Chapter 2
It had been a few hours since the rescue party had set out from Rivendell. Although Elrond was worried about his twin sons, he remained calm and focused on his own tasks like the perfectly reasonable elven lord that he was. After all he trusted Glorfindel and his warriors and knew that they would do everything in their power to return Elladan and Elrohir to Imladris.
Moreover, the twins had hardly been lost or gotten themselves in some kind of trouble for the first time – far from it. If Elrond would not yet know how to handle these situations he would be in great trouble indeed. And while he would like to go and search for the twins himself, he knew that he was needed here and that, if he were to leave with a search party, his warriors would only worry about his safety, merely hindering the search.
No he had to stay home, besides he had his other son to worry about here. As Glorfindel had predicted the little one had wanted to accompany the search party and when he had been refused Estel had not taken it well. He had, in fact, thrown a temper tantrum, but Elrond was an elf and had been a father for so long that that storm was easy to weather.
Elrond could remember that when Elladan and Elrohir had been small elflings and had thrown tantrums it had been quite different. Back then he had hated to watch his twin sons scream and cry and had been inclined to give in. It was his wife, who had handled those situations best. She had calmly waited for their anger and their energy to abate and then explained her reasons for why the twins could not have this or were not allowed to do that.
Alas, that was a long, long time ago and Elrond could handle these situations better with his young adopted son. However, seeing how upset and sad Estel was after the rescue party had left, he had decided to keep Estel with him and together they had made their way to the healing wing. There were still a number of wounded elves that needed Elrond's attention and he had been working without a break for the last few hours.
Estel normally enjoyed working with him in the healing wing, but looking at his son now, Elrond realized that that was obviously not the case today. Estel sat away from everyone in the room on a little chair in the corner, staring blankly at the wall in front of him. Feeling for his young son, Elrond decided that the healing wing was obviously not the right place for Estel at the moment and that he needed something to take his mind off his missing brothers.
Knowing that he could not leave yet to help distract his youngest, Elrond made his way over to his advisor Erestor.
"Erestor, I need your help, my friend. I cannot leave here, but Estel should not sit inside and think too much. You will be in charge of looking after Estel. Take him outside and play with him. I want you to take his mind off things. Ask Lindir to help, he was not busy last I saw him."
Erestor nodded. "A great idea, my Lord. Little Estel worries too much, I cannot remember the last time I have seen him sit so quietly for such a long time."
Elrond sighed. "Neither can I."
Elrond watched as Erestor made his way over to his son and spoke to Estel quietly, who nodded slowly and hopped off the chair. Together he and Erestor made their way out of the healing wing.
-o0o-
Gradually Elladan became aware of his senses, such as they were. He could still hear no sound and even though he thought that he had opened his eyes, he could see nothing. But he became very aware of the pain that engulfed his entire body and bathed his mind in bitter agony. Moaning softly he squeezed his eyes shut and focused on getting the semblance of an order to his foggy memories.
'A cave-in', he remembered darkly, 'of course'. That perfectly explained the darkness and silence and, he noted in a wry afterthought the fierce pain he felt. Gingerly sitting up in the darkness he waited for his eyes to adjust to the dim light his own body provided, trying to make out his surroundings. His pain slowly subsided to a bearable level, leaving him with dull aches, seemingly everywhere. Merely the headache still ravaged freely between his temples.
But his mind did not dwell on the aches his body emitted, for it was deeply troubled by an uncertainty that tugged at the corners of his awareness. An absence where he should be feeling the steady presence of …
Elrohir! He had to find his brother!
Elladan rushed to his feet, but the pain that exploded behind his forehead and the wave of dizziness that swept over him, were quick to bring him back to his knees. With a strangled cry he collapsed again. Breathing deeply to dispel the dizziness he felt and to chase away the lights flashing before his eyes he forced himself to calm down. Forced his mind away from the gruesome images it conjured when he thought about what could have happened to his twin during the cave-in.
A few minutes passed before the world steadied itself, but they felt like torturous hours. And with difficulty Elladan forced himself to restart his search for Elrohir more composed and careful this time. Rushing things and overexerting his injuries would help neither him nor Elrohir. Instead of rising again he tried to pierce the seemingly complete darkness that surrounded him, tried to learn more about their current predicament.
He found the ceiling had broken down completely behind him, barring the way to the former entrance. But here, deeper within the cave, the walls had seemingly been of a more solid structure. They had been able to withstand the shaking of the ground and the damage of the collapsing ceiling. If he looked closely a vast darkness seemed to spread ahead - the cave continued on still deeper in that direction. But before he could contemplate possible ways out of here he needed to find his twin.
A few loose rocks were strewn on the ground around him, telling their own tale of the cave-in they had so narrowly escaped. Or had they? Elladan realized that he simply assumed that Elrohir was fine, but he had no idea where his brother was, nor what condition he was in. 'Valar, he has to be alright.'
And somehow, deep inside Elladan could feel that Elrohir was alive, but remembering the last time he had seen his brother did not fill him with confidence about the condition his stubborn twin would be in once he found him. He could remember it now, the dying orc, the falling rocks and the terrible noise of the tortured stones as the cave shook itself apart. There were glimpses of a part of the ceiling breaking just above him, a huge slab of solid stone, and then Elrohir had crashed into him, his twin's weight and momentum hurling Elladan out of the way of that danger and against the solid stone wall behind him. He had lost consciousness then, without ever seeing in the darkness of the cave whether Elrohir himself had landed free of the falling rock.
Gritting his teeth against the pain in his head Elladan moved. He needed to find his brother, the sooner the better. And then they had to get out of this dratted cave, somehow. The former entrance was not an option, too thick was the solid wall of stone that blocked that path. 'No', Elladan decided, their only hope was that the cave would have another exit, somewhere within the vast blackness that loomed at the edges of his vision.
Elladan rose back to his feet, more careful this time. Not only was he afraid of dizziness, but he had to watch out for the low ceiling, too. Smiling slightly he realized that, had he not faltered earlier, he would have hit his head quite hard. And had Elrohir ever found out about it he would never have heard the end of it. Thinking about his twin, the smile on his lips vanished to be replaced by a fierce determination, he would find that stubborn brother of his and make sure that he was alright.
His eyes pierced the deep darkness hoping for any sign of his brother. Eventually he found it, there at the edge of the fallen cave wall was a faint glow that was not a reflection of his own. Stumbling as fast as he was able to under the circumstances he made his way towards the faint shimmer.
Dropping to his knees beside his twin he noticed gratefully that his brother had fallen clear of the rockslide and had not been buried beneath it as Elladan had secretly feared. And the faint glow that surrounded Elrohir was strong enough to reassure the older brother that he was in no immediate danger. Still, he was unconscious, and had clearly been for some time, though Elladan was not certain how long he himself had been insensate. And the darkness could be hiding any number of injuries besides.
Taking a deep breath Elladan sat down beside his brother. He would take care of these injuries now, and scold Elrohir for his foolish actions later. If his twin had not jumped so rashly into danger his injuries might be much lighter - and if he himself had noticed the imminent collapse of the cave in time, or seen the trap of the orcs for what it was they both might have escaped unscathed, Elladan chided himself silently.
He lightly touched his twin's cheek, taking comfort from the contact, from the simple fact that he had found Elrohir. He had failed to protect his brother once tonight, he would not do so again. Slowly he withdrew his hand, brushing a loose strand of dark hair out of his twin's face in the process. Then, setting his lips in a narrow line, Elladan pushed all feelings to the back of his mind as he set out to discover and care for every injury Elrohir had sustained. A small smile tucked at the corners of his lips once more, as he realized that at least, this time, Elrohir would not be able to hide them from him or claim that he was fine.
-o0o-
Not for the first time since they had reached the borders of Imladris at midday, Glorfindel found himself cursing their bad luck. The rain had washed away any traces he might have hoped to find.
They had found the remains of yesterday's battle easily enough; the stench of the orc corpses alone could have led them there. But amidst the carnage and blood it was impossible to make out the tracks of light elven footsteps.
It was a good thing that they had tracked the twins to the river already yesterday when it had become too late to search for them, for they would not even have been able to track them there now. The ground was a mire that had been churned and washed clean. No tracks remained.
With no further clues to guide them Glorfindel and the elves at his command set out along the river's edge, hoping against hope that they might find some signs of the twins' passing that had not been destroyed by last night's rain. With the sun still hidden behind moody clouds only diffuse light seeped through to them, letting all shapes blur around the edges.
They had been searching for many hours in the gray and desolate light that sapped both strength and hope, finding nothing. Another one of the elves that he had sent to scout the woods further from the river returned, and even though Glorfindel knew what the answer would be he asked: "Any signs of them?"
"No, my lord." There was a clear hint of dejection in the elf's voice. He was, Glrofindel knew, one of the archers in the twin's border patrol and knew them well. These hours, without finding clues, were hard on them all.
'But we will find them,' Glorfindel reminded himself, and he set out to continue the search, even if it would take them all day and all night.
"Hir nin!" At the sudden shout Glorfindel whirled around and ran. He recognized the fledgling of hope in the voice that had called for him. It was Berandir who had called and Glorfindel reached him crouching next to a large pile of scree at the base of a small cliff, maybe fourteen feet high. He gestured Glorfindel closer, then pointed at something half buried between the rocks and stones of the pile. An orc, and killed recently. Even though from a distance the pile of rocks had appeared to be a natural collection of scree it was clear now that these particular rocks had fallen only last night - and they had crashed one of the orcs they had been fighting, Glorfindel was certain of it. Here was the sign that they had been waiting for.
"And look here," Berandir said excitedly. He turned the dead orc over as well as he could, revealing a gaping hole in its chest. The rain had washed away the blood, exposing neat edges and a wound just the size of an elven blade. The twins' handiwork, there could be no doubt.
But what did it mean? Where were they now when an orc they had fought and killed lay here buried beneath a ton of rocks? Almost unconsciously his gaze was drawn to the ground at the bottom of the stone pile. And here, sheltered by the cliff some tracks had indeed survived the rain. Orc tracks, and a great many of them, were leading up to and disappearing beneath the loosely strewn rocks and boulders. The meaning of these tracks was clear - there was a cave behind the wall of rubble. A cave that the orcs had fled into and into which Elladan and Elrohir had almost certainly followed. And the entrance was shut.
Glorfindel straightened and looked at his gathered warriors. "Alright then," he said, infusing his words with confidence, "we dig."
-o0o-
It was late in the afternoon and the sky showed the first signs of darkening, when Elrond's advisor and friend Erestor returned to the healing wing. After Elrond had asked him to look after his youngest son – a task Erestor took very seriously – he had taken Estel into the kitchen. The tithen pen had been famished and quickly downed what the chef had prepared for him. While Estel had been busy eating, Erestor had gone looking for Lindir, whom he eventually found hiding out in the library, writing his poems or whatever it was that the self-proclaimed artist was doing. Reluctantly Lindir had agreed to help Erestor with Estel. It was quite clear that he would have prefered to write for the rest of the day, but Lindir, like all elves loved Estel dearly and had eventually agreed to care for him later - after he had finished his sonnet. Erestor shook his head, many elves had been wounded and the twins were missing, but Lindir for all accounts could not care less. He was so preoccupied with the great events depictured in song that he overlooked the grand deeds performed in Rivendell every day.
Erestor had then returned to Estel and together they had spent a quiet afternoon together. His original intention had been to take Estel outside to the pond or the shooting area, but a look at Estel's sad eyes had changed his mind. Those places would only serve to remind Estel of his gwadors and would not take his mind off their absence. Therefore, they had stayed inside and drawn pictures.
Now it was getting late and Erestor, having finally left Estel in Lindir's care, headed to the healing wing to look after another stubborn charge of his.
As was to be expected he found Elrond still working in the apothecary. All the wounded had finally been cared for and those who could not be released were sleeping comfortably on the beds close by the window. However, Imladris' lord himself had yet to rest.
Erestor watched Elrond as he organized and restocked their supplies, obviously preparing the healing wing for further wounded. Sighing, Erestor made his way over to him.
"My Lord, I have looked after Estel and I believe I managed to distract him from his worries."
Elrond looked at him and gave a brief nod. "Thank you, my friend. It is a relief to know that my youngest is cared for." Erestor imagined he could hear the unspoken 'at least' in that sentence, and he could clearly see the worry Elrond held for his older sons. But his lord quickly returned his attention to medicines, avoiding Erestor's gaze to cover up his worry.
A lesser advisor might have sighed, but Erestor was chief advisor of all Rivendell and not easily thwarted by wayward elven lords, raven or golden haired. Charging ahead, he spoke: "Now my Lord, another elf needs looking after…" he trailed off as Elrond's head shot up, glaring at him, clearly knowing where he was headed, but Erestor continued nonetheless: "You need rest, Elrond. You have been working the entire day. As a matter of fact you have had no break ever since Glorfindel returned with his warriors last night…"
Before he got any further Elrond interrupted him: "Erestor, you worry needlessly. I am fine. I do not need to rest. What I need is to prepare for the return of the search party. At least one of my sons is likely to be injured…" Elrond fell silent and stared at the bandages that he held in his hands, before continuing more silently: "I will not fail to treat them, because some supplies are missing." Elrond shook his head and looked at his friend. "Thank you, mellon nin, for your concern, however misplaced it may be. I am fine and it might still be some time until the search party returns, so I can rest later, after I am done here."
Erestor refrained from arguing any further, knowing it would be futile. No matter what he said, his lord would not rest unless forced to….and he already had an idea as to how to make that happen….
-o0o-
"Lass," Lindir murmured, "what word rhymes with lass again?" He was pouring over his latest sonnet, as he had been doing for the last few days. He was attempting to write about the beauty of the hidden valley changing in autumn. The red and golden leaves were especially breathtaking this year and he needed to put these images down into words right away, when they were still fresh in his mind. That is what the other elves never understood. They never could fathom what a difficult process it was to transform the images around him into beautiful words, how much effort it took. The other elves always wanted him to do this and asked him to do that, because they thought he was not working. No, he was not doing anything so mundane, he was pouring his soul into poetry, turning words into magic, verses into visions.
Just like earlier, Erestor had barged in on him as he was writing a critical passage in his sonnet and had told him that it was now his turn to look after Estel. Erestor said that he had entertained the little boy all afternoon and now needed to attend to other important duties. 'Pah. Important duties,' Lindir thought. He had had just found the perfect rhyme for the next line, when Erestor had interrupted him and now several hours later, he still could not remember what it had been. Between taking Estel to the kitchen for his dinner and keeping him company during the meal the words had fled. Luckily the boy had been very quiet and finished quickly and Lindir returned with him to the library to chase after his muses. He was pleasantly surprised that all Estel wanted was to quietly read a book. Lindir approved of that! So different from the time when the twin terrors of Elrond had been his height. A shudder crawled down his spine at the memory, but it passed quickly. With Estel proving to be easy and quiet, Lindir finally returned to his writing.
But for the next two hours he kept trying to remember the beautiful lines that Erestor had made him forget. Lindir sighed again, dramatically. Oh, he would never be able to remember the perfect words. He might as well accept the cruel joke of the Valar. Disappointed, Lindir looked up and realized that he was all alone in the library. Estel was no longer sitting in his chair and reading. 'Mmh, Erestor must have picked Estel up.' Lindir shrugged and turned back to his writing.
-o0o-
tbc...
