Author's Notes: Hi, it's me again. sorry this one is like really big but hay. If you wanna leave a reveiw feel free to do so and if u have any questionsrod requests for the story PM me. See you till the next update.
The 6 Nighthunters
Three days had passed and I had had no dreams of the future or of the sorceresses making.
It was now October the 24th and 1 o'clock in the afternoon. The sun sat blazing in the sky and news of the Ring Bearer waking up was now passing through the corridors one by one. I smiled when this news passed my ears. There was hope and it was in this small Halfing who seemed to be named Frodo Baggins. As I walked I heard two cries of joy and the loud pitter patter of familiar feet. Pippin and Merry came racing down the corridor neither of them were dressed properly. Pippin was running and trying to put in a waistcoat and Merry was buttoning his up and placing a belt around his round stomach. They both bolted passed me with a quick wave of their hands. "Be careful not to trip or bang in to people, you two!" I called after them with a smile . They slowed down til they passed out of my view but I knew once they had passed the corner they would speed up again.
Two shadows both exact in size and shape loomed over my shoulders. I turned to face the owners of the shadows and found what I expected to find. In front of me stood Elladan at my right and Elrohir at my left. "Still think you can beat us at fighting? Whilst you've been in Castdeia getting bored of the trees, we have been making use of the coming of Darkness." Elrohir asked with a grin as he playfully ran his pale hands down the lenghth of his bow. Elladan then took place as their speaker. "You see when there's Darkness there's always Orcs roaming about in the lands. That my dear friend is practice kills. In the past year we have killed so many Orcs that we have lost count. So we challenge you to an archery contest"
"Do you accept or are you scared of losing?" Elrohir teased.
"Losing? I think that's what you'll be doing. I accept you challenge but what playing for exactly?"
"If you lose you have to kiss one of the dwarves on the lips in full view of our father, Aragorn, Arwen and the whole of the guard of Rivendale. But if you win which is highly unlikely, we will each kiss whom ever you pick."
Elladan have out a cry of disagreement. "No way is she picking. She'll have us kissing an animal or worse."
"No I'd have you kiss a dead Orc on the lips but that seems a little cruel. How about this. Elladan you have to send love letters to... Glorfindel for a week. Elrohir you have to send love letters to... Gandalf also for the duration of a week."
"Done" Elrohir answered shakily
"Deal. I always have wondered if Gandalf had a heart for poetry" Elladan joked. Both me and Elrohir gave an alarmed look at Elladan. "No poetry! You thought you can make dangerous rhyme with sangerous! Sangerous isn't even a word in any language!" Elrohir almost sounded in pain when he pointed out his brother's lack of skill in poetry. Elladan smirked at his brother "It is a word and I made it. Enough bickering. I wanna see Tara lose and kiss a dwarf."
"Like that's going to happen, Elladan. You may be able to beat me at sword fighting and hand to hand combat but you can't beat me at archery."
Now stood in the archery field with a quiver full of arrows with dark blue feathers on the end of the shaft. Target boards where set out at the end of the field. Four young elven children sat under a nearby weeping willow watching with curious sharp eyes. Every time one of the twins shot a practice shot they would cheer loudly. "Are they your fans or are they being bribed?" I asked as I glared at Elladan who had just shot a bullseye making the children explode with excitement.
"Fans. That's Canzan, Tein, Dilah and Liel. Their parents are on duty on watch at the borders. They like pestering anyone who has spare time." Elladan took out another arrows and looked away, drawing his attention to his next practice shot.
Another minute of practice passed until the actually contest began. Elladan called over the eldest of the children who looked 14 or maybe 15 and told him to keep count of the scores. "Go sit with the others, Tein. We don't want any injuries from wild arrows" Elladan passed a glare at me. "Most likely from her bow" He whispered into the young elf's pointed ears. Tein gulped them ran off to join his gang of elven kids. "Ladies and royalty first as always." Elrohir joked as he moved out of the shooting plain.
I drew out an arrow and pulled back the bowstring until it could go no further. I looked just above the centre of the target and let the arrow sail viscously threw the air. With a loud THUD the arrows impaled itself in the centre of the target. Time passed and we soon found it extremely unlikely that there would actually be a winner. Our scores were level and neither of us could falter by missing the centre of the target. "I call break! My fingers hurt and so does my elbow!" Elrohir placed his bow at the foot of a wooden stand and came walking towards me and Elladan. He fumbled with his hand, rubbing down his fleshy fingertips.
The four elvish children lolled in the streams sunlight that broke threw the gaps in the branches. Elladan tilted his head and looked at the children with fair faces. Two had bright blonde hair and the others had dark midnight black hair but all had watchful grey eyes. "Remember the games we used to play as children?" Elrohir questioned us. "I think we better teach them some." He paused then whistled signalling for the children to gather around us. The children smiled mischievously like the cats who had killed the crows. Few words were passed out by Elrohir and Elladan in Elvish all of which made the children giddy and excited. "We're gonna play Orc Tracker. They know the rules and they want you to be the Orc." Elladan teased. "Maybe it's because you look like one of them."
"They've never seen Orcs but ok I'll do it. Al o tu coüt tï tris cent et sūt tuos oculis" (All of you count to three hundred and close your eyes) The children gathered round in a small circle away from me and closed their eyes and began to count.
I dropped my weapons in Elladan's hands and ran off into the woods being sure I left a clear trail for them to follow. I soon came to the largest oak in the forest. It's trunk was thick strong. A shroud of ivy hung liflessly over a gap in the oak. I clearfully moved it aside and found a gap cut in to the shape of a small door. I ducked inside and moved the ivy back into it's place so it concealed the entrance once more. Wooden steps delved deep into the ground till it reached a huge chamber.
It's walls were of thick grey stone. The roof was held up by wooden planks and great stone pillars. At the end of the chamber sat in a frame was a painting of six tall teenagers all wearing bands of green and blue on each of their arms. At the bottom of the painting sat a small note saying the names of the teens from the left to the right and the name of this group: 'Tyson, Coren, Elrohir, Elladan, Tara, Rilin and Izan. The Six Nighthunters.'
I smiled as I looked at the faces of my youth. I always remembered the escapades of The Six Nighthunters. It was Lord Elrond and King Vidon (my dad) who had built this hide out under woods when the future members of The Six Nighthunters were young. A round table was set out in the center of the room with six chairs around it. Behind dark curtains were six hammocks where we would sometimes sleep if our families wanted us out of the way or if we had sleepovers. Upon the stone pillars were lanterns and candels that were still lit till this day. Maps were set out along all the walls and books about fighting, legends and myths sat on shelves covered in dust. The group had started when I was 10 and had never ended. The last meeting was 123 years ago and was about growing Orc numbers. The five family banners hung on five different pillars. All of them were different. I sat down in the chair where I used to sit and put my feet on the table like how we used to in the brighter, younger days of Middle Earth. The belongings that once laid in this chamber had be moved away by it's owners.
"Found you." Elrohir said with lack of effort as he entered the chamber. Behind him was a line of five children with Elladan with a six year old sat on his broad shoulders. "Va rin!" (We win!) The smallest children shouted loudly as he rested his tired head into Elladan's mop of black hair. "Shouldn't you lot be heading off for supper or something?" Elrohir asked Tein who's eyes widened in shock. He swore a few times in common tongue that the younger kids didn't understand. "Yes. My dad's gonna kill me if he hears that I brought the children of his friends to their homes' late. I think we can make it if we cut across the fields."
Elladan lifted off a now sleeping Leil from his broad shoulders and gave the sleeping five year old to Tein who was holding out his hands. Tein put Leil over his right shoulder and lead the company of Canzan the nine year old boy and Dilah the seven year old girl out of the hideaway of The Six Nighthunters. I leant back on the chair and looked at the ceiling. The twins sat down on the chair across the table. Their heads were bowed down looking at their chests. Something was bothering their minds. A great shadow crossed their pale faces. Their glassy eyes stared into the distance in deep thought. "What are the plans of your people?" Elrohir finally asked breaking the awkward silence. But it was a question I did not wish to answer. "Well, we can't stay forever. The world is changing and we are old. There was a meeting about whether we should take our leave and sail to the Undying Lands along with the elves. But, we did not wish to make a final judgment. Are the elves of Rivendale leaving for Valinor?"
"Yes. But we shall not go without finishing our errands." Elladan answered quietly.
A deep sadness passed through the air in the chamber. None of us could see a life away from Middle Earth. But it would be horrible to know that my best friends were in a different land to the one I was in. "If our father leaves then we shall follow closely behind. However we shall not leave our sister on her own if she chooses to stay" Elrohir said without looking at anything in particular. His mind was in the depths of thought and wisdom. Elladan looked at his hands that rested on the table and said: "Yet, how are we to be sure that this darkness will ever come to an end?" We all knew that this was a question with no answer. It was a philosophical question that would never be answered in these present times.
"Clou't!" (Damn it!) Elrohir suddenly blurted out. "I forgot to tell you." He paused as he remembered what it was he had to tell me. "My father told me to tell you that you are invited too the feat to celebrate the awakening of the Halfling, Frodo Baggins. Oh and he also said you have to dress like your father would expect you to dress when going to a feast. In other words wear a dress and wear your circlet."
"But..." They both gave me stern looks that made it seem that Elrond had just manifested into their bodies at the same time. "Fine. What time does it start?"
"It starts at sunset as it would normally do. We better be off soon." and that was the last sentences I heard Elrohir or Elladan say before the start of the feast.