Chapter Three: Unexpected Encounters

Legolas and his cousins chased after Maidhien as quickly as they could through the dark forest. Berior led them, following a path marked by broken bits of undergrowth. Legolas trusted Berior not to lose her trail, so instead of paying attention to her tracks, he concentrated on the forest around them. It was quiet. Much quieter than any other time he had been in the forest at night, which, granted, was very few times indeed. But still, on those few occasions, Legolas remembered hearing a chorus of frogs, insects, birds and small scurrying animals, not to mention the night song of the trees. Tonight, not a bird or beast stirred. Even the trees seemed subdued. Legolas hoped the two spiders they had just killed were the reason for the night creatures' caution and not some other lurking danger, most especially more live spiders. But he kept an arrow ready as they ran, just in case they were not that lucky, and so did all his cousins.

They had run a long way--long enough that they were all beginning to get winded--but they had not yet caught a glimpse of Maidhien. Nor had she responded the few times Galithil had dared to call out her name. Legolas was beginning to wonder how far they would have to pursue her, how late it would be when they finally caught her, and how they would safely get back to the stronghold from this deep in the forest, past a nest of spiders. Not to mention how safe they would be when they got home to face their fathers' certain wrath.  His mind was wrestling with these worries when he caught sight of a flickering light in the distance, a little to their left. His cousins saw it at the same moment and they stumbled to a stop, leaning gratefully against the surrounding trees.

"A fire," Brethil said, gesturing towards the light.

"She will have seen it," Galithil said through gasping breaths. "She will run to it."

"The trail turns in that direction," Berior said, pointing at the ground.

“Good,” Legolas said and leaned his head back against the tree that propped him up, looking up into its branches while taking long breaths. “We can finally catch her.”

"Do you think it is a patrol?" Berior asked.

"Hopefully," Brethil answered. "I would like some adults to take us home. I do not want to go past the spiders alone."

"Agreed," Legolas said heartily. He pushed himself away from the tree he was leaning against. "Let's go get her."

The others nodded and began to straighten up as well, but before they could start towards the fire, a terrified scream ripped through the darkened forest. It was quickly stifled, but muffled sounds of a struggle could still be heard coming from the direction where the light flickered. Legolas and his cousins spun around as one to face the sound of the scream.

"Maidhien!" Galithil called. He took two running steps towards the distant light before Legolas grabbed him. Galithil pulled away hard, but not strongly enough to break his cousin's grasp. "Something has her. We have to help!" he yelled, still trying to pull free.

"Be silent!" Legolas whispered sharply. "Something does have her and it will have us too if we call attention to ourselves." Galithil froze and, along with Berior and Brethil, stared at Legolas. "We need to think before we rush in to try to help her. We will be no match for orcs, if that is what made that fire," Legolas continued.

"Orcs!" Brethil whispered, instinctively stepping closer to the nearest tree.

"It cannot be orcs. We are too close to the stronghold," Berior exclaimed, but the tremor in his voice betrayed his uncertainty. "It must be more spiders."

"Of course it is not spiders," Galithil snapped. "Spiders do not build fires. Whatever it is, Legolas is right. We must surprise it. We should approach the fire in the trees. Orcs do not climb into the trees."

"But spiders do," Berior countered. "Spiders might not have built the fire, but they may have already eaten whoever did. And now they have a web around Maidhien."

Legolas stepped between them. "Arguing is not going to help. We need to find out what is attacking Maidhien without being attacked ourselves, but I agree we should stay out of the trees. We do not know what made the fire, but we do know spiders are in the area. We can hide in the shadows of the trees and approach slowly until we can see what has her." Without waiting to hear any further argument, Legolas started walking towards the fire, moving from trunk to trunk. Galithil followed on his heels. Berior and Brethil came behind after a moment's hesitation.

"We cannot fight orcs by ourselves," Berior whispered, skipping forward a few steps to catch up to Legolas.

"If you prefer, stay behind," Galithil replied, stalking past Legolas and Berior at a fast walk, gripping his bow tightly in his hand. "I am going to help her."

Berior looked at Legolas pleadingly as they all picked up their pace to keep up with Galithil.

Legolas grimaced. "We do not know that it is orcs. Maybe it is not an Enemy at all. Maybe it is dwarves and they only startled her. We should at least see what it is, before we try to decide what to do."

Berior released a shaky sigh, but followed silently. Brethil brought up the rear.

Galithil set a fast pace through the tree trunks. So fast that Legolas was beginning to wonder how he would stop him from charging straight into the camp without doing something that would cause too much noise. Thankfully, just as Legolas was about to whisper to Galithil to slow down, he did so on his own, coming to stop behind a broad oak. Legolas stopped directly behind him, peering around the oak's trunk into the camp. Galithil had already scanned it.

"Men!" he whispered loudly enough that Brethil and Berior winced and reflexively dodged behind a tree trunk in fear that the people in the camp might have heard as well. But they were fortunately too engaged with trying to contain Maidhien to notice the approach of her friends.

As he spoke, Galithil slid an arrow from his quiver and fit it against his bowstring. He was at full draw before Legolas grasped the shaft of his arrow to stop his attack. Galithil turned a furious glare on him.

"Men, not orcs," Legolas whispered. "You cannot simply shoot them. We do not know they are Enemies."

"Friends would not handle Maidhien in that manner," Galithil answered back, trying to wrest his arrow from his cousin's grasp.

One of the men was indeed holding Maidhien tightly against himself, one hand around her waist, pinning her arms to her sides. His other hand covered her mouth, trying to stifle her screams. Maidhien was struggling against him violently, kicking at his legs hard enough to make him dance about. Another man stood in front of her, grasping her upper arms and yelling something at her. A third man stood next to them, his bow in his hand, an arrow ready, scanning the forest nervously.

"Enemies would not be telling her to be quiet so they could help her," Legolas argued, refusing to release Galithil's arrow. "Listen to what they are saying."

Galithil glared at Legolas, but did listen long enough to bring a frown to his face. "I cannot understand..."

"Westron," Legolas interrupted. "They are telling her to be quiet and to let them help her."

Galithil glared at Legolas a moment, but then turned to study the scene before him, concentrating on the Men's words. After a moment, he turned back to Legolas. "He might only be trying to subdue her--to persuade her to stop fighting him. We still have to make them let her go."

"We do," Legolas said, finally releasing Galithil's arrow. "But to do that, we need to talk to them. Not shoot at them."

"If they are Enemies, they will come after us once they know we are here," Brethil warned.

"So we must make sure they cannot find us too easily," Legolas said. He searched the tree branches above them carefully. Then he glanced at the Men again. They had a camp set up, the fire in its middle. It was unlikely there were spiders here if the Men had been safely camping. "Into the trees," he said, jumping silently into the oak. "Spread out and stay amongst the leaves."

"You talk to them, Legolas," Galithil said. "Your Westron is better than ours."

Legolas nodded, and waited until his cousins were spread out around him. When they were all safely hidden in the branches, he faced the camp.

"Let her go," he called in Westron.

At the same moment, Galithil loosed an arrow, burying it in the ground an inch from the feet of the man who had been pleading with Maidhien to be quiet.

The Men in the clearing jumped. The man holding a bow dove behind a tree, trying to put some form of cover between himself and his attacker. His bow was now at full draw and he scanned the trees for a target. The man holding Maidhien ducked behind the nearest tree, dragging Maidhien with him. The last man, at whose feet the arrow had struck, spun around and looked into the trees.

Legolas pressed himself against the trunk of his tree and glared at Galithil, who had swiftly moved through the branches to a different position. "What are you doing?" he mouthed at him.

"Peace," the man in the clearing called. Legolas peered around the trunk of his tree and saw the man was holding up his empty hands. "We mean the girl no harm. She ran into our camp screaming. We were only trying to calm her down."

"Then let her go," Legolas repeated, glancing at Galithil to make sure he did not intend to release another arrow. His cousin had his bow drawn with an arrow trained on the man, but he did not release it. Legolas's eyes widened when he saw that Berior and Brethil had arrows fitted against their bowstrings, ready to shoot as well.

"If we let her go, she will run into the forest and a good deal more harm will come to her there than with us," the man argued.

Legolas looked at Maidhien. She was looking straight at him with a terrified expression. The man still held her in a bruising grasp around her waist and arms, but the hand that had covered her mouth now held a sword.

"Maidhien," he called, speaking Sindarin, since Maidhien did not know Westron. "The man says if he lets you go, you will run and get lost in the forest. If I can convince him to let you go, promise me you will not run. Come stand under the tree where I am. Do you promise?"

Maidhien nodded. "I promise," she whispered.

"She will not run if you let her go," Legolas said to the man in Westron. "If you are not Enemies, let her go now."

The unarmed man frowned and turned to study Maidhien. Finally he sighed. "Let her go," he ordered with obvious reluctance. "And it will be on your head if she runs off," he muttered with a glance at the tree where Legolas was hidden.

The man holding Maidhien released his grasp around her waist and pushed her forward to stand at arm's length, still holding her firmly by her upper arms. Then he gave her a slight shove towards the trees and let her go. Maidhien loosed a little cry and ran towards the trees. She leapt straight into them and climbed to where Galithil sat. Hiding behind him, she threw her arms around his neck.

The man with a bow followed her movement and, in a second, he had his bow trained on Galithil. Galithil, in turn, drew his bow and aimed an arrow at the unarmed man, who was clearly their leader. Berior and Brethil leapt forward into view and aimed arrows at the two guards.

Both the unarmed man and Legolas cried "Hold!" in unison.

"They are children!" the man with a bow exclaimed, lowering his weapon for a moment in confusion and then raising it again, but only at a partial draw.

"Lower your weapon," the unarmed man ordered sharply.

"They will shoot us," the man with a bow said, his voice unsteady. "They are woodelves."

"Lower it," the man snapped. "We do not attack children."

Reluctantly, the man lowered his bow.

Legolas did not ask his cousins to lower theirs. Having convinced the men to release Maidhien, he was trying to determine what to do next. Obviously, they needed to go home. But it was dark, they were a long way from the stronghold, and they would have to pass by the spiders to get to the Path. Legolas wondered if it would not be safer to stay with the men until daybreak or until their parents found them, whichever came first. The men were at least adults, and they carried swords, which seemed to imply they would be capable of fighting. More capable than Legolas and his cousins, at any rate. But trusting Men was not going to come easily to Legolas or Galithil. In the men’s favor, true enough, they had released Maidhien and the unarmed man had said they would not attack children. But, they were nowhere near the Path, and that made Legolas suspicious of their reasons for being in the forest and doubtful that he should trust them.

"It is against the King's law in the Woodland Realm for travelers to leave the Path. Who are you and what is your business here?" he asked, still speaking in Westron.

The men with weapons shifted their stance uneasily, but the unarmed man gestured for them to be still.

"I am Barad. These are my brothers Bergid and Beregar. We are traveling to Dale, where our sister has recently married Forwed, son of Fengel. I admit we were warned by the men who live in the Vales of Anduin not to stray from the Path, but we were attacked by orcs on the edge of the forest when we were traveling to the Forest Gate. We lost our horses and our packs and our youngest brother, Bardil, was wounded." He gestured towards a shelter the men had made with a piece of canvas. Inside, Legolas saw another man he had not yet noticed lying motionless on a litter.  "So we decided to risk cutting across the forest to the Path, in hopes of shortening our distance and finding food to replace what the orcs stole. I would offer to pay for the game we have taken, but I have nothing of value left to offer."

"Except the swords he and his brothers are carrying," Galithil said in Sindarin. "He is lying, Legolas. Do not trust him."

"He is not lying about his injured brother," Legolas responded, also speaking Sindarin. "And they would have to poach a hundred deer to approach the value of those swords, so that would be a silly demand. I think he is being truthful. It makes sense to flee to the shelter of the forest if orcs attack you and take your food."

"For all we know, the injured man was wounded when they committed a crime and fled justice in a woodsman's village, so they are outlaws. We have Maidhien. We should go back to the stronghold," Galithil countered.

Legolas frowned and looked at the sword that one of the men was still wielding. "The sword that man has is very high quality. Possibly even dwarven-made. If he can afford so fine a sword, it is believable he is noble-born and his sister is married to lord Forwed. If that is the case, then they are not Enemies, they are the King’s allies and we would be safer with them than with the spiders."

"They could have stolen those swords," Galithil argued. "I do not trust them."

"If I were going to attack children," the unarmed man said softly, now speaking Sindarin himself, causing all the children to turn to look at him sharply, "I would not have told my brothers to lower their weapons when I did. I give you my word, I will not harm you, nor will my brothers. I am Barad, a cousin of Queen Firiel of Arthedain. My brothers and I traveled with her from Gondor to Arthedain as her guards. Now we are traveling to Dale to live in lord Fengel's household with our sister. I am not your enemy. Indeed, if my brothers and I can help you in some way, we offer to do so."

Berior and Brethil lowered their bows in response to that speech and looked at Legolas. Galithil was not moved.

"I do not want to go back through the forest alone," Maidhien whispered.

Galithil sighed. "You would prefer to stay with the men than go back to the stronghold?" he whispered over his shoulder.

"Can they not take us to the stronghold?" Maidhien replied.

"I am sorry, we cannot take you there tonight," Barad answered. "Our brother cannot travel further and we need rest from carrying him. But we will keep you safe until morning and tomorrow, if you will show us the way to the Path, we promise to stay on it. I assume the stronghold you refer to is the home of the Elvenking?"

Galithil's eyes narrowed at that question. Legolas tensed as well, but he nodded silently.

"I have been charged to carry a message to him, so if you are going there, we can take the road together and keep each other safe."

The children looked at him silently.

"What say you?" Barad asked.

Legolas looked at his cousins and Maidhien.

"I would rather stay here," Maidhien whispered.

With a sigh, Galithil nodded and lowered his bow. Berior and Brethil also nodded.

Watching the men closely, the four ellyn put their arrows back in their quivers and jumped down from the tree.

*~*~*

"There is the tree Noruil described," Conuiön called, pointing to his left and signaling for a stop.

Thranduil slowed his horse and brought it alongside his guard, but his focus was already on the forest to the south of the Path. He could make out a wide area bearing the tell-tale blackness that warned of foul webs and evil creatures. He heart raced at the sight. They had not met the children along the Path as he had hoped they would, and that could only mean that Legolas was somewhere in the Shadowed forest.

"It does not appear the children met with a few solitary spiders," Aradunnon said, eyeing the trees as he, Celonhael, Crithad and two guards joined Thranduil.

Neither Celonhael nor Crithad managed to conceal their dismay as they looked at the darkened trees. Indeed, Thranduil wondered how well he was managing to mask his own fears. He would far rather face Sauron and all the Nine in single combat than believe that Legolas and his cousins had been chased into the forest by spiders.

"Why are we stopping?" Dannenion asked when he and Dolwon caught up to them. "We must be near the clearing Noruil described," he said, pointing to the tree split by lightening.

Conuiön nodded. "Indeed we must be. And since we did not find the children on the Path, we need to stop and search this area for signs of where they might have gone from here."

"Anastor said that Maidhien ran southward, into the forest," Dannenion said. "We should go south from here."

Conuiön scowled at him. "She ran south for the few seconds that Anastor watched her. Then where did she go? Straight south? To the east or west? Or was she bitten by a spider?"

Thranduil closed his eyes briefly at that thought. He did not believe the children had been taken by the spiders, he told himself firmly. He felt the steady presence of his son's fea. He had not been bitten, he was certain.

"We need to find their tracks so we are not searching the entire forest blindly," Conuiön concluded. Then he directed himself to Aradunnon. "I want to do this without engaging a colony of spiders in battle, if possible. You can send a patrol here later. My immediate priority is the children."

"Agreed,” Aradunnon replied readily. “Without knowing where the children are and without knowing how many spiders we face, engaging them would do more harm than good."

Conuiön nodded and slipped off his horse. "We will leave the horses here and continue to the clearing on foot. We will attract less attention that way." As everyone dismounted, Conuiön pointed at the two guards that had accompanied them and then at the forest. The guards led the way into the trees, searching for the children’s trail. The others followed silently, though Dannenion was frowning severely and glaring at Conuiön's back.

As they walked slowly through the trees, scanning the ground, Dannenion fidgeted angrily with an arrow that he had pulled from his quiver. He spun it back and forth between his thumb and index finger, pausing occasionally to pick at the string that bound the arrowhead in the shaft. When he tapped it against his thigh sharply several times, all eyes darted to him. Aradunnon and Conuiön fixed him with fierce looks intended to silence him. Thranduil scowled at him as well, but he could not deny that part of him sympathized with Dannenion’s frustration at the slow pace of their progress.

Finally, they reached the clearing and saw the first evidence of the children’s passage—wide patches of cut yarrow. On the southern edge of the clearing, the guards found some signs of a trail leading further into the forest, but there were also deer tracks, so they could not tell whether the underbrush was bent by the children or the animal. After they had walked a good twenty paces along this possible trail, Conuiön and the guards stopped dead in their tracks. Thranduil froze as well, looking about in the trees, expecting to see spiders. He saw nothing, so he looked again at Conuiön. His guard was staring, mouth open slightly, directly ahead of him. Thranduil followed his gaze.

On the forest floor were two large, dark forms. Spiders. Thranduil raised his bow. Then he realized they were already dead.

"Elbereth gilthoniel!" Thranduil whispered, when he recognized the fletchings on the arrows buried in the spiders' eyes. He started forward, only to have Conuiön grasp his arm.

"Are there any tracks leading away from them?" Conuiön whispered, speaking just loud enough for the two guards, who were inspecting the spiders, to hear him.

One replied with a gesture that there were five sets of tracks and then he pointed south.

Thranduil released a long breath. Next to him, he heard Celonhael murmuring a prayer of thanks.

Conuiön gestured silently for the guards to lead the way, following the tracks. They nodded and moved to obey.

"We should go get the horses first," Dannenion declared. He spoke in a normal voice, but in the silent forest, it sounded as if he had shouted. "With them, we can make up for the time we have wasted confirming that the children ran to the south, as I already told you they had done."

Everyone tensed. Thranduil drew a sharp breath to order Dannenion to silence. At the same time, Conuiön spun around, jaw clenched, fist gripping his bow tightly, and for a moment, Thranduil thought he might have to prevent his guard from killing one of his citizens.

As everyone glared at Dannenion, the branches of the infested trees around them stirred, as if a breeze had blown through them. But the air was still, Thranduil realized. He drew his bow.

"The spiders are on the move," Conuiön warned, but he need not have spoken. Like Thranduil, everyone present was already searching for spiders, bows drawn. "Spread out, two together. Contain them," Conuiön ordered, moving to stand back to back with Thranduil. Aradunnon and Colloth sprinted to their right a few dozen paces, standing on the northern flank of what should be the battle field, parallel with the two guards on the southern flank. Between Aradunnon and Thranduil, Celonhael took up position with Crithad. Between Thranduil and the guards, Dannenion and Dolwon stood together, eyes wide and bows drawn.

By the time everyone had managed to take up a position, large, bulbous forms began dropping from the trees. One descended directly in front of Thranduil. Before its spindly legs touched the ground, Thranduil's arrow flew towards it. There was a sickening crack when the arrow penetrated the spider's body and then it fell in a heap to the ground. Next to it, another spider was skittering towards Thranduil, hissing as it charged. Thranduil reached for another arrow, drew and released. Momentum drove the spider forward a few more feet before it also collapsed, unmoving, near Thranduil's feet. A clicking noise above them drew both Thranduil and Conuiön's attention at once. They looked up to see the underbelly of one of the foul beasts as it spit a web towards them. King and guard as one nocked and released their arrows straight up into the spider's body and they were forced to dive out of its way when it fell from the tree. As Conuiön scrambled to regain his footing and return to the King's side, Thranduil found himself face to face with a large spider on the ground. Too close for a bow, Thranduil drew his sword. The spider feinted towards him and Thranduil swung his blade at its legs, removing one at the joint with a powerful blow. It recoiled. Behind him, Thranduil heard another spider screech as Conuiön dropped it with a well placed arrow. The spider in front of him charged again. Thranduil let it come closer and stabbed it in the eye before jumping back. The spider flinched and drew away. Then it reared up, catching the low branch of a tree with its forelegs. Thranduil saw its stinger, dripping with venom, swing towards him. He stepped to the side and stabbed the spider in the underbelly, where its legs attached to its body. At the same time, an arrow flew into the beast's body. Thranduil danced back as it collapsed to the ground. Conuiön was back at his side.

Thranduil glanced at Conuiön briefly, and then focused on the overall battle field, trusting his immediate safety to his guard for the moment. Conuiön nodded in acknowledgment before turning his bow on an approaching spider. Thranduil looked swiftly around himself. The battle field had remained fairly tight, the elves containing the spiders within the confines of the positions they had assumed. Crithad and Celonhael had not seen battle since the founding of the stronghold, but they had held their position. Thranduil turned to the south, where Dannenion and Dolwon fought. He saw Dannenion drop two spiders in quick succession while Dolwon shot another that had approached his friend from behind. They fought well, Thranduil was mildly surprised to see, but they were still the least skilled warriors present. The spiders were clever enough to recognize that and press their advantage on that front. That was a serious problem-- Dannenion and Dolwon defended their southern flank. If spiders escaped in that direction, they would be moving towards the children.

Thranduil drew a breath to call a signal to the guards that also fought on the southern flank to tighten ranks with Dannenion and Dolwon, but before he could, he saw Crithad and Celonhael cutting across the battlefield to the south and taking up position there. Thranduil looked at Aradunnon. He and his guard, Colloth, had shifted position to compensate for Celonhael and Crithad's move.

Thranduil frowned. Moving Celonhael and Crithad was overkill in his mind. Aradunnon did not trust Dannenion and Dolwon, that was clear, but no more spiders were escaping south, and that was all that mattered to Thranduil at the moment. Leaving Aradunnon to command the battle, he returned his attention to his immediate surroundings.

Two more spiders dropped from the trees above them. Conuiön shot one swiftly. Thranduil took aim at the second and it fell next to its comrade. There were fewer spiders now. Rather than pressing forward to attack the elves, they seemed to be looking for avenues of escape. Thranduil shot one spider scurrying along a branch trying to flee to the west. Another he shot from a web as it fled. Conuiön's bow twanged several times as well at distant targets.

Finally, Thranduil fit an arrow against his bowstring but could not find a target within range to shoot. He and Conuiön looked around themselves. To their left, the guards sent two arrows into a pair of spiders trying to flee past them. To his right, Aradunnon was sheathing his sword and reaching for an arrow, but there were no more spiders near him. Thranduil looked for Celonhael and Crithad and saw his advisor firing an arrow at a spider that was coming up behind Dannenion and Dolwon as they both fought two others. When those three enemies fell, the screeching stopped and the forest was silent.

Everyone remained in their places a long moment, scanning the trees and the ground around them.

"I am clear. Does anyone else see any more of them?" Conuiön finally called.

"Clear," the guards replied quickly.

"Nothing," Celonhael replied.

Dannenion and Dolwon were the last to respond. They searched the trees around them several times before Dolwon finally answered, "I see nothing."

Thranduil drew and released a long breath. Between them, Thranduil and Conuiön had killed around a dozen spiders. It appeared each pair of warriors had faced roughly the same number of foes. Thranduil's quick count totaled nearly fifty dead spiders.

"Did any escape?" Conuiön asked.

"I did not see any escape south, but I never had time to make an accurate count of the spiders around me. I cannot be certain," one of the guards answered.

"Same to the north," Colloth added.

Conuiön grimaced and spared a moment to glare at Dannenion. Then he turned to the guards. "Where is the trail you saw? I want to find the children quickly, in case anything escaped us."

"This way," one of the guards said, turning and running along a clear path of crushed undergrowth. Everyone followed.

"In the future," Thranduil said, when Aradunnon jogged up alongside him, "when both of us may potentially be in a battle, we must agree in advance who will command it," he observed dryly.

Aradunnon raised an eyebrow. "I was under the impression that I command the warriors of this realm," he said.

Thranduil looked at his brother side-long. "And I was under the impression that I was King," he replied.

Aradunnon smirked at him a moment before they both focused on the serious task at hand.

They ran silently, keeping a watchful eye for spiders or other enemies, while at the same time making certain they still followed the children's path. When they had run for several minutes and the trail of crushed ferns continued, Thranduil was relieved. If the children had run so far away from the colony of spiders, it was very likely they had not re-encountered any of them. But when they kept running, Thranduil began to grow concerned, fearing to think what had driven them so far.

Finally, the guards slowed to a stop, studying the ground.  

"What is it?"  Celonhael whispered.

"The tracks change here," the guard answered. "It appears four children stopped and stood here. Then they continued forward, but no longer running," he said, pointing to the much softer and more spread out tracks that continued forward. "But one set of tracks seems to continue running forward. They all turn southeast."

While the first guard spoke, the other followed the running set of tracks several paces. He bent and picked something off a thorny bush. "Maidhien continued running," he said, holding up a bit a thread. "This is from an elleth's dress." He looked in the direction the tracks followed. Then he leaned forward. "I see light. A fire."

"Maidhien," Dannenion said with open relief. He started towards the fire.

Conuiön grabbed his tunic and stayed him.

"Let go of me," Dannenion demanded loudly.

Conuiön only tightened his grasp. "Attract more spiders and I will feed you to them myself," he growled, without releasing Dannenion's tunic. He looked in the direction of the faint glow. "I do not believe the children would have stayed alone in the forest or dared to start a fire after fighting spiders. Could it be a patrol, Aradunnon?"

Aradunnon shook his head. "The patrols in this area have all been called to the western border," he said. "Which explains why there are spiders here," he added in disgust, under his breath.

"And that must be corrected, obviously," Thranduil said. Then he turned to Conuiön. "It must be a hunting party."

"But the children would have told them of the spiders. No adult would be as foolish as to stay in the area with a fire burning if they knew spiders were about," Conuiön countered.

"And there are no villages near here," Celonhael added. "Where would a hunting party have come from?"

"I think we should approach the fire with caution," Conuiön concluded, releasing Dannenion's tunic.

Dannenion harrumphed loudly and straightened his clothes, but said nothing. More importantly, he did not charge ahead.

Conuiön stepped forward, taking the lead from the guards. Thranduil followed him and silently willed him to move faster as they approached the fire. The children's tracks moved from tree to tree, Thranduil noted. Obviously, they had been cautious when approaching this fire as well. As they drew closer, they could hear quiet voices.

Conuiön stopped and pointed to the ground. Here the tracks ended and bent grass at the base of several trunks showed where the children had taken to the trees. Thranduil peered ahead of him. He could clearly see a camp. A sort of shelter was erected at one end of it and a fire burned in the middle. With an open sigh of relief, Thranduil spotted Legolas, speaking intently with one of the adults in the camp. He frowned when Conuiön signaled for them to go into the trees. He was about to protest when he realized that the adult Legolas was speaking to looked odd. Eyes fixed on his son and the adult with him, Thranduil followed Conuiön into the branches. The adult's back was to him, but he seemed very heavy set and broad of shoulder. And his hair was cut shoulder length.

Thranduil's breath caught in his throat as he realized his son was speaking with a Man.

Aradunnon and Celonhael firmly restrained Dolwon and Dannenion from leaping straight away into the middle of the camp. Colloth fixed an arrow on the Man Legolas was speaking to, while the other two guards aimed their arrows at the remaining Men in the camp. They looked to Conuiön for orders.

Thranduil quickly appraised the situation. The children were still armed. Each had their knives on their belts and their bows next to them. The men's blankets were spread out on the ground, but the children's belongings were scattered on them--their cloaks lay about on the blankets as if the children were prepared to sleep there. The pack containing medicinal herbs that the children had gathered was open on the blanket next to Berior's cloak, and a water skin that Thranduil recognized to be Berior's sat next to a bowl near the pack. Berior, Brethil and Legolas were sitting in a semi-circle around one of the men, speaking with him. In Sindarin, Thranduil noted. His eyebrows rose at that.

Despite the need to evaluate the children's status swiftly, Thranduil paused when he looked at Galithil and Maidhien. They sat on a blanket apart from the others, huddled together under Galithil's cloak. His nephew’s arm was around Maidhien’s waist, holding her against him. They both seemed suspicious of the men, not taking part in the conversation and watching their surroundings carefully. Indeed, Galithil was searching the trees where the guards' bows had just creaked as they drew them.

 "It appears the children have sought shelter from the spiders with these Men," Conuiön whispered.

The children paused in their conversation with the men and looked into the trees. In reaction to that, two of the men reached for their bows.

"And they seem to think they are not Enemies," Thranduil agreed.  He considered that. "For the moment, I am willing to trust their judgment on that issue. But the Men are nervous. I do not trust them to react well if we surprise them."

Conuiön nodded and moved away from the King to another tree where Elvish eyes would easily spot him. Then he reached for a twig and snapped it sharply, deliberately revealing his position to the children.

Everyone in the camp turned towards the noise. The armed men drew their bows and scanned the trees, but they saw nothing. The children, on the other hand, all stood and openly relieved smiles lit their faces when they saw the guard.

When the armed men continued searching the trees and Conuiön did not come to the ground, Legolas's expression grew more serious again. He turned towards the man he had been speaking with. "That was Conuiön, my adar’s..."

Thranduil tensed, and saw Conuiön do the same as Legolas hesitated over how to identify the King's body guard. Thranduil did not care to reveal more than necessary until he was certain who these Men were.

"He is my adar's friend," Legolas concluded. Despite his continued concern, Thranduil smiled at that. Conuiön and Aradunnon nodded once, acknowledging the child's good judgment. "Adar has certainly sent him to look for us. I told you someone might very well come before daybreak." Legolas looked at the men with bows. "Tell Bergid and Beregar to lower their weapons."

"Tell Conuiön we mean him no harm and to show himself," one of the men with bows responded, now squinting at the trees.

Thranduil narrowed his eyes at that man.

But the man Legolas was speaking to laughed at his comrade. "If Conuiön thought we meant harm to him or these children, or if he intended to do us harm, we would long ago have been dead. Put your arrow away, Beregar."

The men with bows lowered them and took a step back towards the fire. When they did, Conuiön slipped down from the tree and stepped into the light. The children ran to him, unhindered. When Conuiön had positioned himself between the men and all the children, Thranduil released a quiet breath. Colloth and the two guards jumped down to the camp as well and came to stand next to Conuiön. When the captain of the King’s guard was certain the children were safe, he faced the men.

"What is your business in the Woodland Realm," he asked.

Thranduil paid attention to their response long enough to satisfy himself that it was properly respectful, which implied they were no threat to the children. Then he turned his attention to Legolas. He scanned his son and each of the other children carefully and then released another long breath when he confirmed none of them were injured.

"After we saw those spiders..." Celonhael whispered next him, his voice openly shaking now that the emergency was over, "even when we found five sets of tracks...I was afraid to hope until we found them all."

Thranduil could only nod in response. Celonhael had voiced exactly what he had been thinking. All he wanted to do at this moment was gather Legolas in his arms to assure himself he was truly safe. His patience was exhausted. Thranduil looked at Conuiön speaking with the Men. The conversation appeared to be calm enough and the guard had not yet seen fit to arrest the Men. Enough restraint, Thranduil thought to himself. Without waiting for Conuiön's signal, he jumped down from his branch. That was all the encouragement Aradunnon, Celonhael, Crithad, Dannenion and Dolwon needed—they jumped down as well.

"Adar!" Legolas called as his cousins did the same. Thranduil stepped forward and pulled his son into a tight embrace and the camp around him was filled with the sounds of thankful and joyous reunions as parents held their children close.

"I am so sorry, Adar," Legolas whispered when Thranduil still held him after a long moment.

Thranduil shook his head. "None of that now," he responded. "At the moment, the only important thing is that you are safe." With that statement, Thranduil grasped Legolas by his shoulders and held him at arm’s length, scanning him closely. "You are not hurt?" he whispered as he searched again for signs of injury.

"None of us were hurt, Adar," Legolas assured him quickly.

Thranduil frowned and gave Legolas a slight shake. "By the grace of the Valar, you were not hurt!" he exclaimed. "Legolas! What were you thinking to fight spiders? Why did you not run, as Anastor and Noruil did?" He still held Legolas by his shoulders and had to make a conscious effort to relax his grip when Legolas squirmed slightly.

"I would have run, Ada. I wanted to. But the spiders came out of the trees not twenty paces from Galithil and I. So close, we could barely use our bows on them. Anastor and Noruil were further away, with Berior and Brethil, so they could skirt around the spiders. But if Galithil and I had tried to run for the Path, the spiders would have had us for certain. And I thought they would get us even if we turned and ran south like Maidhien. They were so close, they could have overtaken us if we had all run. So I thought we had better fight."

"He was right, Uncle," Galithil and Berior both said.

"And even though we were far enough away to escape, we would not leave Legolas and Galithil alone with the spiders," Berior added. "So we stayed and fought as well."

Brethil nodded.

"And we did kill them both," Galithil concluded, his tone both proud and defiant.

Aradunnon closed his eyes. "We killed them both," he repeated, with emphasis on the last word.

Thranduil shook his head. "Enough. We will discuss it later. All I care about now is getting you home as quickly as possible so your naneths do not have to suffer unduly." Thoughts of returning to the stronghold made Thranduil remember the Men. He turned to Conuiön. "May I assume that we are not arresting them? That we are satisfied with their explanation for being in the forest and straying off the Path."

Conuiön raised an eyebrow. "I am satisfied with their explanation," he responded. "It remains to be seen if you will be. They claim to be related to lord Fengel and to be traveling to Dale, but one of them is wounded."

Thranduil's brow knit and he turned back towards the Men. "You have a wounded comrade?" he asked.

Barad nodded and gestured towards the shelter. "Our youngest brother, lord.”

Thranduil was careful not to react to the man’s use of the title, though he was certain he had not heard him apply one to Conuiön. Conuiön, however, did step to stand shoulder to shoulder with the King.

The man did not seem to notice. He only continued his explanation. “He was injured by orcs on the plains outside the forest."

Thranduil's frown deepened.

"It is a bad wound, Adar," Legolas added. "Poisoned. He has a fever and the wound still bleeds, though it is four days old. We gave them some ginger and yarrow to make tea for the fever and a paste for the bleeding, but he is very sick. The tea had barely any effect to draw down the fever."

"Men's wounds often heal slowly and cause fevers," Thranduil replied, but his voice was softer. "Can he be moved?" he asked, directing his question to the Men. "We fought a battle with nearly fifty spiders on the way here.” In his peripheral vision, Thranduil saw the children’s gazes snap towards him as he said that. “We are not certain we destroyed all of them. We cannot leave the children here, and I cannot, in good conscience, leave you here alone."

"I fear to move him, lord," Barad replied. "The jostling he has suffered the last few days contributes to his slowness to heal. Not to mention he is in great pain." He paused. "And frankly, lord, we cannot carry him much farther ourselves tonight. We have been traveling four days from dawn to nightfall carrying him and hoping for aid. We all need rest."

Thranduil nodded. "I understand with your concern for him, but the sooner we can get him to a healer, the better. We can carry him to the Path for you, and from there, we have horses. We can suspend his litter between two horses and you may ride also, if you wish."

Barad bowed. "Thank you, lord."

A faint smile found its way to Thranduil's lips. "You are welcome," he replied. "I am grateful to you for the help you gave to my son and his cousins. Forgive me if I do not seem as grateful as I should. It has been a trying night," he concluded, pulling Legolas closer with an arm around his shoulders.

"I understand, lord." Barad said, smiling sympathetically at both father and son.

*~*~*

Adar/ada -- Father/dad
Naneth/nana -- Mother/mum
Elleth/ellyth -- Female elf/elves
Ellon/ellyn -- Male elf/elves