Hello Everyone, Once again, I LOVED getting such wonderful reviews…
Disclaimer: I don't own Lord of the Rings or anything related to it, except for Lythian and Luinelothiel, and Sendenial, and the random squirrel that appears in this chapter…
Special thanks to Liquid Dreamer, for a conversation with her inadvertently led to an idea that I am using for my plot. Thanks a lot! J I hope I can explain it as well as you did!
****Oh yes, and an extra special thanks to my new Beta, Amlugwen!! I'm sure this story is going to see some huge improvements with someone who isn't totally insane helping to limit my psychotic ideas! And three cheers for Orcs!! You're the best!*****
My wonderful reviewers:
Lady Of Legolas-::joins in on the Haldir smacking:: I know he was acting like a jerk, but it was too easy to just let him fall into Lythian's arms. Wasn't Legolas just wonderful? I think he did a good job getting a bit of sense into our friend Haldir…
Jadegoddess- Lythian is heartbroken- and it's more then it seems… well, I'm not going to give too much away…
HalandLeg4ever- I'm really glad you liked it. I wasn't going to leave a cliff-hanger, but what can I say? I'm evil… I just couldn't help myself! Here's another chapter coming right up…
Mirkwoodmaiden- ::joins in with the sniffling:: I do believe you read my mind. This coming chapter is going to feature a lot of thoughts, many of which will be Legolas's! I'm really glad you liked it…I put a lot of passion into the scene between Lythian and Haldir, and I hope that this next chapter doesn't disappoint!
Amlugwen- Hello again! Here's the next chapter that I've been working on (while fighting through our wonderful conversations about Orcs) and hopefully I won't keep you on Caradhras for too long ::evil grin:: it's so much MORE fun to keep you hanging off one of the misty mountains….
The Lady Of Light- sorry for the torture, I couldn't help but leave a cliff hanger. I do believe that I'm becoming sadistic- just like Haldir. Well, here's the follow-up to my nice little cliffy- chapter 10. If you'd like to Beta for me, the more the merrier! If you wouldn't mind dropping me an e-mail (it's in my profile) so I don't forget, I need all the help I can get!
Kawaii Elf Girl- ohhh… cookies ::hands them out to Lythian and Legolas and munches own:: YUMMY!! You are going to run out of cookies in accordance to the prophecy… ::hands over fresh box of cookies:: here you go! And I think the Lady does know about it, but you might want to ask her… I guess she knows, but she kind of wants to let Legolas/Haldir/Lythian/Aragorn work things out on their own before she intercedes… especially because everything is in such a delicate balance, and she knows a secret that might just throw it off…::evil laughter is heard, followed by the sounds of someone gobbling cookies::
Liquid Dreamer- ::looks sheepish:: I cheated and went to Lordoftherings.net to look at some of the Lorien scenery, and there were windows there…. I guess there isn't a really adequate description in the books, so I used the movies ::winces:: I really like windows, so I went with it. I know the whole thing between Lythian and Haldir is quick and abrupt.. that's meant to be for a reason that will soon be revealed ::evil laughter:: I'm glad you liked the song though, I LOVE it, it's so sad… ::starts to sing, ignoring glares and people putting hands over their ears::
Before I start chapter ten, I'd just like to add a few notes: I've had a pretty free summer, which is quickly coming to a close. Marching Band is in full swing, quickly followed by school, and so chapters are going to probably be updated less and less from this starting point. I haven't updated in over a week- this was due to the fact that my world temporarily fell apart. I knew that this summer was going to be a huge turning point for me and my friends, but actually seeing them wave goodbye was- nothing less then devastating for me. However, I'll live, and be happy, and see them again. Don't mind me, I'm just senselessly wallowing in bereavement…
So, this story is for you guys! Erik, Ryan, Julia, Courtney, Maddy, Allison, Laura, and Hilda- I love you!! And we'll meet again someday! I promise!
Elen Sila Lumenn' omentivelo!!
Ok, now that all the Soppy dedications are over, onward with the writing!
Halo of Tears
Chapter 10
Burn or Freeze?
Lythian sat on a mossy rock, several yards away from Galadriel's audience chamber. It was now dark, and the sounds of the forest filled the otherwise still air; those of owls hooting, and an occasional cry of a wolf or another beast that hunted at night. Aragorn sat across from her, but he quickly gave up his veil of calm and leapt up, pacing back and forth, ignoring roots and other obstacles that might trip him in the dark. A single lantern had been placed next to him, and it lit the scene eerily, making the dark trees seem to swim in light, their leaves occasionally rustling. If one had been tranquil and very observant, they would probably appreciate the beauty of the dark forest. Unfortunately, Aragorn was all too distracted and Lythian completely blind to it.
For the she elf indeed looked as though she might be blind. Her face was completely expressionless, her body stiff and straight; too stiff and straight to be natural. Not a single emotion played across her features; normally vivid purple eyes were dull, her white skin absent of the usual ethereal glow that graced the features of all elves. Aragorn frowned deeply, thinking that a weeping elf or even one full of anger would be an improvement to the statue that sat in front of him. This is just my day, he thought wryly the day that all the elves turn into marble. Well at least Gimli will be happy- Marble is no a bad mining stone. He turned to his charge.
"Lythian," Aragorn paused, at a complete loss for what to say. Legolas had the eloquence of words; he preferred to be blunt and to the point. Ah well, Aragorn shrugged, I guess I'll use my way. "Why? Why this sudden...change?" The man cursed himself for his clumsy word choice. The elf didn't move, didn't look up at him, didn't speak. The only sign that she was still alive was the slow movement of her chest that indicated that she was breathing.
Don't tell me that you understand
Lythian struggled to breath, feeling as though any moment, blackness would take her. Why had Haldir said something so cold, something that froze her soul. He had loved her…No! He loved the dead elf, not her, and he never would. Lythian tried to peer around the forest that she loved so much, but it was no longer there. All she could see was a black void that was steadily closing in on her.
You don't understand the pain, and you never will
He had rejected her simply, so why did it hurt so much? That couldn't be the origin of this terrible feeling
She was surrounded on all sides by ice, and she was becoming part of it, freezing away, freezing and burning at the same time…
Lythian blinked furiously, desperately trying to return to reality, but it was of no use. There was only pain, and cold. Not a numbing cold, but a burning one! It greedily ran through her, claiming her heart and soul as its own.
I do NOT want to see your face again…
Aragorn began to panic slightly. Though he was highly skilled in the art of healing, this was something he had never seen before, and he had no idea how to treat it. A lesson of Elrond's came to the back of his mind, unpleasantly returning to his memory. Grief! This was elvish grief, the fading away of the soul. But never was it this rapid!!
"Lythian!" Aragorn shouted, starting to lose track of reality himself, for the she-elf's eyes turned toward him, completely unseeing, and Lythian's body crumpled to the ground. Aragorn ran towards her, trying to cushion the fall. He gasped, finding that her entire body was ice cold and her pulse had slowed to an irregular, shallow pace.
"Oh Gods, by the valor, someone help!" Aragorn's shout echoed through the woods, but only a silence greeted his call. Silent as the grave the man thought fleetingly, shaking the she elf urgently to no avail.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Legolas glared at Haldir, but even under his mask of anger, he could feel himself beginning to tremble. It was too much; the secrets that had lurked in the family, his best friend's soul cracking, and the ever present feeling that it was never going to be alright- ever. Haldir just stared back at him blankly, alternating his gaze between the prince, and the gleaming blade that lay on the bed between them.
The older elf had felt a shock run through his body when Legolas had tossed him the blade, like a sudden jolt that had brought him back to the present. For he remembered the blade he had given the prince well, and the words that he himself had inscribed upon it. In tengar font, expertly engraved on the dagger were the words "Look not to the shadows of the past, but to the light of a bright future."
A bright future. It seemed that his life was swathed in shadow, and would remain that way. His light… Haldir choked on the thought, as though he had spoken aloud. His light was gone, vanquished by a black arrow. It would never shine again. And yet…
Lythian had offered it back rekindled. He could never accept such an offering though- it would not light his way, only burn him, and consume him in flames. Yet surely he would freeze if he allowed himself to be carried away by the tainted shadows of the past, the cold and forbidding path that he had taken. Burn or freeze?
Legolas could not take the tension anymore. Swiftly, the prince left the house and wandered aimlessly into the same woods that Lythian had earlier that evening.
It was tainted, my family, me, my life! The knowledge that the quiet peace of Mirkwood was only a superficial cover-up was too much for Legolas to digest, too much to accept. Why hadn't he known? Surely his mother's tears and his father's lack of sympathy should have told him something. And yet the young elf had never thought that anything was amiss, never asked, never knew.
Never knew
Legolas mentally berated himself. Somehow, he had always known, had always felt the tension that flowed through the halls of Mirkwood. Yet he had ignored it. And now, his mother was dead, and Haldir seemed not far behind. I could have done something, I could have… Yet the elf left that sentence unfinished, for he had no idea what he could have done. Had he investigated, would the younger version of himself been able to handle the results of his search? And if he brought the problem to the surface, would it not have exploded, leaving all of Mirkwood's royal family in tatters? Legolas shook his head vehemently. There were too many questions, too many unanswered inquiries that swathed the entire conflict in mystery. He had to piece everything together, slowly, yet there were so many things missing that the elf doubted he would be able to keep things straight. For all he knew, Haldir could be his father… Legolas shuddered at the very idea, and shook his head again, knowing the idea to be impossible. While he might have had his mother's eyes, the prince certainly had most of Thranduil features. After all his head shaking, Legolas's long hair fell in his eyes, but the elf ignored it and simply sat down, trying to hold onto his thoughts and keep his wits. He must not be blinded by the conflict with Haldir. He had been set off on a mission to assist the ring bearer, and he must complete that task if nothing else. I must keep myself intact, must focus on my mission, Legolas thought, sitting with his head resting on his knees. Forcing himself to relax and listen to the sounds of the night, the prince found that the events of the evening had worn him down to exhaustion. The lullaby of chirping crickets and the rustling of leaves sent the elf into a deep slumber.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Aragorn continued to shake Lythian, hoarsely still calling for help. He wasn't so far from dwellings that someone shouldn't hear him, yet still no one came. The stout hearted man was on the edge of weeping, for nothing he did caused Lythian to stir, and her pulse was getting more and more irregular with each passing moment. He closed his eyes in sheer exhaustion, and though he had only woken from a deep slumber a few hours ago, he felt as though he had not slept in decades.
"So it is worse then I thought," came a quiet voice from behind him. Aragorn jumped and looked around to find the Lady herself gazing worriedly at the limp elf in the man's grasp.
"Milady, I need some help, she's barely-"Aragorn said franticly, all but forgetting courtesy towards the monarch. However, Galadriel cut him off quickly.
'I am sorry I did not come sooner, but there was something I needed to consult." Galadriel said, kneeling next to him and looking directly into his eyes. Aragorn only nodded. "What do you know of the history of elves?" Galadriel asked the man, who couldn't avert his gaze.
"A little," Aragorn replied, having no notion of what this had to do with Lythian's condition. "I learned about the Simi-"Once again, The Lady cut him off, speaking quickly and articulately.
"Do you know of our souls? As long as the elder live, all of us are bound to live forever, or our souls are. If we die, our souls are brought back in different bodies. If we die selflessly, as Glorfindel did against the Balrog, we may come back in our old bodies." Aragorn had not known this, and he had not made the connection with Lythian yet. His head spun with this new information and the possibilities it created.
"What does this have to do with Lythian?" Aragorn asked, still confused. At that moment, The Lady pierced him again with her gaze, and information suddenly flooded into the man's brain. It wasn't in words, but in feelings, thoughts, and pictures. Scenes of a younger Haldir and a young she-elf whose name was Luinelothiel whirled through Aragorn's mind and the man's head all but burst with the huge amount of information. Galadriel had opened her mind to his, giving him all her memories of Haldir's past up to the present.
Luinelothiel
Love
Devastation
Mirkwood
Loss
Cold
When all the information had been passed, Aragorn bowed his head and fought off the blackness that threatened him. Such a passing of information stunned him, and it was several minutes before he dared raise his head, that now pounded with a resounding headache. It however, did not stop the sudden revelation that the man had, as he looked down at the unconscious elf in front of him. The Lady broke the silence that had come over the three of them while she shared the memories.
"I was not sure, but my mirror is infallible. Love and those bound to each other by it are strong. I believe that when Legolas reopened Haldir's mind to memories and he began to hurt again, Lythian's soul also hurt, and was also opened, spilling out memories of past lives.
Weakly Aragorn replied,
"So she- Lythian. Lythian is…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Haldir sat still, trying to run through his feelings which had turned into a raging ocean of conflicting ideas and incoherency. He urgently looked around for a single thing that he could grasp as an infallible fact, something that would never change, never shift away from him, yet there was nothing. Years ago, Luinelothiel had served that purpose, yet she had slipped away, leaving Haldir to drown in his own mind. He had solved that problem by climbing onto an iceberg of sorts, numbing thought and feeling. Now Lythian had melted his haven of an iceberg, and he was left again to struggle against the raging waves and currents of distress.
Lythian had been there, had offered him a haven from the
storm, and he had pushed her away, into raging waters that would swallow
her. She had offered him her life, and
he rejected it. Perhaps he was the
monster that Legolas had described, perhaps he should just take that knife and…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Legolas was deep in a dream that sported hazy faces of his father and mother, and some of Haldir holding a knife. They were all crowded together in the main throne room of Mirkwood, though strangely, only his mother sat on a throne, and Haldir and Thranduil faced each other, both of their faces showing only hatred toward each other. This seemed to upset his mother beyond reason, and Luinelothiel burst into tears. She began to run towards him, away from Legolas's glaring father and friend. His mother held out her hands to him, and Legolas reached for them, wanting to take the burden from her, the burden that was now on his shoulders.
"Help, please help!" Luinelothiel wept through her tears. But the voice quickly changed, taking on a masculine form and getting louder and louder.
"Help"
"Help"
"Help!"
Legolas was thrown out of his slumber rudely by the sound of his close friend shouting in the distance. Without thinking, the elf leapt to his feet and followed the sound, for Aragorn was normally calm about almost any situation, and the panic in his voice assured that something was terribly wrong.
~*~*~*~*~
Haldir reached slowly toward the knife, tempted by Legolas's sinister offer. Though his mind tried to resist, his will was much stronger, and his fingers were extremely close to it when something caused him to jump back, startled.
Someone was calling urgently for help in the distance. Haldir thought he recognized the voice, but he couldn't be sure. The elf began to reach back towards the knife, but this time his mind was stronger. You are the March Warden! He told himself fiercely. You are to help anyone in trouble within the borders of your country! Shaking himself, Haldir jumped to his feet and left the house, ignoring the pain that coursed through his body, frantically trying to reach the one in distress.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Aragorn found that his mouth was dry, and he couldn't bring himself to say the next words, for he despaired at what would come if his worst fears were confirmed. Luckily, he was saved the duty, for at that very moment, both Legolas and Haldir burst towards them, both breathing heavily and looking wildly for whoever was in anguish. Simultaneously, their eyes found Lythian's limp body, and they chorused together,
"Lythian!"
However, Galadriel shook her head and turned to Aragorn. Both Haldir and Legolas looked confused and turned to the man for an explanation of the Lady's actions. The man swallowed and said a quick prayer to whichever Gods were listening before speaking slowly and reluctantly.
"Not Lythian," He said, trying to bring moisture to his paper dry mouth.
"She...her…her soul… This,"
Aragorn pointed to the unconscious elf.
"Is Luinelothiel."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Well, that's it for now!! I tried to explain the re-incarnation factor without getting too much into it. It's all explained in the Simirallion, but I really didn't want to get too deep! I'll update as soon as I can, but I'm not sure when that will be!
Please R/R!!!!
Wind to thy Wings,
Lady-Daine