Adulas' Tale
A revision of the Tale of Adulas by Dinledhwen
Chapter Four: Heated Words and Snow
“Legolas isn’t there something we can do to make it easier for Aragorn and Gimli?” Adulas
thought while he stopped so he could turn around and watch the man and
dwarf struggle to keep up with him and the Prince through the deep snow
that blanketed the ground inside the borders of Lothlórien.
“I suppose we could try and carry them on our backs but that might embarrass them,” Legolas
replied just as Aragorn and Gimli tripped over a hidden tree root under
the snow which resulted in the dwarf falling face first into the snow
while Aragorn some how managed to remain upright. “Then again maybe not after that.”
“Not only does the dwarf breathe so loudly but he is extremely clumsy
as well,” Haldir said while he and two other Galadhrim seemingly
materialized out of thin air beside Legolas. Behind them were two more
Galadhrim each with a wooden toboggan that they were pulling behind
them.
Now this didn’t set well with Legolas who frowned deeply at this
verbal jab directed at his friend while Gimli mumbled angrily about
certain elves being brainless in general as Aragorn helped him to his
feet. “Perhaps you would like to come over here and see how un-clumsy I
am with my axe!” he challenged his face as red as his beard while he
took a firm grip on the shaft of his deadly weapon.
Instantly Aragorn clamped a restraining hand on the dwarf’s left
shoulder in order to silence him while at the same time he gave Haldir
a look which clearly said lay off the dwarf. “I see you have brought us
toboggans. Splendid!” he then said his face now a smiling one as he
changed the subject.
“The Lord and Lady thought they would be needed. This last snowfall
was unusually heavy for Lothlórien,” Haldir replied while he inclined
his head respectfully towards the King. Then he looked at Adulas who
had been silently watching the exchange of words between the elf and
dwarf with a hint of an amused smile on his lips. “Welcome to
Lothlórien Adulas. And welcome back,” he continued with a genuine smile
which had Adulas now looking puzzled.
“I thank you for the welcome. But I’ve never been here before so how can I be coming back?” he asked.
“The Lady said you would ask that and the answer to which lies within yourself according to her.”
Now this had Adulas looking and feeling even more puzzled then
before while he watched as Aragorn somewhat forcibly got Gimli to sit
down on one of the toboggans. “How can the answer lie within me? Is
this a riddle I must solve? If it is I’m sunk since I’m no good at
solving them,” he said.
“The Lady said nothing about it being a riddle so it must not be,” Haldir replied. “Come now the Lord and Lady are waiting.”
“It sounds like a riddle to me,”
Legolas thought to Adulas while they followed after Aragorn and Gimli
who were each being pulled along on their toboggans by a team of two
Galadhrim after Haldir had taken the lead.
“Well I’m not going to dwell on it now. There are more pressing questions that need the attention,” Adulas replied firmly.
Meanwhile Gimli had let out an angry yelp of surprise when a mini
avalanche of snow from a sapling’s branches fell on him after one of
the elves pulling him “accidentally” bumped into the tree’s slender
trunk.
“He did that on purpose Aragorn!” the dwarf sputtered while he
tried to brush the snow off which only succeeded in covering himself
more with it.
“I am sure that wasn’t the case. It looked accidental to me,”
Aragorn replied diplomatically in order to keep his friend calm
although he gave the offending elf the same look he had given Haldir
earlier.
As for Legolas he was giving that elf a far deadlier look.
Meanwhile Adulas’ attention was on the taller mallorns the group
had stopped in amongst since they were even more magnificent then what
had been portrayed in the movies. Now this meant that he was totally
oblivious to the low exchange of heated words between Legolas and
Haldir who had come to the defense of his fellow Galadhrim after the
Prince had reprimanded that elf for his not so courteous treatment of
Gimli.
Likewise it also meant that no one was paying attention to him as
the argument continued so he was able to wander off up ahead of the
group while he became entranced with the whispered “speech” of the
trees as they welcomed and rejoiced at his presence.
“Where’s Adulas?” Aragorn asked several minutes later after his
diplomatic intervention had brought about a truce of sorts between
Legolas and Haldir.
Now this had everyone quickly scanning the woods all around them
and Legolas experiencing a sharp twinge of panic and guilt for not
keeping an eye on his new friend and “brother”.
“Adulas where are you?” he
thought desperately while all of the Galadhrim and Aragorn fanned out
in order to see if they could find some sign in the snow that would
give them a clue as to which direction he had gone in. Not the easiest
of tasks since elves are always light on their feet.
“I’m up ahead and you should see the mallorns here! They’re magnificent!” Adulas instantly thought back his almost child like wonderment about the trees clearly evident within his words.
Meanwhile Haldir had been fortuitous enough to spy the nearly
non-existent boot prints Adulas had left in the snow. So the group
hurried along side of them while a relieved Legolas thought “Stay put! We are coming!”
“Don’t worry! I’ll try not to wander off again,” a now apologetic Adulas replied. “I
should have told you sooner that I sometimes have this tendency to do
this whenever I see something that interests me out in the woods. I use
to drive my Aunt Liz crazy with it from time to time. Hopefully I can
control it better here.”
“I hope so too. Your wandering off in any other place outside of
Lorien could prove to a fatal move on your part. Especially when you
are unarmed such as you are now.”
“How can you tell that I’m unarmed?” Adulas thought back
in amazement while he watched as his “brother” and the others appeared
amongst the trees a good distance behind him. Now this let him know
that he had wandered afar and it made him even more determined to end
it.
“I can tell by the way your unusual
clothing fits your body and by the way you move. Concealing a weapon or
anything for that matter on ones person from an elf who has walked this
earth for several centuries can be a daunting challenge.”
“I had no idea! So is this a skill learned over the years or is it instinctual and the passing years make it more acute?”
“It is a learned skill that becomes instinctual over time. With
practice I am sure you will be able to do it too. But in the meantime
am I going have to tether you to me?” Legolas thought while a hint of an amused smile appeared on his face as he stopped along side of Adulas.
“Not this day or any other for that matter!” Adulas thought so firmly while grinning at his friend’s teasing that Legolas only gave back a pleased smile as a response.
Meanwhile everyone else was giving the elf a reproachful look which
soon made him shift a bit uneasily from one foot to the other. “I’m
sorry if my interest in these mallorns and the subsequent wandering it
caused has created worry about me,” he said while giving them all an
apologetic smile.
“Considering you are a sylvan elf we cannot be too hard on you
about being interested in the trees. And since you did wander off in
the direction we were heading in I say that would let you off the hook.
What say you Haldir?” Aragorn asked while grinning big.
“I can see no further reason for us to dwell any longer on this,”
the elf almost snapped back while he shot Legolas a glance that was
less then friendly. “I would not want to step on anyone’s toes,” he
added before he abruptly continued on toward Caras Galadhon.
Now this had Adulas giving Aragorn and Legolas an inquiring look to
which the King merely shrugged his shoulders while the hint of a smile
of amusement appeared on his lips before the Galadhrim pulling his
toboggan began to follow after Haldir.
“I came to Gimli’s defense after one
of the Galadhrim dumped snow from some branches onto him. Haldir felt I
had over stepped my bounds with my reprimand for such an act of
discourtesy and we exchanged heated words. And while I agreed for now
to set aside my differences about this at Aragorn’s request I will not
hesitate to come to Gimli’s defense again. Haldir knows this and it
bothers him still even though he too agreed to set it aside so that is
why he is out of sorts,” Legolas thought while the two elves fell in behind the dwarf’s toboggan.
“When did all this happen?” Adulas asked in amazement while he felt totally out of the loop.
“It happened before you wandered off. Did you not see or hear any of it?”
“No I didn’t. I was preoccupied by the trees. So I take it that you didn’t see me wander off either.”
“I regret that I did not. I feel responsible for your safety and to let
myself become that distracted is something I cannot allow to happen
again especially with your tendency to wander.”
“And I will make sure to not wander so you will have nothing to worry about. What did Gimli say after you came to his defense?”
“Fortunately he had the presence of mind to not openly gloat about
it at the time. But I fear his now present smug smile over it will
trigger some sort of retaliation later on.”
“I have a strong hunch that our stay here in Lorien will be very interesting in more than one way,” Adulas idly thought while he turned his attention back to the mallorns he was walking by.
To this Legolas said nothing since he didn’t even want to think
about that scenario while the last go round was still fresh in his mind
as he joined Adulas in gazing up at the trees although he did keep one
eye on his friend.
As it turned out the remainder of the journey to Caras Galadhon
passed without further incident although there was still some tension
between Haldir and Legolas. Meanwhile more dark storm clouds had moved
in from the west so by the time the group had reached the tall and
strong gate beyond the white bridge the snow was falling thick and fast
in the early twilight it had brought with it.
“I am already finding this snow tiresome and it is not even winter
yet!” Gimli grumbled while he and Aragorn disembarked from their
toboggans since there was no further need for them because the paths
and stairs behind the gates and deep lane were not deeply covered with
the white stuff.
“It does have an irritating quality to it,” Aragorn agreed while
the elves glanced at one another and smiled somewhat smugly since snow
never bothered them. “But we will only have to endure it for a little
longer. Then we can bask in the warm glow before the fireplace in the
Guest House by the Lawn.”
Suddenly there came a loud and sharp cracking sound from far above
them which had everyone instantly looking up. Now to Adulas it reminded
him of a rifle shot but to Haldir and the other Galadhrim it meant
something else just as deadly.
“Look out it is a falling branch!” Haldir shouted as a long branch
the diameter of a small shield began to hurtle down towards them its
movement through the other large branches now knocking the snow and
ripping the smaller limbs loose from them as it ricochet off each one.
Quickly this created a massive snowy and leafy twig avalanche which
partially obscured the falling branch so it made it difficult for those
on the ground to know which way to run in order to get out from under
it.
As it turned out Adulas guessed wrong and before he could run off
in a different direction the branch fell on him. Now the full weight of
the branch quickly drove him face down into the snow while one of its
baseball bat thick limbs smacked him hard on the top of his head which
immediately knocked him unconscious before most of the snowy and leafy
twig avalanche covered him and the branch.
After that there was a moment of stunned silence which was
shattered by a panic filled Legolas frantically calling out Adulas’
name before he tried to reach his pinned friend by rapidly burrowing in
amongst the branch’s many limbs. Meanwhile everyone else were now
trying to muscle it off the elf but to no avail since it was too big
and unwieldy for them to do so.
“Quickly now fetch ropes and more help!” Haldir said urgently to
one of the Galadhrim who immediately raced off. Then to another he said
with the same urgency “Tell the Lord and Lady what has happened and
find the healer. We may have need for her talents.”
In the meantime Aragorn and Gimli were now helping a frantically
pacing Legolas reach Adulas with skillful use of the dwarf’s axes since
the many branches had kept the Prince from doing so by himself. And
when they had cleared a space large enough for Legolas to kneel next to
his motionless friend they quickly stepped back so as to not hinder him
any longer. Then they watched as the elf immediately drop to his knees
and began the careful task of brushing the snow away from Adulas’ pale
face which eventually led him to quickly placing one hand on the downed
elf’s neck once he had it cleared of snow as well. Now all during this
time his fear of the worst was rising since he could not tell if his
friend was alive. But when he felt the strong pulse beating under it
his heart swiftly began to leap with joy.
“He is alive!” he said excitedly over his shoulder to Aragorn,
Gimli, and Haldir before he began to gently feel with the same hand for
any injuries on Adulas’ head. And when he felt the forming bump where
the branch had hit he told this to Aragorn who also gently felt it once
Legolas had moved out of the way.
“No doubt this is why he is unconscious. Hopefully he has no other
injuries. But we will not know that until we can get this branch off of
him,” Aragorn said just as the first Galadhrim Haldir had set off
returned with ropes and more help.
What followed next was a speedy deployment of all the Galadhrim
along the total length of the branch. And once the ropes were tied to
it in strategic places the elves were then able to easily pull it
totally off of Adulas thus allowing Aragorn and Legolas to quickly
kneel down on either side of the unconscious elf. Then they began to
gently check for crushed arms and legs.
“Fortunately it appears that Adulas has escaped with just the one
bump,” Aragorn said to Legolas while Haldir brought over one of the
toboggans.
“We can use this to move him to the Guest House. That is were the
Lord, Lady, and Healer will meet us according to the message sent back
to me,” he said.
So the two elves and the King carefully rolled Adulas over onto the
toboggan before Aragorn took off his cloak and rolled it up in order to
form a pillow for the injured elf’s head. And once he had it in place
Legolas had to gently brush the gathering snow from his friend’s still
pale face and cover it loosely with his own cloak so no more could fall
directly on it. Then he helped Haldir to pull the toboggan along the
many paths and up alongside the many stairs while Aragorn and Gimli
followed close behind as they quickly headed for the high places where
the Guest House stood.
