*Hannah (Siri) carefully peeks from behind curtain*
Umn…heheh…sorry this is so late! I got a little busy lately and now it's umn…a little late…ahem…anyway sorry about that :D
Thank you SO much for all the lovely feedback!! Sarah and I REALLY appreciate it!!
HaloGatomon: Yes *sigh* I'm afraid those two attract trouble like magnets, I'm not sure where along the line that started, but it probably had something to do with Cassia and Siobhan *smiles innocently*
Chloe: Oh my Chloe…must you kill all our already dead bad guys??? I would think they were dead enough! :p Oooooh, Advil…I'm sure they appreciate that ;) Poor guys, getting beat up by nasty author's all day with never a moments peace…yes well… ahem…
Lina Skye: Oh dear…umn…Lina, you know I think your baby will be fine now…I'm pretty sure…anyway can I have him back now?? He's supposed to be in this next post!! =D
sabercrazy: *grabs lamp as sabercrazy knocks it from table* Oh dear. Well I think the tension has broken for now. :D
Conn Js: Thank you!! *blush* To be truthful I was not at all confident about my abilities to write battles. As my 'wonderful' sister Sarah *glares* made me write almost all of the battles by myself! YOU'RE DOING UM NEXT TIME SARAH!! ;) I'm glad you enjoyed them!!
RainyDayz: *takes Paintball gun* Oh um…thank you ;) I'm not sure what to say :D I'm glad you liked the final battle though!! It was quite a pleasure to see Naraka go ;)
Littlefish: WoW! Thank you!! Oh yes, we're feeling all right, but as we are drawing near to the closing of this story we decided to be nice and (sort of) give the boys a break ;)
Tom Starry: *laughs* Oh yeah, sorry about that cliffy, Sarah predicted that some people wouldn't be too umn…pleased with it ;) Yes, we are planning to write another story after this one, but it may be a couple months before it's up *sigh* sadly we have not gotten too far along on it. Though we do have a small preview for it at the end of this story. : )
Carrie: Yup, 'nother, longer story! ;) Aren't we crazy?! *grins wickedly* But as I told Tom Starry, it'll be a little while. : ( As for Kelegalen and Nethtalt…well keep reading :D
Cassia: Wasn't gonna say a word :D Yes well, as to the title, Sarah and I knew that it hadn't been a complete victory with all those dead…so we made it a little less cheery…Oh! Glad you liked the fight scenes, yes, I'm glad to see Naraka dead too!
Yes, the reference to Gimli we just couldn't help inserting! I mean, we could hardly put him in a situations with temperamental dwarves and NOT mention it ;) I'm glad everyone found it amusing =D
Just to let you know we have only one more chapter after this one, and then our loooooooong tale will come to an end!! : (
Here we go:
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Death or Despair
By Sarah and Hannah
(disclaimers, explanations, and summaries
available at the top of chapter 1)
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Chapter 21
Life and Hope
The next few days were ones of recovery: for the halls of Gilthad and the wounds of the ones who had fought. The end toll of those of the dwarves dead was not known to Aragorn and Legolas, but they did find that Moín was among them. He had fallen near the exit of the chamber, whether making an escape, or at last trying to collapse the entrance, they would never know. There was also work to be done throughout the mountain itself as the dwarves set about tracking down the orcs that had managed to escape into Gilthad and were running wild through the halls, no doubt looking for a means of escape.
Many dwarves were buried soon after and though Legolas and Aragorn were not invited, they watched from a distance as the dwarves lowered their many fallen comrades into the earth from whence they had come.
Due to the many injuries the two friends had sustained of their own — each having lost blood from small wounds as well as serious — neither felt like moving around much. During these days Aragorn and Legolas also exchanged stories of what had happened when they parted. Legolas' heart burned angrily at hearing the way his friend had been treated, and at Naraka's lie about the elf's death, but the ranger did not seemed bothered by the physical injuries done him, now that they were in the past.
"So Furnmorth is dead." Legolas said quietly when Aragorn had finished. He and the human were sitting in Legolas' claimed guard room, quietly re-bandaging each other's wounds.
"Yes," Aragorn nodded, tightly tying off a bandage on Legolas' right forearm. "And Naraka with him. Their own evil and weakness destroyed them."
"It is the path of many evil ones." Legolas agreed. "Though I believe Furnmorth could have done great damage had his plan not been thwarted. His mind was set upon victory and his actions spoke clearly of his capabilities. I believe he truly could have defeated us and destroyed Mirkwood, had he been allowed to get that far."
There was a silent moment, both friends feeling true relief, a sensation they had not felt in a long time. The silence was broken by a slight unintended groan from Leoglas as Aragorn cleansed his shoulder wound once more.
"I only hope now that Lord Elrond will not see us like this." The elf murmured as Aragorn began to wrap the bandage.
The young ranger laughed. "Perhaps if we tarry a few days longer he will not."
"Nay, I fear we must return." Legolas sighed. "Unfortunately we have been absent a good deal longer than we had originally intended."
"I am beginning to wonder: are we incapable of making a straight journey from one home to the other?" Aragorn asked, mirth in his eyes.
"It is a perilous road we walk." Legolas agreed, suppressing another groan. "And the road between our homes is too long; we cannot be expected to keep out of trouble for such an extended period of time."
Aragorn gave a resigned sigh, "We are forever doomed to be in mortal danger."
There was a sound in the passage, alerting them to the presence of another. Aragorn turned, his hand instantly going to his dagger, thinking for a moment that one of the renegade orcs was attempting to find an exit. In another moment it proved to be Nowin.
The young dwarf barely gave Legolas a nod before turning to Aragorn. "Strider," he began, using the name Aragorn had given the dwarves, "I just wanted to let you know where things stand."
"Thank you for coming Nowin," Aragorn smiled. Legolas was, predictably, glowering at the dwarf, though like all things the elf felt, it was very well covered by careful façade which was supposed to serve as an attentive stare.
"We have tracked down near all the orcs, but I do believe there are others roaming about. All our comrades have now been buried and we have nearly cleared out all the cluttered chambers if you take my meaning. We're working on the damage now, but it'll take some doing to fix those gaping holes in the walls."
"You may well wish to leave them," Aragorn suggested.
"There is good news though!" The dwarf exclaimed excitedly.
"Oh?" Aragorn frowned. "What?"
"One of the mining tunnels has opened a vein of gold that we had not before seen!"
The human didn't miss Legolas' reaction when the elf rolled his eyes at these words, and he smiled lightly at his friend, who decided to ignore the ranger.
"I am truly glad that your people will still prosper even in spite of the difficulties this has caused."
Nowin bowed to him with a smile, then surprised both friends greatly by suddenly turning to Legolas. "Elf," he said simply.
"Yes, *dwarf*?" Legolas returned, his voice surprisingly polite considering he had only mentioned the dwarf's kind as a retort.
"We found this on one of the dead human's bodies and we were sure it belonged to you." Aragorn stiffened slightly as the dwarf dropped a handful of hastily cut golden hair before the elf. Nowin did not notice the reaction of either friend and simply bowed to Aragorn with a smile.
"I hope our paths may cross again, Ranger."
"As do I, Nowin." The dwarf left the room and the two friends sat alone. After a moment Legolas gently lifted the hair from where it had fallen, and Aragorn stared at it, saying not a word.
"Naraka?" Legolas questioned softly and the ranger nodded, trying hard not to think of how he had felt when he'd first seen that hair strapped to Naraka's belt like a trophy. Legolas moved from a sitting position to one of kneeling and moved to face the Dúnadan. Placing one slender hand on his friend's shoulder, he waited for the young man to look at him, and after a long moment, Aragorn turned his blue eyes up to meet Legolas' gray ones. There was pain flickering there: a deep hurting that the human had suffered for so long that it had seemingly left an imprint on him, haunting him and flickering behind his eyes. Aragorn dropped his gaze suddenly.
"I—I'm sorry—"
Legolas placed a hand gently over Aragorn's mouth, silencing him.
"Be not sorry, my friend. I am deeply sorry myself that you were hurt in this way. I understand that I cannot change it...but I am here now." Legolas gently touched the ranger's face redirecting the human's attention back to himself. "I'm right here."
Aragorn nodded and Legolas was pleased to see the haunting in his eyes fade, as if a breeze had lifted it from him and blown it away. Carefully Aragorn reached out and grasped Legolas' uninjured forearm, lightly squeezing it he reassured himself that he was no longer alone, that his friend *was* before him. Then he smiled, and it was so unexpected that Legolas smiled as well.
The two companions fell asleep with their backs up against the rock walls of the room; they had become accustomed to this form of sleeping and it was a choice born out of habit more than anything else.
Legolas drifted in and out, feeling no real fatigue to keep him contently in slumber. He glanced over at the young ranger sleeping across from him and Aragorn's steady breathing filled his ears. There were no hitches from deep pain or quickened spells from extreme heat, he was simply resting peacefully. Legolas turned his eyes to the fire that burned nearby, warming the room comfortably, in spite of the closeness to the mountain's entrance and the cold wind outside. In his hands he gently fingered his own hair, the hair Naraka had taken. For a while he simply stared into the flames and meditated on all that had happened, on all the horrible things Naraka had done. To him, to Stavhold, to Nethtalt, to Diinen, and to Aragorn. Anger over what his friends had suffered welled up within him—
Shaking his head suddenly as though to clear it, the elf leaned towards the fire. Naraka was dead now, and his evil had died with him. With a short motion, Legolas tossed the hair into the flames, watching as the fire licked at it for a time, and then melted the blonde strands to nothing. Staring at the flames and the slowly burning embers, Legolas soon drifted into a peaceful sleep.
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It was not long after waking that the two friends were prepared to leave on their journey. The dwarves had provided them with food and drink for the journey, as well as several well meant gifts to the two for their assistance in the battle. Though Legolas was not sure what he would use a dwarven made hunting knife for now that he would be able to replace his old elven ones, Aragorn was proud of his friend for accepting graciously and not speaking a negative word.
The two friends left the gates of mountain, waving a final farewell to the dwarves before setting up from the gorge back to level ground. Legolas could remember not two weeks ago falling down this same cliff edge and landing in the middle of Moín's watch — it seemed long in the past now.
Legolas chose their course down the mountain: he knew some about the terrain and had a fairly easy time finding a path that appeared simple enough to traverse. They had just started down the chosen route when suddenly Legolas stopped short.
"What is it?" Aragorn asked, turning.
"Do you not hear that?" Legolas questioned, silencing his own voice and seemingly his breathing as well. Aragorn's sharp ears soon picked out the sound: footfalls close by them.
The elf and ranger melded back into the stunted trees directly to their right and waited for whoever was coming to pass.
Before long voices accompanied the footfalls, and though Legolas heard their sounds first, they were downwind and the voice traveled right to them, allowing Aragorn could make out much.
"I don't understand why he shouldn't have returned."
"Well, we could find no trace of him."
"Maybe he just got lost."
"It is possible."
"Strider went through the tunnel. Don't you think he will just take the tunnel back to Gundabad?"
"Nay, for it has been blocked off. Strider is likely to be taking this route back."
Aragorn and Legolas exchanged a quick glance before both broke cover and ran towards the two, Aragorn in lead. Kelegalen saw them first, and with a quick motion, he pushed young Nethtalt behind him and pulled out his sword, but in another moment he smiled and sheathed it.
"Why, Strider we were just—" Kelegalen cut off sharply, his eyes turning to the elf just behind Aragorn.
"Legolas!" Nethtalt exclaimed.
"You are alive!" Kelegalen was equally surprised, but clearly pleased. "I am truly joyous to see you so, Legolas."
The prince smiled as he came up beside Aragorn. "Thank you Kelegalen, it is good to see you as well. Hello Nethtalt." He sent his smile towards the boy and received another in kind.
"We were just searching for Strider," Kelegalen explained.
"So we heard," Aragorn was smiling as well. "It is well met, Kelegalen of Rohan. What tidings of Gundabad?"
"It has fallen." Kelegalen replied. "We began an uprising as you advised, Strider, and managed to over power the guards. With Furnmorth dead they were not able to oppose so many, though there was a vicious battle and in the end we lost many. Including Helkhmorn." He finished softly.
Aragorn let out a breath and shook his head. "I feared he was doomed to fall from the start. He had no will left in him to fight."
"Yes," Kelegalen agreed sadly. "The slaves have now dispersed and are returning to their homes in hopes of piecing their lives together again."
"And now where are you bound?" Legolas asked, looking at the two in question. Kelegalen smiled and put and arm across Nethtalt's shoulders.
"*We* are to Rohan." Kelegalen replied. "Since his father has passed I am taking Nethtalt with me. We were only intending to be sure that Strider had escaped before we departed." Aragorn knelt by Nethtalt a smile clear on his face.
"So you have a father once again Nethtalt," he murmured. "It is a wonderful thing to have a family." Knowing eyes looked earnestly into the boy's and Nethalt nodded.
"I am happy," he confided, hugging Aragorn upon impulse. Aragorn embraced the boy tightly before releasing him.
"I am glad, Nethtalt." Aragorn rose and turned to Kelegalen. "Would you travel with us until we must separate, friend?"
"Indeed we would be glad of company," Kelegalen agreed.
"And we can acquaint you with all that has transpired in Gilthad," Legolas added. "There is much to tell."
"We would be glad to hear it!"
The four started down the hill side: a ranger, an elf, a man of Rohan and a boy; no longer slaves, and at last able to walk freely under the warm sun and deep blue sky.
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At last they were forced to part. They reached the edge of the Grey Mountains and it was time for half their company to turn towards Rohan and the other half towards the lands of the elves.
"It has been our pleasure to meet you both," Legolas smiled at Nethtalt and clasped Kelegalen's hand firmly.
"May it be our fortune to cross paths once again." Aragorn said, also clasping hands with Kelegalen.
"I hope so, my friend."
When Kelegalen and Nethtalt had turned away, Aragorn and Legolas stood for a moment staring out across the plains they would need to cross.
"We're returning home." Legolas said, though he needn't have. Aragorn was thinking of the same thing.
"I have long missed it." Aragorn murmured.
"As have I." Legolas agreed, staring out across the plains and shading his eyes from the sun.
After a moment the two began to walk. Without a further word or any further decision they began to trek towards the start of their unintended departure: the place where the corsairs had found them so long ago. And from there they would at last return to their homes.
TBC…