NOTE: CHAPTER ONE WAS EDITED, YOU MAY WANT TO REREAD. ONLY MINOR CHANGES MADE. STILL MAY WANT TO REREAD. TITLE HAS BEEN CHANGED. PREVIOUSLY: THE DEAD. NOW: WILL WE ENDURE? DESCRIPTION HAS ALSO RECEIVED MAKEOVER. THANK YOU.

Disclaimer: Me no own and you no sue, do da, do da…


Thranduil, though reluctant to do so, sent out another patrol as soon as he reached the palace. They had orders to only seek out the disturbance, but not to confront it until it's identity was reported back to the king. The threat needed to be eliminated as soon as possible, with no casualties, if possible.

Legolas had wanted to accompany them, but neither his father, nor the guard would hear of it. His father for a quite obvious reason, and the guard simply because they believed that the royal family must stay intact at all costs.

The palace was eerily silent. The word of the mysterious deaths had spread quickly, by now Thranduil was sure that there was not an elf who hadn't heard of it. As soon as Thranduil entered the throne room, he ordered all citizens to be brought inside the gates of the palace, and for all entrences to be sealed off.

"Do not let anyone out of these walls without my permission under any circumstances," Thranduil commanded, pacing in front of his throne. The guards in front of him bowed and made a hasty exit.

"Adar… Do you have any idea of what could have caused this?" Legolas asked, stepping from the shadows of a nearby column.

"No, ion nin… I am going to go to the library… I must see if I can find any evidence of reports similar to this," Thranduil said tiredly. His day had turned around so fast, he was not quite sure his mind had grasped the full context of what was going on.

Legolas merely nodded his head before wandering off in the direction of the kitchens. Thranduil allowed a faint smile. Ever since he was little, Legolas would get a sweet tooth whenever stressful events took place… Whatever it was, be it a sever scolding or the entrance test to the Guard, Legolas would find the nearest sugary treat and devour it. Thranduil's smile slipped off of his face. The sight in the forest had hurt Legolas… It had hurt Thranduil as well. Legolas had come home, expecting a reprieve from the horror and bloodshed, only to find that his own home has been attacked… at least during the War he had known what enemies he faced.

The same went for the Elvenking…

oOo

"My lord! You must come to the healing quarters immediately!"

Thranduil sharply turned away from the bookshelf and eyed the panicked expression on Galion's face.

"What is it?"

"A-a member of the guard, my liege…" Thranduil had never seen Galion look so frightened in his life.

Following his panicking butler, the full meaning of what had just been said to him hit Thranduil like a bag of rocks to the head. The guard. Someone from the guard had returned… Picking up his pace, the Elvenking swept past the distressed Galion and made his way alone to the healing quarters.

Before he had even reached his destination, Thranduil knew something was terribly wrong.

The healing quarters were yet several corridors away, and Thranduil could already hear screaming.

Bracing himself, he picked up his pace once more. It sounded like there was only one elf… definitely a male. He was not sure if that was a good sign or not. It could mean two things… Either there was only one elf wounded…

Or there was only one elf left.

Opening the doors to the healing room, Thranduil took in the sight before him. Several healers were backed against the wall on either side of him, casting frightened glances in between him and an object on the far side of the room… the source of the bone-chilling screams. There was only two or three braver healers, attempting to get close to the screaming elf, but it soon became apparent why they could not.

The elf was pulling hard at his hair, already there were clumps of it visible on the floor. There was no visible injury to the ellon, and Thranduil was confuse until he caught a glimpse of his eyes.

They were crazed. The eyes of someone who did not know themselves or anything else anymore. The eyes in question darted towards the Elvenking, and the screaming seemed to grow in magnitude… it no longer sounded like the voice of one, but had somehow magnified into the voice of many. Several healers were crumpled on the floor, there hands over their ears.

Thranduil barely resisted the urge to do the same, instead beginning to chant;

"Odulen an edraith anlen. Sidhe… Loste…"

It took several minutes for it to work, but the distraught guard member eventually slumped over, the grip on his hair finally relaxing.

"Get him comfortable, restrain his arms.. and somebody tell me exactly what happened," Thranduil snapped.

One of the healers, an ellith, approached him.

"Speak."

"My lord, nobody is sure of how he got here exactly…"

"Got where? The healing chambers? The gates? Be more descriptive," Thranduil said impatiently. The healer's eye twitched slightly.

"Adar…"

The Elvenking turned to see his son giving him a reprimanding look.

"They are not sure how he reached the gates… the found him lying on the bridge, convulsing," the healer continued, looking slightly nervous. "They brought him to the healing quarters as soon as they found him… he was unresponsive by the time they got here. He wasn't moving.. he was barely breathing. We were examining him for any surface injuries, but we found none, and then he just…" the healer drifted off, eying the now unconscious elf in question. "He shot up and began babbling nonsense before he began to scream, just like you heard… by then someone had been sent to fetch you, my king."

"What was he saying?" Thranduil asked, rubbing his temples.

"I… could not understand him. I am sorry, my lord…" the healer ducked her head. Thranduil waved his hand dismissively.

"Check for poisoning. Observe him… Do not leave him unattended. Notify my immediately if any changes take place," the king ordered, turning to leave.

There was a collective gasp from the surrounding healers.

Thranduil turned to find the previously unconscious elf sitting upright and staring at him.

His eyes…

… Bleeding?

Thranduil's thoughts were interrupted by a voice so dark, one could hardly believe it was coming from the mouth of an elf.

"Aran. Tol di menta…"

Thranduil locked eyes with the ellon opposite. A dark, wry grin spread across the lips of the guard sitting in the bed.

"Eryn Lasgalen.. enpathra Taur-nu-Fuin… Amortam… fodram galadam…"


A/N: WOW. I UPDATED.

Ok before I forget: Translations:

Adar- father

Ion nin- my son

Odulen an edraith anlen.- I am here to heal you (roughly)

Sidhe- peace

Loste- sleep

Aran. Tol di menta…- King, I bring a message

Eryn Lasgalen.. enpathra Taur-nu-Fuin… Amortam… fodram galadam…- Eryn Lasgalen will once again become the forest of the night (in other words, Mirkwood) We will rise… Light will fall.

How was it guys? Was it interesting? Are you intrigued? I have some huge plans for this story Muahaha… anywho.

It is very late so the quality is hopefully ok *cringe*

Thank you to-

Wunderkind4006- GOOD.

Mirkwood warrior-Awesome! I hope you liked this!

btmarshall14- Thank you! I have changed the title though XD since my plans for the story changed as well LOL

Just A Reviewer- LOL! I hope you liked this! Thank you for the review LOL XD

Pip the Dark Lord of All- I WON'T! I WILL NOT DELETE IT! I feel this shall become my greatest work yet LOL

Raider-K- What if it was none of those? Fufufu… Or all… FUfufu… no spoilerz precious *wags fingers* you won't get any today noooo… Thank you for review XD

A fan of Many Stuffs- LOL well now it's changed since then… the spider story may only be vaguely related now LOL I WON'T DELETE IT I PROMISE! .. And what? LOL

BlueberryMuffins76- Yes! They do! And maybe that might not be for the best! *just sayin* Hope you liked this update! XD

Rosiethehobbit17- I AMMMMM!

Nameless- I shall! I hope you see this XD

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Now, goodnight!

Rousdower out_