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Celeborn quickly retrieved his pack from the ground and mounted Túroch. Thranduil did likewise jumping onto his own horse, Elluin. Galathil waited eagerly atop Lumredhros for the two to finish.
"Alright," Celeborn said. He gently nudged Túroch in the direction of the previous crashing noise.
Galathil grinned, letting Celeborn take the lead.
"It came from that direction. I am certain," Thranduil said while raising a finger to point in the aforementioned direction.
Celeborn glanced back at the young noble. The blonde elf was pointing directly northwards, deeper into the rocky, grey foothills. He nodded in acknowledgement of Thranduil's observation.
Galathil chimed in, "It sounded as if it came deep in the forest. Did you hear the trees snapping?"
Celeborn gave another nod. "I did," he replied feeling somewhat unsure about what they may actually find.
"Don't get your hopes too high, Gal," Thranduil warned with a hint of teasing. "I would be willing to wager it was merely a rock fall." On the inside, Thranduil couldn't help but feel a bit of worry that what he so believed was not true, but he kept that doubt to himself. There seemed to be enough evidence to give his suggestion ground. With the recent spring rains, a rock fall was not out of the question and could very well be the cause of their mystery. Orcs never journeyed this far south anyways and spiders were very uncommon during this time of year as well. He tried to comfort himself with these thoughts as best as he could
Galathil's brow furrowed as if he had not thought of the occurrence of a rock fall.
Celeborn snorted and smiled. He watched the exchange, half interested on where it would lead. Anxiety was growing on the fringes of his mind. The loud crash noise coupled with the memory of the strange voices on the wind. If one could call them that, he mentally chastised himself for his paranoia. We will see what we see… he thought to himself. If it were something more than a rock fall… something fell and living… he was certain the three of them could handle it. He knew Galathil was greatly skilled with a sword and could handle himself easily against many foes. Celeborn knew not exactly how skilled in battle Thranduil was, but he was sure that Oropher had taught his son enough to keep the tall youth alive in a fight if not more. As for himself, he was confident to meet whatever was out there. It was just the part of not knowing exactly… He pulled his thoughts away from that line. He was assuming the worst and worrying himself. If worst came to worst, then they would be prepared. If it turned out being nothing, they would all have a good laugh about it. He smiled to himself as he thought about the story he could bring back to his wife. Yes, this is going to be fun nonetheless, he thought finally as he turned his attention back to the debate between Thranduil and Galathil.
"What if it is a gigantic spider? We get those!" Galathil exclaimed.
Thranduil laughed. "It could be, but I bet it isn't!"
"Oh, yeah? How do you reckon?" Galathil countered, raising his eyebrows in curiosity. Thranduil was clearly enjoying this chatter. Good, Galathil thought to himself. He was glad that the son of Oropher was actually starting to enjoy himself and loosen up. Galathil could tell that both Thranduil and his brother were worried, but he himself honestly wasn't. Despite his ribbing, he didn't think it was anything less than a rock fall or something of that ilk. And even if it was, there were few things in the wilderness that he could not handle. He would come home with a trophy and a tale. He just had to keep these two loose and maybe they wouldn't freak out. He smiled at that thought, or perhaps it was the opposite, and the banter kept him loose? It could have been both ways…
"Because spiders don't come out this time of the year, nor this close to the Fence; gigantic or not," Thranduil stated, supressing a smirk.
Galathil huffed deeply and faced his elder brother with a look of exasperation. "Give me a hand with this?"
Celeborn merely chuckled and lifted his hands in a staying-out-of-it gesture. He was actually enjoying watching the two elves' exchange. "Sorry, Gal. You are on your own… Although I must admit that I am agreeing with Thranduil."
The son of Oropher let his smile finally show.
Galathil straightened his back. "Fine. We will see who is laughing when we get there."
"We will," Celeborn said, kicking the horse into a faster trot. He wasn't certain now whether he did want to find something or not.
XxX
It took them much longer than Celeborn had expected to reach the vicinity of where they surmised the noise had originated. It was nearly half an hour before sundown now. The three ellyn spread out as much as they dared, but kept within sight of each other. It was harder to do than say because of the rough rocky terrain and many shrubs and trees, but after a while they did manage to find the sight of the incident. It was unmistakable.
Celeborn, Galathil, and Thranduil stopped at the edge of the scene in silence. All thought of it having been just a rock slide effectively vanished as Celeborn looked over the ruined land.
A very large muddy trench had been carved into the soft earth by something huge. On either side of the trench, trees were thrown aside and uprooted as if by the wind. Some of them were split in half, showing jagged, torn edges to the cloudy sky above. The broken splinters littered previously untouched ground. Boulders were knocked from the pathway towards the edges of the scene.
The trough was about four meters in width. It looked as though a giant had dragged a massive hoe down across the land and the ditch was its wake in the dark mud. It stretched far to their right until it dipped out of sight with the land and into a valley. To their left, it continued on for about fifty meters until it reached hard, gravelly soil and a mere scraping could be seen over the earth. It led into a steep sided ravine and turned out of sight. The ravine was grey and rocky with crumbling, sheer sides on which nothing but a handful of weeds grew. The entrance, not much more than a crack in the cliff face, was wide enough for two horses to enter abreast and grew wider as it near the top. It rose high into the air, looming over the forest below it.
Celeborn let the entire sight sink in for a moment as he sat in awe of what was before him. He felt his heart hit the bottom of his stomach, then he spoke, "Gal, I think you were right."
Galathil was too amazed and shocked to think of a witty remark. The destruction hit him square on. He had never seen something like this before. He wondered what had done this. What could have done this? He glanced at Thranduil.
Thranduil felt his jaw drop the moment his eyes fell upon the devastated forest and he gasped slightly, forgetting himself. All these poor trees… he thought. Anger at the ruining of the precious trees that called this forest home; it momentarily chased away his fear, but then the fear resurfaced and he came back to reality. Whatever had done this was certainly not natural. It had to have been something huge and possibly quite dangerous. No, it was dangerous if it could deal out this much damage. He desperately tried not to swallow hard as he strove to keep the worry off his face and out of his voice. "What could have done this?" He questioned to no one in particular. He just wanted to fill the silence permeating the forest.
Galathil answered obviously. "Something large and living." He was now getting over the initial shock and beginning to see the bright side of things, however, he kept his own voice level. He did notice Thranduil's reaction.
Celeborn nodded in acknowledgment of his brother's comment. The silver-haired elf lord also noticed Thranduil's fear and worry bourgeon, but was content to let the younger ellon deal with it himself. He turned his attention to the question at hand and replied as best to his ability. "Perhaps it was some new creature that we have not encountered before? I do not remember anything in any tales that speak of such destruction." Or perhaps it is some new evil brought on by Morgoth, he thought darkly and to himself. He would not speak that name in this country. Even though he be on the very borders of Doriath, he refused to utter it.
"I haven't heard of anything like it either," Galathil stated. "Do you suppose this creature is the reason why there has been so little game and other animals about?" He questioned.
"Perhaps so, muindor." Celeborn muttered. Thought of time came back to him. The twilight hours were quickly approaching. "The sun is falling fast, brothers, what do you two think we should do?"
Thranduil spoke up finally, "I don't mean to sound cowardly…" he started tentatively. "But if this thing is hostile then perhaps it is better to leave it alone and return to camp. Going after a gigantic creature after dark does not sound wise to me." He ended, sounding more certain with himself and his choice.
Celeborn nodded. The son of Oropher did have a point.
Galathil interrupted his line of thoughts. "What if we three do go after it? We can handle it, if does turn out to be hostile."
The hint of excitement in Galathil's voice did not go unnoticed by either of the other two elves with Galathil. He rather thought it was entertaining to see their faces. His older brother merely looked slightly exasperated, as if he had expected that comment. Thranduil looked somewhat unsure and at the same time looked astonished. It almost made Galathil chuckle. Well, of course, he wanted to go after it. It was huge and what a trophy to take home! The hide of whatever this thing was would go nicely on a wall somewhere in Menegroth. He was certain of that. Now, he only had to convince his brother and Thranduil to go after it. Celeborn would not be too hard. Getting Thranduil to jump aboard and enjoy it would be the real challenge. Luckily, Galathil liked challenges.
"Gal…" Celeborn started, but Galathil interrupted again.
"Hear me out. If this thing is dangerous than isn't it our duty to kill it before it gets a mind to do some damage somewhere else more populated. What if this is the reason we went on this hunt in the first place? What if it was fate?"
Celeborn rolled his eyes and sighed when he heard his brother mention "fate". Of course! Galathil was always using that to make sense of the world… He also had a point though. Sometimes fate did work like that, but sometimes things were just a coincidence. It didn't mean to go off on a mad chase after a gigantic creature…. How did they even know it was a creature? He passed the question off. It was fairly evident that something living had passed through the gorge.
Thranduil spoke up once again, "It hasn't done anything to us, so who is to say that it will do something to anyone else? Perhaps it has been living peaceably in the mountains all this time, until Galathil the Impulsive decided it would be a good idea to kill it, that is! Mark my words, if you tangle with such power, someone will get hurt, and I would much rather not get hurt."
Galathil sniffed and shucked the comment about impulsiveness off. He is just frightened, he told himself. He did, however, continue his campaign. This time he tried a different tactic. "We should take advantage of this event! If not kill it, then perhaps track it and document it for others in the future. What if we have discovered a new species that no one has encountered before? If it is not hostile, then perhaps we can simply survey it and afterwards leave it be."
Celeborn almost had to laugh as he realised what Galathil was trying to do now. It was amusing to watch his brother work with words of persuasion, but time was of the essence and he did not wish to see the conversation go much further than what it was. He did not believe it was a good idea to go after the thing now anyways, but maybe he could deal out a compromise. "I agree that we should not rush towards the destruction of what may be a peaceable creature, but I am also curious as to what exactly did this and why. Now, however, is not the time to go after anything. It is nearing dark, and if such a mighty creature is out and about, hostile or not, it may return and that would not be very good for us." He met Galathil's dark brown eyes. "Think squished, muindor." He continued with a slight smile at seeing his brother grin, "This thing can't be too difficult to track. It should be easy to get back on the trail in the morning. I say we return to camp for now and go after it at first light."
Thranduil mulled the prospect over for a moment than nodded. "Fine. I agree to that." The young elf sounded a little comforted. It will have to do, thought Celeborn.
Galathil also nodded. "Alright. I see your point. I do not wish to be squished in the night, though it would be difficult indeed to squish, Galathil." He said with a hint of mirth.
"Good." Celeborn turned his horse in the direction from which they came. "We will camp a little way from here."
The two other elves followed the elder lord to their new campsite.
XxX
The three ellyn set up a temporary campsite about a furlong away from the edge of the devastation. The stars were beginning to peak out from behind the breaking cloud cover. And the night was dark. Ithil hung as a crescent low in the eastern horizon, shining through the thinning swathes.
Celeborn laid quietly on his mat while he let the findings and events of the day run their courses through his mind. He was worried about the creature or whatever it was. He had never encountered anything like this before and he was unsure of what to do. He felt somewhat responsible for the others with him. He sighed. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as the elf lord thought of his brother's confidence. His younger brother was so certain of himself and his abilities, and maybe with reason. Thranduil seemed so much younger than all of them sometimes because of his lack of confidence. He hoped this trip, no matter how it may end, would give Thranduil some measure of confidence.
He wondered how the young noble was doing. He seemed to be sleeping soundly. Galathil kept making exasperated noises, but soon even he became quiet and fell into dreamland. With the others asleep, Celeborn finally felt ready to drift himself. He closed his eyes and let the feeling of the breeze on his face relax him. The fell voices were no longer there and all for the better. He thought of his wife. It would be nice to bring home a good trophy. He let that thought lull him to sleep…
XxX
Far off, in the ravine, a coiled heap of muscle flexed and awoke from a fitful sleep. His thick, dry scales ruffled along his back in a waking stretch. Dark, amber eyes flecked with crimson and black opened to gaze up at the crescent moon. It was nearly midnight now. He raised the upper portion of his body from the ground and sniffed the air with his long, bright red tongue. A foul, strange scent was on the wind. He had not smelt something like that since… He let out a growl from deep inside his throat. Whatever these new creatures were, they smelled good to eat at least. He stretched and gave a slight smile. He had not been able to eat anything in a very long time, not since he entered this abode. "Let usss ssssee this new thhhing," he said as he began to slowly make his way out of the ravine. He would have to be silent and quick, till he was able to measure this new creature. He nearly laughed to himself. Nothing could stop him, he morning, he would have something in his stomach.
