The Music in My Heart
folder
Lord of the Rings Movies › Slash - Male/Male
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
75
Views:
3,775
Reviews:
11
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Lord of the Rings Movies › Slash - Male/Male
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
75
Views:
3,775
Reviews:
11
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own the Lord of the Rings book series and movie series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Chapter 23 Not All That Wander Are Lost (edited!)
Title: The Music in My Heart, Chapter 23 (betaed)
Author: Sorsha
Fandom/Pairing: Elrond/OFC, Glorfindel/Haldir, Elladan/OFC, Elrohir/Legolas, others implied
Rating:.NC-17 for future chapters
Warning: AU (Story set 770 years after ROTK); Slash, but mostly het.
Feedback: This is my first fanfic, so constructive feedback appreciated.
Archive:
Acknowledgements: Many thanks to Alex Cat for her help in betaing this fic. Thanks also to Lady Victoria for her comments and support.
Disclaimer: any of the residents of Middle-earth and Aman that you recognize are not mine. They belong to Prof. Tolkien’s estate. The rest are mine, but I wrote them for my own enjoyment and not profit.
Summary: Sauron may be gone, but his legacy of evil still lingers. As Middle-earth faces the threat of another dark lord, a party of elves departs Aman on a mission for the Valar, a mission of mercy long delayed.
Chapter 23 --- Not All Those That Wander Are Lost
“All that is gold does not glitter; not all those that wander are lost.”
J. R. R. Tolkien
*****
Seere lay stunned on the ground at the bottom of the cliff trail. Taking a deep breath, she cautiously rolled over onto her back and tried to stop her vision from spinning. The rain was beginning to pour down in great driving sheets. While it made breathing difficult, the cold rain helped clear her head enough for her to sit up. Struggling to her knees, she swayed as her vision blurred and the ache in her head intensified.
Dazed, Seere looked around for her companion. “Elrond? Where are you? Elrond!”
The storm clouds covered Ithil, blocking its light and leaving the valley shrouded in near total darkness. Handicapped by the storm and the injury to her head, it took several minutes for her to determine her companion was neither on nor near the path they had been following. Worried, she called his name again, but the sound of her voice was lost in the whipping wind and in the roar of the nearby waterfall.
Looking toward the river, she was able to make out the churning flow and was shocked to see how fast the river was rising. The rain that had fallen earlier north of Imladris was beginning to reach the valley, at the same time the heavy rain overhead was pounding down. The dry conditions of recent months had made the ground hard and most of the rainfall was flowing directly down the hills of Imladris into the river without being absorbed in the ground.
/Flash flood! I must have been unconscious for longer than I thought. I need to find Elrond quickly so we can get to higher ground!/
With great effort, she staggered to her feet only to fall back to her knees as a sharp pain raced up her leg when she tried to bear weight on her right ankle. Gasping for breath, she glanced toward the river. It had risen near the top of its bank and would soon spill over the side inundating the area where she was kneeling.
/Breathe deeply and focus on finding Elrond. The pain can not be helped so it must be ignored!/
Her second attempt was a marginal success as she managed to stay upright, though she was still dizzy and favored the damaged leg. “Elrond! Where are you? Elrond!”
Looking back to where their fall had started, she tried to gage where he might have landed when he hit the bottom. /Ai! He would have rolled toward the river!/
Moving as quickly as possible, she limped toward the Bruinen. “ELROND!!!”
A flash of lightning lit the area. In the sudden flare of light, something caught her eye to her left, but she could not tell what it was. Hoping it was Elrond, she moved in that direction. Seere dropped to her knees as she approached the spot and began to cast around with her hands for any sign of the missing elf.
Another flash of lightning caused her breath to freeze in her lungs. The still form of the lord of the valley was sprawled face down in the marshy land next to the river, an area that was rapidly filing with water. Ten feet of soggy, unstable ground lay between her and his still form.
*****
The low-lying ground was thick with marsh grass, small bushes, and moss covered rocks. The combination of the plants and the soggy ground had obviously been the only thing that had stopped the elf lord’s tumble into the river. His upper body had hit a large rock outcropping and he had come to rest parallel to it. Unfortunately, his lower body had continued its tumble downhill and the lower half of his legs were now in the rising river.
“Elrond!” Getting no response to her call, she forced herself to her feet and began to hobble toward him only to stumble as her feet became mired in the sodden ground. Losing her balance, she fell forward onto her hands and knees. The soupy, thick mud cushioned her fall, but also made moving forward difficult. Panicked by how long it was taking to get to him, she pulled her good leg under her and lunged forward to land near Elrond’s head.
Unable to see if he was still breathing, she reached out to grasp his right arm and tried to draw him to her. To her horror, Seere felt him start to move away as the current began to pull at his lower body. He was being sucked into the river and, if she did not get him moved quickly, he would soon be swept away.
Shouting his name in hope of rousing him to awareness, she dove headlong toward the helpless elf. The fingers of her right hand managed to grasp the fabric covering his back. She felt the current tugging at his legs, fighting her efforts to hold onto his body.
Inching forward on her belly, she managed to improve her grasp on his tunic by sliding her hand into the opening of the armhole at the back of the garment. Pulling as hard as she could, Seere quickly found that she was not as strong as the current she was fighting. She knew she had to get closer, to get better leverage against the weight of his body and the force of the rushing water if she was to have any hope of getting him to safety.
Steeling herself to ignore the pain in her right leg, she slithered her body over to Elrond’s side and rolled to her knees, a difficult task in itself, as she had to do so without the use of her hands as they could not be released from their desperate hold on the half-elf. Once she was above and perpendicular to his body, she tightened her grip around his upper arms and flung her body to her right away from the river using the momentum generated by her falling body to drag him with her.
Forcing herself back to her knees, she quickly determined that she had succeeded in dragging Elrond less than a foot forward of his last position. Gritting her teeth, she forced her body to repeat the maneuver. Once again, Elrond’s body shifted and followed her frantic lunge toward dry land.
Twice more and she managed to free his legs from the river. Over and over, she forced herself to her knees and repeated her desperate maneuver until she could feel solid ground under her upper body. Slithering forward out of the shifting, mucky bog, Seere rose to her feet and slide her hands under his arms. This gave her the necessary leverage to finally drag him onto the muddy, yet stable ground of the path.
Steadying herself, she gently rolled him to his back and collapsed beside the still elf lord. Aching from the effort it had taken to move him and dizzy from the pain caused by her injures, she felt her body begin to shiver in reaction to the trauma. The cold, pelting rain added to her misery. A persistent voice in her head warned her she was in danger of going into shock.
Laying her head against his chest, she sagged with relief to find a slow, but steady heart beat and feel the rhythmic movement of his breathing under her cheek. Comforted by these signs of life, Seere took several steadying breaths to slow her racing heart. Lifting her head, she watched his still face as she called his name. When he did not react, she reached up to gently shake his shoulder hoping to rouse a response. This too failed.
Worried, Seere pushed herself up onto her knees and moved her hand to brush his hair back away from his face. A groan of pain whispered from his lips at her touch. Gently, she lifted the wet, matted black hair away from his forehead. She gasped as a long deep cut, oozing blood down the side of his face at an alarming rate, was revealed.
/Ai! He is bleeding badly! I need a bandage… think! Ah... my sash!/ Moving quickly, she reached for the wide sash around her waist. Pulling it free, she ripped the torn right sleeve of her dress the rest of the way off to use as a pad to cover the wound.
Steeling herself against his groans of pain, she carefully brushed away the leaves and other debris visible around the wound before exposing the cut to the pouring rain hoping to flush it clean. That done, she eased the gaping sides of the wound together and pressed the folded cloth from her dress sleeve over the torn flesh. Holding it in place, she wound the silk sash around his head to secure the makeshift bandage as tightly as she dared.
Dizzy from pain and exhaustion, Seere knew only three things --- Elrond was still alive but badly injured, time was quickly running out for them to beat the river to the high ground, and help was not likely to appear in time to assist them. A flash of lightning confirmed her fear; the river had breeched its banks and was rising rapidly toward them. Time had run out. They had move to higher ground immediately if they were to survive.
*****
Her mind conjured an image of a beautiful marble pavilion located near the bottom of the lower gardens. Deciding this was the nearest shelter available to them, getting Elrond and herself to the pavilion became her sole focus. The only obstacles to reaching it were the steep flight of steps that connected the lower gardens to the riverside paths and the thirty feet of wet ground between the steps and their current position.
Sliding her hands as gently as she could under his shoulders, she slipped her hands up to clasp across his chest. Forcing herself back to her feet, she began to drag the injured elf away from the river, still favoring her right leg. Her breath came in labored pants as she struggled against the driving rain and wind. The cold downpour had begun to numb her extremities and she knew she was becoming clumsy, uncoordinated in her movements.
After several torturous minutes, she collapsed onto the bottom step. Catching her breath and swaying badly, she tightened her grip on Elrond’s body and began the painful business of crawling with him up the steep incline. Relying on her left leg and knee to do most of the work, Seere forced herself up step-by-step, stopping on each tread to pull Elrond’s body up beside her.
A third of the way up the stairs, her wet hands lost their grip on Elrond’s limb body and he began to slip from her grasp. Moving quickly, Seere threw her right leg over his calves and planted her feet on a lower step to brace their bodies as she rolled to pin him beneath her. Her numb fingers dug into his tunic, as she sought to regain her hold and prevent him from tumbling down the steps into the rising flood.
The ungainly movement halted his slide, but her injured right ankle was unable to support the sudden jarring under their combined weight. Screaming in pain, Seere felt the remaining supporting tissue connecting her ankle to her leg tear free. Gasping in agony, she slumped sideways into the steps striking the left side of her head on the unyielding stone riser of the step above.
*****
Black spots danced before her eyes and waves of nausea swept through her battered body. Gasping for breath, she waited, unmoving, for her senses to steady. Frantically clutching Elrond to her, Seere struggled to organize her pain-jumbled thoughts. She knew they could not remain exposed to the relentless rain and the rising flood much longer and survive the night. With only one leg now useable, there was but course of action was available to her.
Fighting back tears of pain and frustration, she rolled their bodies to the left so she could slide behind him. Tightening her grip, she pulled him over to lie in front of her, cradled between her thighs. Once she could steady her breathing enough to continue, she began to use her good leg to push them up one step at a time. Tears poured from her eyes as she planted her left foot on the step below her hips and pushed upwards as hard as she could until she felt the next step slide under her buttocks. She tugged Elrond’s limp form up to again rest between her legs before repeating the process.
Time had no meaning. The water had started to lap over the bottom step. Rain fell in unrelenting sheets soaking the draught parched ground. Periodic flashes of lightning showed the race against the flood was now in earnest as it had reached the middle of the flight of steps, only three below their current position.
She was not sure when she began to talk to her unconscious companion, but she found it helped to keep her moving. It reminded her that she was not fighting for her life alone, but for his as well. Seere shared childhood memories with him --- mornings spent in the pavilion with the father as he tutored or read to her from the books they selected together in Imladris’ vast library, long walks with Celeborn collecting herbs for the Healing House, Roitar teaching her to ride a horse, and swimming with the twins in the pool below the waterfall. She told him of her dreams… dreams of her soulmate, a dark-haired elf that had once called this valley his own. Talking helped her ignore the pain in her body and the ache in her heart.
*****
A sudden blast of rain hit her back causing her to look over her shoulder. A wave of relief washed over her as she realized they were almost to the top. Heartened by the sight, she found the strength to struggle the remaining way up the stairs with her precious charge. Falling back against the wet ground, she rolled Elrond’s body off to her side and lay panting for several long minutes, her face pelted by the driving rain.
Sighing, Seere opened her eyes. She knew she could not risk stopping as the last of her strength was ebbing away quickly. Catching sight of the pavilion fifteen feet to their left, she again maneuvered herself so she could pull Elrond’s body into her arms to rest against her chest. Shifting so her left leg was free to push, Seere began to slowly crawl backwards across the muddy turf toward the shelter. Unable to carry them both up the stairs into the Pavilion itself, she expended the last of her energy to drag them under marginal cover of the marble stairs. After assuring herself he was still breathing, she laid her head on his chest and passed out.
*****
She was not sure how long they lay there, but it was still dark when she regained consciousness. The first thing she noticed was that her pillow was shivering. /My pillow is shivering? And what is that beating sound?/
Shifting to try and find a more comfortable position on her strangely uncomfortable bed, she moved her right leg and white-hot pain shot through her. Gasping as the breath was rung from her body, she opened her eyes. It took several minutes for her dazed senses to clear sufficiently and the events of the preceding night to come back to her.
/Elrond!/
Alarmed, she tried to sit up, but found herself held fast by the strong arms wrapped around her waist. “Elrond! Thank the Valar you are alive!”
Unable to free herself from his grip, she twisted in his arms so she could determine his condition. While she was reassured to find his heart and pulse rates to be within acceptable limits, she was worried by how cold the half-elf felt. His body was racked by intense shivers and his skin seemed to radiate cold. This touched some deep fear within her, one she did not understand, but one that knew such cold was an ominous sign. Fighting panic, she gently shook Elrond trying to wake him and reassure herself he was not dying.
“Elrond! Please wake up. I can not lose you to Mandos! Please wake! Elrond!” Panic began to take hold when he failed to respond. The fear of losing him began to overtake her senses and Seere tightened her grip on his shoulders as her tears began to fall. “Elrond! Please do not leave me! Námo, please do not take him! …”
*****
/Why does my head ache so? And I am freezing! I need to get up and get a blanket,/ he thought. /Who is that crying? What is she saying? Mandos?? Námo!!! Nay, I am not dying… am I? What has happened?/
Fighting through the fog blanketing his brain, Elrond struggled back to consciousness. /Seere? Why does she fear I am dying?/ Shifting to face Seere to offer her reassurance he was alive and not bound for Mandos, he became aware of the fact he was lying on the ground.
/Where are we?/
Slowly, he opened his eyes to study their surroundings hoping to find a clue to their location. In the gloom of their shelter, he saw nothing he could recognize. It was dark and he heard the sound of heavy rain and the sound of fast moving water.
/Fast moving water! The river… a deer made me stumble. Seere and I fell returning from the cave by the falls. The falls rage in a flood. They spread out over the ledge where she was sleeping and flood the grotto. She would have been swept away and drowned!/
Realizing another tragedy had been narrowly averted, he tightened his hold on her waist and pulled her down into his arms. “Seere! Thank the Valar you are safe!”
His voice finally penetrated her panicked senses. “Elrond? You are alive!” Seere buried herself in his embrace as both were overcome with the fear of how close they had come to losing the other.
The storm of their emotions spent itself and the injured pair fell back into a deep sleep curled tightly in each other’s arms. They were unaware that the flood rose to within a foot of their shelter. As they slept, the storm gradually blew itself out. The flood peaked and began to slowly recede, having erased all signs of their movements.
*****
At first light, their worried family rushed out to begin to search for the missing pair. It was several hours before a relieved Celeborn raised a shout to announce he had found them. Kneeling by the pavilion steps, he smiled at the sight of the two wrapped tightly in each others embrace before sliding under the steps to wake the sleeping pair.
*****
Author: Sorsha
Fandom/Pairing: Elrond/OFC, Glorfindel/Haldir, Elladan/OFC, Elrohir/Legolas, others implied
Rating:.NC-17 for future chapters
Warning: AU (Story set 770 years after ROTK); Slash, but mostly het.
Feedback: This is my first fanfic, so constructive feedback appreciated.
Archive:
Acknowledgements: Many thanks to Alex Cat for her help in betaing this fic. Thanks also to Lady Victoria for her comments and support.
Disclaimer: any of the residents of Middle-earth and Aman that you recognize are not mine. They belong to Prof. Tolkien’s estate. The rest are mine, but I wrote them for my own enjoyment and not profit.
Summary: Sauron may be gone, but his legacy of evil still lingers. As Middle-earth faces the threat of another dark lord, a party of elves departs Aman on a mission for the Valar, a mission of mercy long delayed.
Chapter 23 --- Not All Those That Wander Are Lost
“All that is gold does not glitter; not all those that wander are lost.”
J. R. R. Tolkien
*****
Seere lay stunned on the ground at the bottom of the cliff trail. Taking a deep breath, she cautiously rolled over onto her back and tried to stop her vision from spinning. The rain was beginning to pour down in great driving sheets. While it made breathing difficult, the cold rain helped clear her head enough for her to sit up. Struggling to her knees, she swayed as her vision blurred and the ache in her head intensified.
Dazed, Seere looked around for her companion. “Elrond? Where are you? Elrond!”
The storm clouds covered Ithil, blocking its light and leaving the valley shrouded in near total darkness. Handicapped by the storm and the injury to her head, it took several minutes for her to determine her companion was neither on nor near the path they had been following. Worried, she called his name again, but the sound of her voice was lost in the whipping wind and in the roar of the nearby waterfall.
Looking toward the river, she was able to make out the churning flow and was shocked to see how fast the river was rising. The rain that had fallen earlier north of Imladris was beginning to reach the valley, at the same time the heavy rain overhead was pounding down. The dry conditions of recent months had made the ground hard and most of the rainfall was flowing directly down the hills of Imladris into the river without being absorbed in the ground.
/Flash flood! I must have been unconscious for longer than I thought. I need to find Elrond quickly so we can get to higher ground!/
With great effort, she staggered to her feet only to fall back to her knees as a sharp pain raced up her leg when she tried to bear weight on her right ankle. Gasping for breath, she glanced toward the river. It had risen near the top of its bank and would soon spill over the side inundating the area where she was kneeling.
/Breathe deeply and focus on finding Elrond. The pain can not be helped so it must be ignored!/
Her second attempt was a marginal success as she managed to stay upright, though she was still dizzy and favored the damaged leg. “Elrond! Where are you? Elrond!”
Looking back to where their fall had started, she tried to gage where he might have landed when he hit the bottom. /Ai! He would have rolled toward the river!/
Moving as quickly as possible, she limped toward the Bruinen. “ELROND!!!”
A flash of lightning lit the area. In the sudden flare of light, something caught her eye to her left, but she could not tell what it was. Hoping it was Elrond, she moved in that direction. Seere dropped to her knees as she approached the spot and began to cast around with her hands for any sign of the missing elf.
Another flash of lightning caused her breath to freeze in her lungs. The still form of the lord of the valley was sprawled face down in the marshy land next to the river, an area that was rapidly filing with water. Ten feet of soggy, unstable ground lay between her and his still form.
*****
The low-lying ground was thick with marsh grass, small bushes, and moss covered rocks. The combination of the plants and the soggy ground had obviously been the only thing that had stopped the elf lord’s tumble into the river. His upper body had hit a large rock outcropping and he had come to rest parallel to it. Unfortunately, his lower body had continued its tumble downhill and the lower half of his legs were now in the rising river.
“Elrond!” Getting no response to her call, she forced herself to her feet and began to hobble toward him only to stumble as her feet became mired in the sodden ground. Losing her balance, she fell forward onto her hands and knees. The soupy, thick mud cushioned her fall, but also made moving forward difficult. Panicked by how long it was taking to get to him, she pulled her good leg under her and lunged forward to land near Elrond’s head.
Unable to see if he was still breathing, she reached out to grasp his right arm and tried to draw him to her. To her horror, Seere felt him start to move away as the current began to pull at his lower body. He was being sucked into the river and, if she did not get him moved quickly, he would soon be swept away.
Shouting his name in hope of rousing him to awareness, she dove headlong toward the helpless elf. The fingers of her right hand managed to grasp the fabric covering his back. She felt the current tugging at his legs, fighting her efforts to hold onto his body.
Inching forward on her belly, she managed to improve her grasp on his tunic by sliding her hand into the opening of the armhole at the back of the garment. Pulling as hard as she could, Seere quickly found that she was not as strong as the current she was fighting. She knew she had to get closer, to get better leverage against the weight of his body and the force of the rushing water if she was to have any hope of getting him to safety.
Steeling herself to ignore the pain in her right leg, she slithered her body over to Elrond’s side and rolled to her knees, a difficult task in itself, as she had to do so without the use of her hands as they could not be released from their desperate hold on the half-elf. Once she was above and perpendicular to his body, she tightened her grip around his upper arms and flung her body to her right away from the river using the momentum generated by her falling body to drag him with her.
Forcing herself back to her knees, she quickly determined that she had succeeded in dragging Elrond less than a foot forward of his last position. Gritting her teeth, she forced her body to repeat the maneuver. Once again, Elrond’s body shifted and followed her frantic lunge toward dry land.
Twice more and she managed to free his legs from the river. Over and over, she forced herself to her knees and repeated her desperate maneuver until she could feel solid ground under her upper body. Slithering forward out of the shifting, mucky bog, Seere rose to her feet and slide her hands under his arms. This gave her the necessary leverage to finally drag him onto the muddy, yet stable ground of the path.
Steadying herself, she gently rolled him to his back and collapsed beside the still elf lord. Aching from the effort it had taken to move him and dizzy from the pain caused by her injures, she felt her body begin to shiver in reaction to the trauma. The cold, pelting rain added to her misery. A persistent voice in her head warned her she was in danger of going into shock.
Laying her head against his chest, she sagged with relief to find a slow, but steady heart beat and feel the rhythmic movement of his breathing under her cheek. Comforted by these signs of life, Seere took several steadying breaths to slow her racing heart. Lifting her head, she watched his still face as she called his name. When he did not react, she reached up to gently shake his shoulder hoping to rouse a response. This too failed.
Worried, Seere pushed herself up onto her knees and moved her hand to brush his hair back away from his face. A groan of pain whispered from his lips at her touch. Gently, she lifted the wet, matted black hair away from his forehead. She gasped as a long deep cut, oozing blood down the side of his face at an alarming rate, was revealed.
/Ai! He is bleeding badly! I need a bandage… think! Ah... my sash!/ Moving quickly, she reached for the wide sash around her waist. Pulling it free, she ripped the torn right sleeve of her dress the rest of the way off to use as a pad to cover the wound.
Steeling herself against his groans of pain, she carefully brushed away the leaves and other debris visible around the wound before exposing the cut to the pouring rain hoping to flush it clean. That done, she eased the gaping sides of the wound together and pressed the folded cloth from her dress sleeve over the torn flesh. Holding it in place, she wound the silk sash around his head to secure the makeshift bandage as tightly as she dared.
Dizzy from pain and exhaustion, Seere knew only three things --- Elrond was still alive but badly injured, time was quickly running out for them to beat the river to the high ground, and help was not likely to appear in time to assist them. A flash of lightning confirmed her fear; the river had breeched its banks and was rising rapidly toward them. Time had run out. They had move to higher ground immediately if they were to survive.
*****
Her mind conjured an image of a beautiful marble pavilion located near the bottom of the lower gardens. Deciding this was the nearest shelter available to them, getting Elrond and herself to the pavilion became her sole focus. The only obstacles to reaching it were the steep flight of steps that connected the lower gardens to the riverside paths and the thirty feet of wet ground between the steps and their current position.
Sliding her hands as gently as she could under his shoulders, she slipped her hands up to clasp across his chest. Forcing herself back to her feet, she began to drag the injured elf away from the river, still favoring her right leg. Her breath came in labored pants as she struggled against the driving rain and wind. The cold downpour had begun to numb her extremities and she knew she was becoming clumsy, uncoordinated in her movements.
After several torturous minutes, she collapsed onto the bottom step. Catching her breath and swaying badly, she tightened her grip on Elrond’s body and began the painful business of crawling with him up the steep incline. Relying on her left leg and knee to do most of the work, Seere forced herself up step-by-step, stopping on each tread to pull Elrond’s body up beside her.
A third of the way up the stairs, her wet hands lost their grip on Elrond’s limb body and he began to slip from her grasp. Moving quickly, Seere threw her right leg over his calves and planted her feet on a lower step to brace their bodies as she rolled to pin him beneath her. Her numb fingers dug into his tunic, as she sought to regain her hold and prevent him from tumbling down the steps into the rising flood.
The ungainly movement halted his slide, but her injured right ankle was unable to support the sudden jarring under their combined weight. Screaming in pain, Seere felt the remaining supporting tissue connecting her ankle to her leg tear free. Gasping in agony, she slumped sideways into the steps striking the left side of her head on the unyielding stone riser of the step above.
*****
Black spots danced before her eyes and waves of nausea swept through her battered body. Gasping for breath, she waited, unmoving, for her senses to steady. Frantically clutching Elrond to her, Seere struggled to organize her pain-jumbled thoughts. She knew they could not remain exposed to the relentless rain and the rising flood much longer and survive the night. With only one leg now useable, there was but course of action was available to her.
Fighting back tears of pain and frustration, she rolled their bodies to the left so she could slide behind him. Tightening her grip, she pulled him over to lie in front of her, cradled between her thighs. Once she could steady her breathing enough to continue, she began to use her good leg to push them up one step at a time. Tears poured from her eyes as she planted her left foot on the step below her hips and pushed upwards as hard as she could until she felt the next step slide under her buttocks. She tugged Elrond’s limp form up to again rest between her legs before repeating the process.
Time had no meaning. The water had started to lap over the bottom step. Rain fell in unrelenting sheets soaking the draught parched ground. Periodic flashes of lightning showed the race against the flood was now in earnest as it had reached the middle of the flight of steps, only three below their current position.
She was not sure when she began to talk to her unconscious companion, but she found it helped to keep her moving. It reminded her that she was not fighting for her life alone, but for his as well. Seere shared childhood memories with him --- mornings spent in the pavilion with the father as he tutored or read to her from the books they selected together in Imladris’ vast library, long walks with Celeborn collecting herbs for the Healing House, Roitar teaching her to ride a horse, and swimming with the twins in the pool below the waterfall. She told him of her dreams… dreams of her soulmate, a dark-haired elf that had once called this valley his own. Talking helped her ignore the pain in her body and the ache in her heart.
*****
A sudden blast of rain hit her back causing her to look over her shoulder. A wave of relief washed over her as she realized they were almost to the top. Heartened by the sight, she found the strength to struggle the remaining way up the stairs with her precious charge. Falling back against the wet ground, she rolled Elrond’s body off to her side and lay panting for several long minutes, her face pelted by the driving rain.
Sighing, Seere opened her eyes. She knew she could not risk stopping as the last of her strength was ebbing away quickly. Catching sight of the pavilion fifteen feet to their left, she again maneuvered herself so she could pull Elrond’s body into her arms to rest against her chest. Shifting so her left leg was free to push, Seere began to slowly crawl backwards across the muddy turf toward the shelter. Unable to carry them both up the stairs into the Pavilion itself, she expended the last of her energy to drag them under marginal cover of the marble stairs. After assuring herself he was still breathing, she laid her head on his chest and passed out.
*****
She was not sure how long they lay there, but it was still dark when she regained consciousness. The first thing she noticed was that her pillow was shivering. /My pillow is shivering? And what is that beating sound?/
Shifting to try and find a more comfortable position on her strangely uncomfortable bed, she moved her right leg and white-hot pain shot through her. Gasping as the breath was rung from her body, she opened her eyes. It took several minutes for her dazed senses to clear sufficiently and the events of the preceding night to come back to her.
/Elrond!/
Alarmed, she tried to sit up, but found herself held fast by the strong arms wrapped around her waist. “Elrond! Thank the Valar you are alive!”
Unable to free herself from his grip, she twisted in his arms so she could determine his condition. While she was reassured to find his heart and pulse rates to be within acceptable limits, she was worried by how cold the half-elf felt. His body was racked by intense shivers and his skin seemed to radiate cold. This touched some deep fear within her, one she did not understand, but one that knew such cold was an ominous sign. Fighting panic, she gently shook Elrond trying to wake him and reassure herself he was not dying.
“Elrond! Please wake up. I can not lose you to Mandos! Please wake! Elrond!” Panic began to take hold when he failed to respond. The fear of losing him began to overtake her senses and Seere tightened her grip on his shoulders as her tears began to fall. “Elrond! Please do not leave me! Námo, please do not take him! …”
*****
/Why does my head ache so? And I am freezing! I need to get up and get a blanket,/ he thought. /Who is that crying? What is she saying? Mandos?? Námo!!! Nay, I am not dying… am I? What has happened?/
Fighting through the fog blanketing his brain, Elrond struggled back to consciousness. /Seere? Why does she fear I am dying?/ Shifting to face Seere to offer her reassurance he was alive and not bound for Mandos, he became aware of the fact he was lying on the ground.
/Where are we?/
Slowly, he opened his eyes to study their surroundings hoping to find a clue to their location. In the gloom of their shelter, he saw nothing he could recognize. It was dark and he heard the sound of heavy rain and the sound of fast moving water.
/Fast moving water! The river… a deer made me stumble. Seere and I fell returning from the cave by the falls. The falls rage in a flood. They spread out over the ledge where she was sleeping and flood the grotto. She would have been swept away and drowned!/
Realizing another tragedy had been narrowly averted, he tightened his hold on her waist and pulled her down into his arms. “Seere! Thank the Valar you are safe!”
His voice finally penetrated her panicked senses. “Elrond? You are alive!” Seere buried herself in his embrace as both were overcome with the fear of how close they had come to losing the other.
The storm of their emotions spent itself and the injured pair fell back into a deep sleep curled tightly in each other’s arms. They were unaware that the flood rose to within a foot of their shelter. As they slept, the storm gradually blew itself out. The flood peaked and began to slowly recede, having erased all signs of their movements.
*****
At first light, their worried family rushed out to begin to search for the missing pair. It was several hours before a relieved Celeborn raised a shout to announce he had found them. Kneeling by the pavilion steps, he smiled at the sight of the two wrapped tightly in each others embrace before sliding under the steps to wake the sleeping pair.
*****