Chapter XXX: Kindred
The Rangers rode northward nearly without stopping, pausing only briefly to give the horses a rest and eat a small meal of dried meat and fruit. Aldamir and Lindir ate lembas instead; dried meat was fine for Men but Elves subsist best on lembas when on a journey.


The first time they stopped was shortly after noon. For the last couple hours they had more or less been following the winding way of a river running southwards; now, reaching a place where it ran quietly chuckling through some rocky hills, they stopped to give the horses a brief rest. Aldamir, who had been wrapped in his own thoughts through most of the journey, watched the river�s waters rush past for a moment, and turned to Lindir.

"Lindir, shall we climb the hill?" he asked, wishing for a better view of the lands around them. Lindir nodded, and they scaled the hill fairly quickly. It was steep and very rocky, but because of the rocks footholds were easily found and they had no trouble reaching the top.

Once up there, they could see a great deal further than before. The land they had been traversing was wild and varied; here and there it was flat and grassy, other places it would be rocky and hilly, yet others there would be long stretches of pine woods with a soft mossy floor carpeted in pine needles. The grass, rather short, was brown with a slight beginning of green underneath; Aldamir thought longingly of the lush green forest of L�rien and the tall, grey, golden-leafed mallorns.

To the south they could see spread out the land they had covered since that morning, split by a silver-grey ribbon of water, and to the north lay the land they had yet to cover. To the West rose the towering White Mountains, dark and beautiful in their grey, cloud-wrapped majesty. To the East lay the Anduin, its normally bright and sparkling surface dulled to a deep blue by the cloudy overhang. Aldamir could only see it by straining his eyes hard, and after a moment he gave up and turned away.

"Look," said Lindir softly, and raised his hand to point in a south-east direction. "One can almost see Mordor from here."

Aldamir followed the line of his hand. "The darkness there - is that what you mean?"

"Yes. It has grown a great deal darker of late, or so it seems to me."

Aldamir did not answer, but his eyes gazed unwaveringly at the darkness. He thought of Haldir; he saw him standing beneath the trees of Lorien, gazing upwards, and then he saw him lying cold and pale on the stones of Helm's Deep, lifeless and limp, his cloak stained with dark blood.....

He turned away, trying to think of other things. Far north hung a great heavy mass of clouds, and he pointed them out to Lindir. "We're going to see some rain before long, unless my eyes deceive me," he said cheerfully.

Lindir nodded. "That cloud mass, you mean? It's moving this way at a steady rate. Do you think we can outrun it?" he asked with a grin.

Aldamir chuckled. "Outrun the rain, my friend? You might as well try to climb an Ent without him noticing. But sometime we should - outrun the rain, I mean. I'd rather let the Ents in peace."

Lindir laughed softly. "Aye, I think I agree with you there."

They fell silent and watched the sky in the quiet way that Elves do. It had not been longer than a few minutes, however, before they heard Halbarad call to them from below.

"Aldamir? Lindir? Are you up there? We�re riding again!"

Aldamir shook himself out of his reverie, and the two Elves climbed down.





They rode nearly without stopping until nightfall, and yet they still had not caught up with Aragorn. Halbarad reckoned that they would reach the Gap of Rohan sometime in the night, and, providing Aragorn had not ridden a great deal faster than they thought, they would reach him early the next morning.

As night fell with velvety darkness, and stars began to show their brightness in the sky, Halbarad called for a short halt while he plotted the next step of their ride. The Rangers reined in their horses, most dismounting for a short rest.

Aldamir remained on his horse for a few minutes, watching the activity about them. The Rangers spoke in eager, low voices among themselves, and though Aldamir could not catch more than a few words, those few were enough to tell him that the men were restless to be on again. He knew they were eager to strike but still wary of moving too quickly, and he wondered as he listened to them. He knew most men as headstrong and stubborn, often having too little patience. Yet these men here were wise, almost like unto the Elves...

His thoughts were broken off as Halbarad rose from a short consultation with two othe Rangers, and the company once again rode away into the night. The stars above them shone with a white, piercing brightness; their beauty seemed to be made somehow terrible by the prospect of looming war. Yet the sight gave him a strange sort of courage; the stars would always shine, regardless of how dark and heavy the clouds of Mordor grew; there would always be light above the darkness....

Later that night two riders, who had been ahead scouting, joined the company, and Aldamir learned to his great surprise that they were Elves. Not only that -- they were Elladan and Elrohir, sons of Elrond. They too were riding with the Rangers; their aim was the same as that of Aldamir�s. They wished to go to war against Mordor, even if all others of their kin stayed away.

Elladan and Elrohir were delighted to see Aldamir and Lindir; they knew both of them well from their days in Rivendell. Aldamir had lived there for most of his life as a younger Elf, and Lindir had dwelt in Rivendell his entire life except for the short time he had spent in L�rien. Now the four rode together to war, and each was comforted by the fact that there was three more of his kin riding to war with him; riding to a war in which they would most likely be the only Elves fighting....
Aldamir index              Chapter 31>>
Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1