Chapter Four
Legolas the Father

Mirkwood

Raina had rode for three days straight before she was finally forced to take a rest. Fortunately for her she had made it through her journey unscathed so far - her path had been unplagued by the various malevolent creatures that dwelt within the forest. Alistair's condition was slowly worsening though, Raina could feel the life slowly leaving him, like she had felt the life leave her mother. If he did not get care soon, she knew that his prospects were bleak.

Raina warmed a poultice over the flame until it was hot to touch, then made her way over to the blankets to where Alistair lay. She pressed the poultice against his open wound, her touch was gentle. Wulfric's stitches had burst the night prior - leaving an open mess on Alistair's abdomen. Raina was no healer - she didn't have a clue what to do with the open wound so she had padded it with all the remaining bandages. .

"Oh Alistair, I hope you make it to Mirkwood," Raina breathed, taking her cousin's hand in her own. His hand was cold, too cold. "you've made it this far. All you need to do is hold on another few nights."

She received no response from her cousin. Alistair had been unconscious since Raina had left which she had to admit was probably a good thing. Had he been awake he would have been in unbearable agony. The wound was deep and Raina was pretty sure it had began to fester. Suppressing a yawn, Raina laid her head down on the blankets. As tempting as it may have been, she knew she couldn't sleep as she had to stay watch over Alistair.

Yet, surely, she thought, it was okay for her to shut her eyes for a few moments?

Unable to keep them open any longer Raina relaxed her body and settled into the blankets, her eyelids hesitated before they finally closed. Soon her simple "eye-rest" had turned into a full blown slumber. Soft snores emitted from her, alerting the whole forest to her whereabouts.

After an hour or so, an eight legged creature crawled out from the shadows the trees had cast. It was a ghastly being, black as the night with a red marking trawling down it's back. It's eyes were beads of darkness, not even the smallest flicker of light touched them. It crawled through the make-shift camp as quietly as a whisper. It's eight legs perfectly maneuvering over logs and branches so as not to create a sound. Having smelt Alistair's poisoned blood it headed straight for Raina. the spider was already upon her when she awoke, it's razor sharp sting readying for attack. Raina rolled out of the way instantly. Instinctively she grabbed her pocket knife, which she had kept in her belt for quick access and tried stabbing at it. The spider dodged each attack skillfully.

The spider then lunged towards her. It's legs propelling it off the the ground and into the air. Raina fell backwards and the foul creature pounced upon her, it's pinchers tearing a chunk out of her arm. She screamed in pain and the birds that had sat upon the trees scattered to the wind. Raina propelled the blade upwards creating a hole in the spider's hard outercase. She thrust it further in and twisted and twisted, till the spider's legs curled up into a ball and it's writhing body went still.

Clutching her arm Raina pulled herself up and dragged herself over to Alistair. She had no bandages left to wrap around her arm, which was now bleeding quite profusely. All she could do was tear a scrap of fabric off her tunic and wrap that around the wound. She tied it around her arm, holding her breath as she felt the spider's poison corrupt her body and flow through her veins.

She knew she couldn't wait here long. It wouldn't be long till more of these spider's came, she could not risk a few more hours sleep. She drew Candor from his slumber and with what little strength she had left hoisted, the quite large, Alistair onto the horse before mounting Candor herself and riding off into the distance leaving the fire behind her burning strong.

Mirkwood

Legolas could smell the strong scent of burning. Someone had lit a fire not so far from here. He knew whoever had lit it wasn't particularly smart, for any experienced traveler wouldn't have set up camp so near a spider's web. Legolas was on guard duty yet again, due to his being late, Alagos had punished him with yet more more duties. One of which was joining him whilst scouting the outskirts. It wasn't a particularly enjoyable task. Legolas had spent three days listening to Alagos' dreadfully boring tales. The Commander had many a story, yet chose to repeat the same ones over and over again. Legolas could almost recite the story of the two-headed spider off by heart.

The Elven Prince followed the commander through the trees until they came to the source of the burning smell. The fire was still burning red and a few bloody bandages lay astray on the ground. "A lot of blood has been spilt here," Legolas uttered, picking up one of the bandages and throwing it into the flame. Black smoke flew upwards and sent of the burning bandage was bittersweet.

"Indeed," Alagos spoke. His gaze was caught by the remains of a spiderling. It was a small creature, the kind Legolas hunted for fun. It had a red mark down it's back which indicated to the elven prince that although it was but a young spiderling, it had one of the most potent poisons of the Mirkwood spiders.

"There was a struggle here. Whomever was camped here must have been caught at unawares by the spiderling." Alagos summed up, stroking his chin, like a dwarf strokes his beard. "It seems as though our intruder was bitten. Blood has been spilt over here as well. We must hurry - the spider's poison is potent, if left for long enough it could be deadly."

Legolas searched the ground for tracks. His acute senses meant that he easily spotted a fresh trail of horse tracks. Excitement built within him and he darted towards his horse. Alagos was close at his back. "They are fresh still! we are not long behind. If we hurry we can catch up tonight."

The pair flew through the forest. The tracks were easy to follow as no rain had fallen since they were created. For a moment Legolas almost felt back to his normal self. For a moment he had forgotten all about Hena and how she had left him. The tracks only grew fresher and fresher, they were close now. Very close. "You seem much brighter 'Las!" Alagos commented "Much more like your usual self,"

Before Legolas could reply his attention was stolen by the soft sound of a girl crying. The wind carried the pitiful sounds like the melody of a sad song. The Elven Prince unmounted his horse and followed the sound. Alagos kept close at his heel, hand tightly bound around the hilt of his sword, prepared for any form of attack. Legolas caught sight of the source of the sound. A pitiful girl was knelt by the body of a boy. She looked no older than thirteen and the boy was more of man than a boy at twenty. Her dark brown hair contrasted with the paleness of her ivory skin. Even from a distance Legolas could tell she was not well. As for the man, he looked to be on death's door.

The girl turned around to survey the area. It was then Legolas saw her face. The exact replica of Hena's. For a moment he believed his mind to have fallen into some sort of dream, for this girl was almost identical to his beloved. He deduced that they must have been of some relation.

"She is bleeding," Alagos spoke. "She looks as though she has been bit. The boy - he is already on deaths door, he has not long left,"

Legolas held his breath and emerged from the trees. The girl didn't notice him at first, she was too caught up in tending the boy's wound. It wasn't until the elven prince was stood behind her that she finally noticed him. The girl reached out for her bow and pulled an arrow from her quiver but before she could shoot, Legolas held his hands out, showing her that he came in peace.

"Calm yourself child - We are not here to harm you," He told her gently. The girl seemed satisfied and dropped her bow to the ground. Before she could protest, Alagos - a natural healer - flew to the boy's side, knowing well that he would not have long left without urgent care.

"We're here to help. My friend Alagos will see to your friend. Tell me your names?"

"I'm Raina," She murmured. "That's my cousin Alistair,"

Legolas nodded and knelt by her level. He stared deeper into her eyes - the same youth and innocence shone in them that had shone in Hena's eyes all those years ago. Tears began to spill down the girl's cheeks. "Let me see your arm, you are injured as well. Were you bitten by one of those spiders?"

The girl nodded and timidly outstretched her arm. Legolas took it in his gentle grip and carefully unwound the make-shift bandage that was rolled around the bite. The bite was ghastly. The skin around the wounded area had turned black and the blood that left the bite was laced with the lethal poison of the spider. "You must be in agony," Legolas breathed. He tore off a piece of his cloak and tightly wrapped it around the infected area. "I cannot do much for you here, but I shall take you back to my realm. There you and your friend shall find the care you need,","

She nodded. Alagos was still working on Alistair. "The boy is stable for now," The Commander spoke. "But we should hurry. Is the girl well?"

"A nasty bite," Legolas uttered casting one look back upon the Hena look-alike. "But nothing beyond our skill to heal. She shall be fine,"

Without word Alagos began hoisting Alistair up unto his own steed. Legolas stared at the girl once more, her wide eyes surveying him curiously. The wind blew through the trees and the girls chestnut locks blew off her face, revealing two very pointed ears. Usually Legolas could tell ones race almost instantly, but perhaps he had been so blinded by her likeness to Hena that he hadn't noticed the differences. This girl was clearly of elvish descent, unlike Hena had been. She wasn't related to his beloved after all. "Where are you from Raina? Rivendell, Lothlorien?"

"The outskirts of Laketown," She answered. The response was unexpected. She was an elf, it was more than a little unusual for one of his people to come from a human settlement. "Before you ask, because I know you're going to. You are the first elf I've met. I grew up amongst men, my mother was human,"

"Your father is an elf then?" Legolas's heart took a dip. Could she be...romances between mortals and elves were rare, but no, definitely not the elven prince argued with himself. "There is a woman I knew from your town. Dark hair, green eyes. Her name was Hena do you know of her?"

The girl took a deep breath and nodded. She seemed nervous but she finally opened her mouth to speak "She was my mother,"

Legolas's heart stopped. His focus fell on the bow the girl had been prepared to shoot at him with. It had been his once. The bow he had given to Hena. His mother's bow. He looked up at the girl once more and in that moment the elven prince knew - he was a father.

A/N

I can't describe in so many words how much I hate this chapter! I enjoyed writing it and all, but I don't feel it's my best work. Anyway, that's the last of the chapters I already had written so the updates might be a little slower, but I'll try to keep them daily.

PS. So. Not really sure if spider's have "Pinchers" but for the sake of my story, the ones in Mirkwood do.

Anyway. I'm totally open to conscrit so review away! n_n