Chapter 8:
A/N: Okay, I realize this has taken forever and a day to get chapter 8 out, but I hope you can all bear with me and enjoy. I'm thinking maybe another chapter or two before this story has run its course.
Disclaimer: I only own the ones Tolkein didn't write.
Aragorn rocked back on his heels as the Elf leapt at him. A strange expression of fury and hatred had possessed Legolas' face, twisting it hard and cold. The man moved back as quickly as he was able, stumbling slightly over rocks. He was off balance, reeling from the surprise of the attack. One of Legolas' pearl knives swept through the air just in front of Aragorn's face. The air rippled as the blade passed.
Legolas kept pressing forward, intent on drawing blood. He drove his knife down in an overhead strike; one Aragorn barely managed to block in time. The force of the blow drove the ranger down, landing with a grnt on the rocky ground. Tucking his arms tight to his sides he rolled away and then up onto one knee as the Elf's blade sank into the ground where he had just lain. He drew his sword as he fended off the Elf's attack with the blade the Lady of the Wood had gifted him.
Legolas drew his other sword, twirling the blade nimbly in his left hand. He thrust it forward straight at Aragorn's exposed throat. Aragorn didn't have time to ponder the questions that were flying through his mind, he only had time to react. The moment he blocked one advance another was upon him. It was a grim reminder of the strength and speed of elves, a thing he had taken for granted for years.
Aragorn knew he had to get off his knees if he was to have a chance. He was the better swordsman, that he knew, but Legolas was no fool. He was well trained in all forms of combat, and knew Aragorn's fighting style. It would not be an easy victory, if a victory was to be had at all.
He parried a strike to his left side with his short blade. Then he drove forward off one knee, attacking with a crescent swipe of his sword. The Elf jumped backward, avoiding the blow, and allowing Aragorn just enough time to regain his footing.
The two combatants circled each other carefully, each carrying a blade in both hands. Aragorn's chest heaved, not from exhaustion, but the anticipation of another attack. Sweat slicked his brow and his hands readjusted their grip on his weapons. His eyes searched Legolas for any sign of familiarity, of doubt, but there was none. The elf before him was foreign to his eyes, a shell of Legolas only.
"Mellon, why?"
The elf's mouth curled in distaste. "I am not your friend." He dropped his left shoulder, keeping that blade low, the one in his right hand high, and came again. Aragorn swept the low blade away from him. Their blades crashed, sending sparks into the air. The muscles in Aragorn's arms cried out as they locked blade on blade. The ranger shoved the elf back and spun away from him, the steel of their swords screeching. He ducked as Legolas' knife moved to hack off his head. As he dropped he swept a foot out, catching the elf behind his knees. Lightning reflexes kept Legolas on his feet.
Above the man and elf, on the ledge before the doors of Medulsed a small crowd had formed. Eowyn and Dani stood at the forefront. Dani bit her lower lip, as the shield maiden's grip on her upper arm dug deep into her flesh. "Eowyn," she said quietly, pulling away from the other woman's grasp. The blonde didn't respond, but her iron grip loosened slightly.
The hobbit Merry came to stand beside Eowyn. Eomer rushed out of the palace, sword drawn, a small battalion of men behind him. "Where are they? The Halfling said Aragorn was being attacked. Where is the army of the Dark Lord?"
"It is an army of one," Dani told him stiffly. She pointed down into the burial grounds, where man and elf fought between the funeral mounds. Eomer's eyes widened at the sight of the two friends locked in combat.
"Surely this is some jest."
"It is no jest," Dani assured him, lips pressed in a grim line.
Eomer might have hurried down the palace's steps to Aragorn's aid, if not for Eowyn's restraining hand. "You must not break his concentration brother. If you do I fear it will be the end of him."
"Surely you do not mean to simply stand aside!??"
"I mean to wait for the White Rider."
Their wait was mercifully short. Almost the moment the words passed Eowyn's lips Gandalf burst through the tall doors. Gimli and Pippin trailed close on his heels. White robes swirled angrily around the wizard's frame as he strode purposefully down the steps. He held his staff high, and the crystal in the tip blazed fiercely in the waning light. The rest of the onlookers fell into step some yards behind the wizard, yet none spoke, as they were all still entranced in the scene before them. It was a mortal dance, meant to spill blood, and the movements of the players transfixed them all.
Neither swordsman paid the wizard any mind as he approached. Legolas struck, Aragorn parried. Aragorn advanced and Legolas defended. Gandalf raised the staff, gripping it in two hands, and leveled the crystal at the fighters. His bellow was like a thunderclap, and none in the crowd behind him could distinguish the words he spoke. He thrust the staff forward. There was a flash of brilliant light, and Aragorn and Legolas were thrown apart.
Gandalf moved on the Elf, while Aragorn clambered to his feet. He sheathed his sword, wiping his brow. Legolas defiantly stared at the wizard. He tried to raise one of his knives, but it was as if his arm was laden with a dead weight. Gandalf swung his staff like a club, sweeping it down across the Elf's jaw. Legolas flew back, driven to the ground. Eomer and one of the other Eorlingas came forward, yanking the Elf to his feet to face Gandalf. The Elf twisted in their grasp, but between their strength and the will of Gandalf, he could do little. Aragorn and Gimli stood at either side of the White Rider. Gimli's face wandered from angered to betrayed. Aragorn just looked confused.
"We were talking," Aragorn began, searching legolas's face. "He said he was afraid that some darkness was taking him."
"It seems his fears were well founded," Gandalf responded.
The ranger turned, searching the faces in the crowd. "You," he pointed to Dani. She shrank back beneath his gaze. "He said you saw a darkness growing in him. He told me to run, then he attacked me. I don't understand."
Gandalf glanced back at the girl out of the corner of his eye. Wizened blue eyes narrowed. "Is this true?" Dani nodded stiffly. Tell me what you saw."
Dani exchanged a quick glance with Eowyn, who nodded reassuringly. "It was only for a moment," she began breathlessly. "He came out from the caves. I swore then that he some dark version of himself, possessing of his own shadows. Then again later, just before the knife bit my side, I saw his eyes. Those eyes..." her voice trailed off.
"And tell me Danuriel," Gandalf urged, "tell me what you now see."
She took a few tentative steps forward toward wizard and elf. She stopped just in front of Aragorn, and the Ranger lay a steadying hand on her shoulder. Dani did not want to look up, did want to see the aberration of a face she had grown so quickly to trust and value. She blew out a long breath and forced herself to look up. For a moment she was relieved, seeing only a fair blonde elf before her. Then suddenly the image shifted, and all the world surrounding the Elf fell to shadow. Icy fingers seemed to grip her heart and steal her breath. His face was twisted and sallow.
"That is not Legolas!" she cried. Eomer and Eowyn exchanged a puzzled glance. Quiet mutterings rippled through the gathered crowd. They only saw the Elf as they had known him, blue eyed and fair skinned as he had ever been. "There is stone and ice where there should be flesh and blood." Blue eyes receded into dark pits of eyes. The sight of fiery pupils burned her good eye and her hands flew to her face and she turned away from him. "It burns."
"Gandalf?" Aragorn's voice was questioning.
"He is being controlled, his mind possessed. I need drive out this evil, like to Theoden." He raised his staff again. "Let him go," he order the men holding him. Eomer and the other backed away quickly. Legolas' face twisted in a gruesome smile. "Release this body," his voice rumbled deep. He struck Legolas with the tip of his staff, driving the Elf to his knees, coughing violently. The black tendrils of Saruman's poison snaked up his back, round his chest and ever closer to his heart.
The elf's shoulders began to shake. His chin was near his chest, hands limp at his sides. His hair fell down to cover his face. Gandalf struck him again, and the blonde's body jerked. His head jerked up, and he was laughing. "Fool," he snarled. "You can not banish me this easily." He reached up, grabbing the wizard's staff in both hands. Twin snares of darkness gripped his heart. Before the amazed and horrified crowd his eyes turned wholly black, devoid of any light.
The crystal on Gandalf's staff flared brilliantly. The earth rumbled and shook beneath their feet. The gem cracked and a shockwave rolled through the air. Dani felt herself being flung into space. He shoulder connected solidly with someone else, who grunted. They both toppled, a heap of arms and legs. A few cries of pain and surprise emanated from the onlookers.
It was Aragorn who first regained his senses. He rolled Dani off the top of him and turned onto his stomach, drawing his knees beneath him. He stood quickly, sword at the ready, though his free hand trembled by his side despite his best efforts. He shook his head once, clearing his head, and looked around. Dani's palms were still plastered to her face where she was curled on the ground. Eomer was helping Eowyn to her feet. To his right lay Gandalf, pale faced and still. He hurried to the wizard's side. A small wound marred his head at his browline, trickling blood down his temple. The Ranger was relieved at least, that he was breathing.
It was then that Aragorn's eyes swept the hill for signs of Legolas. He was not there. Isildur's heir trotted quickly to the steps of the palace, casting his gaze down into the city. There he spotted his foe, moving quickly past the gates of the city. Below Edoras, Aragorn sighted in on a small troop of Orcs and Wargs, waiting. Legolas grasped the rein of a riderless Warg. He turned briefly, staring back up the hill.
His eyes were the deepest black the ranger had ever seen, swallowing all the light near them. His skin was white as bone, and the pale flesh of his face was marred by black veins. Gray shadows arrested the circles beneath his eyes, and two black streaks erupted from each temple and stained his hair. Aragorn felt his heart sink, and the grip of his sword slackened. Then Legolas turned away, leapt onto the back of the waiting Warg, and they galloped off.
Aragorn stood riveted, watching them till they were mere specs on the horizon. A large, calloused hand gripped his shoulder. "He's gone laddie," Gimli said sadly, "maybe in more ways than one. Come on, we'd best get back." Aragorn nodded tightly, sheathed his sword and turned to follow the Dwarf.
Gandalf was roused and peering intently at the end of his staff, a shard of broken crystal in one hand. Eowyn stood beside him, grasping one elbow, but the wizard was paying her no mind. No mind either, to Theoden, whose arrival the ranger had not noticed. The wizard looked at Aragorn and help up the shard. "It is a powerful force that could shatter this."
His reply was sullen. "It would have to be, to make Legolas turn like that. Gandalf what just happened?"
"An evil has corrupted his heart. I felt it when he grasped my staff." He shook his head, and his voice was laden with sorrow. "He is a servant of Sauron now."
"It cannot be," Aragorn spat.
Gandlaf remained unfazed. "These events have many currents underlying. I feel there is a grave urgency to our task, now even more than before. We must discuss our plans for the morrow and the gathering of arms. Come and let us take council this eve." He strode purposefully past Aragorn and the others. Theoden fell in step beside him and Eowyn just behind. Aragorn sighed heavily and followed. The passed Eomer and Dani as they walked. The Rohirrim looked very serious, standing protectively by the girl. She was nodding occasionally in response to his words, but Aragorn could tell her mind was elsewhere. Her line of sight found his for a moment, and it waChapter 8:
A/N: Okay, I realize this has taken forever and a day to get chapter 8 out, but I hope you can all bear with me and enjoy. I'm thinking maybe another chapter or two before this story has run its course.
Disclaimer: I only own the ones Tolkein didn't write.
Aragorn rocked back on his heels as the Elf leapt at him. A strange expression of fury and hatred had possessed Legolas' face, twisting it hard and cold. The man moved back as quickly as he was able, stumbling slightly over hard ride to Gondor."
"We will follow as soon as we have gathered arms."
"Good. Do not tarry any longer than necessary."
"Gandalf.........Legolas." The wizard's eyebrows rose expectantly. "His words, just before.........he said he felt a darkness rising in him, that he was afraid of what he might do. And something about a bond, a bond only the darkest eyes might see. How could we have missed it?"
"You said yourself, Legolas was very strong, his heart, his will. He probably battled this spell for days without even realizing. And it was such a spell, that everyone, aside from perhaps myself, would only have seen the Legolas they knew. And I'm afraid my attentions have been elsewhere as of late."
Aragorn was racked with guilt. He had noticed something amiss with the elf. He'd noticed what felt like ages ago, but he'd dismissed the feeling time and again. "Then how is it Danuriel saw what we could not?"
"I believe the words he spoke to you were part of the spell, and as such, the answer lies in the words. 'A bond only the darkest eyes might see.' Saruman, and I do think this is his sorcery, could not have accounted for our acquaintance here, or the flaw in his wording. There are some things lighted eyes may not see, and some things only dark eyes may bring to light.
"I don't understand."
Gandalf smiled thinly. "What eyes can be darker than those that are blind?"
Hope welled suddenly in his chest. "Then perhaps she can help us, when we find Legolas. Perhaps her purpose is not yet finished."
"Aragorn no, you must be reasonable. You must.........do.........what is reasonable, if it comes to that."
The Dunedan's jaw tightened as he shook his head viciously. "Not that. Gandalf I cannot......... It is Legolas of whom you speak."
"It is Legolas no longer, at least, not the Elf you knew. He has fallen to shadow."
Aragorn sprang to his feet. "A shadow he may yet return from. You did."
"My purpose was not yet completed." The wizard's voice was infuriatingly level.
"And how can you be so certain that his is? Do not be so quick to dole out death and punishment. Didn't you say that once? Well I say it now." Aragorn strode for the door. "I won't."
"This is what they were counting on. Sauron and Saruman placed this spell on him because they believed you would allow your friendship to cloud your judgment. They will send him for you, and he will have no hesitations about killing you, not now. I had no sense of Legolas outside, he slipped away before my very grasp. And if it comes to it, you must be prepared to kill him.
Chapter 8
Okay, hope this chapter goes over well. By all means tell me what you think. Thanks for reading. Feed the review hound please.
A/N: Okay, I realize this has taken forever and a day to get chapter 8 out, but I hope you can all bear with me and enjoy. I'm thinking maybe another chapter or two before this story has run its course.
Disclaimer: I only own the ones Tolkein didn't write.
Aragorn rocked back on his heels as the Elf leapt at him. A strange expression of fury and hatred had possessed Legolas' face, twisting it hard and cold. The man moved back as quickly as he was able, stumbling slightly over rocks. He was off balance, reeling from the surprise of the attack. One of Legolas' pearl knives swept through the air just in front of Aragorn's face. The air rippled as the blade passed.
Legolas kept pressing forward, intent on drawing blood. He drove his knife down in an overhead strike; one Aragorn barely managed to block in time. The force of the blow drove the ranger down, landing with a grnt on the rocky ground. Tucking his arms tight to his sides he rolled away and then up onto one knee as the Elf's blade sank into the ground where he had just lain. He drew his sword as he fended off the Elf's attack with the blade the Lady of the Wood had gifted him.
Legolas drew his other sword, twirling the blade nimbly in his left hand. He thrust it forward straight at Aragorn's exposed throat. Aragorn didn't have time to ponder the questions that were flying through his mind, he only had time to react. The moment he blocked one advance another was upon him. It was a grim reminder of the strength and speed of elves, a thing he had taken for granted for years.
Aragorn knew he had to get off his knees if he was to have a chance. He was the better swordsman, that he knew, but Legolas was no fool. He was well trained in all forms of combat, and knew Aragorn's fighting style. It would not be an easy victory, if a victory was to be had at all.
He parried a strike to his left side with his short blade. Then he drove forward off one knee, attacking with a crescent swipe of his sword. The Elf jumped backward, avoiding the blow, and allowing Aragorn just enough time to regain his footing.
The two combatants circled each other carefully, each carrying a blade in both hands. Aragorn's chest heaved, not from exhaustion, but the anticipation of another attack. Sweat slicked his brow and his hands readjusted their grip on his weapons. His eyes searched Legolas for any sign of familiarity, of doubt, but there was none. The elf before him was foreign to his eyes, a shell of Legolas only.
"Mellon, why?"
The elf's mouth curled in distaste. "I am not your friend." He dropped his left shoulder, keeping that blade low, the one in his right hand high, and came again. Aragorn swept the low blade away from him. Their blades crashed, sending sparks into the air. The muscles in Aragorn's arms cried out as they locked blade on blade. The ranger shoved the elf back and spun away from him, the steel of their swords screeching. He ducked as Legolas' knife moved to hack off his head. As he dropped he swept a foot out, catching the elf behind his knees. Lightning reflexes kept Legolas on his feet.
Above the man and elf, on the ledge before the doors of Medulsed a small crowd had formed. Eowyn and Dani stood at the forefront. Dani bit her lower lip, as the shield maiden's grip on her upper arm dug deep into her flesh. "Eowyn," she said quietly, pulling away from the other woman's grasp. The blonde didn't respond, but her iron grip loosened slightly.
The hobbit Merry came to stand beside Eowyn. Eomer rushed out of the palace, sword drawn, a small battalion of men behind him. "Where are they? The Halfling said Aragorn was being attacked. Where is the army of the Dark Lord?"
"It is an army of one," Dani told him stiffly. She pointed down into the burial grounds, where man and elf fought between the funeral mounds. Eomer's eyes widened at the sight of the two friends locked in combat.
"Surely this is some jest."
"It is no jest," Dani assured him, lips pressed in a grim line.
Eomer might have hurried down the palace's steps to Aragorn's aid, if not for Eowyn's restraining hand. "You must not break his concentration brother. If you do I fear it will be the end of him."
"Surely you do not mean to simply stand aside!??"
"I mean to wait for the White Rider."
Their wait was mercifully short. Almost the moment the words passed Eowyn's lips Gandalf burst through the tall doors. Gimli and Pippin trailed close on his heels. White robes swirled angrily around the wizard's frame as he strode purposefully down the steps. He held his staff high, and the crystal in the tip blazed fiercely in the waning light. The rest of the onlookers fell into step some yards behind the wizard, yet none spoke, as they were all still entranced in the scene before them. It was a mortal dance, meant to spill blood, and the movements of the players transfixed them all.
Neither swordsman paid the wizard any mind as he approached. Legolas struck, Aragorn parried. Aragorn advanced and Legolas defended. Gandalf raised the staff, gripping it in two hands, and leveled the crystal at the fighters. His bellow was like a thunderclap, and none in the crowd behind him could distinguish the words he spoke. He thrust the staff forward. There was a flash of brilliant light, and Aragorn and Legolas were thrown apart.
Gandalf moved on the Elf, while Aragorn clambered to his feet. He sheathed his sword, wiping his brow. Legolas defiantly stared at the wizard. He tried to raise one of his knives, but it was as if his arm was laden with a dead weight. Gandalf swung his staff like a club, sweeping it down across the Elf's jaw. Legolas flew back, driven to the ground. Eomer and one of the other Eorlingas came forward, yanking the Elf to his feet to face Gandalf. The Elf twisted in their grasp, but between their strength and the will of Gandalf, he could do little. Aragorn and Gimli stood at either side of the White Rider. Gimli's face wandered from angered to betrayed. Aragorn just looked confused.
"We were talking," Aragorn began, searching legolas's face. "He said he was afraid that some darkness was taking him."
"It seems his fears were well founded," Gandalf responded.
The ranger turned, searching the faces in the crowd. "You," he pointed to Dani. She shrank back beneath his gaze. "He said you saw a darkness growing in him. He told me to run, then he attacked me. I don't understand."
Gandalf glanced back at the girl out of the corner of his eye. Wizened blue eyes narrowed. "Is this true?" Dani nodded stiffly. Tell me what you saw."
Dani exchanged a quick glance with Eowyn, who nodded reassuringly. "It was only for a moment," she began breathlessly. "He came out from the caves. I swore then that he some dark version of himself, possessing of his own shadows. Then again later, just before the knife bit my side, I saw his eyes. Those eyes..." her voice trailed off.
"And tell me Danuriel," Gandalf urged, "tell me what you now see."
She took a few tentative steps forward toward wizard and elf. She stopped just in front of Aragorn, and the Ranger lay a steadying hand on her shoulder. Dani did not want to look up, did want to see the aberration of a face she had grown so quickly to trust and value. She blew out a long breath and forced herself to look up. For a moment she was relieved, seeing only a fair blonde elf before her. Then suddenly the image shifted, and all the world surrounding the Elf fell to shadow. Icy fingers seemed to grip her heart and steal her breath. His face was twisted and sallow.
"That is not Legolas!" she cried. Eomer and Eowyn exchanged a puzzled glance. Quiet mutterings rippled through the gathered crowd. They only saw the Elf as they had known him, blue eyed and fair skinned as he had ever been. "There is stone and ice where there should be flesh and blood." Blue eyes receded into dark pits of eyes. The sight of fiery pupils burned her good eye and her hands flew to her face and she turned away from him. "It burns."
"Gandalf?" Aragorn's voice was questioning.
"He is being controlled, his mind possessed. I need drive out this evil, like to Theoden." He raised his staff again. "Let him go," he order the men holding him. Eomer and the other backed away quickly. Legolas' face twisted in a gruesome smile. "Release this body," his voice rumbled deep. He struck Legolas with the tip of his staff, driving the Elf to his knees, coughing violently. The black tendrils of Saruman's poison snaked up his back, round his chest and ever closer to his heart.
The elf's shoulders began to shake. His chin was near his chest, hands limp at his sides. His hair fell down to cover his face. Gandalf struck him again, and the blonde's body jerked. His head jerked up, and he was laughing. "Fool," he snarled. "You can not banish me this easily." He reached up, grabbing the wizard's staff in both hands. Twin snares of darkness gripped his heart. Before the amazed and horrified crowd his eyes turned wholly black, devoid of any light.
The crystal on Gandalf's staff flared brilliantly. The earth rumbled and shook beneath their feet. The gem cracked and a shockwave rolled through the air. Dani felt herself being flung into space. He shoulder connected solidly with someone else, who grunted. They both toppled, a heap of arms and legs. A few cries of pain and surprise emanated from the onlookers.
It was Aragorn who first regained his senses. He rolled Dani off the top of him and turned onto his stomach, drawing his knees beneath him. He stood quickly, sword at the ready, though his free hand trembled by his side despite his best efforts. He shook his head once, clearing his head, and looked around. Dani's palms were still plastered to her face where she was curled on the ground. Eomer was helping Eowyn to her feet. To his right lay Gandalf, pale faced and still. He hurried to the wizard's side. A small wound marred his head at his browline, trickling blood down his temple. The Ranger was relieved at least, that he was breathing.
It was then that Aragorn's eyes swept the hill for signs of Legolas. He was not there. Isildur's heir trotted quickly to the steps of the palace, casting his gaze down into the city. There he spotted his foe, moving quickly past the gates of the city. Below Edoras, Aragorn sighted in on a small troop of Orcs and Wargs, waiting. Legolas grasped the rein of a riderless Warg. He turned briefly, staring back up the hill.
His eyes were the deepest black the ranger had ever seen, swallowing all the light near them. His skin was white as bone, and the pale flesh of his face was marred by black veins. Gray shadows arrested the circles beneath his eyes, and two black streaks erupted from each temple and stained his hair. Aragorn felt his heart sink, and the grip of his sword slackened. Then Legolas turned away, leapt onto the back of the waiting Warg, and they galloped off.
Aragorn stood riveted, watching them till they were mere specs on the horizon. A large, calloused hand gripped his shoulder. "He's gone laddie," Gimli said sadly, "maybe in more ways than one. Come on, we'd best get back." Aragorn nodded tightly, sheathed his sword and turned to follow the Dwarf.
Gandalf was roused and peering intently at the end of his staff, a shard of broken crystal in one hand. Eowyn stood beside him, grasping one elbow, but the wizard was paying her no mind. No mind either, to Theoden, whose arrival the ranger had not noticed. The wizard looked at Aragorn and help up the shard. "It is a powerful force that could shatter this."
His reply was sullen. "It would have to be, to make Legolas turn like that. Gandalf what just happened?"
"An evil has corrupted his heart. I felt it when he grasped my staff." He shook his head, and his voice was laden with sorrow. "He is a servant of Sauron now."
"It cannot be," Aragorn spat.
Gandlaf remained unfazed. "These events have many currents underlying. I feel there is a grave urgency to our task, now even more than before. We must discuss our plans for the morrow and the gathering of arms. Come and let us take council this eve." He strode purposefully past Aragorn and the others. Theoden fell in step beside him and Eowyn just behind. Aragorn sighed heavily and followed. The passed Eomer and Dani as they walked. The Rohirrim looked very serious, standing protectively by the girl. She was nodding occasionally in response to his words, but Aragorn could tell her mind was elsewhere. Her line of sight found his for a moment, and it waChapter 8:
A/N: Okay, I realize this has taken forever and a day to get chapter 8 out, but I hope you can all bear with me and enjoy. I'm thinking maybe another chapter or two before this story has run its course.
Disclaimer: I only own the ones Tolkein didn't write.
Aragorn rocked back on his heels as the Elf leapt at him. A strange expression of fury and hatred had possessed Legolas' face, twisting it hard and cold. The man moved back as quickly as he was able, stumbling slightly over hard ride to Gondor."
"We will follow as soon as we have gathered arms."
"Good. Do not tarry any longer than necessary."
"Gandalf.........Legolas." The wizard's eyebrows rose expectantly. "His words, just before.........he said he felt a darkness rising in him, that he was afraid of what he might do. And something about a bond, a bond only the darkest eyes might see. How could we have missed it?"
"You said yourself, Legolas was very strong, his heart, his will. He probably battled this spell for days without even realizing. And it was such a spell, that everyone, aside from perhaps myself, would only have seen the Legolas they knew. And I'm afraid my attentions have been elsewhere as of late."
Aragorn was racked with guilt. He had noticed something amiss with the elf. He'd noticed what felt like ages ago, but he'd dismissed the feeling time and again. "Then how is it Danuriel saw what we could not?"
"I believe the words he spoke to you were part of the spell, and as such, the answer lies in the words. 'A bond only the darkest eyes might see.' Saruman, and I do think this is his sorcery, could not have accounted for our acquaintance here, or the flaw in his wording. There are some things lighted eyes may not see, and some things only dark eyes may bring to light.
"I don't understand."
Gandalf smiled thinly. "What eyes can be darker than those that are blind?"
Hope welled suddenly in his chest. "Then perhaps she can help us, when we find Legolas. Perhaps her purpose is not yet finished."
"Aragorn no, you must be reasonable. You must.........do.........what is reasonable, if it comes to that."
The Dunedan's jaw tightened as he shook his head viciously. "Not that. Gandalf I cannot......... It is Legolas of whom you speak."
"It is Legolas no longer, at least, not the Elf you knew. He has fallen to shadow."
Aragorn sprang to his feet. "A shadow he may yet return from. You did."
"My purpose was not yet completed." The wizard's voice was infuriatingly level.
"And how can you be so certain that his is? Do not be so quick to dole out death and punishment. Didn't you say that once? Well I say it now." Aragorn strode for the door. "I won't."
"This is what they were counting on. Sauron and Saruman placed this spell on him because they believed you would allow your friendship to cloud your judgment. They will send him for you, and he will have no hesitations about killing you, not now. I had no sense of Legolas outside, he slipped away before my very grasp. And if it comes to it, you must be prepared to kill him.
Chapter 8
Okay, hope this chapter goes over well. By all means tell me what you think. Thanks for reading. Feed the review hound please.