Chapter 9
Blood pounded in Elladan's ears as they marched towards Dol Guldur. The last time Elladan could think of that the elves had marched to war was during the Last alliance, long before he was born. Concentrating on Glorfindel and Thranduil, who were leading the second group of elves in from the south while his father and Grandfather, Lord Celeborn led the first group in from the north. The dwarves and humans were coming in from the east and west.
Before Elladan knew what was happening, Glorfindel and Thranduil had given the signal and they were rushing into battle. The nerves faded into the background with the roar of adrenalin as Elladan cut his way through the orcs, Imladris and Greenwood elves beside him.
The sounds of screams and the gurgle of people choking on their own blood were the most prevalent and the slickness of blood under his feet imprinted itself into Elladan's mind in brief flashes. Gasping for breath, Elladan lunged forward, preventing an orc from stabbing his father in the back. A quick glance of gratitude passed between them before they pressed themselves back to back and continued fighting in an endless pattern of swing-slash-block-stab and repeat.
Ignoring the heaviness of his limbs, Elladan remembered training with Glorfindel yelling "Keep going. The moment you stop, it had better be because you've won 'cause otherwise, you're dead" As the orcs began to thin, a great rumbling and shaking originated from the center of Dol Guldur. Then, a flash of orange and darkness shot out of the tower in an explosion of fire and stone that rained down around them.
Hadrian ran down the semi-empty halls of Imladris, giggling as he hid behind a tall vase as one of the caretakers came around the corner. Peeking around the vase, Hadrian saw the elf checking the corridor for him. As the elf turned around, Hadrian quickly hid back behind the vase only to be swept up into the air as the caretaker said, " I've got you now, you little munchkin."
Sighing in defeat, Hadrian gazed out the window wondering when Elrond, the twins, and Glorfindel would come back. Elrond had told Hadrian, Sirius, and Severus that they were going to deal with a very bad person and that on the way back, they would be picking up tutors and guards from Greenwood and Lothlorien to help protect Imladris.
Slowly drifting off to sleep, Hadrian was jolted awake by a trumpet call echoing in the air. The elves that had remained to guard the elflings and Imladris stirred in excitement, rushing down to the courtyard eager to welcome back the returning soldiers.
As the elf carrying Hadrian made her way to the courtyard, she joined up with two other caretakers who were carrying two sleepy elflings. Spotting Elrond and the twins riding towards them, Hadrian giggled while stretching his arms out to them.
Smiling tiredly, Elrohir pulled Hadrian close to him and breathed in the smell of innocence and youth before handing the elfling back to the elf previously holding him. Exhausted the small army made their way to their quarters and collapsed into a deep dreamless sleep.
Groaning, Elladan woke to three elflings climbing all over him and giggling in his ear. Smiling up at them, Elladan asked: "Do you want to meet your new tutors today?" Eyes wide with excitement, Hadrian and Severus nodded so hard that Elladan wondered how their heads remained attached to their shoulders. Sirius, on the other hand, buried himself under the covers of the bedding.
Laughing, Elladan felt the weight that had pressed upon his shoulders since the Battle of Dol Guldur lighten. Leading the elflings to his father's study, Elladan enjoyed the warm sun on his skin, the cool breeze and the laughter and whispers of the three elflings running around his feet.
That day, the elflings met their instructors and began their lessons next week. Hadrian, in particular, absorbed his lessons eagerly and proceeded through them so quickly that he was soon having separate lessons from Sirius and Severus, who were progressing through their lessons at a reasonable pace.
During his history lessons, Hadrian became fascinated with Gondolin, Nargothrond, and Menegroth; studying everything he could about them, including how they fell. A common question Hadrian asked the older elves that had either lived in these kingdoms or visited them was why hadn't they returned to them.
Eventually, Glorfindel explained that the kingdoms had been lost to time as the elven charms to protect them had frozen them in time and hid them from sight, so that only one who is pure of heart and sight could find the hidden elven cities.
Determined to find them, Hadrian began compiling everything he could find in Imladris about the three kingdoms. When it came time for the elflings to leave Imladris for the Greenwoods, they tearfully said goodbye to many of their friends and for the first time since their arrival, they left the safety of Imladris with a small army of elves.
In the Greenwoods, Hadrian continued his lessons on being Noldor royalty and his duties to his people while Thranduil taught him about the airs, graces, and duties that the Sindar expected of the High King.
Altogether, the three elflings learned tracking, archery, swordsmanship, forging and how to communicate with the land. Sirius showed an exemplary talent at forging, creating everything from delicate jewelry to swords similar to those created in Gondor and in Valinor. Upon seeing one of Sirius' swords, Glorfindel theorized that Sirius possessed the ability to instinctively understand metal and stone.
After their twenty years in the Greenwood, they went to the Grey Haven where they learned about sailing, shipbuilding and navigating using the stars. Hadrian, in particular, took a liking to Cirdan, the leader of the Grey Haven, under Elrond, Thranduil, Galadriel, and Celeborn. He had no desire to rule, only to provide passage for those elves tired of middle earth back to Valinor.
Cirdan and Hadrian would spend hours talking about the old kingdoms of the elves, Valinor and Hadrian's plans for when he was king. One night, a few weeks before the young elves were due to head to Lothlorien, Cirdan told Hadrian everything that he knew about the rings of power.
Looking out across the sea, Cirdan said,
"Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie."
Shuddering, Hadrian whispered "I know about how Sauron, disguised as Marion, tricked some elves into making rings with magic and how once they discovered Sauron, they destroyed all the elven rings of power but three that would not be destroyed until the One Ring is destroyed"
Nodding, Cirdan took a deep breath then replied, "You are right but I must tell you one thing that only Glorifindel, Gil-Galad and myself know. Something that is not written in the history books." Leaning forward, Hadrian waited for Cirdan to continue.
After a long pause, Hadrian was about to ask Cirdan to continue when he said "The rings left in middle earth are tainted from when Sauron tried to use them. They are one of the main reasons that there are so few elflings. The other reason being that the elven strongholds provided a safe place to raise a child. Without them, the female elves don't feel safe enough to have elflings."
Reaching down, Cirdan pulled out a mithril box and handed it to Hadrian and said "The taint in the rings are driving elves from middle earth and bringing about the age of man far too soon. But if all the rings are collected in this box, then the purity of the mithril will nullify their taint until such time when they can be destroyed; saving mankind and creating a future where the age of man doesn't mean man only"
Nodding solemnly, Hadrian vowed to save his people. Opening the box, Hadrian saw Narya, the Ring of Fire. Snapping the box shut, Hadrian noticed that the box was sealed by blood. Quickly pricking his finger, Hadrian allowed a drop of blood to fall on the protection rune preventing anyone but himself from opening the box. A couple of weeks later, they were leaving the Grey Havens and on their way to Lothlorien, the box weighing heavily on Hadrian's mind.
In Lothlorien, Hadrian marveled at the beauty of the golden forest, the peaceful nature that hung in the air. Soon they began their lessons again, learning everything that the elves of Lothlorien could teach them. Twenty years later, Hadrian was officially an adult and the High King of two-thirds of the elves in middle earth.