May the Valar Protect Them

Title: May the Valar Protect Them (2/4)
Author: Aglarien
Type: FPS
Pairing: Erestor/Glorfindel, Elrond/Erynoron
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Not mine, except for the cats. The great Master Tolkien’s estate owns everything else. I promise to return his elves when I’m done playing with them.
Timeline: 10 years after the elflings arrived in Imladris
Warning: AU
Beta: Lady Mirfain
Summary: Glorfindel and the twins are delayed returning home, and Erestor and their families worry.
Author’s Note: Part of my Enough for Tonight/The Strong Heart/Finding Hope world. A special thank you to AprilMoon for gifting me with this plot bunny, and to Lady Mirfain for the title.

Part 2

In the morning, Glorfindel rose early, eager to be off. Storm or no storm, he had to make it home to his family. He carefully divided up some of their dried fruit and gave it to the horses, then checked them to make sure they were well. When the others awoke, they swiftly ate their lembas, and set out into the blinding storm.

The way was treacherous, and the rocks were slick with rain. The elves rode the horses when they could, and walked with them through narrow passes and rims along the mountainsides. The storm continued to rage, and lightening strikes caused torrents of rocks to plummet down on them. Glorfindel and the others kept a wary eye on Demegion, making sure he was able to keep up with his sore leg.

Hearing a sudden cry, Glorfindel turned around as Elrohir yelled, “Elladan!” and hurried back to his fallen twin. A falling boulder had hit him and pinned his leg under it.

Glorfindel quickly cut off a length of rope and tied it tightly around Elladan’s thigh, forming a tourniquet. “There is nothing here to lift the rock, Elladan. We are going to have to get a horse to pull it off of your leg. Hold on!” Taking another length of rope he tied it around the rock, then tied the other end to Asfaloth. “Move back, Asfaloth! Steady now….back…back. Good, Asfaloth. Stop. Thank you, my friend.”

Elrohir held his brother’s hand tightly as the boulder slowly rolled off the leg. Elladan screamed in pain and passed out.

“Glorfindel!” Elrohir yelled, “Come quickly! He is badly hurt!”

Glorfindel ran back to the twins, as the guards gathered the horses to keep them from running off in fright. Glorfindel ran his hands over the leg, then removed the tourniquet slowly. There was no serious bleeding, but his skin was torn to shreds. Luckily, it didn’t feel like the bone had been crushed, but the leg was definitely broken, and lay at an odd angle. “Elrohir, we have to set his leg, but I am no good at this. It is Elladan who has the training for this.”

The guard named Ladon approached Glorfindel and said, “My Lord? Can I help? I took training as a healer before I joined the guards.”

“Can you set a broken leg, Ladon?” Glorfindel asked.

“Aye, my Lord. I have set many. And I will need to bandage it with herbs. His skin is badly torn. Have we any healing herbs?” Ladon asked, kneeling next to Elladan.

Elrohir ran to the horses and retrieved Elladan’s pack of healing supplies. “Here, Ladon. This is Elladan’s pack. What you need should be in here,” he said.

Demegion and Thurinon took a blanket and held it over Elladan, sheltering him from the pouring rain. Ladon told Elrohir and Glorfindel what herbs to look for, and handed him back the pack. “I want to set this while he is still unconscious. We will need bandages, and see if there is any kind of healing salve in there.”

Glorfindel and Elrohir nodded, and sorted the contents of the pack, carefully keeping them out of the rain. There were bandages, herbs and several jars of salves.

“My Lord, hold his leg firmly at the ankle, while I…” Glorfindel held the leg in place, and there was a loud crack as Ladon maneuvered the broken bones back into place. “Now we need something to keep the leg immobile.” He looked around. “Megilon, do you see those two branches there? The straight, thick ones that are not too long?” Ladon asked the guard who was holding the horses. “Can you get them for me, please?”

Megilon, nodded, took the horses reins and tied them around the tree he stood under, then ran to the tree Ladon had pointed to. He paused and laid his hand on the ancient trunk, explaining what he was about to do and why. The tree seemed to bow its’ branches in agreement, although it may have only been bending in the storm. Megilon took his small axe, chopped the limbs quickly off, and then paused once more to thank the tree. Taking his knife, he smoothed any rough spots, then carried the limbs to Ladon.

“Thank you, my friend,” Ladon said, taking the branches. “Now what salves do we have?” He opened the jars one by one, looking at them and smelling the contents. “This one,” he said. “It is for the healing of flesh wounds. Glorfindel closed the other jars and put them back in the pack, as Ladon carefully smoothed the salve over the torn leg, then wrapped it in bandages. Glorfindel and Elrohir held the branches against the sides of the leg, carefully lifting it, as Ladon wrapped them securely in place.

Ladon searched through the herbs and found what he was looking for. “This one will ease his pain, and this one will speed his healing.” He looked up at the other elves. “But we have no way to build a fire and brew a tea for him, unless there is another cave or shelter around here.”

Glorfindel shook his head. “Perhaps there will be something ahead. Elrohir, can you carry him on your horse in front of you?” Elrohir nodded. “I will place him in front of you, with his legs hanging down one side. Just hold on to him. If we have to walk, I will carry him over my shoulder.”

“Take the herbs, my Lord,” Ladon said, pressing them into Elrohir’s hand. “When he wakes, have him chew on them.”

“Thank you, Ladon. I am very grateful to you. And very grateful you were with us,” Elrohir said. “You are very skilled.”

Ladon blushed at the praise. “Thank you, my Lord. It was nothing. I am just glad I trained to be a healer before I decided I wanted to be a warrior.”

Glorfindel placed Elladan on the horse in front of Elrohir, then went to Asfaloth and pulled a large fur from one of his packs and covered Elladan with it.

“Erestor’s new fur bedcover you purchased in the Havens! Glorfindel, you should not, it was so expensive!” Elrohir said.

Glorfindel snorted. “Erestor would kick my behind all the way to Mordor if anything happened to you two. It will keep Elladan warm and dry. When we get home it can be cleaned, and Erestor will still have his present. I am very glad I bought it now. Elladan makes it worth the price I had to pay.”

The seven elves moved on, one of the guards holding the reins of Elladan’s horse. Glorfindel’s mind turned back to the family he missed so much, and in his mind he saw Erestor gathering the elflings for lunch with Elrond and Erynoron, then sitting with them and telling them a story.

Elladan moaned and woke, then realized he was riding sideways with Elrohir. “What happened, Elrohir? All I remember is the rock hitting my leg. Aiya! It hurts so much.”

“Here, brother, chew on these herbs. Ladon set and treated your leg. It’s broken, and your skin is very torn from the rock. Glorfindel had Asfaloth pull it off of you.”

Elladan recognized the herbs and reached a hand out from under the fur to take them and place them in his mouth. “Where did this fur come from? Oh, I remember. It’s Erestor’s.”

“Aye, Glorfindel says it can be cleaned and Erestor will still have his present. Rest now, brother. Try to sleep.”

Elladan chewed on the herbs and grew drowsy, and the pain in his leg lessened. Knowing his brother would keep him safe, he fell into a healing sleep.

By the afternoon they were through the rockiest part of the pass, and the storm lessened a little. The thunder and lightening finally began moving off to the east. Scratches and scraps from rocks and falls covered all of the soaking elves but Elladan, who had been either held firmly in place on the horse by his twin, or carefully carried by Glorfindel.

The golden warrior’s legs had been badly cut and bruised when he slipped and fell hard to his knees on rough rocks while carrying Elladan. Had his hands been free he could have stopped his fall, but he had to protect Elladan. Forcing himself back up to his feet, he kept walking.

By dusk, they were out of the mountains and heading back towards the Great East Road, hoping they would find it fit to travel. There were no towns or settlements near, but they found a shelter of sorts. Someone had erected a large three-sided structure, the flat roof and sides made up of wooden slats. Perhaps someone traveling often by there had built it to shelter themselves and their animals from the sun and rain, or started to build a cabin that was never finished. Whatever the reason, the elves were grateful for it.

Blankets fastened over the open side kept the rain out, and the water dripping through the roof was nothing compared to the rain. Glorfindel spread the fur on the wet ground, laid Elladan down on it three body widths in from the edge, then took the edge and covered him warmly with the fur. The rest of them managed to squeeze together on the remaining fur, thankful to be out of the mountains and the rain.

Ladon smoothed soothing salve on everyone’s scraps and wounds, wrapped them with bandages, then settled down next to his friends. The horses lined the inside of the structure, and they slept. And Glorfindel dreamed of his beautiful Erestor, surrounded by their elfings. And Elrond and Erynoron were there. And Erestor and Elrond were telling the elfings a story.
~~~*~~~


Erestor’s story continued after their midday meal, and the tale of hard roads and rain and thunder grew. The three warriors and their guards worked together to find a way home through the storm. One of them was hurt by a falling boulder and had his leg broken. One of the others set it, and took care of his torn skin, and he was being well cared for.

The story stopped for dinner, and the elves silently headed for the dining hall.

“Elrond,” Erestor asked quietly over dinner, when the elflings were being entertained by their friends, “why can I not sense Glorfindel? Why can I not far speak with him? Do you know?”

Elrond shook his head, then stopped and starred at Erestor. “I wonder…”

“What?” Erestor asked. “What are you thinking? Please, tell me?”

“Maybe you are, Erestor, only differently this time. Your story.”

“But it’s just a story I started telling the elflings. Isn’t it?” Erestor thought of how the story formed in his mind. The scenes he could see. “Elrond, when you add the parts about your sons, where do the thoughts come from?”

“I see the scenes in my mind,” Elrond tapped his head with a finger. “The story has started playing out here.” Erestor nodded.

Erynoron watched Elrond and Erestor, then quietly asked, “Who was the one whose leg was broken?”

“Elladan,” his husband and Glorfindel’s mate answered together.

Elrond and Erestor looked at each other in astonishment.

“Who was it that set Elladan’s broken leg?” Erynoron asked.

“Ladon,” the other two answered together.

“I trained Ladon myself as a healer before he decided to join the guards. Maybe that is why I did not panic when I saw Elladan’s leg broken,” Elrond said quietly.

Erynoron nodded. “So it *is* more than just a story. You are both seeing them. Where are they now?”

Elrond shook his head. “I do not know. If I did, we could send them help. Erestor?”

“All I see is that they are out of the mountains. They are in some sort of shelter, but I cannot see anything I recognize.”

“Wait for more until after we finish dinner then, and you can continue the story with the elflings,” Erynoron said.

Tbc….