Chapter 11 (81./4.)
Summary; Does enough light still shine into the darkness of the Mirkwood forest to save Legolas and Estel or is all hope lost? A simple journey from Mirkwood to Rivendell starts out well but can it stay that way when a certain elf and ranger travel together?
Disclaimer; I do not own anything Tolkien and no one in their right mind would ever pay me for this. I also claim no expertise in the Tolkien world or as an author so please forgive the mistakes that I have made.
Rating: K+ Author note; I am so sorry for the long delay and I would like to thank everyone for prompting me to continue. My son has been ill for the last year and I have spent all my spare time on helping him. The smile has returned to his face as he now is on the road to recovery.
Second note: I don't own either Celylith or Wilwarin, they are used with permission from Nili. Thank you Nili! I also claim no expertise in the Tolkien world or absolutely any expertise as an author so forgive any mistakes that I make.
Old Friends and New Enemies
The creatures of the forest became silent as the travelers drew near. The sound of spiders scurrying over the tree limbs resonated throughout the forest warning of their approach. Every living thing big and small recoiled from their path. They sought out every hiding place they could find and squeezed in.
The elves too were on edge, their hands ready to seize their bows in an instant should the need arise. It was eerie to be in the shadow of so many spiders. The impulse to shoot them down was strong, but they knew they wouldn't succeed. The only one in the group not spooked by the spider's presence was Estel. He wasn't paying them any attention instead his mind was on the friend he left behind. He got more anxious the closer they got to home. Every step took them farther away from Legolas. The hours stretched by slowly and he found it agonizingly difficult to sit quietly on his horse and wait. He could feel his brothers' watching him as if he was going to do something crazy like run back and try to save the prince.
At this point, Elrond had pushed any thoughts of the prince to the back of his mind. He watched the spiders closely. He didn't trust their leader and suspected a double cross. Dropping back to ride next to his sons he whispered, "We will take a stand at the river."
A slight nod was the only acknowledgement he got from his sons. They had come to the same conclusion. The patrols would be near the river this time of day and any battle would be heard.
The elves sat around their cozy campfire eating a light meal and talking quietly among themselves. The night air was warm and the forest comforting. Their patrol had been uneventful so far and they were preparing to return to the palace. As they relaxed, the Mirkwood Captain felt a stirring among the trees. Cautiously, he lowered his spoon to his bowl. Searching the forest, he found nothing out of place. But something was wrong or was it? He did not feel danger, but yet he felt something.
Unsatisfied, Talon finally stood straining to peer past the dense foliage to get a better look. No warning came from the trees, but he knew they weren't alone anymore. Alerted, his companions now stood behind him their hands on their weapons waiting for anything to move. They neither saw nor heard anything. The forest was quiet, but they knew better than to trust the woods. In their homeland a quiet forest was never good.
Watching silently in the tree above, Wilwarin saw the elves stand and look her direction. She was unsure how to proceed at this point. Silently, she readjusting the package that was tucked underneath one of her many arms. She then slowly descended the tree that so far hid her from view.
The minuscule sound of her feet touching the bark, alerted the warriors and they drew their weapons in anticipation. To their surprise, a lone spider peaked out from behind a nearby tree. It took a few steps and stopped. It made no attempted to attack them. It just stood there waiting.
Normally, they would shoot first and ask questions later when it came to spiders, but this time was different. It became a standoff as the elves stared at the spider and it stared back at them neither one making a move.
"Why does it just sit there?" The Captain finally asked puzzled at the spider's behavior. He hesitated to give the order to fire. How did this evil creature get so close to them without any warning? Why did the trees not warn them? In fact, the trees were not concerned at all. Instead, they seemed to be encouraging, but encouraging who?
"Maybe it is injured?" One of the warriors suggested looking for any signs of injury on the creature.
"Oh no, do not say that or Celylith here will be stuffing it into his pockets!" The third warrior joked poking at the elf next to him.
Defending himself, Celylith gave the older elf a slight push. "Hey, it was just a baby! It needed my help."
"Why is it alone?" The captain continued ignoring the childish antics of his seasoned warriors.
Bringing their attention back to the situation at hand, the elves surveyed the area. "Maybe it is a trap," the warrior said.
Talon shook his head. "No, the trees, the trees are not afraid."
Thinking the time was right, Wilwarin gradually pulled out one of the items from the bundle that she so carefully carried laid it on the ground at her feet then slowly back away.
The elves cautiously approached keeping their weapons trained on her as they tried to identify the object. As they got closer they immediately recognized it.
Forgetting all caution, Celylith rushed to pick it up. "It's one of Legolas' arrows!"
The arrow was made with the royal green fletching used for the prince. It was pristine and sharp as Legolas' arrows always were. It was either unused or had missed its target. Perplexed, they turned their attention back to the spider. Incredulously, they watched as it placed a second arrow upon the ground and backed up again.
"Look!" Talon said noticing for the first time the bundle that she carried. "She has his quiver."
Celylith held his breath as he followed where Talon directed and saw Legolas' quiver was tucked underneath one of the spider's hairy legs.
"How would she get his quiver?" Reinen mumbled.
"Legolas would never give up his weapons unless…," Celylith voice trailed off the possibilities leaving him speechless.
Baffled, Talon watched as the spider put down another arrow and backed up. He had never seen a spider behave in such a manner. "Why does it keep doing that?"
"It is as if it wants us to follow it," Reinen suggested. "But why would it want us to do that?"
"What do you mean why? How can it do that?" Talon answered skeptically. "It is just a spider."
"Just a spider!" Celylith turned to his friends. "They are not stupid. They are intelligent creatures corrupted by evil. Why…," He stopped speaking in mid sentence his bow dropping to the ground at his feet.
"What's wrong?" Talon asked concerned by Celylith's reaction.
"It can't be…," he whispered, looking back at the spider. Stepping over his now forgotten bow, he slowly moved in closer to get a better look.
"Celylith, stop!" The Captain yelled grabbing Celylith's arm and pulling him back.
"What are you doing?" He questioned, not letting go of Celylith. "We do not know what it wants."
"It is harmless", Celylith insisted pulling away from his captain. "The trees they speak of no threat. They know that it does not intend to harm us."
Unsure, the Captain trailed after him. "Wait! You can't be sure. What if it got the arrows by harming Legolas or worse?"
"No, I am sure it will not harm us or the prince. I believe I know this spider."
"Leave it to Celylith to actually know every creature in the forest," Reinen commented as he followed his captain.
Celylith rolled his eyes. "This is Wilwarin."
"What? Reinen said in disbelief. "That baby spider that you carried around a few years ago? It can't be!"
'Yes, that baby spider that I carried around," Celylith replied.
He stopped a few feet from the spider and kneeled down to get a closer look. She looked exactly the same as he remembered.
"Wilwarin?" he coaxed.
Wilwarin took tentative steps towards the elf. His voice and scent was familiar to her. More than the first elf was. His presence was somehow comforting and she felt safe with him. She hesitated, when her movement was mirrored by five sharp arrows pointed at her head.
"Guys, come on," Celylith said waving at his friends. "Put those down."
Watching Celylith interact with the spider Talon still wasn't convinced. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," he said meeting his captain's eyes. "Trust me."
"Wilwarin," he said, grinning like an elfling. He had always wondered what had happened to her. He was glad to see his long lost friend. Celylith was transfixed by the spider and carefully reach out to pet her.
The spider stopped and let him scratch the top of her head. She almost purred at the familiar touch of her long lost master.
"While you are talking to it, why don't you ask it where Legolas is?" Talon suggested sarcastically.
"I will," He replied smugly. "Where is Legolas?"
As if remembering her purpose, Wilwarin scurried a few feet back into the forest. She stopped and dropped another arrow for them.
Celylith followed and picked up the discarded arrow. "Where is Legolas?" He asked again concern building over his close friend and prince.
The spider repeated the same action as before.
Celylith hesitated to ask the next question. "Is he in danger?"
Wilwarin vigorously bounced up and down.
"She understands us…, but that is impossible." The Captain said, his mouth hanging open in shock.
"Can you take me to the prince?"
Wilwarin dropped the rest of the arrows and ran farther into the woods. She then stopped and waiting for them to follow.
"Break camp," the Captain ordered. "Send word to the other patrols and have them send any warriors they can spare."
Celylith stayed with Wilwarin as the others broke camp. He stared at the spider in amazement. She had grown quite big over the years. He chuckled at the thought of her fitting in his traveling bag now. He had saved her from death years ago as a baby and kept her in his bag hidden from Legolas and Estel, but they soon discovered his new pet and eventually made him release her or incur the wrath of the King. He actually hid her in a cave deep in the forest and he returned many times to visit her. One day, he went to see her and she was gone. He returned several times after that, but the cave remained empty. He never forgot her and never did anyone else. He was teased endlessly by the prince and the twins. Even Estel could not resist throwing a jab or two his way. Now, he could hardly believe his eyes. She was here and she remembered him.
Lost in thought Celylith didn't hear his friend approach. "Here you might need this," Reinen said, returning the discarded bow to its owner.
"Thank you," he mumbled, automatically placing it over his shoulder.
"Celylith," he said, poking his friend's arm gently and handing him Legolas' quiver. "I think you should hold on to these as well."
Celylith stared at his friend's weapons remembering how much Legolas loved them. As happy as he was to see Wilarwin, he was more concerned for his friend's safety. The prince was his close friend and he couldn't bear to think that something bad had happened to him.
Placing a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder he said, "Come on let's go find Legolas."
Their mission was no longer light hearted as before, now they proceeded with all haste to save the prince.
As if understanding their words, Wilwarin immediately headed into the forest.
The ground was scattered with the bodies of dead spiders. The Rivendell Warriors had indeed heard the cries of battle and come to the rescue. With their numbers tripled and the element of surprise on their side they were victorious over the spiders. Very few of the elves had been injured. Elrond quickly explained the situation to the new arrivals. Only taking the time to retrieve their spent arrows and refresh their mounts at the river they began the journey back to Mirkwood. Days had passed and they had no idea what they would find when they got back.
Estel quickly made his way to his father's side. "Any ideas of how are we going to get Legolas out of this one?" he asked, curious about his father's plans.
"I do not have a plan as of yet, my son. I cannot see us being able to defeat the rest of the spiders even with our new ranks, but I do not plan on abandoning him."
"We need to reach the palace and alert the king."
"I think that will be easier said than done. They are probably already there."
Remembering their first experience, Estel said, "It is going to be hard to free him. There will be guards night and day."
The twins caught up to their father and brother to get in on the planning. "How exactly did you escape before?" Elrohir asked.
"Without Wilwarin's help we never would have. She cut us from the cocoons and led us out." He said. "Now, I realize that she recognized us.
Glancing around, Estel looked for the spider in question. "Speaking of Wilwarin, where is she?"
"I don't know brother, I have not seen her since we left Legolas," said Elladan.
Estel twisted around and searched the nearby trees. "Was she here during the battle?"
"No, she has not been with us since we left. I believe she stayed with Legolas," Elrond said.
"Do you think she remember him as Celylith's friend," Elrohir wondered aloud.
"Yes, but why would she help him? Legolas wasn't exactly nice to her," Said Elladan, remembering the good times they had with a grin on his face.
"Maybe she confused him with Celylith."
Elladan said incredulously, "With all those eyes, how could she?"
With new found hope, Estel tried to reassure himself. "Well, I do not care what the reason is. I just hope that she has been able to free him again."
The idea that Wilwarin may have saved his friend gave him some peace of mind. Maybe something went right for a change and Legolas was already safe.
The conversation died after that. No one really believed that Legolas was already free, but they did not want to discourage Estel.
The first thing Legolas became aware of was the swaying motion of being carried. His stomach was not very happy with the situation. The poison kept him immobile and at the mercy of the spiders. He knew one thing, he had been giving just way too much spider venom for his own good. He pried his eyes open to see where they were. He instantly regretted it, if the pounding headache wasn't enough to cause him pain, the view that he saw was enough to make him sick. He was wrapped up and tucked up tight underneath the arms of a spider as it scurried through the forest trees. They were traveling at a fast rate of speed. They were in a hurry to get to where they were going. All the motion aggravated his stomach. He had to concentrate to keep from vomiting. His eyes eventually closed against his will. Sleep claimed him again.
When he woke for a second time, he was hanging from a tree branch suspended in a spider cocoon. He felt like he had lost days, his body was exhausted and immensely thirsty. Not trying to look awake, he slowly peered around. He immediately recognized his surroundings. They were in a nearby glen only a few miles from his home. The spiders were busy turning the glen into an impenetrable fortress. Legolas had to push down the panic as it threatened to drown him. He felt helpless and useless in what was about to play out in front of him. It was all his fault! It was too late to do anything. Now his father would be thrust into the nightmare of choosing between his kingdom and his son.
Thank you to everyone that has reviewed my story. I am working on improving my writing so please bear with me. I am trying to do more showing instead of telling next chapter.
A special thanks goes out to Legolas Thranduilion! I appreciate your kind words they have helped me regain my motivation.
Note: If you would like to read about how Celylith and Wilwarin first meet please go to Nili's fanfic page and read An Eye for an Eye. But, I recommend that you read them all! Nili's is one of my favorite authors.
