Disclaimer: See chapter one, part one.
Chapter twenty: Haunted Cave.
Life dawned on them. For the first time in many days, the sun cast its rays on the crocked shoulders of the Shadow Mountains, which surrounded Mordor. Life, hidden among the mysterious boulders, squinted against the sharp sunlight. The wind blew over the mountains, chasing away the dark clouds and the dust in the air.
Feavair opened her eyes and stared up in a grey blue sky.
She had expected darkness to great her, and she felt her eyes water as she could see the beginning of a new day. The wind tickled her skin as it breezed around her, washing away the old sand on her clothes. She closed her eyes and let the sun warm her skin and the tepid airstreams play with her hair.
She could still see the coloured flames in the back of her mind; still feel the slick grass of the spirit forest between her toes.
The vibrating of life still echoed in her ear. It seemed so real, the trees seemed to be only inches away from her, as if she could reach out her hand and touch them.
For a moment, she wondered if the grey blue sky, the sun and the wind had all been a dream. She opened her eyes for a second time, the heavens were still above her, she could still feel the sun against her skin, and feel the air fill her lunges.
She was still alive.
Slowly she rose to her feet, and felt the blood rush to her head and she swayed a little. She was weaker then she had believed, almost all her strength was gone. Could the Weavers be right, had she lost her strength? She took a deep and steady breath and then looked around.
Nothing but granites and mountains rose before her in an endless sea of rocks and stones. Far away, in the distance, she could see green forest and never-ending leagues with grass and a blue river snaked its way towards a great lake. In the horizon, she could see a white stripe against mountains, cloaked in fog.
Below lay the black land in ruins.
Then she saw him, standing on the edge, straight, against sky looking over the horizon. A current of air grabbed hold of his hair, and she saw him tuck it irritating away from his eyes. She walked slowly towards him, stopping a few inches behind him, wavering before she took the last step and stood beside Legolas.
He could feel her hesitate before she stood next to her.
He looked at her briefly; he could not believe that she was with him, that they had somehow, survived whatever had happened to them. He had found her motionless on the ground, and panic had struck him, before he realized she was just sleeping. Therefore, he let her rest.
He could feel her breath on his skin, and he grabbed her hand softly and felt her cold and thin fingers squeeze his. An unspoken agreement, that once they were home, once they were both safe, they would talk.
"Beyond those leagues of those marshlands, is home" he said softly and pointed to streak of green trees, she could barley see.
"Then there we must go," she answered and he nodded.
They stood for a moment in silence, but it was a fine silence, a silence that said that promised that everything would be all right.
He turned and looked at her again.
"How long do you think has passed?" She continued to stare, her eyes lost in the view she never thought she would see again.
"I do not know, days, weeks."
"When the stars come out, we shall find out," he said firmly and she nodded slowly.
"Do you think the others are worried?" she asked suddenly and turned around to look at him. He paused, considering the question.
"I think they believe we are dead" he responded, shuddering slightly at the thought of that place they had been, no matter how right it had felt, it was still wrong.
"We were dead," she said silently, moving away from his eyes to gaze over the horizon again.
"Yet, now we live" he said, drawing her eyes away from the view to meet his once more. Her heart fluttered against her chest as she meet his clear blue stare. She could not believe that they were together it was so unreal. Yet here they were, after walking miles and miles through the continent, after defying death.
"Now, we live" she repeated. Then taking her hand, he started to lead her away from the edge. They started descending from the mountain into the land once hidden in shadows. As they left the top of the mountain, she felt a cold breeze wash up her back.
She shuddered, but quickly ignored it. The Dark Lord Sauron was gone, and there were no more shadows over the land. Her mind was just playing tricks with her.
When they reached the foundation of the mountain, the sun was starting to disappear and the dark blue night was starting to spread across the sky. When the sun left, the temperature dropped and she felt her skin prickle in the cold night. They kept walking in silence long into the night and the air was cold and the earth frost bitten.
Soon the ominous and gleaming moon appeared on the sky, casting a dim light on the earth. The light from the moon made the stones cast monster-like, shadows and she felt fear crawl up her back before settling behind her ear, whispering in her mind.
She could not shake the feeling that something still inhabited this land.
For some strange reason she still had the crystal white dress that swept the earth. Her skin was pale and smooth like milk, and all her scars were gone, the first rays of the moon shone down on her smooth ebony hair that reached her forearm.
"Still, they could have given me shoes" she said and looked down at her bare toes, curling against the rough sand.
"A'mael, did you say something?" Legolas asked and stopped walking.
"No…it is nothing" she said and bit her lower lip.
"But, A'mael, you are freezing" he cried out in horror, as he saw her pale skin in the moonlight and her lips turning an unnatural shade of blue. He quickly wrapped his cloak around her shoulders.
"Come, we shall find a place and light a fire" he said and dragged her towards some old and crocked trees that stretched their dead branches up to the skies. She sat down on the ground and pulled her legs up to her chin, and wrapped his cloak around her body.
He started to gather dead branches, and he was about to light a fire when she stopped him.
"What about orcs, they could still be here"
" I do not believe they would be here after the mountain crumbled, the fire will probably only scare them" he reassured her. She was not too sure about that, but all her doubts were removed from her mind as the roaring fire started to lick the sky, gently warming her chilled bones.
She sighed deeply in content, the warmth making her body dozy. Legolas stared towards the sky, he whispered slowly to him self, and counted on his fingers. He furrowed his eyebrows thoughtfully and then he started to calculate again.
She stared at the stars as well. It was a long time since she had seen them. Ever since they entered Mordor, the sky had been too cloudy to see them. Now, they were blinking reassuringly over her.
"March 25th…we reached Mt. Doom" Legolas said slowly.
"How long have we been gone?" she asked.
"Almost three months" he said slowly " It is midsummer day"
"Were do you think the others are?"
"Minas Tirith, if they have not started on their journey home"
"Where should we go?" she asked and saw the shadows from the fire dance across his face.
"We need supplies and to get a message to Mirkwood, let them know we are not dead. I think perhaps Minas Tirith is a wise decision."
"Perhaps, we will meet patrolling soldiers " she said and hid a yawn. She felt so unbelievable tired, and weak, she could not understand why. Elves barley slept and they seldom tired.
"Yes" he muttered.
The next day the sun was hiding behind large and dank clouds and rain was in the air. She awoke from her dreamless sleep to feel small drops of water, fall down on her. As they hit the fire, it sizzled and sent sparks flying.
"L…Legolas?" she asked, when she could not see him anywhere. All she saw were rocks, dead trees and a small bush here and there. The rain grew heavier, and soon the warming fire was killed and the smoke twirled up from the burned branches.
Terror filled her, as she discovered that his backpack was nowhere either. Could something have happened to him? She knew he would not leave her, or would he.
She walked back to the road; the rain was soaking her, as large drops continued to escape the sky. She was about to call his name again, when he suddenly appeared, a couple of meters down the road.
Relief filled her, and she started to quickly walk in his direction.
"Where were you?" she asked, hiding the trembling in her voice.
"Looking for shelter, there is a cave not far from here" he said, and then grabbed her hand.
He led her among the sharp and pointy rocks. The sky opened up and the downpour washed over them. She was soaked to her skin and she began to shudder, her feet slipped on the rocks, and she had to hold on him to keep her balance. At last, they reached a small cave in the mountainside, hidden behind some rocks that must have slid down the ridge.
She twisted water out of her hair and wiped it away from her face. The cave was just large enough for them to stand in, and it went further inn, she could only see a dark gap that swallowed all light.
A cold wind howled over her, and she shuddered. It was stronger then a normal draft, and the air was, fouler. She did not like this cave, there was something disturbing about it she could feel it. It was different from Shelob's lair, the air did not stink it was only tainted, but it held the same promise of menace.
After a few moments, the elf prince finally managed to light some of the damp wood, and the fire brought more light to the grotto. Feavair stood still staring into the darkness until her view disappeared.
"Is something wrong?" Legolas asked concerned as he watched her gaze into the darkness. She closed her eyes and reached out her hand, trying to sense the small disturbance in the air. Her unease grew as she could sense the presence of something.
"I think there is something here…." She whispered, opened her eyes, turned around and walked to the fire.
"What? Orcs?" he asked and withdrew his swords. She sank down to her knees and shook her head.
"No, something else….I don't know what"
"Is it dangerous?" he asked, staring into the darkness, were the cave disappeared.
"I do not know"
"Then we should find out" he said, and rose. She put a hand on his arm, and started to say "no…."
"Stay here" he ordered firmly, but she shook her head and rose again. Then she grabbed a branch from the fire and started to walk into the darkness. He followed her closely.
She could feel his breath on her neck as they walked slowly into the darkness. As they walked further inn, the cave grew until the roof and walls disappeared. Their breathing echoed and they could no longer see the light from the entrance.
Suddenly she saw the familiar light of a spirit flickering in front of her. It lasted only a second before it disappeared in the darkness. At least, whatever haunted this cave was dead, she did not know if this was reassuring.
"I, smell something" Legolas said suddenly.
"What?" she asked carefully.
"Something dead, like in the lair of the great spider, only less…."
They started to walk again, followed by the echoing of their steps in the damp cave. Now and then, they heard water drip down from the walls and the ground was muddy.
"Perhaps we should turn around, I do not think there is anything in this cave" Legolas suggested after they had walked a few more minutes in silence. She was about to answer, when suddenly something cast a shadow on the wall.
They both froze in their steps, and Legolas stepped in front of Feavair, both swords drew. They heard a small faint buzzing, like form insects. Feavair hesitated before she took a step in front of Legolas and let the light shine of the object in front of them. She gasped, and her shock was, echoed in Legolas' surprise as they gazed on the beast lying before them.
It had to be at least 100 hundredth feet long and covered with green scales. Its tail lay by its body and its gigantic head was resting on its paws with massive claws. The scales on its body were of different shades of green and here and there, the scales were missing showing dark, almost black flesh. Around the body was a pair of large cloth-like wings, cocooning the body. The skins on the wings looked like dried leather, it was crumbled and murky.
Rats and mice crawled over the dead body, some of them shrieking in fear as the two elves approached brining the feared light, some of them hissed angrily and showed their teeth.
They saw a large gash on the creature's throat and they could see the bones in its ribcage, and rotting flesh wound on its tail, dried, dark blood was splattered against the walls and in the hollow holes of its eye socked hundredths of flies feasted on the rotting mutton.
"What is it Legolas?"
"uruloki"
"A dragon"
Thank you for reading and thanks for your review.