Far Horizons 5 – Getting There

The view from the top of the pass had stunned Glorfindel.  The forest had rolled down the slopes and over the expanse in front of them like a green living ocean, fresh and filled with the song of the trees.  Open areas of lush green spread here and there where ancient deadfall had left gaps in the canopy, or lightning strikes had caused fires to leave clearings now flushed with new growth.  A pewter ribbon could be glimpsed snaking across the broad plain, making its way south and east.

‘The river could be useful for transport,’ Falas commented.  ‘Both in and out.  We do not want to have to bring goods over the mountains unless we have to do so. I do not suppose the map gives any idea of where the river meets the sea?’

Glorfindel lifted one eyebrow at the farmer. ‘What do you think?’ he asked.

‘I think not,’ Falas grinned. ‘It has not given us any useful information yet.  Why would it start now?’

‘Would it be possible to take a break here for a while?’ Rindor enquired.  ‘It would be a good time to begin to add some detail to the map – although we can do little to estimate distance yet.  We should be able to work from this point.’

‘I will send out scouts,’ Haldir offered.  ‘We can begin to find out what is here.’

‘Go out in a fan,’ Rindor suggested. ‘Keeping your teams in straight lines as far as possible and get them to make a record as they go.’

‘I know how to reconnoitre,’ the march warden snapped.  ‘Better, I am sure, than any pen-pusher can.’  He stalked off, summoning his teams of scouts and sending them off much as the other had suggested.

‘Have you done much map-making?’ Glorfindel enquired.  ‘You seem to know what you are doing.’

‘I am acting confidently, my lord, to conceal my ignorance,’ Rindor replied, straight-faced.  ‘There has been little need to make maps of virgin territory in my life-time.’

‘I had no idea you were so young,’ the golden-haired elf said pityingly.  ‘Perhaps we should have brought people of greater experience.’

‘Indeed, my lord,’ Rindor nodded.  ‘Although few have greater experience than yourself.  I am happy to surrender this task to you should you wish to do it.’

‘I think not,’ Glorfindel grinned.  ‘I will be satisfied with patronising you – and then taking the credit for your success.’  He turned to the remaining members of the company, who had settled swiftly to rest for as long as they were able.  Even those without training, he reflected, had learned rapidly to make the most of every opportunity to rest themselves and their mounts.  He approved of those who were quickly checking their horse’s hooves and freeing them to graze the short turf.  Neldin, of course, he noted with disgust, was sitting down, his face as long as a wet midsummer’s day, abandoning his horse to stand in the path.  He was pleased to see Falas go over to the beast and check him over efficiently.

‘The forest, my lord!’  Aelindor said in wonder as he gazed down over the wide view.

‘It is beyond belief!’

Glorfindel stepped over to join him, grinning broadly and with his eyes sparkling. ‘It appears to go on as far as the eye can see.  There will be enough space for us all.’

‘It is more than space, my lord,’ Aelindor told him.  ‘Even from here the song is pure and strong enough to fill my heart.  I cannot wait to be among the trees.’

‘There are trees there that are strange to me,’ Ruindel said softly.  ‘Trees I want to meet.’  He was silent as his eyes ranged over the woods.  ‘If you look down there, Aelindor,’ he pointed out, ‘there has been recent storm damage – possibly a freak whirlwind.  That might have left usable wood – and it appears to be reasonably close to the river.  It could be worth looking to set up our primary camp in that area.’

‘You are right,’ Aelindor clearly approved of the younger elf. ‘It is worth considering, my lord.’

‘I wonder if our engineers have any experience of building boats,’ Glorfindel mused.  ‘It would clearly be to our advantage to use the river – for food and exploration.’

Ruindel scratched his head.  ‘We of Lothlorien used boats to travel the Anduin, my lord,’ he remarked. ‘I know what they looked like – they were swift and light – but I would not have any idea how to make them.  Neldin might, but he mainly concerned himself with constructing flets and talans to complement the trees that bore them. I doubt he has much experience with water.’

‘In Lasgalen we used rafts more than boats,’ Aelindor offered. ‘They are good for transporting large amounts of cargo, but the river needs to be easy-tempered.  They do not have much flexibility – better at going downstream than up.’

‘Rafts would be easier to build,’ Glorfindel said, ‘but I believe we will be wanting to travel upstream – and take small parties of scouts rather than goods.’  He grinned, his eyes bright. ‘This is the sort of challenge that makes exploration so enjoyable,’ he admitted.  ‘You never know what skills will be useful.  You bring someone because he is a scout or a healer – and then find his biggest contribution is made because he used to make boats to sail in his bath!’

As the scouting parties began to find their way back to the group, Glorfindel joined Rindor to receive the reports on the terrain they had encountered.  It rapidly became apparent that the path leading down the hillside before them was the only obvious way to reach the valley, since sheer drops had ended each of the side trips.  Soon, the only party to return was the one that had taken that direction.

‘I suppose it is a good thing they have not yet returned,’ Rindor said quietly. ‘It suggests that this path is passable.  Although if it were not, it would explain a lot about why the passage of many centuries has left this land unexplored.’

‘That would be intensely frustrating,’ the elf lord replied. ‘Like being trapped before a window, enjoying a wonderful view, yet unable to find the door in order to get outside.’

As the afternoon began to wear down, the sun lowered itself towards the distant horizon, turning the silver river to molten copper and burnishing the green leaves.  The elves gathered what little wood they could find and began to prepare a hot meal, but it was clear to all that they would have a cold night.   

‘If Haldir and Gwathor do not make it back soon, they will have to put up with cold food,’ Glorfindel commented. ‘There is not enough fuel to keep the fire going much longer.’

‘Do you wish to send a party to seek them, my lord?’ enquired another of the Lothlorien scouts.  ‘It is unlike Haldir to miss a meal.  He can normally sense food from several leagues.’

‘Thank you, Alagsir!’ Haldir drawled, as he and Gwathor moved silently out of the dark. ‘I would hate to disappoint you – and I am feeling quite hungry.’

‘Turning up at inappropriate moments – did I mention that that is another of his skills?’ Alagsir said to the air as he handed over a well-filled plate.

‘You were not hard to spot here,’ Gwathor remarked rather disapprovingly.  ‘That cooking fire can probably be seen all the way to the far horizon.’

‘We have been assured that there is no-one here to see it,’ Rindor told him.

‘Such an assurance does not mean that what you have been told is true,’ Haldir informed him loftily. ‘The trees are not unaware of elves – they have not seen many, but they have seen them, as you would know if you Imladris elves had thought to enquire.  And even without the presence of elves, there will be creatures in the forests that do not need to be aware of us.  I am surprised that you permitted it, my lord.  You do not have an army at your back now.’

For a moment Glorfindel played with the idea of making it much harder for the other elf to look straight down his nose in such an irritating way, but he quickly discarded the idea.  The role of a leader, he reminded himself, was to use the skills available to him rather than to take personal exception to those offering advice.  ‘You have a point, Haldir,’ he said amiably. ‘I will leave it to you to instruct those of our party less familiar with concealment in techniques that might be useful.  However, the fire is now dying, and we will not have another until we are in a somewhat less open position. As soon as you have finished eating, you and Gwathor are to come over and report your findings to Rindor and me, so that we can make plans for tomorrow.’  He nodded pleasantly at the march warden and withdrew.

‘The stars look as if they have been polished to welcome us,’ Rindor remarked quietly as he stood looking out over the prospect before them.  Night had turned the forest into an expanse of black velvet that enhanced the midnight blue transparency of the cloudless sky stretching over them studded with brilliant points of light.

‘Very poetic,’ Glorfindel commented, as he absorbed the beauty of the night.  He turned as the two scouts left the group to join them, waiting for them to let him know what they had found.

‘The way is open, my lord,’ Gwathor said simply. ‘It is not an easy path, but it is not beyond the capabilities of the horses.’

‘But the interesting thing,’ Haldir added, watching carefully for the reaction, ‘is that the way has clearly not been open for very long.  I would say that, before the past winter, it would have been as difficult to descend by this path as by any of the other possible ways down.  There appears to have been some kind of landslip that, interestingly, opened a gap between two sheer walls and provided a remarkably solid ramp over a steep slope.’

‘That is intriguing,’ Glorfindel mused. ‘Although I suppose it could have been predicted.  After all we were told that this venture had the highest level of approval. If the Valar want us to have these lands, they would ensure that we had access to them.’ He looked sharply at them both.  ‘And what else do you have to say?’

Gwathor and Haldir exchanged stares, then Haldir shrugged.  ‘I think there may be some who already call the forest their home,’ he stated. ‘I cannot be sure, but I think the familiarity of the trees with elves is greater than can be accounted for by those who made that map.’

***

It was like sinking into the land, Glorfindel thought.  As they led their horses down the steep slopes, the trees came up to greet them; initially pines, small first and somewhat scattered, wind-blown into fantastic shapes, but rapidly becoming straighter and taller, until the elves felt that the landscape had grown as they shrank. It grew warmer, too, as they descended and the vegetation cut off the biting wind.  He kept alert to the sounds of the forest, but it seemed singularly quiet around him, as if the trees were observing them.  He saw little sign of large game, although squirrels chattered in irritation at them as they passed and bird chirped warnings of intruders.

Haldir led confidently.  He and Gwathor had clearly taken enough time here to discover a goal for the party that would provide what they needed to begin their search and Glorfindel had enough faith in him not to question his choice.

A horse squealed and the elf lord looked round to see that the more nervous of his group had bunched together so closely that one’s horse had nipped another’s. 

‘Spread out,’ he told them impatiently, wondering why any elf would think that he was safer when he was too close to use his weapons without slicing the head off one of his colleagues.  ‘There are warriors behind and in front of you,’ he said.  ‘You do not need to sit in each other’s lap.’

Beside him, Rindor grinned. ‘Did you not realise you had become a nursemaid, my lord?’ he asked innocently.  ‘Your task is to keep them safe while they demand a range of items they cannot have, complain about the lack of comfort and gripe about each other.’

‘Thank you, my pet pen-pusher,’ Glorfindel sighed. ‘And if, by the way, you are fit for nothing but paperwork, as Haldir appears to think, how is it that you seem to know not only how to deal with your horse, but you are also fully alert to your surroundings – not to mention that you carry an interesting range of weapons?’

Rindor placed a slender finger next to his nose.  ‘There is more to me than meets the eye, my lord.’

‘But none of it reaches your mouth, does it, my friend?’  Glorfindel met his eyes for a moment before giving a brief nod and urging his horse forward to enable him to consult with Haldir.

‘There is a suitable clearing not far from here,’ the march warden said. ‘We will be able to camp there while we begin to learn our way round this part of the forest.’

‘When we were looking down from the ridge, there appeared to be an area to the south west, near the river that might be of interest,’ Glorfindel observed. ‘Ruindel thought there might be useful wood – we were considering the possibility of boats.’

Haldir nodded.  ‘I saw it.  I agree it would be worth looking at – but having seen the extent of the land available here, Glorfindel, we are barely going to make any impact on exploring it.  We could wander round here for years and see no more than a corner of the forest.  I do not believe my lord wishes to wait a century for us to return.’

‘We are only seeking somewhere to start,’ Glorfindel told him seriously. ‘A staging post, where we can bring new arrivals and they can adjust before moving on to new communities.  A large area near the river could be ideal – especially if we find there is a route from the river to the sea which can be used to transport what we need.’  He hesitated.  ‘Have you had any more sense of elves in these woods?’

‘No,’ Haldir said slowly, ‘but I do believe that the trees are more familiar with us than I would expect.  They are interested, but not amazed.  I hope we might be able to make more contact with them as we come to more deciduous forest – I find I get on better with oaks, beeches and birches.  Pines are a bit stiff and not very interested in their surroundings.’

Glorfindel raised an eyebrow.  ‘I will take your word for it,’ he said.

‘Another hour or two and we will be able to set up camp,’ Haldir stated, looking disparagingly at the elves trailing along behind them.  ‘Did you have to bring idiots with you?  We could get twice as much done with a couple of patrols of warriors.’

‘I suspect you are right,’ Glorfindel agreed with a touch of irony, ‘but, unfortunately we intend to have a society here that includes those who are not warriors – so it only seems right that we should consider some of those things that families might require. Like housing – and farms – and materials for weaving and healing – even ores and dyes.  Things to which warriors tend not to give much priority.’

‘Do you mean that?  Or are you just repeating what Lord Elrond said?’ Haldir asked cynically.  ‘Warriors are quite capable of seeking out all that is needed to make them comfortable – and they also obey orders without question.  We might well find ourselves missing that level of discipline.’

Glorfindel shrugged.  ‘They are all good at what they do,’ he said.  ‘We will just have to tweak them into shape – tactfully, Haldir.  It is not as if there are many of them. Show what you are made of, march warden!’

Haldir looked down at his nails and polished them with the forefinger of his other hand. ‘Perhaps that might be of some help,’ he considered.

‘Without violence, Haldir,’ Glorfindel instructed.

‘Spoilsport,’ the elf from Lothlorien smiled. ‘I have sent Domenion and Alagsir to seek some small game – I have had enough of trail rations, and there is plenty of evidence of rabbits, if nothing else.’

‘Do they know where we intend to stop?’ Glorfindel asked.

The look Haldir gave him was scathing.  ‘You have lost your touch over recent years, if you doubt that they will be able to track down a group containing these babbling incompetents.  They will not even need to try.’

‘Enough!’ Glorfindel was irritated enough to infuse his tone with warning. ‘It is our job to ensure the success of this venture, not to threaten it by our petulance. Lord Celeborn trusts you to represent his interests – and you will not do that by undermining any member of the team.’ He continued to hold the other’s eyes, until finally Haldir inclined his head in acceptance.

The trees were big, Glorfindel mused as they rode on, and they were getting bigger. However, he did not feel that this small introduction to the forest had been particularly encouraging.  Had he not known that it would take weeks to push forward even as far as the river, he might have been disappointed.  He did not know about pines being stiff, but he found this largely coniferous forest rather sterile and his natural wariness did not help him feel welcome here.  Yet.  He must keep reminding himself that they had barely scratched the edge of this magnificent gift.  He turned to inspect the trailing line following the path Haldir set.  He could not deny the elf’s point, he sighed.  He would give a lot for a larger, better disciplined party – but this was what he had, and he would make them count, he decided.

‘Here,’ Haldir said simply. 

He had chosen well.  There was water, grazing for the horses, space enough for them all.  ‘This should do well for now,’ Glorfindel approved, dismounting from his horse. ‘We will stay a day or two to map the immediate area and then move on.’  He turned slowly, inspecting the trees surrounding the small meadow, puzzled by something he could not quite define.

‘You feel it too?’ Haldir breathed in his ear.

Glorfindel glanced at him.  ‘I sense no danger,’ he said, ‘but we are being watched.’