Thranduil stormed into the palace, angry at what he just witnessed: his
only son had been abducted by an unknown garogoyle. He stared out at the
dark sky.
"What do we know about this new one?" he demanded as they walked into the library to meet up with Elrond and Arwen.
"She has blonde hair and lighter skin yet we have no idea where she came from but she obviously joined the gargoyles since your last encounter with them," Elladan replied.
"Something about these creatures made Legolas really upset about Nanaylia's death. How did he react after that happened but before we came?" Elrohir wanted to know.
"He sat in the tree that's outside his room. He and Nanaylia used to go up in that tree all the time when she was alive. I remember Chimone and I watching him one day some time after we told him that Nanaylia's body couldn't be found and that she was probably dead. He was terribly distraught about that news and the fact she was gone forever," Thranduil told him.
"We should go find Chimone. Maybe she could have some ideas to what might be going on," Arwen suggested.
"Good idea. Elrond, could you please come with me?" Thranduil said as he nodded before heading towards Chimone's room.
***
Chimone was humming to herself when a knock came to the door. She opened it up to find Elrond and Thranduil standing outside it.
"My Lords, what do you require of me?" she asked, slightly bowing her head.
"Chimone, Legolas has been taken by the gargoyles. Arwen has suggested that maybe you might know of something relevant to this," Elrond told her.
"I know nothing. I wish I did though," she replied.
Both male elves gave a sigh before Chimone decided to speak again.
"I know this is not relevant to what has happened to Legolas but I believe you should know about something," she said.
"What?" the king wanted to know.
"It is Manlin. He is a strange sort of elf. I feel that he taken into the practising of the dark arts," she told him.
"The dark arts. There was always something strange about him. I never could place it and dark magic now makes sense. But we can't prove it at the moment," Thranduil agreed. "He is one to look upon more carefully but we can't do that at the moment. We have more important things to deal with before I deal with suspicions that we have."
"I suggest we wait until morning in doing anything about Legolas. I believe it will be better in the search to do it by daylight. A portion of the night has passed us already," Elrond suggested.
"I want to start as soon as possible," Thranduil replied as he looked at Elond. "We begin the search at dawn."
Elrond gave a small nod as the three of them walked out of the room.
***
Legolas was limply hanging in the gargoyle's arms as she walked into the building to be greeted by the others.
"You got him! Way to go Narcissis!" cheered Banside.
Sathed began to clap his hands, a smile on his face. Shentree also smiled.
"Good, now we can get rid of the second brat," she said.
"Not yet, we won't. I have a plan that needs to have Legolas alive," came a voice.
"Of course," Shentree replied.
Legolas vaguely recognized the voice but he couldn't place the name. Also, his mind was foggy and wasn't thinking straight. He closed his eyes and drifted off into unconsciousness.
"Why exactly do we need him again?" Banside wondered once he saw that Legolas could no longer hear them.
Manlin stepped out of the shadows and looked at the four.
"We need him because he will lead his father out into the open, into here, to us. Then, we will take him out of the picture as well as his son," Manlin told them. "Then we will take out rightful place in the palace. I will return to the palace and we will wait until morning before doing anything."
Sathed began to laugh out loud as the other three began to laugh quietly to themselves.
"Now that we have him, his father will be coming after him almost immediately. Who wants to greet our guest when he does?" Manlin asked the gargoyles.
The four looked at each other.
"I'll go," Shentree said as she stepped forwards. "We really need some excitement around here."
"I will as well," Banside put in. "And Shentree's right. The excitement really hasn't been around here lately."
Sathed laughed as he joined his two friends. The group looked at Narcissis who shook her head.
"I'll stay here with the prisoner," she replied. "Someone needs to keep an eye on him, especially if he awakens."
"Good idea. Someone should be here with him," Manlin told her. "And I should not. He'll recognize me."
The three gargoyles left the room as did the elf.
***
Aragorn watched as the elves hurried to prepare themselves for the rescue. He had never seen a household in such an uproar. The twins hurried up to him.
"Come on, let's go. We have to help them!" Elladan said.
"Who's going?" wondered Aragorn.
"Elrohir and I are. You probably want to as well. Thranduil is leading the group and a few of his guards are coming as well," Elladan replied.
The three of them followed Thranduil. Their stare turned towards the 'Dark Forest' and Aragorn had to gulp as they looked ever longer in its direction.
"I can see why Legolas didn't want to go back there. It's a scary place," Aragorn said.
"I can see as well," agreed Elrohir.
***
Later in the evening, Legolas awoke to humming. He tried to sit up but found he couldn't because of the immense pain in his shoulder. He found he was slightly sweating and weak. He looked in the direction the humming was coming from to see the strange gargoyle sitting in a chair, staring in the opposite direction. A few candles were lit nearby and he saw it was dark outside.
"What the...?" he started, slurring his words a bit.
She turned her head slightly to see he was awake. She stood up and walked over to him, kneeling beside him.
"Well I'll be, you're finally awake," she told him with a smirk on her face.
"Why have you brought me here?" demanded Legolas.
"I can't tell you dear prince. It's not my place to tell you but what I want to talk to you about is the elf you were talking about when those others arrived," she replied.
"I won't talk to you about her," Legolas snarled at her. "I never will. Especially not with someone like you."
"Such a pity. So sad too since I was there the day when the wolves attacked you, her and your father," she said to him before standing back up.
Legolas gasped and she heard this.
"You were there? What did you do to her?" he demanded before wriggling in his binds.
"I thought you didn't want to talk about it," she said as she gave a yawn. "So we won't."
"Tell me," Legolas told her in an angry voice.
"Well... alright. Yes, I was there. I saw what you did," she replied as she paced back and forth in front of Legolas. "I've been keeping an eye on you ever since then."
Legolas couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"You know about that?" he asked.
"Dear prince, everyone knows about that," Narcissis said with a laugh.
Legolas' eyes were now brimming with tears. He closed his eyes and wondered what his father thought about what he did.
***
Thranduil looked around the forest as the others followed him. He had traveled as soon as the sun peeked out over the horizon.
"If Manlin is part of this, I wouldn't be surprised. He has always been a strange elf but I doubt he can be a part of this," he muttered to himself.
The search was soon cut short when the three gargoyles jumped down from the trees. They circled the group and they were prepared to attack if the need came.
"Where is my son?" demanded Thranduil.
"He's safe...for the moment. If you want him to live, you'll listen to what we have to say," Shentree replied.
Sathed began to laugh again and Banside gave him an angry look, making the gargoyle stop.
Thranduil sighed as he looked at the three.
"What is is that you want?" he said as he looked at the ground.
"We want you. Tell the others to leave and you will stay with us," Banside replied.
Thranduil couldn't believe what he was hearing but he soon nodded, agreeing withe their demands.
"Go back to the palace," he ordered them.
The others couldn't believe what they were hearing. They began to protest but Thranduil raised a hand to stop them.
"Just go," he told them.
The twins and Aragorn glanced back at him as they left, leaving Thranduil at the mercy of the gargoyles.
TBC...
"What do we know about this new one?" he demanded as they walked into the library to meet up with Elrond and Arwen.
"She has blonde hair and lighter skin yet we have no idea where she came from but she obviously joined the gargoyles since your last encounter with them," Elladan replied.
"Something about these creatures made Legolas really upset about Nanaylia's death. How did he react after that happened but before we came?" Elrohir wanted to know.
"He sat in the tree that's outside his room. He and Nanaylia used to go up in that tree all the time when she was alive. I remember Chimone and I watching him one day some time after we told him that Nanaylia's body couldn't be found and that she was probably dead. He was terribly distraught about that news and the fact she was gone forever," Thranduil told him.
"We should go find Chimone. Maybe she could have some ideas to what might be going on," Arwen suggested.
"Good idea. Elrond, could you please come with me?" Thranduil said as he nodded before heading towards Chimone's room.
***
Chimone was humming to herself when a knock came to the door. She opened it up to find Elrond and Thranduil standing outside it.
"My Lords, what do you require of me?" she asked, slightly bowing her head.
"Chimone, Legolas has been taken by the gargoyles. Arwen has suggested that maybe you might know of something relevant to this," Elrond told her.
"I know nothing. I wish I did though," she replied.
Both male elves gave a sigh before Chimone decided to speak again.
"I know this is not relevant to what has happened to Legolas but I believe you should know about something," she said.
"What?" the king wanted to know.
"It is Manlin. He is a strange sort of elf. I feel that he taken into the practising of the dark arts," she told him.
"The dark arts. There was always something strange about him. I never could place it and dark magic now makes sense. But we can't prove it at the moment," Thranduil agreed. "He is one to look upon more carefully but we can't do that at the moment. We have more important things to deal with before I deal with suspicions that we have."
"I suggest we wait until morning in doing anything about Legolas. I believe it will be better in the search to do it by daylight. A portion of the night has passed us already," Elrond suggested.
"I want to start as soon as possible," Thranduil replied as he looked at Elond. "We begin the search at dawn."
Elrond gave a small nod as the three of them walked out of the room.
***
Legolas was limply hanging in the gargoyle's arms as she walked into the building to be greeted by the others.
"You got him! Way to go Narcissis!" cheered Banside.
Sathed began to clap his hands, a smile on his face. Shentree also smiled.
"Good, now we can get rid of the second brat," she said.
"Not yet, we won't. I have a plan that needs to have Legolas alive," came a voice.
"Of course," Shentree replied.
Legolas vaguely recognized the voice but he couldn't place the name. Also, his mind was foggy and wasn't thinking straight. He closed his eyes and drifted off into unconsciousness.
"Why exactly do we need him again?" Banside wondered once he saw that Legolas could no longer hear them.
Manlin stepped out of the shadows and looked at the four.
"We need him because he will lead his father out into the open, into here, to us. Then, we will take him out of the picture as well as his son," Manlin told them. "Then we will take out rightful place in the palace. I will return to the palace and we will wait until morning before doing anything."
Sathed began to laugh out loud as the other three began to laugh quietly to themselves.
"Now that we have him, his father will be coming after him almost immediately. Who wants to greet our guest when he does?" Manlin asked the gargoyles.
The four looked at each other.
"I'll go," Shentree said as she stepped forwards. "We really need some excitement around here."
"I will as well," Banside put in. "And Shentree's right. The excitement really hasn't been around here lately."
Sathed laughed as he joined his two friends. The group looked at Narcissis who shook her head.
"I'll stay here with the prisoner," she replied. "Someone needs to keep an eye on him, especially if he awakens."
"Good idea. Someone should be here with him," Manlin told her. "And I should not. He'll recognize me."
The three gargoyles left the room as did the elf.
***
Aragorn watched as the elves hurried to prepare themselves for the rescue. He had never seen a household in such an uproar. The twins hurried up to him.
"Come on, let's go. We have to help them!" Elladan said.
"Who's going?" wondered Aragorn.
"Elrohir and I are. You probably want to as well. Thranduil is leading the group and a few of his guards are coming as well," Elladan replied.
The three of them followed Thranduil. Their stare turned towards the 'Dark Forest' and Aragorn had to gulp as they looked ever longer in its direction.
"I can see why Legolas didn't want to go back there. It's a scary place," Aragorn said.
"I can see as well," agreed Elrohir.
***
Later in the evening, Legolas awoke to humming. He tried to sit up but found he couldn't because of the immense pain in his shoulder. He found he was slightly sweating and weak. He looked in the direction the humming was coming from to see the strange gargoyle sitting in a chair, staring in the opposite direction. A few candles were lit nearby and he saw it was dark outside.
"What the...?" he started, slurring his words a bit.
She turned her head slightly to see he was awake. She stood up and walked over to him, kneeling beside him.
"Well I'll be, you're finally awake," she told him with a smirk on her face.
"Why have you brought me here?" demanded Legolas.
"I can't tell you dear prince. It's not my place to tell you but what I want to talk to you about is the elf you were talking about when those others arrived," she replied.
"I won't talk to you about her," Legolas snarled at her. "I never will. Especially not with someone like you."
"Such a pity. So sad too since I was there the day when the wolves attacked you, her and your father," she said to him before standing back up.
Legolas gasped and she heard this.
"You were there? What did you do to her?" he demanded before wriggling in his binds.
"I thought you didn't want to talk about it," she said as she gave a yawn. "So we won't."
"Tell me," Legolas told her in an angry voice.
"Well... alright. Yes, I was there. I saw what you did," she replied as she paced back and forth in front of Legolas. "I've been keeping an eye on you ever since then."
Legolas couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"You know about that?" he asked.
"Dear prince, everyone knows about that," Narcissis said with a laugh.
Legolas' eyes were now brimming with tears. He closed his eyes and wondered what his father thought about what he did.
***
Thranduil looked around the forest as the others followed him. He had traveled as soon as the sun peeked out over the horizon.
"If Manlin is part of this, I wouldn't be surprised. He has always been a strange elf but I doubt he can be a part of this," he muttered to himself.
The search was soon cut short when the three gargoyles jumped down from the trees. They circled the group and they were prepared to attack if the need came.
"Where is my son?" demanded Thranduil.
"He's safe...for the moment. If you want him to live, you'll listen to what we have to say," Shentree replied.
Sathed began to laugh again and Banside gave him an angry look, making the gargoyle stop.
Thranduil sighed as he looked at the three.
"What is is that you want?" he said as he looked at the ground.
"We want you. Tell the others to leave and you will stay with us," Banside replied.
Thranduil couldn't believe what he was hearing but he soon nodded, agreeing withe their demands.
"Go back to the palace," he ordered them.
The others couldn't believe what they were hearing. They began to protest but Thranduil raised a hand to stop them.
"Just go," he told them.
The twins and Aragorn glanced back at him as they left, leaving Thranduil at the mercy of the gargoyles.
TBC...