water without a word. He wouldn't relax until he could see them both safe. Aragorn noticed another torch enter and called back, "They swam out, go up and start searching near the stream."
Eldarion nodded and went back, leaving Aragorn with a swim. He followed Haldir and dove under the water by the wall. The water was moving quickly here and it sucked him right through a tunnel where he felt himself pulled down between rocks in a rush of water. Then he felt himself falling through the air as he emerged from the cliff and tumbled over a waterfall. He gasped for air as he plunged into a deep pool. He regained his bearings and swam to the surface where Haldir stood waiting for him. He held out a hand to help him from the water and Aragorn had a look around.
"They didn't come this way, they must have climbed out on the opposite shore," Aragorn said thoughtfully, but Haldir ignored him and dove in the water.
Aragorn turned in surprise and saw why. Miranda and Miiriel had emerged from the woods and stood on the opposite shore. Haldir ran to Miranda and embraced her.
"Oh, Melalmin!" he said. "I thought you were lost." He reached over and pulled Miiriel into the hug and just held them. He'd never felt so relieved in all his life.
Aragorn stepped up on the shore to greet them as well. "I should have known you would find a way to rescue yourself," he said with a smile.
Miiriel looked at Aragorn nervously and asked, "Is everyone okay?"
About that time, several horses rounded the far cliff with Eldarion leading them. Miiriel brushed past Aragorn and stared at him with a bright smile. Eldarion rode to the edge of the water and jumped in, crossing the pool quickly. He emerged from the water and hugged her.
"Did they hurt you?" he whispered.
"No," she said.
Haldir glanced at the relief on the Prince's face and sighed. The Prince had proven himself, and Haldir was ready to let go of his daughter. As they headed back to the cave to regroup, Haldir turned to Eldarion and said, "You can announce your betrothal."
Eldarion smiled and said, "Thank you."
Miranda rested her head on Haldir's chest and whispered, "I want to go home."