Chapter One Devastation Strikes

Elrond sat back and rubbed his eyes wearily. He was still suffering the after effects of the festival last week. Shaking his head slightly, he couldn't believe his audacity to smoke from his old friend's pipe. He knew what it did to him, what it did to the elves, but still he had smoked it. Mithrandir knew how to coerce him into doing particular things that were bad for elves.

Chuckling, he remembered how the twins had reacted to Mithrandir. On their first entrance to the breakfast table, they had practically squeaked and raced from the room in terror. When they had entered for lunch, it had gone no better, but when they saw him sitting at the dinner table, Elladan had put both his hands on his hips and declared that when the furry monster was gone they would come back to the table, but until then they were having dinner in their rooms. With a quick stomp of his foot and a sniff they had strolled calmly from the dining room and shut the door solidly behind them.

Had Elrond not seen the wine fly out of Mithrandir's nose, he would have scolded his children for their behaviour, but instead he found himself choking on his own wine stifling the laugh that threatened to surface.

He snorted unelven like at the thought again and once again rubbed his eyes. Lately they had made themselves scarce, and had found some hideout where they were content with each other's company. Unknown to them, Mithrandir was staying for a few months to help with the rebuilding of the left wing of his home. It had been sketched and laid out as a new guest wing. Elrond smiled, glancing down at his paperwork and stood stretching. Looking out the window he noticed the sun was cresting over the horizon, and he still had to prepare for Thranduil's arrival. It had been a full year since their son Erysyn had been born, and now that Thranduil's wife was with child once again, Elrond had decided that it had been too long since he had seen his old friend.

Dejectedly he knew the guesthouse would not be ready for when they arrived, but the summer would bring the job to a finish. Thranduil had sent a messenger informing them of the visit and now Elrond was excited. He stretched again and wandered out of his study to find his wife who had no doubt begun the preparations herself. Chuckling to himself he shook his head knowingly, it had been far too long since the ladies had seen each other and he knew they had plans of their own.

Elrohir walked up the stairs his arms full of breakfast breads, cheese, and a large jug of milk that he had slipped easily out of the kitchens. There was no way he was going to run into that grey furry guy again. He was disappointed that his father would bring a beast such as that to their home and have him sleep only feet away from he and his brother's room. Shuddering, he stepped over the door to the balcony and noticed his brother there already placing a blanket and pillows around.

"Hi, Ella." Elrohir greeted cheerfully. The sun had not quite risen and the boys were now ready to make their camp. They had decided the night before that they were not going to sleep in their rooms until the furry monster had gone. Their rooms smelled funny ever since he had moved in. Elrohir had come to the conclusion that it was the stick he puffed on. Although he couldn't understand why anyone would puff on a branch.

"Did you get the food?" Elladan asked waving to his brother. Satisfied with a nod, Elladan spread out the blanket smoothing out the wrinkles and kneeling on it happily.

Elrohir knelt down beside him and placed their treasures onto the blanket. "I didn't bring the cups, because I did not have enough hands." He shrugged laying out the bread and cheese.

"It is alright, we can use the jug. Or make something. Did you get the dagger?" Elladan asked curiously.

Elrohir snorted. "Of course. It was not easy stealing into Figwit's room, but I got it."

Elladan nodded satisfied. He reached out his hand and tore off a piece of bread. "Did you grab the honey?"

Elrohir frowned shaking his head. "The cook was using it, I will go back later."

Elladan nodded again and both boys sat back happily eating their breakfast waiting for the sun to rise.

Galathil opened the door to his small cottage and sniffed the air. It was going to be a beautiful day. Satedly he sat down on his bench and sipped at his coffee waiting for the day to begin. He still had an hour to ready himself for his first lesson. The twin's had improved in the year they had joined his lessons, and he felt himself feel the pride that a father would. They were surely a surprise everyday they joined him. Elrohir was proving to be an outstanding bowman; with skill even his intermediate class did not have yet. Elladan was learning the skills of the sword much faster then his brother, but fell behind with the bow. Galathil already knew that Elrohir had made his preferred weapon known, but refused to give up on the swords.

Sighing in contentment, he leaned back and drew his feet up. His advanced class was first, and went to intermediate to beginners to novice to junior. He knew why Elrond had chosen that particular order, for it gave the children time to play throughout the day and settle down for their lesson's in the late afternoon.

Sighing again, he stood up and took the last sip off his coffee, then headed inside to ready himself for his long day. The sun was soon rising, and would crest over the horizon in due time.

Elrond burst into laughter at his wife's dishevelled appearance. "You look as if a great gust of wind knocked you down love."

"Elrond, be quiet before I have you picking flowers out in the garden for our guests."

Elrond pursed his lips thinking. "And prick my fingers on those thorns again? You have got to be kidding?"

"I am not!" She stated with a grin. "Have you ever wondered why the ladies wear garden gloves to pick flowers?"

He shook his head. "I do not spend time in the gardens, love. Remember that is your pleasure."

"Even still, Elrond. I would watch what I say when I am in a mood such as this." She turned around with a pile of towels and grinned from ear to ear. "I would say that on such a lovely day as this, I could even have you wash some clothes in the wash stalls."

He quickly held up his hands and bowed low. "My dear, I will leave you to your chores and I will retreat to my study." Without further hesitation, Elrond backed out of the room.

Sighing in relief, Elrond shook his head. His wife's voice drifted out of the room after him, and he quickly made his escape before she could find him. "Don't stray too far love, I will need your help in the wash stalls later."

Elrond turned the corner and chuckled to himself, he knew his wife would tear a strip out of him later, but he was enjoying the day too much to be stuck indoors all day washing clothes.

He strolled down the corridor peacefully, but stopped quickly when a sense of foreboding entered his soul. Swallowing hard he glanced around for signs of danger and saw none. Confused, he continued down the hall slowly. Suddenly a loud rumble reached his ears, and the ground suddenly shifted underneath him. Knocked off balance, Elrond lost his footing and fell to the ground hard. The earth shifted again, and the sounds of cracking caused him to look up startled.

Just as suddenly as it had started it stopped. He reached out his hand and gripped the windowsill and pulled himself up. Stunned, he turned to head back to the guest chambers where his wife had been, but was knocked off his feet again when the ground shifted violently beneath him. This time it did not stop and he had to grip the tapestry beside him to keep his footing.

Sounds of cracking marble and stone, earned him worry. But when he looked out the window terror gripped his heart painfully as he watched the ground shift and open into great pits. Crevasses opened and sucked trees and plants into them. He heard snapping of the house around him and he scrambled to keep his footing. The ground lurched and shifted. Pieces of debris flew from the ceiling; pillars fell over crashing into the ground. Screams could be heard all over. Knocked off his feet tearing the tapestry down with him, he heard and felt the ground beneath him crack and drop. Crying out startled, he reached out for something to catch himself on, anything that would stop his fall. His fingers found nothing but air. With a startled exclamation, he fell.

Galathil walked down the green wooded paths that lead to the training fields when the ground shifted beneath him. Baffled at first then alarmed, he cried out when the ground lifted throwing him into the air. He fell back to the earth and cracked his head onto the path startled. He looked up and cried out as a branch broke off and landed right on top of him, not giving him enough time to react. With a sickening crunch, he lay motionless on the gravel while the ground continued to shake around him.

Elrohir and Elladan sat confused when the balcony groaned beneath them. Suddenly it lurched and caused the boys to grab each other's hands in fear. They attempted to rise, but were thrown back down to the ground when the balcony lifted on one side, the plaster gave way on other side and dropped violently. Elrohir cried out when his feet slipped and he slid towards the corner. "ELLADAN!" He screamed, as he slipped over the edge barely catching the ledge as he fell. His nails bit into the moulding searching for a grip.

"RO!" Elladan fell to his stomach and reached out for his brother's hand, the ground lurched again causing him to slide towards the drop off also. He hooked his foot onto the railing just before he reached the edge, but too late to grab his brother's hand, when the ground shook again forcefully. The last thing he saw right before the pillar fell onto him was his brother's terror filled eyes as he fell from the balcony.