Chapter 32

Legolas got up from the floor the moment the wargs released him. He could feel his blood running freely down his back, flowing from cuts the warg's claws had made. It was very painful to move, but somehow he was still alive.

He looked around for his brother and sisters. Limloeth and Lainfea stood close together. His younger sister had a leg wound, and her older sister had a heavily bleeding arm, but both of them were still standing. On the other side of him, much closer, Legolas could see Lanthir. His brother had a cut in his head, but appeared to be alright, save a collection of minor cuts and bruises along with the rest of his siblings.

Legolas had no idea what scared the wargs away, but from the look of Lanthir's face, he did not want to find out. His brother was staring, mouth open, eyes wide.
"This is not real," Legolas heard him mumbling. "This can't be happening, I only made that up. Toys do not come alive. I made that up."
Legolas could see Lanthir pinch himself, trying to wake up.

On his other side, Lainfea was practically dancing. "Bear came back! Bear came back and saved us all!"

Legolas heard a growl and turned around.
"That's not a bear," he said slowly.
"IS TOO!" Lainfea said angry. "It's Bear!"
Lanthir was grumpy as well; he hated being wrong. "If it's not a bear, then what is it? A deer?"
Legolas shook his head. "It's a skin-changer. A man in a bear's body."
"Is not!" Lainfea stamped her little feet on the ground. "Is BEAR!"
Limloeth did her best to hug the angry child. "I'm so sorry, Lainfea, but Legolas is right."
"IS NOT!" Lainfea screamed. "HE'S LYING!" Tears streamed down her face.
"It's BEAR! Come, Bear! We will go away from these stupid elves!"

The bear didn't move.

"Come, Bear," Lainfea said again, a bit more forcefully.
The bear stayed where he was.
"Please? Please come? They are all wrong. All stupid! Come." The girl's voice was not angry anymore. It was pleading for her dream to come true.
"Please?" she whispered, begging.

Legolas stared at the skin-changer. He knew he was right, and that it was a man they were looking at, but he didn't understand how the man could be so heartless. Why couldn't he just pretend to be Lainfea's Bear? How could he just stand there and let the little girl's hopes and dreams fall apart? In his mind he ordered the skin-changer to move toward his little sister. With the force of all his thoughts, with the power of all his frustration, he ordered the bear to move.
It didn't.
Legolas cursed him.
And then he cursed himself. He had started all this. He was to blame.
Why couldn't he just have kept his big mouth shut? Why couldn't he have let Lainfea believe her Bear had come back?

The bear shivered, but didn't move in Lainfea's direction. The little girl asked him one more time, het voice barely audible, her eyes full of tears.

"Please?"

The bear turned and walked away.

Lainfea's knees gave way. She fell to the earth, crying as she hadn't cried before. Limloeth wrapped her arms around her.
"That's right, little one," she said, rocking the elfing back and forth. "That's right. Let it all out."
The little girl kept sobbing. "I want Bear!" she said between the sobs."I want Bear!"
Limloeth placed a kiss upon her head. "Of course you do sweety, of course you do."
"Everybody is always leaving me! Nobody likes me!" the little girl said.

Legolas had reached his sister as well, and gently stroked her hair.
"That's not true, Lain. Everybody likes you. People just look at you and smile. You are the most liked little elfling in Greenwood. Nobody will leave you."
"My legs are too short. I can't walk trees well," she said.
Legolas cought her chin between his thumb and index finger, and gently forced her to look at him.
"You are perfect, just the way you are. We all love you very much. I love you very much. Limloeth loves you very much."
Limloeth nodded in agreement.
"Lanthir loves you very much... right Lanthir?" Legolas asked.

But Lanthir didn't listen. He had silently retrieved most of the arrows
Limloeth had shot during the fight, and now put them in the quiver on his back. His hands clutched the bow in an iron grip.

"Lanthir, what are you doing?" Legolas asked, his eyes narrowed.
Lanthir didn't answer, but pulled his blade out of a warg's chest and stuck
it between his belt. Then he began marching off in the direction the skin-changer left.

Legolas stood up and ran towards him, grabbing his arm.
"What are you doing?" he asked again in a low voice.
Lanthir shook himself loose.
'No one hurts my sister and walks away," he said, his voice dark with fury.
"Wouldn't you rather comfort your sister, than get revenge? What will she gain from that?"
"I am comforting my sister!" Lanthir shouted. "I'm bringing her her bear! That's what she wants, right?"
"That bear is not her Bear."
"He should have been!" Lanthir replied angrily. "I should have been right!
Bear should have been a strong warrior bear who liked scaring orcs!" He kicked a rock in frustration.
"It is hard seeing Lainfea so small, isn't it?" Legolas said as he placed a hand on his little brother's shoulder.

"I can't do it again, Legolas," Lanthir said, his eyes full of tears."It was ripped during the fight. I can't fix it anymore."
Legolas looked up in confusion. "You can't fix what?"
Lanthir looked completely defeated. "The stuffed animal I was making for her. I didn't protect it well enough. It was ripped. I can't fix it."
Legolas hugged his little brother.
"That's alright, Lanth. "At least you tried."
"I just wanted to be nice," Lanthir said weakly.
"It was nice. It was not your fault it failed," Legolas said "Now let's give Lain a hug."

They walked back toward their sisters. Legolas picked Lainfea up from the ground.
"Come on," he said softly. "We have to move on. There is an ada waiting for us not far from here, and it is about time we found him."

"Are we moving through the trees, Legolas?" Limloeth asked, as she picked up her knife from the ground.
Legolas shook his head. He had seen the wound on Lainfea's leg, and on Limloeth's arm. He saw Lanthir's head, and felt his own back still bleeding.
"No," he said. "We must be far enough from Dol Guldur by now. We will walk."

"And where do you think you are going?" a voice inquired from behind.
"No one moves a even a finger in this part of the forest without my permission. And since I have not given you any, you will now be considered my prisoners."

TBC...

CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur: Here you are.. But this is the last one today! My bed is calling my name now..

Moriarwen: Well not bad.. Just a little insensetive.

Cathrine Rose: Oh! Is Limloeth really spelled wrong that often? it is LimLoeth.. And Atole is indeed supposed to be stole..SORRY! And a late happy birthday to you!

Get well Soon.. I know what it's like to feel sick.. I have the flu myself.

Karone Evertree: Well they can be annoying also.. Especially Lanthir can be a pain in the ss. BUT they depend on eachother right now..

Roguish Smile: No, Beorn wasn't born yet.. but you were rigth about the skinchanger.

moonshine44: OH OUCH! please don't call me Leik.. My name is Liek.. (Leik is the Dutch word for Dead Body, well actually its Lijk.. but those two words are pronounced the same) .. And I believe that after this chapter your not exaggerating anymore.

Isiliel: See! There you go again.. Typical Noldo behavoir, and you were even trying to be nice.. STOP CALLING US MORIQUENDI! WE fight the darkness as much as you do. We deserve to be called elves of the Light as well. Irch are darkelves, we are elves of light.

Next, you'll start saying you are "more wise and less dangerous.." tsss.
But thanks for you apologies.. We were waiting for those a LOOOOOOONG time..
Well I save you from the cliffhanger, BUT.. I don't think it helped you very much, eh?

TIP: Next time, ask Fingon to help you! I hear he's good at saving people from cliffs.

greetz Liek..

BTW.. If you want to read more of my stories.. I will post a new one today, called Sins of the Ancestor.