Chapter 18: Ada
Author's notes: Here is chapter 18, I hope that you will like it!
Elrond and his company were completely lost as to where the twins and Legolas were. They were scanning carefully the forest floor, trying to see any clue.
Unfortunately, they had had no such luck. They were riding in the direction that the now wash out prints were leading to. But the problem was that they were not certain whether it was the right direction or not.
Elrond, being in the front of the party, suddenly stopped. He sensed someone getting nearer and nearer, but it was not an evil presence. He heard that it was a horse.
It was only one, and Elrond felt the urge to know who it was. He continued riding forward.
In front of him were some bushes, and the noise was coming from behind there. He stopped once more in front of them, waiting for the rider to appear.
What he saw made his heart jump in his chest. He was awaiting everything but this. Out of the bushes came a little pony, and most importantly, his son, Estel.
"ADA!" Estel screamed.
Elrond quickly dismounted and went to where Estel was atop Corusador. Estel did not hesitate and dismounted quickly running for his father.
"Estel, ion-nin, I was so worried for you!" Elrond exclaimed while grabbing Estel and hugging him.
Elrond noted that something was wrong with Estel. He seemed tense, and Corusador was panting and sweating, which meant that he had been running for a long distance.
Elrond finally put Estel down and knelt in front of him. Estel wouldn't look at him in the eyes, so Elrond gently lift his chin.
"Are you angry with me, Ada?" Estel said a little fearful.
"Of course not, ion nin, I was worried for you and your brothers" Elrond gently answered. This remembered Estel why he had escaped.
"Ada, they are prisoners to a dark Elf!" Estel said.
Elrond and the warriors looked at him curiously. Dark Elf?
"What do you mean, Estel?" Elrond asked a little worried.
"He is bad, Ada. He hits them and they can't get away. They have chains in their hands" this was far worse than what Elrond was expecting. His sons and Legolas injured and chained?
"Do you know the name of the Elf?"
"Yes, he said that it was Duir…Duirellon, Ada" this brought memories to Elrond. He had almost been killed by that same Elf, but afterwards, no one saw him again.
"Oh, Estel, are you injured?" Elrond asked.
"My back hurts Ada" Estel said.
Elrond ordered the warriors to dismount, and ordered them to scout the nearby area. He needed to tend to Estel.
Glorfindel came by his side. "I already ordered someone to fetch water for you, and to start a fire, mellon nin. And here is your healing pack" He said, handing Elrond the pack that contained the healing hebs.
Glorfindel also knelt down by Estel's side, greeting him. Estel felt so happy and relieved to be with his Ada and Glorfindel again.
Elrond then told Estel to show him where it hurt, and Estel told him that his back. Elrond told him to sit down.
Estel complied, and Elrond gently lift up Estel's shirt. A whip lash was in Estel's back. It wasn't so bad, it looked old, but hopefully not infected. It was already healing, but it sure was hurting the small child.
When the water was boiling, a warrior brought it to Elrond. Elrond passed Estel to Glorfindel and told him to hold him while he cleaned and bandaged the wound.
Elrond put some water in a bowl and added some crushed Athelas to clean the wound. He gently started cleaning it, but it was hurting Estel, so he whispered "Estel, I know it is going to hurt, but you have to be very brave"
"Ada, like a warrior?"
"Yes, ion like a warrior"
Elrond gently finished cleaning the wound, and then he bandaged it. Luckily it had not become infected, and was already healing nicely.
He then carefully bandaged it. "All done, ion nin" he said.
Glorfindel gently passed Estel to Elrond. "Ada, was I brave?" Estel asked.
"Oh, yes, very, very brave" Elrond said.
"Do you know where are your brothers, Estel?" Glorfindel asked.
"YES! I know the way"
"Excellent, now we can continue looking for them" Elrond said.
He gave the command and everyone mounted. Estel was in front of Elrond, as Elrond didn't want him riding alone after his injury. Also he felt that he needed to protect Estel, but Corusador, always loyal, understood and followed them.
Now the search party was on the right way to help the three Elves still captured.
Salion and Nebegon kept on riding at full speed, following Estel's trail. Then they stopped.
From a distance they could see the child, and his pony, but the small child was sitting in front of an Elf. And that Elf was not alone; he was with a party of Elves! Now they were in trouble, Duirellon surely was going to get angry.
"What do we do now?" Salion whispered to Nebegon.
"I don't know. Go back and alert Duirellon?" Nebegon answered.
"Seems like the best idea. Come, let us hurry" Salion said.
Before they parted, they saw that the party of Elves was also preparing to go. They knew that the child was going to lead them directly to Duirellon, so they decided to hurry.
They spun around their horses and headed in the direction from which they had come.
They galloped at full speed, not caring to see if he Elves were far behind. Their horses already were panting, and a gleaming layer of sweat covered their coats. They were nearly there.
They arrived, dismounted, tied the horses, and entered running into the house. Duirellon was startled by the commotion.
"Did you find him?" he asked.
"Master. No. but the. Elves. found him" Salion said between gasps. Both humans were still gasping for air after the hard ridding and running for their master.
"What exactly do you mean?"
"We. Mean that some. Elves. Found him" Nebegon answered this time.
"Then what are you waiting for? We need to get away from here as soon as possible!" Duirellon wasn't expecting a party of elves! He was meant to meet with Elrond alone!
"Yes master" both replied.
"Ready the horses!"
"But, master, they are already worn out from the trip" Salion said.
"Well, then grab the other two horses, but leave the grey one alone. You know how he gets" Duirellon said referring to Rochmith.
"Yes master" Salion said.
Outside, the twins' horses, as Rochmith, would not let the humans get near to them. They reared, and neighed, and turned away from them. Sensing that it was useless, Salion and Nebegon decided to use their own horses.
They entered the cabin again, and explain the problem to Duirellon "I don't care which horses you take, just hurry up, we need to take our prisoners.
Duirellon entered the room where the twins and Legolas were. He made his way to Legolas, gave a hard kick in the ribs without notice, and when Legolas opened his mouth to gasp, he quickly gagged him. Then he proceeded to cut the ropes that held Legolas in place.
Legolas was still too weak, so he didn't move, knowing it would provoke Duirellon. He took him outside, and helped him mount Duirellon's horse. Rochmith upon seeing Legolas neighed and tried to get away from the ropes that held him. It did not had the desired effect as he had already escaped once; Duirellon himself had made sure that it was not going to happen again, the ropes were well tied.
Legolas saw his horse, and knew that the animal really hated that place, and wanted to get away from there, but of course, he was not going to leave his master alone. He shook his head, trying to warn him, but no matter, Rochmith was not going to be still, he kept neighing and kicking.
Salion and Nebegon were ready with their horses, and were going to get the twins, when Duirellon urged them on, the elves were getting nearer.
TBC…
Author's notes: Thanks to the ones who reviewed. Thanks so much! I really appreciate them!Replies to this chapter will be sent out shortly.
And more is coming soon!
Silverstreak Wolf