A/N) Here it is: THE FINAL SHOWDOWN! I hope I covered any questions in this
chapter that you may have. Everything that I know of has been answered
regarding the Shadow Elf. All the characters are together. There is only
one or possibly two more chapters after this.
Hope you enjoy reading the final showdown.
Fear of Men
Chapter 7
The Final Showdown
Everything was silent in the cave; Deollyn waited, as Sîrfalas stepped forward, cleared his throat and began to speak. The lithe figure of the elf seemed to grow tall in the dim light.
Sîrfalas smiled round before settling his eyes upon Aragorn. A smile pulled at his lips.
Aragorn shivered as he saw the elf look at him, and he realised that this 'friend' of Elrond's would not let himself be taken in, neither would he let himself die unless Aragorn was killed first. He could see it glinting in the being's eyes.
"Yes," Sîrfalas said, "I killed Dilir but that was the boys own fault."
Before he could continue Deollyn's voice could be heard. "You're a liar! You deliberately shot him! Why?"
"I didn't mean to kill him. He chose to leap in front of the arrow meant for him." The elf nodded to Aragorn. "If your son hadn't chosen to save him, then my arrow would have pierced the right heart."
Deollyn closed his eyes as he remembered what one of the twins had said when explaining about his son's death. //It was on the Hunting Trip. Estel felled a beast and we went to look. While we were investigating we heard a shout - a boy's shout. We found Dilir with Estel. An elf shot your son just below the heart. He would've not survived.// So his son had chosen death. And he had been led to believe that his son had been the target, when after all this time it had really been the boy called Estel.
Deollyn mumbled: "You were the elf that came to me?"
Sîrfalas nodded.
"And you made me believe that Estel knew who had killed my son, and bade me to kidnap him? Why? What hatred do you have against this young man?" Deollyn asked, his tone more quiet, as if he seemed very sorry that what he had done had been wrong and wanted to make up for it as soon as he could.
The elf laughed. "Yes, it was easy to fool you, so deep in grief were you, that you were easy to manipulate. I knew that if the boy was forced into telling you something he didn't know, you'd kill him, making it seem that you were the murderer."
"Pathetic!" Legolas hissed. He was kneeling beside Aragorn keeping a sharp eye out for the Orcs and now out for Sîrfalas, in case he had any hidden weapons.
"We have yet to come to your reason as to why Estel has been your target for the past ten years." Elrond interrupted.
"For you information, Lord Elrond, it's been eighteen years that this boy has been my target," Sîrfalas sneered; "yet it's been nearly five hundred years since I've held a grudge against men!"
Sîrfalas slowly walked round the cavern, hands at his sides, as he looked at each occupant in the eye, before speaking again.
"You might recall, Lord Elrond, that I had a brother and a sister: Èocan and Belil-Graviel were their names. It was the summer of the year 2461 and you sent us on a small routine trip to Mirkwood, just to deliver a letter to Thranduil. Of course around then evil was stirring in Mirkwood, and my brother and sister were curious as to what was going on. I tried to stop them from going, but they did not heed my warnings. They never came back alive. Their bodies were found ripped apart; it was a sight too horrible to see. I can still remember my sister's fair face and her hopes for the future of one day sailing to Valinor, but that thing that lives under the shadows of Mirkwood shattered her dreams."
They could all hear his anger at this episode and it dawned on Elladan what Sîrfalas was getting at. The evil under the trees had been Sauron.
"I brought word back to Imladris along with the bodies of my kin. I could guess what that thing was under the trees, and there was only one person responsible for that being to still be there. And I hated him for it. I was adamant to hunt down the heirs of Isildur and kill them all for letting their ancestor keep the evil of Sauron in the world! And yet I could not find them; slipped out of all knowledge for years. My anger abated and I forgot about my hatred. I returned to Rivendell and continued with my duties." Sîrfalas said. "But then eighteen years ago, he," pointing at Aragorn, "turned up in Rivendell with his mother. He was only a child but still one of that accursed race. All my years of waiting had finally ended. Here, in front of me, was an infant, a little boy, the last descendent of Isildur, the one man who allowed Sauron to survive and go on to devour my brother and sister!"
By this time the elf was angry and his eyes were blazing, and yet his eyes never left Aragorn.
"When his mother left to go back to her home, I thought she'd take him with her, but she didn't, leaving him in your care. I set about to end his life but each time I failed!"
"You were the one who poisoned him?" Elladan asked sharply as he remembered hearing word from his father that Estel had been drugged with a poison that was killing him.
"It would've worked as well if your father hadn't found him!" Sîrfalas growled. "I decided to wait until the opportune moment. My anger rose when I found that the little Edain had a friend, a small boy, and no one left them alone so I could deal with them. Then the day I wanted to dawn came; the Hunting Trip. I decided to follow you and see if an opening presented itself. I knew fully well that I couldn't attack you at night, so I stayed in the trees and waited patiently. Of course eventually that miserable brat killed a beast and when your son's went away, I attacked! Unfortunately the other boy chose to get in the way and he took the shot! There was not another chance; I fled back to Rivendell."
Elrohir bared his teeth; his anger was steadily rising. "There's more though."
The elf grinned wickedly. "Yes there is more." He said, before continuing with his tale.
"I knew it was not safe to attack the boy for a while, and until then I was satisfied that I'd ruined his life. I contacted Deollyn one evening during a little trip to a nearby town where I bade him to kidnap the boy, making him tell him who'd killed his son. It was perfect. The boy would beg for death and I'd give it to him. Unfortunately I had to aid in his rescue; I couldn't blow my cover, but I'd ruined the boy's life more then I'd hoped to in my little endeavor, scarring him."
"I watched as he slowly recovered and for years I waited for the chance when he would leave the confines of Imladris and travel away. I knew he would not leave unless he had something to do; so I went to Mirkwood where I enlisted the aid of two men: Hayner and Doyni. I told them I wished them to capture a Ranger for me, but a specific one none-the-less and yet I wanted to make it inconspicuous. With help from a few fellow friends from Mirkwood I conceived a plan that would give me the boy. The elves attacking men: nothing ever happened, yet the elves involved all agreed to remain silent as long as they were paid a large amount of money. For a year I waited and soon I heard of Mithrandir's interest with the going-ons in Mirkwood and suggested to him that Estel should go; give him practice with the out side world. Unfortunately Doyni had misgivings and betrayed me therefore allowing the dear Prince to save the precious Edain before reaching me. I knew there was no chance."
Sîrfalas grinned at the Prince as he saw the evil look that was thrown his way. "I went back to Rivendell in order to set a few things before leaving and enlisting the aid of the now-free Deollyn. I told him that he could control Orcs if using the right bait. Luckily I already had the trust of an Orc. He agreed to obey Deollyn as long as they had 'fun' in the process. And by the looks of things," he glanced at the battered form of Aragorn, "did."
"That is my tale."
A shout from the side could be heard and Deollyn appeared holding a sword. He lunged at Sîrfalas but the elf ducked and pulled away. Then he shouted in elvish, summoning the Orcs to come to his aid; and because the Orcs were originally in his pay, they obeyed him without question, attacking the remaining elves and Deollyn.
Elrond, Elladan, Elrohir and Deollyn stood together facing the onslaught of Orcs as their enemy shouted at them in the hideous language of the Black Tongue.
"I'm sorry for what I've done." Deollyn muttered. "If I could change it then I would."
"Tis nothing to worry," Elrond said, "All is forgiven." He did not get a chance to finish as the Orcs charged and attacked them furiously, attempting to bring down their adversary's.
Over the clamour of scimitars meeting swords and the twanging of bows, Elrond heard one of his sons shout: "What about Estel and Sîrfalas?"
"Legolas will protect him!" Elrond shouted back, scouting round the small cavern for his foster son and Sîrfalas, but could not see them anywhere. His heart clenched in fear but then he realised that Legolas was not there either. He was with Estel. Ducking and twirling the elven lord and his sons worked their way around the room as the Orcs came at them, hoping that Estel would be safe with Legolas.
*****
When the Orcs had been summoned they had ran past him, but then Sîrfalas had attacked, two blades in his hands, and before the Prince could react the elf had knocked him away from Aragorn. His eyes flickered briefly before he blacked out for a few seconds. As he regained sense the Prince's first thought was for Aragorn and he searched around for his friend. He saw in time to see Sîrfalas pulling Aragorn away with him down the hallway, with one hand clamped firmly over the human's mouth and with the other holding one of the human's wrists tightly behind his back.
Gritting his teeth and fumbling for his knives – he found one, the other was missing, no doubt Sîrfalas had it – he gained his feet the elf Prince slipped through the massacre of Orcs, whispering a silent prayer to Ilúvatar to keep them all safe and followed the fleeing elf.
*****
Aragorn struggled restlessly against the elf, attempting to break away from the iron grip.
"You should ease your struggle Edain." Sîrfalas spat as he forced his captive down the dim lit corridor. "I'll even be lenient and give you a quick death."
Fear built inside Aragorn's heart.
"Just a few more steps Edain and then your struggles will cease... ...permanently." The elf whispered in his ear.
The elf forced him into a room, roughly sending the young man to the stone floor. Landing right on his side, Aragorn stifled a groan. He scooted to his knees and watched as Sîrfalas approached him, a malicious gleam shining in his mad eyes.
Crawling back Aragorn leaned back against the wall. He could do nothing; he was to weak to fight; to weak to attempt anything. All he could do was let Sîrfalas kill him, and he realised that he was on his own, his death at near.
The elf grabbed Aragorn by the hair and tilted it upwards, and placed a knife on the man's neck. "Well it seems boy that its time to say good-bye. Lights out."
Aragorn closed his eyes, and Sîrfalas drew back the knife. A small cut was made, but not enough to kill him.
Before Sîrfalas could kill his captive he felt a knife under his chin. He stiffened.
"Remove the knife from my friend's neck," Legolas demanded as he stepped round into the light to face Sîrfalas. The elf did so.
"I'll deal with you first, Princeling! Then I'll finish what I started!" the elf growled, standing up and facing Legolas, roughly bashing Aragorn's head on the wall as he released his hand from the Edain's hair.
"Only if you can beat me." Legolas replied keeping his eyes firmly on the elf in front of him.
Sîrfalas grinned, a twinkle in his eyes showed that he was planning something. He attacked with the knife he used, keeping the other on the defensive. Legolas sidestepped, back-pedalled attempting to throw the other off guard. It was to no use. Sîrfalas was a skilled and seasoned opponent; he aimed to weaken the Prince then render him dead with a quick thrust into a vital organ. However Legolas would not give him that opportunity.
Ducking and twisting Legolas lashed out catching the other – at last! – on the leg. Sîrfalas cursed and attacked harder giving the elf Prince no time to go on the attack.
Sweat beaded down the Prince's forehead. Skilled as he was, he had not chance in beating this elf. He was too good. He could see Aragorn attempting to push himself to his feet, but failed to do so as the Ranger's legs buckled beneath him.
Sîrfalas laughed taunting both Prince and Ranger. "Ah, the poor little Prince has no energy left to fight me. It's a shame, isn't it? You've done your best to save the human, but who's coming to rescue you? Hmmm? Lord Elrond and his sons are all engaged in battle with the Orcs, and there is more of them to deal with. So Princeling who is coming to save you? The weak human can't do anything. He's too frightened of me to even come close!"
"He's only frightened," Legolas shouted, as he pulled away from a blade, "because you'll give him a terrible death! And I won't allow you to harm him anymore!"
By now the Prince was losing badly. His strength had waned and his only hope was that someone would rescue them both before this mad-elf killed Aragorn. Lost in his musings the elf did not notice as Sîrfalas suddenly whirled away from him.
He was too late as Sîrfalas reached Aragorn's side and stabbed the human right in the side of the stomach.
Aragorn's surprised scream of pain, and Legolas' shout of 'Strider!' mingled together down the hallway.
Time seemed to slow in that moment. And yet the events that followed would be forever encrusted into the memories of those that had witnessed the fall of Sîrfalas.
Legolas watched as Aragorn's eyes filled with pain and tears slipped down his cheeks as he sunk to the floor falling onto his stomach; Sîrfalas' dagger still embedded in his side.
Sîrfalas stood watching the human fall. "And so my task is complete. I have done what I set out to do. I do not fear death." He whispered.
Legolas ignored the elf and ran to Aragorn's side. "Strider. Please, please, still be here. Please, mellon-nin. Please. Don't give up now." His hands covered completely in Aragorn's blood, the elf dared not move the human, but he knew that the man still lived, but not for long.
Suddenly his attention was drawn to Sîrfalas as the elf stumbled forward, and looking closely Legolas saw to his surprise two arrows in the elf's back, with another in his shoulder and a last in the hip. Determined to keep to his promise, the Prince lifted his remaining dagger and stabbed Sîrfalas in the stomach. With that final wound, the elf's eyes dimmed and he fell to the cave floor, dead.
Behind Sîrfalas stood Elladan and Elrohir holding their bows, their eyes knotted in anger. But now that the elf responsible was dead their faces returned to normal.
Before Legolas could say a word he felt blackness tipping at his vision and he fell sideways onto the floor.
"Estel! Legolas!"
Elladan knelt beside his youngest brother slowly turning the human over so to avoid injuring the man any further. "His blood is slowing its flow," he whispered, "El, he's dying."
Elrohir's eyes widened as he saw the stab wound in his brother's stomach. "Ada's the only one skilled enough to remove it without injuring him any further. I dare not risk it." The twin checked over Legolas but found no wounds that should've rendered him to black out. After looking twice the twin put it down to the exertion the Prince had used over the last few weeks. "Legolas has been through a lot. His body needed the rest. He should recover in a few days."
"I'm going to try and remove the blade," Elladan confirmed, "if its not removed and bound the wound will become infected. We don't want him coming down with a fever." He watched Elrohir's face grow white.
"You could kill him. I don't want that."
"Ada will tell us to do so anyway." Elladan reminded. "I've lived on this world longer then you, brother."
"Only by twenty minutes."
"Trust me, El, I know I can do this or otherwise Estel will die. I can't leave him like this. The best thing is to remove the dagger and bind the wound, and hope that Ilúvatar will spare Estel from death. I cling to that hope."
Elrohir did not answer and Elladan knelt over Aragorn, brushing a few strands of hair out of the human's face, before whispering a prayer to Ilúvatar and Ëarendil, and gripping the handle of the elvish dagger and carefully sliding it out the wound. On hand was Elrohir, and quickly pressed a cloth to stem the bleeding.
Red blood soaked both their hands and clothes by the time they'd finished binding the injury, but they were satisfied with what they'd done.
Before long Elrond appeared, bloodstained but alive. Deollyn was behind him with Glorfindel and Marihel. When the human saw the dead elf he gasped but said nothing. The twins told their father what they had seen and heard and what they'd done. Elrond listened and spoke after they had finished.
"You've saved his life. But Estel is still in grave danger. I will have to examine the wound myself and assert whether he can be healed or not. His body may have been too badly damaged for him to remain living."
"How?" Elrohir asked confused. "What could've been done?"
Elrond sighed. "He could lose the ability to move his legs. Where the knife entered it could have damaged his nervous system, therefore paralysing him. It has happened before but only in extreme cases. Whether this is one of those or not I will judge when we get to Rivendell. There I will have the proper means to see if there is hope or no hope."
Elrond gently picked up Aragorn, while Elladan supported Legolas. Deollyn, Glorfindel and Marihel remained behind to collapse the mountain caves, burying Sîrfalas in the rubble. He did not deserve a proper ceremony.
TBC
Chapter 8: Elrond fights to save Aragorn; Legolas wakes and asks some questions, and a surprise departure and arrival! All coming in Chapter 8 of 'Fear of Men'
Hope you enjoy reading the final showdown.
Fear of Men
Chapter 7
The Final Showdown
Everything was silent in the cave; Deollyn waited, as Sîrfalas stepped forward, cleared his throat and began to speak. The lithe figure of the elf seemed to grow tall in the dim light.
Sîrfalas smiled round before settling his eyes upon Aragorn. A smile pulled at his lips.
Aragorn shivered as he saw the elf look at him, and he realised that this 'friend' of Elrond's would not let himself be taken in, neither would he let himself die unless Aragorn was killed first. He could see it glinting in the being's eyes.
"Yes," Sîrfalas said, "I killed Dilir but that was the boys own fault."
Before he could continue Deollyn's voice could be heard. "You're a liar! You deliberately shot him! Why?"
"I didn't mean to kill him. He chose to leap in front of the arrow meant for him." The elf nodded to Aragorn. "If your son hadn't chosen to save him, then my arrow would have pierced the right heart."
Deollyn closed his eyes as he remembered what one of the twins had said when explaining about his son's death. //It was on the Hunting Trip. Estel felled a beast and we went to look. While we were investigating we heard a shout - a boy's shout. We found Dilir with Estel. An elf shot your son just below the heart. He would've not survived.// So his son had chosen death. And he had been led to believe that his son had been the target, when after all this time it had really been the boy called Estel.
Deollyn mumbled: "You were the elf that came to me?"
Sîrfalas nodded.
"And you made me believe that Estel knew who had killed my son, and bade me to kidnap him? Why? What hatred do you have against this young man?" Deollyn asked, his tone more quiet, as if he seemed very sorry that what he had done had been wrong and wanted to make up for it as soon as he could.
The elf laughed. "Yes, it was easy to fool you, so deep in grief were you, that you were easy to manipulate. I knew that if the boy was forced into telling you something he didn't know, you'd kill him, making it seem that you were the murderer."
"Pathetic!" Legolas hissed. He was kneeling beside Aragorn keeping a sharp eye out for the Orcs and now out for Sîrfalas, in case he had any hidden weapons.
"We have yet to come to your reason as to why Estel has been your target for the past ten years." Elrond interrupted.
"For you information, Lord Elrond, it's been eighteen years that this boy has been my target," Sîrfalas sneered; "yet it's been nearly five hundred years since I've held a grudge against men!"
Sîrfalas slowly walked round the cavern, hands at his sides, as he looked at each occupant in the eye, before speaking again.
"You might recall, Lord Elrond, that I had a brother and a sister: Èocan and Belil-Graviel were their names. It was the summer of the year 2461 and you sent us on a small routine trip to Mirkwood, just to deliver a letter to Thranduil. Of course around then evil was stirring in Mirkwood, and my brother and sister were curious as to what was going on. I tried to stop them from going, but they did not heed my warnings. They never came back alive. Their bodies were found ripped apart; it was a sight too horrible to see. I can still remember my sister's fair face and her hopes for the future of one day sailing to Valinor, but that thing that lives under the shadows of Mirkwood shattered her dreams."
They could all hear his anger at this episode and it dawned on Elladan what Sîrfalas was getting at. The evil under the trees had been Sauron.
"I brought word back to Imladris along with the bodies of my kin. I could guess what that thing was under the trees, and there was only one person responsible for that being to still be there. And I hated him for it. I was adamant to hunt down the heirs of Isildur and kill them all for letting their ancestor keep the evil of Sauron in the world! And yet I could not find them; slipped out of all knowledge for years. My anger abated and I forgot about my hatred. I returned to Rivendell and continued with my duties." Sîrfalas said. "But then eighteen years ago, he," pointing at Aragorn, "turned up in Rivendell with his mother. He was only a child but still one of that accursed race. All my years of waiting had finally ended. Here, in front of me, was an infant, a little boy, the last descendent of Isildur, the one man who allowed Sauron to survive and go on to devour my brother and sister!"
By this time the elf was angry and his eyes were blazing, and yet his eyes never left Aragorn.
"When his mother left to go back to her home, I thought she'd take him with her, but she didn't, leaving him in your care. I set about to end his life but each time I failed!"
"You were the one who poisoned him?" Elladan asked sharply as he remembered hearing word from his father that Estel had been drugged with a poison that was killing him.
"It would've worked as well if your father hadn't found him!" Sîrfalas growled. "I decided to wait until the opportune moment. My anger rose when I found that the little Edain had a friend, a small boy, and no one left them alone so I could deal with them. Then the day I wanted to dawn came; the Hunting Trip. I decided to follow you and see if an opening presented itself. I knew fully well that I couldn't attack you at night, so I stayed in the trees and waited patiently. Of course eventually that miserable brat killed a beast and when your son's went away, I attacked! Unfortunately the other boy chose to get in the way and he took the shot! There was not another chance; I fled back to Rivendell."
Elrohir bared his teeth; his anger was steadily rising. "There's more though."
The elf grinned wickedly. "Yes there is more." He said, before continuing with his tale.
"I knew it was not safe to attack the boy for a while, and until then I was satisfied that I'd ruined his life. I contacted Deollyn one evening during a little trip to a nearby town where I bade him to kidnap the boy, making him tell him who'd killed his son. It was perfect. The boy would beg for death and I'd give it to him. Unfortunately I had to aid in his rescue; I couldn't blow my cover, but I'd ruined the boy's life more then I'd hoped to in my little endeavor, scarring him."
"I watched as he slowly recovered and for years I waited for the chance when he would leave the confines of Imladris and travel away. I knew he would not leave unless he had something to do; so I went to Mirkwood where I enlisted the aid of two men: Hayner and Doyni. I told them I wished them to capture a Ranger for me, but a specific one none-the-less and yet I wanted to make it inconspicuous. With help from a few fellow friends from Mirkwood I conceived a plan that would give me the boy. The elves attacking men: nothing ever happened, yet the elves involved all agreed to remain silent as long as they were paid a large amount of money. For a year I waited and soon I heard of Mithrandir's interest with the going-ons in Mirkwood and suggested to him that Estel should go; give him practice with the out side world. Unfortunately Doyni had misgivings and betrayed me therefore allowing the dear Prince to save the precious Edain before reaching me. I knew there was no chance."
Sîrfalas grinned at the Prince as he saw the evil look that was thrown his way. "I went back to Rivendell in order to set a few things before leaving and enlisting the aid of the now-free Deollyn. I told him that he could control Orcs if using the right bait. Luckily I already had the trust of an Orc. He agreed to obey Deollyn as long as they had 'fun' in the process. And by the looks of things," he glanced at the battered form of Aragorn, "did."
"That is my tale."
A shout from the side could be heard and Deollyn appeared holding a sword. He lunged at Sîrfalas but the elf ducked and pulled away. Then he shouted in elvish, summoning the Orcs to come to his aid; and because the Orcs were originally in his pay, they obeyed him without question, attacking the remaining elves and Deollyn.
Elrond, Elladan, Elrohir and Deollyn stood together facing the onslaught of Orcs as their enemy shouted at them in the hideous language of the Black Tongue.
"I'm sorry for what I've done." Deollyn muttered. "If I could change it then I would."
"Tis nothing to worry," Elrond said, "All is forgiven." He did not get a chance to finish as the Orcs charged and attacked them furiously, attempting to bring down their adversary's.
Over the clamour of scimitars meeting swords and the twanging of bows, Elrond heard one of his sons shout: "What about Estel and Sîrfalas?"
"Legolas will protect him!" Elrond shouted back, scouting round the small cavern for his foster son and Sîrfalas, but could not see them anywhere. His heart clenched in fear but then he realised that Legolas was not there either. He was with Estel. Ducking and twirling the elven lord and his sons worked their way around the room as the Orcs came at them, hoping that Estel would be safe with Legolas.
*****
When the Orcs had been summoned they had ran past him, but then Sîrfalas had attacked, two blades in his hands, and before the Prince could react the elf had knocked him away from Aragorn. His eyes flickered briefly before he blacked out for a few seconds. As he regained sense the Prince's first thought was for Aragorn and he searched around for his friend. He saw in time to see Sîrfalas pulling Aragorn away with him down the hallway, with one hand clamped firmly over the human's mouth and with the other holding one of the human's wrists tightly behind his back.
Gritting his teeth and fumbling for his knives – he found one, the other was missing, no doubt Sîrfalas had it – he gained his feet the elf Prince slipped through the massacre of Orcs, whispering a silent prayer to Ilúvatar to keep them all safe and followed the fleeing elf.
*****
Aragorn struggled restlessly against the elf, attempting to break away from the iron grip.
"You should ease your struggle Edain." Sîrfalas spat as he forced his captive down the dim lit corridor. "I'll even be lenient and give you a quick death."
Fear built inside Aragorn's heart.
"Just a few more steps Edain and then your struggles will cease... ...permanently." The elf whispered in his ear.
The elf forced him into a room, roughly sending the young man to the stone floor. Landing right on his side, Aragorn stifled a groan. He scooted to his knees and watched as Sîrfalas approached him, a malicious gleam shining in his mad eyes.
Crawling back Aragorn leaned back against the wall. He could do nothing; he was to weak to fight; to weak to attempt anything. All he could do was let Sîrfalas kill him, and he realised that he was on his own, his death at near.
The elf grabbed Aragorn by the hair and tilted it upwards, and placed a knife on the man's neck. "Well it seems boy that its time to say good-bye. Lights out."
Aragorn closed his eyes, and Sîrfalas drew back the knife. A small cut was made, but not enough to kill him.
Before Sîrfalas could kill his captive he felt a knife under his chin. He stiffened.
"Remove the knife from my friend's neck," Legolas demanded as he stepped round into the light to face Sîrfalas. The elf did so.
"I'll deal with you first, Princeling! Then I'll finish what I started!" the elf growled, standing up and facing Legolas, roughly bashing Aragorn's head on the wall as he released his hand from the Edain's hair.
"Only if you can beat me." Legolas replied keeping his eyes firmly on the elf in front of him.
Sîrfalas grinned, a twinkle in his eyes showed that he was planning something. He attacked with the knife he used, keeping the other on the defensive. Legolas sidestepped, back-pedalled attempting to throw the other off guard. It was to no use. Sîrfalas was a skilled and seasoned opponent; he aimed to weaken the Prince then render him dead with a quick thrust into a vital organ. However Legolas would not give him that opportunity.
Ducking and twisting Legolas lashed out catching the other – at last! – on the leg. Sîrfalas cursed and attacked harder giving the elf Prince no time to go on the attack.
Sweat beaded down the Prince's forehead. Skilled as he was, he had not chance in beating this elf. He was too good. He could see Aragorn attempting to push himself to his feet, but failed to do so as the Ranger's legs buckled beneath him.
Sîrfalas laughed taunting both Prince and Ranger. "Ah, the poor little Prince has no energy left to fight me. It's a shame, isn't it? You've done your best to save the human, but who's coming to rescue you? Hmmm? Lord Elrond and his sons are all engaged in battle with the Orcs, and there is more of them to deal with. So Princeling who is coming to save you? The weak human can't do anything. He's too frightened of me to even come close!"
"He's only frightened," Legolas shouted, as he pulled away from a blade, "because you'll give him a terrible death! And I won't allow you to harm him anymore!"
By now the Prince was losing badly. His strength had waned and his only hope was that someone would rescue them both before this mad-elf killed Aragorn. Lost in his musings the elf did not notice as Sîrfalas suddenly whirled away from him.
He was too late as Sîrfalas reached Aragorn's side and stabbed the human right in the side of the stomach.
Aragorn's surprised scream of pain, and Legolas' shout of 'Strider!' mingled together down the hallway.
Time seemed to slow in that moment. And yet the events that followed would be forever encrusted into the memories of those that had witnessed the fall of Sîrfalas.
Legolas watched as Aragorn's eyes filled with pain and tears slipped down his cheeks as he sunk to the floor falling onto his stomach; Sîrfalas' dagger still embedded in his side.
Sîrfalas stood watching the human fall. "And so my task is complete. I have done what I set out to do. I do not fear death." He whispered.
Legolas ignored the elf and ran to Aragorn's side. "Strider. Please, please, still be here. Please, mellon-nin. Please. Don't give up now." His hands covered completely in Aragorn's blood, the elf dared not move the human, but he knew that the man still lived, but not for long.
Suddenly his attention was drawn to Sîrfalas as the elf stumbled forward, and looking closely Legolas saw to his surprise two arrows in the elf's back, with another in his shoulder and a last in the hip. Determined to keep to his promise, the Prince lifted his remaining dagger and stabbed Sîrfalas in the stomach. With that final wound, the elf's eyes dimmed and he fell to the cave floor, dead.
Behind Sîrfalas stood Elladan and Elrohir holding their bows, their eyes knotted in anger. But now that the elf responsible was dead their faces returned to normal.
Before Legolas could say a word he felt blackness tipping at his vision and he fell sideways onto the floor.
"Estel! Legolas!"
Elladan knelt beside his youngest brother slowly turning the human over so to avoid injuring the man any further. "His blood is slowing its flow," he whispered, "El, he's dying."
Elrohir's eyes widened as he saw the stab wound in his brother's stomach. "Ada's the only one skilled enough to remove it without injuring him any further. I dare not risk it." The twin checked over Legolas but found no wounds that should've rendered him to black out. After looking twice the twin put it down to the exertion the Prince had used over the last few weeks. "Legolas has been through a lot. His body needed the rest. He should recover in a few days."
"I'm going to try and remove the blade," Elladan confirmed, "if its not removed and bound the wound will become infected. We don't want him coming down with a fever." He watched Elrohir's face grow white.
"You could kill him. I don't want that."
"Ada will tell us to do so anyway." Elladan reminded. "I've lived on this world longer then you, brother."
"Only by twenty minutes."
"Trust me, El, I know I can do this or otherwise Estel will die. I can't leave him like this. The best thing is to remove the dagger and bind the wound, and hope that Ilúvatar will spare Estel from death. I cling to that hope."
Elrohir did not answer and Elladan knelt over Aragorn, brushing a few strands of hair out of the human's face, before whispering a prayer to Ilúvatar and Ëarendil, and gripping the handle of the elvish dagger and carefully sliding it out the wound. On hand was Elrohir, and quickly pressed a cloth to stem the bleeding.
Red blood soaked both their hands and clothes by the time they'd finished binding the injury, but they were satisfied with what they'd done.
Before long Elrond appeared, bloodstained but alive. Deollyn was behind him with Glorfindel and Marihel. When the human saw the dead elf he gasped but said nothing. The twins told their father what they had seen and heard and what they'd done. Elrond listened and spoke after they had finished.
"You've saved his life. But Estel is still in grave danger. I will have to examine the wound myself and assert whether he can be healed or not. His body may have been too badly damaged for him to remain living."
"How?" Elrohir asked confused. "What could've been done?"
Elrond sighed. "He could lose the ability to move his legs. Where the knife entered it could have damaged his nervous system, therefore paralysing him. It has happened before but only in extreme cases. Whether this is one of those or not I will judge when we get to Rivendell. There I will have the proper means to see if there is hope or no hope."
Elrond gently picked up Aragorn, while Elladan supported Legolas. Deollyn, Glorfindel and Marihel remained behind to collapse the mountain caves, burying Sîrfalas in the rubble. He did not deserve a proper ceremony.
TBC
Chapter 8: Elrond fights to save Aragorn; Legolas wakes and asks some questions, and a surprise departure and arrival! All coming in Chapter 8 of 'Fear of Men'