The Seven Seeing Stones
Author's Note:
I'm very sorry about the short chapter but life has been a little hectic.
Anyway hope you enjoy and please review.
Five
Avaanta
"Legolas you cannot be serious!"
"I have asked you not to call me by that name Celeborn!"
"It is the name your father gave you. I do not think he would be too pleased to find out you were calling yourself Avaanta now."
"He is no longer here and it is not his decision. Legolas is gone, cruelly stripped from me and that is the end of it. I will go by Avaanta now and you shall call me by no other name."
"Avaanta – without face, why would you call yourself by such a name. It holds none of the beauty and grace an Elven Prince is named for."
"Celeborn I tire of your lecturing, are you going to help me or not?"
"I still believe it is folly Legolas" The Elven Prince shot him a deadly glare. "Avaanta" Celeborn sighed in defeat.
"I did not come to ask you for your opinion Lord Celeborn."
"Very well, I shall help you to find the Palantiri you seek Avaanta but in return you must allow me to follow with you. Of late I have found myself being the subject of more and more raids. It would seem the Men have lost many of their Elven servants and I do not wish to become the property of some Lord to do with as he chooses."
"So go across the sea into the West with the others Lord Celeborn, nothing keeps you here."
"You keep me here Avaanta. I promised your father I would bring you with me when I came so until you are willing to join me I cannot leave."
Avaanta scoffed at the much older Elf who continued to look sternly at him. Finally Avaanta heaved a heavy sigh and nodded in agreement with the other Elf's requests.
"Very well, what is it exactly you wish of me?"
"Only that I may ride with you and stay where you stay. With two of us we would be more capable of fending of would be captors. I will not however aid you in any way with the physical taking of the stones."
"Good, I would not want you to. You would only get in the way and become a hindrance."
Celeborn looked less than impressed with the attitude he was receiving from the younger Elf but he had made a promise to Thranduil and he intended to keep it.
"I will not get in your way young Elf."
"Glad to hear it Celeborn. Now you can start being helpful by telling me where you think we might find the Palantir of Osgiliath."
"From what I have heard it was destroyed, but that is only rumour. You could try looking into one of the stones though."
Avaanta raised a questioning eyebrow at the other Elf.
"If you already have one of the stones that were originally placed in Gondor then you can use one of them to look into the other two with relative ease."
"Do you know how to do this?"
"Yes."
"Would you do so if I were to ask?"
"What do you want with them Avaanta?"
"I haven't decided yet." He said, turning his back on the Elven Lord.
"You haven't decided or you don't want to tell me." Celeborn said as he placed a hand on Avaanta's shoulder and turned him back to face him.
Avaanta pulled roughly away from him and scowled at the other Elf. Celeborn merely raised an eyebrow and waited patiently for the younger Elf to answer him.
"I haven't decided." Avaanta insisted through gritted teeth.
Celeborn sighed and shook his head as he watched an Elf he once truly respected rummage about for his seared black cloak. Why he was so attached to the thing Celeborn did not know. It had been a fine garment before he had singed it by wrapping it about his head, not to mention all the skin he had watched the younger Elf painstakingly peel from the fine weaving of the material. Celeborn closed his eyes and shuddered at the horrible image.
As for the once beautiful Elf, whom even Celeborn had found attractive at times, not only was his face now scarred beyond recognition but the torture he had suffered had changed him as well. He was no longer the Elf Celeborn remembered, he was different, darker somehow and Celeborn was not sure he liked the changes, nor wanted to be involved in any plans this new Legolas had in mind. But, as he reminded himself once again, he had promised his father he would keep an eye on him.
Avaanta had by now found his cloak and had fastened it about his shoulders. He looked over at the other Elf who seemed to be so lost within his own thoughts there was probably no hope of getting him back.
"Celeborn we're leaving. If you're going to help me to find the last four Palantiri I suggest you come back into your body so we can go."
"Of course Avaanta." He shook his head and then threw a confused look over at Avaanta. "Leaving? You don't know where we're going."
"Osgiliath." Avaanta said with a toothy grin that Celeborn found slightly unsettling.
"Why Osgiliath?"
Avaanta seemed to be ignoring the question and Celeborn was about to ask it again when it dawned upon him that the other Elf knew exactly why he wanted to go to Osgiliath.
"You know where the Palantir is don't you."
This time Avaanta truly did ignore him and finally Celeborn heaved a sigh of defeat.
"Fine I shall fetch my stead and then we shall head to Osgiliath, though I suggest we are discreet about it as Eldarion probably already has half of Gondor's forces out looking for you."
Avaanta mounted his great black steed and watched as Celeborn settled on the back of his silvery grey horse.
"You sound like my father trying to scold me when I was younger." He scoffed once Celeborn looked over at him.
"If your father were here now Legolas he would have more than a scolding in store for you."
Avaanta chose to ignore the improper use of his old name as well as the comment in favour of urging his steed off into a gallop. Celeborn growled in frustration at the childish attitude of the younger Elf and instructed his horse to take off after the black stallion.
Night had fallen by now but the moon was full and the metallic mask over the damaged half of Avaanta's face caught its radiant light and shimmered in the dark. His black cloaked whipped about behind him as he rode his horse at a binding pace across the plains of Middle Earth.
Celeborn kept his silvery steed in step with Avaanta's, he worried they would wear the horses out too quickly if they kept this pace but when he expressed these thoughts to the younger Elf all he received in reply was a cold stare.
Finally he'd had enough of this foolish behaviour from the wayward Elf and pulled his horse out into the path of the black stallion. It reared up in anger, flailing its legs in front of it before crashing back to the ground.
"This is foolish Avaanta! You are going to kill the horses if you force them to keep this up! Now I suggest you rest them for the night."
"Would it not be safer to travel by night?"
"You have a point." Celeborn sighed and Avaanta smirked. "Very well, we'll ride through the night but come dawn we will find a forest or cave or somewhere to rest them."
"If you insist Celeborn."
And with nothing but that said he manoeuvred his horse around Celeborn's and set off at a gallop once again. Celeborn hurriedly turned his horse and followed after the masked Elf in no mood to have to deal with a rebelling male.
A stabbing pain in his ribs broke his peaceful sleep; it felt like a foot had connected with his side. His eyes shot open and gasped in shock as half a face stared back at him. The face scoffed and the boot kicked him again.
"Get up." Avaanta growled, in an even more fowl mood after the other Elf's negative reaction to his appearance.
He then stalked off to the other side of the small cave they had sheltered in for the day to fish some food out of their packs. Celeborn rubbed sleep from his eyes and winced as he sat up, lifting his tunic up it was evident there was going to be a bruise where Avaanta had kicked him and he glared at the other Elf's back.
Finally he stood and walked over to sit across from Avaanta. The younger Elf handed him a crust of bread and a tin cup filled with an Elven herbal tea without so much as making eye contact but Celeborn accepted it gratefully none the less.
He wasn't sure what to make of this Legolas, hunched beneath his black cloak. Weary eyes shifting slowly about the cave as though he could not settle his gaze in one place, he seemed uneasy in his new guise but then with everything he had been through lately the Elven Lord guessed that he must have been questioning everything about his life and the trust he thought he has correctly placed in people. All of that had changed in only a few days; sadly the young Elf would never be the same again.
"Celeborn you need to learn to focus your attention on not letting your mind wander."
Celeborn looked up from his half eaten bread and his tea, which was now stone cold, to watch the other Elf duck out the small entrance to the cave. He sighed and poured his cold tea out over the fire, dousing the flames. Cramming the last of the bread into his mouth he followed Avaanta out of the tiny cave and into the starlit night.
Avaanta was already upon his horse's back and waiting less than patiently for Celeborn to follow his example. Celeborn lifted himself onto his horse's back but before Avaanta had a chance to speed off he walked his horse into his path.
"Oh what is it now Celeborn!" Avaanta threw his arms into the air in frustration at the other Elf's constant interruptions.
"You can't expect to be able to order me around as you have been."
"Then go! See if I care. I don't need your help all that badly, it's you who'll be worse off on your own."
Damn, he was right and Celeborn knew it. He shifted uneasily in his saddle but refused to meet Avaanta's cold gaze. A few moments of silence passed before the younger Elf finally spoke.
"Good. Then if you have nothing else you wish to complain about, we can go."
"Avaanta!" Celeborn called out to the rider on his left as they rode through the night. "How do you plan to find the Palantir of Osgiliath? I heard it was destroyed."
"Apparently so was the Palantir of Annuminas, but I found that didn't I?" Avaanta answered smugly.
"Yes and lost half of your face in the process." Celeborn snapped.
Avaanta fell silent and flicked his gaze forwards, avoiding eye contact with the other Elf. They rode in silence for sometime before Avaanta finally answered Celeborn's previous question.
"Eldarion hired me to find the Palantiri for him. He discussed their presumed location in detail with me. The Palantir of Osgiliath lies at the bottom of the Great River, not too far down stream of where the ruined city lies."
"And you plan to what, dive down to the bottom after it?"
Avaanta did not respond but that was all the answer Celeborn needed from the other Elf.
"You cannot be serious Avaanta! The river is enormous. You'll never find it."
"I'll find it and when I do you can be in charge of feeding us for a week." A tiny smile graced the masked Elf's lips.
"You're on." Celeborn answered with genuine confidence as they slowed their horses to find a place to rest during the daylight hours.
They were less than a night's ride from the ruined city of Osgiliath and in Avaanta's mind less than a night away from possessing a fourth Palantir. He was secretly grateful for the company of Celeborn but worried about the older Elf's curiosity. Sooner or later he was going to have to reveal his plans to him…or dispose of him.