Chapter One: The Terror Begins

The ground shook below their feet and they froze in place. Elrohir gasped as the ground lifted and he felt himself thrown back into the dirt. A shout from behind him made him glance back and looked at the shocked and frightened look on Elladan’s face as the ground suddenly lurched dangerously close to the ridge they stood on.

Elladan jumped to his right to avoid being thrown over the cliffs edge and landed in the dirt beside his brother. Both brothers looked at each other then turned their gaze to the uneven ground that now stood as still as before. Frowning, Elladan stood up and glanced around him curiously, and without looking reached his hand down to aid his brother to his feet.

Turning his head, Elladan ran his gaze over his twin searching for injuries and raised his brow in question. A shake of the head gave him relief.

“I am alright.” Elrohir smiled, walking closer to the trees and sat down on a tree root.

Elladan nodded, and glanced over the edge of the cliff. “That was close.” He muttered judging the distance to the ground below them.

“What was that? A quake?” Elrohir placed his chin in his hands.

Elladan nodded again and turned away from the cliff edge. “I remember the quake in Imladris when we were children.”

Elrohir smiled. “So do I.” He shuddered slightly. “Do you think there will be more?”

Elladan shrugged his shoulders, and sat down cross legged on the dirt path. A tremor shook the ground slightly, as he sat and Elladan frowned. It was so slight that they barely noticed it.

Elrohir also frowned, and stood up cocking his head to the side listening to the sounds. It was a faint rushing sound, not the deep rumble that had signaled the early quake. “What is that?” Elrohir whispered.

Elladan pushed himself to his feet, and shook his head slowly side to side. Concern and worry filled his heart, and he warily moved away from the cliffs edge. “Almost sounds like water.”

Elrohir turned his head to look at his twin. “We are above the water.”

Elladan nodded. The rushing sound grew louder, but it sounded like a thick water sound. Stepping forward, Elladan was not prepared for the sight that greeted him seconds later.

A thick mass of mud filled with debris rushed towards them, and Elladan had time only to race to his brother’s side and shove him out of the way onto a higher part of the path, before he was caught up in the thick sludge. Something hard barreled into him, knocking his feet from underneath, causing him to fall backward into the mud.

Elrohir felt his brother barrel into him, and as he twisted in mid air, he saw Elladan caught up in the thick muddy substance. As he connected with the ground he lost sight of Elladan, and he cried out in fear as the mud raced towards the cliffs edge. “Elladan!” Pushing himself to his feet, Elrohir scanned the fast rushing mud as it disappeared over the edge of the cliff, frantically searching for his twin.

Minutes passed as the muddy sludge finally slowed and most of it fell over the edge. Elrohir darted forward, scanning the trees, bushes, rocks desperately searching for Elladan. Fear filled his heart as he finally made his way to the cliffs edge and peered over it. Mass amounts of mud, and branches, trees and rocks met him, but no signs of his twin. “ELLADAN!” Elrohir cried out.

Elladan felt the ground disappear and he plummeted over the cliff, he quickly used his hands trying to find a hand hold, keeping the panic from over taking his senses. As he fell, he found no hand holds to stop his plunge to the ground. He cried out in pain as he connected with something hard, and felt himself sink into the mud. Closing his eyes, Elladan curled up into a tight ball hoping that he would be able to soften the impact with the ground. He did not prepare for the sharp pain that followed after his head connected with a large immobile rock. Stars filled his vision and he cried out.

As he rolled through the mud, his vision cleared and he saw the ground rush up to meet him. Taking a deep breath, Elladan tightly closed his eyes, and was rewarded with a forceful jolt, and blackness.

Elrohir gasped suddenly, and clutched his chest. Falling to his knees, Elrohir felt tears fill his eyes as the pain that his brother felt, flooded his every senses. Swallowing against the pain, Elrohir crawled to the cliffs edge and cried out below. “Elladan!” Tears fell onto his cheeks.

Pushing himself to his feet, Elrohir raced down the path, trying to find a safe way down. Quickly unraveling the rope bound at his waist, Elrohir made quick work of a few knots as his eyes scanned the trees at the cliffs edge. Most of the trees, and boulders were barely secured at the edge, and he knew he might have to climb down before being able to secure the rope to something that was better for his descent.

Finally slowing his frantic racing, Elrohir scanned the edge of the cliff and found that he would have to climb part of the way. Wrapping the rope around his shoulders, Elrohir began his descent slowly and carefully finding hand and foot holds that would hold his weight.

His dark brown eyes scanned the horizon and shook his head. It had only been an hour since his patrol, and was greeted by a family on the road. Quickly greeting them, the mother smiled, and her husband nodded. Two small children sat in the back of a small wagon and they were no more then 8 years of age.

“Greetings.” The guard said.

The husband walked forward and bowed. “Greetings. We are traveling to the village, how is the road ahead?”

The guard glanced over his shoulder and shook his head sadly. “A mudslide took out the path. You will have a difficult time pushing the cart through. There is a path that leads downward, only a few minutes back.”

The man nodded. “You have my thanks.”

The guard dismounted his horse and helped the family push the cart around and watched them make their way back down the path.

“Rivya, hold.” The man muttered, against the strain of holding the cart firmly. “The ground slopes sharply here.”

“I can only hold it for so long. Please hurry Imrid.”

It took them well over an hour to get their cart on firm ground several feet below where they had met the guard, and finally proceeded along the path in hopes of finding a safe place to camp out for the night. The sky was growing slightly darker as it had taken them a few hours to make their descent from the path above them.

Their children were now out of the cart and running down the path excitedly. The little girl stopped and danced out of her brothers way, laughing as their parents watched on. Imrid shook his head glancing at his wife amused.

Rivya smiled, and winked at her husband. “Where do you think we should make camp?”

“I am sure there is a place up ahead.” A shout caused them to glance up quickly. Imrid dropped the rope he had been using to pull the cart and ran towards his children as they shouted around a bend on the path. Fear filled him as he raced, and was greeted by the most unusual sight.

He stopped quickly, and stared at his children who were kneeling beside a being covered from head to toe in mud. Shaking himself out of his shock, Imrid quickly knelt down and used his fingers feeling for a pulse. He was about to give up when his finger tips finally found one extremely faint and erratic.

“Rivya!” Imrid shouted. “Bring the cart.”

His wife stood there dumbfounded before she shook herself out of her surprise, and it took her several minutes to bring the heavy cart around the corner.

Imrid stood up and found a blanket, and threw it over the being stuck in the mud under a large tree.

“Is she alive?” Rivya asked.

Imrid nodded. “Barely. I don’t think this is a she however.”

Rivya moved forward. “Are you sure?” She glanced at the mud splattered face and long tresses caked in mud.

Imrid nodded. “I think it’s an elf.” He said moving the hair back to scan the pointed tips on the ears.

“How would you know what an elf looks like? You have never seen one.”

Imrid shook his head. “I don’t know. All I said is I think it is. Come; let’s see if we can get this log off him.”

With the help of his wife, it took them almost an hour to lift the heavy log off the being, and finally knelt down beside the limp form. “We need some water.”

Rivya stood and walked back to the cart pulling out their water canister, and handed it to her husband. Glancing at her children, they stood by watching silently, quite interested in the turn of events.

Imrid soaked the corner of his cloak and wiped the mud away from the face of the being. He gasped at the features. “He is only a child!”

Rivya gasped, and knelt down beside the childlike being her motherly instincts taking over. “Oh the poor thing. We should set up camp and try to get him warm and dry.”

Imrid nodded and went about trying to set up camp, setting up their tents, and gathered some wood for a fire. By now the sun had almost set completely, shedding everything in a deep bluish hue.

“We need to make sure that the boy hasn’t broken his neck, or back.”

Rivya nodded, as she continued to wipe away the mud that caked the boys face. Imrid walked over and knelt beside her and used his fingers to feel for broken bones. The neck was fine, and he felt along the spine, finding nothing broken. “Let’s get him by the fire.” Imrid muttered.

They lifted the boy carefully, and moved him slowly over to the pile of blankets Imrid had placed close to the fire. Laying the boy on the makeshift bed, they covered him up quickly, and Rivya started removing the tunic carefully. The boys torso was covered in mud and showing through the splatters of mud, were many dark blue and green bruises.

Looking over her shoulder, Rivya glanced at her husband. “I wonder how far he fell. He has a lot of injuries and his parents must be worried sick.”

Elrohir placed his feet on the dirt path and glanced at the sky quickly. The sun was beginning its descent and panicking, he raced down the path, slipping on the fresh mud and stone. Frantically, he scanned the trees above him, trying to calculate where he and his brother had been when the mudslide over took them. Darting further down the path, he scanned the mud and started digging through the thick substance searching for his brother.

Not finding anything, Elrohir stood and ran further down the path, and stopped suddenly when he caught sight of a figure on a horse. Staring hard, trying to judge anything evil from the man, Elrohir shook his head and walked forward.

“Excuse me.” He called.

The guard turned his horse, and raised his brows. “Good evening, sir.”

“Have you seen anything strange on these paths in the past few hours?”

The guard shook his head. “What exactly do you mean by strange?” He peered at the being carefully and saw a boyish figure with fear in his eyes.

“My brother got caught in the mudslide.” Elrohir spread his hands out in front of him.

The guard nodded. “The slide went all the way down. I saw nothing in my patrol; you might try the path below.”

Elrohir nodded and raced down the path, leaving the guard watching concerned.

Catching sight of the path a few feet in front of him, Elrohir cut the corner and skidded down the leaves and twigs. Slowing his frantic racing as the sun finally set over the horizon, Elrohir scanned the ground, and saw a fire up a head in the trees. Swallowing, Elrohir quietly moved forward towards the camp in the distance.