Return To Middle Earth

Trust Is A Strong Word

Elrond had read the missive from Círdan, shocked at what it contained. An elf had returned with a wizard. No one knew where the elf was, though Círdan believed him to be in the Hidden Valley. He started to notice the silent elf who always smiled and seemed to bring hope to those around him. Lindir had formed a friendship with the elf over the five years. One the fifth year, to the day, Erestor had found a book about Vanyar customs and names of all those that had sailed. It had been a book gifted by the Valar to always have the name of any Vanyar elf who had set foot on this side of the sea. Erestor had brought it to him, out of breath from running.
"The quiet one had thrown this at one of the guards who had mocked him. Lindir held him back as the guard got up. The guard called him useless and nameless. The quiet one spat on him, Elrond. He spat on Lithum! In his culture, that is a challenge to do battle for the first to draw blood. Elrond, they went to the training grounds! He's going to kill Gold! You have to stop Lithum!" Erestor held the book to himself with one arm as he grabbed Elrond with the other hand and ran to the training grounds. Both males in the arena had metal training swords. The fight had just begun. No one had ever seen the golden haired elf look so dangerous. When asked later many of the watchers would describe his eyes to have been pure gold. Lithum snarled, his temper taking control and blinding him to the subtle shift into a fighting stance Gold had unconsciously moved into.
"If I win, I get to name you. How does Freak or Dumb sound, hmm?" Lithum taunted. Many trainees and old warriors had gathered. The instructors were telling their students about the errors in Lithum's stance or comparing Gold's stance to warriors of the First Age and the Vanyar from the Undying Lands. Lindir managed to be heard above all the others.
"What will he gain if you loose?"
"What does his culture and customs say he may claim?" Lithum snapped. Erestor flipped the book open to the page and called out what he had read.
"If you loose than he gains your station, Captain Lithum. You cannot back out. Let the fight begin!" Glorfindel waited for Lithum, Captain of the Guard who didn't care about the safety of the Valley to listen to scouts or inform Elrond of the orcs and missing scout, to advance.
The captain had underestimated this elf and was paying the price. Every time he swung, Gold sidestepped or blocked. Gold was purposely playing with him, enraging him farther. He had started making mistakes and Gold nicked him each time. The Vanya elf had drawn first blood yet Lithum would not stand down.
"You! I will kill you! I am in control, not you! You are a nobody!" Lithum had yelled as he charged with all his might. Gold made the first sound the Valley had ever heard. It was a deep laugh, the laughter that sends chills down your spine because you know it is dangerous kind of laugh. Gold's smile made Lithum freeze in place and the fist that connect led to his face not even a microsecond after threw him across the arena, where he lag unconscious. The crowd was silent before Lindir started to laugh.
"I thought you were going to let him completely loose it! Let's go to the kitchen and find some apples!" Gold smiled pleasantly after nodding to a few of the older warriors who clapped. Lindir talked and talked until Erestor and Elrond entered the kitchen, the book still held in the councilor's arms.
"Your name is not written. We want answers." Erestor stated coldly. Glorfindel shook his head, no sound at all. Erestor groaned.
"Not this again. Most of the grieving periods are only a year!" He pointed to the part in the book where it said a year. Glorfindel face palmed. He moved Erestor's finger down a paragraph where the author had explained that a year stated in the book was the equivalent of six and a half years or there about on Arda. Elrond laughed.
"Will we learn your name in another year?" Elrond asked, watching Erestor's facial expressions.
"Bbut... he has to be the elf that sailed! He's the only new elf that no one recognizes!" Erestor whined. Glorfindel flipped to another section before showing it to Erestor.
"The names of the Vanyar will only appear once, even if they cross more than once?" Glorfindel nodded enthusiastically, flipping to the name area and indicated the list, showing the Noldo elves how long the list was.
"Point taken. Where are you on the list, Gold?" Lindir almost pleaded. Elrond sighed.
"He cannot show is. There is only so much he may show during this time. I read that part a few minutes ago. It appears that you are the new Captain of the Uard, effective once you start talking again." Elrond turned and started towards the door. A scout, obviously tortured but had escaped, literally ran into him.
"My lord, there is a massive pack of orcs heading towards us. I tried to warn Lithum but he merely laughed at me and sent me back to scout the orcs again. I was captured but a group of rangers broke through the trees and killed the orcs that had been guarding me. They base me flee to warn you. Lithum did not wish me to tell you this." The scout started to sway on his feet. "They are hunting a golden haired warrior of legend. They are coming from the south." And this elf passed out but was caught by a healer who had followed him. Elrond and Erestor rushed to assemble the guards.
"May I borrow a cloak of yours?" A deep voice asked Lindir. He turned to look at Gold. He nodded in shock.
"Please bring it to the stables, Lindir. I trust you not to tell them I have left until they return. The orcs hunt me." Gold stood and ran to his room and dressed in his armor, grabbed his sword called Hope Bringer, and ran to the stables. He mounted his horse just as Elrond was walking to the stables. Glorfindel had not noticed the elf lord as he was too focused on his self assigned mission. Elrond observed the fire within the elf's eyes as the horse sprinted away, heading to the orc party. It took an hour for all the available guards to mount before they rode to meet the orcs. The clearing the elves had discovered was littered with the bodies of orcs. Over one hundred and fifty (150) of the foul creatures' bodies and many more wargs were in a position that made three things clear: the orcs had overwhelmed the attacker in a circular pattern, the attacker was an elf and had been taken alive, and the elf was not only a citizen of Rivendell but was in fact Gold.
"My lord, this battle happened almost two hours ago. We believe we found the trail of the orcs. They were on wargs. The path is like a beeline to the Misty Mountains." Erestor informed Elrond before noticing a sparkle. He rushed to the sparkle and let out a small cry which caused many more to rush to him.
"Is that..." Elrond whispered.
"Hope Bringer, sword of The Shadow Banisher, The Lord of the House of Air, and passed to Lord Glorfindel of the House of the Golden Flower of Gondolin. The sword will never be wielded by those who are not direct descendents of the fore mentioned heroes." Erestor listed as if in a dream. Elrond tried to pick the sword up but he pulled back with a gasp.
"Do not touch it! It will show you memories best forgotten. So many memories..." Elrond felt the tears roll down his face but knew that what he saw was enough to make a weaker elf faint. Erestor huffed.
"We need to pick Hope Bringer up, clean it, and sheath it so we may return it." With those words, Erestor picked the sword up and fought through the memories as he wiped the blade clean and sheathed it. He attached the sword to his saddle before mounting. The others mounted, not committing on the rivers of tears that flowed Dow the Chief Advisor's cheeks. They followed the path with swiftness but the weather, rain and terrifying winds caused them to be delayed for four days and almost erasing the trail. The elves reached the Misty Mountains five days after the terrible storm had passed. There were two paths, a high and a low path, both being clear and semi safe. A scream of pain broke through the silence, being carried upon the wind. Another scream allowed the elves to follow the path down towards the orcs. The horses had been left with a few guards while the other elven warriors made their way to the bottom of the ravine. There was a cave clearly seen from across the ravine. No guard was outside of the cave as there had been no reason to since the orcs believed that the elves would have forgotten about this elf. The golden haired elf was unconscious for the moment, at least that was what the Rivendell warriors could tell from what the could see with their superior vision.