Salutations Mellon-nins!
Yet again, it was just lovely to get all those wonderful reviews. They were extremely encouraging, and I got some wonderful advice.
Special thanks to Liquid Dreamer for warning me about Sage essential oil!! Warning to everyone: Do NOT drink sage essential oil. A certain dosage can be lethal. Thanks for the safety tip, Liquid D!
Disclaimer: :: rolls eyes:: I don't own anything at all having to do with Lord of the Rings, and am only permanently borrowing without permission the characters to use for recreational purposes. They will be returned sometimes in the next eternity, and won't be too dead…
I'm going to try to lighten things up a bit this chapter, and add in a new character. Don't worry, this isn't going to change into a romance, I promise, but I need that character, and I wanted a little comic relief… well, you'll see. Also…::cowers:: I'm pretty awful at fight scenes, but I do my best. Please don't kill me if the fight scene is just terrible!
I've decided, that, in order to be able to make longer, juicier, chapters, I'm only going to do reviewer responses every other chapter… hope no one care too much about that…
And now, with no further ado….
Halo of Tears
Chapter 6
Orcs poured into the clearing, the grotesque monsters growling happily at the idea of a fresh kill. The deformed shapes of black, with smears of crimson and white on them were a sight that was all too familiar.
Aragorn was facing away from the creatures, which had been curiously silent until they had mounted their attack. He turned around to face them, but too late. A large creature with the white hand branded on his cheek knocked him out with the flat of its blade.
The audible and very gruesome sound of steel hitting skull was Legolas's signal to react. Gathering his wits, the warrior prince leaped out, managing to kick down the orc that had gotten Aragorn, preventing him from impaling the man with his blade. He quickly un-sheathed his blades (the orcs were too close range for a bow) and whirled around, blood boiling for a fight. Ducking the swinging arms of a particularly large creature coming towards him, Legolas flung one of his knives at it, getting it between the eyes, killing it instantly. Retrieving that knife, he used the dead carcass as a shield, and then bowled it into another group of orcs that were coming towards him. It was only then that he remembered,
"Haldir!" Several orcs were already closing in on the bound prisoner, slowly moving; enjoy the idea of a free elf to use as they pleased. The prince scrambled over towards the older elf, trying to protect the fallen body of Aragorn from further damage. Quickly, he pulled his sword from its sheath at his side, and without aiming, hurled it towards his friend. It hit the mark that Legolas had hoped it would; right across the other elf's bindings, severing them.
Haldir quickly took up the sword and cut the ropes on his ankles. Then he jumped to his feet, ignoring the dizziness that was caused by his swift rising. The orcs that had been closing in on him were surprised to see him up so quickly, so the elf was easily able to cut several of them down before they realized what had happened. The others managed to put up a clumsy defense from his weapon, but the elf was well versed in all forms of combat. He struck out at the only one that was bold enough to attack him. It grunted menacingly, parrying his attack and mounting one of his own. Haldir ducked it, and let the orc be tugged sideways by his own momentum, before striking for the side.
He found that his activities from the day before had taken more energy then he had previously thought, and managed only a painful, but not mortal slice to the creature's side before he had to duck back and defend himself from the orc's vicious blows. The monster blindly swung his blade back and forth with not a great deal of speed, but with enough power to easily slice anything in its way in half. Haldir remedied this by tackling the orc from below, sending it and its blade to the ground. Before it could recover, Haldir slit its throat, then quickly turned around and beheaded one that was waiting to take him from behind. The elf stumbled slightly, nearly tripping over the corpse of the orc he had just killed. A huge orc, nearly twice the height of the warden stepped in front of him, a sadistic smile playing on what could have been discerned as his lips. Using the elf's disadvantage, the orc sliced downward, attempting to cut the elf in half. Haldir twisted his body and dodged out of the way, managing to avoid most of the strike, but he was not quick enough to avoid the blade all together. A long, but shallow gash was made from his chest to navel, severing jerkin and shirt, and causing the elf to wince in pain. However, he was trained to fight on after wounds, and the elf swept under his opponent's feet with his blade, and then jerked upward, doing to the orc what it had originally meant to do to him. Having vanquished all the orcs that had attacked him, he turned to aid Legolas in the rest….
And found himself staring into his nightmare.
The Orcs attacked, grinning because they had been caught unaware…
Luinelothiel searching for a…
No! It was Legolas!
He attacked, but not in time, for she already lay dieing...
No! Aragorn, not Luinelothiel lay, unconscious, but not…
DEAD!
Haldir was staring through two pairs of eyes, the past, and the present. Legolas stood in one, his mother in the other. Everything blurred. Was it his love lying on the ground? No, it was Aragorn! Once again, Haldir's thoughts lost coherency and became the knot of guilt and despair that had come to rest inside him.
In his frozen state, Legolas was left to fight the remaining orcs- about twenty of them, alone. For some reason they ignored Haldir, choosing to go for one target at a time since the other one wasn't attacking. Skilled a fighter as he was, twenty enemies was too much for Legolas. One managed to stab the elf in the shoulder while he was blocking an attack from the other side. It wasn't deep, but it was going to be painful.
Legolas grimaced and bit his lip to keep from screaming in pain as the knife went into his arm. Why wasn't Haldir doing anything? What was that look in his eyes? For the second time in the battle, Legolas called out,
"Haldir!"
This finally shook the March Warden from his reverie. This was too familiar, the eyes full of pain, his name called in despair, but he wasn't going to let it end the same way. With a cry of rage, Haldir re-entered the battle, fighting with frightening vigor. Ducking and weaving, the elf delivered lethal blow after lethal blow, somehow thinking the whole time that the orcs deserved worse.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Finally it was over. Carcasses and black blood were everywhere, but neither of the conscious elves seemed to care. They leaned against each other, exhausted, and in pain. Legolas's right arm bled sluggishly, suggesting that he was going to have to make do with his left arm for a while, and Haldir's chest was aflame, throbbing endlessly. However, years of experience told him it wasn't life threatening, and could wait. Haldir's mind was still swarming with emotion and memory, so palpable that Legolas could feel it, but the younger elf said nothing. Finally Haldir spoke.
"We must get back to camp." Legolas only nodded, and willed himself to crawl over and shake Aragorn slightly with his good arm. The man groaned and his eyelids flickered. Then he opened his eyes, slowly, letting them adjust to the morning light that filtered into the clearing.
"What happened?" The man asked sluggishly, still only half conscious. He put his hands over his head and groaned again, for it felt as though every orc in the clearing had stepped on as they attacked. Which, he thought cynically, might in fact be the case. Legolas only motioned to the mess around them, and said mildly,
"Orcs. One got you over the head from behind. No one's badly hurt, but both I and Haldir could use a bandage and a cup of tea." The wistful expression that appeared on the elf's face when he mentioned tea was enough for Aragorn to let out a small, slightly painful chuckle before slowly levering himself up, using a nearby tree for support. When he was on his feet and could see clearly, he offered a hand to Legolas, who took it gratefully.
Once the elf was on his feet, Aragorn and Legolas took both of Haldir's arms, and lifted him up. The March Warden was breathing heavily and wincing painfully at every breath. His shirt was slowly turning crimson, but not so fast as to be a threat.
"He needs more herbs," Aragorn said wickedly, giddy from his headache. Haldir glared at him, but offered no other objection; the man was holding the elf up, and the guardian was smart enough not to make comment until he was no longer being supported by the ranger. Slowly, and painfully, the three of them limped back to the camp.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What in the name of mushrooms happened?" Pippin asked loudly and worriedly when he first laid eyes onto the motley group, all but crawling back into camp. "Where have you been?" There was concern in his voice, but also a natural curiosity that all hobbits shared. The entire company had been up for a little while, and had just started to miss the trio when they stumbled into camp.
"The lady and the lord turned into a pair of dragons and invited us to an early morning carrot tea in the woods." Aragorn said, smiling wryly. "They missed you, and wished me to relay the message that your mother needs to stop hunting so many bears, as they're running out of linen, and they need more cabbage." At this message, everyone but Pippin himself burst in laughter, while the hobbit just stared at Aragorn blankly. His jokes reassured them that he and his companions were in fact alright.
"We heard some strange sounds this morning." Legolas said, sounding grave. "And when we investigated them, we came upon several orcs. They will be of no more worry to us though." He added, giving Haldir a significant sidelong glance. Gimli and several others may have noticed the simplicity in this story, or the awkwardness in which it was told, but if they did, they said nothing.
Soon, both Legolas and Aragorn were engulfed by the rest of the fellowship, who insisted that they needed to be "patched up". While Gimli and Boromir set to cleaning up wounds, the hobbits industriously began to make a good breakfast. As Sam wisely put it, "Fighting is mightily hungering work."
Haldir drifted back to his own companions, slightly jealously looking on at the camaraderie among the fellowship. However, he thought icily, it is much better alone. There is no one prying into your business. He looked at Legolas and Aragorn who for the moment had seemed to forget the real reason why they had ventured away from camp. They had not relieved his secret to anyway else, it seemed. But that did not mean that they were done with their prying. This morose thought was interrupted by a voice calling him.
"You! Warden! Over here, now!" Haldir looked over towards the place where his company had camped to see a younger elf gesturing wildly at him. He recognized her as Lythian, one of the youngest guardians of Lorien. She was slightly shorter then he, with long, tightly braided silvery hair and vivid lilac eyes. Though her eyes and hair were amazing, she was not particularly gorgeous. Though all elves were inhumanly beautiful (at least to all other races), a strong nose and a stubborn chin proved that she was not one to mess with along with giving her a strong and stable look. Though her mouth and the rest of her face seemed delicate, the girl was no helpless maiden. She could run Haldir himself through knife and sword exercises…though her archery was….a bit erratic to say the least. Though she managed to hit enemy targets as accurately as any other elf, it was often not the one that she had intended to impale.
Lythian was little more then half Haldir's age, only a few decades older then Legolas. She had natural leadership ability, and besides being a young guardian, she was the youngest captain in the history of Lorien. Haldir did not know her well, though he was somewhat fond of her (during the times when she wasn't holding him at knife point) as he was of all his comrades. Though not by any stretch of the imagination flawless, the girl was a more than satisfactory guardian. She had a lively sense of humor, and was well liked by everyone around her. However, her most major flaw was a lack of respect for any type of authority….
Haldir walked towards the she-elf, slightly annoyed. Tiredly, he said,
"Captain Lythian, for the utmost time, I AM your elder, and your superior. You should address me as 'March Warden Haldir', or 'sir', if you must. You cannot go around calling me anything of a lesser respect!"
Her only response was to grin cheekily at him while gesturing for him to sit.
"If it wouldn't inconvenience you too much, my lord, your Excellency, your royal highness, March Warden Haldir, most esteemed guardian of the Lorien woods, the greatest-" She was cut off by Haldir's knife, pointed at her throat. "Ok, I get the point. Can you sit down so I can check your wounds?" Haldir removed the knife and stood up, taking his full height.
"They're not deep, and have already stopped bleeding." He said, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Sit!" She demanded, ignoring his protest.
"I need no-"Haldir started. The captain grabbed one of her elder's arms and tugged hard, pulling him to the ground. Then, before he could say anything else, she went about cleaning and bandaging his chest as though she did it everyday. Whenever Haldir made a move to protest, she simply tugged slightly on his arm and he stopped. Soon all the protests stopped as his wounds finally stopped feeling as though they were afire. When she had finished, he quickly pulled away.
"You are a insufferable brat, a convoluted-" Haldir started a very colorful string of curses and threats towards his captain ranging from everything from losing her position to being married off, knowing very well that she understood all of them and that he would never raise a finger to carry out any of them. However, instead of retorting as she normally would have, the girl looked thoughtful. When he had finished his say, she asked conversationally,
"What happened to your wrist?"
Haldir looked at her, then at his wrist and back.
"Nothing." He said tonelessly, and stalked off before she could ask anything more.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The party started off once again for Lorien, Haldir setting a light pace, for though he wouldn't admit it, his chest ached terribly despite Lythian's care. She was as good a healer as anyone in the guard, but no better, and no magic worker, so there was only so much that could be done for the wound.
Haldir led by himself up front, ignoring everyone behind him as they marched on towards Lorien. At this point he had given up on the blindfolds, as he was relatively certain that none of the fellowship could have found their way to Lorien from the outside, if they had wanted to, and if they could, they would mean no harm.
Legolas and Aragorn hung to the back, speaking quietly to each other in Sindarian in hopes that no one would over-hear their conversation, and if they did, they would leave it alone.
The two of them were very surprised when an elf of Lorien landed right in front of Aragorn, causing the man to jump back several paces in shock. Though the Lorien elves had been cordial to the fellowship, they had made no special efforts to speak with them. This one made no small talk.
"Something is wrong with Haldir, and you know what it is." She said flatly, her face unreadable. Aragorn stared at her for a moment, before saying suspiciously,
"Why is Haldir of concern to you?" She made a face at him.
"Haldir is my leader, and my comrade. That makes him my friend. We must band together in these times when our ranks have been stretched so very thin."
Legolas stared into vivid purple eyes for several moments before responding for both the benefit of Lythian and Aragorn.
"She is right, and we need all the help we can get. What is your name, friend?"
"I am Lythian." The she-elf responded, staring back into Legolas's own eyes. "Captain Lythian, but I hate titles." Legolas let a smile brighten his face, but Aragorn was suspicious.
"You look young to be a captain." He said slowly. Lythian shrugged.
"You look human to be an elf, yet you move like one." At this Legolas laughed quietly, and Aragorn smiled slightly.
"Very well," he said, fascinated and relieved at this new ally. "There have been several…." He hesitated, "events. This may take a while."
"We have a long walk." Lythian pointed out.
"Very well," Legolas said. "Then let's start from the beginning.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The day passed without much incident, the group slowly but surely making their way through the elven lands. Finally, only an hour or so after dusk, they reached their destination. All were relieved that the trip was over, but none as much as Haldir. He needed to be away, needed to be left alone, and needed the solace that only isolation could bring him. Things needed to be worked out, old wounds needed to be numbed, and his secrets needed to be taken care of…one way or another. He felt like screaming in pain from the inside, yet kept his mouth shut (the Desert's Whisper had worn off hours ago). There was only pain and guilt, sorrow and despair. But he must not let it show, must wait until he could explode from the inside alone, without any prying eyes who might try to stem the fire that would surely come.
Silently, the elf led the company through the
elven realm to the audience
chamber where the lord and the lady of light would see them.
The walk was not a long one, and soon they were there. No one spoke as they waited for the rulers of Lorien to appear. After what seemed like hours of silence (but which was in fact, only a few minutes) the two monarchs appeared in the chamber, bathed in their own glory. Haldir bowed to them quickly, made a sketchy salute towards the fellowship, and made a very hasty exit, passing Legolas and Aragorn on his way. They looked as though they wished to follow him, but the needed to stay for the audience with Galadriel.
Finally he was free, and Haldir surveyed his home with satisfaction.
Then he ran. Ran through the dwelling as fast as he could, ignoring everyone and everything as we went by, disregarding the curious glances that he receive, and the few greetings from those who recognized him. Finally, when he had gotten beyond the elven civilization, where there was only him and the trees around him did he stop. Only then did he let the tears fall….
~*~*~*~*~*~
That's it for now. I'm going to try to get up another chapter pretty soon, before my marching band goes into full swing. After that happens, updates will be very erratic…
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this one; I had a blast writing it!
Wind to thy wings,
Lady-Daine