Disclaimer: For full disclaimer, please see chapter 1.


A/N:

Well, I'm sorry I couldn't update yesterday, but I somehow seem to be caught in a vicious circle of remembering and shopping: I go shopping, suddenly remember all the people I have to give something and shop some more. When I have bought the last thing, I remember that one person that is allegedly remotely related to me and... You get the point, right? *g*

I also saw RotK on Sunday and - well. I'm not really sure if I like the movie to be perfectly honest, I think they cut out too much. I do realise that they had to if they didn't want to end up with a 6-hour-version, but still.

(*Spoiler Alert!!*) They cut out the entire Grey Company, most of the palantír scenes, all about the healing of Éowyn, Faramir and Merry! *screeches* How could they! Well, I always need some time to come to terms with what they've done to the books, and I still liked the movie, even though I'm not entirely sure if it's really RotK, if you know what I mean. I think the thing that characterises the entire movie is what a friend of mine said after the Denethor-throws-himself-off-the-seventh-circle-thing (which, let's admit it, wasn't how it was in the book and was rather impossible, too): *especially dry, sarcastic voice* "Well, that was ... spectacular, I guess."
*shrugs* It was an enjoyable and _spectacular_ movie nonetheless, I think. *g*

Okay, enough of that. Since I seem to be unable to get that movie out of my head it has to be good, I guess. *g* I have to admit though that I am rather frightened by the prospect of you guys founding something like the IAF (Institute of Abused Firstborn) or SPIE (Society for the Protection of Innocent Elves) as Suzi9 proposed. Then again, you know how I enjoy death threats, so... *g*


Be that as it may, here's the Christmas update! I still have loads to do in the next few days, but ah well... So, chapter 8 is here, with lots of Legolas action, Legolas angst, general elf angst, and even a little bit of Reran who is anything but happy right about now. I think that goes for most people at the moment - with the possible exception of Teonvan, of course... *evil grin*

Have fun, Merry Christmas and review, please!






Chapter 8


Legolas' body twisted to the side to avoid a sword that would have skewered him where he stood, inwardly marvelling at his body's ability to function even though the greater part of his mind was caught in a dark, absolutely shocked state.

The small, reasonable part of him that was seeing to his survival knew that he had been fighting only for a few moments, and it unfortunately also had begun to understand that this was a fight he couldn't possibly win. That fact, however, had not yet registered in his numbed brain, if it ever would at all.

He hadn't expected something like this. None of them had. He hadn't counted on encountering anything more dangerous than perhaps, as a remote possibility, a pack of wargs or some stray orcs that had lost the rest of their horde and were too stupid to find the way back to their holes, but definitely nothing like this.

What 'this' was, he wasn't even sure yet, he thought as his eyes spied an opening in the defence of the one he was just fighting, and without really thinking he moved forward and thrust his left dagger up, deeply into his opponent's side. With a detached, calm interest he watched how dark, definitely human blood welled up immediately, affirming that his attacker wouldn't survive for long now.

So he had been right, Legolas thought, these were indeed men. Had he been in a calmer state of mind or not as shock-numbed, he would have noticed that fact a long time before now, but he had been far too busy staying on his feet and avoiding all the blades that seemed to be intent on gutting him or chopping off his head.

How had a group of men managed to get so close without them really noticing? The snow must have hidden their movements, but still, they should have noticed something! What did they want? Why did they want to kill them? Who in the name of the One were they?

With a quick shake of his head, the elven prince banished these thoughts from his mind and jumped to the side just in time to avoid being cut in two by the whistling blade of a broadsword that came disconcertingly close to actually hitting him. Legolas cursed inwardly and whirled on his heel, managing to free himself from the man who had nearly killed him only to come face to face with two new ones.

Backing away slowly, Legolas took a few precious seconds to get his bearings. The little clearing which had looked peaceful and serene under the thick, fluffy mantle of freshly fallen snow had been changed beyond recognition. Behind him, he could sense more than see his two companions, and again Legolas could almost see the frantic movements with which Anardir tried to aid his friend. The prince knew that Galalith was in no condition to be of any help, and Anardir was probably far too worried to even think properly by now.

When he thought of the dark haired elf at his back, a hot, burning fury began to spread in his chest, a fury that was beginning to drown out the small, frantically whispering part of him that was still capable of reasonable thought. How dare these humans simply shoot him? How dare they attack his father's warriors, how dare they set foot in their realm!

These outraged thoughts were quickly replaced by guilt and an ever-growing fear. Galalith had saved him, he had intentionally placed himself between him and the arrow and had taken it for him, and the guilt that was growing inside of him quickly and steadily was now being dwarfed by fear, a fear that it would all have been in vain after all.

Even though merely a few seconds had passed since the attack, the part of Legolas' mind that had been trained in warfare and fighting for more than two thousand years knew that he would lose; it was only a matter of time. He was loath to admit it, but no elf could fight off this many adversaries for long, especially not ones that were as good and disciplined fighters as these. He only needed to take on good look at the scene before him to know his fate as certainly as if it had been presented to him in a sealed document directly from Ilúvatar himself: If he didn't manage to get into the trees, he had about another two minutes before the men would overwhelm him.

In front of him, two men moved forwards who had until now been held back by the elf's gleaming, silver knives that had kept any who felt the desire to step closer at bay, and Legolas gave yet another, inward and rather vicious curse that would have greatly shocked his father when he saw the reason for this: Behind the eight men in front of him several more could be seen, running up to them to reinforce their companions.

The elven prince quickly moved backwards a few steps to avoid being caught between the two of them, mindful of the two elves that were still kneeling in the snow at his back, and before the man to his left could react or even ready his weapon, Legolas had moved next to him and had smashed his elbow into his face. The man stumbled back, holding his obviously broken nose, a sight that filled the blonde elf with a certain sense of satisfaction, and Legolas wheeled back around to the second man, just in time to block a blow that would have hit his unprotected back.

His two elven knives met with the cruder, but unmistakably thicker and longer steel blade of his adversary, and Legolas' felt how the cuts and bruises he had sustained in their little crash a few days ago flared back to life and quickly reached quite unbearable dimensions. Hithrawyn had taken off the bandages with the unambiguous order to go easy on the arm for some more days, and Legolas was sure that the older elf would have a fit if he saw him now. No, he amended quickly, his arms that were both really not up for activities such as this one trembling under the strain of keeping the grinning man's blade away from his body, Hithrawyn would probably sit down on that small boulder over there and cheer these humans on.

Legolas gritted his teeth and pushed the man back with all his strength, sending him crashing into three other men that stood a few feet to their left, obviously waiting for an opportunity to join in the fight without endangering their companion. For a moment, he had enough time and space to assess the situation, and came to the quick, unfavourable conclusion that they wouldn't get out of this, at least not all of them.

All of the sudden, an inexplicable calmness stole over his senses, and he thanked the Valar that he had in fact not taken Aragorn with him. The young ranger would never have consented to what he was planning, never, and he could have told him until he turned blue in the face – not that he would live that long in his opinion. Then again, the men could easily have shot him, and yet they had not. What did they want from them?

These things did not matter now, he reproached himself quickly, all that mattered was getting his men out of here. His mind already trying to come up with a solution to that problem, he gave the men a quick look who had apparently decided not to attack until their companions had arrived – unfortunately a rather sensible idea – and turned half-ways, so much he could still keep an eye on the men and at the same time look at his companions.

The sight that greeted him sent his heart plummeting right into his stomach, a sensation he didn't enjoy at all. Anardir was still kneeling beside his friend, an arrow sticking out of his shoulder he didn't seem to notice. The projectile must have hit him some time during the past few minutes, yet the blonde elf hadn't made a sound or had apparently acknowledged his injury, so intent had he been on helping his friend.

Legolas swallowed hard, instinctively moving forward again to discourage a man who had stepped closer, as if to test the elf's reflexes. The man fell back again, his eyes never leaving Legolas' face as he waited for an opportunity to surprise and overtake him.

Galalith … Galalith looked horrible. Blood was still seeping into the snow, even though it was now merely a trickle, hindered by the makeshift bandage Anardir had wrapped around the other elf's middle. The dark haired elf's face was deadly pale and his eyes closed, both signs that his injury was very serious indeed.

The elven prince took a deep breath and fixed Anardir with a hard, commanding stare, who looked back at him with eyes wide with desperation.

"Drego!" he commanded curtly, moving to the side to fend off two humans who had obviously decided that they could take him if they worked together, an assumption that couldn't have been more wrong as they soon found out. A second later Legolas returned his gaze to the shocked blonde elf, who was merely staring at him in disbelief.

"Drego!" he repeated. "Togo hon dan nan thaim i Aran!"

Anardir shook his head, horror on his face. Legolas didn't know whether his order or Galalith's condition had shocked him more.
"No, my lord, we will not leave you," he stated in low, hoarse sounding Sindarin, his eyes growing wide when he saw that the next group of men had nearly reached them. "We…"

Legolas pushed back another two attackers and whirled around to face his friend, eyes wide and amazingly calm. The other men would be here in a matter of seconds, and then the two elves' chances of escape would diminish dramatically.
"You will, Anardir. He needs help, go! Tell my father what happened here. I gave you an order!"

Anardir looked down at the motionless body of his friend, uncertainty, guilt and pain on his face.
"I cannot!"

"Go!!" Legolas said again, a terrible look in his eyes. "I will hold them off as long as possible, you will take my horse and go! I order you!"

It was probably more that look than the order itself that prompted the other elf to give a curt nod and bent down to lift up his wounded friend in the end. He looked up and obviously wanted to say something, a heart-rending, desperate look on his face, but Legolas simply gave him another look from where he was several dozen feet away now, involved in a fight with most of the men around him in a rather obvious attempt to lead the humans away from the other elves.

"Go!! Please, Anardir!"

Anardir just looked at him with wide, impossibly guilty eyes before turning around and grabbing Rashwe's bridle, trying to lead the resisting horse away, deeper into the trees. As soon as Legolas saw that the other was obeying his order, something that filled him to equal parts with relief, hope and mild astonishment, he moved quickly forward again, lashing out at everything that moved and doing his best to keep the men's attention on himself.

'Elbereth,' he thought desperately as he ducked and twisted and did what he could to keep his adversaries occupied, 'Please let them be alright, please let them escape and alert the others…'

Without turning around he could hear that Anardir was having a hard time convincing Rashwe to follow his commands, and he gave a short, resolute order that not even his horse could refuse. Since Legolas didn't take his eyes off his attackers, he was spared the look of utter disgust and reproach the big white horse shot him as it allowed Anardir to lead it deeper into the trees; not even when another arrow flew over the fair haired elf's head and buried itself in the animal's hind leg, causing it to give a shocked, pained neigh, did Legolas have the time to turn around, so focused was he on keeping the men at bay.

He knew however that he wouldn't last long now, and when the humans' reinforcements arrived and closed the circle even more closely around him, he knew that this was it. He wouldn't be able to fight them off for longer than a few minutes now, he just hoped that Anardir and Galalith got away…

The elven prince jumped to the side, nearly bumping into yet another adversary, and brought his daggers down in a wide, graceful arc, once again cursing as the pain in his right arm nearly caused him to drop his right knife when the vibrations of the impact ran up his arms. If he were uninjured and able to shoot he would simply retreat into the trees and start teaching them what exactly happened to those who dared violate the borders of his home, but unfortunately neither was the case. His bow was an eminently useless weight on his back and he was stuck here, on the ground, alone, with about fifteen humans closing in on him, and his chances to get out of here were, to borrow one of Aragorn's expressions, slim to none.

Wonderful, that was the only word that really fitted – of course only when uttered in an especially sarcastic way. This was really, really wonderful…

"Don't let them escape!" a voice somewhere to Legolas' right bellowed, and he and about half of his attackers looked up, the men with a definitely scared expression, to see a medium-sized, middle-aged man with dark blonde hair that appeared at the edge of the tree-line, looking more than a little annoyed. The man pointed at something at Legolas' back, and the elf knew without turning that he was referring to his friends. "Kill them! Don't let them get away!"

A renewed, burning fury flooded through Legolas, and with a quick, forceful kick he sent the first man who wanted to obey the other's order flying backwards, in the process taking two more men down with him. The next few men who wanted to side-step him and get past him to the other two elves found themselves attacked with such furious determination that they backed away again quickly, both holding wounds that had been inflicted upon them so quickly that they hadn't even had the time to register any pain.

More humans flooded forward to follow the blonde man's command, but Legolas used all his speed, experience and skill to keep them back and away from his friends. Now it turned out to be a good thing that most of the men were attacking him, for they were using their blades and hadn't readied their bows. If he could keep them busy for some more moments, it would be too late for them to reach Anardir with a bow, and they would escape…

The elf's eyes narrowed, a frightening, dark light shining in their blue depths. He would not allow them to hurt Anardir or Galalith even more; both of them were injured already! If they wanted to kill his men, they would have to go through him, and he would show them what even a lone warrior of Mirkwood could do!

The men fell back, obviously startled for a moment by the ferociousness this one elf displayed, but then they surged forward again and by the sheer force of numbers alone managed to push him away to the left, effectively pinning him between a group of about ten men and a tree while the rest rushed past, trying to catch the other two elves before they got out of their reach completely.

Legolas barely avoided another blade that had been aimed for his right arm, feeling how the sharp point cut through his coat and shirt to leave a thin, bloody line on his still slightly discoloured forearm, and, reaching out to grab the man and twisting to the side at the same time, managed to slam his attacker against the tree head-first, hearing the sharp, dry, cracking sound that was audible when the human's skull impacted with the dark bark with utter satisfaction.

For a moment, he had time to turn and look back at the spot the two elves had occupied only moments ago, and relief flooded through him when all he saw was Rashwe's white, now bloodstained coat that disappeared between the trees in the distance.

Even despite his situation, despite the pain in his arm and the exhaustion that was beginning to creep up on him, despite the fact that he knew that he would be overwhelmed in seconds when the men that were in pursuit of the horse understood that they wouldn't be able to catch up with the others and returned, despite the terror and fear he felt when he thought of Galalith's white, still face, Legolas smiled. Anardir and Galalith had got away, and these men would never catch up with his horse, not even had they been mounted themselves.

The fair haired prince turned back to the men that were slowly coming closer again, obviously intent on ending this little game that had been going on for far too long now. Legolas merely gave them a contemptuous, smug look, almost inviting them to come closer.

Now they could start in earnest, and if they really wanted to come and get him, he would take as many of them with him as he could, Eru help him.




Reran could truly not remember having ever been this angry, and that included the time three weeks ago when their lord had informed him that Teonvan would serve as his second-in-command during this mission. No, now he had reached new, unheard-of dimensions of fury, and he wasn't even sure if the term "angry" still applied. This felt more like the overpowering, all-defining urge to kill he had experienced on several occasions, and if he thought of his dark haired commander, he was inclined to indulge that particular desire.

At that thought the man's brown eyes narrowed, and he hurried his steps into the direction of the spot where his men were still trying to subdue the elf who didn't seem to tire at all, judging by his still graceful and incredibly fast movements. Reran's mood turned even darker, and his face adopted an expression that most of his men knew heralded doom and pain.

The human captain's eyes quickly moved over the edge of the forest and stopped when he saw that the men he had sent after the fleeing elves returned, and their fearful and dejected expressions told him what he wanted to know: They had not managed to catch up with the other two, not that he had really expected them to. As soon as he had set foot into the clearing and seen the blonde elf hold off his men with a truly remarkable effort and the others mount the white horse, he had known that his plan had failed.

A low growl escaped Reran's throat, causing Cendan who had just stepped closer to fall back again, a rather alarmed expression on his face. That … that … foolish man Teonvan, the captain thought in helpless fury, why couldn't he just listen to his orders at least once!? Once was really not too much to ask for in his opinion, and yet that stupid, thoughtless, dim-witted son of an orc went and destroyed his plan that had been so carefully devised in the beginning!

It had all started when Teonvan's troupe had moved too quickly, without his orders, and had alerted their prey to their presence. That alone wouldn't have been that bad since the other two groups had managed to follow relatively quickly, but the one thing Reran had been trying to accomplish before moving, namely cordoning off the elves and closing off all escape routes to effectively trap them, had of course been impossible now.

But no, Reran thought irritated, that had of course not been enough for Teonvan whose only aim in life was apparently to destroy his plans as best as humanly possible. That moron had also ordered his men to shoot at the elves, something that Reran had expressly forbidden, and the reason for that had immediately become apparent when he had arrived with his group moments after Teonvan's, Cendan and his men who had arrived only a few seconds ago behind them.

One of the elves had already been shot, not that that really bothered Reran of course, but he had been shot while trying to protect his leader, something that filled the man with an icy fury. He had expressly stated that he wanted the commander alive, and had that elf not thrown himself in front of the blonde one, he would have died and he, Reran, would be stuck here with nothing.

Reran's eyes quickly darted over to the lithe figure of said elf, his face twisting into a mildly concerned grimace when he realised that he was still fighting. Where the elf got the energy or the speed from, he did not know, but he was still on his feet and resisting, even though it had to be obvious even to him that he could not escape, not anymore. He was surrounded, and even though there lay several bodies at his feet, both unconscious and dead, he was vastly outnumbered and at a severe disadvantage since he didn't even have something to cover his back.

No, the man thought, the elf wouldn't get out of here, not if he had anything to say at all, and that was a good thing too, since this one was definitely the leader of this small group, there was no mistaking it. He hadn't understood what he had told the other two a few minutes ago for he had been too far away and didn't understand the language anyway, but it had been clear that the other blonde elf had obeyed him and left, even if he hadn't appeared very happy about it. If he had needed more proof, he had got it in the fierce protectiveness with which the blonde elf had guarded the other two's escape, something that he had never seen to this degree in another being before.

By now they had drawn closer to the group, and Reran noted that the men who had in vain tried to catch up with the fleeing elves had also reached the small throng of fighting men and elf, reinforcing the circle that had been drawn around the lone, fair haired being and sealing his fate. It wouldn't be long now until the elf would be overwhelmed, even though Reran had to admit that he had lasted a lot longer than he had thought possible, for either elf or man.

He was just about to step forward and join the fray with Cendan and the two other men who had accompanied him, when he noticed that Teonvan was among the recently arrived men, causing him to lift a hand and halt his movements. At the sight of the other man's shrunken, yellowish face and matted brown hair the urge to kill him in a very painful and messy sort of way returned, but Reran suppressed it and held the three other men back with a quick shake of his head. He very much wanted to see how Teonvan fared against this elf, or any elf at that matter.

Teonvan had pushed his way through the men that were surrounding the blonde elf, a smug, self-assured grin on his face. 'That idiot is really thinking he can take him alone!' Reran shook his head incredulously. 'He must be as stupid as he looks after all.'

The grin on the dark haired man's face even widened as he brought his sword in a ready position in front of him, causing the elf who had just fended off another two men without even breaking into a sweat to raise a mocking eyebrow. It was rather remarkable how much contempt and derision one could put into as simple a gesture as this, and Reran watched with detached interest how his second-in-command's face turned a red colour as he motioned the others to stay back and rushed forward, obviously trying to run his adversary through with one stroke.

His blade met only empty air, since the elf was long gone when Teonvan had closed the few feet between them. The blonde being had stepped to the side, and with a movement too quick for mortal eyes to follow one of his knives bit deeply into the man's sword arm. Teonvan gave an enraged shout, sounding remarkably like a wounded bull, and whirled around to face his opponent again, only to have him avoid him again and again.

Reran watched the proceedings for only a few seconds to come to the conclusion that the elf was planning something and that he was merely toying with his worthless second-in-command. Knowing full well what he would do if he were in the elf's position, Reran motioned the two men that stood behind Cendan to ready their bows which they did, fitting arrows to the strings and assuming firing positions in a matter of seconds.

Seconds were all they had, too, and just when the two had made ready to fire, a cry drew everyone's attention to the fighters, and Reran felt how his lips twisted into a mildly amused smile. In the middle of the small circle that his men had formed stood the elf, one of his daggers pressed firmly against the neck of the commander whose sword lay discarded on the ground. The other dagger was still firmly clenched in his left hand which was right now pressing against Teonvan's chest, holding him still as much as the blade against his jugular vein.

The blonde captain shook his head slowly, savouring the moment. Well, now Teonvan had probably finally learned that one should never underestimate the Elves, and that one paid a heavy price if one did.

The cold, emotionless voice of the elf cut through his thoughts and drew him back to the present, his eyes locking with Reran, instinctively sensing that he was the one in command.
"Tell your men to step back."

Reran raised an eyebrow, enjoying the terrified look that Teonvan was so quick to hide immensely.
"And why should I do that, elf?"

Legolas' eyes gleamed with fury and outrage as he looked at the blonde man in front of him, and he unconsciously increased the pressure against his captive's neck.
"Because I will kill him if you don't."

The man merely looked at him before he began to grin, obviously very amused by his words. Legolas would nearly have lifted both eyebrows in surprise. Were these men mad? He quickly answered his own question: Yes, of course they were mad; they had come here after all! One had to be mad to travel into Mirkwood and attack the Elvenking's warriors.

"Believe me, Master Elf, I would enjoy nothing more than watch you cut his throat, but I am afraid I cannot allow that." Reran nodded at the two men to his left and right, who raised their bows and pointed them unwaveringly at the fair haired elf. "I don't think you are in a position to demand anything. Drop your weapons and let him go."

"And why should I do that, human?" Legolas spat, suppressing the feeble resistance the man he was holding captive obviously wanted to put up by simply pressing harder against his throat. "You dare attack King Thranduil's warriors, you dare enter the Realm of Mirkwood, and you dare tell me what to do?" His eyes darkened even further, and he added in a soft, deadly tone of voice, "You will not leave this forest alive, you can believe that."

Reran rolled his eyes, annoyance creeping into his voice.
"Your companions will not get far injured as they and the horse are. They may have escaped our grasp, yes, but the next patrol is a long way from here and they won't reach it in time. When your reinforcements arrive, we will be long gone."

Legolas' eyes narrowed to mere slits as he thought of his wounded friends.
"What do you want from me? Why did you attack us?"

The human captain took a step forward, keeping in mind to stay out of the line of fire and gave his men a sign to step aside which they did, opening a passage to the elf and his captive.
"Give up, elf. You cannot escape, and if you kill him we will kill you. Lower your weapons and release him, or things will get very unpleasant for you, that is something you can believe."

Legolas stared at the blonde man, too many and too conflicted emotions racing through him, and for a moment he truly did not know what to do. One part of him wanted him to stall, to somehow keep the men here until another patrol found them, but when he was perfectly honest he knew that that was not likely going to happen. The next patrol was five hours away from here, so even if Anardir managed to reach them in that time – which was highly unlikely with an injured horse and an injured companion – his men would reach him in ten hours at the earliest.

He grimaced inwardly; there was no way he was going to keep this stand-off up for ten hours.

"Don't be foolish, elf," the man in front of him advised him, shaking his blonde-grey head. "I have heard that your kind is fast, but you're not fast enough to slit his throat, avoid two arrows and fight your way through my men. Surrender."

"Why don't we put it to the test? I am sure I can kill most of your men before you kill me," Legolas stated darkly, looking into the human's obviously rather amused face.

Reran's grin even widened.
"I believe you might be right, Master Elf, but the end result will remain the same: You will die. This is your last chance: Lower your weapons and release him, or I will order my men to attack, and you can believe me when I say that I don't care if my loyal commander is killed in the process or not. You won't get out of here."

The prince merely graced him with an emotionless elven stare, but the truth of the man's words could not be denied. The leader's brown eyes were as hard and cold as the snow all around them, and Legolas was sure that he would do as he had just said. He knew himself that he couldn't escape; for that he was too outnumbered, too surrounded and, if he was honest with himself, too exhausted. All this had put a great strain on his still healing body, and his head was beginning to ache in rhythm with his heartbeat again.

His entire being screamed at him to fight, not to do what this man wanted, but his head told him that the human was right and that he would be killed if he did. His pride demanded that he stayed and died before complying, yet in his head he could hear the voice of his old teacher who had been teaching him and the elves of his age many, many years ago when they had first entered the warrior training.

'To die fighting to your last breath against impossible odds may be a heroic thing, and if you're lucky your deeds might even be sung about by the minstrels for an age to come, but it has a very uncomfortable side effect: You die. No, lads, if you have any other option left it is foolish not to follow the path of reason and to fight when you know you cannot win.'

Legolas smiled inwardly when he remembered his old teacher's solemn face when he had looked at them, his eyes seemingly boring into every single one of them.

'I know that many of you do not believe me now, but you will find out that fighting your way out of a situation is often not the way. There is something you always have to remember: You are far more valuable to your king, your people and your friends when you're alive than when you die fighting an impossible fight. As long as you are alive, there is hope for escape, and hope for meeting with your enemies under more favourable circumstances. If you have no other options left, then, by the Valar, try to take as many of your enemies with you as you can, but otherwise it is your duty to survive to fight another day. Never forget this.'

Legolas kept looking at the men for another moment, and finally, with a small, weary sigh, he removed his right knife from Teonvan's throat and gave him a none too gentle push forward, into the direction of the other men. A second later both his daggers dropped to the ground, disappearing soundlessly to the hilts in the churned up, stained snow to his feet. His old teacher had been right, of course, he just might survive this if he surrendered, "might" being the main word here.

For a moment, no-one moved as if nothing had happened, and Reran looked at the stony-faced elf and bowed his head in mock respect.
"A very sensible choice, Master Elf." He nodded at the men that were still surrounding the lithe being and were looking undecided and very ill at ease. "Tie him up and get him ready to move out. We need to get away from here as quickly as possible."

Before one of the men had even moved a single inch, Teonvan had whirled around, eyes that were positively burning with fury and hatred large in his pale face. Reran shook his head inwardly; the elf should definitely not have treated Teonvan in this manner. The human commander had been humiliated in front of every single one of his men, and Reran had the feeling that that wasn't something the other man forgave easily, or forgave at all.

In the meantime, two of the men had stepped forward and, after looking at the elf somewhat fearfully as if he would kill them with his bare hands – something Reran didn't think all that unlikely, judging by his expression – removed his quiver form his back and grabbed his arms tightly, preparing to twist and bind them behind his back with a length of rope one of the others held ready. Their prisoner offered no resistance, all too aware of the arrows that were still aiming at his chest, but before the men could even start with their appointed task, Teonvan had pushed his way through the rest of the men, appearing even angrier than before, it that was even possible. His face twisted into a furious grimace, he stopped in front of the impassive elf and, with a quick, practised move, smashed his fist into the captive elf's face.

The prisoner made no sound and was merely thrown backwards into the two men that were restraining him, reeling with the force of the blow, but before he could get his bearings, another blow hit him straight in his stomach, driving all the air out of his lungs. For a sudden, terrifying moment Legolas thought he had forgotten how to breathe when his lungs seemed unwilling to resume their work due to the paralysis that appeared to have stolen over his body, and he gasped for breath, an action that was quickly interrupted when he felt a fist connect with his torso again, this time with the side of his chest.

His hands were pulled behind his back and secured with strong rope, yet Legolas hardly noticed anything apart from the blows that connected with his upper body, each of them throwing him against the bodies of the two men that still held him fast. Well, he thought through the dark haze of pain that threatened to swallow him whole, whoever this man was, he definitely knew how to hit somebody where it hurt the most – something that really wasn't all that reassuring at all…

That thought was quickly driven from his mind when yet another blow hit him in the stomach, causing him to automatically double over in an attempt to prevent further abuse to his already hurting body. O great Manwë, it had not been a good idea to surrender! He could almost hear Aragorn's voice that was roaring with laughter at that thought, even though it could just as easily have been the loudly rushing blood in his ears that slowly but steadily began to drown out his surroundings. Of course it hadn't been a good idea to surrender, but then again, what other options had he had?

Suddenly, the blows stopped and a hand tangled in his hair that had fallen forward to obscure his features, hiding his tightly closed eyes. Legolas forced his breathing to calm and the expression on his face into a mask of calm disinterest – not an easy task, but essentially not harder than telling your father that no, you had of course not left the palace to hunt spiders in the dead of night and had no idea why your clothing was stained with dark blood, something he had done far too often in the past.

The hand's grip tightened painfully and jerked his head up, and Legolas came face to face with the sneering man whose throat he could have slit a few minutes ago, and suddenly the elven prince caught himself wishing that he had. The human's face seemed to fall a little when he saw the calm face of his prisoner, the only thing that betrayed any emotions at all seemingly the large, dark eyes that looked at him as if he were a particularly nasty, slimy insect he had just found under a small rock.

That enraged the dark haired commander even more, and he snapped the blonde elf's head back a little more, grinning cruelly at him.
"Not so superior now, are we, elf?"

His captive didn't answer and merely studied him with a mildly surprised expression on his face, as if astonished that he could actually speak, and Teonvan quickly decided that he had never met a being that simply begged for getting that haughty stubbornness beaten out of him as much as this one.

He leaned a little bit closer, his grin widening when he saw the other trying to recoil from him as far as he could.
"You will regret what you've done, elf, that I promise you. You have to be alive when we reach our destination, nothing more, and until then I will make you wish you had never resisted me in the first place."

Legolas looked at the man, unable to hide his disgust any longer.
"I did not resist you, human, I beat you. You would be dead if I wished you to be," he told him in a dangerous, low tone of voice, piercing the man with a look of such fury and contempt that Teonvan had to avert his eyes. "And it is you who will wish something before long, namely that you had killed me when you had the chance."

Teonvan's eyes narrowed and he drew back to hit the elf again when a hand closed around his forearm, yanking him none too gently back. The dark haired commander turned around, eyes gleaming with hatred and anger, but lowered them immediately when he saw the far too calm face of Reran whose fingers tightened around his arm.

"That's enough," the human captain said quietly. He gave the assembled men who had been watching the proceedings with fascination a commanding stare. "Three of you will stay with him, and I am sure the others have something else to do." The men dropped their gazes, and quickly began to disperse when Reran bellowed, "Am I not correct??"

The blonde man watched his men shuffle off as quickly as they were able, a part of them disappearing to get their horses from where they had left them before closing in on the elves, and finally turned back to his second-in-command whose arm he was still gripping tightly. Not releasing his hold on him, he began to drag him off to the side, but turned back to the guards that were still holding onto the elf's arms.

"Great Ones, what are you waiting for? Search him!"

The men hastened to comply, and with a last look at the elf's disconcertingly calm, contemptuous face Reran turned and moved off into the direction he had come, giving Teonvan no other choice than to follow him if he didn't want to be dragged off in front of their men. After a few dozen feet Reran stopped and gave his surroundings a quick look to make sure that no-one was overhearing him before turning dark, furious eyes on his second-in-command.

"There is only one reason why I didn't allow the elf to kill you and that is that I want to pleasure for myself!" he hissed, noting with satisfaction how the dark haired man tried to free himself from his grasp, an expression on his face that bordered on terrified. "What in the name of all the Gods were you thinking? You move without waiting for the signal, you almost shoot the elf we want and then you allow him to nearly cut your throat in front of the men? Explain yourself, man!!"

"He surprised me," Teonvan explained sullenly, obviously not willing to accept that he had been bested in a fair fight.

Reran closed his eyes and slowly counted to ten, doing his best to imagine what their lord would say if he killed this worthless, slimy idiot right here and now.
"You are a fool, Teonvan, and I pray that I will be there to see it when that fact kills you," he told him slowly. "Be assured that our liege will hear about this, as well as about the fact that you nearly killed his prize and let his companions escape."

"They won't get back here in time," the dark haired man shrugged, trying to hide the small flicker of fear that flashed across his face when he thought of the possibility of encountering even more elves, elves that would probably not be too happy about the fact that they had captured one of their captains. "We have what we want. He is the leader of this patrol, that much is clear, and we will be out of this wood before they can even try to get him back."

The human captain shook his head, once again needing to reign in his temper.
"But they will be back, Teonvan! They are elves, and elves follow trails easily! They will find us if we are not careful; and I only do not kill you for your arbitrary acts because there is the fair chance that they will lose our trail in this snowstorm."

Teonvan lowered his eyes and Reran released the other's arm and stepped back, not even bothering to hide the contempt that was written on his face.
"Make sure that the ones that were killed are hidden as best as possible; while it won't fool anyone who is really searching this area, there is no need to leave them in plain sight where everyone can see them instantly. And now get out of my sight before I change my mind and finish what the elf started."

The commander nodded and turned on his heel, obviously more than relieved to escape his superior's presence, but was stopped in mid-step by Reran's soft voice that bade him to stop.
"One other thing, Teonvan. We need the elf alive, and if you damage him beyond repair it will be you who will take his place as something to keep the men in good humour. Understood?"

Teonvan nodded quickly, a curious light kindled in his eyes.
"Yes, sir."

Reran shook his head, his brow wrinkling in disgust.
"Do you take me for a fool, Teonvan? I have heard about you and your … hobbies, preferences, whatever you wish to call it, more than I ever wanted to know. Just remember that you will be next if he dies or manages to kill himself as some of your previous prisoners have, so I would strongly advise you to restrain yourself this time. You should know me well enough to know that I do not make idle threats."

"Yes, sir," the other repeated, avoiding his eyes. "I understand."

"I seriously hope so, Teonvan," the captain replied. "Cendan's men will be guarding him, and if I hear something that displeases me about how you treat the elf, I will be severely displeased. You are dismissed."

With a quick bow of his head Teonvan turned and disappeared in the whirling snow masses that were still swirling all around them, leaving Reran to look after him in a mixture irritation and real worry. He really hoped that he had made his point clear, but even if Teonvan heeded his command and kept himself back, he had the very bad feeling that this mission would not end well.

He had seen the light that appeared in the younger man's eyes every time the elf was mentioned, and that alone was enough to tell him that this would be a long and difficult journey. He didn't mind if his men treated the elf a bit roughly, that would of course be unavoidable anyway considering that he had killed several of his men today.

But that gleam in Teonvan's eyes was something else entirely than the look of a man who was looking forward to having a bit of fun with a prisoner; it was on an entirely different level and Reran refused to think about what kind of level that might be.
All he knew was that the elves that would soon be on their trail were the least of his worries right now, and that he would need to keep a close eye on his incompetent second-in-command.

Reran growled inwardly and turned to follow the other man into the direction of the other men, intending to make sure himself that the elf was bound securely and was in no position to give them any trouble.

He was beginning to really, really hate Adruran for dying and landing him with this mission.




It was the twentieth time, or the twenty-first, he wasn't sure anymore. He had lost the ability to count sometime in the last five minutes, or perhaps it was just the ability to pay attention to his surroundings.

Whatever was the case, Anardir thought fuzzily, the horse had stumbled yet again, the rough movement sending a stab of agony through his shoulder and lower back, a pain he more than deserved in his opinion.

He should never have obeyed his prince's command, that was something he had realised mere seconds after he had somehow, he didn't really know how, managed to lift his friend's body onto the white horse and mount it himself. Legolas might have ordered him, yes, but it had been more his desperate, begging eyes that had convinced him to leave, that and Galalith's still, blood-stained body.

Anardir hung his head. He had put his friend's safety before his prince's, however much Legolas had wanted him to, and that was something he would never be able to forgive himself if they in fact managed to get to another patrol before all three of them would collapse, something that seemed more and more likely with every passing second.

In the past hours that they'd been travelling, his head had begun to accept some basic facts, even though his heart still resolutely refused to acknowledge the truth of these statements.

First, that the horse wouldn't be able to carry them all the way north-west (if they were still going north-west, that was) to the next patrol. Second, that he would most probably not make it to the next patrol himself, and third, the most painful admission, that Galalith wouldn't make it either.

The horse stumbled again, betraying its steadily increasing weariness, and Anardir could only in the last second grab Galalith's unconscious body tighter and at the same time reach desperately for a handhold. He shook his head, his eyes closing on their own account. No, Rashwe wouldn't make it very far now; with the arrow sticking out of the animal's hind leg it was a true miracle that it hadn't collapsed already.

The blonde elf's thoughts returned to the state of health both he himself and his friend were in. His mind refused to think about the elf he was holding as tightly as if his life depended on it, and so he began to muse about the injuries he himself had sustained. It took him a long time, and his fuzzy, tired brain refused to co-operate, but finally he remembered why he was feeling as wretched as he did: Not one arrow had hit him, but two, the second when they had been escaping into the forest, and both of them were still protruding from his body, the first from his shoulder and the second from his lower back. Elbereth, he thought with a small, inward chuckle, he was probably beginning to look like a porcupine…

The more rational part of him was right now having a fit inside his skull, demanding that he pull himself together if he really wanted either of them to make it back to safety. Anardir concentrated on the situation at hand with a tremendous effort, feeling weak and dizzy from the blood loss. More than the wounds to his body hurt the knowledge that he had left his prince behind he had sworn to protect, something he should never have done, order or not.

That thought redirected his attention to the still body of his friend he held in his arms, and he once again felt how the icy hand of fear reached into his chest and began to crush his heart, hanging onto him with the stubbornness of a wild animal that refused to let go or be pacified. This fear never abated, fuelled by the fact that Galalith's breathing was becoming increasingly erratic and laboured, and no matter how many makeshift bandages he wrapped around the arrow shaft that had hit him into his abdomen, dark red blood still continued to seep through the material. His face was ashen with not a bit of colour on his cheeks, and he was beginning to feel cold to the touch as well.

Anardir swallowed hard. He had been in enough battles to understand what these signs meant, and yet he couldn't bring himself to accept the implications. He had seen many people, elves and men alike, who had looked like this, but the blonde elf firmly refused to liken their fate to that of his friend. Galalith couldn't die like they had, he mustn't!

He was torn out of his dark thoughts when Rashwe stumbled again, the weight of the two elves on top of the animal's injury becoming finally too much. This time, the horse was unable to catch itself and went crashing to the ground with a half-pained, half-shocked shriek. Anardir's muddled brain wasn't able to comprehend what was going on fast enough, and so he merely had enough time to grab Galalith more tightly as they were thrown off their mount, landing hard in the snow a few feet away from the fallen horse.

For a moment, the blonde elf was sure that he had passed out, and he even might have had, for a few seconds at least. When he slowly came to his senses again, his whole body screaming in pain and informing him unambiguously that it wouldn't get up any time soon, he opened his eyes and noted with detached interest that he had landed on his wounded shoulder, serving to drive the arrow there deeper into his flesh and snapping the wooden shaft that was hardly visible now anymore.

The pain had mounted to indescribable heights now, but he hardly noticed it as he began to slowly push himself upright, stopping when he had managed to get to his knees. He painfully pulled Galalith's still body closer to him, making quickly sure that the other elf hadn't suffered another injury in their fall. A small, dark voice inside his head noted that he would hardly notice it should that indeed be the case, but Anardir ignored it.

When he had made sure that Galalith's condition was unchanged at the least, he looked around him for Legolas' horse that he finally spotted to their right where it was standing next to a fallen tree, flanks heaving and trembling violently. It was clear that the beast was in a great deal of pain, but it had managed to get back up and slowly came closer, looking at the two fallen elves with a look of pity and urgency Anardir had never seen on a horse's face before, especially not on his prince's which was known to be … evil, for a lack of better word.

The fair haired elf shook his head slowly, helplessness emanating from his lithe form.
"I am sorry," he told the horse slowly, trying to ignore the grey spots that were beginning to obscure his vision. "We … can't help your master anymore … Go and find the patrol to the north. We won't go anywhere."

Elven horses were intelligent creatures, and regardless of its character, Rashwe was definitely more intelligent than most. The softly gleaming white horse bent its head, nosed the blonde elf's uninjured shoulder in an oddly gentle gesture before turning and slowly disappearing in the still heavily falling snow.

Anardir stared after it for a few seconds, feeling somehow utterly alone all of the sudden. He contemplated his options and had just decided on the most attractive, namely losing consciousness, when a soft, almost inaudible moan alerted him to the fact that Galalith was regaining consciousness.

The elf stared at his friend's face, feeling how his heart constricted in his chest. He had seen this particular pallor far too many times in the past, the last time on the face of one of the warriors he had led into the Battle of Five Armies, right before he died. Anardir felt how tears welled up in his eyes and used all his remaining strength to hold them back. If … if it really came to it, what would Galalith think if he saw him crying?

Another slightly louder moan could be heard, and Anardir swallowed quickly and slowly reached out to place a hand against the other's cheek, a chill travelling through him when he realised how cold his friend was.
"Galalith? My friend, are you awake?"

The other elf's green eyes opened slowly, the contrast between their darkness and the pale colour of his face even more stunning than usually. Something like confusion swept over the ashen countenance, and he whispered brokenly,

"Anardir … that you?"

Anardir smiled shakily, doing his best not to show how distraught he really was.
"Yes, of course. Whom were you expecting, mellon nín?"

Galalith didn't return the smile, his eyes gazing blindly at his best friend's face. After a few seconds, alarm slowly began to show in the green orbs as recollection set in.
"The prince … where is … he?"

The blonde elf bit his lower lip in an effort not to let the cracks in his more or less composed façade show.
"He is fine, Galalith," he tried to soothe the other. "He was not harmed. You saved him."

The ghost of a smile flittered over the dark haired elf's face and he gave a little relieved sigh.
"Good … good…"

Anardir felt how the breath hitched in his throat, and he unconsciously tightened his grip on his friend as he literally sensed him slide farther away from him.
"Galalith! Stay awake! Please, my friend, you cannot go to sleep now … we will be home soon, and Hithrawyn will have a fit when he sees you…"

The small smile on Galalith's face widened before he coughed weakly, oblivious to the blood that appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"You lie, my friend … you never were a … good liar, you know …you were al-always too worried to keep up the pretence..."

Anardir had to forcefully tear his eyes away from the red liquid that covered the edges of his friend's mouth, and he quickly shook his head, trying to smile bravely and failing miserably.
"You are right, of course. Just stay awake please, stay with me!"

Galalith coughed again and shook his head minutely.
"I'm … s-sorry."

Tears once again gathered in Anardir's eyes and he pulled his friend closer, listening to his friend's slow heartbeat that reverberated through his chest.
"There is nothing you would have to be sorry for, my friend," he told the other elf firmly. "You did nothing wrong. You saved the prince. You did nothing wrong…"

"No," Galalith protested in a whisper. "I'm sorry, but … I can't stay. I … have to go."

"No!" Anardir exclaimed, his heart for the first time fully understanding what his friend was saying. "You are not going anywhere, you hear me? Don't you remember what we swore each other when we were children? Where you go, I will go. I will not let you go anywhere without me!"

"I'm sorry," the other repeated, his voice sounding stronger all of the sudden, something that scared Anardir more than everything else until now. "I cannot keep that promise, my friend. I … must go."

"No, Galalith, please!" the blonde elf exclaimed again, tears coursing down his cheeks freely now, falling into the snow to freeze to tiny drops of ice in a matter of moments. "Not now … not like this…"

Galalith shook his head again, his movements growing weaker by the second.
"I can't … my friend, I'm sorry." He took a deep, laboured breath, and Anardir felt the beating of his friend's heart slow even more. "Promise me that … you w-w-won't follow me." The dark haired elf felt for the other's hand, eyes still fixed on the blonde's grief-stricken face. "Promise me!"

Anardir took his friend's hand into a shaking one of his own, not able to believe what was happening. He was about to protest, but when he saw the pleading, desperate gleam in the other elf's slowly dimming eyes, he nodded his head, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible.
"I promise you, my friend," he choked out. "I will not willingly follow you."

Galalith smiled again, a peaceful smile that reminded Anardir of the merry elfling he had met all these long years ago.
"I thank you, Anardir … I will … miss you."

Anardir wanted to retort something, sensing that his friend was already on his way to Mandos' Halls, but he couldn't articulate a single word, dark, unspeakable grief choking him. All he could do was nod with tears streaming down his face, obscuring his view of his friend's almost translucent face.

Galalith gripped his hand a little more tightly, looking at his friend with quiet intensity.
"Please … tell my parents of my … love for them and," he took a deep, trembling breath, a little more blood appearing at his lips, "tell Legolas … that I do not regret my choice. I did it … gladly, for him."

He struggled to smile again, his body already refusing to obey his commands.
"Good-bye, gwador nín."

The dark haired elf exhaled a last time as his heart finally stopped beating, and his eyes became vacant as his fëa left his body to travel to the Halls of Mandos, in the Undying Lands far across the Sundering Seas.

For long moments, Anardir could only stare at his dead friend's peaceful, serene face, not fully comprehending what had just happened, but then he reached out with a violently shaking hand to gently close the other's wide-open eyes. He looked at Galalith's body with unbelieving eyes, slowly beginning to grasp the concept that his oldest friend was dead and that his eyes would never again open to look at him; and the fear that had been preying on his heart faded and died and turned into black, all-consuming despair.

"Good-bye, my brother," he whispered almost inaudibly through the sobs that shook his injured body. "Safe journey. I will miss you as well."

Only then did the full force of his grief hit him, and he gathered the limp form of his friend to his chest, rocking back and forth softly in a vain attempt to ease the pain that was threatening to tear his heart asunder. He did not move from the spot even when night began to fall, all he was aware of being the still body that was all that was left of the one person he had loved most in all of Arda.

It was thus that the patrol found them many hours later, together in the snow-covered forest with death and despair hanging thickly in the air about them, and not one of the warriors had to ask what had happened, for the mournful whispering of the trees told them everything they needed to know.





TBC...





 Drego - Flee!
Togo hon dan nan thaim i Aran - Take him back to the Halls of the King
mellon nín - my friend
gwador nín - my (sworn) brother
fëa (Quenya) - spirit, soul




Uhm ... *looks nervously about her* ... Merry Christmas? No? Argh! *runs off to escape readers' wrath* I know that there isn't much I can say or do to appease you, but I had to, you know, my alter ego, the plot and all that. I even cried most of the 45 minutes it took me to write that last bit. Don't tell anyone, but it's true, my mother thought something horrible had happened when she saw me. *shrugs* I'm sorry, really, I liked him too. So, to see how much trouble Legolas really is in (and we know it's got to be a lot), review and I'll try to get the next post up on Sunday. Probably Monday though, sorry, I really have loads to do right now. But you know, reviews encourage and all that... *g*



Additional A/N:

TrinityTheSheDevil - So let me get this straight. You stole one of my characters, wrapped him in paper and put him under your Christmas tree? Well that's ... insolent. Yes, that's what it is... *g* No, j/k, go ahead. Miki has already one of my Nólad clones, so I can't see why you shouldn't have some fun with Galalith. Oh, as a PS: You should eat less candy, methinks. Just a little, of course... *g*
Iverson - *defensively* It WAS there. You missed it by an hour or so. I DID update on time, I cannot stress this point enough. *g* Your prediction is quite right though: Legolas should rather have kept all these bandages, he's gonna need them sooner than dear Celylith, that much is certain... A side story about the honey-cakes? Hmm, that should be rather interesting, I think ... I might do one where... *thinking, evil alter ego grinning like mad* See what you've done? Hmm, why does Legolas get into trouble? Because he just DOES. I know, it's not a very good reason, but it's true. I don't do anything, really, he does it on his own. I don't even have to give him a nudge, hnestly. *g* And what do you mean? I and write Aragorn angst in this story? Nooooo, not me, I wouldn't do such a thing... *evil grin* Never. The same goes for Legolas' guilt trip, of course. *g* Oh, and there ARE lots of grammar mistakes in this, believe me. There are just some things I don't really know - I never paid that much attention in school when they taught us English grammar - who would want to learn English when you could be learning Latin or Greek? *grins sheepishly* I love those languages, so I might be a little bit biased... And you're right, Galalith may and may not be dead - I'm telling you in case you read this before you read the chapter, btw. *g* And yes, I did enjoy the movie, but unfortunately not as much as I had hoped. *sighs* Foolish me, I know.
Gwyn - Yup, the 'infamous capture scene' is this chapter, even though I didn't post as quickly as you probably had hoped. I'm sorry about that, but you know - Christmas... *weary sigh* It never ceases to annoy me. But then again, one gets a lot of presents... *g*
LOTRFaith - *sighs* I know. I AM unpopular at the moment, now even more so than before. I am sorry, really, but there is this thing called "plot" and it made me do it. Plus I'm evil, but you already knew that, right? *g* Somehow I got two reviews from you, don't ask me why. FF.net screwed up again, I guess...
Red Tigress - Good thing you didn't say anything about RotK. I would have been most displeased... *g* And of course Legolas needs more lines, or at least lines that aren't quite as dumb. "A red sun rises. Blood has been spilt tonight." Please! He's Mr. State-the-obvious, really, all the time he says such nonsense...
Calenore - Thank you. I always try to let my villains be more than mindless minions, and I really come to love them after a while. Reran is a special case, I really liked him from the beginning - probably because I loathe Teonvan and pity him, I think... *g* And the Galalith thing ... UhmIgottagobye? *runs off*
Firniswin - I am rather surprised you asked, to be honest, I thought it had been become obvious by now. So: My favourite LotR character is Aragorn, closely followed by Glorfindel and Fëanor. I also like Imrahil of Dol Amroth. But I like to hurt them both, Legolas and Aragorn, because if you hurt one you get angst from the other. *re-reads sentence* God, I'm a sick person... And the language that pops up here from time to time is German because I'm German and Germans speak German, so if someone submits a German review I of course answer in that language ... did I lose you? Don't worry, I lose myself all the time... *g*
Jenny - Well, as I said in the A/N, I can't really agree with that. I liked RotK, of course, but I would definitely not say that it's the best thing I have ever seen in my life. And to be honest I didn't cry either but I am just like your friend, heart of stone and all that... I'm evil. *shrugs* I've accepted it a long time ago.
CrazyLOTRfan - *wide-eyed* You keep Eru in your closet? But ... but ... but who manages the universe? You know, Eru, the One, Ilúvatar and all that? You can't do that!! *shakes her* Please! Let him out!! LOL, CrazyLOTRfan = CLF? I have to admit I never noticed it - now that you mention it it's definitely scary though...
LegolasLover2004 - Well, the chapter was written all along. I mean, I'm writing chapter 11 right now and should be much father ahead - I just don't have the time at the moment. And well ... my alter ego made me do it? It wasn't my fault, honestly! *innocent smile* Thanks a lot for your review!
Sabercrazy - LOL, Jedi rangers? Now THAT'S a scary idea when I ever saw one... I shudder to think of Aragorn would be able to do to himself and others with a lightsabre! But I agree with you of course, if both Aragorn and Celylith say don't go, then, well, _don't go_, for crying out loud! *shakes head* Stubborn, stupid elf, that one... And no, of course you're not getting a straight answer out of me. You'll have to wait a bit for the lord to appear, I'm afraid ... patience.... *g*
Lina - *stares* You took Andúril? And the Ring of Barahir? Whoa, you're braver than I thought - or just as insane, I'm not sure about that yet... Congrats on getting the ring though! That's definitely a nice present! LOL, right Legolas, a suicidal tree jumped in front of your sledge... *taxing look* Just what drug are YOU on? But I know what you mean. Lampposts are especially bad. Suicidal, the whole lot of them I tell you! *nods fervently* Uhm, well, what can I say... *looks to the ground in shame* I admit it. I have a thing for elves and arrows... You're not angry, are you? Furious or something? *nervous look* Somehow I don't like the Rohirrim's new battle cry at all... *g*
Louise_Oblique - Yay! One person who doesn't hate me for the cliffy! Thanks! *huggles* Ah, sorry, but I am used to death threats right now... *g* Great you liked it and that you don't hate me. It's very nice to hear. *huggles again*
Jazmin3 Firewing - If you can't do cliffies like that: Feel lucky. It's horrible, believe me, every time I end a chapter I have to fight the urge to put in an evil, vicious cliffy... It's an addiction, I swear... *g*
Dha-Gal - They should definitely make bigger Skittles bags. Sell them by the pound or something like that, that way I wouldn't have to buy them by the dozen. Then again, now that you mention it, I can't buy them at all here - bloody country, this one is... *shakes head* No Skittlessss, preciousss, no...
Shauna - Uhm, he hasn't even been captured yet and you already want to know when Aragorn will find him? Well, even if I wanted to tell you I couldn't, since I haven't written that part yet. It will be a while though, so don't expect anything before chapter 13. Definitely not. And whoever said that everything would be fine once Aragorn finds him? Not me, I'm rather sure about that... *evil grin*
Sirithiliel - Uhm, yes, I am in fact stopping there. Sorry. *g* Don't tell me, I'm evil, I know... I'm sorry I didn't update sooner though, but there really was no chance. I have so much to do and should in fact be doing so much right now ... ah well. I'll have time later, I guess. *g* Great you still like it, thanks for the review!
Amelie - Really? The 24th is your birthday? Poor you, that has got to be horrible! My sister's birthday is on January 5th, and that's bad already since no-one remembers it and the ones who do don't know anything to give to her anymore... Poor her. *huggles sister* And I live in Germany, we celebrate on the evening of the 24th. Great you like the chapter title, I always spent a lot of time coming up with them. A Merry Christmas to you too, and Happy Birthday! *huggles*
Aromene - Figuratively speaking - yes. *evil grin* And it's going to be rather thick, ugly mud too... And I don't know, but I think Estel's already come up with the perfect way to blame himself. He always does, stubborn, reckless human that he is... *shakes head* Indeed, Legolas should have learned to listen. Should being the main word here! *shakes head again* Stubborn, stupid elf.
Cicci - So you don't like the cliffy? I'm hurt... *sobs* No, j/k, I didn't really expect you to like it either. They're there only for my alter ego's enjoyment - yes, she's evil and sadistic... *g* And people SHOULD get nicer around Christmas. My family doesn't appear to know that though, so I figured I would ignore it as well... *g* I don't know about 'humanly' possible, but this was as fast as 'Nilible' possible. Honest. *g*
Firegirl353 - *blinks* Vociferous is your favourite word. Aaaaalllllriiiight... *g* I am barely able to write anything under 350 pages, which is rather sad, really. It's just that my characters refuse to shut up - I swear I am trying to make them, but they keep ignoring me! It was never said what Anardir betted on, he didn't tell me either. Stubborn elf, that one. And about that title: There might be the problem that I don't own all elven horses. I only own Rashwe and the others, but I don't own Asfaloth for example. And I don't think that Aragorn, Legolas or Celylith would be very happy if you claimed that you owned their horses - you know how they are... And I admit that the oliphaunt scene was quite nice, as were all battle scenes. *g* Hmm, and I don't know yet, but IF Legolas gets tortured the baddies wouldn't know that Adruran still lived and would therefore not ask Legolas about him. I mean, they don't have any reason to believe that he didn't die with his men. And yes, I'm from Germany, am still living in Europe (Germany to be precise) and also have lived there for most of my live. So, tomorrow's Christmas, yay! *huge grin*
Aratfeniel - Hey, no need to apologise. I know what you mean, and who HASN'T been busy with Christmas? Sometimes I'm really loathing it - right now for example... *g* Why did FF.net take down one of your stories? Did they qualify it as a top ten list or something? That happens sometimes, they're so stupid...
E - YOU! *huggles* I missed you! You were my only reviewer with a One-letter-name! I'm very happy to see that you're back - I was beginning to fear that you didn't like my stories anymore... *huggles again* Thanks for reviewing again!
Zam - *tiredly* Zam ... not again ... stop attacking my baddies ... they haven't even done anything yet ... please ... somebody stop her ... Lina! Urkwush! Snikdul! Will you stop her for crying out loud! Now!!! LOL! Look! A snow cone! I really cracked up at that one... *wipes tears out of here eyes* Uhhh, funny. And you're finally married! Congratulations! Are you sure Celylith REALLY wanted it though? He seems the tiniest bit upset.... *points at Celylith crying in the corner, sobbing 'She trickesssssed usss, preciousss'* Nah, forget it, I must have imagined things... I admit it though, that ending was evil. I doubt you will like this one, but okay... *g*
Alilacia- Ooops, I hope you didn't read the A/N then, I don't want to spoil anything for you. I hate it when I want to see a movie and everybody tells me in detail what happens when and who says what. *shakes head in disgust* It's horrible. *chuckles* Yeah, Legolas is a rather vengeful elf and can bear a grudge quite some time - laughing about him might not be a clever thing... *g* And I see, you 'borrowed' Sting. Riiight. *g* And you're right, the list IS growing - I need help... *g*
Strider's Girl - *blushes* Thank you! It's nice to hear that you like my characterisation, and I would hate to have stiff or lifeless characters. Really, I would. *g* So, as I said in the A/N, it is a good movie, even though they really cut out too much. They don't offer any explanations for most things, and a lot of the story simply gets lost, like the Faramir-Éowyn thing, the healing of them as legitimation of Aragorn's claims and many other things. But it was still good, hoenstly. *g*
Critternut - Don't worry, the chapter is here, so you will be able to read it before you go to Florida. I was there once over Christmas, some years ago, and found it very strange. For me it has to be cold at Christmas, and palm trees and sun and swimming pools confuse me. *g* And I think you're right, the baddies deserve some credit, even though they don't know what they've just got themselves into. *shakes head* Poor baddies. A Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you too!!
Alexa - I don't know why you're having those feelings, really. I would never write tense, evil things, you know me... *evil gin* LOL, Legolas will have guilt-angst on top of the arm-angst? Well, you might be right there, of course - but I never said you are... *g* And I won't comment on the torture-angst. Nope, I won't. *scary grin* And whoever said that the twins would arrive and save they day? Most certainly not me...
Firnsarnien - Hmm, yes, I guess so. But at least Celylith is safe! *g* I know, I know, but you're too late with your AGLF, you should have thought of it a little bit sooner, really... *evil grin* Sorry. And it's perfectly understandable, most elves are quite adorable, aren't they? And I admit that Galalith and Anardir fall under that category as well... LOL, 'to save Legolas' beautiful hide'? I know where the emphasis was in this one... *g*
Chrystal-Rose15 - Uhm, yes. It was an evil cliffy, you're right. You got me. I admit it, I'm evil. And one can say what one wants about your imagination, but it's right on that bit! Whatever happens is NOT a good thing, no... *g* And of course I updated before Christmas, as a present just for you! *hands over wrapped up chapter* Here you go! Merry Christmas! And I'm sorry, but there won't be any twins until chapter 12. Sorry. *smiles sheepishly*
Suzi9 - *iinnocently* What author are you talking about, Suzi dear? Certainly not me - I'm a good author! *g* I really love your Institutions/Foundations/whatnot, I was laughing very hard when I read your review. Well, howling with laughter would be more like it, but... *shrugs* Hope you got to your village on time and in one piece, and a very Merry Christmas to you! *huggles*
Karone Evertree - So you read three chapters in a matter of an hour, not bad! *g* Thanks for reviewing every single one, I love getting review alerts, really... It's great you liked them, thanks a lot again for reviewing!
Mystic Girl1- Ach, du meinst die netten Doggen von Theoden, nech? Ja, die fand ich auch ganz suess... *g* Und meine Schwester sagt gar nichts dazu, sie weiss es naemlich gar nicht. Ich habe keinem in meiner Familie erlaubt, die Geschichten auch wirklich zu lesen - gut ist das auch...Und du hast 'euer' Pferd also umgebracht? Na, das ist ja auch nicht so besonders nett wenn du mich fragst... *g* Tja, und Recht hast du. Der Plan der Finsterlinge geht auf - fuer jetzt jedenfalls. Wie lange das allerdings anhaelt: Wer kann das schon sagen? Und nein, ich sage nicht, wer der Lord im Hintergrund ist. Wirst schon noch ein bisschen warten muessen... *fieses Grinsen* Und Galalith ... UhichmussdringendwegTschuess? *g*
Nikara - How did you know that? That Legolas' uninjured state wouldn't last long, I mean? Really, I have no idea... *evil grin* And you're quite right, things are beginning to get interesting...
Marbienl - Yes, _of course_ there is! How dare you even ASK such a thing! My 'normal' self is normal and my other self is babbling and evil! Can't you see the difference? *shakes head* Really... Uhm, well, Rashwe got its name after the whole Cornallar episode, after it bit Elrohir, therefore 'Trouble'. And I think it only likes Legolas because it's, well, evil? *g* I know! It's horribly cold here as well! We haven't got any snow yet, but we rarely do this time of year - too bad, really. Galalith, well, what can I say ... UhmIgottagobye? Something like that? Yup, I think that's a good answer! And don't worry, Celylith is safe for the next few chapters, I promise. I am far too busy with Legolas and Aragorn, really... Oops, did I just say that out load? Ignore it, will you? *g*
SundiAndElven - So you're two people? Or is Sundiata the other half or your personality? I surely hope not - we have too many schiuzophrenic people here already... *g* Great you like cliffies, there aren't too many people who do. I love writing them, but I guess it's a little bit different... It's great to hear that you liked my previous stories; I'm sure hoping you will like this one as well! Thanks for the review and a Merry Christmas to you too - if _you_ celebrate it...
Carla - Uhm, na ja, was soll ich sagen ... Froehliche Weihnachten? *g* Ist natuerlich trotzdem schoen zu hoeren, dass es dir immer noch gefaellt - hmm, wahrscheinlich nicht mehr lange... Okay, ich muss jetzt schnell updaten, danke fuer die Review! *knuddel*

Okay, once again: A Merry Christmas to all of you! May you get many presents and have a wonderful day!! Emphasis on the first part, though... *g*