A Mother

~No man would ever come understand the great suffering of a mother who no longer is~

Chapter One ~Drift through a river that flows into my arms~

Disclaimer- I do not own Lord of the Rings nor Tolkien's character, I only own my own which makes sense

Along a forgotten old dirt road did ride a company of Woodland elves. They were far away from the lands they called home but with each evening traveled they slowly made their way back. The elves themselves did not mind such a great distance nor the time traveled. For elves are much too patient beings as for having all the time to master patience. So this company of elves did not travel with quick haste, with their proud stallions galloping across the open stretch of field, riding with the wind by their sides, faces blank and cold with determination of reaching their destination quickly. Instead, they traveled with the wind playing with their dark fair hair, stallions trotting merrily through the old road and faces merry and joyful as tunes of happy melodies and laughter escaped their curved lips. Oh, how they traveled with ease, as they left trail of their mystic flute tunes and enchanting stories that caught in the wind.

A small band of merchant men were blessed with the sight of these merry beings and could only describe them as lore had told them so. They were beautiful, far beautiful than any of the humble merchants could imagine. Graceful upon their horses did they seat, and their movement mimicked the of the movements of a gentle stream. Their shoulders were broad and strong, faces sharp and graced with nothing but perfection, eyes pool of gray or brown with each of its own measure of knowledge and shared the similar length of silk black hair, all that is but one.

To the untrained or weary eyes such of that of the old merchants they would have easily over-looked such a tiny body of that of a young elfling. Indeed none of the merchant manage of take notice of the small elf for he had blend in with the robes of the older elf he had rode with. His height only shortened more when he had pushed his back deeper into the chest of the taller elf he rode with, a caring arm wrapped around the elflings waist and small fair skinned hands gripped tightly on them. His features were covered under a dark green hood though strands of his golden hair fell on his short shoulders, and once the bright, curious blue eyes would scan the faces of the merchants then quickly returned them to look at his hands that he had deemed more interesting than the men.

Ones the merchants had passed them with bittersweet goodbyes and the stallions carried on till they reached the banks of the great river did the small figure ease in their tension and slowly returned to sitting straight on his horse. The elves traveled forwards till the sun choose to lower from its place from the sky. When it had darkened the elves slowed to a stop, stripped off their light amour and prepared camp for the night. The elfling managed to dismount his horse and made his way to tie the horse to a tree, he passed through the company of elves whom once had moved out of the way bowed their heads and quickly returned back to their duties. The elfling was not surprised with these actions he was of course their Prince, it was their duty to address him with respect.

The prince was far away from home and from the safe arms of his Nana's arms but it was he who insisted that he would travel with this company of elves whom were traveling back to Mirkwood after their stay in Imladris. He had said that he wished to keep the king's head councilor; Lord Nendir, company insisting that the Lord would have a much merrier journey with him to keep him entertained. Though his true intentions were indeed that he wished to explore the world from out of the protection of his forest.

He was twenty-eight summers in age and would repetitively announce it to his Ada, Nana and older sibling then would demand -in a way that a child could only demand things; obnoxious but consistent- that he wished to see the world beyond the gates of Mirkwood, the world that he had only known to learn through lectures and books. After a long wait and strings of debate he was given the opportunity to ride with Lord Nendir, whom to much of his pleasure said that he would not mind the prince's company to Imladris if the prince stayed well-mannered.

Now he stood by the banks of the great river, memories of his stay at Imladris in his mind as he faced the direction of home. Indeed he enjoyed his adventure but the thought of returning back home brought him more joy.

"Legolas," A voice called out to the young prince, "You mustn't stray from the company."

The elfling now sat by the river banks of the great river, curious eyes turned upwards towards a tall dark-haired elf. His clothes were different from that of the others in the elf company, dressed in elegant dark green robes and a crown of leaves tucked behind his leaf-shaped ears. His hands gathered behind his back as he leaned down slightly to the prince whom had a slight pout upon his face

"I have not wandered far Lord Nendir," He turned to point at the elf company in the distance, "I can still see Beleg smiling from the distance, See! Now he dances about whilst Sadron plays a tune."

"It seems as so," The lord smiled, his eyes trained on the joyful group of elves before returning his stare at the prince, "though it would be much wiser to stay closer."

"But I wish to watch the river." stubbornly the prince insisted wishing not to be removed from his spot on the banks.

"If it is your highness wishes" bowed the elf lord before settling next to Legolas on the swaying grass.

They sat there together, silent and listened to the rush of the water and the breeze through the leaves. Though Nendir curious eyes were towards the prince by his side, slumped slightly and eyes no longer bright in curiosity but dull and...frightened? He frowned, not being used to the prince's uncharacteristic stillness, usually the prince would beam with life, bouncing around and spoke with great curiosity and cheerfulness. Now he sat there on the grass, eyes glazing over the river and body still as if he was made of stone and nothing more.

"What ails you Legolas?" the lord said gently,

The prince did not answer as quickly as Lord Nendir had known him to do which furthered the elf lord's concern. But with a sigh Legolas began playing with his fingers though did not look up to Nendir when he spoke but instead watched the river flow.

"Why does the river flow so and not towards the mountains Nendir?" he spoke in question but with a small voice

Raising a curious brow he looked over to the river and indeed see the current flow away from the mountains from a far. Though in his mind he knew this was not what had bothered his young prince

"Why do we age but not grow young?" he said back

"Because it is of nature, we just simply must." Legolas answered wittedly to cause a smile to come to Nendir's fair face. But upon looking over to Legolas's neutral face, the warm smile fell from his.

"But it is not the nature of the river nor or life that troubles you is it not?" Legolas shifted slightly and continued avoiding the lord's eyes, "Please Legolas tell me."

"It is a foolish thought that ails me Lord Nendir, you should not concern yourself with it." Legolas whispered so quietly as if he fears unwanted ears might hear him.

Nendir placed a soothing hand upon the boy's shoulder, tucking away strands of his golden hair behind his pointed ears. Unconsciously or consciously, Nendir could not tell but the prince moved closer to his side and tucked his head between his arm and chest.

"The men, the men scare me Nendir." he said in a quiet voice.

A look epiphany befell the face of the Elf lord as he tried to keep his laughter from leaving him. Oh course, how could he forget!

"It is your first, I do believe, to see the race of men. Is it not?" The prince nodded furiously and grabbed hold on Nendir's garments.

"You must not be frightened of the men we passed, they will give us no trouble." Reassured the elf lord.

"But that is not what Gwirithiel told me!" Legolas squeaked uneasily

"The Chambermaid's daughter?"

"Aye, she told me unkind things of what men do," he paused and shivered, "She said men were battle-born beings, only having an interest in anything that involved war. They never wash for when they did it would only be matters of seconds before the are covered in the mixture of blood and mud! Their eyes are always dark almost soulless and breath of most foul for it is the smell of their own kin that they ate! And they are just very unreasonable people!"

"I believe those stories are unreasonable." Nendir sighed

"Had you not seen the men we past, they smell worst than dwarves and were unkempt! They were covered in the smell of mud and no doubt blood!" the young elf surmised.

As the prince rambled the lord whom sat next to him could not decide whether he found these tales Legolas was sprouting to be amusing or troubling. But once the prince had finished and eyes instantly flew up to Nendir with nothing but fear and uneasiness Nendir had decided it to be the latter.

"You should not believe everything that you hear my prince." He tried reasoning,

"Why not? It had came from Gwirithiel and I know she hasn't the heart to lie to me." the prince responded stubbornly.

"I do not believe she knows of what she speaks of, men are not as you imagine." Nendir had started, hoping to calm the wild imagination of the prince. But he only looked back at the Councilor with great disbelief and a precious attempt for a scowl. Nendir sighed and thought for a moment.

"Walk with me my prince" Nendir had not so much commanded it than he did suggested as he brought himself up to his feet.

Legolas hopped on to his own legs and trailed behind the older elf but picked up his pace when Nendir had made a gesture for him to match his strides. They walked close to were the company of elves they had traveled with but headed not towards the elves but to the horses they road on. A smile began to tease on the young prince's lips as the neared the beautiful creatures and once they had reached them he ran up to the horse whom had carried him throughout their journey and nuzzled his head into the side of its neck. Nendir stood close by with a soft smile of his own.

"Do you enjoy Eleniel's company?"

"Aye, of course!" Legolas smiled at the faithful stallion

"As I seem to recall that the first moments when his highness brought you up to the stables to see Eleniel you turned on your heels and ran to the safety of the Queen's dress" Nendir stated, finding it very difficult not to smirk at the fine memory.

Legolas looked up at the elf lord with arched brows and had stopped petting the horse's mane, "Did I?" he asked, absolutely dumbfounded by it. His eyes unfocused as he tried to recall the memory Nendir told him and within a few moments his ears became pinched with a bright pink color.

"Aye indeed, and your fear of Eleniel was but of course the doing a certain Chambermaid's daughter" snickered Nendir, "I recall you told your father that you heard from Gwirithiel that horse ate little elfling that try to ride them which is why you do not find elfling riding horses, and that they have sorcery that allows them to make elflings into frogs. You would not come close to a horse for months before your brother brought you up on his horse kicking and screaming and took you for a ride around a field, after that you would not let go of the horse's reins and declared him yours."

To this point the elf prince was pink in embarrassment and tried to hide his face in Eleniel' mane but his ears still shown bright has berries. Nendir laughed a heartfelt laugh and placed a hand on Legolas's shoulder.

"There are good men and there are bad, as it is with horses and us. There are other things that you should be frightened of, but men are not one of them." Nendir explained.

"I suppose..." Legolas answered shyly

"Come now it is time to let the horses rest." a guiding hand pushing on the small of Legolas's back to lead him towards the company of elves.

Legolas let the hand guide him as he placed one more pat against the head of the gentle giant. With the worry now gone from the Elfling's eyes the elf lord felt the feeling of accomplishment and smiled pleasantly as Legolas began to plan of things to say and questions to ask if ever did they meet men in their travels back to Mirkwood.

"One day you shall find a man you would call friend," the elf lord mused, "and perhaps even a dwarf."

"A dwarf Lord Nendir? That is a foolish thought, an elf and a dwarf as friends?" Legolas laughed.

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It had been three nightfall's since the elves had passed the merchant men and now they neared the forest of Mirkwood. Their home. And their enemy's home. The easiness of the elves had died down and their whole body motioned in alert. Eyes scanning the open fields and soon the dark trees that loomed over them. Even the prince whom had lost his worry for men became unnaturally quite once more and dug his back into Nendir's chest and demanded an arm to be placed around him at all times.

The horses traveled quietly but in quick pace as over their head loomed the naked hill that the dark servants called theirs. Even if they had taken a safer route that had lead them pass Dol Guldor the orcs still strayed and the elves must come to be prepared. When the night had crawled and the horses could not travel any further, the elves dismounted and lead them out of them to a small clearing in the woods.

This time as the elves began to set up Legolas did not wonder off, but instead stuck to the Elf lords robes as if he was one himself. They both settled down next to the fire, it was a small fire and once Legolas looked around the elf company by the fire was small as well. A few elves took their positions away from the camp as lookouts and the rest sat quiet by the fire.

Legolas was given Lembas bread and eagerly did he eat it, he leaned sideways into the safety of Nendir's arm as the lord himself spoke quietly with the elves besides him. The young elf closed his eyes but did not sleep, elves did not sleep because they did not need to but the feeling of drowsiness made Legolas slightly tired and so he rested his eyes. The arm around him wrapped even more protectively around him and the Lembas quietly slipped from his hands.

The camp remained eerily quite as Legolas rested, he noted that the only this that dared to make noises was the crackling fire, crunching of the leaves and the paced heartbeat of Nendir along with the muffled voice of Nendir that Legolas could hear from his side. He did not listen to the conversation though, he was more content in listening to the steady heartbeats of the strong lord.

There was the silent scurrying of elf boots across the grown and Legolas guessed it was time for the switch in the patrols. But then a question reached his thoughts. Wouldn't the next patrols meet them at the site instead of it of the patrol coming here to camp? But he pushed the thought aside and thinking that perhaps the elves next to patrol had already left without his notice, elf are in fact very quiet.

He heard voices above him, but he didn't concern himself of it and continued counting the beats pulsing from Nendir's side. How odd, they've seemed to have sped up slightly, He thought.

A hand was placed on his chest and began shaking him,

"Legolas, Legolas wake" Nendir's voice told him

Legolas opened his eyes to stare up at the dark-haired elf whom upon seeing the confused blue eyes pulled him up on his feet in one graceful movement. He pulled on his hand towards the horses, whom slept standing.

"Lord Nendir, where are we going?" Legolas asked as he saw two elves, wielding weapons prepare Eleniel to ride.

"We must make haste, we are being trailed" Nendir choice his words carefully not letting the prince know that they were being encircled by bands of orcs. Legolas must be taken to safety before the passages are closed.

Once Eleniel was ready Nendir took Legolas under the arms and carried him up onto Eleniel instead of letting the prince to mount by himself. It only told Legolas that Nendir meant his words when he said they must hurry. Soon after him Nendir mounted as well and was given his weapons by the elves besides the horse. Three more elves mounted and their horse stood at either sides of Eleniel.

"We ride now, hold tight Legolas I fear to lose you" With a kick Eleniel began to gallop along with the other horses out of the clearing.

They dashed through trees and high growing bushes, Legolas held a deadly grip on Nendir's arms as he had never experience Eleniel to go so fast before, it scared him. What could have been possibly trailing them to have the elf lord so tense? Could it be the men that they met? Perhaps there were not as harmless as they thought? The fear of men grew back in Legolas to the point of his reasoning which told him it were orcs were completely ignored.

The sound of metal clashing reached the ears of the young elf and he could not help but turn his head to look, they were too far off to the distance but the flickering flames showed figures fighting one another. Eleniel turned swiftly and the others followed, and it seemed as if the clashing metals began to die down or they had gotten far enough for the elf to no longer hear them. Then suddenly the sound of roars echoed from before them. The three elves rushed forwards on their horses, pulling arrows from their quivers and shot at figures that Legolas could not see.

"Carry forwards my lord! We shall rally out the border lines of the woods!" Yelled one, Legolas turned. It was Beleg!

"Ná Elbereth veria le, ná elenath dín síla erin rád o chuil lín" Nendir had said before riding away.
(May Elbereth protect you, may her stars shine on the path of your life)

Legolas's heart sank to the farewell he hear escape Nendir, he did not want to lose Beleg nor the others! He turned his head to look at the shrinking figure that was Beleg whom pulled out his twin swords and awaited for an attack

"Lord Nendir-" gasp the young elf

"He will be fine young one, do not fret" said the older one.

"B-but" stammered the prince

"Hebo estel" Nendir whispered
(Have hope)

They continued to ride onwards, no longer turning to look back or giving the thought of turning back. Nendir had to protect the prince, he would rather give his life than to ever see Legolas in the hands of the dark ones followers. Soon he was blessed with the sight of the forest clearing and the sound of the river rushing in his ears. He pushed Eleniel faster and faster she rode. They broke through the leaves and bushes and finally Eleniel was allowed to slow down, the two pairs of eyes ; one silver the other blue, stared at the forest in front of them.

"Lord Nendir! We are here! Are we safe? Are they gone? Where will we meet the others!?" Legolas was the first to brake the silence between them

Nendir eased his arm around Legolas and he on the older ones arm. He opened his mouth to answer but unsure what to say when suddenly a heavy force slammed onto his side and he fell off Eleniel. Legolas screamed in fright, taking comfort in Eleniel's long neck as his eyes steadied at the fallen elf. The horse kicked and throttled away as it saw the dark furred creature atop her master. The beast was large with dirty brown fur, it made a long snarling sound as its claws dug into Nendir's robes. He cried in pain and Legolas muffled his own in Eleniel's mane but caught the attention of the ferocious beast. Eyes rolled over to him, paws placed atop of the older elf's chest and its teeth bared at the younger one. Then it howled.

A long howl that echoed around the air, and for a second Legolas could have sworn the creature had smirked at him as if knowing something the he did not. Growls erupted from the forest next to him, cautiously Eleniel backed away from it and Legolas held tight on her reins. Three more creatures appeared, tauntingly creeping up towards them and snarling when Eleniel was close enough to bite at. The horse neighed and stood on it's hind legs almost causing Legolas to fall of if he had not a grip on her.

Suddenly there was a pained whimper from the first creature that appeared, Legolas whipped his head around to see Nendir had struck it with an elven knife that he had in his robes. The creature rolled off the elf lord and quickly as he could Nendir got on his feet, throwing the knife on the ground and pulling out his own true blades. His eyes met with Legolas,

"Ride Legolas! Use Eleniel to cross the river!" he instructed

"No Nendir, you cannot ask me of this! I will not leave without you! You are wounded!" Legolas cried

"No Legolas you must ride on without me!" he turned his eyes to Eleniel and demanded the horse to run in elvish.

Without a second lost Eleniel burst into a gallop and Legolas yelped as he held on for dear life. He heard the might battle cry that left Nendir's lips as well as the frightening growl from the creatures. Legolas shut his eyes tight as tears left them, the sound of Nendir's voice still could be heard and at each yell Legolas tightened his grip on the reins. But there was something else that he was hearing. As if reading his mind Eleniel let out a whiny and he opened his eyes daring to look back, his eyes widened in fear.

One of the creatures followed with great speed, with each gallop of the horse the creature made two. Legolas began to shout frantically at Eleniel in elvish to run faster but the creature still advanced. Legolas did not know what to do, he had no sword nor a bow and he could barely keep himself balanced on Eleniel! He was defenseless and his only hope was to cross the great river.

And so it was a race, a race for life and death. To reach the river, cross it and live or to be caught by the creature and be killed. Now Legolas began to beg the horse to run after, as the river came slowly to view. The distance between them was torturously long and Legolas did not know if they would make it or not.

"Please Eleniel! Ride faster! I beg!" he pleaded the horse

Eleniel neighed and with one more burst galloped faster and faster, he could feel her muscles tensing under her as she struggled to get him to safety. He looked up, the river was close! So close they could make it! They were going to make it! They we-

Eleniel let out a pained neigh as her front legs fell onto the ground, Legolas took one look from behind and saw the creature biting onto Eleniel's left thigh. She bucked and Legolas was thrown at the bank of the river, a hand in the water as if mocking his close freedom to be gone. He watched as the mighty horse let out it's last painful breathes and the creature emerged from behind her. Blood covered it's teeth and it slowly advanced towards him.

And he could not move.

He laid there by the river bank, weak and sore from being thrown off. His eyes a watery pool of blue as the predator closed him. It stopped, shoulder crouched and hind legs ready to jump. Legolas held in his breath, stopped his heart and watched as the creature jumped, shortening the distance between them in greet speed as it latched on to his right shoulder. The force of the impact was too strong that by the time the creature had latched on him, his own weight dragged them both into the fast current of the great river.

He did not remember screaming in pain or as he fell, all he could remember was that he fought, fought hard. He fought the river, the creature and he fought,

for his life...

I am a bad, bad author having fallen in love with Nendir, no I must resist the urge! Please oh please leave a review and I promise that I will update this soon! I hoped you enjoyed reading my story as I have enjoyed creating this.

Here I go again but please leave a review, a criticism or anything! I would deeply appreciate it!

August 15, 2012