Chapter 18

The Cure, The Fall, The Sacrifice

A/N:: Lol… I'm evil, aren't I? Sorry I left at such a cliff hanger. I really wanted to get that chapter out! Anyways, here's another chapter; promptly posted just like I promised. Many thanks to those who have continued to review. Your words mean a lot. And also, unceasing thanks to my beta-reader Erika Palad.

Legolas and Middle-earth belongs to Tolkien. I only hold claim to my original character.

On with the show…

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Laera had just finished her prayer when she all of a sudden landed on something very hard. Was she alive? Yes, it seemed to be so. Losing both torches in the fall, she was lost in darkness. Where was Legolas? She only had a moment to recuperate before she began to slowly slide down some sort of slope. Her arms flung out in search for some kind of hold to prevent her body from falling, but there was nothing.

The speed of her slow glide downward began to increase almost dramatically. As her body rushed down the dark incline, she prayed that wherever she was headed was someplace bright and sunny.

The moments passed and Laera found herself enjoying the ride. Smiling for the first time in what seemed to Laera a long time, she thrilled to the feel of the adrenaline pumping in her ears, her heart pounding within the confines of her chest.

A few seconds later, Laera glimpsed a speck of light far off in the distance. Hope filling her chest, Laera watched as the light began to grow. In a few more seconds, she was outside, tumbling through the grasses, and finally resting with her face turned to the sky.

She gazed at the sky, which was already turning to a pretty shade of evening lavender. Looking around her, she suddenly had an urge to laugh. They had been through so much already; it was such a blessing to be outside where there was light! Finally, she gave in and began to laugh, tears filling her eyes.

Suddenly, the sky was blocked out by the face of an Elven man, Legolas. He peered down at her with a sense of wonder and concern.

"Are you all right, Laera?" he asked.

She quickly rose and threw her arms around him. "Legolas! We are alive!" she cried.

He pulled her away and searched her hands. "Where is it?"

She was so happy that she hadn't killed Legolas and herself, it took a moment or two for his question to sink in. "Where is what?"

"The gem!"

Laera frowned and gazed down at her empty hands. "Oh… I hope I haven't dropped it." She began to shuffle through her pockets, an uneasy silence falling between the two of them. Finally, she smiled as she felt her fingers enclose around a small, hard object.

She pulled it out and held it in front of his face triumphantly. He quickly grabbed it from her fingers and placed it carefully in his pocket. "I swear, Laera, if you did not have it…I'd-"

"You would what?" She punched his arm playfully and looked around. Her jaw dropped open at their surroundings. "Why, Legolas, we're back at our camp!"

He nodded and began to walk towards the campsite. "I do not know about you, but all that adventure has given me a ravenous appetite. I say we eat."

Feeling a gnawing at the pit of her stomach, Laera eagerly followed.

***

Laera held the gem to her face, red light shining off of its facets. It was so small! "Legolas?" she said.

"Hmm?"

"I must say, I do not understand why in the world this mission was seen as very dangerous. Besides the Nimhorns, it had been pretty easy to get to this point."

"Easy, you say?" smiled Legolas. "I see you haven't overheard all of it."

She lifted her face from the gem and knitted her eyebrows. "There is more?"

Legolas nodded and took a bite from his lembas. "Gandalf now has the power… he now needs the health and strength."

"What do you mean? I do not understand."

"Gandalf is very sick, Laera."

She lowered her eyes and stared into the fire. "I knew that. Do you need remind me?"

"He must be cured," he continued, as if she hadn't spoken at all.

"I am not a child, Legolas. I know Gandalf is not exactly winning the battle for his life…" she sighed. It frustrated her so when Legolas talked like this.

Legolas dropped his food and knelt in front of her, like he had done at that the base of the mountain weeks ago. Realizing this, Laera closed her eyes, wondering if Legolas meant to do the same thing he done that night as well.

Instead, he took her clasped hands in his, causing her to open her eyes and look at him quizzically. "The cure for Gandalf's illness is beyond the power of the Elves," he said softly, "But there is a cure." When she did not speak, he went on, "The cure lies in the blood of the Arioc."

Surprisingly to both of them, a laugh burst forth from her. "The beast that has been hunting us all this time? Legolas, really, how will you ever get its blood? Why, you would have to…" she trailed off, comprehension dawning on her.

"Yes…" he whispered, tightening his hold on her hands.

She shook her head vigorously, unbelieving. "How will you even find it?"

"I need not have to search for it, Laera. It has already found us."

Widening her eyes in alarm, Laera looked about her anxiously. "It's here?" she gasped.

Legolas shook his head and glanced over his shoulder, his gaze in the direction of the top of a nearby hill. For the first time, Laera noticed it; it had been there all this time, she realized. Glowing softly at the top of the hill was the light of a fire. The light grew and pulsated, as if it had a life of its own. She realized then what sat at the top of that hill, waiting, for the warrior that had come to kill it. Well… attempt to at least.

She involuntarily shuddered and looked away, into the bright eyes of her friend. Her dear, true friend who she had come to love… who she had always loved. "No…" she whispered.

It was enough to move him. He lifted a hand and gently stroked her face. Suddenly, he smiled and she was instantly reminded of a time long ago… of a younger, stouter Legolas who believed that he could do anything. "It is a piece of cake, Laera, really," he assured her. Despite the confident tone in his voice, she did not miss the glimmer of uncertainty in his eyes, the fear.

"Dear Legolas, even now, you cannot fool me. But I understand… if you do not kill it, then who?" she laughed wryly and pressed her face against his hand. "There is no other way?"

The gentleness in her voice and actions threw him for he didn't expect her to be like this. In her eyes, the contempt was gone. Inside burned a naked misery, a love that had been masked by her pride. "No," he said simply, and she closed her eyes and sighed.

When she opened them, she looked fiercely at him and rose quickly. "Then I shall go with you," she said determinedly.

He sighed deeply. He had known Laera well enough to know that she would react this way. "You know I will not allow that."

"You have disagreed with a lot of my opinions and actions. But look where they have brought us!" she raised her arms and looked about her, as if showing Legolas how far they had come.

"You know that of the many times I should have turned back without you, now is not one of them."

He shook his head, suddenly very weary. "Laera… please…"

She walked over to where he still knelt and lowered herself in front of him, so that her eyes were level with his. She smiled and lightly traced a finger over his strong jaw, stopping at his chin.

"You cannot do this without me, Legolas," she said. "As I cannot leave this mountain without you."

He looked at her and studied her features intensely. He wanted to remember her just as she was; her dark eyes, which he had seen flash fire and glisten with tears; her smooth, soft skin, darkened by the exposure to the sun; her unruly hair, chopped to unreasonable lengths all over her pretty head. Suddenly, it didn't matter to him whether she felt the same or not. Somehow, it seemed vitally important that he tell her now… he may never get another chance.

"Laera… about that time, that night…" he began uncertainly.

Her eyes widened and her face stilled, then broke into a smile. "I swear, Legolas, that my skills with a sword are certainly better than what you saw that night."

He laughed softly, then shook his head. "I am sure… I hope that they are. But it is not your imaginary opponents that I am speaking of."

Her eyebrows shot up, then she lowered her face, blushing. "Yes? What else about that night?"

Legolas lifted her chin so that her eyes met his. "Laera, I-"

Laera gasped as she watched an arrow plant itself deep within Legolas's body, interrupting his words. Confusion settled upon her like a cloud, thick and choking. Time slowed as she struggled to comprehend what had happened. Legolas was shot… Legolas is down… Legolas is dead. The last thought shattered her composure and she crumpled to the floor beside him, biting her lip to contain the screams that continued to well up inside until she tasted blood.

A rustling of heavy footsteps on the ground brought Laera back to her senses. She turned to face the gruesome orc who had shot the fatal arrow. "Fool! He was the one chosen to save us all!"

To her horror, the orc seemed unmoved. "All orcs who are born die. This Elf," the orc sneered down at Legolas who lay unmoving on the floor, "had lost the battle the minute he volunteered."

"But there was a chance," she cried, eyes filling with tears.

The orc snorted and looked down disbelieving at the broken girl. "And if he succeeded, what is to become of us orcs? We are the last rung of the ladder, my girl. Our existence, the entire existence of Middle-earth does not deserve a chance… even if it were a small one. And you…" Laera watched solemnly as the orc knocked a new arrow in his bow, "are to suffer the same fate as your friend."

She swallowed thickly and stared at the orc, surrendering. The end was very near… even if the orc had chosen for her to live.

Suddenly, a quick movement within the trees caused Laera's eyes to shift from the orc. The next moment, an object shot quickly from the boughs, planting itself in the orc's chest. The orc blinked, then fell to the floor, dead. Laera watched in amazement as a lithe human slipped from the trees and stood triumphantly in front of her.

"Rhovan!" Laera choked the girl's name. The wild girl still wore the clothes fit more for young men and her face was dirty and hair disheveled from travel, but to Laera right then, she looked like an angel.

Rhovan smiled and bowed dramatically. "I decided to come after all. I felt like planting that arrow in the enemy myself." Her smile quickly faded as she glanced at the Elf over Laera's shoulder. "He is wounded."

Before Laera could reply, the sound of a horn being garishly blown tore through the air, startling the two girls. It was the sound of an approaching orc army. Laera glanced at Legolas, then gave Rhovan a look of naked pleading. "I'll deal with the orcs. Take care of him," Rhovan said gruffly before turning and running into the woods.

Laera rushed to Legolas's side and carefully rested his head on a bundled blanket. She cried out when she felt his heart still beating in his chest. Legolas is alive… but barely. Sticking out from his chest was the arrow. It was in deep, right below his heart and above his abdomen. Biting her lip, Laera grasped the feathered end. "Think happy thoughts, Legolas," she murmured, preparing to tug it out.

She gasped as his hand flew up and grabbed her wrist. "Don't…" he suddenly whispered, his eyes fluttering open. "Pull it out and you take my life with it."

"Legolas!" she gasped. "I have to. You will die with it inside of you."

Legolas glanced down at the arrow, frowning. "Quite the predicament I am in."

Despite her grief, Laera laughed. It was the only sound Legolas wanted to hear. "Yes, you are in quite a predicament. We will return to Rivendell. Rhovan is here, she will help us…"

"No," Legolas said. He gazed up at Laera, the truth in the severity of his wound in his eyes. "You must finish it. The beast awaits."

"Legolas," Laera gasped, clutching his tunic in her hands. "I can't do this without you…" her voice broke as she gazed down at her friend, her love who was dying.

He smiled faintly and brushed a tear from her pale cheek. "No, it was I who could not have gotten this far without you." Laera could not hold back the tears any longer. They fell at a constant; some slipping in between her lips… the taste of grief had always been salty.

"I am here," she whispered, stroking his face with a hand. "And I love you as I always have… and always will."

Through the darkness that was quickly overcoming Legolas, flickered a light. It was the light that drew him from the cold, clasping fingers of death… the light that shone from Laera's eyes. How he wanted to tell her that he felt the same, how foolish he had been. But she was slowly fading. The light began to ebb and die and soon all he saw were her lips… beautiful and trembling from her weeping. Through his daze, he watched as they spoke words of love, before he surrendered to the recesses of his mind.

Laera watched as his eyes closed. For one, horrible moment she thought he had gone, but to her amazement, his chest gently rose and fell as he breathed. It was extremely shallow and his heartbeat was irregular, but he was still alive… barely.

Rhovan had returned quite some time ago. The horn had been that of an orc army heading in a different direction. After the pair had left her cabin, an instinct of hers kept tugging at her mind. She would be needed, it continued to say. It went on until she gave in and quickly departed from the woods, heading in the direction of the Fehn mountains. She was relieved she had come at the right time, saving Laera from instant death. But as she returned to the clearing, she saw she had indeed come a few minutes too late.

Laera noticed her presence as Rhovan stepped into the clearing. "Is he…?" she gasped, staring

down at the unmoving Elf.

Through the tears that continued to flow down her cheeks, Laera smiled at the girl. "No, he is still alive. But hanging on by a thread, I am afraid."

"Come, we'll return to my father's cabin. He knows of herbs and medicines we can use to heal him."

Laera laid Legolas's hand gently down on his chest and rose to her feet. "No, I must finish it."

"Don't be foolish. Come, there isn't much time!"

"Rhovan!" Laera said, looking at the girl with fierce determination. "The hero has fallen. Middle-earth is doomed if I do not finish it!"

"Finish what?" Rhovan cried.

Laera blinked before realizing she had not told Rhovan of their quest. "I must kill the Arioc. Get his blood. It is needed…"

"If there is a beast that needs to be killed, then let me do it. Laera, you will die!"

Laera smiled sadly at Rhovan. She did not understand. "Take Legolas back to the forest. I can hold my own."

She had not spoken aloud her reason for wanting to finish the quest, but Rhovan saw that Laera would face the beast whether Rhovan was there or not. Somebody had to take Legolas back to be treated, and Laera was not going to volunteer for that job. "You will fight? Do you know how?" Rhovan asked, giving in.

Laera was not offended by her words. "Yes," she looked down fondly at Legolas who continued to breathe softly. "He taught me."


"Then, I wish you luck," Rhovan hesitated before embracing the shaken Elf. Rhovan did not see much of a chance for Laera's survival… but the future didn't seem as bleak when she saw the determination in Laera's eyes. Perhaps there was a chance after all.

Laera watched as Rhovan carefully mounted the horse, holding onto the unconscious Legolas in front of her. "Take care of him," said Laera, giving Legolas's hand a squeeze.

Rhovan smiled. "Oh I will," she said, an eyelid dropping in a wink. "Be careful yourself." With that, she rode off into the forest, leaving Laera alone to face the Arioc, whose fire still burned brightly at the top of the rise.

Taking a breath, Laera gathered what she thought she would need. She decided it best that she take Legolas's knives. She was still shaky with the arrow. It would be useless to her. After a moment's thought, she took Rhovan's orc arrow. She didn't know why… it just seemed important that she have it with her.

When she was ready, she once more turned her eyes to the fire. This was it… this is what she had left Rivendell to do. Well, not exactly… but she knew she couldn't turn back now. Taking a deep breath, Laera began to make her way to the top of the hill… to make her way to the Arioc.

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