TOLKIEN; imagines

39: A Fading Heart - Elrond

Request from mak_n_cheesy: "Hey!! I was wondering if I could get a Elrond imagine, where he finds the reader-his wife-on the brink of death after an Orc attack. She doesn't die but is close to it...??

A/N: HEYY ANGST!

Warnings: AnGsT, blood, orcs

Words: 1300

Faint echoes were all that reached Elrond's ears, his blood pounding in his veins, forcing out all other sounds. His own commands left his lips in a blur, but all of it never registered. Guards, clad in golden armor and blue silks that rippled and snapped in the wind, searched for their lady and Elrond's love, Y/N. She the only one who mattered to Elrond, the one who made him feel as though he was prancing among Varda's very stars. She was the one who was lost, the one who had been taken by orcs, the one whose chance of life was slim. The grief in Elrond's mind weighed so heavily on his heart that he feared it might shatter into a multitude of shards, right there in his chest, and the pain would ten times worse than that of the already stabbing, tearing, raging wolf of anguish that resided within his already scarred vessel.

It felt like years since he had seen his darling Y/N, but that was absurd, for, in harsh reality, it had only been a few meager hours. But even seconds without Y/N hurt him to no end. Elrond wanted to collapse, to huddle into the dirt, to clutch at his chest until the ache in his heart and the choking in his lungs, vanished. But he knew he had to find Y/N. He needed to know she was safe and not dead somewhere. Her warm, E/C pools needed to reflect his own steely ones and then, and only then, would he be okay. But the orcs had ripped her from his soft hold with their own rough, and horrid one.

These thoughts only pushed him harder, heels digging into the hide of his black horse, a horse whose hue would mirror that of Elrond's dead heart if his darling Y/N's lifeless form was found.

"My lord!" A voice of one of the guards called, pushing through the barrier of pure melancholy that clouded his head. "They went this way, we're sure of it."

Elrond pulled on the reins so hard that he almost felt guilty for the pain he must have caused his mount.

"Where?" Elrond demanded, breath ragged and voice broken as he watched the head guard point in the approximate direction of his love.

With a swift kick, Elrond's horse was racing along the invisible trail of his missing Y/N, tears beginning to well up in his eyes as the holler and cruel sneers of orcs grew ever louder. Elrond's blade was one of pure fury as he slashed at the scarred, clammy flesh of the orcs, drawing out a horrid scream from each as they fell defeated to the ground.

When none but Y/N were left, Elrond's breaths were loud gasps as his hands shakily sheathed his sword. Sterling eyes searched until they fell upon the bloodied, frail and weakening form of his one and only love. Her H/C locks were a tangled mess and leaves were strewn about the tendrils, while blood matted certain parts of it down. Whose blood it was Elrond could only imagine as he dropped to his knees, meekly crawling over to Y/N's side.

"Y/N," Elrond wept as he gathered the crimson stained silks and frail frame underneath in his trembling arms. "Can you hear me, love? Please come back to me."

Soft, strangled whimpers escaped Y/N's reddened and chapped lips as she twitched and shook, tears beginning to stream from her eyes.

"Y/N?" Elrond murmured wearily, brokenly, weakly. His fingers gently brushed the hair away from Y/N's streaming eyes as he cradled the dirt-smudged features. "Y/N, darling wake up. No one can hurt you now, I am here my stars, my darling, my everything. Just wake up."

Tears of his own tore down the mountains that were his cheekbones and fell over the valleys that were the hollows of his cheeks.

Suddenly, the whimpering stopped and the E/C irises that Elrond longed to see so much snapped open, fear filling them as her pupils shrunk considerably.

"Y/N?" A seedling of hope bloomed in Elrond's chest, but was harshly ripped out as she shrieked and tore herself from his arms, frail form backing away considerably.

"NO!' She wailed, voice hoarse and as cracked as her tired, bleeding lips. "Don't touch me! No! NO!"

Those screams, those weak, pathetic screams, were enough to break Elrond's heart. The pain of the pieces splintering in his chest was like an asteroid crashing into a planet, fiery heat engulfing the world, burning every beautiful creation, wiping every elegant flaw off the surface, reducing all to ash. No, it was as if a star exploded in his chest, forcing everything away from it, only to pull the pieces into a raging void of destruction. Y/N didn't want him, for he was too late in his rescue. She was too far gone and that hurt more than anything Elrond had ever experienced.

"Don't you dare touch me. My Elrond will slaughter you! He will slaughter you all!" Y/N continued to scream.

"I just want my Elrond."

Elrond's eyes widened a considerable amount at the words that fell from his wife's lips. She thought she was still being surrounded by the filthy scum that stole her, that hurt her, that tortured her with false whispering.

"Y/N," Elrond said in the most soothing voice he could manage. "It's me. It's Elrond, I-I've come to save you, to-to take you home. I'm here darling."

"N-no. Don't touch me. Elrond where are you," Y/N continued, all light lost in her eyes, her aura weakening by the minute.

"Y/N, look at me," Elrond cooed, tears streaming down his face as he tried with all his might to coax Y/N back into the real world, back into his arms. "It's me, my darling, Elrond. Please, darling look at me. Look at me and see. I'm waiting for you, love, just snap out of this and come back to me. I'm here."

Y/N's frantic eyes looked up and stared into his and the warm tears that welled in her eyes seemed to wash away the fear, the anguish, and the pain.

"E-Elrond?" Y/N whispered.

"Yes, my stars, my moon, my love, I'm here," Elrond returned, voice nothing but a weak call.

Y/N reached out to him and pulled herself towards him, her legs seemingly broken.

"Yes, that's it love," Elrond murmured, inching ever closer himself. "Come to me."

Y/N crawled ever closer until she collapsed into Elrond's chest, arms encircling his armored torso as they both wept fervently, Elrond collected her, pulling her close and burying his face into her ruined hair, the soft scent of rainwater and cool mountain breeze still lingering there.

"Oh, Y/N," Elrond wept, pressing kiss after kiss upon the dirt-smudged skin of Y/N's forehead. "You're okay, you're safe."

"N-no," Y/N whispered weakly. "M-my stomach. I'll bleed out before you get back to Imladris."

It was then he realized the blood seeping through Y/N's clothes, and it was then that the remains of his heart decimated to dust.

"No, I won't let you die. Not today, not ever," Elrond murmured, pressing kiss after kiss to his love's hairline, not knowing who he was trying to assure more, his dying wife or his own crippling, defective heart. "I-I'll take you back to Imladris, just you wait. Please for me, love?"

"I will try, Elrond," She said, the effort consuming plentiful amounts of her precious remaining strength. "But please hurry."

"I will, oh Valar, I will, just try to relax, save your ever so limited strength," Elrond pleaded as he watched Y/N's eyes droop as she nodded. Elrond picked up the frail elleth, the one whom he loved, and mounted his horse once more, speeding off into the night, hoping, wishing, and praying that he would be able to heal Y/N in time.