Disclaimer: let's see, how else can I say that I don't own Tolkien's ideas, characters or settings and that anyone outside of that is my own? Huh, guess I just did. Oh, I'm not making any form of currency on this little ditty either. Enjoy.

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Time and Space

Chapter 15



I was sure that I was physically able to move. I was also sure that any such movement would bring about a new wave of pain. Breathing was extraordinarily difficult.

Opening my eyes, I found that I was in some sort of large hall. The walls were stone and the floor felt cold, a welcome relief to my burning skin. Just able to tilt my head a little, I could see Aragorn, Legolas, Arwen and one other, I presumed to be Gimli. Had I been able to chuckle, I would have. Aragorn had been right about the Dwarf's appearance.

But this was not the time for humour. All of them were in danger, that was evident upon their faces. Aragorn's sword was drawn and Legolas held his knives in a defensive posture. A flash of light blinded me once more and when I could see again, Gimli was gone. Moments later, Aragorn and Arwen had disappeared and Legolas was now prostrated on the floor. And then he was no more.

I felt rather than saw the form come towards me. Its terrible power reverberated throughout my body. Struggling to rise, I was able to see the form. My eyes widened in horror. What I saw was pure terror and demonic.

"How..." I croaked, now on my elbows.

He grinned evilly. "You wished to know what was going on. Now you've first hand experience of it. Was it everything you hoped?" He cackled.

I shook my head, still confused. "I don't understand," I managed to gasp out, now on my hands and knees.

"Come, come, Kaitlin, you are not a fool. I have brought you here to see and feel what the others went through." He loomed above me.

"Why?"

He knelt down, his breath hot on my face. "Because I can."

Seconds later, I was back in the forest in a tumbled heap.

"I will not allow this to happen once again," Aragorn's voice called out. I managed to make out his form, ready for an attack with Legolas' knives. The metal glinted in the moonlight. The creature's laugh did little to allay any fears I had.

I turned to Legolas. His position had not changed. "Now might be a good time to help," I whispered. Nothing.

Looking back at Aragorn, I could tell that he was willing to die to keep this abomination from continuing its destruction.

"Do you really think you can hurt me?" His voice echoed through the woods. "I am a god!"

My eyes narrowed. That could not be. He was too arrogent to be any god. Maybe we could use that against him, somehow. Besides, he had taken human form. That alone must give him some vulnerabilities.

With a slight flick of his wrist, he threw Aragorn back. He landed hard. "So easy."

"You're right," I heard myself say. "There's no challenge. Nothing to really prove how superior you are." I now stood wobbily against a tree. "I mean, how much fight could you get from just a human."

He took a step closer, his eyes like fire. I gulped down my fear and tried to forget that this wasn't Mike looking at me. "Humans are weak. You just proved that." I gazed down at Legolas. "And we know how useless elves can be when they mourn." I returned my stare to Lausona. "So the question becomes: who can really meet your standards?"

He was now very close to me. Although he was a terrifying monster, his body was still human. He fidgeted with fingers, rubbing them together. "You are trying to distract me. Keep me from hurting them."

Quickly looking over his shoulder, I could see that Aragorn had disappeared. Wonderful. "N..no. I'm just saying that..."

"Enough!"

I shut my eyes hard. God, what had I done?

"This time waster has continued long enough. You will die." He clutched my arm, pulling it from its socket. I screamed.

"Let her go," a voice called from behind.

Without releasing me, he turned to find Aragorn standing once more, this time with a bow and drawn arrow. "I'll not ask again." His low voice sent a shiver down my spine.

"You petty mortal! You think you can give me orders! I am beyond your comprehension. You can do no harm to me."

He then stumbled forward, his grip on me loosened enough for me to squirm out. Jumping back, I could see a long protrusion from his chest. A knife.

He jerked upright and with demon eyes, bore down on the figure now standing next to me. I looked over in amazement. "You think this can stop me?" Lausona pulled the knife out. In a blink, he heaved it towards Legolas. Just as fast, though, Legolas stepped aside and let the knife embed itself in a tree.

A whistle and thump brought my attention back to Aragorn. The loosed arrow now stuck out of Lausona's leg. Another was now embedded in his hip. He staggered, nearly falling to one knee. Legolas pulled the knife from the tree and ran in for an attack. He was tossed back, but without the same force as Aragorn felt. The Elf stumbled, but charged once more. Aragorn continued his own onslaught. I only stood there, feeling helpless and stupid. I had to do something. Running back to the room, I frantically searched for Legolas' other knife. Finding it, I dashed back.

Lausona was still fighting them off. Some of his strength wavered, but he managed to keep fighting. In fact, he now seemed to be winning the battle, though Legolas and Aragorn refused to back down.

Standing there, feeling a little ridiculous, with my shoulder throbbing in pain. I called out. "Lausona!"

All movement stopped. The three figures turned towards me. I was scared, but something formed inside me. Perhaps it was courage, or determination. But it felt larger. I couldn't accurately describe it. I felt as though I was finally learning who I really was. I was more than just a psychiatrist, a female human, a mortal. I felt both bigger and small than all of those things. It was both natural and supernatural.

Tapping into that feeling, that energy, I took a bold step forward. "This ends here and now." I raised the knife.

When he began laughing, I calmed myself, breathing deeply and evenly. Legolas took the momentary quiet to let loose another slash, but he was not quick enough to duck away. Grabbed roughly by the neck, Lausona raised him up and grabbed the knife. "Attack me and the Elf will die slowly and painfully."

I paused. Aragorn and I gazed at one another. A silent understanding was made. With a mighty war cry, he lunged forward. An instant after, Lausona stabbed Legolas in his ribcage. The Elf refused to cry out, but was unceremoniously dropped when Lausona was pierced in the arm holding up the Elf.

And then I raised my weapon, counted three and let it fly. The world seemed to stop as the blade flew through the air. With a sickly smack, it landed in Lausona's throat. Stunned, he staggered back, falling over a tree root.

We now stood over him, Aragorn and I, his bow drawn. Taking the knife he used on Legolas and ripping the other from his neck, I held them over him. "For the pain and suffering you have caused, I exact justice. May the heavens have more mercy on you than you for your victims." Kneeling down and with two quick strokes, I removed his head from his body.

The power released threw all of us back nearly to the motel. Swirls of energy zoomed past, howls of agony filled my ears. The earth seemed to shake.

And then it was quiet.

And then I was myself once more.

Blinking several times, I turned to check on Aragorn. "Are you hurt?"

"No." He waved me off, staring intently at the still form nearly hidden in the trees.

I jumped up and raced off. "Legolas?" I breathed quickly. I knelt down to the still form and checked for a heartbeat. Relieved to find one, I examined his wound. The lack of bleeding worried me. His blood pressure must have been almost nothing, and that was a bad sign. "Don't leave me, Legolas. Not now. Not like this."

Aragorn was suddenly next to me also checking the Elf.

"Give me your shirt. I need to clean the wound to see how bad it is." He obliged and moments later, I was sopping up spilled blood. Peering into the wound, I could see that it was serious, but didn't appear to have punctured the lung. A wave of relief poured over me. "He may have some broken ribs. We should get him to a hos..." I stopped. That had been the whole reason we had left in the first place. He was too unique to be locked away. "Scratch that. I need to sew up the wound."

A while later, Legolas rested on the bed in the motel. How no one came to look amazed me. Unexplainable really.

Aragorn sat next to his friend while I cleaned up. I tried to give them as much privacy as I could, but the room was somewhat small.

"Elessar," the Elf finally whispered. "Were we victorious?"

He patted Legolas' hand. "Yes, friend. Now rest to regain your strength."

"But I wish to know how..." He struggled to sit up, but Aragorn gently pushed him down.

"Tomorrow, Legolas. You will have your answers in the morning."

Answers. More like more questions.

To be continued...



A/N: yes, more is to come. What, you ask? You'll just have to review... ;)