-Dead Inside-

-ElvenHope-

A/N: Time kinda skips randomly in my writing sometimes. You see everything happening between Elrond and Erestor happens before the twins have even found Celebrían and everything else happens afterwards, but seeing as it does not really effect anything it should be no problem. Just in case people wonder why the argument between the pair of them has been going on for around ten days :)

:o:O:o:

Part Six

The advisor had not seen Elrond in half an hour and was panicking slightly. Had the Elven Lord already left? He had known that Elrond had not planned on taking guards. Despite everything that was happening Elrond was still sensible. He knew that there were not enough men to spare after he had already sent one patrol with Glorfindel. The rest of the elves which guarded Imladris were needed.

It did not matter that Imladris was protected by Vilya, whilst the Elven Lord was away the ring's protection on the city would wane. After the trauma of Elladan and Elrohir's abduction by orcs a few years ago Elrond was not leaving anything to chance. The last thing he wanted was for the same fate to befall others; and he also did not like the idea of orcs in his home which was supposed to be a safe haven.

Erestor rounded the corner to Elrond's study only to walk straight into the Elven lord as he left the room.

"You have not found any guards have you?" Erestor asked eyeing his Lord suspiciously as Elrond tried to push past him.

"There are simply not enough Erestor, Imladris needs to be protected and I will not put the valley in danger for selfish reasons." Elrond replied giving up and stepping back into the room hoping that Erestor would come in so that he could get around his chief advisor. Erestor, however, did not budge and stayed standing in the doorway fixing Elrond with his dark gaze.

"Do you know how much danger the valley will be in if you are killed in a landslide?" Erestor asked sharply.

"What would a patrol do against a landslide?" Elrond asked even though he knew that Erestor was only using that as an example.

"Well if you were trapped in one and some of them weren't they might have the curtsey to dig you out," Erestor quipped. "I am sure that you'd prefer that over dying of starvation."

Elrond glared daggers at the other elf. "I am going Erestor and as your Lord I order you to step aside."

"And as your friend I ask you to think about what you're doing. Not only for your own sake but for the sake of your people." Erestor replied. "I am not even asking you not to go I am simply asking that you take some of your men with you."

"They are needed here," Elrond answered. "I am not an elfling Erestor I can look after myself. Now move."

"I will not move until you see sense," Erestor retorted already knowing that this was going to end in a fight. Elrond acted just like his eldest son when he was angry, or was it the other way around? He would have expected this behaviour from Elladan, but not a fully grown elf; and the Lord of a realm no less.

"Erestor," Elrond ground out through gritted teeth.

"No I am not planning on moving any time soon if that is what you are thinking," Erestor said folding his arms across his chest.

"You are deliberately disobeying me," Elrond couldn't understand his friend. Why would Erestor not move? He had to go and there were not enough soldiers spare to take with him. He needed to find his wife and sons before it was too late. "Please Erestor, I am sorry, but I cannot wait and I have to go!"

"You do not understand," Erestor said. "Give me time, and I will find enough guards to go with you."

Elrond sighed exasperated. He did not have time! His blood thrummed with the urgency to go. He had hoped to escape the house before Erestor found him and had obviously been very unfortunate.

"I have no time Erestor," Elrond answer his voice tired. "Please let me go, my family is out there. There is a patrol only a little way ahead of me. If I ride I will catch them up."

"Only if you are very lucky and your horse as swift as Asfaloth," Erestor answered. Seeing the state that Elrond was managing to get himself into he moved into the room a little way and sat down in a chair. "Just sit down Elrond and talk to me instead arguing pointlessly."

"I am not arguing and it is not pointless!" Elrond replied and in two seconds he had made his way to the door and was practically running when he reached his room. Grabbing his pack from where he had left it on his bed he made his way onto the balcony and out to the stables followed quickly by his chief advisor.

"Elrond!" Erestor shouted finally catching up with him and grabbing his arm. "Elrond do not do this!"

"Are you going to let go or is your arm coming with me?" Elrond asked turning back to the other elf his eyes frosty.

Before Erestor could answer Elrond hit his hand away and continued on into the stable were his horse was waiting for him. Practically dragging the horse out into the courtyard he pushed Erestor's hand away again as the other elf tried to take the reigns from him.

"I am sorry Erestor but I have to go," Elrond said quickly and swung himself up into the saddle.

"Elrond just think about what you are doing for one second," Erestor snapped, but had to jump aside when his Lord's horse nearly ran him over. "Elrond!"

The other elf did not turn back and Erestor had not expected him to. Stupid, stubborn elf… When the elf had finally disappeared from sight Erestor left the courtyard wondering if the Valar would listen if he prayed for his friend.

Elrond had not slept within three days and finally he had reached the foot of the mountain. His horse was in a particularly bad mood as he had not stopped riding for nearly a day and finally he relented to giving the creature a rest though he really wanted to keep on going.

He gave the horse a quarter of an hour to graze and rest before continuing on up the mountain, this time walking by the animal's side. He too was tired, but not tired enough to rest. He would not rest until his family was back and safe with him, but somehow inside he knew that he was far too late.

He knew that he should have left with the twins, or even left before they did. He knew that he should have trusted Elrohir's dreams and listened to his youngest son instead of dismissing the visions as simply nightmares. He prayed that the Lord and Lady of Lorien had not been so careless with the ones they held dear to them.

Elladan looked at his grand father desperately his eyes wide. "I want to see Naneth."

"I can't let you do that pen-neth," Celeborn said sadly. "You are badly wounded and I would not that you see your mother in the condition she is in."

"I have seen Nana already," Elladan whispered. "We found her. Please can't I see her?"

Celeborn smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Maybe later," he replied softly studying the boy's face. "I am going to see her now, I will bring you news in an hour."

Celeborn turned to go leaving with a heavy heart.

"But grand father-" Elladan tried to get out of bed and nearly collapsed when fire shot through his scarred back and wounded arm blinding him. He hadn't realized how much blood he had lost, but he felt light headed and would have fallen straight to the floor had Glorfindel not grabbed him.

"Elladan," Celeborn exclaimed turning back around in shock when he heard Elladan's pained cry. The young elf was leaning against Glorfindel breathing heavily his eyes screwed tight shut.

Celeborn knelt down beside the boy and helped Glorfindel get the young elf into bed realizing that he should have known that Elladan would put up more of a fight. The elder twin was most certainly a force to be reckoned with. Celeborn looked at his hand feeling the slight warmth of blood and saw the viscid red liquid there.

"Your bandages need changing," Celeborn told his grandson, he didn't know how he hadn't noticed that, the blood had seeped through both bandages and the cotton shirt Elladan had been given - as his old one was in a rather bad way. "I will get a healer to deal with that and then maybe you should rest."

"I should get going soon," Glorfindel said looking at Celeborn. "Someone needs to tell Elrond."

Celeborn nodded - he had completely forgotten about his son in law. His mind was not working properly at the moment, the shock of finding both his daughter and grandsons in critical conditions had taken its toll on the elf. He was still worried about what to do, with Celebrían and he knew that Galadriel also needed to know what was happening. The stress of this ordeal was both mentally and physically draining and Celeborn did not want to think about what would happen if something were to happen to either Celebrían or the twins. Elladan looked like was on the mend, but both Celebrían and Elrohir were in far worse conditions.

"Yes," the Elven Lord replied. "Maybe you could talk to Elladan for a while? I will see to it that your horse is fed and some food is prepared for you. You should be ready to leave within an hour or so."

Glorfindel nodded checking Elladan in case he tried to follow his grand father again, but the elder twin seemed a little bit too disorientated to think properly.

"I will be back soon Elladan," Celeborn said smiling sadly as his grandson nodded before leaving the tent.

Elladan realized that it had been a mistake to nod when his head started to spin and lay back down against the pillows. Glorfindel watched the younger elf sympathetically knowing what the boy must be going through.

"This isn't happening," Elladan whispered, "I must be dreaming."

"I wish you were pen-neth," Glorfindel replied moving from Elrohir's bed to perch on the end of Elladan's.

The movement startled the younger elf and made him look across to where his brother lay still unconscious. Elrohir was far too pale and his lips were slightly tinged blue, his eyelids were drooping shut and Elladan swallowed hard quelling fear at the memory of the knife imbedded in his brother's chest.

"Has Elrohir woken?" He asked already knowing the answer from Glorfindel's expression.

"No I am sorry Elladan, he has not," Glorfindel replied studying the far too still form on the bed. "The healer says he is improving."

As though on queue another elf arrived at the tent - one who from the large amount of bandages and salves in his arms was unmistakably a healer. Elladan visibly flinched at the idea of having his bandages changed, something which almost made the Balrog Slayer laugh, though he managed to stop himself.

"Hello Elladan, time to change your bandages I think," the healer said and Elladan grimaced letting the elder elf sit down beside him and pull the shirt over his head.

Glorfindel tried to distract Elladan and continue on with the conversation, though the topic was not a very happy one.

"What happened?" The Balrog Slayer asked a strange desire to know burning inside him. The twins couldn't get themselves into a situation like this easily. They could be stupid sometimes, but he knew they would not have risked their mother's life with stupidity.

Elladan sighed, then hissed as the elf sitting behind him rubbed something into his wounds. "We found Nana," Elladan replied his tone of voice saying that he didn't want to talk about it. "And she didn't know who we were, she thought I was Ada at first."

The young elf laughed slightly, but it was not a happy sound. "We tried to get her free, but it didn't work, and then the orcs must have heard us because they came into the room."

It was quite obvious that Elladan was not comfortable talking about it, especially in front of the healer that neither of the elves new. It took a little while, but eventually Elladan's bandages were clean and the old bloodied ones were taken away giving the two elves the privacy to talk.

"Are you going to tell me what else happened?" Glorfindel asked trying to look into the other elf's eyes as he dropped them to his hands which twisted in the bed sheets.

"We fought them, but it was impossible," the boy replied shakily. "They shot Elrohir and then forced me to the floor… and I…"

"What?" Glorfindel asked raising Elladan's chin so that the boy had to look at him. Elladan's eyes were slightly glassy and when he spoke his voice threatened tears.

"I made a deal with them, but I used Elrohir, I didn't know what else to do, but I traded Elrohir's life and now he's dying," Elladan choked swiping the back of his hand angrily across his eyes. "I'm sorry Glorfindel." He whispered sniffing. "I'm acting so childishly."

"No your not pen-net," Glorfindel reassured pulling the boy into his arms, though he knew that he was no substitute for Elrond - who was really who Elladan needed right now.

"Hannon le Glorfindel," the elder twin mumbled snuggling into the Balrog Slayer's strong arms like he had done when he was an elfling.

"You have nothing to thank me for pen-neth," Glorfindel said softly feeling so sorry for the boy. Poor Elladan was stuck out here in the middle of nowhere with two members of his family in critical condition and the other still waiting at home in Imladris. Celeborn was there for his grandson, but the Balrog Slayer could see how little time the Lord of Lorien had for the boy at the moment; and that was understandable really.

"I should not have made a deal with Elrohir's life," Elladan whispered pulling away and rubbing his eyes. "Now he is ill and it is all my fault."

"Elladan it is not your fault," Glorfindel reprimanded. "It is the fault of those evil creatures for taking your mother, it is their fault that you were in such a situation. If it were not for your quick thinking then the pair of you and your mother might already be dead."

"I was still stupid," Elladan replied his hand knotting in the covers. "I should have listened to Elrohir about his dreams, I should have gone with Nana in the first place, I should have-"

"Everyone wishes that they could change the past," Glorfindel said stopping Elladan's self-condemning words. "I for one wish that I did not let you leave Imladris, or at least that I had gone with you. But we cannot change the past."

"I wish we could."

Elrond was making his way slowly, but steadily up the mountain side, he would reach the beginning of the pass soon enough, and then… He did not know what would happen then, but he was dreading it. He was afraid of what he would find, afraid of what he would not find. It seemed that everyone had vanished off the face of the earth. He had not seen a sign of hoof prints in days, nothing to show that someone had been there before and the idea was rather disturbing.

Where in Arda were his sons? In which dim and dark caves did those beasts hold his wife? And why did the Valar never cease to wreak havoc to his family in some way or another?

He sighed, he could blame the Valar all he wanted, but in truth he knew that the blame rested with himself. He had gone wrong somewhere, he must have, why else would this all be happening?

The sun was setting again, turning the mountain blood red and the omen of that image sprang clear in his mind. Blood; that was a sign, or at least it felt like it was. The blood of his own family lay somewhere in this mountain. Images of his wife and children dying somewhere in this desolate land fogged his vision and made him feel light headed and sick. What would he do if he found them? What would he do if he was too late?

Celeborn sat silently by his daughter's bedside one of her cold hands in his. His troubled eyes never left Celebrían's wan face unable to comprehend what had happened or what he was seeing. Nearly a day since he had found her he was still reeling from shock and everything seemed like it was just too much.

How had this happened? By the Valar what had she done to deserve this?

The flaps of the tent moved and the Lord of Lorien looked around slowly to see Glorfindel standing there watching him sympathetically.

The Balrog Slayer had not yet seen Celebrían and was more than shocked at the state the fair and vivacious lady was now in. Her face normally shining and bright was now pale and bruised and her eyes ones a sparkling cerulean were now dull, almost grey like a rainy winter morning. He quelled the alarm in his expression however, masked it with sympathy for others and did not let his own emotions get the better of him as he sat down on the empty bed beside Celeborn.

He looked at the elleth who lay in the bed opposite and then at the fragile hand that the Lord of Lorien held in his suddenly wondering if he should have asked to come in.

"What happened to Elladan?" Celeborn asked pulling his gaze from his daughter and up to meet the golden haired elf's sapphire eyes.

"He is sleeping," Glorfindel replied. "The healers must have put something in his food."

"Hmm," Celeborn nodded slowly. "They're cunning people, healers, but my son in law has to be the worst of them all."

"Indeed," Glorfindel agreed a smile almost reaching his lips. He sighed. "Is her condition any better?"

Celeborn shook his head. "No, I must get her to Imldaris, and fast if I want to save her. I am worried about the twins though, Elladan might be well enough to make the journey, but Elrohir is not. He needs aid, and whilst we have enough supplies to sustain him here we still cannot heal him properly." Celeborn sighed. "I had thought of splitting them up, but I know that it would defiantly not be a good idea, they're too close."

"Yes," Glorfindel assured. "It would most certainly not be a good idea to split them up, but I don't think that you're going to be able to get Elladan to leave Celebrían either."

"Well he will have to," Celeborn said sharper than he had intended. "I am not loosing one of them over this Glorfindel, I am not going to, I promised myself that."

The Balrog Slayer was slightly taken aback by the other's attitude not knowing what to say. Seeing his friend's stunned face Celeborn shook his head slowly resting his head in hia hands.

"I am sorry Glorfindel I did not mean to let my temper get the better of me," Celeborn said softly. "I am just so worried, Galadriel… she had a vision before I left. She told me that one of them would not live. My wife's visions can be rather fickle and I will not always count on them, but somehow they have a habit of coming true and lately all that she sees is darkness."

Glorfindel shut his eyes for a moment unable to believe what Celeborn had told him. Galadriel was hardly ever wrong. Whilst she saw only what might happen in the future she had a tendency for knowing the true future.

"Do you think that we can do something?" Glorfindel asked anxiously. "Is it possible to change the future?"

"I have a horrible feeling that it is not," Celeborn pinched the bridge of his nose to ward off a head ache which had been threatening to strike for far too long now. "And I have a horrible feeling that fate would that we try to change the future so that it can laugh at us."

"That is a very cynical way to view the world," the Balrog Slayer said almost sadly.

"It is also one of the best ways to do so," Celeborn replied. "Prepare for the worst and that way nothing will surprise you."

"Yes but if we lost one of them then I do not doubt that you would grieve," Glorfindel countered, even though it was really not the time to be having an argument about this. It was not really an argument at the moment, but both of their temper's were running ragged and banter could soon escalate.

"Of course I would," replied Celeborn. "I would just be prepared for it." He closed his eyes rubbing his temples gingerly. "I am so worried Glorfindel for all of them. If one of them does not survive then I fear that will not be our only loss.

A/N: Slightly shorter chapter because I desperately need the break before I collapse and you have caught up with me, I have no other chapters waiting after this one so I am always having to write in the week. And sorry for the lateness of this, although it is only by a day. The fair was in down and I have been rather preoccupied.

The things we fear the most have already happened to us.