'Wolf and Raven'

Imladris, early summer TA 3018

Gildor's POV

The bathhouses were almost empty yet but we still chose a tub in the hindmost corner.

"Did Elrond badger you already while I was gone?" Raven asked after a while as we took it in turns to wash and comb out the other's hair. We were up to our necks in hot water so the greatest part of Raven's akhai was hidden and the few others had no reason to covertly stare. I made a noncommittal sound, shrugging "Business as usual"

"Ah" he said dryly "That tells me everything"

"Come on" he probed when I remained silent "You are cautious around him as well, don't think I haven't noticed"

I craned my head to look round at him darkly, then sniffed and turned away, splashing water into my face "Other than telling me I'm a stranger here rather than a resident anymore we didn't say much to each other"

"He's telling you that?" Raven asked incredulously "Who else is casting an occasional look over the rim here? And I mean that literally. Look what it got them into"

"I haven't been here for a long time"

"So what?" Raven turned me around forcefully "Does it bother you? Is that you talking? If so, tell me, because that is what I can change. If you want to stay here longer, so will I. But if it is not, for heaven's sake forget it"

"Easy said" I snarled softly "You have your two sides to make believe. I can't change my skin that easily. And I mean that literally"

Raven dropped his gaze "Yes, well" he said finally "I wondered when that would become a problem. It does not seem so much of trouble when we are alone in the wild"

It wasn't. We both had our place in our small two-member pack in the wild. But here in Imladris where everyone seemed to have an opinion what the other should or shouldn't do, it was not Raven getting into conflict with himself this time, oddly enough, it was me.

"I've thought about these stones" Raven changed the topic after an uncomfortable silence "I think whatever power they held, it…was fading when taken from the Orcs. I suppose the stones…or the magic they carried, rather, were keyed to the Orcs' life-force. Or whatever bearer. That would fade then, when the keeper died, or lost the object. But the stones we found – at least the one left with Alcarion was there for a purpose. There must have been a way to key the stone to what it was supposed to blank. Maybe. But I don't know how exactly they interact with how that ring of Elrond's works, or if at all. You said neither of those stones reacted to your dark-spell. Maybe they just blanked what happened from Elrond's perception. Any powerful permanent spell would have been dangerous, would it not? We could have taken and unravelled it, if the spell had been independent of the bearers it was supposed to shield. The stones, though…it is the rock you can find in…what you call the east. It lies around there in places, it is nothing special, I think"

I thought with closed eyes for a while, grateful to exchange thoughts of personal differences with Elrond with more immediate problems. I had become quite accustomed to the way the Ashi'kha handled magic. Or the places they went on their hunts. How Raven knew these stones still lay on the plains of the dark land – never mind now. But his speculations about these stones seemed far too accurate. No evil had ever come of his use of earth power, but I did not wish to imagine Elrond's reaction if Raven managed to re-call that kind of…magic. Elrond might be able to cure what the shadow did, but none here would dare to, as Raven put it, unravel its tools or designs.

"Can you…perform such a spell?"

"No" Raven replied with a slight smile. "Don't worry. You know I don't even have a spell to detect it. But you will remember what happens when I shield completely – it is similar"

"Yes…"

"I found them only by smell. And by then it was almost too late" Raven hesitated. "You must always take dogs with you. Wolves would be better as they don't bark when they find something, but-" he shrugged eloquently, and I had to smile weakly "No chance yet"

Raven nodded, once "I know no other way to find them if sight and scrying fail"

Dark stones…dark land…I tried to think straight. Elrond still thought Raven was Avarin …Darkstone! I groaned. Oh flames of Mordor, I should have thought. I squeezed my eyes shut, wondering when today my brain had walked out on me.

"Gildor?"

Raven's voice shook me out of my thoughts. I swore, causing him to raise his eyebrows "I'll have to remember that one" Raven said with admiration, smiling wryly "What happened?"

"I just remembered. Avari. And dark stones. I – there was an Avarin leader with the wild elves I stayed with for a while. He had been a slave in Angband; he managed to escape when the orcs moved a group of them to another mine. They killed some of the orcs and disguised themselves. He said he stole a stone from one that was milky black and had been polished to a shine. The orc had kept it in a special leather bag, and he could read some of the runes stitched on the bag. He learned to use the stone enough to blank himself from the searchers and escaped. The stone's power faded slowly as he travelled farther from the land. He called himself Darkstone afterwards. Damn, I wish he were here"

Raven was silent for a while. He looked ready to fall asleep on me "We could not use the stones anyway. Whatever their spell is, they are keyed to their bearers. And I can't imagine Elrond allowing the use of such stones even if we knew what to do" he said finally.

"Yes. And no, he would not allow. But I know enough who would, and happily turn the weapons of evil against itself. But hell, I should have remembered he said he used the stone as disguise the moment you said those orcs were blanked from your senses"

"Fat lot of good it would have done. We would have known what blanked them, but not how to counter it"

I stared at the coiling steam "But to fool Vilya-. They must have powerful spells in the Black Land by now -"

Raven shook his head "I don't know enough of the rings. I just guess it does not need to be powerful. Just – similar. The power behind the stones must be so like to Vilya's that it does not stick out in the power flows around Imladris. They are very strong, and might overrule the aberration such a stone causes. Maybe Elrond could change the way the ring – no, the way he perceives the valley through the ring?-"

"I don't know" I said "It is fruitless to discuss the rings without Elrond"

I reached for towels and handed Raven one, wondering when there would be a shortage of these when half the valley's inhabitants wanted a bath tonight.

Raven snorted softly. "It might turn out just as fruitless to do it with him"

I shrugged "He should, however, consider Ashi'kha noses on his borders, should these stones become used on a grand scale. I think there are too few left who could perform this spell of detection. And they sneaked those stones in right under our nose"

"I should go and talk to him again, I suppose" Raven sighed.

"We should" I agreed glumly "But first we eat"

Raven smiled wearily "Spoken like a true wolf"

The greyishness of the morning had deepened into a drizzle as we left the bathhouse and made for the kitchen. Some scouts had also found their way there by now, and there were barks in the yard. The windows of Elrond's room and study were dark yet, so I knew he must be out scouting still. On his return, the other scouts would report, and I intended to catch Elrond alone for our business. Time for a meal then.

"By the way" I asked as we carried platters with cold meat and cheese to our rooms "what was that with the hound yesterday? I have never seen you so…call it greedy for attack. Whatever. You almost killed the best blood hound in Imladris"

Raven snorted as he put the platter down on the floor and flopped onto his bed. "Stupid thing. He challenged me"

"You need not have accepted" I said mildly. "You ignored much graver insults from dogs before, as I remember"

Raven shrugged carelessly "Some rub-off from the earlier kill, maybe" He popped a piece of cheese into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully "I got him, though. The orc, I mean"

"Why did that orc try and catch a wolf at all? Think about that before you offer spying behind enemy lines"

Raven shrugged unconcernedly, waving the objection away with a piece of cold meat "There is no love lost between us. Generally they leave us be, which you should never take for granted. If they need a moving target, a wolf will do as well as any of their own kind"

Despite his nervousness in the prospect of facing Elrond soon Raven managed a nap. I woke him in the late afternoon "Lets get it over with"

"Right" he stretched and pushed the blankets away, calling the change without further ado. I raised my eyebrows. The black shook himself and leaped off the bed 'You are right, lets get it over with'

There was light in Elrond's study, so I could be sure that he was back by now as well. Most of the scout-leaders would also have reported to him. The wolf's claws clicked softly on the tiles as we walked through the corridors and halls. I took a deep breath and knocked briskly.

"It's Raven and me, we want to report"

"Come in, the door's open" Elrond's voice sounded muffled. He had just pulled a stained, rain-damp tunic over his head and tossed it over a chair as we entered, retrieving a dry shirt from a chest without turning. Obviously, he had only shortly returned from his circuit of the valley, checking on the findings of the groups. "Thought you'd been down in the Hall with the rest of the scouts"

"Well yea. We were back early and had something to eat first" I dropped down on a low couch, and the black sat down at my feet, curling his tail over his paws uncertainly "I suppose we've got things for your ears only. Or better eyes"

Elrond turned with a frown, shrugging into his shirt "Why are you beat-" he stopped, staring from me to the black, who shifted uncomfortably and flattened his ears slightly. There was a long silence, broken only by an occasional bay from the yard below.

"Well, let me introduce you to the furred side of Raven" I said calmly "His people call themselves Ashi'kha, which means "turns furred", and he is a black wolf when he wants to. You have seen him yesterday already but probably not realized it was him"

Elrond took a breath as if to say something, but then didn't. If he had thought I had been kidding yesterday, he now definitely considered me quite mad.

"And before you question my sanity, you can talk to him as you can to me, only if you want his answer directly you must use mind-speech"

Elrond continued to stare at me for a moment longer "Your report then" he said "First of all"

"Right" I launched into brief recapitulation of our findings, then added our speculations about the stones. Elrond listened without interrupting me once.

"Rawegil arrived here shortly after everyone had set out" he confirmed "He told us how they had been surprised by orcs, and that Alcarion had been killed. He himself had tried to track the fleeing orc, but it left the valley and disappeared seemingly into nothingness. He came back here to call for help, and found we had already drummed up some action" He paused "That – wolf – Raven- you said found the orc. How, if even Rawegil could not?"

"Scent" I said promptly "The stones blank them from our scrying, and they are wood-crafty orcs, these ones, as far as orcs go. But they cannot hide their smell"

Elrond ran his hands through his hair "Adding everything up your report means that three of my people are dead, three I have known very well. Rivendell is not a secret sanctuary, but its defence has been breached once now, and the surviving Orcs will not forget it, or keep the tidings to themselves. They have sneaked in under cover, at the least guarded and most difficult places, but they have sneaked in. And I have not sensed it. There are always shifts in the feeling Vilya provides me with of the valley, and the subtle changes vary with season and weather. Whatever I have sensed, it has not been enough to alarm me. I have not been able to determine its true nature. Things of darkness are coming too close to the borders to be tolerated any longer. We have scouts, rangers watch in the wild lands beyond, and yet these – wolves – have attacked an elf not a day's walk from the end of Vilya's influence"

And now I brought this creature here as others would calmly present their oldest friend. Even more, I had made it tactfully clear that Raven knew about the rings of power, and that was absolutely not a thought Elrond relished. Raven was the last person Elrond would trust. There were dark elves and dark elves. There were thorns between the exiles and the Silvan Elves even. Allies were few, and none to be trusted outright. I knew he was thinking this. Elrond visibly brought his mind back to the problem with the stones "Powerful magics are not given to simple Orc soldiers. Yes, it has been a test"

"And only Raven's last minute warning has kept Imladris from a severe invasion"

Elrond nodded once "Then it comes down to this - why did Raven feel it? Why did not Vilya sense it? And if Raven could find the stones, why then did he come so late?"

'I cannot fly' the black snapped silently 'I sensed it because it was earth magic. And Vilya did not because the same power that is hers was made to shield the device'

'We cannot prove that, Raven'

'No It has no smell, but to me, it feels the same. And it is the only explanation we can offer'

Elrond observed our silent exchange suspiciously. To most others it would have been invisible, but he obviously knew when someone was mind-speaking. Was he using Vilya's power? I couldn't say. He always made me distrustful with that. I never knew when he saw things I did not want him to see.

Elrond's POV

There was something I could not pick out about Raven even subtly using Vilya's power. It was like peering into a fog and trying to make out the forms moving in it.Something slipped me when I tried to grasp the dark elf's – or the wolf's - presence. I was not above trying some looking, but Raven was shielded very well, and permanently. Also, Gildor shielded him. I caught his half amused half sardonic glance as I registered the fact with surprise. That Gildor could do so was quite a surprise in itself. If I wanted to do that, the persons concerned had to be very close to me, and also physically close. So far, Gildor had not touched the wolf once.

I took a breath. It was easy these days to suspect others, easier to place the blame. But to hell with wise words "I wish to speak to him, now, in words, and not to…to a beast of shadow"

The wolf got up slowly, and for a moment, we simply looked at each other, unblinking. He was a tall beast, but I guessed there was less substance to him than the thick, shiny black fur made believe. Even without being an expert on wolf behaviour I saw that there was a touch of defiance in the wolf's stance, his upright bearing and the slightly raised tail, that did not fit with his slicked down ruff and flattened ears.

Vilya's power could be put to many uses, and one decidedly useful thing was, if I wished to speak mind to mind, I needed not unshield to the other.

'This is me' a strange mind-voice told me abruptly. Raven's, I realized, it must be Raven's. 'Which form I use makes no difference. If you will speak now, you must speak to the beast'

The sending was much clearer and pointed than I would have expected. It was more images and emotions than words, and anger at my words, which indirectly judged Gildor through his relationship to Raven, tinged the sending. I could feel that, and also that Raven had difficulty mind-speaking like this. I could not say what clue the wolf gave to Gildor, but I felt him withdrawing the protective shielding he had linked with Raven. I cautiously lowered my shields enough to probe for Raven's mind. The wolf's ears flattened further to his skull when he sensed it.

'Look' There was an abrupt shift in our connection. Raven dropped his shields completely and without warning. Only the fact that I was still shielded through the ring's power kept me from cutting off the connection. Gildor had said that the dark elves' mind-speech was a much more direct matter than that of the Eldar, but he had not gone into detail about how much more direct. This connection was intimate enough that I would have classified as what lovers shared. And most of Gildor's communication with Raven and all of his talk with the…wolf…took place on this level. I suppressed a shiver.

For a moment I thought this was Raven's way of challenging me. Then I realized he had no choice but to drop all shields as long as I did not offer him a connection and held it. The wolf faced me in the real world, but wolf and elf were inseparable in the spirit world. Emotions and thought lines I would decide were elven mixed and exchanged with what were, to me, the simple thoughts and urges of a beast. Whatever Vilya hid of my own mind from the dark elf, Raven seemed to sense enough. He seemed as unconcerned by my unwilling sentiment as the wolf.

'Yes. See. These are my secrets. All that is relevant to know. I am the wolf. The wolf is me. So it is for all my people. Since the time of darkness, when only shadow was in Middle Earth, it has been this way. Maybe my people became so under the shadow, yes. Maybe we were made so by the Dark One. Maybe we are what the one you name Allfather wanted us to be. We do not know. To us, it is a gift. And I would not have it differently. But the shadow we have never served. The deep-night over the east is enemy to all free things. And we wish to stay what we are'

His attempt at worded mind-speech roughly followed the word-order he would use in his own language, I saw. I tried to assess this creature, sensed Raven observing my scrutiny. I saw the wolf shiver, and knew it cost him lot to bear it.

Hate. Hate that was closely linked to sorrow, and vengefulness. This was part of Raven, and I abandoned my probing with slight hesitation. I had no right to know more in this direction.

'You could take what you wish' Raven said quietly 'If there is shadow with me, it is but the darkness I carry with me myself'

'I would violate my own obligation' I returned after a moment 'I have sworn to heal, not to hurt'

Rave paused 'You protect your pack. If we fought as two males for a pack, you and I, it would be as equals'

That was a stumper. I stored the words away carefully, wondering if it was a simple realisation of the wolf, or a threat? And what did the wolf refer to when he said 'pack'? What did Raven refer to? From what I had seen of Raven I could not imagine he would start any kind of fight with me, but there was truth in that statement. Vilya would surely give me the victory over the dark elf, but should we 'fight', as Raven put it, it would not be without considerable damage to us both.

Raven was so strange as to be inaccessible, and easy to misjudge, for good or bad.

'Why are you here, Raven? Here in the valley? Only to be with Gildor when he is here? '

The wolf's ears twitched, rising slightly. Whatever it meant, I could not say. I sensed conflict, but the source Raven was hiding successfully.

'The shadow' he said after a moment 'is taking all our lands'

The dark mountains. How much could these be taken by shadow any more?

There was mocking amusement at that thought 'There has always been war. My people are not many – ten times and five ten, maybe, with old and young'

Old and young? I seized on the formulation. Were Raven's people mortal? Had their bond to the wolves cost them the life of the Firstborn? Was then blood the key?

I had not consciously hidden the sudden flashes of thought, and immediately realized that Raven was aware of them. Slowly, the wolf pricked his ears forward completely. He had avoided direct eye-contact with me after the initial stare, but now he met my gaze. There was a wash of emotion that was mainly sorrow, but also mixed with pride.

'No' Raven answered my unspoken question 'We are no more mortal than you. But the older ones collect injuries, and some can no longer hunt or fight. Many of us die, or are killed. The winters are long where wolf-clan lives' He had personal memories of such a winter, and did not keep them from me 'You think of blood – I cannot tell you how we came into being, what happened in the starlit dark. No one can, because the old songs have too many layers of meaning, and many have been lost'

The wolf took a deep breath 'In this form I am a wolf in mind and body, and blood. And as wolf, I can reproduce as wolf'

I caught the images coming with that before Raven actually spoke them. They added a restriction that told me the offspring of such a – I forced myself to call it union – would be pure wolves. Raven's sending was open. I realized Gildor would have followed our exchange. I looked at him in shock, but received the same calm stare back Gildor had given me when withdrawing his protection on Raven.

He knows! He knows and is perfectly calm about it! This was the first time in centuries, part of my mind told me sarcastically, that I was lost for words. I looked back at the wolf, who surveyed me with now calm grey eyes.

'Maybe because we are wolves so much, we can save ourselves beyond this age. My people can yet refill the places left by the dead. We still have cubs' Raven paused, and when I found no answer continued 'But this war that comes, it will sweep many things away. It will not notice sweeping us away. Maybe we would survive, if we fled, if we hid. We always did, and we survived. But the scale has become greater'

It was Raven, and only Raven who was now speaking to me.

'To be wolf, I said we feel is a gift. It is our nature. This is what I offer, Elrond of Rivendell. Our noses, ears and speed. That is why I am here. To represent my clan. My brother is dead. We were supposed to look for someone with power together. It was not my choice to do this alone. It was not the plan to hide what we are – but I am no envoy, and I did not know what to do, when to do it. What we can offer is a small thing, and one that will not be noticed in the final battle. It is all my people can do, and they sent my brother and me to find a time and a place to reveal this. In the name of Wolf Clan I have the authority to speak for all of us. If you will have the wolves, we will spy for your people, carry messages, fight with you'

The wolf made a slight backward movement, though he did not have the power to break the connection off without my consent. Panic, quickly controlled, flashed through him. I felt it, considered it before I released him from the mental hold.

Gildor raised one hand to the wolf's ruff unconsciously. I noticed the gesture, and what it implied, though probably neither of the two did. A restraint for the wolf as well as a gesture of protection, and it told me that Gildor considered my limit reached for the time being.

I took a long moment to seek for words. Gildor and the wolf exchanged something on a level too intimate that I could catch it.

"Now that you have spoken to the beast of shadow, do you still wish to speak to him in words?" Gildor asked, somehow managing not to sound sardonic.

"Yes I do" I snapped.

Gildor shrugged and knelt beside the wolf, one hand on his ruff, the other on his back. There was another private exchange between them. Through Vilya I sensed a disturbance in the energies around us that I could not place. It made my neck prickle as I turned my full attention to it. The ring enhanced my perception of the earth-forces in this valley to the point I could almost see them, enabling me to command the waters passing through this valley, heal the diseases of the land, keep predators from the game that wandered through and rested in Imladris. A feeling of not-rightness invaded my senses for a second, a wrenching sensation as if the ground dropped away from me. A shadow flickered over the crouching wolf, and then it was over. The energies flicked back into their normal flow, and Raven was where the wolf had been, naked, his hair falling over his face. The wolf's fur was gone and revealed a few cuts and bruises from the past battle. Gildor cast his cloak about Raven's shoulders and helped him to sit down on the couch. Raven brushed his hair back with a shaky hand and his grey eyes fixed on me, challenging.

No! my reason screamed Just how can he do this? I became aware of Gildor's hand on my arm, and shook off the shock.

'I was told the fea can control the body' Gildor replied to my mind's frantic scrabbling for understanding 'Take this as a master example of that thesis'

"It - you did not have Vil- it feels wrong" I stared at him, trying to comprehend what I had just seen, forgetting for a moment to feel nettled at him for reading my thoughts. Not enough that this…change…wrenched everything I could sense through Vilya, it was just…a thought I could not finish. That wolf had been real, physically and mentally. I could still feel the untamed, feral touch of a pure, beastly mind and its instincts, could remember the overlapping, unclear borders where it merged with what I would call reason...

"I did not have a ring of power" Gildor agreed, sitting down beside Raven. "And damn glad am I for it. But I have lived a little longer than you, and I remember the great wolves and the change-beasts of the early First Age. Believe me when I say that though this feels not right, those felt much darker - there is a difference"

Though this feels not right - . I would have loved to ask what then made him accept it "You can…you can help him change …what…how…" How can you stand the feeling!

Gildor shook his head "It only looks like that. I can just channel energy for him, when his own is not enough. And as it is not wise for him to draw power from the…land of Imladris it had to be his and my own"

"Do you have an answer for him, Elrond?" Gildor asked after a while "If he goes, so will I"

What! "I cannot judge this now, in the midst of a battlefield" I said sharply. Gildor had made a simple announcement, yet I felt he was putting me under pressure. My ill-timed reproach of his wandering seemed to have done more damage than I had thought or ever intended.

"I am not saying this out of defiance, Elrond" Gildor answered my thoughts "Only that if a strike falls, and it will, then I will be where Raven is. Whether that is wolf clan's land or Imladris"

We must stand together if that blow falls, I wanted to shout. What had happened to him that he would rather fight like one of the rhevain in the wild than fight for the refuge he helped build? For his home?

But he did not help, a voice told me darkly. He did what he could do save those that were running, he helped us do what we wanted to do, but he never took part in that. He never took a part in anything where we used the rings.

You are losing him, do you realize?

No, I answered myself He was never really here. I remember when we build these towers – he was here, but only to guard the borders. With those dark elves we paid in steel for their protection. He said he imprisoned himself in the plain of Gondolin. He would not do it again in a valley. And he was smart enough not to become too tied to this. His heart was never in here truly, though he calls it home, sometimes. It is just a refuge – a place to hide until he has enough strength to live out there again.

"There is much I would say, but these words must be thought over carefully lest I say too much"

I rose. Raven looked up at me.

"My people believe, it is better to speak your heart though it be hot with anger than to swallow half of what you feel you should say"

"I have no anger to hide, Raven. But what you said is a lot I must think about. We need help, that is right. The past days have certainly shown us that. But too many of those I rule have dark memories of a long age you cannot recall, though your father may have spoken of it to you. There are roots in the dark, and few will be happy about that, or be as tolerant as Gildor"

"Maybe Gildor is just not so taken with the rings of power that he would not see how much they make us little caricatures of ourselves" Gildor snapped softly "What do they do? Nothing except chaining us to them, and cutting us off from all that passes outside the borders. Maybe not here so much, Elrond, but the Havens and Lorien are little more than enclaves. They might be swept away as easily as the Ashi'kha. Only that without the rings, we have no hope at all. You speak of roots in the dark, so what? Vilya's roots lie with the power of the Ruling Ring, and the roots of that one are in Sauron himself""

I returned Gildor's gaze for a long moment, feeling so angry I could hardly breathe. Maybe I am not so taken with this wolf that I forgot all reason over it I wanted to say but bit down on it.

"You yourself, Calathaura, gathered what information the mirdain wanted. You may hate me for that, but you too had a part in their creation"

Gildor stared back at me icily "I was asked for service" he said then, very softly "I had a price, I was paid it, and I did what they asked"

Like one of the outlaw mercenaries. Fury and an irrational feeling of betrayal made me speak before I could think "You, too, had your hopes when the rings were made. Don't you think I can't see how you slink off whenever they sing of Gondolin, that I wouldn't notice how much it costs you to pass the corridor of the First Age-paintings? Like all of us, you are responsible for what we came to. But you ran off into the wild and pretended not to see or know or need. And now I am here to master this ring"

Gildor blinked. I suppose I could not have done worse if I had slapped him.

'Was it my fault they fell to the spell even when they felt the Dark One lunge for their minds? Was it my fault that no one had the strength to destroy them? I was asked to speak my mind at the council. They asked me to keep one. No one ever asked me to destroy them'

His sending smacked across my mind so like a whip that I flinched visibly. I stared at him in shock, part of me realizing that he had gone through my shields and spoken in my guarded mind without any apparent effort. I could not return an answer in like, so I had to speak "And would you have had the strength? Do you really think that?"

"It would have been worth a try, would it not?"

I cast about for a remotely civil answer, unable to find a single word, when there was a knock on the door.

"Enter" I snapped furiously.

Glorfindel pushed the door open "I don't think you should try to make wolves more of a liability than a ring whose bearer and works will be revealed the moment it is recovered by Sauron" he said dryly, having obviously overheard the last "I fear this is not a good time, Elrond, but there is a troop of Men arrived who urgently wish to speak to you"

I snarled "Not at all a good time. Who are they? And where do you come from?"

Glorfindel shrugged once more with a slight smile "As I said, they wish to speak to you, and would not reveal their precious names to a mere servant. And you know where I've been. I ran into those nice men on my way down here, and Celebdur kindly filled me in on what had transpired here"

I shook my head, torn between irritation and amusement. Mere servant indeed "You meant that, didn't you?"

"Very much so. Because I have to deal with you if that happens"

Did they all have to smack facts on the table today? Glorfindel returned my gaze calmly 'Go. You cannot settle this now. Not wisely at any rate'

And did they all have to be right? I turned and hastened down the steps to see what the Men were up to.

Gildor's POV

Glorfindel turned to us as Elrond left and grinned "Well met, then. I see you are still predestined to get yourselves into trouble"

I turned away from him, trying to control the red rage Elrond's by no means unsubstantial accusations had unleashed. I had never, never before struck out like this at anyone, let alone Elrond. I had never known how much force I could muster, either. I suppressed a shiver and forced myself to speak calmly.

"Maybe it would be easier if we could say better things than accusations in fury. I can't imagine that it is profitable for Raven's case"

"It was a truth, not an insult, we all know it, and he knows it best" Glorfindel glanced at Raven "Don't allow him to intimidate you. He isn't worse than a werewolf, and I hear you can deal with those. He will take your offer, he just needs some time to pound you changewolves into his ethics" He glanced out of the window "I suppose you can safely assume your session is closed for today. Those men will keep him busy. Go, I will talk to him tonight. I have to use his study anyway"

"Are you taking our side now? Or is it just to contradict Elrond?"

Glorfindel laughed "You think very lowly of me. But we simply cannot risk declining any ally. Ah, and since I am errand-runner today, Glinael asked me to find you. He wants to know if you are going this fall"

"I don't know" I snapped "Really, that's the last place I want to see. They know the way quite well, why don't they just go?"

"Oh stop being stupid" Glorfindel returned "You are their leader, and they want to go with you. You shirked last year already"

"I didn't shirk anything and we all agreed to stay here" I took a breath and let it out slowly "Where is Glinael?"

Glorfindel made an exasperated gesture "Heavens, I don't know. But we are on stable duty together, so either tell me now, or come down there yourself and tell him then. And by all means go, get out of here, Gildor. Right now, you are frightening"

"Thank Elrond for that" I growled, shutting the door behind Raven and me. I walked down the long corridor from Elrond's rooms, and then aimlessly turned into the next best corner. That got us down into the vine-grown, uncovered walkways. I turned to ask Raven where to go and almost stumbled aside when the wolf trotted beside me.

"Oh, flames, damn you" I snarled, trying to calm my racing heart and resuming my walk.

'I prefer not to run half-naked through Imladris' Raven snapped, moving to intercept me. I stopped so as not to fall over him.

'Look at me' he demanded, ignoring my irritation. Puzzled, I obeyed, meeting the wolf's strange, unguarded stare for a moment. I sat down with my back to the wall, feeling suddenly very weary.

"Curse it" I repeated, rubbing my forehead and wishing I could squeeze out all doubts and all rage. The wolf settled beside me, and then I felt his breath on my face. I pressed my cheek to his muzzle for a moment.

"Would you come with me? To the Towers?"

Raven hesitated 'As I am?'

I dismissed his mild amusement "As you are. I am sick of hiding this. The company puts up with it or they don't. But I need you. As you are"

So I had admitted it in words and forced myself to hold his brief glance. The wolf flicked his ears 'Of course I come'

The next day did not augur well. Glorfindel woke us in the morning, banging on our door.

"Elrond wants you"

I groaned "I know. Come in. When?"

"Ten minutes ago" Glorfindel grinned.

"I thought you wanted to talk to him"

"I did" Glorfindel leant against the wall easily.

I eyed him darkly "And what did he say?"

"That he would have no more goose chases, even if you are doing the leading. He swore to pluck this goose – or rather raven - feather by feather if there comes harm of it"

"Well, thank you for encouraging Raven" I said dryly.

Glorfindel chuckled "Listen, I told you we cannot risk denying any help we can get. In fact, he has almost said yes already. But you know he won't let those questions pass unanswered. And I cannot answer his questions as to how Raven drives out werewolf spirits"

"I doubt any answer I could give would be enough" Raven said glumly as we walked through the gardens. The drizzle of yesterday had cleared up, but a damp warmth hung over the valley.

Elrond was in the kitchen garden, at this time of the year a rather bleak business as most herbs had been cut back and others dried up to brown stalks. Some weeds had taken advantage of the emptiness and pink and white flowers had invaded the usually immaculate beds. A few old benches stood around the edge of the garden. Elrond had chosen the only one in the sun and by now probably dry enough to sit on. We went over to him, and greeted each other cautiously. Yesterday's confrontation hung between us, but I guessed neither of us would apologize. Not yet at any rate.

Elrond glanced at Raven thoughtfully, but came to the point without preamble as we sat down "I want to know how your people found out how to deal with werewolf spirits like that. I know none to have ever attempted such a thing, and there were plenty of occasions where it would have come in useful. As far as I know" he added to us both "these spirits are extremely powerful. He was alone. And, I take it, he was a wolf. What did he do?"

"There are – different sorts of spirits, I think' I answered with slight hesitation when Raven did not speak "Some are too powerful to be driven out by the Ashi'kha. Their shaman said, before they learned that some of them died when attempting the too strong ones"

Shaman. I saw Elrond storing that away for later tackling. There was no Quenya word, so I had used the mannish expression. The term always carried the connotation of ghost healer, someone talking to spirits of the dead, though Raven had said that was the last thing Nightchaser could do. And I knew Elrond could sense much clearer than anyone else if he wished the houseless ones, the lingering fёar. I had tried that with Raven as I had promised, and I had no desire for Elrond to find out about that through this affair.

"You knew of the risk and still tried? Why would anyone try to separate wolf and demon in the first place?" Elrond turned to Raven "Why did they bother to drive the spirits out? Why not kill the carrier, which is certainly the safer method?"

"I do not know how the first of us learned" Raven said "It was the wolves that helped us survive the starlit dark, and we honour them as more than brothers. We would do the same for them that you would do for another elf"

"You still have to get close to a werewolf without being shredded in mid-air" Elrond observed after a while "That alone seems a wonder. He would run. Or kill you, which seems more likely"

Raven dropped his eyes, and I saw Elrond frown. He knew Raven was hiding something.

"I said the…things possessing the wolves can blank themselves out of your perception. I have…senses to detect them. And I can do the same blanking-out. They cannot perceive me"

Elrond took a deep breath "I find this impossible to believe. You say you tracked the remaining wolf, drove the demon-being away, and caught up with the fresh trail of the rest of the pack. And returned within two days. There are still several pounds of teeth and fur to manage even if you creep up on one of them. And how do you get rid of the spirit?"

Raven exchanged a glance with me "The creatures my people know as werewolves are like the one you saw…they are not born in…under the shadow. They are possessed by a…spirit. They are sent by…something that in turn keeps them under control. The…spirits' hold on whatever they possess can be broken. You must…wrap your own fea around them and squeeze their clasp from the wolf's mind"

Raven stared at his hands. I looked up at Elrond who returned my gaze darkly.

'If I did not know you I would say you lost your mind'

I gave no sign I had heard Elrond's sending. He took a step forward and knelt before Raven so the dark elf was forced to look at him "What you speak of no one I know has ever tried. And if, no one ever survived to tell of it"

"I am here" Raven said after a moment.

"You open your own mind to the 'thing' you say is controlling those spirits, Raven. Has it occurred to you that that is the mind of the dark lord himself?"

'Are you implying what it sounds like?' I couldn't restrain myself 'You who carry a ring that depends on Sauron himself! You, who fight his mind day by day?'

Once more, I was more severe than I had intended. Involuntarily, Elrond swung around to stare at me, caught between fury and shock. He controlled his temper with an effort "I will not argue about that with you, not again, not here and now" he said tightly, switching to verbal speech in anger and getting up to face me "But I know how to protect myself. I am shielded. I have been trained. I know what I am doing. And I know what is at stake. I am not haughty if I say Raven or any other Avar can't. You yourself come here only when it suits you. You simply can not know what Vilya costs me"

I reigned in a cutting response. When I spoke, I had to whisper because otherwise I would have shouted "No, I can't know. Maybe, Elrond, I am not here because sometimes I can't bear to be what you all think I am and what I know I really am. Maybe I am not here because sometimes it feels this valley is strangling me. You are waiting and planning and hiding, and others do the work beyond the Rim. If I have learned one thing out there, it is that the rings will not save us. In the end, they will turn on us. First on their bearers, and then on all those who depended on them. However dark and twisted it might seem to you what Raven does, it has immediate effect. Against the shadow"

"You sound like the twins" Elrond hissed.

"And it makes you furious because they do not believe in hiding anymore"

"Thank you for reminding me of that" Elrond said coldly "You were the one to stand up and say you would hunt orcs with them. Now if we could return to the topic of werewolves, please"

"Whatever he does not tell you, I will also stand up for the ill that might come of it"

Raven shot me a startled glance. I returned Elrond's long look stonily.

"Those are words not easily spoken, my friend" he warned. "And not easily taken back"

"I know what I say, and I know what it is Raven does not wish to say yet"

"You know him that well, then"

"I do"

"Avari you say" Raven said into the terse silence "Maybe it is right. My people still know we were not willing to leave. Our clan began while there was still only darkness in Middle Earth. But we chose long before the first light came to the Waters. We were changed already when the others decided to leave, and those you now call Avari refused. Those who refused the journey did not choose our way either. We were changed already when the first shadow returned. It is true that many were taken by that shadow. Maybe it is true they became Orcs. Wolves were there then, too, and they were taken by shadow as the elves were. They feared the shadow as did we. So, to survive, we allied ourselves to them. We call them brothers. That is why we bother to save them. Khai'noch, who you would call shaman, must have learned that there was a way to fight the spirits that came from the shadow. We learned to save ourselves from those things, to drive them from others of our kind, and we learned to rid the wolves of the spirits. Because we are brothers" Raven took a shaky breath "You think it is easier for the shadow to seize our minds. I cannot speak for the Avari. I can speak for Wolf Clan, and for myself. I can not use worded mind-speech or shields like you know them, but what I can do, I do well enough to handle werewolves. I will not have you put responsibility for me on Gildor. You may not like all that I could say, but no harm can come of it to you or your people. The…secrets I wish to keep concern me and Gildor alone"

"He is not Avarin, Elrond, if that is what makes you mistrust him" I said finally "You hold my lineage under my nose so often. Here is Raven's - he is half Elda"

It took something to make Elrond goggle twice in two days, but after the wolf, this was definitely one of the things. Raven looked as if he wished to melt into the space between the boards, but returned his gaze defiantly "My father is Hurondil Erríve's son. He was born in Valinor, and was hardly of age when he crossed the Ice in the host of Fingolfin"

"Hurondil died in the Fall of Gondolin" Elrond said when he could breathe again.

"No" Raven said flatly "According to your records, he did. He was lost in the mountains, and my people found him. They took a while to decide what to do, because they feared he might betray their hiding. But he stayed. He is Wolf Clan now"

"And what is your first allegiance, Raven Hurondil's son?" Elrond asked "The Eldar, or Wolf Clan?"

Raven's eyes flashed in anger, but he did not get up "My loyaltly is Gildor's"

Elrond had certainly not expected that answer. Neither had I, coming to think of it.

"But I claim no kinship with my father's people" Raven continued stiffly "They are Khai'toh, and I definitely am not. I was born as an Ashi'kha, and the people of my father I only know from tales of great stone cities and warriors bearing fire. The two are too different. The bright ones have hunted us like Orcs. I can be only either, and I have made my choice long ago. My father is Kelehan of wolf clan, because Hurondil made his choice also. But Fingal and me, we were sent because we were his sons, that is right. We at least knew what we might get into from his tales. We could speak some of his old language…We were not sent here specially, Elrond. The clan's shamans have always been saying that the shadow is like a hawk of darkness flying over the lands - his wings spread and fold and spread again over the sun-courses. They said we were too few to fight it, so we hid and kept secret. Nightchaser now…he was very keen for what Kelehan had to tell of his world. He started…looking on shin'a'sha for answers. In his dreams, I think you would say in Quenya. He found spots of power where he thought might be allies. But we could not simply walk out and ask. Long years had passed since Kelehan had come to Wolf Clan. So Fingal and I were asked to scout. We were out and about anyway. We started nosing around the outer lands, trading with wood-men for metal at first until we had a general idea what was going on. We went further and traded with Avari and wild elves, but never dared to approach Khai'tohr…We also killed orcs. But then I… we…made a mistake, and that cost Fingal his life. We were surrounded, and they got reinforcements. I did not want to go on then – both with life or our task. Before I could get down to business, though, I ran into Gildor here. And so I came here – if you want to say wolves are opportunists, so are the Ashi'kha. You are an obvious choice to look for an ally. And since you can not come to our lands to fight the shadow, we will come to yours"

"Which brings me to the question again" Elrond said after a moment "why wild wolves should risk their pelts for someone's…territory as you said yesterday? Why should they aid us?"

"First of all, it would be my people coming here. As wolves though, yes, I suppose. But if they come, the clan's pack will come with them, and we may be able to find wild ones willing to come, too. There are always wandering yearlings or outcast wolves. That would be a chance for them to form a new pack. A better chance to win their own territory after all is over. If there is something left after all. Why we would come here - it does not matter where we fight, except that we win. Now that I know you, what the shaman said to tell you is this: Onakir a Ashi'kha ma khaniru a Imladris – rella n'nochr: sfai irhey scamahr; un ashara sfaye il ks-kothanr. Nan sfare il asharai hye h'ilai poran"

"That is…your clan's language, I assume" Elrond said after a moment, keeping a neutral face. Raven smiled briefly, wryly "Yes. In Quenya it means 'Nightchaser of the Ashi'kha to the keeper of Imladris – I have this message for you: we have fights with orcs at Dark Mountain; my pack must fight if it does not wish to be killed. We will fight as your pack-mates, if you wish'"

Elrond stared at him for a long while before he finally nodded "I would be a fool to say we could not need any help that we can get. Forgive me my doubts, but if you know Hurondil's tale, you may understand that we are a bit of…prejudiced against both wolves and shape-shifters" Elrond visibly braced himself to go on "The rings offer power. You are sensitive to Vilya's presence. Your people will feel her when they come here. Your life out there I gather is hard, and full of change and loss. The rings could stay that, change and therefore loss, both. I fear the lure Vilya might have on them"

Raven looked up, and so did I. Suddenly I understood.

"Have you not thought about that? Either of you?" Elrond asked quietly.

"No" I watched him searchingly "No we haven't"

"I can speak for all of my people when I say this" Raven said softly "We wish for nothing else but to be left alone, to be left with the wolves and as what we are. We live as we do. None of us could wield such a ring. It needs a place where to work, and we wander. Nothing could change the wolves. Even if Vilya could help us, she would be there only for the needs of unfurred. Our wolf part just could not be satisfied by her. The moment looses its power under her influence. No my lord, there will be no lure for us here. The ring's presence is like a torch thrust into my face, and none of us has a liking for fire.

If you say she might heal, help us to save those that starve before their first winter or die on caribou horns, maybe we would think it would be good. But I know Nightchaser. We might think so for a day, but when the night falls we would know better – we are forced to accept change, and change ourselves, and that is why we are still there"

"Gildor?"

"You know what will happen to us when the rings fail" I said flatly "But it will not touch the Ashi'kha. We may not have considered Vilya as an attraction, but we certainly discussed her power"

Elrond closed his eyes for a moment.

"Will you trust him on this?" I pushed.

Elrond looked at me wearily "I have to, don't I? Because what I want is to save this valley. Because I want to see the shadow overthrown…I have a feeling this will not be the greatest risk we must take in this coming war, nor the maddest thing to do"

"Tell me what you think about the stones, Raven" Elrond added quietly after a while "It seems all we can do is to nose them out, still I want to try something as well I am more comfortable with. These stones cannot have been produced by orcs"

"No" Raven agreed carefully "Orcs have little magic. They are not powerful enough to produce spells anywhere near those. But I do not think there will be any more stones here. The dogs found nothing, you said. They were never meant to be found by us – now that they were, their use is greatly diminished. The orc I killed in the ruins had one with him. The orc that was with the werewolf lost his stone when I surprised them. And I assume the stone we found with Alcarion's body had been hidden in a hurry; the orc fled from Palarran and left his stone in the ravine. But he took the one that was with the orc that had dropped off the cliff instead. That is why Rawegil lost his track, and we found no stone with the cliff-orc"

Elrond nodded thoughtfully "You said Vilya's power was the same that lies behind this…these stones"

"I don't know" Raven shook his head. "That was a guess. You should know. You are aware what goes on in this valley, what crosses the border – because Vilya is guarding it. The stone spell must have fitted into the way you use the ring so that it created no disturbance"

"It felt wrong to you when he changed, you said" I said slowly "That would mean the way he calls the change is not-" I tried to find a polite way to phrase the idea, failed and took a different approach "Vilya depends on the One – the spell must ultimately have been rooted in…Sauron's power. So not to be detected…it would be logical to assume, if you could sense the change, but not the stones, they must…well, use different energy sources"

"The energy to change is my own I use" Raven said "I can draw on earth-power, yes, and also if someone channels for me. I…said our…power may ultimately have come from Morgoth. We do not know anything. But it is ours now, and ours to use as we wish. He does not control either it or us. I cannot explain the change to you. No more than you can explain Vilya"

"Of course not. The ring was not made by me – but it was made, and Celebrimbor must have known the full extent of its powers as he wrought the three"

"And still he was betrayed"

Elrond sighed "That is no doubt correct, old friend. And I have no intention to take his example"

He leant back on the bench and closed his eyes. "Things are changing out there, rapidly. You were right in telling me that. I cannot tell you what the last meeting of the White Council said, and I doubt you would have the patience for that, but we are neither idle nor can we explode into action. I tell you this. I do not know how or when, but the Ashi'kha's help will be welcome. I have no idea what we are going to do. If I know, I will tell you. Is that enough for the moment?"

I glanced at Raven. "For me" he said softly "It is enough"

Chapter Notes:

Rawegil: (S), lion-sword

Akhai: Ashi'kha "lines"/ paintings, tattoos

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