Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nada.
AN: Once again, I'm sorry for the late update. Lotsa homework.
(((((((((((((((Chapter 16))))))))))))))))))
Legolas looked down cautiously. It was a seventy foot drop. He had scaled down the cliff some ways, tearing off his traditional red cloak just to be sure it didn't draw attention to him. He had left his horse on the hilltop with the archers. He would be needing a steed to do what he needed to do.
Now the Prince clung to a ledge above what would soon become a battlefield. He could see the green lights of the torches held by the elven army slowly advancing on either side. He could see them, but the enemy couldn't. The orcs would be caught by surprise. They would scatter in either direction…and hopefully…leave Legolas a clear, unguarded pathway to the walls of Dol Guldor.
Legolas's eyes strayed up and down the huge spike of a tower that cast the rest of the place in dark shadow. Its west side was gleaming red in the bright glare of the setting sun. Legolas looked towards it, not squinting. The last of the suns bright rays were beginning to fade. Soon the whole land would be cast in black, only to be stained again with red--the color of blood.
Eressa is somewhere down there…He told himself. She has to be alive. Sauron wanted her and the baby alive. His thoughts didn't calm him as he began to slide down a few more feet towards the dead earth.
Suddenly, a war horn was blown. It was the horn of Mirkwood, and it's sound vibrated and floated in the air like a loud scream, then disappeared. Legolas watched with the slightest pleasure as the orcs below him started and then became frightened. The largest of the creatures started to bark out orders in a slow, ugly tongue. The dark army began to organize.
Suddenly, there was a green burst from the black, lifeless forests on either side of the fortress. The sound of elven boots pounding upon the dust and the cries of fury from the orcs rose up to where Legolas was perched. The green cut into the black like a knife.
Legolas jumped down ten feet to another ledge. He reached his hand out to grasp the rock wall and felt it tremble and groan. The deep sound rumbled in his ears and when it quieted a new sound took its place.
The Prince looked above him and saw hundreds upon hundreds of arrows sailing in the wind towards the patches of orcs in the dust. Nearly every one of those first arrows hit it's mark. But this was only a small blow to the evil army. The remaining orcs turned and hissed at the top of the hill, drawing their own bows. They shot a few of their black arrows before they either realized it was a fruitless effort or they were forced to fight with an elf that was battling on the ground.
Legolas looked again at the sunset, just in time to see the glowing red orb disappear completely. Suddenly the land was dark, and for a moment Legolas couldn't see at all. He heard the screams of the dying soldiers from both sides, and then his eyesight returned to him, and he could see well in the dark.
A flash of red caught his eye. He turned and looked below him and saw Hathol, fighting in fine form at the front of the elven lines. He held in his hands a long war staff, with blades fitted into the edges. He waved and whirled the staff with impeccable ease, letting not one orc come near enough to hurt him.
Turning back, Legolas gasped as the orc army began to part in the middle, it's members being drawn to either side by the sounds and smells of battle. They parted like a dark sea, leaving a smooth ocean floor behind them.
Legolas still had at least fifty feet separating him from the ground.
Just do it…this is your chance. He thought.
Like a cat, Legolas leap out into the night. He curled up into himself and prepared to land crouched on the cold ground. But the ground was not what he landed on.
Legolas felt his body hit something soft. The thing grunted and then collapsed under him before both beings fell hard to the ground. Legolas felt something pierce his left side on the second impact. He gasped and rolled to the side, drawing his sword.
A dead orc lay beside him. It's neck was bent at a weird angle.
I killed it when I landed on it. Legolas realized, wincing slightly as he stood up. A metal spike from the dead creature's armor had ripped a small gash across his ribs. It was not a major injury however, and Legolas thought no more of it.
He put his sword away. This enemy needed no slaying. Putting his back to the wall he'd just been scaling, he sank into the shadows and waited…and watched.
The orc army had parted little more. Legolas suddenly realized that time was working against him when he saw that instead of drawing them apart, the elven army's attacks were actually making the orcs retreat in on each other, making the gap smaller and smaller by the second.
Do it now. A sudden voice said. Legolas recognized the voice.
"Ithilion?" He asked out loud.
There was no answer. Legolas looked back at the still closing gap that led to the fortress gates. He took a deep breath, and then sprinted across the cracked land, his feet barely touching the ground beneath him.
"LEGOLAS!!!" Eressa cried in pain and panic, not knowing what else to do.
"INFERIOR GIRL!!" The Nazgul screamed back. It did not understand why it's spells had no effect on the girl.
Not true, not true. It disagreed with itself a second later. The spells did have an effect on the girl. She felt pain. Wonderful glorious pain, and the Nazgul would have enjoyed causing it more had the actual purpose of the spells took place.
The baby was not being born.
Perhaps she has a protective spell set on her. The Nazgul pondered. He gazed at the girl through his dark hood.
Her once beautiful blonde hair hung in matted sheets by her sides and head, her face was paling, and beads of sweat formed upon her brow. There was a line of blood traced from her chewed lip to her chin. She sobbed pitifully, yet the creature felt no pity. It only felt anger.
"We will continue this later." It decided aloud. If the girl was pushed any farther she could die, and that could endanger the safety of the child within her. Besides, the night was still young.
The Nazgul let its infectious anger slip slowly away. Yes…the girl would give birth later.
Right now…I have a little elven princeling to catch. It thought.
Eressa turned her head weakly when the creature suddenly ceased. She watched in terror for a moment as it seemed to stare at her, pondering her. It then reached to its side and drew a long, jagged sword.
Eressa's fear escalated into sheer, primal panic. The thing was not happy with her. It was going to slice open her womb and take the baby—it was going to kill her. She would have jolted herself off the table had she not been restrained there. A scream tore from her mouth, it's sound nearly rivaling that of the faceless creatures.
But the creature did not approach. It stood there and Eressa felt it's sickening smile on her once again.
"You call out for your Prince." It said slowly and excitedly. "I will go fetch him…and then he can watch you cry and hear you scream. Surely such a thing would break him."
Eressa gasped. "NO!" She screamed. "Leave him alone! Do what you want to me, but LEAVE LEGOLAS ALONE!"
The thing laughed darkly. "I will bring you his head on a spike." It promised. Then it suddenly flung back it's cloaks and walked out of the room, the doors closing magically behind him. Eressa was left alone, cold and crying.
Everything hurt. Her body ached with what it could not give. She suddenly felt a feeling that she hadn't felt since the days when she and Legolas first met, before they fell in love. She wanted to die.
Death would be a welcomed thing right now, she decided. Better that the child and I die than my baby becoming Sauron's reincarnation.
Slowly, her body relaxed. Her hands, which had turned white from gripping the edge of the tabletop during her bursts of pain, let go, her fingers slowly gained their color back. Eressa felt a drop of liquid glide down her cheek and was not sure if it was a tear or a bead of sweat. Her lungs cried out in pain every time she drew a breath, and she closed her eyes, willing her beaten body to give up.
For a moment she felt nothing. Then, a small stinging sensation on her right cheek. It left as quickly as it came, and Eressa thought nothing more of it. But then suddenly her cheek felt strangely warm.
There was hand cradling her head, she was sure of it. She could feel the fingertips against her temple, stroking up and down in a soft, soothing motion. Eressa opened her eyes and smiled.
"Legolas!" She exclaimed, and then gasped.
There was an elf standing above her, but it was not her husband. It looked oddly enough like him—he had long blonde hair, but it was a shade darker than Legolas's. And this elf also had brown eyes, instead of blue. His facial features were squarer, and it reminded Eressa of King Thranduil. He was dressed in all white: white leather, white fur, and white fabric of the finest quality.
The elf smiled at her kindly, and Eressa noticed one more thing: The elf above her was transparent.
Is it another spell? She thought.
The unnamed elf smiled more widely at her. Though his lips didn't move, Eressa heard his voice.
Eressa…Wife-of-my-Brother…you must be strong. The day will come, and darkness will be no more.
The stranger let his hand slip away from the girl's face. He smiled one more time, and Eressa blinked once. He was gone.
Eressa closed her eyes again. What had she just seen? Who had she just seen? She opened her eyes. She didn't spy the white-clad elf anywhere.
He called me Wife-of-my Brother…Eressa slowly realized. Legolas's brother? Ithilion?
Eressa's mouth dropped slightly open. But Ithilion was dead.
Still…I know I just saw him—he was right there! She insisted. Legolas is…
Drawing in as much air as her hurt lungs could, Eressa shouted into the darkness. "Ithilion! Warn Legolas that--that thing is coming to kill him!" She said, sobbing in pain as she did. "Please…"
Her small voice created echoes in the needle of the tower, and they floated up into oblivion. Eressa let herself lay limply on the stone again, her body like that of a doll thrown aside, rejected.
Somewhere above her, she heard the elven voice again, echoing one word back to her.
Granted.
(((((((((((((((((((Personal thing))))))))))))))
Ok. That will have to be enough for now! I'm so sorry that I haven't been updating…and I realize that I've been losing reviews because of it and it's got me down…So please review people! I have to write the next chapter now!