The Traveler: Chapter Eighteen

Ariana opened her eyes and looked around the room again. I passed out? Ariana gently touched her forehead and felt a warm stickiness. She drew her hand back and saw the fresh blood crimson on her fingertips.

A wave of sickness filled her stomach but she swallowed it back and sat up. The sky outside her room was almost completely dark. Once again, Ariana heard the clanking of metal coming through the window, but this time she heard the Orcs shouting and she would have sworn she heard the calls of men as well.

She stared at the window and tried to force herself to look, to see if Legolas had finally come to her.

Yes, look for your Legolas. Ariana screamed and backed into the wall. A horrible voice had filled the room, or had it just been her mind? She couldn't stop herself and she began to cry.

"Please, please just leave me alone. I don't want to help you!" she screamed at the voice.

I'm sorry, Lady Ariana, but you do not have a choice. You WILL help me. I am Sauron, Lord of Middle Earth, and I will have my power! The walls shuck and rumbled as a sudden jolt of the most excruciating pain imaginable shot throughout Ariana's body. A scream ripped out of her mouth before she could control herself. She fell onto the floor and blacked out.

She came to a few minutes later, though the pain was still washing over her body. Nothing had ever hurt this much in her entire life. She felt as though she was being ripped in two, that Sauron was trying to get into her center.

Ariana pushed herself onto her hands and knees, and the picture of Legolas fell out of her pocket. Ariana sat back down and grabbed the paper and unfolded it. Her Legolas, her love, her reason to live. She closed her eyes and imagined his touch on her skin. She placed the picture on the ground and pulled her knees to her chest.

She thought about everything she would be losing. She thought about Legolas mostly, but Aragorn, Frodo, Gandalf… "I can't do this," she whispered to herself. "I can't do this to them."

She pulled the hem of her dress up and grab her dagger. She said a silent thank you to King Thranduil and placed the knife to her chest. Do it before you lose your courage. Just do it! and with that thought, she pushed.

* * *

The attack had not been planned, more of a misunderstanding between the four and the Orcs. Gandalf's assumption seemed to be right, the Orcs left the four alone as long as they kept their distance from Isengard. The only problem with that was no one was quite sure where the imaginary line was drawn.

Gimli found this out for the group pretty damn quickly. As the second night of their camping outside the walls of Isengard began, the tense was already weighing on most of them. Gimli took to pacing back and forth, staring up at the tower as he walked closer to it, then turning back and heading towards the camp. As he passed a rather large tree, a swing from one of the Orcs nearly took the dwarf's head off. 

Thus, the surprise attack on Isengard came to a shock mostly to Aragorn, Legolas, Gandalf and Gimli. Legolas' only thought was Ariana, in that tower and the fact he had to get to her and soon.

The Orcs did not seem intent on killing the four, only postponing them from entering the tower. They would come in sets of a few dozen, then calm for only a few minutes, then another set. So started the night and it didn't look to finish any other way. The four were making their way closer and closer to the tower, though it was going by too slowly.

After the fifth band of Orcs was killed, the four made a break for the tower. They were stopped only a few feet from the entrance by an even larger number of Orcs. Legolas drew back his bow and aimed it at an advancing Orc. It dropped dead in it's tracks, an arrow sticking out of it's chest. Legolas looked around at the battle. Aragorn, Gimli and Gandalf were all busy with Orcs of their own. The ground around them was scattered with dead Orcs, though dozens more were advancing on them.

We need help, Legolas thought to himself and he drew his own double-edged daggers. Another Orc fell to the ground. "We don't have time for this," Legolas said silently to himself.

Suddenly the ground around them began to shack violently. Everyone, including most of the Orcs looked up to the top of the tower. A large bellow had spilled forth from one of the windows and Legolas could make out Ariana's scream.

Legolas gave a grunt and charge a few of the Orcs still standing around the entrance of the tower. He burst through them and tore off down the hallway. Aragorn was hot on his heels. Gimli and Gandalf followed behind, watching the stunned Orcs, who almost seemed confused.

High in the tower, Ariana lay on the cold floor, knocked out from Sauron's mighty force against her. When she came to, Legolas was only a few dozen feet away, outside the door, caught in another small fight with a few Orcs. And as she placed the dagger to her chest, he was running down the hall to her room.

* * *

Legolas came to a locked door and knew instinctively that Ariana was behind it. He slashed at the lock, which fell to the floor. He pushed the door open slowly, waiting for another set of Orcs.

What he found was even worse. Ariana lay on the floor, a dagger sticking from her chest.

Legolas quietly called her name and dropped to the floor next to Ariana. She lay on her back, one hand loosely clasped around the dagger, the other laying by her side. Her beautiful forest eyes were closed to the world.

Legolas said her name again and stroked her cheek. He was surprised to feel it still warm. He watched her open her eyes slowly. A gentle calmness was covering her face. She couldn't feel the pain anymore and was grateful for that.

"Legolas…" she trailed off. Ariana could taste the blood in her mouth. She brought her hand up from her side and grabbed his. Legolas gently kissed her hand and tried to smile at her but he couldn't seem to bring himself to do it.

Aragorn stood by the door, watching the two in the middle of the room. Down the hall, Gimli and Gandalf were mounting the top steps. Aragorn looked down the hall to them and motioned for them to come quietly.

Legolas swallowed thickly and found his voice. "Ariana, you did not have to do this."

Ariana would have laughed if everything wasn't getting so fuzzy around her. "Yes I did. There was nothing else for me to do." She felt her eyes burning with tears and noticed Legolas' cheeks were wet with his own tears. She stroked his cheek and rubbed his tears away. "Oh god, Legolas. I'm so sorry." She dropped her hand and closed her eyes. "I'm so sorry…"

"No!" Legolas yelled and cupped the back of Ariana's neck. "No, Ariana. Please, please do not leave me."

Ariana opened her eyes again and saw in a fuzzy grain, like an old film that's seen it's last days. "I love you Legolas," she whispered.

Legolas hugged Ariana's limp body and whispered back, "I love you too, melamin."

And with that, Ariana was gone.

****Notes****

::wipes away a tear:: I have no idea why, but I loved writing this chapter. ::grins evilly:: I like the part when Lego and Co. finally get into the scuffle with the Orcs. But, whenever I read the end, I always cry… I'm such a crybaby. It's so sad! ::frowns:: So, you guys ready for the last chapter? [Yada, yada, yada. Disclaimer is in the first chapter.]