"Elrohir!" Arwen gasped and ran to him, Katie following behind, bewildered.

He lay crumpled where he had been deposited by the bandits, on his stomach on the bank of the Bruinen. His hands had been tied behind his back, and Arwen quickly cut the ropes with the small knife at her belt. He was wet and cold—and his hair had been cut off! Arwen choked back a sob and carefully turned him over.

They had gagged him, and she pulled the wet cloth out of his mouth, the tears running silently down her cheeks. Despite the dousing he had received, there were still traces of dried blood on his face, amongst a mottling of bruises, both old and new.

Katie stood by with her hands clapped over her mouth. "Why?" she finally managed to whisper.

"They needed him in the river in order to cross," Arwen said, keeping her voice steady. "That is why they left him half in the water, so that they could come back. But there was no need for them to treat him like this!"

She turned to the horse and called it over, then gave it a rarely used command. The horse knelt. Arwen put her hands under her brother's shoulders and knees, picked him up—she heard Katie gasp—and carried him over to the horse. Carefully, she placed him in the saddle and put his feet in the stirrups, then gave the horse the command to stand, gently. Setting her shoulder against Elrohir's side, she supported him in the saddle. "We must get him back to Imladris," she said. Standing at the horse's head, Katie nodded.

Suddenly, Arwen raised her head, listening.

"More horses approach," she whispered. "Quickly!"

Katie led the horse into the trees as swiftly and silently as she could, Arwen supporting her brother's weight by his side and keeping him balanced on the horse. They had just barely gotten into the protection of the trees when the sound of the party reaching the opposite bank could be heard.

They couldn't see who it was, but they heard splashing and the sounds of horses crossing the Ford.

Then the riders came even of them on the road, and both Katie and Arwen looked on in shock.

000

Somewhere, someone in Rivendell sounded a horn. At its clear notes, every elf in the valley jumped to their feet.

Elrond leaped into the fray, Hadhafang flashing in the light of the night-lamps. A number of ellith had grabbed whatever weapons came to hand, and he fought beside them. Many a man would underestimate an elleth in that fight, and pay the price. From the corner of his eye, as he engaged a bandit in combat, he saw Lithorniel swinging a pitchfork, a determined fire in her eyes.

The few ellyn who happened to still be in Imladris and not with the search party or the hunting party, came running from buildings all over the area, their swords glinting in their hands. Even the healers had joined battle, and Erestor was swinging his own blade skillfully. Even while he sliced and parried, Elrond found time to wish that Glorfindel and the rest of the warriors were there.

It was a fierce struggle, and both sides held their own. But Elrond knew that would not last long. Soon they would be overpowered.

A sound made him raise his head and glance toward the road. The sound of hoofbeats. His heart sank. Was this another troop of bandits, come to finish them off?

000

"Mithrandir!" Arwen cried. The wizard at the head of the column stopped, startled. The troop behind him halted as well. Katie's heart lifted as she and Arwen came out from their cover; she wanted to shout for joy. There in the band was Elladan, and Estel, and Glorfindel—as far as she could reckon, both the entire search party and the hunting party. Almost all the ellyn of Rivendell!

"Lady Arwen!" Mithrandir exclaimed. "What—"

And then it became clear to him, the identity of the slumped figure on the horse. A number of the ellyn cried out and moved toward them, Estel and Elladan in particular, with expressions of dismay on their faces.

Hardly knowing what she was doing, Katie stepped between them and Elrohir. "No! You can't stop; you have to ride on. Rivendell is under attack!"

"What?" Glorfindel exclaimed. Mithrandir was the only one who didn't look in the least surprised, only grim.

"The bandits are attacking Rivendell en masse," Arwen clarified urgently. "Ride now!"

The sound of an elf-horn, giving the call for defense, rang out from Imladris. The party needed no further spur. As one, they urged their horses into a gallop and thundered down the road to the defense of their home.

The sound of their hoofbeats died away in the distance, and Katie heard a groan. She looked up, startled. Elrohir was coming to, and his injured face twisted in pain. Opening his eyes as best he could for the swelling, he looked down at the figure supporting him.

"Arwen," he whispered, his chest heaving as he struggled for air.

"Shh. Yes, I am here, my brother," Arwen murmured comfortingly in Elvish.

"The… the marker," he faltered.

"Do not talk," Arwen said. "We will get you back home—"

"No! Listen… to me," Elrohir said, as forcefully as he could manage, leaning heavily on her shoulder. "You have to… You have to tell Father. Delwon h… has a marker…"

Marker? What was that? Katie's brain flittered irreverently to Crayola, and she reined it back in sternly.

"Wears it… on a thong about… his neck," Elrohir managed. "Going to s… set it off as a… a signal to the others… They'll be… w-waiting on the… bank…" Arwen and Katie exchanged a worried look. Others? There were more?

Elrohir clutched his ribs with his free hand, his breathing heavy and ragged. He was shaking. There was obviously more he wanted to tell them, but he couldn't until he caught his breath.

"Katie, come here," Arwen said, and Katie took her place supporting Elrohir. She was much shorter than the elleth, and not nearly as strong, but she gritted her teeth and held the twin in place. Arwen bent down and ripped a wide strip off the hem of her skirt, the whole way around. Standing up again, she deftly bound it about Elrohir's lower chest, taking some of the pressure off of his ribs. Then she took back her place at his side.

Through all of this, Elrohir had not so much as acknowledged Katie's presence. His eyes were either determinedly locked on his sister, or drifting to gaze unseeing into the middle distance as he tried to calm his breathing. It was obvious he was not very aware of his surroundings, and that he was not doing well.

"Someone must…" (he paused to pant) "get Delwon's marker… D-don't let him… set it off. With the… ellyn gone… won't be able to… fight off the rest…"

He didn't realize that the hunting party had returned, and Arwen wasn't going to confuse him with details. "Elrohir," she said, bringing his eyes back to her. "Do you know what this marker looks like?" Her voice was kind, but straight-forward, and put Katie in mind of the way nurses spoke to patients in the hospital. She sounded in control of the situation; it was very comforting.

Elrohir managed a small shake of his head. "No. All they said… Elf-magic… Don't get it… in the fire… Radek lost his… when the… thong… b-broke…" His eyes slide sideways and his eyelids drooped as he lost consciousness again, slumping sideways in the saddle.

"Here, hold him up," Arwen said. While Katie supported him, Arwen pulled Elrohir's foot out of the stirrup and mounted up behind him. When she was settled astride, she wrapped her arms around her brother and held him steady. "We have to get back to Rivendell, quickly." They set off eastward in the darkness.

000

Elrond's dismay turned to surprise and joy as he caught a glimpse of blue hat, of flying golden hair, of his sons' flashing eyes. With a great shout, Mithrandir's party rode down upon the bandits, who fled in terror at the sight of them. Estel interceded between Lithorniel and the bandit who seemed close to overpowering her, and cut him down. A flurry of cries, the pounding of hooves and the sounds of steel on flesh, and the battle was won in minutes. A few of the bandits managed to flee into the trees, and then the foe was gone.

An exchange of exclamation filled the air. Elrond strode over and greeted Mithrandir warmly, clapping a hand on Glorfindel's shoulder and embracing his sons. "Is this what you left to do?" he asked Mithrandir. "To gather the hunting party? And where were the searchers?"

Mithrandir looked troubled. "There will be time to explain all that later."

"Father," Elladan said, and paused.

"What is it, ion-nín?" Elrond asked quietly. Both Elladan and Estel looked as grim as Mithrandir.

"We met Arwen and Katie on the road," Elladan told his father. "They had Elrohir with them. Father—he is not well."

Elrond's heart leaped in his chest at the sound of his son's name, but his stomach clenched as the import of Elladan's words sank in. Terrible images flashed across his sight, images that had troubled him waking and sleeping ever since Elrohir had disappeared. Celebrían, his beautiful wife… Elladan riding in to Imladris with his mother, senseless, cradled in his arms… The remembered horror in her eyes when she turned them upon him…

He shook himself and found his voice again. "Let us send someone to help them bring him in," he said steadily.

TBC

AN: Pshew. But it ain't over yet!

ion-nín: My son

"For instance, the arts of healing, and all that touches on the care of the body, are among all the Eldar most practised by the nissi (female elves); whereas it was the elven-men who bore arms at need. And the Eldar deemed that the dealing of death, even when lawful or under necessity, diminished the power of healing, and that the virtue of the nissi in this matter was due rather to their abstaining from hunting or war than to any special power that went with their womanhood. Indeed in dire straits or desperate defence, the nissi fought valiantly, and there was less difference in strength and speed between elven-men and elven-women that had not borne child than is seen among mortals. On the other hand many elven-men were great healers and skilled in the lore of living bodies, though such men abstained from hunting, and went not to war until the last need."—The Laws and Customs Among the Eldar

(I put it out once again, that if you'd like a copy of this emailed to you, I'd be more than happy to do it. However, since the site doesn't allow you to put email addresses in reviews, I think you'll have to email me first and I'll send it back. My address is on my bio page (which can be reached by clicking on "JennyJoy4" at the top of this page.))

werewolflemming: I very much want to update the HP, but I'm a bit stuck. I'm at the dueling meet, and I have no idea how something like that would be set up. So I'm kind of in deep water. I need to just pull it up and work out of that problem, though, because I've got like, the entire fic and a good deal of the sequel worked out already!

lunelwe: Elrond any good at fighting? My dear reader, he was herald for Gil-galad in the battle of the Last Alliance! lol But you're right, he may be a bit out of practice…

Thank you also to IwishChan, theycallmemary and FallenTruth. I had this chapter written last night, and I only updated so soon because you all asked so nicely. :) Very proud of myself, writing three chapters in one day!

Review, v: To write or give a critical report on (a new work or performance, for example). Hint-hint. :)