-When Great Treasures Are Lost-
-ElvenHope-
Part Two
Elrond looked out of the large window of his study and sighed. The last pink fingers of sunset were slowly receding from the twilight sky and it worried him greatly. His son's should have been back hours ago, but he had seen neither head nor tail of them since they raced out of the house earlier that day. What if something bad had happened to them? Anything could have, the wargs could have come down from the mountains in search of food or worse orcs could have picked them off for sport.
He shook his head trying to dispel the terrible thoughts. No, the twins had probably just let time get away from them, either that or fallen asleep. Or maybe they were just playing a trick on him, although it was not a very funny one. If they were then they would get a talking to later and a lecture on worrying their mother. Celebrain was extremely worried she would not sit still at dinner noticing the two empty seats and she would not eat, instead she just picked at her food despite how much Elrond had tried to comfort her, telling her that they had only been gone for a short while.
There was a knock on the door to his study and he turned calling for whoever it was to enter.
"My Lord," Glorfindel bowed his head slightly in acknowledgment.
"Glorfindel mellon-nin any news?" Elrond asked his face lighting up at the prospect that his sons had been found.
Glorfindel looked grave and Elrond's face fell. "I'm sorry mellon-nin there is no trace of your sons."
Elrond sighed heavily. "I'm going out there."
"In the dark?" Glorfindel asked not that the dark really mattered to elves. "Hir-nin, would it not be better to wait until morning. The moon is not out, it is nigh impossible to find their tracks and there is no sign of them anywhere even with the aid of the light."
"I don't care," Elrond snapped then calmed himself. "I am sorry Glorfindel forgive me for snapping at you, I am just worried that is all. I would never be able to forgive myself if something bad happened to them."
Glorfindel nodded in understanding. His friend had been through a lot in his life. He had lost both his father and his mother when he was young. Then on top of that he and his twin had watched as their whole world had come down around them thanks to the son's of Feanor. They were lucky really that Maedhros and Maglor had taken pity on them and actually become rather fond of the young twins. It still did not, however, erase the scars it had left on the elven lord's heart. Especially as they had also had to deal with the fact that they were only half elves - in fact it was the taunting of the other members of the elven race that had driven Elros to leaving his twin and becoming human and so leaving his brother to wonder the world alone - although that was not for very long.
If Elrond lost the twins though, it would be very easy for Elrond and his wife to sink into despair and then if that happened, Glorfindel looked down at Vilya on the elven king's finger - it was concealed to most, but Glorfindel had seen it work once before and now the ring was visible to him, for none could witness the power of one of the great rings and remain unchanged; he had, however, been sworn to secrecy and so would never reveal to anyone where one of the elven rings was - he didn't want to think. If that happened they Vilya could become unstable and that would be a very bad thing.
"I will come with you then," Glorfindel said he was not about to let the elven lord go alone.
"You have been searching all this evening..."
Glorfindel raised an elegant eyebrow mirroring a look that he had learnt form his friend long ago. "I'm coming with you Elrond."
Elrond had learnt long ago not to argue with his friend. Glorfindel was extremely stubborn and once the blond elf had actually refused to be put to sleep whilst Elrond stitched up a rather nasty wound he had received from a warg whilst journeying through the Misty Mountains, this had been an extremely bad idea and both would never forget it.
"Alright, alright," Elrond rolled his eyes grabbing a cloak from where it had been hanging on a peg by the door. "Come on."
"'Ro, come on. Wake up, Elrohir, you have to eat, you need your strength," Elladan was trying to coax his brother into eating before the food was taken away from them. Elrohir needed to eat, Elladan didn't know what had happened, but his brother seemed to have given up completely. The orcs had let the young elves down for a moment and brought them some form of cold stew - what ever it was made of Elladan did not want to know. Both were still tied securely to the tree, this time they were tied in a kneeling position at the base of the tree. Each had only one hand free, the other tied to their feet which were bound so that they could feed themselves but there was no way for them to escape. Elrohir was resting heavily against his brother, his food left untouched his eyes glazed and distant.
Elladan had woken just as they were being cut down, his head felt as though there was an insane dwarf with an axe inside it trying desperately to break out and at first he had been too weak to understand what was going on. As soon as he realized that his brother was distressed, however, he had quickly pushed his thoughts aside and tried to help his twin. Now he was holding his Elrohir's spoon in his hand holding it in front of his brother's mouth. Elrohir would eat if Elladan fed him, but he was eating slowly and most of it dribbled down his chin.
"Snap out of it 'Ro!" Elladan hissed. "You have to eat! I will get you out of here, just eat, just try Elrohir please."
Elrohir did not respond, he just lay against his brother, his breathing rattled heavily and the aura that glowed about him was beginning to diminish quickly. Elladan was terrified that his brother would leave him.
He raised another spoonful of the steaming liquid, blowing on it before holding it out in front of Elrohir's mouth. The young elf opened his cracked lips slowly and Elladan fed him the stew taking care not to let Elrohir spill it down his chin.
Elrohir wanted to die, he felt wretched and weak - he had never been made to feel so helpless. He didn't want to remember what had happened to him the night before, but when he shut his eyes to try and get away from everything he could still see it on the inside of his eyelids, the images imprinted there would not fade away like he wished they would. The staring eyes and the cruel hands grabbing at him, tugging at his hair and ears mockingly. He would never forget it, never especially not how they had held him down and he had screamed at them to let him go crying for his father and brother - no he would never be able to erase the terrible memories.
"Elrohir please," Elladan said, he was tired and frustrated and his brother was not helping him, he was on the verge of either smacking some sense into the younger elf or bursting into tears. "I can't do this alone! I can't!" He dropped the spoon, grabbing his brother with his free hand and turning Elrohir to face him. "Now for Eru's sake snap out of it!" He moved before he knew what was happening and instantly regretted it as his hand connected with his brother's cheek slapping Elrohir across the face. Elrohir whimpered in pain raising his free hand up to his stinging cheek. His brother had never hit him before, not like that. The pair of them had had scuffles before and fought a lot, but most of the time that was just for fun, this was different.
Elrohir's silver grey eyes locked onto his brother's before looking away as tears began to fill them.
"Elrohir I... I didn't... I," Elladan tried to find the right words, but he couldn't form a complete sentence as he stared down at his hand and then back up to the red mark on his brother's face. "Elrohir... please..."
The orcs were laughing and Elladan guessed that they had seen him hit his brother. Bangronk, Rorzagh and the other's came over and Elrohir immediately shifted to hide behind his brother. Elladan reached out and found his brother's hand squeezing it tightly. I'm sorry - the action expressed more than he could put into words at that moment.
"I won't let them touch you again," he whispered his voice fiercely protective. Whatever had happened to his brother whilst he was unconscious had hurt him badly, he would not let them get to Elrohir again. "By the Valar I swear it, if they want you they'll have to get through me first, do you hear me?"
Elladan hoped that his brother had nodded, but he could not see, instead he just held onto his brother's hand tighter.
"Now, now then," Rorzagh said looking down at the young elves. "You're doing our job for us boy. We don't want you killing him before we get the chance."
"You won't get the chance," Elladan hissed eyes flashing. "You're not going to lay a finger on him or I'll... I'll bite it off!"
The orcs broke into laughter, but Elladan was dead serious.
"We already have boy," Rorzagh grinned evilly.
Elrohir began to shake violently behind him and Elladan turned to his brother concerned, checking the young elf over. For the first time he noticed how bad his brother looked. Elrohir's face was wan and pale, his eyes wide and frightened, but it was not that which concerned him the most. His twin's pale skin contrasted terribly with the great purple bruises that covered him; they were around his eyes and across his back and chest, and there were two terrible marks on both of his forearms which looked like hand prints.
"'Ro?" Elladan asked softly. "'Ro what did they do to you?"
Elrohir just shook his head slowly lowering his eyes, unable to speak. He swallowed hard, but his throat just constricted further and instead he just concentrated on his breathing trying to calm himself.
"Elrohir!"
Tears ran down the younger elf's cheeks and he tried to speak, but he could not find his voice.
"What have you done to him!" Elladan shouted at the foul beasts. "What have you done to him! You evil, terrible, disgusting, fiends what have you done to my brother!" He would have used a whole list of words if he could think of them, but at that moment he was not thinking straight - if he had been he would have probably kept his mouth shut.
The orc closest to Elladan kicked him full on in the face with a booted foot and the elder twin fell backwards onto the hard ground moaning as he raised his handhesitantly to touch his bloody and probably broken nose.
Elrohir just stared wide eyed too terrified to do anything as the orcs talked in their own terrible language before grabbing him and cutting his ropes tying him back up to the branch they had been tied to before. The younger twin shivered and shied away from the foul beasts touch, and the orcs jeered and laughed at him.
They grabbed Elladan next and tied him back up giving them both a shove for good measure before leaving the two brother's and going back into their camp leaving warnings that they would be back later.
Elladan tried to catch Elrohir's eye but his twin would not look at him blinking back the tears in his eyes.
"Elrohir?" Elladan asked once the silence became too much to bear. "What did they do?"
Elrohir stayed silent.
"Elrohir your being silent will not help," Elladan said softly. "I am sorry I struck you, it was wrong of me to do so, I did not mean to loose my temper, but I need your help. If you give up then I have no hope. Please Elrohir tell me what they did."
Elrohir shook his head.
"Please," Elladan said pleading with his eyes as well as his words.
Elrohir sighed shakily then began to speak in a whisper that only elven ears would be able to hear.
"Last night after you fell unconscious they whipped me," Elrohir said his voice shaking slightly. "I thought that they had left me for the night after that, but I was wrong..."
Elrohir tried to calm his breathing as the orcs came back. Why were they coming back? Hadn't they done enough already? Rorzagh drew a blade and Elrohir's eyes widened immediately as he noticed it thinking that it was meant to harm him. Instead Rorzagh raised the blade above his head and cut the rope that held Elrohir to the tree branch. The young elf fell to the ground hard and moaned softly. His hands were still bound and one of the orcs grabbed him dragging him over into the middle of the camp where the other orcs waited patiently. Elrohir dug his heels in to the hard earth terrified of what they might do, but the orc clouted him over the back of the head and he stumbled giving the orcs enough time to drag him into the centre of the camp.
The orc who had been dragging him shoved him to the ground and the orcs crowded around him effectively blocking his escape. Elrohir's eyes were frightened and he was shaking as he tried to see a way to escape standing slowly and turning round trying to see a way out.
The blow that came next across the back of the head was completely unexpected and he fell to the ground. He could not use his hands to break his fall seeing as they were bound in front of him still and so he crashed down to the ground hard. He tried to scramble up, but hands grabbed his forearms pinning him down. He stared up at the ring of orcs terrified, trying to calm his breathing.
"They stripped me off and beat me," he swallowed hard his eyes glassy and wide as he looked at his brother quickly before looking away again. "They were threatening to... to kill me... 'Dan I was more frightened than I've ever been and I... I agreed to do whatever they wanted me to."
"What did you do 'Ro?" Elladan asked worriedly his eyes darting about his brother's face trying to discern what he had done. "What did you do?"
Elrohir couldn't speak again and tears were welling in his eyes. Elladan knew that it had to be something serious, but couldn't for the life of him figure out what it could be.
"Elrohir please tell me, I can't stand this I need to know what ails you, so that I can help." Elladan said quietly. "Saesa."
"You'll hate me," Elrohir said softly. "Everyone is going to hate me."
"What did you do?" Elladan pressed worry for his brother filling him as he looked over the bruises which marred his brother's pale skin, he could only imagine what that would have felt like.
Elrohir shook his head mutely.
"Please Elrohir," Elladan begged. "I'm your brother, you can tell me anything I won't be angry."
"You promise?" Elrohir asked his voice sounding small and helpless.
"Yes," Elladan nodded. "You can trust me."
Elrohir swallowed hard looking up at his brother, his silver grey eyes locking with Elladan's. The words that he spoke next were barely a whisper and Elladan couldn't believe the words once they had left his brother's lips.
"I told them about Vilya."
Elrond stared at the trees mournfully it was beginning to get dark already and there had been no trace of the twins. They had been searching since last night and had not yet gone back to the Last Homely House despite how much Glorfindel thought that they should.
"Elrond, we should go," Glorfindel said looking at the sky.
"I'm not leaving until I've found them," Elrond said walking on through the trees.
"It's getting dark though," Glorfindel protested. "And Celebrain will be getting worried."
Elrond turned to Glorfindel and the Balrog slayer could see how terribly tired the elf lord looked and he knew that it wasn't because Elrond hadn't slept. "Saesa mellon-nin, go back to Celebrain and tell her not to worry, I will continue searching."
"Something has clearly gone wrong though," Glorfindel said. "If your sons have been taken by orcs then you alonewill not be able to save them."
"I would not be so stupid as to wonder into an orc camp all by myself, even if my sons were there!" Elrond snapped. "I will figure out something if I find them, but I have to keep searching."
Glorfindel looked at him slowly. "Alright." He said quickly. "Just be careful."
With that the golden haired elf turned on his heal and walked away through the trees, soon becoming lost in the undergrowth.
Elrond sighed heavily and turned back to the forest uncertainly, wondering which way he should go.
He was about to walk on when a heart stopping sound made him freeze. He turned back to look through the trees his heart pounding wildly as it leapt up into his throat and his stomach sank down into his toes. He didn't even think to call Glorfindel back he just began to race through the undergrowth. He followed his sons' cries as they filtered through the trees desperation urging him on faster and faster.
When he saw them... when he dashed into the clearing and actually saw them... his heart felt as though it had been savagely torn from his chest.
"You... you told them about Ada's ring?" Elladan said slowly trying to absorb the information.
Elrohir nodded sadly tears rolling down his cheeks.
"And you know what that could do?" Elladan asked turning terrified eyes on his brother.
Elrohir nodded again. He felt wretched, their father had entrusted them with the knowledge of his ring a few years ago thinking that he could trust his sons' and Elrohir had betrayed him. It could be the end of Rivendel if the Necromancer ever found out about it.
"I'm so pathetic," Elrohir managed. "Ada trusted me and I couldn't keep his secret for him. You would have been able to, I'm so weak." Elrohir shut his eyes trying to stop the tears escaping.
"No, no you're not," Elladan said trying to reassure his twin.
"I am, don't try to tell me otherwise," Elrohir said quietly. "I'm pathetic."
"You got that right," Bangronk growled coming up from out of the forest a dead rabbit in his hand. "You sang like a canary boy." He threw the rabbit down and grabbed Elrohir's chin roughly. "And now that we have that information breaking your father will be so much easier." Elrohir whimpered as Bangronk's claws dug into his cheeks harder. Bangronk let go suddenly jerking Elrohir's face roughly down and smashing the younger twin's forehead against Elladan's. "Rorzagh these two need some more tickling!"
Elrohir stiffened and Elladan looked at his younger brother worriedly. Elrohir defiantly seemed far younger than him at the moment and despite how frightened Elladan was he knew that Elrohir needed him. He began humming a tune to another lullaby their mother used to sing to them and Elrohir looked up at his twin sadly.
Rorzagh and another orc came up behind the twins both cracking the whips menacingly, waiting until Bangronk gave the orders to begin. Both of the twins flinched at the sound, but Elladan kept on humming.
"Ready?" Bangronk asked and the twins didn't know if the question was directed at them or the other orcs. Bangronk shouted an order in his own tongue and Rorzagh and the other orc moved forwards drawing back their arms and striking both across the back.
Elrohir bit his lip. He would not cry out he would not show weakness again. Elladan kept on humming, but the tune faltered every time the whip slashed across his back. The beatings were once again painfully even and even though Elrohir had suffered badly last night both twins still felt equally as awful. Elladan was still humming through gritted teeth trying to think about something other than the terrible pain and Elrohir had bit down so hard on his lip that it was bleeding.
This time, after ten strokes of the whip it was Elladan who cried out first the sound splitting the night sky and the humming stopped for good then. After only another two strokes a scream was wrenched from Elrohir's throat but it cut off abruptly as he managed to stifle it. Both boys bit their lips trying not to give their captors any satisfaction by crying out again, but they could not keep it up for long.
This is what it is like to die, Elladan thought morbidly. I am going to die here, beaten to death by the foulest creatures in the whole of Arda watching as my brother dies beside me. He looked up at Elrohir who had blood running down his chin as he bit down so hard on his lower lip, his eyes wide and frightened glassy from unshed tears. He could only imagine what he must look like probably about the same as Elrohir.
Elladan cried out again and soon Elrohir's mingled with his own as both were delivered particularly hard blows. The orcs about them were jeering at them and now betting on who would be the first to fall unconscious.
Elladan barely heard himself suck in air as he began to sob out of desperation, begging to be released. He twisted away from the blows, trying to evade their stinging bite. But the whip found him every time. He cursed himself for being so weak, for not taking the whipping like the noble son of an elven lord he was. But no matter what he did every sting of the whip dragged Elladan farther into unconsciousness. He was being sucked under, the world slowly turning black as the melody of his soul faded.
After only a few more blows of the whip both were sobbing and the screams were endless.
Translations:
Mellon-nin - My friend
Hir-nin - My Lord
Saesa - Please
Ada - Dad
A/N: I think I may be picking on Elrohir a bit, but trust me Elladan will suffer as well (how evil does that sound?) Anyway thank you for the reviews! I should update this once every week, same as Shadows of The Past - I actually started writing down when I update my writing on my calendar and my mum and sister still can't figure out what the heck Imean. Well please review! As many as last time would be good, or maybe more, I'm hoping the reviews will go up to 20, but maybe that's a bit optimistic.
Well all the same please review!
ElvenHope