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Scarred Fate	By : Massanie Category: +Third Age > Slash - Male/Male Views: 2051 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
- 19
CHAPTER 18: The Stormcrow

CHAPTER NOTES

SCRIPTS:

'Thoughts'; ~visions~; **mind speech**; -l-Letters-l-

Elrohír and Elladan had left their horses behind to travel to Mirkwood with their father. They doubted that they would have been able to get the horses past the avalanche; moreover Erestor was on his way by foot and to escape his pursuers he would probably return to climbing. Then at the latest they would have to leave behind their mounts.

The only company they had came from the large common raven that Erestor had trained. It sat on Elladan's shoulder, clawing its talons into the soft flesh and complaining loudly whenever the elder twin tried to shoo it away or stumbled. He had long since given up and let it rest. Maybe they would need it soon to fly a long way anyway, better if the raven was well rested.

The twins reached the avalanche late that evening, the sun already setting in the west behind them. And for the first time they could see the devastation that Erestor had caused, bathed in the orange light of the retreating sun. Over a length of nearly 300 meters snow masses covered the path. Below they had raced down into the valley for more than one and a half miles. It had swept away and destroyed everything in its path.

Elrohír turned to his brother "Just how mighty is Erestor? He never used Vilya before and has done something not even ada could have achieved! I mean, he is so very young and …"

Elladan shook his head "I don't know, Elrohír. I don't know. Let us look at the other side. We have been neglecting it yesterday night."

Carefully they passed the snow covered part and the cave that had been their prison for one day. 'One day' Elladan thought, 'it seemed like an eternity, and an eternity ago'. Both twins tried not to comment on what had passed only the past night especially not on their argument.

They passed the snow covered corpses of the seven humans that had found their death here and Elrohír noticed how Elladan did his best to ignore them. It made his jaw clench.

Elladan passed the provisory graves and went on, Elrohír following him, and together they searched the path east of the snow masses that the avalanche had left.

"There are footprints of at least twenty humans. Obviously Erestor concentrated on covering the western part, leaving us the escape route. I wonder if he was unable or unwilling to kill them. "

"Well, following them will be easy enough. Luckily none of them has a horse, Erestor can easily escape on the snow."

But Elladan was not that optimistic "You forget that he has not slept for days and that he must be running short of supplies. No Elrohír, as much as I wished it to be different, Erestor's escape chances are less than low. But hopefully he will continue to fool them regarding his identity and they will let him live.

And let us not forget his relatives who must be out there somewhere searching for him, too."

"I don't know, brother. Up to now we have been underestimating Erestor. What if we are doing so now? Maybe he wanted those humans to escape and to follow him. Maybe he is planning on getting them into a skirmish with his relatives and getting rid of them all this way."

Elladan shook his head, one finger absent-mindedly stroking the neck of the black bird on his shoulder. "His plans included his death."

Darkness had already descended onto the mountains but the snow reflected the starlight and enabled the twins to follow the chief advisor further along the Pass.

They tracked the humans only for a few miles when the traces changed direction. Erestor had left the path and his chasers had followed. Now they were climbing into the heavily jagged regions of the mountain where the snow made the rocks slick and slippery. Difficult for an Elf, a pure nightmare for a human.

"We should probably rest now, brother." Elladan said. "Once we start climbing, it will be difficult to find a place to rest."

Elrohír nodded. He didn't want to admit it, but he needed the rest, too. They had not slept the last night and only a few hours the previous nights and he was exhausted. Elladan was ever the one with the greater endurance, Elrohír thought. He was a survivor.

Erestor was wrong, Elladan was a survivor and he would survive no matter what.

Then both of them began to clear a small part of the path as well as they could from the snow. It was mostly frozen and would injure their unprotected hands or wet their gloves, so they laid their sleeping mats one on top of the other next to the rocky sides of the path. The twins sat on the mats and drew their knees close, covering themselves with blankets; though the cold didn't bother them much, it was the wind they searched to escape. Gently they sat the common raven down between them, where it soon rested his head between its ruffled feathers.

After a few hours of light sleep they decamped and started their pursuit again. They hoped that the humans and Erestor had rested, too, or they would now be one and a half day behind them.

But the path that the humans had climbed upon was a difficult one and the footprints showed that they had slipped more than once. The twins were confident to reduce the head start but they were also concerned: they were now heading towards the more rutted upper parts of the mountains and they knew that Orcs often loitered in these areas.

And with each passing hour Erestor's chances of survival grew worse. They had to be fast now.

Elrohír climbed after his brother, always looking around, keeping his mind off the burning muscles in his arms and legs. How he hated those barren rocks void of live, covered with ice and snow.

They were now climbing north-west as Erestor had obviously changed direction … again, and so Mirkwood laid now behind them, the large forest spreading behind the Great River.

The younger twin sighed. That insane chief advisor of his father was heading directly for Goblin Town.

"Elladan … there!" Elrohír pointed towards the eastern horizon where a black figure stood apart from the blue-white sky.

Elladan turned and gazed towards the direction his brother pointed at. The figure seemed to quickly come nearer and more and more it assumed shape.

"An eagle, brother! One of the great eagles!" Elrohír called out.

"He will probably see us. Maybe we can get news of our prey." Elladan answered.

Sharply the younger twin gazed towards his brother, his mouth a thin line of disapproval. "I don't like it, when you talk like that."

Their eyes met for a second before Elladan directed his gaze back to the eagle. "I know … Elrohír I …"

But his voice subsided. He didn't really know what to say; or maybe what but not how.

"Don't brother. Not now." Elrohír answered with a biting edge to his otherwise fair voice.

They climbed upon a ledge so the eagle could easily spot them and patiently waited. Somehow it felt awkward to stand next to each other. A feeling Elladan was not accustomed to. Ever since he could remember Elrohír had been his closest friend, the one who was always at his side.

Now after knowing what was to come, it felt like standing next to a stranger. It hurt.

So they both directed their attention towards the huge bird that came nearer at an astounding velocity. Soon they could make out a human shaped figure sitting on the eagle's shoulders, legs hooked under the wings and the torso pressed tightly to the neck. Elrohír narrowed his eyes.

"Thank the Valar! Elladan it is Gandalf!"

A smile spread on the elder twin's face: they could truly need Gandalf's help.

It didn't take long for the pair to spot the twins and the grey wizard bade the large eagle to land. Gracefully it glided down towards the cliff and spread its wings in order to check its landing. Still Elladan and Elrohír were nearly thrown against the rocks behind them by the wind that the eagle caused with his beating wings.

"Greetings, Sons of Elrond! What are you doing here so far away from the High Pass?" The lord of the eagles asked, for it was indeed him that had brought Gandalf to the Misty Mountains on some unknown errant.

"You haven't gone astray now, have you?" Gandalf added with a smile that was partly obscured by his grey, long beard, but the sharp eyes sparkled. For a moment they rested on the large common raven, asking himself where he had seen it before and why it was accompanying the princes of Imladris.

Elladan smiled back. "I would be disgruntled, my dear Gandalf, if I wasn't that glad to see you! And greetings to you also, Gwaihir, lord of eagles."

The twins bowed respectfully in front of the old and somewhat mystique beings in front of them: the great eagles were sometimes acting as scouts of Manwë himself and the Lord of the Valar had ordered them to interfere in favour of the First- and Secondborn who dwelled in Middle Earth in times of need; And more than once they had done so, often making the difference between victory and defeat.

Gandalf on the other side was – as plain and unremarkable as he looked with his grey gown, large hat and beard – a Maia, wise and mighty.

Elrohír took over "We have not gone astray, we are looking for our chief advisor."

Gandalf's bushy eyebrows rose nearly up to his large hat. "Is that so? And why should he have left his home?"

"He is fleeing north-west from some twenty soldiers from Angmar, but that's a long story. He is …"

"Angmar?" Gandalf gasped. Quickly he glanced over to his eagle companion who had cocked his head and was carefully eying the two Elves.

The twins nodded hesitantly. Normally Gandalf was not easy to astonish but that little fact seemed to have done the deed.

"And do you know why?"

Elladan looked to his brother. "Not exactly ... but either because they think him to be ada and want to get their hands on *Vilya* … or because he is a seer mightier than even our grandmother and they want to get their hands on*him*."

Elladan bit his upper lip to stop himself from grinning. That whole situation was just too grotesque and the wizard's expression just too comically.

Elrohír rolled his eyes. Sometimes he wished his elder brother had a little bit more sense for diplomacy.

"If you have half an hour to spare, we will tell you what happened, but if not: we need to find him. Unknowingly or knowingly he is heading for Goblin-Town.

He saved our lives … lord Gwaihir, could you send an eagle to search him? I know it is not our place to ask, but Erestor … will die if we cannot reach him in time. And he has probably not slept or eaten for days, they will easily catch him!"

Gandalf sighed. "Tell us what happened."

Elladan recounted their besiegement in the small cave near to the High Pass' top, Erestor's scheming to free them, told them of the letters and the murderer; that they decided to search for the advisor while the others were to return to Imladris and his father and Glorfindel with a small party on their way to Mirkwood to search for Erestor on Galadriel's advise.

"… And now he is heading directly for Goblin Town, those humans probably close on his heels!"

Gwaihir's mimic was impossible to read, he sharpened his beak on the rocks, seemingly uninterested. But Gandalf seemed troubled.

"But what are you here for, Gandalf? You have never done something without a deeper purpose … except maybe for that awful pipe smoking.

Gandalf waved the comment away. "Gwaihir told me that a human army is gathering in the north of Imladris. I came to investigate and to warn your father."

The shock was apparent in the young elven faces. That were grave news indeed, it meant that those humans had wanted Vilya or a mighty seer to explicitly attack Imladris. The Hidden Valley and all her inhabitants were in danger. And the soldiers that they had sent back might come too late to protect the their home and with Elrond and Vilya now absent ... They could only hope that Galadriel would manage to keep Imladris safe on her own.

"When I felt a kind of magical bonfire on the High Pass, we came by to see what was going on here. That must have been Erestor causing the avalanche."

Gwaihir raised his head, now towering over the other three. "Olórin, we need to fly. The humans won't wait for us.

But I will ask my brother Landroval to search for that elven seer."

"The two of you should return to Imladris and warn Galadriel, I will follow as soon as I can. But first I need to see for myself what those humans are up to." Gandalf said. "I do not want you to get any nearer to Goblin Town! Your father would surely kill me, if he knew that I let you proceed this way ... or your grandfather will jump off his ship and smash me with his body ..."

Elladan shook his head not so much in disagreement but in denial of the danger their beloved Imladris was in. His brother nodded a little bit shaken.

"We will. But find Erestor, he … it is just that …" he shrugged helplessly.

Gwaihir looked back once. "Have faith, young one! My brother will not return to our nests until he found him."

Then Gwaihir bowed to help Gandalf mount. "Promise to not go Orc-hunting. Return home." Gandalf reminded them when he finally sat on the great eagle.

"Landroval will find him, he has sharp eyes." The lord of the eagle's assured the twins. Then he took off.

CHAPTER END NOTES

ada ~ father
- 17
- 18
- 19
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Scarred Fate