Hey, Devoted readers! I'm back from vacation! K, so as promised, I have come back with an EXTRA LONG CHAPTER! Enjoy:
"Legolas, you are uninjured?" Aragorn turned his head, looking at where Legolas was getting up. Her kick had thrown him back quite a bit.
"Yes, hannon le. I am fine" Legolas stood and raised the blade in his right hand, examining it; it was completely clean, as if he hadn't used if at all that night. He sheathed his right blade with a look of confusion and began searching for his left.
"Legolas, mellon nin." Aragorn got Legolas' attention and the man picked up Legolas' second knife, lying closer to the tree trunk. Aragorn tossed him his left blade and Legolas caught it, sheathed it and then closed the distance between him and his friend in a few short strides.
"Hannon le." Legolas thanked Aragorn for his knife, "Who do you suppose that was?" the elf searched around with his eyes, as if she might appear again. Aragorn nodded slowly and gave the only answer he knew for certain:
"A servant of Erdolliel." Aragorn stated.
"Who is this... Erdolliel?" Legolas asked. Aragorn said the only things he knew:
"That is an elvish name." He stated.
"...It means 'Dark one' in common tongue." Legolas pointed out.
"Did you notice anything strange about her?" Aragorn asked.
"No, not anything. Except..." Legolas trailed off.
"Except...?"
"She did not seem to be real, her body was formed as if by... shadow." Legolas whispered the last word.
"She was physically real." Aragorn pointed out.
"I am aware of that." Legolas said, his mind seemingly somewhere else, "She just seemed...off."
After that, they reviewed all they knew:
1. The white orb should not be touched.
2. The red stone they possessed was most likely the fire soul stone.
3. Someone was trying to gather all the soul stones.
4. The person trying was an elleth named Erdolliel
5. Erdolliel had a strong shadow power; most likely she already had the water and air soul stones.
Meanwhile...
Erdolliel stood facing a large painted picture of an evil sorceress, her hands raised in anger as water, earth, fire, and air swirled around her. Erdolliel sighed in content, this sorceress was her inspiration. Somebody came into the room.
"Erdolliel."
"Yes, my servant?"
"Two have discovered it. I cannot fight them alone."
"Then gather your sisters. I made three of you for a reason."
"Of course. However, I sensed something they carry that you might want."
"What is that, dear?"
"Your fire soul stone."
A short gasp.
"I thought I had lost that..."
"My lady?"
"Capture them. I want them alive."
"Yes, my lady."
Once she had left, Erdolliel turned to her table, on it were four pedestals, two were filled. A dark blue stone sat on a pedestal for water and a bright white one for air. What was missing was the red and green ones for fire and earth. She couldn't believe she had lost the fire soul, but now she would get it back, and then the problem became killing a wood elf without suspicion. Where would she find a wood elf? Where?
Aragorn stood, examining the fire soul stone, now more curious than before. Legolas was leaning against the tree, examining his right long blade, still perplexed by how she could have survived his attack.
It was morning. They had both been awake since the attack, not daring to sleep. The fire had been put out, but the white orb remained on the ground.
"We have new things to think about." Aragorn stated, taking his eyes away from the fire soul stone and looking at Legolas. "We can no longer journey to Rivendell. I believe that we should find out who and where Erdolliel is. That should be our first priority." Legolas only nodded,
"I think you are right, Aragorn. However, you saw how her servant disappeared. There is still nothing to track her on." Aragorn's eyes darted to the white orb, the only object they knew that responded when touched.
"I just wish..." Aragorn trailed off.
"What?"
"I just wish there was a less dangerous way to touch that thing." Aragorn finished.
"There is not."
"I know. It is just... I cannot figure this out any other way!" Aragorn was obviously getting exasperated again.
"I will touch it." Legolas suggested again.
"No. Not after last time."
"We are getting nowhere the way we are now!" Legolas insisted, sheathing his blade and taking a step closer to the white orb on the ground.
"Legolas, don't." His tone was commanding and firm.
"Aragorn-"
"Don't even think about it." Aragorn threatened. Legolas pulled his hand back.
"How do you plan on getting anywhere, without trying to get as much information as possible from, well, all we have?"
"I'll find a way that does not involve you endangering your life. It is not worth it Legolas. Not worth it." Aragorn stared at his friend, sure his message had gotten across, but Legolas shook his head.
"I have to try." Legolas shot his hand out and put both hands on the orb.
"Legolas don't!" Aragorn ran forward in alarm as the orb started to dissolve into the elf's fingers again. Legolas' body went rigid and he started to shake.
"No, Legolas!" Aragorn tried to pry the orb out of Legolas' hands, but it was already gone, dissolved completely inside Legolas. Aragorn shook the elven prince by the shoulders. Legolas' eyes darted back and forth as if he was watching many fast objects dart back and forth.
"Estel..." Legolas whispered, "I am... Fine. Stop."
"You are not 'fine'! You are anything but 'fine'" Aragorn almost yelled at his friend. Suddenly, Legolas stopped shaking and he collapsed into Aragorn, who caught him. Legolas' eyes went wide and his body became rigid, before he opened his mouth to speak again, but never got the chance, because he suddenly went limp and his eyes snapped shut.
"Legolas!?" Aragorn called frantically, searching for a pulse and sighing when he found one. "Legolas, that was foolish. Why did you just do that? Wake, mellon nin. Saes (please)"
`'~,*,~'`'~,*,~'`'~,*,~'`'~,*,~'
The moment Legolas touched the orb, he felt the same shock go through his body. The orb once again started to dissolve into him, but this time, Legolas tried not to fight it. His vision began to dim and he heard someone far away call his name.
"Legolas don't! No, Legolas!" Aragorn. He was sure it was Aragorn. He suddenly became aware of many things darting around in his head and he followed them with his eyes, trying to catch them all in vain. He could feel Aragorn shaking him and it was like he was in a large black room with a million things. There was a small window from which he could see the outside world. He was holding it open, but it was rapidly closing. Aragorn continued shaking him.
"Estel, I am fine. Stop." He tried to say, but it came out sounding very weak. He wasn't sure what happened next, only aware of Aragorn saying something about him not being fine. The next thing Legolas remembered was suddenly being in Aragorn's capable arms. He was about to tell Aragorn not to worry, when the window he had been holding open abruptly snapped shut and he was in the dark. He felt as if he was in a giant vortex. He was being sucked somewhere. Legolas found himself in a circular room where the floor glowed softly, illuminating the room. Slowly, the white particles from the orb appeared through the floor and they danced around in an ornate pattern. Legolas confusedly looked around; he was sure that if there was a time to get answers, this was it.
"I...demand answers!" Legolas shouted. His ears were met by a loud rushing wind, blowing past him. As the wind blew past him, some of it went through him and as it exited his body, he felt strangely empty. Suddenly, the wind swirled around again and blew the particles around in a circle. The particles piled atop each other until they formed the shape of a large glowing white eagle. Legolas gasped.
"You demand answers...?" the eagle asked without opening its mouth. Legolas was surprised to say the least; he gaped, wide eyed at the eagle for awhile in a very non-elven like manner. Legolas realized how foolish he must look and shook his head, regaining his composure.
"Yes." Legolas stated in a clear, loud voice, "Answers, I seek. I have a feeling you have answers to my questions. Will you answer me?" The eagle blinked its eyes once and nodded.
"That all depends on what answers you seek. I know not certain things, but others I know greatly. Ask away, elf, I shall answer as best I can." The eagle said, again, without opening its mouth. Legolas was happily surprised at how easily he persuaded the eagle for answers.
"Thank you." Legolas bowed his head in thanks. "My first question is: what are you? Who are you?" At this, the eagle puffed out its chest.
"I am an eagle. Or, I wasan eagle. I am- well- was Collbrandroval the rare. That is still my name, but alas! I am no longer who I was before." Collbrandroval said a hint of sadness in his voice. Legolas was now beginning to doubt that he would get answers so easily.
"What are you now, Collbrandroval?" Legolas asked suspiciously.
"I am a spirit." Collbrandroval answered, then added, as if in an afterthought, "Forgive me, I shall explain." The elven prince nodded,
"Please do. And, as you have given your name so freely, I shall give mine. I am Legolas Greenleaf. Now, please tell your tale." Collbrandroval nodded, planning to heed Legolas' request.
"As you wish, Legolas Greenleaf. This is the tale of my undoing, of my death." there was a pause, and the tale started, "I was attacked by a hawk of shadow. Much smaller than I was she, but this shadow hawk was fast and cruel, hiding in the dark and striking when I let my guard down. I was killed without a second thought in a quick one-movement. I felt lost and in oblivion, when I felt my life energy and soul unite to form my spirit, I started to leave behind my old body and go to rest with other spirits in peace, when my soul was ripped from my life energy. I was cold and empty and felt nothing for quite some time. Then, as if being pulled out of the blackness, I felt another soul connecting through touch to my life energy. My illogical, soul-less life energy immediately tried to steal this soul in attempt to fly off with it and gain restful peace, however-" Legolas held up his hand, stopping the great eagle from talking.
"Yes, master Greenleaf?" Collbrandroval asked. Legolas spoke short, wanting to hear more of the tale;
"It was my soul you attempted to take." Legolas explained. Collbrandroval nodded.
"You have my apologies then, Legolas. I must beg your forgiveness in the matter."
"It is-" Legolas' voice faltered, realizing he may have died thanks to Collbrandroval's illogical life energy, but he realized that Collbrandroval was sincerely sorry and meant no harm, so Legolas forgave him. "It is alright." Legolas said, "Continue with the story."
"As you wish. As I was saying, I tried to steal your soul- I am truly sorry for that. Eventually though, you pushed me out. You are very strong. Then I was in the dark again until a few minutes ago, when you..." Collbrandroval looked at Legolas intently, asking the elven prince to fill in the blank. Legolas complied.
"I touched your life energy again, this time I let you in, instead of pushing you out." Legolas explained.
"Ah, that explains much." Collbrandroval said knowingly, "Thank you, master elf. Now the story goes not far from here, but here is the end: When you let me in, I gladly came, ready to steal your soul, but once I had stolen but a small bit of your soul, I found that I could re create my own from the little that I had stolen from you until I had a new soul. My life energy and new soul united and I became a spirit. I fully intended to leave and be at peace, but you demanded answers, so I stay out of courtesy. I can do only as much seeing as I stole part of your soul." Legolas understood this, and nodded understandingly.
"You may have a part of my soul, oh great eagle. I would be honored to share a part of my spirit with such a mighty creature as you." Legolas allowed.
"Are there anymore answers you seek?" Collbrandroval asked in a tone that suggested he was hoping Legolas' answer to be no. Unfortunately, that was not the case and Legolas shook his head.
"I am sorry, but I must ask you to stay and answer a small amount of more questions, for I must have my questions answered." Legolas was genuinely sorry and the eagle accepted the elf's reasons. Collbrandroval nodded understandingly.
"Thank you." Legolas said, "First, tell me about-"
"Legolas..." A disembodied voice filled the air, Legolas and Collbrandroval looked up in equal confusion.
"Legolas, please." The voice pleaded. Suddenly, Legolas recognized the voice.
"Aragorn." Legolas whispered. He wished there was a way to let Aragorn know he was alright, but this was his only chance to get answers. Knowing that he would soon lose this precious time he had with the eagle, Legolas spoke very quickly.
"Quickly please, tell me about Erdolliel, the shadow hawk and tell me what you know of this song." Legolas sang a few bars. Collbrandroval complied.
"Erdolliel you say? Well, I know little, but I know that she is cunning and swift. She uses dark trickery. As for the song, it is one only known to the darkest of elven sorcerers and the rare beings who spend time studying all magical incantations. it is sung idly by ones who practice dark magic, but it signifies that they have almost made true the legends and earned the power of the evil sorceress. From this information, I can gather that Erdolliel must be a powerful elven sorceress of the dark kind."
"I suspected as much." Legolas said to himself, "One more thing; what do you make of shadow girls that disappear and re appear at will and do not bleed when stabbed?"
"I know much." Collbrandroval said, "They are called-" But the eagle was cut off by Aragorn's worried voice again.
"Legolas, mellon nin, please wake. Please. Don't leave, not yet..." Aragorn pleaded. Legolas almost yelled up into the dark sky above them at Aragorn, but managed to keep his comments to a small mutter.
"For the Valar's sake, Estel, I'm not dead." Legolas said under his breath, but as he said this, a cold gust of wind blew into the room, lifting Collbrandroval several feet into the air.
"It is time to part now." the eagle announced.
"No!" Legolas cried, reaching out. "Collbrandroval, wait! At least tell me what they are called!" Collbrandroval flew higher as the world around Legolas grew brighter, blinding him to all but the eagle spirit before him.
"They are called shadow servants, and they do not die easily. They simply follow the orders of their masters. That is all there is time for." Collbrandroval said, rising higher.
"Please! Wait!" Legolas exclaimed.
"Last thing, master elf," Collbrandroval called down before taking off, "I believe Erdolliel has a hideout somewhere in an underground fortress near the edges of Me-" but Legolas never heard, because Collbrandroval was lifted too high out of reach by his own wings and flew off. The wind started to blow extremely violently, causing Legolas to struggle to keep upright. As the world around him grew brighter and brighter and the wind swirled faster, Legolas heard Collbrandroval's voice on the wind.
"Farewell, Legolas Greenleaf!" was the message and Legolas smiled. The smile quickly vanished as his body was swooped up off the ground and was tossed around in a swirling wind. Everything was chaotic, the noise seemingly unbearable. Legolas couldn't breathe for a few moments until everything was silent and the wind stopped. Then everything was still.
Legolas took a deep breath and then blinked his eyes open, looking around confusedly. The first person he saw was Aragorn, in whose arms he rested, and Legolas smiled in thanks at his friend. Before either of them could say anything, a soft white light glowed from within Legolas chest and Aragorn bit back a yelp of surprise when a small light exploded out of Legolas' chest and promptly flew up into the sky with the illusion of wings, disappearing very swiftly.
"Farewell, Collbrandroval the rare." Legolas whispered. Aragorn looked even more confused now than Legolas had when he had woken up.
"Legolas-" Aragorn started to say, but Legolas interrupted.
"Before you ask, Aragorn. Yes, I am fine." Legolas said, a small smile playing on the edge of his lips. Legolas looked around for a few moments and then asked, "How long was I unconscious?" Aragorn looked surprised and relieved now and answered quickly, with confused surprise evident in his tone.
"Five, maybe ten minutes." Aragorn answered. "You stopped breathing for some time, mellon nin. I thought I had lost you." Aragorn's face showed concern, despite Legolas' quite sincere assurance of being fine.
"You did not, Estel. I am still here, with you." Legolas said comfortingly. Aragorn sighed and Legolas began to stand up, slowly climbing out of Aragorn's arms. Once out of the man's arms, the elf stood up and looked down at Aragorn, still sitting on the ground. Legolas offered him a hand up and Aragorn took it, marveling at the irony in the situation of being helped up by an elf that had been previously unconscious.
"Do you care to tell me what happened?" Aragorn inquired, "You could not have simply been oblivious to everything. Did you get any answers?" Now, Legolas looked slightly annoyed.
"I was getting answers, until you woke me up." Legolas stated, "However, yes, I got plenty more answers than we had to start with." He seemed pleased.
"What did you find out?" Aragorn asked. Legolas was in no way careful about the little information he had received. He recounted his short encounter with Collbrandroval and Aragorn nodded thoughtfully through Legolas' tale.
"She is a shape shifter then." Aragorn deducted at the end of his friend's tale.
"From what I have gathered." Legolas confirmed. "As he left, Collbrandroval said that he suspected her hideout to be somewhere on the edge of someplace." Legolas stated. Aragorn gave Legolas a quizzical glance. Since when did Legolas give such vague recollections of places?
"Somewhere, Someplace?" Aragorn asked, skeptically.
"Sadly, he did not finish his sentence before I was awoken." Legolas didn't say it, but Aragorn knew he wanted to continue '...by you.'
"Forgive me." Aragorn said, and the fact that Legolas didn't ask for what just proved that Legolas had wanted to continue.
"What were his exact words?" Aragorn inquired.
"He said: I believe Erdolliel has a hideout somewhere in an underground fortress near the edges of Me-" Legolas repeated.
"That does not help us." Aragorn said. "I want to know which direction to head. Sitting here accomplishes nothing."
"I agree." Legolas said, "However, I have a suggestion. I suggest we head in the direction of the mountain Methedras. It may have been what Collbrandroval was referring to, and we have no other better, more proven places to go." Aragorn was not happy about heading in a random direction without more than the two first letters 'Me' that matched the word Methedras. The thought of heading off in what could be the wrong way was not that appealing, but there was nowhere else to go other than home. So, Aragorn thought, I will agree with Legolas.
"Then it is decided." Aragorn agreed, "We will head for the mountain Methedras." For once, they had a plan, and they were going to stick to it.
Meanwhile…
"My sisters, gather around and hear what I have learned." The shadow servant who had attacked Legolas and Aragorn whispered. Two more, identical to the first appeared. There were now three shadow servants standing in a circle.
"What have you to share with us, dear sister?" The second said.
"Much. Two have found the white orb and we have orders from Erdolliel to capture them alive, for they posses her lost fire soul stone." Said the first.
"I shall go to scout them out." The third offered.
"Do not attempt to capture them alone, sister. Just go to find their location and come back with information." The first commanded. For the first seemed to be the leader.
The third nodded, "That will not be a problem." She gave her two sisters a mischievous smile and disappeared.
Here are a few notes:
A little bit of Skyward Sword (Legend of Zelda) reference in there- Collbrandroval is a (mind you, very rough) elvish translation of 'Crimson loft wing':
* Coll = Red,
* Brand = Lofty,
* Roval = wings.
And I have him named Collbrandroval the rare because in Skyward Sword it is said that Crimson Loftwings are very rare and Link is one of the first to get one. Okay, ignore my Legend of Zelda references. Also, Erdolliel is a name I got off this website and the translation really is 'Dark one'
Yes, Methedras is an official place in Middle Earth. K, no more notes.
Next Time: Another fight with some shadow servants and a creepy glass cage.