Chapter 9
~''~
Haldir heard, long before seeing, when the dwarf arrived, out of breath, having raced to catch Aragorn's long steps.
Gimli's face registered a moment of pleased surprise at the presence of the elven army, quickly replaced by his stout expression before anyone could notice it.
Tales of the friendship between Legolas and one of Aüle's sons had already reached the Lorien borders, and Haldir smiled as the dwarf struggled to keep his beliefs of untrustworthy and treacherous elves, now that he had learned better from Legolas.
"Gimli?" Haldir called.
The dwarf was surprised that, the same elven captain that had snubbed him in the Lady's woods, was now talking to him and remembered even his name!
"The Lady of Light sends a message to you." the elf said, taking from his pouch a small wooden box, "She said: that which is given by her, shall not be taken"
Gimli accepted the box from Haldir's hands, puzzled. Like all things crafted by the Elves, the wooden box was a work of beauty, with low-relief carvings depicturing birds and leafs. The dwarf opened the lid and gasped.
Inside, three golden strings of hair shone under the torch's light.
Gimli closed the wooden lid with care and held the box to his chest, close to his heart.
"How could she have known?" he asked.
But Haldir offered nothing but a knowing smile as an answer. Now that his messages were delivered, the elf searched for the face that was missing from their reunion.
"Tell me… where is Legolas? It was not long since we last met, but I which to have some words with him before this battle begins."
Aragorn exchanged a sad look with Gimli and told the silvan elf all that had happened.
~''~
He felt when the ground beneath his feet changed from hard rock to dry leafs and soft twigs and plants, that broke under his boots. The mist lifted, but he had no need to see it to know that he now stood in a forest. His forest.
Mirkwood.
He could smell home again, the unmistakable scent of pine trees, oak, plants and fertile soil, wet from the morning dew. There was a faint hummed sound in the underground, of life under the leaves, inside the tree trunks and beneath his feet.
Legolas could not tell if it was day or night, for the jealous trees kept all the sun's rays for themselves, leaving that part of the forest in a never ending night.
He reached a small clearing, familiar and yet never seen, with tall, leaf covered trees that seemed both welcoming and menacing. In the middle of the circle of murky, gloomy trees, there was a child. A small boy, with a blindfold covering his eyes.
He was crying.
Legolas raced to him and knelt by the boy' side.
"Shsss" he said, taking the blindfold away, "You are safe now, for I will protect you."
The boy sniffed and cleaned the wetness from his eyes.
"Thank you." a soft, melodious voice answered.
Legolas caressed the child's blond hair, the touch of silk under his fingers. The soft locks parted to reveal two delicate pointed-tip ears. An elfling.
"Who did this to you?"
The elfling sobbed once more, "The old man."
Legolas looked around, searching for the culprit, but only the dark trees stood around them, silent.
"Why didn't you take the blindfold yourself?" he asked. Legolas could see the that elfling's hands were free, so he could see no need for the child to have stayed in the dark like so for so long.
The elfling' s intense blue eyes searched his, trapping him in his gaze.
"I was waiting for you." he said, his voice too old for his years, "I called for you."
Legolas frowned. And then understood.
"The voice… it was yours?"
The elfling nodded. Taking the hand of the older elf, the young one caressed Legolas' head in a gesture that mirrored his own before, the same softness running through the child' small fingers and the archer's longer ones.
"Do you understand now?" the child asked.
"Yes."
The elfling smiled, Legolas' hand still in his. "Come."
The small elf led Legolas to one of the tallest trees and started to climb. The older elf followed, trusting that his guide would take him to safety. Climbing higher and higher, the two elves soon broke through the dense canopy of trees, in to a world of brightness.
The sunlight shone with a multitude of colors, reflected in the higher leafs in a feast of greens, reds, browns and yellows.
Legolas closed his eyes to the bright light as it kissed his skin and warmed his heart. He could feel his blood racing faster, his breathing becoming easier, his soul lighter. He felt like singing, laughing and flying, all at the same time.
He refrained from indulging in those wishes, instead opening his eyes to the beauty that surrounded them both, a serene smile on his lips.
"It's time to go." the elfling' s voice broke through his inebriated joy.
"Yes." Legolas agreed. He kissed the small hand that still held his, and then his guide's forehead. "I thank you."
Young Legolas smiled and let his older self go.
~''~
New lights could be seen in the dark plains, and this time there was no mistaking them. Thousands of burning spots marched towards the fort like a sea of lava, the wind carrying taunts and Orc curses.
The ground shook, trampled by heavy, muscled bodies, Orcs and Uruk-hai bearing long spears, knives, swords axes and pitchforks, anything that could maim and kill.
Inside the walls of Helm's Deep, lights shinned too. The warriors waited, their fear growing in tempo with Saruman's army pace, their enemies quickly changing from a whispered menace to a shouting reality.
The weaker emptied their stomachs against the walls, the acid smell lingering in the air like a herald of what was to come. None managed to stay untouched by fear.
The Elven warriors had been divided in to two groups, one up on the walls, the other hidden, down on the yard behind them. Haldir had delegated his command to Aragorn, knowing that the human would serve better as a bridge between the two armies. The ranger felt at ease among the elves, giving them words of encouragement and warning, sadly knowing that so many of these immortal beings would find their mortality in this cold dark night.
Gimli stood at his side as they made their stand on the front battlements, amidst the elven archers. The stone wall, tall enough to offer good protection to the men, with its narrow gaps so that the archers could fire their arrows, was never the less too high to allow any vision of what happened bellow to a dwarf.
"You could've picked a better spot." he complained to Aragorn. "What's happening out there? I can't see naught!"
"Shall I describe it to you?" a voice said from behind them, "Or would you like me to find you a box?"
The two warriors looked at each other, the same startled expression in their faces, wandering if perhaps their ears had played some trick on them, and quickly turned around to look at the familiar figure that had spoken.
Legolas was looking at them with mischievous eyes and a smile on his lips.
Ranger and dwarf had no words, their jaws slacken and their eyes wide, full of surprise and joy. The elf was awake, up, and most important of all, he was truly 'looking' at them.
"How?" Aragorn managed to whisper.
Legolas took the ranger's hand and carefully placed the silver star in the extended palm. "I had my friends beside me," he answered with a calm smile, "and a good guide to bring me home."
Aragorn closed his hand around the Evening Star and threw his arms around his friend. Gimli joined them, his short arms trying to surround both.
"Bless you laddie… it is good to see you thus!"
Some of the other elves around them turned their heads, surprised to see such a display of love and friendship between one of their kind and a dwarf. Gimli, Legolas and Aragorn paid them no heed.
"It is good to 'see' you too!" Legolas answered him.
~''~
When the elf had awoken in the caves, he had thought to be still walking inside his dream. Legolas looked around, like a new born child, seeing things for the first time and becoming fascinated by them all. He realized these walls were not as dark as the ones in his dream. This cave glittered, like stars shinning from inside the rock, reflecting the warm light from the fires he could hear cracking.
Hushed sounds of women and children sounded from a distance, amplified and distorted by the hollow caves, but he saw none. Next to him, a woman with long fair hair sat, holding his hand in hers.
Legolas recognized her touch.
"Lady Éowyn" he whispered.
He had not meant to disturb her, having spoken softly for that purpose, but still she jumped. And then a smile graced her sad face.
"Master elf!" her hand tightened around his, "You had us all worried!"
"And for that I apologize."
He sat up slowly, remembering the wound that his body had sustained. The initial dizziness that he had expected, subsided with a few steady, deep breaths, and Legolas flexed his shoulders and arms, testing the tenderness of his back. He was pleased to realize that his wound was almost fully healed.
"I'm afraid I've lost contact with reality for too long… what happens?" he asked.
Éowyn was brief in her explanations. The elf was on his feet as soon as she related how close Saruman's army was. The battle was soon to begin, if it hadn't already.
"I must join them!"
The shield maiden looked uncomfortable.
"Are you certain you should?" she asked, her gaze falling on the red welt crossing Legolas' back, "Your wound stills heals and you…"
Éowyn could not find the words to say that he shouldn't join the battle blind as he was, because she knew whatever she said, it would sound too close to the words she had heard from her uncle's mouth, when he told her that she could not fight because she was a woman. She had seen him fight in the dark, she knew he could at least try to do it. She could try to do it. But she had promised lord Aragorn that his friend would be kept safe. And she had promised her uncle that his orders would be obeyed.
Legolas turned to face her, smiling. The thoughts in her mind were as clear as if she had spoken them. Shortening the distance between them, he grasped her hands and held them between their chests.
"I thank you for your concern, my lady," he said, his eyes searching hers, "but you need not trouble yourself for me… for I am whole again."
Éowyn looked in to the disturbingly clear eyes, trying to understand what he meant with his words. And she saw him looking back, following her eyes' movement. She gasped. He could see her!
Her smile widened. And then her face reddened and her eyes dropped to the floor, as Éowyn realized how close she stood to the half undressed elf.
"Waste no more time then… I shall find you your weapons and something to wear in battle." she muttered, leaving in a fast pace. Once properly dressed and armed, he would be able to do what was denied to her. Fight.
~''~
Saruman's army had stopped a short distance away from the keep's walls. A mass of dark bodies and snarling yellow teeth, stomping their spears and banging their fists against their chests, challenging Human race.
And the skies wept for all the lives that would be lost.
On top of the walls, soldiers waited in silence, observing their enemies. Arrows were already poised on stretched strings, ready to fly and make their claim of death. Mortals and immortals stood side by side, glancing their common nemesis, knowing that tomorrow was a dream's distance away, a goal not all would achieve.
They trembled in cold, the rain making their armors wet and heavier. They trembled in a mixture of fear and anxiety, a confusion of feelings where they did not wish to go to battle and, at the same time, prayed for it to start soon. They trembled, but they did not quail, for a will made of stone strengthened their hearts. The shadow of those that they were protecting, covered their backs and shielded their will. And they would not fail, for such situations of no reasonable choices and announced doom were often the ones that led ordinary men in to becoming heroes and legends.
Legolas was seeing, for the first time, the faces of those he had lived with the past weeks. Familiar voices he could hear here and there. The Rohan were no longer made out of just words, feelings and sounds, but had now shapes of their own, unveiled in to real beings of fair hairs and frightened eyes.
He had battled all of his life. The darkness, which lingered too near to the place he had been born, had made sure he knew few times of peace. Darkness had shaped his personality since his younger years, making him untrusting of others and used to depend on no one but himself. Darkness had stolen his mother away.
Legolas could recognize himself in the faces of the Rohan. How many years of peace had these children known? How many of them, now holding swords in their hands, had cried themselves to sleep in their mothers bosoms, not knowing what new devilries dawn would bring?
The weight of the bow in his hands was reassuring. An extension of his own arm that he had feared lost. More than anything, he had feared his archery days had been over, feared that he would not be able to fight that darkness any longer.
He had feared too much, when he should have trusted more. Like these people trusted they would prevail, simply because their cause was just and right.
Unlike Lord Elrond and Lady Galadriel, he did not possess the gift of foresight. He could not tell what this night would bring, he could only hope that they would indeed prevail, for their cause was indeed just and the most right of them all. Life.
The shy was veiled, hiding the stars from eyes that had desired to see them for so long. In their stead, other stars, with lights of their own, shone around him.
The Rohan, fearsome spirits that refused to yield.
His kindred from Lothlorien, that by all rights should be on their way to the safety of the Grey Ports, but stood now, ready to die alongside Men.
The ranger that would be King of Men, Estel to the elves and to all that crossed his path.
The dwarf that had taught him not to judge by appearances and race, for they were often deceiving.
The friends that had stood by his side, the ones he hoped would still be by his side in the following day, when they all could gaze upon the light of the stars once again.
With a prayer to the Valar to keep his aim true, Legolas pulled the string of his bow and picked a target in the darkness below.
~''~
The Uruk-hai army didn't move, testing the men's nerves, taunting them with the approaching doom and certain that the killing will be theirs to make.
Amidst the walls, tired arms that could no longer bear the pull of the bow's string, released the arrow that had long waited to be free. It flew true, under the observing eyes of both armies, unhindered neither by poor aim or rain. The Orc it struck would not join this battle and the only blood he would taste was his own, as his body fell dead to the ground.
A silence, more menacing that any of the taunts and shouts of before, filled the plains like a heavy blanket.
Suffocating.
A scream ripped through the night, and the battle begun.
The end
(…)
Let your pain be my
sorrow
Let your tears be my tears too
Let your courage be my model
That the north you find will be true
When there's no information
And the compass turns to nowhere that you know well
Let your soul be your pilot
Let your soul guide you
Let your soul guide you
Let your soul guide you upon your way...
Author's note: This is it! Its finished! Over! Now, I'll be very, very angry at you all if you don't FINALLY review this. Tell me everything, what you liked, what you didn't like, what should've happened different, anything!
Those of you that have reviewed before THANK YOU SOOO MUCH, you've been very sweet to me - not a single flame :D – and I hope those that have been following this haven't gotten disappointed with the way it ends.
Finally, a word to my betas: Marilyn (you were a pain in the a**, for which I thank you, couldn't had done without you), Heike (it's very nice to feel appreciated, thank you) and Naq (thank you for your work).
Another story is being cooked up, but, a fragile writer as I am (puppy eyes) I wont find the strength and courage to finished unless you guys feed me some reviews… so, do it!
