A.N.

Had planned to post two new chapters this week, but unluckily they got deleted . . . so Iam retyping all of them. Will try my best to post two chapters by next week. Please, Please, Please review!!!!!

CHAPTER 24: Hard Truth


When Legolas and Lenae appeared at the camp, Gandalf was already bent over Pippen, scolding him for stealing the glass ball.

' Tell me what happened! ' Gandalf said.

' I was staring into the ball then I saw this great big eye. It did not speak; I did not hear any words. It stared at me and I understood. He asked me questions . . . Why did I not report to him . . . But I did not reply . . . Then all of the sudden it laughed. Then it told me to tell everyone that his beloved warrior is coming and that no one can defeat him or his warrior. ' Pippen spoke with his voice quivering with fright.

All the while this was happening, Lenae kept quiet but a frown was on her face. She saw what Pippen referred to as " the ball", it was a Palantir, a seeing stone used for communication. And with it came danger. The dark lord could easily find her with it including the fellowship. She had to destroy it somehow . . . but what made her frown was the words Pippen spoke.

' It told me to tell everyone that his beloved warrior is coming and that no one can defeat him or his warrior. '

She knew the warrior the dark lord spoke of was her . . . But it sounded that he was sure she would be working for him . . . She will have to prove him wrong. Her train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted when Legolas whispered softly into her ears.

' Is everything alright my love? '

His face was etched with worry and she did not want to see him that way, so she forced herself to smile and nod. Both of their attention was brought back to Gandalf and Pippen when the wizard lifted the hobbit and carried him to his bed. But before he was out of hearing range, Gandalf shouted out.

' It is good to see you have finally came back to us Lenae! '

Then everybody turned and stared at her. They finally took notice of her appearance. An innocent looking young female elf with dull silver hair, pale skin and dark blue eyes which seemed to be black in color. Everyone stood frozen with their mouth agape, this was not because of her appearance but it was that she and Legolas were currently holding hands, just like lovers would. With all of the stares they received, Legolas blushed while Lenae kept a straight face. Both Aragorn and Gimli were now grinning; they have finally caught Legolas in an awkward situation. And this was the scene Gandalf saw when he came back.

' Ahheeemmm . . . ' Gandalf coughed.

Everyone's attention then turned to Gandalf.

' Good! ' He said and then he smiled ' Now that I have all of your attention, I have news to tell. It has been established on how Saruman and Sauron communicated, and because of this discovery Sauron will be on the move. I will have to go directly to Miras Tirith before war is upon it. And for this Palantir, I give to you Aragorn for safekeeping. I will be bringing Pippen along to keep him away from it. '

' I will keep this stone safe Gandalf. And I too will follow you to Miras Tirith after I gather supplies from Helm's Deep. '

' I will keep Eomer and ten riders with me. We shall ride at early day. And Aragorn could go with the other men as soon as they are ready to depart for Helm's Deep ' said the king.

' So be it ' said Gandalf.

' But what about the warrior Pippen mentioned? Do you anything about it Gandalf? ' Gimli asked.

' That I do not know master dwarf, I do not know of any warrior that Sauron would have . . . Except . . '

' A Nazgul is coming! ' Lenae suddenly cried out.

Then the bright moonlight suddenly disappeared was a vast winged creature passed over the moon like a thick black cloud. Suddenly as it came, it was gone.

' Make haste! Make Haste! We must ride! . . We all will not wait for dawn. Let us be on our way! ' Gandalf cried.

Scrambling all over, everyone started frantically packing as Gandalf and Pippen rode on Shadowfax and rode on ahead.

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After everything was packed and the camp cleared, the long journey began. The whole company had to go back to Helm's deep to gather supplies then pass by Edoras before proceeding to Miras Tirith.

Merry was now riding with Aragorn, Legolas and Lenae shared a horse and Gimli was surprisingly riding a horse all alone. The horse upon which he rode was a pure black stead, which was summoned by Lenae. Lenae had given her word that Gimli will never fall off the horse and that the horse would obey all his commands. And because Gimli believed in the truthfulness of her words, he agreed to ride upon the beast alone.

Aragorn, Merry, Gimli Theoden and Eomer were presently at the lead of the group while Legolas and Lenae remained at the rear. Lenae had placer herself in front of Legolas who was holding the reigns. After a while, she leaned back so that her back and hear rested upon Legolas' chest.

' You tired? ' He asked.

' No . . . I just want to be close to you. ' She replied.

Legolas then smiled and using one hand, embraced Lenae while she snuggled deeper and then closed her eyes, feeling his warmth.

Up front, Gimli happened to glance back to the rear; then he saw them. Quickly looking ahead, Gimli grinned and then elbowed Aragorn who happened to be riding beside him.

' What is it! ' Aragorn snapped.

Gimli then nodded his head towards the back, signaling Aragorn to look behind in which he did. Upon seeing Legolas and Lenae, he smiled.

' I am sorry master dwarf for snapping at you! '

' It was nothing . . . Pressures of war are difficult to control. That is why scenes like that makes us appreciate everything we have and give us the courage to believe in what we are doing is good for all. And besides it is good to see the lad smiling, he is always serious. '

' Master Gimli is right! It is good to see two people in-love that are happy together inspite of horrible things around them. ' Merry piped in.

Giving a chuckle and patting Merry on the head, Aragorn urged his horse to go faster.

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It has been three hours since the sun had set when the company finally arrived at Helm's deep. The people there were glad to see that their king and the fellowship had all returned safely. As everyone started to dismount, Eowyn came running down to greet the weary travelers.

' Uncle! Eomer! Thank the gods you have returned safely to me! ' She cried out as she began to hug each man.

Looking up, Eowyn saw Legolas helping a frowning Lenae down from the horse. Slowly approaching the two she heard parts of their hushed conversation.

' You did not have to help down, I was perfectly capable of doing it alone! '

' It is but the right thing to do . . . A proper Lord always helps a lady down from her mount. '

' But I am not . . . . '

Deciding it was time to cut their conversation, Eowyn spoke out loud.

' It is good to see you both together! '

She then smiled at them and proceeded to give both hugs. Both Legolas and Lenae could only smile at Eowyn in return.

' Let us make haste in gathering the supplies. Time is precious! ' Aragorn's voice rang out.

' Yes indeed! But whilst the men are packing, let us eat and rest for a moment for we have traveled far and our journey is still long. ' Theoden told Aragorn and the rest of the fellowship.

' That will be good. ' Replied Aragorn.

They then went inside Hornburg where a small feast was laid out for them. After eating a hearty meal, everyone rested for a while. But Lenae had other things in her mind. Without being noticed, she slipped outside and began searching through Aragorn's belongings for the Palantir. After a few minutes of searching, she finally fount it and then she took it to a secluded place. She wanted to destroy the Palantir immediately but she had to make sure if Sauron was still using it. If he did not, then the seeing stone would be useful to them in the future. To see if Sauron still used the Palantir, Lenae stared into the seeing stone.

' It is good to see you again Aratoamin (my champion), what is it that you want? ' The eye spoke telepathically.

' I am here to inform you of your defeat Sauron! Your doom is near! '

' My doom? I think not Morier (dark one) . . . You still have not gained total control of your powers . . . What if while you are using your powers you loose control? And in the process hurt or even kill someone? What will you do? . . . Remember I can help . . . I will be here when everybody will turn against you . . I will accept you for who and what you really are!

Then the eye disappeared, it was then that Lenae heard people coming out of Hornburg. She then quickly returned the stone to its original place among Aragorn's things. She will have to destroy the Palantir the next time she gets a chance alone with it.

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It was decided that the company going to Miras Tirith would be divided into two. The fellowship was to take the Pass of the Dead while Theoden and Eomer were to go back to Edoras before moving on to Miras Tirith. And since the fellowship was taking amore dangerous route, it was decided that Merry go with Theoden in which he reluctantly agreed. Lenae also summoned another black colored horse for herself. She did not see any good from sharing a horse Legolas, it will be harder to fight with two persons in a horse if ever they encounter any orcs. So, after just three hours since their arrival at Helm's Deep they set off again to Miras Tirith.

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The dried up riverbed and the dead rotten trees were the signs that they have finally reached the entrance to the Pass of the Dead. It has been told that no living creature even worms inhabited the pass. Fear was evident in the eyes of the men but all of them still sat tall upon their horses. Slowly they entered; the pass was erriely silent. No sound whatsoever could be heard. The horses themselves made sure they made no sound. Walking through the stones, the horses made sure that they put their hooves down as soft as possible. The men too made as sure they made no sound, they even kept their breathing to a minimal. Tales of evil spirits lingering the pass had been passed down through generations. It was said that the spirits could hear a man's breathing even if it was leagues away.
A few minutes after, they all stopped. In front was a cave and they had to go through it in order to reach the other side and exit the pass. It had been told by many that the caves brought death to whoever enters it for it was heard that no one who entered it came back out alive. But it was the only way to go. Because of the possibility of danger, a decision was made that Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas and Lenae go in together then followed a few paces behind by the men. Upon entering the cave, darkness engulfed them immediately. It was so dark that no one could see what was in front.

' Koron en' naur ' (fireball) Lenae spoke.

Then a ball of fire appeared from her upturned palm and began floating until it was overhead. The ball of fire provided a bright light that now everyone could see what the surrounding was like. The cave
Wall was damp and black in color but it seemed to glitter. On the ground lay thousands upon thousand of bones, human bones to be exact and each step the horses take the bones would snap, crackle then break into pieces. The cracking and snapping was so unnerving that the pace became much slower. It was supposed to take only a half-hour to reach the cave's exit but it has been two hours since they entered. A light in the distance signaled that the journey was almost ending when suddenly the ball of fire burst into tiny flames then it went out. . . . . A strong gust of wind then began blowing . . . . . Sounds . . . . . Voices . . . . . Thousands of voices was heard . . . . . . Because the voices spoke together no one could truly understand what they were saying but it still brought fear. Upon her horse Lenae stiffened, she understood the voices.

' Listen to us Morier (dark one) . . . . We are here to show you your destiny . . . . Open your eyes! ' A voice whispered into her ears.

A picture then appeared she could see the white towers of Miras Tirith but it was heavily damaged. Nazgul's were circling the city above and below in the city, men and orcs were battling. Then something caught her eye . . . . . She saw herself . . . . She was fighting side by side with Legolas; both their quivers were empty and now had resorted in using their long knives. Aragorn, Gimli and Gandalf were a few meters to their left. The hordes of Orcs had begun overpowering them. Then she saw herself turn once more into Gwanath then use her chain lightning spell. All was going well, they were winning when suddenly instead of striking down the Orcs, a lighting bolt struck a tower . . . . Making it instantly crash down . . . . And Gandalf was below it . . . . A sickening sound of bones being crushed was heard as the rocks fell on Gandalf . . . . As quickly as it came, another lightning bolt struck and this time its victim was . . . . . Legolas. . . . As the lightning struck him dead center, he did not even had the time to blink an eye, his body instantly burned upon impact. Then the lightning strike ceased. And all around them the fighting stopped, the Orcs and the Nazgul disappeared and an Erie silence fell upon the entire city. All the men and women were then giving her hateful stares as she stood frozen over Legolas' dead body. Changing back to Lenae, she then immediately kneeled and began to gather Legolas into her arms. But she was prevented from doing so. Silven and Lorien elves had appeared from nowhere, they were the one who prevented her from holding Legolas. And leading the elves was Galadriel herself.

' You have no right to hold him! You have caused all the elves great pain! Leave! . . . . We no longer recognize you, as one of us for what you did was evidence that you are like Him! ' Galadriel spoke icily.

As the elves began forming a protective circle around Legolas, Lenae could only do nothing but stand up and walk away. Then she caught sight of Aragorn and Gimli with other men trying to dig out Gandalf from the rubble. Approaching them in order to offer her services, Gimli growled at her as Aragorn shouted.

' You have brought doom to middle earth 'ksher (evil one)! Leave before you find Anduril in your chest, be grateful for I am giving you this chance to go. This is but once, in payment for you saving our lives before. Now leave! Go to Him, you are both alike! '

Then the eye of Sauron appeared overhead, it was laughing hysterically then suddenly a dark energy enveloped the whole of middle earth and after it dissipated she and the eye were all that was left standing.

The picture disappeared as she finally heard Aragorn's voice . . . . He was shouting.

' I will no longer fear facing it . . . My destiny as king . . . So be gone all of you and let us all pass! '

Then all the voices ceased and all of the sudden they find themselves out of the cave. Everyone had smiles on their faces; they have all survived the cave. Everyone was happy except for Lenae. She could not get the images she saw out of her head. The voices in the cave were dead souls of warriors who died honorably in battles and they only spoke the truth. Then it struck her, Sauron had told the truth! She still did not have full control of her powers and if that was the case, the next time she uses it, she might end up killing someone.

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A few hours after they had exited the cave and the pass, the group rested. After the meal and the order of watch decided, all turned in for the much needed rest. And deciding it was a good time to check on her powers, Lenae once again snuck out. But before that, she created a replica of herself resting beside Legolas so that he would not notice her disappearance. Finding a small open area not far from the camp, Lenae began using her spells. In her current form everything went well, from small and easy spells to big and complicated ones, nothing drastic happened. After finishing her last spell the only thing she can think of was to change her form. Concentrating, Lenae turned to Gwanath. Pausing, Lenae expected something terrible to occur but nothing occurred. She then smirked. Sauron and the voices were wrong. She then decided to use a small and easy spell. Finding a small tree she decided to use a protection spell.

' Pela tanya tempa aiguldur ' (minor globe)

But instead of a small globe like structure encasing the tree for protection. . . . It exploded into tiny pieces. Lenea was awestruck; she never experienced anything like this happening. Not even, when she was still learning the spells as a child. Reverting back to her old self, Lenae slowly made her way back to the camp. Sauron was right! She still has not gained total control of her powers. But even though with this discovery, Lenae did not lose hope. She cannot cause harm or death as long as she would not turn into Gwanath; she would stay in her current form. She can still fight and cast spells and everything will be all right. But at the back of her mind. . . . . For the first time. . . . She was scared of what is to come.