A/N: Thank to everyone for your patience and your comments.
Chapter 13: The Halls of the Elvin King
It had been nearly three hours since Harry had sent his Patronus off to find help, and the sun was slowly starting to make the forest light up. Every here and there, a thin beam of sunlight was able to break through the dense overhead canopy. Harry supposed that meant the forest was finally starting to thin, and they were close to the edge.
He sensed the approaching Elves before he saw or heard them. It was their magic he supposed. He glanced over at Luna and their eyes met. She simply nodded. "Thorin." He called out.
"Yes Mr. Potter, what's wrong?" Thorin answered him, looking around for trouble.
"Nothing's wrong. The Elves are close by. I would tell the other Dwarves if I were you so that they don't do something…" he wanted to say stupid, but decided to be more diplomatic. "unfortunate, because they were surprised."
Thorin nodded. "I'll tell them." He grumbled in a tone that made it clear that he didn't like it."
-=ooo000ooo=-
They didn't have to wait long for the Elves to make their presence known however, as they seemed to jump out of the shadows and completely surround the company with arrows already fitted to their bows, though not drawn. At the sight of the Elves, Thorin's hand shot down to his sword hilt, but he found Harry's hand on top of his almost as fast. "Thorin, don't!" he told the Dwarf. "First, we're outnumbered, and second we need their help."
Thorin seemed to relax a bit, but while he didn't draw his sword, he didn't take his hand off the hilt.
Harry turned his attention to the Elves, but still watched Thorin out of the corner of his eye. "Thank you for answering my call for help." He said to the lead Elf.
The Elf stared at Harry for a few moments before replying. "I am named Legolas," he said. "I have been sent by King Thranduil to see what has disturbed his forest realm."
"We were attacked by giant spiders while we were on the path through the forest and five of our company have been poisoned by them. Can you help us?" Harry asked.
Legolas said something in Elvish and one of the Elves went over to the five Dwarves that were lying on the ground. He bent down to examine them but very quickly looked up at his leader speaking quickly as he did so.
"My brother says there is something very odd about these dwarves," Legolas said to Harry. "He can sense nothing from them."
"I am a Wizard," Harry replied. "and after they were bitten, we put them into a type of very deep sleep to slow the poison. But I can release them if it will help you to examine them."
"Please do so." Legolas replied. "We need to see how bad they are and if we're in time to save them."
Harry nodded and walked over to the dwarves, taking his wand out as he went. "Finite." He said, waving the wand over the prone dwarves. They glowed yellow for a moment, and then the color disappeared. "Please hurry," he said to the Elf that was waiting to examine them, "I want to put them back under as soon as possible, otherwise they'll die."
The Elf didn't answer his but bent down to look the Dwarves over, and after about two minutes, he got back up and nodded to Harry who quickly put the five back into stasis.
The Elf went over to Legolas and started speaking to him again in Elvish. After a few moments Legolas turned back to Harry and said. "Very good. If you can keep them like this till we can get them back to our halls, they can be saved."
"Thank yo-" Harry started to say, but Legolas cut him off.
"But you must disarm and go blindfolded to our halls. We allow no strangers to spy out where we live."
"Now see here!" Thorin started.
"That is acceptable," Harry told the Elf, and then turning to Thorin said "Thorin, I know you don't like to put yourself under anyone's control, especially not blindfolded and unarmed. But we can't save them…they," indicating Legolas and the other Elves, "can, AND if it were YOUR kingdom, would you let strangers just walk in armed?" he asked the Dwarf.
Thorin didn't answer, but Harry could see he was considering it. Even if he didn't like it. "Very well," he finally told Harry, "but if anything happens, I will hold you to account for this."
"Thank you." He said to the Dwarf, and then turning back to Legolas asked, "How will we get them to where we're going. We can't carry them blindfolded."
"We will carry them, and they will come to no harm. Your sword?" he asked holding out his hand."
Harry unbuckled the sword belt but before handing it over said. "Don't draw the sword from the scabbard, the blade is magical, and I don't know what will happen if you do." He warned him.
Legolas looked at him curiously for a moment but nodded, and then took the sword. "Your magic stick as well."
Harry handed his wand to the Elf. He had used his phoenix feather wand to cancel and then re-apply the stasis field on the five dwarves, but he decided not to mention the Elder Wand that was inside a magically spelled wand holster on his arm.
The rest of the Elves went around and disarmed the remaining Dwarves who grumbled, but complied.
What seemed to surprise them though was when Luna almost happily handed over her own wand. They hadn't expected two magicals, and Luna, for her part wasn't worried as she knew Harry still had the Elder Wand concealed on him.
Interestingly enough, they completely missed Bilbo's small sword, er dagger. I guess they don't think he's dangerous enough looking to search. Harry thought.
Finally when they were all disarmed and blindfolded, one of the Elves took out a long rope and pressed it into the hands of each of the company. "Hold on to this rope," Legolas told them, "it will keep you all together. We will lead you through clear paths though the forest, and do not try to remove the blindfolds."
More grumbling came from the Dwarves, but at this point there wasn't anything else to do.
-=ooo000ooo=-
The trip through the forest seemed to take forever. Mostly because the company had no idea where they were, and also because the Elves were leading them on a meandering path so the company could not figure out what direction they were heading.
Finally though they were led across a bridge and shortly afterwards, brought to a halt and told they could take off their blindfolds.
They found themselves in a large room, with the Elves that had found them in the forest all around them. Before them was a large throne and upon it sat a regal looking Elf with a garland of berries and red leaves upon his head as a crown. "Which of you is Harry Potter?" he asked.
Harry stepped forward and with a slight bow said "I am your Majesty."
The Elvin King turned his attention to Harry and asked "And what was that creature that entered into my chambers and spoke to me, and why did it come directly to me rather than to one of the other Elves here?"
"It is called a Patronus your Majesty, and it can be used to fight off evil beings in my land or to send short messages. But to send a message, it must be sent to a specific person, and Gandalf, or Mithrandir as he is know to your people, only told me your name. So you were the only I could send it to. I do apologize if it seemed presumptuous."
"I have never seen magics of this sort before, not even from Mithrandir. How is it that one so young can do such things?"
"I have been learning magic since I was eleven years of age your Majesty, and in my land there are evil beings called Dementors, and that spell is the only thing that will drive them away. I had to learn it to protect not only myself, but my friends." Harry replied.
"And where is this land and what is it called?" the King asked Harry.
"It is called England, and it is very far from here. I and My companion," indicating Luna who was now standing next to him, "came to Middle Earth
through a magical portal. We met Mithrandir on what he called the Western Road. We started talking and eventually, he asked if we would be willing to accompany a group of Dwarves on a journey, and we agreed."
"So you say." Replied the King. "How do I know that you truly are a companion of Mithrandir? He has never mentioned you or your companion in all the long years I have known him." The King asked.
"Gandalf told me you would ask this." Harry replied. "He told me that when you asked to say that at the end of the second age, before the Dark Lord was defeated, a secret meeting was held here between yourself, Elrond of Rivendell, Mithrandir, Saruman the White, and one other who traveled in secret to be here."
"And who was this other?" the King asked, looking very closely at Harry. "The meeting you speak of is, after all this time, well known."
"Yes, so Gandalf explained to me. But what is not known is that it was Queen Galadriel of Lothlórien who traveled here in secret, and brought only three escorts with her."
Thorin looked at Harry, a very surprised look on the Dwarves face. "When did Gandalf tell you all this?" he asked.
"Luna and I talked with him the night before we left Beorn's. He was worried something might happen to the company while we were in the forest, and he told me this so that I could prove to King Thranduil that I knew him, and that he trusted me."
"And did he tell you what was discussed?" the King asked.
"He did not." Harry replied. "Luna asked him, but he said he could not reveal what was talked about."
The King was silent for a long time. His gaze kept shifting between Harry and Luna and then to the Dwarves. Finally he said. "Very well. I do believe you are a companion of Mithrandir." He then clapped his hands sharply. "Take these Dwarves," indicating the still frozen fivesome, "to the healers, and take the others to a suitable hall and give the food and drink. You Harry Potter will remain here. I wish to speak to you further."
"May Luna remain here as well?" Harry asked the King.
But before he got an answer, Luna spoke up in her until now unused Looney Lovegood voice. "It's better I accompany the dwarves to the healers Harry. After all, someone needs to remove the stasis spell on them and make sure no Dingleberries get to them. I will need my wand though."
"Can Luna have her wand back please?" Harry asked the Elvin King, and pretended he hadn't heard the Dingleberry comment.
"Wand? What is a wand?" he asked.
Legolas stepped forward and handed both Harry's and Luna's wands to the King, as well as Harry's sword. "They use these to do magic father," Legolas said, indicating the wands, "and this sword was also being carried by him. He warned me not to remove it from it's scabbard as it was magical."
The King turned his gaze to Luna and asked, "If I give this back to you, will you give me your word you will not use it to harm any of my people?"
"As long as no one tries to harm me, I will not harm them." Luna answered in an almost sing-song voice.
"They will not." The King said. "Which of these is yours?" He asked her, holding up both wands.
Luna practically skipped forward and plucked her wand out of the Kings hand. "This one," She said with a smile. "and thank you."
The King, for his part, looked like he didn't know whether to be angry at her forwardness, or amused. Finally he said, "Very well, take these Dwarves to the healers, and the others to the Hall of Waiting. Legolas, you will remain as well. The rest may leave."
-=ooo000ooo=-
After everyone had left, except for Harry and Legolas, the King turned once aging to Harry and holding up his sword asked. "Harry Potter, you warned my son not to remove this sword from it's scabbard, why?"
"This sword, as well as the others the company carried, were found in a hoard of Troll plunder that we came across somewhere between the town of Bree and Rivendell. Elrond looked at all of them and told us what he knew of them. He said this sword was named Gurthang, and was made by the Dark Elf Eöl. He told me this Elf made two such swords but one was destroyed long ago, and the other, this one apparently, hasn't been seen until just now. As to the warning, the sword bonded to me, and I didn't know what, if anything, it might do if another hand drew it from it's sheath. Even Luna has never handled it."
Whatever answer the Elvin King expected, this wasn't it. He handed the sword back to Harry as said "Draw the sword, I wish to see it's blade."
Harry slowly drew Gurthang from it's scabbard and then held it out in both hands so the King could look at the blade without having to touch it.
Thranduil gazed at the black sword and stretched out his hand as if to touch the blade, but drew it back at the last moment. "This sword is very dark Harry Potter. Not evil, but dark none the less. I am amazed a mortal has the power to command it."
"It was a great struggle when it bonded to me your Majesty. It tried to take control of me at first, but in the end, I managed to conquer it. Now it only takes control in a fight, but releases it's control when that fight is over."
"You said you came to Middle Earth through a magical portal from a land called England…why did you come here in the first place, and who commanded you to do so?" asked Thranduil.
"No one commanded me or Luna to come here your Majesty. We had both fought in a magical war that took place in our land, and both of were hurt very badly by it. Not in body so much, but in spirit. We won our war, and I killed the Dark Wizard that was trying to take over our land, but afterwards we both wished for a place we could escape to, if only for a short time so we could heal. Both of us were in a special room when we wished for this, and as soon as we made this wish, a portal appeared. It had the word "HOPE" written above it. I was going to go through and see what was on the other side, and I told Luna to go and tell my friends that had also survived what I had done. But soon after I walked through, Luna must have gone through as well because I woke up in a field and found her lying next to me. This was near the Western Road where we met Gand...Mithrandir."
"And who rules this England?" the King asked.
"England has a Queen named Elizabeth, and we are by law her subjects, but neither Luna or I are under any direct oaths of fealty to her." Harry replied, hoping Thranduil would accept this at face value and not inquire further about how England was ruled. He really didn't want to get into a discussion about Parliamentary Governments.
"And this girl, Luna. She is your wife or bed companion?"
Harry felt his face starting to redden at this question. "Ah…no she isn't my wife or, my companion. Though I suspect that may change in the future. We have been getting closer ever since we came to Middle Earth, and I suspect it's what we both need to heal our hearts." For the life of him, Harry didn't know why he was telling all this to the King. Telling him things he barely admitted to himself, let alone anyone else. Part of him still felt like be was betraying Neville's memory. Though that feeling was getting weaker as every day passed.
"And what of the Dwarves. Where are they traveling too?"
Harry knew the King would ask this question, and he had been debating with himself whether or not to tell him the truth, or politely refuse to answer, saying it was not his place to say. In the end, it was Gandalf's opinion of Thranduil that made his decision. "They are headed back to the Lonely Mountain to try and win back their stolen treasure from the dragon who stole it and killed most of their people."
"And how much of this gold has been promised to you if they succeed?" he asked.
"None." Harry said simply. "I have more gold at home than I could spend in ten lifetimes. I don't need any more. Luna and I are simply doing this as a favor to Mithrandir. He fears that if there is another war with the Dark Lord Sauron, the dragon would be used by him against the peoples of Middle Earth."
The King was silent for a long while. So long in fact that Harry began to get uncomfortable. But finally he said. "You have given me much to think about Harry Potter, much indeed. Go now and return to your friends. Legolas will guide you to them. You will find food and drink there as well as basins to refresh yourself."
Harry started to turn to go when the King called him back. He held out Harry's wand and sword. "These I believe belong to you. He took his wand and sword back and with a respectful bow, left with Legolas to go and find the Dwarves. He only hoped Thorin wouldn't be too pissed off at him for telling he King of their mission.