~ Chapter Eight: A return to the Forked Heights
(Aragorn POV)

Isengard was still flooded, but the water was only a couple of feet deep, so my dear, brave, Brego trotted through it quite happily.

The minute I neared the Forked Heights, I could see the last of the race that Saruman had endeavored so hard to make beautiful. They were wailing in those terrible, sibilant voices as they were trapped.

That was one characteristic of Legolas that they had some how inherited. He hated water.

Rain was fine, he quite enjoyed the feel of rain, but he couldn't swim, Legolas would never walk through it. He hid the fear while rowing down the Anduin during the Fellowship, because of his stubbornness to be better at something than Gimli.

Swallowing deeply, I dismounted Brego for the last few meters and patting him once, drew Anduril and waded into Orthanc for one last time.

~

My hearing is keener than most humans, but still, it was hard to make out the footsteps of the Mirrorlings even in the echoing tower. I was always on my guard, like a warg ready to pounce on it's prey.

But they pounced on me first.

I wandered into the main chambers and was greeted by four of the Mirrorlings, each in different degrees of Legolas.

One looked entirely like him apart from the fact that it still had blue skin. Another was Legolas but too small and a scaly tail still protruded out of the bottom of it's spine.

The sword was held firmly in my sweaty hands and I shouted: "Is there any here who will fight me?"

They all sneered and pulling out twin daggers, advanced on me.

This would be a hard battle, one that I might not make out alive. They would all have the same technique as Legolas. And I had sparred with Legolas many times, only just beating him. As quick as my elf friend was, he had one disadvantage. He was weaker.

I cried "Elendil!" and charged forward. With a massive flurry of attacks combined brutally, I disarmed one Mirrorling and swiftly killed it with a stab through it's false heart.

Then spinning around I gave an inviting grin towards the remaining three. "Come."

"We will tassste manflesssh tonight," one drawled, licking Legolas' rosy lips.

"Let usss kill him, brothersssss and feassst," the other agreed and with a quick look towards each other, surrounded me.

They jabbed in with their short blades and I somehow parried their blows until my guard slipped for an instance and one pounced, stabbing me in the leg.

I fell on the ground with a roar of pain. From my spot on the floor, I hacked at two blue legs and one of the dopplegängers fell to the floor, using the dagger that rested in my scabbard, I stabbed him, and stumblingly stood up.

"Brotherssss we will avenge you!" the one with the tail shrieked, running towards me. I sidestepped and easily dispatched of it.

There was only one left. It was the Legolas with blue skin. It's dark eyes stared at me with some level of intelligence. This looked to be the head Mirrorling.

A sick feeling awoke in my stomach as we circled each other warily, both crediting each other with caution. This was the last of Saruman's evil race. Maybe not evil.

They were born that way and probably could not help it. At that thought I almost felt sympathetic with their plight. They had only been raised to be servants, never masters.

But my sympathy soon left when the Mirrorling twirled the knife in it's scaly fingers and lunged at my belly. I blocked the blow with my sword, then raising it knocked the daggers from it's fingers. It had a very loose grip on them.

The creature snarled and turning darted to get them back, I took the chance to lunge forward, but then it turned a different blade in it's hands. A shorter dagger. It managed to stab into my shoulder and I pulled it out contemptuously, flinging it at the dopplegänger who easily deflected it.

The Mirrorling scrambled up and once again we were circling. It's gaze was always on me. I had to somehow distract it.

In my throat I made a growling noise. Similar to the sound of the dopplegängers. The one circling me had heard this noise, it's eyes narrowed slightly and it kept on circling me. But I knew that it thought that one of it's kin was still alive.

Carrying on with my ploy, I darted away and made as if to kill one of the Mirrorling.

There was another feral snarl and the I could hear the creature running towards me. I waited until the last possible minute... I choked. But it was too late.

I felt a blade sliding in my skin.

A knife.

The cold metal of a dagger cut through my chain mail and entered my back.

Spinning around I screamed in agony and raising my sword, beheaded the creature.

It's lifeless body dropped to the floor. The head rolling towards me, then it changed.

The blond hair disappeared, as well as the sculptured jaw and straight nose. In it's place was a snub nose and a bony face, longer than most.

The spell was broken, I thought as I felt the world spinning around me. I felt blood in my mouth and wondered numbly: why can I taste blood in my mouth? Before all went dark and I fell to the ground.
~ (Legolas POV)

I sat up straight in the bed with an astonished gasp, before quickly hiding my head in the duvet.

"Legolas?" Frodo asked concernedly. I felt his hand on my back. "What is wrong with you?"

I started laughing, the sound slightly muffled in the bed.

"Legolas?" he asked more frantically, and I heard him run out of the room.

"Elrond, quick!" the hobbit shouted along the normally quiet hallways. I heard the half-elf walk quickly into the room.

"Legolas?" he asked. "What is wrong?" he asked in elvish.

I carried on laughing, I could feel tears starting to run down my face. "Please shut the curtains," I sobbed.

Frodo didn't say anything, but I heard his footsteps as he drew the silk blinds together.

"Thank you," I said and then sat up.

I grinned at Frodo and Elrond before announcing: "It is done! The spell is broken."

They still looked at me blankly.

"I can see!"

~

Thanks to all my reviewers. Only two more chapters.. What the heck! I'll post them all cos you're such nice guys!