Chapter Four: Nothing Beside Remains

After a moment of stunned silence, Dior barked out orders, and they all scrambled to finish the booby traps and to sufficiently block the passages down which they did not want the Noldor to run.

As the great doors of Menegroth started to splinter, Dior pulled the Doctor aside. They engaged in a swift, quiet conversation that River couldn't hear. Celeborn beside her, though, frowned after them. Apparently Elven hearing was keener than a regular human's. "What are they saying?" River asked.

BOOM.

CRACK.

Celeborn shook his head and didn't answer.

After a moment, Nimloth joined them. Her silver hair had been pulled back tightly from her face, giving her an almost severe look. She wore armor, and carried a bow in her hand. "We are ready," she said as Dior and the Doctor returned. Swiftly she kissed Dior, and vanished back down one of the corridors. River watched her go, feeling rather impressed. Dior watched her go looking an awful lot like Rory watching Amy flirt with someone else when they were teenagers, only worse.

"River, come on." The Doctor tugged on her arm as the doors splintered further. They could hear more clearly now the shouting coming from outside. BOOM. BOOM.

"But – "

"We are not playing foot soldier!" The Doctor pulled on her arm much more insistently this time, and River gave in, following him down a dark corridor lit only dimly by the crystal lamps she had spent most of their second day here trying to figure out.

They emerged into a gallery that held a couple dozen archers, including a surprising number of women. Somehow River had not expected Elven women to be involved in, well, fighting like this. Their society had seemed more antiquated than that.

As that thought passed through her mind, River realized how absurd it was. One would be hard pressed to find a more antiquated society than this one, purely because it was just so ancient.

The Doctor waved to Nimloth, and pulled River down another corridor, this one somewhat more brightly lit. "Where are we going?" River demanded. She wanted to be involved in the fight, to try to save this beautiful, impossible place.

"To find the children," the Doctor replied. "Dior asked me to make sure they get out of here safely, and that is just what I intend to do."

River glanced over her shoulder. They were alone. "Do they get out in that book?"

"The Silmarillion. And yes, they do. Elwing ends up living near the mouths of the river Sirion, by the sea. The Silmaril escapes with her, and Galadriel and Celeborn and some other remnant of these people."

"…What about Eluréd and Elurín?"

"They get out of Menegroth. Just…not in a particularly good way." The Doctor's words and hesitation to talk about it sent images of tiny body bags and pools of blood spiraling through River's head. "They're the ones I'm worried about."

"But it's not…we can save them, can't we?"

"I certainly intend to try." The Doctor halted at a fork in the corridors, and looked around. "You'd think they would hang maps up, or something. Like at theme parks…"

"Where are we going?"

"To find the children."

"…Obviously. I mean, where specifically?"

"Dior said they were down near the treasury…"

"Oh." River had meant to investigate, especially after hearing that it was where Thingol had died – that sort of morbid fascination with tombs that had really gotten her into archeology – but had not yet gotten around to it. "We have to go down some stairs to reach that, don't we?"

"Well, yes…" The Doctor turned in a circle, frowning. "But now do we go left or right?"

It was very unlike the Doctor to be so uncertain. River wondered if he'd been thrown off his game by having read the book. Only that couldn't be quite right, because he was a Time Lord. Spoilers were part of the whole package. He had no trouble keeping her future secret. "Doctor, what's the matter?"

"Did you not notice the army trying to get in?" They were too far into the caves now to hear the sounds of the battering ram against the doors, though River could feel faint vibrations beneath her feet with every blow.

"That's not what I mean."

He let out a heavy sigh, and glanced at River. "I don't like coming up against friends."

"Friends? Who…?"

"Never mind." He pulled out his sonic screwdriver. "Maybe I can lock on to the Silmaril. Wish I had gotten a good look at it before, but I think it might be giving off a bit of a signal…" He spun in a circle again, this time holding the screwdriver directly out in front of him. "Yes! This way!" He sprinted away down the right-hand corridor. River heard indistinct shouting behind her, and the ground shook beneath her again. The Noldor had entered the caves, the booby traps had been sprung. The battle had begun for real. River ran after the Doctor.

They found the children peering out of the treasury. "What is happening?" Elurín demanded. "Why did Naneth send us down here to hide? What – "

"Get inside now, come on." The Doctor gently ushered them back into the treasury. River glanced both ways down the corridor before following and shutting the door firmly behind her.

Inside, while the Doctor explained to the children what was going on, River paced the perimeter. It was a large room, with the same tree-pillars as the above halls, and smooth, vaulted ceilings. There were precious few pieces of treasure left. The Dwarves took their sacking quite seriously, apparently.

Not that the Noldor would care. There was only one thing they were after, and River was fairly certain it was tucked into the bag Elwing was clutching to her chest like a teddy bear. "Doctor," River called when she reached the doors again, "there are no other exits."

"There is way into the forest not far from here," Elurín said. "Naneth said someone might come and take us away through it."

"That someone might be us," the Doctor said. "River, keep a lookout. We'll take shifts; I'm not sure how long it will take."

River nodded, and pulled her blaster from its holster before opening the doors a crack and settling down for a long wait. After a few moments, Elurín came to join her. "Are there really Elves attacking us?" he asked.

"It seems so."

"Did you see them?"

"No. They hadn't through the doors when we left to come find you."

"Oh."

"Why do you ask?"

"I wanted to know if the Noldor look different than us."

River crouched down. "I'm sure they do. More or less. Why wouldn't they?"

"The Doctor wouldn't tell us why they're attacking us." Elurín leaned against the wall, wrapping his small arms around himself.

River remembered too well being so small, and alone and confused. Unlike Elurín, though, she hadn't had anyone to turn to for answers or for help. Until she found her way to Leadworth. "They want the Silmaril," she said. She heard the Doctor sigh; he sounded vaguely exasperated, but she wasn't really one for sheltering kids. "And they think they can bully your father into giving it to them."

Elurín frowned, looking for a moment very much like his father. River wondered if their eyes came from Lúthien. "But it doesn't belong to them. Our grandparents…"

"I know. It's rather complicated, I gather." River wished she could meet Lúthien. Maybe she would ask the Doctor after they got out of this mess. Everything she had heard about the Elven princess made her seem like a fascinating person, albeit intimidating. Even more intimidating than Lady Galadriel. Not that River would ever admit out loud that she was intimidated by anyone, but…

Eluréd and Elwing were curled up together by the wall, Eluréd with his head on Elwing's lap. Both of them were watching the Doctor, who paced the length of the treasury and back, pausing around one spot in particular. River narrowed her eyes at it, noticing a slight discoloration in the stone floor.

Oh. River grimaced and looked back down the hall. She couldn't hear anything, which was almost as bad as being able to hear the fighting. They had no way of knowing what was happening, except that people were dying. The Doctor had said that Elwing, at least, would reach the shore with the Silmaril; he hadn't said whether Dior and Nimloth would get there with her, only that Galadriel and Celeborn would. Did that mean the king and queen would die here, like Thingol before them?

What kind of faded bloodstains would other people someday find in this place?

After a while, Elurín returned to his siblings, and as they whispered together, the Doctor came to sit beside River. "Anything?" he asked. She shook her head. "I don't like this. Waiting." He made a face. "It's so boring."

"Patience is a virtue," River murmured, keeping her gaze turned down the hall. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the Doctor roll his eyes.

"And to think I thought waiting while Vincent painted that old building was a bore…at least I could watch a genius at work."

"Vincent?" River glanced at him. "As in Van Gogh?"

"The one and only. He'd fallen half in love with Amy before we left."

"I bet Rory wasn't happy about that."

"Oh, Rory wasn't there."

"He wasn't?"

"This was before Venice."

"Oh."

The Doctor stood and started pacing again. River kept her ears open. If they needed to run, they would have to do it before the enemy actually reached this hallway.

After what seemed like hours, she heard footsteps, the clink of armor as someone – several someones – ran toward them. River scrambled to her feet and raised her blaster. The Doctor immediately moved to her side. "Wait," he said. "Make sure…"

"I know."

The Doctor gestured for the children to stay back. "Get ready to run." Elwing immediately set about making sure the twins were bundled up and that they had their things.

River adjusted her grip on her blaster, but lowered it a moment later as relief rushed over her. It was Nimloth, and Galadriel. Nimloth still carried her bow, but her quiver was empty. Galadriel had an equally empty quiver, but had abandoned her bow. Instead she carried a long knife in one hand, and a torch in the other.

"Naneth!" The children nearly knocked Nimloth over when she and Galadriel entered the treasury. Nimloth gathered them close, and it was then that River saw the tear-tracks streaked through the battle grime on her face.

"What's happening?" the Doctor asked Galadriel.

"Dior has fallen," she said softly. The Doctor closed his eyes. "The battles is still on, but it will not be long before we are all scattered. We must get the children out of here." She turned her head sharply back the way she and Nimloth had come. "Your plan worked, Doctor, but only for a short time."

"It was only meant to buy time," the Doctor replied. "It won't be long until they make it here. The treasury is the obvious storage place for treasure."

Nimloth rose, hands hovering over her children's shoulders, like she wanted to be touching all of them at once, though she only had two hands. "We must go," she said.

"This way," said Galadriel. "Doctor, come ahead with me." The Doctor nodded. "River, are you not armed?"

River raised her blaster, and shot at the ceiling. Galadriel gazed for a moment at the black mark, at the smoke hovering around it. "Very well," she said finally. "You come behind." River nodded. "The Noldor bear a many-pointed star upon their armor, the star of Fëanor. The Sindar bear no such device." River nodded again, glad to know that there was indeed an obvious difference between the Noldorin and Sindarin armor. "Come."

As River followed behind Nimloth and the children, she heard Elwing ask about Dior. Nimloth didn't answer.