The First Ranger Training Patrol
It was first light of the appointed day. His bags packed, Estel came running down the stairs to the court yard concerned he would be late. He arrived to find Glorfindel and Legolas talking in one corner obviously keeping an eye on the steps. Two Edian young men, Tibord and Halbarad stood off to one side. Ilos, Cerdius and Terrian gathered around a pile of bags in another corner.
With one backward look to Glorfindel, Legolas bounded back up the stairs shouting "They are in serious trouble if they went back to sleep!"
A few minutes later, he returned preceded by Elladan and Elrohir putting the finishing touches on their braids.
Giving an angry glance over the group, their eyes fell on Estel, all packed and standing by Glorfindel "You were supposed to…" said Elladan
"…knock on our door to let us know when you were on your way." Added Elrohir.
"Little Brother!" Spoken in unison by the twins who then burst into broad smiles.
"I knocked and knocked but did not wish to be late. Then Legolas said he would rouse you. Is that why your hair appears to be wet?"
"Enough, enough. This is a team effort, not Elrondions and Legolas play jokes on the world. Before we get started gentlemen, most of you know each other from previous trips. For those of you who do not, this is Legolas from Mirkwood although he is often a fixture around here. And we have the Elrondion brothers: Elladan and Elrohir who, along with Legolas will be helping manage the training. And lastly, Estel who will be with the students.
Ilos, Cerdius and Terrian were acquainted with Estel from classes and sparring on the training fields. For Tibord and Halbarad, he was a whole new experience. Estel was dressed like an elf but something about him was different. Over the last several weeks, they had seen him occasionally around Imladris running laps, sparring with his brothers, even practicing tucks and rolls, but had never really seen him up close before. It suddenly dawned on them that this young man was Adan like themselves. Deciding they would find out more later, they went through the introductions and were off.
Glorfindel had chosen an area that needed clearing that was only two days hike from the border. As camp was being set up, the trainers stepped aside letting the students take charge. Since the Dúnedain were raised in the area, except for Estel, a hunting party was established consisting of Tibord, Halbarad and Estel with Legolas and Elrohir as hidden follow coverage. This group was charged with procuring food. The Elven contingent were to set up camp and would have the second hunting rotation.
The three Edain took off for a planning meeting but before Tibord and Halbarad could get two words put together, Estel looks up from the ground and said "Seems like we can talk in camp but there are deer tracks heading that way and they look to be very fresh." And off he went.
Both Dúnedain had grown up tracking and the tracks were obvious so their attitude was to simply humor Estel who appeared not much more than a child. Once the tracks turned onto a rock field, they figured all bets were off, but Estel kept going. On and on, over almost half of a mile on the rocks, he finally led them to a clearing where a small herd was grazing.
As the locator of the herd, Estel earned the first shot that he used to bring down a several years old buck. When all three reached the kill and were preparing it for transport, Estel suddenly asked "Are these squarish boot prints from orcs? They were all over the rock area as well."
Tibord squatted down and took a close look. "May be. I think we need to get back to camp quickly. In the meantime, we have to be very careful on that trip and watch for trouble." With that, the three hunters took off at a quick jog with Halbarad, the strongest, carrying the deer and Estel and Tibord front and back keeping watch.
When the group returned to camp, Estel spoke up about the prints "Sir, there are strange prints in the area. They look like square boot prints less than two miles from camp."
"That's true." Halbarad added after giving the deer to the elves to finish dressing out. "I do not know where this little guy learned to track, but he had us beaten by miles. Not sure of the beasts but certainly can find the markings even among rocks."
"From the report from the hunting crew, what do we do?" Glorfindel asked the assembled group.
"We need to be sure we have enough covering the watches tonight." Offered Cerdius.
"I agree." Said Ilos.
"How many per watch?" Asked Terrian.
"Wwwill we be drawing from students only or students and teachers?" Estel asked tentatively.
"Why do you ask?" Questioned Elladan.
"Well, the hunting seemed like one thing, as did setting up the camp. But, if these are orc tracks, then we need everyone helping." Responded Estel.
With that there was a sudden crash of swords coming from the direction where Legolas and the twins were standing.
The orc band of almost twenty was upon the camp.
The fighting was fierce. Estel took out one from behind who was attacking Elrohir before being confronted by one of his own. Ilos tried to help with that one only to be cut down by another coming from the side.
Finally Legolas was able to get some height and distance to start an archery barrage. With arrows from above and the Balrog Slayer from below, the attack was ended.
As Glorfindel looked over the aftermath, all he could do was sigh. Elladan had a bad head gash that Elrohir was patching. People were generally shaken and dealing with minor cuts and bruises.
Instinctively, after the overview, his attention fell to Estel, healer trained, desperately working on Ilos. And Ilos was dead. With a nod to the twins and Legolas, the group broke camp, packed up the meat, and was ready to move out.
Very gently Glorfindel squatted down beside Estel and asked "How is Ilos, tithen pen. He doesn't look very good, does he?"
Estel did not answer. Glorfindel was fairly sure he did not even hear. He probably was not even aware of anyone's presence. No, Glorfindel had seen the look before on Elrond with serious cases in the healing wing. The only difference was that Ilos was definitely beyond help and Estel was exhausting himself for a lost cause.
Realizing the situation, Legolas and Terrian fashioned a litter for Ilos's body and Glorfindel gathered up Estel who was so drained at this point he was limp.
Thus the small procession headed for the boundaries of Imladris.
As they reached the border patrol, Glorfindel commandeered a horse and, with assistance, mounted Estel in front of him and headed for the house.
Elrond was pale as he waited on the steps for Glorfindel's horse to finish descending the valley. All he could see was his friend astride the horse with his son sitting facing him like a small child who was sick and in need of serious comforting.
"Pass him down. I will take him from here." He said as the horse came to a stop.
"He's barely conscious, My Lord. He is wandering at the gates trying to find Ilos, who died in the orc attack. I have been holding him, singing to him and rubbing him down the whole way here, but he still wanders."
"Arrange for a bowl of Athelas water to be brought to his room then meet me there. Your efforts have definitely kept him on this side of the Halls of Mandos, my friend. I do not know how to thank you." With that, Elrond headed for his son's room with the limp body of the young man in his arms. By the time he had placed Estel on the bed gently singing and massaging his body the whole time, Glorfindel was back with the Athelas water.
"Would you mind staying and closing the door, mellon nin?"
With that, Glorfindel shut the door and crossed over to the bed prepared to stay a very long time.
In the courtyard below, the rest of the sad patrol were arriving. Four wardens from the border had taken over as pole bearers for Ilos. At the bottom of the valley, they followed Elladan to Ilos family's home in the village for the grim task of informing the relatives.
Elrohir, Legolas, Cerdius,Terrian, Tibord and Halbarad stood around by the steps not sure where to go from there. It was hard to tell who was most worried or confused.
Eventually Tibord decided to carefully ask "Elrohir, Estel is your brother? He's Adan, isn't he?"
"His father was killed by orcs when he was barely more than an infant. He is related to my ada's brother's people. Thus, he was adopted into the household."
"I hope he makes it. I like him."
"Yes, I do, too." Added Halbarad. "At first I thought, 'oh, no, a little kid.' But when he took charge on the hunt and led us over the rock field, I certainly changed my mind. I caught him training with Glorfindel the other day and he was amazing. How come he isn't in the Ranger class?"
Taking his hand away from one of the trees, Legolas answered "Estel just turned thirteen. It is my understanding from Glorfindel that one must be sixteen for the class. However, Estel cleared the Senior class in a bit over three months thus the private class and the mission assignment."
With a gulp, Cerdius joined the conversation "Seems like Estel moved up to my intermediate class just before I headed to seniors. Was really quick even then. I practice with my older brothers and I know he spars with Elladan and you, Elrohir, but even as a new intermediate, he walked into that class, extremely composed for his age. He calmly set about establishing his position in the upper four of the class, from the first week. Nothing bully like about it, just a real quiet confidence…. I sure hope he makes it."
"He could not be in better hands. Lord Elrond is one of the finest healers in Arda. Glorfindel was working on him from the moment he picked him up. No one knows more about the Halls of Mandos than he does. Estel did not seem seriously injured physically."
Back upstairs. Elrond had finally contacted Estel's fea "Lasto beth nîn, Estel. Tolo dan n'galad" and with this call back to the light of day, the young man began to stir.
"Rest quietly, Estel. You will not be left alone."
As Ithil was reaching its high point, Estel began to awaken. Glorfindel was on the bed immediately cradling him in his arms. His one thought was to keep the contact so that Estel knew that he belonged here. That he was loved. That there was a reason for him to stay on this side. It also reassured his fea that his body was whole.
Slowly, the grey eyes met his teacher's blue ones and tentatively, the question came forth "Where am I?"
"You are in your room, tithen pen."
"Where was I?"
"At the Gates."
"Where is Ilos? I kept looking for him and he was no where to be found."
"I know. He is inside the Halls. There was nothing you could do for him."
Suddenly Estel fought hard to sit up by himself. "He killed the orc behind me and when I went after the one attacking him…" He leaned forward onto Glorfindel's shoulder and began to cry fitfully. "I…..was …..right there ….when …. he … fell and …. he ran … too fast …. for me to ….. catch him. I looked …. and looked ….all over, … honest I did … "
"It's a hard place for one as young as you to go rooting around."
"I could not help him with my sword. I could not help him with ada's healing. It was all useless. All that training pointless."
"Just cry and let it out. We can talk about specifics much later."
"I want to give my sword to Ilos's brother."
"Why?"
"It is useless to me. I will never be good enough to properly use it."
"Now is not the time to argue tithen pen. You have been to places few your age have gone willingly, and you did it for a friend. I will not permit you to talk that way about yourself. We can honor the family with the sword, if you wish, but you will have another in your hand for training as soon as your ada releases you."
After a while, Estel fell back to a more peaceful sleep. Just before dawn, Elrond came tiptoeing in to see how his son was doing.
"He's back safe and secure on this side, My Lord. But there is still a great deal of healing to do. The first test will probably when he returns to training in a week or so. Fortunately he is already in private classes. Even if we spend much of our time the first week getting back talking, we will get through this."
Shaking his head wistfully, Elrond said "I know, I know. I hope he deals with is better than I did when Gil-Galad fell."
"Since that event still marks you, I will work extra hard to see that Estel weathers this better. He is still so young."