Chapter Four

Estel stared blankly in front of him as his mind raced. His brothers were in danger, probably hurt, and no one knew but him. What was he to do? If he rode home for help, the orcs would get further away with their captives. It was a good day's ride back to Imladris, then another day back here. Going back for help was not an option. Too much could happen to the patrol in two days.

He could track the orcs, but once he found them, what could he do? If there were enough orcs to take his brothers captive, he would not be able to attack them on his own. That would be a sure way to get killed or captured.

Maybe if he caused a distraction, the elves would be able to fight their way out. But what kind of distraction could he make that would be effective and not get him killed? His eyes roamed aimlessly over the battlefield and the forest as he tried to think. He scanned the forest around him several times, and his eyes kept coming back to a vine on his left. The heart shaped leaves of the vine seemed to beckon to him. He stared at it for a moment, frowning. What was his mind trying to tell him? If he could remember the name of the vine, maybe he could figure it out. He wracked his memory trying to remember his father's lessons.

"Pergurth!" he nearly shouted. That was it! 'Half-death?' he thought, 'Why is it called that?' His eyes widened as the memory came to him. This plant, prepared correctly, acted as a paralyzing poison. In small concentrations, it could be used to stop convulsions or be used to keep someone absolutely still for a difficult surgery. At higher doses, though, it could be used as a quick acting poison. At high enough concentrations, an arrow dipped in this poison could stop an orc in his tracks with nothing more than a scratch. The poison, once introduced to the bloodstream, began acting almost instantly to paralyze all the muscles in the body. Unless the antidote was administered, the victims would die a slow, painful death as their lungs stopped working.

As his mind focused on his father's lessons, more ideas came to him. A determination settled over him. He was going to rescue his brothers, and the forest would give him everything he needed. But there was something else he needed to do first.

He stood up and called for his horse. The call would bring any elvish horses trained in Imladris directly to him. His horse came up to him and nickered softly. It did not like being this close to the dead orcs. Estel reached out and stroked the horse's neck. "I know," he said softly. "I do not like it here either." He turned as three more horses came slowly out of the forest. Gelmir's horse was among them. Bringing the horse with him, he slowly approached the body of the fallen elf. It took all his courage to pull the knife from Gelmir's body. He asked the horse to lay down, then clumsily maneuvered the body onto the horse's back. After securing the body, he allowed the horse to stand up.

It was time to ask for help. He wrote a quick note telling Elrond where the battle had taken place and that he planned to follow the orcs. The note asked that as many warriors as could be spared be sent to help. He knew that line was completely unnecessary. As soon as Elrond knew that all three of his sons were in danger, he would summon every warrior in Imladris. Estel attached the note to the body, then whispered to the horse to return home as swiftly as he could. Once the horse was gone, he turned back to the battlefield and began rummaging among the orc bodies for discarded weapons. If the elves of the patrol were going to be fighting their way free, they would need weapons. Estel gathered what he would need from the battlefield and the surrounding woods, then mounted his horse and began following the trail left by the orcs. He implored the other two horses to follow him. They may be needed for the escape.

The orcs had left a clear path through the forest that required none of his tracking skills. It took less than an hour of travel to reach the end of the trail. He peered through the trees at the entrance of the cave. The entrance was narrow, only wide enough for two to stand side by side. The clearing in front of the cave and the surrounding forest floor were both covered in leaves. Estel smiled grimly. A lot of things could be hidden under leaves. After retreating to a safe distance, he started a small fire so that he could begin preparing the poison. The process would take several hours, so he had to get it started immediately. Once the initial preparation was complete, he left the mixture to dry into a thicker consistency appropriate for tipping arrows. There were not many hours before nightfall, so Estel had to race to prepare the surprises he had planned for the orcs. Even though he had felt that he was making more poison than he could possibly have used, he almost did not have enough. Since there was always the possibility that he or one of the elves would accidentally be poisoned, he also prepared the antidote. However, he had never actually made either the poison or the antidote, so he was unsure if either would work, but there was really no way to test it.

Just before dusk, Estel crept close to the cave. He had to make sure his brothers would be ready for his surprises. In their many years of battles, the twins had developed a series of calls that could be used to signal each other, but not alert the enemy. They had taught these calls to Estel on their hunting trips. Each of them had a personal bird call used to identify themselves. Estel used his call, repeating it three times to be sure that his brothers did not simply think the call came from a real bird. The next code he used was often used during hunts. It indicated that the person using the call was going to flush the game from it's hiding place, and the others should be ready. There was no call that meant 'watch out for traps and be ready to fight your way free'. This was as close as he could get. He only hoped they heard his signal and knew what it meant.

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Elladan glanced toward the entrance to the cave. Night was falling, and they would soon be moving outside. From what he had overheard from the orcs, they were planning on amusing themselves with their captives as soon as they left the cave. He still didn't have a clear plan, but he knew they would have to fight their way out. The best idea he had involved trying to get weapons away from the orcs and killing as many of them as they could, but he was worried about Elrohir. Those injuries would slow him down enough to make battle difficult.

Elrohir nudged him sharply in the ribs. Elladan looked over at him inquiringly.

"Lasto," Elrohir whispered.

Elladan listened, wondering what Elrohir had heard. A second later, he heard it; a very unique bird call that was then repeated.

"Estel?" he questioned softly. He turned to Elrohir with fear in his eyes. "What is he doing here?"

Elrohir shook his head mutely, asking Elladan to stay silent for a moment more. They both heard the next call.

"Be ready?" Elrohir whispered questioningly. "What does he wish us to be ready for?"

"A rescue attempt." Elladan spoke softly, but with certainty. "Somehow, he plans to rescue us."

"Why did Ada allow Estel to accompany a rescue party?" Elrohir was more than a little confused.

"Ada would not have," Elladan replied. "I believe Estel is here on his own. He must have followed us."

The horror on Elrohir's face matched the fear in Elladan's heart. Their much younger, very inexperienced human brother was about to go up against a very large band of orcs.

"He will be killed," Elrohir whispered anxiously.

"We will have to keep that from happening," Elladan said firmly. "Whatever plan he has, it will be our responsibility to make sure it succeeds." He looked briefly toward the cave entrance. "Estel has a very devious mind. We should be prepared for anything."