The Balrog Slayer Rides Again

Chapter 10

Glorfindel woke when the sun had just peeked over the edge of the forest, and Glorfindel welcomed the light. It drove off most of the things that dwelled in his nightmares.

Elves weren't supposed to have nightmares, or, at any rate, it was a rare occurrence, but that never stopped his nightmares, and Glorfindel's sheer existence was unusual.

Glorfindel got up and shook off the last vestige of the night. It was morning now, and traveling would be easy. Well, easy enough for an injured horse and his rider.

Glorfindel looked around. Without worry, he noted that Asfaloth was no where in sight. Glorfindel was not concerned, because he knew Asfaloth would not stray too far.

Quickly, he erased all signs of his camp. He was ready quickly, trained after many years of experience.

Asfaloth quietly galloped into the glade, neighing softly.

Glorfindel noticed Asfaloth's limp with concern. It was no better than the night before, and Asfaloth's coat and mane were beginning to look unhealthy.

"Always get into trouble, don't you?" Glorfindel said quietly with a rather fond expression on his face. "You'll make it though." He smiled proudly. "Always do."

Glorfindel knelt and dug through his pack. He went through it twice before finally crying out in frustration. "Where in Arda -" He stopped abruptly when he saw very faint traces of a camp, about two days old. He lightly fingered the marks of a quickly covered campfire, careful not to disturb any marks.

He noticed a few sets of footprints mostly covered up or worn over.

How could I have been so blind?

Someone, maybe several people, had camped in this same glade. The hurried job of covering the tracks was obviously a hurried attempt, though the rushed job was methodically spread across the camp, leaving the glade empty, or some would think. But the traces remained, and Glorfindel triumphantly figured it was that runaway ranger and the Hobbits. He had caught the plural from talking to Strider briefly, and he was rather curious to meet the small beings.

He followed the imprints, possibly the imprint of a foot, to a small tree, which clearly has hoof marks around it.

"This is it…" Glorfindel whispered. His eyes blazed. He knew he had to catch up quickly. Waiting was not an option; it could cost severe consequences, consequences all too likely to be disastrous to the fate of Middle Earth.

"Come on, Asfaloth!" Glorfindel said, not sparing a glance to the patient horse.

When Glorfindel turned around and saw the contents of his pack strewn about, he realized he had gotten ahead of himself.

He hung his head slightly, and said to Asfaloth, "I really get too ahead of myself sometimes; you really should tell me when you need something." He smiled ruefully. "We've had this talk before."

Glaring at the pile of stuff, though it could hardly be called a pile, he approached it brusquely. He rummaged through the stack, looking for salve and bandages.

Finally finding them, he soothingly applied the healing ointment onto Asfaloth's injured flank. He gently wrapped the bandage across the gash, and thankfully noticed that the infection was going down some.

"You have to stop being so good at this hero stuff, you'll steal the spotlight!" He grinned at the horse. Though they had no open form of communication, they understood each other, and Glorfindel was sure Asfaloth's eyes lit up at the jesting comment.

Glorfindel erased the signs of both camps and slung his pack over his shoulder. He led Asfaloth, following the trail.

The hoof prints were not easy to decipher in the dark woods, and at least twice Glorfindel lost his way. But the tracks would appear back eventually, and the delays were not too costly.

Slowly, Glorfindel realized he was gaining on them. Glorfindel figured it would be a good four days before Glorfindel caught up, but he was not about to give up. No, he would continue on until he had a firm hold on that irritating ranger. He hoped that nothing would happen until then.

He finally realized it was getting dark, and, reluctant to lose his way, he settled down for the night. He was restless, and sleep was hard. The dark pressed in, finally sending him into the world of sleep.

TBC…

A/N: This chapter was so hard to write! I'm terribly sorry for the delay. We've been really busy, and we have a lto to do. Please forgive me! All this stuff is really time and energy consuming, so I wasn't left with much creative inspiration. And I have like five plot bunnies that have absolutely nothing to do with this. It was rather distracting. Stupid bunnies… Keep biting me… Lol!

This chapter was supposed to be day seven of Glorfindel's journey, and in the book it says:

'Since then I have searched for your trail. Two days ago I found it, and followed it over the bridge; and today I marked where you descended from the hills again.'

–THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING; Chapter XII: Flight to the Ford

So, I had to make him find the trail, and from here on I'll try to follow the book better. Sorry about the earlier mistakes, I wasn't paying enough attention to the book.

I have finally determined how long this story shall be (if everything works out) and, sadly, I am near the end. I am expecting about 13-14 chapters. I will try to update every week, but I have a lot going on right now, so please help me along and just bear with the wait:D

Kudos if you read all that! It's pretty important. At least I think so. But isn't everything I say important: P

Replies to Reviews:

gives chocolate pudding to reviewers

Nolitari: Yeah. We don't really want to know what happens, do we? Good. Lol! And you finally get your chocolate pudding! When do I get the pumpkin pie? MINE!

Seeing-spots: Yes, it's very fun to make Glorfindel nervous. Especially when everything is going wrong. But things finally turned around in this chapter! And thanks for the tip! I love horses, but I haven't really read anything about them.

Ellfine: LOL! Making Glorfy miffed is what I do best.

Please review! I live off of reviews!