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(Welcome all to another installment! In case I forgot to mention it at the beginning of this saga: I do not own these characters. I make no money off of this. All glory and fame go to J.R. Tolkien. I am merely borrowing them to play out the little story idea that's been running through my head for the last while. Please review! I love getting feedback!!)

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A cold chill seized the elf's flesh as his eyes locked upon the glittering ring in the uruk-hai's hands. The world itself seemed to narrow to only the ring and the black hand that brought it ever closer. Legolas could hear the members of the fellowship scream in protest but it was as if he were hearing it through a bell jar. A slithery voice played in his mind, growing ever louder as the ring approached him.

...lllegolasss....

Hearing his name in such a sinister tongue in his mind, the elf struggled fiercely against his captors, wanting nothing more than to run for his life, his soul. Legolas pulled and twisted to free himself, but it awarded him nothing more than abraded skin.

"Hold him!" the uruk-hai assassin barked and Legolas found he could not move, save for his arm that was held out before him by the terrible grip of the demonic creature. Cruelly, the uruk-hai tried to pry the elf's fingers open to accept the ring but Legolas would not give.

...cccan't runnn.... the voice laughed, near screaming in his mind. The ring was mere inches from his fingers. ...cccan't fightttt....

Spurred by a terror he had never felt in all his two thousand years of living, Legolas let loose with one last attack. Since his arms were restrained, the elf launched a savage kick that caught the assassin in the groin, nearly doubling the uruk-hai in two in pain. The assassin roared and fell to his knees, giving Legolas the distraction he needed to pull free from his stunned captors. Lightning flowed through his veins as the elf made to run, but his eye caught hold of the ring lying in the injured uruk- hai's hand and it stopped him cold.

...llllegolasss....

The voice captivated him so much that Legolas barely heard Gimli screaming his name as well. "Legolas!! by Durin's beard, run you dumb elf!!"

The dwarf's words snapped him from the lure of the ring and the elf managed two steps before crying out as the brunt hilt of a sword collided sharply with his temple, spinning him to fall to the ground, blackness swimming before his eyes.

Grunting with the force of moving with an injured groin, the assassin sheathed his sword and stomped over to the dazed elf, grabbing him brutally by his golden hair. The creature leaned in close to the elf's ear, his voice dripping with malice. "I would make you eat your own intestines right now, elf," he swore, "but I'd rather watch you suffer hells unknown as the ring tortures you!" He grabbed the elf's limp hand and thrust the ring upon the slender finger.

Across the distance, Frodo screamed. Gimli struggled fiercely, unleashing all kinds of verbal assaults upon the uruk-hai. Aragon called out the elf's name.

The uruk-hai, thoroughly pleased with itself, stood above the dazed elf, watching for the elf to react to the band of pure evil upon his finger. At last, this elf would pay for the pain he caused. Such evil upon so pure a creature would be worse than death, and the uruk-hai licked his lips as he waited for the ring to begin its torture of the elf.

But the elf made no sound. Slowly, Legolas's head rocked side to side as he lay face down on the ground. A unearthly moan escaped the elf's lips as his head finally came to rest by his hand. The fellowship watched, breathless, as Legolas's unfocused eyes lost their dazed look and focused upon the band of gold about his finger. Those emerald eyes gazed upon the ring with a confused look upon his handsome face.

The bloodthirsty grin upon the assassin's face quickly melted into one of perplexity as the elf slowly drew himself to sitting, never taking his eyes from the ring upon his hand, never blinking. It had expected the vile elf to be shrieking in pain by now, twisted in two by Sauron's power. Slowly, the uruk-hai reached for the handle of his sword as an unbidden thought came to its mind. If the ring hadn't destroyed the elf by now, then it had just given the full power of the Dark Lord into the hands of his enemy.

Legolas didn't see the assassin reach for his blade. He couldn't hear his friends scream his name. All he could see was the band of gold upon his hand, a hand that looked like it no longer belonged to him. No longer warm and smooth, his hand appeared pale and cold adorned with the ring. All he could hear was the menacing voice in his mind. All he could feel was the overload of cold power exploding inside of him.

...yyyyyou are mine nowwww....!

The uruk-hai assassin had brought forth his sword but too late as the transfixed elf sucked in a deep breath and the tense silence was torn asunder by an unearthly scream.

Man, dwarf, hobbit and uruk-hai found themselves blasted back by the scream as a powerful unseen force pulsed from the shrieking elf. Hands reached for their ears as the scream continued longer than humanly thought possible. Frodo, knocked free of his captor, gripped his ears and turned towards Aragorn who was blasted back as well. "What is happening to him?!?" But if the ranger could hear his question above the elf's shriek, he gave no answer.

The look of fear on his chiseled face was answer enough.

Finally the scream ended as Legolas, leeched of breath, slumped forward, his hand clutched to his chest.

Aragorn was the first to recover, reaching for Anduril and slicing the head from his would-be captor. Following in suit, Gimli's axe found purchase in uruk-hai flesh, killing two before they could bear arms. Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin drew their swords against the uruk-hai and while it took them a little longer to kill their enemies, the ground was soon littered with the bodies of their adversaries.

However, the assassin still stood, sword in hand.

The uruk-hai looked from the fellowship, to the elf, then back to the fellowship. It could kill the hobbits and possibly the dwarf as well before the ranger could mark him, but what of the elf? Legolas still sat hunched over, the only movement coming from him was the harried rising and falling of his shoulders as the elf gasped for breath. In such a defenseless position, the uruk-hai figured that it could behead the vile creature and take the ring from his lifeless hand before the fellowship could face him in battle. Then, fueled by the power of Sauron himself, he would leech the souls from these pathetic creatures and make them beg for death. Yes. That would be what it would do.

The assassin raised its sword high above Legolas's neck. "And to think I gave a vile elf the ring of power!" With a roar of disgust, the uruk-hai brought his sword down.

Suddenly the sword stopped, frozen in place a foot above the elf's neck. Yellow eyes widened in shock, the uruk-hai struggled to move his sword but unseen hands held it firmly in place. "What sorcery is this?!"

Almost in answer, the gasping elf snapped his head up to stare coldly at the assassin and the uruk-hai's words froze in its throat. The elf's eyes, once a fair green, were orbs of pure black, darker than any shadow the assassin had seen before. The elf's slim face now bore an expression of dark warning and those obsidian eyes narrowed dangerously. The hand that bore the ring, once clutched to his heaving chest, now aimed at the creature as if it were one of the elf's arrows. The ring gleamed upon the pale hand, giving the assassin perhaps a fraction of a second warning before fire flew from the elf's hand.

The uruk-hai screamed in agony as flames raged its body, hotter than any forge could create. As the assassin burned, the elf slowly regained his feet, his black eyes locked upon the incinerating uruk-hai.

And just as quickly as it had happened, it ended. The assassin's charred body fell to the ground, the flames slowly dissipating.

For a long moment, no one moved. Six pairs of eyes stared at the elf in fear and disbelief, so wide that the white of the eyes seemed to eclipse the irises. Legolas did not move from where he stood over the body.

Aragorn was the first to move, to speak. "Legolas," he called to his friend, taking a step forward. He struggled to keep the panic from his voice, his eyes upon the band of gold upon the elf's hand.

Legolas turned around slowly at the sound of his name, but the elf did not answer his friend's summon. Gimli's breath caught in his throat as he took in the sight of Legolas's cold face and ebony eyes.

Aragorn moved forward still, his hand outstretched towards the elf. "Legolas ... can you hear me?"

Black eyes locked upon the ranger's blue eyes but still the elf did not speak.

The ranger stepped closer, hand still outstretched. "Legolas, it is I, Aragorn."

The elf did not blink.

"Legolas ... the ring," Aragorn said, his voice strong, "Give me the ring."

Slowly, the elf began to laugh. His voice was deeper and darker than it had ever been and the cold expression on his face belied any mirth.

Aragorn's voice became stern. "Legolas...!"

The laughing stopped as Aragorn was blasted back by an unseen force, throwing him to the ground.

"Aragorn!" Sam cried, ready to run to the ranger's aid, but Frodo held him back.

"No, Sam!" the hobbit warned. His eyes fixed upon Legolas. "We must be careful. Under the ring's power, there is no telling what it will use Legolas to do."

Picking himself up from the ground, Aragorn cradled his bruised shoulder, his eyes locked upon the elf. "Legolas, fight this my friend! Take off the ring!"

But Legolas was beyond hearing. He turned his black eyes from the ranger as the shriek of the Nazgul rang in the distance. Reaching for his sword, Aragorn prepared himself for an attack but halted as a black rider-less steed entered the clearing. The horse's red eyes glared menacingly at the ranger as Legolas easily lifted himself upon the horse and without a word both steed and elf took off through the forests of Amon Hen.

"Legolas!!" Aragorn screamed in the elf's wake, but was met only with silence. Legolas was gone.

An uneasy moment passed before the ranger would turn to look at his companions. The expressions on their faces matched the same dreaded feeling in his heart.

Pippin was the first to break the silence. "What do we do now?"

Aragorn sighed as the tension left his body. Suddenly the ranger looked tired. The man's gaze rested upon Boromir's body. "We bury our dead," he answered quietly, but steadily. "And then we go after him."