Here´s chapter 14 for you, I hope you enjoy. It will focus on our smallest hero... Thanks to all who read and review and of course to San for editing ((hugs)).
Have fun!
Alina
Rating: PG 13
Disclaimer: Not mine
Soul of Mankind
It was a feeling quite like butterflies being trapped in his tummy. Not that Estel had ever experienced such a thing, but he imagined it to be so: Light strokes that brushed where he could not touch. He imagined the shining wings flapping in the dark of his stomach, and experimentally opened his mouth. No butterfly escaped though, and when he caught Bethran throwing him a glance that was meant to be strict beneath its fondness, he closed his mouth again.
It had been worth a try. One never knew in dreams. The thought of butterflies spilling forth and suddenly filling the room made him smile.
One hand instinctively slightly rubbing his middle, he jumped up from his chair and skipped towards one of the windows. No, this was not altogether a bad feeling but one that made him giddy. One that seemed to tickle and push him until he began to react.
Once by the window, the butterflies disappeared and a cold hand seemed to stroke his cheek, sending an army of goose bumps to spread over his arms.
The warmth of the fire Bethran prepared to cook a rabbit upon was unable to push away the cold Estel suddenly felt. Maybe this was what a guardian was supposed to feel like? Slightly worried that helping the kind woman with the meal had distracted him from more urgent duties, the boy raised himself on tiptoes to get a better view. He felt something warm brush his thigh and let one hand find Beakon´s head.
Outside, a group of crows was feasting on the innards of the rabbit Bowder had killed to serve as their midday meal. The dark birds flapped their wings as they quarrelled for the best pieces, leaving bloody tracks in the snow.
"Im berion adab" (I am protecting the house) Estel informed the dog. Somehow he felt the need to share his newly found honour with someone, and the animal seemed a likely choice. He was one of his dream guardians, after all. Legolas had admitted as much - not in many words, maybe, but clear enough for an elf. Elves loved to pretend saying less than they really did, but Estel was no longer fooled by that.
Beakon surprised the child with a deep growl. Looking to the side, Estel raised an eyebrow to mask his suddenly growing fearfulness. "Im bôr"(I´m trustworthy) he reassured the animal, and for good measure added something Elrohir liked to point out to his slightly taller twin: "Huor tortho bellas." (Courage reigns over physical strength.)
Just like Elladan, Beakon seemed unimpressed by the statement, still grumbling low in his throat. Suddenly, however, the child's frown disappeared and melted into a happy grin. Petting the bear-like head lovingly, he turned to look out of the window again as he said: "Em beriam adab, Beakon." (We are protecting the house, Beakon.)
A chuckle behind him made Estel jump, but it was only Bowder. "Are you teaching the dog some Elvish, little one? If so, you might want to change his name to Galad." The tall man crouched down beside the boy when Estel turned to him in surprise. "Hey, you cheated!" the child accused him, "you did not say that you spoke Elvish, too."
The man's face broke into a net of amused wrinkles. "I do not recall you asking me if I could", he replied evenly, "nor do I believe that there is a game between us. It might come to some relief, though, that I do not speak the old tongue as well as you do."
Estel nodded, but his mind was already elsewhere. Mesmerized, he reached out a finger to touch Bowder´s weathered face, but then caught himself and drew back with a look of apology on his face.
The hunter grasped the small hand gently in his own and led it back to his forehead. "I do not believe that Lord Elrond has taught you to suppress your curiosity. Go on and touch it", he encouraged. Not needing a second invitation, Estel did, and his eyes widened when he felt the rough ups and downs in the skin.
"You must be very old", the child breathed with awe in his voice, "for your face to carry so many wrinkles!"
Bowder´s laughter seemed to shake the very foundations of the hut. "Bless you, boy, for not having said this to my wife!" Bethran waved the comment away with a grin of her own, busy setting the table. Even though he was not sure why his hosts were in such a merry mood, Estel laughed with them, shrouded in an odd sense of belonging.
Suddenly, however, he felt the ice stroke his face again and he turned towards the window once more. A slight vibration against his leg told him that Beakon had never stopped growling. Outside, the crows had gone and in their stead a huge raven sat in the bloody snow, gulping down what had been left of the rabbit.
The beast suddenly raised its head, slightly cocking it as if to listen. The boy shivered.
"What is it, Estel?" Bowder asked, all playfulness gone from his voice.
"I do not know", the child replied truthfully, but he did not deem this answer enough and added: "I am cold and I feel as if part of me is drawn outside..." He stopped, feeling foolish, and meekly finished: "Maybe I just have too many follies in my head."
"Nay." Bowder rose swiftly even as Beakon began to bark. "What you have, my boy, is a healthy instinct!"
The man strode across the room and recovered the bow that rested against the wall, skilfully stringing it. Outside, the raven croaked its annoyance with the world and flapping wings spoke of its departure. Then, other sounds quickly took over. Horses snorted. Voices rang out.
Bethran had abandoned her kettle and held the poker again with one hand while handing her husband a full quiver with the other.
"How many?" she asked, her voice calm, "Can you tell yet?"
"A dozen at least", her husband replied, "I should have known that bastard Marhen was not to be trusted!"
"No time for regrets now", Bethran interrupted, "there are preparations to be made." She turned to Estel who had watched the adults, frozen to the spot. The sense of belonging had vanished with the sight of the efficiently working couple. It was more than obvious that they had no need for him.
Bethran´s eyes softened when they met his and she smiled. "Thank you for your warning", she said seriously, "so far, none here has ever beaten Beakon to an alarm."
"Aye", Bowder agreed from the back room where the boy had spent the night, "we were lucky to have a guardian such as you."
Gently pushed by the woman, Estel was ushered into the second room and saw that Bowder had moved the bed to reveal a trap door beneath. Outside, horses neighed as they were pulled to a stop and heavy feet thumped into the snow, the riders calling to each other as they dismounted.
"Estel, you need to listen closely now." Bowder crouched down in front of the child and took his face into his huge hands. Wrinkles appeared on his forehead that had been invisible before, and the child correctly read them as worry.
"Guardians such as you are meant to watch and warn, not fight. I want you to take Beakon and hide here until the danger is gone." When the child nodded, he continued, "We might well be gone, too, but do not be afraid. Stay here, and hide from anyone but elves. Do you understand?"
His second nod not yet completed, Estel was lowered into the dark space beneath the wooden boards. Beakon had already jumped in before him, his huge frame seemingly swallowed by the dark. Looking up with barely concealed fear, the child sought out Bowder´s face once more. The voices were all around them now as the men encircled the hut, still hesitant to try and enter it.
The hunter reached down to softly caress the boy's hair. "You are a strong one, Estel. Your instincts are as sharp as the edge of a knife. Trust them. Use them."
With these words, the trap door was lowered, momentarily blinding Estel with darkness. Snuggling up against the dog's warm frame by his side, he raised his face to the floor above him. Wood scarped on wood when the bed was pushed back into place, and then Bowder´s voice ran out angrily: "What do you want, men of the village? I do not see a storm you might wish to hide from, so what is it you seek here?"
It was Marhen who answered him, spite dripping from his voice: "We want the elf that killed my son, forest man! Hand him over or fear the consequences."
"The only thing to fear here is your stupidity, Marhen!" It was Bethran who replied. "Your son willingly left when we all slept, and the elf was too badly wounded to fight anyway."
"She is a lying bitch, men!" Marhen roared, "that unearthly creature almost shot me to death in this very hut."
Shaking against Beakon, Estel buried his head in the soft fur. How could that man twist the truth so? He remembered Lord Elrond telling him once that the Truth heard any fib like fingernails on glass. The boy was sure Truth was writhing in pain right now.
Another male voice rose, less agitated than Marhen´s but with a certain smugness to it. "Just hand over the elf, Bowder, and thus keep me from having to burn down your hut to smoke out both him and you."
"He is not here any longer", the hunter replied, "he is long gone to find his people. You know that elves never linger long among mortals."
"Aye, only long enough to kill them!" Marhen sounded closer now, as if advancing, and in front of his mind´s eye Estel could see a torch in his hand, threateningly raised. But then the boy could hear the door scrape over the floor and Bowder spoke once more, calmly.
"Come in then and look through my home, but your time would be more wisely spent searching the woods for that son of yours."
The fear that had held Estel in its grip suddenly tightened around him like a merciless fist. He barely heard the argument that continued to rage among both Bowder and Bethran and the men who had entered their house, his senses focusing on the steps overhead.
Heavy, booted feet made the boards creak as they roamed the main room, and not long after they entered the second chamber as well. Dust began to rain down on the huddled child, stinging his eyes, but he kept staring straight up, his heart racing in his chest. Sweaty hands were buried deep in Beakon´s fur, and the grumble that emanated from the beast travelled straight through Estel as well, enhancing his shivers.
When nothing could be found on first sight, one man voiced his disappointment, but a second had already begun to pull at the bed. Together, they shoved it aside, and light streamed through creaks among the wooden boards, painting stripes upon the dirt floor of Estel´s hiding place.
The boy could clearly see the men´s path above him as they blocked out the sun, turning into moving spots of darkness that sent down showers of dust and dirt. From far away, Estel heard both Bowder and Bethran protest loudly, but then their voices diminished even more and the boy realized that they were taken outside.
Breaking one hand from its death grip on Beakon´s fur, the child reached for the small knife that was tugged into his belt. His fingers closed over the hilt, and he remembered how the small steal blade had found its way into the arm of the raider holding him in the snow. The memory both scared Estel and made him tighten his grip.
Above him, the steps stopped. Two shadows loomed right over his head, and when he peered up, he could even make out the leather soles of their boots. Holding both his knife and his breath, Estel did not move. Did not breathe. Did not shiver any longer.
Then the steps moved on. Frustrated voices called out: "Nothing! Not even a fly on the wall!"
Grumbling rose in disappointment, but then the man who had spoken before did so again, biting anger shining through his words.
"Nothing, I see - not even that bear of a dog you are so fond of, Bowder. Let´s see whether we can persuade it to come out and drag along whoever it might be protecting."
Raising his shout over the denials of Bowder and Bethran, the man gave his firm order: "Burn the hut"!
TBC
Review responses:
Romen: Thanks! You are right to worry about Estel :)
Randa-Chan: Thank you! Erestor has sort of grown on me - and I share your view that elves are natural fighters, even though they might choose to concentrate on other aspects of life. Sorry for the spelling mistakes - I try, but they do happen, and the f/v thing has ever been one of my weaknesses. I´ll try to keep an eye on that.
NightShadow131: Hehe, don´t we all like angst! Legolas might wish that he had taken Estel with him, but on the other hand, that would not have been a god place to be, either. Yes, Elrohir is back but not in best shape - we´ll get back to him and the other elves next chapter. Thanks!
Beling: Lol, you got it right, Elrohir sure was in no mood for silly games. Thank you for your kind comments! And no, the humans bring indeed nothing but trouble, someone should get Estel, and quick...
GundamWingFanatic90: Thank you! I hope you enjoyed the update.
Aranna Undomiel: Lol, I hope the update was soon enough for you. Thank you for your steady reviews, I really appreciate them!
Elvingirl3737: Hey, it´s OK to "miss" a review, I know about Real Life, believe me...I´m very happy that you keep reading! Thanks for your praise, fight scenes are not easy to write (so much going on, hehe). As for Estel - you can keep the coat, but do you have a fire extinguisher handy?
HarryEstel: Hehe, you are so right that Estel needs his family! They better hurry and get to him - thanks for your comment!
Red Tigress: Lol - whumping? Is that a real word? Sounds fitting, though - I try not to "whump" Estel and the rest too much next chapter...
Roguish smile: Oh my - thank you! I´m very happy you like it so much :)
QuinlanRamsey: You´re welcome! Yes, the ravens - I so like the images they create, both the birds and the elves. I just cannot resist it ;-) The characters getting together? They will - somehow, sometime ... :)
Victorious Light: Lol - yes, you were a good guesser! And you are right about Elrohir, too, his anger is fierce. Thanks for your comments!
A big hug goes to all of you!