Title: His Lord: Running 1/? 
Author: Edward Uwnhai Silverfang (Eddie_uwnhai@Yahoo.com) 
  
Pairing: Celeborn/Haldir 
Rating: R

Summary: On the borders of Lothlórien, Gwindor is killed, and his 
second, Haldir, is left to take care of the guards and Celeborn's 
increasing lust for pain. 

Series: 2 of 5 (Sequel to His Lord: The Beginning) 
Genre: Angst
Warning: OMC Char. Death Angst Violence 
  
Beta: Mawgy, thanks doll!
 
Timeline: Story is very much an AU, meaning it has nothing to do with 
the LOTR Trilogy, but the story takes place after Celeborn and 
Galadriel are ruling in Lórien, and the one ring does not exist.
 
Notes: For this story alone I have made the age order of Haldir and 
his brothers to start off Orophin as eldest, Rúmil, middle, and 
Haldir himself, youngest. 
  
 
Chapter 1 – The Border's

Two stormy grey eyes looked out upon the field as the human rubbish set 
up camp before him. He was lying across a limb in a tree above them, 
watching and listening to them tease each other, their crude words and 
language telling him all he needed to know, but still he watched and 
listened to their discourse.

Gwindor chose him to spy on the humans because most of the other 
guards didn’t know Westron, or didn’t know it well. But Haldir knew it, 
spoke it fluently and in the many different dialects they had, could speak it 
with their particular accents to perfection.

Haldir smirked as he heard one of the men bellow talking about how sweet 
an elfish ass was. Rambling to his company about how tight the elf had 
been and how he had squirmed beneath him, begging to be let alone. The 
idiot didn’t know he had just signed himself up for an excruciatingly 
painful death warrant. He memorized the human’s face, so later when they 
attacked, he would remember him.

He heard someone come up behind him and swing themselves onto the 
limb he was lying upon, then the elf laid down on top of him, supporting 
their weight with their arms, which were position on either side of his 
waist. 

“What do you think?” the elf asked in their language, “lost? Or here for 
trouble?”

Haldir turned his head so he was whispering right back into the other’s 
ear, “most definitely here for trouble. They’re looking for elfish slaves to 
sell on the market. Do you see the one talking just there?” he asked 
pointing to said human. The other elf looked then nodded his head. “He’s 
mine,” Haldir whispered. The other elf nodded once more. “Alert the rest 
of my men to get into position.”

The elf nodded once more, then backed off and clambered away silently. It 
was only a few minutes before he heard the sound of an owl from the 
other side of the human’s camp. He waited for a few more seconds to 
gather himself, then he sat up and in a movement too quick for humans to 
ever be able to keep up with he had his bow strung and an arrow notched, 
he waited just another moment before he whistled a response.

Arrows were released and rained down upon the human squabble and after 
a few more rounds, Haldir jumped down from his perch and was 
immediately caught up in a fray of frightened humans, he made his way 
determinedly to his target and before the human knew what was 
happening he had his sword hand cut off and was screaming as he turned 
to look into his opponent’s eyes. He fell back in fear before Haldir quickly 
ended his existence.

The whole fight was over quickly with only two very minimally wounded. 
After looting the bodies, they piled them together, most of the party 
leaving to set up camp at the next check point where they were next due, a 
few stayed behind to take care of the humans.

When Haldir’s company reached the talan hiding a few guards inside, they 
quickly set up a camp for themselves on the forest ground, while Haldir 
climbed into the talan. The first thing he did was gave a shortened version 
of the report he was soon going to write for Gwindor, his captain.

He went back down the rope ladder and walked to where most of his riders 
were bathing in a nearby stream. He stripped off there and cleaned his 
body, then his clothes as well. Next walking back and finding his pack, 
where he rummaged through it till he found a change of clothes. He put 
those on, and his just cleaned ones to dry on a tree limb.

He took his pack and climbed back up to the talan, where he sat down to 
write out the day’s report. When finished, he rolled it up and stuffed it into 
his pack. He pulled out a piece of lembas and ate that as he drank some 
water from a flask he carried at his hip. He went back down, and laid 
himself out next to the fire, the night’s watch knew who they were; he 
didn’t have to tell them what to do. His patrol was capable of running 
without a leader for a time if need ever came to it.

Haldir was proud of that fact.

Many elves needed to be supervised, but not his. They knew better, they 
were trained better, and that was why they were a part of the elite patrol 
that scavenged through the outskirts of Lórien’s borders. An elite party 
would pass by each outer post once a week, and because of the size of the 
forest, and the amount of time it took to get around it, there were three 
elite forces.

Haldir’s was heralded as the best. They worked a month, then had a month 
off. The elves on post usually only worked one week, then had two off. 
Haldir had worked as a elven post guard for nearly two hundred years 
before being transferred to the elite patrol, then he had slowly made his 
way up in command and only Gwindor was higher than he within the 
guardian rings now.

*~*~

The next morning Haldir was leading his elves on, tomorrow they started 
their trip home and Haldir wasn’t looking forward to that. He had come to 
love his time in the forest, the only reason he didn’t stay out here all the 
time was because he required the month to rejuvenate. Though being in 
the city was a lot more hectic, for Haldir, than being on duty.

Between Celeborn and Gwindor he was completely strung out. In the 
forest fighting orcs and other creatures that posed a threat to elves was 
where he rested and became something more normal.

Haldir looked up as he and his elves neared the next post. The guard’s 
there whistled their greeting and Haldir climbed up the talan. Up there he 
received a shock. Gwindor was looking over at him, a grim expression on 
his face.

“What’s wrong?” Haldir asked quietly, not because it was actually needed 
this high up, but because the features of the elves gathered seemed to 
speak to him of danger and it was natural to be anxious.

“Orcs, a large number, we didn’t dare try to fight them on our own. They 
already took the life of one elf. I’ve been waiting for your party to arrive. 
Though I think there will still be many casualties.”

“That many?” Haldir asked.

“That many.”

Haldir nodded his head, then sat down and crossed his legs so the calves 
were tucked up under his body.

“Tell me.” Haldir requested.

Gwindor nodded then began to spew out everything he thought, on where 
he thought they should position themselves, and how the orcs would react, 
to how many he thought would be wounded.

Haldir was quiet through it all, he trusted Gwindor’s judgment, he had a 
way of knowing the outcomes of battles before they ever happened and 
could best decide where the elves should be placed to prevent the most 
harm to his own side. Haldir knew he would never want to cross his leader 
in a battle; none had ever won a fight against him.

*~*~

In a few hours time Haldir found himself on the forest floor with three 
others. He had his shirt off at the moment and still sweat dripped from his 
body. They had till night fell to prepare. The orcs would not move until 
then.

The best at sneaking were killing the orcs on the outskirts of the party and 
hiding their bodies. Haldir and the others with him were digging traps in 
the forest ground, and the noon sun was not gentle. Finally Haldir judged 
the hole was large enough and they went to work with lightweight poles, 
their ends sharpened into jagged ends.

These they pushed into the soil at the bottom of the pit. Others that were 
made so they could hold some weight till their victim was in the middle of 
the trap and then snap, letting them fall to their doom were criss crossed 
on the top, then covered with dirt and the grass that had been on the top of 
the hole was shaken out and then replaced just so that none but an elf 
could tell there was anything there.

Before he knew what was happening the sound of clashing metal was 
filling his ears and then rampaging orcs were driving through the woods 
right at him and the others with him.

They didn’t have their weapons on them, having set them down so they 
could dig easier. Two of his companions managed to make it into the 
trees, him and the other were stuck on the forest floor fighting hand to 
weapon.

He heard a screech that sounded like one of his own, but didn’t spare a 
moment to look. Then there was a rain of arrows; his fellows in the trees 
must have made it to their weapons. As soon has he got a chance he turned 
and immediately saw the elf he had heard yell earlier lying on the ground 
in a pool of blood.

Haldir ran to him and picked him up, he was still breathing. He handed 
him up to one of the elves and then he felt a clawed hand grasp his waist, 
it’s nails digging into his flesh. He pushed his elbow into the beast’s gut, 
and then stomped on its foot right where it arched up to the ankle. He then 
turned and punched its nose with an upward motion, breaking it. And then 
kneed the beast in the groin.

It howled in anger but fell over in pain. One of the elves in the tree then 
passed down his sword and Haldir raged into the fray killing without 
mercy. Before he knew it this small battle was over and he was covered in 
orc filth and his own blood from the wound on his side.

He looked up to where his companions had been and saw one of them take 
off with the wounded elf, the other jumped down to him. They both took 
off to where they heard more sounds of battle and were instantly 
swallowed up into the melee. 

After more time than he cared to determine he found himself fighting next 
to Gwindor, “What happened?” he yelled to him.

Gwindor turned and looked over at him quickly before returning his 
attention to the combatants before him. “One of the creatures that we were 
taking out screamed before we could shut him up, alerting the others. A 
good many fled, but enough was left over for this!” he swept his arms out 
as if showing what ‘this’ implied.

After that Haldir once more lost himself in the battle.

*~*~

Haldir looked around at the carnage, more elves had been wounded and 
killed than should have been. He was helping the others gather the elves, 
still alive and corpse alike, and take them to where they could be taken 
care of properly. Then the orcs had to be piled together and burned.

When the piles were finally finished Haldir went in search of Gwindor, 
asking around, but no one had seen him. He figured he must have been 
wounded and so only a few would know where he was, the ones taking 
care of him and those who had taken him to the healers of the company.

When he went to there one of his men told him that Gwindor had just died 
from a wound that traveled from his right shoulder-neck region to halfway 
down his breastbone. Haldir went into a state of shock for a moment, the 
elf telling him noticed this and sat him down for a moment to give Haldir 
time to collect himself.

“Where is he laid?” Haldir asked.

The other elf lead him over to the elves who had been killed and to 
Gwindor’s body, it was mangled quite badly and Haldir had to look away 
for a moment, but then he turned back around and crouched beside his lost 
friend and teacher. He pressed a chaste kiss to his still warm lips and 
caressed his cheek, “rest in peace, friend.”

The next few hours were a blur, but soon he sent a messenger to the city to 
prepare the healers, then he gathered his men together and soon had them 
heading back to the city as well, the wounded and dead being carried.

TBC…