See Ch. 1 for disclaimer

Ch. 4 Danger!

The last of the afternoon light was just beginning to fade from the western horizon when they encountered a particularly treacherous part of the slope. Debris of rocks and fallen trees littered and blocked the way before them. Aldeon frowned. The landslide must have taken place while they were tracking their prey higher up the hillside, for their passage through this area earlier in the day had been clear.

Legolas glanced at his brother. "What should we do? Should we continue?"

Aldeon looked up at the darkening horizon and nodded reluctantly. "I wish to be off this slope before night falls. I really have no desire to test my nimbleness on these grounds in the dark. Be careful, Legolas and follow my steps closely. The last thing we need is to set off a further landslide with us in the midst of it."

"That certainly would be an adventure," Legolas said, grinning.

"It is one that we can do without," Aldeon said rather sternly. "Come along."

For the next little while, neither brother spoke as they picked their way carefully over loose rocks and tangled tree limbs. Several times they stopped and froze in their track as even their agile step set off a cascade of debris, but fortunately, the ground held.

"I can see clearer ground ahead," Legolas announced.

"Thank the Valar!" Aldeon breathed gratefully.

It happened in an instant.

Even before his next step landed, Aldeon felt the ground trembled dangerously beneath him. Without any thought or hesitation, he grabbed his brother's arm and flung Legolas forward with all his considerable strength as the ground began to slide and shift beneath him. From some distance off, he heard Legolas' startled cry and then his own flailing body was swept away by the surge of rocks and rootless earth. Something hard slammed into his head and darkness descended even before he could cry out.

Legolas had felt the rumble of the earth for a brief second before he was grabbed from behind and thrown bodily into the air. He had a flashing glimpse of the moving earth beneath him and his body tensed instinctively with fear. Even before his mind could register the shock of what was happening, he landed hard on his side against solid ground and the air was knocked from him. The momentum of his fall propelled his body forward and he rolled over and over again until at last he came to an abrupt stop against the trunk of a tree. Had he any breath left in him, he would have cried out from the jarring impact. For seconds, or perhaps minutes, he laid without moving as his body and mind struggled to make sense of what had just transpired.

Aldeon! The thought of his brother cut through the murky depth of his dazed mind and he scrambled to his feet. His bruised body cried out in protest, but he ruthlessly ignored it. Looking about him frantically, he swept his eyes over the tumbled rocks and uprooted trees.

"Aldeon!" he called out and was surprised to find his voice was no more than a painful croak. He coughed the dirt from his throat and called out to his brother again. Silence. With mounting panic, he climbed onto a protruding boulder and shouted his brother's name again. Aldeon, where are you? Please be all right! Please! Straining his eyes against the fading light, he sought desperately for any sign of his missing brother.

Suddenly his eyes caught sight of the familiar tunic half buried in the rocky debris. With a half-strangled sob, he sprinted forward recklessly, the fear for his brother blotting out all else.

"Aldeon!" He dropped to his knees beside his fallen brother and at the sight of the blood-covered face and half-buried body, he cried out in alarm. "No!" He reached out with a shaking hand but faltered as fear consumed him. What if his brother was already dead? He shook his head violently and forced his hand toward his brother's neck once more. Closing his eyes in anguished apprehension, his trembling fingers fumbled for a pulse. It was there! Desperate for reassurance, he pressed down more firmly on his brother's throat. The pulse was strong and steady. Nearly sobbing with relief, he laid his cheek against his brother's chest and for a few brief seconds, took comfort from the physical contact with the brother that he had feared lost to him.

After allowing himself the all too brief respite, he pulled himself reluctantly from the inert body and set about finding out the extent of Aldeon's injuries. A large laceration along the right temple was responsible for the blood that so alarmingly caked his brother's face. Blood continued to seep from the ugly gash.

As part of his warrior training, he was taught the basics of healing skills. Such skills were a necessity to preserve the lives of the wounded until they could be brought to the proper care of trained healers. He knew then from his training that head wounds bled profusely but the sight of his brother's bloody face nonetheless made his stomach tighten with fear and bile threatened at the back of his throat. He closed his eyes for a brief second, willing back the fear and nausea. He needed his wits about him if he were to be of any help to his injured brother. With shaky fingers, he tore a strip off his own cloak and hastily bound his brother head, hoping that the temporary measure would at least slow the bleeding.

"Aldeon, please awaken! Aldeon?" He patted his brother's unresponsive cheek as he used his sleeve to wipe away some of the blood. Aldeon remained alarmingly still.

He looked about him in near desperation, feeling consumed with the urgency for immediate action and yet was uncertain as to what should be done first. He knew it was imperative to find out the extent of his brother's injuries and tend to them quickly before they worsen, but he was also deeply concerned with the precarious stability of the ground beneath them. He would have to free his brother from the rocky debris first, he decided with sudden resolve. If there was another landslide, both of them could be buried instantly in which case, his brother's current injuries would no longer be of consequence.

Once decided, he quickly began to clear away the rocks and dirt that covered his brother's body, taking care to keep the disturbance of the loose earth to a minimal. He was thankful to discover that the layer of rock and earth that covered his brother was relatively shallow and did not appear to have inflicted any great harm, or so he hoped. Through it all, Aldeon remained disturbingly unresponsive.

The difficulty came when he reached his brother's leg. Aldeon's right foot was trapped in place by two large rocks wedged tightly against each other. He wondered with a quaking heart whether his brother's foot was crushed beneath the rocky trap. He attempted to loosen the rocks with his hands, but found that their weight was beyond his strength. He would need a form of leverage if he were to move them at all. His eyes searched through the deepening gloom for a stout branch that he could use as a lever.

Just as he was about to move away from his brother's side, there came a groan from Aldeon. Instantly he dropped back down to his knees and cupped the blood smeared face with a gentle hand.

"Aldeon? Please awaken! Tell me where you are hurt," he called out urgently.

There was a louder groan from Aldeon this time and his head shifted slightly.

"Please, Aldeon, please answer me," he pleaded, his voice wavering in spite of his effort to hold back his panic.

"Legolas?" Aldeon's voice was barely above a breathless croak.

"I am here," Legolas answered immediately and then added, "I am unharmed. Tell me where you hurt, Aldeon."

Aldeon gave a weak cough and moaned. "My head feels crushed."

"You have a cut on your temple. Where else do you hurt?"

Aldeon drew in a shaky breath. "I - I am not sure." He squinted painfully at the shadow hovering over him and closed his eyes with another groan. "My head is pounding too much."

Legolas bit his lower lip. The head injury was perhaps more serious than he initially thought. "Can you feel your right foot? It is trapped by rocks and I cannot tell if it is badly injured."

Aldeon shifted slightly. "Cannot feel it. Ai, my head!"

Legolas touched his brother's face with a reassurance that he did not feel. "It is all right, Aldeon. You just remain still and rest. I need to find something to help me free your foot. I will be right back."

Legolas straightened and with one last look at his injured brother, set out to find what he needed. His eyes caught sight of a branch some twenty yards away. It looked sturdy enough for his intended use. Moving as quickly as he could, he made his careful way across the unstable ground. The branch was half-buried in the rocky debris and it took several forceful tugs before it came loose. It was much heavier than it appeared and Legolas could only hope that it would be stout enough to bear the weight of the rocks.

"Aldeon, I am going to try to remove these rocks from your foot. Call out if I am hurting you," Legolas looked at his brother with uncertainty. The thought of hurting his brother made his mouth go dry with fear. "Aldeon?"

"All right," Aldeon's eyes remained closed when he at last responded.

With his hands, Legolas dug underneath one of the rocky slabs until there was sufficient space to wedge in the branch. He rocked the branch back and forth several times until he was satisfied that it was well imbedded beneath the rock.

"Aldeon, I am going to try to move the rock now," he called out in warning before he leaned his weight upon the branch and pushed with his all strength. The rock shifted only fractionally. Once again, he leaned his weight against the branch. After two more tries, the rock remained stubbornly in its place. Pulling out the branch in frustration, Legolas once again dug at the dirt beneath the rocks in an effort to widen the space where he could reinsert the branch for better leverage. The sharp stones bit into his unprotected hands repeatedly, but he did not even feel the pain.

With the branch in place once more, Legolas gave the lever one mighty push and this time, the boulder lifted, balancing precariously on the branch. With a grunting heave, Legolas shifted the branch in his straining hands and the rock at last rolled aside. At the same time, there was a stifled cry from Aldeon.

His muscles shaking from the over exertion, Legolas dropped to his knees by his brother. "Aldeon? Are you all right? Did I hurt you? Aldeon, please answer me!"

His brother's hand moved and Legolas reached out and gripped it with his own. "Aldeon?"

"It is all right, Legolas. I - I can feel my foot now."

Legolas winced. "It is hurting you. Is it - is it broken?"

"I do not know. It may be."

"There is still another rock. I will need to remove it before I can pull you free," Legolas said with uncertainty. Then he added, rather desperately, "I do not want to hurt you again." He was instantly ashamed of the quivering of tears in his own voice.

"Do it, Legolas," Aldeon said and tried to smile even as the pain from his head and from his foot began to combine their forces. "You will not hurt me." In truth, the pain was so severe that it threatened to take his senses away again and a part of him wished desperately to give in to the tempting oblivion. But he did not wish to leave his little brother by himself again. Legolas already sounded as if he was near his limits and if Aldeon were to sink into unconsciousness again, it may push the younger elf beyond what he could endure. With considerable effort, Aldeon tried to grip his brother's hand in reassurance. "I will be all right, Legolas. You must do what is necessary."

Legolas nodded numbly and pushed himself to his feet again. He could not waste any more time. The sooner he freed his brother, the sooner he could tend to his injuries. He hefted the heavy branch again.

Suddenly, something pricked his senses. He looked about him fearfully and thought his heart would stop. Not more than fifty yards from him loomed the unmistakable shapes of wolves. Instinctively he took count. There were eight of them, sitting in eerie stillness, watching them. Legolas felt more than saw the predatory gleam of eight pairs of feral eyes.

How had he not sensed their presence until now? Then he realized with sudden fear that he no longer had his bow with him. He must have dropped it when Aldeon had literally thrown him to safety at the onset of the landslide. For a brief second or two, he considered dashing back to where he had fallen to search for his bow, but that would mean leaving Aldeon alone and unprotected, trapped as he was. No, leaving his brother alone was not an option, no matter how brief it may be. His quiver was still strapped to him, and he could feel the weight of his knives in their scabbards. Knowing that he still had possession of his knives brought a small measure of reassurance to his pounding heart. As slowly as he could, he edged back a few paces.

"Legolas?" Aldeon had somehow sensed his tension, or perhaps he was puzzled by his brother's sudden lack of action. "What is it?"

Even before Legolas could respond, the first of the howls cut through the stillness of the night air. He flinched, as if the sound had been a physical blow.

"Wolves," he managed to force out his words through the constricting fear. "There are wolves, eight of them."

Aldeon tried to squint through the pain and the darkness. "Where?"

"Close enough," Legolas said and carefully and slowly removed his pack and quiver. From somewhere at the back of his mind, he remembered vaguely that wolves did not attack unless provoked. But with Aldeon trapped and defenseless, he was not going to take a chance. He needed the feel of his knives in his hands.

Another howl pierced the silence and his hands trembled uncontrollably as he pulled his knives free.

"Legolas, what are you doing?" Aldeon asked weakly.

"I will not let the wolves hurt you, Aldeon," Legolas said grimly, pleased that his voice no longer shook. "I will keep them away."

"Do not provoke them." There was urgency in Aldeon's voice.

"I know," Legolas said, keeping his voice low. "Perhaps they will go away. I am sorry, but I cannot work to free your foot until I am certain they are not a threat."

Several more howls again pierced the night and Legolas tightened his grip on his knives. Inwardly, he cursed the creatures for their untimely appearance. With reluctance, he acknowledged that he would have to somehow deal with the wolves if they did not leave of their own accord in the next short while. Injured as he was, his brother could ill afford to wait out an indefinite standoff with these creatures. He had no wish to provoke these creatures, but he may not have a choice.

He glanced down at Aldeon again. His brother's eyes were closed and Legolas wondered with a pang of fear whether his brother had once again lost consciousness.

I will protect you, Aldeon, he promised silently, whether to his brother or himself, he did not know. With grim determination, he forced aside his mounting fear and turned to face the wolves again. The wolves would have to get pass him first if they wished to harm his brother, and he had no intention of allowing them to do that.

TBC