IV

The four Elves waited until peaceful slumber had descended upon the members of the group before attempting to descend into the plains. As expected, they were accosted by Lithroleah a distance away from the campsite.

"What are you up to?" he said, unwilling to give them away just yet.

"Do not worry, Lithroleah, we are headed into that desolate heath for a cursory investigation!" Legolas said. "I would have asked you along, but you are watching over the party tonight."

"How convenient!" Lithroleah said. "Well, be careful, and I expect a full account when you return!"

Grinning, the small group thanked Lithroleah and hurried down into the valley.

None of them caught the look of envy that crossed Lithroleah's face; they did not notice the dark figure that appeared to his side, silent as a wraith, finishing its business with the Elf, before following them at a safe distance.

Making their way to the bottom, the moon was hidden, and even the stars failed to provide them with much light for their exploration. The devastation spanned out towards the west with miles of wasted land, dead vegetation, dust and rubble.

"I wonder what caused this?" Elrohir said.

"Well, I do not see any answers!" Esendri said, nervousness taking over him as the dearth of life started to gnaw at him.

Legolas was examining the ground, looking at the charred surfaces of rocks and the strange redness of the dust settled over the land.

"Legolas!" Esendri and Elrohir cried as a strange surge of fear came over them both.

Legolas froze to the spot, unable to move, as the images assaulted him. A large army, gathered in the land surrounding him, flags flying, ready to go into battle, the captain riding high and proud. Then, a power was unleashed, a great big flaming ball, consuming everything in its path. The army fell, the great power casting its might over all the land, eradicating everything, leaving dust and ash and emptiness in its wake.

He let out a wild cry, which gave way to a loud roaring that pierced the silence of the night.

They turned to the west and saw dust being whipped into a frenzy -- a cloud of fury and anger headed their way, the dust casting an other-worldly effect over the land in the darkness of the night.

All three turned to run, but Legolas remained glued to the spot.

"Legolas!" Esendri doubled back to grab him, from where he was watching the approaching cloud with an eerie calmness.

"Come on, Legolas!"

Elrohir too came back for Legolas, who seemed to snap back to the present.

"We cannot outrun it! This way!" Legolas cried.

"Do not lose each other!" Elrohir grabbed hold of Elladan and the fast disappearing Esendri.

The furious wind flung them to the ground. Their ears were filled with loud screaming, and they shut their eyes to protect themselves against dirt and sand hurled against their faces.

Legolas fought to get up, and moved Esendri's grip from the wrist to his ankle. Then, he started to crawl, hugging the ground, his eyes closed, head tucked against his chest in a futile attempt to lessen the wind's assault. He proceeded at a snail's pace, hands groping about before him, making sure that he still felt Esendri's grip upon his ankle.

Luck was with him, and he found his hands closing in on a large stone. Hope rose as he felt the boulders stacked up against one another. Tracing out the edges with his fingertips, his fingers came into contact with a sharp edge, and further exploration revealed the cavity to be just wide enough for him to squeeze through, where he fell straight into the cave, landing twenty feet below.

"Esendri!" he called, eyes straining against the darkness.

"Be careful!" His warning was in vain as Esendri fell into the cave with a loud and surprised cry.

"So much for the gracefulness of Elves!"

"What is this?"

"Some cave. Where are the twins?"

"They were right behind me!"

"Legolas?" Elrohir's voice floated down.

"We are here, Roh!"

"There is a problem, Legolas!" Elrohir said, causing Legolas to rush forward in alarm.

"What is it?"

"The crack is too small!"

"Throw your weapons down first!" Esendri said, only to be answered by a heavy sword falling and hitting his head.

"Ow!"

"We have to try to move this rock!" Elrohir was shouting through the crack when Esendri's attention was brought back from his hurting head.

A loud crack, and a tangled heap of arms and legs came crashing down as the twins landed in a pile at their feet.

"Is anything broken?" groaned Elrohir, accepting a hand from Legolas and getting to his feet.

"At least we are safe now!" Esendri said.

As if in response, a louder crack sounded, followed by an ominous rumbling.

"What was that?" Esendri said.

"Run!" Legolas cried and shoved both Elrohir and Esendri ahead.

Huge rocks came crashing down, and the four tried their best not to run straight into the rocky walls of the cave.

The loud rumbling eventually stopped, leaving them in darkness.

"Lass?" Esendri was the first one to speak. "We are trapped!"

"What were you saying about trouble again?" Elrohir said, filled with disbelief and shock.

"Hush, Elrohir! I cannot see a thing!" Legolas said.

A striking noise caused them to jump.

"I brought a small torch along just in case," Elladan said, waving the flaming wood about and Elrohir noted with dismay how the rocks had obscured the entrance, shutting out all possibility of escape.

"Master Legolas, what have you gotten us into now?" Esendri said, sighing.

"The sandstorm was not any fault of mine!"

"If you two would just stop your squabbling and take a look at where we are!" Elladan said.

Both Esendri and Legolas froze, and the twins flipped around to see them wearing similar expressions of panic.

"Lass --" Elrohir said.

"What is wrong?" The concern in Elrohir's voice rose, as he saw how Legolas's fists had clenched into balls at his sides. "Esendri?"

"We are in a cave!" said Esendri as he took a worried step backwards.

"We have to get out of here," Elladan said.

"How?" Esendri wailed, collapsing to the floor.

"Stay here while I take a look around."

Elrohir nodded. Looking at Legolas, he saw that a layer of perspiration had formed on his brow, and that he was taking short, panicky breaths.

"Legolas?" he said, before placing a concerned palm on his back. "Dan has gone in search of a way out. We will soon be out of here!"

Legolas had all of frozen as it hit him that they were trapped in an underground cavern. A full-blow panic attack threatened every time he was unfortunate enough to find himself a cavern. While he had grown better at preventing himself from getting hysterical, the fear was still as strong, and it was all he could do to prevent himself from hurling himself against the rocky walls and attempting to claw his way out.

Caves: how he hated and feared them. Unable to take the flickering light of Elladan's torch fading away, Legolas shut his eyes. Warm arms took him into an embrace, but he did not find anything left in him to fight or protest as Elrohir pressed the sides of their heads together and started to speak to him.

"Do not worry, Lass-nîn, we will be out soon," Elrohir said. "Dan is coming back!"

"There is a tunnel!" Elladan said upon his return. He indicated for Elrohir to move along and turned to Esendri.

"Esendri?" he said.

Esendri looked up and scanned the surroundings.

"Legolas?" he said, before scrambling to his feet, and saw that Legolas was trying to break away from a concerned Elrohir.

"I can walk!" Legolas almost snarled as his pride got hold of him.

Elrohir blinked, unsure whether to be hurt or relieved.

"This way!" Elladan cried, eager to be moving. "It slopes upwards; always a good sign!"