Chapter Four

Just before dawn, Elrohir got up from his bedroll and prepared to take the horses to the little valley he had mentioned the previous evening.

Aragorn, having taken the last watch and was thus awake, approached Elrohir, as the elf swung up onto his mare’s back and called softly to the other horses. The ranger reached the mounted elf‘s side and placed his hand on his brother’s leg. “Be careful, Elrohir. I’m sure you know there is danger afoot.”

“I will, Estel,” the elf replied with a reassuring grin. “Keep yourselves out of trouble.” He said it as if he wasn’t too sure that was going to happen.

Aragorn chuckled. “We will be waiting for your return.”

By the time Elrohir was over the hill and out of sight, the eastern sky had begun to fade. One by one the stars winked out, as golden light traveled westward, pushing the inky blue of deep night ahead of it and leaving in its wake a bright blue that heralded a new day.

Aragorn retuned to sit by the fire he had re-stoked not long ago. He packed the bowl of his pipe with pipeweed, lit it and sat leisurely smoking. He glanced at his oldest brother and his best friend, both lying on their backs, eyes wide open, completely lost in the realm of elven dreams.

All that remained for them to do was eat and hide the packs they were not taking with them. It would probably take Elrohir close to an hour to take the horses to their secluded little valley and return on foot, so there was no reason to wake Legolas and Elladan just yet.

The man now occupied his mind thinking, as he had done earlier during his watch, on the howling that Elladan had told him Legolas had heard. The elder twin had not been witness to the sounds himself nor had he detected any other noises coming from the mountain, while he stood watch. Aragorn wanted to question Legolas about exactly what he had heard and his impressions of it, but such inquiries could wait a little while longer.

The ranger turned his attention back to Black Mountain, watching as the snow-capped summit glowed a golden white in the rising sunshine. Danger notwithstanding, he could not avoid admiring it beauty as much in the early morning light, as he had the day before.

Looking at the majestic mountain now, it was hard to believe that it was labeled evil and fearfully avoided by all but the most hardy of adventurous souls.

Even lost in thought as he was, it did not startle him, when he glanced back toward the fire and saw Legolas approaching him. He was used to the stealthy silence of his friend’s movements.

When he had awoken, Legolas had immediately looked toward where the horses were being kept near the campsite. “I see that Elrohir has left already. I hope that valley he saw will keep the horses safe.”

“He wouldn’t take them there, if he had any doubts.” Aragorn’s tone was not spoken as harshly as the words might indicate.

“You are right, of course,” Legolas conceded, wondering why he had even spoken his concern out loud. He didn’t doubt Elrohir. He knew his elven friend would make sure all was secure before he would ever leave the horses on their own. He would bring them straight back, if there was even a hint of danger anywhere near them.

Legolas shook his head. Perhaps the howling lingered in his mind more than he realized. He wasn’t afraid. It was just that there were so many unknowns regarding this mountain and whatever lived there. Caution would have to be at the forefront of their minds, when they headed upward.

“What do you think caused the howling? Wolves?” Aragorn asked, taking another puff on his pipe and watching as it was grabbed by the early morning breeze and sent twisting away until it dissolved, only to be followed by another.

As usual, Legolas was sitting on the other side of the fire, which was upwind of the ranger. He couldn’t handle the foul smoke his friend‘s pipe produced.

He had long ago given up trying to talk the ranger out of igniting the noxious weed and then inhaling the resulting smoke. All of his arguments had had about as much effect on the man as arguing against coming here had. So the elf just kept his distance, switching locations whenever the wind shifted and threatened to send the offensive smoke up his sensitive nose.

Ignoring his friend’s bad habit, Legolas shrugged. “I do not know. It sounded somewhat similar to wolves, but I do not think that is what it is.”

“Any guesses?” Elladan asked, as he joined his human brother and his elven friend. He sat next to Legolas, away from the pipe smoke.

“None,” Legolas replied. “This is new territory for us all. There is no telling what lies up on those black slopes. It could be a type of wolf, probably related to those roaming throughout Middle-earth. Or it could be something completely different.”

That idea had not occurred to Aragorn. Elladan had mentioned howling and wolves were the first and only thought the ranger had. His curiosity was peaked, however, he knew he would not get any answers until he saw the creatures for himself.

Elrohir entered the camp just as Elladan was dishing up warmed-up portions of stew left over from the previous evening’s meal. It was hardly a first choice for something to eat so early in the morning but it wouldn’t keep and they weren’t about to waste it.

Elladan looked up and grinned. “Always in time for a meal.”

“Of course,” the younger twin replied. He sat down next to Legolas and took the plate of food his brother was offering. “There is nothing like a good run to get the appetite stirring.”

After handing out the other two plates of food, Elladan took his own plate and sat down on the other side of Legolas. “How do the horses like their temporary home?”

“They seemed quite happy with it, running around and exploring before I even got out of sight.” On a more serious note, he added, “They will stay put and be vigilant for danger.”

After a moment, Elrohir looked up from his plate. “Put that nasty pipe away, Estel, and we will sit with you.” The three elves were all seated together on one side of the fire while the man sat alone on the other side.

“I know the real reason,” the ranger said in a very pitiful voice. “You all blame keeping your distance on my pipe smoking, but the truth is that you do not like me.”

The elves looked at each other and laughed. “He has found us out!” cried Elrohir.

“Indeed he has,” Elladan agreed, his brows furrowing in a deep frown, pretending to be disappointed in that fact.

Legolas just feigned innocence, bent his head down over his plate and went back to eating the last portion of his meal.

A short time later, the dishes and the small, now-empty pot were cleaned and divided up to be taken with them. Once that was done, Legolas slung the two large packs that they were leaving behind over his shoulder and carried them up to the top of the highest tree in the area. He secured them among its branches and then dropped soundlessly to the ground. There was no reason to believe that anyone would be climbing any of these trees while they were gone.

~*~*~

The mountain was studied with critical eyes in the hopes of finding the easiest way to ascend. By the time the four companions had reached the bottom edge of the granite slopes where they had decided to make their climb, the sun was shining down on them in full force.

The trail that soon revealed itself was a natural path that led upward between the great rocks making up one of the vertical ridges. The ground, though uneven and covered with small pebbles, was broad enough to accommodate people side by side.

They stepped onto the rocky trail and began their climb. They were a long way from the snowline, but the light wind they were encountering carried a sharp crispness that blew straight down from the heights into their faces.

The rocks were starting to rise up taller and many were now closer to the path, forcing the companions to start walking single file.

The trail also became steeper, which was to be expected. It zig-zagged only slightly, making most of the going relatively straight up and thus harder on the legs. Even had there been no danger to the horses from whatever lived on the mountain, they probably couldn’t have made it up this trail, at any rate.

Legolas had taken up the lead and scanned ahead of them. Aragorn came next and looked to the right. Elrohir walked behind him and was responsible for covering their left side, while Elladan, in the rear, glanced frequently over his shoulder, as he kept his ears focused behind them. It wasn’t until they paused for the mid-day meal that they swapped positions and reversed the order in which they traveled.

The sun moved relentlessly across the sky overhead, reaching its zenith and then sinking into the west. The tall rock wall of the vertical ridge to their left soon blocked the rays of the sun and plunged the friends into shadow, though it was still bright enough to maneuver. However, that changed, as the day began to wane even further.

The elves’ vision was not only clearer at long distances, able to pick out details of things that mortals couldn’t even see, but elven eyes were also able to pull in more light, and thus they could see better in gloom and shadow. So of them all only Aragorn would have trouble negotiating the pebble-strewn trail once the shadows deepened. The ranger, who had forever tried to compete with his elven brothers while growing up, had never been happy with this part of his mortal limitations but had eventually, though reluctantly, accepted it.

“We need to start thinking about a place to spend the night,” Elladan pointed out, from his current position at the front of the line.

“Do you see an acceptable place to stop?” Legolas called up to the eldest twin.

“Not so far,” Elladan answered. He looked up at the sky, a bit dismayed to see a couple of stars already beginning to make their appearance. Still, it was not fully dark yet. “We can go a little longer, I think. Hopefully, something will soon make itself known.”

Aragorn was now having to watch the path in front of his feet. He knew that his brothers ahead of him wouldn’t let him wander off the path, but he worried that he might step on a stone that could slide out from under him or that he might trip over the raised edge of the stone they traveled upon. Even if he escaped injury, he knew he would never live it down. Elves had very long memories, and these elves in particular never passed up an opportunity to tease.

Not twenty yards ahead of them, they came upon a group of boulders that formed an overhang deep enough to accommodate all four of the friends and their packs. The shelter sat in the middle of a protruding ledge with a sheer drop off of many hundreds of feet right below it.

Aragorn eyed the shelter skeptically. “The whole thing hangs out over nothing. If that ledge decides to give way...”

Elrohir shook his head. “Estel, that ledge will not fall. It is too solid.”

“Good. Then you sleep in the back. I’ll stay nearest the trail.” When everyone else laughed, the man stared at them. “I’m serious. You saw all those huge boulders we passed on the way up here. Just where do you think they came from?”

“Fine,” Elrohir said, not answering the question. “I will sleep in the back, and you can take my turn at watch.”

During the journey, the watches had been divided into three parts. Each night one person was allowed to sleep through the night undisturbed. Last night, Elrohir had been the one to skip taking a watch. This night it was Aragorn who was scheduled to get a full night’s sleep.

Eyeing the ledge once again, this time taking a closer look and seeing that all the rocks making up the shelter were large and solid-looking, with no cracks visible. “I’m not going to give up my night’s sleep. I’ll take my chances on the rocks staying put.”

“That’s what I thought,” Elrohir said smugly.

They all settled into the shelter, as the last of the day’s light faded into night. Each of the friends carried some tinder and wood chips to start and maintain a small fire, but not wanting to attract any unwanted attention in this forbidding place, no fire was attempted. Lembas served as the evening meal.

~*~*~

No sooner had Legolas begun the last watch than the howling started. Each howl was answered by another creature in a different location, some farther away than others, some to the right and some to the left. There were more than half a dozen different creatures by Legolas’s reckoning. None of the sounds seemed to be moving. However, the elf knew that could change in a flash.

‘Why does this happen only on my watch?’ Legolas questioned to himself. He was tempted to go and investigate but, of course, there was no question of leaving his friends. He would also not wake them---yet.

Looking back at the small sleeping group in the shelter, Legolas moved out onto the trail. He checked it in both directions and then raised his eyes to scan the higher elevations. The snow that draped the upper third of Black Mountain glowed bluish silver in the moon light, but there was no movement that the young elf could perceive.

Then a slight movement several yards up the trail caught his attention. He had seen it out of the corner of his eye. Jerking his head down, he stared, sure he had seen a shadow darker than the surrounding night move swiftly across the trail.

Straining his senses to their fullest, he kept perfectly still and listened. There was no movement now and nothing stirred, not even the air. The only sound he heard was the pounding of his own heart. Taking deep breaths, he forced himself to calm.

He was convinced he had seen something. He was sure of it. Yet, for all he was able to detect, he night have been alone on the mountain. ‘I did not imagine it,’ he declared.

The archer realized that standing out on the trail, even as sheltered by rocks as it was, made him a vulnerable target for searching eyes. He didn’t like the idea of him and his friends being trapped in the rock shelter, but right now staying put was the most prudent choice.

Legolas moved back to the entrance so nothing that might attack could get between him and the others.

He had loaded his bow with an arrow at the first howl he had heard, and now he drew back on the bowstring and aimed it in the direction he had seen the shadow move. If any danger presented itself, he would sound the alarm, knowing his friends would react instantly. But for now, he would wait.

TBC