Chapter 3:  what the future tells

 “Elrond – tolo dan na galad (come back to the light),” Glorfindel the former captain of Gondolin and now Troop Commander of Imladris and protector of the line of Eärendil repeated in a low but demanding voice.

Carefully, yet with some force he was shaking the shoulders of the elf lying prone on the floor.

He had just reported to the Lord of Imladis when the Half-elf had suddenly stiffened and a second later had collapsed to the floor without warning.

Stunned for just a moment the warrior had quickly crossed to his friend, kneeling beside him not bothering with the shards of the broken tea cup strewn about.

Even if he already guessed what had caused the sudden blackout he was taken aback by its suddenness and vehemence. He was long accustomed to the visions that occasionally afflicted his Lord. If he was present, Glorfindel had always seen the first signs and was able to react accordingly.

This time however it was different. Seconds before the Elf-lord had been felled Glorfindel had felt such an overwhelming rush of evil that he had staggered back from the assault.

Never before had he experienced something like that. After regaining his inner equilibrium and shutting his senses against the invasion he had looked up at the other Elf-lord just in time to see him fall.

Getting no response Glorfindel sat down, pulling the Elf-lord’s head to be pillowed on his thigh. He knew that Elrond’s visions were usually short-lived but that occasionally they would last for hours. He made himself as comfortable as possible knowing that help would not be long in arriving.

He placed both of his palms against the healer’s face and proceeded to support him with his own mental strength. Instantly Glorfindel felt that this time something was different.

The vision was powerful, intense and overwhelming. He was hard-pressed not to remove his hands. He concentrated harder, channelling as much mental energy as he could spare into his friend’s body. Despite his efforts he felt that he was unable to break the barrier much less reach his friend’s mind.

A greater power then usual was at work here. The barrier around his Lord’s mind was solid and insuperable. Where Glorfindel had in past times glimpsed shreds of what the healer was experiencing, this time he could perceive nothing. What he could feel however was the utter darkness which had ensnared the Elf-lord’s being.

Glorfindel was not even sure if it was a vision or if the dark haired Elf-lord was being attacked directly on a mental level.

His worry increased. Elrond was used to visions and knew how to counter them. He had developed his strategies when his mind was attacked directly by the dark powers still residing in Middle earth, yet this time nothing appeared as it had been.

Where the Elf-lord was otherwise listless as long as the visions lasted, this time he moaned and shivered, breathing heavily as if in pain.

Glorfindel knew instantly that the Elf-lord was experiencing something terrible, something that even the balanced Half-elf Master of Imladris could not bear alone. This time it would not do to just sit beside him and lend him his strength. They had to do something quickly.

The heartbeat of his friend had increased alarmingly and cold sweat was appearing on his brow. The cramped muscles and their increasing tremors heralded nothing good.

However, before Glorfindel could think anything further the door to the study was pushed open and the healer’s twin sons rushed inside.

While Elrohir kept standing beside his father and looked at his mentor with a gaze partly demanding an explanation and partly reflecting his great worry in his dark eyes, Elladan had instantly knelt down and reached out a hand to connect with his father’s mind.

Feeling the younger elf’s presence in the aether Glorfindel pulled back slightly to give Elladan the opportunity to concentrate without disturbance. He lingered in the background to lend support if needed.

Feeling the gaze of the younger twin still directed at him Glorfindel looked up.

“It came without warning. Suddenly in the middle of a sentence he stiffened and collapsed to the floor. Yet something is different this time. It feels darker, more sinister.”

Where Elladan only snorted, Elrohir nodded absentmindedly. He and his brother had been just on their way from the stables into the house when their father had been assaulted. The emotions coming through their bond were so intense that Elladan had to lean on a pillar for support while Elrohir sank to the ground his eyesight suddenly blurred.

They had always sensed when their father had been afflicted by a vision or had been mentally attacked, yet it had never been this powerful and the evil flooding their minds nearly took their breaths away.

After regaining their composure they had headed into the house not sure what had happened or even if they had experienced a vision at all.

Elrohir joined his brother and knelt beside his father too. He placed his left hand on the older elf’s chest while with the right he clasped his brother’s hand.

Like Glorfindel before him, he was hard pressed not to remove his hand as he was nearly overwhelmed by the darkness assaulting his very being.

“That’s no vision,” Elladan suddenly growled. “Someone or something is attacking father while sending him into terrible emotional chaos. I could only glimpse shreds… It’s horrible.”

Elladan squeezed his eyes shut to bar his mind against the horror he had seen. Elrohir opened his bond to his brother to relieve him of some of the mental pain.

Seeing the reactions of the brothers Glorfindel could only guess what they were experiencing, yet the dreadful sight of his friend’s body left limited room for interpretation.

Glorfindel instinctively removed his hands when the Elf-lord suddenly uttered a cry full of anguish and horror. Elrohir rose and hurried out of the room. Elladan stood also and began to gather the body of his father in his arms.

Glorfindel was on his feet too. He rushed to the sofa and removed all of the blankets from it before Elladan placed the dark haired elf down upon it. As expected it didn’t take long until Elrohir returned with Tinár, Elrond’s head healer in tow.

The young healer rushed over but faltered momentarily at the sight that greeted him. The Lord of Imladris was wildly trashing about, only Glorfindel’s restraining hands keeping him on the couch. His face was grey and his breathing was laboured.

“What in the name of the Valar…..,” was all Elrond’s assistant uttered before he stepped next to the sofa and felt his lord’s pulse. With a shake of his head he conveyed the message that something was drastically wrong.

“We have to bring him out of this state, otherwise….,” he uttered after a quick examination. He now placed both of his palms on the older healer’s chest.

Glorfindel´s head snapped up. “Otherwise what….?” he demanded directing narrowed eyes at the healer.

Tinár, not for nothing the head healer of the Last Homely House, looked at the Balrog Slayer with a mixture of frightening calmness and sorrowful sympathy.

“Otherwise he will die. His whole body is shutting down, not to mention his mental stability. I do not know what is happening, but this has nothing to do with his usual visions or other mental attacks. Someone or something has pushed his inner perceptions beyond anything endurable.”

“You are right,” Elladan confirmed. “But we have already tried that. Not even we were able to break this spell.”

Glorfindel looked at Elrohir but the younger twin only pressed his lips into a thin line. He felt as helpless as his brother and that their father was slipping further and further away from them.

Glorfindel´s mind raced. He would not accept that the Elf-lord was being snatched from them by an evil power they had not even identified, and he would not yet accept a defeat.

“Then we will have to cut off the evil influence and then guide him back from the abyss,” the fair hair warrior suddenly proposed.

While Tinár looked uncomprehendingly at the warrior – he was a formidable healer, but not enhanced with mental power – Elladan narrowed his eyes.

“Oh, yes and how shall we do that?” he asked. “It’s not as if we had not tried that already!”

Glorfindel was not impressed by the accusing tone.

“Then we will have to intensify our efforts, young one,” he simply stated and sat again at the Elf-lord’s head.

As before he pillowed Elrond’s head in his lap and covered the Elf-lord’s temples with his hands.

Suddenly the area under the warrior’s hands begun to glow. Elladan and Tinár removed their hands simultaneously in surprise. Elladan narrowed his eyes and was just to open his mouth, when Tinár placed a hand on his shoulder.

Elladan looked bewildered at the healer but Tinár only shook his head. Elrohir stood immobile, his eyes never leaving his father’s body.

The glow spread from the head over the neck and down the torso until Elrond’s whole body was enveloped in the faint glimmering. The brothers had never seen anything like it even though the display resembled the action when their father channelled healing energy in a badly injured body.

At first nothing changed. Tinár lingered nearby ready to intervene should something unforeseeable happen. Glorfindel had his eyes closed and was chanting something the healer could not understand. Elrohir looked at his brother in surprise but Elladan was intently listening to the words.

It appeared to him that the ancient warrior was saying something in Quenya, yet the words were foreign to him and he supposed that it was a very old dialect.

One effect the three elves standing before the couch saw immediately. The Elf-lord had stopped thrashing and his body was no longer shivering. Elrohir hoped with all his heart that this was a good sign. He had absolute confidence in his mentor and knew that Glorfindel would never do anything that would harm his father.

After a while the glowing changed its hue. Suddenly it was no longer glittering golden but rather intensely blue. In fact the intensity was increasing until he had to turn his head away not to be blinded.

Elrohir looked at his brother but Elladan had simply closed his eyes a nearly relaxed expression on his face as if he knew what was happening. Elrohir could see that the blue light had spread over the whole room, plunging his father’s study into an amazing twilight.

And suddenly Elrohir knew where he had seen the light before. Chiding himself for his stupidity he carefully turned his head opening his eyes just a fraction to confirm his guess.

The blue light was coming from the Ring his father was wearing on his finger. His gaze wandered to Glorfindel´s face and he wondered if the Noldo had the ability to call to the Ring of Power.

As quickly as the display had started, it ended. The blue light grew fainter by the minute and even the golden glow vanished.

Elrohir started when Glorfindel suddenly spoke.

“Take your father to his chambers, he has to rest. And keep him warm. He is not to be left alone.”

This was no wish but a clear command. While Elrohir and Tinár instantly started to follow the orders, Elladan remained standing near the couch until the two other elves had taken his father away.

“What just happened?” he asked his tone carefully neutral. “I was not aware that you can release healing energy much less that you are able to call on Vilya.”

Glorfindel raised his head. The gaze he sent toward the youngster caused Elladan to stagger back.

“There are many things you do not understand, Elrondion. I have done all in my power to help your Adar and now you should look after him. The danger is not over yet.”

Elladan´s mien clearly displayed his displeasure with this answer, yet he felt clearly that Glorfindel had drawn a line he did well to heed. With a scowl on his face he turned and rushed out of the room, yet not without making a mental note. He would not let the subject drop this easily.

As soon as the door had closed Glorfindel collapsed back against the couch closing his eyes in utter exhaustion.

He would not have had any strength left to counter the young elf and was grateful that Elladan had withdrawn without confronting him further. He knew, however, that the youngster would not back down and he would have to think about an explanation.

For now he had drawn a protective ward around the Elf-lord’s mind and cut off the evil from being able to reach him. Still the healer had to be guided back from the abyss.

He was unable to form one more coherent thought. Closing his eyes, unconsciousness took him at once.

To be continued…………………………