Hi!

I´m really satisfied with myself - yet another chapter! Beware, though, this one was written listening to the "Sleepy Hollow" soundtrack - may have rubbed off an bit (but no, no falling heads...)

For those of you who may have wanted to review before but couldn´t because they weren´t locked in - you can shower me with reviews now! I wasn´t even aware you couldn´t - thanks to Alivyan for pointing this out to me (although Iraci had hinted at the problem, too, I just didn´t get it correctly...)

Review responses:

Red Tigress: Creepy is good! I like creepy, I´m afraid this chapter is, too. Glad you liked my attempt at humor, too, though. Have to check out my DVD for the "finger" story, I must have missed that! Thanks, and keep reviewing :)

Alivyan: Thank you!! I´m flattered and very happy you like the story. As for Legolas - he´s only been on his own two feet for what, three chapters - and you want him hurt again?! Poor guy, let him enjoy himself a bit - but ultimately, yes, more trouble ahead for him (for them both, really). And thanks again for the review hint. Please keep your comments coming!

Now, on to the next chapter!

Enjoy and review, please.

Alinah

Rating: PG 13

Disclaimer: I wish...but no, still not mine

Lost souls

Aragorn felt the breath knocked out of him as if he had taken a violent fall. Unable to draw his eyes away he saw Daramus extend a hand as if in greeting, and a small figure under a shock of black hair stepped forward and took it. The child moved without his usual energy and didn´t even seem to notice his mother´s pitiful cries for mercy. Had it not been for several villagers holding her back, Telanna would have lunged herself at the old man. She fought hard to struggle out of the men´s grip, and as Daramus turned and slowly walked away with the boy, her fear and sorrow turned to anger and she showered him with threats. Aragorn could clearly see Daramus smile while he walked away, Telias dead-eyed at his side.

Abruptly, Aragorn burst into action, one hand reaching for his knife, the other for the door. No matter how fast he had been, however, there was no beating an elf´s reflexes. "Alhi, mellon-nin" //Not now, my friend// Legolas whispered urgently, firmly gripping Aragorn, halting his movement. "Ha anno lhu." //There is time.//

"Time for the boy to die!" the ranger spat, more sharply than he had intended, but wisely in a low voice. "Will you stand by and see him taken to his doom by the monster?" "Aye, for now." The elf´s voice was firm, and he pulled Aragorn away from the door. The man was about to burst into more violent protests when he realized that the villagers were dragging a crying Telanna towards the house. With a silent curse he gave up his struggles and quickly slipped into the kitchen and down the trapdoor, following his friend´s lead.

They had barely reached their hiding place, when they heard Telanna´s voice above them. "Leave me, leave me now!" Even though her breath came in sobs and tears soaked her words, there was no denying the sharp edge of hatred in them. "Telanna, please, do not make it worse", a man´s voice replied, "you have overcome this before, you will so again. As we all have and will."

"Worse?" Even listening to her icy tone made Aragorn shiver. "You have lost all ability to feel if you consider anything worse than my second child taken by this curse of a creature! Go and hide with the rest of them, then, and pray that it´s not your little girl next! Go!"

Retreating steps signalled the end of the argument, and all that was left to hear was Telanna´s troubled breathing. Aragorn turned to Legolas, murder in his eyes, but the elf did not back down.

"Why did you stop me?" The ranger demanded, every muscle taunt in the urge to act. "Because there was no winning this fight, and you know it." The reply was calm and not without sympathy. "Daramus has powers beyond yours and mine combined, and it would not have aided the child had we both given our lives in a fruitless attempt to safe him. We need both strength and cunning in our attempt to bring the old man down."

For a second, Aragorn just stood, staring at his friend, then he felt the fire of his anger diminish in the face of the elf´s words. He sat down at the table, taking a steadying breath before meeting Legolas clear blue eyes again. He was very much aware of what his friend had implied. Had he not been fast enough to stop Aragorn, he would have charged out to certain death at his side, armed with nothing but a kitchen knife. Valar, his temper sometimes! "Galw cin mab lim." //Blessed be your quick hand.// the ranger said with an apologetic smile and shrugged. "Sereg born, rach firen" //Hot blood, the human curse.//

Legolas easily returned the smile. "Aye, ar galw firen." //Yes, and the human blessing.// "No need to apologize for your compassion, for it was well placed. Had I not heard what I did, I might have joined you in your attack."

Aragorn´s reply was most heartfelt. "Then let´s thank elven senses once again! Tell, me, my friend, what have you heard. I still feel the urgency to act, though I take your advice to make my next move less ill-prepared."

Legolas nodded, and all warmth for his friend that had shone from his eyes a heartbeat ago melted away at the memory of what Daramus had proclaimed. "His pretence was to shield the villagers´ safety", he said bitterly, "a safety that had been rattled by newcomers who had angered the dark waters. He made every pledge that his attempts to spare the village had failed, and that nothing else could turn away certain doom for all but a sacrifice. Fate was to decide who would join Daramus in a ritual by the mill´s wheel tonight, two hours after sundown. And decide it did."

There was no doubt in Legolas´ voice that nobody but the old man himself had picked the child, and Aragorn felt just as convinced. There was fear in his heart that their presence at Telanna´s house had not gone unnoticed after all, and that it had been he who had brought this new tragedy upon the woman, but he firmly pushed the thought aside. No more blame, no more guilt. He could act to redeem himself.

Just as he was about to speak again, the trapdoor opened and Telanna walked into the room. Her once gentle face was frozen into a stony mask of hate. She barely recognized her guests when she brushed past them to a trunk that sat in a dark corner, unnoticed until now. She unlocked the heavy lid and pulled out several items. Weapons.

"Telanna..." Aragorn began, but her only reaction was a look in his direction that could have turned a balrog to ice. She strapped the quiver onto her back and the sword to her side with an ease that told of long experience. Looking closely, Aragorn could see a horse engraved on the sword´s hilt, another expertly driven into the leather of the scabbard. Rohan. He might have guessed.

"Please, Telanna", he tried again, stepping in front of her when she turned to go.

"Do not stand between me and him." Her eyes flashed at him , the only sign of true life in her round face. "Do not believe you can make me step down as my husband did so many years ago. He went out to safe our daughter by himself, while I stayed behind at the hearth! I will not be kept from revenge again!"

"And what did the will to fight do to help your daughter?" Aragorn asked. His voice was soft, trying to take some impact from the words and miserably failing. There was nothing to take the force from such a blow. "They were both lost to darkness, were they not? I do not belittle your abilities, I have seen women from the plains fight, but there is no sword that will stop this creature. And that you know, better than I do."

"And what does that change?" She raised her chin in defiance. "Once, there was something left to stay for. To suffer for. To remember for. But without the last of my family, I will not bow to his will any longer, I will rather join my children and husband in the long sleep. At least there will be peace, and freedom"

"There is no peace awaiting you." Legolas´ soft voice was full of sorrow. "And certainly no freedom."

Telanna whirled to face him, anger and disbelief mingling in her eyes. "What would you know about it? I do not know much about your people, Master Elf, but I do know that your path out of this world is not the same as ours. None of your kind can follow where our souls go. Why should I believe your guesses?"

The sorrow did not leave his face at her fury. "Because guess I do not. Nor would I ever take your comfort away by voicing doubts I might have about your believes. You are right that I do not have any knowledge of your fate after you leave this earth, but the souls of those who perished here have not left. They linger, unable to pass on, chained to the darkness that ripped them from your midst. Shadows they are, and many have lost everything that once made them what they were. Their voices melt together in the wind at night. Not so your loved ones. I could hear them call out for you on our way here."

Telanna stared at him, her eyes huge now. "You were barely conscious at the time." She was talking to herself more than to him, as if desperately keeping herself from believing him. "You might have dreamt it all. The black waters make people see and hear strange things, it plays tricks on our senses. You saw what was not there."

His shook his head ever so lightly. "I could feel them before. I stood at the window of the mill, and the meadows in the sun were bathed in shadow. Their sadness speaks to me even now, as we stand here. Their voices are strongest near the water, and their cloudy shapes lose all substance during the day, but they never leave. They wish to, many do, but they cannot, anchored here by darkness and hate. Your family, though, has you to keep them from succumbing to despair."

He paused, his look turning distant as he tried to conjure images from his mind that had found their way into his memory at a time of pain and fear. They were slightly less vivid than others, but there none the less, and they heeded his call. "There was a man, strong of voice and mind. He begged forgiveness for his folly. He cried out that no secret hidden away in precious stones had ever been worth risking your life and his."

With a muffled groan, Telanna swayed, and Aragorn quickly caught her, gently guiding her to sit on a chair. All doubt had been wiped from her face, and the mask of stony hate crumbled under the force of her sadness. "Please, say no more." She buried her face in her hands. "Say nothing of the little ones, poor children, lost between the worlds."

Legolas sank to his knees in front of her, taking her hands into his with great care. "But they are not lost, not yet. They have each other and their father. They stand together against the darkness. Do not despair, there is still hope for them. As there is hope for Telias. Together we shall find a way."

She sat with her head bowed for long moments. When she raised her eyes again, tears streamed down her face, but there was some of her old determination, too. "I was willing to face death for my child", she said quietly, "but as long as there is hope, I shall face life as well." She took one more breath before she continued: "Each sacrifice is made at the mill´s wheel. Daramus takes his victims there in a red light. Few have ever seen what happens there, even less have returned to talk about it, but...I have heard many memories recalled in this room, as you know. It seems that the water itself takes form when it is beckoned, and it reaches out to draw its prey into darkness." She shuddered.

"He will be exposed then", Aragorn mused, "vulnerable if not to death, then at least to hurt. Show us the weapons you have, Telanna. I believe I have a thought."

An eerie silence lay over the village. There were not lights on in the houses, not faces in the windows, as if all life had indeed left already, never to return.

Aragorn stood at the door to Telanna´s house, listening to the darkness moving, shifting. Night had fallen more than an hour ago. The mill was nothing but a looming thought in the distance, but the wheel could be heard, turned on and on by the dark water. Aragorn stared into the direction of the sound as if willing the view to appear that they had so carefully studied in the last rays of light, judging their chances.

"Alannan hi", //Not long now// Legolas said softly from behind him. "Patience, mellon-nin." "That is not something I have been blessed with, as you know ", Aragorn returned lightly. Despite the tension he felt and the fear that undeniably grew in him, he felt better than he had for a long time. Finally he was taking matters into his hand. Chances of victory were slim, but he was more than willing to face the odds. He was Estel, after all.

"Can you hear them tonight?" He continued to watch the night, unsure whether he would like to change places with his friend in this matter. "Aye, they are restless. There are wails full of sorrow. And anger, so much anger."

Aragorn nodded to himself. One day, he swore, Daramus would pay the price for all the fear and pain he had caused. And he swore he would be there to enjoy the view, even though he was sure it was not going to be tonight. Tonight was about getting the child back. After that, the real battle would begin.

Suddenly, an eerie glow cut through the black of night. A sickly red ulcer of flickering light, infesting the landscape more than illuminating it. "It is time." Aragorn´s hand went once more to the sword at his side, once belonging to Telanna´s husband, now out to safe his child at the ranger´s hands.

He turned to Telanna and Legolas, both watching him as he fastened the light-stone, its strength renewed, at his belt. "I will bring him back."

Telanna bowed her head to him, eyes steady now. "Valar berio le, mellon-nin" //[May] the Valar protect you, my friend// Legolas said softly.

"A le" //And you// Aragorn responded and stepped out into the darkness, covered in a veil of light as he walked towards the mill.

TBC