"The Wanderers"
By: Tsuki no Lomelinde
Disclaimer: As you are all probably aware by now, I do not own the characters of The Lord of the Rings, no matter how much I want to. But the few unimportant characters that I made up, are mine, I created them from the strange place that is my imagination. If you want to post this story elsewhere please ask first, I'll probably say yes, but it would be nice if you asked first. Also a quick little note, the "Book of Remembrance" is also my creation, a made it all up because I thought it would add a nice little touch. I'm just letting everyone know that it's not something
All mistakes that are still in this story after Deana's (my wonderful beta) careful and thorough fixing and editing, are all my fault and I apologize for them.
All notes to my wonderful faithful reviewers are at the bottom! Enjoy!
Summary: A strange elf has entered Mirkwood. What does he want? And how does he know Legolas?
Chapter 7: Strange Acquaintances
~ Three chosen to defend the gates
Three together have chosen this fate
Three of light against darkness stand
One of the purest white
The second of silver
And the last of gold
One chose a companion
In an alliance of old
The second alone
Messenger to all
The last chose life
No memory prevail
Until the time
Of darkness unveiled. ~
Prophesy of Lights
In the "Book of Remembrance"
The shadow sat on his dark throne and watched. Everything was going according to plan; the Prince of Mirkwood would soon be dead, and with him, all of Middle Earth would fall, leaving only darkness and creatures that thrived in that environment. And he would rule it all, with an iron grip, destroying all that opposed him.
All of these dark dreams would happen, but only if he could keep those two meddlers out of it, and that was proving to be a difficult task. The two had already met in council, and his sight would not allow him to know of their plans.
A servant entered the room, a small insignificant being, but they had their uses.
"My Lord," the creature said, in its simpering, oily voice, and paused, waiting for the command to continue. When none came, he began to speak again anyway. "The armies are ready to move out."
"Then send them forth," the master replied, and the servant fled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shyla, if you remember, was riding to Lothlorien for help. She arrived without any mishaps, and Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn readily agreed to send troops; they would arrive at Mirkwood by the dawn of tomorrow. She was frantic with worry over her brothers…she had a horrible feeling that she would never see them all together again. She hated to feel morbid but she couldn't stop the nagging feeling that everything was going to go wrong.
Suddenly there was a flash of bright light. Some of the elves cried out, as the flash had hurt their sensitive eyes. The light cleared, and everyone was surprised to see a young elven maiden standing before them.
"Who are you?" Lord Celeborn asked, his voice commanding.
The maiden was dressed in colors that would blend in with the forest, and her cloak was elven gray, while pure white hair flowed nearly down to her knees.
"I am Lomelinde, the messenger. You must make all haste to Mirkwood, the darkness is growing stronger."
"How have you come to know this?" Lord Celeborn asked.
She shrugged. "I am the messenger. I come with news, though it may not be to your liking. Prince Thruin is dead, slain by the Orcs, and Prince Legolas may not live to see the battle through. Aid will come at sunset, in two days time. Look to the sky, the light of Middle Earth will shine again! But of this great occurrence may come sorrow… or perhaps not. The way is unclear. You would do well to heed the warnings Lord Celeborn, for if the darkness prevails all of Middle Earth will succumb to it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The elf silently made his way through the forest. Not a sound was made by his footsteps; his companion on the other hand, was a different story.
"Can't you move any quieter?" the elf hissed.
"Sorry lad, but as you must have realized, I am not an elf, nor will I ever be," his companion replied.
The elf nearly laughed at his companion's sarcasm and said, "Just try my friend; I would hate to alert the patrols of our arrival, and with the way you've been stomping through the forest, I'm surprised that we haven't been discovered already."
His companion merely muttered something about silly elves, and said nothing else.
The elf turned his thoughts elsewhere, to the darkness that had engulfed Mirkwood. He could feel the coldness of it but he pushed it back; he could not spare the time.
The two companions came to a stop at the edge of the palace walls. The elf looked around for any signs of a threat, and finding none he nimbly scaled the wall and threw a rope down to his companion.
Once on the other side they found themselves in a garden.
"Well, which way do we go Laliath?"
The elf spared a glance for his companion, before pointing towards the left. "That way." And they made their way through the garden.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Legolas sat up in bed, gasping for breath. Startled by the sudden movement, Elrond woke up from his place beside the bed.
"Legolas?" the elven lord asked, belatedly realizing the foolishness of his question, as Legolas was incapable of answering.
Elrond grabbed some dried herbs that he'd placed on a table next to the bed, and crushed them, making a fine powder. He blew the powder in Legolas' face, and almost instantly the younger elf's breathing eased and his eyes took on a blank quality before sliding shut.
Elrond sighed. He hated to do that, but it was the only option he had left. The young prince was running out of time, and Elrond was out of ideas.
He stood up and began pacing the room, but suddenly stopped; his keen elven hearing picked up a sound from outside the window. Carefully he edged over, so as not to alert the intruders. He was started at the sight of an elf and a dwarf attempting to quietly make their way through the garden. The elf was tall and slender, as most elves were, his blonde hair swinging gently as he crept along. He had a bright glow around him, brighter then any that Elrond had ever seen before. The dwarf was barricaded in armor that glinted dully in the light of the single torch that adorned the wall of the palace, a battle-axe much like Gimli's hung in his belt.
Elrond watched them for a moment; it was quite unusual to see an elf and a dwarf keeping the same company, with the exception of Gimli and Legolas of course. He was torn away from his thoughts when the dwarf began to speak.
"Well, we finally made it, no thanks to your navigating skills."
The elf glared at his companion. "Well perhaps if you weren't talking and complaining all the time, I might have been able to concentrate better. Come, we must find him, we can do nothing standing here arguing," the elf said and turned on his heel.
"Do you even know where to begin looking?" the dwarf asked, glaring at his companion's back.
"Yes, as a matter of fact I do," the elf said, and began walking away. The dwarf grumbled but followed.
Elrond slipped out the window. His feet hit the ground making nary a sound, and he began to follow the two companions.
"Laliath?" the dwarf asked.
"What now Coran?" the elf said, exasperated with his companion.
"How is it that you know where you are going? Have you ever even set foot inside Mirkwood before?"
Laliath answered somewhat guiltily. "It's not my territory…"
"So I repeat, how do you know where we are going?"
"I have my sources."
"Fine, be secretive."
The elf grinned. "I believe I shall, but perhaps if Lord Elrond emerged from the shadows I might be persuaded to tell."
Elrond stepped out of his hiding place, surprised, and walked towards the two, his every step cautious.
Laliath bowed to Elrond. "My Lord," he said.
"Who are you?" Elrond demanded.
"I am Laliath, and this is my companion Coran. We hail from the Old Forest and are here to aid our friend Legolas," the elf said, looking Lord Elrond fully in the eye. "You would do well to accept our help Lord Elrond, for we know that you can do nothing about the illness that plagues the prince of Mirkwood."
"How is it that you would be able to help?" Elrond questioned, still wary of the two.
The elf smiled, and shook his head. "I am afraid that I cannot tell you just yet. But please, you have to trust us; you don't have any other option."
Elrond sighed. Laliath was right, and his instinct was telling him that he could trust these two strangers. "All right."
Laliath smiled. "I knew that you'd see it my way."
Elrond led them through the gardens to the main hall, where Gimli sat snoring in a chair by the fire and Elladan and Elrohir sat quietly talking.
The twins and Shoran looked up when their father entered the hall.
"Ada?" Elladan asked, "What were you doing outside?"
"And who are your companions?" Elrohir said, arching a delicate eyebrow.
"I am Laliath, and this is my companion Coran. We are here to help. A great darkness has arisen and it must be stopped."
"And just how exactly do you plan to do that?" Gimli said. The elves turned to look at him; none of them had realized that he had awoken.
"All will be revealed in time," Laliath said in his lilting voice, and began to make his way down the hall. Everyone hurried after him.
Laliath opened the door to Legolas' room and strode in. The group of elves and dwarves followed him, curious and a little wary.
"What are you doing?" Shoran asked, but his words went unheeded.
Laliath went over to Legolas' bed, and called to the sleeping prince. "Legolas, awaken! The night skies are dark without you!"
The young prince did not stir.
"You cannot wake him, the herbs will last a good while still," Elrond said, but Laliath ignored him.
"Awaken, young one! Or all of Middle Earth will succumb to the darkness, and the three will crumble and fall!"
To everyone's surprise, except Laliath of course, Legolas' eyes fluttered open and looked around, confused.
"Well! Good morning to you Prince Legolas!" Laliath said, with a slight laugh.
Elrond strode over to the young prince and placed a hand on his forehead.
"He is still with fever," he said, shooting a glance at Laliath.
"But you said that you would help him!" Shoran said, not without a hint of anger in his words.
"There is nothing that can be done at this moment, I'm afraid," Laliath said in his patient manner. The elf turned to Legolas. "Lomelinde is waiting, it will begin soon."
Legolas nodded and attempted to get to his feet, but the twins grabbed him and held him in place.
"Elladan, Elrohir, let me go," said the soft voice of the elven prince, but the twins didn't let go. "Please? You do not understand! He will be here soon! We must stop him!" Legolas struggled, but he was weak from the fever, and the twins kept a firm grip on him.
Both Coran and Gimli unconsciously put a hand on their weapons, and Elrond spun around to look at Laliath.
"Care to explain all of this to me?" he said.
"If you think that I should tell you then I shall. As you have noticed, the stars have been hidden for some time, even when the nights are clear, and even the light of the sun and the moon are growing dim. The darkness is growing stronger, and the light is growing weaker. Legolas' help is required to stop the threat."
"Elladan, Elrohir, go wake Estel and Thranduil," Elrond said.
The twins released Legolas, who made no move to stand again, and hurried to obey their father.
"How can Legolas help?" Shoran said. "He is ill!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aragorn stood at the edge of Mirkwood. It was dusk, or so he thought. He could hear the sounds of battle, and see it in the distance; he groped for where his sword hung at his hip, and found that it wasn't there. He was alone and defenseless.
Suddenly, a burst of light shot out from the midst of the battlefield. Two others joined it, and slowly the sounds of the battle faded. Aragorn could see Orcs fall silently to the ground, and their surprised opponents stood there, confused. They all turned towards the beams of light, watching in awe as a great shadow was wiped out of existence and dawn breached the horizon.
Aragorn ran out onto the field, his heart pounding in terror. The lights faded, and he saw something fall to the ground.
He walked past the bodies of the Orcs. They were dead, and not worth his attention. He continued running, single-minded in his task, before coming to a halt; there on the ground before him was the young elven messenger who had told them to fly to Mirkwood; Lomelinde. Her eyes were closed, in death. There were no marks on her, but he knew that she was dead. He continued past her, and a little ways away he came upon another body, an elf he didn't recognize, with almost glowing golden hair. He was dead too, except that his eyes were wide open and blank. But still Aragorn continued on. He didn't know what he was looking for, but he felt in his heart that it would not be something that he wanted to see.
Aragorn stopped. Before him, lying on the ground was Legolas; his silver hair and pale skin glowing in the soft light of dawn. He had an ethereal look, lying there, still in his night robes. Aragorn rushed to his fallen friend, begging any powers that might be listening not to take his friend from him, but he felt, with a horrible sinking feeling in his heart that Legolas was already dead. He cradled the still form in his arms…
"Estel! Estel, wake up now!"
Aragorn was jolted from his horrible dream by Elladan, who was shaking him none too gently. 'Why is Elladan here? Has something happened?' "What is wrong? Is Legolas all right?" Aragorn asked, fear rising within him.
"Legolas is fine for the moment. A stranger has come who says that he can help him! Ada said to wake you," Elladan told him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: I'm so sorry that it's been so long since my last post. I am having some serious writers block with this one. I'll try and make the next chapter longer.
And one more thing, see that little button on the bottom of the screen? You do? Good. Press it and send me a nice little review, I need reviews!!!!! Or the next chapter may take even longer.
And thanks to everyone who reviewed!! I love all of you!!
Nightshadow131:Thanks for adding me to your favs list!!!!
Nikki: Thanks for being such a faithful reviewer!!! I love you to pieces!!!!!
Saxaphonebaby: Diamonds? Who needs diamonds? Now chocolate would be a good idea ^_^
Yo yo: Thanks for the review!!!
manders1953: Your right, who cares if I make his hair silver or not! Thanks for the support!!
MorierBlackleaf: Well here it is!!!
Sarah: Thanks!!! I appreciate that wonderful compliment!!!
J_mercuryuk: Thanks for you wonderful review!!!
Discombobulated cheese: Well, here it is! Happy? ^_^