A/N: I know it's been over a week since I updated, but like I said, I have exams and I need to try and study for them. Also, I want to thank all you wonderful reviewers once again. I now have 100 reviews and when I first posted I thought I would not get many reviews, let alone so many. So, thank you all heaps, you all rock! So, to celebrate I did this chapter a little longer than normal. I just hope it is up to the normal standard.

If there are any bits that don't flow properly, or that don't make sense, feel free to post it in a review and if there was something about it that you didn't like then I would appreciate to be told about it. Constructive criticism or any feedback is always welcome.

Thanks and enjoy the next chapter. Cheers!





Disclaimer: Everything associated with any of the books by JRR Tolkien are from his fantastic imagination and his alone. Also I borrowed a 'domino' effect from the Hobbit, though it is with different animals, goblins not wolves, that idea was Tolkien's also, not mine.



Chapter 36: Withered Heath

The next day, Celebfaer woke up to Legolas shaking her shoulder lightly.

"It is time to leave." He said, then he moved on to Mildred and shook him awake also.

Celebfaer frowned when she realised that it was in fact dawn and Legolas had done the whole night's watch without resting himself. "Legolas........" She started, but he turned around and looked at her.

"I know Celebfaer. I was restless last night and would have gotten no sleep, so I did not wish to wake either of you. Today we start our assent up to Withered Heath." Legolas said, then he walked over to his horse.

So, they packed up camp and were once again on their way.

Celebfaer had thought the woods had an ill air about them, but the road to Withered Heath had an even fouler air to it. The air was denser; making it hard for the travelers to breathe and soon their breaths became as though they were running out of oxygen - slow and deep. Noises were all around them and none of them friendly noises. The howling of wolves and the wind, though they felt no wind around them and the screeching of birds and other fouler beasts.

"Be on your guard." Legolas warned and for once Mildred did not argue, his hand already resting on the hilt of his sword, that he had loosened from the sheath, ready to be drawn in the blink of an eye.

So, mounted on their horses as they were, they started the assent up to the top of the mountain.

The first day of the journey was uneventful, but as the sun began to put her head back into the horizon for another day, the travelers stopped for long enough to hold council and eat an early dinner.

"I do not think we should stop tonight, unless we must." Legolas said looking to Mildred and Mildred nodded.

"Indeed we cannot. I do not like the air about on this mountain and I fear that soon we may encounter the beasts that make the noises we have heard all day." Mildred said, then he turned and looked at Celebfaer. "Celebfaer, do you know any summons that may be of use should we run into any sort of trouble?" He asked her and Celebfaer nodded then held her hand up to silence Legolas from telling the story of the cave troll.

"I know enough to help if there is need, but I do not wish to use magic of any sort on this mountain. I feel as though the very air around us shall absorb it if I do and the spell will be lost forever. The wind is telling me to turn back and leave this dreaded place. It tells of trouble ahead." She told Mildred and Mildred nodded.

Mildred had not been trying to listen to the wind; instead, he had been wrapped up in his own thoughts. He had never been good at talking to the spirits anyway and his strengths lay in the battlefield. He was faster than all the fairies that were his age, not only in attack, but in defense also. He was so quick that most thought that he could read their minds and know what they were going to do before they did it.

"We cannot turn back. I cannot return you to your mother without attempting to cleanse your wings!" Mildred said firmly and Celebfaer frowned.

He had been a little odd that day. Mildred had not really said much, so it had been a very silent day for the travelers, but Celebfaer could sense that it was not just because of the foul air about. Even his voice had been different, hard and more warrior-like than normal. In fact the edge to his voice was as hard as it had been when she had first met him.

"And I refuse to turn back without attempting either." She said, determination in her face.

Legolas watched the exchange curiously and he started to re-evaluate his opinions about the male fairy. Maybe he was a lot wiser and braver than Legolas had originally thought. For Mildred certainly talked as though he had been in and won many battles, though Legolas wondered what sort of battles they were.

Eventually they decided to keep going until they had to stop. So they mounted their horses and Legolas led once more, while Mildred went behind Celebfaer. All three of them were scouting the areas, looking for anything that had the potential to attack them, every one of their senses alive and very much alert of their surroundings.

'Mildred, what troubles you? You are not yourself today.' Celebfaer sent to him, still looking around for enemies and not turning to look at him.

'I am fine princess. I shall protect you, whether it means my life is taken or not.' He sent back, and the voice in her head was as emotionless as the voice he had used to talk before. This caused Celebfaer to frown once more, as she was confused in the change of his behaviour, but she decided not to hinder him for he would tell her if it were of importance.

As night closed over, the blackness that surrounded them was so complete, that Celebfaer had to strain her eyes to see the shadow of Legolas in front of her, leading them through the paths as best he could. The blackness covered the land and it appeared as though the sun would never rise again.

The night was almost over and had they had survived through to that point without drawing the attention of the creatures that lived on the mountain. Their eyes had grown accustomed to the darkness and now they were able to see more than just a little black.

Suddenly, Legolas sensed movement off to his right and an instant later Celebfaer and Mildred saw what it was too. It was a black, crow-like bird that was almost as large as an eagle, but before it could get too close, Legolas had loosed an arrow on it and the foul bird shrieked in pain, but the arrow did not stop it. So as quickly as he had loosed the first arrow, Legolas had loosed another and it hit the bird in the heart with deadly accuracy. The bird shrieked once more and this time started to fall from the air, and Legolas nodded, proud and happy with his aim, as he knew the beast would be dead. The shriek as the bird fell was awful and filled their ears, then their hearts with terror. Once it was gone, the travelers heard the shrieks from the other birds that were still far off, but close enough for them to hear.

"I did not like the look of that or the thought of meeting more like it." Mildred said.

"Let us push as hard as we can and hope that we do not encounter some more of them." Legolas replied then without waiting for an answer from Mildred or Celebfaer, he urged his horse into a gallop, hoping that they were following behind.

Running at such a speed over uneven ground was scary and Celebfaer hoped that the horses would be okay and not fall on a stray rock, taking their riders down with them. They did not stop galloping until the sun rose and the shrieks of the birds following behind them were gone.

Only then did they slow down and stop shortly for a brief meal before they were on their way again.

During the day they traveled as far as they could, taking a rest for the smallest amount of time and more for the horses than for themselves. By night they were attacked by various different beasts and by night and day they heard the howling of the wolves getting ever closer.

It was late one night, about a week and a half into the climb that they came close to the top of the mountain. Without warning all noises around them ceased and the mountain was deadly silent. The wolves stopped howling, the birds stopped crowing and the only sound to be heard was the soft clop of the horses hooves when they touched the rocks embedded into the ground.

"I fear we have merely been tested and that soon we shall encounter something that shall truly be a test for us." Legolas whispered, not wanting to disturb the peace. He was reminded of the travel through the Mines of Moria, where all the goblins and orcs had run away once they heard the approach of the Balrog.

"It is alright Legolas. I am slightly better trained now and although I am no Mithrandir, I shall try my best to help us gain an edge on the new devilry that approaches." She said softly also, knowing exactly what Legolas was thinking about, for she too had remembered.

Mildred remained quiet, scanning around; hoping to see anything that could cause a threat before it saw them. He did not want to be caught by surprise.

They were not traveling much longer before they first heard a mighty roar coming from the road up ahead, which made them all jump. But still they continued on, riding close together so that they would not lose each other should something happen.

The roar came again and this time Celebfaer spoke up. "I think we should tie up the horses somewhere so they are not spooked further or eaten by whatever we are about to face." She said and Legolas looked back at her then nodded.

"It is inevitable that we will face this creature up ahead and I think it would be better if we did so whilst on foot." Legolas added.

So, they dismounted, then tied the reins of their horses loosely together, so that they could run if they needed too and break free of each other.

Then, with their weapons at the ready, they continued on towards the mountain. As they did, they felt what only the horses felt as they walked along the ground. The earth beneath their feet was trembling, as though a giant walked upon the earth.

Frightened they continued on and they had not traveled long before the roar came again, softly at first and then suddenly a creature burst out of the ground. The roar increasing to a deafening sound as it broke through the ground and shot up into the air from just in front of Legolas, Mildred and Celebfaer then landed on the ground to the side of them.

Quickly, the beast turned to face them and the three looked at it in horror.

It was as large as a dragon, yet it was not a dragon. The beast was long and thin - a giant worm with legs protruding from the back, middle and top of the underside of it's belly. It was now propped up on its four back legs and looking down at the three travelers with rage evident in its eyes. The beast's head was small considering the size of the rest of its body, which gave it an eerie look. The beady eyes were black and in the darkness, the only way to see where they were was from the gleam they left in the pale moonlight.

Before any could think Legolas had drawn his bow and the arrow he loosed hit the beast just above the upper arm, in the side of the throat. The beast roared in fury and with both of its upper arms it struck out, sending all three of the travelers sprawling.

Legolas once again was on his feet in an instant, letting arrows loose, then moving so that he would not get hit once more. Meanwhile, Mildred had leapt to his feet and drawing his sword had charged at the beast.

No sooner had he taken a step forward when goblins jumped out of the hole in the ground that the worm had made and charged at them. So, Mildred turned his attack to the goblins, killing as many that charged at him with lightening speed.

Celebfaer had landed to the left of where her two companions had landed. She had landed awkwardly and now she sat up, fighting the sudden pain in her side. Thinking it was only a bruise she put her hand to her side, but what she felt there, made her recoil as soon as she did. Looking at her fingertips once she had withdrawn them she saw that there was a sticky liquid on the top of them. Looking down to her side this time, her eyes caught the glimmer of the blood oozing out of right hip. Feeling around with her hands near where she had fallen, she soon found what she was looking for. A sharp, pointy rock that was covered in blood, which was what she had landed on.

Grabbing her bow that had luckily fallen not far from her, she leaned on it to help herself up then looked around at the battle of two against almost 50 goblins and one overgrown worm.

She had been knocked to the side of the battle, so the worm-like creature had forgotten her, thinking she was dead and had started to help the goblins in their fight against the male Elf and male Fairy.

The odds were not in Mildred or Legolas' favour, so Celebfaer closed her eyes, trying to concentrate and starting to clear her mind as Galadriel had taught her. When she had cleared her mind, she started muttering a few words, calling to the fire spirit and once the fire spirit was within her grasp, Celebfaer opened her eyes and looked at the battle around her once more.

Taking mere seconds to decide where she was needed the most, Celebfaer pointed her hands in the direction of the goblins that were towards the back of the pack that were fighting Legolas and Mildred. Another word was all it took and flames shot out of her hands like daggers scorching the goblins, who then ran around trying to rid themselves of the flames. In the process of running around, they bumped into many other goblins who then also caught alight and soon the goblins had been halved.

Seeing this new attack on his army the worm turned his head in surprise and looked in her direction, wanting to know what caused this flame. Seeing a female, the worm started to move in her direction, drawing its hand back ready to strike her a deadly blow once he got close enough.

Fighting a wave of dizziness, as the worm started moving towards her, Celebfaer barely noticed that the beast was advancing on her. She put a hand to her head, closing her eyes trying to clear her head once more because she knew she would be needed once more before the end of this battle.

Seeing that worm had been distracted, Mildred looked to see where it was heading, just as some more goblins attacked him. Concentrating on fighting for his life, he started whispering words, then as he was almost finished the phrase, he turned to look at Celebfaer.

He was just in time to see that the worm was almost about to strike, so he concentrated on Celebfaer as he finished his words. Just as the worm's arm came down to strike her, the spell Mildred had called caught Celebfaer and threw her to the side, so the beast missed her.

Celebfaer had just opened her eyes to see that the beast was in front of her, about to strike and she knew she was powerless to do anything to stop it, but when she had felt herself pushed to the ground she had known. Thanking Mildred in her mind, she looked over to where he was and their eyes met for the briefest second before a goblin thrust its tiny dagger into Mildred's calf as another jumped into his knee joint from behind.

Mildred's legs collapsed underneath him and he landed in a heap on the ground, the goblins ready to overpower him and kill him.

Legolas had seen Celebfaer but had know he would have been too slow to stop the beast, even if he could get away from the goblins. So, he had turned a few seconds later, so see Mildred collapse in front of ten goblins. Thinking quickly, Legolas swiped at the two remaining goblins he had been fighting then he turned and jumped over the goblins around Mildred and landed in front of the male fairy. As soon as his feet touched the ground, the Elf's knifes were slashing and cutting any of the goblins that dared to come near him or Mildred.

But Celebfaer had not seen Mildred fall, because she had already turned around to concentrate on the beast before her. It was furious that it had missed her and was walking towards where she had been thrown determination in its walk and hatred in its eyes.

This time Celebfaer did not bother to stand, she did not think she would be able to either. So, from where she sat Celebfaer called to the wind spirit and a few seconds later lightening came out of the cloudless sky striking the worm in the back. It roared in rage, and another bolt struck it, stinging it once more. It took another three bolts of thunder before the creature roared its last and fell to the earth, sending a tremor through the earth as though an earthquake was rocking the earth.

That took everything that Celebfaer had and she let the dizziness overcome her and as she closed her eyes, she heard Legolas' voice say something to Mildred.

Once the worm had fallen, the goblins had fled and Legolas had turned around to see Mildred, getting to his feet.

"Are you hurt badly Mildred?" Legolas asked and the fairy shook his head.

While Legolas had been fearlessly fighting the goblins, Mildred had ripped the bottom of his cloak off and wrapped it tightly around the wound. He just hoped that the dagger had not been poisoned and that the pressure on the wound would stop any further blood loss.

"I will survive." Mildred said but he was not concentrating on the Elf, he was already hobbling towards Celebfaer.

Legolas realised then where Mildred was heading and he came up behind the fairy, offering his shoulder to Mildred to lean on.

"Thank you." Mildred muttered, then they made it to where Celebfaer lay. Her eyes were closed and Mildred knelt down in front of her, checking for a pulse, which he thankfully found.

"She is not dead." Legolas said and Mildred nodded.

"She is not. But she has lost a lot of blood, there is a large cut in her right side." Mildred said and Legolas looked at him, his eyes gleaming in the moonlight.

"You can heal, can't you?" Legolas asked Mildred and Mildred shook his head.

"I was not taught how to heal." Mildred said.

"You are a fairy!" Came the outburst from Legolas. "You should know how to heal!" Legolas added, angrily and Mildred shook his head, frowning in irritation.

"If you bothered to learn a little about our race, Elf, you would have known that our tutors concentrate on the our strengths, not our weaknesses and women are stronger in healing than men!" Mildred said fiercely.

"She will not die!" Legolas said, leaning down and touching her side. "I cannot allow that."

"Nor can I." Mildred said, then he took a deep breath, then looked down on her.

He did not know healing, but he would try anything to save her at this point.

'Rydia.......' Mildred sent to her, hoping that she would hear his faint call.

'Mildred........' He heard back in his head and hope filled his heart once more. 'Mildred, I can teach you healing............ open your mind to me.' She sent and the voice in his head was so faint that he almost did not hear it. A whisper as though she was already fading from the world.

Opening his eyes in surprise, Mildred looked down at her.

"What is it?" Legolas asked, but Mildred shook his head then closed his eyes once more.

Mildred cleared his mind as he had been taught to do when he was fighting, so that no thought and no emotion could break his concentration. Once his mind was clear of all thoughts and feelings, he sought out Celebfaer's mind, hoping that she would hear him.

She did and once she felt his mind pull at hers, she gave him her mind completely, as she would when they were wedded. He swayed a little where he sat from the force of her giving her mind to him as completely, and wondered what it would be like to have her mind linked to his in the wedding bond.

As part of the wedding vows, fairies were required to form a mind bond with each other. It enabled husbands and wives to locate each other and when they were close enough to each other, they could hear the other's thoughts. There were ways to block the bond when you did not want your partner knowing what you were thinking, but the mind bond was also useful if one of the partnership was injured. In that case, the bonded fairies would be able to know what happened to the other and tell the healers how to heal it. However, to complete the process of the mind bond, another fairy was needed to actually bind the two minds together. It was possible for two fairies to link, but not bond and the bonding only took place at a wedding.

'Use my knowledge.......' She thought to him, as they were linked by the mind so he could hear her thoughts. '........ there was toxins or poison on the rock that I fell onto........'

Mildred did not need for her to tell him that. Another disadvantage of that sort of linkage was that they could feel the pain of the other and Celebfaer was in some amount of pain from her wound.

Quickly, he searched her mind and found what he was looking for. So, he stored it into her own memory, then gently left her mind, letting her go so that she would not get too exhausted.

Opening his eyes, Mildred lay Celebfaer down onto a flatter surface so that he would be able to help her easier.

"What is......." Legolas started but Mildred looked up at the Elf then shook his head.

So, Legolas was left to watch as Mildred placed his hands on Celebfaer's right side, covering the wound and stopping any further blood flow from it. Then Mildred started muttering words that Legolas could not understand or hear.

The healing did not take all that long.

Once he finished saying the words, he opened his eyes again and looked down at her. She was still breathing, but she gave no sign that what Mildred had done had worked. Mildred did not know what was supposed to happen if it worked, so he prayed to the Valar that it had indeed worked and that she was just resting for the minute.

"Did it work?" Legolas asked and Mildred looked up to him.

"I do not know. All we can do is sit and wait." Mildred replied, then a small silence fell, that Mildred broke. "One of us should go in search of the horses." He said looking up at Legolas and Legolas nodded in response.

Legolas looked at Mildred's leg, then sighed before whistling rather loudly, much to Mildred's surprise. It was something he had seen Celebfaer do once while they were riding though the woods in the fairy realm and it had surprised him then. It surprised him now and he looked at Legolas, questioning.

"The horses shall be here soon." Legolas said in response to the look Mildred had given him and Mildred nodded, then relaxed, stretching his leg out so that he could examine the damage. Luckily, the dagger was not poisoned, nor had it penetrated very deep into the skin.

It was not long before all three horses came running up to where Legolas and Mildred were. Mildred had been tending to his wound and by then he had just put a cleaner piece of his cloak on it when he felt someone grab his arm.

Turning to see who it was, he saw it was Celebfaer and she had her eyes open.

"Rydia. You are awake." Mildred said, happiness and relief in his eyes. Legolas heard also, so he left the horses, then came over to see her.

"Thank you Mildred." She said softly and then she tried to sit up.

Failing in her first attempt, the two of her companions helped her sit up and once she had steadied herself, she touched her side then winced. "But your healing abilities need to improve." She said which made Mildred laugh.

"It seems that Elves are indeed the superior race as both you and I were injured in this little battle, yet Legolas was not." Mildred said and Celebfaer looked at him, concern instantly on her face.

"You were hurt?"

"It is small......." He started, but she told him that was for her to decide.

So, she healed the wound in his leg and then he removed the bandage, as he no longer needed it. Then they let her rest until the sun came up a few hours later.

Once the sun rose, the three companions mounted their horses and were once again on their way. Celebfaer's wound was mostly healed, but she was still a little exhausted from the callings she had done, so they traveled at an easy pace, glad for the sunlight.

A few days later, they finally reached the top of Withered Heath but it took them another day to find the pool that Celebfaer was to bathe in.

The pool was odd shaped and looked more like a puddle than a pool, though it was about 5 meters long and about the same across. The water was a murky black colour and there was no movement along the surface of the water, despite the slight wind that was blowing on the top of the hill. It was in the middle of the mountain and from the pool a slight trickle of the water ran into a nearby small river, which then ran to a Waterfall that ran off the edge of the mountain.

Looking at the pool, Celebfaer dismounted from her horse, then she felt the butterflies of nerves in her stomach. She had fully recovered from their fight with the worm and now she was nervous about walking into the pool because she did not know if she would come out alive.