Not Again?!

Chapter 13

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Glorfindel didn't know how long he had been kneeling beside Elrohir, the younger twin's eyes staring up blankly at the cloudy sky above. Blood caked his mouth and chin, an occasional drop plopping down to land on his tunic. Glorfindel's head was bowed and his tears were drying on his cheeks when he heard a soft tread behind him.

Elladan! The Balrog-slayer jerked his head and watched as the elder twin came closer to his brother lying lifelessly on the cold ground. His head was cocked inquisitively, eyes still that terrible black, and he crouched slightly as he moved toward Elrohir and Glorfindel.

Slowly, Elladan knelt next to Elrohir and peered down at the pale face. He blinked once, and looked up at Glorfindel, eyebrows furrowing in evident confusion.

"Gone?" came a plaintive question. The voice was Elladan's, and Glorfindel didn't know why he would think it would be different. It was the first word he had heard from him while in that . . . that form with the soulless black eyes. At least it proved he wasn't totally heartless.

Glorfindel had no idea what to say, so he just turned his head away.

Elladan leaned slightly forward and studied the almost white features. A pained expression crossed his face, and he unconsciously reached up to rub over his heart. Glorfindel wasn't paying attention when suddenly Elladan's attention was caught by something odd playing across the younger twin's face.

Curiously, Elladan bent closer and dared to bring a hand up to softly graze across Elrohir's lifeless cheek. A spark seemed to leap from his hand to the empty face, and Elladan's dark eyes flickered, an almost normal look trying to come back into his once-grey eyes. It was pushed back though, and when Glorfindel looked at him again, the eyes were the same horrible black.

Glorfindel sighed deeply and bent over Elrohir once more. He needed to take the young Peredhel back to his father, where . . . he didn't want to think about it. Forcefully expelling all thoughts but to bring Elrohir to Imladris, Glorfindel carefully slid his arms underneath the limp body. He watched Elladan closely; making sure the older twin wouldn't try anything, which is why he missed the strange play of light across Elrohir's face. Starting to stand, Glorfindel glanced down and actually flinched in shock. What was that?!

The reason for his startle was evident. The eyes were open and empty as they were moments before, but along the column of Elrohir's pale neck, something white was moving. Underneath the skin, moving with the veins, silvery liquid – or light? – writhed down and vanished into the folds of his tunic. More lines of the strange white light moved up, slowly reaching for Elrohir's strong jaw and past it, slithering and weaving in stripes up his face.

Glorfindel immediately dropped the twin, jerking his arms away, but wincing involuntarily when the slender body hit the ground with a small thud. Elladan watched with an impassive look as Elrohir lay utterly still while the bizarre lines crept past his nose and wove a delicate pattern around his eyes. It slowly appeared in pulsing lines on his forehead, the ends vanishing into skin hidden under dark hair.

The Balrog-slayer stared with disbelief and confusion. Nothing moved around them but a shifting of hooves from Glorfindel's horse, and silence reigned all around. The light blazed, then faded slowly before glowing brightly again. The cycle repeated itself, and for long moments Glorfindel waited, wondering if he had lost his mind.

He didn't move forward even when small tendrils of the lines whispered toward Elrohir's open eyes, staring up at the darkening sky above. The grey orbs were slightly glazed, as if in sleep, but were unmistakably lifeless. The luminous tracings dipped delicately into the white of the eyes, trailing toward the light grey irises and black pupils. Moving in synchronization, they met in the middle of the eyes and started spreading back outwards, filling in the empty spaces with a flickering white light. The color in Elrohir's eyes vanished under the ivory glow, and within the slightest moment, the lines on his face started to fade and the glow in his eyes increased. It burned with an intensity that made Glorfindel lean backwards, knowing now that he was not imagining this, but that something beyond his power to know was happening before him.