@Alkvingiel : Your life is dull and you need some excitement, mellon? I suggest you get yourself on a roller coaster. That will be really exciting!
@Lisseyelen aka Lady V : Sorry. I didn't even warn you about the horrid cliffie, did I? Mmm. I might do it again!
@Manders1953 : Yes. He just had to be naked. I can't believe they didn't even let Leggy go bare-chested in the film. I mean, neither did Aragorn but…hey! They let us see Frodo's chest, right? Oh yeah, I just go all the way. Okay, girl. Okay. I'll cut it down for you. He! He! (I'll go ogling Leggy's nude drawing that a friend had given to me. Believe me. It's totally…oh my!) Oh, be prepared for another Leggy's nude scene. The absolute last, I promise you!
@szhismine : He was 'touched' twice, that's true. Get well soon. The bumped knee, I mean.
@Kayo : It's in 'Terrifying Darkness' where Leggy said he had a feeling he won't be seeing the seagulls again. That's before he got blind and was getting some kind of a premonition. Peed in his pants? (Fell off her chair in a fit of giggles!) Gee, mellon! You put such an image in my head!
@MoroTheWolfGod : Elrond? But he's in Valinor already.
@Menthol : I love your flag!
@Lucy : Your cat chewed your arm? What did you feed the animal with? Radioactive cat food?
@Karina : Legolas' worst day it certainly is! He is now proceeding to fight me for compensation in court for making his life a living Mordor! Okay. Intermediate Accounting is not too bad. Wait until you get to Advance Accounting and you'll begin to wish you took different field! And Happy LOTR day to you too!
@Aranel of Mirkwood : I would love to publish this series but I might get caught for exploiting the Tolkien's copyright and all that! Ha! Ha!
@Brazgirl : Don't worry. All of us can take care of him. We'll give him lemonade.
@Ryoko Lasgalen : Ah…I'm not sure if the Haradrim ever heard the word 'paper'. They are pretty primitive, I think. They might appreciate the gift of pen and paper you gave them. And your gift to Aragorn is nice too! LOL!
@Gwyn : Sorry. I just had to stop there. He! He!
@layla146 : I will give you more angst, my dear, just as requested.
@Fire Breathing Ferret : I did? Did I say that?
@beginning-end-314 : I'm getting better. My flu is almost gone. Thank you for asking. Sorry about your exam though.
@Young Storyteller : I'm thinking of getting the ROTK game too. I'll try to find the time to read and review your fic. I promise.
NOTE : This chapter is still categorized as R-rated. You'll know why.
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Legolas awoke to the scent of something burning. He wrinkled his nose and blinked his eyes open. A pile of corpses was on fire several yards in front of him. The late afternoon wind blew the thick smoke directly into his face, nearly gagging him with its hideous stench. To his dismay, part of the smell came from his own burnt flesh.
The elf looked down, finally realizing that he had been cut off his bonds and was lying on his side among the tall grass. He was still naked but the Haradrim had draped a horse blanket over him. Of the men though, there were no sign of them. Legolas had been left alone.
With trembling hands, he swiped one edge of the blanket and took stock of his injuries. The writings from the burning poker were all over him but his eyes were too blurry for him to read it. There were more scripts down his arms and legs, but he didn't remember having them burnt on. The men must have done that to him when he had finally passed out from the sheer agony.
After much difficulty, he finally managed to get to his feet. Grimacing as he wrapped the blanket more firmly around him, Legolas walked gingerly to the burning pile. To his great sadness, he saw the dead bodies of his escorts, intertwined with the slain Haradrim.
Wincing at the heat coming from the fire, Legolas began to search around for his weapons, but to no avail. He could hardly stop the tears from falling then. Losing the wonderful bow of Galadriel was truly devastating, but to lose the daggers given to him by Keldarion was even more heartbreaking. That was the most powerful memento he had of his brother, the one that had saved his life and those of others' countless of times.
Glancing forlornly at the burning pile one last time, Legolas started to head back to Minas Tirith by foot. Up ahead in the sky, the stars began to appear to light his way.
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Prince Imrahil was not in the best of moods that night. After the council, he had ridden back to Dol Amroth only to have his mount lose a shoe after only a league into the trip. He and his troop had to turn back to Minas Tirith to get it fixed. More time was wasted in the stable as they had to search for the appropriate shoe for his Rohan bred stallion.
Imrahil had received the magnificent animal from his son-in-law, King Éomer, after he wedded the prince's only daughter, Lothiriel. The Rohirrims used specially made shoes on their horses and the Gondor stable had no supply of them, so Imrahil had to wait even more long hours while a substitute was made. By then, he was already thinking of firing his own stable master when he got back home.
On good graces, Aragorn had invited the prince to stay for dinner. Imrahil had accepted, and immediately wished he hadn't. The king had been quiet and withdrawn, as if his best friend had just died. Even Arwen's tender smiles and easy conversation could not lift his dampened spirit. To see the king so miserable, and knowing part of the reason was due to a certain elven prince, Imrahil wished he was elsewhere to escape the gloomy atmosphere.
As he walked back to the stable, Imrahil also wished they had settled the problem with his stallion by now. If not, he was going to find a way to fire the Gondor's stable master too!
A sudden commotion from upfront caught his attention. He craned his neck to take a better look and saw a glimpse of a familiar golden head among a crowd that had begun to gather. Imrahil's heart involuntarily beat faster.
"It's Lord Legolas!"
"What happened to him?"
"Is he all right?"
The crowd was murmuring among themselves as they stared in puzzlement at the tall blanket-clad figure walking unsteadily towards the entrance of the citadel. Imrahil pushed his way through and stopped dead in his tracks, right in front of the elf. "Legolas?" he asked tentatively, greatly alarmed to see the elf in such a condition.
Legolas lifted his gaze off the ground and stared dazedly back at the man. "I need…to see the king. I bring him…a message."
Imrahil took a while to make a move. Then, wrapping a protective arm around the elf, he barked to the surrounding crowd, "Go back to your business! Nothing to see here!"
The spectators reluctantly dispersed, still whispering, as Imrahil steered Legolas away towards the citadel. As they got inside the security of the white walls, Imrahil instantly demanded audience with the king. "Tell him we'll wait in the parlor near the receiving hall," Imrahil told the guards and guided Legolas towards the said chamber.
Legolas was on the verge of collapse but he refused to sit down. He kept standing, slightly swaying on his feet as they waited for Aragorn to appear. Imrahil eyed the elf warily, prepared to catch him should he topple to the floor.
Aragorn quickly arrived several minutes later. The excited note in the guards' voice just now had added urgency to his strides. "Legolas?" The king paled the moment he saw his friend. He immediately knew something terrible had happened.
"I bring you a message…from the Haradrim," Legolas quietly said, his eyes downcast. Imrahil and Aragorn glanced at each other, curious and anxious at the same time.
"What message?" Aragorn asked, getting more worried from the lack of expression he saw on Legolas' face.
The elf lifted his gaze and stared directly at the king. "I am the message."
Without any reserve he usually had in normal circumstances, Legolas swiped the blanket off his shoulders and let it fall to the floor, revealing his body for the two men to see.
Imrahil gasped while Aragorn stared wide-eyed in horror. "Ai Elbereth…"
There was a long, intense silence afterwards, which no one in the room dared to break. The two men were too shocked to do or say anything except gaze disbelievingly at the nasty, burnt scripts all over the elf's body.
Legolas' vision began to blur as his head spun crazily about. He started to tremble, waves of nausea washing madly over him. He couldn't take it anymore. His eyes rolled in their sockets before he crumpled into a heap on the floor.
"Legolas!"
The two men simultaneously reacted, quickly dropping down beside the unconscious elf. Tears of sorrow and fury were swimming in Aragorn's eyes as he gathered Legolas' limp form into his arms. "Ai, Legolas. Legolas…" the king whimpered as he gently rocked his friend.
Imrahil grabbed the abandoned blanket and tucked it securely around the elf. "Lord Aragorn," he said, gripping the other man's shoulder. "He needs to be tended to."
Aragorn looked up. Imrahil nearly flinched to see the absolute rage in the king's eyes. "I'll tend to him," the king said through gritted teeth, trying very hard to control his growing hatred. "But I want you to do something for me. Go out there with your finest warriors and kill all the Haradrim!"
"What about the message…?"
"I don't give a damn!" Aragorn yelled. "Just go finish them all! And bring me back their heads!"
TBC….