A Dark Sunrise

Chapter Thirteen - Cerin AmrothLegolas knew where Arwen would flee. He knew, but he let her go alone at first, letting her have the first hours to herself. And he did not think he could hold himself together before the distraught queen. He had witnessed the queens farewell to Eldarion; how it pained him to see her son struggle to keep his brave front.

When the night at last was waning, and the last stars hung low in the sky, Legolas prepared his stallion, and said his goodbyes to those he knew. Last of all he approached the young king, who sat in the garden, gazing into the trees, his mouth a hard line, his eyes the washed out grey of a defeated storm cloud.
'Eldarion,' he spoke to the darkness. The king did not turn.

'Are you going to her?' He said finally, not looking at the stricken elf.

'Yes.'

'And you will not return.' He stated it, as something he knew to be true.

'No.'

Eldarion nodded slightly, and with a sigh, gazed at the first smudges of dawn in the east.

'My father told me once, that Arwen looked at you in a certain way - a way she saved for no one else. He said that you could soothe her in a way he never could. He said that truly, the stars and sun sang only for the two of you, and no other. I have seen all this for myself, Legolas, and if it is still true, I beg that you would stay with my mother now. I would not have her spend her last days alone in the he dead quiet places where Elves once dwelled. Please!'

For Eldarion this was an enormously long speech, and the young man fell silent upon realising this, his expression strangely serene.

'Yes, young master. I will be with Arwen through her last lonely days, however much it grieves me to see her so. But the stars and the sun - they never sang of anything but sorrow.' Silence followed Legolas' last words and Eldarion turned at last. The elf was gone.

The ride to Lothlorien was long, and spanned many days, even astride his silver stallion who ate the miles in his haste. Ever north he went, until at last he saw the green borders of the woodland. They were a mournful sight, for no music rang through the ancient paths, and no light graced the dying trees.

Dry leaves littered Legolas' path into the forest, and the setting sun shone only weakly through the trees. The elves were gone. Most had sailed, or joined Celeborn and Thranduil in their rule of Mirkwood.

And the silence! It was heavy and suffocating, and there were not even animal sounds to break it. But still Legolas rode deeper into the forest, at last coming to Caras Galadhon, where he suspected Arwen might be. Here, the last strands of elven magic remained, and the great house, dark though it was, shone with a gentle silver light, and the stars overhead seemed nearer.

Slipping off his stallion Legolas spoke softly too him, stroking his unbridled head, before slapping him on the rump. He did not watch his horse gallop away, but turned towards Galadriel's house and began making his way up the stairs, which seemed to wind endlessly into the foliage of the great trees.

And there he found her. As he topped the stairs he saw her, facing an open window, her hair cascading down her back. She was wearing a black dress of velvet which sat just off her shoulders, exposing her deathly pale skin.

'Arwen...' he whispered, but she didn't turn; she was as still as one of the great statues in Minas Tirith. He walked, slowly and silently, until he stood just a few feet behind her. Still, she did not move.

'I didn't think it would be so peaceful.' She said at last, her voice low and soft. 'How can something so cold - so cruel - be so gentle? He almost seemed to want to go; it seems only a moment ago that we met. There was no struggle, in that last moment. He just layed there and was breathing and then he wasn't. Legolas?'

'Yes, Undomiel?' Legolas stepped closer immediately, and took her hands in his; they were icy cold, but his warm hands could easily envelope hers.

'Have you come to see me die?' Her voice shook as she said this, but her eyes were dry and focused on the silent trees which stood just out of the window.

'Nay, evening star. I came to see you live; the elves know nothing of death. I fear I will be of no comfort.'

Arwen's eyes dropped at last, and she turned slightly towards the elf beside her.
'When my father left, he told me that one day this time would come. That Aragorn would die, and that I would come to Lorien and be alone. He did not think you would be here. When you sail, Legolas, tell my father you were with me.'

Legolas nodded slightly, but Arwen did not miss the shadow that crossed his face.

'What is it?'

Looking at the woman before him, her cheeks streaked by tears, her skin pale and her lips bright, Legolas winced and released her hands.

'I do not know if I will be sailing, fair one.'

'You must Legolas. You must. You cannot just disappear into the wild and live forever until the mountains fall and the elves are long forgotten. The West awaits you.

'Yet I think that I will not see it,' he said. 'Elves can die by steel or heartache.' He stopped shortly and stared hard out the window, the weak starlight glinting off his hair. 'I cannot lose both of you,' he said sharply, but her hand on her arm stopped him from turning away.

'You will never lose me,' Arwen said simply, and pulled him towards her. 'I was never lost to you.'

'But you were never mine,' he said selfishly, and at last she knew his burden.

'Long ago, you said you had your own demons to fight. Burdens. What was your greatest grievance?'

He did not look at her, but closed his eyes and inhaled thinly. 'You know already, lady, do not tease me so.'

She gripped his arm tighter and spoke what she had always known, deep down. 'It was that you loved me, and could not have me. It was that you saw what the mortals did to Middle-Earth: you heard it scream in agony. And you knew that one day I would be one of them, never to see the green shores of the Undying Lands.'

His head was low, refusing to look at this woman he had loved for so many years.
'Legolas,' she sighed softly, and released her grip on his arm. 'How you've suffered.'
The starlight dimmed overhead.

Months past while Arwen clung to life, but at last the shadow of death was upon her. Legolas sat, unmoving, by the queens head, one hand to his chest. He was singing the death dirge, silently asking that her soul travel quickly to wherever it was Mortals went.

To wherever Mortals went.


The enormity of the situation, the fact that he would never, ever see her again, even in spirit, burned him like the hell-breath of a Balrog. The idea of ending of ceasing to be, was one he could simply not comprehend. Even a slain elf he would see again. True death never came for them, but it was surely the death dew that lay on his beloved's brow now.

The silence surrounding them was now absolute. There was no gentle wind, no birds, not even the whisper of life in this place. Legolas felt a squeeze on his hand, and looked into the shadowy depths of Arwen's eyes.

'Take me once more to Cerin Amroth.' Her eyes fell closed again and only her shallow breathing interrupted the silence. He complied, gently picking her slight body up, beginning the long trip down the twisting staircases of Caras Galadhon. Her weight was no more than a speck of dust to him, as though her soul was already flown. Yet he sensed that her weak heart still fluttered, persisting for one long moment after the next.

At last he lay her on the green grass of Cerin Amroth, and her eyes opened a last time. She breathed deeply, and took a last slow look at the magnificent, ancient trees of Lothlorien. It was not yet spring, but no thing would bloom again in Lorien anyway, except on the mound where she lay. It would take long years for the magic here to fade. Leaves fell around them, and the last of the elanor and niphredil was blooming around her head. She was suddenly afraid, the tears welling furiously in her eyes as she strained to speak. But she didn't have too. Legolas was there, his face so near, and her fear was driven away by his presence.

The forest seemed to grow dark, and only his face filled her eyes. She moved her lips, and he leaned forward to catch the words, but she kissed him instead. Long and tender, with all her will she tried to tel him she had loved him, always. But she could not speak, and at last her final breath was spent. Her lids closed forever over her violet eyes.

Legolas' choked howl echoed through the forest, and the stars shuddered and veiled themselves.

AUTHOR NOTE: Well, well. cough Yes, feel free to crab at me...I know it took me forever to get these chapters up. I'm afraid my heart wasn't quite in them...I've been very occupied lately. Anyway, the next chapter is the last one..really more of an epilogue. Hope you enjoy it at least somewhat. Thank you all for reading! I warned you it wouldn't end happy! Muahahahahahah!!! waves and hugs to everyone at Undying Love.