Ok, not much to say about this chapter. Um…they get back to Elrond and Gandalf. That's about it. I saw Return of the King today! Best film in the world! If you haven't seen it yet, then don't read this!
Didn't Legolas look absolutely gorgeous at the end? Wow. They all washed their hair; it's a miracle! Legolas' always looked fine anyway, but hey, it looked even better!
Ok, that's that. I just had to say it. If you haven't seen it yet…WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?!?! Go now and watch it!
Hint: Go to the toilet beforehand. ^_^
~Lainfaer~
sugaricing- I know, I think they're all cute too! ^_^
Elerrina- Er…26 chapters I think! Heehee. ^_^
Gwyn- A bit more rest. Imladris is their next destination! ^_^
Chapter 14: Rest and Reassurance.
The Sun shone high in the sky, and birds followed the tired party of Elves to the end of the Pass. The road was much clearer now, and easier to travel along. There were less rocks, and more flowering shrubs. The trees were taller and greener here, and the Sun could slink her rays into the smallest places.
The horses were tiring, even though the pace had been so slow. It was hot, and they were running low on water supplies. All of Elladans' groups' food had been destroyed in the fire, and Legolas did not have enough for almost two whole parties. The stream had disappeared back up into the mountains, and so they could not fetch any fresh water.
It was dry and dusty, yet the surroundings kept the Elves' spirits up. They loved all growing things, and so took pleasure in just admiring the surrounding undergrowth and plants. They could see Elronds' encampment now, and knew that they were out of the danger zone.
Legolas smiled as two of his friends came galloping up to them. They had been placed in Gandalfs' group, and from the looks on their faces, were worried sick about their Prince.
"Legolas, thank goodness you're alright. Everyone has been so worried about you and Prince Elladan," one of them announced.
"What happened?" the other asked.
"Please, both of you, calm down. I am perfectly fine, and so is Elladan. We just a few…mishaps along the way. Now, go back, and tell Lord Elrond and Gandalf to get food and drink ready for us. We also need warm beds, and some of us are slightly injured. Thank you." He shook his head as they galloped back to the camp.
"Friends?" Dolenmíl asked from beside him. She had been quiet all day.
He looked at her. "Yes, I have known them since childhood. Always worrying about me…seeing as I was always in trouble. But to me, it always seemed that they were the ones who got me into trouble in the first place!" He smiled at the memories.
They were given a very warm reception when they arrived. Elrond went straight to his son to check him over, and Gandalf went to Legolas.
"Legolas, what happened?" he asked, concern and confusion both clouding his face.
"It's a long story Mithrandir. To cut it short, Orcs attacked Elladans' group; they set fire to the carriage, and left everyone for dead. They were all killed, but so were many of the Elves. We arrived a short time later, extinguished the fire, and rescued as many as we could, and then they joined our group. Then we made our way slowly back here. We only had one carriage, which had to hold twice as many people, so we had to go slower to avoid any more accidents." He looked at Gandalf, whose eyebrows seemed to have disappeared up under the brim of his hat.
"Right, you need rest," he said after a few moments of shock. "Come with me." He led the tired Prince into a tent, and checked him for any wounds.
"These burns were treated well," he said, bathing them again. "Who looked at them."
"Dolenmíl."
"Ah yes, I have heard of her healing skills. She has quite a few skills it seems."
"She is rather talented, I have to agree with you on that."
"You like her?"
Legolas blushed slightly.
"She is a worthwhile friend, most definitely. But nothing
more than that."
"If you say so," Gandalf said softly, getting to his feet and fetching
Legolas a clean tunic.
"What do you mean by that Mithrandir?" Legolas asked, frowning a little.
Gandalf smiled at the
Prince before him. "Legolas, it is clear that you have feelings for her. The
way you say her name, the way you praise her. Just be careful."
"Why?" he asked, putting the tunic on.
"You know about her past,
and the things she has been through. She may not be ready for anyone else to
enter her life yet."
"I understand," he replied, smoothing the material down.
They went back outside, and into Elladans' tent. Elrond was treating his son in here, and Elladan smiled at Legolas as he entered.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, indicating to the arm with the burn.
"Much better thank you. How about you?"
"Fine, just a few cuts and bruises." Elrond made a small sound in his throat, but said nothing more. It appeared that Elladan had a few more than just 'cuts and bruises'.
Elladan raised one eyebrow at Legolas, and the Prince smiled.
"So, what happened with you two?" Elrond asked, bandaging his sons' hand.
Legolas and Elladan looked at each other. Elladan inclined his head slightly towards Gandalf, and Legolas nodded.
//So he has told Mithrandir. Ok then…//
"There was a fire Adar…" Elladan began, but Elrond looked so sharply at him that he stopped.
"A fire?"
The Elf-Lord turned to look at Gandalf. The wizard showed no expression of either shock or knowing. "That was the smoke we saw, a couple of days ago." He looked back at Elladan.
"In the small wood?"
Elladan nodded. "Yes. We were ambushed by a large group of Orcs. They set fire to the surrounding trees, to scare the horses. We tried to protect the carriage, but they threw burning torches at it. We killed many of them, but more and more started to appear. I went into the carriage, before it started burning, to try and get those inside out, but then they set it alight. I was trapped inside, so I just tried to protect Elrohir from the smoke. I covered his body with mine, and held on for as long as I could. But eventually, the smoke was just too much, and I passed out. The next thing I know, I'm surrounded by Mirkwood Elves, leaning against a tree, and struggling to breathe. A few minutes later, Legolas turns up, and he tells me that his group found mine just in time. They put out the flames, and rescued as many as they could from the carriage. Legolas got me and Elrohir out, when the carriage itself was still burning." He looked at Legolas and smiled. Legolas just smiled back. He could feel Elrond looking at him, and he forced his eyes to look back at the Elf-Lord.
Elrond was also smiling at
him. "I am eternally grateful to you Legolas, Son of Thranduil. You saved both
my sons lives. How can I ever repay you?"
"There is no need my Lord. Any friend would do it. The twins are the
greatest friends I have ever had, and I would do anything for them." He smiled,
and looked back at his feet. Now that it had been told that
way, he felt quite shy, even embarrassed about the whole affair.
Elrond smiled. Legolas would never announce the fact that he had saved the twins lives; he wasn't like that. He would rather it was kept quiet. All he would want, was a small thank you, and then that, would be that. He turned back to Elladan, who was grinning at the red-faced Prince of Mirkwood.
"Continue Elladan," he instructed.
"Well, once the flames were all put out, we searched around for everyone in my group. The scattered horses were all recovered, but many of the Elves had either perished in the fire, or been killed by the Orcs. Many were found dead, lying amongst the Orc corpses. But some had survived, and were looking for the others, so they were all spread around. We joined Legolas' group, and made our way here. We had to go slowly though, as the carriage contained more people, and was at a higher risk of being damaged. We buried the dead, and marked the grave with an engraved stone. That was all we could do at the time."
"You did a good job," Elrond assured his son. "Now, we must go and see all the others who were with you. Food and drink is set out, so go and have something to eat ands drink whilst Mithrandir and I check them over." He ushered the two out of his tent, and they went to refresh themselves.
After a meal of bread, fruit, and wine, the Princes retired to their tents. Well, Legolas' tent actually. They wanted to talk in private, and Elladans' tent was too near to his fathers.
"Well, at least we'll have a good story to tell when we get back to Imladris," Elladan said, sitting down on the floor, and leaning back against the foot of Legolas' small bed.
Legolas leant up on his elbows. His boots lay discarded by the tent flap, and he was laying on his front on his bed. He looked down at Elladan. "Will there be anyone left to listen though?"
Elladan tilted his head up to look back at Legolas. The Prince suddenly looked very drawn and worried. He twisted round and knelt up. "Of course there will be. There has to be," he added quietly. "Surely the Dagnir-o Lóre hasn't taken over the whole of Imladris already?"
"It didn't take him long to take those people from Mirkwood," Legolas replied glumly. He kicked a pillow with his feet. It flew through the air, and landed by Elladan.
"Sorry."
"Idiot," Elladan said, grinning and hitting Legolas round the head with it. Legolas ducked, caught the pillow, and aimed it back at Elladan. Then, a full scale pillow fight started out.
Legolas grabbed another pillow, and they ran around his tent, each trying to hit the other. It was a good way of forgetting their troubles, and being themselves for a while.
Children, in other words.
"Now, now boys, behave," said a stern, but kind voice from the tent door.
They stopped running around, and looked to see whom the speaker was. Dolenmíl stood there, one hand on her hip, the other holding the flap open. She smiled at them. "I was just wondering if either of you wished to see Prince Elrohir before we put guards outside the tent for the night. Once they are there, no one is allowed in, family or not I'm afraid."
The pillows were chucked back onto the bed, and they ran out of the tent. Dolenmíl sighed. "Boys," she muttered, and followed them, noting that Legolas had left his boots behind.
"Ooh, cold ground!" he squealed as they ran towards the tent where the sleeping were.
"Why didn't you put your boots back on then you twat?" Elladan asked, grinning. Legolas scowled.
"I didn't really have that much time."
They reached the tent, and quietly entered. The candles in here burned low, and the sleeping lay on beds all around the edge of the tent. The small flames flickered in a gentle breeze that blew through the tent flap, creating strange-shaped shadows on the canvas walls.
They soon found Elrohir, and sat down beside his bed. He looked pale they noticed, and his hair was startlingly dark against his cream skin. His eyes were shut, and the Z on his forehead was very noticeable.
"Has that become more defined since he received it?" Elladan asked, pointing at the Z.
Legolas looked at it. Sure enough, it looked deeper and clearer than before. "Do you think it means the Dagnir-o Lóre is growing stronger?" he asked, looking back at Elladan.
He shrugged. "Maybe. Perhaps, every time he ensnares a new victim, the other Z's grow bolder."
"I'll go and look at the others," Legolas whispered. He got to his feet, and walked silently around the tent, looking at each person's forehead.
As they had guessed, some Z's were slightly bolder than others were. A few were still rather faint, but others looked as if they had literally been stamped into the skin.
He shuddered a little as he walked round. It was so quiet in here, but it was not a peaceful quiet. It was an eerie silence. He knew he should be able to hear these people, but he couldn't. They felt so far away from him, so distant. These were his own people, whom he should feel extremely close to, yet he felt so far apart from them all. It was if a great barrier, a strong wall had been placed between him and his own kin. This angered him, and it made him even more determined to destroy this demon, and free his people.
He tiptoed back over to Elladan, who now had hold of Elrohirs' hand.
"I'll leave you for a bit," he whispered, placing a hand on Elladans' shoulder.
"He's so cold," Elladan whispered, and Legolas could hear tears in his friends' voice. He knelt back down beside him, and felt Elrohirs' hand. Sure enough, he was freezing.
"He shouldn't be this cold, surely?" Elladan asked, looking at Legolas. He could see the tears in his friends' eyes, yet did not know what to say or do. A single tear crept out of Elladans' eye, and down his porcelain cheek.
Legolas gently brushed it away. "Elladan, do not worry. Don't cry. Elrohir wouldn't want you to."
"I can't help it Legs. I feel so separated from him. He feels like a total stranger to me. That isn't right. We are twins, linked together in a special way, and nothing should be able to tear us apart like this has." He looked back at the floor.
Legolas felt totally helpless. So he did the only thing he knew might help. He gathered Elladan into his arms, and held him like a brother. He felt Elladan let go of Elrohirs' ice cold hand, and slip his arms round his waist. His head lay against Legolas' chest, and for the first time since Elrohir had been hurt, he cried.
Legolas knelt there, whispering soft words of comfort to his distraught friend. He knew not of the pain Elladan was going through, as he had not suffered it himself. All he could do for now, was try and reassure Elladan that his twin would be all right, and everything would soon be back to normal.
"Shh Dan, its ok," he whispered. The elder twin silently sobbed against his chest, gripping to the back of Legolas' tunic.
"I can't…do this…any more…Legs," he whispered between sobs. "I'm breaking up. Every day I go without Elrohir by my side, I can feel myself growing weaker. I need him here with me. I can't go on for much longer Legs. I need him back."
"I know, I know," Legolas whispered, not knowing what else he could say. He had never seen either of the twins reduced to tears before, and he had to admit, it did scare him.
"What will happen to me Legs?" Elladan asked fearfully, dark eyes looking up into Legolas' clear ones. "If the Dagnir-o Lóre is not destroyed, and everyone falls under his spell? What will happen to all of us?"
"Do not worry Dan. We will not fail. We can defeat this creature, and Imladris and Mirkwood will be saved. Elrohir will wake up, so will everyone else, and everything will be ok again."
"But how can you promise such a thing?" he asked, moving away from the Prince. "How can you be certain that you will destroy him, and everything will be normal once again?" He gazed at Legolas, tears still brimming. "Do not make promises that you know you may not be able to hold to." He stood up, and wiped his eyes. Legolas also rose.
"I'm going back to my tent. See you in the morning." He took one last look at his brother, then quickly left, the tent door flapping behind him.
Legolas looked after him despairingly. How could he assure Elladan that he would destroy the Dagnir-o Lóre, that his brother would wake up and be all right? He started to follow.
"Are you alright Legolas?" asked a gentle voice.
Legolas smiled at the approaching Dolenmíl. She must have sensed his sadness as soon as he left the tent.
"I am fine, do not worry Dolenmíl," he answered, smiling at her.
She frowned as she neared him. "No you're not. I can tell you're not. Do you wish to talk about it?"
"Like I said, do not worry yourself about my troubles. I can deal with them." He smiled, and made to walk back to his tent.
She stopped him by placing a hand on his arm. "Please Legolas, tell me what's wrong. I thought we were friends."
"We are, but I do not want to burden you with my worries. See you in the morning." He shrugged her hand away, and walked back to his tent.
Told you there wasn't much in this chapter. Oh well, please review. AND GO AND WATCH RotK IF YOU HAVEN'T!!!! ^_^
~Lainfaer~
By the way, I've just put the first chapter of a new story up. Please go and read and tell me what you think. It's called 'Fair Flowers Never Fade'. Cheers. ^_^
~Lainfaer~
