A/N: Translations at the bottom. I think there will be one more chapter to this.  Once again, a warning, there are reference to a relationship between two consenting male adult elves. If this squicks you, don't complain, you have been warned. Book verse, and references to the "creation" of the Balrogs taken from the Silmarillion.

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Legolas thought he had known terror when the entrance to Moria had been blocked and the Fellowship left with no choice but to pass through the mines. He thought he had his panic under control until the Orc attack, and during the attack he had had something else to focus on. In the ensuing darkness, the adrenaline and faint glow emanating from his body helped him keep his emotions in check.

And then the Balrog appeared.

Legolas had heard of the demon before, a servant of Morgoth, described as being cloaked in flame and shadow by one whom had defeated such a creature at the cost of his own life, before being sent back from the Halls of Mandos to continue his life on Middle Earth. He had never expected to see one; he thought they had all been stricken from the earth.

The shock of seeing the creature made the archer's resolve crumble and he cried out, the arrow he was setting fell from his hands, the clatter of it sounding loud only to the one that had dropped it.

Legolas stood rooted to the spot in terror as the glowing demon leapt the fissure, the barbed tail of flame whipping around behind it.

"Over the bridge!" Gandalf called, urging the nine towards the Bridge of Khazad Dum.

The terrified elven prince didn't move. The walls were starting to close in on him, the air becoming heavy and oppressive. His breath started coming in short rapid gasps, the natural glow of his kindred fading. The memories were flashing back to him; the walls were caving in, the Orcs above shooting arrows down at him, helpless to defend himself. The wargs sniffing around at night, growling down at the injured elf, sensing their prey but not being able to reach it.

"Noro, Legolas, noro!" Aragorn yelled in Elvish directly into his sensitive ears, grabbing his arm and pulling him along. He continued to yell at the elf in his native tongue as he ran, trying to break the thrall that captured the immortal being. "Ucaro anno vi, Legolas! Noch uerui! Maetho i duath! Maetho, mellon-nin!"

'Let his love be your light in the darkness' Legolas remembered Aragorn's earlier words as he allowed himself to be pulled along. A flash of silver on his thumb caught his eye; Elladan's ring, shining even in the dim light of the cavernous abandoned city. Hope flared within him for a brief moment. The promise of Elladan's love had kept him alive once before, it could save him again.

Legolas met Aragorn's gaze as even as they ran, and when he saw the relief in the Man's eyes, he quickened his step, catching up with the rest of the Fellowship as they crossed the bridge of Khazad Dum.

The silence was almost deafening until Gandalf broke it, facing down the demon. Legolas watched as Mithrandir called on the power of the sun to fend of the creature of flame and shadow. Then he stared in shock as the wizard was pulled over the edge of the splintered bridge by the Balrog.

Once again, the elven archer was rooted in place as the entire Fellowship watched their companion fall. It was only at Aragorn's prompting and the omnipresent threat of the Orcs that they fled, leaving the fallen behind.

Translation (please forgive, I'm doing my best):

Noro: Run

Ucaro anno vi: Do not give in.

Noch uerui: You are not alone.

Maetho i duath: Fight the darkness.

Maetho mellon-nin: Fight, my friend.