Right of Blood

Chapter Sixteen

The dank drip of water echoed around the clearing as Kayla gripped her axe shaft tighter. They had entered the dark forest as soon the search party had been assembled, armed to the teeth, and had now been there for almost a full day. Kayla cursed herself mentally as she crept through with the others by her side. 'How could you let this happen? You should have known better.' She shook off her thoughts, eyes peering intently into the murky area ahead of her; it was those thoughts that caused deaths.

Glancing off to the side, she saw the shadowy figures of the other party members. The ten of them could locate the boy and get him back as soon as possible. Hearing a quiet sound, she headed over to where the other Elves were gathering.

"Here." Vioviel's voice was quiet as she brushed the faint imprint in the ground. "He walked by here and stopped for something."

Kayla looked around at the surrounding area; from what she could see he most likely stopped here for a break before continuing on. She walked around as the rest of the party conversed quietly amongst themselves. She was looked along the ground, seeing signs of Culros' moving along, going from tree to tree; the steps seemed to have certain urgency behind them. She followed it, starting to peer behind one when she heard a soft voice behind her.

"Arlonniel."

"Yes, Legolas?" she didn't even turn, looking into the murky darkness ahead.

"We're sweeping the area in general." he looked behind the tree. "Have you found something?"

Nodding her head, she pointed to the set of tracks that disappeared back into the forest. Legolas motioned for the other Elves to come over and take a look around.

With a motion Vioviel had them out in a line, picking over the area more carefully. Nothing was going to get past their Elvish vision. Kayla frowned as she moved through the thick cover, her eyes scanning over every detail that they found. The faint imprint of feet, a bruised leaf and branch, nothing escaped their sight. She paused beneath one tree as she lost sight of the trail. With a frown, she looked around once more before her brow furrowed completely. 'His trail vanishes…where could it have gone to? Perhaps he took to the-'

The sudden squawk of a creature made her pause before she looked around warily; all the others were frozen, weapons gripped tightly in their hands. Kayla ran her tongue over her suddenly dry lips before she continued moving as if she had heard nothing. An uneasy silence descended over the party as they shifted and positioned themselves in a loose spread out formation.

Kayla looked around as the sounds from the trees came louder now, as if coming closer. She felt her throat clutch up as the darkness only accented the atmosphere that had taken hold. Her feet shifted silently, her axe made small dipping motions in the air. Then it all went quiet again, the forest returning to its usual silence. 'Something's wrong here…something is sending signals…'

She nudged someone in their side gently, motioning to the far side of the clearing they were in. When she looked back and saw Vioviel's sombre and disdainful expression, she sighed and nodded her head. Vioviel has said she would come along only if Kayla respected her authority. Even though it galled her she had agreed a split second later.

Her grip on the axe tightened as the Elves looked around the clearing, wary and waiting for something to come. Suddenly from the other side of the clearing, a fox dashed across, disappearing into the darkness once more, all the weapons ready to fly after it. They looked at each other with relieved nervousness; it had only been a-

Then, from the same direction, a loud cacophony burst out from the trees, the bright steel weapons whirling and seeking a target. Kayla twirled her axe once before she charged with the rest of them, weapons flying and sinking down to meet the Orc flesh. The grunts and screams of the battle echoed out through the clearing, the black Orc blood spilling more freely than the warm Elvish blood.

Her axe sang and thudded home, decimating the Orcs unfortunate enough to come in her path, all except for one. By the time the clearing lay littered with Orcish gore and appendages, Kayla found herself holding one up by its dirtied tunic, a displeased expression on her face. The other Elves flanked her with similar expressions, Vioviel more than the others.

"Yrch[1]," she said in a quiet and angered voice. "I am going to ask you some questions and if you do not respond, I shall leave it to my friend to deal with you. We are seeking an Elfling; what do you know of this matter?"

She closed her eyes as the Orc spit in her face, the spittle mixed with blood. Her lips thinned into a hard line as she wiped it off. "Shall you meet my friend once more? She is the cause of your arm lying uselessly there on the ground and why you cannot walk now." she pressed the tip of her axe hard against the pallid flesh. "Now is not a good time to anger me! Speak, yrch!"

"We saw an Elfling." the Orc finally said with a bit of reluctance in a raspy voice.

"Where? How far away was he from here?" Kayla narrowed her eyes as she pressed the axe in harder. "Do not make me use this again."

"About a full day's march through the forest towards the southwest. At the ruins." the Orc paused as it shifted uncomfortably, its feet barely touching the ground. "Let Gazar sit…hard to breathe."

"I don't trust you as far as I can throw you." she threw him to the ground and stepped on his chest firmly, the axe against his throat once more. "And that's not very far to begin with."

Gazar looked at her with hate gleaming in its dull green eyes. "Wretched Elf." he spat venomously.

"I don't think that's a wise thing to say to some very angered Elves." she said. "The Elfling headed southwest a day ago; why? What was he hurrying towards? Or from?"

"Gazar doesn't know. He only knows that we saw a small tasty-looking Elfling…"

"If you ate him…" the keen edge drew a bead of dark blood.

"No. Gazar didn't eat the Elf. None did." Gazar looked at her accusingly, as if she was to blame for this. "The small Elf escaped up into the trees…then we heard them."

"The Spiders?" she asked, managing to keep the despair bottled up inside.

Gazar made something of a shrugging motion. "Gazar not know. They moved through the trees like Spiders but they didn't sound like them."

She made a sound in the back of her throat as she relieved the pressure on the Orc's chest. "For your sake, I hope you aren't lying."

Gazar gave her a disgusted looked before he started to pull himself away with his arms. "Gazar thinks you Elves need a lesson in who to pick on."

Kayla felt something strain to bursting point inside her at the Orc's words. "Need a lesson?" she snarled as she stalked over and yanked the Orc up once more. "Perhaps it is you, yrch, and your kind that need it. You wanted to eat a defenseless child. How do you think he felt with you chasing him down, with your bloodied weapons and hungry voices behind him? Do you think that you deserve life at this point?" she narrowed her eyes. "Or should we leave you to be a 'tasty' meal for the next troop of you 'friends' that happen to pass through here. If they don't, I am sure you may make some barely passable meal for whatever comes."

She dropped him again to the ground and looked at the others. "Southwest we go, to the ruins. From there we should pick up the trail and have him back in no time." she watched as the Elves looked between her and Vioviel, unsure of what to do. "The more time you spend milling," she began as she started. "The more time he loses."

That seemed to get them moving once more, the search party, moving through the trees silently. Kayla paused to look back every once in awhile, seeing Vioviel with thinly veiled rage and contempt on her face. She brushed it off as they raced through the trees. 'I wonder….Forobas?'

'Yes, my lady?' Forobas' thought sounded very pleased.

'What are you happy about?'

'You can mindspeak.'

'That's nice. We can talk about that later. These ruins that the Orc spoke of. Are they to the southwest?'

'Indeed. They are the remains of a lookout post the Dark Lord had when he set up in Dol Guldor.'

Kayla frowned for a second before she rearranged her thoughts. 'Could you possibly tell me if I am headed in the right direction?'

'You are my lady. Do not fear; leading people in such a manner is an intricate part of your nature, I can sense that.'

'Thanks…I think. You should go now. See to Midori and if she needs anything. Perhaps you should introduce yourself to her as well. She could use support now. Since she doesn't want anything to do with me…'

'Are you sure my lady?'

'Yes. I have too much on my mind now, and I would feel better knowing that she has someone else there with her. I shall be fine alone. Go now Forobas. I am fine here by myself. I have Legolas' company.'

'Very well.'

Kayla sighed with relief as she felt a small burden lifted off of her for the time being. As they raced through the trees, she found herself glancing up at the tree branches overhead. Had Culros run along those same limbs only in fear for his life? 'Culros, you foolish boy. I am coming…wherever you are.'

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kayla looked around from her perch on the tree branch as she looked down at the ruins before her. Almost a half a day later, with no rest during travel, and they had arrived at the ruins. She watched as the faint strains of moonlight gilded the place, giving it a strange and rather creepy omniscient feel to it. With a flick of her hand, they hurried down into the structure, seeking the cleanest room. Once they found it, the Elves relaxed slightly, their grips on the weapons loose.

"You all rest." she said softly as she surveyed the large domed chamber. "I shall keep watch."

"You have done more than enough…Lady Arlonniel." Vioviel's voice was scathing.

"And when Culros is safely back with Alusil, that shall be enough for me." she replied easily. "I don't mind keeping watch."

She seated herself against a pillar, resting her axe on her knees as she took a deep breath. Not that making it this far had been easy. It was as if something was determined to keep them from making any progress. Skirmishes, creatures stalking them as they ran along, and the forest that seemed to stretch on for endless miles when it was only a few in reality. What she couldn't figure out was what was pitting these obstacles against them and for what purpose? Such things were easy for her and yet, it was the sheer barrage that had made her wonder. Running into four more Orc bands, all in the same day, was not something to be lightly discarded.

At least she knew that Midori was perfectly fine and safe in Lothlórien, now that she had Galadriel, Celeborn and Forobas with her. She could only hope that Haldir didn't annoy her sister any more than he had-

"You look thoughtful again."

"I have much to think of Legolas." she looked up at him. "Do you not wish to rest?"

"I rested during the way here." he seated himself beside her. "What of you?"

"I cannot. Not until I bring Culros back safely."

"You care deeply for the child." Legolas inspected his bowstring with sudden interest.

"Culros is like the child I always wanted to have but didn't," she said with a sad wistful voice. "I have always wanted a child, but I never found the right person for me."

"Never? Not even a passing thought?"

"There was one." she smiled, trying to remember Xander; his face was passing away more with each day, yet she remembered him completely. "But it never would have worked out; he was mortal…and I'm…well…immortal."

"Ah, I see." Legolas remained silent for a moment. "What was his name?"

"That's not important," she said, nudging him with a smile. "Culros is."

"Why do you lose your smile so quickly?" Legolas shifted closer to her. "Do not worry so. We will get him back, safe and sound."

"I can't help but worry so Legolas. I mean…look at how this came about." she paused, resting her axe beside her and hugging her knees. "Now I think I know how Midori feels, why she acted that way, why she did what she did."

"What did she do, Arlonniel?"

"She nearly ran me through with her sword." Kayla rested her hand on his shoulder as he started. "But I asked for it. I didn't see how much she was hurting and pressed the matter. I should have left her be and let her come around in her own time."

"It would be best if you explained the situation to me. This is making no sense to my mind."

Kayla nodded as she told him the reasons for her leaving Lothlórien and seeking to stay at his place for a bit. By the time she was done, Legolas was silent, looking pensively at the floor. She peered at him, feeling slightly apprehensive about what she had just said; what if he thought her guilty also?

"Arlonniel, what truly happened to cause your sister such grief?"

"What truly happened? The worst case of bad luck and timing that I never want to have again."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Edo*'s dark night streets were no challenge for her. The shipmaster had given her an easy-to-follow map. Having memorised it, she found herself weaving through the back alleyways like she had lived in Japan all her life. Thankfully, this was only her second time here and the first time she had set foot on the island.

She was making her way to the agreed rendezvous point when a loud noise came from one of the buildings across the street. Pausing, she went to the corner and peered around, hearing angry voices going rapidly in the native tongue, not that any of the words made sense. Two of the people were extremely angry, their faces red with liquor and blood. Meanwhile the one in the middle had a calm expression on the lower half of his face, the part of the black eye-patch only heightening it as well as the shadows that cloaked his upper face. After a few minutes, she drew away, continuing on.

She had barely made it a few steps before a loud gunshot rang out through the night air. After a second, she found herself running towards the source, and not away from it as she had planned. 'You fool! Don't get mixed up in the locals' problems! That will only come back to bite you hard in the future! The other way, the other way!'

But she now found herself, bent down over the same calm faced man who she had seen earlier. She looked around to see a gun lying uselessly at the side. Grabbing it, she inspected it, not minding that she smeared blood all over it in the process. ' A grape shot…and it's to his midsection as well.' She threw it away as she looked down at the man, realising that there was nothing she could do for him. His face lay in shadow, just like before, as she looked him over rapidly.

"Kimi wa-"

"Shh! Don't speak. My name is Alice Merritt. I'll see if I can get you help." she started to rise but the man gripped her shirt tightly.

"Okassan…onegaishimasu, kimi-"

"Don't worry, everything will be fine." she said in a soothing voice as she bent back down. "I'm going to go get help." she had a feeling that the man had no clue of what she was saying.

"Okassan…suki dake." he whispered in a soft voice. "Suki dake zutto[2]…"

She watched as his hand started to slip away before it fell lifelessly on the ground. She felt for a pulse in a panic, not finding one at all. She looked down at the body, helplessly. The face, she should look at the face to see who had been killed. Just as she made a motion, a loud wail came from the entrance of the alleyway. A woman stood framed in the dark entranceway, her white kimono shimmering in the moonlight behind her as she held her hands to her face, tears glimmering in her eyes. 'Run!'

Her legs moved her body, finally listening to the mental command. Now she could heard people running into the alleyway and after her but she was faster than them, easily eluding her pursuers. The last thing she remembered as she headed back down to the dock was the wailing cry of pain and anguish.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"And what I didn't know was that the woman was Midori, my sister. And the man who had been shot was her son." Kayla stared down at her booted feet. "And that's why I left. She thinks I'm the one who killed her son, my own kin…my other nephew…the one I knew nothing of."

"And you did not tell her this?" Legolas asked in a quiet voice.

"When I last saw her, she was being carried away by Haldir and out for my blood. I don't think that I am the person that she wants to see at the moment." her eyes scanned the room once more before she looked at him. "And I don't blame her."

She didn't say anything more as Legolas move in closer, his arm going around her shoulder. With a barely felt sigh, she leaned into him, glad for his warmth and silence, not to mention the reassuring way he was rubbing her shoulder. If he had asked any more questions, she was liable to break down into tears and that would have been embarrassing. Hearing him murmur something, she looked up at him.

"Pardon?"

His face went bright red before he spoke. "I said carad'loki[3]."

"And why did you say that?" she asked reluctantly leaning away from him; the others hadn't noticed and she would rather it stayed that way.

"Because you are much like one. On the outside, you can present a rather prickly personality, one not to be reckoned with. Yet you have a soft underside that you keep to yourself. And your hair is much like flames that can never extinguished…" Legolas made a motion before he caught himself and looked at her. "Carad'loki." he repeated again, only softer.

Kayla smiled as she looked at him before picking up her axe. "I'm going to do a sweep. Keep an eye on things here?"

She gave Legolas a grin as he nodded his head and rose, leaning against the wall. The hallway was dark and silent; a few noises coming from here and there as various creatures skittered around from place to place. She moved her hand up on her axe hilt, wanting a good grip if something came after her. She had just turned a corner when the hairs on the back of her neck stood up; there was something else here with her. She fell silent ducking into a pool of shadow that was just beside her.

'Valar…what is she doing? Following me to see if I betray them?' She narrowed her eyes as Vioviel moved past her, an arrow notched in her bow. Kayla slunk behind her in the shadows, making sure that she wasn't seen. Vioviel moved through the twisting descending passages with a surety that made Kayla uneasy and nervous; surely Vioviel would not have known her way around here so well if she hadn't been here before. What made her even more uneasy was the smell of brimstone and sulphur that grew stronger as she continued on down.

Before long Vioviel entered a chamber that far surpassed the one the others were resting in on the surface. And nestled at the top, amidst strings of webs and such was a massive Spider, it's body covered with many fine grey hairs that gave it a greyish and sickly appearance.

"Did you bring her? My master is waiting patiently for her arrival." the voice was a sibilant hiss.

"She is…. impetuous and headstrong. This may be harder than I originally thought." Vioviel's voice was cross.

"That is not my concern nor my master's. You promised us that you could deliver her to Dol Guldor by the first snowfall."

Kayla watched in amazement as the large Spider scuttled down from the wall and stood in front of Vioviel, it's large beady eyes fixed on her. This large creature was actually talking…how was that even possible.

"And that is where she is headed right now. She seeks an Elfling that she has become attached to." Vioviel said in a placating voice.

"An Elfling…" the Spider sounded thoughtful. "An Elfling was brought before me. I had it sent to Guldor."

"What did you have done with the child?" Vioviel's voice sounded concerned. "You didn't' have-"

"I didn't have the child killed. I thought it could be useful in the future." the Spider scuttled forward a bit more. "If you deliver the girl to Dol Guldor, my master will release the boy back to your people and make sure that you receive your reward."

"What we agreed upon in the first place?" Vioviel's voice sounded hesitant.

"With her out of the picture, you are free to pursue your goals." the Spider made a noise that could only be called chuckling. "However, you should have simply killed her and done as you wished."

"I told you it doesn't work that way." Vioviel's voice sounded touchy. "If she turns up dead like that, then others are apt to start asking questions."

"As you wish." the Spider went back up the wall to its home. "The boy in exchange for the girl. My master will not be pleased if you fail him."

Kayla watched as Vioviel swallowed hard and turned to leave. She turned, moving through the shadows and threading her way back to the camp. She walked in seeing the others milling around expectantly. She motioned to the door with her head as they hurried over.

"What about Vioviel?" came a soft voice from the back.

"What about me?"

Kayla turned to look at the Elf who was running up. "Where were you?"

"I went to relieve myself. Is that a problem?" Vioviel's voice held all of its usual scathing. "Are we moving out now?"

"Hm. We are." Kayla looked at her. "We should reach Dol Guldor by the end of the night. And be wary when we arrive there. We don't know if something will be lying in wait for us. Don't let your guard down for a second or you may not be alive to guard anything at all."

She watched as the other Elves looked at her and nodded their heads in understanding. She sighed and turned, watching every doorway as they made their way out. Once they stepped foot outside again, she paused, looking around and breathing. Her arm shot out as one of the party took a step forward.

"Do you smell that?" she asked, as she looked around for the source.

The others start to sniff the air their brows furrowed as they murmured their consent; there was a definite stink on the air, worse than the brimstone and sulphur she had smelled before. She raised her axe slightly taking slow and hesitant steps she started out, the others following behind her carefully. Her nerves and hackles were raised sharply as she heard faint scuttling sounds from the trees, always followed by an unusual silence.

"Make sure our rear is covered." she murmured, her head tilting back slightly. "We don't want to be caught off guard."

One of the Elves turned, giving a cry that was immediately silenced. Kayla whipped around to see nothing there behind them, save for silence and the ruins they had just left behind. She looked on with the rest as the Elf who had been snatched screamed in pain, the wrenching sound accompanied by crunching and chewing sounds that ended a few minutes later, the gruesome echoes dying down.

"No one make a move." she whispered, as she bent down slowly.

Picking up a large rock, she weighed it in her hand before she threw it on the tree line. They all recoiled as dark shadow flashed before their eyes, too rapid to be seen properly. When they looked for the stone, they found it crushed to pieces as if something had stepped on it. She twirled her axe around once as she kept her eyes glued to the forest.

"How many of you have fought blind?" she asked in a hushed voice. "Not that many," she muttered to herself in a strained voice. "All right, our enemy is far too agile and strong. It took one of us already. What we have to do is fight using our base instincts."

"Base instincts?" one asked in a puzzled voice.

"If you feel that you should duck, then you duck, for Valar's sake or you could lose your head." she explained quickly. "Do as your gut tells you, not your mind. Hopefully, we only have one to deal with and nothing more. Are you ready?"

When she got a round of half-fearful nods, she started forward again, her fingers white from gripping the axe so tightly. They hadn't even taken a step when a loud shriek echoed out around them, accompanied by the sound of a weapon moving. When Kayla looked around, she found one of the Elves bent over, throwing up as an appendage lay on the ground.

"Valar…" she breathed as she saw it. It had the characteristics of a Spider limb except for the hand that had five fingers still moving.

"What manner of sorcery is this?" Legolas bent down as looked at it more carefully from a distance.

"Don't touch it!" Kayla said as he made a motion towards it. "A wolf's head can still bite, even if it's chopped off." she nudged it with her axe. "Calm yourselves." she said as the hand suddenly locked onto her blade with a death grip. "Worry about where it came from and what that creature might do. That is what I am talking about. Do what…"

"Narwen." the Elf offered in a weak voice as she stood back up with a pale face.

"Do as Narwen did and you shall live." Kayla said. "Now we have to-"

Her words were broken by a loud shriek as something descended and started to carry her up quickly. With a grunt, she swung her axe, feeling it sink down into flesh and through it. She plummeted back down through the trees, smashing into branches on her way down along with her assailant before she slammed into the ground, her back not thanking her in the process, and the axe falling from her hand. She rolled over to see the large creature thrashing around on the ground, attempting to right itself.

"Attack!" she cried, springing to her feet and grabbing the axe. "Attack!"

The search party descended on it, arrows flying from bows while the swords and her axe started to work on it. The legs thrashed and smashed, flinging them back many times as it tried to right itself frantically, its screams making the entire chaotic situation even worse.

"The heart! Go for the heart!" she yelled as she found herself blocking the rather sharp forelegs that were intent on stabbing her through the stomach.

They redoubled their efforts, attacking the fallen and overturned creature quickly, the bite of their weapons stinging even more. Suddenly, a terrible shriek rang out over the area before the creature shuddered and went completely still, numerous arrows sticking out from it's underbelly and neck accented by the slashes and gashes.

Kayla gave the body a distasteful look as she turned to the others. "Are you all right? Everyone is here?" she asked doing a quick count; all nine were still present. "Good. Is something wrong Legolas?"

"This is no ordinary Spider." he murmured as he moved closer to it. "Come, look at this."

Kayla walked up to the body, giving it a good 'thunk' with her axe. When the body remained as still from before she nodded, motioning for the others to come and see as well. They had fought this thing with all they had; they had a right to know. She felt a shudder pass through her as she looked down at the rather strange face.

The creature's legs stuck out stiffly as rigor mortis started to take hold. Six black eyes stared up at the canopy of dark leaves above, sightless and dead. The slight human-like feature were eerily serene. Yet it was the limbs that drew the most attention; the long grey appendages ended with a five-digit hand, the nails curving out like dirty claws.

Kayla frowned as she wiped her blade off on the body, curling her lip as the gore and blood seemed to stay stuck on. "This is obviously some form of genetic tampering."

"Genetec tampering?" Legolas asked in a completely bewildered voice.

"Ah…" she paused trying to find a way of explaining it. "Whatever made this creature is crossing them between Spiders and humans; and with good results."

"You call this good?!" Vioviel asked in an outraged voice.

"No, I don't! If there are more of these things out there, then this is the last thing that we need." she said in a curt voice. "Now we have to leave here immediately. I don't want to take the chance that this thing was a scout. We can reach Dol Guldor by night."

Kayla watched as the other quickly left the body and started into the forest. She looked over at Legolas who was quietly asking if she was all right. Nodding her head yes, she started into the forest after the others. Pausing, she looked back to see Vioviel standing by the Spider's corpse, a thoroughly disgusted look on her face.

"Vioviel." she called.

The older Elf looked at her with a glimmer of hate and jealously in her eyes. Kayla didn't' say anything as she motioned sharply with her head and continued on into the forest. She didn't know what Vioviel had planned but she would see that whoever her victim was wouldn't get caught in her web.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

[1] Yrch = Elvish for "Orc"
[2] This is whole bunch of words folks! Kimi = "you" - guys use this alot; Okassan = "mother"; onegaishimasu = "please", when used at the beginning of a sentence; suki dake = "I love you", only another way to say it; zutto = "forever". And all these words are Japanese.
[3] carad'loki = Elvish for "red dragon"
* Edo is the ancient name for Tokyo. More history, bwhahahahaha!!! ....Soiee....v_v

Who got the Mononoke-hime reference? It was paraphrased, folks. It's begging to be found! And it's fairly easy to spot too...if you've seen the movie. ^^ It seemed so appropiate for that spot that I couldn't resist. First one to state where it is in a review gets a giftfic just for them! Start searching!! The only one excluded is Peridot Pooka, because she read the chapter before I posted it!! Yeah, quit your grumbling onna…I've started writing in more Legolas, what more do you want from me?