Author's Note: Ah-ha, another triumphant chapter. Whatever will happen to Legolas? Seems like he has the worst luck...Once again, I love you all so much, and as your lovely reward for being so nice, here's another chapter. Okay then, I'm not Tolkien, and I get no money for this, so yeah, whatever. Enjoy.

Chapter 24

Legolas began to become aware of a constant jarring effect. As he began to dwell on the bothersome motion, he realized that it had been going on for a while, and it was high time that it stopped. The uneven pace was jerking his body about painfully, and after a few more moments, he decided he did not want to take it any longer.

Very slowly, Legolas opened his eyes. He had not realized until the moment he opened them that they had been closed. Darkness met his open gaze and he vaguely wondered if perhaps something was wrong with his eyes or if he had not opened them after all. A few more moments passed, and Legolas settled on the conclusion that it was merely dark outside.

And he was outside. Fresh, cold air whipped past his cheeks and he welcomed it eagerly. As far as he could remember, it had been a while since he had felt the fresh air. Yet why was that? Why had he not been outside and why was he out now when it was dark? Too many questions for Legolas' very tired mind and he gave in to the irresistible urge to close his eyes again. He wondered very briefly as to why his eyes wanted to close since he normally slept with his eyes open, but it seemed like a very trivial matter at the time and chose to ignore it.

This time, however, he could not fall back asleep. The unsettling motion continued and he became aware of an incessant throbbing in his leg. When he focused on the leg, the pain increased and grew throughout the whole of his body. It finally became so bothersome that Legolas could not even concentrate on going back to sleep. He opened his eyes again and this time straightened his head. As soon as he did so the world around him tilted dangerously and he had to grip something in front of him to keep from falling.

His hands met a mane of dark hair and he almost let go in surprise at the feel of it. His mind had had too much and he refused to even try to process this recent information. He did not care if he could not sleep, he would make himself sleep.

A voice interrupted his reasoning.

"So our little Prince is awake. Now let go of the horse and leave him be, you will not be able to get him to obey you so do not even try."

The voice was cold and held disdain and was oddly familiar to Legolas. He thought hard to place it and why he thought it was important. Finally, his mind clicked and he put a name to the voice.

Eirien.

Everything else shattered and immediately fell into place. He could think clearly again and he remembered quite vividly as to why he had not felt fresh air in a while and why his leg was throbbing so. And as for the unbalanced feeling, he was seated haphazardly on a horse in front of somebody else holding him carelessly around the waist with one arm. Obviously that someone was Eirien.

Legolas regained full attention and he straightened up, his leg sending up a warning as he moved it slightly to better position himself. "What are you doing?" Legolas asked the she-elf behind him.

Eirien sighed impatiently, as if she had been expecting him to speak sooner or later but severely hoping it would be later.

"Unfortunately, I was keeping you from falling," she informed him caustically.

That was definitely something Legolas could not understand, and he could not even attribute it to temporary amnesia. "Why?"

"Because we had to be on the move again and it looked like you were not going to be waking anytime soon so I was graced with the privilege of being your personal escort since I have the bad luck of being the lightest. My lord did not want to be held behind simply because some poor beast had to strain under the weight of two full grown male elves."

Like always, Legolas did not like the way she spoke to him, but he could do nothing about it at the time. "Well, I am awake now, so I believe I can handle my own horse."

"There is no point in stopping now for the sake of you getting your own horse," Eirien told him shortly.

"Then your lord will not have to worry about being held back. We can make better time if our horse did not have to strain so." Legolas silently congratulated himself on using her own words against her.

Eirien was obviously not impressed. "As I said, there is no need for better time, we are almost there."

Legolas sat up and looked around sharply at their surroundings. That had been the last answer he had been expecting. She was right, they were approaching the borders of Mirkwood forest from the Southern end, the one not guarded as the stronghold was in the Northern end. They were entering the part of the forest that was overrun by spiders and darkness.

"How long have I been out?" Legolas breathed. His shock at being so close to his homeland was evident. Dread began to settle within the pit of his stomach, there was no more time left to warn his father.

"This would be the fourth night now," Eirien told him. Even though he could not see her as he was facing away from her, he could tell from her voice that she said it with a smile. "I believe our young prince has no control over his own body."

Legolas stiffened, but once again forced himself to remain neutral. He knew he was in no condition to start a fight that would set off all the elves immediately around him. He tested his leg gingerly. In the darkness he could see the dark blood that had dried all around the wound, it was a wonder he had not bled to death. But a slight odor of herbs led him to believe that his wound had been packed and that had been why he did not bleed out. Still, the leg was extremely sore, the muscles ripped apart and torn through. He wondered if he would even be able to stand upon it.

The contingent had just reached the fringes of the forest. It occurred to Legolas for the first time that he was not in front, rather near the back with no Maeglin or Glorfindel in sight.

The horses in front of Legolas slowed. Obviously, they were not going to simply rush into Mirkwood, they were going to take it slow and creep through to the Northern end, probably to sneak up on the elven stronghold and to not disturb the creatures of the darkness that dwelled within the South end.

As quiet as was possible, the whole army of elves dissolved into the trees. They had spread out in a fan formation, not wishing to be caught in a large group. It was not beyond their reasoning that some of them would die before they even reached the elven stronghold, so the next best solution was to minimize the number as much as possible. By spreading out, they were not allowing themselves to not be picked off so easily.

As soon as their horse hit the brink of the forest, Legolas shifted uneasily. He knew this forest better than any of the elves here, yet even he had never been in this part. As a young elf, he had heard enough stories to keep him out of it. The closest he had ever come to this part was going a few feet off of the southern border of the realm that the elves lived in. He had witnessed and also been involved in several small battles to keep the large spiders out of elvish borders, yet in the depths of the darkness, spiders were the least of their problem.

"Look at what you allowed to happen," hissed Eirien from behind him.

Legolas whispered furiously back at her, "This is not the fault of the elves. A growing threat is the cause for the shadow, and your lord is going to be the one to aid it."

Eirien let out a sound that almost sounded like a growl to Legolas, but she said no more about it. They were both concentrating on their surroundings and straining their hearing for any signs of an immediate threat.

Legolas became uncomfortably aware of the fact that he had to share a horse and was not in control of it. It made him feel powerless, and he did not like that feeling. He wanted to be able to warn the animal and send it into flight within a second's notice of danger. And even though Eirien was an elf, he did not trust her instincts as much as his own. Plus there was the fact that she probably did not care if he lived or died and would only manuever to save herself.

Legolas allowed a small amount of time to pass. "Let me have the reins," he spoke quietly to Eirien.

Eirien snorted, "I think not."

Legolas had fully expected this answer. "Either let me have the reins or die. I know this forest better than anybody here and if you wish to stay alive you will let me guide the horse on the safest path." This was of course partially a lie, but Legolas counted on the fact that Eirien did not know this.

The she-elf was silent for a few moments. When she spoke next, Legolas could hear the fear in her voice that she was trying to quell. "You will not try to run away?"

"I would never run in this part of the trees," Legolas answered in all honesty, "that is when they hunt you. Running is the same as fear."

Legolas was almost surprised when Eirien handed him the reins. He had not been sure if she would concede so easily. But when he took the reins he felt Eirien sit straight up, her breathing uneven. She was scared.

As soon as he had control, Legolas whispered a few soft words in elvish to the horse. He calmed the animal that looked like it wanted to bolt any second and reassured it that he would sense the danger ahead of time. The animal calmed somewhat, but still looked as though it wanted to run.

Legolas focused all of his attention on the surrounding trees, listening for anything that would come from them. Yet all was quiet, and that fact did little to ease him. He would rather hear the comforting chirrup of birds, not the dead silence from animals who had long since deserted this place.

The thought of escape entered his mind once, but that would be far too risky at the moment. He had spoken the truth to Eirien, if he tried to get the horse to run now he would not have to worry about the other elves cutting him down, something else would do it. The first thing he had to concentrate on right now was staying alive, he would worry about escape later.

Every elf was on the highest level of alert, the horses stepping with more care than Legolas had ever witnessed. Anticipation and fear was apparent, and Legolas leaned slightly forward over the neck of the horse, peering into the darkness of the trees.

Thus went the whole of the night. By the time morning dawned, nothing had yet happened and all was still silent. Legolas had wondered briefly if Maeglin would make them stop when day broke, but he soon saw that it did not matter. The sun did not break through the heavy trees and the land still dwelled within perpetual twilight. The only way Legolas even knew that it was morning was the lightening of the mists upon the ground. Morning's dew was breaking up.

The elves continued. When the sun had risen some more, the gloom of the forest dissipated somewhat and it was easier to see. This in addition to the fact that nothing had yet happened caused the elves to begin to relax. The stopped straining their senses to their surroundings and rode more easily, their muscles lax.

To Legolas, this was a fatal mistake. Instead of relaxing, he became more tense. He felt something in the very back of his mind, and he did not trust whatever presence was in this forest. He had the feeling he always had when on the borders of the forest and away from the stronghold, that there were eyes upon him. From what he did not know, but he knew that he could not shake the feeling and that it was not simply born out of paranoia.

Legolas wanted to yell at the other elves to not drop their guard, but he knew it would do him no good. They would only either laugh at him or even punish him for speaking out. He cared not if they died, but he was worried about being caught up in the middle of the group if a battle broke out.

The thought of battle brought something else to mind. Legolas had no weapons. If he had his bow and arrows, he would be assured that he would be able to kill something if it came at him. Now he would have to rely on the speed of the horse, and if the horse was killed or he was thrown, his leg would rid himself of any chance he had of saving himself.

Legolas took a deep breath and calmed his thoughts. Thinking about all that could go wrong was not something that would help. As long as he stayed focused and on the present, he would be fine.

Or so he vainly thought.

Author's Note again: I know, I know, terrible place to end, I'm so sorry, but the chapter was way too long and I had to break it up. Don't worry, I'll have the rest of it up by Monday, I swear. Okay? No hard feelings? (laughs nervously) okay then...