Chapter 37

Thranduil didn't wait for the guards to bring him the horse and the weapons he had requested, but started running after the little girl immediately.
"Wait!" he shouted as he ran. "Wait, little girl!" He didn't know what to call her. She was his own daugther and he didn't even know her name. He didn't remember any of the names he and Lalaith had thought of for their soon-to-be-born child. He felt a stab of pain when he thought about Lala.

But with his little daugther in sight he found the pain much easier to ignore.
Now, if only he could catch up with her.
"WAIT!"

Lainfea looked back.
The tall man was still following. That was not good. He had said he wanted to lock her up. She didn't want to be locked up. Never again.
The trees told her to stop running, but she didn't listen to them anymore.
They were liars. They had said she would find help behind the doors, but she only found tall man trying to lock her up. She would not listen to the traitor-trees.

She would have to find the others and help them all by herself. She shivered as she thougt about the spiders, and she suddenly felt very alone.

"I want Bear," she thought, and tears filled her eyes.
"I want Legolas.
And Limloeth.
And Lanthir.
I want an ada."

Had Legolas not promised her an Ada if they would get to Greenwood?
Well, they were in Greenwood now, weren't they? Why didn't their ada come and help them?
"WAIT!" she heard the tall man yell behind her. "PLEASE WAIT! PLEASE!"

Lainfea turned. The voice of the man sounded almost as lonely as hers. There were tears on his cheeks. Something about the man reminded her of Lanthir, when he cried. She almost wished she had something to give him, to make him feel a little better.

She stopped running.
"You can't lock me up," she said.
The tall man reached her, and he stood a bit lost, as if he didn't know what to do anymore.
"I don't want to," the tall man whispered. "I would never hurt you."
"You said you wanted to lock me up," she replied accusingly. "You didn't want to help."
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I do want to help. I didn't know.. I.. Didn't..."
The tall man looked miserable again.

"Could you... Please...just, just tell me you name?" he asked.
She thought about it. Telling names was very dangerous. Legolas hadn't want to tell anyone. Not even Biddy and Artamir. Legolas had been very angry when she had told them.
She was supposed to use another name. What was it again?
"Melian. My name is Melian," she said.

Thranduil stared at the child.
Melian? Melian? That could not be right. Lalaith would never have called her child Melian. And it should have been something with an L.

Suddenly he became aware of the fact that he was alone in the woods, without his guards, and without weapons to defend himself.

He had been defeated. He had made a fatal mistake.So this was how the Necromancer had finally defeated him. He had used Thranduil's love for his children to crush him in the end.

Thranduil fell to his knees.
"Please," he begged in a whisper. "Please, Valar. Help me. I have to win. For my people.
Please.
For my people."

Limloeth moved as fast as she could through the hoards of spiders. She suddenly didn't care she was hurting other living creatures as she concentrated on the forest stream with all of the power she possesed.

For a moment she doubted her abilities. The stream was bigger then she remembered. Then she shook her head. She would doubt herself no more. She could do it.

"It's just like healing," she mumbled to herself. "Just like healing a huge, huge animal."
She could do it.

"Legolas, Lanthir!" she called to her brothers, still fighting the spiders.
"To the other side of the stream! Quickly!"
Legolas gave a quick nod, but Lanthir protested.
"That wasn't your plan, right? The spiders will just follow! There is more, isn't there? Tell me there is more!"
Limloeth sighed.
"There is more," she said, a bit annoyed. "Now, MOVE!"
She didn't watch as Lanthir and Legolas fought their way to the riverbanks.
All she did was concentrate on her own battles and on the stream.
The stream was the clue.
She could do it.

Legolas was the first to reach the water, but his siblings followed quickly, and so did the spiders. He wished Limloeth had told him what her plan was, so he could have any idea if it was working or not.
So far, it didn't seem to work.
The stream wasn't deep enough to make swimming nessecary, and the spiders could cross it almost as easily as the elves could.
The water had changed in the years they had been away, from crystal clear to dirty black.

"Try to keep them at the other side for a while. Don't touch the water."
Limloeth whispered to her brothers.
Legolas drew his bow again. There weren't many arrows left. Limloeth's plan had better be good.

Limloeth closed her eyes and concentrated. Slowly, she could feel her power taking over. She could feel her body starting to shake as she let it flow freely. But she held on. She was strong enough, she told herself.
She would do this.
Her hands started to shake.
Her strength failed. But she had to finish this! She almost had.

"Last one," she could hear Legolas say behind her, as she gave one final push. This was it. This was all she could give. She hoped it had been enough.

A spider moved closed on the other side. It laughed out loud as he realized the elves were without arrows, and it quickly moved closed, into the water.

And then, it stopped, and fell to the side.

Limloeth grinned. She had done it. It had worked!

"What?" she heard Legolas say, he sounded very confused. "What just happened? Why?"
But Lanthir understood. "She enchanted the stream!" he cried out. "She enchanted the stream, like she enchanted the corsair's drinks! LIM! That's brillant! Marvelous!"
Limloeth gave a weak smile. She felt unable to move another limb. The use of her power had left her completely drained.

TBC

Moriarwen: What makes you think the next chapter doesn't have one? (grin)

Randa-Chan: well the story will be finished when you read this than.. Tell me how you liked the ending!

JC: Thank you!

Rutu: Not true.. Not every chapter.. I believe Chapter 5 and 20 something were more or less cliffless.

Isiliel: If your parents allow you to get a yahoo account.. http:groups. - This is where you can play RPG with us..

(Hopefully they will bring the realm alive again and make the people a bit more cheerful.) I'll save that for the sequal

sam611: They have been gone for twenty years and he didn't expect them to be home.. during those twenty years they were kept in Mordor.. and Sauron had treathened to kill them if Thranduil or any other elf would make any attemps of freeing them.. First the elvenking didn't want to take the risk. Later he just didn't have the hope.

moonshine44: Well If nice people are nice.,. than i guess I have to update! here it is..

CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur: The chapter you requested.. Enjoy!

Nessa Ar-Feiniel:And they're not really good in talking to eachother.

Karone Evertree: Thanks! And now he has to realize it AGAIN!