Disclaimer: This story was written for enjoyment only. I do not own any of Tolkien's characters.
Author's Note: I know I keep saying this again and again, but thank you to all my readers and reviewers for all your kind words and suggestions! They are truly appreciated and are so helpful to me toward writing this story. To know that those of you that have responded back to me over the course my writing are enjoying my efforts is just so fulfilling and makes writing this story all the more worthwhile to me. I hope you continue to enjoy this next chapter! :)
Relesen-Chapter15
Haphazardly perched upon the parapet, Legolas was seeking to get down from it when everything seemed to happen all at once. The startling appearance of Aragorn, the incessant ringing inside of his head, the sudden outburst of voice for him to not move any further, and his own inability to remain balanced due to the slickness and accompanying pain of his misplaced hand. It all proved too much for the Silvan elf as he began to topple backwards. Glazed eyes quickly moved to take in the swirling vista of green beneath him that he would have fallen toward had not expeditious hands caught hold of his garments at the last possible moment and then his body beneath them, halting what would most likely have proven to be a fatal fall. The rescue was not without consequence, for as Legolas was hauled back toward the safety of the balcony, his head glanced the side of the stone rail he had stood upon. The abrupt and painful blow only furthered the elf's previous disorientation. This new contusion acted toward compounding the impairment his vision already suffered from due to his increased blood loss, and now he suddenly found himself flat on his back upon the cold, unyielding stone surface of the terrace staring up at a blurry image that wove in and out of the encroaching darkness surrounding it. Many moments passed before Legolas could gather some semblance to the hazy thoughts that filled his head, all the while the unclear figure above him did not speak, but seemed to struggle toward gaining control over his own labored breathing, a result from his prior exertions.
Finally through the harsh intake of breaths above him, Legolas heard a questioning voice speak out. "What were you trying to do, Legolas?" The voice like the image it came from remained garbled to the elf. Legolas tried to sift through his increasingly muddled musings and only one thought came to his mind. The elf spoke it. "Estel?"
The hazy figure above him suddenly drew silent and still at his words as the archer continued on. "Estel, it is you! How? Why?" The elf questioned as his mixed up mind tried to find reason through the torrent of emotions that now washed over him.
"But it is . . . " The answering voice began stiffly only to be interrupted by the elf.
"You are alive . . . " Legolas began in wonder, until dark thoughts suddenly clouded his previous hopeful heart. "...unless that, which stands before me, is only the spirit of the Man, I have loved so well, coming to bid me its final farewell. But NO!" The elf bit off trying to gather some semblance of peace from the flurry of activity running amuck inside his now suffering head. "No!" The elf went on. "For a mere spirit would not possess the power to achieve such a rescue and I felt . . . " Legolas continued emphatically. "I felt the true strength of the flesh and the bones of your hands upon me, as they acted toward pulling me back to the comfort of safety! It is you, Estel! For a spirit would not possess such qualities! Ah, Elbereth, you live nin mellon! You live!" The elf finished in choked relief.
"Legolas . . . " The urgent voice above him responded once again, but the archer made no allowance toward its intervention as he hastily continued on.
"The Valar have granted my prayers at last! It has been my one constant petition since the moment my arrow . . . " At this Legolas' speech suddenly faltered as he struggled within himself to make this one final admission. "Since the moment . . . " He tried again. "Since the moment my arrow struck you! Oh dear, Elbereth! It was my arrow! My arrow that brought you down!" The flood of grief and guilt that accompanied this confession bore heavily down upon the elf.
"Legolas . . . It is not . . . " The desperate voice above him began again to no avail for the Silvan elf would not be shaken from his pursuit.
"Estel!" The elf replied tremulously. "Estel! It was my arrow! I do not know what I was thinking! I sought only to free you from the orcs that had you surrounded! I heard your cry! I saw your blood! The blood spilling forth to stain your tunic from the slash of their scimitar! And then you fell and they were on top of you making ready for the kill! The delight on their faces at your impending doom! And all reason fled from me at that moment as I reached for that first arrow! I fired off one after the other as their numbers diminished, watching as their previous glee turned into astonished disbelief! For such hate rose within me for what they did! It clouded my judgment! It hastened my actions, until I reached for that one final arrow and let it loose. It sailed toward the remaining orc above you, but at the last moment . . . Oh Elbereth! Oh Elbereth! It hit you! It hit you! You moved within its path and it hit you! I shot my friend! I shot my friend!" Legolas sobbed. His breath and voice now coming in hitched gasps from the painful memory. "I shot the one I sought to protect! It was my arrow! It was by my hand that you fell! My hand! I will never forget the look on your face the moment before you fell, realizing that it was ultimately by my hand that your impending death would come!" Legolas drew his hands up to cover his grief-stricken eyes as if to blot out the accompanying memory, while his head shook back and forth trying to negate its ever happening as he repeated his final words with a gut wrenching sob. "It was by my hand that you fell!"
"Legolas!" The adamant voice above him repeated unable to keep from it the distress he now felt upon hearing the elf's confession.
Removing his hands from his red, swollen eyes, Legolas stared up again at the blurry figure above him. Reaching a hand forward, he cupped the face of the man he perceived before him, brushing his fingers tenderly against the warm, smooth flesh of his cheek. "But you live! The Valar have answered my prayer and you live, Estel! That's all that matters! Forgive me, nin mellon! Forgive me! The Valar have answered my prayers . . . " Instantly the hand dropped back down toward the elf's chest, falling slack with the contact, and the tormented blue eyes lost their battle against the encroaching darkness, rolling back into the Silvan elf's head.
"Legolas!" The voice above him sounded in alarm. "Legolas!" Immediately searching hands moved toward the stricken elf. One drawing toward the blood soaked sleeve of his forearm seeking to find the source of its wound to staunch any further flow of blood from it. The other moved toward the growing lump that marked the elf's right temple, brushing back the hair that covered it in a gesture of comfort before finally putting to voice the words that up until now had remained unspoken. "He lives, nin mellon. Yes, he lives!" Elladan answered shakily, unable to stop his own flow of tears as he beheld his fallen friend before him.
Author's Note: I know this latest chapter was very short. I had planned for it originally to be much longer, but when I reached this point I felt it best leave off here and save the rest for the next chapter. I've been going over this chapter again and again in my mind for the better part of a week and initially planned for it to be Elrond, who finds Legolas, but somewhere in the back of my mind I toyed with the idea that it should be Elladan though that final decision wasn't made until I sat down at the keyboard. My chapters have a way of writing themselves that way. I never wanted to make Elladan out to be the bad guy in his reaction toward finding out that it was Legolas' arrow that injured his brother and once he found out, I felt it would most likely take an emotional confrontation, such as the one he witnessed, that would truly have him see the desperation and the circumstances surrounding his brother's injuries and cause him to ultimately accept what had happene. Elrond conveying this message to him later, as I earlier planned, just didn't seem enough to me at least, but then again I tend to go a little overboard at times.
Legolas' confusion at mistaking Elladan for Aragorn? Well the elf has been through a lot, he is physically weakened from all that has come before this, one of his prior injuries has reopened and his blood loss from it has caused him to be somewhat disoriented, and prior to Elladan finding him, his mind was filled with the heavy thoughts of memories surrounding Aragorn. Add to this the author's plea for leniency if the previous arguments don't mesh with the reader. *tired puppy dog eyes* I hope this has cleared up any confusion anyone might have had with this and the previous chapter. Gosh, the author's notes are almost as long as the chapter! Sorry! Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed it! Until next time! Sue aka-Quickbeam