@Lomiothiel : Go ahead, girl. Start a riot! No one ever started a riot because of me before. LOL!!!
@szhismine : Legolas will be blind? (smile evilly) Yep. Come on, shoot me! I dare you! He! He!
@Kelsi : Break his nose? Why would I do that when I have his eyes to burn?!
@Etriel : Sorry, girl. I just couldn't help giving you the cliffie…and there will be more coming up!
@Alkvingiel : Thank you. I'll be waiting with bated breath.
@layla146 : The answer is yes.
@Fire breathing ferret : I know I'm not nice. LOL!!! Moose? God, that's wild! Ha! Ha! Oh crap! The fan above my head is coming loose and is coming straight for my neck! Erk!!
@Tinnuial : Good explanation is coming up!
@bloodkittie : You throw at me swords and axes but I have…Jeng! Jeng!…AK47 and Bazooka! Hah! Beat that!!
@purplesmackers : Thank you, mellon. Your words are so inspiring!
@Kayo : You can kill Aragorn or Faramir as you wish but don't you dare touch my Éomer!!!!
@lucy : You hang out with kids all day? Are you a school teacher or do you have lots of little brothers and sisters? I'm curious to know. I have a 2-year-old nephew but OMG he is soooo hyper-active that I think I have TEN of him!! (he has been my inspiration for the character of Little Legolas)
@LOTRFaith : It's good that you are finally assured that I'm truly Adromir. Repeat after me. Ad-ro-mir.
@AbbiCat14 : Legolas' angst is coming your way, mellon! Be prepared. Don't say I didn't warn you!
@The Balrog of Altena : Yes. The face. I'm very jealous of his beauty.
@MoroTheWolfGod : You summed it all correctly!
@hAdOwCat : Thank you! No. He's not going to be all right!
@Aranel of Mirkwood : You have a test and you haven't revised? Err…good luck, mate!
@namarie2legolas : I like the part where Leggy has to strip! But force him to watch 'Survivor'? Even I am not that cruel enough! (the only reason I even watch that reality show is because of Jeff Probst!)
@Enigma Jade : He! He! I'm still armed with parley because here comes one more cliffie!
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Horrified, Aragorn's heart constricted at his friend's terrified scream. He watched helplessly as Legolas got thrown onto his back by the impact. The new king of Gondor scrambled over to his friend's side. "Legolas!"
Panicked, the elf was frantically rubbing and chafing at his face, trying to brush away the burning agony. Aragorn caught and stilled his hands. "Legolas! Stop! You are only making it worse! "
"But it's burning!" Legolas whimpered and moaned, clenching his eyes tight.
"There's no more flame, Legolas. Trust me." The man stared closely at his friend's face and nearly wept at the sight that greeted him. The alabaster skin around the elf's upper face was now partially burnt. The once elegant eyebrows were also singed but not completely. It was a miracle that his soft long hair had not caught any of the flames. But what worried Aragorn the most was the condition of Legolas' eyes.
"Estel! How is he?" The twins crouched down beside the two friends. The man shook his head as he wrapped one arm around the elf's shoulders and helped him to his feet. "Let's get you back behind the line!"
"No!" Legolas planted his feet to the ground. "I'm not retreating! The battle is not over!"
"But you are hurt!"
"I know that! But I can bear it! Just help me get my bow and supply me with arrows. I can still shoot with my eyes closed!"
"Legolas…"
"Blast it, Estel! Just do as I say!"
It was deep and immense fear that had pushed the elf to snap at the man in pure desperation. He refused to be weak. He refused to run from the fight like a coward. The elf knew that one of his senses was no longer at work, and he also knew that the injury was bad enough that it might take a long time to heal…if it will heal. Instead of cowering in fright and surrendering to the pain, Legolas had gotten angry.
Aragorn and his brothers exchanged knowing looks. As Elladan and Elrohir deflected the blows coming form their foe, Aragorn reached over and retrieved the bow that had been thrown onto the ground from the elf's fall. The strong wood was still intact. "Here, Legolas."
Ignoring the intense pain in his eyes, the elf grasped his familiar weapon and pulled out all the remaining arrows from his quiver in one move. Crouching on one knee, he stabbed the sharp tips into the ground before plucking one and notched it to his bow. "Steer me towards the direction of the top of the rampart," he said quietly.
Aragorn positioned his friend into the right aim as requested. Legolas then listened intently. Now that his sight was useless, his keen hearing was working overdrive. Finally, he grimly smiled. Then he let go.
As arrow after arrow flew up in rapid succession from his friend's bow without miss, Aragorn felt his mouth drop open at the sight. He knew Legolas was a skillful archer, but this was incredible!
As Elladan and Elrohir worked hard in keeping the enemy away, Aragorn also brandished his sword at the orcs and goblins that were fool enough to attempt to touch the Mirkwood elf. The man managed to yank a full quiver from the back of a troll and pierced all the arrows into the earth right in front of his friend. Legolas never stopped shooting, and the guards on the gate kept falling at his every hit.
"The Eagles are coming!" someone shouted.
Aragorn looked up and sure it was, Gwaihir and his brother Landroval had arrived with their vassal from the Northern Mountains. The man also saw Hawkeye, Legolas' own pet eagle, among the giant birds. They bore straight down upon the hovering Nazguls, attacking the enemy viciously with their powerful beaks and talons. Knowing that they were outnumbered and overwhelmed, the Nazguls turned and fled in panic.
Then came another explosion that threw Aragorn off his feet. He landed hard on the ground and lay there in daze for a few moments. He waited for his vision to stop swimming and gazed around him…and caught sight of Legolas lying motionless several yards away.
"LEGOLAS!" Aragorn cried out and rushed to his friend. "Legolas, please answer me!" The man gently rolled the elf onto his back. He choked on his tears, fearing that Legolas was already dead. To his relief, his friend still breathed, but now there was a profusely bleeding hole on the elf's right thigh. Shrapnel from the blast had struck him there.
As Aragorn held his fallen friend in his arms, he suddenly felt the ground rock beneath his feet. Then rising swiftly up far above the Black Gate, a vast soaring darkness sprang into the sky, flickering with fire. The earth groaned and quaked, while the thick dark clouds rolled crazily as if to crash upon them.
Slowly, the Towers of the Teeth within the gate started to sway. It then tottered and fell down. The rampart crumbled, bringing Sauron's creatures along with it. From far away, came a growing drumming rumble of a roar, a long echoing roll of ruinous noise.
The trolls, orcs, goblins and the rest of the Black Lord's servants cried out in terror and alarm. They knew instantly what was happening. Suddenly losing their cravings for blood and death, they turned tail to flee, abandoning the battlefield and scattering away for their own lives.
"The realm of Sauron is ended!" came Gandalf's loud voice from amongst the loud cheers of the alliance army from the West. "The Ring bearer has fulfilled his quest! Sauron is destroyed!"
Aragorn had heard the wizard's words. He listened as they shouted their great joy and roared their victory. They had succeeded in the ploy. Frodo and Sam had managed to get to Mount Doom and cast the Ring into the fire.
But staring down at the limp form of the elf prince cradled next to his breast, the king of Gondor sadly found no reason to rejoice.
************************
"Be careful with his leg!"
"…Lord, there is too much blood…"
"…is he going to make it?"
"His eyes! Will he be blind?!"
"Legolas? Are you with us…?"
The voices came and go around him, hurting his incessantly throbbing head. Yet, he had neither will nor strength to tell them to cease the noise. And there was pain, intense pain everywhere all over his body. The worst came from the pain in his thigh, the pain in his eyes…the pain in his heart.
What's going on?
He tried to raise his arm to yank at the cloth that he felt bound firmly over his eyes, but his limbs felt too heavy. No, that was not correct. He felt too weak, like a newborn colt.
What happened?
He worked his lips to ask the question out loud but no voice escaped him. His throat felt too dry and parched, as if he had screamed all day long. That was not correct either. He had not been screaming. He had been fighting for many hours…with hordes of evil from Mordor. He felt himself jostled and nudged, positioned on something that was swiftly moving. His entire body howled in painful protest.
Stop! Leave me be! It hurts too much!
Aragorn glanced down when another moan came from the injured elf he held in front of him. He instantly slowed down Roheryn, his old mount that the Dunadains had brought for him from the North, and guided the stallion to a stop. Commander Jaden also halted beside him and gazed at Legolas with great worry. "My lord? Is he…?"
Aragorn shook his head, dismissing the Mirkwood elf's greatest fear. "The ride is giving him great agony," the man replied, adjusting his cloak around his friend's trembling form. "We have to lessen our pace."
By that time, Elladan and Elrohir had also halted next to them. Gimli, who rode behind the younger twin, was beside himself with anxiety. "But he needs medical attention! Or he will…"
"I know that, Gimli!" Aragorn snapped.
The sound obviously distressed Legolas for the prince groaned deeply in his throat. Aragorn sighed before he leaned down and kissed the top of Legolas' head. Then the Gondor king said in softer tone, "He will prevail until we reach Minas Tirith. We know him. He is too stubborn to simply submit and forsake his life. But we need not put him in much greater pain than he is now. That's the least we can do for him."
Aragorn was also berating himself for selfishly declining Gwaihir's offer to fly Legolas back to the White City. The man refused to part with his friend even for a second, so scared he was that Legolas would fade away during his absence. So Gwaihir and his kin flew off with Gandalf to Mount Doom to assure themselves of Sauron's total destruction.
Gimli looked down, blinking back his tears. Then the dwarf reached over to grip Legolas' lifeless hand. "Stay, elf," he said gruffly. "Stay and do not surrender. We are with you and will help you pull through this. Just stay."
Stay…
That's the plea that he was hearing. Yet, he could not respond to it.
Stay…
That's what he wanted to do, but it took too much of him.
Stay…
And everything faded to nothingness.
TBC…..