The journey over the rocky terrain that surrounded the Grey Mountains was a slow one. Gundabad was one of the most inhospitable regions and the horses were struggling to find sure footing. After a day's travel into the wasteland, Thranduil commanded that all mounts be sent back. The last thing he needed was dealing with an animal gone lame. That's how he came to be among those leading their hike on foot over the black rocks. With every new rise he crested, the barren landscape offered only more of the same green-tinged sky and jagged black ground.
They'd been following the legion of orcs from a distance but now it seemed clear that the orcs weren't sure where they were going. Whatever magical barrier they thought Legolas hid behind, they seemed to think it didn't remain in one place as groups were left to stand guard in certain places as the remainder traveled onward.
Thranduil had commanded a couple of his own groups to stay and watch those groups. His company of twenty was now only eight. Though many of his kin never said as much, he knew their thoughts mirrored his own: they had traveled too far north and likely passed Haavelas. They would have to go back. The ebony mountains fell away in the distance though and Thranduil wanted to at least see what, if anything, lay beyond that ridge so they continued northeast for a while longer.
The day wore on, unchanging without the light of a sun to tell them how much time had passed. They all felt it anyway. They were becoming weary and would soon need to stop. A gap in the rocky landscape offered hope of a cave to rest in and Thranduil ordered two of his guard to head in that direction.
When the advance of elves disappeared into the little clearing, the sounds of clanging metal erupted a few moments later.
"Make haste!" The king ordered to the rest of his party and took off down the rocky hill at a run.
He entered the mouth of the clearing to see his guard barely holding off the attack of seven orcs in front of a cave. He wasted no time jumping into the fray and took down a pair from behind before they were aware more elves had arrived. The remaining five were no match for the elves' greater numbers and soon lay dead on the rocks.
Thranduil turned to the advance elves he had sent. "How is it you were so easily ambushed?" Anger was fueling his harsh words but he had promised himself he wouldn't spend more elf blood on the endeavor to retrieve his son than was absolutely necessary and this was nearly an unnecessary loss.
"Forgiveness, my lord," they both said and bowed.
"When we entered this clearing, there was nothing. Then a flicker of light came from the cave and orcs came rushing forth from where there had previously been none."
Thranduil peered toward the cave's maw and saw a faint golden light shimmering on the rock. Slowly he stepped toward the gap in the wall, his heart thumping madly as he expected more orcs to pour from it any second. It was irrational he knew, for his senses detected no scent or sound from the cave that reeked of orc. Instead, a strange tang filled the air and grew stronger the closer he came to it. When he finally reached the edge of the cave, he found himself staring at an empty crevasse; empty save for a golden pool of light, flickering in the air twenty paces away.
Startled, he stepped back and almost into his guard. Every elf present had crept up behind him and all gazed wide-eyed at the disc of light.
"What is it?"
"This is what the orcs were guarding?"
The disc rippled and the image of orcs passing by rolled across the surface. Everyone but Thranduil tucked themselves behind the rocky walls of the cave's entrance. He stared from one group to the other and looked back to the mirage. It was once again clear.
"They've gone."
He studied the picture in it and his brows drew together as a vista of a sunny winter day shone from it. Full of snow-blanketed pine trees and white capped mounds of rich brown soil, the landscape beyond was a stark contrast to his current surroundings. Yet there was something flat about the image, though he couldn't quite narrow down what it was.
His feet seemed to develop a mind of their own as they began to carry him into the cave. His guard followed close behind advising him not to go first but Thranduil paid no heed.
"Curious…" he said when he reached the anomaly. He stared around it, finding it flat as a mirror and the image repeated on the other side but from the opposite direction.
He came back to the front and reached a hand for the surface.
"My lord, don't!" One of his guards set a hand over his arm and Thranduil looked at him.
"Does this not match the description of the strange shield the orcs think my son used to evade them?" He pulled his arm back and continued to study the apparition.
"Yes, but we have not the first inkling what it is," the guardsman hissed.
"It's a doorway," Thranduil replied with imperious finality. "The advance I sent didn't see the orcs when they arrived because there were none."
"You know what this is?" One of Haavelas's men came to stand beside him. "Where does it go?"
"That I do not know. Such things are so rare as to be believed a legend and all but forgotten. There are few mentions of them in our history. Until today, I had thought them the product of a mad mind."
"It looks like our world… but the season is wrong," a scout said. Her eyes were wide as she looked over the entire surface from top to bottom.
The rest of the company behind Thranduil continued to conjecture about the portal while he scoured the image for a clue as to whether Legolas had gone through here. An elvish arrow sticking out from a tree drew his attention. Legolas's bow had been sundered so the arrow had to belong to Haavelas or one of his men. They hadn't found the group yet and Thranduil doubted Haavelas would go through without cause, which meant the prince was likely on the other side as well. He worried he would never know unless he followed.
He turned to a runner by the name of Eleros, one of his fastest quickstriders. "Take two others with you and retrieve the groups we left to watch the orcs."
Eleros bowed and pivoted away to do as he was bade, taking off at a sprint once he'd surveyed the clearing outside. Thranduil turned back to the portal, eyes narrowed. "As soon as they return, we will see what lies beyond this door."
The sun shone brightly on his face as consciousness pulled Legolas from his dreams. He blinked up at the traitorous curtains that had allowed a shaft of light between their panels and buried his head in the darkness of his blanket. Sleep had nearly reclaimed him when the sound of metal meeting metal registered in his ears. He bolted upright and listened. He definitely heard the ringing of steel and the softer sounds of exertion from Tal and Seren.
The covers were thrown aside as Legolas ran from the bed in Tal's guestroom and vaulted to the door and down the hall. He passed the kitchen and skidded to a halt, his socks slipping on the wooden floor. The room was blindingly bright to his still sleep-fogged eyes and he hurriedly wiped them as he chose Tal's best cooking knives from the magnetic rack they clung to and continued his sprint toward his friends. He reached the staircase at the end of the hall and looked up. The sounds seemed to be coming from the floor above. He took the stairs two at a time, adrenaline pushing him on hard now that he was finally awake. He followed the sounds of the fight to the third floor, past the last landing and dashed down the hall. The clang of weapons was now pinging off the walls deafeningly.
Sprinting through the open double doors of a large room that was nearly the width of the house, Legolas stopped. The knives he had borrowed were never lifted for attack or defense as the sight before him wasn't what he expected.
Seren and Tal stopped in mid-dance, their interlocked weapons quivering as they held one another at bay. The siblings looked at him, surprise plain on their features.
"Legolas?"
Tal was the first to step back and Seren stumbled at the loss of resistance and glowered at her brother.
"I… thought you were in trouble," Legolas muttered, feeling a flush rise in his cheeks.
Seren tried to hide her giggles but failed when she spotted the cooking knives. "He came armed and ready to rescue us, Taliesin!"
Legolas glanced down at the knives, a quiet grumble on his lips as he turned to leave.
Seren stopped him. "Tal has something for you."
He turned back and Seren padded on bare feet to him and gently removed the knives from his grip.
"I didn't know you could fight." He studied her features intently for deception but found none.
She snorted lightly. "I can't. Tal keeps trying to change that however."
The older Evans sighed good-naturedly. "She can but she refuses to practice."
"I'm not a fighter, Tal. I've told you this. You're the ancient weapons and fighting expert, not me."
Tal hung his head. "I know… I just… It's something we used to have so much fun doing."
Seren softened. "When Mom and Dad were teaching us, I was just happy we were spending time together. You and Dad were always more excited than Mom and I were."
"So you indulge me?"
Seren nodded. "As you do for me when I make you model for my paintings."
Tal laughed at that. "Speaking of, don't you have some landscape to get back to?"
Seren mock saluted him and bowed out of the room, leaving Legolas with her brother.
"She seems in better spirits than she has these past few days," Legolas remarked as the door clicked closed. He turned to Tal who seemed lost in thought for a moment.
"Seren had a lot invested in that cabin. It was hers long before our parents died and left it to her." Tal chuckled. "She even helped our dad choose that electrically controlled propane heating system when California law decreed wood stoves too unsafe to use as a main source. And that system turned her home into a pile of toothpicks. If I know my sister, she's been beating herself up about it for these last three days."
Tal dragged in a breath, gathering his wits, "But enough about that."
He strode to what he dubbed Lee's Corner, where he liked to relax and watch Bruce Lee films and bent to retrieve a case laying on the smaller sofa. It was placed on a table by the wall and he gestured for Legolas to open it.
The elf looked uncertainly from him to the case and reached for the clasps. His eyes widened and a breath escaped him when the lid rose and revealed a set of fighting knives similar his own.
"I couldn't help feeling responsible for what happened to your knives – I'm the one who insisted you leave them behind, after all. They wouldn't have been ruined by the fire if not for me."
Legolas reached for a blade, running his fingers reverently along the smooth flat metal and gripping the carved wooden handle, tugging it free. The wood was blond but not as pale as his had been. The grip bore a simple geometric pattern like the Native tribe patterns he'd seen at the tourist shop and in Seren's home. An eagle's head was etched into the pommel, capped with gold overlay to resemble a beak. The blade itself was a little wider than his had been but the weapon was perfectly balanced by the slightly longer hilt. He raised the dagger to the light and inspected it for imperfections. It wasn't as fine as an elvish blade but it was extremely well made, nonetheless.
He looked over to Tal. "How did you –"
"A friend of mine makes it his life's work to create genuine weapons using ancient crafting methods of smiths from another era… with a few modern differences to improve quality, of course. I told him what I was looking for and he had recently finished these. Carrying arrows and knives as you were when you arrived; I assumed you're accustomed to using them. A warrior without a weapon is no warrior at all. I thought these might suit you for now."
Legolas placed the blade back in its velvet lining and smiled. "They'll do quite well, thank you."
"And for my next trick…" Tal went back to the couch and picked up a bag, handing it to Legolas.
"More gifts?"
"Just one more. You can't walk around with those in your hands."
When he reached into the bag, Legolas felt hardened leather and pulled the item free. A harness with sheaths for both blades buckled to it slid from the plastic and he grinned.
"You and Seren have been very kind, Taliesin. I consider you both friends," he said as he looked up at the human. "I will miss that friendship once I've returned to my world."
"We'll miss you too, Legolas. I just wish we could get back to that clearing but Drecker and those suits still have Seren's property cut off 'for investigative reasons'. We may have to start thinking about diversions to draw them away so we can sneak up the mountain."
The thought piqued Legolas's interest. "What did you have in mind?"
"Those suits seem far too interested in the orcs. They've tried to capture them alive."
At this, Legolas frowned. "Why would they attempt capturing them? It's foolish."
"Unfortunately they don't know what they're dealing with."
"I could tell them!" Legolas insisted.
It wasn't the first time he'd said this but he had yet to be offered a good reason against coming forward and helping to deal with the orcs.
Tal sighed. "I know your knowledge could help, but if they found out you're from the same realm as those creatures; they'd lock you away for study. You'd be a prisoner until you died and it probably wouldn't be a pleasant tenure as they'd experiment on you and cut pieces off of you for research."
"Your people would do that? To someone who would be their ally?" His stomach rolled at the thought of captivity and dismemberment. He couldn't fathom that these humans would do such things, yet Tal seemed convinced of this as a fact.
"The people who govern us have organizations at their command with unlimited resources to do whatever they deem 'necessary' in the name of 'security' and the 'greater good of mankind'. At the very least, they'd destroy you and hide the deed to keep knowledge of other peoples from spreading in our world and panicking the masses. Of course I can't say this is certain, but we don't have a very good track record for such things. No Legolas; it's not a good idea to let them know what you are and where you're from. They believe the orcs are some kind of tribe from the peaks in our mountains – let them continue to believe that. Bullets seem to stop them well enough."
His head spun a little as Tal spoke and he leaned on the table behind him trying to accept what he was being told. He leaned on his knees and breathed deep for a few moments and when he looked up, everything seemed muted and far away. He closed his eyes and continued breathing, picturing home and his father, the guards playing cards on break, training new guards, the feasts under the stars and music drifting through the halls. Soon his mind settled. The world around him came back into focus and Tal stood looking at him, shock plain on his features.
"Are you alright?"
Legolas nodded because he didn't quite trust his stomach not to rebel if he spoke and his strength hadn't fully returned so he continued leaning against the table.
"You went really gray for a moment."
It was like Seren had told him; his color just seemed to wash out of him. It wasn't like a person going pale. It was if his color dimmed altogether, like a light being turned down.
"We call it fading," Legolas said finally. "For elves, if we don't travel to the Undying Lands, we eventually fade and become wraiths drifting over the land. Usually it happens after one has lived for thousands of years and no longer has a purpose in the world."
A sobering thought struck Legolas and he lowered his head. "Here I have no purpose… No elf does, because there is no magic and we are magical creatures. The shadows here are pulling at me and there's nothing to stop it, so I will fade."
Tal leaned against the table next to him, not sure what he could say. Finally he settled on, "We have to get you back. I don't know how to do that, but we have to get you back."
They stayed there for a few moments in silence, listening to Seren's music drift up from the floor below as she painted. When Legolas felt like himself, he stood and regarded Tal.
"In the meantime, would you appreciate a more willing opponent to practice with?"
Tal grinned wide as he straightened. "Of course! I'll get the training blades."
From her balcony in the room Tal kept for her in his house, over the strains of a violin, the sound of ringing metal reached Seren's ears. She looked up from her painting toward the improvised dojo and smiled. "Knock him on his ass, Legolas."
"They have the same kind of… glow that strange friend of Seren's has. Too pretty for a guy…"
Drecker studied their captives. They'd been apprehended while chasing the strange creatures through the Evans property where the ruined cabin once stood.
The agent he'd been dealing with since the morning the first creature appeared offered a non-committal 'hm' as he gently examined the pointed ears. The male tried to pull away but the cuffs restraining him and tying him to a post kept him from going far. The reaction was slow as the sedative in the tranquilizer they'd used was still in full effect. It was strong enough to knock a full grown man out for hours but had only slowed these newcomers. It was still effective enough to allow their capture, however.
They'd arrived wearing strange green or brown fabrics and leather armor, bearing fine weapons that looked more at home at a renaissance fair. They'd proven real enough when the blades cut down a few of the monsters and Drecker's men took a few arrows trying to round everyone up. A well placed bullet in the one who called himself Haavelas stopped the pointed-ears from continuing to resist. The grotesque creatures, however, hadn't stopped until they all lay dead. Any hope for answers now rested with the newcomers they'd taken into custody.
The agent left the tent they'd set up in the yard and made a call to one of his fellow agents. "Go collect the first one. We have confirmation: He's the one the creatures were after."
After placing that call, the agent dialed someone else and made arrangements for a biological containment and study unit to be sent in. It would arrive in the morning and he wanted all of these beings ready for transport.
Drecker came out and stood next to the agent, whistling long and low. "The one we shot is already healing. The bullet went through his side – clean entry and exit – but it already looks a few days old instead of a few hours." He sipped on his coffee and watched the agent's face. "What are you gonna do with them?"
The agent continued to stare into the distance; he barely ever acknowledged Drecker. Still he answered, "They have remarkable abilities and can be an asset in dealing with these creatures. We will take them for study and questioning."
"Maybe I'm being stupid but I must have missed the memo about having the authority to round people up like this. They have rights."
The agent held out a blood vial for him to take. The sheriff held it up and shook it. Pale grey ash drifted around inside. The sticker labeled it as 'specimen A'. It was the same vial he'd seen extracted from the wounded male a couple of hours ago. It had been blood at the time.
"Humans have rights, Sheriff. Those… people aren't human."
The vial was taken from him and Drecker watched, thinking the agent would say more but after the silence stretched on for several moments, he went back into the warmth of the tent.
Haavelas feigned sleep as Drecker returned. He'd been restrained to a crude bed and bandaged but his side still hurt immensely. They'd come through a strange circle of light to find Legolas and it seemed these humans knew where he was. He'd hoped to collaborate with the humans to find the prince and defeat the orcs before returning home. Instead, they'd fired some kind of weapon at him that hurt more than any blade or arrow he'd ever felt and the rest of his kin had been struck with a poison dart that made them drowsy, despite having surrendered and offering no resistance. Anger made his insides feel like acid at the treatment they'd suffered and he vowed to spare no one that would impede them whenever the opportunity for escape came.
After listening in on the conversation between the two men outside, Haavelas resolved that there would be a chance for escape sooner rather than later. The idea of being studied left him unsettled and the wound where his blood had been taken from him still felt weird and wrong. The restraints told him all he needed to know. These men weren't like men from his world and they weren't asking for the elves' help. Indeed they didn't seem to regard them as anything more than a curious animal, something to study and examine. He only hoped he could somehow get them all back to Middle Earth. Weariness that had nothing to do with his injury passed over him and sleep soon claimed him legitimately.
Night had settled over the Grey Mountains when Thranduil heard the first of his kin return. Nuinethir and his group strode into the cave and stared at the portal for several moments before remembering to address the elvenking and offering a rushed bow.
Thranduil let the oversight pass and asked about the orcs' activities he'd been monitoring before being recalled.
"They seem to be waiting for something, like we are. Most of the talk we managed to pick up suggests they believe one of these will appear at their location." Nuinethir gestured toward the golden circle. "They're also convinced that Legolas went through such a portal as this."
Thranduil turned to the image behind him and let out a long slow breath. "They are likely correct." He pointed to the elvish arrow embedded in the tree. "Haavelas followed him."
Nuinethir saw the arrow and his mouth set into a pinched line. "Foolish though Haavelas can be, he wouldn't have entered without cause."
"Indeed not." Thranduil's agreement was terse. "I wonder… What do the orcs know? Why do they wait in such specific locations…?"
Nuinethir watched his king, and his pale steel-colored eyes narrowed. "Are we going to follow?"
Thranduil didn't look to him as he nodded. "As soon as the others return, we will follow. I suggest you and the others rest. In the morning we will begin a dangerous journey."
Tal and Legolas were laughing as they came downstairs and entered the brightly lit kitchen where Seren was cutting vegetables for dinner. She looked up at them and stopped, knife held mid-slice and her emerald eyes wide as she surveyed her brother's bruised face.
Tal smiled sheepishly. "We may have gone a little overboard…"
"A little?"
"He insisted that I not 'take it easy' on him," Legolas said. Now that Seren was glaring at her sibling, he felt defensive. He relaxed when she offered him a tiny smile.
She was also pleased to note that Tal was leaning too much as he walked. "I take it your backside took a beating? Were you knocked onto it many times?"
Tal gingerly wiggled onto a stool at the kitchen island and picked up a piece of cut broccoli. "You have no idea. I knew he could fight but he's a bloody terror!"
Seren laughed and pushed some veggies in Legolas's direction. "You really should have known better, Taliesin."
Legolas took the stool next to Tal and began to nibble on the raw food as they regaled Seren with the day's sparring lesson. It mostly detailed Taliesin's total defeat at Legolas's hands. Laughter rang through the kitchen as evening fell upon the world outside.
Unlike Seren, Tal lived in the town. His large stone façade house sat at the dead end of the street closest to the mountains' base. A long driveway connected it to the cul-de-sac so it sat some distance from the road, surrounded by trees. From the back door, a path led into a forest that grew up the mountainside. The slope was shallow enough that one could hike up to the clearing where Seren's cabin once stood. The night they'd arrived at Tal's house, Legolas spotted the dim orange glow of the fire and teased the human about his protectiveness of his sister.
Seren had mostly kept to her room during those first few days except to go for her early morning run. Tal was left with the task of entertaining Legolas and kept his guest engrossed with tales of their childhood and pictures of their parents, as well as films he thought Legolas might enjoy (after he'd helped the elf get over the shock of the television). They even made an excursion toward the cabin, intending to slip past and make their way up to the clearing but Tal discovered that the Suits had set up camp over the ruin of his sister's home and the area was well guarded. They hadn't tried again since.
When they did see Seren, it was for meals and the occasional discussion about how they might get back to the clearing. Last night was the first time she stayed out for a little while, playing Scrabble with them and helping Legolas win under the guise of assisting him with understanding their form of English. Now that she seemed ready to tackle the problem once again, Legolas hoped they could try to make their way to the clearing tonight.
However, Seren refused to discuss the matter until they had all eaten. Dinner was a dish of sautéed broccoli and mushrooms over rice, with chicken. Legolas found it acceptable but Tal grumbled, "It needs some lemon grass…" which earned him an eyeroll and a sigh from his sibling.
Cleanup waited until after they'd all watched Tal's favorite Bruce Lee film, "Enter the Dragon". Legolas remarked that Bruce seemed a far more appropriate skill level to challenge him and Tal reddened at the criticism. He was mollified when Legolas said he had presented more of a challenge than expected, if a bit predictable. He pretended not to hear that part.
Night had completely fallen when Seren rose from the couch and declared she had more painting to do.
Tal sighed. "Right. You cooked, so I clean…"
Seren smiled fondly at him. "I can't let you have Legolas all to yourself."
Both men stood and Legolas watched through the doorway as Tal began to put dishes in the machine that washed them. He still found it fascinating and was divided between his curiosity in the device and his desire to see Seren's work. His interest in her art won out and he veered toward the stairs and up to Seren's room. He found her standing in the center of it, before the tall window pane doors. They were open and let in a crisp breeze but the view beyond was filled with the evening sky and the stars were emerging.
He wondered if that was what she was painting but when he looked toward her easel, he saw an altogether different – though no less breathtaking – view of the winter night sky. From over her shoulder, he marveled at it. It was startlingly lifelike but had more vibrancy and color than this world had on its own. The urge to compare it to Middle Earth made him realize that what bothered him most about Earth was how muted everything seemed to his eyes. He'd thought it was just his sight but the painting was too vivid. Now he wondered if this world was simply dull.
The star filled landscape beckoned to him and something tugged at his awareness as he stared. There was an expanse of snow that looked nothing like the terrain here in Big Bear. The trees were also different. There was a greater variety. Pines didn't dominate the image but instead, great oaks, cedars and reds – trees of many varieties filled the canvas. And the stars… He felt he had seen them before somewhere.
Vague perceptions of constellations he knew from home teased at his mind but he dismissed them because such a thing was impossible. So he stared long and hard until Seren stopped and turned to him.
"Could you back up, a little? You're breathing on my neck."
Legolas jerked his head as if startled from a trance and saw that he had wandered closer until he was hovering right over her and blinked. "Sorry. I just wanted a closer look." He took a hasty step back and she moved aside to let him see her work.
She studied his spooked expression for a moment. "Are you alright?"
He blinked again and looked at her. "This image seems familiar to me, but I don't know why."
A knock on the front door suddenly echoed through the house and Seren wove around Legolas to answer it, swinging herself over the banister and lowering onto the rail below and repeating until she'd landed on the ground floor. When she arrived, Tal was already swinging the great panel of red painted wood open, a dishtowel and knife in hand. His greeting smile fell when he saw who was on the other side.
"Can I help you?"
Seren slowly entered the view of the door and scowled at the sight of one of Drecker's new buddies from The Suits.
"Hello," the Suit said.
There was an absence of emotion that unnerved Seren. He wasn't arrogant with his authority. He almost seemed polite but that was probably her projecting that. There really wasn't any kind of expression on his face. She shifted and crossed her arms over her chest and passed a grim glance to Legolas as he appeared next to her.
"I've come to speak with your friend; Legolas I believe is his name?"
Legolas stepped into view. "Yes?"
The Suit seemed happy, though his features hadn't changed. "Ah! There you are."
"What do you want with him?" Seren demanded. She came forward and stood between her brother and friend.
The Suit regarded her and his gaze seemed to bore into her as he studied her, a strange look finally changing his bland expression. "We know he's not your lifelong friend from Montana. He's only been here a few days."
Seren scoffed. "Of course he is! Don't be ridiculous."
"He's not human."
Seren opened her mouth to retort but a picture was suddenly thrust out to her and she stared at it. It was an image of them the day they'd walked down the mountain and encountered Drecker. The picture had obviously been snapped from inside the black SUV they'd seen. In it, Legolas had tucked his hair back and the Suits managed to get a still of one of his pointed ears.
"Seriously?" Tal put himself between the Suit and the other two and glared down at the placid faced man. "This is your proof? An ear?"
The Suit was unperturbed by the aggression. "I have no cause to fabricate such a thing. I need answers. If you could explain this…?"
"It's a family trait," Legolas said flatly.
"My mistake," the Suit replied, taking his picture back.
For some reason the response only made Seren's hackles rise. She was getting the feeling that this agent was playing at something.
"What about the orcs? They have pointed ears too. Are they part of your family?"
Seren's mouth dropped open and she looked to Legolas. His features were scrunched in disgust and he didn't bother feigning ignorance about the orcs or asking how he knew what they were called.
"Of course not!"
"I see… and what about these… individuals?"
The Suit produced another picture. An image of Seren's destroyed cabin was in the background behind a group of startled looking elves. They had weapons out and black streaks decorated their hand crafted leathers. In the center, in front of the others, was a male with light auburn hair and dark grey eyes.
"Haavelas…" Legolas breathed when he saw the image. His eyes snapped up and narrowed at the Suit. "Where are they? What have you done with them?"
The Suit smiled and it sent a wave of cold unrest down Seren's spine. "They arrived this morning, chasing the orcs. We assisted them with dispatching the rest and gave them shelter at our camp so that they could help us understand this enemy and defeat them."
There was something he couldn't define, but Legolas knew this man was lying to him. Whatever he wasn't saying, the human was dangerous.
"It's me they're after. Once I return home, they won't trouble this world anymore."
The Suit seemed to weigh his next words carefully, for far too long. "We want to understand these things you call orcs. Should they ever return, we need to know how to deal with them."
"You already have a way to deal with them," Tal retorted. "Shoot them enough and they go down."
"Once they follow Legolas back, they won't return," Seren said. "They'll continue chasing him in his world."
"You'll have to forgive my skepticism," the Suit said smoothly.
"You can't study them! They'll just resist until either you kill them or they kill you," Tal added.
"They have posed a threat to the people of this town. They must be stopped. All we ask is for help in doing that." The Suit regarded Legolas again. "If you would come with me, tell us what you know and put your skills to use –"
"Haven't you been listening?" Suddenly Seren was standing in front of Legolas and fended off his attempt to brush her aside by reaching behind her and gripping his wrist so he remained still.
"Even if you kill off or capture the orcs, more will simply take their place and in greater numbers. An army could be next."
"I will come to you," Legolas said suddenly. "Tomorrow at sunrise, I'll be there."
"No! Legolas, you can't!" Seren turned to face him and he blinked to see she was terrified of his decision.
"If I can help, I must. Haavelas may know of a way back. The sooner I rejoin him, the sooner we can return to Middle Earth."
"You can't trust them," she murmured.
"She's right, Legolas," Tal added. "Don't go."
Legolas offered a reassuring smile to both of them and looked toward the Suit again. "Tomorrow, at dawn; I will meet you."
"I'm afraid I must insist that you return with me tonight."
The black clad form moved impressively fast, raising a strange pistol and taking aim at Legolas. The elf was faster and slipped to the side behind the shelter of the door as the weapon went off with a low hiss of air. Tal kicked the Suit back from the threshold and slammed the door shut and then looked where the weapon's projectile landed.
A dart was stuck to the plaster. Seren pulled it free and held it up for Tal to see. He growled and cracked a window open and saw the agent was on his feet, brushing off his suit.
"Impeding a federal investigation is a felony, Mr. Evans."
"Not if I haven't seen a warrant! Don't come back without one!"
The Suit took a phone from his pocket and began dialing. He looked back at Tal. "Do excuse me. This won't take long." The Suit wandered down the drive and his voice, when the call was answered, was an unintelligible murmur.
"I can't pick up anything he's saying."
"Let me try," Legolas said and stooped as Tal stood.
"What are we going to do?" Seren whispered to her brother when he was close, her heart tripping in her chest now that they'd essentially assaulted a federal agent. "We can't let them take Legolas!"
"I know. I just don't know how to get him back."
"His friends had to have come from a different portal and the orcs' numbers keep increasing but they would pass right by my home if they came from my clearing. They'd have been taken down before they made it into the woods. There must be other portals – we have to find one!"
The loud snap of the window closing interrupted them and they looked to see Legolas closing the curtains.
"We must leave here, now!"
He passed them and turned off lights as he went. Tal started doing the same while Seren stood in the middle of the room demanding an explanation. Tal pointed to the lamp next to her and she switched it off and followed them to the kitchen where the procedure was repeated.
"Whatever a warrant is, he isn't going to bother. He asked for a 'task force' to be sent here." Legolas reached toward the window but Tal waved him back and drew the curtains himself instead so he turned toward Seren.
"The person he was speaking with agreed. He ordered that one outside to get rid of both of you, that they 'didn't have time to do things properly' because he wanted every last elf assessed and ready for transport in the morning. The reinforcements will arrive in less than thirty minutes."
The air in Seren's lungs whooshed out of her and a crestfallen look graced her features. Panic started creeping into her blood and she didn't have the heart to say 'I told you so'.
World spinning and stomach churning, she looked balefully at Tal for a moment before collecting herself. "Ok. Once we get you back, there'll be nothing to capture and nothing they can do – who would believe elves were here? We'll be fine. We just have to return you and the others to Middle Earth. Ok…" She nodded to herself and took off to Tal's bedroom.
Legolas and Tal continued shutting off lights, and locking and barricading doors and windows while Seren packed. When the first floor was dark and as secure as they could make it, Tal began sprinting up the stairs, taking them three at a time to the third floor. Legolas followed Seren's path and found her in his borrowed room, stuffing all the clothes and essentials he had into a pack along with a blanket. The light armor he'd arrived in was still hanging from a hook on the back of the closet door so he whipped it off and slipped it over his head, covering the "Star Wars" t-shirt he was wearing. (He picked it out because the name had intrigued him.)
After that, they followed Tal up the stairs and went to her room. She started grabbing her things and some first aid supplies but packed no clothes. A small blanket was also rolled up and stuffed into her sack. A few personal items like her tooth brush and hair brush were added as well as some socks.
"Do you not need clothes?"
A puff of humorless laughter answered him. "Legolas, this trip probably won't last long enough for clothes to matter. We'll either be caught by the F.B.I.'s helicopters or – hopefully – we'll have you and the others safe and sound, back in Middle Earth and be home by lunch time tomorrow."
"The others?" Legolas looked at her wide eyed. "Do you mean to free Haavelas and his men?"
"I think we should at least see if we can try."
A sack was thrust into his hands and he stared a bit in awe. "I'm unsure if we can free them."
Seren finally looked at him, a determined expression on her features. "We won't know until we have a look." She jutted her chin at the bag bunched in his hands. "Go downstairs. Pack whatever food you think will suit us."
Tal entered the room bearing an arm load of weapons and set them on Seren's bed.
"Oh Tal, for heaven's sake!" she groused as he started strapping a sheathed short sword to her back.
"Just humor me."
Legolas saw the knives he'd been given, also sheathed in their harness and set down the bag to strap them on.
When Tal was done with her, Seren mused, "I wonder what that suit is up to?"
Her brother took up his own sword and rushed downstairs to the living room, peeking out of the window. "He's not there! His SUV is but he's not."
Seren perused her tall windows through the sides of her curtains but saw no sign of him save for a line of fresh footprints in the snow below her balcony. She returned to Tal's room but there was no sign of the agent there either. The foot prints wandered past and disappeared around to the rear of the house where they continued under her windows. She went to the kitchen and parted the curtains above the sink the tiniest crack and a pasty face stared back at her.
She shrieked and jumped back, tumbling onto her rear. Tal and Legolas rushed to her and helped her up while she stared at the window.
"He's been circling the house." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "We will have to be careful when we make our exit."
Legolas went to the window and parted it a fraction of an inch. "He's moved on." He left the window and began gathering food items for them, shoving everything from Tal's fresh bread to apples, bananas, cookies and bags of jerked meat into the sack he carried.
Suddenly he stopped, eyes wide. "I hear them. A great number of automobiles are heading this way. They're still some distance off, however."
Tal opened the fridge, handing bottles of water to Legolas and then grabbed an assortment of vegetables from the crisper and wrapped them in cheesecloth before adding them to their supplies.
"Time to leave!" He said in a harsh whisper.
After hastily donning boots and heavy coats, the trio crept to the back door but saw no sign of the agent. Silently, with hearts pounding, they waited for the man to pass. After what seemed an eternity, the tips of black shoes appeared in the gap under the curtain. The Suit poked and pushed at the door a bit and then went still. He stood there for several minutes and Seren worried he might try to kick the door in.
Eventually he moved on and they all sighed in relief. Once the man was on the far side of the house, they took their chance and slipped out into the cold air. Tal pointed to a straight gap cutting a line through the snow.
"Follow the gutter run off."
It was iced over now and presented a hazard but they would leave no tracks. There was a large bush where it ended that could hide them if they needed. Legolas took a few steps back and ran off the porch, leaping the distance. Seren stifled a gasp as he landed on the frozen trail, worrying he would fall. Instead Legolas slid along, riding the slippery surface all the way to the shallow ditch that collected rain and melted snow.
"Show off," Tal grumbled.
Seren looked to the far end of the building, half expecting to see the agent coming around the corner but it was still clear so she took Tal's hand and he leaned her out to the 8 inch wide ribbon of ice and she began shuffling along it. She heard brother grunting behind her as he leveraged himself out from the porch and set his feet on the ground. He began stepping carefully forward but he was aware they didn't have the time to take things slowly.
"Pick up the pace Seren."
"If I go any faster I'll fall on my face!"
"You know, for someone who runs over mountains; I thought this would be a cake walk."
"Soil, snow, fallen trees, rocks, hills – I can run over those because I have traction," Seren hissed back. "I'm not a polar bear!"
She did however increase the speed of her steps. Halfway across the distance the ground began to slope down toward the ditch and a foot slipped. She overextended to maintain balance and took too big a step. Pulling in the leg behind her, she crouched and found herself sliding along and much too fast to have any hope of not crashing. It was all she could do to focus on her balance as she rode the rest of the way down to where Legolas stood. She braced herself for being dumped into the snow but Legolas stopped her flight and she almost aspirated long blond hair as he set her upright again.
"Thank you."
"Not bad for a first time," he chided.
Tal was coming down the slope when she looked back to him. He had less success traversing the ice than she did. He stumbled and landed on all fours and finished the crossing in that fashion. He stood with a grumble while they smirked at him and they all tucked themselves behind the bush, expecting to see the agent again at any moment.
There was no sign of him, however.
"Where could he have gone?" Seren asked no one in particular.
The sound of breaking glass echoed faintly to them and Taliesin scowled.
Legolas said what they were all thinking. "In mere moments he will know we're no longer there. We shouldn't stay."
"Yeah, let's move," Seren agreed.
They ran along the ditch, stumbling as they went over patches of ice and rock. After she nearly twisted an ankle, Seren had enough of trying to hide their tracks.
"We need to get to the trees!" She ran to side of the ditch and stepped on the embankment. Her feet dug into the snow and she took off like a gazelle, reaching the forest edge moments later.
Legolas followed her example and Tal, grumbling that it was useless to hide their tracks now, took his sister's path, matching her impressions in the snow step for step.
"Why did you do that?!" He demanded as soon as he reached her.
"We need to waste less time and get away to somewhere safe! In the next few minutes, there'll be agents and cops all over your yard. Hiding our tracks won't matter!"
With that she pivoted toward the mountain and started the hike toward her former home.
"We will need shelter," Legolas pointed out.
"There's only one place I know we can go," Seren replied. "I wonder if the old mattresses in the barracks are still serviceable..."
Tal groaned. "Are you talking about what I think you are?"
"Yep!"
Tal groaned again. "I hate the old mine…"