Disclaimer: For full disclaimer, please see chapter 1.
A/N:
*peeks out of her hiding place* Gosh, I didn't know you all had such strong feelings concerning cliffhangers ... *g* I'm terribly sorry ... wait, that's not really correct, I'm not, but still, don't worry, the next cliffy is coming in chapter 9, I think, so lots and lots of time till then...
But, hey, look at all the reviews!! So many!! *happy grin* And they are mine ... my own ... my precious ... *hits herself* Sorry. That happens sometimes ... there's nothing I can do ... *g*
So, and once again I've learnt something:
Blackmail + Evil Cliffy = Lots of lovely reviews
A very simple equation, really! Note to self: More cliffies. *g*
Okay, because I promised you to update quickly (even if I don't have time. *sniff* God, I hate college sometimes!!), here is chapter 7, in which Legolas sees a lot more of the mountain goblins than he actually wanted to and the Elrond/Elladan/Elrohir-angst session begins! *evil grin*
Enjoy and don't forget to review! (Hm, as if you could since that's a word I use about as frequently as 'and'... *g*)
Chapter 7
Nólad watched the human fall off the branch, his mind still battling against the shock he felt for not having been able to grab him quickly enough. Hearing the boy's body hit the ground with a dull thud and the startled shouts of the other men below him, he shot his friend a furtive glance before climbing back down as quickly as he could. The other elf kept staring blankly at the spot the human had occupied just mere moments earlier, but drew himself out of his thoughts and followed his fair haired companion, a cold fury slowly spreading on his face.
'I have not gone through all this trouble to have him die on me now!' he thought furiously as he let go of the last branch and landed softly on the ground.
Walking over to the body of the human that lay close to the trunk of the oak tree in a crumpled heap, he pushed his way through the throng of humans who were standing about in a loose circle, whispering excitedly among themselves.
His dark eyes searched the small crowd for Donyc and he finally found the human commander standing next to Nólad, who was kneeling alongside the ranger and turning him over carefully.
He pressed through the humans all around him and came to stand close to the dark haired human. Grabbing his shirt sleeve, he hissed,
"How did this happen?"
Donyc tore his eyes that were blazing with anger away from the young human to fix them on the elf's irate face.
"How did what happen, Master Elf?"
The dark haired elf scowled and tightened his grip on the human's arm, his face distorting into a grimace of pure fury.
"Don't play games with me, Donyc! You know what I mean! How did he escape you? You were supposed to capture him quickly, but instead he holds you off with some success and even escapes into a tree? You promised me that you and your men would be able to subdue him quickly! Explain that to me, Master Human!"
Donyc shook off his hand and took a step back, now just as angry as the elf.
"You told me he was an injured boy, barely more than twenty summers of age! Yet what we get to fight is something more akin to a seasoned elven warrior! Why didn't you tell me he was a ranger? He killed Vaemar, one of my best men! Besides, we didn't startle him so he fell out of that blasted tree, you did! And I have never seen a human climb a tree that skilfully, he must have been part elf or something!"
"Is, Donyc. He is not dead," Nólad's interrupted their argument, making their heads swivel into the direction of his voice.
"Are you sure of that?" the human questioned and took a good look at the bloody, twisted body of the ranger, not knowing if he should feel angry or pleased.
"Yes, I am," the fair haired elf replied, the ghost of a smile visible at the corners of his mouth. He returned his attention to the body of the young human in front of him.
"He was lucky. Very lucky. I think he might have cracked a few ribs on his way down and he definitely has a concussion," he pulled back an eyelid to peer into a slightly dilated and unfocused grey eye, "But apart from this and a lot of scratches and bruises he should be fine." He pointed at a gash on Aragorn's temple that bled sluggishly and added, "What worries me most is his side wound. The stitches have burst and he is loosing quite a lot of blood."
"Can you treat him?" his friend asked, fixing dark eyes on the other elf.
Nólad looked down at the unconscious body of the human, frowning in thought.
"Yes, I think so. I will need my bags though," he answered, already unbuttoning the human's dark shirt.
Donyc turned and snapped his fingers at one of his men, who was sporting what would be a spectacular black eye in a few hours.
"You. Get the bags."
Watching the other human move into the direction of the little glade where they had hidden their horses, he turned back to the dark haired elf who was still gazing thoughtfully at the unconscious human.
"We need to move. They will come and look for him."
"No," the elf replied, turning to look at the man, "The elf who was with him won't reach Rivendell before sunset, and then it will be too late to search for him. They will set out early tomorrow morning."
"Still, we shouldn't linger for too long. Let us find another spot to camp." Donyc didn't look too pleased at the prospect of meeting any of the human's elven friends. Friends that wouldn't take too kindly to the human's current condition.
'No,' he thought, shuddering slightly when he imagined that encounter, 'I'm certainly no coward, but there are things a sensible person avoids, and confronting angry elf lords is one of them.'
The voice of his employer interrupted his thoughts.
"Perhaps you are right. Staying here for too long wouldn't be prudent. How soon can we leave?"
Donyc hesitated for a moment, calculating distances in his mind.
"In about an hour, I think. We will need to get the horses and to bury Vaemar," he answered, renewed anger burning in his eyes as he looked down at Aragorn who was being treated by Nólad.
"Very well," the dark haired elf replied and bent down to remove something from the unconscious man's cloak, "Take his weapons and bind him once Nólad is finished with him. Do you have any specific place in mind to pitch camp tonight? Something not too far away from here; we will need to leave very early tomorrow morning in order to avoid their search parties."
"Yes," the human commander nodded, "There is a little wood not too far from here on the other side of the ravine. We should be able to reach it in about half an hour, I think. The trees grow densely enough there to provide some shelter, and we will need it; a storm is coming tonight."
"No, Master Human," the elf replied with a dark smile, "The storm is already upon us, and nothing will be able to oppose it."
Closing his fist tightly on the object he had taken from the ranger, he turned and walked away, letting out a short, cold laugh, leaving the men behind shivering with a sudden fear of what was to come.
The sun was already sinking when Elrohir finally saw the gates of his home appear in front of his eyes. After he had checked the last of the traps, he had surprisingly found the tracks of an impressive buck, and just couldn't resist the temptation to hunt it. He had found it about three hours from here and killed it with a clean shot, but after carrying the very impressive buck for full three hours on his back, he began to question his sanity when he had decided to hunt this animal that weighted about the equivalent of a small troll when he was alone, without even a horse to help him bear the burden.
'Estel is right,' he thought grumpily as he crossed the gates of his home, 'I am stupid.'
He handed the animal over to an elf who worked in the kitchen and wearily climbed the steps that led to the main house, just to be greeted by the cheerful voice of his twin.
"Tired already, brother?"
Turning to tell his brother in no unclear terms to leave him alone and be quiet, he looked at Elladan and instantly noticed the wicked gleam that shone brightly in his eyes.
Sighing inwardly, he wished again that the Valar had given him a pair of cave trolls for brothers, or orcs, even spiders couldn't be as annoying as the two he had been gifted with.
'What has he done now?' he wondered, rubbing his head and glancing at his brother, 'His hair is almost back to black now; you can hardly see the green anymore if you don't know what to look for. He can really bear a grudge for quite some time! Especially when he is bored.'
He sat down on a stone bench left from the stairs and asked his smirking twin,
"The bed or the door?"
Elladan gave his brother a look of fake innocence that did not fool the younger twin for a second. It had been him who had invented it more than 2500 years ago, after all.
"Just what are you implying, Elrohir? I would never do something to that bed, you know how father is with the furniture…"
"The door it is, then," Elrohir stated and couldn't quite hide a smile. Elladan's pranks were even better than his own, and that meant a lot in his opinion.
Elladan grinned.
"Yes, my dear brother, the door. I can hardly wait to see his face when he… By the way, where is Estel?" he asked, his eyes darting behind his brother, expecting to see the young man make his way towards the house.
The smile on Elrohir's face faded when he looked up at his elven brother's face, wrinkling his forehead in confusion and growing concern.
"What do you mean, where is he? Isn't he here already?"
Elladan shook his head, his eyes studying the other elf's face.
"No, he isn't. He left with you, Elrohir!"
"There is no need to tell me things I already know!" Elrohir snapped, his worry causing him to lash out at his brother. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before looking up and meeting Elladan's eyes.
"I'm sorry, brother. Yes, we left together, but we had a little argument a while later and separated. He told me he would go and check the snares near the little ravine, you know which one," the younger twin explained. "He should have come back about an hour ago!"
The twins exchanged worried looks, but before Elladan could open his mouth to say something, their father's voice interrupted him.
"Elladan! Would you please explain to me what is wrong with the door leading to Estel's room? There is a nearly frantic servant girl in my study claiming…" he trailed off when he saw his sons' serious faces.
"What is it?" he asked and stepped closer, "Is someone hurt?"
Realizing with a start that his youngest son was missing, he asked with a worried glance, "Where is Estel?"
Elrohir waited for his brother to answer Elrond's question.
'Sometimes I am happy I'm the younger one,' he thought darkly.
"We don't know, ada," Elladan admitted softly.
"We separated at about noon, I think. He thought I was being over-protective and wanted to check the traps to the north near that little ravine himself," Elrohir added, casting down his eyes.
The Lord of Rivendell stood perfectly still and looked at the two worried faces in front of him.
"Then he should have been back some time ago," he muttered softly, as if to himself.
Elrohir rose and prepared to make his way back down into the courtyard, Elladan on his heels.
"I will get the search party ready," he told his father in a toneless voice.
"Elrohir," the soft voice of his father caused the younger elf who was about to walk down the stairs to stop and turn back, "This is folly, and you know it. The sun is setting, and in an hour it will be too dark for you to see anything. You would do more harm than good."
Trying to cheer his sons up, he added, "Perhaps there is nothing wrong at all and he is merely late."
Elladan turned wide, worried eyes on his father.
"You know that is not true, father. There is something wrong, I can feel it. And so can you."
Elrond let himself sink down on the bench previously occupied by his son and sighed deeply.
"Aye, my son, you are right. I have been dreading something like this for some time now and always hoped it wouldn't come to pass, but fate, it seems, has once again caught up with me. Just like it has done so many times in the past," he whispered and lowered his eyes.
A moment later he felt himself being encircled by the strong arms of his younger elven son.
"Don't worry, ada, Estel's going to be fine. We will leave tomorrow as soon as the sun has risen," Elrohir told his father softly as he hugged him tightly.
Elladan stepped closer and laid a hand on his father's shoulder.
"He's right. We will find him and bring him back so you can patch him up again and force him to stay in the bed he will be desperate to leave when Legolas arrives in a few days. The prince will be so angry with him for putting himself in danger!"
Elrond smiled for the sake of his sons and rose, putting an arm around each of his elven sons' shoulders and walking towards the main doors.
"You are right. We will find him. Tomorrow," he told them and stressed the last word, sending Elrohir a stern look.
"Yes, father," the twins echoed and Elladan added, watching the darkening sky and noting the way the wind was beginning to pick up in anticipation of the change in weather, "A storm is brewing. It will have reached us in an hour or so."
Elrond glanced at the sky and suppressed a shudder before fixing troubled grey eyes on the door.
"That it will, my son. That it will."
'This is worse. This is much worse,' the Prince of Mirkwood muttered inwardly as he pressed his body against the rocks to the right of him, trying to ignore both the gaping chasm to his left and the biting sting in his side that flared to new levels of pain when it touched the hard stone wall. His hand strayed to his right side, touching the still bleeding wound that was hidden below his cloak.
'I should count myself lucky 'tis all I received,' he thought darkly. There had been quite a lot of the goblins, and he had been hard-pressed to defeat all of them. Somehow a few had managed to escape and alert their companions to his presence, and soon Legolas had found himself on the run from a large horde of angry mountain goblin. Not a situation he appreciated at all, for wood-elves do not flee easily before their foes.
Bringing himself back to the present, the fair haired elf took a quick look at his horse that was standing just behind him, nose nearly pressing into Legolas' back and tail swishing angrily. The animal looked as if it had had enough of their little game of hide-and-seek in this less than hospitable environment.
'As do I,' he admitted, shaking his head to get rid of the snow that had accumulated on top of his hair.
Leaning forward slightly and cautiously peering around the corner, Legolas studied the scene that opened up in front of his eyes.
He had almost reached the end of the High Pass, close to the point where the path would start its descent down into the lands of Eriador. Beyond this point lay safety, for the goblins would not risk to be found by the sun's rays so far away from their caves and holes, and didn't dare to stray too far even in the night.
'Unfortunately,' he thought wryly, watching the mass of mountain goblins that crowded the path, 'They know that as well.'
He resigned himself to the fact that he would have to do something if he didn't want to spend the rest of his days on Arda playing hide-and-seek with a bunch of ugly, smelly goblins, which wouldn't be too long anyway if one considered the way things were going right now.
He turned his eyes to the sky and cursed under his breath; it was just his kind of luck to run into goblins on a day when not even an elf could see the sun. And now darkness was falling, which didn't help his situation in the slightest, either.
A shudder raced through his tall frame, slowly even his elven body began to feel the cold.
'No wonder,' he mused. 'I have been walking through this cursed snowstorm for the whole day now. Aragorn would have started complaining a long time ago!'
The thought of his friend filled him with a new resolve to get off the mountains as quickly as possible. He didn't only have the feeling that the young human was in danger, he just knew it. Legolas pushed aside his fears for the well being of his friends and forced himself to assess his situation calmly.
There were at least thirty mountain goblins on the path, and the longer he waited, the more would come to join their ranks. He needed to do something, the sooner the better.
'There are too many to kill them in close combat, they would overwhelm me before I would have the chance to fell even a third of them, and this place is not as favourable as the last. But if I were somehow removed from their reach, I could…'
A plan forming in his mind, the fair haired prince turned to his horse and softly whispered instructions into its ears. The white horse looked at him with big eyes and nodded its head, ears twitching slightly. Satisfied the animal would do as he had asked, Legolas patted the horse's neck one last time and turned to the rough stone wall to his right. Grasping a little ledge, he began to swiftly climb up, soon leaving the snowy ground far behind.
After a few minutes he had cursed this idea about a dozen times and decided that climbing trees was a much more rewarding and interesting pastime, not to mention safer, since there was virtually no tree that would allow a wood-elf to fall. Nor would a wood-elf fall off a tree in the first place.
'But this wall,' he grumbled inwardly, 'seems intend on shifting and crumbling under my very hands and feet! Valar, what was I thinking? I am no dwarf, and the minds of rocks are nothing I can comprehend! Nor do I wish to!'
Finally reaching the narrow shelf about forty feet above the path he had seen from his position on the ground, he pulled himself up and sat down on the ledge to regain his breath. The wound had troubled him more than he liked to admit. Pushing away his blood-soaked shirt and leather vest, he inspected it closely. It was not too long, but rather deep, a testimony to the fact that not even an elf could hope to escape four blades at once. Looking at the ragged cut, Legolas winced when he let the fabric of his tunic fall back over the wound and decided,
'Well, it is a lot better than losing my head to that other goblin. It was either this or getting cut into pieces. Besides, both of them are dead now.'
He got back to his feet with this rather encouraging thought on his mind and sure-footedly moved along the ledge, carefully edging closer to the goblins until he was right above their heads. Notching an arrow to his bow, he looked around for some cover and shrugged when he couldn't find anything even resembling said word.
Well, he thought, you couldn't have everything, could you? He would have to take out their archers before they made out his position. Sinking down on one knee to present as small a target as possible, he took a deep breath, aimed at a particularly big goblin with a crude longbow, and let his arrow fly with deadly accuracy.
Before the goblin on the path had even collapsed onto the ground, his dark blood spilling onto the white snow, four more had joined him, and the goblins slowly began to comprehend that their quarry had somehow managed to outwit them. Shouting curses in their foul language that made the elf above them cringe in disgust, they ran into each other in their attempt to reach some cover from the deadly rain of arrows, which gave Legolas enough time to fell at least ten more easily before he had to take his time and take aim more carefully.
Ducking an arrow from one of the few archers which had survived his initial attack, he let loose his own that hit a goblin that had been so careless to poke its head around the rock it had been hiding behind. Reaching for another one out of his now rapidly depleting supply of arrows, Legolas had just enough time to throw himself to the side when he heard a slight noise above him, which was soon replaced by a mighty crash when a boulder hit the exact place he had been only seconds earlier.
Blinking through the still slowly falling snow, the prince rolled onto his back and released the arrow he had just grabbed, hitting one of the goblins in one eye that peered down on him from another ledge just above the one he himself occupied right now.
Legolas rolled further to the side, avoiding the body of the dead goblin that joined the boulder on the ledge with a dull thud, and cursed himself for not expecting them to know the mountains better than he did. Of course they would know of a way to get behind his back, with this maze of mountain paths and tunnels…
Pushing the pain in his side aside that protested against his sudden actions, he rolled to his feet, just as the three other goblins jumped down, having decided to abandon their attempts to crush him and try the direct approach of gutting him for a change.
Legolas let go of his bow and drew his daggers instead, lashing out with his left to bury one of the silver knifes between the ribs of one of them. Wrenching it free from the body of the dying goblin, he jumped backwards and ducked to avoid the scimitar that cut through the air above his head. He had just blocked the other goblin's blade when he felt his elven senses scream at him in sheer panic. Obeying his inner voice, he let himself drop down onto the ledge just in time to dodge a black arrow that had been aimed at his back, but imbedded itself in the chest of the goblin closest to Legolas instead and propelled it right over the edge of the cliff.
Still recovering from his slightly abrupt fall that had caused his wound to make its displease with his actions felt all too clearly, the fair haired elf had just enough time to get to his feet and fend off the remaining mountain goblin, which was obviously unhappy with the way things were going and intend to get rid of this troublesome elf as soon as possible.
Slightly winded from his encounter with the rather hard stone floor, Legolas couldn't block the second knife that had somehow found its way into the hands of his attacker and was only able to twist his body to the side, so that instead of slitting his throat the blade made contact with his left shoulder, cutting through skin and muscles to leave a long, bloody gash.
Instead of recoiling as his body strongly urged him to do, Legolas gasped in pain, moved forward and buried the knife in his right hand in the creature's neck, killing it instantly.
Breathing heavily and cradling his bleeding arm with his right, he wondered for a moment what his father would say if he could see him now.
'Probably something like "I told you so, Legolas!"' he decided, wincing in pain. 'And then he would chain me to the wall of my bedroom and never allow me to leave the palace again.'
Making up his mind not to mention this little episode to anyone who did not absolutely need to know, if he survived this in the first place of course, he edged forward slightly to survey the scene below him. Even though it felt as if he had been fighting with the goblins for ages, no more than two minutes had gone by. The goblins that had survived his arrows were slowly starting to reappear from their hiding places, numbering no more than fifteen now. Legolas set his jaw firmly; it was time to end this.
He let out a loud, shrill whistle that made the goblins below look up in search of the source of this strange sound, only to be met with a new volley of arrows that rained down on them.
Felling the last goblin archer he could see, Legolas jumped down onto a narrow shelf about six feet below him, and loosened two more arrows in rapid succession. Repeating this manoeuvre a few more times till he was a mere ten feet above the ground, he soon heard the light sound of an approaching elven horse, and, sure enough, his horse appeared round the bend in the path, snorting furiously and lashing out at every goblin within its reach. He waited for the animal to make its way below the ledge he was currently standing on and jumped just when the white horse was passing under it, landing securely on its back.
He spurred his horse on and, slashing at every creature that came within reach of his daggers, left the remaining goblins behind, disappearing down the winding path that made its way down into the lower lands of Eriador.
After a while he reined in his horse and allowed it to fall into a slower gait, listening for sounds of pursuit. When he could hear none, he gave a satisfied nod and allowed himself to relax slightly.
"Diola lle, mellonamin," Legolas whispered to his horse and patted its neck, which shook its head in a way that clearly said that it knew perfectly well what a great deed it had just performed.
He shook his head at the animal's antics as he tried to remember a convenient place to camp, he would need to tend to his wounds and get to Imladris as quickly as possible, just in case one of the cuts was poisoned, even if he did not think so. Wincing inwardly, he tried not to think of the look that Lord Elrond would give him when he arrived there, injured once more.
One day he would manage to reach it without even a scratch, he promised himself. Not this time, but some time in the future. Perhaps in a century or two.
Allowing his horse to chose its own pace, for in the growing darkness it would be easy for it to trip if he urged it on too fast, he recounted his adventures with a grin.
'Well, that was fun,' he decided, 'Strider would have liked it. Well, except for the climbing-the-stone wall-bit. Humans can be so clumsy at times!'
Turning serious again, he grimaced in pain when he moved his left arm too quickly.
'Elbereth, please let him be alright!' he prayed as he made his way down the path that would take him to Rivendell, watching the last of the sunlight disappear behind the towering mountain peaks, leaving him in twilight and doubt.
TBC...
ada - father (daddy)
Diola lle, mellonamin - Thank you, my friend
Yes, I think I'll have to put another A/N here:
I know that in TTT, Aragorn says 'Hannon lle' when he thanks Legolas for returning the Evenstar to him. BUT they also say 'mellon-nîn ', and since I've started with another Elvish dictionary, I will continue using it till I find a better one, and I'm looking, believe me. That may be a little bit childish, but I'm stubborn. *shrugs* Ah well. Just bear with me, will you?
Stay tuned for the next chapter, in which we learn the evil elf's name! *readers keel over in surprise* Yeah, I know, it's about time after seven chapters ... *g* Thanks a lot for the review you are about to write!! *big grin*
Reviews have amazing qualities, they make authors very happy and therefore cause them to update sooner - try it and find out for yourselves!! Please? Please please please??
Additional A/N:
Pissy Abyssinian - Thank you! I'm glad you like it! Ah, about the do-elves-sleep-thing: I'm sorry to break this to you, but they actually do! Honestly! There's even a passage somewhere in FOTR or TTT where Tolkien expressly says so, I just can't find it now. There are some people who say that elves don't really sleep, they only rest their minds or something, but they lie down and rest. They don't need as much sleep as humans, apparently, but sometimes even they have to lie down. Whatever. *g*
Lina - *backs away from Lina who has grabbed Halo's Hammer of Doom* Okay ... calm down ... breathe ... that's it ... *nervous smile* Éomer!! Éomer!! Dammit, where is that blasted Rohirrim when you need him ... LOL, don't worry Lina, you _know_ I would never harm our Estel ... permanently ... *evil grin* He will be alright, in the end, if Elrond and Co. can find him before Donyc and friends ... Oops! I'm not telling! Sorry! *fake smile*
Nightengale - *draws herself up proudly* Your undivided attention? Wow! That's something!! Thank you! I'm trying to update twice a week, so Saturdays and Tuesdays, even though it may be a few days later sometimes ... Ah well. Sometimes real life can be just horrible ... *g*
Mouse - Thank you!! *evil grin* I love writing cliffhangers - even though I hate reading them! Does that make me a sadist? Probably, if I told a psychiatrist what kind of stories I write, he would declare me insane anyway ... *g* Well, some people like it! Thanks for your reviews!
Alexa - Hah, you may have been on the edge on your seat, but I have been stuck in front of the screen! But since I already know what's going to happen, I think that's a lot better ... I love our favourite ranger's family as well, just wait for the next chapter, angst for all of them - and Legolas, and Estel, and ... *evil grin*
Reginabean - *pulls her up* Gosh, don't expect me to do that again! The next time you decide to throw yourself off a cliff, don't expect me to save you! LOL, okay, it might be my fault in the first place, but what can I say - I love cliffies? Thanks for your lovely reviews!
Maggie - Right you are, mate! You can _never_ have too much reviews! Thanks for your kind words, I'm glad you like it, and I promise you this won't be slash, I don't like it (even though I know there are lots of people who do - fine by me! *g*), and I could never write it! And if you like cliffhangers so much, I'm sure I can come up with a few more, just for you ... *evil grin*
Beth - Well, I think it was not 'super-quick', but I hope quickly enough? LOL, El Scruffy Sexy Ranger? *sigh* You could say that ... Thanks for reviewing!!
Acacia - Well the orcs are ... in their holes ... or on a convention ... I don't know! I don't need them for this story ... at least I think so. And goblins are as good as orcs, aren't they? A bit smaller, but otherwise I never understood the difference! Oh yes! There is Elrohir torment coming up ... and Elladan torment ... and - should I really continue? *evil grin*
Ciria - Yeah, the shirt thing was born out of experience - my sister always manages to dye clothes the most impossible colours because she is unable to seperate things! Horrible, I can tell you ... *g* *stared wide-eyed* Oh, so you can speak German? I'm very impressed, it's not an easy language to learn, well, at least that's what people say! But your sentence was perfect! *hands Ciria a cookie* Gut gemacht!
Jenny - *blushes* Thanks! And I'm truly sorry about the cliffy, but I just couldn't resist! I LOVE tormenting my readers, which makes me evil, I know...
Aurienia - *buries head in hands* Not another one! Why do all the people throw themselves off cliffs? I hope this post was soon enough to save you! *g* Well, when is Legolas going to arrive: Do you really want to know? To be perfectly honest: I don't know. He was supposed to arrive in chapter 9, but the way things are going right now, I don't think he will be able to make it. Well, it's going to be in chapter 10 now, I think ... *g*
Salara - Danke! Endlich mal jemand, der meine Situation versteht ...*g* Natuerlich musste da ein Cliffy hin! Und danke fuer all die Komplimente, hab ich doch gar nicht verdient ... *rot werd* Aber danke! *g* Hoert man doch immer gerne ... Matrix ist ja auch ein toller Film, nech? Agent Smith is einfach wundervoll - auch wenn Keanu-Baby nicht zu verachten ist ... *g*
Larus - Hah! You are the ultimate proof! Blackmail works!! *runs away cackling evilly* I love the twins as well - doh! since I'm writing a story about them ... Don't worry! Your review is not boring or something! *hugs her* Thanks a lot for submitting it, it's always great to know what people think about your story!
Gemstone - Thanks! I'm glad you liked it! This one is not quite as dramatic, but I hope interesting none the less! *g*
Alilacia - Yes, I think elves don't like snow so much, I'm always thinking of the expresson on Legolas' face when they attempt to travel over Caradhras ... *snicker* TTT rocks! It's just soooo cool! I've seen it a mere four times, and I'm planning to continue to watch it until I know it by heart! Which won't be any time soon, since I've seen FOTR about fifteen times and still don't know it completely ... Ah well. I still have time. *g*
Lievre - *innocent expression* You don't like cliffhangers? Why didn't you tell me? *evil cackle* Me? Torture my Estel baby? Whatever gave you that idea? *Lievre points at last chapter* Well, what can I say - it won't happen again? What the heck, of course it will, because I LOVE it!! *evil grin* I hope this is soon enough for you?!
Stasia - *pats her back* Calm down ... the naxt chapter is here, don't worry ... see, you can read it ... *g* Don't let Aragorn hear you calling him a 'child'! I don't think he would be too happy about that ... *blushes scarlet* Thank you! I'm doing my best, I'm glad you like it! English is quite an easy language to learn, so it's not too hard ... but there are still a lot of things I'm not sure about. 'Death from unhappiness'? Ack! That can happen? God, I'm doomed! *opens document and furiously rewrites chapter 8 and 9* So, all better now! No more tension ... or violence ... er evil elves ... or cliffies ... *g*
ThE iNsAnE oNe - Fred!!! FRED!!! Come here!! *curses under her breath* Stupid ugly warg ... wait a moment! *pulls out large plate with potatoes on it* Look at this!! Hah, let's see what he'll do _now_ ... Well, about the meeting thing - theyarenotgoingtomeetinchapter9morelikelychapter10iftheymeetatall *runs away and hides* I'm sorry! Really! I think they won't meet till the end - when Legolas comes and saves him, of course, this way there can be more angst and guilt and stuff ... *evil grin*
ManuKu - *kreative Energie erhaltend und einen tiefen Atemzug nehmend* Ah! Danke, das hilft doch gleich weiter! Nun kann ich wieder mit neuem Elan in die Tasten greifen ... *g* Tja ja ja, glaub mir, er wird schon schnell ein gesundes ... na ja, sagen wir mal ... 'Misstrauen' (*fieses Grinsen*) gegen sie entwickeln, keine Angst! Meiner Muse geht's noch gut, auch wenn ich mich in ch 9 gerade ein wenig in eine Ecke geschrieben habe - mal gucken, wie ich da wieder rauskomme ... *g*
Zam - *blinks slowly* That's an interesting curse, Zam ... very interesting ... Éomer!! Help!!! 'THORIN SON OF THRAIN SON OF THROR KING UNDER THE MOUNTAIN', huh? Well, at least it's authentic, that's the most important thing, I always say ... Don't worry! *pats Zam's back* I did read "The Hobbit", I know he dies - even if I couldn't remember his name anymore, but I knew the king dude dies ... *shrugs* Ah well. I'm getting old. Thank you! *huggles Zam* Someone noticed! Their story is indeed a very sad one, and even I pity the evil elf (whose name we'll learn on Tuesday, if I get enough reviews *wink*) sometimes... When he isn't hurting my Estel, that is ... *evil grin*
Tessen Girl - *bows* Thanks! I like Elrond a lot, and I think he'll get something else to do than patch up his sons later in the story ... Thanks for the review!
Jitterbug - *blinks* Nice language, really nice - what exactly were you saying? LOL, don't worry, I understood - somewhat. *g* I'm glad you like it, it's always nice to get nice feedback! Thanks!
Mbali - Me? Play with my readers' minds? NEVER!!! *giggles* Well, perhaps a little ... Only a tiny little bit - but I like it so much! *evil cackle*
Miss Undastood - Ah, another person who doesn't like cliffies, huh? I just don't get it, they are soooooo much fun ... *evil grin* Thanks a lot for your kind words, I hope you'll enjoy the rest as well!
Halo - *huggles her* Thank you! I thought you had forgotten all about me! Now I'm happy! *does a little happy dance to prove it* See? Don't zap Éomer, okay? I think we have already caused enough brain damage anyway ... Just listen to what he says... And Elrohir and Elladan WILL go out and look for their little brother, but will they find him in time? *evil cackle* Hah! I know it and you don't! I'm evil, mhahahahaha!
E - Yes, I agree, 'E' is as good a name as any, really ... *g* It is NOT funny! *glares at E* My poor baby, I felt so bad writing it and you laugh about it? Shame on you!! LOL. Well, Elrond will have some time yet till it's "Checkmate", but I'm already thinking about naming a chapter like that ... We'll see ...
Kaeera - Danke danke danke! Tja, leider bin ich kein Eingeborener und habe deswegen manchmal auch meine Probleme, aber ich war ein halbes Jahr in England, und komme darum auch ganz gut zurecht. Und du hast Glueck: Umgehend kommt ein post, das hat man auch nicht alle Tage! Nicht zu ungeduldig werden, ich versuche alle drei oder vier Tage zu updaten, also kommt das naechste Kapitel schon bald! Du hast uebrigens meine 100. review abgeschickt, dafuer nimm meinen Dank entgegen, edle Dame! Und eine Estel-Kuschelpuppe!
Carrie - LOL, poor you! I will have a little ... talk with Elrond and see what I can do! (Elrond: No! There's no way I'm helping HER!! *pouts* Nili: You sure? Think about it! Elrond: No!!! Nili: *whispers in his ear* Elrond: *pales* You wouldn't! Nili: *smirks* Elrond: Alright, alright, I'm doing it!!) Ah, I knew he was a sensible elf! *grabs her earmuffs tighter and glares at Carrie* They're mine!! My own!! You can't have them!! MINE!!! *coughs* Ah well, whatever! Thanks so much for your great reviews! They always make me laugh! And for adding me to your favorites list!! *huggles Carrie* Thank you!!
Thanks a lot for all the reviews! They brighten my days and cause my family a great deal of annoyance, since I'm in the habit of shrieking "Another one!" every time I find a new message in my inbox ... *g*
A/N:
*peeks out of her hiding place* Gosh, I didn't know you all had such strong feelings concerning cliffhangers ... *g* I'm terribly sorry ... wait, that's not really correct, I'm not, but still, don't worry, the next cliffy is coming in chapter 9, I think, so lots and lots of time till then...
But, hey, look at all the reviews!! So many!! *happy grin* And they are mine ... my own ... my precious ... *hits herself* Sorry. That happens sometimes ... there's nothing I can do ... *g*
So, and once again I've learnt something:
Blackmail + Evil Cliffy = Lots of lovely reviews
A very simple equation, really! Note to self: More cliffies. *g*
Okay, because I promised you to update quickly (even if I don't have time. *sniff* God, I hate college sometimes!!), here is chapter 7, in which Legolas sees a lot more of the mountain goblins than he actually wanted to and the Elrond/Elladan/Elrohir-angst session begins! *evil grin*
Enjoy and don't forget to review! (Hm, as if you could since that's a word I use about as frequently as 'and'... *g*)
Chapter 7
Nólad watched the human fall off the branch, his mind still battling against the shock he felt for not having been able to grab him quickly enough. Hearing the boy's body hit the ground with a dull thud and the startled shouts of the other men below him, he shot his friend a furtive glance before climbing back down as quickly as he could. The other elf kept staring blankly at the spot the human had occupied just mere moments earlier, but drew himself out of his thoughts and followed his fair haired companion, a cold fury slowly spreading on his face.
'I have not gone through all this trouble to have him die on me now!' he thought furiously as he let go of the last branch and landed softly on the ground.
Walking over to the body of the human that lay close to the trunk of the oak tree in a crumpled heap, he pushed his way through the throng of humans who were standing about in a loose circle, whispering excitedly among themselves.
His dark eyes searched the small crowd for Donyc and he finally found the human commander standing next to Nólad, who was kneeling alongside the ranger and turning him over carefully.
He pressed through the humans all around him and came to stand close to the dark haired human. Grabbing his shirt sleeve, he hissed,
"How did this happen?"
Donyc tore his eyes that were blazing with anger away from the young human to fix them on the elf's irate face.
"How did what happen, Master Elf?"
The dark haired elf scowled and tightened his grip on the human's arm, his face distorting into a grimace of pure fury.
"Don't play games with me, Donyc! You know what I mean! How did he escape you? You were supposed to capture him quickly, but instead he holds you off with some success and even escapes into a tree? You promised me that you and your men would be able to subdue him quickly! Explain that to me, Master Human!"
Donyc shook off his hand and took a step back, now just as angry as the elf.
"You told me he was an injured boy, barely more than twenty summers of age! Yet what we get to fight is something more akin to a seasoned elven warrior! Why didn't you tell me he was a ranger? He killed Vaemar, one of my best men! Besides, we didn't startle him so he fell out of that blasted tree, you did! And I have never seen a human climb a tree that skilfully, he must have been part elf or something!"
"Is, Donyc. He is not dead," Nólad's interrupted their argument, making their heads swivel into the direction of his voice.
"Are you sure of that?" the human questioned and took a good look at the bloody, twisted body of the ranger, not knowing if he should feel angry or pleased.
"Yes, I am," the fair haired elf replied, the ghost of a smile visible at the corners of his mouth. He returned his attention to the body of the young human in front of him.
"He was lucky. Very lucky. I think he might have cracked a few ribs on his way down and he definitely has a concussion," he pulled back an eyelid to peer into a slightly dilated and unfocused grey eye, "But apart from this and a lot of scratches and bruises he should be fine." He pointed at a gash on Aragorn's temple that bled sluggishly and added, "What worries me most is his side wound. The stitches have burst and he is loosing quite a lot of blood."
"Can you treat him?" his friend asked, fixing dark eyes on the other elf.
Nólad looked down at the unconscious body of the human, frowning in thought.
"Yes, I think so. I will need my bags though," he answered, already unbuttoning the human's dark shirt.
Donyc turned and snapped his fingers at one of his men, who was sporting what would be a spectacular black eye in a few hours.
"You. Get the bags."
Watching the other human move into the direction of the little glade where they had hidden their horses, he turned back to the dark haired elf who was still gazing thoughtfully at the unconscious human.
"We need to move. They will come and look for him."
"No," the elf replied, turning to look at the man, "The elf who was with him won't reach Rivendell before sunset, and then it will be too late to search for him. They will set out early tomorrow morning."
"Still, we shouldn't linger for too long. Let us find another spot to camp." Donyc didn't look too pleased at the prospect of meeting any of the human's elven friends. Friends that wouldn't take too kindly to the human's current condition.
'No,' he thought, shuddering slightly when he imagined that encounter, 'I'm certainly no coward, but there are things a sensible person avoids, and confronting angry elf lords is one of them.'
The voice of his employer interrupted his thoughts.
"Perhaps you are right. Staying here for too long wouldn't be prudent. How soon can we leave?"
Donyc hesitated for a moment, calculating distances in his mind.
"In about an hour, I think. We will need to get the horses and to bury Vaemar," he answered, renewed anger burning in his eyes as he looked down at Aragorn who was being treated by Nólad.
"Very well," the dark haired elf replied and bent down to remove something from the unconscious man's cloak, "Take his weapons and bind him once Nólad is finished with him. Do you have any specific place in mind to pitch camp tonight? Something not too far away from here; we will need to leave very early tomorrow morning in order to avoid their search parties."
"Yes," the human commander nodded, "There is a little wood not too far from here on the other side of the ravine. We should be able to reach it in about half an hour, I think. The trees grow densely enough there to provide some shelter, and we will need it; a storm is coming tonight."
"No, Master Human," the elf replied with a dark smile, "The storm is already upon us, and nothing will be able to oppose it."
Closing his fist tightly on the object he had taken from the ranger, he turned and walked away, letting out a short, cold laugh, leaving the men behind shivering with a sudden fear of what was to come.
The sun was already sinking when Elrohir finally saw the gates of his home appear in front of his eyes. After he had checked the last of the traps, he had surprisingly found the tracks of an impressive buck, and just couldn't resist the temptation to hunt it. He had found it about three hours from here and killed it with a clean shot, but after carrying the very impressive buck for full three hours on his back, he began to question his sanity when he had decided to hunt this animal that weighted about the equivalent of a small troll when he was alone, without even a horse to help him bear the burden.
'Estel is right,' he thought grumpily as he crossed the gates of his home, 'I am stupid.'
He handed the animal over to an elf who worked in the kitchen and wearily climbed the steps that led to the main house, just to be greeted by the cheerful voice of his twin.
"Tired already, brother?"
Turning to tell his brother in no unclear terms to leave him alone and be quiet, he looked at Elladan and instantly noticed the wicked gleam that shone brightly in his eyes.
Sighing inwardly, he wished again that the Valar had given him a pair of cave trolls for brothers, or orcs, even spiders couldn't be as annoying as the two he had been gifted with.
'What has he done now?' he wondered, rubbing his head and glancing at his brother, 'His hair is almost back to black now; you can hardly see the green anymore if you don't know what to look for. He can really bear a grudge for quite some time! Especially when he is bored.'
He sat down on a stone bench left from the stairs and asked his smirking twin,
"The bed or the door?"
Elladan gave his brother a look of fake innocence that did not fool the younger twin for a second. It had been him who had invented it more than 2500 years ago, after all.
"Just what are you implying, Elrohir? I would never do something to that bed, you know how father is with the furniture…"
"The door it is, then," Elrohir stated and couldn't quite hide a smile. Elladan's pranks were even better than his own, and that meant a lot in his opinion.
Elladan grinned.
"Yes, my dear brother, the door. I can hardly wait to see his face when he… By the way, where is Estel?" he asked, his eyes darting behind his brother, expecting to see the young man make his way towards the house.
The smile on Elrohir's face faded when he looked up at his elven brother's face, wrinkling his forehead in confusion and growing concern.
"What do you mean, where is he? Isn't he here already?"
Elladan shook his head, his eyes studying the other elf's face.
"No, he isn't. He left with you, Elrohir!"
"There is no need to tell me things I already know!" Elrohir snapped, his worry causing him to lash out at his brother. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before looking up and meeting Elladan's eyes.
"I'm sorry, brother. Yes, we left together, but we had a little argument a while later and separated. He told me he would go and check the snares near the little ravine, you know which one," the younger twin explained. "He should have come back about an hour ago!"
The twins exchanged worried looks, but before Elladan could open his mouth to say something, their father's voice interrupted him.
"Elladan! Would you please explain to me what is wrong with the door leading to Estel's room? There is a nearly frantic servant girl in my study claiming…" he trailed off when he saw his sons' serious faces.
"What is it?" he asked and stepped closer, "Is someone hurt?"
Realizing with a start that his youngest son was missing, he asked with a worried glance, "Where is Estel?"
Elrohir waited for his brother to answer Elrond's question.
'Sometimes I am happy I'm the younger one,' he thought darkly.
"We don't know, ada," Elladan admitted softly.
"We separated at about noon, I think. He thought I was being over-protective and wanted to check the traps to the north near that little ravine himself," Elrohir added, casting down his eyes.
The Lord of Rivendell stood perfectly still and looked at the two worried faces in front of him.
"Then he should have been back some time ago," he muttered softly, as if to himself.
Elrohir rose and prepared to make his way back down into the courtyard, Elladan on his heels.
"I will get the search party ready," he told his father in a toneless voice.
"Elrohir," the soft voice of his father caused the younger elf who was about to walk down the stairs to stop and turn back, "This is folly, and you know it. The sun is setting, and in an hour it will be too dark for you to see anything. You would do more harm than good."
Trying to cheer his sons up, he added, "Perhaps there is nothing wrong at all and he is merely late."
Elladan turned wide, worried eyes on his father.
"You know that is not true, father. There is something wrong, I can feel it. And so can you."
Elrond let himself sink down on the bench previously occupied by his son and sighed deeply.
"Aye, my son, you are right. I have been dreading something like this for some time now and always hoped it wouldn't come to pass, but fate, it seems, has once again caught up with me. Just like it has done so many times in the past," he whispered and lowered his eyes.
A moment later he felt himself being encircled by the strong arms of his younger elven son.
"Don't worry, ada, Estel's going to be fine. We will leave tomorrow as soon as the sun has risen," Elrohir told his father softly as he hugged him tightly.
Elladan stepped closer and laid a hand on his father's shoulder.
"He's right. We will find him and bring him back so you can patch him up again and force him to stay in the bed he will be desperate to leave when Legolas arrives in a few days. The prince will be so angry with him for putting himself in danger!"
Elrond smiled for the sake of his sons and rose, putting an arm around each of his elven sons' shoulders and walking towards the main doors.
"You are right. We will find him. Tomorrow," he told them and stressed the last word, sending Elrohir a stern look.
"Yes, father," the twins echoed and Elladan added, watching the darkening sky and noting the way the wind was beginning to pick up in anticipation of the change in weather, "A storm is brewing. It will have reached us in an hour or so."
Elrond glanced at the sky and suppressed a shudder before fixing troubled grey eyes on the door.
"That it will, my son. That it will."
'This is worse. This is much worse,' the Prince of Mirkwood muttered inwardly as he pressed his body against the rocks to the right of him, trying to ignore both the gaping chasm to his left and the biting sting in his side that flared to new levels of pain when it touched the hard stone wall. His hand strayed to his right side, touching the still bleeding wound that was hidden below his cloak.
'I should count myself lucky 'tis all I received,' he thought darkly. There had been quite a lot of the goblins, and he had been hard-pressed to defeat all of them. Somehow a few had managed to escape and alert their companions to his presence, and soon Legolas had found himself on the run from a large horde of angry mountain goblin. Not a situation he appreciated at all, for wood-elves do not flee easily before their foes.
Bringing himself back to the present, the fair haired elf took a quick look at his horse that was standing just behind him, nose nearly pressing into Legolas' back and tail swishing angrily. The animal looked as if it had had enough of their little game of hide-and-seek in this less than hospitable environment.
'As do I,' he admitted, shaking his head to get rid of the snow that had accumulated on top of his hair.
Leaning forward slightly and cautiously peering around the corner, Legolas studied the scene that opened up in front of his eyes.
He had almost reached the end of the High Pass, close to the point where the path would start its descent down into the lands of Eriador. Beyond this point lay safety, for the goblins would not risk to be found by the sun's rays so far away from their caves and holes, and didn't dare to stray too far even in the night.
'Unfortunately,' he thought wryly, watching the mass of mountain goblins that crowded the path, 'They know that as well.'
He resigned himself to the fact that he would have to do something if he didn't want to spend the rest of his days on Arda playing hide-and-seek with a bunch of ugly, smelly goblins, which wouldn't be too long anyway if one considered the way things were going right now.
He turned his eyes to the sky and cursed under his breath; it was just his kind of luck to run into goblins on a day when not even an elf could see the sun. And now darkness was falling, which didn't help his situation in the slightest, either.
A shudder raced through his tall frame, slowly even his elven body began to feel the cold.
'No wonder,' he mused. 'I have been walking through this cursed snowstorm for the whole day now. Aragorn would have started complaining a long time ago!'
The thought of his friend filled him with a new resolve to get off the mountains as quickly as possible. He didn't only have the feeling that the young human was in danger, he just knew it. Legolas pushed aside his fears for the well being of his friends and forced himself to assess his situation calmly.
There were at least thirty mountain goblins on the path, and the longer he waited, the more would come to join their ranks. He needed to do something, the sooner the better.
'There are too many to kill them in close combat, they would overwhelm me before I would have the chance to fell even a third of them, and this place is not as favourable as the last. But if I were somehow removed from their reach, I could…'
A plan forming in his mind, the fair haired prince turned to his horse and softly whispered instructions into its ears. The white horse looked at him with big eyes and nodded its head, ears twitching slightly. Satisfied the animal would do as he had asked, Legolas patted the horse's neck one last time and turned to the rough stone wall to his right. Grasping a little ledge, he began to swiftly climb up, soon leaving the snowy ground far behind.
After a few minutes he had cursed this idea about a dozen times and decided that climbing trees was a much more rewarding and interesting pastime, not to mention safer, since there was virtually no tree that would allow a wood-elf to fall. Nor would a wood-elf fall off a tree in the first place.
'But this wall,' he grumbled inwardly, 'seems intend on shifting and crumbling under my very hands and feet! Valar, what was I thinking? I am no dwarf, and the minds of rocks are nothing I can comprehend! Nor do I wish to!'
Finally reaching the narrow shelf about forty feet above the path he had seen from his position on the ground, he pulled himself up and sat down on the ledge to regain his breath. The wound had troubled him more than he liked to admit. Pushing away his blood-soaked shirt and leather vest, he inspected it closely. It was not too long, but rather deep, a testimony to the fact that not even an elf could hope to escape four blades at once. Looking at the ragged cut, Legolas winced when he let the fabric of his tunic fall back over the wound and decided,
'Well, it is a lot better than losing my head to that other goblin. It was either this or getting cut into pieces. Besides, both of them are dead now.'
He got back to his feet with this rather encouraging thought on his mind and sure-footedly moved along the ledge, carefully edging closer to the goblins until he was right above their heads. Notching an arrow to his bow, he looked around for some cover and shrugged when he couldn't find anything even resembling said word.
Well, he thought, you couldn't have everything, could you? He would have to take out their archers before they made out his position. Sinking down on one knee to present as small a target as possible, he took a deep breath, aimed at a particularly big goblin with a crude longbow, and let his arrow fly with deadly accuracy.
Before the goblin on the path had even collapsed onto the ground, his dark blood spilling onto the white snow, four more had joined him, and the goblins slowly began to comprehend that their quarry had somehow managed to outwit them. Shouting curses in their foul language that made the elf above them cringe in disgust, they ran into each other in their attempt to reach some cover from the deadly rain of arrows, which gave Legolas enough time to fell at least ten more easily before he had to take his time and take aim more carefully.
Ducking an arrow from one of the few archers which had survived his initial attack, he let loose his own that hit a goblin that had been so careless to poke its head around the rock it had been hiding behind. Reaching for another one out of his now rapidly depleting supply of arrows, Legolas had just enough time to throw himself to the side when he heard a slight noise above him, which was soon replaced by a mighty crash when a boulder hit the exact place he had been only seconds earlier.
Blinking through the still slowly falling snow, the prince rolled onto his back and released the arrow he had just grabbed, hitting one of the goblins in one eye that peered down on him from another ledge just above the one he himself occupied right now.
Legolas rolled further to the side, avoiding the body of the dead goblin that joined the boulder on the ledge with a dull thud, and cursed himself for not expecting them to know the mountains better than he did. Of course they would know of a way to get behind his back, with this maze of mountain paths and tunnels…
Pushing the pain in his side aside that protested against his sudden actions, he rolled to his feet, just as the three other goblins jumped down, having decided to abandon their attempts to crush him and try the direct approach of gutting him for a change.
Legolas let go of his bow and drew his daggers instead, lashing out with his left to bury one of the silver knifes between the ribs of one of them. Wrenching it free from the body of the dying goblin, he jumped backwards and ducked to avoid the scimitar that cut through the air above his head. He had just blocked the other goblin's blade when he felt his elven senses scream at him in sheer panic. Obeying his inner voice, he let himself drop down onto the ledge just in time to dodge a black arrow that had been aimed at his back, but imbedded itself in the chest of the goblin closest to Legolas instead and propelled it right over the edge of the cliff.
Still recovering from his slightly abrupt fall that had caused his wound to make its displease with his actions felt all too clearly, the fair haired elf had just enough time to get to his feet and fend off the remaining mountain goblin, which was obviously unhappy with the way things were going and intend to get rid of this troublesome elf as soon as possible.
Slightly winded from his encounter with the rather hard stone floor, Legolas couldn't block the second knife that had somehow found its way into the hands of his attacker and was only able to twist his body to the side, so that instead of slitting his throat the blade made contact with his left shoulder, cutting through skin and muscles to leave a long, bloody gash.
Instead of recoiling as his body strongly urged him to do, Legolas gasped in pain, moved forward and buried the knife in his right hand in the creature's neck, killing it instantly.
Breathing heavily and cradling his bleeding arm with his right, he wondered for a moment what his father would say if he could see him now.
'Probably something like "I told you so, Legolas!"' he decided, wincing in pain. 'And then he would chain me to the wall of my bedroom and never allow me to leave the palace again.'
Making up his mind not to mention this little episode to anyone who did not absolutely need to know, if he survived this in the first place of course, he edged forward slightly to survey the scene below him. Even though it felt as if he had been fighting with the goblins for ages, no more than two minutes had gone by. The goblins that had survived his arrows were slowly starting to reappear from their hiding places, numbering no more than fifteen now. Legolas set his jaw firmly; it was time to end this.
He let out a loud, shrill whistle that made the goblins below look up in search of the source of this strange sound, only to be met with a new volley of arrows that rained down on them.
Felling the last goblin archer he could see, Legolas jumped down onto a narrow shelf about six feet below him, and loosened two more arrows in rapid succession. Repeating this manoeuvre a few more times till he was a mere ten feet above the ground, he soon heard the light sound of an approaching elven horse, and, sure enough, his horse appeared round the bend in the path, snorting furiously and lashing out at every goblin within its reach. He waited for the animal to make its way below the ledge he was currently standing on and jumped just when the white horse was passing under it, landing securely on its back.
He spurred his horse on and, slashing at every creature that came within reach of his daggers, left the remaining goblins behind, disappearing down the winding path that made its way down into the lower lands of Eriador.
After a while he reined in his horse and allowed it to fall into a slower gait, listening for sounds of pursuit. When he could hear none, he gave a satisfied nod and allowed himself to relax slightly.
"Diola lle, mellonamin," Legolas whispered to his horse and patted its neck, which shook its head in a way that clearly said that it knew perfectly well what a great deed it had just performed.
He shook his head at the animal's antics as he tried to remember a convenient place to camp, he would need to tend to his wounds and get to Imladris as quickly as possible, just in case one of the cuts was poisoned, even if he did not think so. Wincing inwardly, he tried not to think of the look that Lord Elrond would give him when he arrived there, injured once more.
One day he would manage to reach it without even a scratch, he promised himself. Not this time, but some time in the future. Perhaps in a century or two.
Allowing his horse to chose its own pace, for in the growing darkness it would be easy for it to trip if he urged it on too fast, he recounted his adventures with a grin.
'Well, that was fun,' he decided, 'Strider would have liked it. Well, except for the climbing-the-stone wall-bit. Humans can be so clumsy at times!'
Turning serious again, he grimaced in pain when he moved his left arm too quickly.
'Elbereth, please let him be alright!' he prayed as he made his way down the path that would take him to Rivendell, watching the last of the sunlight disappear behind the towering mountain peaks, leaving him in twilight and doubt.
TBC...
ada - father (daddy)
Diola lle, mellonamin - Thank you, my friend
Yes, I think I'll have to put another A/N here:
I know that in TTT, Aragorn says 'Hannon lle' when he thanks Legolas for returning the Evenstar to him. BUT they also say 'mellon-nîn ', and since I've started with another Elvish dictionary, I will continue using it till I find a better one, and I'm looking, believe me. That may be a little bit childish, but I'm stubborn. *shrugs* Ah well. Just bear with me, will you?
Stay tuned for the next chapter, in which we learn the evil elf's name! *readers keel over in surprise* Yeah, I know, it's about time after seven chapters ... *g* Thanks a lot for the review you are about to write!! *big grin*
Reviews have amazing qualities, they make authors very happy and therefore cause them to update sooner - try it and find out for yourselves!! Please? Please please please??
Additional A/N:
Pissy Abyssinian - Thank you! I'm glad you like it! Ah, about the do-elves-sleep-thing: I'm sorry to break this to you, but they actually do! Honestly! There's even a passage somewhere in FOTR or TTT where Tolkien expressly says so, I just can't find it now. There are some people who say that elves don't really sleep, they only rest their minds or something, but they lie down and rest. They don't need as much sleep as humans, apparently, but sometimes even they have to lie down. Whatever. *g*
Lina - *backs away from Lina who has grabbed Halo's Hammer of Doom* Okay ... calm down ... breathe ... that's it ... *nervous smile* Éomer!! Éomer!! Dammit, where is that blasted Rohirrim when you need him ... LOL, don't worry Lina, you _know_ I would never harm our Estel ... permanently ... *evil grin* He will be alright, in the end, if Elrond and Co. can find him before Donyc and friends ... Oops! I'm not telling! Sorry! *fake smile*
Nightengale - *draws herself up proudly* Your undivided attention? Wow! That's something!! Thank you! I'm trying to update twice a week, so Saturdays and Tuesdays, even though it may be a few days later sometimes ... Ah well. Sometimes real life can be just horrible ... *g*
Mouse - Thank you!! *evil grin* I love writing cliffhangers - even though I hate reading them! Does that make me a sadist? Probably, if I told a psychiatrist what kind of stories I write, he would declare me insane anyway ... *g* Well, some people like it! Thanks for your reviews!
Alexa - Hah, you may have been on the edge on your seat, but I have been stuck in front of the screen! But since I already know what's going to happen, I think that's a lot better ... I love our favourite ranger's family as well, just wait for the next chapter, angst for all of them - and Legolas, and Estel, and ... *evil grin*
Reginabean - *pulls her up* Gosh, don't expect me to do that again! The next time you decide to throw yourself off a cliff, don't expect me to save you! LOL, okay, it might be my fault in the first place, but what can I say - I love cliffies? Thanks for your lovely reviews!
Maggie - Right you are, mate! You can _never_ have too much reviews! Thanks for your kind words, I'm glad you like it, and I promise you this won't be slash, I don't like it (even though I know there are lots of people who do - fine by me! *g*), and I could never write it! And if you like cliffhangers so much, I'm sure I can come up with a few more, just for you ... *evil grin*
Beth - Well, I think it was not 'super-quick', but I hope quickly enough? LOL, El Scruffy Sexy Ranger? *sigh* You could say that ... Thanks for reviewing!!
Acacia - Well the orcs are ... in their holes ... or on a convention ... I don't know! I don't need them for this story ... at least I think so. And goblins are as good as orcs, aren't they? A bit smaller, but otherwise I never understood the difference! Oh yes! There is Elrohir torment coming up ... and Elladan torment ... and - should I really continue? *evil grin*
Ciria - Yeah, the shirt thing was born out of experience - my sister always manages to dye clothes the most impossible colours because she is unable to seperate things! Horrible, I can tell you ... *g* *stared wide-eyed* Oh, so you can speak German? I'm very impressed, it's not an easy language to learn, well, at least that's what people say! But your sentence was perfect! *hands Ciria a cookie* Gut gemacht!
Jenny - *blushes* Thanks! And I'm truly sorry about the cliffy, but I just couldn't resist! I LOVE tormenting my readers, which makes me evil, I know...
Aurienia - *buries head in hands* Not another one! Why do all the people throw themselves off cliffs? I hope this post was soon enough to save you! *g* Well, when is Legolas going to arrive: Do you really want to know? To be perfectly honest: I don't know. He was supposed to arrive in chapter 9, but the way things are going right now, I don't think he will be able to make it. Well, it's going to be in chapter 10 now, I think ... *g*
Salara - Danke! Endlich mal jemand, der meine Situation versteht ...*g* Natuerlich musste da ein Cliffy hin! Und danke fuer all die Komplimente, hab ich doch gar nicht verdient ... *rot werd* Aber danke! *g* Hoert man doch immer gerne ... Matrix ist ja auch ein toller Film, nech? Agent Smith is einfach wundervoll - auch wenn Keanu-Baby nicht zu verachten ist ... *g*
Larus - Hah! You are the ultimate proof! Blackmail works!! *runs away cackling evilly* I love the twins as well - doh! since I'm writing a story about them ... Don't worry! Your review is not boring or something! *hugs her* Thanks a lot for submitting it, it's always great to know what people think about your story!
Gemstone - Thanks! I'm glad you liked it! This one is not quite as dramatic, but I hope interesting none the less! *g*
Alilacia - Yes, I think elves don't like snow so much, I'm always thinking of the expresson on Legolas' face when they attempt to travel over Caradhras ... *snicker* TTT rocks! It's just soooo cool! I've seen it a mere four times, and I'm planning to continue to watch it until I know it by heart! Which won't be any time soon, since I've seen FOTR about fifteen times and still don't know it completely ... Ah well. I still have time. *g*
Lievre - *innocent expression* You don't like cliffhangers? Why didn't you tell me? *evil cackle* Me? Torture my Estel baby? Whatever gave you that idea? *Lievre points at last chapter* Well, what can I say - it won't happen again? What the heck, of course it will, because I LOVE it!! *evil grin* I hope this is soon enough for you?!
Stasia - *pats her back* Calm down ... the naxt chapter is here, don't worry ... see, you can read it ... *g* Don't let Aragorn hear you calling him a 'child'! I don't think he would be too happy about that ... *blushes scarlet* Thank you! I'm doing my best, I'm glad you like it! English is quite an easy language to learn, so it's not too hard ... but there are still a lot of things I'm not sure about. 'Death from unhappiness'? Ack! That can happen? God, I'm doomed! *opens document and furiously rewrites chapter 8 and 9* So, all better now! No more tension ... or violence ... er evil elves ... or cliffies ... *g*
ThE iNsAnE oNe - Fred!!! FRED!!! Come here!! *curses under her breath* Stupid ugly warg ... wait a moment! *pulls out large plate with potatoes on it* Look at this!! Hah, let's see what he'll do _now_ ... Well, about the meeting thing - theyarenotgoingtomeetinchapter9morelikelychapter10iftheymeetatall *runs away and hides* I'm sorry! Really! I think they won't meet till the end - when Legolas comes and saves him, of course, this way there can be more angst and guilt and stuff ... *evil grin*
ManuKu - *kreative Energie erhaltend und einen tiefen Atemzug nehmend* Ah! Danke, das hilft doch gleich weiter! Nun kann ich wieder mit neuem Elan in die Tasten greifen ... *g* Tja ja ja, glaub mir, er wird schon schnell ein gesundes ... na ja, sagen wir mal ... 'Misstrauen' (*fieses Grinsen*) gegen sie entwickeln, keine Angst! Meiner Muse geht's noch gut, auch wenn ich mich in ch 9 gerade ein wenig in eine Ecke geschrieben habe - mal gucken, wie ich da wieder rauskomme ... *g*
Zam - *blinks slowly* That's an interesting curse, Zam ... very interesting ... Éomer!! Help!!! 'THORIN SON OF THRAIN SON OF THROR KING UNDER THE MOUNTAIN', huh? Well, at least it's authentic, that's the most important thing, I always say ... Don't worry! *pats Zam's back* I did read "The Hobbit", I know he dies - even if I couldn't remember his name anymore, but I knew the king dude dies ... *shrugs* Ah well. I'm getting old. Thank you! *huggles Zam* Someone noticed! Their story is indeed a very sad one, and even I pity the evil elf (whose name we'll learn on Tuesday, if I get enough reviews *wink*) sometimes... When he isn't hurting my Estel, that is ... *evil grin*
Tessen Girl - *bows* Thanks! I like Elrond a lot, and I think he'll get something else to do than patch up his sons later in the story ... Thanks for the review!
Jitterbug - *blinks* Nice language, really nice - what exactly were you saying? LOL, don't worry, I understood - somewhat. *g* I'm glad you like it, it's always nice to get nice feedback! Thanks!
Mbali - Me? Play with my readers' minds? NEVER!!! *giggles* Well, perhaps a little ... Only a tiny little bit - but I like it so much! *evil cackle*
Miss Undastood - Ah, another person who doesn't like cliffies, huh? I just don't get it, they are soooooo much fun ... *evil grin* Thanks a lot for your kind words, I hope you'll enjoy the rest as well!
Halo - *huggles her* Thank you! I thought you had forgotten all about me! Now I'm happy! *does a little happy dance to prove it* See? Don't zap Éomer, okay? I think we have already caused enough brain damage anyway ... Just listen to what he says... And Elrohir and Elladan WILL go out and look for their little brother, but will they find him in time? *evil cackle* Hah! I know it and you don't! I'm evil, mhahahahaha!
E - Yes, I agree, 'E' is as good a name as any, really ... *g* It is NOT funny! *glares at E* My poor baby, I felt so bad writing it and you laugh about it? Shame on you!! LOL. Well, Elrond will have some time yet till it's "Checkmate", but I'm already thinking about naming a chapter like that ... We'll see ...
Kaeera - Danke danke danke! Tja, leider bin ich kein Eingeborener und habe deswegen manchmal auch meine Probleme, aber ich war ein halbes Jahr in England, und komme darum auch ganz gut zurecht. Und du hast Glueck: Umgehend kommt ein post, das hat man auch nicht alle Tage! Nicht zu ungeduldig werden, ich versuche alle drei oder vier Tage zu updaten, also kommt das naechste Kapitel schon bald! Du hast uebrigens meine 100. review abgeschickt, dafuer nimm meinen Dank entgegen, edle Dame! Und eine Estel-Kuschelpuppe!
Carrie - LOL, poor you! I will have a little ... talk with Elrond and see what I can do! (Elrond: No! There's no way I'm helping HER!! *pouts* Nili: You sure? Think about it! Elrond: No!!! Nili: *whispers in his ear* Elrond: *pales* You wouldn't! Nili: *smirks* Elrond: Alright, alright, I'm doing it!!) Ah, I knew he was a sensible elf! *grabs her earmuffs tighter and glares at Carrie* They're mine!! My own!! You can't have them!! MINE!!! *coughs* Ah well, whatever! Thanks so much for your great reviews! They always make me laugh! And for adding me to your favorites list!! *huggles Carrie* Thank you!!
Thanks a lot for all the reviews! They brighten my days and cause my family a great deal of annoyance, since I'm in the habit of shrieking "Another one!" every time I find a new message in my inbox ... *g*