"Do you understand it?" Elladan asked and glanced over at Lina.
She shook her head as everyone stared at the code as if waiting for it to solve itself. Glorfindel rolled his eyes and moved over to kneel behind Aragorn and look over his bruises and scrapes from his ride down the river. The human hissed softly when the elf lightly touched one of the more colorful and extensive bruises that adorned his back. Aragorn motioned for his brother to pass the book over to him and dropped it in front of him while Glorfindel looked over his sores. 'To shift one to the left is to shift one to the right. Shift to the left and you will always be right.' Shoving the book away a few inches with his fingers, he stared at the wording while Glorfindel bandaged the small scrapes that were bleeding. His leg started to bounce up and down in pent up energy as he stared at the words.
"I have to move," he said suddenly and jumped up, surprising everyone.
"You have to what?" Legolas asked as he watched the agitated human grab a tunic.
"I need to move around; walk, run, jog, climb a tree, I do not know but I must do something," he said and started walking towards the broken parts of the city while pulling the tunic on.
Glorfindel waved down Legolas and the twins before he jogged after the human. His hearing easily tracked his footsteps and he quickly caught up to his human charge. Aragorn was taking random turns here and there to see what all he could find while he was pondering over the line.
"Are you purposely trying to get lost?" Glorfindel asked as he followed the human.
"I just might be. We might be able to find some really old wine somewhere in one of these buildings if we look for it. I am sure there were taverns in this city once upon a time."
"Oh, I am sure there were. But we do not know where they might be and you could walk into a building that may collapse around you."
"Well, at least you are here with me," he snickered in reply and ducked into a shop.
"Estel!" the March Warden hissed as he heard clattering in the dark shop.
"Relax, Glorfindel. If there are any hints that the shop will collapse then I will out of here so fast that you would be proud of me. Being the brother to Elladan and Elrohir has taught me to be very quick on my feet," the voice replied from the darkness.
"Yes, well, being the brother to those two terrors would teach a cave troll to be quick on his feet," Glorfindel muttered and jumped slightly when Aragorn suddenly appeared from the doorway.
"What was that my dear Glorfindel? Did I hear you right? 'Those two terrors'?" Aragorn asked with a bright smile as he walked down the way and glanced in the other shops.
"You know exactly what I am speaking of. You know of how trying your two brothers can be when the mood strikes them," the golden haired elf replied as he followed Aragorn down the empty street.
"Oh, yes, I do know how they can become very trying. Have you ever noticed that I usually leave to visit the Rangers about the time when they attain that 'mood'? I know when it is a good time to run and hide from them," he said and looked over his shoulder at Glorfindel.
The elf stopped and stared at the human's back as his memory snapped back to those occasions. He did remember the human suddenly saying that he had to leave to visit the Rangers. One occasion was when one of the Rangers had actually come to see him the day before and said everything was running smoothly. His eyes narrowed at the memory and remembered that time to be one of the worst from the twins. His hair had been blue for a week and a half and he wouldn't accept any food that he hadn't seen prepared in front of him for at least four days. Elrond had been hard pressed to keep his advisor away from his sons after that.
"You do know that it was unwise for you to tell me that when you and I are out here alone…with no witnesses," Glorfindel growled as Aragorn chuckled and ducked into another dark shop.
"I found the forge," Aragorn called out to the elf as Glorfindel slowly walked into the darkened shop.
Aragorn slowly moved down the wall and looked at the swords in various stages of being completed that hung on the wall. Dust and cobwebs covered everything making it all seem dim and dull. A metal sledgehammer used to shape hot metal rested on the anvil, forgotten by the previous owner. The furnace was dark and cold, a relic of ages and years long past and only resided in history. Aragorn looked at the sheet covering the large table against the wall and slowly walked towards it. Glorfindel was off against the far wall looking at some elegant double blades that he found wrapped in burlap. Aragorn reached out and pulled back the sheet with a thick cloud of dust. Coughing a bit and waving his hand in front of his face to clear it, he looked at the objects on the table and carefully lifted the black leather scabbard. The cloth had kept all the dust off the weapon and he could tell that a large amount of effort, respect, and love went into this scabbard.
"A lot of renowned blades were created here by the forge master. Swords and weapons of high stature to grace the hands of the kings, your ancestors Aragorn. Narsil may have been forged here. A sword of kings," Glorfindel commented softly as Aragorn slowly wrapped his hand around the handle.
"Not a sword of kings, Narsil is the sword of kings," Aragorn stated and pulled the blade from the scabbard.
The steel rang sharply and clearly as it slid from the scabbard for the first time in ages. Aragorn almost felt the air still and the world hold its breath as the blade shimmered from the minimal light that came in from a window. The blade almost seemed to hum with strength as Aragorn slowly moved out of the building and set the scabbard aside. Glorfindel followed him after he set down the double blades and watched as the human swung the blade around him, skimming closely to his body. Aragorn felt the sword move silently around him as he walked a few steps before he turned and arched the sword above his head. The polished metal clashed sharply with metal from another sword and he looked up sharply at Glorfindel. The golden haired elf held his sword high, blocking Aragorn's as he locked gazes with the human.
"Let us see how good you are with that new blade."
Glorfindel's sword dropped and arched towards Aragorn's unprotected midriff as the human jumped away. His instincts kicked in immediately and he spun as the sword knocked away Glorfindel's blade. His feet moved lightly as the two swords clashes sharply against each other and occasional sparks flew from the force of the hits. It had been a while since Glorfindel had sparred with Aragorn and he could tell that the human's skill had greatly improved since the last time. His blows were sometimes powerful enough to make the elf back a few steps and give some ground. Aragorn mirrored Glorfindel's every move and parried him for every thrust and there was a feint for every lunge. Aragorn was hard pressed to keep up with Glorfindel's quick moves but sparring with the twins and Legolas had taught him the valuable lesson of staying quick on his feet and acting almost like a liquid. Both knew how close they could push the blades and remain unharmed unless something drastic happened that disrupted their timed movements. Glorfindel moves to his right, Aragorn moves to his left. It was a deadly dance that only the best would come out of it alive, but they weren't fighting to the death. While fighting, unbeknownst to him, Aragorn's mind was slowly dissecting the line that could solve the code. The words were slowly pulled apart and were looked at from each direction for what it could mean. Slowly, the solution was emerging and everything was being pieced together. When the solution was completed it barged its way to the front of Aragorn's mind and he suddenly gasped.
"That is it!" he yelped in shock as his body lurched forward a few inches in shock.
A blinding pain in his upper arm pulled him abruptly from his realization. Aragorn's sudden yelp and momentary stop of movement had not let him see the blow coming from Glorfindel. It was a simple move that would have easily been parried if he hadn't realized that he knew what the code meant. Unable to check his swing soon enough and totally avoid Aragorn when he lunged forward, the tip of Glorfindel's blade streaked down Aragorn's arm. The slice went from the top of Aragorn's bicep to just a few inches above his wrist to cause blood too immediately pump from the wound. His hand automatically released its hold on the sword handle and he collapsed onto his knees as his other hand clutched at a part of the wound.
"Estel!" Glorfindel gasped and quickly fell to his knees and dropped his sword beside him.
Aragorn hissed in pain as his hand tightened on his arm. The wound was not extremely deep but deep enough to cause a great deal of pain and allow the blood to flow freely down his arm. Glorfindel pulled off his outer tunic and pressed it against the wound before bending a little to look into Aragorn's eyes.
"Estel? Speak to me, please."
"I know how to decipher the code. It has been right in front of us the entire time," he hissed and looked around for the sword that he dropped. "We need to get back to camp."
"Estel, your arm," Glorfindel protested as the human gripped the sword with his weak hand.
"We will tend to it when we get back to camp. Nothing can be done here," he said and struggled to his feet.
Glorfindel grabbed his sword and slipped it into his scabbard before taking the sword from Aragorn's hand. Wrapping an arm around the human's waist, Glorfindel found the other scabbard and secured the other sword to his waist. Helping Aragorn walk straight, the two slowly made their way back to the campsite as Aragorn forced the pain down. He really wished that the twins and Legolas weren't at the campsite; he did not want to be mothered again by all four of them. He knew that Glorfindel was feeling extremely guilty for wounding him and the others would find some reason to feel guilty. It was inevitable, he knew it was. Either they would all feel guilty or they would lecture him something awful. Rolling his eyes, they rounded a corner and came into view of the campsite. For a few moments, no one noticed that they were there but Aragorn was waiting for it.
"Glorfindel, please, just leave me somewhere and you go to get the healing supplies. They are going to be unbearable when they see what happens," Aragorn hissed to the golden haired elf as they neared the camp.
"Strider!"
"Oh Valar. Here we go," Aragorn muttered as Legolas' cry alerted everyone.
"What happened?"
"Who injured you?"
"Where is the wound?"
"Enough!" Glorfindel barked and silenced the younger elves. "Estel does not need you three hovering over him. As to answer your questions, a sword wielded by me wounded him. We were sparring and he was distracted and I could not check my blow quick enough. I will tend to the wound myself."
Everyone backed away realizing that the older elf was not in the mood to be challenged. Glorfindel helped Estel over to the bedrolls and lowered the human to one of them. Aragorn carefully moved out of his tunic as Glorfindel brought over the pack of healing herbs and sat next to the human. The bleeding had overall stopped except for a few places that slowly seeped blood but those were also on the verge of stopping. Moistening a cloth with disinfectant, Glorfindel gently wiped down the slash wound and softly apologized whenever Aragorn flinched.
"Do not apologize, Glorfindel. It was not your fault," Aragorn replied as the elf readied a needle and thread to stitch the worst parts.
"It was partially my fault but it was also partially your fault. You should have been paying better attention, Estel. It was a good thing that I was not trying to kill you. But do not worry, I know that it was an accident and nothing could have prevented it," the elf stated and with nimble hands started to stitch.
Aragorn flinched as the thin needle pierced the flesh of his arm. He looked across the campfire to where everyone else sat and saw Elladan, Elrohir, and Legolas occasionally look over at him worried. The book with the code lay open in front of Elladan as the elf poured over it and tried to break the code. The human faintly smiled when he thought over the code. It was ingenious yet extremely simple; the majority of orcs were too dim-witted to decipher it but it was simple for the learned humans or elves.
"Elladan!" Aragorn called to catch the elf's attention. "Write out the letter alphabet of the Westron language somewhere. In the dirt would be fine, as long as we can see it."
The elf looked confused but followed his little brother's instructions. Glancing down at his arm, Aragorn patiently waited as Glorfindel finished stitching the wound and lathered it with a healing salve. Wrapping his entire arm with clean linen, Glorfindel nodded to Aragorn and let the human move over to his brothers. Glancing at the first word in the code, Aragorn looked at the written out letters that Elladan had written and slowly looked at the letters.
"That is it! The first word is: Your. The correct letter is the one to the left of the letter in the book. If the letter is B, then the real letter is A. If the letter is C, then the real letter is B and so on," Aragorn said excitedly as Elrohir started to scribble down the deciphered code.
Your quest must be true if you have come this far
The Order of Glaurung must not be taken lightly
The quest is not for fools at heart and weak of courage.
Your next destination is Gondolin near the Crissaegrim
Stand by the Tower of the King and be counted among the trees
Gaze upon the realm of the eagles and at the perch of Thorodor
There will be where you stand.
Everyone looked up at each other once Elrohir finished translating and reading the code out loud. Sauros was snoring softly at the edge of the camp, oblivious to all that was going on around the camp. Glorfindel was staring at Elrohir once he finished reading the code and his memory retreated back to his previous home of Gondolin. Well, if you could call is his previous home. It had been his home before he had died after defeating the Balrog but that had been many ages ago. He had fallen during the Fall of Gondolin when he secured the escape of Tuor and Idril with their son Eärendil. In his mind, he could still see the city in all its glory when Turgon had first built the Hidden City upon the island of Amon Gwareth. Turgon made Glingal and Belthil, trees of gold and silver made in memory of the Two Trees of Valinor.
"We ride to Gondolin then?" he asked quietly and dropped his gaze for a moment before looking back up.
"It looks that way, Glorfindel. Will Glaurung be there?"
"I highly doubt it. Gondolin the city may be lost but the land still retains the elvish strengths. A power of evil such as Glaurung would not be allowed to remain in Gondolin. The eagles would drive it away or destroy it," the golden haired elf replied forcefully.
"We should leave tomorrow then."
Everyone turned and looked at Sauros as he slowly climbed to his feet and stretched out his neck before stretching out his wings. His forked tongue flickered out and tasted the wind before looking down at the others. Sauros knew of Gondolin, he visited the Hidden City once in a while to remember what Middle-Earth use to be like. Before the city had fallen, he had known several elves there and had been good friends with all of them. He had heard of Glorfindel of Gondolin but did not have the pleasure of meeting the elf. During that time was when dragons were starting to be seen as agents of Melkor and it was becoming more dangerous for Sauros to venture out.
His gaze turned to the human and focused in on the bandaged arm before looking up to his face and narrowing his eyes.
"What did the human touch?"
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My life is spinning out of control, I swear it is. Only 25 more days till I am finished with school and get to go home! But to get there I have to go through exams *slumps to the floor*. The plot bunnies are taking over and breeding. Poppy and Twitch mated and produced an offspring. That story will coming out soon if I can find time to write it. I hate it when my plot bunnies breed together. They do not even go through the blood tests, or get a certificate, do not even ask the parents (me) and…and…*sighs* Yeah, anyway.
Leggylover03- Short review. Ha! Sorry, I am in an odd mood right now.
Elven Kitten- No, it really was not that fun. But hey, it makes me me.
Ringmarciel- I do not do French. I do German, but not French. Do not worry; it is about three minutes to one in the morning while I am typing this.
Gwyn- I apologize for taking so long to update this story. Life is becoming hectic.
XxgemxX- I just adore Sauros. I really do. A few days ago I was talking to my good friend who is a fan of LotR and my stories. We were talking about Saruman and I could not think of his name. Because there is Saruman, Sauron, and Sauros. Sauros is one letter away from being Sauron. Yeah, I was having problems.
Someone Reading- I will admit that I was wrong to have Lina be in this story so much as a grown up. I was not looking far enough in the story when I first wrote her in. I actually plan on killing her eventually. I am not angry; I know that I went a little too far with Lina. I shall deal with her eventually; before the story finishes.
Hiei-Rulez- It is finally updated! Sauros is just hilarious. He is such the comic relief in this story. Gah, I love him. And it is true about humans. You tell us not to touch something and what do we do? Touch it.
Astievia- Oh yeah, those Elrond looks are very potent when used correctly. I have made a few of my teachers cringe when I give them the look. Several of them just do not look at me anymore.
Elvendancer- Well, I applaud your brother! I know how hard it can be at times. If he ever wants to talk about it, I am here. But, anyway, enjoy the new chapter.
Catmint- Aragorn will never learn, but that is why we all love him.
Lauren- GAH! Your comments just cracked me up. I was rolling on the floor holding my stomach it was so funny. We are so bad, but it is so much fun.
Grumpy- The few humans that do have that touch are turning into an endangered species because they piss people off so much that they usually end up dieing by strange circumstances. I am one of those people. I can annoy one of my friends to the point where she wants to push me out in front of a speeding car.
Legalady- I am so sorry about taking so long to update! I really do not mean to take so long *sobs*. Well, maybe I should just stop writing. *sobs one more time* I am okay now. I think *sniffle*.
Roz- I have no idea how long this story is going to be. It will be as long as it needs to be; does that answer your question? I hope it does. It is turning out to be longer than Unspoken Words. My stories are taking over my life.
Cloud-123- Oh, I was resisting the urge, believe me. He was apologizing about it and I said calmly (or as calmly as I could) Do not worry Dad. It was not that important. Meanwhile I am screaming inside my head.
Snow-Glory- I was laughing too. I just loved the imagery of that chapter. I do not know what I should write after this story! I have not had a plot bunny born for the next one yet. I will have to ask Poppy to bring in one of his relatives.
Dha-Gal- The skittles are going with the other skittles stash in my food cubby. I swear I have more candy in my room which should be allowed for a diabetic.
ELFan- I am very proud to be the bright spot in your otherwise hum-drum days. Enjoy the new chapter.
Star-Stallion- *jaw drops in shock* YOU DID DECIPHER IT! Oh my god, I never expected anyone to actually try and decipher it! I did mess up here and there but it is hard to type those nonsense words and actually get them all right. I feel extremely honored right about now knowing that you took the time to try and decipher it. Was it easy? Did you understand the 'Move one to the left and you will always be right'? Gah, I am so happy that you deciphered it!
