Title: Bait - Author: Legorfilinde, Dark Forest Singer - Rating: PG-13 (Maybe R later) - Summary: The ancient vampire Thuringwethil puts the bite on Legolas. Is Aragorn safe? Can Aragorn save his friend before Legolas is turned to Shadow forever? - Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Middle Earth or any of J.R.R. Tolkien's characters, ideas, stories, or histories. I am receiving no payment for this fan fiction piece.
Part Four
Legolas' body tensed and he sat up straighter upon the tree limb. He turned his head slightly trying to discern any unusual noise or movement that might identify the threat he felt growing within his mind. There was a presence in the forest that did not belong there. Exactly what was out there, he could not yet determine, but his Elven senses were on high alert. From his perch upon the low hanging branch overlooking the sleeping ranger, the Elf slowly scanned the campsite and the surrounding woods with his keen eyesight. The darkened forest about them was silent…too silent. The ever present nocturnal rustlings and scurrying noises commonly heard within the thick underbrush were absent and there was no sound of a triumphant predator's howl.
The prince swung his long, slender legs off the branch and dropped easily to the forest floor without a murmur of sound. His blond head slowly moved from one side of the camp to the other and his gaze penetrated the gloom along the outer perimeters of the camp. His hand automatically rose above his right shoulder and skillfully extracted an arrow from his quiver. Without cognizant thought, he nocked the arrow and held his bow ready.
A thorough inspection of the camp had revealed nothing out of the ordinary to the Elf, yet his mind was still sensing some unknown danger emanating from the dark woods. They had not yet reached the truly treacherous portions of Mirkwood's forest, but that did not rule out the possibility that the vile darkness had spread even further than was last known. He took several wary steps into the shadowed woods directly to his right and began to move away from the dim light of the fire. He made no sound as his light Elven steps traveled over the forest ground cover and he left behind no evidence of his passage. In no time he had left the safety of the campsite far behind and entered into the darker, unknown forest beyond.
Legolas could feel rapacious eyes watching his progress through the trees, but he could not as yet detect their owner. Whoever or whatever was out there in the darkness was extremely skilled at concealing its presence. The Elf halted and closed his eyes, letting his ears and nose take in what his eyes could not identify. Deep woodland smells mixed with the musky scent of game drifted up to his nose, but nothing unusual or unexpected. Why can I not rouse this creature? he thought. Frustrated, he opened his eyes once more and moved cautiously forward and deeper into the forest.
As if by some wizard's magic, a dark figure materialized amid the shadows directly in front of his path. Legolas let out a startled gasp and momentarily froze. Then, with astonishing speed and dexterity, he raised his bow, the arrow set and anchored to his chin. As he allowed his eyes to better adjust to the dim light, he set his stance and took aim. He could now clearly ascertain that the figure in his sights was a female. This disconcerting realization unsettled his mind and fleetingly, he wondered what a woman was doing out here in the darkness of Mirkwood Forest.
"Do not move," he warned.
The strange woman stepped out of the shadows and into the pale moonlight and at that moment he could see her features plainly. She was incredibly beautiful, yet in some eerie, unnatural fashion that triggered the Elf's already heightened sense of danger. Legolas was certain that she was neither Elf nor human, but what manner of creature she might be he could not even begin to imagine. Ignoring his command not to move, the woman glided through the slight ground mist and came ever closer. Her overtly sensuous movements and cold, chilling smile unnerved Legolas at some base, primal level and a slight shiver passed over his body.
"Would you shoot me then?" her throaty voice questioned.
The woodland hunter was not about to be taken in by her seemingly innocent manner and feminine gender and until he could determine exactly what she was he was not lowering his weapon. His blue eyes stared straight forward, watching her every move, prepared to shoot at the slightest provocation.
"What are you doing in these woods?" he demanded.
The enigmatic entity offered no immediate response to his question and Legolas' instincts told him that this being was most definitely the unexplained presence he had felt earlier. At that very moment and for no discernible reason that he could fathom, his vision began to fail him, distorting the woman's image until she seemed to waver and flicker in front of him. He blinked rapidly several times, trying to rid his eyes of the double vision. When he could again see clearly, the phantom woman was almost upon him. The Elf's head jerked up with a start. How had she gotten this close? I did not even see her move, yet here she is not two feet from me.
Legolas took an involuntary step backward. His bow wavered, but he quickly steadied his arm and kept the arrow aimed at the she-demon's chest. He tried to concentrate his thoughts on staying alert, but now a peculiar ringing sensation began to manifest itself within his ears. What is happening to me? He shook his head to clear the fogginess that had filled his mind, but he could not seem to get his eyes to stay focused and the irksome buzzing sound in his ears was getting louder.
The shadow woman raised her slender arms up from her sides, palms outward in a gesture of surrender. The sleeves of her silver gown slid down her startlingly white arms to pile at her elbows.
"I am no threat to you," she whispered.
Indeed Legolas could see no weapon, yet his senses were telling him that he was in real danger now. This being was not what she appeared to be, and he needed to keep all his wits about him while confronting her, but he could no longer control even the simplest of mental abilities. The harder he tried to think logically or even lucidly for that matter, the more his mind clouded over and his thoughts began to jumble and wander aimlessly about his brain. He was having immense difficulty just trying to remember where he was and what he was supposed to be doing here.
I feel her evil within my mind! She is in my head! Distracted and unbalanced as he was by her disquieting presence within his thoughts, he still sensed deep within that he must not allow this assault upon his mind to continue. He had to stop her from invading his psyche and controlling his judgment, yet somehow he just did not seem to care any longer. As he tried to puzzle out this conflict of wills battling within his skull for dominance over his spirit, he vaguely heard her hypnotic voice ordering him to lower his bow.
He could feel her dominating will compelling him to stare into her golden yellow eyes and was trapped by the catatonic fascination a mouse exhibits when confronted by a snake. Frozen and helpless, his fear escalating, he could not tear his gaze away from her eyes. Unbelievably, Legolas found himself complying with her demands, knowing that he should resist, but unable to do so. The bow slowly lowered and his fingers eased back on the tension of the string until the weapon was hanging loosely at his side. His slender fingers relaxed and the bow and arrow dropped to the ground at his feet. The deadly creature was now standing only inches away from him and Legolas could feel his heart hammering against his ribcage. A panicked voice echoed within his head telling him to get away, but he could not force his leaden legs to move. He found himself falling into the amber swirls of her mesmerizing eyes with no will left to stop himself from plummeting into their abysmal depths.
Thuringwethil slid her pale hand up the front of his chest, letting it come to rest over his rapidly beating heart. Even through the leather of his tunic, Legolas could feel the icy coldness of her touch as it penetrated the outer garment and chilled the flesh beneath. He gasped, not even realizing that he had been holding his breath.
"Such a strong heart," she purred, moving her ivory hand along his upper chest and then up toward his face.
Horrified, Legolas attempted to pull away, but could not break through the sudden paralysis that had overtaken his body, nor could he look away from her haunting, yellow eyes. Irrationally, flashes of a great mountain cat he had once encountered while hunting in the foothills near his father's hall, flooded his brain. He had come upon the carnivore just after it had made its kill. The huge cat's slatted golden eyes had fixed upon the Elf and their implied warning had cautioned him to stay away if he held his life dear. This demon's gaze held far more peril than that mountain beast's and Legolas was certain that his very soul was in jeopardy.
Thuringwethil's glacial fingers touched the Elf's sculpted cheek, and then traced a line from his ear down his jaw to his chin. Legolas shuddered at the fiend's vile touch. The were-woman noted the Elf's revulsion at the unwanted caress and laughed wickedly, enjoying his obvious distress.
"Such a beautiful Elf," she leered. The hunger in her expression sent a whole new set of fears rampaging through Legolas' mind. His already racing heart was causing his head to pound and a feeling of lightheadedness was washing over him. He could not think and the more he tried to concentrate his thoughts, the more nauseous he became. He sucked in a short, choked breath, but his lungs did not seem to want to work properly either.
He gradually became aware that the foul demon had clasped his right wrist and was bringing it up to her mouth. He stared in morbid curiosity as her reptilian tongue flicked out from between crimson lips and licked at the sensitive skin on the underside of his wrist. That slight touch burned into his flesh and he frantically tried to pull his hand away, but her grip was like an iron vise. She looked up at his stricken face, her eyes hooded and filled with malice. She could sense that he was loath to have her touch him, yet helpless to prevent it and knowing this brought an even crueler smile to her lips.
Without warning, the were-woman's razor sharp teeth bit down upon the delicate skin of his wrist, puncturing the tender flesh and drawing out a gush of glistening blood. Legolas emitted a yelp of pain and shock at the creature's atrocious act. His mind reeled drunkenly as he fought to remain standing on legs suddenly gone weak. As he swayed forward slightly, the incredulous realization that she was feeding upon his blood swept over him in a dizzying wave. He could feel his life force being mercilessly drained from his body by this foul being's odious suckling.
"Daro, Helkaer!"* he cried out, his once melodious voice now reduced to a weakened croak. His lips, parched and dehydrated from the sudden blood loss, could barely emit an utterance above a whisper. He brought his left hand up in a futile attempt to pull the demon's mouth away from his wrist, but he was just so tired, so weak. His mind spun, drawn down into the depths of darkness. As the monster continued to feed upon his blood, he began to lose his tenuous grip upon reality and his hand fell uselessly to his side.
"Please, you must stop," he pleaded, his voice barely audible.
When it seemed that he would lose consciousness and fall completely into the deadly shadows of this evil, the fiend released her tenacious grip upon his flesh. The gaping wound throbbed and burned, radiating sensations of pain that traveled throughout his body in searing waves. Drops of blood shone like tiny rubies at the corner of her mouth, and she avidly licked them away, savoring the luscious taste of the Elf's blood with an ill-concealed and malevolent delight. Her tongue lapped over his wrist one final time and the poisoned wound closed as the blood began to clot. Legolas' beautiful face turned as pale as porcelain and he swayed backward and would have fallen but the shadow creature clutched his arms tightly and physically held him upright.
His head fell forward onto his chest, golden hair spilling over his shoulders and cascading down across his cheeks. He tried lifting his face up to look at the vile creature, but it was just too difficult to raise his head. The obscene thing before him was speaking, but he could not understand her words. He just wanted to lie down, to rest. The demon shook him roughly, jostling his dull mind, and causing his teeth to rattle against one another within his jaws. Painfully, he forced his head up and looked at the shadow woman with glassy, unfocused eyes.
"Listen to me," she hissed. Once certain that the Elf was indeed aware and heeding her words, she continued. "Return to your camp. You will not remember…only the hunger will remain." She laughed with pitiless and evil delight. "It will consume you." She released her grip on his upper arms and he stumbled slightly but remained standing. "Do you understand what I have told you?"
Legolas nodded numbly. "Yes," he whispered.
"Go then," she ordered.
Stepping back away from the Elf, Thuringwethil moved off toward the deeper darkness of the woods from whence she had come and moments later vanished altogether.
Legolas watched the shadow creature disappear into the forest, but could not be sure that what he saw was real or imagined. He looked about the woods in confusion, wondering what he was doing here. The moonlight reflected off something shiny lying on the ground and he gazed down to see his bow and an arrow nestled in the leaves at his feet. He could not remember having dropped the weapon, nor how it had come to be there. Perplexed, he bent down and retrieved the bow and arrow, hoping that some recollection would present itself. When it did not, he decided that he must have encountered some residual spell of darkness that still permeated the woods of Mirkwood. Apparently he was unharmed, just confused…and… tired. He glanced uneasily about the area one last time and then headed back to the campsite.
*Stop, Icy One.