Lord Of The Rings Fan Fiction ❯ Happy Easter Legolas ❯ A Frightening Chase and a Shocking Accident ( Chapter 9 )

Author's Note: Hi everyone. Sorry for leaving you guys all hanging for so long but I forgot that I'd actually put this story up on media miner. (te he) Anyways, I don't think I've gotten any reviews for it anyway which has partly contributed to me forgetting about it because I thought no one was reading it but I've decided to just upload the rest of it today anyway. Maybe some of you are reading it but just aren't reviewing it. Besides, at least it's there for someone when they do want to read it.

Disclaimer: Lord of the Rings isn't mine and is the rightful property of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Chapter 9

A Frightening Chase and a Shocking Accident

Dawn saw the little company quickly packing up and getting ready to head off. `How did you know it was me and not Elrohir?' asked Elladan for the hundredth time that morning. Thranduil sighed irritably and cleared away the remaining traces of their fire. `That's for me t-,' began Thranduil but Elladan cut him off. `But how?' he whined. Thranduil scowled at the elder twin before giving in with his second sigh in the past minute.

`Elrohir's left ear sticks out a little further than his right,' answered Thranduil. Elladan scowled and mumbled something about not telling Thranduil about Elrohir's ear and Thranduil having the eyes of a hawk. Thranduil chuckled to himself; he knew that he and Legolas were famous for perhaps having the sharpest eyesight in all of Arda, something the rest of his family were quite jealous of, especially his other two children because they quite would have liked to inherit their father's sharp eyesight.

* * *

The day passed by slowly and Thranduil spent much of his time teaching the twins some well known wood elf songs. The Misty Mountains steadily drew nearer and the day was bright and cheery with a steady breeze. Perhaps it was the fine weather or maybe the laughter of the twins and Thranduil who were focused on the songs they were singing, whatever it was, the three companions never ever noticed the approaching riders from behind until it was too late.

Elrohir tugged at Thranduil's shirt, a small frown marring his face. `Thranduil I hear horses,' said the younger twin. Thranduil frowned and turned in his saddle to face Elrohir. Behind Elrohir however, he noticed the quickly approaching riders, their blades flashing in the late morning sun. Thranduil gasped and then turned and leaned forward to whisper into Rusty's ear. With a surge of his muscles, the young colt suddenly lunged forward, nearly throwing his riders from his back.

Haste was needed now more then ever before and the on coming riders quickened their pace in anticipation of a chase. Thranduil glanced in fear over his shoulder and cursed his stupidity for not noticing the approaching riders sooner. There were at least a dozen men, men Thranduil would normally take on if he had his bow and a quiver of arrows but he did not and carried only a set of long white handled elven blades and a large broadsword at his waist. Pride would certainly have caused Thranduil to stop and fight in normal circumstances anyway but he could not allow anything to happen to the twins least he loose his own son as well.

Therefore, Thranduil urged Rusty ever onwards in an attempt to outdistance the riders but it was open grassland and the nearest thicket Thranduil could spy was at least 5 leagues away if he guessed correctly. Rusty, being a young horse and barely an adult, feared the men that pursued him and it was this fear that drove him to continue onwards even after he began to tire despite his light load and the encouraging words of Thranduil.

Thranduil glanced over his shoulder almost constantly and was relived and yet dismayed at the sight he saw. Only horses of Rohan could keep pace with an elvish horse and despite the fact that half of them fell behind, the other half did not and continued to pursue the elven king and the two elflings with him.

Thranduil turned back to face the planes, and realised with a start that the thicket was much closer now, less than a league away. It was with a final exhausted surge that Rusty plunged into the thicket. Thranduil realised that he and the twins only had minutes to hide themselves away. He quickly dismounted and helped the twins dismount then retrieved his pack from off Rusty's back. Quickly he whispered into Rusty's ear to go and hide somewhere and he also thanked the horse before giving him an encouraging slap on his rump. Rusty gave a startled whinny and took off into the brush. Thranduil hauled his pack over his shoulder and then turned and led the twins deep into the thicket.

It was almost like a maze Thranduil realised after a while as they followed the various tracks which had been worn out by other animals over the years. His sharp elven hearing picked out the sounds of the approaching riders. He heard them dismount and yell orders to one another and then the race was truly on.

The thicket was dense and the three elves left no tracks but the thicket was only five hundred yards in diameter which meant that the odds were certainly increased in the men's favour as it would be four onto one once the remaining men arrived. With little choice in the matter, Thranduil knew that he would have to take to the trees sooner or later; he only hoped they would not be discovered.

As he ran Thranduil grasped hold of the twins hands to help them keep pace with him. Through the branches ahead he caught sight of an enormous looming shadow and with a start, realised he'd come to the very base of the Misty mountains. He hadn't realised they were so close when he'd entered the thicket but rather, still a ways off behind the thicket. It appeared that the mountain chain had curved around towards them and Thranduil realised another fact, that he and the twins had gone off course that morning and that the High Pass was probably still a ways back along the mountain chain to the North. But it didn't really matter; all that mattered was getting away from the men for the time being. Thranduil despised men and had no idea as to why they were pursuing he and the twins but he guessed they were probably hunters or slavers of some sort.

The ground quite suddenly fell away beneath Thranduil's feet, unable to stop himself; he went hurtling through the bushes that had obscured the danger from his eyes dragging the twins down with him. Thranduil pulled the twins tightly against his chest and did his best to prevent any injury occurring to them as he slipped and rolled down the steep incline. The bottom of the incline rushed up to meet them and with a cry as a sharp rock dug into Thranduil's back, he went hurtling into the bushes at the bottom and came to a stop.

He lay there panting for several moments before he gingerly sat up to take a look at the twins. He only had time for a quick glance to see that they were O.K. before he suddenly heard an ominous crack beneath him. Eyes widening in surprise, he tried to roll sideways but it was too late. With a load grumbling, the earth broke beneath him to reveal a hidden cave and in a shower of rocks and dirt; he fell downwards into the vast hole to land with a sickening crack some five or more metres below.

* * *

Awareness returned to Thranduil slowly and he groaned as he realised that his back and head ached terribly but his left arm was virtually on fire. Thranduil tried to fathom what had happened but the answers he sought just wouldn't come for the time being, there was just too much pain to deal with at the moment.

Slowly he became aware of a shaky voice speaking softly to him in elvish and somebody whimpering but he could not entirely tell whether this was one or two voices. Groaning in disgust at his weakness, Thranduil struggled to open his eyes, until he achieved that feet there would be no answers for the Sindarian King.

Eventually he succeeded and turned his head sideways to glance at the figure seated beside him. It was an elfling, one of the twins but in the dim light it was hard to tell which one. Thranduil guessed it to be Elladan when he turned his head a bit more and caught sight of Elrohir sitting nearby and whimpering softly. He was in a better light then Elladan so Thranduil thought he could make out the slightly odd ear on the left side of Elrohir's face.

Elladan breathed a sigh of relief as Thranduil awoke; he had thought the elven king would never awaken, for it had been many hours since they had fallen into the underground cavern. The elder twin had checked Thranduil over as best he could but all he could tell was that Thranduil was very dirty with a lot of scraps and bruises and that his left arm was broken but the elder twin certainly didn't know how to set it. His father hadn't gotten around to teaching him that much in the healing arts yet.

He glanced over at his brother who was still rocking back and forth and whimpering slightly. Elrohir had been very good when the cave in had occurred but as time had worn on the younger twin had grown more and more frightened. Elrohir was an extremely quick learner and more interested in the healing arts then his brother so he knew a little more about it than Elladan did but it was the opposite with Elladan who was far more interested in weaponry and learning how to craft a weapon. Both the twins were very brave but Elrohir was very shaken from his ordeal, they both were and Elladan had reluctantly decided that one of them would have to be brave and stay with Thranduil even though Elladan wanted to curl up beside his brother and cry with him.

So the task had been left to him and now that Thranduil was finally awake, he breathed a sigh of relief and let a few tears slip down his face for the first time since they had fallen into the ghastly cavern.

Thranduil, seeing the elder twin begin to cry silently reached out with his good arm and brushed away the tears. `Ssshhh,' he said gently. `It's alright El, I'm here now.' The twin nodded and tried to dry his eyes. Elrohir, seeing that Thranduil was awake stopped rocking and crept over to the elven king's side. Thranduil in turn reached over and also brushed aside the younger twin's tears and comforted him as well.

Together they remained huddled for some time before Thranduil turned his head upwards to glance at the hole above them were he had fallen through. It was night time because the moon was clearly visible through the hole along with several stars. It was their only real source of light because the twins were not yet old enough for their natural elven glows to be particularly bright and Thranduil's was particularly dull due to the weakness in him caused by his injuries. Grimly he tried to brighten in a little for the twins' sake but it wasn't much and Thranduil gave up in disgust, deciding he would be better off conserving his strength.

`How do you two fair?' he questioned softly turning back to gaze at the twins. `We are both well aside from a few bruises and cuts,' said Elladan, his voice shaking slightly. `Elladan fell on you so his landing was rather cushioned,' said Elrohir softly as he spoke for the first time, his voice barely a whisper. `I feel into a deep pool over there,' continued Elrohir pointing at a small pool a couple of metres to Thranduil's right. Thranduil noticed for the first time that the younger twin's hair was damp and he was wrapped in Thranduil's spare cloak which he must have retrieved from Thranduil's pack.

Thranduil sighed and chuckled softly. `What's so funny?' asked Elladan giving Thranduil a quizzical look. `I never thought I would find myself in a situation such as this or this far from my home. Something like this has not happened to me since I was a child,' explained Thranduil. `Does this mean we get to hear another story,' questioned Elrohir sensing that this was indeed as good a time as any to hear another tale from the Sindarian elf. Thranduil sighed. `Aye it does I suppose,' he admitted. The twins smiled at one another and settled down to wait for the tale to begin.

Thranduil actually told several tales as he attempted to regain his strength. Soon the twins' heads began to drop and Thranduil stopped and instructed them to go to sleep. The twins protested slightly but eventually they submitted and fell into the realms of elven dreams, both with their eyes closed clearly signalling how worn out they were.

Once they were asleep Thranduil attempted to stand though sitting up seemed to be his first priority for some time. Eventually he managed it, biting his lip to keep from making any sound as his body protested against any movements he made. He held his arm close to his chest and decided that he would have to set it and soon. Thranduil had set many broken bones before, it has always been a skill required if one learnt to fight with weapons because it almost certainly meant that accidents would occur and you would then have to be patched up or be able to do it for someone else or for yourself. Thranduil had never however, had to set his own arm himself but he decided he would do it but not just yet. He wanted to put it off for as long as possible.

Instead he began a thorough exploration of the cavern he had fallen into. It wasn't very large, only five yards up to the ceiling and about fifteen yards in diameter with the pool Elrohir had fallen into over on the right side and towards the front of the cavern. There were no exits other then the hole Thranduil had created in the roof of the cavern.

Thranduil shuddered in disgust despite the comforting light of the moon from outside. He hated caves, a trait common in all elves but particularly in Silvan elves. Since coming to rule the Silvan elves, Thranduil had acquired this trait very strongly through a number of nasty incidents involving caves he had had in his younger years. He now hated them with a fierce passion, that wasn't to say he was afraid of them but he would certainly not enter a cave willingly unless he had too.

Sighing in defeat, he decided it was about time to set his arm; he could put it off no longer. Going back to his pack he retrieved a torch which had somehow survived the fall. Taking his cloak, he ripped it into long stripes which would serve as bandages and then taking a deep breath, he felt the break to test exactly how it had been broken.

He prodded it only lightly but the pain was intense beyond belief. He was glad it was his upper arm and not his lower because he was certain he would have had to set two bones instead of one if it had been. The fall certainly would have snapped both the bones in his lower arm.

Taking a deep breath once he was sure he knew just how to set it, Thranduil clenched his teeth and shoved the bone back into place. The pain was blinding and Thranduil could not help but let loose an ear splitting howl of agony as he fell to his knees. He was dimly aware of the twins coming to with a start and rushing over to him but Thranduil barely noticed as he tried to calm his ragged breathing and ordered himself to bind the torch to his arm with his left hand.

The twins hurriedly took over once they realised what must have happened for they had seen their own father do it many times. Unbeknownst to Thranduil, Elrond was perhaps the most knowledgeable healer in all of Arda and had spent many long days and nights mending elves and men who had been injured in one way or another.

Once the task was done they laid Thranduil down and spoke softly to him in elvish. When Thranduil had settled they bid him rest and then Elladan laid down and place his head on Thranduil chest so he would know if any change should occur within the elven king and Elrohir curled up against Thranduil's right side. Both twins quickly fell asleep and the three companions knew no more.

* * *

Far away out on the planes beyond, a cloaked figure atop a white stallion paused as a cry of pain reached his sensitive ears. Turning his stallion he headed quickly in the direction of a large, dark thicket at the base of the Misty Mountains. It appeared that he had found his quarry at last and he was not about to let them escape him a second time.