Stars of Heaven's Dome by Cirdan

Chapter 1: Meeting Under Heaven's Dome

Elrond cursed quietly as his horse refreshed himself. They had ridden hard for five days and still had farther to ride. They'd unknowingly crossed into woods that were infested with the servants of Sauron, and the werewolves hunted them when they rested. Surrocco was skittish. He drank from the stream and allowed himself to rest but started at every sound. During the first encounter, he'd been wounded. Elrond was no less anxious. His bow was cocked even as he rested his weary body. He only had three arrows left. The werewolves had attacked at every opportunity and forced them to ride circles around the woods. At first, Elrond had been concerned that Gil-galad's message to Oropher concerning the Union of Gil-galad and Elendil would be delayed. Now, he feared it would not be delivered at all.

A werewolf leapt at Elrond from the bushes, but Elrond's arrow flew true to its mark, and the werewolf died before it hit the ground. Behind the trees, Elrond heard the baying of more werewolves. He sprung quickly onto his horse and shot two werewolves that had come forth. It was already too late to ride away though. A ring of werewolves had formed. They snarled and laughed, for they knew Elrond to be out of arrows. They slowly approached to feed the fear of their prey. The werewolves attacked. Surrocco kicked at them and kept the first two at bay, but more closed in to join their friends. The battle was a blur. Elrond was too tired to think straight. He defended himself clumsily with his bow as a melee weapon. A werewolf knocked Elrond from his mount and, before he could stand, the monster was atop him. Elrond was quick enough to shield his face with his arm. The dreaded fangs tore into his forearm and nearly snapped it in two. The werewolf suddenly went limp and fell heavily on top of Elrond. Elrond heard the whisking of more arrows and thought that reinforcements from Gil-galad had miraculously appeared, though he knew not how they could have known of his predicament. The journey to Oropher's was to be long but not dangerous. Elrond pried the jaws of the dead werewolf open and withdrew his arm. He pushed the carcass from him, and by the time he stood, the battle was over. Over two dozen werewolves lay dead. His horse Surrocco was also dead.

Elrond turned to face his rescuers, but the twin elves might as well have been ghosts. Their clothes were distinctly fashioned from the First Age. Though they must have been over 3,400 years old, the brown cloaks showed no sign of age. Underneath, Elrond could see fine red silk with golden embroidery, and the making of the collars alone was a lost art. The red glow of their wooden bows was now fading. But most unusual of all was not their First Age raiment but their faces. Elrond could have easily been their triplet brother. They studied Elrond's face with just as much interest. The twin brothers looked at each other then at Elrond again. Wonder filled their bright eyes.

Elrond's caution reminded him of where he was. There would be time enough for introductions later. "I thank you for saving me, but let us talk elsewhere. More werewolves may be coming." He hastily wrapped his arm with a strip of his outer shirt.

The twins looked at each other. One made a low whining sound, and the other nodded. They three elves began to sprint through the woods, and the twins paced themselves according to Elrond's needs. Fear was greater than pain though. Elrond scarcely felt the gaping wound in his arm, and the exhaustion he'd felt earlier was temporarily overridden by his survival instincts. Once they were safely hidden in a cave behind a waterfall, Elrond slumped to the floor. His arm had stopped bleeding. His body had needed the blood to fuel his heart as they'd run. The venom of the fangs was already coursing through his veins. He'd need some elanor petals and some hot water. All this registered dimly in Elrond's mind as he slipped into unconsciousness and delirium.

Elrond woke up several times during his fevered sleep. Always by his bedside was Elros putting hot compresses to his forehead or wiping his skin with a piece of cloth. He slipped into darkness again and then awoke to the taste of a floral paste in his mouth. His brother held a bowl of cool water to his lips. Elrond drank until his brother drew the bowl away. No, probably best that he didn't drink too much. Elrond tried to put his hand on his brother's but found that he could not move. He gave up and let the darkness wash over him once more.

The shadow of death passed over Elrond and at last his dreams were filled with light. He dreamt of Rivendell and the trees that graced the sanctuary. Elrond awoke. He found himself in a cave, and the sound of crashing water was close by. He sat up slowly. His brother murmured something unintelligible and eased him up. He brought a bowl of cool water to Elrond's lips, and Elrond drank sparingly. His body was still recovering and should not have been treated to extremes. Elrond gazed to his right arm and found the werewolf bite neatly bandaged in bright red cloth. Underneath the bandage, he could feel his skin closing. The venom had been leached out or he would not have awakened. He turned back to his brother to face the eyes of a stranger. The memories of his rescuers, the twin elves in First Age garb, returned to him.

"Thank you for saving my life. I am Elrond Half-Elven, herald to High King Gil-galad and Lord of Rivendell."

The elf looked at him and replied in a low whine. "Ruscoel," the elf said slowly at last. He pointed deeper into the cave, where his brother was preparing food. "Ruscowe. We words not." The words that he chose were of an arcane but high Sindarin tongue, but he spoke awkwardly and slowly. He turned to his brother, who was approaching with some fruits and nuts, and whined like a dog.

Ruscowe laughed and whimpered back t him. Then he burst into wordless song, vocalizing in high and clear notes. He evoked images before Elrond, and in this manner did Elrond understand them. Ruscowe offered the food to Elrond and summoned an image of Elrond accepting the food and eating. Elrond did as he was bid to do and listened carefully to their songs.

The twins were raised by foxes and had lived with the descendants of their fox parents for countless years. Of course, they knew they were different, but the foxes accepted them, especially because they were skilled and helpful in all things. The years passed and generations of foxes passed before Elrond's eyes. Then, at last, the generations ended and a whole lineage died out. The brothers had then wandered westward and come to dwell in these woods. They'd chosen to live in the cave behind the waterfall because it reminded them of their first home, a vast dwelling within caves whose walls were decorated with tapestries. Their fox parents had dwelt in dens, and when they'd outgrown the foxholes, they'd taken to living in hidden caves near their fox brethren and grown used to it. Only recently, in the last few days, had werewolves invaded their home.

Elrond put forth his powers of song. He asked where they'd come across their clothes and weapons. They looked at Elrond with surprise, for they had apparently not expected Elrond to be able to speak in wordless music and images. Ruscoel called forth visions of their fox mother bringing a pack back to the den, and in it were most of the items that they used to this very day, like the bowl and their flint and steel. Their fox father had brought back the bows at a later time with the foreknowledge that his elven children would not be able to hunt with their teeth like foxes. The quivers were enchanted such that arrows appeared once they'd been used. Ruscoel gestured at his own bright red and golden clothing. He showed Elrond that the shirtsleeves were too long and the pants legs had been rolled up.

These fine raiments were not that of just any elf, but Elrond kept that to himself. The bright clothing was made from very finely woven silk and had possibly been brought out of the West. The emblem of the House of Feanor embroidered in the center made it clear that the raiments once belonged to Maedhros, head of the House of Feanor. Elrond's childhood memories stirred, and he remembered seeing Maedhros wear the same outfit in the past. Could Maedhros have purposefully left his pack behind to be found by odd chance by the fox mother? Elrond remembered the tale of the Second Kinslaying. Maglor had said that Celegorm's men had left Dior's sons to die in the forest and that Maedhros had sought long for them but without success. Was it possible that Elured and Elurin, Elrond's uncles and Elwing's brothers, had lived? And that they were these same strange elves who had been rescued by foxes? It seemed impossible, and yet their resemblance to Elrond was too strong to be coincidence. Elrond needed more time to discover the mystery of his saviors, but he also needed to deliver Gil-galad's summons to Oropher and return to the war against Sauron.

Elrond had lost his bow and horse in the last encounter with the werewolves. He would have to travel by foot. The lands should not have been so infested with the fell servants of Sauron. There was no way of telling if the band of werewolves was a rare situation. The two elves had already proven that they'd be excellent bodyguards and, regardless of their identities, they would be assets to the Union of Gil-galad and Elendil if they could be persuaded to join.

Elrond started by summoning visions of the werewolves that they'd encountered earlier. He showed them the Dark Lord that controlled these beasts. The shadow had caused the downfall of Numenor but had not perished. Instead, he'd returned as a spirit to the east and again assumed control of Barad-dur. Elrond explained that he needed to travel farther east still, into lands that were possibly dangerous now that the Dark Lord had returned. He begged the twin elves to join him on his journey and then return to Lindon, for their skills would be useful in the war against Sauron and he believed them to be his close kin but needed more time to discover their pasts.

In his eyes and posture, Ruscoel already agreed. He was about to vocalize his agreement when his brother stopped him. Ruscowe spoke to Elrond of their fox mother's prophecy. They'd obviously been left in the forest to die, and she believed that mingling with elves and returning to their native society would lead the twins to the Doom that they'd averted. She'd brought her family far into the southeastern lands to avoid elves and later asked her elven children to stay with her family of foxes. They'd stayed with their fox brethren and their descendants because they were the only family the twins had truly known, but they also remembered the words of their mother. Thus, when the fox lineage had ended, they'd chosen to dwell in solitude in the forest rather than seek out their own kind.

Ruscoel admitted that this was all true, but he told his brother, in visions so that Elrond could also understand, that they'd also obeyed their mother because they'd known themselves to be long sundered from their kin and unable to communicate or fit into elven society. What's more, they'd never expected to find their elven parents' kin. When Ruscoel sang of their parents, Elrond saw clearly in his mind the images of Dior and Nimloth. He'd seen them in Maglor's songs about the Second Kinslaying and the ruin of Doriath, when the sons of Feanor had sought to possess the Silmaril won from Morgoth's crown by Beren and Luthien. Ruscoel did not hear Elrond's gasp or chose to ignore it. He said to his brother that no one, not even the animals, would be safe if the Dark Lord reigned supreme. They should aid Elrond even if it led to the Doom foretold by their fox mother.

Ruscowe nodded and hummed a soft song of calming, and it was then that Elrond realized that the two were not twins. They were close in age and looked alike, but Ruscowe was the older brother. Elrond had been fixed on thoughts of himself and Elros and so had too easily assumed that Ruscowe and Ruscoel were twins. Ruscowe sang that he also wanted to escort Elrond through the eastern lands and join the elves in the fight against the Dark Lord, but he knew his brother to be impulsive and had simply wanted to make sure that Ruscoel had thought through his decision. Now that Ruscowe was certain of his brother's resolve, he informed Elrond that they would, indeed, return to their elven kindred.

Elrond responded with words but did so in song that conjured visions so that he could be understood. "Thank you. A fortunate star shines above our chance meeting, and I look forward to your company, my uncles."