Chapter 35 Ungol

Estel had been doing some small tracking with Aglarmir when he stopped suddenly. Estel just looked at him questioningly until the elf pointed down. Estel had never seen such strange tracks and he noticed that Aglarmir had turned very pale. He pulled at the elf's sleeve until he got him going. They returned to the camp unexpectedly. Haldir was the only one to notice that they had returned early and saw the look of horror on Aglarmir's face. He quickly ran over to them and pulled them back into the undergrowth so none of the others would notice.

"Aglarmir, what is wrong? You look as if you have seen a ghost!"

"Haldir, we must hurry and return to the city today!"

"But we are still more than a full day away."

"Yes, I know. But, I have seen the tracks of an Ungol," Aglarmir looked deeply at Haldir.

They both knew that this meant they were all in very grave danger. Estel looked at the two elves questioningly, but that question was not answered until much later. Suddenly, Haldir became just as pale as Aglarmir and whispered to him to get his men together but to not tell them anything even if asked. Just to mention that they were being followed and needed to return with all haste to the city.

The elves of Lothlorien knew of the giant spiders that had invaded parts of their eastern neighbor, Mirkwood, though very few had been seen inside their borders. It was quite a mystery to Haldir how they managed to jump the Anduin, but they had somehow and now they had a very big problem.

Most of the elves did as they were told, but there were a few who needed a little more prodding. Elladan and Elrohir tried to get Estel to tell them at least what they had seen, but he did not have the words to describe the tracks they had seen.

Within moments the company was ready and on their way back to the City of the Galadhrim. Haldir and Aglarmir were the only ones who knew what the danger was; they refused to even tell Elladan and Elrohir. The scouts came back and told them in hurried tones that giant spider webs blocked the path in front of them. They had tried to hack through them with their swords, but the strands seemed to be made of steel themselves and would not bend nor break.

The Elves quickly realized that they were trapped. They could not head back to their campsite but they obviously couldn't continue in their present direction. Haldir called over to the sons of Elrond. Elladan and Elrohir had noticed their worried expressions and were seriously wondering what was going on. Aglarmir told them about the tracks that he and Estel had found and now their path was cut off by a huge web. The four held a longer than normal debate about what course they should take. It would be too risky to either stay together or split up. They all knew the forest paths very well, but as it was quickly becoming darker, they knew there would be great danger in trying to find the markers in the night. A shout interrupted them, it seemed as if their decision had been made for them, they would have to stay and fight. They could see three dark shadows on the edge of the circle that the elves had made.

Elrohir looked desperately for Estel in the crowd but could not see him. They would have to hurry. The guards were very sorely outnumbered on sheer size alone. The elves quickly began trying to pierce the thick hide of the spiders without much success. A few had already succumbed to the spiders' poisonous bite.

Estel had quietly slid away when the first shapes of the beasts had appeared. He knew enough to stay out of the way and be quiet. But, he let out a sharp groan when someone tripped over him. He looked up to see Elladan, who quickly pulled him to his feet. "We may need your sword, nenth min. Stay low. I will come get you in a moment."

"Elladan, wait," Estel replied as he tugged on his brother's sleeve. "I know how they can be killed."

Elladan looked down at his brother who was holding his short sword tight in his grasp. He had remembered Estel retelling them the story where he took the blade's name from and very quickly understood what his brother was hinting at. "Okay, come on, just stay away from the stingers!" And with that, they ran into the fray.

The elves were hard pressed to keep the claws of the spiders away, but they parried the blows with their well-wielded swords. Elladan had quickly told all he saw of the possible way to kill the creatures. Then, suddenly inspiration struck. He called out to all that could hear, "Follow my voice and join me in the center. Draw the spiders to you. I have an idea." He figured that numerous blows to the spiders' underside would do more good than a single blade as these spiders seemed to be older and far thicker than any they had seen before.

Once he had a small group of 5 or 6 of the elves together around him, he told them, "On the count of three, jab your sword upward as hard as possible. This should cut through the flesh."

One…

Two…

Three…

The group of elves all did as Elladan had told them and were quickly rewarded with the sound of the monstrous beast dying. They all had to scramble out from the stench and the falling body. They had all made it out okay. Haldir had seen what Elladan did and commanded those around him to do likewise. Soon all three of the spiders lay in a heap in the middle of the forest floor.

Elladan and Elrohir quickly looked for Estel, but he was nowhere to be found. "This is not good brother, Ada will have our heads if he has been hurt," Elrohir looked at his brother with a scared look. Elladan had never seen his brother so terrified. "I know. I'm worried too, but we both know he can handle himself." 'Hopefully,' he added silently.

The brothers helped the other elves cut down the webbed bundles that had been hung from a tree. They both reached for a smaller than normal one at the same time. They gently lifted him up and cut the cord that was hanging down. Slowly, they climbed down the tree while praying to the Valar at the same time.

At the bottom, the elves unwrapped their comrades and quickly lit a fire and placed them near it. Aglarmir had seen the looks of horror on Elladan and Elrohir's faces and knew that they had found Estel. They laid him to the ground gently and began unwrapping his bonds. Apparently, he had been on the last ones caught because his bonds were not as tight or intricate as the elves' had been. They all took this to be a good thing, but became a little worried when his breathing started becoming shallow.

Haldir came up to them and said, "I know you wish to stay with him. But, we need you to go fetch the Lord Elrond and some of the healers. Some of them do not look to be poisoned too bad, but we will still need the medicines to purge the filth from them." The brothers looked at him like he was crazy, but they understood that this was the best way to help Estel, so they grabbed some torches and took off down the path as fast as they could.

A loud pounding at his door awakened Elrond. As he grabbed his dressing gown, he wondered who on earth would possibly have something so important as to disturb him at this hour of the night. As he opened the door, Elladan and Elrohir burst in. "Ada…we need your help." "We were attacked by spiders on the march home, we need the healers and anything you can think of." The twins got this all out in one breath despite the fact that they were completely rundown.

"Okay, I will get together what I can. How many were poisoned?" The twins looked at each other fearing the worst from their answer.

"There were three or four of the elves and…"

"And?" Elrond asked incredulously.

"Estel was stung too. We got separated from him in the dark and found him wrapped in the webbing after they were killed." Elrond could see from the looks of dismay in his sons' eyes that they were telling the truth.

"I will have someone bring you some tea and in a little while, I shall return for both of you and we shall ride out with the healers to where they are."

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Several hours later, Elrond arrived with the healers and his sons at the campsite where the wounded were. As he made the rounds to each elf, he told the healers exactly what to give each one and how much. The amount of the antidote for the spider stings that was to be given varied by age and stature. The healers meticulously followed the Elf lord doing as he said until he came at last to Estel.

"I admit. He does not look as bad as the rest. He was bitten last then?" Elladan and Elrohir nodded. That had been their guess as well. Elrond told the healer to hand him the vial of antidote and that he would do this one himself. "Oh, Estel, why do you wish to be grown up so soon?" Elrond gently talked to his foster son as he lathered the serum onto a cloth and draped it over his forehead.

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By morning, most of the elves had recovered from the stings with very few side effects. Elrond sent these back to the city with the healers and the majority of the troops. Aglarmir, the twins and a few others stayed behind. Elrond was worried because with the rise of the sun, Estel had acquired a slight fever that was going up with every hour.

"Elladan, I need you to go to the river and get me a pot of cold water. Return as quick as you can." It was a very rare thing for the twins to hear panic in their father's voice, but it was definitely there. A little while later, Elladan returned with the pot. The twins then helped Elrond bathe Estel in the cool water so as to help bring the fever down. He silently prayed to the Valar to protect and watch over his foster son and to bring him back to them. It was not his time to visit the Halls of Mandos.

Elrond had been taking a short rest from watching over Estel when he heard Aglarmir call out a few hours later. "My Lord! His fever has broken!" Elrond rushed over to where Estel lay and took his hand in his. Aglarmir thought that the Elf Lord had swooned as he had laid his head over the top of Estel's hand and had not moved for sometime.

Then, suddenly, Estel opened his eyes. Elrond had felt the movement in the hand that he was holding and tears of joy overflowed when he looked into Estel's eyes. "I have been told you were the one who came up with the idea on how to kill the spiders. I guess your training has been useful," he said with a smile. "Come, let's get you home."

After the fire had been put out, Elladan and Elrohir mounted their horses and Estel was put in front of Elrohir. Aglarmir and Elrond quickly mounted their horses as well and they all headed back to Lothlorien.