28: Confrontation

By the time Alex reached Edhellond, he was both furious and frightened. Too much was happening to him that he didn’t fully understand and he was trying desperately to hold on to his sanity. Only his training kept him in check as he coldly analyzed the situation and not liking the blanks that kept coming up. It was time to fill them in.

He slammed the door of his car as he got out and practically ran up to the front door, pressing the bell and pounding on the door at the same time. It opened almost immediately and Amroth was there. Before the Elf had time to greet him, Alex kicked the door out of Amroth’s grasp, grabbed him by his shirt and body-slammed him into the wall on his right.

"What the hell is going on? What are you people up to?" he nearly screamed, slamming Amroth into the wall a second time, refusing to let him go. The Elf winced as the back of his head met the cherry wood paneling.

"Calm down, Artemus...." Amroth started to say, but Alex slammed him into the wall again.

"Don’t call me that, damn you!"

"Alex."

Alex turned to see Vorondur standing there with Serindë at his side, her eyes wide with shock. He snarled, almost as if he were some predator warning others away from his prey. It was just enough of a distraction, though, that the next thing he knew, Amroth was slipping out of his grasp and twisting his arms behind him, holding him in a deadlock grip. Alex struggled, cursing in several different languages, casting aspersions on Amroth’s ancestry and sexual habits. Amroth tightened his grip, nearly choking Alex into submission.

"There’s a lady present," the Elf said quietly. "Behave yourself."

"Go to hell!" Alex retorted, still too angry to care, still fighting against Amroth’s hold on him.

"Let’s take this to the library," Vorondur said with grave authority. "Serindë, go make us some of Mithrellas’ special tea, you know the one. It’s all right, child, off you go. Amroth and I can handle one incensed Mortal between us."

Serindë looked troubled but did as her father bid even as Amroth frog-marched Alex to the library with Vorondur trailing. By the time they got there Alex was beginning to hyperventilate, his breathing shallow and rapid and he felt himself blacking out from lack of oxygen as Amroth continued to hold him in his grip, his arm tight across his throat. Amroth suddenly released him and he fell gasping to his knees. It took a few minutes of deep breathing before the black spots in front of his eyes faded. When he looked up he saw Amroth and Vorondur standing over him. Vorondur’s expression was dispassionate, his eyes giving nothing away, but Amroth’s eyes were full of disapproval and that cut him to the quick and he felt himself blushing.

"Do you want to explain yourself, Meriwether?" Amroth asked and Alex felt himself shivering at the absolute coldness of the Elf’s tone, then found he couldn’t stop shivering for some reason. His stomach began to protest and he felt suddenly ill. The Elves must have recognized the signs because with a curse Amroth hauled him to his feet and they made a quick exit from the library, down the hall to the lavatory.

"Don’t you dare be sick until I tell you to," Amroth ordered and if he weren’t feeling so lousy Alex would’ve laughed at that, but all he did was moan as he tried to control the heaving. Amroth pushed open the lavatory door and knocked Alex to his knees before the toilet just in time and then Alex gave himself up to misery as he lost his breakfast and half his insides. How long it lasted, he never knew. A time came when the heaving slowed and he was gagging less. A cold cloth was pressed against his neck and that seemed to help. Finally, when he felt it was all over he struggled to his feet as Amroth reached down to give him a hand.

"Rinse your mouth," he said as he flushed the toilet, keeping a hand on Alex’s elbow to help steady him. Alex turned on the cold tap and rinsed his mouth and threw water on his face, surprised to find it feeling slick with sweat. Amroth handed him a towel and then they were making their way back to the library. Alex sank gratefully into an easy chair beside the fire and closed his eyes. His stomach muscles hurt and his throat felt bruised. He kept floating in and out of consciousness and only vaguely was aware of someone throwing a blanket over him, laying a cool hand on his head and then he slipped totally into darkness with a sigh of relief.

****

He came to slowly, feeling stiff, as if he’d been sleeping in one position for too long. He groaned involuntarily as muscles protested and he blinked open his eyes to find Amroth and Vorondur sitting quietly on either side of him. And standing before him was Glorfindel, gazing down at him gravely.

"How are you feeling?" the Elf-lord asked him quietly.

"Not sure," Alex mumbled, still feeling woozy.

Vorondur held out a mug of something steaming. "Drink some of this, it should help."

Alex took the mug, surprised to find his hand shaking and had to hold it with both hands. After taking a couple of sips, though, the shaking subsided and his head cleared. "How long have I been out?" he asked.

"About two hours," Glorfindel replied. "I just got back myself." He moved away to take a seat on the hearth. "So whenever you’re ready, perhaps you can explain why you came barging in here the way you did."

"Sorry," Alex said, turning to Amroth. "I guess I lost it. God! The last time I was that angry a lot of people died." He closed his eyes, leaning back into the chair.

"What happened?" Amroth asked.

"Farrell," Alex replied without opening his eyes. "We met at the café in town." He opened his eyes and gave Amroth a shrewd look. "He said he tried to grab you while I was in the hospital. You were going to tell me about it when?"

"It’s not important," Amroth said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Damn you, Ambrose," Alex exclaimed. "You let me decide what is and what isn’t important. In case it hasn’t sunk in yet, I was sent to take you out and if I don’t, Farrell certainly will. I can’t protect you if I don’t have all the information."

"I don’t need your protection, child," Amroth said coldly.

"You damn well do," Alex shouted. "You think because you’re an Elf that you’re invincible? You can die as easily as the rest of us, so don’t give me that nonsense."

Before Amroth could respond, Vorondur spoke. "Something happened, though, besides Farrell. You wouldn’t have been as upset as you were just because of Farrell. What happened, Alex? I saw the fear as well as the anger in your eyes. What happened?"

Alex felt himself grow faint and he found himself breathing heavily. Vorondur reached out and placed a hand on his forehead and spoke in a language Alex didn’t understand, but the rolling cadence seemed to calm him and he found he could breathe properly again. "Drink some more of the tea," Vorondur said and Alex complied, ignoring the concerned looks that passed between the three Elves as he drank. He emptied the mug and placed it on the table. Vorondur filled it with more tea but did not urge him to drink. Alex gazed at Glorfindel.

"Farrell wasn’t the only person I met at the café," he said. "I had a nice conversation with some dude calling himself Nate and a waitress named Esther, though those weren’t their real names."

He watched with faint amusement at the way all three Elves went suddenly still. Glorfindel was the first to break the silence that hung between them. "You met Nate and Esther?" His voice sounded somewhat strained to Alex’s ears.

"Didn’t I just say that?" Alex couldn’t help being sarcastic, secretly enjoying the nonplused looks on the Elves’ faces. "Of course, those aren’t their real names, are they?"

"You spoke to Lord Námo and Lady Estë," Glorfindel said.

"Yes, those were the names they gave me," Alex nodded in agreement.

"Was there a reason for their showing themselves to you?" Amroth asked.

Alex shrugged. "Mainly they wanted to assure me that there were such beings as Valar and to let me know that I was important to their plans, whatever they are. That Námo dude told me to ask you what Elf Academy is really all about."

Glorfindel actually cringed. "I would be careful how I refer to any of the Valar," he admonished Alex quietly. "They are a touchy lot at best and it’s wise to be respectful."

"Somehow I can’t get all respectful over a waitress wearing gingham and some dude in plaid wearing a baseball cap with a skull and crossbones on it," Alex retorted with a wry smile. "Not my idea of how angels are supposed to look."

"Trust me when I say that if they had appeared to you in their actual forms instead of taking on those disguises, neither you nor any other Mortal in that café would have survived the experience."

"Whatever," Alex said, shrugging again. He turned to Amroth. "And when were you going to tell me about Farrell? He told me he tried to take you last week. Called you a slippery eel." He smiled thinly. "I think that’s an insult to eels, myself."

Amroth raised an eyebrow at that but Alex did not back down, giving the Elf stare for stare. It was finally Amroth who sighed, shaking his head. "Sarcasm doesn’t suit you and your anger is misplaced."

"Excuse me?" Alex exclaimed, standing to glare down at his mentor. "Don’t you dare treat me like this, Ambrose. I’m not some wet-behind-the-ears trainee without a clue."

"I’ll treat you as I see fit, child," Amroth retorted coldly.

"No," Alex shot back. "You gave up that right the day you faked your death and betrayed my trust. Frankly, at this point, I’m about ready to take you out and to hell with it, and you. This whole thing is getting too damn freaky for my taste." He threw up his hands, as if in surrender. "God! Give me a group of rabid terrorists any day of the week over you people."

"Alex, calm down," Glorfindel said, raising his hands in a placating manner. "Amroth is correct that your anger is misplaced, and I suspect it isn’t Farrell or Amroth that has you so upset but having met Fionwë last night and then the Valar this morning. It’s enough to unnerve anyone who isn’t used to them."

Alex sat back down in his chair, feeling suddenly weak-kneed. "He was sitting there across from me and then he... he just disappeared and Esther... she walked away and faded out of sight and no one even noticed."

Glorfindel gave him a mirthless grin. "A nasty habit of which we have so far been unable to break them. The Valar, as the High King once told me, are like children poking a stick into an ant hill just to see the ants scurry around. Give them a reason to see you scurry even more and they will take it with all the manic glee of a twelve-year-old." His grin became wider at Alex’s disbelieving look. "We amuse them, you see. We’re their favorite pastime when they're not off somewhere keeping the universe from breaking down or something."

"It sounds as if you have a more than passing acquaintance with these... um... people."

"Oh, you have no idea," Glorfindel averred. "They can be rather high-handed and sanctimonious and there have been times when I wished they would take a flying leap off the edge of the universe, but unfortunately, we’re forced to put up with them and their antics."

"Now who’s being disrespectful?" Amroth said with a knowing smile.

"Ah, but there are always exceptions to the rule," Glorfindel retorted with a sniff, "and where the Valar are concerned, I’m definitely an exception."

"Unfortunately."

Alex didn’t even think about it. The voice had come from behind him and in a single fluid motion he was out of the chair and reaching around him to grab whoever was standing there, dragging the person across the back of the chair and onto the floor in front of Glorfindel, one knee on his victim’s chest and his right arm already pulled back to deliver a punch. Glorfindel reached out and grabbed Alex’s arm. Alex just stared at him, amazed at the strength it must take to hold him in place and the Elf didn’t even look as if he were straining. Glorfindel ignored him, however, giving Amroth an amused look.

"Nice reflexes," he said conversationally.

Alex turned his head to see Amroth shrug. "He’s been well taught."

Glorfindel nodded, then stared down at the person lying on the floor while still holding Alex’s arm immobile. "Hello, Fionwë. Nice of you to drop in... unannounced and uninvited."

Alex glanced down, for the first time realizing just who he’d been manhandling and relaxed his grip on the Maia’s surcoat. Glorfindel let go of his arm and Alex rose to his feet, still staring at the Maia, not entirely sure what was about to happen next. He had a sense that attacking Maiar was not conducive to one’s overall health.

"Alex," Vorondur said gently, "come over here and sit down."

Alex looked up and saw the Elf patting the arm of the chair that he’d just vacated and stumbled over to him. In the meantime, Fionwë was climbing to his feet, adjusting his surcoat and giving them an amused look.

"My apologies. I didn’t mean to startle you," he said to Alex, giving him a slight bow.

"I could’ve killed you," Alex whispered.

"Not likely, child," Fionwë said kindly. "I am not fully incarnate. There is nothing you can do to harm me."

Alex shook his head. "No. You don’t understand. I could have killed you."

Fionwë gave him a considering look and then nodded. "I see. You are concerned that you are losing control, that you may become a danger to others."

Alex nodded. "I could have killed you," he repeated tonelessly, almost as a mantra.

"Alex."

Alex turned to look at Vorondur. "You’ve had too many shocks this past week and I’m beginning to think it’s taking its toll on you. You haven’t had time to process everything, have you?"

Alex shook his head numbly. He startled when Fionwë reached out and placed a hand on his head, then felt himself relaxing, a sense of well-being flooding him and he let out a sigh, feeling all the tension slipping away. After a moment, Fionwë stepped back. "Feeling better?" he asked solicitously.

Alex nodded, not willing to speak just yet.

"Again, my apologies. I’m afraid I just couldn’t resist after Glorfindel made that rather outrageous statement." He gave the Elf a merry look and Glorfindel had the grace to blush. "Next time, I’ll remember to stand further away when I materialize." And with that, he simply faded away, the scent of apples and mint lingering in the air. Alex closed his eyes, then shook his head and opened them again, glaring at Glorfindel.

"Tell me what this is really all about," he demanded.

"Two years ago, Daeron came across a website advertising for people to apply to Elf Academy to become Elf Guides. We had all lost our jobs — Daeron, the Twins, Misty, Della and I — and we were looking for something to do. Daeron had the idea that we would come here, learn what we needed to learn and then afterwards we would go to Finland or some other place where Santa Claus supposedly set up shop and create our own Elf Academy for their tourist industry. Well, it turned out that the Valar had manipulated things to make sure we came here and then told us, or rather me, to take over the Academy, to use it and Wiseman as our base of operations."

"To do what?" Alex asked.

"To prepare for the Dagor Dagorath," Glorfindel replied.

"The Dagor... you mean, that Armagedon thing when Morgoth is supposed to come back?"

Glorfindel nodded. "We don’t know when it will happen. Not even the Valar know, but the signs are there for any with eyes to see. Whether it comes within your lifetime or centuries from now, the Valar have set us the task of training you Mortals for that day, teaching you the truth of things in preparation for the final battle. That is the real purpose, or rather the ultimate purpose of Elf Academy. At the moment, we actually do train people for the tourist industry, but along the way we... invite certain people to join us in preparing for what is to come."

"And where do I fit in?"" Alex asked.

"We don’t know yet," Glorfindel admitted. "That is something you have to decide for yourself."

For several minutes, Alex sat there, thinking about all that he had learned, the various pieces of the puzzle beginning to fall into place. The Elves sat there waiting silently for his response, and he suspected that they were hoping he would whole-heartedly join them, but he was not ready to take that particular leap. Instead, he turned to Amroth. "Tell me what happened last week when Farrell tried to take you."

"I wasn’t even aware of what was happening. You were still lying between life and death and we hadn’t driven out all of the darkness within you. We were taking turns keeping vigil since we had to continue teaching our classes. I was leaving the hospital when I felt a sense of unease and something warned me not to go to my car. I’ve lived too long not to heed such feelings. I grabbed a taxi and when I arrived at the Academy I gave my keys to Elladan. He and Elrohir drove me back to the hospital after the class, and we checked the car out thoroughly. There was a bomb underneath. It was connected to the ignition."

"Damn!" Alex exclaimed. "Farrell has me under surveillance. He knows I spent the weekend here. He was rather put out by the fact that I hadn’t taken the opportunity to take you out. I think I've convinced him that I'm not entirely sure that Ryan McKinley and Ambrose Elwood are one and the same person. He also complained about not being able to get a fix on anything that’s said inside the mansion or the Academy. He’s probably using a remote sensor. You may have noticed a telephone repair truck or something like in the vicinity. Apparently something is blocking transmission."

"Not our doing," Glorfindel assured him, "though I can guess that we’ve been under the watchful eyes of Fionwë and other Maiar running interference."

"So I figured," Alex said with a nod. "I’m sorry I lost control earlier. I’m beginning to jump at shadows and I can’t afford that. I need to be in better control of myself, but every time I turn around, something like this happens. I just can’t keep up."

"And I’m sorry we’ve put you in this position," Glorfindel said with remorse. "We had hoped to ease you into it along with the other students to whom we’ve decided to reveal ourselves. Derek is one such."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Somehow that doesn’t surprise me. Did you know he kept dreaming of joining the Iditarod before he found out about this place and applied?"

"Ah... Lord Irmo up to his old tricks again," Glorfindel said with a smile that was echoed by Amroth and Vorondur. "You’d be surprised how many of your classmates have had similar dreams before coming here."

"So, what now?" Alex asked.

"That’s up to you," Glorfindel replied. "You know as much as we do about the situation. How you proceed from here is your call, but I... we hope you will see your way to join forces with us. As you keep saying, Farrell needs to be dealt with, he and the others, if we are to survive without interference from your government."

"And time is running out," Alex said soberly. He glanced at Amroth. "He gave me a deadline. If you’re not dead by Thanksgiving, he’ll see to it himself and he doesn’t care who else gets caught in the crossfire."

The three Elves gave him troubled looks. "What can he do?" Vorondur asked.

Alex shrugged. "Anything from a surgical strike to blowing up the Academy and everyone in it."

The Elves grimaced. "Then we must act soon," Glorfindel said grimly. "I will not risk the lives of innocents."

"I agree," Alex said, running his hands through his hair and sighing. "Look, I need a little time to get all this straight in my mind. This is way beyond my experience. Psychopathic terrorists I can deal with; Elves and angels and the end of the world are a different kettle of fish."

"And we appreciate that, more than you know," Glorfindel assured him.

"In the meantime, I’d best be getting back to the Academy. Derek is probably wondering where I’ve disappeared to and I still don’t feel comfortable about leaving him alone for any length of time," Alex admitted as he rose from his chair. "Don’t get up. I’ll see myself out."