I neither own nor created Estel, Elrond, Elladan, Elrohir, Erestor, Glorfindel, Imladris, or Middle Earth. I did however, create Mellolaes. :)

This story is for entertainment purposes only, so please read and be entertained. :)

Erestor looked out through the thin hole in the stone wall. If this were any other day in the valley, he would let it go. This, though, was a bad day for Estel's new nurse to disappear. There had been no sounding of the horn while she was away to declare either that she had joined the hunting party, or that they had found a clear trail, or, best of all, the three soundings in a row to say the monsters had been caught.

If what had gotten loose in their Valley should find and harm the Silvan, they would have war with her kin if not all the elves of Mirkwood. He could have cursed himself for letting her go without agreeing to search out their lord and their soldiers first, and then seek out what they hunted. Erestor tapped his fingernails against the hilt of the knife in his belt.

He glanced down at Estel. The boy had woken from his nap long ago. The child was frowning at his side. He had not liked waking to find his "Melly" gone.

Erestor looked back out the window. The grass beyond was bending in the wind blowing everything northwest. The steward didn't like this brewing storm either. It was much too harsh. Elrond would never use Vilya to guide such weather here. Something had set its will against their lord. What if war with Mirkwood came from this because of one stubborn servant who never did what she was told?

He almost sighed, looked to the double, barred doors and then back to the window. It was high, and narrow, but he could squeeze through. Not even he could do that with dignity, but he could do it. He didn't like leaving the boy without supervision, but they'd had such trouble finding "this" nurse to supervise him. If something happened to her, Estel could be back to depending upon the abilities of even more dubious caretakers. The elf looked down at the boy and gave him a soft smile. "Estel, can you do something for me?"

The boy's head flew up from where he'd lowered it into his hands. "What?"

"I want you to hide in the straw and if anyone you know comes in, you pop out and surprise them. If anyone or anything you don't know comes in you stay hidden and quiet. Can you do that?"

Estel nodded with a sneaky smile. "Will you go find, Melly?"

Erestor nodded. "I will try."

The boy eagerly crawled into the straw. Erestor spoke comforting words while rubbing the boy's back as he had observed his lord do for centuries. Soon the child was asleep again. Then the elf made his undignified departure out the window.

. . .

Erestor had not gone far when a bad feeling tingled up his back. He glanced towards a stand of trees not far away. Unfortunately, that was where the Silvan elleth would probably go. He crept toward them form bent, head held low.

He tried to concentrate on his surroundings. As steward of a large, busy household, however, he was used to considering several matters at once. What if that elleth had gotten herself killed already? How would he or his lord ever tell her charge? Such a shadow it would be for Estel to know so young. Why had Lord Elrond and Glorfindel even sent for the elleth of Mirkwood, especially when she was not even one of that kingdom's warriors adept at hunting spiders and wargs?

Erestor crept among the tree trunks occasionally pressing himself against one to just listen. That "something" foul on the wind and in the shadow made it hard to pinpoint where the danger lay. He couldn't feel the elleth anywhere either. Had he come here for nothing? Was she already dead?

A growl sounded behind and above him. Erestor spun around and flung his back into the nearest tree trunk. He looked up into a pair of eyes dimly glowing red. Fangs gleamed a bit against the dim shadow of an open mouth. Erestor drew his knife and nodded up at the sight.

"So, you are there. Where is the other?"

Another growl came from his right. Erestor didn't look away from the cat he now stared at, but the corner of his eye saw another black, rectangular head appear around the tree-trunk he was pressed against. The nostrils of the beast twitched. The cat above him stood to his paws and sniffed at him as well. The elf squinted.

The cat at his side made a lunge. The elf turned and swiped at the reaching paw, which pulled back before the blade met flesh. The other cat pounced and penned the elf to the tree, sinking his claws into his shoulder and arm.

. . .

Estel jerked awake. "Erestor!" He raced out from his hiding place and toward the doors. He looked at the board blocking his way and then toward the small window out of his reach. He glanced around and spied a stool.

He grabbed and dragged it toward the window. He leapt atop, reached for the sill, and reached it with his finger. They grabbed it, and he dragged himself up by them in what should have been an impossible feat. His head and shoulder went through. He squirmed a bit and fell out. He turned over and landing rolling, which took him down the hill. When he stopped, he got to his feet and shouted. "Erestor!"

As his cry faded away, Estel glanced around. Most of his surroundings were open fields where he only saw grass whipping in the wind sweeping back his hair and stinging his eyes. Then a cry came from the stand of trees to his right. Estel sprinted toward the forest.

. . .

Amid the shooting pains, a sound broke through Erestor's conscious. "Erestor!" Both cats turned their snarls from him and towards the sound. Erestor grit his teeth, and then shouted back. "Estel, get back inside!"

The cat pinning him took a great paw and slapped it against his head. His temple met the tree trunk and all went black.

. . .

Estel noticed how the shadows seemed blacker and deeper. He shivered. Every trace of his usual smile was gone. A puzzled frown, too serious to be a pout, creased his face instead. A wavering whisper left his lips. Erestor . . ?

A growl sounded behind him, like a big, angry dog. Estel spun around. Two red circles were looking at him.

Estel gulped and stepped back. He took a step back and then another. A thrill went through him. Without knowing why he glanced directly up. Another pair of red eyes gazed at him from there. With a yelp Estel turned and dove into some bushes.

As Mellolaes had taught him, he sank to his belly and reached forward. He kicked out like he was swimming, crawling on his tummy. A paw crashed through and reached for his ankle. He yanked his feet up toward his middle.

A head followed the paw. A great mouth opened and roared at him. Estel gulped. When the mouth closed it shot forward. Estel picked up both feet and slammed his heels into both red eyes. The head shot back. Estel turned over on his stomach again and shimmied forward. He crawled deeper and deeper into brush while it was crushed and clawed behind him.

He kept going as his fortress was crushed and broken around him. Then he came to an opening and rushed out into it screaming. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

A great, black blur passed and then stopped in front of him. The monster looked so much like the black, barn cat he'd cuddled, but it was too large. It spread its legs out and opened its mouth in a snarl. White teeth shone in a red mouth. Estel slid to a stop. he turned. His wide eyes saw another slightly smaller, but still too large cat behind him. His small chest heaved. "Help!"

Two figures dropped from the trees, more alike than the too-big cats. He now stood sheltered between their backs. Each faced one of the cats. He couldn't see the spears in their hands, but he did know them without seeing their faces. "Eldan! Elhir!" He dropped where he was and grabbed ahold of Elhir's leg. His brother's voice came to him eerily calm.

"Hush brother ... Let go of my leg. I need to walk."

Elladan spoke next in the same tone as his brother, perhaps with a little more authority. "And stay between us, cover your head, but stand. Watch carefully. Don't let them catch you, or us crush you. Understand?"

Estel whimpered, but let go, rolled away, and stood to his feet, a bit like when they wrestled with him. Then he stood up, arms crossed over his head, legs shaking, eyes wide to watch what happened next.

The cats snarled beyond his brothers and began to circle. The brothers circled too, not looking away from their challengers. The two elves moved almost as one, spear points out toward the beasts, brother between them. They rotated around Estel like the hands of a clock. The cats were the numbers beyond them, Estel was their center. They had never seen prey like this. It didn't matter, though. Orc, warg, giant cat from far away lands, these beasts were after their brother.

Then one cat moved forward. Elrohir moved his spear just slightly. The cat stopped, sniffed, growled, and began to circle again. The other cat lunged farther. Eldan raised his spear. This cat also stopped, but the other suddenly pounced.

Estel screamed as he lunged aside and watched the big cat land on his brother's lance. Elladan turned his head slightly to watch. The other cat rushed at him. He raised his spear. The beast landed upon it and kept falling down and forward until it hit the cross-bar behind the point. Even then its claws reached the elf's face. Both cats began to maul the elves faces. In an attempt to escape both brothers let themselves fall upon their backs while keeping the cats raised above them on their spears.

Estel blinked. Then he looked around for a stick. He grabbed one and began to smack the nearest cat's leg. Punctuating each blow with a word. "Let! Go! Of! My! Brother!" The cat lunged at him, and then paused as its eyes glazed over. It's form went limp.

Elladan took that moment to pull his knife from his belt and stab it in the back of the head to be sure. Estel had turned to hit the other cat, this time on the rump. "Stop! Scratching! Elhir!"

The cat turned to snarl, but then also fell over. Elrohir got up on his elbows. Estel lunged at him as Elladan paused to make certain this cat also stayed dead. Estel fell against his brother's chest. "Elhir! You're alive!"

Elrohir put one arm around Estel, "And so are you little brother."

Elladan looked through the scratches on his face at his twin with a slightly different pattern of pink and red stripes on his. "Shall we take him home now?"

"One of us must go back for Mellolaes. She'll be more worried than anyone I think."

Estel released his hold and looked up at Elrohir. "What about Erestor?"

A voice came from the woods to their right. "I am well enough."

Both elves and boy turned to see a familiar form coming through the brush. Elladan went to him. "Erestor! Estel's fine! What happened to you?"

The steward waved a hand. "Never mind. I brought some bandages with me, I'm sure Mellolaes did as well. One of you take a horse and go search for the Silvan. The other stays with Estel and me."

. . .

Mellolaes burst through the door into the old store building. "Estel!"

"Here, Melly! We're fixing Elrohir's face!"

Mellolaes came upon the sight of a bandaged Erestor cleaning scratches on Elrohir's face while a grinning Estel sat next to him on a hay-bale. The elleth darted toward the boy. "Oh, Estel!'

She plucked the child up, hugged him close and spun around. Then she glanced from one Peredhel to another. "Thank you."

Both twins glanced at each other and back to her. "He's 'our' brother!"

Erestor grabbed his patient's chin and growled. "Hold still."

. . .

Later that night, the camp of humans near the south gate were sleeping to ready themselves for the long journey they would embark on the morrow. Meanwhile, Mellolaes walked through Imladris' gardens to compose herself. Elrond was changing the bandages on his son's faces inside.

Glorfindel had gone with other warriors to find and dispose properly of the beasts' bodies. They'd decided to burn them, for they knew not what evil had been done upon the creatures to make them so thirsty for free-people's blood. While she would have done it to protect Estel, and even herself, Mellolaes was glad she had not been the one who killed them. Silvans were supposed to be the friends of beasts. Wargs and giant spiders, long held and bred to serve darkness, were their only exceptions. She paused, looked up at the stars, and breathed another "thank you."

Mellolaes then felt a stare upon her back. She turned to see a tall, golden-haired elf walking toward her with a nod. "It is done."

The elleth hugged herself and nodded.

The warrior looked her hard in the face. "You took some battle wounds yourself did you not?"

"I took care of them myself."

Glorfindel nodded. She nodded back and then noticed his right hand clutched something. "What have you got there?"

He raised the hand still wrapped around the object. "A present … for Estel."

The elleth scowled. "He doesn't need a reminder of this day! It took me an hour to sing him to sleep." After losing sight of his brothers and being made to settle down, the shocks of the day had come over the child. He'd been trembling and whimpering. She'd had to rock and sing, and tell him "Everything was alright now."

Glorfindel shook his head. "I would say one thing only he needs to remember about this day."

. . .

During the next evening hours, after the caravan left and just before dinner, Glorfindel carried Estel outside and sat him on a bench by a fountain. There he opened his hand to reveal a string of mithril, sure to hold. Hanging from it, gleaming and barely blunted for safety, were two claws. Estel blinked at his gift, making a face and drawing slightly back.

Glorfindel spoke in a soft, low, deep tone. "Easy Estel, they can hurt you no more, but I want you to wear this, and remember always that your brothers' love and care for you."

Estel looked up into the elf's face in amazement. "I know that!"

"Now, but someday you will travel far away," and learn how brief man's life is compared to an elf's, "And you may need a reminder."

Estel glared a bit at the ancient elf. He crossed his arms and shook his head. "Huh-uh!"

Glorfindel grinned instead of getting angry. "Then wear it to remind Mellolaes."

Estel blinked. His arms uncrossed and he nodded. "Oh yes, she does need reminding. She's always yelling at them for not taking care of me."

The elf laughed as he slipped the string around and over the child's head. Estel's eyes closed as the claws fell past them. Then the child took them in his own small hands. He studied them. A few tears spilled down his cheeks. Glorfindel took the boy back into his strong arms and squeezed. Then he carried Estel on his shoulders back toward a glaring Mellolaes.

. . .

The summer day was hot, even for Imladris. Mellolaes had enjoyed her time off, but nonetheless strode toward the brook. She could not believe Lord Elrond had let "them" take Estel there.
"Estel! Esteeeeelllllll!"

"Here I am Melly!" The elleth stopped. She blinked at the little mud-ball with legs running toward her. "Here I am!"

Mellolaes bent down an plucked the boy up. "Estel! Where are your brothers?"

"Here."

Mellolaes turned to see the much slower moving and chagrined elves, nearly as filthy as the human. She scowled and opened her mouth. But Estel spoke first. "Look, Melly! Look!"

The elleth "looked." The child was holding up a now familiar mithril chain and its two ornaments before her face. At least, they would have been familiar had they not been covered in mud. Mellolaes gave a slight smile. "I see, Estel. Now let's go clean them off." She turned and began walking away.

The twins turned matching grins upon each other and then made longer strides to catch up with and walk on either side of the elleth. "He is 'our' brother, you know."

She gave a smirk. "I know, but you will be reminding Erestor of this when you explain its 'you' who got him so filthy." The elves gave matching looks of fear over her head and she and Estel chuckled, the later cuddled to her chest.

Here is the long awaited last chapter. I'm sorry it took so long. Thank "Cowboy-4-Christ" for reminding me to finish it. :)

Reviews are well appreciated and often responded to. Sometimes they even get stories finished. ;)

God Bless

ScribeofHeroes