FicWad

"Elwe, are we lost?" whimpered Elmo fearfully.

"Hush! No, of course not," said Elwe reassuringly, though he was beginning to fear that they were.

"Then where are we?" panted Olwe, struggling to keep up with his elder brother. He rather envied Elmo for being carried, but then Elmo had just passed his first year and though he could walk perfectly well his short legs were no match for his brothers'.

Elwe paused, adjusting his hold on Elmo, and glanced round for any familiar landmark. "You will both have to trust me," he said firmly.

Suddenly an eerie disquiet rustled in the branches of the surrounding trees and the wind whispered and sighed around them. Elwe's heart came into his mouth. 'The Hunter!' he thought with a thrill of fear. 'The Hunter is upon us!'

He knew that his brothers felt the rumour of the Hunter also, for Olwe gasped and Elmo buried his face in Elwe's breast.

"Listen to me," he said in a low urgent voice which he hoped did not betray his fear. "I need you both to be very brave. I will put you on my back, Elmo, and you must cling to my neck. You will run beside me, Olwe, and whatever you do, you must stay with me, do you both hear me?"

"Yes Elwe," chorused Elmo and Olwe. Elwe promptly set his youngest brother on his back and looked at Olwe. "Are you ready?"

Olwe gulped and nodded, and his face was pale. "Where shall we go?"

As if in answer, a wave of fear washed over them, and a Darkness seemed to creep through the trees. "This way!" hissed Elwe, and he fled. He was aware of Olwe running beside and slightly behind him, and of the tiny form of Elmo bumping against him.

Then his foot came down on a loose stone, and he stumbled and fell on his knees. Elmo slid from his back with a yelp. Not knowing what else to do, Olwe halted.

Elwe tried to leap to his feet, but a sharp stab of pain went through his left foot, making him cry out. He fell again, and this time his leg moved a large rock.

He looked again. "Why," he said. "There is an opening here!" The other two crowded close to him. "A cave!" said Elmo.

"Let us hide in it," said Olwe scrambling down into the rather small dark opening.

"Wait! Look where you are going!" cried Elwe, but Olwe was gone.

A thump and a grunt reached the ears of the other two waiting anxiously above. Then Olwe called, "There was a bit of a drop. You will have to come down feet first."

Elwe lost no time in cautiously handing Elmo down to Olwe and then following himself. The cave was dark, for very little starlight filtered in through the opening. The three brothers sat in silence, waiting.

At length Elmo whispered, "Has It gone?"

Elwe listened carefully to the speech of the forest around them (or rather above them). "I think we are safe now," he said. "Now let us get out of this cave find the camp, and quickly. You climb out first, Olwe, and I shall hand Elmo up to you."

Accordingly, Olwe scrambled up out of the cave to be met by a sudden blaze of brighter light than ever he had seen before. . .

- -

All right, I know, this kind of thing has been done so many times it's not even funny. The bright light is actually sunlight, and Olwe is startled by it because he has never seen it before. Remember, this is the time in Elf history before the Sun and the Moon. Folks who wandered off alone would disappear and not be seen again. The Hunter took them, it was said.

And if Elwe seems too quick to bark orders and his little brothers too ready to follow them for this to seem realistic to you, once again, these are dangerous times. People's lives depend on making decisions and following orders without question at lightning speed.