With Him For A While by Independence1776

With Him For A While

“It’s not good for you to do this-- you’re burning bridges with Gil-galad and everyone else.”

Elrond looked back at me with stubborn eyes. “I don’t care, Maglor. They can accomplish whatever they’re building without me. I have the strength and courage to come with you, no matter that we’re wandering off into the unknown.”

“And you love me,” I said with a sigh.

“I do.”

“What about Elros? The Land of the Gift is not yet ready.”

“We have already said our farewells.” Elrond shook his head. “Father, he agreed that you needed someone to look out for you.”

“As if I need the comfort.”

Elrond’s expression did not shatter or shutter. “Whyever not? You are a Kinslayer, yes-- but that does not mean you should suffer for years uncounted, lost forgotten beside the waves and underneath the stars in space above.” The sunlight shown amber on his face, almost making his eyes shine like one of the Calaquendi. “I inherited the stubbornness of Lúthien and the House of Finwë. I will follow you, Maglor, unto the ends of the earth.”

I looked away, out to sea and the West, and hoped my Doom did not fall on him.

*

“We should make a fire before it turns cold overnight.” The destruction of Beleriand had made the weather less-than-pleasant much of the time.

Elrond nodded and gathered the two food packs to store them hanging from the trees so no wild animals could easily reach them. I heard the sounds of him crunching through the bushes away from the camp and had half a thought to flee so he could not follow. But it would have been pointless: he would follow me nonetheless.

By the time he returned, the fire had been kindled and was large enough to cook on.

*

I poked the embers, drawing designs in the ashes below them and sending sparks whirling up. We were too far from any trees for them to catch and the sea grasses too wet from all the rain to establish a brush fire. Thankfully, the lack of clouds meant it was unlikely to rain tonight, but when it inevitably did, Elrond and I would wish we were back in the great hall of the settlement we’d eked out a living in during the early years of the War, hiding from dragons, orcs, and Men.

We could only hope South was safer.

*

Elrond and I divided up the responsibilities for breaking camp. He took care of cleaning up after breakfast while I assembled our packs in some sort of order. I stood fluidly, ignoring the mild pain my hand, and turned around to see him grimacing at the substance burned on the bottom of the pan. “Why couldn’t that have been an illusion?”

“Because.”

He gave me a disappointed look. “’Because’ stopped working when Elros and I were young children. Try harder.”

I shook my head. “There’s only so many pat ‘I have no idea’ phrases I can cycle through. It seemed time for that one.”

He rolled his eyes at me and I looked around the camp for anything we may have left by accident. It wouldn’t do to leave anything behind, not when we were heading South, far from any known Eldarin settlement. I sighed, ran my left hand through my loose hair, and turned to look at Elrond, still scrubbing at the pot and muttering imprecations to himself.

As much as I had protested yesterday, after half the night spent awake on watch by the fire, I had realized having my son wandering with me would be a joy.