Glorfindiel: Magic of Imladris

Hunt {Legolas PoV}

"Legolas!!" I nearly jump out of my skin as the commanding voice pierces my chamber, stilling me in my chair beside my desk where I have been writing letters most of the afternoon and evening. The doors to the room are blown open and I jump to my feet as Glorfindel saunters in. I pale as I examine him. Red eyes, sweaty, shaky, stringy and tangled hair, his robes soaked through. He appears more a madman than the noble legend I know. I gulp. 

"Have I upset you, hir-nin Glorfindel?!" I manage. 

"Have you seen Erthanist?" He demands with a voice cracking and raspy, nearly squeaking with effort. My eyes widen and he grabs me by my collar, lifting me up, "Answer me? Is she here!?!"

"Nay, not since this morn!" I reply. His hands go slack and I drop back to the floor as he storms out of the room. Fear creeps into my soul and I dash after him, grabbing his trembling arms hard enough to slow him, "What has happened, Glorfindel?"

"I have torn a rift between myself and Erthanist! And now I have lost her! She disappeared and I had hoped she might have sought you out, but it's been hours now! I searched every inch of Imladris!" I leap in front of him. 

"She's gone? Where?! It's a furious tempest in the changing of seasons! One must be insane to risk the cyclone!"

"She has always found strange solace in storms, riding through them without care!" Glorfindel hisses, calming down, "It is possible she took shelter. We may only have to wait for her to return when she's come to terms... yet..." 

"What, Glorfindel?" 

"I've not beheld so fierce a tempest since her infancy..." Memory begins to plague his tone, tears well up. My heart constricts with concern and I look out into the storm. Erthanist is intelligent and knows her bounds. She must have taken shelter somewhere close. I know she's strong, I trust she's close. 

The anxious, panicked sounds of a frightened horse reach our ears and we watch as a blood bay mare comes galloping with a limp into the gorge. It's Beldal. And upon her is a flash of gold. Erthanist. Glorfindel and I race to intercept them, both of us grateful to see the red coated, black pointed horse and her rider, "Whoa, Beldal! Easy!" I coo, stepping into view. Beldal strains to nicker and jerks to a stop. I stroke her muzzle and calm her, expecting to see Glorfindel helping his daughter down from the saddle, only to find him holding tattered, burnt, drenched shreds of her golden cloak with an expression of pure fear and panic. Fear again overwhelms me and I step closer to find blood spatters, "Oh no... please no!!" I exclaim and rip the fabric from him, looking back an forth from the cloak to the horse. No tack but for simple elvish reins, injured, and scared beyond reason. Foaming. I look into the horse's red eyes and my heart drops like a boulder from a cliff into my abdomen. 

"We must go after her..." Glorfindel rasps, grabbing the reins to guide Beldal to the livery. I stroke her side and nod, my mind focusing only on Erthanist and what may have happened, which could be anything with this storm and how long she's been gone. 

Erthanist saved me. Now I have to rescue her. I narrow my eyes in determination and leave Glorfindel behind, running blindly to my quarters to fetch my bow, over-stocked quiver, and my twin knives, barely taking time to attach a cape to my shoulders as I speed back to the paddocks in time to collide with Glorfindel who has just interred Beldal to the stable hands and horse keeper. I hardly notice my uneven, rapid, shallow breathing and jerky movements until Glorfindel yanks on my tunic, "Legolas-"

"I must go! If she makes it back, she'll need you here. I will go into the storm and find her." I growl, fighting to get to a horse. Glorfindel pushes me with force towards a stall, as if knowing my thoughts, and throws open the gate. 

"I doubt she wants to set her eyes on me. Take Asfaloth. He will not fail you." 

"But Asfaloth is-"

"Yes, he is my steed and trusted riding companion. Take him!" He orders and without further thought we ready Asfaloth. I strap on a very simple headstall and secure the rest of the tack before jumping on, whipping the reins. Asfaloth takes off faster than I expected with a small whinny. Glorfindel nods in farewell, sorrow permeating the air about him. I start off in the direction Beldal came, ignoring the vicious tempest. Asfaloth, the most beautiful true white gelding I've seen in my existence, has a smooth ride and even gait, swiftly exiting the gorge before I can collect my thoughts again. 

I open my ears to the trees, hoping that they might aid me in this mission. I have the ability to converse with them and vice versa, though I've been so distant from them I have not spoken to the creatures in a very long time. My heart constricts again when I begin to see pieces of gold fabric on the trees and I pause Asfaloth beside a very old oak with several shreds of the cloak, placing my hand on the trunk and attuning myself to it, "Please, help me find my beloved, vellyn-nin [my friends]." 

Slow creaking and rumbling alerts me to the trees, slightly moving to form a path. "Guren glassui! [I thank you from my heart!]" I urge Asfaloth down the path for a long time, until we come upon a spreading wildfire. Asfaloth seems to know where to go, and I trust him. After crossing the obstacle, we find the orc camp. Dread courses my veins and I feel a large lump rise in my throat, bile threatening to join it, but after surveying the area I sense that she is not here, and we slowly move around the vile creatures inhabiting the glen. It seems like it has been hours since when we left to come for Erthanist. I snap the reins for Asfaloth to hasten, and he obeys. I notice that the storm is waning, and that the rain has become a drizzle with light breeze and that the world is darkening. Nearly midnight. I grimace and push on, desperate to find Erthanist. 

"Meleth-nin! Answer me! Erthanist!" I call out, worry increasing as we ride through a burnt yet muddy glade with many trees felled. I thank Eru for my blessed eyesight as I examine our surroundings. I listen and try to enlist the aid of the trees, but they do not answer for their grief. I finally stop Asfaloth and dismount, clinging to the bridle as I stand, my feet almost sinking into the mud, while trying to clear my head enough to think rationally. 

My keen ears pick up respiration, slow and uneven, when at last there is some semblance of quiet. I move as quietly as possible towards the origin, praying to find Erthanist whole and hale. Asfaloth trails me, though stops when we come to a hopeless bramble patch of twisted, warped fell trees, blackened by lightning strikes. I purse my lips and grasp my knives, starting to clear a path towards the breathing noises. Hope. 

I finally uncover stained curls of gold, and gently pick my way through enough to see her. She's laying in the dusky mud wedged underneath a pair of young trees. I grip them and slowly pull them off of her. Once I do, her breathing evens out a little and I fall to her side, checking her pulse and airways, hoping she has not fallen into a coma. It would appear she was thrown and hit the ground pretty hard before being crushed, which is bad in and of itself. Unwilling to press against her sternum, I edge close to her head and lean down, afraid even the slightest touch might make her shatter before my eyes, and kiss her. 

Double update, everyone! Please vote and comment below!

~Uilosris