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Elrond woke up in his bed feeling like his head was about to split open. It has been three days since he jumped from the waterfall with the Rings inside a small pouch. During those hours, he managed to flee and hide in Mithlond for almost a full day before Galadriel arrived to escort him back towards Lindon. Cirdan had been kind enough to not ask questions when Elrond explained his situation standing in his soaked tunic before a very confused shipwright. Rather than turning him in, Cirdan gave him a set of dry clothing and a place to hide until the heat had settled down a bit.
He should have known that Galadriel had assumed correctly that Cirdan was the safest person to turn to in a situation like this. Despite Cirdan’s rather humble occupation of ship builder, he held a great authority over the Elves that even their High-King could not deny. Elrond was shocked how easily his King had ordered his arrest, how quickly the rings made them turn against themselves. His gamble of fleeing towards the shipwright turned out well, Galadriel escorted him back to Lindon with the promise that the King would not take any further hostile actions towards him as long as Elrond told Gil-Galad where he had hidden the rings.
Once back in Lindon, Elrond explained how he had given the rings to Cirdan and that the Shipwright would make sure that the jewelry wouldn’t fall into the wrong hands. This of course angered Gil-Galad greatly but as promised, he did not punish Elrond but had sent him back to his quarters while Ereinion made his way over to Mithlond to speak to Cirdan. It took all of Gil-Galad’s self control to not deal out a proper lashing for directly rebelling against the King but both Cirdan and Galadriel talked him out of it. Galadriel suggested that the damage and shock from the fall itself had been punishment enough, any further actions would only alienate the Peredhel who already occupied a unique position amongst the elves.
The event of falling down the waterfall and his perilious journey towards the Shipwright had left him so exhausted that he slept for almost an entire day only to be woken up by Galadriel with the happy news that the tree had been revived. She animatedly waved her hand around telling the story when Elrond noticed with utter disappointment that she was wearing one of the Rings. Now that the tree had been restored and the Elves no longer had to leave Middle-Earth, the High-King was happy to announce that he had forgiven Elrond’s rebellious act and that he was expected to return to work the following day.
The day that Elrond was expected to return to his duties had arrived and it already started badly with the heavy headache that had developed somehow during the night. He knew he had been pushing his luck jumping from the waterfall like that. By some miracle, he had avoided physical injury but he gathered that he had swallowed some of the river’s water before he managed to pull himself out of the water. It was only since last evening that he noticed his throat started to feel slightly sore but pushed the thought of falling ill far from his mind, he had more important affairs to attend to.
To make matters even worse, the weather outside had worsened significantly over the last 24 hours. A torrent of rain was pouring over Lindon while Elrond tried to make himself look presentable for his King. He practically ran from his quarters to the council chamber but even that short of a journey was enough to wet his clothes so badly that it almost appeared as if he just got back out of the river again. There was no time to adjust his clothing or dry his hair a bit at least, oh well he just had to suck it up and get through this day.
While he was waiting for his King to appear, he could not help himself but listen in on the conversation that the two guards at the entrance to the chamber were having.
“I can not believe our King has reinstated that half-breed again. If it weren’t for Cirdan, we would have all been sailing for Valinor right now thanks to that fool.”
The other guard chuckled in agreement. “If I were King, I would have banished him already a long time ago or at least given him a good proper lashing and a long jail sentence to think about his sins before even considering letting him return to his duties. Gil-Galad always had a soft spot for that Half-breed though I can not fathom why. Our King can do so much better with a Herald who would actually listen to him.”
Elrond turned away to face the window and stared outside at the torrential rain while trying to hide his anger inside. He knew that his status as Half-Elf caused a lot of mistrust amongst many of Lindon’s elves ever since Ereinion had taken him in. He thought that the others were beyond that now that a few centuries had passed. If even Ereinion’s closest guards had the guts to talk about him like that so near his proximity, knowing that he would most likely overhear them, he shuddered to think what the rest of Lindon thought of him after word of his actions near the waterfall had spread.
The doubt of his fellow elves combined with the increasingly bad weather outside only made his headache worse. He closed his eyes and rubbed the temples of his head in an attempt to alleviate his symptoms. A sudden click from the door made him whirl around in a hurry as High-King Gil-Galad had arrived together with Galadriel and a few other advisors. Elrond quickly composed himself as Galadriel smiled encouragingly to him. He returned the smile though empty as he could not stop worrying about the words he had just overheard. His oldest friend here was likely the only elf who still had some trust in him left, he didn’t dare guess the opinion of the other advisors who had looked at him with a distinct face of dislike.
Gil-Galad acknowledged Elrond’s presence with a polite but otherwise emotionless greeting before sitting down at his usual spot followed by the others within the chamber. Elrond sat down as well and loaded his quill with ink ready to transcribe any important information that would possibly be uncovered during this meeting. Meanwhile the rain outside had increased in its intensity becoming almost as loud as the waterfall he jumped off mere days ago. The sound of the rushing water was rather distracting and made his task only more difficult as he tried to focus on the words being said while his head was pounding.
“This meeting has been called to discuss on the possible whereabouts of the Deceiver and make sure we are prepared to defeat the biggest threat to our continued existence here in Middle-Earth.” Gil-Galad began with a solemn voice.
The following hour was spent debating theories on the possible locations that Sauron could have fled to when he had been outed as the Deceiver by Galadriel back in Eregion. Elrond kept track of the conversation until a sudden bright flash followed almost immediately by a loud clash of thunder interrupted the meeting. Elrond felt the pain within his head surge as quickly as the flash was visible which made him gasp audibly and reach out for his forehead with one of his hands. It must have been the sudden bright light that worsened his headache, Elrond figured.
The motion however went unnoticed as both the King and Galadriel’s attention were drawn towards the window. “This is no ordinary storm…” Galadriel uttered softly breaking the tension between them. “This tempest is Sauron’s doing!” Her voice rose in volume and her eyes shone like fire at the thought of the Deceiver being anywhere near Lindon unleashing his wicked powers upon the Elven population.
Galadriel turned away from the window rather abruptly and marched towards the double doors where the two guards still stood watch. “High-King, we need to take action now!”
Ereinion simply shook his head lightly and stood up from his chair to follow Galadriel outside of the council chamber. The few advisors present also took their leave but not before throwing dark looks at Elrond as they passed by his place around the table. Elrond merely sighed, feeling way too poor at this point to react at the scorn that had fallen upon him. He closed the lid of the ink well and put down his quill, not expecting the meeting to continue anymore.
He got up from his chair but instantly realized that it was the wrong thing to do. The sharp pain that he felt earlier just intensified tenfold making him double over in pain and he let out an agonizing scream that he could no longer hold in. He clutched his head and dropped on his knees onto the floor, accidentally kicking some of the chairs over in the process, but the pain did not subside, no it only seemed to worsen with each second that passed.
The two guards who had spoken so ill about him shortly before the meeting rushed inside the council chamber at the sound of Elrond screaming and the sudden shifting of the chairs and were both absolutely dumbfounded at the scene unfolding in front of them. Both of the guards looked at each other and back at the Herald in front of them on the ground, having absolutely no clue what had happened in the short span in which the King had left the room.
Elrond had now doubled over onto the ground clutching his head and could no longer control the volume of his increasingly louder screams of agony as the pain just kept increasing without relief. He wasn’t even aware that the two foolish guards were standing right in front of him trying to figure what was going on with the King’s Herald. Eventually the pain became too much for him to handle anymore and he gladly embraced the darkness of unconsciousness as it brought him relief of this unexplained torment.
Luckily, he was no longer conscious for him to hear the disdaining words of the guards or the careless way that they carried his body to the healing chambers. At least the guards had the sense to pick him up and carry him to the one place he could receive help. He was placed upon one of the cots inside the healing halls when the healers finally took over. They quickly dismissed the two guards and gave them the order to inform the King on what had happened to his Herald. They begrudgingly agreed to the task but warned the healers that they were Royal guards, not mere message boys.
The healers quickly removed the soaked clothing that Elrond had been wearing and gave him new dry ones. No one could exactly explain what had happened to him so the only thing they could do was to attempt to coax him back into consciousness through words of healing but so far, none of the healers had any success in the task and Elrond remained unconscious. One of the healers had been aware of the ‘incident’ that occurred mere days ago and discovered that Elrond’s lungs were lightly filled with liquid indicating an upcoming bout of pneumonia but it did not explain at all the symptoms that the guards described.
Ir took a while before the guards had found their King who had been locked in a heated debate with Galadriel and Cirdan, the latter having rushed over to Lindon ever since the torrent of rain had started. The Shipwright’s presence within Lindon was unusual in itself, he rarely left Mithlond which made the guards feel slightly nervous, perhaps the Deceiver was shrouding Lindon under his dark influence.
“I’m telling you, we need to send out our troops immediately. This is no ordinary thunderstorm, Sauron is behind this!” Galadriel almost shouted at this point.
“What evidence do you have that the Deceiver is capable of manipulating the weather?” Ereinion demanded of Galadriel. He sighed deeply and placed his hands on his hips. Gil-Galad had become increasingly frustrated by the lack of cooperation of his own subjects. He considered both Galadriel and Elrond as his close friends but despite their friendship, he still remained their King and thus held authority over them, something both of them tended to forget over these past few months.
“I feel it, I just know Sauron is nearby!”
“If I may interject.” Cirdan began hoping to suss the debate before the situation would devolve into a shouting match between Commander and King. “Lady Galadriel has been within the company of Sauron for weeks, it is wise to listen to her words and thus not dismiss her so easily. We do not often experience a tempest like this in Lindon, something larger could be at play here.”
Before Gil-Galad could respond to Cirdan, two of his Royal guards disturbed their little impromptu meeting by walking rather fast with both of their faces looking rather unsettled. Gil-Galad pinched his nose and turned towards the two who had just interrupted their discussion. “I hope you two have a very good reason for disturbing me right now.” Was all that he said while he gazed irritably at the by now drenched looking guards.
‘My King….” One of them began but he faltered in his words. He knew that the Half-breed was a favourite of his King and he did not want to be the bringer of bad news despite his own feelings towards the Half-Elf.
“Well, spit it out!” Ereinion lashed out feeling his patience wearing thin. First it was Elrond who had openly rebelled against him, then Galadriel questioned his authority on the matter and Cirdan spoke against him. He could not handle his own guard falter now as well. What point was there in being a King if none would listen to him?
“The Peredhel collapsed to the ground in pain for unknown reasons shortly after you left my King.” The guard finally spoke looking apprehensively at his King.
“What?” Ereinion’s eyes grew large at this alarming news and he could hear Galadriel gasp right next to him. “What do you mean, collapsed? Explain yourself at once!”
“I do not fully understand myself what happened sire. The Peredhel started screaming almost as soon as you left the council chamber and collapsed to the ground. We tried to discover the cause but we could not find one before he blacked out. We carried him to the healing chambers and the healers are working on him right now as we speak.”
“Dear Eru!” Galadriel let out another audible gasp and started to make her way out of the hallway.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Ereinion called out after her. He didn’t image his day could turn any worse after being stuck in heavy rain and discussions all day but evidently it did.
“I’m going to see Elrond in the healing chambers to see what is wrong with him!”
Ereinion just nodded after he could not think of any meaningful reply and followed her out of the hallway towards the healing chambers. He could barely believe the words of the two guards who were trailing them right now. Elrond seemed to be doing just fine earlier today. He had seen no signs whatsoever that told him something was amiss. Was there some belated injury from his fall that he had missed?
If Ereinion thought that the healers could provide some reasonable answer as to what happened to his Herald, he was wrong. When both Gil-Galad and Galadriel entered the healing chambers, it was in a state of absolute pandemonium. He saw several healers quickly walking around the room fixing the mess that was laying on the floor. Pieces of fabric, vials and herbs were spread out all across the chamber and one healer was seated on the ground clutching a very obvious looking broken nose with his face covered in blood.
“What in the blazes has happened in here? Where is Herald Elrond?” The King demanded to know. The growing amount of chaos within the span of a single day was enough for Ereinion to almost start believing Galadriel’s words that this was all Sauron’s doing. Only the Deceiver could sow so much discourse amongst themselves in such a short time.
“Lord Elrond awoke mere moments ago and immediately attacked us before running outside, my King.” The wounded healer on the ground spoke with a double tongue finding it rather difficult to retain his regular voice with the blood pouring down from his nose.
“Which direction did he run off to?” Ereinion asked with great urgency in his voice. If everything that his guards just told him was true and if Sauron was truly messing with them, Elrond was in grave danger and he needed to find him before his Herald did something even more stupid. Even though Elrond disobeyed him and he was on the verge of giving him a lashing as a punishment, though Cirdan managed to dissuade him from doing so, he could not help but feel his worry for Elrond’s safety grow. Despite his rebellious act mere days ago, Elrond remained a close friend and he never wished any harm upon him.
“He went that way.’ The healer pointed towards the opposite direction from which Ereinion and Galadriel just came.
“Come with me Galadriel, we need to find him and fast.”
Galadriel didn’t need to be told twice and followed the King immediately in the direction that the healer had just pointed. Gil-Galad had absolutely no clue where he was going or where his Herald could have gone to. The only thing on his mind was finding Elrond before who or whatever was making this day so utterly terrible, could finish it with a death.
After the first few minutes of searching proved fruitless, Gil-Galad ordered for his personal watch to assemble outside of the council chamber and gave them the order to comb all of Lindon for Elrond’s whereabouts. They were strictly ordered to fetch their King in the case they found the Herald and do nothing until the King had arrived. With these new orders, the guards went searching for the lost Peredhel outside in the pouring rain with some of them cursing the half-breed for causing so much trouble.
Ereinion was called for in a hurry after two hours of searching. One of the guards had finally spotted the Peredhel. When Gil-Galad arrived at the appointed location, he couldn’t help but feel utterly uncomfortable with the situation. Elrond was standing once more at the edge of the now all too familiar waterfall next to the recently revived tree of Lindon. He looked absolutely soaken, like a lost kitten in a storm just peering over the edge seemingly oblivious to the world around him.
Ereinion ordered his guards to back off, he knew that hounding his Herald last time had pushed him over the edge and he didn’t know if Elrond would be able to survive another fall like that, especially not in the odd state he appeared to be in. He was only wearing his light blue tunic without his typical cloak despite the rain making the temperature feel icy cold. He knew that the Peredhel was more susceptible to changes in temperature than a regular Elf. He knew that being soaked for a prolonged time could result into a sickness of the lungs within humans and Elrond. He had seen it before, when the young Half-Elf had been careless after receiving the message of his brother’s death. Elrond had disappeared into the woods for days until Galadriel found him delirious with fever. That incident greatly scared Ereinion and the last thing he wanted was a repeat of it.
The King slowly approached the edge of the cliff site and spoke with the most calm voice he could muster in such a situation. “Elrond Mellon-nin, what has been going on with you today? Can you turn around and face me at least?”
There was no response. Elrond kept looking over the cliff’s edge as if he wasn’t all there mentally. Rather than facing his King, his feet slowly inched him closer to the edge until the tips of his bare feet were sticking out.
“Elrond, please!” Ereinion begged losing all the calmness within his voice. He knew it was rather un-kingly behaviour from him and he wouldn’t have used these words for anyone else as the blatant display of failing authority would damage his standing amongst the Elves. He gladly made the exception for his Herald if it meant that it would save his life. He didn’t want to lose his friend, especially not if Sauron had been pulling the strings behind this rather unusual day.
His words finally seemed to have an effect on the Herald as Elrond finally snapped out of his trance and turned to face the one who had addressed him.
“My King?” Came the rather confused reply from the Peredhel who seemingly became aware of his current rather unusual situation all at once.
“That’s it my friend, come over here I need your advice on a matter.” Ereinion feigned to lure him away from the edge without risking to push him back once more.
After a few tense moments during which Ereinion almost became convinced that his words had no effect, Elrond slowly started to walk towards his King. Gil-Galad closed the gap between the two and stood right in front of his rather feverish looking Herald. “What is it that you wish of me to do my King?” Elrond asked in a rather unnatural voice before he suddenly collapsed right there and then.
Ereinion managed to catch his failing Herald in his arms before he could fall onto the ground. He scooped the light weighted Peredhel into his arms and made his way back, not towards the healing chambers which he knew was still in a state of chaos, but to his own personal chambers instead. He was followed by the two guards who had discovered his Herald’s whereabouts but at the entrance of his chambers, he dismissed his guards, not before ordering one of them to summon a healer to his chamber, and entered his room alone with an unconscious Half-Elf in his arms.
He deposited his Herald on his bed and waited patiently for the healer to arrive. He used the time to start removing the wet fabric on his body and dried him off before giving him one of his own old clothes. Fortunately the healer had arrived at this point and immediately worked to discover the cause of Elrond’s mysterious illness. The healer noted that Elrond was running a rather high fever and his lungs were slightly filled with liquid.
The Peredhel’s head was lifted on some pillows to let him breathe easier while the healer went to work brewing a potion that would lower his fever. Meanwhile a soft knock was heard on Ereinion’s door and the King moved to open it but not before quickly glancing behind to make sure that Elrond was still in good hands.
“How is our young Half-Elf doing?” came the low but kind voice from the door. Ereinion was relieved that it was Cirdan who had arrived at his chambers. He opened his door a little wider to let the shipwright in. Perhaps Cirdan could shed some light on what had happened to his Herald.
“I am not too sure. I found him in a delirious state on the very edge of the falls he jumped from only a few days ago. His eyes appeared absent, as if though he wasn’t here at all. I do not know what has brought this along but I fear for him.” Ereinion admitted while Cirdan was making his way over to Ereinion’s bedside where Elrond was located.
“The healers had informed me that he woke in absolute fury, attacking the healers and making a complete mess of the healing chambers before running off. There were at least five healers present there and none were capable of holding him down. Perhaps Galadriel was correct after all, perhaps this is all Sauron’s doing…”
“Do not blame yourself for what happened here today.” Cirdan replied while taking a good look at Elrond. “Besides, I do not think Elrond’s condition has been caused by the Deceiver. I believe he’s had one of his foresights.”
“Foresight?” Ereinion breathed while returning his gaze upon the unconscious Half-Elf on his bed.
“Yes, the line of Eärendel is gifted, or cursed depends on how you would see it, with foresight. Sometimes these flashes into the future come briefly during sleep but more seldomly they come accompanied by strife and stress. Our young Peredhel has been through a lot in these past days. He feared that he had alienated himself from you forever after he showed up at my workplace. I fear that his uncertainty and damage from the fall might have triggered his foresight. Of course the weather today hasn’t been very helpful either.”
The sound of Elrond stirring caught both of their attention as they abandoned their conversation to move over to the Peredhel’s side.
“Elrond!” Ereinion called out sitting down gingerly beside him while grabbing one of his hands. “Elrond, can you hear me?”
Elrond’s eyes slowly opened but it took him a minute or two to take in his surroundings. His head still felt heavy with sharp pains tormenting his temples but the agonizing stabs he had felt earlier in the council chamber had subsided by quite a bit. He did not recognize the room he was in immediately. These clearly weren’t his own bedchambers nor was he lying on a cot inside the healing halls. His eyes focused on the voice that had spoken to him and grew large in fear when he recognized his own King was leaning over his face with a troubled look.
“My King….” He stammered while trying to get up.
A firm hand on his chest pushed him down on the bed again. “Shh, lie still. You have a rather high fever and the healers have told me that you have developed pneumonia, no doubt from your fall a few days ago. I am so sorry Elrond, I never wished any harm upon you. I should have sent you to the healers immediately but my anger and fear took the better of me.”
“No, my King….” Elrond coughed now that the feeling of soreness in his head had spread to his lungs. “It is I that should apologize. I nearly caused the end of our kind in Middle-Earth, I nearly allowed Sauron full reign of this world because I refused to trust in your words.”
“Hush now Elrond, you need to rest properly for once.” Ereinion replied feeling rather touched by his Herald’s words.
“What did you see young one?” Cirdan asked tentatively, evidentially happy that both King and Herald had laid down their differences and forgiven each other. The matter of the fact still stood that Elrond had a vision and usually visions this severe were of great importance.
Elrond’s eyes shifted over to the old shipwright who stood beside the King’s bed while Ereinion dipped a piece of cloth in a small basin of water located on a nightstand near to him and placed the cool cloth on his Herald’s forehead in an attempt to bring his fever down. The gesture made by his King was greatly appreciated and gave him the courage to speak about what he saw.
“I...I saw a terrible battle. There was fire, smoke in a land without sun or life…. So many of our kind lay dead on the ground slowly claimed by marches reeking of decay though their bodies were not granted the rest they deserve.” Elrond shuddered at the memory of the images he saw after he had collapsed in the council chamber.
“Who were the Elves fighting?” Cirdan continued to ask with a calm voice though his eyes betrayed his growing worry.
“Sauron….He looked terrifying, all clad in strange black armour wielding a great mace while towering over everyone else. He struck down countless of people, both men and elf, and I saw a gigantic dark tower looming in the background polluting the very air itself.”
Now it was Ereinion’s turn to look unsettled. The King had little experience with foresight but if what Elrond saw was part of their future… Vilya seemed to hum on his finger as he listened to his Herald’s words, almost as if the ring was trying to soothe the growing unrest within his heart. He just knew that Elrond hadn’t told them everything that he saw, he knew that his Herald tried to protect him even in his current state.
“We will speak of this matter later. You need to rest now or your fever will never subside.” Ereinion spoke while removing the cloth from Elrond’s forehead replacing it with his own hand ruffling through the curls of his hair in an affectionate paternal manner.
Elrond closed his eyes at the pleasant contact although he did not think he deserved any of his King’s kind words nor his soothing gestures. “I am so sorry I failed you my King. Perhaps if I weren’t a….”
Ereinion moved his hand from his Herald’s curls to his mouth to stop him from defaming himself. “Never apologize for who you were born as. I know you can be stubborn at times but I appreciate our friendship immensely and I am glad to call you my Herald. Do not let others influence your opinion of yourself. Now your King commands you to take a well deserved rest, we will discuss your foresight in more detail once you feel better.”
Tears began to form in the Peredhel’s eyes. “Very well, my King. I shall go to my quarters and return in the morning.” Elrond once again tried to rise from the King’s bed but was once more pushed back down by Ereinion’s strong hands.
“You will stay here for tonight so I can keep a close eye on you.”
Elrond felt his cheeks fluster in embarrassment at the thought of his King keeping watch over him while he slept inside his bed within the King’s own private quarters. The whole thought was ludicrous but he knew it was impossible to change his mind. And to be honest, deep from the inside he didn’t want his King to change his mind. Ereinion’s presence was comforting and he already felt his headache lift in relief. He simply smiled and nodded while Ereinion placed a blanket over him. “Go on and get some sleep, I will be here if you need anything.”
And with these last soothing words, Elrond drifted off to sleep, feeling more at ease than he had felt in a long while. Perhaps his foresight merely served as a warning, perhaps there was still time to avoid what he had seen. He will certainly try with every fiber of his being to prevent that future from becoming a reality.