Chapter Six

Elladan watched as the orcs gathered in a circle around him and the others. He saw whips and chains in the hands of some of the orcs. 'Estel, whatever you intend to do, do it soon.' As if in response to his thoughts, a flaming arrow shot out of the depths of the forest. Elladan smiled as a nearby pile of leaves burst into blindingly bright flame. 'Narasea, impressive.' A second pile of leaves was set on fire, and a thick layer of smoke began filling the clearing. Arrow number three ignited an orc, and Elladan almost laughed out loud at the chaos that Estel was creating. Then Elladan heard Estel yell out to them. He told them where he had hidden stashes of weapons and where he intended to meet up with them later. The weapons were located just to his right, and Elladan leapt for the pile of leaves. His hands brushed the hilt of a knife, and he hastily grabbed it, turning the blade toward himself and slicing the ropes binding his hands. Flipping the blade around, he cut Elrohir's bonds and placed the knife in his brother's hands while he reached back for more weapons.

Elrohir turned and stabbed the knife he held into the heart of an orc who was about to attack Elladan. The pain from his injuries was excruciating, but he forced himself to ignore it as he focused on the fight. If he lost his concentration, he and Elladan could both die. That was something he could not allow, no matter the amount of pain created by his movements. Elladan called his name, and Elrohir turned to find a sword being tossed to him. Snatching the sword out of the air, Elrohir turned back to the orcs with a grim smile on his face. Elladan was soon standing at his back, and they cut down any orc to approach them through the smoke. Several minutes into the battle, there came the sound of arrows being fired. As the piles of leaves burned themselves out and the smoke began to clear, the twins glanced around the clearing. The four elves were the only beings still standing.

Elladan looked up suddenly as a group of elves strode out of the woods, led by Glorfindel. "Mae govannen, Glorfindel! Well met, indeed! How did you come to be here when we needed you most?"

Glorfindel swept an experienced eye over the battle scene. "We intercepted a horse that carried Gelmir's body and a note from Estel."

"Estel!" Elladan exclaimed. He looked quickly to where he had last seen his brother. The stand of bushes was empty. "He led the orcs away, making himself the target." Elladan sprang away from the others and raced off in the direction that Estel had disappeared in.

Glorfindel gestured for three members of his patrol to stay with Elrohir, Findgil and Ciril. He told the other two elves to accompany him, and they ran after Elladan.

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Estel knew that he was about to lose his life, and had to do something, anything to stay alive. Quickly grabbing the knife at his belt, he slashed the leg of the orc wielding the sword. He had coated the edge of his knife with the poison, so the orc stiffened above him as his muscles were immediately paralyzed. 'Maybe this wasn't such a good idea,' Estel thought as he saw the orc begin to fall toward him. The sword was still aimed at his neck. 'I'm sorry, Ada,' he thought as he saw his all too short life coming to an end.

Suddenly, an arrow streaked out of the woods, striking the sword and altering its downward trajectory enough so that when the orc fell on top of Estel, the sword embedded itself in the ground six inches from his head. However, Estel was too busy trying to catch his breath to fully appreciate the fact that he was still alive. More arrows filled the air around him, and Estel heard several thuds as bodies fell nearby.

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"Estel!" Elladan raced to his brother's side once he and Glorfindel's patrol had annihilated the orcs surrounding Estel. Estel lay unmoving beneath the bulk of a very large orc. Elladan shoved the orc off of Estel and knelt down beside him. A visual inspection assured him that his brother was very much alive, but gasping for breath. Reaching down, Elladan gently traced his fingers along his brother's ribs, checking for breaks or fractures. A broken rib could all too easily puncture his lungs.

"Get off," Estel gasped out. "I'm fine, 'Dan. Just…got the wind…knocked out of me."

Elladan ignored him and continued his examination. Estel had a very large bump on his forehead, but luckily, it wasn't bleeding as much as head wounds usually did. When Estel began trying to sit up, Elladan helped him, not having found any reason to keep him down. Elladan frowned as he saw Estel cradle his hand against his body. "Let me see that," Elladan insisted, gently grabbing Estel's arm above his wrist.

Estel winced as his oldest brother prodded his wrist and hand. There was no way to pretend that there was nothing wrong with his wrist now.

"I don't think it's broken," Elladan said finally. "There may be some small break I can't detect, though. We need to splint this to keep it stable until we can get you back home to Ada."

Estel groaned. "Ada will never let me leave Imladris again, will he?"

"I do not recall him allowing you to leave this time," Elladan pointed out. At Estel's wince, he decided to change the subject. The lecture could wait until they were away from this place. Elladan began putting a splint on Estel's wrist, and asked a question to keep his mind off of the pain. "What did you do to all the orcs I saw littering the path?"

"Pergurth," Estel answered simply.

Elladan's eyebrows crept upwards in surprise. "Very impressive. But as quickly as the poison acts, it does not kill very quickly." He nodded toward Glorfindel, who drew his sword and swiftly stabbed the heart of the orc that had nearly taken Estel's head. At Estel's questioning look, Elladan explained. "We are not like the orcs, Estel. Leaving an enemy to die by a lingering poison is not our way." He hastened to reassure Estel as he saw the crestfallen look on the boy's face. "Given what you were facing, pergurth was the best choice. Now that the battle is over, though, we should grant our enemies a quick, clean death." He squeezed Estel's shoulder as he finished splinting his wrist. "And now we need to head back to the others. They may be worried that we have been gone too long." Elladan stood up and grasped Estel's good hand to pull him to his feet. He reached down and picked up Estel's sword, then handed it over to him. "Do you understand what we have to do?"

Estel nodded solemnly as he took his sword in his uninjured hand. As they walked back to the clearing, they took the time to dispatch each of the fallen orcs they passed. Elladan would have protected him from the task, but it was Estel who had poisoned the orcs, and it was he who felt he must take responsibility for their deaths. Elladan winced as he saw the closed expression creeping over Estel's face more with every orc he killed. This was something he wished his little brother had never had to experience.