Diphylla the Malevolent – Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Same as before.

Warning: Same as before.

A/N: I meant to say this in the last chapter: I recently saw the 2nd LoTR film, and we're just gonna pretend that the elves didn't leave, and Aragorn is Elendil or whatever, but everyone calls him Aragorn because he doesn't like being referred to as that. ^___^;; Oh yeah, and Haldir didn't die like in the movie.

Another A/N: '' is Elvish, "" is Common, / / is thought.

- - - - -

Legolas jumped off of his soft bed and ran out to the hall, as fast as he could on his hurting legs. He ran down the hall, searching for the room where his father was supposed to be holding a meeting to figure out a way to fight against Diphylla. As he was running, he saw Fówyn talking with an elf he did not recognize so he slowed his pace to a quick walk.

'Fówyn, I must speak to father at once!' Legolas said, urgency plaguing his voice as he waved the poetry book. He knew that his father would not want to be disturbed, and it would help if his brother were there to support him. Not to mention he had no idea where they were meeting.

'Calm down, brother! You will see him at dinner!' Fówyn stated, eyeing his younger brother and the book he was holding with worry.

'I must speak to him immediately!' Legolas exclaimed, while trying to keep his voice down.

'What in Middle Earth could be so important?'

'How to stop Diphylla's army!' This statement earned a gasp from Legolas' brother. Fówyn knew the significance of that statement and grabbed his younger brother's arm and they ran as fast as gracefully possible to where Thranduil should be. The two burst through the door, interrupting the meeting.

'What is the meaning of this?' roared one of the older elves sitting there.

'We are sorry for the intrusion-'

'And so you should be!'

'Enough,' the king said quietly. 'What is it that you have come to say? Could it have waited until later?'

'No, it cannot,' Fówyn said quickly. 'Legolas claims to know how to stop Diphylla's army!'

'Really?' Thranduil asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

'Yes, father,' Legolas said softly. 'I have, by chance, come upon a passage that could possibly defeat the Undead.' The young prince took out the book and recited the poem for the assembly.

"There is a stone of night,

Will make vampires feed,

But the beautiful stone of light,

Will cure all those in need."

The elves sat there silently, blankly staring at him, not quite understanding what Legolas was trying to say. The young prince sighed in exasperation, not knowing how to convey what he was reading off. Then he had an idea and pulled out a necklace from under his shirt. It had a white pendant in the middle that shimmered every time it caught a beam of light.

'This is the pendant that my father gave me when I set out to defy Sauron long ago. It is also the one stated in the poem,' Legolas said, trying to keep his voice from becoming unseemly for a prince. His father had insisted that he take the pendant on his journey for luck and protection. It was also a coveted heirloom of the Mirkwood kingdom.

There was a muttering among the council, some were repeating the verses and others were saying things he could not hear.

'So...' Thranduil said, 'That is one of the legendary Bright Stones. If I know my myths, then there are five more of those stones. One in Rivendell, Gondor, Rohan, Lothlorien, and Isengard. And also, if what you say is true about Isengard betraying the alliance we once had, then it has become a Dark Stone.'

'That is only a legend!' the arrogant elf from before stated. 'That is just a fable told to awe the Men's children.'

'The One Ring was told as a story too, for everyone except the elves forgot about Sauron's evil,' Legolas said darkly.

'How dare you speak to me in that tone-'

'Silence!' Thranduil ordered. 'You are not to say another word, Lord Rarlane. If you cannot control yourself, you may leave.'

Rarlane bit back a reply, knowing that he would get kicked out of the meeting if he said anything. He resolved to sit there and glower at the prince.

'I have heard,' started an older female elf hesitantly. She continued when Thranduil nodded his approval, 'That if one holds the light stone over a golden bowl, a precious light liquid will seep into it. This liquid can be used to heal any ailment. But, if one holds a night stone over a silver bowl, an evil dark liquid will seep out, which can contaminate anything it touches. It is also told that is sustains evil creatures' bloodlust.'

Thranduil glanced over at one of the pages and nodded. The young boy left and the king said, 'We shall see if this idea works.'

There was a minute of silence before the door opened and the page reappeared. He handed a golden bowl to the king and bowed out. Thranduil placed the bowl on the table and indicated that Legolas should test the jewel. The prince became slightly nervous and had to control the shaking of his arm as he held the chain of the necklace about the bowl. At first nothing happened, and he noticed Rarlane smirking out of the corner of his eye. Then there was a bright white light that trickled into the bowl.

'Now we are ready to fight.'

- - -

Legolas headed back to his room to rest. His body had still not recovered completely from the ambush and the running from earlier had worn him out. The prince was not sure if he was going to go to the dinner hall at all that night. He was sure Elémir would relay the message from Rivendell. He was also certain that Fówyn would tell about the stone of light. At that moment there were elves riding to Rivendell, Gondor, Rohan, and Lothlorien to inform the leaders of this important news. There were also elves right now using the stone of light to make the precious light liquid that they were going to coat the swords and arrows of every warrior with.

The young prince sat down on a soft chair covered with a leaf pattern to his right. He needed to rest his legs because it felt like the cuts were on fire and about to reopen. His head was also starting to pound again, especially where he had made contact with the ground when the bear attacked him.

'Good work, Prince Legolas,' said a voice that the young elf did not wish to hear right then. 'Why, are you all right? You do not look so well!'

'I am fine, Lord Rarlane. I do not wish to converse right now, so please leave me be,' he replied with as much courtesy as he could muster.

'Is that how you treat someone who is asking about your condition? I am surprised that your father, King Thranduil, puts up with your insolence!'

'I would appreciate your kindness to ask how I am feeling, but I know that what you say is not sincere,' Legolas said coldly as he stood up.

'Well, it is hard to be sympathetic to someone so impertinent! If your father will not put you in your place, I will!' Rarlane snarled as he slapped the prince across the face. There was a gasp from some lady elves standing by the windows.

Rarlane was about to make a snide comment when Legolas backhanded him across the jaw. 'Do not touch me. Do not come near me ever again, Lord Rarlane.'

'You cannot say that. You are younger than I-'

'That is an order from a prince, and must be obeyed. Do you understand Lord Rarlane?' When there was no reply he repeated more loudly, 'Do you understand?'

'Yes, my prince.' With that, Rarlane skulked away. Legolas turned and started heading to his room before anything else could go wrong. Before he could start to walk, the room started spinning, and he heard a shriek from the younger of the lady elves as he fell.

- - -

Legolas woke up in his familiar bed and looked around. He noticed his friend sitting at the edge of his bed, looking out the window. 'Larthwain?'

'Oh, Legolas! I am overjoyed that you are awake!' he exclaimed as he jumped off the bed and went to stand next to Legolas' head. 'What happened to you? I heard some commotion and found you unconscious on the ground and I was so worried! Who attacked you?'

Legolas felt his heart drop to his stomach before replying, 'No one attacked me. I... I just... my body has not yet recovered.'

During the brief pause that ensued, Larthwain remembered, 'Oh, they told me to give this to you. It is supposed to help you heal faster.' The librarian held up a small vial containing a bright fluid. 'They called it "Bright Water".'

Legolas downed the liquid, and instantly started feeling better. He sat there for a moment, recalling everything that had just happened. He still could not believe that he found out how to defeat Diphylla's army. 'Larthwain?'

'Yes?'

'Thank you for finding that book for me. It was very useful.'

'You are certainly welcome, Legolas! Oh, Lady Anodien wanted me to ask you if you felt up to dinner? If not, she will have Elémir speak.'

'I would very much appreciate that.'

'I will go inform her. Make sure you rest!'

'Thank you, Larthwain.'

'Do not worry about it, Legolas.' With that, Larthwain left.

Legolas sat there for a moment, wondering if he could ever repay his old friend's kindness to him, even though he had been so thoughtless in their earlier conversation.

He did not understand how his dearest friend ever, Gimli, could stand him either. At the beginning of their journey to destroy the Ring, the two had gotten off to a bad start because of the distrust between Elves and Dwarves. Legolas would not talk to Gimli for the longest time, and vice versa.

That all changed when they ventured off to save Merry and Pippin from Saruman's Urak-hai. The three had to travel by foot a great deal of the way to Fanghorn Forest, though they did not realize they were headed there at the time. Legolas was always ahead scouting, while Gimli was always behind, trying to keep up, running as fast as his dwarf legs could carry him.

They were forced to make conversation or endure silence for hours when they received the horses from the Rohan soldiers they encountered. At first the two did not converse, since they were miffed about being forced to ride the same horse. Legolas would hum his favorite songs to pass the time, and once he found out that it annoyed the dwarf, he hummed to bother Gimli. Gimli would pull his hair to make him stop, and eventually it turned into their own little joke.

Legolas chuckled, reliving his memories from what seemed so long ago. He missed Gimli a great deal. The prince wished that he could see his friend again, but the dwarf was probably hoarding materials for weapons with his own kind again. He knew that Gimli desired to find some Mithril to make armor for himself and Legolas. If the dwarf ever did find enough Mithril to make chain mail, Legolas would not know how to repay his dear friend.

/Maybe a trip to Lothlorien would be in order,/ the elf thought wryly. He remembered when they entered the forest of Lothlorien, how Gimli was saying that an elf witch lived there, and that she would not ensnare him because he had the eyes of a hawk and the ears of a fox. Then they were ambushed, and Legolas was the only one who had time to react.

Legolas sighed, never wanting to leave his memories. Which reminded him that he had once wished he had never left Mirkwood. That was the time at Helms Deep.

The prince was scared that everyone would be slaughtered there. He was frightened of the masses of Urak-hai, Orcs, and Goblins just miles away from there, and the walls that were starting to look less and less strong. He knew that unless they had reinforcements, they would never make it. Fewer than half the people could fight, and half of those were too young and the other half was too old to fight. Those who knew how to use a bow could barely hold it, and the others who could hold it did not know how to use it.

Legolas had panicked, and had let Aragorn know. The lack of confidence from the elf discouraged those in the armory, so the two were forced to switch to elvish. Then Aragorn reproached Legolas, and said in Common that he did not fear dying with these people. The prince felt guilty afterward, and tried to make it up by destroying as many orcs as possible later.

The young elf was relieved when Haldir arrived with the troops of elves. They were probably the first decisive thing needed to win. When Gandalf arrived with the Rohan riders, the battle was obviously over. The orcs fled, and Legolas later found out that Treebeard and the Ents had pretty much destroyed Saruman's forges.

He sighed as he thought of Haldir. He missed him so much that it hurt to think about it. Every time someone mentioned Haldir, it felt as if his heart was being ripped out. He was lucky that not many people knew about their relationship, since it pained him so badly just to explain to his own sister that Haldir had left him.

The prince rolled over and hugged his pillow tightly, and shut his eyes, trying to forget the hungry gleam in Haldir's eyes when he attacked him. Legolas still could not forgive himself for letting Arwen convince him into going on a picnic. She knew the dangers and ignored everyone's warning. /And now... now she could be dead. Or worse. And the poor children. They were so scared.../ he thought miserably. He clenched his teeth and told himself that he would not cry, at least not until there was something to cry about.

But he wanted to cry so badly... to just let go of everything and let his sorrow drain out of him. So many things plagued him constantly; he could not even dreamwalk in peace. Horrible creatures and a shadow of Haldir lurked there, ready to draw him into the darkness the moment he strayed from the path.

/I must be strong,/ Legolas told himself, but he could not stop the tears from flowing. /They just will not stop.../

Eventually he wept himself to sleep.

- - -

A/N: You can all blame midterms for me spewing out these chapters. Personally, I think they're horrible, but I think it's good for me. I think my brain is trying to spit the story out so it will have more space for History information (neveeeeeerrrrrrrr). So yeah. Hopefully there will be more action in the next chapter!

Cya later!

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