A/N: I am so sorry for my erratic updating. I feel bad.:( But this chapter is long and I hope it's worth it.
The best way out is always through. - Robert Frost
The dead, blank eyes of Faelwen stared back into the gaze of the brothers. There was devouring silence in the forest that muffled the world with its captive oppress until it was unmercifully shattered when Sellion snorted in disgust and turned to walk away. He turned around though to peer at his statue of a brother. The statue melted into the living form of his brother and Morcion turned to face him with eyes of endless guilt and doubt. The arrow was buried through the esophagus and windpipe of the unfortunate victim.
"She would have gone back to the palace gwador nîn and told everybody. Besides," he added heartlessly, "she deserved it."
Morcion stared back at him wordlessly and Sellion saw the same face of his terrified, lost brother that had begged for guidance the night of the fire so many long years ago.
"Every journey begins with a step and you have taken to the right way of our ada. I myself am farther down that path but I will still lead you for a ways."
Sellion looked expectantly back at his brother and waited for his Morcion to agree like he always did. Although to his surprise Morcion shook his head slowly at first and then frantically backed away.
"Sellion I cannot do it. I just murdered one of our own people! I cannot follow you or ada. I just can't…" He trailed off looking for any trace of understanding in his kin, anything left untouched by the fire that had devoured his brother but the malice and hate that Sellion held him with was anything but understanding. "You do not understand-"
"You're right brother; I don't understand your weakness."
In an instant Sellion closed the gap between his brother and himself. Morcion defied his brother and did not give any ground. Unfortunately this was not enough to prevent the wrath of one as far down the path of hatred that Sellion was. Sellion caught him by the throat in a vice like grip and held a knife steadfastly against his brother's neck.
"No, you are my brother-" Morcion gasped weakly.
"And for that I am sorry," Sellion spat and thrust the knife upward into Morcion's jaw. There was a moment of confusion as crimson blood flooded out openly of the neck wound and Morcion thrashed in his brother's grip and even Sellion found he was lost in the surge of violence. Quite suddenly Morcion went limp and blinked slowly and laboriously as tears of betrayal poured out of his closing eyes. Sellion stood up and turned to walk away from the dying elf that lay on the bloodstained grass. His gaze fell to the scarlet blood that had spilled onto his hands-a murderer's hands.
Odd that two lives were lost today, he mused and crushed the fear and the sorrow that whipped his very soul. And as a blood red sunset bathed the world in its agony, Sellion walked away leaving the only friend he had ever had dying in a small clearing of blood, tears and betrayal.
Legolas, Aragorn and the other elves were making excellent progress through the forest. They had discovered the trail of the orcs and were tracking them at a quite a fast pace. Aragorn himself could even decipher the path and he and Legolas led the group as quickly as possible through the brambles. It was not hard to track this group of orcs for they had left deep scars in the land-smoldering trees and flattened foliaged. Legolas and the other elves looked troubled and Aragorn heard later it was because the trees were in pain and the whole forest ached of these malicious creatures but they could not pause because of the pressing matter so they continued on, racing the darkness to follow their prey.
Legolas felt his nostrils prick as the harsh smell of smoke dizzied his senses. He glanced back behind him and noted others including Aragorn also smelled the smoke judging by the grimness of their faces. He led the way quickly through the brush, not knowing exactly what they would do when the situation unfolded. There were no streams or creeks nearby and if the fire was raging out of control then they would all be in danger. He hastily brushed aside the negative thoughts for they would do nothing but trouble him.
They were close now. Thick smoke was wafting through the trees trying to escape the dense forest. Legolas pulled off his bow and fitted an arrow, not sure of what they would find. He and the others broke through the last bit of foliage and rushed into clearing.
Trees were strewn broken and cut down carelessly and campfires dotted the makeshift clearing still lit and dangerous. Flames were already licking several trees, starting from careless sparks that lazily danced from the campfires.
"Put out the fires!" Somebody yelled as they scrambled over to stop the flames.
Legolas stamped out a few of the campfires and then stood in the middle of the clearing, turning with his bow raised. Something wasn't right.
He turned to look back on his elves and was rewarded for his caution with the dreaded sound of a bow twang. One of the elves gasped and keeled over to the ground with a barbed arrow emerging from his chest.
"It's an ambush!" He heard Aragorn shout and the human's sword gleamed as it was ripped into action. Legolas ran forward and fired an arrow towards the orcs that were emerging from the thickets. They were coming from every direction, pulling out their scabbards and knives and some with bows and barbed arrows came loping towards them as others stood from afar and aimed for them. They were so greatly outnumbered it would be considered by anyone an impossible fight. For one brief second, Aragorn's and Legolas's eyes met and Legolas saw the terror in the young human's eyes at the dire situation they were in but he smiled grimly when he saw Legolas and raised his sword and charged towards their attackers.
Suddenly the air was thick with arrows both from the orcs and the elves. There were screams of orcs and an occasional cry of pain from one of the elves. Legolas ducked and dodged his way through the stream of projectiles and fired many his own. From the corner of his eye he watched Aragorn slash down the brutes, dashing and parrying with incredible skill for one his age. Time passed by slowly as it always does in battle and Legolas was not sure if it was every second or every minute that he heard one of his people fall. But each time the sickening realization hit him he did not look back. Instead he channeled all of his focus, all of his pain and all of his anger on the orcs. He had drawn his knives awhile ago and they flashed through the air with preciseness that could not be matched by his opponents. He was struggling against a small group of orcs that had clustered together and were attacking him from all sides at once. A knife sliced through his shoulder and he hissed in pain but slaughtered the orcs almost as quickly as he had been killing before the new wound.
He heard Aragorn cry out in pain and his focus abandoned him as he searched for where the human was. As his eyes scanned the battle field for a few brief seconds and he noticed for the first time the bodies of elves scattered on the blood soaked ground. There was only one other elf alive and fighting in the midst everything and he looked weak. Finally he noticed Aragorn sprawled on the ground as the elf that stood over him took the blows and feebly tried to defend the pair of them. With horror Legolas struggled over to where the last of his friends were to help them. The orcs had thinned out considerably but the masses that swarmed around them never seemed to end. With a cry of rage he relentless hued orc after orc and cut his way until he finally reached the elf and man.
Aragorn stumbled up to his feet and winced as the cut as the cut on his back burned. Soon he joined the battle and fought hard to redeem himself of his rest. With a strangled shout the elf that had protected him against the storm of the orcs collapsed to the ground. Aragorn was about to stoop over to check if he was still alive but Legolas broke through the knot of orcs just then. "Leave him Estel, he is dead," the prince said forlornly and Aragorn noticed that he had blood pooling from a shoulder wound and many scratches and cuts on his pale face and arms. All of this information was exchanged in a breath of a moment for there was still about half a dozen orcs left that were blood thirsty to kill the only survivors left.
Legolas threw himself into the lot of them and the clanging of blades soon rang out through the clearing. Aragorn found his legs rooted to the bloody ground as he watched his friend battle the remaining orcs. His sense screamed to go aid Legolas but his body was just too weary. He felt a feeling of foreboding creep up his paralyzed frame. Almost in slow motion he turned around only to see a large orc standing behind him, arms raised with a rusty bloody battle axe. Aragorn gaped for a few valuable seconds that he knew he should have reacted too. With a roar the beast swung the axe which whistled over emptiness above his shoulders. Aragorn sprang out of his wild instinctive duck and jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding another reckless swing of the axe. The leapt backwards had unbalanced him and he teetered uncertainly on his heels unable to do a thing as the orc took a final stroke with the axe towards his neck.
Suddenly a body barreled into him and he found himself sprawled out on the ground. He looked up and saw Legolas fighting the gigantic orc where he had been seconds later. A large axe against two small knives seemed like hardly a fair battle but Legolas was doing extremely well. A certain aura seemed to glow brighter from within the elf and it stirred a memory that had been forgotten, one which Aragorn could not quite identify.
He scrambled over painfully to get out of the way of the elf and orc but Aragorn anticipated the movements incorrectly. With a leap back to escape the wild orc's weapon, Legolas bashed into Aragorn who had inadvertently moved right into the path of the elf. This disruption of the flow of battle was enough for the orc to deliver the deadly blow. The axe caught Legolas full in the chest and stomach, bringing the elf to the ground with a horrible moment of stunned silence among the clearing. The orc growled and turned its burning yellow eyes on Aragorn.
Unsuppressed rage burst inside of him like a broken dam and he directed all of his energy and focus into killing this foul beast. They both attacked each other intensely, both fighting with incredible strength, both the last of their side standing. The orc made a quick stroke of the axe swinging downwards towards his head and Aragorn blocked it efficiently. Red blood dripped onto his face off of the axe and Aragorn thrust the axe back with unrestrained violence. He felt everything he had been taught in Imladris waft back to him, like all the knowledge had been given to him yesterday. A simple trick came into his mind yet he doubted it would work but nothing else seemed to be actually working presently. Aragorn kicked the orc's shin hard, using that distraction to grab the handle of the axe with one hand and using his sword with the other hand to swing a blow towards the head. This maneuver worked and the orc stumbled back dazed as Aragorn took its life with another stroke of his blade.
His ears were left ringing as the final blood was spilt and fatigue raided his body once more. A weak, rattled breathing caught his attention and he turned to Legolas. The elf lay where he had fallen and had made no attempt whatsoever to move. This greatly worried Aragorn and he forgot all of his own injuries and exhaustion to give his complete attention to his friend.
"Legolas?" He asked worriedly. The elf was making no movements and his breathing was shallow. He gently rolled the elf over onto his back and grimaced at the wound. Blood was spilling profusely out of the injury and it looked very deep.
"Legolas," he asked more insistently this time but the warrior did not answer. Sighing he tried to remember exactly everything Elrond had instructed him, wishing he had spent more of those long summers actually listening to the prestigious healer. Aragorn bandaged the wound with some clothing and applied hard pressure to stop the bleeding. He wasn't sure how long he stayed there as he tried to stop the bleeding. Minutes became hours and hours became painful reminders of his back injury. He couldn't reach the wound so it remained uncared for. Still he monitored the elf's breathing and heartbeat every so often, checked the wound and bandaged the other minor injuries. During that time he took care of the other elves bodies and then carried Legolas to a different location, away from the horror of battle.
It was almost seven hours later, Aragorn surmised, when Legolas began stirring. The elf blearily opened his eyes and in an instant Aragorn was leaning over him. "How do you feel mellon nîn?"
Legolas answered slowly and painfully, "I feel awful. It hurts so-" He couldn't prevent a hiss of pain as Aragorn carefully began lifting up the bandages and peered at the wound. Legolas watched Aragorn through his foggy vision. "Are you thirsty?" he asked and Legolas answered with a tiny nod of his head. Truthfully he was ravenously thirsty. He would have done anything for a drink of water but he knew Aragorn had none so he did not ask.
The world was beginning to spin and soon the only thing he could make out was Aragorn. The man looked stricken and pale. "Legolas there are some shards of blade in the wound." He said slowly and deliberately. Legolas closed his eyes and inwardly sighed. "I have to take them out."
"I know," Legolas agreed softly. He was suddenly very cold despite the cloak that already draped over half his body. He felt his teeth begin to chatter which brought him even more pain. Aragorn seemed to notice this too and looked even more concerned if that was possible but he didn't say anything. The man sized up the wound for a few long seconds and then carefully began fishing out the pieces of axe blade. Legolas screwed his eyes shut and clenched his chattering teeth. The pain was incredibly intense and it took all his self control to not cry out in pain. He couldn't help himself though as pain coursed through his entire body. The last thing he saw was Aragorn's desperate face before he gave into blackness.
Aragorn checked the elf's breathing and heartbeat just after he passed out. Wearily he bandaged the wound once more, wishing next time he lifted up the bandages it wouldn't be there. The elf looked peaceful in his unconscious state despite the cold hard truth that was biting Aragorn hard although he didn't want to admit it. Legolas was in shock and there was an axe shard very deep that he could not reach which was probably causing it.
He studied the elf and looked up ahead of him at the road that he would take. His only hope for survival along with Legolas's was to make the long hard journey to the palace, and he didn't know where it was. He was aware of how important this decision was and although he didn't know it at the time it would be harder than he ever imagined. Carefully he picked up the elf's body and was slightly alarmed at how light Legolas was. Staggering to his feet and grimacing with pain he carried Legolas forward, abandoning the moment of rest and walking into a haze of pain.
A/N: I probably made a lot of mistakes because I didn't spend as long editing but I just had to get this chapter out here. We broke 100 reviews last chapter, that was great. Thanks reviewers.
