Disclaimer: See Chapter 2
Note to any readers: I realise it's been a long while since I wrote anything of this story, family circumstances, an accident and then waiting for surgery has occupied a lot of my time. I don't know if anyone will take it up again, but I hate leaving things unfinished. So here goes nothing...
Update: Have had to make a couple of minor alterationss in this chapter, nothing that should spoil the flow, but that will bring it in line with the previous chapter.
"As a point of courtesy, I like to get to know my opponents before I engage them in mortal combat. Do you have any hobbies? " - Wesley from the series Angel
So, here she was again, lost and in yet another wood. Kim huffed an exasperated sigh. What was it with her life and trees these days?
All around her was silence, not the usual kind of silence with birds twittering in the background or the soft rustles of animals scuttling through the under-brush and the gentle breeze shivering through the long grass. This was the deafening kind. It was ominous, heavy and pressed close up to her. Away from the silvery light that seemed to permanently surround the Elves and the protection offered by her companions, she was beginning to realise just how dark everything actually was.
In fact the silence was suffocating. It was as though a deep abiding misery and heavy brooding malice existed in this place.
She sat down on a log and tried to take stock of which direction she had blundered deeper into the woods from, but all she could see was how close the tree trunks huddled together and how dark the spaces were between them.
A trickle of sweat itched between her shoulder blades and she shrugged in order to try and ease the irritation. As she did so she had the sudden notion that someone was watching her from behind, so she turned swiftly hoping it was Gary or even one of the others. It was a dim hope though, there was no one behind her, only the ever silent, brooding trees. The first tingle of panic began to fizzle in her brain as she realised that she must have wandered much further from the camp than she had intended.
Her first instinct was to call out, but she knew that if anyone who wasn't exactly friendly was about it would only draw their attention to her, so instead she stood up and searched the ground for any tracks she might have left in her hasty desire for a quiet place to think or even perhaps any sign that would show her passage through the undergrowth so she could at least backtrack.
After a few minutes of tracking the obvious footprints she had left, Kim found herself strangely hampered by the actual vegetation itself. Every time she tried to search beyond where her footprints ended in the tiny clearing, the trees seemed to actually move together and prevent her from passing through.
She sat back on her heels and ground her teeth in frustration. Perhaps her only point of recall was to call out them and she opened her mouth to do just that, but before she could shout anything her attention was distracted by the sight of the first animal she had seen in days and days. As her eyes met the golden eyes of the light grey wolf on the other side of the clearing to her, she let out a small strangled sob of fear. Was this how the end would come? As lunch?
The wolf did not move and she didn't dare in case it attacked, and in any case, where would she run to?
Inwardly Gil-galad heaved a sigh of exasperation. This mortal woman was becoming more trouble than any of them could cope with right now. They could hardly spare the time to stop and look for people who insisted on running off to get lost. Each minute spent searching for that blasted nuisance of an Edain woman was a minute not spent in getting back weapons that would turn the tide of the Valar's war in the favour of Morgoth.
Yet despite wanting to say that she was not of his concern, he also could not countenance leaving an innocent and unarmed mortal woman at the mercy of whatever evil was stalking through the wood. Add to that her connection to Lord Eonwe and it became very much his concern.
Gil-galad was beginning to wish he had stayed put in Sirion instead of standing on his dignity as High King and trying to follow the Host of the Valar into war.
Eonwe stared at the disturbed ground at his feet and bit his lip. Judging by the flattening of the long grass and squashed vegetation, Kim had run off without really heeding her direction.
Gary's dry voice inserted itself into his mind. Well no surprise there then, that's Kim all over. Loose cannon doesn't quite cover it, the silly little idiot.
The elven tracker dispatched by Celeborn to discover her path of flight had stood up a few steps further on through the bushes with a puzzled expression in his eyes. He pointed at the ground once Eonwe, Jim and the others caught up to him.
"She stopped here for a moment." The tall elf pointed at a clump of particularly thorny bushes. He opened his palm and in it was a small scrap of soft grey cloth. "I found this snagged on the thorns. She then changed direction here and moved in the opposite direction but I cannot see why she would do this unless she felt the thorn bush blocked her path. As you can see it does not. The other way leads deeper into the trees. Had she continued on her original path she would have eventually reached the position of one of our scouts. He would have escorted her back or at least pointed her in the direction of the camp again. Instead she fled into the woods away from the camp. I can find no orc tracks yet"
Eonwe's heart sank and he could feel the echo of Gary's concern at the back of his consciousness.
"Why would she do this?" He whispered almost to himself, then he looked up at Jim whose face was filled with fear and guilt. ""What happened between you that she felt she had to run away Jim?"
Jim shrugged in helpless misery. "We...we talked mostly about you." He mumbled.
Before he could say anything else on the matter Gil-galad gently grasped Eonwe's arm and gestured towards the tracker. "Tharadir and the others will continue their search to try and find her direction and Glorfindel has sent other search parties to look for her in other directions. You can do no good thrashing around the forest now. Let the scouts do their work." His keen grey eyes lanced through Jim who hung his head and clenched his fists.
Eonwe nodded but as they moved back to the main body, he put a hand on Jim's shoulder. "It's not your fault Jim." He said quietly. "Kim was ever unpredictable and if anyone should shoulder the blame it is I. I should never have left her alone last night, especially not after..." His voice broke slightly and he swallowed before continuing. "...not after what happened between us. I think I've created more doubts in her by that action than anything else I have done. I will never forgive myself if anything happens to her."
"We will find her." Gil-galad interjected firmly. "We will scour the area for her. She is on foot and cannot have gone far."
The tall silver elflord Celeborn had been silent up to this point, but now he turned to Eonwe and Jim. "You should know that what I hear from many of the trees is not reassuring. They warn me of intruders and evil among the trees, they also warn me of certain of the trees knowing that disaster will soon be among us and it does not make them happy. It is very possible that the trees and bushes will ally themselves against any kind of intrusion by elves or humans. This may well be why Lady Kim changed her direction. It might be that the trees herded her in the direction they wished her to be."
"And what direction would that be?" Asked Jim, disbelief patent on his face.
Celeborn glanced at him. "Out of the woods. Away from them. Many of the trees here now see us as invaders bringing death, disaster and evil to what was once a beautiful and enchanted land. They would not help her reach her own kind, they merely want her, and the rest of us, gone. Yet there are some who still will speak to me and they speak of orcs and others whose nature and kind they do not specify. There are many dangers in this land, Morgoth's creatures only number some of them. Others have been here a lot longer."
The staring match between Kim and the wolf went on a lot longer than was comfortable. It was only when the wolf dropped low and started to edge towards her on its belly that she remembered the knife she had tucked into her belt.
Gingerly and with her eyes never leaving the wolf's intent gaze, she felt around cautiously and finally grasped the knife. She held it out in front of her and tried to look menacing. Hopefully the wolf wouldn't realise that her knees were knocking together.
It was at that point that two completely unexpected events took place. The first was that the orc Thadak decided to make his move. He hadn't anticipated saving his prey from a wild animal, but perhaps she would be grateful enough to allow him to get close enough to overcome her.
The second and most surprising event happened as Thadak appeared as if by magic through the bushes and the wolf's attention turned to this new obstacle to a decent meal.
Between the devil and the deep blue sea and not able to decide which was the lesser of the two evils, Kim sank down onto her haunches in despair and fear and tried to make herself invisible.
As the wolf launched himself at the orc who instantly defended himself against the onslaught, a tall figure suddenly detached itself and dropped down lightly from the trees. The wolf immediately altered its approach and obviously decided that the numbers game was very much not in his favour. Bleeding from a surface wound in his flank, he loped back through the trees and disappeared. Despite being hungry, the creature decided that this was not a place to be any longer and headed north in the direction most of his kin had fled. There was no life or living to be had from this place now.
Thadak found himself facing an altogether more deadly enemy. The elf now facing him was tall as most elves were, but the long flaming hair that fanned out beneath the gleaming mithril helm and the fell look in his bright green eyes were something Thadak knew about. Many of his kind had spoken of the bright, fearless warriors of Red Hair and his brother. They were merciless in their dealings with orc kind.
The orc made a split second decision. The woman was not worth this. He began to back away into the bushes, snarling softly to himself. A green flighted arrow spun past swift and true and took him in the shoulder. Thadak turned tail and ran, only pausing a few minutes later to retrieve his precious bundle from the rock he had hidden them in. Moments later he was pounding in the direction of north. He yanked the arrow out of his shoulder and ignored the pain and the flow of black blood that dropped on the ground and stained the grass. He left a plain track for any fool to follow, but now speed was of the essence. He had to put as much distance between him and the elves as quickly as he could.
"Shall we follow Lord?" One of the warriors who had melted out of the trees like smoke spoke to the grim faced red-haired elf who was slowly approaching the mortal woman. She looked up at him with a mixture of fear and relief on her face.
The red-haired elf made a sharp gesture of negation. "No. We do not have time for chases. We are already late in reporting to the Host." He bent down on one knee beside Kim and she shrank bank in fear. He could sense the thundering of her heart and tried to make a calming gesture at her. "Do not be afraid. What are you doing here on your own? Where are your people?"
All Kim heard was the silvery fluid noises that the other elves had made which they called Sindarin. She didn't understand a word of it, but the realisation that they meant her no harm had sunk in and she grasped onto him as if he was a life preserver, sobbing against his shoulder.
"Maedhros?" One of the tall warriors with long dark hair and much kinder grey eyes stepped toward the startled and much put-upon red-haired elf. "Is she hurt?"
Maedhros managed to push the sticky, tear stained Kim at arm's length so that he could examine her. "I do not think so." He said after a couple of minutes. "I believe she is just frightened and lost." He stood up and lifted the trembling woman to her feet. "Perhaps Elrond could look at her quickly, he is better at healing than most of us. Elrond?"
A tall very young looking man separated himself from the warriors who were now grouped in the tiny clearing and bowed his head to Maedhros who pushed Kim over to him. "Take a look at her and see if she has any immediate serious injuries."
The dark young man called Elrond smiled reassuringly at Kim. He held his hands out and she realised that he was asking to examine her. She nodded and let him run his slender hands expertly over her. His face showed no other expression than friendly warmth until his gentle hands rested on her abdomen. A frown creased his brow for a moment and then he started back and spoke in silvery Sindarin to the others.
"She is uninjured, but I can sense new life within her."
Mr Red-Hair as Kim was beginning to think of him rolled his eyes in frustration. "Superb. That is all we need. An Edain woman with child. Can she sit a horse do you think?"
"She can ride with me." Elrond said hesitantly. "If she has problems I can attend to her."
Maedhros stared at his foster son. "You are sure? We must make speed, We cannot stop every few minutes to wipe her tears away or see to her needs."
"I believe she is just tired and distressed and is relieved to be rescued." Elrond said calmly. "Once we are travelling, she will probably fall asleep."
The dark haired man picked up Kim's knife and wiped it on some leaves before handing it back to her with a slight bow. He then smiled at Elrond who offered his arm to Kim and they all followed Maedhros who stalked back through the trees to where the rest of his battle group had been waiting.
If any of the waiting Elven warriors were surprised at their lords entering the trees to chase down a wolf and coming out with a bleary eyed mortal woman, they were too polite to mention it. Another tall young man, who was the spitting image of Elrond handed the reins of a horse to him. Kim glanced from one to the other and did a double take when she saw how alike they were.
Elrond grinned and pointed at himself. "Elrond." He explained and then touched his twin's chest. "Elros. Gwadur.
Kim managed a tremulous smile and hazarded a guess. "Brothers?" She asked pointing at each in turn. "Your name is Elrond and his name is Elros. You are twins."
Elrond beamed and nodded. "Brother. Tweens." He said grinning triumphantly at Elros who laughed.
"Her Westron is a little strange brother, but I think I can understand some of the things she says." He tapped Kim on her shoulder and looked questioningly at her.
Kim smiled genuinely for the first time that day. He obviously wanted to know her name, so she pointed at herself and said "Kim."
"This is all very touching." Maedhros imperiously drew his horse in beside them. "But we do not have time to waste with language lessons. We must ride, time is of the essence." He then spurred his horse on to the head of the column of warriors and they began to move out.
Elrond held his cupped hands out to Kim and she allowed herself to be gently put on the back of his horse, then he mounted lightly behind her. If he noticed the awful body smell that Kim was convinced she had, he was far too courteous to say so. Instead he gently pulled his voluminous cloak around both of them and she sank back against his chest in relief. Elros swung his horse in beside them and the other dark-haired elf rode immediately behind them.
The rocking motion of the horse and the warmth of the young elf's arms soon sent her into a dose. She was far too tired to even think about Gary and the others. These elves were far more scary than Gil-galang and his merry men, but somehow she felt much more at home amongst them.
ooOoo