Yippee, loads of reviews! Yes, I killed the horse! I didn't want to, but it seemed the 'right' thing to do, if you get my meaning! Ok, now I've confused myself…

There are 26 chapters in total. So, not long till the end! Thank you to all my wonderful readers and reviewers, I love you all! ^_^

I'll stop blabbing now. On with chapter 22…

~Lainfaer~

Elerrina- Yep, the girlies always do it for the boys! You're right, if Nifredil hadn't gotten in the way, the Dagnir-o Lóre would have escaped. She's such a clever girlie, and she's all mine! Yay. Thanks for reviewing. Have another cookie! ^_^

Idirl Miriel- I know, sorry about killing the horse! But she kinda sacrificed herself by staying in the stables, so it was a 'suitable' death, if you understand my meaning. That sounds so crap when I look at it! Thanks for reviewing, and have  cookie. ^_^

shadowkitty- Thanks for all your reviews! I'm getting so much stick about killing the horse! Oh well, its done now. What's done cannot be undone. (Ooh that sounded professional!) Thanks for reviewing. Have a cookie on me. ^_^

sugaricing- I loved her too! *sniff sniff* She was a very clever horse, (must get her brains from the author!) Just joking! ^_^

Go Leggy, go Leggy!!! ^_^

Thanks for reviewing. You can have a cookie.

Deana- Yes, the horse is dead. I posted ASAP as you requested. A week isn't bad ya know! Have a cookie, and thanks for reviewing. ^_^

Gwyn- I know, very underhanded of me. But Leggy is injured…There could be after-affects….Keep reading, and I promise there is a bit more…how shall I put it…pain for our fave Elf? Heeheehee…

Thanks for reviewing. Have a cookie. ^_^

Yeah, yeah guys…I KILLED THE HORSE, OK? All of you said how wrong it was! Grr….

But, did you like the last line? On the last chapter? About her soft, brown eyes closing for the last time…

Just thought I'd refresh your memories! ^_^

PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO REVIEW!!!

It would be very much appreciated. ^_^

~Lainfaer~

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Chapter 22: Traumas and Toilet Breaks.

All was silent. No one moved, no one spoke. Gandalf and the Elves outside, felt something die, yet they knew not what. The blood trickled slowly out of the stable, deep red. They looked down at it, fear coursing through their veins. They looked up at the stable door to see a figure limping out. He held a sword limply in his hand, stained with blood the same colour as that of the blood flowing out of the stable. As the sunlight touched him, they cried out in relief.

"Legolas!" They all ran towards him, but stopped when they saw his expression. Only Gandalf continued to his side, and he quite clearly saw the tears.

Legolas looked up at him, dropped Pelatus, and collapsed onto the ground.

Everyone did rush forward then, but Elladan got to Gandalfs' side first. He had placed Elrohir on the ground a short way away, and had forgotten his twin for the time being.

"Everyone stay back," he ordered, feeling Legolas' sweating forehead. "He needs air." Everyone did as they were told, and waited for Elladans' instructions.

Behind them, Elrohir opened his eyes and looked around, rubbing the sleep out of them. "What the…where am I? Dan?"

Elladan spun round at the sound of his brothers' voice. He left Legolas with Gandalf and rushed over. He helped Elrohir to his feet and embraced him.

"Thank Eru," he whispered, his head resting on Elrohirs' shoulder, hands tangling in his hair.

"Dan calm down, I'm ok," Elrohir assured him. He pulled back and wiped away his twins' tears. "Don't cry, I'm here now." They held each other again.

All around the House, the sleeping started to awake. Arwen woke, and the first thing she felt was the pain in her arm. She cradled it, then realised she was covered by a cloak. She knew by the woodland smell that it belonged to Legolas.

"Legolas!" she cried, scrambling to her feet. She took the cloak with her and ran outside. 

Down in the kitchen, the cooks started to wake up, as well as Dolenmíl. Her first groggy thought was;

//Legolas!//

She too, scrambled up and headed outside. 

Gandalf looked over the young Prince, concern written clearly all over his face. The twins joined him. "Will he be ok?" Elladan asked.

"I'm not sure. We need you father here. Ride out and fetch him."

"I'll go," Rédethuil offered, and went to find his horse. He then galloped back up the mountain path to where Elrond and the rest were waiting.

Arwen got outside first, still clutching the cloak. She saw everyone huddled over something by the stables, saw the blood, and stopped dead in her tracks. She knew what Legolas had had to do, and now the worst thoughts started creeping into her mind.

"Legolas!" she cried, her feet coming back to life, and she ran over. Everyone moved aside for her. The twins grabbed her as she tried to get nearer. "Wait Arwen," Elrohir told her. She looked at him in disbelief.

"Elrohir?"

He nodded. "Sleep well?"
"Yes, you?"
"Not too bad." They grinned and held each other.

Dolenmíl ran out, but she didn't stop. Again, everyone moved aside for her, and the twins didn't stop her from kneeling beside her Prince. She took his hand, which was stained with blood.

"Legolas," she choked through her tears. "Wake up Legolas, please."

He was breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling. Sweat coated his fair face, and his hair was a mess, all tangled and knotted. His sapphire eyes were shut tight, and his other hand was curled into a fist. Pelatus lay where it had fallen, dark red with blood.

"Please Legolas, wake up," she begged again, kissing his hand.

Slowly, ever so slowly, his eyes opened. She breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh thank Eru. Legolas it's me, Dolenmíl. Can you hear me?" He squeezed her hand in answer. His throat was dry, and all he could taste was dust. He gazed up at her.

"N…nif…redil…Nifredil," he choked. She frowned in puzzlement. "What about her?"
"Protected me…she…died…in…stable. Look after her." His eyes glazed over and he fell into unconsciousness again.

She looked towards the stable. "He says Nifredil has been killed. Search the stable."

But before anyone could enter, a large cloud of black dust swirled out of the door, blew over them all, and then got blown away up over the mountains by the wind. It set fear into everyone's hearts.

"What was that?" Elladan asked fearfully, watching it go.

"The Dagnir-o Lóre, or what was left of him. Don't worry, he cannot come back," Gandalf told him.

A few Elves went into the stable, and reported that the Dagnir-o Lóre was there, well and truly dead. Also lying in there, was Nifredil, the sword still embedded in her flanks.

"Do as he says, look after her. Remove the sword, and clean her up," Dolenmíl commanded them, her voice coming strongly through her tears.

Elladan lifted Legolas up, and they bore him inside to the Healing Rooms. All the Elves were awake now, and they bowed their heads as the mournful group passed by, praying for their Prince to live. Elladan lay him down on a bed, and started tending to him.

"Adar will have to re-set his knee, and it will be very painful," he said grimly, examining Legolas' dislocated knee.

"Hopefully he'll still be unconscious, and won't feel it," Elrohir hoped.

"The pain could wake him up," Elladan said, bathing Legolas' forehead with a damp cloth. "He feels as if he has a high fever. Fetch some athelas from Adars' stores."

Elrond soon arrived, plus everyone else from Mirkwood. He took over from his son, looking over Legolas and healing any wounds.

"This will hurt," he said, frowning at Legolas' knee. "Oh well, here goes."

Legolas was lucky he was unconscious as Elrond pushed his knee back into the proper place. Dolenmíl was sat beside Legolas, gripping his hand tightly.

Elladan was right. The pain did wake Legolas up. As the knee popped back into place, his eyes opened, and he bit his lip with pain. As soon as it was over, he flopped back onto the bed, breathing heavily, sweat dripping from his forehead.

Dolenmíl bathed it gently with the cloth. "Shh Legolas, its ok," she whispered. He looked up at her, eyes still wide with pain. "Dolenmíl," he whispered.

"Yes, I'm here. So are the twins, and Arwen." She stroked his forehead, smiling at him.

He blinked a few times, eyes adjusting to the light. Now that the shadow had been lifted from Imladris, it was once again bright and sunny. Yet happiness was still absent.

Arwen came to stand beside Dolenmíl. She still held his cloak. "Diolla lle Legolas," she whispered. She kissed his cheek, and lay his cloak over the back of a nearby chair.

The twins walked up next. "You always manage to get yourself injured, no matter what you do," Elladan said softly, smiling. Legolas smiled back. "Not always…my fault though."

"Yes actually, it normally is," Elrohir argued. Legolas smiled at his friends, then shut his eyes.

"Now can everyone please leave. Legolas needs plenty of rest to recover fully," Elrond told them, ushering them away. They left, but with a certain amount of grumbling and complaining.

Eventually, only Elrond and Gandalf were left with the Mirkwood Prince. "Will he ever fully recover?" Gandalf asked, taking Dolenmíls' empty chair beside Legolas.

"I should think so, though it will be a long, slow recovery," Elrond answered, refilling the basin of water on the bedside table. "Messages must be sent to Thranduil regarding the events. I'll go and find Glorfindel. He'll arrange it. Any changes, inform me immediately." Gandalf nodded, and Elrond left.

Gandalf looked at the now peacefully sleeping Prince. He smiled. "Well done Legolas. I knew you could do it." He pulled the blanket up a bit further to Legolas' chin, and sat in silence, watching and waiting for him to awake.

****

The twins wandered the quiet halls of the House, waiting for their friend to recover.

"It's been three days now. Surely he must be better now," Elrohir said in frustration.

"Those wounds will take a long time to heal," Elladan replied softly.

"But his knee is back in place. That was the only injury he sustained."

"He is absolutely exhausted, that's the real wound. It takes a lot of strength to kill a demon!"

"Suppose so." He looked out a window down into the gardens. "Ah, duck!"

"Eh?" Elladan too, looked out the window at what his brother was hiding from. He laughed. "I don't think she's bothered about you any more dear brother. You can stand up now."

"I thought she was leaving for Lothlórien," Elrohir replied, not moving from the floor.

"Clearly not," Elladan told him, watching Íríma walk around with her friend. He scowled at her retreating back.

//Stupid cow!//

"Have you got anything I could throw at her?" he asked Elrohir.

He passed up a ring. It was a plain silver band.

"Did she give this to you?"

"Yes, throw away dear brother, throw away."

Elladan leaned back, and hurled the ring towards Írímas' head. It bounced off the back.

"Right on the back...woah!" He ducked down beside his brother as she turned angrily around, looking for who or what had hit her.

They peered over the windowsill. She had picked up the ring, and was looking up at the windows of the House. From where they knelt, they could see tears in her eyes.

Elrohir felt a twinge of regret at her expression, but he pushed it firmly away.

//She's not worth it, she's not worth it...//

She walked off again, her friend putting a comforting arm round her shoulders.

The twins walked back down the corridor, laughing and joking.

"I am so happy everything is back to normal," Elladan said happily.

"No it isn't. Legolas should be here with us, and he isn't."

"I heard my name," said a cheery voice. The twins stopped dead.

"Legolas!" they shouted simultaneously.

He grinned at them from round the next corner. "Hello."

"What do you think you are doing!" Elladan yelled at him, rushing up.

"I am taking a nice stroll round the halls of your House, enjoying my freedom out of that room."
"Where's Gandalf, or whoever was watching over you?" Elrohir asked, joining them.

"Toilet break." He grinned. "So I made a run for it."

"Legolas Greenleaf!" came Gandalfs' voice down the hallway.

"Run!" Legolas yelled at the twins. The turned and ran back the way they had come.

Gandalf came round the corner, and the last thing he saw, was their retreating backs, disappearing towards the gardens. He sighed. "I think our young Prince of Mirkwood has recovered. I had better inform Elrond." He shook his head smiling, and walked to Elronds' office. 

Yay he's recovered…

I won't say anything else….

Heeheehee…

^_^

~Lainfaer~