I didn't get very nice responses to the last chapter. You mean, you guys
actually LIKED Fal?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
Aragorn was growing increasingly frustrated and paranoid as the days continued uneventfully. The traitor was much smarter than he had been given credit for.
'If only Legolas were here. He might be able to supply an answer that we have not yet thought of.'
He bit the end of his quill, watching Legolas' bird on the windowsill, marveling at how quickly the thing traveled.
He could think of nothing to say to his friend in his letter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
Legolas-
Fal did save your life, yes, but wasn't it an act of protection that took him away from you as well? Your father has reasons. Trust in that.
How can you have bad feelings about our traitor? You're not even here, my friend.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
At a loss, Aragorn finished his letter with idle chit-chat and sent the bird on his way.
The uneventfulness of the days was starting to get to him. He was restless and bored. He hated waiting. It was almost an invite to the traitor to sneak up on them.
Nifren knocked on his door at that moment, breaking the man from his thoughts. "Come in."
"Yer bored too, ain't ye? I can see it."
"There's nothing to do! We've been in this town for ages. What is the traitor trying to do? He's taking far too long to accomplish his task!"
Nifren smiled. "Calm down, Strider. Yellin' ain't gonna make him hurry his plans at all."
"What happened to your love, Nifren?"
"Sorry?"
Aragorn crossed his legs on his bed, which was unmade. "You told me that she was killed on a mission. What happened?"
"Ye don't want to know that."
"I do. I want to know why you've given up hope that she may still be alive."
Nifren smiled sadly. "She was taken hostage by a murderer, Strider. Ye do the math."
"Please tell me about her."
The older man rolled his eyes, but nodded. "We had been married for one week exactly. We were both young, but so very much in love. She refused to stay home while I went on a mission. I shouldn't have let her come.
"We found the murderer quickly enough, unlike our traitor here. He did put up quite a chase, though. Like I told ye before, he made his way back to the inn. And found her. I admit that I lied to ye, Strider. I do know how he recognized her. I recognized him too. He was man from me own hometown. We'd known each other since childhood. Unfortunately, he had been competing for my wife's hand in marriage. It was when he knew that she would never say yes to him that he became a murderer. Something in him just cracked.
"He told me, just as he climbed through a window with her, that if she wouldn't love him, she wouldn't love me either. I've never loved another since.
"Ye understand Strider, that it was me own fault she died."
Aragorn was shocked. He would have never guessed that so much turmoil had taken place in this man's life. "No! It wasn't your fault. The other man was insane, you couldn't help that."
"There were many things I could have done to protect her. I did nothing, and for that, it was my fault." He paused and refocused his eyes. "But let us talk of brighter things. I see ye are doin' fine with Berylla."
"Ai," Aragorn said, not wanting to change the subject. He realized that Nifren needed to, though. "She is a wonderful person."
Nifren nodded. "Protect her."
"I will. I am going to get us a couple of drinks."
Within seconds, Aragorn raced back into the room. He grabbed his weapons as he hissed, "He's down there!"
"Did he see ye?"
"No! Only Berylla saw me. She needs help!"
Nifren hurried down the stairs, Aragorn close on his heels. He skidded to a halt as the traitor stepped in front of him, a dagger pointed at his throat.
"Drop your weapons, or I'll kill him."
"Don't listen, Strider."
The man pulled Nifren away from the stairwell, revealing at least twenty other hooded men. Nifren cursed, then yelled for Berylla to hide.
The traitor took his dagger and threw it. It lodged in the wall just above the bar-maiden's head. She screamed as she ducked under the counter.
Aragorn turned and fled back up the stairs.
"Get him!" he traitor growled. Two of the hooded men flew up the stairs in pursuit. Nifren was ordered to drop his weapons and unceremoniously tied to a chair.
Aragorn slammed the door to his room shut, locking it behind him. Seconds later, they tried breaking in.
He needed to get help from the spies. He needed to get out of the inn. He looked around, noting the window as the only way.
The door burst open just as he jumped. He hit the ground at an odd angle, but ignored the pain in his ankle. He needed to get help before he was caught. . .
One of the two traitors jumped after him. The young ranger increased his speed, dodging buildings and people as he ran.
Finally, he found one of the buildings he needed, he slipped inside, followed closely by the hooded man.
Yelling as loud as he could, Aragorn gave the signal. Doors opened in the saloon and people appeared.
"Warn the others!" Aragorn managed to say just before he slipped out the back down.
Hands grabbed him before the traitor came out, pulling him into the shadows.
"Shh," the voice said melodically. They waited until the hooded man ran by, then Aragorn turned to face the new man.
He took that back. He turned to face the new elf. He recognized the elf. "Mithfalas?!"
The elf smiled. "In the flesh! Let us go back to the inn. The others have been warned, or are being warned as we speak. Right now, your friends need you."
Aragorn allowed himself to be led away, finally limping from the pain of his fall. Mithfalas noted it.
"You are a remarkable man, Strider."
The human shook his head. "No, I only do my job."
"Listen, there are more traitors hiding in town. Their mission is to kill you and Nifren, and take over the town. The strange language on the letter was made up between them. The one you have been chasing is the leader. If you can kill him, the rest will leave."
Strider was astounded. "How do you know all of this?"
The elf smiled. "Because I was one of them for a few weeks. Just long enough to get my information. However, they do not know I have left their side, which may be an asset to you. When we get back to the inn, just play along."
"What are you talking about?"
"Do you trust me, Strider?"
"I don't really know you."
"Do you trust me?"
"Yes."
"Then just play along." With that, he pushed open the doors to the inn. "I've got him."
"Good. Get his weapons from him. We need answers before we kill them."
Mithfalas whispered to Aragorn, "Give me your weapons. You'll get them back, I swear to you."
Hesitantly, Aragorn did as he was told. Nifren was staring at him, bewildered.
The leader walked to Aragorn, who was being held tightly by Mithfalas. "How many more of your kind are here?"
"Stay quiet, Strider! Say a word and I swear I'll kill ye!"
"Shut up," another traitor said, holding a dagger to Nifren's throat.
"How many others?"
"None. It is just us two."
The man nodded at Nifren. The knife etched a line from his temple to his chin, the blood falling freely.
"How many others?"
"There are no others! Leave him be!"
The same cut was made on the other side of the man's face. Aragorn started to panic, kept in reality only by Mithfalas' reassuring grip on his shoulder.
"I'll ask you again! How many others?"
Mithfalas nudged him. The doors burst open and windows shattered. Aragorn smiled in relief to see his allies. "Enough to outnumber you!"
The man with Nifren had already been pushed aside, and the ranger was quickly being untied. He ran his hand over his face, glancing at the blood before diving into action.
The inn, once peaceful and boring, had turned into a war-zone.
The lead traitor turned his head toward the bar. "Berylla, show yourself!"
Aragorn paused in his fighting. How did the man know her name?
Berylla stood, a sweet, sardonic smile on her face. The traitor beckoned her over. She came.
Mithfalas realized what was happening and defending Aragorn from behind so that he would not be attacked in his moment of distraction.
"Aw," the traitor said, noting the look on Aragorn's face. "You didn't think she actually loved you, did you? How sweet!" He turned to Berylla. "You, my love, have kept your end of the bargain well, but not well enough." In one deft motion, he killed the girl.
"No!" Aragorn shouted, started forward, but Mithfalas grabbed him.
"Let her go, Strider! She was one of them!"
"How else do you think I knew my way so well to your room? Honestly, I thought rangers were smart enough to figure these things out."
"But she helped us chase you that first night!"
"Keeping her secret well."
"No!"
Before Aragorn could lunge forward again, more hooded men ran through the door, quickly outnumbering the small force of the two rangers and their friends.
"I will protect you, Strider. Stay with me. Focus!"
The ranger tried listening through his confused and outraged thoughts. He didn't want to believe that she had been helping the traitors. . . that she never did have feelings for him.
He refocused as Mithfalas blocked a blow aimed at the human. The elf was already growing weary: he couldn't fight for two people.
Aragorn rejoined the battle. Mithfalas was having a hard time of it now that they had realized he wasn't on their side.
"Fal! Behind you!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
Reviewers: Ahem. So, how dead am I? I actually wrote this chapter before I posted 7, just in case you all killed me from that. Will it make it better if I tell you that Legolas won't die?
Jazi: This cliffie was worse, don't you think? ::Hides:: Actually, I was planning that cliffie for a while, it just coincided with yours, lol. Nice timing, huh? I don't think that this chapter is going to put you at ease. :- D
LegolasLover2004: Yes.
Deana: I've been getting that a lot. Yes, 8 does come before 9. And does this chapter answer your question?
Elainor: Aw, thanks! I'm so glad you like it. . . and technically, he CAN die, lol. I'm really glad that you like him, though!
Shadow warrior: Haha, your review had me cracking up! I wondered if I was gonna see any new reviewers for that chapter. No review sucks! I want to wait until I get a few more reviews before I post again. . . hope the wait wasn't TOO long!
Wildfire2: Oh, BINGO! But. . . you're thinking the WRONG somebody.
Coolio02: I. . . have no response to that. . . lol. I'm sorry!
Angel With No Wings: Yeah, a lot of people seem to feel the same way. And I'm the author, I can do anything I want!
Silvertoekee: You're the first person who actually liked that chapter. . . I feel I may disappoint. . .
SPEoD: Lol, just trust me on this, man. I hope your instructor feels better. Being sick is so awful!
Grumpy: Ah, thanks! Again! I was actually pretty proud of this chapter.
Nenya: Dang, a death promise. Maybe I shouldn't have done that. . . Keep him dead? What's he supposed to do? Pop back from the Halls? Well. . . wait,. I did make Leggy do that. . . but there's only so AU this story can get! I swear to you that he's not coming back from the dead. And. . . in reference to something you said, good for you! You're the only one that remembered! Do you feel better about Berylla, now that she's dead? (Jeez, I'm killing everybody off. . .) Hun, you're not on the stupid side. I sh! Just in case you might get what I'm saying, but you're not supposed to! And, if you kill me now, you're never gonna know what happened!
Beling: O Great One. . . I like the sound of that! Lol. I felt so bad about the last chapter that I wanted to post this one really quickly, but then it's just as bad as a cliffhanger. . . thank you so much for reading all my stuff! You've no idea how much I really appreciate it!
As a general not to ALL of you: How easily you all forget! (And that's all I'm saying. You figure the clue out.)
Anyway, I had hoped to get a few more reviews, but oh well, what can you do? I posted quickly, for a change!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
Aragorn was growing increasingly frustrated and paranoid as the days continued uneventfully. The traitor was much smarter than he had been given credit for.
'If only Legolas were here. He might be able to supply an answer that we have not yet thought of.'
He bit the end of his quill, watching Legolas' bird on the windowsill, marveling at how quickly the thing traveled.
He could think of nothing to say to his friend in his letter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
Legolas-
Fal did save your life, yes, but wasn't it an act of protection that took him away from you as well? Your father has reasons. Trust in that.
How can you have bad feelings about our traitor? You're not even here, my friend.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
At a loss, Aragorn finished his letter with idle chit-chat and sent the bird on his way.
The uneventfulness of the days was starting to get to him. He was restless and bored. He hated waiting. It was almost an invite to the traitor to sneak up on them.
Nifren knocked on his door at that moment, breaking the man from his thoughts. "Come in."
"Yer bored too, ain't ye? I can see it."
"There's nothing to do! We've been in this town for ages. What is the traitor trying to do? He's taking far too long to accomplish his task!"
Nifren smiled. "Calm down, Strider. Yellin' ain't gonna make him hurry his plans at all."
"What happened to your love, Nifren?"
"Sorry?"
Aragorn crossed his legs on his bed, which was unmade. "You told me that she was killed on a mission. What happened?"
"Ye don't want to know that."
"I do. I want to know why you've given up hope that she may still be alive."
Nifren smiled sadly. "She was taken hostage by a murderer, Strider. Ye do the math."
"Please tell me about her."
The older man rolled his eyes, but nodded. "We had been married for one week exactly. We were both young, but so very much in love. She refused to stay home while I went on a mission. I shouldn't have let her come.
"We found the murderer quickly enough, unlike our traitor here. He did put up quite a chase, though. Like I told ye before, he made his way back to the inn. And found her. I admit that I lied to ye, Strider. I do know how he recognized her. I recognized him too. He was man from me own hometown. We'd known each other since childhood. Unfortunately, he had been competing for my wife's hand in marriage. It was when he knew that she would never say yes to him that he became a murderer. Something in him just cracked.
"He told me, just as he climbed through a window with her, that if she wouldn't love him, she wouldn't love me either. I've never loved another since.
"Ye understand Strider, that it was me own fault she died."
Aragorn was shocked. He would have never guessed that so much turmoil had taken place in this man's life. "No! It wasn't your fault. The other man was insane, you couldn't help that."
"There were many things I could have done to protect her. I did nothing, and for that, it was my fault." He paused and refocused his eyes. "But let us talk of brighter things. I see ye are doin' fine with Berylla."
"Ai," Aragorn said, not wanting to change the subject. He realized that Nifren needed to, though. "She is a wonderful person."
Nifren nodded. "Protect her."
"I will. I am going to get us a couple of drinks."
Within seconds, Aragorn raced back into the room. He grabbed his weapons as he hissed, "He's down there!"
"Did he see ye?"
"No! Only Berylla saw me. She needs help!"
Nifren hurried down the stairs, Aragorn close on his heels. He skidded to a halt as the traitor stepped in front of him, a dagger pointed at his throat.
"Drop your weapons, or I'll kill him."
"Don't listen, Strider."
The man pulled Nifren away from the stairwell, revealing at least twenty other hooded men. Nifren cursed, then yelled for Berylla to hide.
The traitor took his dagger and threw it. It lodged in the wall just above the bar-maiden's head. She screamed as she ducked under the counter.
Aragorn turned and fled back up the stairs.
"Get him!" he traitor growled. Two of the hooded men flew up the stairs in pursuit. Nifren was ordered to drop his weapons and unceremoniously tied to a chair.
Aragorn slammed the door to his room shut, locking it behind him. Seconds later, they tried breaking in.
He needed to get help from the spies. He needed to get out of the inn. He looked around, noting the window as the only way.
The door burst open just as he jumped. He hit the ground at an odd angle, but ignored the pain in his ankle. He needed to get help before he was caught. . .
One of the two traitors jumped after him. The young ranger increased his speed, dodging buildings and people as he ran.
Finally, he found one of the buildings he needed, he slipped inside, followed closely by the hooded man.
Yelling as loud as he could, Aragorn gave the signal. Doors opened in the saloon and people appeared.
"Warn the others!" Aragorn managed to say just before he slipped out the back down.
Hands grabbed him before the traitor came out, pulling him into the shadows.
"Shh," the voice said melodically. They waited until the hooded man ran by, then Aragorn turned to face the new man.
He took that back. He turned to face the new elf. He recognized the elf. "Mithfalas?!"
The elf smiled. "In the flesh! Let us go back to the inn. The others have been warned, or are being warned as we speak. Right now, your friends need you."
Aragorn allowed himself to be led away, finally limping from the pain of his fall. Mithfalas noted it.
"You are a remarkable man, Strider."
The human shook his head. "No, I only do my job."
"Listen, there are more traitors hiding in town. Their mission is to kill you and Nifren, and take over the town. The strange language on the letter was made up between them. The one you have been chasing is the leader. If you can kill him, the rest will leave."
Strider was astounded. "How do you know all of this?"
The elf smiled. "Because I was one of them for a few weeks. Just long enough to get my information. However, they do not know I have left their side, which may be an asset to you. When we get back to the inn, just play along."
"What are you talking about?"
"Do you trust me, Strider?"
"I don't really know you."
"Do you trust me?"
"Yes."
"Then just play along." With that, he pushed open the doors to the inn. "I've got him."
"Good. Get his weapons from him. We need answers before we kill them."
Mithfalas whispered to Aragorn, "Give me your weapons. You'll get them back, I swear to you."
Hesitantly, Aragorn did as he was told. Nifren was staring at him, bewildered.
The leader walked to Aragorn, who was being held tightly by Mithfalas. "How many more of your kind are here?"
"Stay quiet, Strider! Say a word and I swear I'll kill ye!"
"Shut up," another traitor said, holding a dagger to Nifren's throat.
"How many others?"
"None. It is just us two."
The man nodded at Nifren. The knife etched a line from his temple to his chin, the blood falling freely.
"How many others?"
"There are no others! Leave him be!"
The same cut was made on the other side of the man's face. Aragorn started to panic, kept in reality only by Mithfalas' reassuring grip on his shoulder.
"I'll ask you again! How many others?"
Mithfalas nudged him. The doors burst open and windows shattered. Aragorn smiled in relief to see his allies. "Enough to outnumber you!"
The man with Nifren had already been pushed aside, and the ranger was quickly being untied. He ran his hand over his face, glancing at the blood before diving into action.
The inn, once peaceful and boring, had turned into a war-zone.
The lead traitor turned his head toward the bar. "Berylla, show yourself!"
Aragorn paused in his fighting. How did the man know her name?
Berylla stood, a sweet, sardonic smile on her face. The traitor beckoned her over. She came.
Mithfalas realized what was happening and defending Aragorn from behind so that he would not be attacked in his moment of distraction.
"Aw," the traitor said, noting the look on Aragorn's face. "You didn't think she actually loved you, did you? How sweet!" He turned to Berylla. "You, my love, have kept your end of the bargain well, but not well enough." In one deft motion, he killed the girl.
"No!" Aragorn shouted, started forward, but Mithfalas grabbed him.
"Let her go, Strider! She was one of them!"
"How else do you think I knew my way so well to your room? Honestly, I thought rangers were smart enough to figure these things out."
"But she helped us chase you that first night!"
"Keeping her secret well."
"No!"
Before Aragorn could lunge forward again, more hooded men ran through the door, quickly outnumbering the small force of the two rangers and their friends.
"I will protect you, Strider. Stay with me. Focus!"
The ranger tried listening through his confused and outraged thoughts. He didn't want to believe that she had been helping the traitors. . . that she never did have feelings for him.
He refocused as Mithfalas blocked a blow aimed at the human. The elf was already growing weary: he couldn't fight for two people.
Aragorn rejoined the battle. Mithfalas was having a hard time of it now that they had realized he wasn't on their side.
"Fal! Behind you!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
Reviewers: Ahem. So, how dead am I? I actually wrote this chapter before I posted 7, just in case you all killed me from that. Will it make it better if I tell you that Legolas won't die?
Jazi: This cliffie was worse, don't you think? ::Hides:: Actually, I was planning that cliffie for a while, it just coincided with yours, lol. Nice timing, huh? I don't think that this chapter is going to put you at ease. :- D
LegolasLover2004: Yes.
Deana: I've been getting that a lot. Yes, 8 does come before 9. And does this chapter answer your question?
Elainor: Aw, thanks! I'm so glad you like it. . . and technically, he CAN die, lol. I'm really glad that you like him, though!
Shadow warrior: Haha, your review had me cracking up! I wondered if I was gonna see any new reviewers for that chapter. No review sucks! I want to wait until I get a few more reviews before I post again. . . hope the wait wasn't TOO long!
Wildfire2: Oh, BINGO! But. . . you're thinking the WRONG somebody.
Coolio02: I. . . have no response to that. . . lol. I'm sorry!
Angel With No Wings: Yeah, a lot of people seem to feel the same way. And I'm the author, I can do anything I want!
Silvertoekee: You're the first person who actually liked that chapter. . . I feel I may disappoint. . .
SPEoD: Lol, just trust me on this, man. I hope your instructor feels better. Being sick is so awful!
Grumpy: Ah, thanks! Again! I was actually pretty proud of this chapter.
Nenya: Dang, a death promise. Maybe I shouldn't have done that. . . Keep him dead? What's he supposed to do? Pop back from the Halls? Well. . . wait,. I did make Leggy do that. . . but there's only so AU this story can get! I swear to you that he's not coming back from the dead. And. . . in reference to something you said, good for you! You're the only one that remembered! Do you feel better about Berylla, now that she's dead? (Jeez, I'm killing everybody off. . .) Hun, you're not on the stupid side. I sh! Just in case you might get what I'm saying, but you're not supposed to! And, if you kill me now, you're never gonna know what happened!
Beling: O Great One. . . I like the sound of that! Lol. I felt so bad about the last chapter that I wanted to post this one really quickly, but then it's just as bad as a cliffhanger. . . thank you so much for reading all my stuff! You've no idea how much I really appreciate it!
As a general not to ALL of you: How easily you all forget! (And that's all I'm saying. You figure the clue out.)
Anyway, I had hoped to get a few more reviews, but oh well, what can you do? I posted quickly, for a change!