Author's Note: See after TBC

Disclaimer: Shall we state the obvious? This is a Lord of the Rings story. Lord of the Rings and anything to do with it belongs to Tolkien. The plot for this story and any new characters belong to me. Now, who didn't know that already? Does it therefore follow that writing a disclaimer is a waste of time? By no means! Because unless you would thoroughly enjoy being sued for plagiarism, a disclaimer is a very good thing. Indeed! [See how hard I try to convince myself?]

Chapter Nine

In Which Things Become Even More Murky

Legolas descended the staircase quickly, his torch casting rays of light into the surrounding darkness.

 It seemed like the temperature had dropped fifty degrees in the last five seconds.

*Which would make below zero, because it is already freezing down here* Legolas thought grimly. He felt as if his mind was falling asleep, but not how it usually happened when he was falling into one of his elven dreams. Instead, this drowsiness seemed more like a lull in his overall consciousness, as if he was being persuaded to let go of his hold on reality. He made a mental note to ask his father about the matter.

"Legolas?"

Shaking himself out of his reflections, Legolas looked up into Derek's questioning eyes.

The man was indicating the door directly below the staircase. "That's the way, right? What are you waiting for?"

Legolas shrugged, trying to ignore the cold shivers racing through his body. Elves were never cold, he tried to persuade himself. Things like cold were just not allowed to happen. Putting aside his momentary uneasiness, Legolas reached for the door handle.

*Lasto beth nin, Edro…*

He breathed the words in his mind, pushing the handle gently.

The door swung open into a small circular room, whose walls were lined with dark stone and touched by the light of several candles. Three halls joined the room in a semi- circle, but no light penetrated their depths. Derek and Aragorn entered first, while Legolas paused in the doorway, scanning the room with suspicious eyes, but his earlier misgivings seemed to have been groundless after all. The room appeared empty and silent, but listening closely, Legolas thought he heard the sound of running water. He realized that they must be nearing the underground river, and was mildly surprised to find that they had come so far beneath the ground. Seldom did any elves besides the guards and cellar keepers venture this far, and as a prince, Legolas' excursions into the lower palace were few and far between. Even with lights, the underground palace felt oppressive to his senses, and the only times he had visited the cellars was to open the doors for the guards when his father was away…

His brow furrowed as a sudden thought struck him. When his father was away, no one could open certain doors except Legolas, in person. But at all other times Thranduil had the power to open the doors at will, no matter where he was. And although this arrangement could become rather cumbersome at times, it permitted the king to choose who was allowed in certain areas, and who was not. For no one could access certain rooms unless the king, or his son, first gave their consent. But the problem now, Legolas realized, was how had Peter opened the door while Thranduil remained completely unaware of it? The fact that such a feat was utterly impossible and beyond any stretch of imagination, caused Legolas to conclude that there was no way the boy could have passed through the door in the first place. Which meant that…

"Strider, Derek." Legolas turned to his companions suddenly, his back to the door. 

"Peter is not down here," Legolas continued, when they did not respond. "It's impossible for him to be down here. I think we should go back."

The two only stared at him, their eyes confused.

"What's wrong with you?" Legolas demanded. "Stop staring like that. Say something! Aragorn!"

It seemed as if his shouts fell on deaf ears. The two men continued to stare behind him, their eyes fixed on something Legolas could not see.

Suddenly Derek gave a hoarse cry, pointing upwards through the staircase.

"Legolas!"

The Elf whirled in the direction Derek pointed, hand flying instinctively to his side for the weapon that was not there. Eyes wide, he scanned the staircase for any sign of danger.

"What?! What is it? Derek!"

Bewildered, Legolas struggled to discover what the man was pointing at. His senses screamed at him; he felt as if something was approaching, but he just couldn't see it. Then to his surprise, and alarm, the passage suddenly began to glow.

"Legolas!" This time the voice was Aragorn's. Rushing forward, the man pushed the Elf aside and reached for the door handle. Legolas stumbled, dropped the torch, and the room plunged into semi-darkness. He heard Derek's footsteps as the man ran to help Aragorn close the door. Regaining his balance, Legolas moved to re-light the torch with one of the candles off the wall. He could hear the men grunting by the door, as if they were struggling against something. Furrowing his brow in confusion, he reached for a candle.

Suddenly it flickered and went out, as if someone had opened a window and let in a winter wind. Legolas frowned, recalling that there was no wind beneath the palace. He reached for another.

"Legolas!"

"I'm coming!"

Abandoning the torch, Legolas hurried over to the door. Derek and Aragorn were against it, bracing themselves as they struggled to push it closed. It seemed as if they were resisting something on the other side. The door was nearly closed except for a small crack, through which they could still see the strange green glow in the corridor. Legolas stood frozen in place, watching the scene in silence. Aragorn's grip was slipping, and the small crack in the door started to widen. Eyes narrowing, Legolas moved forward to look through the crack. He could sense something solid nearby, but even the faint glow was not enough to reveal what it was. A breath of wind brushed by his face, biting cold against his skin.

*There it is again,* he thought, *But there is no wind down here.*

"Legolas!"

 He set his weight against the door, but the weariness he had felt before was even greater now. Something was moving out there on the other side, and the familiar feeling that radiated from it sent a chill up his spine.

"Athlaenin, Is that you? Isilwen?" He tried to recall who was on guard this night. "Alasse? Caranthir? Dinedal? Amras? Answer me!"

A cold laugh interrupted his tirade, causing him to shiver uncontrollably. He felt his grip weakening as the laugh continued to echo in his ears; it seemed disembodied, as if coming out of something that was not quite real.

*Let me in.*

"No!"

A sudden thrust from the other side sent the trio flying backwards. Instantly regaining to his feet, Legolas threw his weight against the door, but without the others, he was too light. A wave of sickening panic hit him as the gap grew even wider, and the door began to shudder under the pressure. He felt the wind brush his face again; the few remaining candles trembled wildly, flickered, and then went out.

Legolas let go of the door, as the room fell eerily silent. He could not see through the darkness, but he sensed the forms of Derek and Aragorn somewhere nearby. They were standing still, as he was, barely breathing.

He listened to the wild pounding of his heart as it thudded against his chest. He heard the sound of the water running beneath the palace.

Suddenly the door swung open without a sound. Legolas slid away from it, crouching against the opposite wall.

 He heard the sound of a single pair of footsteps, moving through the room.

*Thud. Thud. Pause. Thud. Thud. Pause.*

Though his lungs cried out for air, Legolas held his breath.

 *Thud. Thud. Thud. Pause. Thud. Thud. Thud.*

The pace began to quicken, even as it seemed to move away from them.

*It's going down one of the halls!* Legolas thought with dismay. He started to slide along the wall, not caring whether he was heard or not. *If it was going to kill us, I think it would have done so already.*

His hand brushed something soft.

"Aragorn?"

"No. Derek. And you are standing on my foot."

Legolas winced, moving over. "Sorry. Where's Aragorn?"

"I'm here," the man whispered from somewhere on the floor, "Are you alright?"

"I think I should be asking YOU that," Legolas snorted, but his voice carried a note of concern.

"Go right ahead asking," Aragorn smiled weakly, "But I don't know if I'll be able to explain it exactly. One minute I was convinced Peter was down here, someone told me…" he wrinkled his brow, trying to recall what had happened. "I could see it so clearly then. It seems ridiculous to me, I didn't feel like myself."

"You weren't acting like yourself either, "Legolas retorted, "Neither of you were," he added, looking to his right where Derek was. He felt the man grow tense beside him, and he braced himself for a tart reply. As usual, Derek was true to his nature.

"Well when we were trying to hold that thing back, all you did was stand there staring. Talk about acting strange," Derek accused him.

Legolas stiffened. "I was thinking."

"Fine time to think!" Sneering, Derek looked away.

 "Would you two stop shouting? We're not alone down here." They heard Aragorn shift to his feet and come to stand against the wall. Legolas turned to face him; his eyes were slowly becoming accustomed to the darkness.

"It knows we're here, Aragorn."

"Yes, so why did it walk away? It could have killed us."

"It doesn't want us."

 "Well what does it want?" Derek demanded.

 "I don't know," Legolas shrugged. "Don't ask me. We HAVE to get it out of here though."

"We?"

Aragorn could not see Derek, but he turned his head in the direction his voice came from.

"Yes, we."

"IT? I'm not going anywhere until I know what this IT is I'm chasing."

 "Then you're going to be here for a long time," Aragorn sighed patiently.

Hearing Legolas stifle a laugh, Aragorn threw a glare in his direction.

Anyone who could laugh under these conditions was either very crazy, or very brave. And he knew that Legolas was at least a good amount of both. Which made him a very trying companion in dangerous situations. However, being a man, Aragorn also understood how Derek felt, especially since the man seemed to be ingrained with an underlying sense of suspicion of anything new he encountered.

"I say we vote," Derek was saying. "Get ourselves killed on a wild goose chase, or go upstairs, lock the door, and pretend none of this ever happened."

"Nothing good ever comes of ignoring your problems," Legolas cautioned. "I should know."

Derek rounded on him suddenly. "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing," Legolas shrugged, averting his eyes "But I don't think it's a very good idea to just leave. In fact, I think it's a very stupid idea," he added sharply, the frustration evident on his features. "We need to stop wasting time and find that thing, before my father finds US."

"What's wrong with us being down here?"

"Nothing, I mean- what kind of a question is that?" Legolas seemed more and more defensive. Derek noticed this, and continued to press his advantage.

"It's just a simple question. What's the matter, your father never told you his Big Secret?" Although he had not had the opportunity to study many elves, the signs "discomfort" and "slightly guilty" were almost universal. Derek's smirk grew wider as Legolas' faded.

"What Big Secret? I don't know what you're talking about."

Derek adopted an innocent manner. "Oh, you know. Everyone has a Big Secret hidden somewhere. Maybe he made up that rule to keep you away from it."

"That's ridiculous. Stop trying to be clever."

Derek opened his hands defensively, "I don't have to try, I already am. Anyway, you haven't given me any reasons yet. I'm trying to be creative."

"Pardon me if I stifle your creative instincts," Aragorn interrupted, "But it's getting late-"

"It is already late…"

"And I think this would go a lot faster if we all split up and took a tunnel."

The two stared at him skeptically, and Legolas raised an eyebrow.

"Aragorn? Considering the darkness, the unfamiliarity, the confusion, and small fact that a certain SOMETHING is running loose somewhere, do you still want to split up?"

"Why not?"

"Because Derek shouldn't be down here in the first place, let alone without one of us with him."

"Why are you singling ME out?"

"Because you're singled out already, Derek. You are probably going to get lost. And then I'll be forced to save you," the Elf added haughtily.

"I thought," Aragorn raised his voice before they could continue, "That since when you two get together the only thing that happens is an argument, by splitting up we could actually get something done. I don't have any weapons, but if we could force him into one place, and then we all jumped on him-"

His voice trailed off as he caught the expression on Derek's face.

"I must be missing the point, Strider, because this is sounding far worse than ridiculous."

 Legolas was a little more sympathetic. "I see what he means. But instead of getting that thing into a room, what if we led him down to the cellars where the trapdoors are?"

He noticed the quizzical looks on the faces of his companions and tried to explain. "I haven't been down here often, but I remember that there is a cellar somewhere, and it has trapdoors that lead to an underground river. There is a kind of sluice gate that lets the barrels through (that is what we put in the trapdoors), but it is always closed until after the wine harvest. So if we throw him in and close the trapdoor, he'll be stuck in there. Then at least we can go back to bed, and decide what to do about him in the morning."

Derek nodded grudgingly. "It might work."

"It *will* work," insisted the Elf.

"But what about the door?" Aragorn questioned, "He didn't have much trouble getting through this one."

"There's about a nine foot drop from the trapdoor to the river. He would never be able to open it. Besides, I remember it has a lock. Few of our doors have locks."

"So now all we have to do is lead him there. Which could be a little difficult," Aragorn frowned, but Derek smiled sarcastically, putting an arm about his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Strider, even if we poor mortals get lost in the dark tunnel, the all-powerful Legolas Greenleaf will save us," he said in a confidential whisper.

As he groaned inwardly, Aragorn tried to convince Legolas to reconsider.

"Are you sure you two don't want to split up?"

"Positive," the Elf nodded curtly.

Sighing in defeat, the Ranger followed Legolas and Derek into the first tunnel, mumbling to himself.

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

TBC….

Sheesh, Sorry for the extreme wait, thank you for the extreme patience (BW, you are NOT included in that last category). Chapter Ten Coming Up, Sooner than Later….

I know, I make these promises that I strive to keep, but I can't stop the hand of Fate, so you can thank Fate for this seriously late Update. By the way, I got the elvish names from an Elvish Name Generator on the Internet. It's pretty interesting. Isilwen is supposedly my name in Elvish. The rest are the names of my siblings, friends, and parents. Pretty neat, right? Yes, I realize that this chapter is somewhat short, but I promise, promise, promise to update soon to make up for the shortness. Part of the problem is I'm working on another Single Chapter Fic, called Many Meetings. Hopefully I'll be posting that soon to.

TTFN