Kudos to all who guessed Huan is going to make his appearance. Here he is.
3. Huan the Hound
"Gerroff…" I wheezed before I was smothered by a long, slobbery tongue. It felt as if someone had swung a sledgehammer into my chest and left it there. I could feel the happy tattoo of a wagging tail against the ground. A wet nose shoved itself against my ear, nosily exhaling a breath of something feral and earthly, of gnawed bones and wet rawhide.
Huan.
"Doggy! Doggy!" the Elurussa clapped their hands and squealed with delight when they realized that the creature did not mean to eat them. Huan shifted his bulk on my body to better examine the pair. Move, you mangy hound! I flailed helplessly for breath as he was still sitting on my ribcage while the twins shyly patted his huge head and scratched behind his ears.
Finally, my erstwhile hunting companion recalled my presence and eased his bulk off my bruised body. I do not know how that is even possible. Why was he here? I never heard of animals having fear, even a Hound of Orome's.
My face had been thoroughly washed with dog-drool and I wiped it off on my sleeves in disgust. My dagger was gone, lost somewhere in the shadowy underbrush.
"You crazy hound…" I muttered as Huan sat with the goofiest doggy grin on his face. Part of me wanted to smack him for his betrayal with Luthien, another part of me wanted to hug him with relief.
"Huan, I guess we messed up with the Luthien business, didn't we?" I muttered and stuck out my hand to him. Huan gave a loud woof of agreement and licked my hand apologetically, as he had done as a puppy after he had chewed Atto's slippers to bits and Atto blamed me for it.
"Sorry, old friend. I should have listened to you." Huan had not liked the business with Luthien from the start. He kept whining and pawing at the door of the chamber where we had shut her in. Had it not being for Curufin's coaxing, perhaps I might have given Huan's protests more heed.
True, Luthien was fair beyond compare, but face it. I doubt King Thingol would accept me as a law-son given his feelings towards the Noldor. Also, she was a bit of a witch. It would be like trying to score with ice-queen Artanis, or Moryo's harridan of a wife back in Tirion. She did remind me a bit of Irisse with her colouring – who am I kidding? Irisse went off and married some nobody. All in line with custom about not marrying cousins. Celegorm the Fair – bachelor for eternity. That's me.
Huan whimpered and crept forward, shuffling his nose against me.
"Hey, quit sniffing up there!" I smacked him lightly on the snout when he got too near to my crotch for comfort. It was then I noticed the twins were uncharacteristically quiet.
"What's up?" I asked.
"I-is that Huan the Hound? The one who fought the nasty werewolf?" Elured asked.
"One and the same," I could not help feeling proud of my canine friend. News of his death had hit hard, though not as hard as his betrayal.
"H-he's dead. He died fighting the big bad wolf, like Ada said…" Elurin wailed.
"W-we're dead! We'll never see Ada or Nana again!" Elured added.
"Oh shut up already! We are all dead, probably your adar and naneth too!" I know Dior was dead, though I did not see any sign of his fea.
Huan padded over to the twins and started licking the tears off their faces. The ticklish sensation soon had the pair giggling. I recalled that when the Ambarussa were young, Huan liked to tickle their bare feet with his tongue as they slept, until they awoke in a fit of giggles.
"Ada said we are not full elves! We would not get to stay in Mandos or be reborn…" Elurin moaned.
"Your adar wouldn't even know if Lord Namo kicked him in the ass! We are somewhere in Mandos," I hope. "Didn't we just meet that nasty elf?"
"Maybe here is where all the bad elves go!" Elured hiccupped.
"Come here," I hugged the pair close and Huan joined us, not wanting to be left out of a group hug. "I am not leaving you until we get you back to your family, even if we are dead." Even if Dior was not admitted to Mandos, being mortal on his father's side, perhaps Elu Thingol would be happy to take his great-grandsons off my hands.
We could only continue on. Huan gladly allowed the elflings to ride on his back, the same way he had allowed the Ambarussa when they were tiny. We could make better headway without having to wait for their tiny legs to catch up.
Brambles tore at my skin and garments as I tried to shove my way through the ever-crowding thickets. The twins' daggers were too short to be of much use. I wished I still had my sword though Curufin would decry the way I intended to use it to hack through the thorns.
"Tell me about the big bad wolf," I said as I tried to get my bearings. In these strange woods, Huan's tracking skills were at a loss, just like mine. I had to distract the elflings.
"Nasty wolf came into Doriath, Melian cannot stop him…"
"He fierce, go howling and running through the woods, so grandfather and Huan had to stop him before he hurt someone…"
I have heard of the Great Hunt of the Wolf many times. It was a beautiful hunt. It was a pity that as a devotee of Lord Orome, I was unable to be a part of it. Would I have stood up as well as the Sindar and Beren did?
"Someone is singing," Elurin suddenly whispered mid-way through the tale.
We froze. It was an ellon's voice. He was no bard although he sang fair enough. Silently, I crept forward to peer through the brambles. The elf was clad in the Silvan fashion. He was perched half-way up a dead tree and seemed to be in some kind of trance.
"Watcha doing?" the twins chirped. The elf gave a yelp and tumbled out of the tree.
"You hurt?" the boys asked innocently. I could not help chuckling at the silly sight of the fallen elf tangled up in the brambles.
"You've seen that Adan?" he blinked dazedly. "Keep him away from me, please…"
"There are no Edain here in Mandos," I replied.
"So I am dead eh? He got me, I guess…" the Silvan scratched his head. "Am I dressed proper? He took my clothes…"
Methinks that elf hit his head a little too hard on the way down. Otherwise he was a lunatic to start with. Huan padded over, sniffed at the elf's foot and yawned lazily.
"Do you know the way out?" I asked. He seemed an agreeable enough ellon.
"I think it is that way…" he pointed vaguely. "Sure you did not see any Adan?" he started back up the tree.
"Thanks, I guess…"
Author's Notes:
In case anyone is wondering, that elf up the tree is Saeros. Let's just say he never really got over the manner of his death, getting killed falling down a ravine naked while running away from Turin.