Believe it or not... this is the last chapter. Yup, I decided that because all you wonderful people who review me are so nice, I'd write a super-bumper-mega chapter!!! This is the longest chapter I've written for anything, I swear!!! It's about 12 pages long!!! So you'd better appreciate it!
Someone asked me about the ending... YES there will be a sequel!!!
Reviewer replies!
Kawaii Elf-Girl; Legolas says he'd love some PEZ! And I've tried to write a long chapter... happy now?! ^_^ And will you puhlease update Fellowship of the Fleas and To Hell and Back: An Elf's Tale?!?! I'm dying to see the rest!
Gwyn; Well, I've updated! And it's a nice long chapter too... enjoy!
KnowInsight; Here's an update, I hope you like it!
Gilrean3; Thank you! I hope you enjoy this last chapter!
Ebony Falcon; Yup, tricksy tricksy... thanks for the compliment! I hope you enjoy the end of it!
ElvenRanger13; ^_^ Lol, I'm glad you're enjoying it!
Now I have to warn you, this last chapter is angsty by the end. Very angsty. In fact, you may well want to stock up on a few boxes of tissues, because my friends have cried reading it... WARNING- This is where it goes AU-ish. It will return to canon in the sequel though... enjoy...
~*~*~*~
"What's the matter wiv' 'im?" questioned the guard. Aragorn turned his gaze up to the man; he was ugly, with a long scar running down his face past his right eye, matted hair, and a long, scraggly beard.
"I am not sure, but I believe it may have something to do with his being away from the outside." said Aragorn.
The guard suddenly looked very alarmed. "Jerska! Come here!" he called.
"This is obviously Fendur," thought Aragorn. Jerska hobbled over, his face grumpy and tired.
"What is it Fendur?" he asked, not sounding too happy.
"I told you 'ed get sick, didn't I tell you Jerska, that Elf's been away from the trees to long and now 'e's sick! And 'e's the important one that the Boss wants!" Jerska turned to Aragorn.
"You know how to 'elp 'im?"
Aragorn nodded. "You'll have to untie me though." he said. Now it has already been said that the guards were dense, but were they that brainless?
Jerska entered the tiny cell, and Aragorn had a feeling that it was starting to get just a little too crowded, what with three prisoners and a guard as well. The burly guard came over to the King and undid his bonds from behind his back. He brought his hands round to the front, rubbing his wrists where the rope had chafed them.
"There," sighed the man, "Now don't try no funny stuff, ya 'ear me? Or I'll have your 'ide on me wall."
Aragorn crawled over to his friend. Legolas was still curled into a ball, breathing heavily. He pretended to look over his friend, searching for any abnormal things.
"Of course," thought Aragorn, "The only abnormal thing here is that Elf's twisted sense of humor!" He pulled his cloak around him and started to untie the Elf's hands, the over garment concealing his actions. Legolas turned his head towards the man, and whispered in a quiet voice;
"How is it faring?" Aragorn was still fiddling with the ropes around the Elf's wrists.
"Just a minute. Keep going, I'll get us out of here soon." Legolas tried to emphasize his 'illness' with a soft groan and shut his eyes.
"You're loose!" whispered Aragorn. Legolas pulled his hands silently to fold them at his chest, balled into fists. Then the King turned his attention to the guards. "You might want to come and look at this!" he called.
Fendur and Jerska strode up to where the two friends were. Gimli was hovering protectively in the background; he had never felt so worried. He kept his distance however, and watched the conversation intently.
"Well, what's the matter with 'im?" asked Fendur. The foul guard bent over the shivering form of the Elf... and was extremely surprised to see Legolas' eyes dash open.
"I don't take too kindly to underhanded criminals like you!" he cried brashly, and with a swift kick of his leg, he was rewarded with a satisfying crack as the guard's nose broke and the bone splintered into his skull; killing him instantly.
Jerska stood, stunned, but was soon given leave of his shock. He gave a cry before running towards his charges with a small dagger ready... he fell soundlessly to the floor as Aragorn twisted his neck and broke it before he could do anything with it. Gimli, on the other hand, was standing there, eyes wide and mouth gaping. He couldn't believe it as a seemingly perfectly fine Elf got up and brushed some dirt off himself.
"If you have no qualms Master Dwarf," said Legolas, "We would like to get going... of course, that is, once you have finished your near faultless impression of a salmon..."
~*~*~*~
"It's too dark... I hate the dark... Oh, Legolas, when I find you, I swear I'll kill you!" thought Tathiel to herself. She stubbed her toe in the pitch blackness, and turned the air blue with a particularly distasteful Elven curse. She suddenly realized what she'd done; if anyone had heard that, she would have brought shame upon the house of Mirkwood.
"Now Tathiel Greenleaf, what would Father say if he heard you talking like that?!" she mumbled to herself. But it was dark... and it was cold... and she felt naught but emptiness in the pit of her stomach...
She tried to concentrate on happy memories; Legolas teaching her how to use her first bow when she was very little, her father Thranduil hugging her at night during a particularly fearful thunderstorm, and the heart-warming stories she had learnt at home in her beloved Mirkwood.
But involuntarily her thoughts began to turn to the darker points in her life; that fateful first trip outside of the Kingdom's borders, the mind-numbing horror at learning her brother's affliction, the anguish at learning that the three of them had been captured. And her mind dived deeper into the depths of despair; never knowing her mother, and then something she thought had been buried long ago. Ruhermin.
Legolas wasn't always Crown Prince of Mirkwood. Their older brother Ruhermin was the one that Tathiel could remember, although the perils of Mirkwood had caused Thranduil to bury five more of his children in those painful years. Ruhermin has gone missing for many months... they found his body abandoned in the Deep South of the woods... killed by spiders, they had said. She had refused to believe it. Ruhermin would never let himself be killed by eight-legged freaks...
She felt her hand reaching up reflexively to her necklace- she felt so alone. It was so dark. "By the Valar, what was I thinking?!" she thought to herself. "My brother and his friends have already been taken, but still I insist on coming alone! It has finally happened. I have finally lost my mind."
Tathiel stumbled on in the darkness, but suddenly stopped tense, ears alert, as she picked up the raucous sounds of harsh talking. She ventured a little further, and in the distance she caught a glimpse of the soft warm glow of firelight.
"Men, certainly, and drunk by the sounds of it; a ragtag bunch of ruffians if ever there was one." She crept up behind a rock swiftly and silently as only an Elf like herself could manage, and peered at the sight below her...
~*~*~*~
It was them! Tathiel gasped as she saw the three missing friends, Legolas, Aragorn and Gimli, they were all together, all unscathed, or so it looked. She could have cried with elation, she had found them, safe and sound! But wait... her brother, he looked very ill.
"What the-?" she wondered, how could Legolas be ill? Elves couldn't get sick... unless some foul play was at hand here.
It was a bit of a blur to be quite honest, and she was a little unclear as to what happened, yet something was happening- was it? Yes, a fight! After an obscure lapse in time, she was elated and relived to see Legolas and his friends emerge out of the shadows, and Legolas looked fine. A wide grin spread across her face, and beaming with delight, she called down to them; "Legolas! Aragorn, Gimli, hey, look, up here!"
"What the- Tathiel?!" cried Legolas. Gimli whipped round to see the youngest child of King Thranduil positively glowing with glee.
"Elves," he thought, "I've never understood them, and probably never will..." However, he couldn't suppress a grin as he watched the little Elf-girl fling herself with all her might into her older brother's arms and give him as big a hug as she could manage with her tiny arms.
"You had me worried sick!" she sniffed, her emotions getting the better of her. Legolas smiled.
"I'm sorry," he whispered in her ear. He didn't want to let her go...
"Come, we must move on. Stay as silent as possible, and remain in the shadows," whispered Aragorn, breaking up the reunion.
~*~*~*~
They had crept around the shadowy halls for a while now, and no one had said a word, apart from one or two whispered warnings from someone or other about wandering guards.
They found themselves in a dark corridor, hearts beating fast and breath coming short; if the Boss, whoever it was, caught them, it was likely that they would receive a worse punishment than being returned to that cursed cell. This horrid thought was just crossing Tathiel's mind when she suddenly banged into something soft in front of her.
~*~*~*~
Suddenly it all went dark. He couldn't see, he couldn't breathe... just an all consuming blackness all around...
~*~*~*~
"Hey!" she whispered angrily to Legolas. He made no answer. "Legolas? Hello? Legolas?" she said softly underneath her breath.
When she still received no reply, she walked in front of him. She was a little confused at his wide-open stare, gaping at some unseen threat. She waved a slender hand in front of his face; nothing. Not even a blink.
"Aragorn, what is wrong with him?" she asked, a little afraid now. Aragorn turned, and the fear and bemusement Tathiel held swiftly passed to him.
"Legolas, can you hear me mellonamin, are you alright?"
Gimli also wondered at this change. "Legolas lad, what's the matter?"
~*~*~*~
It was far too difficult to contemplate what had just happened, but now Legolas found himself standing in a cold dark room, completely alone, surrounded by an ominous gloom, and a wind whipping around him, the noise like a thousand rushing voices pounding in his ears. However, over these voices, one in particular was clear and strong; "Ah... Greenleaf... I was wondering when you would arrive... the light is in my grasp..."
As if on cue, a searing pain, greater than he'd ever felt before, ripped across the Elf's body; it was almost certain who this was. "Not you again..." he croaked as the pain began to subside and he fell forward on his knees, gasping for breath...
~*~*~*~
Aragorn caught the Elf as he suddenly fell to the floor. "Legolas!"
~*~*~*~
"Oh yes, me again!" Saurar laughed manically, the sound of it piercing Legolas' heart more dangerously than any blade, be it Elven or Morgul. "Now, your friends seem a little concerned. Time to go... I'll be seeing you soon..."
And as quickly as it had happened, he was back, once again in that dank corridor, wheezing. He nearly didn't recognize the face of Aragorn hovering over him.
"What happened?!" asked Aragorn, his voice sounding as though he had been on the receiving end of a terrifying experience.
Legolas shook his head, trying to clear it of some of the dull throbbing pain that still lingered on in it. "I... he..." he trailed off, still breathless. "I don't really know," he finished, intending to say to his friend next that he was fine and they should carry on, but curiosity got the better of him.
"What happened to me?" he asked, looking fearfully into Aragorn's eyes, trying to discover why the man was so shaken up.
"You... you stopped. Just... just stopped for a second there my friend. You gave us all quite a scare, but-" He was immediately interrupted by a noise coming from the dark shadowy corner. It was like metal scraping on metal, a harsh intake of cold hateful breath.
Tathiel's gaze shot up. "What is that?" she inquired fearfully.
Then Legolas remembered Saurar's last words; "I'll be seeing you soon..."
It could only mean one thing. "It's him," whispered Legolas frantically. "It's Saurar..."
A bone-chilling chuckling signaled the arrival of he who had caused them all to be in that god-forsaken tunnel in the first place. Tathiel cowered behind Gimli, crouching slightly to hide herself behind the shortness of her companion.
As the evil Shadow Lord emerged from the gloom, she felt an icy presence enter her heart; it was all-consuming, but when she tried to move, she couldn't. Her feet were firmly rooted to the spot, and the panic was bubbling up again inside her.
She wanted to scream, to call for Legolas, or her father, anyone that could help her, but she fond herself unable to raise her voice to much more than a normal speaking tone. A quick glance round showed that Aragorn and Gimli appeared to be under the same influence; Legolas was the only one not temporarily paralyzed by the wicked one's spell.
"Leave them alone Saurar!" shouted Legolas defiantly. "Your quarrel is with me."
Saurar laughed with that blood-curdling cackle. "Oh, but these comrades of yours could be so useful!" the Shadow-lord paused; "And fun. Look Elf, I don't want Arda to think that I am an unsporting chap, so I will give you a choice. Either you will all suffer, or you could do this..."
Saurar lingered in his words for a moment.
"Join me," he said finally. "Give over what little remains of your light and become the next Shadow-lord. You could be great, Legolas Greenleaf, the last great powerful Elf of Arda. All would stand before you and quake. All you have to do is one thing; give up on the light, and turn to the Shadows. Of course," he said, "Your friends will have to suffer the consequences. They will have to die."
Saurar said all this without emotion, flat and monotonous.
"No! I will never turn to you!" screamed Legolas.
"You have no choice," said Saurar. "Either you become dark, or the darkness will claim your life. For once in your life Greenleaf, use that sludgy little grey thing between those pointy ears of yours. In case you have forgotten, you are a half-mortal. Half mortals die." said Saurar, an evil grin of grim satisfaction spreading across his twisted face. "You may live longer than most mortals, but age catches up with you still, in the end."
He paused, grinning evilly, letting all this torment settle in the Elven Prince's mind.
"Unless, of course, you choose willingly to forfeit the rest of your light, that Elven source of life, for the sake of your pitiful friends- pitiful for the one fact that they are totally powerless to help you now. You are alone."
Legolas felt totally numb inside. Either he had to choose between becoming a Shadow Lord, something which he had devoted so much of his long life to getting rid of, and killing his friends and sister, or giving up his life in the hope that they might escape...
"Legolas, fight him, don't let him win! I know you can do it, please!" cried Tathiel.
"Shut up you, or I swear I'll ensure that you receive a far worse fate than him!" spat Saurar.
Looking at Tathiel, Legolas suddenly felt a surge of pride. She was everything to him. He remembered the first memory he held of her...
~*~Flashback~*~
"Ada, what is going on?" asked a young Elfling, no more than 500 years old at least. "Where is Ana?"
King Thranduil smiled down at his little son, who was clutching his miniature bow close to his chest.
"Well, my Little Greenleaf, I hope you remember what we talked about a while back?" he said affectionately. He kept a bubbling laughter inside as he watched the expression on his son's face screw up with concentration as he tried to recall their conversation.
"You said... erm... that a little Elf would be coming to our house soon. And I had to look after it," said the youngster, beaming.
"That's right," said Thranduil. "And today is the day that they come."
Legolas' smile grew wider, and Thranduil thought that it would split the young Elf's face in two if it got any wider. "Legolas, you have a new baby sister," he said gently.
He wasn't prepared for the look of disgust on his son's face.
"A girl? But girls aren't any fun!" Legolas complained loudly.
Thranduil smiled again. "Well, I'm sure that if you and Ruhermin look after her, she will grow up just like you both, and will like everything you do, and she will be like a best friend to you."
Legolas looked up into his Ada's face, bright blue eyes searching his Elder's, probing for any hint of a lie.
When he found none, he grinned. "Can I see her Ada?"
Thranduil agreed, and from the moment Legolas walked through the door, and saw the beautiful, precious bundle held protectively in his mother's arms, he promised to himself and the Valar that he would protect her... no matter what."
~*~End Flashback~*~
No matter what. That was his promise. And when Ruhermin had been killed, that promise had increased ten fold. He took a deep breath in, and stared defiantly into Saurar's cold, uncaring eyes.
"Then Saurar, I choose to forfeit my life, on the condition that you let my friends and sister go." whispered Legolas, his voice nearly breaking due to the lump that now blocked his throat...
Saurar looked absolutely jubilant.
"So, the price of Elven pride and loyalty shall now be paid. Very well..."
His manic grin was more than disturbing, his sinister eyes boring into the Elf's. Legolas, too, now found his feet unable to move. Saurar raised his arm up and shut his penetrating orbs, drew in a deep breath, and chanted...
A great many serpent-like shadows twisted their way out of his bony fingers, sliding silently towards Legolas. The Elf felt fear overtake him; he cried out in terror as they coiled swiftly around his legs up towards his waist, the dark air and wintriness they carried transferring to him.
It was too hard to breath; his chest felt all tight and clogged up.
"And so the great hero of the War of the Ring departs..."
The coldness was unbearable; it was spreading all over him, from the top of his head to the ends of his fingertips.
"The Light fails..."
He suddenly felt so tired; just to shut his eyes against this intruder would be bliss.
"The fire goes out..."
Another rocket of pain flared through him, he wanted to scream, but his voice caught in his throat.
"And the embers fade and die in the dead of night..."
His last clear, coherent vision was of a glowing sphere going towards Saurar, into that cursed phial of light that he kept.
"Namaarie, Legolas Greenleaf..."
The last thing he heard, as his knees finally buckled underneath him and his vision went black, was someone screaming his name hysterically over the ominous sound of Saurar's degrading snigger...
Legolas Greenleaf, Prince of Eryn Lasgalen, son of Thranduil, Lord of Ithilien, Member of the Nine Walkers, was dead before he even hit the floor...
~*~*~*~
Aragorn couldn't even cry out as his friend of so many years slid lifelessly to the floor. It was just impossible; "Not Legolas. Not him..."
The words tumbled over and over in his mind. He'd known the Elf since he was eight- the ties between Imladris and Mirkwood were steady, and the friendship between the youngsters was a great help- they had always been the best of friends, barely separated. True, this led to some of the greatest mischief created since Elladan and Elrohir were youngsters, and it was commonly known in Rivendell that if things were quiet, then the likelihood of it was that Legolas and Aragorn were far away...
After all, when compared to most Elves in Middle-Earth, Legolas was one of the youngest; Elrond had told him that if Legolas was human, he'd probably have been around sixteen years old at the time they first met, but he'd always retained that childish sense of humor that made him so fun to be with.
He remembered warm golden summer days by the waterfalls, splashing around with Legolas and Arwen and Elladan and Elrohir, a certain Elven Prince emerging from a clump of bushes with leaves, twigs, and various other natural things caught up in his long, blonde hair, the sense of fun and excitement that always hit Aragorn, then known as Estel, hard on...
Oh, how he longed for the return of such an innocent time; before any of them had heard of rings, or Shadow-Lords, or war.
Before the grief.
If only time could have stopped, and he had been forever a child. But as unfair as it seems, people live in reality, not in dreams, and the harshness of it all hits even the young and innocent. So unfair...
~*~*~*~
Gimli knew what Legolas' decision was before the Elf had even opened his mouth. The pain and longing for simpler times was all too evident in his eyes; those eyes which were once filled with the laughter and joyousness that came naturally to the Firstborn, now clouded and unfocused in the shadow of death.
Dead.
Friendship had come hard to this pair; Elves instinctively hated Dwarves, and vice verse, but there was also that bitter episode between their fathers to be taken into account. Yet, somehow, companionship had flourished between the two- how, no one, not even the two in question, really knew. But it had happened; beyond all reason, it had happened.
Sadly, it was destined that this friendship was to be broken, for one was immortal, and one mortal. Gimli remembered that they had talked about it sometimes. Somehow, it made him smile slightly to know that although he would one day pass on as Aüle called him, Legolas would still be here, keeping the Elven light still in the world. After all, the Elf was immortal.
But no, everything had gone so wrong. They had both promised during the War of the Ring to protect each other's backs when they were fighting, but now, as Legolas had died in the worst possible way, he had been helpless to do anything.
Completely, and totally unable to move, not even to lift his arm. He had stood by and watched his friend pass into the Halls of Mandos... he didn't deserve to be called 'Elf-friend'.
He didn't care about how strange and impossible the situation they were now in would have been a few years ago; a Dwarf grieving for an Elf?
"Ridiculous," would most likely have been the word coming from his mouth back then. But in those few years, he'd grown older, wiser, and he had helped forge one of the most unlikely friendships in the entire history of Arda.
Now he didn't care if anyone saw, if anyone thought him to have lost his mind, it was no concern of his if anyone believed he was not the same Dwarf he once was. For he was not; and he silently let the tears run openly down his face and into his beard in memory of his best friend- and he cared not who saw...
~*~*~*~
"NO!" screeched Tathiel, this was not happening, this couldn't be happening.
She had watched in horror as her beloved brother had been taken over by those sick snake-like shadows, as his skin had turned as white as marble, and his lips turned a light shade of blue.
As Legolas dropped to the floor, she screamed at him, shrieked his name in the faintest hope that it may have drawn him back from the brink, but she had failed. As Saurar cackled with immeasurable glee, his necromancer-like grip on her weakened, and she took full advantage of it.
She tore free of her invisible prison and wrenched the light Elven sword of her mother from its sheath; brandishing it in front of her.
Perhaps it was the raw, burning hatred inside that did it, or maybe Tathiel Greenleaf was just desperate to get her revenge, but whatever it was, it drove her to cry out as she ran full throttle at the offending being; "SAURAR! I SWEAR TO THE VALAR, ON MY HEAD BE IT, I SHALL KILL YOU ERE YOU HAVE THE CHANCE TO SQUEAL LIKE THE PIG YOU ARE!"
She thrust the sword out in front of her at full velocity...
The look upon Saurar's face as the sword ran him through was one of pure shock and bitter hate. He glared with an undying passion for spreading woe, grief, and destruction of lives wherever he went.
"You... I should have killed you when I had the chance... if... if..."
Tathiel pushed harder with the blade; Saurar gasped and spluttered as a trickle of blood ran down from the corner of his mouth.
"Curse the name of Greenleaf..." he croaked. "I have done my work... the Leaf has fallen in the autumn rain..."
With those final, chilling words, his body slid from Tathiel's sword.
"Do not think you will destroy me, child of Mirkwood!" he bellowed. "The Shadow shall mar your life again before the end!" With those words, and a long thin dark hand gripping his stomach, Saurar disappeared in a tumult of swirling black smoke just as Gandalf and the Hobbits burst in... taking with him Legolas' light...
~*~*~*~
Gandalf had already known that they were too late before they'd burst in. He had been keeping a check on the four missing companions using a spell, following their tiny pinpoints of light from their hearts through the mists of Second Sight. He had watched in horror as one slowly flickered like a candle in the wind, before snuffing out completely.
~*~*~*~
Thranduil had been sitting on his throne, praying to the Valar that something would go right, that both his wonderful children would return home, but a sharp pain in his chest around his heart told him something was wrong, terribly wrong. He tried to use the Second Sight, tried to locate where his son and daughter were. Yet he could only find one star amongst the fog.
The Palace had come to a standstill as those inside heard their King wail so mournfully you would have thought he was dead. This was worse than his death though. His own death he could escape, leave it to others to grieve. This was something he would bear for the rest of his life, something from which he could not flee.
He had lost another child...
~*~*~*~
Tathiel felt drained as the adrenaline died down inside, when she remembered. Turning and seeing Legolas, she ran over. Pippin tried to follow her, but a gentle hand from Aragorn held him back. Tathiel's footsteps grew slower and slower as she approached her brother.
"He's so still," she thought. She knelt down beside him. "Come on Legolas, up you get! He's gone now! We can- we can go home, and Father will be there, and we can forget about all this..." she said.
He didn't move. She already knew the truth, but it felt that if she just kept trying, everything would be reversed and be alright again, like some nightmare she could wake up from and forget about.
"Come on! Please, Legolas, get up!" She shook him a little, but it did nothing. Tears came into her eyes, and as she spoke, her voice broke a little because of a lump in her throat. "Please?" She looked up at Aragorn.
"Please, Aragorn, help us. Help him... Aragorn, please... Aragorn, Legolas is really cold... please, he's not breathing, help me, please!" She looked into his eyes, which were glistening already with tears.
"I can't, Tathiel. He's already... I mean..." For the first time in his life, Aragorn was lost for words.
Tathiel was becoming hysterical; "Well, Gandalf, can't you help him, please Gandalf, you know magic!" A look of anger flew across her face, and she ran over to the wizard and pulled hard on his robes.
"Come on Gandalf! You can do some more magic and bring back my brother!" She pulled hard and her fingers slipped, causing her to fall back and land on the floor.
Gandalf shook his head sadly, the lump in his throat preventing him from forming coherent words. It was now that Tathiel could not maintain her emotions any more, and the tears streamed furiously down her face, as Aragorn put his arms round her and held her tight, giving her a shoulder to cry on.
"No..." As her body shuddered with each grief-filled sob, thoughts raced through her mind;
"I need you... please, tell me that it's not true. Just tell me it's a story, told around the firelight back home. I know that the truth is right before my eyes, but it hurts too much... please, just let it be a lie... Say it's just another joke, you were always telling jokes... Please just say that you're clowning around again... Tell me it's just another show, another piece of acting... It can't be true! Just whisper to me- I dreamed it; I'm having a nightmare... say that it's just another game... Tell me it's all going to be over soon... please... Legolas, I'm scared... I want you to come back... you're not dead... I won't believe it... You've just left me here... why?! Why did it have to be you?! Why not someone else, someone less important... why my brother? Why Legolas? Please, I need you now...
Come home..."
She felt a small hand on her shoulder and turned her head to see Sam through burning stinging tears. "Ms Tathiel?" he said sadly, "Ms Tathiel, I know..."
The Hobbit paused, as though choosing his words very carefully. "I know it hurts. I know it feels like someone has ripped out your heart and left a gaping hole. I know that you feel like you just want the ground to swallow you up so you won't have to face any more heartache. I know it feels like the pain will never go away, no matter how hard you try."
He looked into the Elf's bright blue eyes.
"But you have to realize that you will get through it. The pain will ease, and though it will never ever leave you, it will become easier to bear. I promise. Legolas' death has shaken everyone who knew him, but somehow we have to find it in our hearts to pull together and help each other through it, to carry others when they fall, and to let yourself be carried when you need help."
Sam paused, letting all this emotional information sink in.
"You have to let go of the past. Let go, but don't forget. Never forget how much you loved him, how much he loved you, and never forget the happy times. Don't dwell on the sadness. Just think of the joy. Think of your story Ms Tathiel. A new star will be shining in the sky tonight. He'll be waiting there for you."
Tathiel looked around at the rest of the Fellowship.
Merry was hugging Pippin tight, both of them sobbing their hearts out, Gimli's shoulders were shuddering as the tears fell and dripped into the dirt on the floor, Gandalf stood upright, his eyes shut tight, obviously remembering something, but the grief radiating from him could be felt for miles around.
Frodo was sitting on the floor, tears flowing freely down his cheeks, holding his knees up to his chest, and Aragorn was on his knees. Tathiel looked again at the Man, the King of Gondor, and realized that no tears slid from his eyes.
Her brow furrowed; surely Aragorn would at least miss her brother to some extent. And then, as she scrutinized his expression, she realized that he was so numb that tears could not even form.
Sam was right; Legolas was dear to them all, and now he was gone...
So the end had come. The Greenleaf had withered in the deep mid-winter frost, and fallen. Nothing could be done... nothing could be said to bring him back...
Or so they thought...
~*~ The End... Or Is It? ~*~
~*~*~*~
Ok, 1) Don't kill me!!! I'm working on the sequel right now! It's called Fighting the Darkness and it'll be coming soon. Here's a preview...
Fighting the Darkness
"Legolas gave you that necklace, am I correct Tathiel?" asked the wizened Istari.
"Aye," replied the Elfling. "Before we left the Palace, before..." Her throat closed up. "Before..."
"It's all right ai'ear," soothed Thranduil, hugging his daughter close. He wanted to hold her tight and never let her go, lest she come to the fate of his other seven children and his wife. Death had hit this Elf far too many times...
"I have researched it since your father told me about it. I believe it can be used as a passage, or key into the Shadow Realm. It was created many thousands of years ago, before Saurar was banished. What is needed to make it work are three people with great feelings for the one they are trying to reach; in this case, Legolas. Therefore, I guess the best to send would be Aragorn, Gimli, and Tathiel."
Thranduil's head snapped up. "No!" he barked. Tathiel jumped in his arms. "I will not let you make her go to that dreadful place! I have lost too many of my family already to gamble the life of my only living daughter!" Tears sparkled in his eyes.
"Thranduil," said Gandalf. "She is the bearer of the necklace. She must."
"No." pressed Thranduil. "I will not let her go!"
"Ada..." whispered Tathiel despairingly. "Please. Let me go. I can do this; if we want Legolas home, then you must let me leave..."
Thranduil's heart was slowly being ripped in two. On the one hand, he had already lost his son to a dark foe yet kept his daughter safe in the warm Palace halls... on the other, a chance to regain his boy yet risking his other child's life. If the worst happened... he could lose them both...
Well, I hope to see you all there for the sequel! ^_^ Don't forget to R&R this chapter either!
~*~ Star-Stallion ~*~