Things you need to know:

'Blah' == Telepathy

== Scene change

Disclaimer: See one of the Former chapters, if you haven't memorized this sort of thing by now.

Chapter 16

The sword whistled through the air, and to Fainu it felt like an eternity. The world around her had faded from existence, the screams and battle cries didn't hit her sharp ears; there was only the sound of the sword. It was only when she heard the sound of steel hitting the stone ground that she realized her arms were no longer being held. Instantly she was upon her feet her bright blue eyes locked onto Thranduil, and the orc arrow piercing his shoulder. She looked towards the tall garden wall to fin two arcs, both armed with a bow. They looked at her questioningly, their globular eyes asking for permission to finish of the final elf that stood near her. She snarled letting them know that she would deal with him herself. Horrified that she knew how to respond to such creatures, her hand went to her mouth as soon as the two orcs nodded and leapt down from the wall to find more elves to kill. She bent low so that she was kneeling beside Thranduil. His eyes were turned away from her, and for an instant she paused, unsure of what to do, then her hand found its way to the arrow and pressed down upon it staunching the flow of blood. With a hiss Thranduil turned towards her, his eyes filled with hatred and betrayal.

"Hurry up and kill me you filthy witch." He glared at the younger elf and would have struck her if her could but he was in no position to move and he knew it.

"No." Fainu whispered her eyes rimmed with tears that did not fall. "No, I brought this and it was a mistake. I am sorry for what I have done, but I can not undo it. A storm is coming King Thranduil and it must be broken. Train an army, please, I know what I have started and I will try to hinder it as long as I can but you must prepare for a war."

"Why are you telling me this?" Thranduil asked perplexed at what she was saying.

"You are the closest thing I've had to a father in a long time." Fainu said calmly, her eyes though darted about making sure that there was no one else about. Seeing that they were alone she grabbed the kings shirt and tore it. "Stay still, there are still orcs about and you are in no condition to fight." With that she pressed the material around the arrow and pulled his hand up so that it would apply a bit of pressure. Thranduil felt a wave of sorrow and regret wash through him as her fingers touched his eyelids shutting his eyes so that it would look like he had died. "Tell Legolas that I am sorry." With that she stood up her eyes searching the skies for a brief instant before she brought her fingers to her lips and whistled. The shriek of the beast filled the air as it descended from the sky and the stench of it foul body swirled through the air and about the elven kingdom. The elves trembled in fear as the leathery wings folded back allowing it to dive towards the ground only for the wings to expand with a powerful stroke an instant later the object of the entire attack plucked neatly in its claws. With the beasts departing cry the orcs surged back from the elven realm and retreated for Mordor. They were heading for the safety of the deadly land of darkness.

'Did you really think that I would let my daughter fall?' The Dark Lord crooned gently, as Fainu watched the Elven realm fade into a distant speck far below her as the foul beast carrying her spiraled higher and higher. 'Don't worry my precious little one; you will be safe as soon as you reach your home.' Fainu shut her eyes; her last memories of Mirkwood and the home that she had come to love were of it in ruin and a blaze, destroyed by her own hand and lack of strength.

'I will never be safe.' She lamented as the wind tugged at her hair and clothing, her father though made not comment, for she was right, as long as elves existed then there would always be a threat.

The putrid stench from the winged beast made her head spin and she did not even realize that she was in Mordor until she felt stone beneath her feet. The long claws about her body loosened and she collapsed to the ground. Fainu lay still, not daring to move or open her eyes. She wanted this to be a nightmare, a surreal dream that she had strayed into off of the normal elven paths through the subconscious. Her nose though told her that this was as far from a dream as she would get.

Legolas looked back, his eyes widening with the cries from the trees, there were lamenting the Elven kingdom and the coming of orcs. Instantly he raced back for his home, he was well away from his home, well over two days of walking. He was spurred on though by a terrible shriek that caused him to slow his run for an instant. He had heard that call long ago, it was the cry of the winged beast that the nazgul had rode long before in the War of the Ring, and the creature that had taken his brother from their home so many years ago. He licked his lips and raced on, his imagination working hard on the possibilities of what was happening in his father's realm. He knew very well that he would most certainly not reach the elven realm before it was in ruin but the cries of the trees that caught his ears drove him on as he had never run before. He would help ay elves that survived the attack though, or he would die trying to find survivors. He would not abandon his home when it was under attack. The only thing that he hoped was that Fainu had not given into the calls of her father but he was not so sure that she was strong enough to mange on her own. The darkness was a terrible place to be alone.

"Fainu my dear little child you are safe now." Fainu struggled to push the voice from her mind only to realize that it was no longer in her mind but rather that it was as real as the nightmare that she had been dropped into. "Dear child, I know that this is not what you are use to but you will come to see that it is a truly beautiful place." Suddenly two strong hands lifted her up and set her onto her feet, as soon as she was sure that she was able to stay on her feet she tried to pull away from the hands.

"This place will never be beautiful, it is a lie!" Fainu spat as she finally opened her eyes and reached for her elven blades; blades that were not there.

"Why so you pull away from this Fainu, this is what you were born to become, destined by the stars to do." Devorque said gently reaching out to his daughter, trying to get past the harsh mental barriers that she had thrown up against him he could tell that she needed emotional support but he knew that she would not let him touch her yet.

Fainu glared at him and sent out her own telepathic emotions, "I may have been born your daughter but this is not my destiny!" She did not know what else to do but stand there she had no way of fighting anyone without her blades, she smirked slightly as her father took a step back as the waves of hate rolled over him, seeming to make him shrink back away from her.

"You have become quite powerful, there is not elf alive that can match your power, not even Lady Galadriel, and she has taken some of your power. How can you deny that which was always a part of you?" The tall figure stepped towards her again, keeping himself shadowed in his black cloak.

"I can deny it because I am not you, I am not a mon—" Fainu's sharp words were cut off as Devorque lowered the hood to his cloak revealing a face that was not twisted and gruesome as she had imagined. Instead she found herself looking into a near mirror image of herself; it was almost that of an elf. His face was sculpted and pale and gave off the ethereal glow of the elves. His hair was as black as the darkest moonless night; the only feature that was not akin to hers was his eyes. Hers were a fiery blue a mark of how much elven blood was in her, his eyes glowed a brilliant red. To her they looked like fires burned behind his eyes, he was far from what she had pictured. Suddenly her father smiled gently and offered her his hand and a gentle smile.

"I am not what you imagined." His voice slipped no into her mind and it was coated with and emotional wave of safety and happiness. He knew that she was the weakest that she would be right at that point; for her mental barriers had crashed down leaving her mind open to him. "How could I be my dear little daughter, after all something as beautiful as you could never come from something as ugly as this?" With that he projected the vision that he had found of him. A vision that she had created to help steal herself against his will. He could tell that his plan had worked, for rather than remembering her reasons for creating such an image she stepped back slightly, seeming to be ashamed of creating. He stopped forward again, close enough this time to warp an arm around her. "It is all right dear one." With that he led her gently to the edge of the platform that they were standing on. It was then that se realized that she was on the top of a tower, far below her was the black ground of Mordor and demons of a time long forgotten by men roamed the lands, their angry eyes blazing, orcs were everywhere and the skies were black with creatures as well. Fainu would have stepped back in horror but the strong arm of her father held her in place, this was no doubts in her mind. This would the fall of Middle Earth and Valinor; she did not even know if she could slow it enough so that there was a glimmer of hope for the races of Middle Earth. Devorque looked at Fainu, her blue eyes fixated on the vast numbers of soldiers that were at his disposal, he smiled at the thought that she too would create an army of her own that none would rival.

"Perhaps you would like to meet the other commanders?" Devorque said as he turned her away from the ledge and back to the center of the tower. He watched as she hesitated then nodded. He smiled and motioned with his free hand; one of the massive black rocks lifted from in front of them and revealed a long dark stairway. Fainu looked down into the darkness and steeled herself, throwing up a slight block on her mind knowing that her father would most likely continue to probe into her thoughts until he was sure that she was truly for him. Devorque glanced to her and then began to descend the stairs knowing that she had no weapons and could not possible harm him, he felt Fainu fall in step behind him for she had been a hunter and that alone required complete silence and simple because she was so skilled he was sure that he would need to watch her for a short time at least.

Fainu's eyes glanced about her, she was amazed by the stairway; it seemed to be carved out of the black stone as if the tower had been raised as one giant piece and then the rooms carved out of it for there was not a single seam in the stone. She became so enthralled with looking for a seam in the rock that she hardly realized that the tunnel was getting lighter and lighter until it was as if she was standing in one of the chambers in Mirkwood, the only difference was that the walls were black.

"The other commanders," with that Devorque out of her way letting her have a clear view of everything in the room, in it a massive table it's black surface polished so that the light in the room glittered of it's surface as if it were a diamond. Around the table sat fourteen chairs, two were empty and they sat at the very end of the table, a massive throne sat at the head of the table and Fainu knew instantly that that was her fathers seat, the other seat sat to the right and it was only slightly less grand, the rest were filled. It was only then that she looked at the other commanders that occupied the seats and instantly she recognized two of them. In the two seats closest to hers sat Itheal and Aranon. "Itheal is my second commander, Aranon is my third commander." Fainu heard the names, but her mind was locked on the fact that Itheal one of her fathers most loyal hunters was the second commander of the Dark Lords forces. "And you Fainu you are the first commander and will control the greatest force out of all of them, you will command a force that is greater than all of theirs combined." With that he walked calmly to the seat that was to be Fainu's and pulled it out. "You have been running from your destiny too long, come an embrace it." Devorque's eyes swirled with a mixture of pride and relief at Fainu as she calmly walked towards the chair and her father.

"Perhaps I have run too long." With that Fainu sat down, a plan swirling in the portion of her mind that was closed off from her fathers probing

Legolas could tell that he was close to home now; he could see the cruel marking of orcs that marred the ancient trees he was too exhausted though to be able to tell much else. He had not been able to find his way into any form, of sleep and was now thoroughly exhausted. The only thing that he wanted was to find out what had happened and if anyone had survived. He had been running for a day and a half now and his senses weren't as sharp as they should have been so when a stray orc jumped out of the dark forest all he could to was watch it as it raised it's sword high over his head.

"Watch out!"

Legolas heeded the voice and sidestepped his reaction though came far too late, the orcs blade was still going to cleave him and all he could do was watch. It didn't even occur to him that he was able to watch the sword complete its full swing because of the three elven arrows that buried themselves into the orcs flesh pushing it over far enough that the attack fell harmlessly wide as the orc collapsed his lifeblood pouring out from the fatal shots. The elven prince stared dumbly at the slain creature unable to fathom how he had shot it three times and his bow wasn't even in his hand.

"Are you all right?" Legolas turned his head towards the voice, he recognized it yet for some reason he couldn't place it.

Ferfarin walked slowly up to the elf, he had never seen any elf react so slowly to an orc, and this one seemed to be well armed and more than trained enough to deal with a single orc. What frightened him more thought was the fact that the elf wasn't seeing him but was looking right at him. In all of his years as a guardian of the woodland realm he had never seen any elf look so destitute, he stepped forward again so that he was within arms length of the elf when it finally occurred to him who the elf was, but judging from the elfs reaction it could not be Legolas. After all he had fought with Legolas many times and the prince was far swifter than that. "Legolas? Are you all right?" Ferfarin stepped up so that he was right in front of the elf and was glad that he had less than an instant later when the elf collapsed. The Guardian managed to keep the elf from hitting the ground, supporting the elf in one hand he whistled to his companions that he needed help and then began to undo the buckle that held the quiver and bow to the elfs back. By the time that he was finished the rest of his group had arrived and had begun to help. It didn't take long for the other elves to recognize him as Prince Legolas. After all it was a well known fact that the only elf in the Woodland Realm to carry a bow of Lothlorien was Legolas. Ferfarin was quite glad to hand over Legolas to his captain who, lifted the prince from the ground and carried him to the base of one of the trees.

"Ferfarin, take a message to Thranduil's Halls, let Prince Malminya know that Legolas had been found and that a horse is needed for him to be brought back to the Halls to be tended." Instantly the younger elf was off through the trees as the rest of the guardians stood watching Legolas as they waited for Ferfarin to return.

Malminya walked out of his fathers room his head bowed slightly as he tried to think of a way that he could possible get enough elves to search for his brother. There was so many things that needed to be tended to first though and there were not enough elves to manage all of the work that had to be finished before the search for Legolas could even begin. That didn't matter to him though; he needed to find Legolas even if it meant only finding an orc hewn body. He had heard the reports, the elves that had not been inside the palce had been devastated, so many of them were severely wounded and many had been killed. He was quite fortunate to have only two deaths to deal with inside the palace, and those were the deaths of the two guards that had taunted Fainu while she had been confined in the dungeon. While he did not openly show his approval he felt that they most definitely deserved what they got. When a servant bumped into him he turned grabbing the slightly smaller elf and pinned him to the wall. "You will show more respect to the royal house servant."

"Forgive me Prince Malminya, it was you that I came in search of." Ferfarin said softly, his eyes wide and his hand caught indecisively between trying to take some of the pressure off of his throat and his side.

"What do you want?" Malminya said releasing the elf noting that this wasn't one of the palace servants but one of the out guard members. He figured that it was another rport on how much damage had been done to the outer posts that had been created when they had returned to their realm.

"I bring a message from the Captain of the South Eastern post, Legolas was found." Ferfarin said calmly, slightly shocked by the sudden emotional outburst, he felt rather proud of himself for managing to stay so calm until his head connected with the wall again.

"Legolas was found? Is he all right? Or is he?" Malminya stared into the smaller elf's eyes trying to get an answer from them, his last question trailing off, he couldn't bare to think of his younger brother killed by orcs.

"He is in the care of my captain." Ferfarin almost squeaked. "Other than he seems to be completely exhausted he seems fine." Fortunately that was enough to get his tunic released from the iron grip that had held it as well as him off of the ground. Instead though he found himself being dragged down the hallway by the crown prince who seemed bent upon the retrieval of his brother, "The captain suggested that I return with a horse to transport Legolas back to the palace."

"Yes of course, take as many horses as you think you need, if you want take my horse!" Malminya said pulling Ferfarin towards the stables at a speed that the smaller elf was hard pressed to keep up.

"Of course Prince Malminya, don't worry your brother will be all right. And he will be back as fast as possible." Ferfarin said slipping from the princes grip and into the stable. Malminya stood for a moment and then wheeled about, at least now he would be able to deal with putting the kingdom back together without having to worry about finding his brothers body. So far today was a good day, at least compared to yesterday the elven prince thought sardonically as he walled back into the main area of his fathers halls.

Author Babble:

Legolas: ACK! Okay I thought the first version of theis chapter was horrible! But now rather than being a nobody I'm an unconscious nobody! Red!

RD: I'm sorry hun! I can't help it the first version just wasn't going to cut it.

Gimli: He's taking this rather well. Poor lady.

Aragorn: I'd say.

Kara-J: Potato chip?

Aragorn and Gimli: Why?

Kara-J: Well you see, unlike the last version of this chapter, RD has an idea off the tail end of this one. And well if you think Leggy has a lot to deal with now just wait... You know soap opera-ish. Very good snacking material.

Sesshoumaru: (Takes potato chip and sniffs it before eating it) She's right. If RD get's back on track that will mean very bad, I mean nice things will happen to princy. And then perhaps she can pay some attention to me.

Gimli: (Gets axe ready) If that lass thinks that she can get away with...

RD: Get away with what? (Disappears again)

Gimli: Gah! How does she do that?

RD: Magic. Actually I've beem practicing sneaking around. Very useful during University, and besides if your worried about Leggy you shouldn't be. You know I'd never physically hurt him just write about it.

Gimli: Well since you put it that way I don't see any harm in it. (Sits down on couch between Kara-J and Sesshoumaru.)

Aragorn: Man I was surprised you didn't pointy stick her to death for not fixing her story up faster.

Kara-J: Not worth it. I have discovered that she can actually train herself to ignore stuff like that. After she survived 17 years with her brother annoying her.

Runt: Weee! Look Red! I won the video game again!

RD: Let me guess you found a new cheat?

Runt: Hey that's not very nice (Suddenly sculpting knives fly through air landing beside Runts face) ACK!

RD: Go. Away. Now.

Kara-J: I think she's had enough being aggravated for the day. Some how I could see the pointy stick becoming excruciatingly unpleasant for anyone trying to prod her...

Sesshoumaru: Point taken.