Above them, the sky roiled with storm clouds that promised a torrential downpour, replete with brief illuminations of lightning that crackled dangerously in the distance, though it would soon be over their heads. We should get back to the cave quickly. I do not want to be out in this, nor do I trust that Aragorn can convince Legolas to stay within the shelter, should the Prince even be awake now. Unthinkingly, Elrohir increased his pace, his worry over the oncoming storm not his only reason for wishing to return to their camp as soon as possible.
The Wood-Elf walked only a pace behind Elladan, his sword still pointed towards the Noldor. They were a quiet ternary of Elves, for the twins could tell that Salneril did not wish to speak with them – the warrior wanted to see his Prince, and then, perhaps, there would be time for questions and explanations. For now, however, the Wood-Elf's fair face was set in fervent determination. I hope that Legolas will be awake so that he can explain to his fellow warrior that we are friends, the younger twin thought. I do not think Salneril will be so eager to listen to our story of Legolas' condition if the warrior thinks we have had some part in it. The brothers did, in fact, have some part in Legolas' circumstance: by the twins' reckoning, Aragorn in particular bore much blame in the Prince's sorrow, but Elrohir had no plans to tell the warrior this, nor any of the Wood-Elf's companion soldiers, for the younger Noldo feared the reaction of Legolas' subjects to this knowledge, especially if Legolas remained unconscious.
The Noldo suddenly felt a fear he had not felt since his twin's consciousness had touched his, not since Elladan had been afraid to face the witch in the clearing. His other, human brother was in trouble, and the distinct, accompanying feeling of doom overwhelmed him: abruptly, the Noldo stopped walking, which nearly caused Elladan to stumble into him.
Elladan whispered softly from behind him, "Elrohir? Have you forgotten which way to go?"
The younger Noldo shook his head, did not turn to face his twin, and began picking his way through the forest again. Despite Elrohir's belief that the woodland warrior behind his twin meant them no harm, and regardless of his joy to know that their worries were over, that the Wood-Elves would be able to help Legolas, Aragorn, and Elladan with their herbs, food, and their mere presence while traveling to Eryn Galen, the younger twin fought the urge to run haphazardly through the forest to the camp.
After a few more steps, the Elda paused in his walking yet again, his mind worked quickly to recall which way to turn amongst the twisted trees – Elrohir nearly forgot to begin walking once more when the thought struck him: Salneril has said there are other Wood-Elves combing the forest. I wonder if they are nearby. Elrohir's chest seemed to draw in upon itself, tightening as a dark, deleterious portent came to him – the Wood-Elves might come across the two humans and the injured Prince. His earlier thoughts of explaining Legolas' condition to Salneril came back to him, and when added to these new worries, exacerbated the younger twin's rush to reach the camp. Salneril does not believe two of his own kind when we say we are friends. What hope would two humans have of convincing the Wood-Elves that they have not harmed their Prince?
He imagined the Ranger and mercenary as they made camp, telling himself, They are well. Still, the Noldo could not shake his dread, and so he thought of Legolas as he had last seen the Prince; the young, battered Elf had been lying on the ground, sleeping the sound sleep of one whose body wanted more rest than the Prince had allowed himself. We will find them alive. They will have come to no harm, not in the short time we have been gone.
"What is it, Elrohir?" he heard his twin ask with exasperation and worry, but the younger twin no longer saw his brother, the Wood-Elf, or the woods around him.
As he had when watching Ament die, the Noldo could see what Legolas saw; however, the Prince seemed to be looking at nothing. It is as if Legolas were swimming in the lake, the younger twin thought of the eerie lack of light and sound, and though he felt his twin lay a hand on his shoulder, it did not deter the younger brother from trying to retain this new vision. Legolas is unconscious. Not sure how to remove the unusual apparition from his mind, or if he should try, Elrohir argued, But Legolas was unconscious before we left. I am only seeing what I should be seeing. What causes this premonition of danger now?
It was the despair and exhaustion that finally showed the younger Noldo what danger lay ahead of them in the forest – the sightless and soundless existence in which the Prince was languishing was familiar to the twin, for he had felt it previously. Legolas is dying. Elrohir was connected to the Prince as before, and as before, when the Prince had just slain Ament and Legolas had desired to fade, the younger twin could feel the Wood-Elf's grief as it claimed him, and Elrohir could tell that the Prince's languishing body desired to remain in the leaden stupor of the young Elf's imminent death.
Elrohir was not sure of what exactly was happening in the clearing, but he knew that they were needed, and that they were needed now. Legolas is dying and Aragorn is in trouble. Without bothering to confer with either his twin or the Wood-Elf, Elrohir took off through the woods blindly, no longer following the directions he had memorized, as he could not see the forest around him. The Noldo ran instinctively towards the source of the apprehension holding his racing heart captive.
"We will wait for Captain Salneril to find us," the Wood-Elf holding his blade to Estel's throat told his fellow Elf. "We have no proof that it was these humans who have injured the Prince."
Naiahim's answering scowl reminded the Ranger of Ament, and a chill ran through him at the thought that the Wood-Elf would not see reason, much like the fallen mercenary. And here I am again, waiting to die with a blade at my neck, he jibed himself humorlessly, again thinking of Ament and the mercenary's predilection for slitting throats.
"Why wait, Maeneros? We could be done with them now," Naiahim told his fellow Elf, grinning at Aragorn in anticipation.
From across the campsite, Jalian's scarred visage appeared deathly pale as it was lit by the lightning in the sky: the mercenary stuttered as he repeated what the Ranger had attempted to explain to the Wood-Elves only moments before, "Th-there's others…they'll b-be back…"
"Yes," the one called Naiahim muttered, rolling his eyes at Aragorn, though it was to Jalian that he said sarcastically, "Your friend here has already warned us that his brothers are coming back."
The four Wood-Elves suddenly turned their heads to the edge of the clearing; what they heard the Ranger did not know, but it was enough that they were distracted for a moment and Estel's demise delayed for him to decide, If the twins arrive, certainly the Wood-Elves would listen to them. Whether the noise in the forest came from the twins or not, or perhaps the trees singing of the twins, Aragorn could not wait to find out. The Ranger would have to find a way to stay alive, for the blade at his throat and the sharp sword that Naiahim held out towards the human might not be halted in time, or at all, by the Noldor's intervention.
A salvo of thunder seemed to shake the very air around them, its fierce report startling the Wood-Elves and humans alike from their intense heeding of the sounds in the forest. When Maeneros cursed in surprise, the Ranger quickly tried to take advantage of the warrior's lax grasp; Aragorn brought his arm up and shoved his fingers between his neck and the Elf's blade. Uncaring that the sharp sword cut into his fingers and palm, the Ranger's other, fisted hand collided with the woodland warrior's stomach, driving the Elda's body forward. Maeneros released his hold of the human's hair with a grunt of pain as he tried to remain upright from where he stood behind Aragorn.
The moment he had jerked the blade far enough away from his throat, the Ranger threw himself to the side towards his own blade, which he had been forced to discard on the ground earlier. Aragorn rolled as he moved, kicking out at Maeneros at the same time, for neither Wood-Elf would hesitate to kill the human, and the Ranger knew that a moving target would be harder to hit.
"Naiahim," Maeneros warned with a shout, as he lost his balance and fell backwards onto his rear on the ground. However, the angry Naiahim had already noticed Aragorn's actions and stepped forward once more with his blade at ready, intending to dispense of the Ranger.
"Estel!"
Elrohir. The Ranger recognized his brother's voice but he did not stop rolling, nor did he cease his mad scramble away from the Wood-Elves until his hand had found the hilt of his sword amongst the grass. He stumbled to his feet – the burns on his stomach and chest felt newly made, as the barely closed, charred apertures had fumbled apart during his struggle to be free of the Elf.
"Wait," the younger twin said, this time speaking quietly. Elrohir walked into the clearing, his eyes wide as if he was only just seeing what was happening. "It is not as you think," he told the Wood-Elves, stepping forward into the clearing until Naiahim, who had halted his advance on the Ranger the moment Elrohir had shouted, unlatched the catch on his quiver to release his bow.
Naiahim laid his sword on the ground and removed his bow causally, and then notched an arrow upon the string just as nonchalantly. "Come no closer," the Wood-Elf cautioned, drawing back the bowstring without aiming it, his preparation to do so a warning to Elrohir, however.
Sweet Eru. Aragorn turned the hilt of his sword in hand, gauging which way he could throw the blade so that it would strike the Wood-Elf without killing him. I will not stand here and watch while this crazed Wood-Elf kills Elrohir in cold blood.
Hanir held the Prince, and the Elf holding Jalian had not moved, but Maeneros rose from where Aragorn had thrown him to forest floor and Naiahim, who glanced at the Ranger and then at Elrohir, told the Noldo, "State your name, and why you trespass in King Thranduil's lands."
Although the younger Noldo responded, his answer was lost amidst a deafening clap of thunder and the sudden approach of Elladan. With Jalian still held at knife-point, Legolas on the ground coughing blood and desperate in his insentience to breathe, Aragorn holding his sword in preparation for battle, and a Wood-Elf with his bow aimed upon his twin, the elder twin's eyes grew just as round and wide as his brother's at the scene. Confused as to what was occurring and who was at fault for it, Elladan held his hands out from his waist, palms towards the Ranger, and told Estel, "Drop your blade, brother. These Elves mean you no harm."
There you are wrong, the Ranger thought to himself, though he did not say this aloud, for if you had not arrived, Jalian and I would both be beyond mere harm.
Furtively, the Ranger looked to his fellow human: in his fear-bred desperation, the mercenary was on the verge of doing something terribly ill advised. Elladan must have followed Estel's gaze with his own, for with indignation he demanded at once, "Release the human. He has done you no harm."
"No," Naiahim told them, shouting over the rising clamor of thunder and the swift wind that made the old trees creak and groan as their limbs swayed. "No, but they have harmed our Prince, and they are ours to deal with. Now answer me: who are you, and why are you in Eryn Galen?"
To the Ranger's surprise, yet another Wood-Elf sprang forth from the surrounding forest, his sword outthrust as he bound towards the twins. Helpless but to watch as the seemingly unsuspecting twins were to be attacked from behind, the Ranger fumbled forward to do what he could to stop his brothers from being hurt. However, ere he had taken more than two steps, Naiahim was turned around, the arrow now trained on Aragorn.
But the newcomer stopped short of the twins and asked breathlessly, "What is happening, Naiahim?"
"We have found the Prince, Captain, and the humans who have taken him." Again grinning at the Ranger, Naiahim's fingers played upon his taut bowstring, his anticipation to kill Aragorn a gleam of feral bloodlust in his dark eyes.
"Put down your sword, Estel," the elder twin tried again. Neither twin moved, for they did not want to instigate violence against themselves or their brother.
Aragorn would not drop his sword: the Wood-Elf who had appeared with Estel's twin brothers from the forest held his own blade out towards the Noldor, and though neither twin seemed afraid of this, it frightened the Ranger to see that his brothers' welfare was in doubt. The sky and forest became luminously white with another round of streak lightning. The storm was nearly upon them.
"Naiahim, stay your hand and put away your weapons," the Elda behind the twins demanded with a sigh, and then replaced his own sword. His voice carrying the weight of authority with which one accustomed to having his orders followed tends to use, the Captain told his warriors, "These Noldor claim to be the sons of Elrond, and I will not have our kingdom disgraced with their deaths." The Mirkwood Captain, whom Aragorn was glad to know held authority over the vengeful Wood-Elves, frowned at the warrior holding Jalian. Immediately, the mercenary was released: Jalian hurried away from the Wood-Elf by moving inside the cave, as if the shelter would offer him protection from the volatile situation outside.
The she-Elf Hanir spoke up from where she sat on the ground with her Prince, confirming with wonder as she looked between Elladan and Elrohir, "I recognize the Noldor from when I took my sister to the Grey Havens. We passed through the hidden valley on our way." Turning her attention back to Legolas' ashen, bloodstained face when another fit of coughing overtook him, she told the warriors around her, "They are indeed the sons of Elrond."
Naiahim's anger did not abate at knowing that the Elves who he had held his arrow upon were Elven Lords, but his violence was deflated. "He fades, Captain," Naiahim seethed, replacing his arrow, and then his bow. Seizing his sword from where he had placed it on the ground, the Wood-Elf did not put it away, but kept it in hand, as he told his Captain, "These humans have defiled our Prince. This one's brothers are coming back for him," he said, pointing his blade at the Ranger.
"It was not these humans," Elladan explained as he and Elrohir finally walked into the clearing and stood between the Wood-Elves and the Ranger. "They have helped your Prince. We are the Ranger's brothers, though not by blood. We –"
"All of this can be explained to the King," the Captain interrupted tersely, glaring at each of his underlings and then the two humans before he turned his gaze to the Noldor twins. "My Lords," Salneril said, allowing no room for argument as he asked of them, "You and your human friends will accompany us to Thranduil's halls. We will leave immediately to take the Prince home to his father."
"Of course," Elladan answered for them all, as this has been their intent all along. "We were on our way there before meeting you, though we had stopped the night to allow our wounded to rest."
The Captain nodded, and then began barking orders to his warriors, all of whom jumped to follow their leader's demands – all save Naiahim, who took his time in sneering at the Noldor and humans before leaving to fetch the Wood-Elves' horses and supplies as he was directed. Not until the soldier had left the clearing did Aragorn finally replace his sword in its scabbard.
"Come, Estel," the younger Noldo told him, pulling him by the arm away from the group of warriors that bustled through the camp.
The twins led him to the mouth of the cave where their own supplies were ensconced within the shelter, leaving Legolas to his sentries' care. Aragorn could tell that the Wood-Elves, though competent warriors, were not healers, and Hanir and her companions fretted over the Prince, uncertain what would aid him. Elrohir or Elladan could tell them what to do. However, at the moment, I doubt they would allow any of us near Legolas. He let one of the twins wrap his newly cut fingers, while the other checked his other wounds. They did not speak. The Wood-Elves would be able to hear them; the three brothers did not wish to garner any more suspicion than the Wood-Elves already had for them, and so remained quiet.
One of the Elves, the one who had held Jalian, and who Aragorn believed to be called Alnam, judging by the orders the Captain had barked, walked to them carrying a satchel. Jalian moved closer to Aragorn, obviously uneasy with the Elf's presence. Bending down before the Noldor and two humans, the Wood-Elf avoided meeting their eyes as he sat the bag in front of Elladan. "Captain Salneril says that you are in need," the warrior stated, opened the satchel, and rifled through it. "We have lembas and cured meat."
While they had been searching, in fact, for fresh food, as they had waybread and cured meat of their own, Elrohir took the leaf wrapped rations from the Wood-Elf, telling Alnam gratefully, "Thank you, my friend."
"We have few herbs," the warrior told them, finally raising his gaze though he kept it carefully upon the Noldo, and did not look at either Jalian or Estel. "We are no healers," the Wood-Elf said by way of explanation, unintentionally confirming to the Ranger his opinion of them a moment ago, "and I do not know if any of our medicines will help your human friends."
That the Elf spoke of the mercenary and himself as though they were not sitting beside the twins evinced to Aragorn that the distrust between the two races would not be so easily absolved. It did not concern the Ranger: the only matter that bothered Estel, at least now that the twins and Jalian were safe, was the blanched but blood spattered Prince who lay on the ground, his faer and vigor fading before their very eyes.
Elladan adjusted the sling on his arm in agitation: though it was intended to keep his arm from moving, and thus his broken collarbone from being jarred, the Noldo was sorely tempted to remove it. He would have, had not he known that Elrohir would have balked and demanded he replace it immediately. Moreover, since Elrohir rode beside him in their awkward procession, Elladan was sure that his twin would notice.
The tension amongst the travelers was nearly as heavy as the humid air. The Wood-Elves would have had Aragorn's head had not Elrohir seen what was happening, the elder Noldo worried. Once more, his twin's fortuitous insight had saved their brother's life and that of the mercenary as well. Even though the she-Elf has told them we do not lie, and that we are Lords of Imladris, they still do not trust us. Elladan glanced over his shoulder at Aragorn, who sat upright in his saddle as if the Wood-Elves would turn on them at any moment.
The herbs that the warriors had with them were not the kind that would help the Ranger's fever, nor Legolas' coughing. If they traveled with the celerity that Elladan anticipated the woodland warriors would wish to travel to take their Prince home, the twin estimated, We should arrive in Eryn Galen the day after tomorrow. It was well that they would be traveling both day and night, for Legolas' cold and grey complexion, his renewed coughing of blood, and his unconsciousness frightened Elladan, as he knew it frightened the others. Getting the fallen Prince and febrile Estel to Eryn Galen overshadowed any concerns Elladan had of the Wood-Elves reticent hatred.
They were surrounded by them. The woodland soldiers could merely have been trying to protect the Noldor and humans, but to Elladan, he felt a prisoner as they traversed the dim, tangled forest. They do not trust us. They would keep us within their sights and as far away from Legolas as possible, the Noldor deliberated, agreeing with Aragorn on the matter unknowingly. Even Salneril, who had seemed merry when first the twins had met them, was now somber as they traveled. It is no wonder. He had hoped to find his Prince, and though he has, he has only found him dying.
The rain did not start slowly. One moment thunder and streak lightning was the only tumult in the dark clouds, and in the next moment, the wind pushed the storm closer to the travelers, and the rain down upon them. It beat against their unprotected heads, drenching them ere their mounts had even walked out of sight of the campsite. Why must it always rain when it is most imperative for us to remain dry? Elladan's personal grievance with the downpour was that the cold rain endangered the health of the human Ranger. Estel is already feverish. He does not need this to complicate his illness.
Violence emanated from Naiahim, and given the chance, Elladan was anxious that the warrior would attempt to harm Aragorn or Jalian again. It would be a long journey with much discomfort and little rest. However, despite the aid of the Wood-Elves in both supplies and protection, Elladan found himself more worried now than before. As Naiahim moved his horse closer to where the Prince rode with Hanir, the elder Noldo thought, If Legolas does not wake to explain what has happened before we reach Eryn Galen, it may be more than just his life hanging in the balance.