Disclaimer: See chapter 1
Authors Note(s): Dreadfully sorry about the long wait! Life has been a bit hectic recently with college homework, coursework deadlines, university visits, personal illness, theatre trips, birthdays and my general social life. Combined they drastically cut in to my allotted writing time. Nevertheless, I know it's a ridiculously long time since I last posted a chapter and I'm sorry.
The chapter itself was also being difficult with me; we've had many an argument before it finally allowed me to write it, and even now I'm very unhappy with it. It seems a lot shorter than my other chapters…So I'm terribly sorry for that as well. Oh, I'm also sorry for the number of times I've said sorry in these two paragraphs. It's silly really.
A huge thanks to Elfinabottle, DawnStrider, whitedino, Nietta, viggoisagod, Lina, leggylover03, viggomaniac and Dreamer11563 :)
Beta: The genuinely ever patient Nietta.
Carry On My Wayward Son
Chapter 5
Attack
Elrond stood with his back to the river. They were late and he was not happy. He had not had that much experience with psychotic murderers and kidnappers before, but he was sure that they were known for their meticulous timing and dramatic entrances in this kind of encounter. But no, he had been stood there for about fifteen minutes now and he was beginning to feel nervous. That was probably the reason the man was late, sadistic mind games.
He wanted to look around and see if he could find Glorfindel and the twins, but he knew it would be impossible to see them or the warriors, they would be far too well hidden and all he would achieve would be to draw attention to them if Fenneth saw him looking.
The signal was for him to touch his left ear. Even though they were far away, the enhanced eyesight of the elves' would allow them to see the slight movement. It was a terrible plan with far too many risks, but nevertheless it was the best they could come up with on such short notice. The main objective was to save Estel and to not let the Lord of Rivendell get injured or worse in the process.
The overwhelming feeling of being watched crept over him. It was unnerving and he scanned the area to see if he could see the cause. Much to his displeasure he could not.
Finally, after another ten minutes, Fenneth strode out of the trees in Elrond's direction. It disgusted the elf lord to see the smug and triumphant expression on his face.
Elrond folded his arms and fixed his face into the most piercing glare he could muster and then almost smirked when he saw that man's smug smile flicker slightly under his gaze.
They were now face to face, man against elf, murderer against lord, kidnapper against father.
"Greetings, Master Elf," Fenneth said cheerfully.
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He was tired, in pain, hungry and thirsty, but would they let him rest for a moment? Of course not.
Morfran was dragging him through the forest yet again, this time tailed by three other surly and unpleasant-looking men. Every time he tried to slow down, Morfran would yank at his shirt and make him walk so fast that he was bordering on running.
Estel remembered when the twins had come home from a hunting trip once and Elrohir had a broken rib. His Ada had told him not to move because he was in danger of puncturing a lung, Estel didn't really know what that meant but it certainly didn't sound good. His chest was feeling painfully constricted and he hoped that wasn't going to injure himself even more than he already was.
His mind wandered back to his Ada; if something bad happened to him then Estel would never forgive himself. He found that he wasn't that worried though; his Ada was practically invincible. He was far smarter than these murderous men.
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Elrond now knew what was wrong. As Fenneth talked he could sense movement in the trees. Elladan and Glorfindel had been right; this was definitely an ambush. He moved his arm down slightly and brushed the concealed hilt of his sword with his hand.
The man had been making a list of demands for about ten minutes, including absurd things like the title 'Lord' be bestowed upon him.
"Where is my son?" Elrond interrupted.
Fenneth stopped and his eye glinted, "Oh don't worry master elf, your son is in very capable hands."
Elrond felt sick, he did not like tone Fenneth was using, "If you have hurt him I'll-"
"-You'll what? Kill me?" Fenneth laughed, "We both know you can't lay a finger on me, because as soon as you do I'll send word to have your precious little son killed. Slowly and painfully."
His blood was boiling and there was nothing Elrond would have liked better than to demonstrate his ability to rip a man's head off with his bare hands. He had to exercise all the self-control he possessed to force his face back into a neutral expression and say, "Carry on."
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Gasping for breath, Estel was shoved down into a sitting position on the floor, for which he was genuinely grateful for even though it was done in ill will. He pulled himself closer to the tree he was next to so he could lean back on it while Morfran watched him warily.
"Climb them trees so you can see if anyone's comin'" Morfran said, indicating two of the men, he then looked at the other, "You stay with me jus' in case the little rat tries to escape."
At the moment Estel had no desire to try and escape, he just wanted to close his eyes…
"Wake up!" Morfran shouted in Estel's ear, making him jump about a foot off the ground. Estel glared at Morfran and rubbed his eyes. He had developed a great amount of disgust for this man; Estel had never met anyone quite like him before. His brothers and Ada had told him stories about people like him. Cruel and vindictive people. But he'd always assumed that no one like that really existed outside the world of fiction or history books.
He felt a pang of guilt as he thought about his brothers and Ada. They must be so worried. Estel desperately hoped they were all right.
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Elrond caught a slight movement in the corner of his eye. Fenneth's men were moving from their places in the trees and behind rocks. If the situation had not been so dire, Elrond would have rolled his eyes at their incompetence. He was an elf for Valar's sake; did they really think he would not observe them immediately?
The man before him had been talking profusely and redundantly for about twenty minutes, no doubt a ploy to distract him from what was clearly going on around him.
He was torn; Fenneth obviously had no intention of giving Estel back but there was no way he could warn his sons. He didn't even know if Estel was still alive, Fenneth could have easily been lying. No…Estel must be alive, he would know it if he were not.
Elrond resolved to watch Fenneth very closely for some sort of signal he was giving to his men, that way he would be more prepared to defend himself and give his own signal to the elves hidden behind him.
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"How does it feel to know tha' your dad is going to be killed because of you?" Morfran said with a sly smirk.
Estel resolutely ignored him outwardly, but inside he felt his heart breaking at the words. Morfran had watched him closely and let out one of his bark like laughs that Estel had grown to passionately hate.
"Oh so you're goin' t' do this again are you? Not answer my questions, little Estel?" Morfran said, his grin fading.
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Elrond brought his hand deliberately up to his left ear.
The effect was almost instantaneous, elves and men were running from all directions wielding weapons. Elrond had quickly drawn his own sword and was fighting two large men at the same time.
Before long it was full-scale chaos.
"Elladan! Elrohir! Go and find Estel, he is somewhere in the forest. Be careful!" Elrond shouted to the twins over the din.
Elladan nodded from the outskirts of the battle and he and his brother ran as fast as they could into the forest. Elrond felt his chest constrict painfully as he watched them run out of sight and prayed that Estel was unharmed.
Swinging his sword around to clash with the man's behind him, he frantically searched for Fenneth who seemed to have escaped in the pandemonium. If it had been a regular battle the elves would have won at once, but because of the absolute bedlam and the fact that more and more of Fenneth's men seemed to be jumping out of trees and from behind rocks at the most in inopportune moments, it was proving difficult.
He spotted Fenneth on the outskirts of the fighting directing his men. Coward, he could at least have the decency to join in. As much as Elrond would have liked to force his way through the throng of fighting to go directly to Fenneth, he had to turn his attention back to the people close at hand.
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Polinthor was still stood behind a tree. It's not that he was scared at all; quite the contrary, his hands were quite steady. He just did not think this was right. The elves had every right to want their Lord's son back and Polinthor wasn't sure if he wanted to stand in their way.
He noticed with a bristle of indignation that Fenneth had backed slowly away from the elves and was preparing a bow and arrow. The cheat! Polinthor was not going to do anything to stop him though, as much as he disapproved of Fenneth's shenanigans, he was not going to hinder him. That would make him disloyal.
Fenneth was now climbing up a tree quickly with his bow on his back. It must have been so he had a clearer shot. Swinging himself up to perch in the tree, he seemed to be debating who to aim for but with a snap decision he knocked an arrow and released it with as much strength as he could muster.
There was a loud shout of shock that let Polinthor know that Fenneth's arrow had hit home.
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Elrohir and Elladan crashed through the tree towards their brother's panicked shouts.
"Which way?" Elrohir gasped.
Elladan stayed silent for a moment, but then another cry from Estel set them hurtling themselves in the right direction.
The identical elves dashed through the woods until they finally arrived at a small clearing and what they saw horrified them. A stocky man was grasping Estel by his hair and holding a knife to his throat.
Elladan froze at the sight of Estel's terrified expression and the bloody running down his face from a wound in his temple.
"If you take one more step, I'll kill 'im," the man said venomously.
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Elrond jerked his head around in alarm as his friend cried out in pain. His eyes widened in abject horror as he saw Glorfindel sink to his knees with an arrow protruding from his shoulder. He almost swore loudly and searched around to find the location of the sniper.
His eyes narrowed as they came to rest on Fenneth who was sitting smugly and safely up a tree.
"Lindor! Go and see to Glorfindel, he's been shot and needs someone who can do first aid," Elrond yelled as loudly as he could to the elf closest at hand.
Lindor's eyes widened, much like Elrond's had, and he nodded and scurried off to find Glorfindel, who naturally had stood up and had continued to fight with his other hand.
Elrond fixed his piercing glare upon Fenneth and began to fight his way over to the tree with a determined look upon his face and in an unforgiving frame of mind.
To be continued…