A/N: In all the old westerns, the showdown always occurred at ... High Noon!

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"Hear me, four quarters of the world - a relative I am! Give me the strength to walk the soft earth, a relative to all that is! Give me the eyes to see and the strength to understand, that I may be like you. With your power only can I face the winds."
-- Black Elk (1863-1950), Native American

Chapter 43

High Noon

As Anayah stepped forward to meet the dark twin in battle, she felt a stinging pain in the calf of her right leg and quickly glancing down saw a snake slithering off under the steps of a nearby building. Tearing a long strip of cloth off the bottom of her tunic, she wrapped it tightly, above the bite hoping that it would slow the venom down enough for her to be able to do what she knew she had to.

When she looked up at Minuial, she saw that he was smiling. She smiled back at him.

"Like I said Minuial, you are a coward."

Though she knew that the dark twin could not be goaded into attacking her mindlessly, it was still satisfying to see the smile leave his face in response to her taunt. The battle then commenced with both combatant's movements being swift and fluid and forcing Anayah to remember fighting techniques that she had not used in a while. Blocking a stroke behind her back stretched arm, shoulder and chest muscles to the limit as she spun to meet each blow that swiftly followed the one before it, their sword strikes so powerful that the sting of the two blades meeting was felt all the way to their shoulders.

The ebony blade of Anayah's sword as well as the steel blade of Minuial's sword were nothing but blurs as both swords swiftly clashed again and again in what seemed like one continuous motion, sending sparks flying around both fighters. Anayah could feel the intense pain from the snake venom as it passed its tourniquet barrier and continued its path through her body making her leg feel like it was engulfed in flames as she fought. She knew she dared not stop to ease the discomfort for her opponent would see it as weakness and would attack her with lethal results. The pain was tremendous and she felt her movements begin to get sluggish as her body started to respond to the venom. Then something happened that caused both fighters to pause.

Amrûn had walked out of the shadows of the building where she had been waiting patiently since Anayah had left her there. Behind her, came the elves from Imladris and while they stopped and remained at the very edge of the town square, not wanting to interfere with the combat, Amrûn advanced, arm and hand extended toward her twin brother. For a moment Minuial looked from his twin to Anayah then back to his twin, then seemingly to have made up his mind, he raised his blade and stepped towards his sister – only to find his way blocked by Anayah.

The two swords met and Minuial and Anayah locked eyes for a moment, then with a small twitch of his head in acknowledgement of her move Minuial stepped back. Anayah, ever alert, kept her own body between the brother and sister, because she knew with certainty that the dark twin would try and get around her to get to Amrûn. Suddenly, she felt a wave of dizziness wash over her and caused her to weave unsteadily while for just a moment, her sight seemed to dim.

She shook her head to clear it of its fuzziness and blinked quickly several times as she tried to bring her vision back in to focus before meeting her opponent's next attack, the two swords again becoming no more than blurs of motion. Then her leg gave out on her and she landed hard on both knees and shortly afterward, felt the bite of Minuial's sword as it entered the shoulder of her sword arm. Still she fought him from her knees, matching his attack blow for blow, pivoting painfully where she knelt as he again tried to move around her. When she felt his blade as it cut a diagonal line across her chest, she fell onto her back, dropping her sword as she did so.

Her ears were beginning to buzz and the dizziness was worsening as her body let her know that she did not have much time before the snake venom would reach her heart and kill her. Detecting movement out of the corner of her eye as Minuial once more darted towards Amrûn, Anayah quickly rolled in the direction he was moving, once more making it to her feet and grabbing her sword as she rose. She was not as steady on her feet as she had been and found it more difficult to keep her sword point from dipping towards the ground though the focus of her mind remained intact. That focus, the single thought in her mind at that moment, was that she had to protect Amrûn no matter the cost or consequences. Minuial could not be allowed near her until he had left his corporeal body behind.

As she swayed unsteadily on her feet, at a point between the two twins, she was suddenly aware of how bright the light around her was getting. Brighter and brighter it got and though she did not turn around to look, she knew that the Imladris elves had come forward and that all of them had turned up the brightness of their personal glows both as a comfort and personal encouragement.

For a moment, Minuial placed a hand in front of his eyes, to shield them until they could adjust to the new light. Finally, he lowered his hands and although weakened by the light he was not deterred and started to advance on her one last time.

Once again the two began to duel, their swords sparking as they met, clashing with each other furiously, and for a time Anayah had no problem meeting his blows and countering them. Then she began to find herself on her knees more often as the pain and numbness from the snake venom continued to weaken her as it made its way ever closer to her heart.

Still, she would not quit, picking herself up off the ground again and again and again, steadily forcing the twin backwards as she continued to meet each attack, whether it was from her knees or standing and regardless of the fact that she could now barely move her leg. It was personally satisfying to see that she was having some affect on the dark twin, for he was no longer smiling and was bleeding from as many points on his body as was she.

Then the whole world turned white and the ground shook as a bolt of lightning came out of the sky and struck the ground between the two fighters, knocking both of them to the ground.

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When Anayah's vision again cleared and she had once more regained her feet, she was amazed to see the wise old face that she had thought lost to her forever. Lady Ninniach winked at the surprised she-elf before she turned and walked toward the dark twin who, surprised at her appearance, took three steps backwards.

"Peace, Minuial. I only wish to speak to you."

The old Maia gestured towards the glowing elves who were standing protectively behind a silent Amrûn.

"Would you fight all these fair beings, young sir? Light may be your sustenance, but not even you can consume the amount of light that the concept of family and caring is producing in this place at this moment. You have been trying to destroy the light since you were first set free and you have failed for all you have managed to create is chaos. Your time is over Minuial and it is time for you and your sister, for both the Sunrise and the Twilight to become one once more. The duality of Ilúvatar's song must be restored." Then Ninniach gestured in Anayah's direction.

The eyes of the dark twin widened and became dark first with disappointment then with fury as he looked at the she-elf he had been fighting and not only saw her standing, but holding the completed pendant as well. The process to merge the two twins had begun.

"You cheated!" He screamed at Ninniach.

"No, Minuial, the two of us only optimized the moment." Ninniach smiled though the sadness never quite left her eyes.

Furious at having been tricked, Minuial froze, then after dropping his sword to the ground, he began to grow in both height and breadth as he left his corporeal body behind him and flew towards Anayah and the hated pendant that would take away his freedom. With a final scream of defiance, the demon entered her body.

A mist began to form around Anayah and she was soon completely lost to the sight of every being there. The twins, Aragorn and Legolas, followed closely by Elrond and Glorfindel ran towards the mist cloud that hung suspended mere inches off the ground. Ninniach turned to them and held up her hand.

"Stay where you are!"

There was no disputing the authority in her voice. When they had come to an obedient halt some distance from the conflict, the old Maia spoke again, this time softly and gently.

"This is a battle that only she can fight."

It was difficult for those gathered to stand by and do nothing, especially when they could plainly hear the sounds of the great battle going on within the mist. Then after some time had passed, they saw a single ray of sunlight break through the mist like a sword. The elves unknowingly clung to each other and held their breaths, hoping beyond hope that the appearance of the light meant the battle was nearing its conclusion. Then another ray of light broke through the mist, then another and another, each ray destroying parts of the mist and soon they could see Anayah, standing alone and motionless with her eyes closed.

Finally, when the mist was completely gone they watched as Anayah sank to her knees then fell face forward onto the ground, the glowing yellow amulet falling from her unfeeling fingers.

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Elrond was the first elf to reach Anayah. He dropped to his knees in the dirt beside her still body and gently laid two fingers against the cold skin of her neck, desperately feeling for a pulse and finding only silence. Carefully he turned her over and gathered her into his arms, then resting his cheek against the top of her head, and his hand over her heart, he sent his own fëa in search of hers, only to find darkness and silence where her spirit should have been. It was gone - she was gone - lost to them all. Tears began to roll down his cheeks as he sat in the dust of the street, rocking her chilling body as he kept repeating the same words over and over.

"You said you could come back! You told me you could."

As his sons and Glorfindel tried to comfort him, Ninniach briefly gave his shoulder a squeeze then picked up the yellow moon pendant from where it lay.

Walking to Amrûn, the Maia placed the pendant around the girl's neck, smiling at the girl as she did so, then raising her staff high over the girl's head she began to chant the words to the unification spell that would make all things right once more. The air around Amrûn began to get brighter and brighter and her body began to phase out in preparation for meeting her twin, her dark side. At a midpoint in the unification process, those who were watching saw an equally phased out body of the dark twin as it appeared in front of the girl. The two stood, gazing into each other's welcoming eyes, and with a hand on each other's shoulder each twin began to slowly merge with the other. The light around them became increasingly brighter until suddenly, the light created by the merging shot up into the heavens and was soon lost to sight.

The elves and man could feel the ground beneath their feet begin to tremble and though they could not see such things, all around Middle Earth, things were beginning to be made right. New volcanoes disappeared as well as the damage that had been caused by them. Streambeds began to flow in the right directions and those whose lives had been destroyed by the madness found themselves live and whole and once more able to go about their lives.

There was one change though, that everyone had expected to happen but had not - there was still no life in the she-elf and all those who knew and cared for her were stunned by this fact, each then doing what they could to comfort each other.

Legolas had his arms around a sobbing Aragorn and was trying to ease the man's grief when they both felt a hand on their shoulders. Aragorn pushed himself away from Legolas and after drying his eyes on the sleeves of his tunic, he turned and looked into the ancient eyes of the Maia, respectfully waiting for her to speak.

"Remember the conversation we had just before you and the others left for Naur?" When she saw the young ranger nod, she continued. "I told you then that before all of this was over that your sister would have need of both your heart as well as your strength. Now go to her Númenorean and be her strength, be her heart - help her find her way back home!"

TBC

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COMING NEXT: The Way Back: As Lord Elrond sat in the middle of a dusty street in the little town of Osp, cradling and rocking the lifeless body of his foster daughter in his arms, he waited patiently. The Noldor Lord hoped beyond all hope, that his youngest son, the last of the line of Númenorean Kings, would be able to use the power of his lineage and would be successful in calling his sister back from where she had gone. He watched them both, very closely, for any sign that the young Dúnadan had been successful in his mission.

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aduwathiel: Welcome! Wow! Thank you so much for your review and kind comments. It is always a pleasure for a writer to hear from someone who enjoys their work. Thank you soooooo much!

Soccer-Bitch: Glad to hear that you are on the mend and feeling better! 8-) Thanks for the review.

kahui( ): Poor Anayah. She knew there was a possibility that this was going to happen. Will Aragorn be able to find her? Hmmmm. We shall soon see. Thanks for the review!