Chapter 18: Of love and loss

CeKay did return to Imladris after many long years abroad. She had seen a lot and witnessed even more and she did long for some peace and quiet but found that it was hard won, even in this place. Elrond had become a father, to twin sons and it was apparently quite normal in his family line to have twins. Both were youngsters by now, rascals with their father's dark hair and grey eyes and their mother's outgoing attitude. And the valley had discovered that the two also had a streak of wild ideas which did leave nobody untouched. Even though they were young and little more than children they were perfectly capable of creating pranks which made their father look rather shell-shocked from time to time. He had never been such a hellion and neither had his brother and these two were as wild as orclings at times.

CeKay did enter the valley as an ordinary green elf from the east and she was trying to make a living carving wood. She had learned the art while traveling and she did make a name for herself rather fast. The elven realms were very protected by now and also very peaceful and thriving and she did love the fact that everybody by now had a chance at enjoying life again. Elrond and his wife were expecting yet again and CeKay did see the bond between them and hoped that Elrond would get to enjoy this until the day came when he and his family had to sail. The society which had evolved within the valley was a rich one, and many noldor elves had become part of it and she started to get to know them. Some only stayed for a while like Gildor who was a bit of an enigma, he was a tall blonde and very pretty ellon who was charming and very easy going but nobody knew who exactly he was. CeKay had a suspicion that his father had been somebody very high ranking, who had either married in secret or sired a bastard. It wasn't very likely but no rules without exceptions. He would come and go with a band of travelling elves and he always brought news and merriment.

Erestor was another interesting character, he was a counsellor to Elrond and CeKay had seen him before, a raven haired beauty who did seem rather timid and withdrawn at first but she had seen him during the war and he was an exceptional warrior. He was a teacher to the twins and it was obvious that he was challenged by the task for the two acted as if they had clothes filled with ants and keeping them still for just an hour was almost impossible. CeKay was making figurines out of wood and one day the two did approach her hut and asked to see how she did it and suddenly she realized that she too had become a teacher. They wanted to learn and she managed to catch their attention long enough for some of it to actually stick and the carving was hard work too. So hard that it did wear them out and Celebrian who was heavily pregnant by now was grateful beyond words. Getting to put the two to bed without having to take it to the level of full out battle first was a relief. CeKay became rather close to the family and she did get to know every elf there rather well.

Then a new face did arrive, from the coast. It was a young ellon who had lost his family to orcs right after the war was over and he was a very sweet and very shy thing who had an immense loathing for war and weapons. This was noticed right away by the rather rough soldiers who did live there and he was put under a lot of stress and if it wasn't outright bullying it wasn't far from it. CeKay would have nothing of it and she did take him under her wing. She found that he had a marvellous musical talent and made him some flutes and other instruments and they became close friends but she didn't allow Lindir to become too close to her. She didn't want to break his heart in any manner, he was still struggling from the loss of everybody he had ever loved and it was a decision she had to make to avoid pain on behalf of them both.

The social life of Imladris was like a breath of fresh air after her travels, she had the need to organize her thoughts and sift through all she had seen and as she was carving she could analyse her memories and store them. Her work was admired and she got the job of decorating many of the buildings there, the elves would always build very airy structures with lots of details but few actual walls and it had its own charm. She remembered the realms of the dwarves and how they were surrounded by walls all the time, to them it was natural but an elf would probably fail to thrive in such an environment. Celebrian did give birth to a daughter and she was named Arwen and everybody said that she was the spitting image of Luthien and CeKay saw that this did worry the mother. Everybody knew what fate the famous princess of Doriath had suffered. The twins became very protective of their baby sister and the family was thriving and CeKay was so happy on their behalf.

Every now and then she would leave the valley, she said she was looking for wood to carve but in reality she was checking up on things and she soon received news that the easterlings had attacked Gondor and that the king had defeated them. It didn't surprise her, Gondor had become a very powerful nation by now and its royal dynasty consisted of wise and strong people who knew how to run a realm. She wasn't worried, the easterlings were many and strong in their own way but they were not as disciplined nor as smart as the people of Gondor. They didn't have a common leader and they were too greedy and impatient to really be a threat. At least for now.

CeKay enjoyed life for once, she taught the twins a lot and she did also discretely make sure that they didn't get into too much trouble. Elrond said it was their mortal blood, elven children are never that reckless and the healers were quite used to fixing bruises and bumps by now. Lindir had made a name for himself as a minstrel and he was quite popular and nobody did bother him with his pacifist attitudes anymore. There was room for everybody there now.

But trouble didn't stay away from the world, CeKay did often travel with the people who now saw themselves as rangers, descendants of Numenor who didn't thrive in the cities and preferred the wilderness and they were the ones who came to the valley and told of new attacks on Gondor. Then at least the easterlings were beaten and the country of Rhun became a part of it and Gondor had reached the very height of its power. Its king was Hyarmendacil and he had proved to be a good warrior and he ran the realm with a gentle and yet steady hand.

By now the twins were of adult stature and they had become fierce warriors in their own rights, Elrond was often very worried about them, they were fearless and even though they were excellent fighters they would often return home wounded and they had a reckless attitude which was uncommon among elves. It did lead them into trouble more than once and CeKay would often join them on hunts. By now there were human settlements growing in many new areas and villages and farms did sprout out of the ground overnight or so it did seem. CeKay was used to humans, she didn't bother with their less than couth behaviour but the twins were fascinated by them and she started to realize that this could spell trouble. Arwen stayed at home and was taught by her mother and sometimes by Galadriel too and she was a perfect little lady in every manner. At least in the eyes of the proud parents who didn't realize that she too did partake in the pranks the twins loved to play on others. She was the one who poured ink into the tea of one of the Gondorian nobles who visited there and left the man with green teeth for days, and she was the one who glued the shoes of Erestor to the floors more than once. He had developed a habit of kicking the shoes before slipping them on just in case. CeKay and the twins did encounter humans quite often and not all were used to elves anymore, to some elves were just creatures of myth and legends and the reactions could differ from gawking to hostility.

They were heading back towards Imladris after a long trip up north when they did stop at a local inn, CeKay was against it but the twins were curious and they had money so there shouldn't be any problems. This area was more familiar with elves and they were welcomed by the innkeeper who was a friendly man who did appreciate having guests of class as he put it. The inn was a rather nice place which was rather expensive and CeKay knew that it did try to aim for the more wealthy travellers. The innkeeper was very jovial and friendly and CeKay did appreciate the luxury but she didn't like the situation still. Something about the place just didn't feel right, or rather, the other guests sent some sort of alarm through her systems. Most were just ordinary people but there was a band of people from the southeast who were a bit strange. They were obviously not used to elves but their reactions were unusual and that triggered CeKay's more nervous instincts. These people acted as if they didn't even bother with the elves and yet they stared and CeKay wished that she had learned that specific language, it was a sort of eastern one she hadn't encountered before. Her speech programmes went to work with translating it but it did take some time for she hadn't encountered anything like it before.

The wife of the innkeeper did prepare a private bath for CeKay since the baths there was for both genders and she didn't want to bathe with others. It felt good getting clean and the wife was a sweet lady who did treat CeKay like some favourite daughter, yet that little alarm was going off in her mind the whole time. The food was excellent and the inn keeper did reveal that he did know about Elrond, he knew a man the half elf had healed once and he did offer them the best rooms for half the price. The twins did accept gladly and CeKay too was looking forwards to a night in a good bed but she wouldn't allow herself to sleep. One of the workers there had been asking some questions while serving them their meals and CeKay was rather sure that the girl had been paid to ask them. She had asked if CeKay was the wife of one of the twins and when she said she wasn't there had been questions about why she was travelling with them if she wasn't married to one of them, and if she was married at all. CeKay didn't like the questions but the twins just laughed. They were used to such nosiness. Humans were fascinated by elves and some were very curious about their lives and customs. It was just to expect.

There were some younger women in the group of people and they were staring at the twins the whole time, and there was real hunger in those gazes. They did look as if they were ready to devour them both and CeKay did notice that they started to find the intense attention a bit unpleasant. Cekay knew that both Elladan and Elrohir were very handsome the way humans and elves see things, both were very tall and muscular with the typical elven elegance and their few drops of mortal blood had made them a bit more masculine looking than the average elven male. They were in short drop dead gorgeous and it was perhaps not that odd that women did stare at them. CeKay did go to her room and she did stay awake but pretended to be asleep. Most people have no idea of how elves do sleep and she had a suspicion that those people somehow would do something not very wise that night.

Their interest in her and the twins was not normal and the innkeeper and his wife didn't notice, they were too busy with the job to eavesdrop on their guests. CeKay had better hearing than any biological person, she put her hearing up to max and she heard them approach from far down the hall. It was three men and they were sneaking forth in the middle of the night, whispering to each other. By now her programmes had cracked the language so she did understand most of it. CeKay was shocked by their audacity and the ideas they had.

Apparently somebody had told them that elves do die if their spouse dies and an unmarried elf would be untouched and virginal. And if one slept with such an elf the person would gain immortality too. CeKay was aghast but also slightly amused but mostly she was shocked. That sort of superstition is very dangerous and she realized that they were preparing to kidnap her and then sell her off to someone in power in their own land. They had no idea of how strong elves are and they had no idea that she was no ordinary elf. CeKay listened as they tried to sneak into the room, then she sent out nanites which made the whole room pitch black and she did get out of bed and emitted some sound frequencies which interrupt the human inner ear and made the men completely confused and dizzy. She left the room, they could simmer in there for a while as she checked upon the twins.

They were being assaulted too, by three very eager young women and they were obviously trying to get into bed with the two. Elladan and Elrohir were raised to be chivalrous but this was a difficult situation. CeKay slammed the door open and yelled at the girls before dragging them out by the hair, screaming and swearing. She saw that the twins had been trying to defend themselves without hurting the females and they both looked rather dishevelled and Elladan rolled his eyes. "Thanks, they were like burrs, impossible to shake off"

Elrohir was trying to fix his hair. "Yeah, like ticks. Thank Eru we sleep in our travelling clothes, I wouldn't like to have those harpies touch ….any part of me!"

CeKay just growled and shook her head. "Go tell the innkeeper that those guests are bandits, and of doubtful moral. The men tried to get to me, but I…I knew a spell which helped me"

Elladan and Elrohir knew her as an elleth of many talents and didn't question that and they went to her room now and found the three men staggering around, unable to find the way out. It was funny but at the same time it made CeKay furious. She would have loved to let the men suffer from some very unpleasant disease for a while but decided against it. There was no point in spreading even more lies about elves. Elladan and Elrohir tied up the men and the innkeeper did kick them out and warned the local lawmaker that these men were trouble. They were chased off that very night and the women too. Elladan and Elrohir did take it all with a laugh and a joke but CeKay didn't find anything funny about it. If those sorts of misconceptions were allowed to spread among humans things could turn nasty.

They returned to Imladris and CeKay talked some with Elrond, he was aware of the fact that some humans did resent elves and believed all sorts of bullshit about them but this was new, and it made him worried. But news came from the west, some had arrived from Valinor and it was several seemingly elderly chaps and an elven warrior. Elrond wondered who it could be and CeKay was curious too. The group did arrive one late evening, just at sunset. It was just two of the group left by then, the others had taken different paths and the remaining two were a tall grey bearded man wearing a rather heavy set of grey robes and an ellon riding a horse which was what CeKay only could describe as "bedazzled". There were gems on the harness and saddle and even little bells and the animal did look gorgeous and there was little doubt that he knew this too. The rider was also very handsome and his most distinct feature was his long golden hair which was carefully braided and put up.

Elrond was visibly shocked by what he did see, it was obvious that he knew the elf but only by reputation and as he did introduce himself as Glorfindel CeKay knew why. This was someone the valar had returned and she could sense that he had powers ordinary elves do not come near at all. The old man was clearly a maia in disguise and CeKay wondered why the valar now had decided to finally do something real instead of sitting on their butts and watch the world spin before their very eyes.

The arrival did of course trigger some partying and also a lot of questions and all the old man said was that help would be needed, soon. CeKay understood that the valar anticipated that Sauron would show up again and it was smart of them to act before he did but sending a whole bunch of maiar was in her eyes a bit strange. It was very obvious that they were different and also that they were given different tasks and she just hoped that this didn't spell trouble later on. Spreading your forces too much is never a good idea. But the arrival of Glorfindel gave the twins a new ideal and they were hanging onto the golden warrior constantly, asking questions and trying to learn from him and CeKay knew that the attention at times did make him a bit annoyed. He was there to make sure that the defences were good, that they were up to date with the current situation and so on and the fact that he also had a lot of almost swooning elven maidens, and some young males too, surrounding him at all times was a distraction.

CeKay had at first thought that Glorfindel was very arrogant, that he went around feeling superior to everybody else but she did discover that it was far from the truth. He was in fact almost shy and didn't like attention at all and he did prefer his own company over that of others. He put on a mask and CeKay did learn that he had taught himself that trick while he lived in Gondolin. She did learn a lot of new things about the hidden city now, its king had been well meaning but stupid in many ways and also way too convinced of his own right to rule the way he saw fit. He had been slacking in some areas while he was way too rigid in others and she was not surprised to learn that his daughter had dug the escape tunnel in secret.

This was the time when news reached them that the forests of the woodland elves had changed over the last decades, darkness and monstrous beings seemed to creep in on it and many started to name the area Mirkwood instead of Greenwood. The king did defend his realm valiantly but the source seemed to be an old abandoned fortress which had belonged to Thranduil's father when he first came to Greenwood. It was known as Amon Lanc but now it became Dol Guldur and the rangers told CeKay that the forest was becoming very dangerous to everybody bold or stupid enough to enter. They said that a magician had taken up residence there, a necromancer.

CeKay just knew it, if it wasn't Sauron himself it was most certainly one of his lackeys and she didn't like the idea at all. But as things were she could do very little. There was some reluctant correspondence going on between Mirkwood and Imladris and Elrond did find the mentions of huge spiders and black squirrels disturbing. And in the northwest the kingdoms did struggle and rumours said that the new king of Angmar was a servant of evil.

CeKay did travel with the dunedain quite often now, she didn't like the unrest which did hit Gondor, it had been a stabile nation for many centuries but now it was falling apart at the seams and much was lost. It was very clear that darkness yet again descended upon the lands and evil minds did plot the return of their master. Osgiliath was ruined and sacked and corsairs and wainriders did descend upon the kingdom but were at the time being held in check. At that time CeKay heard that the kingdom of Mirkwood were in trouble with Angmar and she decided that she had to go and check it out. It wasn't very likely that anybody would try to help them and she remembered the huge loss of life back in the war so she took off and did change her appearance yet again. She became a half noldo from the coast who did trade in gems and she had gotten hold of some very great specimen and she had also made some gems on her own. The king was known for his love of such things and she was welcomed but it wasn't very warm. She did try to lay low, she was accepted since she was female and she had taken on a rather spindly and lithe appearance on purpose, nobody would find her intimidating this way.

The realm was indeed having trouble, it was no longer any doubt that Angmar was ruled by a servant of Sauron, there were orcs everywhere and they were pestering the area. The king was hard pressed and his warriors were struggling keeping their area safe. The huge spiders and the other beasts were a problem too and CeKay couldn't really believe her eyes when she saw the first specimen. Spiders shouldn't be able to get that big, it doesn't fit with their physiology and yet, there they were. The poison was a nasty one and the king was constantly worried for his people. The realms capital had been moved north, into some deep caves which could be protected very well but CeKay did doubt that it would last that long in a siege. She did see the king's wife and son and she had to admit that the elfling was adorable, a very sweet kid who was much more well behaved than the twins had been. And the queen was a silvan beauty who was well known for her gentle manners and warm heart. CeKay couldn't reveal who or what she was, she had to stay in the role and she said she stayed there to learn how the silvan elves did use gemstones in their work. They had some more old fashioned techniques she found intriguing and she did also love the connection these elves felt with nature.

But there was war coming and the king did take his army up north to try to put an end to the attacks and CeKay knew it was a bad idea, a very bad idea. She couldn't follow the army since she wasn't of this realm but she could change form yet again and this time she did transform into a huge dog and she did befriend one of the warriors. She was not accustomed to being in the body of an animal but it was an interesting new experience and she did see that the warriors did love their king and did trust him completely. And the queen was following too, she was a warrior like her husband and very impressive but CeKay didn't like it. It was unwise, the love between the two was unusually strong and the bond very tight and having both royals leave the realm wasn't very smart. If anything happened to both the prince was way too young to rule and the realm would face some real problems.

CeKay did feel shocked by what she saw there, the fortresses were immense and terrible and she could only compare the architecture with the bow of a huge ship. It was metal, rusted and intimidating and the armies they were to encounter way too strong. CeKay knew that this was a mission the woodland elves were bound to fail at, they had underestimated the might of Angmar and the malice which was at its core. The orcs weren't the only monsters there, the king of Angmar had huge deformed wolves, trolls and giants and even dragons. And the elves had to face it all. CeKay had heard the king being spoken off as a witch king, a man ensnared by the lies of Sauron and she was rather sure that he was very powerful by now.

She had to do something, and it had to be drastic this time. Sauron was probably back but his powers were yet limited and he wouldn't be able to interfere if she acted quickly. She had to hit the area as fast as she could and destroy as much as she could and make sure that the elves would return safely to their realm. The fortresses which were the nearest to the woodland realm were nasty and filled with orcs and monsters and they all poured out now, attacking the elves.

CeKay was hoping that the king would order a retreat when he saw how massive the forces he was about to encounter were but he was stubborn and desperate and they did fight. CeKay was fighting too, as the huge hound and she saw that the queen was brought down by an overwhelmingly large number of orcs, the king himself was also getting wounded by dragonfire and she knew that she couldn't wait. She had to act there and then. The officers did order a retreat and that was when she managed to slip away and she did transform yet again. She could have destroyed all with her nanites, torn it all to shreds and made it disintegrate back into the soil but questions would be asked. So she returned as something they could recognize, a dragon. Not all dragons were slaves of the dark, some were free creatures from the far north and she had decided that an ice dragon was the wisest choice this time. She was massive and she struck like lightening.

The other dragons there hadn't anticipated such an attack and she did slaughter them. She was too fast and too vicious to be beaten now and she also used her special tricks on them, making the dragons unable to spew flames before she ripped them apart. They were abominations, servants of darkness and when the dragons were all dealt with and the orcs fled in shock she went into pursuit and froze them to the core. She was furious and determined and steel becomes brittle when cold. She was sure that the fortresses would be rebuilt but right now she didn't care. She shattered the ugly walls all over and froze the inhabitants and didn't spare anyone. She felt sad when she returned to the forest, she flew back hidden by the darkness and took the shape she had worn and nobody had missed her since she had said she would stay in the library in the basement, looking for old scrolls from Doriath.

The king was badly hurt and he did survive with the help of his own iron will but much was lost. The queen was dead and the grief felt by everybody heart breaking. The young prince was devastated and his father was close to fading but kept going for the sake of his son. It was all that kept him there. Cekay knew that Angmar would continue to be a threat and she just hoped that somebody would deal with it, sooner rather than later.

And as it was somebody did, Gondor was on the move and they did defeat the armies of Angmar in the battle of Fornost and CeKay was very relieved but she knew that Sauron indeed was back now. The dwarves of the blue mountains had moved into the lonely mountain and established the kingdom of Erebor there and it did not please Thranduil who had recovered from his injuries but only to the naked eye. CeKay knew he was using a spell to cover up the real extent of the damage. She had to return to Imladris now and for some years things were relatively peaceful. The hill of Dol Guldur did bother the woodland elves but nobody else and the forest of Lothlorien across the Anduin worked as a barrier. By now Galadriel and Celeborn had taken over as rulers since Amroth had been lost and it was a wonderful place CeKay loved to visit whenever she could. She would often escort Arwen and Celebrian there when they went to visit and she enjoyed the trips but they were becoming more dangerous by the year.

Cekay did often take shorter journeys and she became aware of the changing situation regarding the areas around Gondor, the people of the plain did share a common culture and by now a kingdom was founded there. CeKay did like the people of Rohan, they were tough and hardy and made a living in a very demanding landscape. Their love of horses was very obvious and she would enjoy talking about their steeds. The king owned a magnificent white stallion and CeKay had a strong suspicion that its sire was none other than Glorfindel's Asfaloth, the white Aman steed had often taken a stroll on its own and the similarities were great. No doubt it would be the start of a grand bloodline.

It was on the way back from such a short excursion that CeKay heard bad news, Celebrian had been travelling to Lothlorien and she hadn't returned when she ought to, they were sending out a search party and everybody were terrified for there had been sightings of orcs in the mountains and even if she had been travelling with a group of very good warriors bad things can happen. CeKay did join the group, she had a very bad feeling about this and she saw that the twins were there too. She didn't want them to find their mother dead if the worst thing had happened, it would break them completely and she wondered if it was something she could do to make them stay back in Imladris. But she couldn't, Elrond had to stay and calm down Arwen and the two were grown Ellyn, nobody could just command them, not even their father. They did ride out and CeKay was so in tune with nature now she was even more sensitive than the elves. The forests and trees did speak to her and she immediately knew that the group had been attacked.

She wanted to ride ahead but there was no way she could explain why she ought to do that, not without revealing her special gifts. She rode with the group until they left their horses and went on foot, the pass over the Redhorn was a nasty place and rather dangerous and perhaps Elrond had hoped that the delay was due to a rockslide or simply bad weather but it wasn't so. CeKay saw ravens and crows from afar and her immediate reaction was to close her eyes in grief. There was little doubt about the outcome of this and the officers wanted to stop the twins but they refused and so everybody moved forth. It was a scene of slaughter, elves and horses felled and left where they lay and the cold made the blood look like red rubies in the snow. They had been ambushed and trapped there and even if they had fought valiantly they hadn't stood a chance. But Celebrian wasn't there and it was both a glimpse of hope and a source of horror. If she had been taken alive… The twins were beside themselves, almost glowing with anger and fear and CeKay wished that she could have done something to soothe their fears but she couldn't. Being caught by orcs was usually a death sentence, after some very nasty torture.

The orcs were arrogant, they had left a trail and it was heading into the wild terrain which was mostly rocks. It was hard to follow the trail but CeKay did discretely use her abilities, orcs do stink and even after days there were some scent molecules left where they had walked, and the few living plants there did also tell of the monsters who had walked by. Some of the group had been left behind to take care of the dead while the twins, two other warriors and CeKay did try to track the orcs. The track was very difficult to follow even for CeKay but they did manage to find that it did lead to a system of caves. Caves are a nasty thing in such a situation, dark and unknown and full of dangers. The two other warriors were left outside to guard the entrance and CeKay did convince the two sons of Elrond that she should walk in front. She was a female and orcs tend to see women as less of a threat.

In truth she used her infrared vision to find the way and the smell there told her that the orcs had lived there for quite a while. It was a nasty place, filled with bones and filth and CeKay saw that orcs indeed has no idea of what hygiene is. They would do their business even where they were eating and she was glad she couldn't catch any diseases. The cave was deep and there were myriads of side tunnels and rooms and there were orcs in there. They couldn't fight them all so they had to sneak their way through the system and it was hard but they managed to do it without being seen. CeKay could hear which tunnels were inhabited or not and she did also follow a new scent. Celebrian did often use a specific perfume, made from lilacs and her sensitive nose did pick up tiny hints of it here and there. They did also eavesdrop on the orcs and after a while it became clear that the orcs had taken Celebrian because they knew she was someone special. They had probably planned on using her as a hostage. CeKay did lead the twins straight to her, the orcs had some very deep rooms where they kept prisoners and things which were to be kept hidden and she had been tossed into one of them.

CeKay could smell her fear and despair from afar, and she was rather sure that the orcs had been very rough with the elleth but they hadn't raped her, even orcs know that raping an elf means that he or she will die there and then. She was alive but in a very bad state and the twins were aghast and in shock. Celebrian was barely conscious and she had several fractures and cuts and had lost much blood. She did look horrible, the long silky hair which was her pride and joy had been brutally cut off, and her dress was mere rags by now. CeKay knew that it would be tough getting her out of there without them being discovered and she bit her teeth together and made a swift plan. She let the twins carry their mother, she was not making a sound for she did realize even in her delirious state that she was being rescued, but it was obvious that every movement caused her terrible pain.

CeKay had noticed that some of the rooms were a bit more elaborate than the others, there was straw on the floors and even some hides and it was probably where the officers did stay. She lit some of the straw on fire and then they headed for the tunnels which were in less frequent use than the others. The smoke did send the orcs scurrying around and they did make it out of the cave but only by blind luck. The smoke did make it hard for the orcs to see and the twins were experts at killing silently. They left a trail of dead orcs but as they emerged from the cave CeKay knew that there were many left and they couldn't afford to be followed, not now with a wounded among them. She made sure that they all took a quick break just to catch their breath as she put it and as the others were busy with Celebrian she did release a swarm of nanites, made to copy themselves and work at the rock itself. Before long the entrance to the cave would collapse and the nanites would cause progressive collapse, forcing the orcs deeper and deeper into the mountain where they in the end would be trapped like rats in a space which would shrink steadily.

They made it to Imladris in record time, they did almost push their horses too hard but the animals were sturdy and CeKay did discretely increase their stamina. The sound of hooves had alerted everybody that they were near and the sentinels placed on the border of the valley had used their horns to tell that there were people inbound. Many were waiting and Elrond looked as if he was about to pass out when he saw who they were transporting but he did manage to stay calm and suddenly there was a desperate exodus of elves running to the infirmary. CeKay did follow them and she knew that Elrond was an excellent healer, one of the very best, but even he couldn't possibly fix everything? CeKay wished that she had the excellent tools of her own civilization, the medical knowledge of her past was way beyond what people had access to here and she would have given her right arm for a scanner or something like that.

There had to be serious injuries there beyond just the loss of blood and she was biting her nails as she waited, as did the others. Even her nanites couldn't fix every possible injury since living tissue is very delicate and she was not sure if the lady of the valley would make it. The twins were exhausted and close to collapse and their sister was hysterical too. CeKay wasn't someone who did pray, she had no belief in such things but right now she did envy those of faith, at least it was some sort of comfort in it.

It took several days before they knew anything for certain, but in the end Elrond did emerge from the infirmary and he was visibly drained and very worried still. She would live, her injuries mostly healed but her mind was something very different and only time would tell what would happen next. The twins were in bed, and Arwen was inconsolable. CeKay felt terrible on their behalf, the family had been so happy and now this? It wasn't fair at all! She watched how Elrond had to place the responsibilities of running the society onto the shoulders of Erestor and Glorfindel and the warriors were like dogs penned up for too long. They wanted to get out there and start doing something about the orcs and Elrond held them back. They didn't need any more deaths now, the loss of those travelling with Celebrian was bad enough.

The valley was very quiet and also almost sinister these days, nobody were singing or laughing and Lindir was only playing slow and sad songs when he was summoned to the halls of fire. Cekay understood why, nobody wanted to appear to be out of line when the lady was clearly ill and hanging on by a thread. She and the guards did travel around a bit, not long trips but she went outside of the valley and on these trips they slaughtered every orc that they laid eyes on. The fury and anger of these elves was terrible to behold and CeKay did share it.

Celebrian was a mere shadow of her former self, it was heart breaking to see how Elrond and her children tried to help her recover from the trauma, to no prevail. She was like a wisp of fleeting mist, barely there at times and it was very clear that even if her body could recover her mind could not recover from the horrors she had been through.

The entire society were walking on eggshells, trying not to trigger any episodes where the lady did panic and return to a state of shivering sobbing panic. That did last for weeks and in the end the solution came as no surprise to them, she would sail. There was just one option left and even if it did break their hearts they knew it was for the best. She would never recover there and her parents came to bid her goodbye and the whole thing was more than CeKay was able to bear. She left for those last days before the lady did leave her home, she couldn't bare to watch it all. It was maybe cowardly and it did surprise her that her feelings had evolved to such a state that this was possible but she just accepted it. It was an emotional overload to stay in the valley now.

Celebrian did leave with a huge entourage and Erestor and a few others stayed behind to keep things running in the absence of their lord. Cekay didn't go with the lord and lady, she offered to stay behind and she did keep herself busy in the kitchens and stables. She felt almost as if she was in a frenzy, she needed to vent her emotions and when they did return from the grey havens she did join the twins quite often. Their hatred and anger towards the orcs and other foul beings was like a dragons flames by now, scorching hot and lethal and they did hone their skills and became a scourge upon orc kind everywhere. Glorfindel did also fight with them at times and CeKay was impressed. She always held back, didn't reveal her full potential and she was regarded as a very good warrior but nothing exceptional. It was safe that way.

She helped keep watch over Imladris and she would often meet the dunedain and listen to their stories, darkness was growing yet again and they all knew it. This was the still before the storm, she just wondered how bad it would be this time.