A/N: Like I said, I'm not a fan of these, but sorry there was such a long wait for this chapter. It was due to the world's longest exam period and it's FINALLY over (until May...) But yeah, new chapter (yay!) and I promise, there will not be half as long a wait for the next one as there was for this one. Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-One – Over

Legolas looked up as Sauron approached. He threw away the orc that he was fighting and faced him unafraid.

"Hello," the elf said cockily. "Remember me?"

Sauron didn't answer, but swung his sword over his head, intending to bring it crashing down onto Legolas' head. But Legolas parried it and threw it to one side.

"Yes, I remember you," Sauron said furiously. "You're the elf who wasn't strong enough to save his friends."

"It wasn't a fair fight!"

"As I recall you had two knives that were hitherto unknown about. Aren't those the same knives?" Sauron nodded at his weapons.

"Yes."

"They are laced with a poison strong enough to bring down a balrog. I think it was a fair fight. And you failed, just like you failed at everything else!"

"No, I'm not a failure-"

"You failed to resist the bait I offered you, and that cost you the lives of two of your friends."

"And I've learnt from my mistakes, and I'm not biting this time!"

Sauron started walking in circles around Legolas, his sword level all the time. Legolas never once turned his back on the Dark Lord, and never once took his eyes off his face.

"You're supposed to be lying in a pit dead!" Sauron hissed.

"And you're supposed to be sitting by yourself in a tower getting increasingly lonely, but yet neither of us are in those places, are we?" Legolas responded scathingly. "Haven't you ever thought of finding yourself a girl?"

"All credit to you though," Sauron tried a different tack. "You successfully managed to fool most of Middle Earth that you were dead. Including your own father. How did you manage that?"

"I'm a good actor."

"But that horse," Sauron nodded at Demetreos. "Stands out quite a lot, doesn't she? Didn't anyone recognise it?"

"I've never ridden her in front of people."

"How did you survive?"

"I don't know. Maybe the Valar sent me back to kill you. Who knows?"

"Who knows..."

Sauron suddenly swung his sword at Legolas' side. Legolas brought his knives to meet them, before throwing the lethal attack away with equal ferocity. Sauron then rushed at the elf, his sword raised and trained on Legolas' face. Legolas raised his knives, and metal clashed with metal. The combatants refused to yield on either side, their weapons grinding against each other. Legolas finally threw the sword away from him, and Sauron staggered. The elf, sensing weakness, rushed at his opponent, but Sauron spun on his feet, to bring his sword clashing with Legolas' knives, which he raised just in time to save the sword from smashing open his face. Sauron started bringing his sword down again and again onto Legolas, who was forced to go on the defensive and couldn't use his knives for anything other than parrying, and was forced to back away from the Dark Lord. He tripped over a badly placed rock, and was sprawled at Sauron's feet.

"Look around you," snarled Sauron. "Look around you at those who died for you!"

Legolas glanced around. Lying not far from him lay Gimli, his throat slit open, blood cascading down his neck. His eyes passed over the dead bodies of Dallan and Anna, and even as he watched the battle unfold, he saw an orc stab Glorfindel through the chest, and watched him fall to the floor. He saw an arrow take down the second son of the steward of Gondor. What a bitter fate... For both of the Steward's sons to be killed on the same person's orders, in the same way... He felt a stab of guilt as he realised that all of these deaths could have been avoided. He thought back to Rivendell, to Lothlórien, and how none of those people would have died if he had. Every single drop of blood that had been shed, right back to Frodo's and Sam's, was on his hands. This guilt turned to anger at himself, and then fury to the one who had spilt that blood.

With a cry, he threw all his weight onto his shoulder, swinging his legs around, and catching Sauron unaware. Sauron fell to the ground, and Legolas got to his feet, pointing his knives at Sauron's head.

"I was not the one who killed them. I did not ask them to die for me. They did not die for me. They died for Middle Earth. They died for their freedom. They died so that Arda could regain some of its former glory, and not be ruled over by a tyrant like you. And let me tell you something. They will keep on fighting. They will continue to fight until you are dead. And I will most certainly be there to see you die!"

With that, he whistled, and Elladan and Gandalf appeared by Legolas' side.

"Face it, Sauron," Legolas said angrily. "It's over."

As the three of them placed the elven rings onto their fingers, they simultaneously imagined the destruction of Sauron. Elladan watched in awe as Vilya lit up, and his hand lit up, before he was blinded by a white light. An enormous cracking sound rent the air, and an impossibly strong breeze blew him backwards. The breeze swept over the entire battlefield, and everything that was under the orders of Sauron was destroyed. They did not know it, but as Elladan, Gandalf and Legolas had imagined the destruction of Sauron, every other free creature in Middle Earth had been thinking of nothing else, and as a result, a magic of the three rings that was unknown even to Fëanor had harnessed that power and directed it onto Sauron. So the entire population of Middle Earth fell over, as a sound echoed across every land that existed. Elladan felt light-headed, as he now lay there exhausted. His ears were ringing and his eyes were still adjusting back to normal light. He could hear voices faintly over the ringing, but couldn't discern any words. At least, until one particularly jarring cry was processed by his brain.

"LEGOLAS!"

Elladan sat upright, to find that Gandalf was already on his knees, and crawling over to the elf, who lay spread-eagled across the grass. Aragorn and Thranduil, who had been nearby, were already at his side. Legolas was very pale, and was unconscious. Thranduil was shaking him, all the while repeating his son's name, begging him to return.

But Legolas wasn't answering.