VI: iRîn e-Gelaidh

The journey through the dwarf settlement was, in retrospect, the best part of their adventures. The twins enjoyed their time with Thekki and Brunir, who escorted them. They were impressed by the sheer size of the halls, and the intricacy in which nearly every free space was carved with serpentine shapes and runes. While it could never compete with the beauty of Imladris, the elves found that their assumptions about dwarves and their ways were in need of some readjustment.

They reached the East Gate by midmorning where supplies had been gathered for them. There were no swords, but the dwarves gifted them with long knives and bows. Warm cloaks were also given. They were somewhat wider in the shoulders than the elves were used to and there was evidence that the cloaks had been made from two dwarf-sized cloaks stitched together to lengthen the hem.

The twins graciously thanked their hosts and with a sketch map of the route south, they were soon on their way. The day was bright but cold and they were glad of their cloaks, however awkward they felt in them. Still, they welcomed the cool breeze and the sun on their faces. They had not minded being underground, but the novelty had begun to pall by the second evening.

The East Gate lay between the arms of the Sîr Ninglor where two mountain streams joined to create the river. From the Gate a road led east towards the confluence of the two streams, perhaps ten miles away. There, they had been told, they would find two bridges. One spanned the left branch of the river, and the other the right. The elves would cross the right-hand bridge.

They met no one on the road that morning for winter was drawing nigh and trade was slowing. The land between the two streams was perhaps ten miles wide, narrowing to a point where the streams met. It was not farmland, for the soil was too rocky. They mostly passed through open fields of tall grass and wildflowers. Only along the eaves of the mountains behind them did tall conifers stand. They could see look-out towers amongst the trees along the slopes. Small figures paced back and forth. The elves suspected that from the top of the towers the dwarves had an excellent view of the surrounding area, alert for danger even in these peaceful times.

It was nearly noon before they reached the bridges, drawbridges in fact, made of thick beams of wood. The twins could see where one could easily remove the central section, thereby effectively blocking any invasion from the south and east. An army could not approach the dwarf settlement without great difficulty, for further below, the Sîr Ninglor broadened into a fen — the Gladden Fields — before joining the Anduin, making any crossing dangerous.

According to Thekki’s map the road from the left-hand bridge led towards a small settlement of Men that nestled within the shadow of the mountains. The road from the right-hand bridge, however, became a wilderness path a day’s march from there, for trade with Lórien was less frequent than with the Men of the Anduin Vale or even with Thranduil’s people. Both roads, as far as the twins could see, were well maintained and lined with trees — larch and pine, mostly, with the occasional beech and alder, their leaves a golden contrast to the dark greens of the conifers.

The twins decided to stop at the bridges and rest before continuing on.

"How long do you think we were under the mountains?" Elrohir asked as they rifled through their packs for food. There was cheese and new bread and late autumn apples and cram. The twins wrinkled their noses at that, but did not discard the dwarves’ waybread. It may not have been lembas, but it was filling and they might well be thankful for it later on.

Elladan shrugged. "To tell you the truth, I’ve lost count. I think at least a day, maybe two, went by from the time we fell into the hole until we were rescued by the dwarves. Then we were definitely with the dwarves for three days."

"Five days. Five days that we’ve lost."

"Perhaps, perhaps not. At least we’re not too far from Lórien. Thekki said it was only another week’s walk away."

"Providing nothing interferes with our walk," Elrohir said wryly as he bit into some cheese.

Elladan merely rolled his eyes as he chewed on an apple, refusing to make any other comment.

Soon, they were done eating and quickly on their way. The southern road was made of smooth flagstone, wide enough for two riders. The light filtering through the trees was a cool green-gold, soothing to the eyes. The piney resin in the air was refreshing and the elves unconsciously walked with a hand brushing the trunks of the trees as they passed. There was no sound of bird or squirrel here, and the elves walked in undisturbed silence, their own footfalls elven light.

Before long Elrohir found himself softly singing a hymn to Anor that Glorfindel had taught the twins when they were young. It had been composed, the golden-haired elf had told them, shortly after the Sun’s first rising by one of Gondolin’s finest minstrels. Sadly, Laerloriel had perished in the sack of the city. Elladan grinned but did not join in immediately, wishing to enjoy the sound of his brother’s voice raised in song.

****

Thandir and Eluwen sat in an alder, high above the twins as they walked by. They had had to convince the trees lining the road not to speak of their presence to the twins and the trees had reluctantly complied, their agitation soothed by Elrohir’s song. The scouts had left Azaghâl-dûm the evening before and had camped at the bridges, leaving no trace of their presence when they departed the next morning. Once across the bridge they looked for a hiding place and found a suitable perch on a tall alder that still had most of its leaves. Thandir sat in the crook of a branch with Eluwen nestled in his lap. The tree had obligingly moved some of its nearby branches to cover them. Thus they were completely hidden from view when the twins walked by.

Eluwen grinned at her beloved when she heard Elrohir singing and, laying her head against his shoulder, quietly hummed along, much to Thandir’s amusement. When enough distance had separated the twins from their hiding place the two scouts leapt lightly onto the ground. They paused just long enough to lay their hands on the alder’s grey trunk and thank it for its assistance before loping quietly after the twins. The branches of the tree swayed gently in response though there was no breeze.

****

The road, which had been straight for the most part, began to bend towards the mountains, bringing them under their shadow once again. Late in the afternoon, the twins came upon a mountain rill that ran merrily through the trees. A small hump of a bridge spanned the rill where the two met and just beyond, the trees fell away on either side to form a small clearing. The twins decided to make camp for the evening there.

During the next day’s travel, they noticed that the trees were beginning to thin, at least along the east side of the road. Shortly past noon they disappeared altogether, exposing open fields that stretched to the Anduin far in the blue-grey distance. The road itself continued for perhaps another league or so but soon the carefully laid flagstones ended and the road became a dirt path.

The twins stopped to examine Thekki’s map.

"According to Thekki," Elladan said, "this path is fairly straightforward. The only problem is that it disappears completely well before we reach Lórien, so we will have to find our own way after that."

Elrohir shrugged, unconcerned. He traced a finger over the route as they knelt on the flagstones, the map laid out between them. "What’s this other line here?" he asked. In truth, he had not paid much attention to his brother and Thekki discussing their route as they had made their way towards the East Gate, being more interested in Brunir telling him what tales of the Last Alliance the dwarf knew. Elrohir was fascinated by this glimpse of a time about which their adar spoke little and wished to learn as much about it as possible.

The line in question branched off from the main path towards the mountains and then veered sharply south almost to the Celebrant.

"I’m not sure," Elladan replied. "I don’t remember Thekki mentioning it."

"It looks as if it continues further towards Lórien. See, it winds through the mountains here and then appears to come upon the Celebrant just below the Dimrill Dale. Odd, I don’t recall seeing a path coming down from the mountains on that side."

"Maybe it doesn’t come all the way down."

"If we were to take it though..."

Elladan shook his head, looking doubtful. "It might be more prudent to follow Thekki’s recommendation and stick to this path. We shouldn’t have any trouble finding Lórien and I suspect that we’re not going to be surprising Daernaneth anyway. She always knows who approaches the borders. She’ll have scouts out looking for us, I imagine."

"Then it won’t matter from which direction we come, will it? And since when have we ever been prudent?" Elrohir rejoined with an impish grin.

Elladan still looked doubtful, but did not gainsay his brother.

"Well, it will be another two days before we have to decide," he said, measuring the distance on the map with thumb and forefinger. "Why don’t we stop for the night?"

Elrohir agreed and soon they had a merry fire going.

Thandir and Eluwen glanced at one another in dismay. They had managed to come close enough to the twins to overhear the conversation, a stand of trees on the west side of the road hiding them. Thandir motioned with his head and the two scouts drifted silently away until they were far enough from the twins not to be heard.

"Tell me they’re not thinking to do what I think they’re thinking to do," Thandir whispered harshly into Eluwen’s ear.

"Fine, I won’t," Eluwen replied with an impish smile.

Thandir scowled and muttered softly under his breath, letting vent to his frustration. Finally he looked up at Eluwen with a sigh and a resigned shake of his head. Then he smiled grimly, his eyes brightening with wry amusement. "When we get back to Imladris, I’m asking for hazard pay."

Eluwen had to cover her mouth with her hand to stifle the giggles that threatened to come forth.

****

The next day the weather turned. The elves (both groups) woke to a grey drizzle and sour moods. The twins scowled as they scurried about to cover up their supplies and rebuild the smoldering fire. Elrohir uttered a curse that would have had his adar, Glorfindel and Erestor reaching for the soap. The scouts, sitting in a tree, merely sighed as water dripped off their cloaks.

"Perhaps we should take advantage of the weather and do some hunting, Brother," Elladan said once the fire was going. The wood was not wet enough yet to prevent it from burning and they quickly covered up what was not being used. "This rain won’t last and we can do with some fresh meat."

"Might as well spend the day here then and dry out a bit," Elrohir said with a sigh. "We can start again tomorrow."

Elladan nodded, his mood lifting somewhat at the thought of a venison or rabbit stew. "We can try out these bows." The bows were not anything like their own elven bows, but the twins could see that they had been expertly fashioned. Thekki had told them the bows were originally made as a gift for the Headman of the nearby village of Men and his son who often came to Azagâl-dûm to hunt with Lord Búri’s people, sharing the bounty of the game. However, both had died in a landslide earlier in the summer before the bows could be presented.

"You might as well have some use for them," Brunir had told them. "Father’s still upset over Headman Gram’s death. They were great friends. He told me that he would rather have you take them than have them gathering dust somewhere in a storage cave."

The twins had bowed at that. "Please tell Lord Búri that we are honored that he esteems us so highly as to offer us these fine bows in memory of his friend."

Brunir had merely hrumphed but the elves could tell that he was pleased by Elladan’s words.

Elrohir volunteered to tend to the fire and perhaps lay some snares for rabbits while Elladan tried his luck with deer. For a while he saw no sign of game but soon a deer track led him to a small pool fed by a mountain spring that lay nestled within a fold of the mountain. He found the spoor of at least one deer and waited patiently in the trees for the deer to come to the pool to drink. He did not have to wait long. A buck, two does and a young adult male came to the pool. Elladan watched them drink, enjoying their serene beauty as they bent over to lap the clear mountain water. The buck stood guard, drinking only when the others had had their fill. The elf carefully took aim at the young buck but then something stayed his hand and with a sigh he allowed the deer to depart unmolested. He shook his head, wondering what had gotten into him, but then remembered something Erestor had told them when the twins were only twenty.

"Lord Tauron will sometimes stay a hunter’s hand, though we cannot know the reason for it. If ever you feel compelled not to kill, even if you are in dire need of food, listen to the warning of your heart. The Hîr e-Daur will not be gainsaid and the consequences of disobedience may be dire."

He unstrung his bow with a sigh, hoping his brother wouldn’t tease him too badly for being overly sentimental, and landed lightly on the ground. He paused for a few moments, taking in the serenity of the scene about him. The pool was surrounded mostly by pine and alder, but a single great oak stood on the opposite shore, its golden leaves a bright contrast to the dark green of the pine and the grey-white of the alder, their branches now bare of leaves. The trees around him sang softly, barely aware, yet there was a feeling of a Presence that filled him with a sense of dread he had never felt before — Someone was There in a way that the young elf could never fully describe even to himself.

A sudden impulse seized him and he bowed towards the great oak. He turned to leave and noticed that the drizzle had lessened. The sun suddenly came out from behind a sweep of clouds and a miniature rainbow arced across the pool. Elladan gasped at the unexpected beauty and found himself unable to move until the sun went again behind the clouds and the rainbow disappeared. With profound awe he bowed once again towards the oak before making his way back to the camp.

****

Elrohir was busy skinning a brace of rabbits, throwing the meat into a pot simmering over the fire, when Elladan returned empty-handed.

"No luck?"

Elladan shook his head. He was tempted to tell his brother what had happened to him but felt reluctant to do so. He decided that this was one experience he would not be able to share with his twin, even second-hand.

"Well, don’t just stand there like a moonstruck dwarf," Elrohir said goodnaturedly, gesturing with his knife at the rabbits still waiting to be skinned, "help me with these."

Elladan chuckled, the contemplative mood that had held him since leaving the pool fleeing, and soon the two were busy with cooking the stew and smoking the extra meat in companionable silence. Elladan produced some tubers and wild herbs he’d found on his way back to the camp, which helped make the stew more palatable.

"Then I guess the hunt wasn’t a total loss after all, was it?" Elrohir said as he stirred the stew, sniffing appreciatively at the smell emanating from the pot.

"No, I guess it wasn’t," Elladan agreed.

Something in his voice caught his twin’s attention and Elrohir gave his brother a shrewd look. "You want to tell me what happened? You were gone longer than necessary even if you hadn’t found anything to hunt."

Elladan just shrugged, feeling uncomfortable. The twins had always shared everything with one another, and to hold back like this was not something he relished, but he had the uncanny feeling that what he had experienced by the pool was for him alone. It grieved him that Elrohir would never know what he knew and he wasn’t sure how to handle it. He suddenly wished his adar or naneth were there to explain it all to him. Silly, really. One would think he was still an elfling needing reassurance or something.

"Nothing happened, Brother. I thought I had found some game but the trail turned out to be a false one." Which was true as far as it went. "I think the stew is burning," he said, hoping to divert Elrohir’s attention away from him. It worked and soon they were both eating, Elrohir’s question forgotten.

When they had had their fill, they stretched out by the fire, relaxing. "I’m hoping we find that other trail tomorrow," Elrohir said. "I’m curious as to where it goes."

"I’m doubtful still that we should stray from this path. If the other trail were feasible I’m sure Thekki or Brunir would have mentioned it."

"Perhaps," Elrohir shrugged. "Maybe they just forgot."

Elladan eyed his brother skeptically. "I doubt that."

"Well, no sense making any plans until we find it. If it’s not a promising route we’ll just continue on this path instead."

****

When Elladan went off to hunt, the scouts drew lots and Thandir won, or lost, depending on one’s point of view. Giving Eluwen a quick peck on the forehead he followed the elder twin, loping quietly through the trees. He watched the son of Elrond pick up the deer track and come upon the pool. He noted with approval the way the younger elf hid himself, waiting for game to come to him. When the deer approached the pool he expected to see an arrow fly, but none came and he wondered at it. He watched as the deer drank and then left unharmed.

Has that overgrown elfling fallen asleep? he wondered in exasperation, for he could not see the other elf in the tree from where he himself was hidden. Then, as if in answer to his unspoken question, Elladan leapt lightly from his hiding place, paused for a moment, then bowed, much to Thandir’s surprise.

The sudden break in the cloud-cover and the appearance of the rainbow across the pool caught him off-guard and he nearly gave himself away, though Elladan’s own gasp of wonder apparently hid any inadvertent sound the scout had made.

When the sun disappeared behind the clouds and the rainbow faded away, Thandir watched as Elladan bowed once again before heading back towards the camp. He waited until he was sure the other elf would not return and then walked towards the pool, senses alert, wondering what had inspired the elder twin to do as he had done. He gazed about, noting the song of the trees, the lapping of the water and the utter lack of songbird. He stared at the great oak across from him and a feeling of being measured in Someone Else’s regard grew. A sense of awe tinged with a little fear swept through him and at the last he found himself bowing — to Whom or to What, he could not say — before following after his charge.

Returning to where he knew Eluwen stood guard over the younger twin, he quietly told her what had happened, even as Elladan returned and reported his failure in finding game, never once mentioning the pool or what had occurred there. Eluwen gazed in wonder at Elladan as Thandir finished speaking. She glanced back at her husband with a questioning look.

"Will he not speak of it, ever?" she asked, for she had noted the omission from Elladan’s account to his brother.

"No," Thandir replied with a sudden certainty born of foresight. "Not to his twin or anyone else." His eyes became unfocused, seeing something that was not there. "To only one person will he speak of this and then need shall drive him."

"Who —?" Eluwen began, a frisson of fear running down her spine. She had never seen Thandir in the throes of a vision before though he had told her he sometimes experienced them.

But Thandir shook his head, the vision fading. "I do not know." He gave Eluwen a searching look, his expression sober. "You know what this means, don’t you?"

She started to speak, then paused, the implications of her husband’s question beginning to manifest themselves. Reluctantly she nodded.

For as long as Arda endured, they could never speak of this to anyone.

****

The next morning dawned bright and fair and the twins set a quick pace in spite of the fact that the road was now nothing more than a muddy trail only partially dried from the previous day’s rain. By noon they had reached what they thought was the place where the other trail came down from the mountains and began keeping an eye out for any sign of it.

"There," Elladan said, pointing to where a cut in the tree line gave evidence of a path.

They veered away from their own path to investigate. The cut was narrow and wound into the mountains, disappearing behind the trees. Elladan gave his twin a hard look.

"It doesn’t look too promising and we may even lose more time. At least the other path is straightforward enough. If we stay on it we’ll be sure to reach Lórien in another three days. I do not like the look of this path at all."

Elrohir gave his brother an impish smile. "Where’s your sense of adventure, muindor nîn?"

Elladan snorted in disgust. "I left it back in that goblin hole in which Thekki found me."

Elrohir’s smile disappeared and he became apologetic. "Sorry, muindor nîn."

His brother wrapped an arm around the other’s shoulder and gave him a squeeze, then kissed him lightly on the forehead. "Forgiven, muindor dithen."

"So what do we do?"

Elladan shrugged, not willing to commit himself one way or the other. For some minutes the twins merely stood there contemplating their choices. Elladan took the map out and examined it, trying to gauge just how tortuous this path might be in comparison to the one clearly marked out as heading towards Lórien. Thekki had warned them that the road would disappear long before they reached the Celebrant and this winding mountain trail seemed to come out just below the Dimrill Stair. The twins were familiar with that route, as it was the one most often taken by the elves traveling between Imladris and Lórien.

He glanced at Elrohir’s face, noting his twin’s expectant expression and sighed. "I think we’re going to regret this, but I have to admit I’m as curious as you to know where this trail goes."

Elrohir grinned. "Let’s go then."

When the scouts saw the twins leave the path Thandir did not utter a word but his expression was clearly unhappy. Eluwen refrained from saying anything flippant. Instead, she followed her husband up the trail, a trail they both knew led nowhere, whatever the map might indicate. She sent a brief prayer to the Valar that none of them would suffer unduly from the twins’ rashness this time.

****

The trail was narrow and twisted in a switch-back pattern across the face of the mountain, the view of the Anduin Vale often hidden by the many trees, mostly pine and larch and balsam. In spite of the coolness of the day, this late in Narbeleth, the twins found themselves feeling stifled by the thick forest surrounding them, the dark green branches forming a canopy that blocked out the sun. The air was heavy with resin and there was a silence that had nothing to do with the surprise the trees felt in seeing two of the Firstborn amongst them, for seldom had any elf wandered here since these particular trees were saplings. The silence was of a different nature, dark and menacing, and several times the twins thought to turn back but something drove them forward — whether it was pride or curiosity or something else altogether, they could not say.

Finally the trail straightened, continuing due south towards the Dimrill Dale, still several leagues away. The elves found that they were now nearly halfway up the mountain and breaks in the tree line allowed them glimpses of the Vale far below them every now and then. When they entered such open spaces along the trail the twins welcomed the cool breeze and sun, which just made everything seem more stifling when the trees closed in again.

They paused at one such open area late in the afternoon to have something to eat and to rest themselves for a bit, reluctant now to venture back into the forest.

"I wish there were some birdsong," Elrohir commented. "It would make these woods less dark."

"Do you want to turn back?" Elladan asked, sensing what his brother really wanted to say but was reluctant to do so.

"Do you?"

"We’ll lose a day, maybe two. As it is, we wouldn’t reach the other road before nightfall, for already the sun sinks behind the mountains."

"Maybe we should camp here for the night where it’s open and decide what to do in the morning."

Elladan nodded. It wasn’t the most ideal site for a camp, but it would have to do. "Maybe we should."

They set about making camp, the oppressive silence of the woods around them affecting their mood. It wasn’t that the trees were unfriendly. It was more as if the trees didn’t care and that was more disturbing than if they had been downright hostile. This indifference was unsettling to the young elves.

Even Thandir and Eluwen were uneasy and did not look forward to spending the night in any of the trees around them. They crouched on the ground, wrapped in their cloaks, their backs to a hoary larch that shivered slightly at the contact of their bodies against its trunk but otherwise refused to acknowledge their presence. Neither of the twins slept well that night, Thandir noted with grim amusement as he stood watch in the late hours. Elrohir kept starting at every snap of the kindling in the fire or sigh of a breeze in the nearby branches as if he were a raw recruit on his first patrol. Elladan fared no better, finally giving up sleep as a lost cause and joining his brother by the fire.

"I think we should go back," he said as he stirred the fire up and began brewing some tea while Elrohir continued to stay on watch.

"I am beginning to agree with you, Brother."

Thandir was in full agreement with the sentiment.

However, with the dawn, the twins’ mood brightened and looking back the way they had come they gave each other a knowing glance before setting out in the opposite direction. Thus, the next day saw them moving further into the mountains along a winding trail that narrowed almost to a deer track. Eventually, they were forced to walk single-file, scrabbling over large boulders that blocked the path.

They heard the sound of running water before they saw it. Climbing over a particularly large group of boulders they came upon a waterfall. It was rather high and the pool below it was deep. A stream rushed down in a southeasterly direction towards the valley below and the twins suspected this might be one of the many sources feeding the Celebrant still many leagues away. The current here was swift and when the twins attempted to cross below the pool, thinking it would be shallower, they quickly plunged up to their chests into the water and were nearly swept off their feet.

"We’re not going to be able to cross that," Elrohir gasped as they made their way back to the banks, wringing the wet out of their cloaks.

"Maybe further down it shallows out more," Elladan suggested and they made their way along the bank of the stream.

It was treacherous going, for the way was steep as the stream tumbled down the mountainside and there were no trees nearby to offer them handholds as they looked for a way across. Turning back never occurred to them. At last the land flattened out and the stream’s current seemed to slow somewhat, though the water was still too deep for them to attempt a safe crossing. However, they found that in the flatter land the trees were now closer to the bank. One such tree, a tall pine, was leaning over the stream, its upper branches nearly touching the water below. The elves could see that sometime in the past the bank had eroded enough to cause the tree’s roots to lose purchase and the tree was now leaning far over the stream, though it did not reach the other side. Still, they could see that it was only a short leap from the top of the tree across to the other bank.

The twins looked at each other and nodded. This was the best way they could see to cross to the other side.

"We could just continue to follow this stream down to the Celebrant," Elrohir said as they were contemplating the best way to climb the tree’s trunk.

Elladan shook his head. "You forget, Brother, that the Celebrant is too swift and cold for us to cross. It’s best if we cross here and continue on the path so that we are above the Celebrant when we reach the Dimrill Dale."

By unspoken consent Elladan took the lead crossing over the tree bridge. They had to take care for the tree was still alive. Elladan went first to test the strength of the tree to hold them, attempting to communicate with the tree to explain their need. Elladan sensed no actual protest from the pine, only a reluctant acceptance of the elf’s presence and need.

Slowly he made his way along the branches, pulling himself forward as carefully as possible, not wanting to inflict any unnecessary damage to the pine. He was about halfway across when he turned to his brother, shouting above the rush of the waters below.

"It appears to be safe, Brother. Start across."

Elrohir nodded and climbed up the tree, thanking it silently for allowing him and his brother to cross to the other side of the stream. The tree, however, seemed to have other ideas. One of these strange beings full of light he could tolerate crawling upon him, but not two. With a groan the tree shuddered just as Elrohir was about to reach out for a branch and the elf found himself falling into the water. Then the tree seemed to roll over and before he could even utter a shout Elrohir was securely trapped beneath the tree, his head barely above the water.

"Elrohir!" Elladan screamed as he struggled to keep his balance. The shifting of the tree had taken him by surprise but he had not yet moved and so was not shaken off to plunge into the waters below. He frantically began to retreat to where his brother lay trapped.

Elrohir was struggling to free himself, panic beginning to set in, but to no avail. His efforts merely made things worse. Elladan reached the place where Elrohir had fallen from the tree and leaned down. "No, ’Ro, stay still. You’re going to drown yourself otherwise."

"I c-can’t get m-my foot free," Elrohir gasped, the cold mountain water stealing the warmth from him.

"Maybe I can get the tree to roll back. Be still so I can concentrate." He laid a hand on the trunk and attempted to still his own quaking body, closing his eyes. He tried to remember all that his Daeradar had told them about speaking to the trees, but he couldn’t seem to reach this particular tree. He did not know if it was because he was not a pure-blooded Wood Elf, or because the tree was deliberately ignoring him. He opened his eyes and saw how blue his brother was.

"I can’t get the tree to move and it’s too heavy for me to do it alone."

"Wh-what are we g-g-going to do?" Elrohir’s voice was fading as the cold leached the last of his warmth. Elladan landed on the bank beside him, throwing his pack onto the ground, and tried to lift as much of his brother’s body out of the water as possible, but Elrohir screamed in pain and he was forced to lay his brother back down, though not before removing Elrohir’s own pack from his back. Then he sat down in the water to cradle his brother as best he could. Tears fell unheeded from the ellon’s eyes as he tried to think of some way to save his brother. He stared around desperately, praying silently to the Valar for help. Elrohir had gone quiet, too quiet and fearing the worst Elladan began to weep in earnest.

"Let me help," came a calm voice as he felt someone lay a hand on his shoulder.

****

iRîn e-Gelaidh: "The Memory of Trees" (Enya); literally, "The Remembrance of (the) Trees" as Sindarin has no attested word for "memory".

Tauron: Sindarin name for the Vala Oromë. He is also known as Hîr e-Daur: "Master of the Wood".

Muindor dithen: Little brother.