*Author Note: Hello! Here is are next two chapters hot off the press! Thank you to all who reviewed, your words mean the world to me! 3 And for those following this story, thank you as well! Knowing people want updates makes me keep writing so I can keep giving you updates! That being said, I hope you like these next two chapters! Please let me know what you think in the comments, and if there is anything you'd like to see more or less of in the upcoming chapters.

Chapter 10

The chatter and bustle of the dining hall faded into the background as Legolas made his way back towards the hospital wing.

Due to his current use of crutches, the prince decided to take the long way around which involved a winding ramp carved out from the cave's stone to impersonate the massive root of a tree that circled downwards around the perimeter of the western part of the Halls.

With each swinging step the sounds around him faded, and before long the only sounds to be heard were those of his foot and crutches gently thumping against the worn walkway.

Though lanterns were lit along the one wall of the spiral walkway, the night's darkness swallowed everything around the little flickering flames so much so that the pools of darkness between lanterns could have hidden a crouching person or something worse. Legolas felt the tension rise within him as he stepped towards each new pool of shadow, expecting to hit something or have something something appear right in front of him.

Thick, black shadow filled the room's hollow center, spilling over onto the descending ramp—dark, finger-like shadows poured out past the railing slats onto the floor, reaching its solid, black tendrils at any who passed by.

Legolas avoided walking too close to the interior of the stairs, for the darkness seemed too alive; instead choosing to be as close to the wall and it's lights as his walking sticks allowed.

When light and dark fight for dominion over a space so intensely, the result can play tricks on the mind; things that are disappear, while things that are not —or should not be—materialize.

Legolas had never had problems with the dark before, but for some reason he could not stifle the rising unease in his heart.

As he continued forward, his sensitive ears picked up what sounded like footsteps behind him. At first, he continued without hesitation—expecting a palace employee to stride past him at any moment.

But after a few minutes, still no one appeared. The soft clacking of footsteps continued, and so did the tightening in his chest.

Finally, his senses screamed too loudly for him to ignore any longer; he stopped dead in his tracks and spun around to confront whoever walked behind him, but all that met him was darkness and the little orbs of orange and gold light cast from the lanterns hanging on the wall.

The darkness seemed to smother and dim the lantern's lights after he passed them, as if a monster of shadow stalked him while consuming everything in its path.

Staring deep into the darkness, the prince scanned the ascending path, searching for anyone or anything to be the source of the noise. It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the darker areas, and though he did not find anyone lurking, his senses told him someone or something was there in the darkness, just beyond his sight. His neck and shoulders began to ache as he strained to see through the thick shroud of blackness that had befallen the path.

Then his eyes caught a shape. Or more so an outline. Standing steadfast within the swirling waves of blackness, a featureless enigma watched him. The thing had a humanoid build, but the prince's heart told him it did not belong of this world.

The hairs on the back of his neck prickled, and his knuckles went white as he held the handles of his crutches tight. His unease heightened as he watched the thing in the darkness just stand there, unmoving.

Unbreathing. Legolas couldn't pick up any sounds of breath besides his own. And no scent rode upon the air besides that of candle wax and the earthy mildew from the stone surrounding them.

When Legolas tried to focus in on the figure, the blackness blurred the imposter's outline, making it disappear. But when he shifted his eyes, the figure reappeared within the darkness.

Whatever followed him, Legolas did not think it elven or human. The shoulders were broader, and the neck too thick. It stood at his or his father's height, though he could not see it's legs.

He did not call to it, for he did not feel it would answer. Seeing as it did not attack, Legolas decided to continue forward. Without any weapons besides the wooden sticks he leaned upon, a fight on the narrow pathway would not end well for him.

But when he turned back around to continue on his way, he stumbled back a step when he saw another creature cloaked in shifting shadow watching him from further down the path.

Surrounded, Legolas tried to find another means of escape. The infirmary lay only a few hundred feet down the ramp and through one more hallway, but jumping down from the railing in his current condition would most likely end in another broken ankle or leg, so he would only take that route as a last resort.

Turning back around, the figure behind him had not moved; within the veil of shadows it continued to only watch him.

Because neither enigma seemed overly aggressive at the current moment, Legolas took a deep breath in and decided to continue forward as if he did not see the shadowy creatures. But his body remained tense and ready to jump over the railing if the situation called for it.

Forging ahead, Legolas found he lost sight of the creature that had stood in front of him. Unsure of whether it actually gone or just hidden, he did not dally in descending the last bit of the ramp.

Once his foot landed on the flat surface, he let out a large breath of air he didn't know he had been holding.

The hallway ahead was long and dark. There were several similar hallways from other places within the Halls that all lead to the large lobby of the infirmary, like arteries flowing into a heart. And like veins draining into an artery, there were several smaller hallways branching from each main one.

Usually, this particular hallway was a noisy and bustling thoroughfare with lots of people passing back and forth, but at such a late hour as now the hallway lay silent and sleeping.

Just like on the winding ramp, small, candle lit sconces rested three-quarters of the way up on the walls, creating glowing, golden circles of light along the blackened hallway.

At the end of the hallway lay the infirmary. But due to the late hour, the doors were closed, creating a tunnel of darkness that stretched out from the depths and crawled along the edges and cracks the candle's light could not touch.

Shaking off the cloak of unease that now draped itself across his weary shoulders, Legolas pressed on, ignoring the nagging feeling in his gut to be vigilant.

The air sat still and heavy within the narrow passage, but Legolas ignored it. He had always had a twinge of claustrophobia, and the impending darkness did not make the walls or ceiling feel any farther away.

Then, from somewhere within the darkness came a noise.

Legolas froze, his ears straining to locate the sound again. It had sounded like a snort. Like something sucked in air, snorted, and then smacked its lips.

A flash of tendon being ripped from bone through small, pointed teeth flashed in his mind and he stumbled, barely catching himself on the wall. Heart pounding, he lifted a shaky hand and gripped his forehead for a moment, trying to settle his nerves that were so uncharacteristically jumpy.

After a few deep breaths and no other sounds, Legolas shook his head and swung his crutches out to begin again.

As he passed the halfway mark of the long stretch of hall, another noise sounded from up ahead.

A pop immediately followed by a loud clap met his ears. Though slightly lower in pitch, the sound seemed to be that of whip being cracked against something. Then came a loud shriek.

Legolas's chest tightened and he found himself frozen in place. A few other unintelligible sounds came to him from the dark pit at the end of the hallway, and the prince felt a bead of sweat trail down the left side of his face as he stared into the dark abyss, trying to see what may be hiding within.

The thoughts in his head started to collide and fall apart. Uncertainty wracked his mind as he became confused on where he was or why he was there. Things started to look unfamiliar—the small flickering candles began to morph into torches hung on dungeon walls, their light taking on a blood red hue. He suddenly wasn't sure if he had actually escaped the orcs, or if he was now in their dungeon. The past few days felt like a dream and an icy fear spread through him that he had just woken up.

The sounds from the darkness seemed to growl and draw closer. He needed to arm himself, for every nerve in his body screamed that something was getting closer, despite his eyes seeing nothing.

The candles on the walls seemed to flicker with every sound, and the shadows lengthened and reached towards him. Within the hallway's abyss, the dark imposters reemerged.

Dropping one crutch, Legolas picked the other one up and held it in both hands, readying himself to use it as a club.

Keen eyes darted from one wall to the other and back as he tried to see if it was the shadow figures he felt approaching or if another stalked him from within the darkness.

The dark imposters faded and rematerialized in the shifting and flowing blackness, but they did not advance. Something else was coming, every nerve in his body told him to ready himself.

Legolas felt his casted ankle protest the weight he forced it to bear as he stood ready to defend himself, but if he had any hope of surviving an attack he needed a firmer stance. So with a deep breath, he ignored the sharp pain radiating up his left leg, twisting and yanking under his knee cap and digging icy-hot talons into every muscle as it climbed upwards within his body. He turned his mind to focusing on steadying his rapid pulse since his heart felt as if it would crack through his sternum if it continued at its current pace.

Footsteps approached from behind him. The veteran warrior acted as if he did not hear the advance until he knew they were within striking distance; as soon as it was, Legolas swung the crutch around with all his strength and hit his target with a loud crack.

A startled shout and Legolas dropped the crutch in horror.

"Master Elrond!" Legolas gasped as the older elf fell against the wall, a look of shock and confusion on his face.

Slowly Elrond pushed himself back away from the wall and said, "Remind me not sneak up on you again, or risk decapitation." the older elf gave a closed-lip smirk as he rubbed his upper shoulder with his other hand.

"Did I hurt you?" Legolas asked, a hint of panic in his voice.

Elrond shook his head, "Not badly. I will survive. A small bruise most likely, that is all." his peeked through his widening smile, "I may be old, but I can still deflect a blow."

"My—my sincerest apologies, Mast Elrond." Legolas said with a downcast gaze as he rubbed the back of his spasming neck.

"Do not fret for I am fine." coffee colored eyes dropped down to the prince's feet and scanned their way back up. A slight tremor travelled through the prince's body and his face now appeared paler than it had been at the evening meal. His breathing sounded erratic and his pupils were fully dilated. Elrond walked up to Legolas and gently placed a hand on the younger elf's shoulder, "Are you alright? What were you defending yourself from?" he said as he glanced around the corners of the archway above them.

Legolas shook his head and licked his dry lips, "I—I saw something," his brows furrowed at the memory. Glancing up at Elrond, "Dark figures, Elrond. They did not seem of this world."

Elrond's brows drew together as he asked, "What did these dark figures look like?"

Shaking his head again, Legolas dropped his gaze, "I could not see any features for they hid in the shadows. But they were large and did not seem of human or elven kind."

"Did they speak to you?" Elrond questioned.

"I—I—no...they did not." Legolas began to feel dizzy as the adrenaline rush began to dwindle, and his body suddenly felt incredibly heavy.

"Are you alright?" Elrond asked as he ducked slightly to try and meet the prince's down-turned gaze, "Let us get you to the infirmary, shall we?"

Legolas nodded, his eyelids drooped and he felt like laying down right there in the hallway.

"And here," Elrond said picking up one of the crutches from at the prince's feet, "Let us get you off that leg and use these as they were intended. Yes?" he handed both walking sticks to Legolas who placed them back under his arms.

Elrond walked with Legolas the rest of the way down the hallway and soon the closed door to the infirmary came into view.

As they stepped up to the infirmary door, Legolas looked to his right and saw a small room with an open door, within the room were two healers—both young silvan males. On strings stretched across the room hung freshly cleaned and damp bandages, linens, and towels. On the floor were several buckets, some filled with clean water, others with soapy bubbles that brimmed the top.

Not realizing that anyone else roamed the halls so late, the shorter of the two healers took a wet towel from a bucket of water and wound it up tightly —allowing the excess water to pour back into the bucket— and then his brown eyes narrowed and he quietly snuck up behind the taller male who stood at a table with his back turned to all of them.

With a quick flick of his arm and wrist, the shorter elf thrust the towel out and then quickly back to him, cracking the end of the towel on the taller elf's behind.

The pop then clap of the towel against the air sounded almost exactly like that of a whip.

The taller elf yelped and jumped from where he had been folding the dry towels.

"That's four to one!" exclaimed the shorter elf as he laughed.

The taller healer swung around and glared at his friend while rubbing the sore spot on his ass, "I will get you back, that I promise! It will be when you least expect it!"

"I will believe that when I see it." the shorter elf said as he dunked the towel back in a bucket of water and sat down in a chair next to it. Then he reclined back and tilted his face towards the ceiling and in a bored voice moaned, "When do we get to move on from this cruddy chore? I hate linen washing and folding every night. It is so tedious! Why can't we get something more interesting like medicine inventory."

Both healers laughed sarcastically.

"Ahem." coughed Elrond as his eyes remained fixed on the door while his hands clasped behind his back.

Both healers jumped and straightened as if struck by lightning, and their cheeks turned blood red. Both quickly looked around the room with wide eyes, leaping to the closest task available so as to appear busy.

Legolas glanced over to Elrond who had a sly smirk on his face as he reached for the door handle and turned it.

As the large, double doors opened, the night's darkness was obliterated by the bright glow of the infirmary lobby.

Circular in both width and height, the center of the domed room held a large fountain feature with a statue sculpted from a dark green stone. The statue depicted a healer helping an injured warrior who knelt at her side. Water poured from holes around the base of the statue into a large circular pool with crystal blue water.

This room had greenery everywhere and resembled a greenhouse as much as a hospital. Thick, healthy vines crawled up the walls and pillars throughout the room, and two branching wooden arches met above the center statue, where the climbing vines traveled down around the healer and wounded warrior, creating a bed of foliage at their stone feet.

Being still within the cavernous Halls where no sunlight could reach, the architects who built the area came up with a way to allow natural light to always glow in this central area. They had built a double ceiling—the top made from the cavern's stone, while the lower layer was made up of a clear, semi-translucent material which allowed light to flow through uniformly while still remaining gentle to the eyes and other senses.

The continuous light came from small, round stones that held within them captured living light; each one shedding enough light to illuminate a small room like a lamp would. The stones were then attached to the stone ceiling and placed behind the semi-transparent ceiling where their intense golden-white light could flow through illuminating the entire chamber as if a bright, cloudless sky hung above them.

Legolas felt his body relax the moment the doors to the dark hallway closed behind them. His heart and mind felt lighter as the smells and sounds of the water, plants, and light enveloped him.

At that moment, a door to the right coming from another artery opened and the healer Amondaer appeared, holding a stack of towels and two glass bottles on top.

The brown haired elf turned and startled slightly when he saw the other two elves watching him, "Oh! Prince Legolas and Master Elrond, I did not expect to see either of you up at such a late hour." looking down at the items in his hands, he said, "I am just restocking some of the rooms, it's easier to do when there are not a lot of people around."

Elrond gave an understanding nod, "How are you fairing Amondaer? I hope that your new life in Thranduil's Halls has been what you hoped."

Amondaer's face lit up with a huge smile as he walked over to where Elrond and Legolas stood, "Yes, sir. I cannot thank Master Celeborn enough for his generosity in helping me."

Elrond smiled, "Well, you are a good healer with a natural sense for the art, King Thranduil is lucky to have you on board."

The healer's eyes grew wide and glistened in the domed light, then he bowed, "You honor me, Master Elrond. Thank you for such kind praise."

Legolas understood that pleasantries ought to be exchanged when two people ran into each other—especially when one is a superior, but the waves of exhaustion and physical pain from doing too much that day began to become difficult to hide, and he had to lean much of his body weight onto the pair of crutches while he stood in wait for the other two to finish.

Thankfully, Elrond seemed to catch on to the waning prince at his side. Clearing his throat, Elrond asked the healer, "Amondaer, I need you to bring a few items to Legolas's room so that I may work on his leg."

Amondaer nodded exuberantly, "Yes! It would be my honor, your lordship. Tell me what you need and I will bring it right away."

After Elrond gave Amondaer the list of items he wanted, the healer scurried off back through the door from which he came.

"Show me to your room, Legolas." Elrond said placing a gentle hand between the prince's rounded shoulders.