The standard bearer (Elrond x oc)

27. Return to Rivendell

Atop the scarp of Emyn Muil, Elrond turned his grey and looked back over
the land of Mordor. In the distance a thin plume of smoke still rose from
Orodruin, and the Mountains of Shadow cast their dark reflections over the
plain of battle. So many years had passed in that dark land, so many lives
ended, so much sorrow endured. A love found and lost. Strange that it
should have been in the darkest of times that she had come to him, a tiny
brightness to warm his heart and light his life.

Now it was time to leave. To follow the rest of the warriors and take the
long road homeward. Lord Sauron had been defeated, cut down by the arm of
Man. His Tower had been levelled and his spirit fled, weak and broken, into
the wilderness. But for how long?

He shook his head slowly. Their victory, bought at the greatest cost, had
not been completed. Whether the Darkness could rise again or nay, he did
not know.

Beside his grey, a red-gold horse nickered quietly, ears pricked. He was
accoutred for riding, in the manner of Men, and strapped in its familiar
place, well wrapped against the elements, was the Banner of Amarnon.

But the saddle was empty, there was no Standard Bearer to see it to its
last resting place, with the heir of Gil-galad. No Gildinwen to accompany
her lord home.

The horse called again, a forlorn and questioning sound. As though he
understood.

Elrond reached out a gentle hand to stroke the strong neck. "I know." He
whispered. "She is not with us." He breathed deeply, feeling himself torn.
He was leaving the land of Mordor without her. Having searched and waited
for months, while Farin and his dwarves pulled the Fortress of Barad-dûr to
the ground, stone by filthy stone. Finding nothing. She was not there, and
he could stay in that dark place no longer.

Imladris called to him. Home. The green, shaded valley, the quiet comfort.
His soul, scarred and battered, longed for its soothing sounds, its gentle
air. For the familiar rooms and friendly faces. To see again the stars
above the rim, to hear the trees sighing in the night. To walk barefoot in
the dew-laden grass of the morning. To rest, to recover, to heal.

They were about two miles from Rivendell when Elrond finally gave in. The
journey had been many weeks, but since they had started out that morning he
had felt it, growing stronger with each step, reinforced by every familiar
landmark along the trail. Now the sun was low and warm in the West, and
their shadows were long across the moorland. In the distance he could just
discern the tops of the trees at the head of the valley, and he was
overcome with longing for it, with the knowledge that he was finally here.
No more did he need to make do with dreaming of his haven, it was once
again within his reach. His mount, sensing his rider's impatience, began
fretting and fidgeting. Elrond turned briefly to Halmir, wordlessly tossing
him Loreglin's lead rope, then with a whisper set his horse to a gallop.
The grey needed no encouragement to head down the oft-travelled path. Eager
to run, he stretched his legs to cover the distance, his master low over
his neck. The fresh wind, scented with trees, blew in their faces, drawing
out hair and mane. The sound of the hooves drummed on the dry earth, and an
great exhilaration filled them. Past well known boulders, round rocky
outcrops, they raced for home, the smell of late summer flowers and warm
pines filling their senses. The blue sky with its attendant white clouds
harboured familiar birdsong, each contour of the land repainting itself in
memory, evoking the past. Up rises and down dips, dodging through defiles
and leaping over streams they galloped. The horse snorting and blowing his
excitement, Elrond feeling his heart soaring with anticipation.

Home. Home. At last. At long, long last, they were here. The shapes of the
mountains, the twists of the trail, the cry of the plovers, the smell of
heather, the very shade of the sunlight, all proclaimed it loud and
gloriously. And as they rounded the last bend, there it was, laid out in
all its splendour.