Twilight Of the Trees

Summary: Something is threatening to lead the trees of Middle Earth into extinction. Their disappearance could in turn threaten all other inhabitants of Middle Earth. In order to save the trees Legolas will have to fight not only to get others to help him but to figure out how to stop it. The decimation of the trees is affecting him though – as one very connected to nature his existence is impacted by their fading life force. As their life force wanes his weakens as well. Others from the Fellowship are drawn into the fight and they uncover a sinister element at work. Now all of their lives are in danger.

Characters: Mainly Legolas & Aragorn. Others from the Fellowship are involved.

Warnings: Angst. Adventure. **Possible character death.**

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Twilight Of The Trees

A Lord Of The Rings Fanfiction

by

endlessmaze

Chapter One

The breeze playfully rustled the leaves in the early morning air. Legolas' bright eyes peered up at the roof of the forest spread out against the sky overhead. He found great joy in watching the way nature's children interacted with one another. The way that the winds tickled the maple leaves and made them dance in midair. How the sunlight sparkled on the surface of a flowing river and accentuating its tempo and the bends and dips that came in its journey. And the way raindrops sculpted the earth one by one as they fell from the clouds. Their moisture creating interestingly shaped puddles and small crooked trails down along hillsides.

It saddened his heart to know that not all beings appreciated these things but at the same time he was uplifted by the thought of how it felt like a beautiful secret that he was allowed witness to share. He was privy to the wonders which nature held within it. He was honored to be allowed this gift.

The elf's lips parted and he breathed in deeply. All the many fresh and sweet scents of an early morning in the wood greeted his lungs then journeyed deep into his soul.

"Le hannon, my friends, you have rejuvenated me in my journey today," he offered quietly to his surroundings and all things in it. The grateful words completed he lowered his gaze back to the stream where he stood, perched upon the large rock that split the water down the middle between the bank on either side.

The stream was deeper than it usually was this time of year. But this was not surprising as there had been an extended spell of rain not long ago. The rock on which he stood was submerged in water nearly entirely spare the narrow top which he easily balanced upon.

His eyes looked downstream as far as his elven eyesight would allow him to see. The woods were bustling with activity. The summer day had dawned and delivered a brilliantly clear blue sky and the sun's rays peeked down through the treetops, landing upon the forest floor with its abundant brightness and warmth.

A strange slight noise drew Legolas' attention away from the sunlight and back to the stream's bank. It was a curious thing he found to be the source of the sound. An extremely petite and unfamiliar bird was standing near the water's edge a little further down along the stream.

The noise had been so light in the air that if it had not been for his exceptional hearing he would have missed it. He was glad that he had since the sound had not been a natural sound for the little creature – it was not a joyous tweet or sweet trill or any of the other song of any bird he had ever heard. The bird had emitted what might have only been described as a whimper. The elf studied the bird for a moment.

At first the creature remained very still with its head perked up out over the river then it began to move forward but the steps were clumsy and sluggish as if made by a baby bird and not a grown one. The little creature's head tucked down in towards its body as it attempted to keep going along the bank but making arduous progress of it.

Concern welled up in Legolas. The bird appeared to be injured although from a distance there was no obvious wound. He would have to get a closer look. With one leaping long stride he landed on the side of the stream where the bird stood. Legolas moved silently and slowly towards the little creature but even so when he neared it seemed to panic. This again concerned the elf since normally he could simply lay a hand open and have a bird land or climb on it. But this little one was spooked upon noticing his presence.

"It is well, little one. I do not wish to harm you," he whispered so faintly it was barely perceivable in the air around them. Still unsettled the bird turned the other way and attempted to scramble away but his movements were overwhelmingly shaky and this resulted in it simply stopping and freezing in its spot.

Closer now Legolas could see that the bird was black as a starless night. From his perch on the rock in the stream the creature had appeared more of a dark blue – perhaps a trick of the sunlight. It was odd to see a bird such a hue. He also noticed that there still seemed to be no visible injury. He wondered what might being ailing it.

Now within a few feet of the bird the elf stopped and pondered a moment. If it was injured he did not wish to distress the little one by chasing it down. He decided to make himself less of a threat and a bit more welcoming. Very slowly he lowered himself to the ground and lay on his stomach in the warm grass so he no longer loomed overhead. He slipped his right hand out from beneath his body. Laying the arm out on the earth in front of himself he opened his hand with the palm open to the sky. Then motionless he waited.

At first it was merely a stand off with neither moving – neither certain of the outcome of this encounter. Although eager to tend to the creature Legolas resisted the urge to rush this along. The bird had perked its beak up again and another sad noise came out. Then it turned its petite head this way and that. Perhaps in hopes of securing escape or to ensure no other threat resided there. The elf was not sure of which one it truly had been.

Finally looking back towards the golden haired being before it yet another sound of distress arrived from it into the air. The bird turned away from the elf after a few heartbeats and half staggered half hopped in the other direction. The little bird did not get very far before he came up upon the thick rugged cluster of rocks along the stream's edge. It stopped and looked about again, including back towards where the other creature lay in the grass, seemingly weighing its options.

Then suddenly as if taking action before the choice released its hold once again the petite bird scurried back towards the elf only slowing when it stood less than two inches from the outstretched fingertips. Legolas gazed warmly at the creature and it gazed back.

The elf breathed in and out very slowly not wishing for the slightest of noises to scare away the skittish bird. When he had reduced his intake so much that he nearly held his breath the bird braved the last few steps that separating their bodies.

Legolas fought back a laugh as the bird wobbled up and across his hand to the far side and back. The tiny claws tickled his skin but he wanted the creature to trust their present calm connection and not be startled by the laugh that would have inevitably made his body slightly tremble.

The bird seemed satisfied that no harm was coming his way by the elf and stopped in the center of Legolas palm. They gazed at one another for a moment. After a little visual study Legolas could then tell that in fact the petite bird was not really black in color after all. Some kind of substance covered the bird's feathers and body. It resembled soot in color and textured but was slightly shinier. He wondered how the creature had become thoroughly cloaked in the substance. Not immediately coming up with an answer he sent the question into the air very quietly.

"What trouble have you gotten yourself into that has left you in this predicament?" Legolas asked. The response was a stomp of the bird's tiny claw into the palm of his hand.

"What are you trying to say? Claiming this to be not of your own doing?"

The bird immediately flapped its wings furiously several times.

"This story is familiar to me. A tale I well know. It is a claim my friend Aragorn has insisted upon many a time. He is very skilled at finding trouble to get into and often requires assistance in freeing himself from it."

The creature responded with a quick harmless peck of the beak to the elf's skin.

"I shall give you the benefit of doubt my small friend for I know Aragorn all too well and have only now met you."

With this settled for the time being Legolas went from laying flat in the grass to standing in one smooth effortless motion. The little bird looked around from its newly found perch but did not attempt to depart.

"Now the need for a bath I must say is a truth you have in common with my friend Aragorn. For when he comes out of these scrapes of his he looks terribly disheveled."

The bird made no action to indicate that he disagreed.

"Mayhap you are not so like Aragorn as you appeared for he certainly would have take opposition to such an observation."

The pair fell into silence as Legolas carried the bird to a shallow pool of water created by a ring of rocks at the water's edge. With all the gentleness of his elven heritage he delicately and diligently helped remove every trace of the strange soot like substance from the little bird's body and feathers. This cleansing revealed the beauty of what existed underneath. As the blackness came away green the shade of jade arrived and shone brightly in the sunlight. There were subtle hints of silver and golden brown amongst other hues. Legolas had never seen a bird with these colors and markings. It was not native to the lands of which he knew intimately.

Having completed the bath the elf lifted the bird from the pool and carried it to a nearby tree. He placed it on one of the lower branches which were at about his eye level. The little creature fluttered its wings to shake out any remaining moisture and danced happily about on the bark of the branch.

"I must be off now, little one. My journey calls me back to it. Mayhap now that you are released from that blackness you are aided in your flight home. I wish you safe passage to what ever destination that may be."

With the departing words the elf swung up onto his horse and encouraged the animal to head off. His journey was simple message delivery. Normally this would have been handled by his father's fleet of fine messengers but Legolas had needed an excuse to go on an extended ride. It was summer and he felt the need to stray and explore outside the confines of his usual daily travels. He could be very persuasive when he wished to be and his father had given in to his contrived reasoning that he knew the path well and held rapport with the receiver on the other end. He wondered if the fact the recipient was Estel was the deciding factor that turned the tides in his favor.

Sensing something left incomplete he looked back over his shoulder to the area of the wood where he had just departed and discovered the small creature still residing in the same spot on the low branch where he had settled it.

"Fly home little one!" he called out to it encouragingly before turning his gaze back to the wooded path before him. He did not see the petite bird flutter off of the tree limb and fly quickly over the gap between it and the elf. It landed on the arrows that stuck out the top of his quiver and held on tightly as the horse hastened into a gallop.

Several hours passed by as he made steady progress shifting through various tempos from a full fledged gallop down to a meandering walk and back again. The sound of voices and activity just off the path up ahead was what caused the elf to slow his horse to a cautious walk this time.

After a few additional seconds of intent listening Legolas was a bit intrigued by what he heard. He halted the horse and slipped to the ground. He whispered the need for silence in elvish into the horse's ear and then crept the short distance to a cluster of trees that had grown together almost as one. Hidden he squatted down behind them at the edge of one of the trunks.

His sharp eyesight allowed him to see down into the small clearing. There was a fire going – strange for a warm summer day – and a group of cloaked figures encircled it. The sound that had captured his attention he found to be chanting created by the beings standing before the flames. The language they used was unknown to him. The group at the fire was eleven in total. But there were other beings present – all bundled up from head to toe and unrecognizable for what type of creature they may be. These others seem to be constructing something off to the side and he watched to try to identify what it might be that they were building.

It was then that the loud perturbed neigh of a horse echoed out into the air. To his disbelief it struck him that it had been his horse and he spun around to look at her back down the path a few feet. Something was wrong if he had requested her silence and she had not obeyed. But he had no time to ponder this because his attention was drawn back. When he whipped back around to face the clearing he realized what he had just done. His surprise at the neigh had made him inattentive to his movements and he had inadvertently shifted his position so the tree no longer completely hid him. The chanting had ceased and silence filled in where it had departed. The cloaked figures were all turned now facing in his direction. He had been discovered.

"Capture him!" the cry, loud and stern, arrived. Their numbers were too great for him to stand even the slimmest of chances against so he sprang into action – doing the only thing left to be done. He was on the horse's back barely a breath later reining the creature so it twirled around in the opposite direction. Then he commanded it to flee with great speed and urgency. He could hear the desperate angered yells in the air in the clearing as he raced back down the pathway.

When he began to hear clear signs that he was being pursued on horseback – the sound of numerous hoof beats on the hard packed earth of the trail at his back echoing in the midday air - he thought better of his usage of the path and guided the horse to veer off to the right and into denser woods. He had done this immediately after he had made the bend in the trail and he hoped for the best – that those chasing him would assume he had stuck to the path and that they simply had not caught up to him yet. He urged the horse to carry him as quickly as it possibly was able away from the trail and into the cover of the forest beyond. He needed to overcome easy range of sight before his pursuers rounded the bend in the trail. Although he listened for signs of them having re-discovered him as he rode on nothing came. Not wishing to risk it though he continued at a strong clip for quite some time longer.

Finally he was released from the sense that he should ride further at such a frenzied pace. He had lost those that chased him and he had put a great distance of forest behind him. He allowed his horse to relax and continue on at a far slower pace. Coming up over a small rise his sensitive ears were suddenly assaulted with woeful cries.

They were so sudden and sad and intense he physically had to cup his hands over his ears for a moment to help them adjust. The sound grew louder with every step further he progressed. Coming upon a large group of narrowly spaced trees it became clear that this area was the source of the disconcerting sound.

Stranger more was that there was no elf or human or other such being present that would likely make such a sound. Bewildered Legolas stopped his horse and with a gesture of the hand commanded her to stay still. He did not immediately sense a threat here but something was amiss.

Staying very close to the tree trunks for protection should a threat suddenly materialize he wandered through the cluster of trees. Listening and observing with great focus he came to realize that the sound was emanating from the trees themselves and not from some other being that was present.

Just as this understanding was falling into place inside him mind an incredibly loud wail sliced through the air. So close to the tree that had created it Legolas had been jolted by its sudden volume and jumped back away from it. With his natural leaping ability it took him far enough so he was now by the tree opposite the one which had wailed so terribly.

"Take greater care where you point those arrows!" a voice behind him insisted. Legolas spun around, a knife ready in hand in response to something managing to sneak up on him. Fury at his own mistake filled his eyes.

"Put that away before end up stabbing me with it as well," the voice stated and the tree before him shifted one of its lower branches so the tips covered its lower trunk protectively from any possible encounter with the sharp looking weapon.

Legolas smiled, realizing it had been the tree, and that he must have stuck it with the arrows in his quiver when he had backed up. He wondered how the fletched end of the arrows would have hurt such a solid tree. But the thought took second seat as apology was in order.

"My deepest apologies. I did not intend this to happen. Wait!" he began to exclaim, but confusion gripped him and he fell silent.

"Yes?" the tree urged when the elf remained quiet and repeatedly glanced from him to the other trees nearby and then back again.

"Why do you not cry out like the others?" the elf finally inquired.

"I am too far gone to have the strength with which to do so."

"What do you mean? What afflicts you?"

"It is something unknown to this tree and as well as these others that fill the air with their sorrow and pain."

"Do you mean to say that they are similarly afflicted?"

"Aye. And as those over to my North were before us."

Legolas turned away from the tree off to the right and gazed in the direction in which had been indicated. His keen sight sought out the trees which stood beyond this large cluster. The elf's eyes widened and his heart dipped as they came into focus.

"These trees they are all…!" the elf exclaimed but cut his words off unable to fathom and complete the thought. The tree finished for him.

"Dead."

"What has happened to them? To you?"

"We have pondered this but it remains hidden to us. While the trees to the north still lived they whispered amidst their cries that their northern neighbors had been through the same horror."

"So this affliction it spreads?"

"It would seem so I am afraid."

"They said not what ailed them then?"

"I fear that they did not know of it either."

"This is a strange and terrible occurrence."

"Tis true." The tree then let out a weary sigh and seemed to turn his attention off to the south. He did not speak for a long moment so Legolas made inquiry on his distraction.

"What thought do you dwell on my friend?"

"That if only the birds would return I might send a message to the wisest and eldest of all trees. He knows of many things that have come to pass. If there is a tree that has insight into these troubles it would be he."

"Do trees not send messages by passing along from cluster to cluster until it finds its intended receiver?"

"I fear there is no time for that method. If a message is of urgency a bird is sent."

The tree released another heavy sigh and the elf could hear the despair laden in the sound.

"My heart aches for you, dear one," Legolas offered.

"I am an old tree – not nearly the oldest by any means – but I have seen my share of seasons. I am not in sorrow for myself."

"Then what?"

"I fear that once we are gone it will continue on," the tree answered and with one of his higher limbs gestured southward. Legolas looked back in the direction from which he had come. The trees there were healthy in their bark and in the color of the leaves upon them. They were untouched.

"Something is very wrong. I must see how far this ailment extends."

"You have been kind to this old tree offering your apology and listening to my lament. My gratitude is extended to you…?"

"Legolas."

"That is all there be?" the tree asked with confusion enveloping the words.

"I do not understand. Of what do you ask me?"

"Those that usually pass through here offer names and titles of much greater - and of far more tiring - length."

"It matters not. Simply call me Legolas or friend."

"So be it then. I am Bentley, but my friends call me Lefty. Therefore, you are welcome to address me as such."

"I am honored – Lefty," Legolas responded as he looked upon the tree and realized the reason for the nickname. Almost all of the tree's limbs had grown on its left side and the tree's trunk listed ever so slightly in that direction as it neared the top.

"You have my gratitude for your story. But I fear this affliction can spare no time. I must ride on northward and discover what causes this horror."

"May your journey be swift and your findings not as I fear, my friend."

"And may you find comfort and health dear Lefty!"

Without further delay Legolas remounted his horse and encouraged her northward. He rode at an increasingly faster pace the further he traveled. On and on he went into the miles upon miles of forest. And the greater the number of hoof beats gone by the more horrifying the devastation grew.

The furthest grouping of trees he had come to thus far were not just dead but gnarled and charred looking. Layered on top of the bark was a thick black substance. Their leaves were all the color of fresh fallen snow – a flawless white. Their brightness stood out starkly against the blackened trees.

At this place, a rather small clearing encircled with trees, Legolas halted his horse and took in the scene before him. Wishing for a closer inspection of the trees he dismounted. That was when he noticed the ground. Despite his light footedness as his feet hit the earth there was a strange crunching sound underneath them. He had been so entranced by the trees and leaves and everything above he somehow had failed to notice the change in the ground. Now he gazed down beneath his boots and gasped. What had assuredly once been luscious green grass was now ebony in color and broken, brittle, and dead.

"How can this be so?" he spoke in confusion. The elf squatted down beside his horse and stared down in disbelief at the ground. Every blade of grass was now blackened. He leaned forwarded slightly, taking care to not touch the grass with his bare skin, and sniffed in the scent of it. A horrid acidic smell assaulted him and he let out a cough at its impact with his throat and lungs. Recovering he stood back up and took a few steps towards the edge of the clearing and, therefore, the trees.

As he was nearing the edge of the clearing he felt something drip onto his ear. Reaching a hand up he surveyed his skin with his fingertips for what it had been that had landed upon him. He located it quickly and he could feel it stick to his skin so he pulled his hand back down and held out in front of him to look upon it.

To his dismay what was in his hand was the black substance that covered the bark of the trees. His instinct was to immediately clean himself of the substance but forethought kicked in. Since he had already come in contact with it then he might as well find out a little more about it. It was sticky but still held a hint of moisture and gritty in texture.

Despite his better judgment he tried to get the smell of this as well. He figured it had already come in contact with his skin and it might become vital in figuring out what was going on in this place. The same offensive acidic smell met his sense of smell as had when he sniffed at the grass.

Perhaps this explained the grass? He stepped back from the tree to the center of the small clearing and looked up the overhanging branches. As he had theorized small globs of the black goo separated from the tree bark and fell to the ground. This riddle possibly unraveled he moved back to his horse and reached into his pack with his free hand, pulling out a cloth. He used the fabric to wipe away the substance from his hand and ear. Then taking out his water he wet a corner of the cloth that remained clear of the goo and washed any further residue from his skin. He only hoped he would not regret having been so foolish as to have stopped and gotten off his horse here.

Tucking the cloth back inside his pack he took one last look around. He then mounted again in a single heartbeat and took off northward. This time his pace was slower so that he could survey the details of his surroundings. The sights that came to his eyes brought torment to his heart, sent foreboding thoughts through his mind, and delivered anger to his spirit. This last emotion only further ignited when he came upon a fair sized river.

As he approached its bank a harsh smell assaulted his sinuses and he brought up the sleeve of his shirt to his nose for a moment to abate it. It was more of a stench than a smell, so foul and penetrating that his horse began refuse to go any further. At first he commanded the animal to take a few more steps nearer so he could clear the tree line to afford a better vantage point but when the horse let out a distressed huff of air he thought better of it.

Looking out across to the opposite bank the state of the river halted the breath in his body. The water was filled with blackened tree branches, bright white leaves, sickly gray colored acorns and pine cones, and other debris. The water itself was a strange gray green color with swirls of black and yellow mixed in here and there. Floating on the surface and at the river's edge amongst the debris were dead fish, frogs, and other water creatures.

The horse shifted abruptly underneath him from one foot to the other and back again as if attempting to shake the elf out his fixated state and back into breathing. After taking in a few breaths, shallow and quick in their detail to avoid the full brunt of the smell, Legolas leaned down along the horse's mane and whispered elvish words of reassurances into her perked up ears.

With these soft spoken words the animal took the handful of remaining steps that cleared their view of the tree line. Now free to look north and south down the river the elf saw that the state of things was similar in both directions. He was about to turn his gaze away from the southbound stretch of the river when recognition struck his mind.

Quite a distance further down along the water he could make out several grand rock formations on either side of the river. These fascinatingly shaped formations collectively created two low overhanging cliffs – the outermost rocks of each nearly touching one another over the center of the river.

After passage underneath them the river would dramatically bend southwestward instead of true south. This Legolas could not see but only knew to be true because he recognized the unique color and shape of the rock formations.

They marked the bend before the rapids at Rages Deep. This was the River Jaden. Suddenly his chest tightened in upon itself and his heart raced as the realization sunk inward and was absorbed into his heart and mind.

"This can not come to be," he whispered against the thick air around him. As if not understanding what the elf knew and she did not but desiring to the horse shifted her weight once again.

"Do you not see, my friend? This is the River Jaden. One of the far reaching most resource filled rivers there is. And one of the next heavily inhabited places it will flow into is Gondor!"

Most of the River Jaden was swift flowing but it did have its sections where it was more subdued. These areas were where its resources were most critically relied upon. He had ridden along the river much further south not a day ago and the waters there had been clear and teaming with life. When the water he now looked upon reached those areas its effects could be widespread and devastating.

"Be swift of speed and strong in endurance, my friend, for we must reach Aragorn with much haste!" the elf cried out to the beautiful horse beneath him. And with not so much as an additional kick of encouragement the animal spun them around back southward and took off as if it were the forceful winter wind.

Legolas did not slow the horse until they had returned back to the place of the crying tress where they had stopped earlier. He quickly dismounted and rushed over to the tree which he had conversed with on their first visit.

"Lefty, my tree friend, I have seen the north and our fears are warranted. And there is a question I must ask of you!" Legolas called out as he arrived at the base of the oak tree.

But the tree did not reply. The elf's heart pulsed furiously against his chest as a result of his galloped ride. The beating echoed in his eardrums as well. Perhaps he was not hearing a whispered answer from the tree because it was masked by this internal distraction.

So he keyed up his hearing and all of his senses and when he did he came to a saddened realization. The tree has passed away while he had been gone. Its spirit was no longer present. Then something else struck him and he looked about. The other trees no longer cried out as they had when he had stood in the same spot earlier in the day.

"Be at peace!" he offered them.

With those whispered words Legolas sunk down to his knees and hung his head. Then he wept for a long time. His heartbreak echoed hauntingly amongst the now silenced cluster of trees.

"What evil hath taken ahold here?" he pondered once the tears had released his voice back to him. His heart ached fiercely to know of what was causing the trees demise. For if he knew there was nothing that would stand in the way of his fighting and decisively defeating it.

Lifting his head up high he gazed around at the newest casualties of this unseen enemy.

"Whatever evil you are I will defeat you!" he declared. Standing he placed a hand upon Bentley's trunk and bowed his head giving the deceased tree a respectful silent blessing for his journey into the beyond.

Then lifting his fingertips from his bark the elf turned away. A heartbeat later he was mounted on his horse and turned their direction southbound once more.

And he rode with all the intensity of his love for the trees and all the fierceness of his warrior spirit towards those who had stood beside him in battle so bravely in times before.

As twilight began to descend upon the forest surrounding him Legolas raced desperately to outrun it.

To Be Continued…