Rain…rain?

What's happened? Where am I?

I jolt awake, only to stare out over a clear, midnight sky. Mist blows on the wind, whipping over my face, and I can feel it, feel the storm clouds gathering. But I can't see them. I stand in the vastness of open, endless fields. The reeds ripple and blow like sheets in the night, and I grimace, shielding my face against the cold snap of rain blasting against my face, winding in rivulets down my skin.

It's isn't real. It can't be. This is a vision!

And then, a sinking feeling hits the pit of my stomach. My heart races; my blood turns cold. Something's happened...

"You think you've outwitted us, do you?"

I start violently, whirling around. The cold, fierce eyes of the Spirit appear, and lightning cracks. The low ripple of thunder, I feel it. A senseless panic starts in my heart, and I shake my head, whispering.

"N-no…no, I don't. What's happened?"

His once golden robes are thick black in the night, whipping around his feet, and he walks over the earth in long, slow steps. The reeds part for him.

"You think you can escape us, you weak, pathetic child."

I shake my head, terrified. Suddenly, his hand unfurls and I gasp, clawing at my neck.

"What have you done?" His voice shakes the earth, and I scramble desperately against the invisible fingers, clutching at my throat.

This isn't real. It can't be real! It's just a vision. He can't kill me this way… can he?

"I…" I choke, seeing red, "…I've done nothing! I swear it. I-" I can't breathe.

"Where are the missing pieces?" he nearly shouts, and the words shatter my ears, resounding in my head. "How did you do it?!"

My back slams into dirt and my ears ring, gasping free air. I clutch my neck, coughing, and I taste blood.

"How are you protecting him?"

I look up, panting, and he kneels over me. His eyes glow a thousand times brighter than the brightest fire, and they sear through mine like hot irons, locking me in place. His hand hits my chest, pinning me to the ground.

"Do not lie to me, foolish child. I'll make him regret it."

Legolas?

I struggle, clamping my jaw, shuddering in fury and terror. He doesn't wait for an answer. The bright flash ignites and he hurls himself upward, pulling me with him, and suddenly, a tree that I didn't see slams into my back. It knocks the air out of my chest, and I'm senseless. I can't see.

"We took your power. We cursed you." he says quietly, a low ripple that I feel shudder down my spine. He leans closer, tilting his head like a serpent. "But there was nothing left to take, was there?" It's not a question.

I don't know what he means, but I grab at his wrist anyway. It pins me in place, clawing desperately for freedom. It feels like stone, crushing tighter, and it isn't real. Him, this vision, the pain he makes me think I feel, it's raw strength I can't fight.

"Every spirit has power in their essence! It is what we are." The fierce glow of his eyes narrow, sharpens, like lanterns in his skull. "You gave it away."

He rips away from me, and I drop to my knees, gasping at his feet.

"I didn't think it was possible…" he turns away. "But somehow, you did it. There are holes in your memory that we cannot see, not even through you. You knew we couldn't touch you there, didn't you? Tell me how!"

And then, my vision grows clear. I pant, leaning on my hands, staring into the dirt. My necklace…the pendant I gave him. It protects him. Could it be? Not even He has the power to hurt him, at least not in Thranduil's realm, not without the stone. What else could he possibly mean?

"No…" I whisper venomously. "How have you seen me?"

"Through the bracelet, of course," he spits, like it was obvious.

Of course…

Understanding dawns, and I realize Tamling was wrong, or he lied to me. The charms on the band not only give me the strength to keep material form…but it's a portal, a slip hole. Through it, even if only by me, they have some affect in Thranduil's halls. It gives them power…but it's not enough.

"You…" I pant, catching up. Where was I? Where was I, really? And I remember... I was in my tent, just a few hours after talking with Gimli, fighting with Andaer. I must have fallen asleep in my tent.

"You can't see me when I'm with him?"

"You gave him something." He shouts, "Tell me what it was! Even now, I can feel there's no strength in you. You gave it to him."

I look up, almost laughing in sheer, terrified ecstasy. I willed what I wanted him to have in that stone, that's all. I didn't mean to put…the strength of my spirit? I didn't think it was possible… But I would have done it again. I realize that I'd rather any power I have be his than mine.

"You can't touch him!" I laugh, looking up.

The Spirit snarls, guttural and furious, and suddenly, the bark hits my back again and my spine seizes up so tight I scream. I've never felt him like this before. Every nerve seems to flare in agony, and I claw at the bark. I can't see, can't even breath…and then…when I feel a blackness descending… it's gone.

A brilliant flash of light sparks and I'm snapped loose instantly. I fall to my knees, gasping for air. Even in the dark, I feel the presence before I see it. A brilliant sphere of burning light soars along the ground, and it collides with the other in a burst of white lightning. The ensuing explosion throws me to the ground in a shower of dirt.

Tamling!

A violent tangle of whites, blacks, and orange flash through the night. Suddenly, they repulse each other and fly apart, Tamling's body taking form the instant he lands on his feet.

"Leave her be!" he shouts.

I clutch my stomach, panting, and the Great Spirit lifts a shining hand.

"Stay out of this."

I look between them, trying not to be obvious in scrambling to Tamling, before he reaches out and pulls me to his side. I bury my face in his chest, letting his robed arms engulf me, and I watch fury swell in the Great Spirit's eyes. I shudder, latched onto him.

What happened? How could this be? Didn't I feel it, the draining of my strength? Or maybe I thought it was grief, this curse… I have to live like this: weak, pathetic…forever?

"You have no place here." The spirit hisses, but he doesn't come closer. Tamling shifts away, taking me with him, and I can feel the barrier of static energy there. Sparks like lightning flash across the sky, blood red.

"You will not try and bar me again, Dhaer." He warns, stroking the hair from my face and narrowing black eyes at him. I can feel the tension ripple and tingle up the back of my neck. I clutch Tamling tighter. "I have a right to be here."

"Let her go." He snaps, "Let her face me alone!"

If anything, he holds tighter, laughing scornfully. "And that is a fair fight?"

"She's chosen this path."

"You've forced her onto it!"

I squeeze my eyes shut tight, and anger swells in the midst of terror. I don't like being spoken of like I'm not even here. Why won't anyone tell me what's happened? Why does no one listen to me?

The great spirit whips his eyes to me then. "You have only made things worse for that princeling." He warns, the violent trembling in the earth subsiding a little.

And suddenly, I realize it's true. I've given him enemies that he never deserved. I wipe the sweat from my forehead, pulling away from Tamling enough to stand at his side, and I breathe hard, clutching his fingers for support.

"Why do you hate him?"

I don't know how, but I can feel it in his presence…resentment, fury.

"You tell me you'll kill him if I don't take his memory. But you aren't frightened of Legolas!" I shout, tears searing my eyes. "Others knew. Larion knew, a mortal man!" I force out, remembering the scribe's journal we've been reading for days.

He knew more about us than I do, and they didn't touch him. And at that, Tamling's eyes snap violently over, staring at me in shock. I don't even have time to wonder why.

"Why do you have to have him?" I demand, clenching my fists so hard they shake.

The spirit narrows his eyes, bright and sharp as flint. "Why do you think?"

I shake my head. I don't know. He's done nothing to them. His only crime is curiosity. I want to vomit.

"His father is Thranduil." Tamling says quietly, glaring at the Great Spirit like a circling wolf.

I lift my chin. Thranduil? Is that why? Is this really about his parents? I never know what to think! I look around, taking in the vast stars, the endless fields in the night. This spirit, this creature of such awesome power…consumed with petty anger? It doesn't seem possible.

I shake my head, grimacing, "Revenge? Is that it?"

"It is about our only prize, the only material treasure we held dear: the stone of Ketedur." He lifts a hand, and above his lifted palm, a vision of the stone flashes into view. Cut clear as diamond, shining in the night, the air around its face shimmers and glows.

"We placed power in it, knowledge, strength! For nearly five millennia, the king who stole it from us has kept it, hoarded it for himself. He's used it to keep us away, bar us from our own birthright."

"But why?" I look up, flashing my eyes between them. Tamling just glares at the other. "Why did he do it?" I demand anyway. "You were attacking him. Maybe he had the right."

"It doesn't matter." Tamling mutters. "They've decided 'justice'. They won't be moved." He looks down, resting a hand behind my head. "Pray they do no more than that."

"What?" I grimace. "No!"

The spirit moves forward, pointing at me with a black, shining finger. "We will take back what is ours. Then we will leave this place and exact punishment on him for this outrage."

"By taking his son?" I reach out, but Tamling grabs my wrists, keeping me back. I want to scratch his eyes, shout, scream, something! How can they do this? Even after knowing of Larion? Or did they already know?

"By taking what is most dear to him, just as he's taken what is most dear to us."

"You can't do it!"

"You are right." The raging skies still a little, and he narrows his eyes. "But you will." The shade shakes his head, pure scorn. "Don't be so foolish as to think whatever gifts you've left him will protect him from us forever. Will he never again leave Thranduil's borders? Will he never dare move from his father's protection? Even now, they plan a colony to be built, Ithilien. How will you convince him to abandon it?"

I drop my eyes, sagging in Tamling's hands. He's right.

Legolas would never agree to it. Even if I showed him what I was, he couldn't live like that anymore. It would be like living under the shadow of the Dark One all over again. He's fought too hard for that. Besides, they'd find a way to lure him out. It's just a matter of time. And once they have the stone, not even his pendant will protect him.

"I can't." I whisper.

"Pathetic child…" he looks away, disgusted, and the world begins to tremble, shatter. "We don't have unlimited patience. We want progress."

I look away, before clinging to the last vestiges of Tamling's presence as the vision fades. I feel what he lets me feel…pity, comfort, sadness.

"I'm sorry…" I whisper, invisible tears streaming down my face. I know they're there."…I'm so sorry."

"It's all right, little one." He strokes my hair, the earth shuddering and snapping loose. "This will all be over soon. We can all go home."

I shake my head, feeling him slowly slip from my fingers, and I don't answer. I can't. But maybe there's something I can do to make it right. Maybe I just didn't give enough. My heart isn't enough to keep him safe; he needs my life. Even as the plan forms, I let it sink in. I accept it. And now, I know I'll do anything to keep the fury of the Faerie from touching him.

"I'm sorry…" I whisper again. I'm sorry for everything.

Thanks for reading chapter ten.