AN: Thanks to Guests, Alessandra Cordeiro, hanami, diridiri, bloomisakura, seini1, MissKitty, aikwenfairy, redruby8 for your reviews. I am glad that you all take time to review. I really appreciate them. This is another chapter for you. Three more chapters to go. Please read and review. Love you all. Hugs and Kisses.
Chapter 37: Dreams And Nightmares
{Katherine is standing at the shore of a river. She is wearing a white elvish gown. Her hair is flying lightly in the wind. Legolas walks up to her and wraps his arms around her from behind. A smile immediately appears on her lips. Legolas plants a soft kiss against her jawline.
"You left me" says Legolas in an accusatory tone of voice yet it is full of love and devotion. Katherine's smile doesn't falter a bit. It only widens more. She turns to face her prince.
"So that I can come back to you my love" says Katherine. Her voice sounds angelic and her face is glowing with happiness. Katherine leans in and presses her lips against her lover's. Legolas doesn't wait to kiss her back. He pulls her closer to his body. As if he wants to make them one being. Katherine affectionately cups Legolas' face with one hand. After sharing a romantic, loving kiss the couple pulls away from each other but stays in each others embrace.
"I miss you" says Legolas with sad tone of voice. Katherine's eyes softens a little bit hearing that.
"I know my love. I yearn to be with you too. There is nothing else in this world that I wish for more than to be in your arms" says Katherine and she never sounded more honest before. Every beat in her heart is for Legolas. He owns her every breath.
"Then come back to me Meleth nin (my lover)" says Legolas sounding desperate. Katherine softly caresses his temple with her thumb.
"I will come back to you" says Katherine. She lightly traces the outline of Legolas' lips with her fingers. Her eyes focused on them. As if memorizing the shape of his lips so that she never forgets it. "And when I do, I shall bring you a gift my love."
"You are my most precious gift" says Legolas. He lifts up her chin so that he could look into her eyes. "I only want you Katherine."
Katherine holds his hand and smiles. "You will want this gift more" saying that Katherine puts Legolas' hand over her womb. Legolas frowns in confusion at first but then he senses a life inside Katherine. Legolas finds himself speechless for a moment. Then a smile spread across his lips. He pulls Katherine in for a passionate kiss. It makes her giggle but she kisses him back.
"I love you Katherine. I love you with all my heart" says Legolas. Katherine opens her mouth to response back to him but she suddenly stops. Katherine looks towards the horizon. Legolas sees fear covering up her face. There is horror in her eyes. Legolas has seen that kind of fear before. The fear of death.
"Katherine! What is it love?" Legolas asks with anxiousness and worry.
"Death" says Katherine. She looks back into Legolas' eyes. "It's coming for me."
"No, I won't let anything happen to you" says Legolas with strong tone of voice and determination. But Katherine keeps looking at him with fear and sadness as if she can't hear him anymore. Legolas keeps calling her name. He keeps calling her back. But Katherine starts fading away and right before his eyes the darkness consumes her.}
Legolas woke up from his dream with a jolt. He found himself sweating a little bit and breathing heavily. His heart beating madly in his chest. He looked around and found himself still in the campsite at Dunharrow. Legolas had decided to rest his mind for a while thus the dream started. An elvish dream often means something important. What Legolas saw in his dream, it left him completely and utterly speechless. Katherine is in danger. That much he could tell without having that dream. Death is approaching her. Legolas realized that he needs to rescue Katherine as soon as possible. He shouldn't wait any longer. What surprised Legolas more was the life inside Katherine's womb. Could it be possible that she is with his child? Of course it was possible. They mated after all. Urges to go to Mordor and save Katherine suddenly became hundred times stronger for Legolas. He has never felt so restless before.
Legolas thought he would sneak out without saying anything to anyone. He couldn't careless about his own life anymore. He needed to get to Katherine. See her with his own two eyes. Not just in a dream. He needed to touch her with his hands to make sure she still exits. Legolas would go crazy without her. He needs her in his life, plain and simple. Legolas was getting to his horse when he saw Lord Elrond coming out of the king's tent. What was he doing here? Legolas had no idea about Lord Elrond's coming to Dunharrow. Curiously, Legolas went to the other elf.
"Lord Elrond, I did not look to see you here" said Legolas gaining lord Elrond's attention.
"Legolas, I am glad to see you here and well. I came here on behalf of Arwen" said Lord Elrond with heavy tone of voice. Legolas immediately got worried.
"Is she unwell my lord?"
"I am afraid she is. Her fate is now tied to the one ring. If the ring isn't destroyed soon, Arwen might not survive this darkness that has befallen on us all." Legolas understood Lord Elrond's worry and sadness. He himself was worried about someone he loved. And ironically her fate too was intertwined with the ring's fate. The evil ring is going to destroy them all if not destroyed on time. Legolas' as well as everyone else's only hope was that Frodo succeeds in his task.
"I am sorry to hear that Lord Elrond. I pray that lady Evenstar is strong enough to live through this darkness." Lord Elrond nodded his head. A silence fell on them. It broke when Lord Elrond spoke up again.
"I heard about Katherine" said Lord Elrond. He was quite aware of the prince's feelings for the other worldly girl.
"Do you think too that she has sided with Sauron?" Legolas boldly asked. He might not care about what the Rohirrims were saying about Katherine but he wanted to know Lord Elrond's opinion. The said elf sighed out heavily.
"Since you know Legolas that I cannot see her future. Therefore, I can't say anything for certain. But I know that the girl has saved lives. Even though it was only a few people but she did it" said Lord Elrond. He was referring to people like Boromir and Haldir who was going to die an untimely and unfortunate death. But they are still alive now because of Katherine's warnings. "And I believe that anyone capable of valuing another being's life can never be completely evil. She may be lost right now and I hope that she finds her way back to us."
"Even if she can't find her way back to us herself, I shall go and bring her back myself" said Legolas with determined tone of voice. Lord Elrond looked at him with calculating eyes. He wasn't surprised to see Legolas so worried and restless. When an elf falls in love it is very painful for him to be away from his lover. Specially in the beginning. Same for elleths. The pain is worse when the elf is aware that his soul mate is in grave danger and could probably die.
"I know what is it you wish to do Legolas. But you must think before you act. Going to Mordor all alone would get you nothing but death" said Lord Elrond with wise tone of voice.
"I know my lord and I appreciate your concern but believe me, staying here is worse than death" said Legolas with stubbornness.
"I understand that." Lord Elrond immediately said. "I have lost my beloved soul mate as well Legolas" said Lord Elrond. He rarely speaks of his wife and Arwen's mother. "Even if you do go to Mordor you won't get Katherine back."
"What do you mean my lord?" asked Legolas with confusion and anxiousness.
"Going to Mordor was Katherine's own choice. Coming back to us, to you should also be her own choice. She must be willing to return not forced" said Lord Elrond wisely. He feared that if they bring Katherine back against her will, she could cause more damage than the dark lord himself given the fact that Katherine knew about their future. She could easily alter their victory. Lord Elrond hoped that Katherine hasn't sided with Sauron for real but he can't be absolutely certain. He has his doubts. Katherine did after all go to Mordor to be at the dark lord's side. Legolas sighed out heavily.
"I won't survive if anything happens to her" said the prince with soft tone of voice. Lord Elrond put a hand on his shoulder to comfort the troubled elfling.
"Then help destroy Sauron. Aragorn is going to go into the mountains to summon the dead. Go with him" said Lord Elrond. Legolas lightly bowed his head.
"As you wish my lord."
Behind The Walls Of Mordor
Flash Back
Katherine was kneeling before the illusive figure of the dark lord. "Stand up my lady!" commanded Sauron in his blood chilling tone of voice. Katherine slowly stood up.
"What does my lady wish for?" the dark lord asked slowly circling around Katherine as if she's a prey and he a predator. Which was quite true.
"I came here with a heavy heart to inform you that-" Katherine breathed out heavily for a dramatic effect. "My lord will face a defeat in the battle of Gondor."
"Impossible!" the dark lord hissed with enraged tone of voice. Katherine felt chills running down her spine that gave her a very nasty feeling but she remained strong and stood still. Sauron's army was already marching towards Minas Tirith. A defeat is not what the dark lord was expecting.
"I am afraid that is the truth my lord" said Katherine with sad tone of voice. The dark lord started thinking but before he could think too much, Katherine spoke up again. "With your permission my lord, I would like to prepare a second army. After the victory in Gondor men would become over confident. They will march against you and come before your kingdom. I would like to give them a grand welcome and a shocking surprise."
"How can you make my forces stronger and deadlier than they already are?" asked Lord Sauron with curious tone of voice that sounded like death.
"Because my lord I am from another world and I know of devices and weapons that can destroy the entire world in a matter of minutes" said Katherine confidently. It wasn't a lie. Not entirely. She knew that nuclear weapons exist and what kind of damage they can do. It was a different matter entirely that she didn't have any clue how they are made or how they work but Sauron didn't need to know that.
"I can conjure up an attack that will vanquish the race of men once and for all. Gondor and Rohan both nations will crease to exist." The dark lord thought about it for a moment.
"Very well. If you are so confident my lady. But I must ask, why do you wish to cause such destruction?"
"Because I haven't forgotten yet what they did to me. I still vividly remember them shooting arrows at me. This is my chance of taking revenge upon them my lord. And I promise you that I shall prove myself worthy of your love and trust."
End Of Flashback
Katherine stood over a bamboo bridge and inspected the Orcs working below. They were all gathering as much black power as possible. Thankfully Saruman wasn't the only one who owned that explosive element. The land of Mordor was full of it as well. Katherine wasn't an expert in making bombs but she had the basic ideas.
"Faster! Faster! Move you maggots! Move!" The Orc leader of that pack yelled at the other Orcs. Those foul creatures had no idea what was coming for them. Katherine watched as one group collected black power and another group filled them inside huge sized iron balls. Saruman had only used two explosives to bring down the thick wall of Helm's Deep. Katherine could only imagine what dozens of those things would do. At the time being the dark lord and his forces were thinking that this preparation was to destroy mankind. Little did they know that Katherine had a very different plan altogether? Right then an Orc came to report to Katherine. As the dark lord has commanded, the Orcs were bound to follow Katherine's orders for now. Even without the ring, she could control them. It was great in a way.
"How many of those things we need my lady?" asked the Orc.
"Keep making them" said Katherine with stern tone of voice.
"As you command!" The Orc bowed and started walking away but Katherine stopped him.
"If you or any other Orc or Uruk sees a halfling inside Mordor report to me immediately."
"Why would there be a halfling here?" the Orc asked with great curiosity. Katherine narrowed her eyes at him.
"You are here to follow my orders not ask me questions." Katherine snapped at the Orc. The creature immediately backed away. It looked scared kind of. Even those foul creatures knew she was important to the dark lord.
"Of course my lady."
"And one more thing, that halfling must not be harmed under any circumstance" said Katherine with firm tone of voice. "Or I will detach your ugly head from your pathetic shoulders. Understood!" The Orc vehemently nodded his head and ran away. Katherine has a different plan indeed.
Capital Of Gondor
A large army of Orcs were walking towards Minas Tirith. Trolls beat drums as the Orcs marched forward, pushing large siege towers towards the city. The army of Gondor stood still behind their wall. Every soldier in their own post. Boromir and Faramir were in the center position. They were needed to give orders to other soldiers after all. The sons of Steward fought as best as they could in Osgiliath. But they were out numbered. Boromir and Faramir could barely escape from the city with their lives. Orcs took over Osgiliath. However the war was far from over. Boromir and Faramir had to defend the main city now and protect the people residing inside.
Thanks to the fact that Boromir was still alive. Because of that Denethor couldn't send another group of soldiers to Osgiliath or to their death for that matter. The city could not be reclaimed. At least not until the war is over. Both brothers understood that but their father did not. Denethor had ordered his sons to march over to the river but Boromir politely disobeyed. The Steward never thought his first born would rebel against him or choose to disobey his direct order but the unthinkable happened. Boromir had decided to stay inside the city instead and defend Minas Tirith for as long as they could. And Faramir naturally followed his brother rather than obey his father. Seeing his sons so against him, Denethor was on the verge of loosing his mind. But no one had time to take care of the Steward and his madness when armies of the enemy were marching against them.
"Brother, are you sure king Theoden will come?" Boromir asked. He could see fear in the soldiers' eyes. And truth to be told he was nervous too. The army of Mordor was rather large. The Gondorians were counting on the Rohirrims for survival.
"He gave his word" assured Faramir. "But we must hold our defenses until King Theoden comes."
"Then I pray he comes soon. Preferably before we are all slaughtered" said Boromir in a rather humorous tone of voice. What else he could do to make his fear go away rather then humor in that situation?
"Well we have the white wizard with us. That should give everyone a little hope" said Faramir. Boromir smiled and nodded his head.
"We are thankful now that Gandalf is powerful but when Katherine let him die so that he can transform, we were all very furious at her. Legolas even attacked her. I wonder what hope we have had if Gandalf was still Gandalf the grey" said Boromir more to himself than to Faramir.
"I know I haven't known Katherine for long but from what I have seen, I believe she really cares about us. And the reason she went to Mordor must have something to do with saving our lives" said Faramir really meaning it. Even after what happened, the captain of Gondor refused to believe that Katherine is planning on dooming them all. Boromir glanced at his brother from the corner of his eyes.
"You speak rather fondly about Katherine" said Boromir with serous tone of voice but he was actually teasing his little brother. Faramir rolled his eyes understanding that.
"It's nothing like that. I consider her my good friend. That's all."
"Good, that's good. Because unfortunately an elf has already claimed her and you know better than to challenge an elf moreover an elf prince" said Boromir wisely. Faramir however shook his head.
"Brother, I am well aware of how possessive Legolas is about Katherine" said Faramir remembering the few days in Helm's Deep. How Legolas stared at him with sharp eyes while Katherine conversed with him nonchalantly. Faramir sighed out heavily. "I feel pity for the elf though" said the captain of Gondor.
"Why is that brother?" asked Boromir curiously.
"Katherine is in Mordor, surrounded by foul creatures and the devil himself. I wouldn't want the love of my life if I had one, anywhere near that wretched place."
"Yes, it appears the prince of Woodland realm is indeed unfortunate" said Boromir agreeing with his brother. The drumming of the trolls suddenly stopped. Making both brothers focusing on the army standing in front of the city wall. There were thousands of Orcs and numbers of trolls and other kinds of foul beasts. Gandalf walked over to Boromir and Faramir. Pippin was right behind the wizard.
"Prepared for battle?" Gandalf asked the brothers.
"As prepared as we can be Gandalf" replied Boromir.
"You must defend the wall. That's most important" advised Gandalf. If the wall is breached many civilians would die and not just soldiers. Suddenly a huge rock came flying from the army of the enemy and it hit a tower in the city. The tower immediately broke down. The Gondorians watched it quietly before panic washed over the crowds of civilians. They started running everywhere, trying to hide or escape. The soldiers readied themselves for war. Boromir and Faramir started shouting out orders. Gandalf however sighed out heavily and said-
"And the great war begins."