A/N: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, sorry my exams took up ALL of my time and then I got a small writers block with one of the scenes which I couldn't just skip and thencome back to later. But I'm here now :D and update should be quicker, and not just for the next chapter.

A/N 2: Just like to say that I'm using the back of the Silmarillion to make up the names, so I have no idea if they are grammacily correct or even the same branch of Elvish.

Chapter 11

A party of scouts approached the horse's carcass. Only a little bit of flesh was left on the horse. The saddle and reins were lying close to the horse, clawed and damaged. The Imladris captain surveyed the scene as his party scouted the area. After several minutes, an elf corporal and a member of his squad approached the captain. One carried the horse's reins. The two proceeded to report while the other members went about disposing of the horse remains or securing the area.

The she-elf was carrying the reins and spoke first. "The horse is from Imladris; the saddle and reins prove this much, though they are too damaged to tell which horse they belonged to."

"What did this?" asked Sergeant Daegon. She thought for a moment, and looked to the corporal, Faroth, for confirmation as she spoke.

"I believe it was orcs that attacked and ate the horse." She paused nervously. "That is all I can discern."

Sergeant Daegon smiled briefly and turned to her superior. "Corporal Faroth?"

"The arrows and tracks belong to orcs," he began, confirming his subordinate Maegsul's findings. "The rider was taken captive. There is no indication of a struggle, so he was probably unconscious, or pinned down. I believe, though, that he passed out by slamming into that tree." He indicated an oak some way off.

"How many orcs?"

"It is hard to tell in this light, but I would estimate around a score."

Daegon weighed the reports in his mind, then turned to Maegsul. "You will return to Imladris and inform Captain Glorfindel and Lord Elrond of this. Take the reins with you – someone may recognise them. I will take the rest of the patrol and track the orcs; we shall wait for support before moving against them."

Maegsul saluted and sprinted off. Faroth watched her go.

"She has not been doing too badly these last few days, still needs more experience but she will make a good scout."

Daegon nodded at his friend's comment, "Malaglar will be pleased her daughter is doing well, but it remains to be seen if she will thrive as a warrior." Turning back to the issue at hand, he continued, "Will you be able to track the orcs?"

Faroth shrugged in indifference. "Orcs are easy to track even in this light: they don't care what marks they leave behind. We should have no trouble."

"Then we leave as soon as they have finished dealing with the corpse."

(&)

Glorfindel walked back to the house after a morning stroll in the gardens. She had awakened early that morning and decided to take one final walk around her home. She hoped that she may find some peace in this, but memories of the night before kept haunting her. Now she had more doubts than ever about leaving, but these were countered by more reasons to leave. She found herself more confused then ever.

She came to the house and stood a while on the steps over-looking the gardens.

"Is it not beautiful? It continues to amaze me, even after all these years."

Glorfindel didn't even bother turning when Elrond came to stand beside her, she just smiled.

"No, it will never cease to amaze us all, and I will miss it greatly. I have never known another home since returning to Middle-Earth."

"And there will always be a place for you here. Your chambers will always be yours and nothing will be removed."

Elrond had insisted that Glorfindel leave as much as she could behind, only taking things she could not either replace or do without. He argued that this would make travelling easier, though Glorfindel knew it was only another way to ensure that she always had a place here and felt it.

She felt Elrond's hand grip her shoulder.

"You do not have to leave," he said, sensing her doubt. "It is not too late for you to change your mind."

"Thank you, but there is no reason for me to stay." She could have kicked herself when she saw the hurt in Elrond's eyes. "I will always remain your closest friend," she added, trying to correct the implied insult, "It is just that my reasons for staying seem so hollow."

Glorfindel stopped to think, wondering if what she had to say was really worth saying, if it was just her mind playing on her. But then what did she have to lose; she would leave Imladris in a few hours and this felt so important.

"Elrond," she began, "I have had more doubts about leaving since last night. When I was with Erestor, in the stables, I-"

"Glorfindel!" she was cut off by her lover's call, and for a moment she really could have hit him again. But she regained some control over her emotions and realised that it wasn't his fault: he had no idea what they were talking about. He came up to her, bowed his head in greeting to Elrond and kissed his lover. However this time the kiss was without passion from Glorfindel; it felt wrong, and the kiss was short lived. Both missed the small frown on Elrond's brow.

"Are you well?" Narelda asked when they broke apart.

"Aye, just a little … sad at leaving."

Elrond hid his frown as he re-entered the conversation.

"I am sorry my lord, for stealing your best warrior and friend."

Glorfindel smiled at him, glad that he was trying to make amends for taking her away. Elrond was about to reply, when a servant came dashing up to them. He suppressed a sigh: all he had wanted to do this morning was to talk to Glorfindel.

The servant bowed to his lord. "My lord, a messenger has arrived from Sergeant Daegon's patrol. She is waiting in your office, I believe it is important."

Curious - and a little worried - Glorfindel followed Elrond, with Narelda behind them, holding Glorfindel's hand.

(&)

Glorfindel entered the study behind Elrond, and when she heard Narelda close the door behind them, realised that she had not let go of his hand. Not wanting to send him away, she dropped the hand and let him be, deciding that he would probably prefer her not to draw attention to him. A she-elf stood by the desk with a bridle in her hands which looked like it had seen better days. Looking at her, she noticed that Narelda was not the only one uncomfortable with being here. She recognised the elf and searched her memory for a name. Seeing the youth avoid eye contact brought back the name; Maegsul, the novice who had run into her outside the library. She had been transferred to Sergeant Daegon's command to complete her training; this must have been her first scouting party. She also believed that she was the daughter of Malaglar, her only female Sergeant.

Elrond indicated for her to speak. She hesitated for a moment, seeing Narelda, but quickly stood to attention to give her report.

"Sergeant Daegon's scouting party has discovered the carcass of a mostly eaten horse, on the eastern fringes of the forest. We found indications that it was the result of orcs; Corporal Faroth has estimated around a score. It is likely that the elf the horse belonged to was taken captive." At this news, all the elves became tense.

Glorfindel waited a moment before speaking. "Is there any indication about who the elf is?" She really wasn't sure if she wanted to know the answer, fully aware of whom the elf was likely to be. Even this knowledge made her feel ill.

"Only the bridle, none of the party could identify it," she handed the bridle to Glorfindel.

Glorfindel felt as if she had just hit the courtyard after falling from the roof, the world around her shattering with it. All her thoughts seemed to freeze. She heard Elrond's voice but not the words. Then self-accusations came flooding forward. She should have stopped him. Not only had she driven him from Imladris, but also possibly from life.

Narelda's hand on her shoulder brought her back to the office, but it received no other reaction. As Narelda tried to enfold her in his arms, she heard Elrond telling Maegsul to gather the other Captains while he spoke with Thranduil. That brought Glorfindel out of her shock.

"I will join them."

Narelda suddenly released her. "Glorfindel?"

There was silence, only broken when Elrond ushered Maegsul out of the room. As the door closed, Narelda began to speak again.

Glorfindel, we leave for Mirkwood today. If you search for Erestor then you cannot join us."

"Surely Thranduil would not leave without us first dealing with the orcs, especially with his son and wife?"

Narelda shook his head. "King Thranduil will merely take a different route, away from the orcs. Besides, his warriors are with him for a reason. They will be more than enough to deal with any trouble."

"But Narelda, I must go. This is my fault. I drove him away."

"Glorfindel this is not your fault. Erestor can think for himself, he should know better. He is not your responsibility, especially after everything that he put you though. Your warriors are more than capable of dealing with this on their own-"

"That is not the point!" she said irritably.

"Then what is? You are prepared to leave me, what we have, in order to give aid to warriors who do not require it, to search for someone who hates you."

"It is not as simple as you say, do you think I want this?" Every comment was heating up the argument, and she was sick of it. She was sick of arguing all the time. Trying to calm down, she added, "I can easily join you afterwards."

"No, Glorfindel. I am tired of competing for your attention. You either come with me or go to Erestor."

"What?" She was outraged; she couldn't actually believe that she was hearing this. "You want me to choose between one of my closest friends and my lover?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because, Glorfindel, it is a choice you will have to make sooner or later. It is better for everyone if you just choose now. Why follow Erestor?"

"Because I love him," she burst out. This was met by silence. Not sure herself what she meant by that, she settled on a more logical and less confusing explanation. She eventually continued in a finally calm voice, "He is one of my closest friends and I love him."

Narelda's eyes looked watery as he asked, "Enough to leave me?"

Glorfindel closed her eyes, remembering those same words being spoken under the tree, while she was in his arms. The answer was so simple last time, so sure. Last time she had said no, did she really want to answer differently this time?

Glorfindel opened her eyes and looked into Narelda's.

"Yes," she said, answering both Narelda's and her own question.

"Even though he hates you?"

"It does not matter."

She watched Narelda, feeling guilty for hurting him so much. She seemed good at hurting people recently, but that was something she could not dwell on, she had no place for it. She had more important things to deal with, and such emotions were dangerous on the battle field, or preparing to go into battle. She had to save Erestor, and that was the most important thing.

"I am sorry." And with that, she marched out of the room.

(&)

Glorfindel marched swiftly through the corridors of Imladris, quickly slipping into her warrior mind. She couldn't afford to let her emotions rule her actions and common sense. It was time for her to take charge.

She came to the entrance hall and found Elrond in discussion with Thranduil, guards of both realms wandering though the hall, while Mirindil stood to one side, talking to Celebrian and Mirear. By the look on Elrond's face, Glorfindel assumed that Thranduil was declining the offer to stay in Imladris until the situation was dealt with. She walked up to the pair; she had to tell them soon, and besides, by the look of things, both would welcome the change in subject. Celebrian and Mirindil's attention shifted towards her and Mirear seemed indifferent.

When she reached the two elf lords, she bowed her head to Thranduil before speaking. "King Thranduil, I regret to inform you that due to the change in circumstances, I shall no longer be joining you in Mirkwood." She had expected a questioning similar to Narelda's and so was surprised when she merely received a nod, which seemed to double as a dismissal. He didn't even seem surprised. Straightening, she looked at Mirindil briefly, from the corner of her eye. She looked far from innocent, reminding Glorfindel of one of many reasons why she was never involved in the politics of a country. She looked like Arwen after she'd been caught in the kitchens, covered with sugar and crumbs.

Getting back to the matter at hand, she turned to see two of her sergeants walk into the hall.

"Cirorod! Malaglar! Have your soldiers ready in the training grounds in 10 minutes."

Cirorod and Malaglar stood for a moment, unsure of how to proceed, unsure if Glorfindel was still in charge. Seeing them hesitate, she snapped an order at them.

"As long as I remain in Imladris, I remain in charge of its defence and its guards. I will repeat myself one more time: gather your men in the training grounds within 10 minutes. Now!"

Her tone was not one to argue with, and both the captains swiftly left to carry out their orders. Glorfindel went to her chambers to collect her leather armour and sword, sending a silent prayer to Elbereth for Erestor's safety.

(&)

Erestor slowly came back to consciousness, puzzlement being quickly overruled by the sensation of someone trying to split his head open. Well, that was how it felt, anyway. He couldn't be sure until he opened his eyes, but something in the back of his mind was telling him that he really didn't want to do that. It was the same annoying part that keep telling him stupid facts throughout his trouble with Glorfindel. This seemed to trigger memories of the last two weeks to come flooding in, nearly causing him to groan. Though rather annoyingly the last thing he could remember was being thrown from his horse and smashing into the tree, which gave no indication of where he was now.

As he came further into consciousness, he became aware of something wound painfully round his wrists and ankles. Realization suddenly hit him, and his eyes flew open. This time he did groan as that part of his mind registered an 'I-told-you-so' kind of smugness.

Not five steps away were a horde of orcs, who had been arguing in their black tongue. Arguing which ground to a halt shortly after his groan, as more of the orcs became aware of the fact that he was awake. He wasn't sure what they were saying, but it was obviously about him, especially as one started to approach him. This orc was intercepted, and arguing continued between them which quickly came to an end as the interceptor was beheaded. He felt strangely calm as the orc continued to walk towards him, accompanied by two more. He had the distinct feeling that they weren't coming over to cut his bonds and tell him it had all been a terrible mistake. This was confirmed when he was dragged upright and his head was smashed onto a rocky outcrop behind him. Stars burst in front of his eyes, and he fought down nausea. When his vision cleared, he saw one orc pick up a filthy blade. However, what scared him more than any prospect of torture and dying at the hands of these orcs was the thought at the back of his mind: he didn't care. He had nothing left to live for so why should he care?

End of Chapter 11.

Hey guys, I hope you liked that and that it was worth the wait. Sorry if it finished a little abruptly, but we got to see Glorfindel starting to get into action. Well, have fun and I'll (hopefully) be back soon. Ok after this chapter, because of stupid new rule (where is this rule! I can't find it), I'll be putting my review response in with the reviews, it' the easiest way I can think of.

Haldir's Heart and Soulevil grin as you see I can't promise that.

cosmic dancer: I'd be lying if I said no. :D He may not have deserved the orcs, but it's more fun. I'm glad you liked the way Glorfindel reacted, it was what I was going for.

mary sue hater: Ah, where to begin with you, but I'm not even going to bother giving you a proper response because it's a waste of my time, especially if your not going to even bother reading this properly, if you have at all.