Chapter 2
*Maglor's POV*
I woke up early to find Maedhros already out and making breakfast. Elros was still asleep and I decided to leave him be. When I finally made my way over to my brother he turned his head towards me and nodded at me. "Morning Nelyo, have you slept well?" He turned to me again. "Morning brother, no I haven't." I sighed knowing what he meant. "Ada Maglor, uncle Maedhros will we find Elrond today?" Elros' voice came from behind us. I turned towards him. "Of course we will Elros, we will find him before the day is over." At least that is what I hoped. Soon we had eaten and packed our things. When we finally made our way into the part of the forest where Elrond were last seen. It did not take long before we found a trail. He seemed to have followed an animal, a rabbit I saw from the footprints. After a while the two pair of tracks we had been following turned into one. Soon the track stopped under a tree where it seemed like Elrond probably had laid down to rest. We looked around but did not find him. I was starting to get really worried now.
*Maedhros' POV*
It looked like Maglor soon would panic. We had spent hours of trying to find Elrond but without result. Then as we almost lost hope, Elros yelled: "Ada Maglor, uncle Maedhros I found footprints!" Maglor and I hurried towards where Elros were and there indeed in the grass were some almost invisible tracks that we could follow. After some time we came into a clearing. We looked around and then I noticed it. "Maglor look here." I said calmly but I could feel the panic slowly rising. "Someone else were here. Elrond must have followed him." "Or he was forced." Maglor silently said with panic clear in his voice. Then he quickly stood up. "Elros come over here and don't leave our sight, is that clear." Elros scrambled over to us quickly and grabbed Maglor's left sleeve. "Yes." He said. Maglor nodded and now we followed the new tracks deeper into the forest. After about an hour we suddenly heard a noise. It sounded like people talking. Then we suddenly heard a very familiar voice yell: "No stop, please stop it, help me!" At this we started running in pure panic and broke into another clearing. By the opposite side there was a small river and there was also Elrond. "Unhand him filth!" I said, filled with anger. But was met me was something entirely different. Elrond seemed to be having a water fight with what seemed to be a maiden. They both turned towards us and that's when I saw her face. Beauty, pure beauty was all I could think of as I lost myself into the sight before me.
*Lindaliel's POV*
As the water fight went on a cold threatening voice filled the clearing. Both the elfling and the elleth looked up. There in the other side of the clearing was two ellyn and an elfling. "They found me." I could hear Elrond whisper beside me. Then he started running towards them. The other elfling that looked like a copy of Elrond started running to. "Muindor!" They both yelled at the same time. I then realized that it was his lost family. I could not help but smile at the reunion as one of the ellyn made his way over towards the elflings. The other soon followed suit and then they were all hugging Elrond. "Where have you been? I, your uncle and Elros have been worried sick about you!" The dark haired ellon said. "I was chasing a rabbit and got lost but then I heard this beautiful music and thought it was you so I followed it, but it was not you it was Lindaliel and she helped me. She brought me to her camp and let me rest there. We had just finished lunch when we arrived here and then you came." After the explanation the family turned to me. The dark haired ellon then stood up and walked over to me. "You must be Lindaliel I presume?" I smiled at him. "Yes I am and you must be his beloved ada, Maglor am I correct?" He tensed a bit but relaxed when he seemed not to get the reaction he seemed to be waiting for. "Yes I am, over there is my brother Maedhros and Elros who is Elrond's" "Brother I know, Elrond has told us a lot about you. He even tried to see how high my amiltoron was and if he was longer than his who I presume then is…Maedhros." Said ellon walked over to us with the children at his heels. "Yes I am indeed Maedhros their….uncle and…did you just say uncle in Quenya?" I looked at them confused. "Yes, Quenya and Westron are the only languages that I have been taught." Both of the ellyn looked at me. "Strange, most Sindar only speak Sindarin." Maglor said. "Well then I can ease your mind and say that I am not a Sindar." They looked at me curiously, we stood there for a while until a voice suddenly broke the silence. "Lindaliel, Elrond where are you!?" I turned around. "Over here, we're over here!" Soon Tulcaner came into sight but stopped as he saw the new arrivals. "It seems like everytime you go into the forest to play you manage to ensnare people nesayelde." He then walked over to Maglor and Maedhros. "My name is Tulcaner and as I see you have met my nesayelde here." He looked at Elrond and his eyes widened as he saw Elros to. Then he bent down to their level. "My my, this handsome young yonyo must be Elros, am I correct?" Elrond giggles and nods. "Yes this is my muindor." Then amiltoron stands up and looks at Maedhros and Maglor again. Suddenly I realize why Elrond tried to see how tall my amiltoron was. He and lord Maedhros were the same hight. "Now I know why he asked for your height amiltoron. You and lord Maedhros are the same hight!" At this I could not help but let out a small giggle. My amiltoron just smiled at me and then said. "Well I guess you have been searching the whole day for this onwe here, what do you say about some food?" Lord Maedhros nodded. "Yes some food would be very welcomed thank you." Then my amiltoron clapped his hand together. "Good, fwir don't forget your harp we are leaving now." I wrinkled my nose at him. "It was just one time it will never happen again!" Then I went over towards my harp that in the moment were a small one and grabbed it. I then quickly made my way over to the rest of the group. Soon we were on our way back to the camp. I ended up walking beside lord Maedhros. I looked up at him. He was indeed tall. He must have noticed me looking for he soon turned his eyes towards me. "Ah sorry I did not mean to stare. I just happened to like you hair, it has a beautiful colour." He smiled at this a little before answering. "No need to apologize. Many before you had shared the same curiosity." I then lowered my eyes and saw his right hand or rather what was left of what once had been the place where a hand had been. "What happened to your hand?" He seemed to tense at this and I regreted asking. "Y-you don't need to answer, excuse me for being so rude I did-" My ranting was interupted by a cough which then were followed by another.
*No One's POV*
The rest of the group soon quietened as the sounds of coughing grew louder. When they turned around they saw Lindaliel leaning into Maedhros as he tried to hold her up while looking at her worried. Before anyone could react, Tulcaner had walked over towards the couple and picked the elleth up. "Elrond I trust that you know the way back, I must hurry back with Lindaliel. It's just around the corner, can you do it?" Elrond puffed his chest up a bit. "Yes sir I can do it." Tulcaner then smiled at the elfling but it was soon turned into a frown as Lindaliel's coughing grew worse. Without a word, he turned around and started jogging down the path and disappearing around some trees. The other's started walking until Elros voiced everyones silent question. "What was wrong with her?" Elrond answered that question. "She fell ill during an incident that they did not want to tell me and these coughes is only a part of it. They are only the surface of everything, I was told. She did not want to scare me so that was all that was said." Soon they had turned around a corner and a camp laid in front of them. As they slowly made their way through the camp, an ellon walked over to them. "I heard that young master Elrond here found his family at last. My name is Maethor, I am the captain here." Maglor smiled. "Yes we are indeed the lost family. Thank you for taking care of him." Maethor laughed. "It was a pleasure. We have not seen an elfling since our princess was little." "Your princess?" Maedhros asked curiously. Maethor instantly grew solemn. "I was not supposed to say that, please forget what I said. Lord Tulcaner will be in the tent in the middle. If you stay long enough then maybe you will be able to hear our beloved lady Lindaliel sing and play on her harp. Good day." And with that, the captain left the small family. They continued to walk and some elves stopped to say hello to Elrond but soon they had reached the tent. Coughs could be heard from inside and just as they were to enter, a healer with a bloodied towel exited the tent. She stopped and looked at them. "If you could just wait then I am sure that lord Tulcaner will be outside in a moment." They nodded, eyes at the bloodied towel. The healer noticed it. "Don't worry about the blood, she is used to it." Then the healer left. They stood there waiting and soon, Tulcaner emerged from the tent. "Ah you're here, good let's see if there is some dinner shall we?" Maglor smiled and nodded knowing that what had occurred wasn't anything that should be brought up. "That would be well needed thank you." Maedhros waited quietly in the back of the group and when they left for dinner he sneaked into the tent instead. He looked around. It was simple yet elegant. "Lord Maedhros?" He quickly turned towards where the voice had come from and saw Lindaliel laying on a simple bed. She looked pale, tired and very fragile. "My mistake milady. I just wanted to see if you were alright, I became worried when the healer left the tent with a bloodied towel." She looked at him for a moment before she smiled and patted on a chair next to the bed. "Would you like to sit down?" He flashed her a tiny smile before he sat down. There were a silence before he asked. "What caused you this illness lady Lindaliel?" She looked at him. "If I tell you about that, will you tell me about how you lost your hand?" He stared at her for a moment before quietly saying. "Alright but I tell you, it's not a nice story." She laughed. "Well clearly you have not heard mine yet." He looked at her curiously. "I guess I can begin then." Lindaliel said.