55: The Ride Back to Wiseman

Alex and Derek found that they had no need for flashlights as they crossed the dark fields to where Vingilot was hidden, for the Elves provided them with enough light to see by. Alex noticed that the glow from Glorfindel and the Twins seemed dimmer, more golden, than the glow from Finrod and his companions and wondered if that was because they had lived so long among Mortals. He glanced at those surrounding him and Derek. They were all so beautiful, and unearthly, more so than Glorfindel or the other Wiseman Elves, as he was beginning to call them to differentiate them from those of Valinor. There were even some ellith among them and he couldn’t help noticing how Glorfindel kept looking at one particular elleth, frowning slightly, as if he was trying to place her in his memory. The elleth seemed oblivious to the Elf-lord’s scrutiny, looking about with unfeigned interest at the landscape.

They reached the woods fronting the inlet and now the Mortals had to work their way through the tangle of underbrush. The Elves, Alex noted sourly, seemed to glide through it as if it didn’t even exist. At last, though, they reached the inlet and saw the ship sitting dark upon the water; the silmaril had been completely covered. At their approach, though, a normal lantern was lit and for the first time Alex was able to see those who had remained on the ship. There were four ellyn but it was one in particular who caught Alex’s attention and he had no doubt this must be Eärendil, for, unlike the other three ellyn, this one had golden hair and, as simply as he was dressed, there was an aura about him that spoke of ancient authority. Beyond that, the Twins immediately began speaking to him and Alex recognized the words ‘daerada’ and ‘daerion’, if nothing else that was said between them.

Everyone else kept a respectful distance, allowing the Twins to visit with their grandfather whom they had never met, exchanging news of family and friends. After a few minutes though, Elrohir turned to Alex, gesturing to him. "Come and meet your grandfather, Nephew," he said in English.

"Whoa! How is he your grandfather?" Derek demanded. "And nephew? Since when?"

"I’ll explain later," Alex said distractedly as he started to join the Twins.

"You mean you really are related? Hey! That’s not fair. Why do you get to be related to Elves? Why do you always have to be so special?"

Alex turned a surprised and hurt look at Derek. "Do you think I planned this? Believe me, I really wish I weren’t related to anyone, least of all to this lot. And I am no more special than you are, so get over yourself."

"Fine," Derek said with a huff. "Go visit with grandpa. See if I care." With that, he started to turn away, apparently ready to leave them all and return to the camp, but Finrod stayed him, offering him a sympathetic smile which caused Derek to blush.

"Glorfindel hath told me that thou hast declared thyself gwador unto Alex and he hath declared himself also as thy gwador. Is this not true?" Derek nodded, not quite looking at the Elf Prince. "Dost not know that to be gwedyr is of more import amongst us than to be blood kin to this person or that, Child?" Finrod continued gently. "Blood betrayeth blood, but gwedyr remain true to themselves and to each other, and that maketh thee very special indeed."

Derek raised his eyes and, seeing the sincerity in the Elf’s eyes, nodded. "Sorry," he muttered and Finrod hugged him, kissing him on the forehead in benediction.

Alex, watching, held out his hand. "C’mon, gwador. Let’s meet grandpa together, shall we?"

Derek smiled shyly and joined Alex with the Twins and now Glorfindel also joined them, speaking to Eärendil, but in Quenya, rather than in Sindarin, and the two conversed for a moment or two before Eärendil turned his attention to Alex and Derek and spoke in Sindarin slowly and simply so that the Mortals could understand his words for the most part.

"Mae govannen, hín nîn," the Mariner said. "Anna enni ’lass le govedi."

"Ah... mae govannen... um... daeradar," Alex said somewhat shyly, then turned a stricken look at the Twins and Glorfindel. "I don’t know what else to say."

The Elves smiled and Elrohir put a comforting arm around Alex’s shoulders. "Why don’t I translate for you?"

Alex nodded gratefully and Elrohir spoke to Eärendil, apparently telling him about the arrangements and the Mariner smiled and spoke.

"I am glad to see that the descendants of my son, Elros, still thrive," Elrohir translated for him. "And you, Derek, though you may not have the blood of the Elves in you, I can see that you are also descended from my father’s people and that is a worthy heritage of which you may be proud."

"Ah... how can you tell?" Derek asked, looking bemused.

Eärendil smiled. "Blood speaks to blood, my son. Now, I fear we must cut this meeting short. Alex is correct that it is too dangerous for us to remain, so I will bid you farewell for now. Others may come but not immediately." He paused and gave them a wink. "And I will tell my Lord Manwë that he needs to rethink our method of approach if we are to avoid being attacked by the Mortals."

Glorfindel actually snickered. "Good luck with that," he said and Eärendil laughed, then began issuing orders. Finrod gabbled something and immediately the Twins began hauling Alex and Derek away. "You’re too close to the ship," Elladan explained when the two Mortals started to complain. "When the silmaril is unveiled you need to be further away or you could be incinerated. That light is too pure for you."

"I really have to wonder why we humans were ever created," Alex groused. "It seems we’re nothing but weaklings compared to you Elves."

"And yet, if what we have been told is true, a time will come when you will leave the circles of Arda and stand before Eru Ilúvatar Himself, the very Creator of us all, whose Light is even greater than any silmaril and that is something we Elves will never know," Elrohir pointed out.

They had passed back through the tangle of woods and were now in the fields heading to the camp when a brilliant light shone behind them. They stopped and turned in time to see the ship rising majestically into the heavens, bathing the land with a light that rivaled that of the sun with its purity. Vingilot swung lazily above the lake, spiraling ever higher as Eärendil brought it to face the west and then, more quickly than they were expecting, it became nothing more than a very bright star among all the others.

The Twins sighed almost as one. Glorfindel, Finrod and the other Elves came out of the woods and joined them. "Come," Glorfindel said. "Let’s get back to camp. I do not mean to drive all the way back to Wiseman tonight. I think it best if we come in under the cover of darkness. We’ll drive for about three hours and then camp. Are you all right for driving, Alex?"

"Sure," Alex said. "I took a nap this afternoon, so I’m good."

"Then, we’ll keep to the same order of driving as before, so you’ll be between Ron and Gil. If you need to stop for any reason, just flash your high beams and we’ll pull over."

"I notice, my brother, that thou dost name thy friends strangely," Finrod said.

"We all have what we call Mortal names," Glorfindel explained. "My Mortal name, for instance, is Loren DelaFiore. We have adopted such names over the years to better blend in with the humans who no longer believe in the existence of Elves. We’ll need to give all of you Mortal names as well."

"And identity papers," Alex added. "How have you guys managed to get them for yourselves?"

"Well, over the years, we’ve met quite a number of people with skills in forgery," Glorfindel replied with a smile. "Eventually we learned how to do it ourselves and these days with computers, it’s even easier. Darren’s figured out how to tap into the Bureau of Vital Statistics and.... um... add us to the records whenever necessary. We’ll do the same for Finrod and the others."

"It’s a good thing I’m on your side," Alex said with a grin. "As an agent for the United States government, I would be duty bound to arrest you all. However, as my allegiance has shifted somewhat, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear you say that and plead blissful ignorance should you ever be caught."

"And for that, I thank you," Glorfindel retorted with a grin of his own as everyone else chuckled.

By now they were at the campsite and found that most of the baggage had been packed up. Daeron was expertly extinguishing the campfire. Indeed, a cursory glance showed little evidence that anyone had been here. Glorfindel quickly assigned the Valinórean Elves to particular vehicles and Alex and Derek were introduced to three ellyn whose names escaped them. They spoke in halting and archaic English and the Mortals made a point to speak slowly and clearly and avoid using slang or contractions.

Alex led them to his car, opening the passenger door on his side and gestured for the three Elves to get in. All three stood there looking a bit dubious. One of them asked, "Where are your horses?"

"You’re looking at it," Alex said. "Get in. We’re about to leave."

When the Elves still didn’t move, Alex sighed. "Show them how it’s done, Derek."

Derek smiled, opened his door with a flourish and with exaggerated movement, entered the car and pulled the seatbelt about him. All three Elves bent down to look through the windows to watch him. "See, as safe as a baby in his mama’s arms," Derek said with a grin.

"Well, maybe not that safe, but safe enough," Alex countered. "So climb in. One of you go around to the other side, it’ll be easier to get in that way."

The three Elves gabbled at one another and one of them shrugged and walked around to the other side then just stood there staring at the car with a puzzled look on his face.

"Oh for the love of...." Alex muttered as he went around and opened the door while Derek just sat there smirking, obviously enjoying the show. "See, you just pull on this and it opens and when you are inside you pull it towards you to close it."

In the meantime, the other two were having a hard time getting in, for they were taller than the Mortals and the back of Alex’s car wasn’t all that roomy, plus they were all wearing swords and trying to figure out how to get in with them. Alex ran back around. "No, you need to remove the swords. I’ll put them in the trunk."

"We will not be parted from our swords," one of them said in a threatening tone.

"Then you can bloody well walk to Wiseman because you’re not getting in the car with those swords," Alex shouted.

"Is there a problem?"

They all turned to see Gilvegil approaching.

"Gil, swords," was all Alex could say pointing to the Elves.

Gilvegil smiled knowingly and began speaking in rapid Sindarin. The three Valinórean Elves gave him surprised looks and then with a great show of reluctance, unbuckled their sword belts and handed them to him even as Alex was opening the trunk. Gilvegil carefully placed the swords inside, all the while speaking, apparently assuring their visitors that the swords would be safe. All three watched the procedure with suspicion. Then Alex closed the trunk and Gilvegil gestured for the other ellyn to get inside, miming climbing into the back of the car. It was a tight squeeze and they looked very uncomfortable as Gilvegil and Alex closed the doors. Then Alex came around and got in, opening the window to speak with Gilvegil.

"They look like overdressed sardines," he said. Gilvegil just smiled, leaned into the window and spoke a few more words to the Elves in the back, then straightened.

"We’re all a bit cramped, even in Loren’s van," he said.

"Don’t worry, we’ll survive," Derek said with a grin.

Gilvegil nodded and headed for his car and they all sat in silence as they waited for the others to get organized. Alex glanced in the rearview mirror and noticed the Elves all had pained expressions on their faces. "What now?" he asked rhetorically.

Derek glanced back and gave Alex a grin. "Maybe they need to go."

"Well they should’ve thought of that before they got in," Alex retorted. "They’ll just have to hold it. Here we go." He turned over the key and when the engine started, all three Elves jumped at the sudden sound, making startled noises and looking somewhat fearful.

"Relax," Alex said, as he shifted into gear and followed Vorondur’s car slowly back to the road, feeling suddenly superior to these Elves. "There’s nothing to fear. We’re on our way."

When they reached the road, they were able to pick up their speed and Alex heard low moaning from the back. "They better not get carsick," he muttered.

Derek grinned and turned to face their passengers. "Ah... welcome to Alaska," he said. "Is this your first time here?"

"You are Mortals?" The middle Elf asked, sounding dubious.

"Don’t worry," Alex growled, more to himself than to them. "It’s not catching."

Derek broke out laughing. "These poor devils," he said, speaking Spanish, which he knew Alex would understand. "They probably think God hates them for ending up having to ride with us."

Alex grinned, his humor restored. Derek spoke to the Elves in English. "Yes, we are Mortals. You have never met Mortals before, have you?"

All three Elves shook their heads. "No. Until now, you were but legends told to us by our fathers," said the middle Elf who seemed to be their spokesman.

"That’s just great," Alex said, speaking in Spanish. "We get the newbies. I’m going to have a serious talk with Loren when we stop for the night."

"They’re all newbies," Derek said in the same language. "Even Finrod. He has no clue about modern life in Middle-earth."

"You speak strangely," said the middle Elf, sounding accusing.

"Sorry," Derek said. "I was just telling Alex that you are all in for an interesting time. It is going to be a long ride before we stop, so try to relax. If you start to feel sick, like you think you might throw up, let us know and we will stop the car immediately."

All three Elves gave him disbelieving looks and he shrugged, turning in his seat to face the front. Alex, having seen their expressions in the rearview mirror, snorted quietly to himself and then concentrated on the road, neatly avoiding the ruts. They continued for a time in silence, each lost in his own thoughts. Alex wondered how old his passengers were, for they seemed somewhat young and inexperienced, at least compared to Finrod’s confident manner. He suspected they were feeling a bit lost and almost pitied them, remembering the first time he’d traveled overseas and how everything had been both familiar and different and that difference had been enough to unsettle him until he got used to it. Still, they were probably older than dirt and not exactly children who needed to be coddled so he wasn’t feeling too sympathetic towards them at the moment.

Derek was wondering where they were all going to live. As large as Edhellond was, it wasn’t that large. He had the feeling the mansion was going to be rather crowded unless some of them went elsewhere.

What the three Elves were thinking was anyone’s guess.

An hour went by and then two. Derek had closed his eyes at some point and was quietly snoring away. Alex was still feeling wide awake but knew if they didn’t stop soon he would need to pull over and have Derek take the wheel. Glancing at the rearview mirror he could see that the three ellyn were still very much awake as well, or maybe they were weaving dreams. He knew that Elves slept with their eyes open so it was rather hard to tell. Alex reached over and turned on the car radio, setting it to play one of the CDs he’d brought along for the ride. When the soft strains of electric guitars and piano filled the air and Bono began singing about streets with no names, all three Elves started, looking wildly around.

"Relax," Alex said. "It’s just music."

Derek opened his eyes a bit, muttered something unintelligible, shifted his position slightly and went back to sleep. Somehow, that seemed to mollify the Elves and they settled back in their seats. But they still seemed wary. Alex just shook his head and continued driving, wishing Loren would stop so he could get out and be rid of these three for a while.

It was nearly four o’clock before Alex saw Vorondur signaling and the cavalcade slowed, pulling off to the side of the road where there was a wide field. Alex turned off the engine and unbuckled his belt. "Everyone out," he said and then watched in amusement as the three Elves attempted to extricate themselves from the backseat, groaning as they tried to straighten up, all of them looking a bit green. Before he could even say a word, they stumbled away to where Finrod was climbing out of Glorfindel’s van, all three speaking to him at once.

"Probably demanding that someone else get to ride with those terrible Mortals," Derek muttered as he joined Alex.

Alex just snorted. "C’mon. Let’s find our sleeping bags. I don’t know about you, but I’m beat."

"I hear you," Derek said and after consulting with Vorondur, they were able to find their sleeping bags and the tent which they set up, completely ignoring all the Elves running about doing who knows what. Neither of them cared and, after checking with Glorfindel who assured them that all was well, they crawled into the tent and five minutes later were fast asleep.

****

Words are Sindarin:

Daerada: Grandpa.

Daerion: Grandson, or in this context, grandsons as there is no distinct plural form for ‘son’ in Sindarin.

Mae govannen, hín nîn. Anna enni ’lass le govedi: ‘Well met, my children. It gives me joy to meet you’. The word ’lass is the lenited form of glass ‘joy’.