Rog spoke again. “I cannot believe how pathetic all of you turned out. This is the worst lot of recruits I have ever trained. Obviously, my direction has not been flawed, and the instruction of the officers has been superb, so it must be all of you who are the problem. Since I am not about to be embarrassed by presenting an appalling group of dimwitted soldiers to the King tomorrow, we have no choice but to throw all of you off the Echoriath.” A few gasps could be heard, but Rog ignored this, continuing with, “If any of you like, you can at least redeem yourselves in some small way by jumping off on your own instead of being forced over, kicking and screaming like the girls you are.”
Erestor was happy that his blindfold kept everyone from seeing him roll his eyes. With the vast amount of initiation trials that the recruits had been put through, he was surprised that there were still some who thought Rog was telling them the truth. Where they were, he could not tell, but they were most definitely not on the edge of a cliff of the Echoriath. The wind was too calm, and there was grass beneath their feet instead of the rough, rocky soil that refused to grow a thing unless painstakingly cared for.
Earlier that evening, while sitting in the barracks for their final night before being inducted as real soldiers in the army, one of the captains had surprised them with a barrel of good wine. Only Erestor was wary. Since wine was something they had been weaned off of months earlier, the others were only too happy to begin drinking.
As his fellow companions began to slump in their chairs or lazily took to curling up on the floor, the captain approached the lone elf sitting in the corner reading ‘Art and Practice of War’, the only book in the entire barracks. “You should have some of the wine before it goes sour,” said the captain sternly to Erestor, holding out a goblet.
Keeping his finger at the page for a marker, Erestor said quietly, “I will not fight whatever it is you have in store for us.”
“Still,” said the captain, holding the goblet closer, “you should drink the wine.”
“Is that an order, sir?” Erestor swallowed hard, knowing he was walking a fine line at the moment by continuing to disobey. The captain only lifted one brow slightly.
“If that is what it takes for you to drink, then yes, soldier, that is an order.”
Placing the book on the chair as he stood up, Erestor took the wine and went to the bed that was his for the duration of the training. “I do not suppose you would care to share a toast, would you, sir?” Erestor turned away to hide his smirk after receiving a glare from the captain.
As the rest of the recruits dozed, Erestor drank the glass of wine he had been given, then went to the barrel and refilled his cup. He drank the second and began to get an aftertaste in his mouth that was familiar but not one he could place. The fourth he began to drink when it hit him. The drug used in the wine was the same he had tried to poison himself with in Valinor hundreds of years earlier. In moderation, it was simply a heavy and fast acting sedative. Sickness rose in his stomach as he realized that the wine would not affect him.
It was only moments before the doors of the barracks burst open. A group of five officers, along with Rog, marched in. They all stopped when they saw Erestor, still standing. “I thought I told you to drink that wine!” shouted the captain who had brought the poisoned drink.
“I did! I mean, I did, sir, I tried, it has no affect on me, sir,” apologized Erestor, beginning to sweat and stutter. “Sir, I assure you, I have had four glasses of it already!”
Rog walked briskly to Erestor, taking hold of the dark elf’s wrist. “Always the troublemaker,” he said under his breath for only Erestor to hear. “His pulse is slowing,” he confirmed for the others. “Drink another cupful; and stay out of the way.”
“Yes, sir.” Erestor refilled the goblet, keeping his eyes down to try to ignore the officers as they proceeded to enter the room. Each recruit had his wrists bound behind his back, was blindfolded, and then a cloth sack was placed over his head and loosely tied. Nervously fidgeting as he watched, but tried not to, Erestor drank the fifth glass to no avail. He was sitting on the edge of his bed with his hands folded and his head down when the officers approached him.
“What should we do about him, sir?” questioned a lieutenant. He and the others looked past Erestor to Rog, who was standing unseen behind Erestor.
“This is why we always have a backup plan.” Before Erestor could turn around, he felt one of Rog’s powerful arms wrap around his chest, pinning his arms to the sides of his body. Erestor’s head was against the house lord’s shoulder as Rog’s other hand came up and covered the dark ellon’s mouth and nose with a wadded up cloth.
His first reaction was to struggle, but Erestor fought against his own panic. “Just breath and do not fight. It is faster that way,” promised Rog. Uncontrollably, he shook, but Erestor closed his eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath. “Very good. Again.” He repeated this six or seven times until he felt his muscles going limp and his vision became hazy. “There. He will fall asleep soon,” promised Rog as he let Erestor slip from his grasp and collapse on the bed.
Vaguely, Erestor felt the rope being expertly tied around his wrists as his arms were drawn behind his back. The blindfold brushed against his ears, and then the sack plunged him into total darkness as he slipped into a deep but uneasy reverie.
Now, he stood awake on this ridge, with another ellon on either side. From what he could tell, they had been lined up on the edge of something, but he sincerely doubted it was more than the final test they were to be put through. Behind them, there were a number of more experienced soldiers and officers, and Erestor had no doubt that one way or another they were about to be pushed into whatever was before them.
“So, are any of you brave enough to go first?” Rog repeated the question a second time, then made an unhappy tisking noise. “I had hoped there was still some amount of courage amongst you. Go ahead, boys,” he shouted now to the assembled who were not at the mercy of their fellows.
“What do you say? Pitch him in or shove him?” questioned someone directly behind Erestor.
“We have to shove him in. Unless you grab his feet and I grab his arms...”
Erestor, for his part, was having none of that. He was already feeling his way forward with one foot as he heard the rest around him fighting and shouting and generally making asses of themselves. Then, he heard something, nearby but not too nearby, and smiled. It was the waterfall, and now it all made sense. They were on the cliff above a little lake with a waterfall that came down from a stream. The drop was not too high and elflings came here often in the summertime, but it was not a jump that appealed to Erestor, especially not in these cooler months.
All the same, it appealed to him even less to be flung over a cliff into a pond while blindfolded with his hands tied behind his back, so he stood on the edge, took a deep breath, and stepped right off.
The cold of the water did not shock him so much as breaking the surface did. He relaxed and kicked his legs until he bobbed back up out of the water. The blindfold had come loose in the water and floated a few feet away, so Erestor worked on bringing his arms under his legs and to the front where he could reach the rope with his teeth to untie it. In the water, this proved to be easier than it might have been on land. Around him, he heard splashes as others came tumbling off the cliff, or jumping on their own once they deemed it safe.
As the first to free himself, Erestor set about to helping others who were having difficulties and getting the ones who were coughing and sputtering to shore. Periodically, he dove beneath the surface to see if anyone had been swept under – a good thing, for he did pull out a young ellon who had twisted his ankle before making it off the ridge and was struggling to keep his head above the water.
“So the rumors are true.”
Erestor turned and saw a small group who was wading near to the shore looking at him. At that point, he finally realized that they had all been stripped naked, and that the scars from the whip that had yet to fade were visible to everyone. During their group bathing, everyone had so little time that they all concentrated on getting as clean as possible in the short time they were given. At every practice, they wore the same uniform of a simple white shirt and black leggings with red markings to denote Rog’s house and army. For the last nine years, Erestor had kept his back covered, though someone had sparked the idea into the heads of others that the dark elf was nothing but a rogue scoundrel (which was ridiculous) who had been jailed in Doriath (which was true) for heinous crimes (which was not really true) against the crown (which was mostly true) and now in Gondolin had been punished by Turgon (which was absolutely true) numerous times (which was a stretch to say the least).
If Erestor had only told the real story, which was that he was a political nuisance to Doriath, the rumors might not have circulated as widely or as often as to his mischief in Gondolin. However, his continued silence had lost him his house and tarnished his reputation. Now, whatever little respect anyone might have had for Erestor seemed to ebb away as the others backed away from him in either disgust or confusion. Even those he had helped averted their gaze and left him alone.
Stepping onto the shore with a sigh, a towel was thrust at him. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you, sir.” Erestor wrapped the towel around his body, making sure his back was not exposed in any way.
Rog smirked. “Do you have any idea why I am congratulating you?”
“I assume for not making an ass of my self up on the ridge, sir?” guessed Erestor.
“For your new rank, sergeant.”
Erestor blinked. “What? I mean, sorry sir, I think I heard you wrong, sir.”
“You jumped first,” Rog said simply. “Ironic that it was you, but you did jump first.”
“Yes, sir, I did jump first, sir.” Erestor’s eyes widened suddenly. “You mean... you want to promote me? Rog—I-I-I m-mean, sir,” he corrected himself immediately, face turning red. Rog grinned in amusement. “Sir, no offense, sir, but you know I did not come here to make a career of this, sir.”
“I know, but I am not one to break my own rules. You jumped first, you are offered the commission. You can of course refuse it, but I will tell you this- if you think making it through five months of training is rough, try earning a higher rank through hard work and years of service. It is not one of those things that just happens overnight,” Rog assured him.
“Sir, I am honored, but-“
“-you will think it over and give me your decision tomorrow,” finished Rog for Erestor. “Dismissed.”
“I-“ Erestor stopped and looked around, noting that the others were in various celebratory modes, and all leaving. “Dismissed, sir?”
“You are finished with your training. You have learned the basics. Now, if you wish to continue, I will see you in the morning. If not, feel free to collect that book you like to read, but you are dismissed for now,” explained Rog, in a somewhat bored voice. Noticing a blindfold floating near the shore, he stepped around Erestor to pluck it from the water.
Erestor turned to watch him, and said a bit timidly, “I was really hoping I would be able to grow my hair back out after this.”
“Officers can keep it longer if they want,” said Rog, pulling a length of rope from the water as well. “Some of them even keep it past their shoulders, though I discourage it.”
“Yes, but... but mine was past my waist,” Erestor said, his fingers playing with the edge of the towel.
With a sigh, Rog said, “Well, I suppose you will have to choose whether you favor personal vanity or public perception. Is it more important for you to look good, or to feel good?”
Frowning, Erestor nodded and pulled the towel tighter around himself. Slowly he began to walk away.
“By the way, Erestor,” said Rog, and Erestor turned around to see him, “good job. Few stay in the water to help their comrades. You did remarkably well.”
Unable to stop himself, Erestor grinned at the praise. “Thank you. Thank you, sir.”
