Chapter 3

Estel put the last items into his backpack and securely fastened it. Now he had packed everything he would need: warm clothes, a blanket, a water skin, his pen knife and even some lembas, which he had sneaked out of the kitchen at dinner. Estel put on his coat and looked around his room one more time. He had arranged everything, including the pillows under the blanket, to look as if he were asleep in his bed.

If everything went according to plan, no one would notice his absence till the morning. His adar was still working in the healing wing and he knew Erestor had left him with Lindir so he could look after Elrond. He was aware that everyone was worried about his gwadors and he had already learned that Erestor tended to be occupied with watching over Elrond when his ada was working too much. Estel had never been so happy about Erestor's worrying as he was now that it gave him the opportunity to sneak away. And Lindir had certainly been no hindrance.

After dinner Lindir had taken Estel to the library and while he had pretended to read a book, Lindir had completely disappeared into his own little world of poetry. Still Estel had been on edge and had waited over an hour to be absolutely certain that he would be able to sneak away. However, from the looks of it, Lindir had all but forgotten he was even there.

So Estel had returned to his room to prepare for his trip. He was going to find his brothers. The other elves didn't understand that he needed to help them and that he was certainly old enough to do so. Silently Estel walked out of his room and carefully made his way through the house and down to the stables. He took all the secret and out-of-the-way hallways he knew and in no time he had reached the stables without being seen by anyone.

Fifteen minutes later his pony was saddled and ready to go. Because so many guards had left in search for the twins, it was easy for Estel and his pony to leave unseen.

-o0o-

Worry was slowly filling the cave, crawling over Elladan like an insect with a hundred legs. He had, for once without complaint from his thick-headed twin, managed to clean and tie all of Elrohir's injuries. There had been less than he had feared, for which he was grateful, but through it all and through the hours that he had waited since, Elrohir still had not regained consciousness.

When treating his twin's injuries Elladan had found an alarming gash on Elrohir's head, clearly the result of a rock that had hit him when the cave collapsed. The wound had seemingly bled a lot but had stopped by the time that Elladan had woken up, which meant that both he and his brother had indeed been unconscious for a considerable amount of time.

And still Elrohir would not wake up. Elladan had discovered that he had altogether too much knowledge of the complications of head wounds and it seemed to be echoing in his thoughts, whispering of permanency and of death. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to block out the dark thoughts. It had been easier when he was still caring for Elrohir's injuries, then his nebulous fears had been kept in check by the need to clean cuts left by orc scimitars or to stabilize the knee on his twin's right leg which had gotten a bad blow from one of the stones. That was another injury that worried Elladan, but he would not know the extent of damage caused until Elrohir woke up.

'If he wakes up.' The fleeting thought proved too much. Elladan shot up from his seated position at his brother's side, mindful not to hit his head on the low ceiling and started pacing. By Elbereth, he would lose his mind if he was forced to be inactive much longer. There had to be something he could do, something that would be of use in their current situation. Eventually his eyes traveled back to the darkness behind him, the only place in the cave that was not blocked by solid granite walls or fallen boulders. Their only hope for finding a second exit. And with one last look to make sure that Elrohir was still unconscious and tightly wrapped in his cloak, Elladan set out to explore the cave.

It had been a wide natural cavern even before the orcs had tunneled into it, that much Elladan remembered seeing before the cave-in. Of course most of what he had seen had been glimpses during the fight and then he had paid closer attention to the beasts' hidden door. He hoped that it was closed for good. Even if he could find and open it he would rather not chance a trip through an orc lair in his current condition, or more to the point Elrohir's. There had to be another way.

Carefully working his way along the side of the cave, Elladan strained his eyes to see by the little light his elven body provided. The cave was deeper than he had expected, Elrohir and the former entrance that they had taken had long since been swallowed by the darkness behind him. And still the darkness in front continued unchanged, offering no sign of light, of hope for another exit. How far would he have to go, how far behind would he have to leave his twin before he found either a dead-end or their possible salvation? The thought of Elrohir waking up injured and alone in the dark left him uneasy. His twin had never been fond of staying beneath ground.

But before he could decide to head back he heard a faint sound, like the trickle of water over stone. Following it, he found that indeed, after a few paces the walls of the cave became wet with water running down them from above; an underground spring or maybe rain water from the outside filtered through a thin layer of stone. Either one might indicate a way out of this valar-forsaken place and Elladan continued on deeper into the cave. After only a short distance there was enough water that it covered the ground in the middle of the cavern forming a large puddle - or a small stream. If the stream continued on towards the outside world it might prove to be their way out of here. Elladan was just about to continue following the small stream, when an intense pain exploded between his temples and his legs collapsed under him, suddenly unwilling to bear his weight.

As soon as it came the sensation passed and the searing pain that had accompanied it reduced to a bearable level, a mere reminder that was nudging at a corner of his mind. Elladan had felt his brother's pain often enough to recognize it for what it was and to understand what it meant – Elrohir was waking up.

As fast as he could safely manage without running into walls, Elladan hurried back to his twin's side. When he reached him, Elrohir was already struggling with the confines of his cloak that Elladan had wrapped around him to ward off the chill of the cave. Gently placing his hands on Elrohir's arms to halt his movements, Elladan removed the cloak from around his twin's shoulders.

"Easy brother," he cautioned quietly.

"'Dan?" Elrohir's voice was weak and judging by the unfocused look in his eyes, he was guessing at his brother's position rather than recognizing him. A pang of dread flitted through the older twin's mind before he reminded himself that it might be the darkness upsetting his brother's vision and not a concussion. Trying for his best imitation of their father's healer's tone, Elladan set out to assess Elrohir's head injury.

"How do you feel?" And because he knew his twin, he added: "Truthfully!"

Elrohir let out a long-suffering sigh: "As if a group of trolls were having an argument inside my head. Also it seems as if I have done something unpleasant to my right knee, but it seems you have taken care of that already." Elrohir's eyes must have become accustomed to the lack of light, for he clearly saw Elladan's doubtful expression and added: "Do not fret Elladan. I might have a headache but I am fine."

"So you know where we are then, little brother?"

"Clearly we are in a cave." Elrohir replied gesturing vaguely around them, the distaste for any kind of underground place clear in his voice.

Elladan just raised an eyebrow, having easily caught on to the uncertainty that Elrohir was trying to hide beneath sarcasm. "And how did we get stuck here?"

The answer to this questions was trickier and Elrohir carefully avoided his brother's probing gaze. "We took shelter from a storm?" he hazarded a guess and barely concealed the question in the answer. Elladan merely sighed audibly.

"Just once, Elrohir, could you just tell me the truth about your injuries?

"You first," was his brother's smug reply.

"You are the one that is injured, now would have been your chance."

"Who says that you are not injured?" his twin shot back. "Clearly you had time to look at my injuries, I think it is time you let me tend to yours." Indicating the hand Elladan still rested lightly on his chest he added: "May I get up now?"

The older twin hesitated for a moment, but eventually conceded. If nothing else his brother insisting on looking at his injuries was so typical of Elrohir that it put some of his worse fears about his twin's condition to rest. Gently he helped Elrohir into a sitting position and pretended not to notice, when his brother tilted to the side alarmingly. Elrohir clenched his eyes tightly shut against the pain and breathed deeply through what Elladan assumed was considerable vertigo. But when his breathing eased and he opened his eyes they flashed with defiance. "Now let me look at your injuries and then we can find a way out of here."

With barely a sigh Elladan complied. He settled down next to his twin, patiently and truthfully answering his questions and showing the cut on his arm that he had bound earlier after he had tended to Elrohir's injuries. It was easy to admit to past pains, now that even his headache had long since subsided. His twin had no choice but to accept that Elladan was, in fact, fine and after another moment of rest Elladan stood and helped Elrohir to his feet.

"Time to get out of here."

Elladan slipped a hand around his twin's waist to keep the weight off Elrohir's injured leg. The going would be slow, and it would be painful, that much was clear from the flash of pain that shot through their bond and the sharp intake of breath from his twin. For a moment he contemplated telling Elrohir to stay behind while he explored the cave further, but he disregarded the thought quickly. Not only would Elrohir refuse, it would also slow them down.

With one hand stretched out to find the wall that had guided him deeper into the cave earlier and the other still wrapped around Elrohir, Elladan set out carefully.

They did not leave a moment too soon. The cave around them suddenly shook anew and the deafening noise of stones shifting and boulders falling made Elladan reflexively move faster, deeper into the cave and away from the new danger. A cloud of dust settled over his skin as the world stilled once more and when he looked back, the place they had been had vanished beneath a new rockslide. The cave was far from stable.

-o0o-

Darkness came early under the thick cover of the clouds that barred the sun. It could not be more than the early evening but already the light was failing, turning the uneven ground under their feet even more treacherous.

Glorfindel and his elves had been digging through the rubble of the presumed cave-in for hours. It was slow-going and hard work. Many of the bigger stones could only be moved by three or more elves working together and the shifting rubble beneath their feet signaled an ever-present danger of a new cave-in. If Elladan and Elrohir were close to the original fall of stones on the other side, or if, Valar-forbid, they were trapped beneath, that might be catastrophic.

Sweat was slicking his hair and beading his brow as he bent to lift another large rock, handing it to Berandir who was closer to the ground to gently place it to the side. There was still no sign of an opening, though they had made a notable dent into the wall of rock and stone. Enough to prove that there had been a cave entrance here, but also enough to suggest that a vast part of the entire cave had come down. Perhaps it had been destroyed completely…

It was not a thought that Glorfindel wanted to entertain but he knew he needed to consider the possibility. There was a chance that he would not find Elrohir and Elladan alive. And with every shifted rock that only revealed more stone beneath that chance increased. Glorfindel straightened, brushed the sweat from his forehead and closed his eyes against the sting of dirt and fears before continuing to dig. Even if he would only recover their crushed bodies, he would return the twins to their father.

But as he bent to pick up the next rock, a tremor ran through the ground beneath his feet - just before it dipped sharply. The whole pile of rocks shifted, the walls of the cave, recently exposed, cracked and broke. Boulders fell. Screams rent the air.

-o0o-

tbc...