Here we are, faster than expected. g

you have waited so long and so patiently so I give you the chapter without rambling around.

A/Ns are at the end of it, should you be able to read after the words TBC. veg

Disc: nothings mine, as usual

Thanks: San for editing, erasing my horrible grammar mistakes and helping me with suggestions.

I really needed them.

Reviews are always welcome. hint

Moonlight and Shadow

Chapter 8

Aragorn sat at a library window and watched the clouds passing by. In his hand he held the letter he received a few hours ago. He read it over and over again, but there were no answers to find in it. Now he sat here in silence to think about all the things Elrond had written to him about fulfilling his destiny, his fatherly pride for Aragorn, the love he had for his human son and so much more.

Elrond had also written about Morchaintdur, and what this thing had done millennia ago. And that it had been his choice to die by the hand of one of his eldest friends. In the letter, Elrond begged him not to blame Glorfindel for what he had done and Aragorn guessed that the same words were also written in the letters his brothers had received.

Knowing now what had led to the tragedy in the woods Aragorn knew that they could blame no one except Morchaintdur. The ranger had visited Glorfindel shortly before he had gone to the library to read in peace and quiet. The warrior was still unconscious, but the healers had assured him that it would take at least a few more days before he would wake.

Aragorn heard the inevitable whispers all over the halls and corridors, which silenced when he neared them. He knew what was on everybody's mind, for it was on his too.

Rumours had spread like wildfire throughout the valley and Aragorn knew that soon Elladan, as the new Lord of The Last Homely House, had to speak to the people and tell them what had happened the previous night.

With a sigh the ranger turned his gaze back from the window and left the library to head for the study. It was time to talk about the consequences of last night's events. On his way down to the study, he met a few elves. Each one eyed him suspiciously but no one addressed him.

Short before he arrived at his destination, he met one of the servants and asked that someone should bring some food to the study. He knew that his brothers had not eaten, but they needed the nourishment as well as he did.

When he entered the room, he found his brothers still sitting in silence the way he had left them.

Aragorn did not know whether they had spoken to one another or not. But from the look of it, he was sure that they had not uttered a single word.

He sat down on his usual place and stared at the vacant seat behind the desk. This empty space was the visible evidence that they had no choice than to solve this threat alone. This time Elrond would not be here for them: not with his wisdom, nor his knowledge and foresight or with his healing abilities.

They were alone.

After some moments of uncomfortable silence he took a deep breath. "What are we going to do now?!" The ranger winced, for his voice seemed so loud that he thought it could be heard down in the courtyard.

Elladan was the first who answered. "I do not know... I know that father wants us to rule Imladris... but he is not dead and I do not want to believe that there is no chance to get him back." "We could send a message to grandmother...." Elrohir threw in hesitantly, interrupted by a soft knock on the door. A servant carried a tray with some food and wine and placed it on the desk.

They thanked her and waited in silence until she had left the room again. "Father had forbidden that we make contact to grandmother or Mithrandir. You know why! He had explained it in his letter." Elladan reacted strongly.)

"So what other options do we have? I for myself will not sit idly around here while father is somewhere out there, possessed by....by some evil from ancient times." Aragorn jumped off his seat and started pacing through the study. "There must be a way to destroy this being without killing the host."

Elrohir watched his human brother closely. "Could you please take a seat? Your pacing drives me insane!"

"I can think better while moving, and by now we have a lot to think of." Aragorn stopped and ticked off his fingers. "One... we have that ancient evil, Morchaintdur, sent by Morgoth, who is now in possession of father's knowledge and Vilya."

"Two....we are not allowed to send for help from Galadriel or Mithrandir."

"Three... the only one who could tell us how this "Thing" could be defeated, lies unconscious and unable to speak in one of the healing chambers."

"Four...."

"No, Glorfindel is not the only one!" Elladan's voice was a mere whisper.

"What?"

"Have you missed an important part of the story? Someone else had been there, the last time Morchaintdur had been defeated." Elladan watched his brothers expectantly. Elrohir's eyes lit with recognition.

"Thranduil..." Elladan continued hopefully. "He had been there too and at the moment he is the only one we can get answers from."

"That means that we must go to Lasgalen and talk to him," Elrohir agreed. "I'll go and pack, in a short time we can be on our way." While Elrohir spoke, he stood up and made his first step to leave.

"STOP!" Aragorn shouted out. He folded his arms in front of his chest and glared at his brothers. "What do you think you are doing?"

"Leaving!" Elladan grumbled with a frown. He knew that look in Aragorn's eyes. The human's stubbornness got the better of him.

"No, you can not leave," Aragorn said.

"Why not?" Elladan grumbled his patience growing thinner with every second.

"You are now the lords of Imladris! You have duties to fulfil. As long as Glorfindel is not in shape to take over some of the tasks, you will have to stay here. I'm dispensable this time. I will go, for my pack is ready and I can leave in a very short time."

"That we are in charge here until father comes back, means not that we will be confined in the house. Father had travelled countless times and we can do this as well," Elladan muttered upset.

"Not this time! The people are confused and frightened. They do not know what happened last night. Do not tell me that you haven't noticed the strange behaviour of the people. And now rumours are spread all over Imladris like wildfire."

The twins had the grace to look dumbfounded, for they had not left the study since their arrival last night.

"The people need you now! No matter what you feel you need to do. You both have to be here for the people. Have you forgotten everything father taught us?"

Elladan flinched like he had been slapped across the face. "DO NOT TALK TO ME LIKE I'M A CHILD! I have forgotten nothing. Do not blame me for caring more for my father than for the others! You may not care, but he is my father. I have lost my mother and I do not want to lose him too."

The moment those words had left his mouth Elladan regretted them.

Aragorn's face had lost its colour; he was as white as a piece of paper. "If you remember, I have lost my family once, and I do not want to go through this a second time."

With these words he turned on his heels and stormed out of the room.

"WAIT!...I did not...." The door cut off Elladan's voice when Aragorn slammed it shut behind him.

...mean it this way." Elladan finished his sentences unheard by the ranger.

Elrohir glared daggers at his brother, arms folded in front of his chest, unconsciously mirroring Aragorn's posture just minutes before. "One time...only one time I want to see that you think first about what you say, before you open your mouth. By the Valar, why don't you use your brain like it is meant to? Why do you always burst out with totally misplaced and unnecessary statements like that? Have you seen the look in his eyes? Do you know how deep you hurt him? Do you? Sometimes I think that you have not more brain in your head than an orc!" Elrohir nearly shouted out the last sentence.

Elladan gasped, never before had he been grounded by his twin in that way. For a second he thought that it was their father speaking to him. He opened his mouth to retort, but then was silenced by Elrohir, who had not missed his brother's attempt to speak.

"No, you listen to me now, Aragorn is right, and you know it. And you know that father is to him as important as he is for us. Do I have to remind you that he is human? One day he will die and unlike us he will not have the chance to meet father or us in Valinor. He has only limited time with us and he knows so much, but you seemingly do not."

Elladan looked to his brother with a little lopsided grin. "That was the longest speech I have ever heard from you." This time it was Elladan who stopped his brother from speaking. "I know what I did, and I knew that it was wrong the minute I said it, but it happened and I can not take it back, all I can do is to apologize."

"So there is still a brain in your head." Elrohir stated dryly. "Come, we should go both and make sure that the child is not leaving without proper supplies and more important, that you let him know, that you were wrong."

"Do not let him hear this, he thinks he is an adult."

"Oh yes, Aragorn is an adult and I'm the white wizard."

The twins grinned and left the study, making their way upstairs to talk to their brother before he leaves.

In his room Aragorn stuffed a few more items in his backpack; still sad about Elladan's words. It had hurt him deeply. He knew that his brother had wanted to call him back; he had heard the last words before leaving the room, but he did not want to hear what Elladan had to say.

When he had stormed up the stairs to his room, he could barely see the steps. The tears running over his face were blurring his vision. Did his brother really think so low of him? How could Elladan think that he did not care about their father?

He was not angry with Elladan, he could not, because he understood him so well. He needed no apologize or explanation, he only needed a warm brotherly embrace and their blessing before he left. Elrond was the only father he had known and to lose him would destroy him. He did not want to deliver Elrond to Morchaintdur without a fight.

He wanted him back, the way he had been before last night. He wanted the healer, the friend, the tutor, but most of all he wants his father back to his own self. He would do all in his might to succeed.

With a heavy sigh he closed his backpack, took a last look around to assure himself that he has forgotten nothing and headed for the door. He would try to talk to his brothers; he could not leave without clearing the air between them.

He left the room his pack shouldered, his sword and bow in his hand. When he closed the door he felt the presence of someone behind him and turned around. The twins had approached him in their silent way and both stood now beside him. Elladan looked him in the eyes and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Aragorn could feel the uneasiness in the elder twin, but said nothing and only watched Elladan closely.

Elladan cleared his throat. "Estel, I...I'm sorry. I should not have talked to you like I did, please forgive me."

Aragorn opened his mouth to answer but Elladan bade him to remain silent by raising a hand. "Please let me first finish my speech, before I do not dare to do so. I know that you love father as we do and please believe me that all the things I said were meant the way they sounded, at least the moment I spoke them. I was rash and I should have thought about the words before they were spoken, but the last hours have not left much of my patience. I can only ask you for your forgiveness."

This time Aragorn was not interrupted when he started to speak. "There is nothing to forgive. It was childish to leave the room the way I did. But your words hurt more than you could imagine. Yes, you have been rash but that is understandable after all we have gone through this night. No one of us can think properly and we are not in our best moods this day, but it will not help when we talk about whose fault it was. You know as well as I do that we would not come to a conclusion, and in the end we would fight it out in a pillow war. We do not have the time for that."

With a small smile Elladan hugged his human brother close to him. "Sometimes I think you are the wisest of us, even when you are a child."

Elrohir winced when he heard the last words. Aragorn pulled himself out of Elladan's embrace. "You know that I'm an adult, so please stop calling me a child."

"Yes, in human standards, but for me you will always be our little toddler." Elladan easily dodged the blow that was aimed for his head. "Come now, little one, let's see if you have packed properly."

"Elladan, I'm 48 years old, I am a ranger and I know perfectly well how to pack my supplies," Aragorn groaned. But he knew his overprotective brothers too well: they would not allow him to leave without checking his pack again.

So he handed over his pack, leaned back on the wall and watched his brothers rummaging through his belongings. "I knew you would forget something!" Elrohir shouted out, a triumphant smile on his face.

"What do you mean, I have forgotten something?" Aragorn looked narrowing over the contents of his pack, now sprawled over the floor. "I have an extra blanket, extra clothes, my warm coat, food enough, healing supplies. What, prey tell me, have I forgotten."

"Where are the healing herbs? I can find none of them in your pack and knowing you, you will need them."

Wordlessly Aragorn pushed aside his overcoat and showed them the little pouch attached to his belt.

"Is that all?" Elladan shouted out. "You as troublemaker, alone on your way to Mirkwood to meet another, even bigger troublemaker there, and this little pouch is all you take with you? You can't be serious."

Aragorn grumbled and muttered something under his breath.

"What?" Elrohir had heard the words clearly but he wanted the human to speak it out loud.

"You heard me, I said: We are no troublemakers." Aragorn burst out, earning a light laughter from both of the twins.

"Do we have to remind you of the countless times you dragged one another back home, injured, and poisoned or in your case sick? I do not think I have to, you know that for sure."

The ranger kneeled down on the floor and started to assemble his belongings again, constantly muttering something about "mother hens", "overprotective" "mothering" and "adult".

The twins grinned at each other but none of them said a word.

Picking up the last piece and pushing it back into his backpack, Aragorn noticed a shadow coming in his vision. A pouch dangled in front of his eyes. He looked up and met the sparkling eyes of Elladan, holding the pouch on its string. "You should take this with you, it is Athelas." Noticing the hesitation in Aragorn's eyes he added, "We have enough left, so take it, for you will surely need it."

"Thank you, I will bring it back, because I will not need it." With these words the ranger attached the pouch with its precious content securely on his belt like he had the other.

Then he gathered his pack from the floor and grabbed his sword and the bow. "I'm ready!"

Shortly after, they reached the stables. The twins watched the ranger readying his horse. None of them spoke; it was not the right time for light bantering, as they would usually do.

When Aragorn had secured his packs on the saddle, he turned to face his brothers. With a sigh he embraced them both. "I promise I will be back as soon as possible. Take care of our home and make sure that Glorfindel will be fine. Maybe you will be able to find something in father's journals about Morchaintdur that could help us defeat him."

He took the reins and led the horse out of the stables to the gates. There the twins embraced their brother one last time and held him tight for what it seemed a far too short time before they released him. "Take care of you, little one, have a safe journey and return in one piece."

Aragorn mounted and with a last greeting nod he was on his way. Reaching the bridge, he turned and waved his brothers a goodbye before he disappeared behind a turn of the path.

The twins stood in the entrance for long minutes before they turned and walked back to the house and to their duties as the interim rulers of Imladris.

Aragorn reined his horse to a halt and whipped a sleeve over his dripping nose. He had proceeded faster than expected and now found himself close to the outskirts of Mirkwood.

In this speed, he would reach the palace in two more days. He had expected that the high pass would be thickly covered with snow, but besides the really deep temperatures there was nothing to be concerned of. It felt a little odd, but nevertheless he appreciated his good fortune.

He had not the time to take the long way round, taking the risk to ride over the mountains despite the time of year despite the expected harsh weather.

The matter that the pass was relatively safe and free of snow had disturbed him as well as the fact that he had not encountered orcs, wargs or wolves. In fact, nothing had hunted or attacked him. Not that he wished to be attacked or caught in a deep snow drift, but this was eerie. He had seen signs of orc dwellings and found tracks that lead over the mountains but they were days old. He could not imagine were the beasts had all gone. It was like they had withdrawn from their usual habitats.

Nevertheless, the ranger was aware of the fact his good fortune might not last, and he still had a long way to go. With a heavy sigh he wrapped his overcoat and the blanket more closely around him before he urged his horse forward again. Aragorn was eager to reach the palace grounds as soon as possible. He knew that there would wait a hot bath, a roaring fireplace, warm food, a soft bed and hopefully his best friend for him.

He hoped that Legolas was home and not on one of his long border patrols. He yearned for some light-hearted banters and long night talks, but the ranger knew that his mission would overshadow the reunion. Aragorn was bearer of ill tidings and he did not know how Thranduil would react to the news.

In the early evening hours of the seventh day of his journey, he reached the huge gates of the woodland palace. Aragorn had noticed the presence of some wood elves when he had made his way through the forest, but no one stopped him. He was well known to the people of Mirkwood and they had accepted him a long time ago. He always felt comfortable around this place.

But now he felt an uneasy tingle in the back of his mind and shifted uncomfortable in his saddle. He could feel that something was wrong but he could not put a finger on it. The guards at the doors greeted him with a slight nod but there was no smile on their faces like all the other times he had arrived.

Reaching the stables he dismounted, stretched languidly, untied his pack and handed the horse over to a stable hand that had appeared out of the shadows of the stable door. He padded the faithful mare once more on her neck to bid her a good res. With a frown he noticed that the stable hand looked no better than the guards.

There was something amiss here.

He addressed the stable hand but the only answer he got was a quiet nod towards the palace. Aragorn grabbed his pack and made his way up to the palace. Like every time, he visit Mirkwood, he admired the craftsman's work of the stone palace.

It always astounded him that someone, even dwarves, was able to bring stone alive. The pillars of the palace were carved as huge Mallorn trees, their branches reaching up to the higher levels of the palace and seemingly supporting the balconies of the upper rooms.

He thought that he could see every single leave in the carving and sometimes Aragorn had the imagination that he could see the leaves moving in the gentle breeze. He knew that this was only an illusion but combined with the carvings on the walls that showed so many different trees, he always had the impression to enter a forest and not a building made of stone.

Entering the great entrance hall he noticed the eerie silence and emptiness of the place. Usually there would be greeted with laughter and songs, which would emerge from the different halls and rooms.

But now everything was quiet and combined with the odd behaviour of the elves he had met outside, the situation made him feel very uncomfortable. He quickened his pace and winced when he heard the loud sound of his steps echoing through the hallways. The whole palace seemed abandoned, but why should the wood elves leave the palace and live their lives outside the palace doors as usual?

Coming up to the doors of the throne room he noticed that even the guards here had gone. Usually two elves would guard the room and announce visitors to the king, but not his time. Aragorn unconsciously gripped his sword, for he felt a sense of foreboding wash over him.

The place had not been attacked; there was no sign of an attack inside or outside the palace. But why should the wood elves abandon the palace and the royal family? They would do that not willingly, so someone had ordered them to leave.

He hesitated in front of the huge doors and took a deep breath before he knocked on the door. The sound reverberated through the hall but he got no answer. Was nobody inside? Have Thranduil and Legolas left their home?

No, the guards would have surely told him that. He would not find out by standing in front of that door. So he took the handle, pushed the door open and entered the hall. The hall was dark, the sun had set by now and only a few candles illuminated the room.

Usually countless candles would light up the hall, but today most of the hall was dark. There were only a few spots of light and Aragorn noticed a lone, silent figure on the outskirts of one of the spots.

The person took no notice of the fact that someone had entered the place. From what Aragorn could make out from the distance, the only things moving were the hands of the person. They were constantly moving back and forth, back and forth, always the same movements, brushing over something. What he held, Aragorn could not see.

He moved up to the bench and by coming closer he recognized the person as Thranduil. "My lord?!" Aragorn bowed, but the king showed no sign of recognition.

"My lord, I was sent from Imladris. I'm sorry to disturb you, but I bring ill news and the Lord of Imladris seeks your council."

"What could I know what the mighty lord of Imladris does not know?" The voice of Thranduil lacked its usual sound and came out as a hoarse whisper.

"My Lord, Morchaintdur has returned and..."

"I know!" The king still refused to turn around to face the ranger.

"You know? How? Why?" Aragorn felt the knot, which had grown in his stomach tighten with every word the king spoke.

"Yes...I know... Why? .... Because three days ago he has claimed his first victim."

Thranduil finally turned around and Aragorn could see for the first time what the king held in his lap. It was a tunic he knew so well as his own, but now it was barely recognizable as a tunic. It was shred in pieces and tainted with so much blood that the fabric's colour nearly disappeared under it.

Aragorn closed his eyes for a moment and opened them again. That was when he noticed another thing. Wrapped in the remnants of the tunic was a one of Legolas' familiar blades. It was broken shortly under the hilt and bloodstained like the tunic. But what made him nearly gag was that which was wound around the ivory hilt. First he thought that it was some kind of rope but taking a closer look he recognized it as what it was.

It was a fistful of once golden hair, but now dark red with dried blood. It was not the fact that there was a bundle of bloodied hair that made him choke but the fact that the hair hat not been simply cut off, but cut off together with the skin.

Now Aragorn felt not only the knot in his stomach but a fist which clenched his heart. He feared to ask, because he already knew the answer to his question. But maybe he was wrong.

/Valar, please, no...not him.../

This could only be a nightmare, a terrible cruel nightmare.

"My lord, who was the victim?" He finally managed to croak out.

"My son...," Thranduil groaned. "This monster has taken my son!"

TBC

Reviewers:

Deana: upps that was not what I wanted to do. picks up Deana from the floor and builds up a pile of cushions around her.

That Undomiel Chick: Thanks for the cookies, they helped a lot. you are always welcome to give me more of them. g

grumpy: would you believe me, that I sometimes wish, I had chosen another name for the villain? g

Aragornwriter: You do not know how much such a review from you means to me, thank you.

Now to the difficult part:

There will be no update before september, I'm sorry that I have to leave you with such a cliffie for such a long time, but as I said before, I barely find the time to write, thanks to a pile of work and constant overtime working.

runs and hides behind her pet balrog

See you next month