Title:
Away with You – Chapter 10
Author: Tuxedo Elf
Rating: R
Pairings: Elladan/Elrohir and Eluréd/Elurín
Beta: Eni
Warnings: Incest, angst
Notes: I was in a really REALLY bad mood when I wrote this…
Chapter
10
“Curse
it!” Eluréd cried, climbing down swiftly from the
roof of the hut. “I feared this would happen!”
“What
in Mordor is going on?” Elladan asked as he followed his
uncle back to the ground. “Who are these people who constantly
seem to be after us?”
“Humans
who dwell in the south end of the wood,” Elurín
said as he hurried over. “There have been mortals there
for generations, but every couple of centuries some of them
find out about us and try to track us down, believing that we
can make them immortal. We’ve long since ceased trying
to reason with them – when they don’t get what they
want they go after our food and homes. This is the first time
they’ve made it to our borders though. We must have been
followed.”
“That
doesn’t matter now,” Eluréd said, grabbing
the weapons that Laerwen, Anórthad’s wife, brought
over. “All that matters now is making sure we protect
our home.”
Strapping
on the sword belt, he turned to his twin. “Stay here.
You’re not fit enough to fight. Nor you,” he added,
looking at Elrohir.
“I
am perfectly capable of using a sword!” Elurín
protested. “You need everyone you can get to fight off
these people!”
“I
agree,” Elrohir chimed in, much to the consternation of
Elladan. “We have to help!”
Shaking
his head, Elladan tried to reason with his younger brother.
“Don’t be silly, Elrohir!” he said. “You
can barely walk around the settlement, let alone fight a battle!”
Eluréd
growled. “We don’t have time to debate this! Elurín,
Elrohir, you must remain here! If this attack makes it past
the outer defences, I assure you, you will get your chance to
fight! But for now, remain here and guard those who are not
coming to battle with us! Please…”
His
plea was more than Elurín could resist and he reluctantly
nodded. “As you wish,” he sighed. “Elrohir
and I will remain.” He ignored the look Elrohir gave him,
even though the youngest of the Elves knew he was in no condition
to fight.
“Thank
you.” Eluréd kissed his brother quickly and then
turned to Elladan. “Let’s go.” Elladan nodded
and bid his own twin farewell, before hurrying off to the borders
of the Wood, where Anórthad and many others were already
fighting.
***********************
Elladan
heard the clash of swords long before he saw the fighting. He
swallowed nervously – though he and Elrohir had both been
trained with the Imladris guard and had learned much since leaving
home, they were yet young and did not have the stomach or experience
of more seasoned warriors. Still, he followed Eluréd,
trusting his uncle to know what was best.
Before
long they came upon the battle – Anórthad, Glorin
and several Men and Women of the settlement were locked in battle
with a far larger group of rough-looking mortals.
“How
many have we to fight?” Elladan asked, realising far too
late that he had no idea how many people lived with them.
“Our
warriors number twenty six.” Eluréd replied tersely
as he climbed up into a nearby tree. “Suffice to say,
we are greatly outnumbered. The entire settlement is only thirty
four strong. Their people number at least a hundred, if not
more – and a good portion of them seem to be here.”
He hurried along to where Anórthad and three Men were
shooting at the attackers, their arrows flying almost ceaselessly.
“It
does not go well,” Anórthad said quickly, never
pausing in his task. “There are eighty of them at least
and I fear we have not yet stopped two dozen.”
Looking
down, Elladan could see he was right. Their own warriors were
fighting a losing battle though their swords remained locked
with their opponents. Several bodies littered the ground and
Elladan hoped desperately that none of them were from the settlement.
Drawing
his bow, he stood beside Anórthad and Eluréd as
the three of them and the Men took down as many as they could
with their arrows.
The
extra bows helped and though Elladan felt ill at the sight of
a man falling with an arrow through his throat, he kept going,
knowing that to stop would mean death. However, before long
he and the others were out of arrows and any advantage they’d
had was lost.
Eluréd
paused, exchanging a look with Anórthad that Elladan
didn’t understand, though he could tell that it was a
serious matter passing between them. He felt strangely fearful
when Anórthad nodded and whispered something to one of
the Men besides him. As he watched, the Man turned and made
his way down the tree, back towards their homes.
“Where
is he going?” Elladan asked, unable to keep the fear from
his voice.
“You
will see,” Eluréd replied and the undertone of
regret in his voice caused Elladan to feel even more afraid.
“Come, we must fight on.” Drawing his sword, he
let out a cry of rage and leapt from the tree and into the fray.
His
sword met with one of the attackers even before he reached the
ground. The Man had no chance to defend himself as he was cleaved
nearly in two by the blade. Eluréd grinned savagely and
turned his attention to the next Man, cutting his legs from
under him before removing his head from his shoulders.
Elladan
was horrified, never having imagined that such a gruesome battle
could happen without orcs being involved. He had to admit, though,
that there was no other way. Letting out a cry of his own, he
plunged down and joined his uncle.
******************
The
Man with whom Anórthad had spoken raced through the forest.
His destination, however, was not the settlement, but rather
a small pile of rocks some distance from the first huts. Lifting
the rocks, he pulled out a bundle of netting, a pack of arrows
and a small container. Hoisting it into his arms, he headed
back to where the others were waiting.
The
Man’s return did not go unnoticed by Eluréd, even
as he fought. He kept an eye on Anórthad as he retreated
from the battle and climbed back up the tree. Not until the
Lórien Elf let out a piercing whistle did he act.
“Elladan!
To the tree, quickly!” Already he was beginning to back
off, towards Anórthad and the bowmen; their other warriors,
including Glorin, were getting a good distance away.
Somewhat
startled, Elladan only just ducked a swipe from his current
opponent’s sword. Cursing, he ducked and thrust his blade
into the Man’s stomach, trying to ignore the shriek of
pain as he hurried back towards the treeline. Scrambling up
the branches, he sighed in relief when Eluréd grasped
his hand and pulled him up.
“Keep
moving, we have to lure them to the glade,” Eluréd
said. “Trust me.” Having no other option, Elladan
nodded and began to edge away, watching with some satisfaction
as the Men followed. Whatever Eluréd was planning, it
seemed to be working.
The
Men yelled and cheered as their quarry retreated, believing
themselves to have won. They did not even notice as they were
led into the glade, where the settlement’s last defence
awaited them.
As
soon as all the Men were within the area a vast, weighted net
fell, trapping them inside it. Glancing around, Elladan realised
that there had been warriors on all sides of the glade.
An
instant later, four flaming arrows set the net alight.
Elladan
gasped in horror as the trapped Men began to scream in agony.
“I’m
sorry.” Eluréd was beside him again, wrapping his
arm around the younger Elf. “We’d hoped never to
use this, but it was our last option. We could never have beaten
them. They would have destroyed everything and killed us all.”
Deep
down, Elladan understood this and knew that his uncle had not
been deliberately cruel, but it did little for the screams in
his ears and the smell of burning flesh.
“Go
back now,” Eluréd said gently. “Let us deal
with things here.”
“Thank
you,” Elladan mumbled, glad to get away. He would need
some time to recover from what he had just witnessed.
“Eluréd!”
Anórthad let out a cry of alarm, pointing to a running
figure. “Stop him!” Somehow, one of the Men had
escaped being netted and was now running towards the settlement.
More alarmingly he carried a burning branch, lit, no doubt,
from the bodies of the ones alongside whom he had been fighting.
Elladan
was after him in an instant, determined not to let him reach
the huts. The man was fast, but as they got ever closer, Elladan’s
desperation lent him speed. As his eyes came to rest on Elrohir
and Elurín, standing in weak defence of their home, he
leapt. The man went down, but in a last attempt to destroy his
hated enemy, he threw the burning branch like a spear. It sailed
over the heads of the two younger twins, much to Elladan’s
relief, but struck instead a nearby hut, sending it up into
flames which quickly caught and spread to the one next to it.
Horrified,
Elladan plunged his sword into the man’s back before jumping
up and running over to his twin. “Oh no… oh, Eru…”
“Don’t
just stand there!” Elurín’s shout broke him
out of his daze. “Get some water!” Already Elurín
was running towards the stream at the far edge of the settlement,
usually used for bathing and washing clothes. Luckily there
were also several buckets there for the carrying of cooking
water. Elurín quickly filled two, ignoring the strain
on his broken arm, before running back, leaving the younger
twins to do the same and calling to the other non fighters to
come and help.
Spurred
back into action, Elladan followed, knowing that everything
depended on putting the fire out as quickly as possible.
Still
weak, Elrohir lagged far behind the others as he dragged the
buckets along. By the time he reached the blaze Elurín
and Elladan were already running back for more and Laerwen and
a mortal Woman had overtaken him. Still, he did his best and
hurled the cool liquid onto the burning hut before going back
for more. Nonetheless, it was a relief when the sound of running
feet heralded the return of the warriors and a more organised
bucket chain was quickly implemented. It was far easier passing
the buckets along, allowing those stronger than him to actually
fight the blaze.
It
was almost sunset by the time the fire had been put out. Six
huts had been destroyed and there was a hastily dug trench where
some bushes had once been, sacrificed in a thankfully successful
attempt to stop the spread of the flames. There was not a single
one of them who was not covered in soot, ash and filth and much
of the land around them was charred and spoiled.
Feeling
weak and ill, Elrohir slumped into Elladan’s arms. “What
now?” he asked wearily. “Everything is ruined.”
“No
it’s not,” Eluréd said comfortingly. “There
is damage, yes, but we will recover. It may take a while, but
it will happen. It has to – after all, it’s our
home.”
END
CHAPTER 10
To
Chapter 11
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