Authors notes: - Thank you to my faithful reviewers, I hope you enjoy this.
Please please review, it sustains me through this yucky exam period, 6
weeks to go and it's the end of my 2nd year (more information than anyone
needed I know). Anywho please review!!!
** The young soldier ran like wargs from Mordor were on his very tail. His breath came in ragged gasps and wheezes, his body crashing through branches with little care for stealth. Blood ran steadily down his left arm leaving traces on the trail behind him. His eyes were terrified and he desperately sort out his target, his commander, the king. The company he had been with had been slaughtered before his very eyes. They had been on a patrol but after hours of seeing or hearing nothing but themselves a sense of lethargy had overtaken them. This forest was meant to be swarming with enemies but they had seen and heard little of them. It was a mistake that led to their downfall. The wargs had leapt out of the tree line taking down several of the company instantly. Their dying screams as the wargs pulled them apart would haunt him for the rest of his life, however long that would prove to be. A deep howl sent waves of terror through him and he put on a last ditch effort increasing his speed.
* "We are getting reports from all over the forest my lord. Parties are being decimated. It seems to be totally random; a party just one mile from one of the slaughters was left completely untouched."
Aragorn nodded at the warrior captain his face deeply troubled. Dismissing the man he turned to face the other lords and kings.
"They seek to divide us." Gandalf said. "At first glance the attacks appear to be random but if you look closer you see that they are opening up huge gaps within our lines, stretching us thinly. If they launched another attack now they would punch through and descend on us before we had time to blink."
"We have walked straight into their hands. Our differences and the situation with Legolas held our attention for far too long. The defences, ambushes and anything else we have planned has in one blow been taken from us. We need to rally the forces and close the lines. All this talk is only causing us more casualties." Eomer stated angrily. "I did not bring my men here so I can watch them die, uselessly, standing around as we argue."
"I agree." A new voice added and they turned to see Thranduil join them.
"We need to move now. Bring the troops in from the outskirts of the forest and group them near the citadel. Repairs to the outer fortifications are going well; we can have a command centre there. There are also escape tunnels that will prevent us from trapped within. I will assign one of our warriors to each patrol that will show you secret passages and trails through the forest. There are also many caves near the citadel with interlinking tunnels that could be used by the dwarfs to trap the enemy."
"The citadel fell before." Gandalf pointed out but not harshly.
"Aye but as you said we did not have the numbers, now we do."
Elrond nodded. "Then let us move."
Just as they were about to mount up and see to their troops a soldier of Gondor burst out of the trees.
"My lord!" he cried. Tripping up he practically fell into Aragorn's arms. Aragorn caught the bloody man and lowered him gently to the ground.
"I am from Kirfen's company, the southern patrol..." the man faded off and gasped as waves of agony rippled through him.
"I'm all that's left...no warning...I was told to give you this." The soldier faded off again and weakly began searching through a pocket. Aragorn stilled him and searched himself. The only object he found was a smooth dark stone. Clasping his hand around it he jerked as energy flowed through him so dark that he almost choked. A vision flashed within his mind, Legolas screaming, writhing, chained to a stone pedestal, begging for Aragorn.
"He is mine Estel." Sauron hissed, sounding as loud as Legolas's screams in his head.
The image faded with a black eyed Legolas surrounded by orcs with a sneer across his features.
Aragorn cried out throwing the stone as far away as possible. The others jumped.
"What is it?" Thranduil questioned. Aragorn regarded the elf king, who looked haggard and haunted and decided not to tell him the whole truth.
"It was a message from Sauron. We are to prepare for our complete destruction."
Thranduil smiled tiredly. "After all this time you think he would be more imaginative. He has been promising that since I was an elfling."
"Well let's prove him wrong." Eomer said.
With the words spoken the group divided. One of the warrior captains knelt and gently picked up the wounded soldier, who was now unconscious. Aragorn rose and turned to see Mithrandir and Elrond stood behind him.
"What did it really show you?" Elrond asked.
"Legolas."
"He is playing on your weaknesses. Legolas is one."
"Legolas is not my weakness and I will not let it affect me. Lets move out." Aragorn snapped his tone booking no argument.
Swiftly the warriors moved. Scouts were sent to find the outreaching parties and the leaders quickly sought out the citadel. Before they were even half way there the forest suddenly came alive, wargs and orcs descended on them as if Mordor itself had burst open.
"Riders with me!" Eomer cried trying to rally his warriors but they had been caught unawares. Aragorn and Gimli moved so they were beside each other.
"This seems to be happening too much for my liking." Gimli stated and that was the last that anyone spoke or could communicate for a very long time.
** "Master." A voice hissed and an orc crept towards the elf. Legolas turned and the orc flinched as it stared into the black soulless eyes.
"What is it?"
"We have captured some alive, you said you wanted to see them."
Legolas marched past the orc with a feral smile on its face and into the clearing where several men and an elf were on their knees. They looked up at the arrival of Legolas and the captured elf gasped.
"Prince Legolas?" he questioned shocked. Legolas walked up to him.
"He is dead and so are you." The elf's eyes widened and Legolas signalled his orcs who descended on them with a veracious bloodlust.
"Place the elf's body on a horse and send it to the citadel. Make sure you place one of the princelings arrows on the body."
Walking away from the scene of carnage Legolas faltered and nearly fell. Sauron was shocked; the elf's mind had been almost destroyed and was no longer causing any problems, in fact he was almost sure the elf had faded completely.
'When an elf fades the body cannot survive', the statement appeared in his mind and he remembered it from one of the many elves he had tortured. The elf had been one of the Mirkwood king's confidantes and Sauron had considered possessing him to infiltrate the royal stronghold. It had died before he could actually do anything but had uttered those words as he lay dying.
'The princeling must not die.' He thought angrily. Delving deep inside the oasis Legolas had created, the one bit of light still remaining, he saw the elf sat on a cold desert ground surrounded by ash and one tree.
"So my pet fading are we? Can't have that now."
Legolas turned his head slowly as if deeply exhausted but he wore a small smile.
"Finally realised that all this was futile have you." He whispered, "Took you long enough."
Sauron smiled evilly. "If you die pet then all your friends will die too."
Legolas shrugged. "It matters little if I am alive or not. You will not cease this conflict either way and you will be defeated."
"Dying but still so confident."
"I will die but that is no surprise. My friends will be victorious and you will perish."
"I am afraid you will not die pet, you are too precious to me." Sauron moved forward and clutched the elf tightly, dark energy swirling.
"You will not die without my permission."
Legolas did not even struggle and gave in without a fight. He was too weak and exhausted to even try. His one escape, death, had now been taken away and he was utterly broken. Within his mind he saw Sauron's forces moving, his friends fighting overwhelming odds and he realised that he himself was not the only one falling. The alliance was failing and soon his home then Middle Earth would fall. Bitter choking anguish flooded him and he screamed his misery, till he could scream no more.
**
** The young soldier ran like wargs from Mordor were on his very tail. His breath came in ragged gasps and wheezes, his body crashing through branches with little care for stealth. Blood ran steadily down his left arm leaving traces on the trail behind him. His eyes were terrified and he desperately sort out his target, his commander, the king. The company he had been with had been slaughtered before his very eyes. They had been on a patrol but after hours of seeing or hearing nothing but themselves a sense of lethargy had overtaken them. This forest was meant to be swarming with enemies but they had seen and heard little of them. It was a mistake that led to their downfall. The wargs had leapt out of the tree line taking down several of the company instantly. Their dying screams as the wargs pulled them apart would haunt him for the rest of his life, however long that would prove to be. A deep howl sent waves of terror through him and he put on a last ditch effort increasing his speed.
* "We are getting reports from all over the forest my lord. Parties are being decimated. It seems to be totally random; a party just one mile from one of the slaughters was left completely untouched."
Aragorn nodded at the warrior captain his face deeply troubled. Dismissing the man he turned to face the other lords and kings.
"They seek to divide us." Gandalf said. "At first glance the attacks appear to be random but if you look closer you see that they are opening up huge gaps within our lines, stretching us thinly. If they launched another attack now they would punch through and descend on us before we had time to blink."
"We have walked straight into their hands. Our differences and the situation with Legolas held our attention for far too long. The defences, ambushes and anything else we have planned has in one blow been taken from us. We need to rally the forces and close the lines. All this talk is only causing us more casualties." Eomer stated angrily. "I did not bring my men here so I can watch them die, uselessly, standing around as we argue."
"I agree." A new voice added and they turned to see Thranduil join them.
"We need to move now. Bring the troops in from the outskirts of the forest and group them near the citadel. Repairs to the outer fortifications are going well; we can have a command centre there. There are also escape tunnels that will prevent us from trapped within. I will assign one of our warriors to each patrol that will show you secret passages and trails through the forest. There are also many caves near the citadel with interlinking tunnels that could be used by the dwarfs to trap the enemy."
"The citadel fell before." Gandalf pointed out but not harshly.
"Aye but as you said we did not have the numbers, now we do."
Elrond nodded. "Then let us move."
Just as they were about to mount up and see to their troops a soldier of Gondor burst out of the trees.
"My lord!" he cried. Tripping up he practically fell into Aragorn's arms. Aragorn caught the bloody man and lowered him gently to the ground.
"I am from Kirfen's company, the southern patrol..." the man faded off and gasped as waves of agony rippled through him.
"I'm all that's left...no warning...I was told to give you this." The soldier faded off again and weakly began searching through a pocket. Aragorn stilled him and searched himself. The only object he found was a smooth dark stone. Clasping his hand around it he jerked as energy flowed through him so dark that he almost choked. A vision flashed within his mind, Legolas screaming, writhing, chained to a stone pedestal, begging for Aragorn.
"He is mine Estel." Sauron hissed, sounding as loud as Legolas's screams in his head.
The image faded with a black eyed Legolas surrounded by orcs with a sneer across his features.
Aragorn cried out throwing the stone as far away as possible. The others jumped.
"What is it?" Thranduil questioned. Aragorn regarded the elf king, who looked haggard and haunted and decided not to tell him the whole truth.
"It was a message from Sauron. We are to prepare for our complete destruction."
Thranduil smiled tiredly. "After all this time you think he would be more imaginative. He has been promising that since I was an elfling."
"Well let's prove him wrong." Eomer said.
With the words spoken the group divided. One of the warrior captains knelt and gently picked up the wounded soldier, who was now unconscious. Aragorn rose and turned to see Mithrandir and Elrond stood behind him.
"What did it really show you?" Elrond asked.
"Legolas."
"He is playing on your weaknesses. Legolas is one."
"Legolas is not my weakness and I will not let it affect me. Lets move out." Aragorn snapped his tone booking no argument.
Swiftly the warriors moved. Scouts were sent to find the outreaching parties and the leaders quickly sought out the citadel. Before they were even half way there the forest suddenly came alive, wargs and orcs descended on them as if Mordor itself had burst open.
"Riders with me!" Eomer cried trying to rally his warriors but they had been caught unawares. Aragorn and Gimli moved so they were beside each other.
"This seems to be happening too much for my liking." Gimli stated and that was the last that anyone spoke or could communicate for a very long time.
** "Master." A voice hissed and an orc crept towards the elf. Legolas turned and the orc flinched as it stared into the black soulless eyes.
"What is it?"
"We have captured some alive, you said you wanted to see them."
Legolas marched past the orc with a feral smile on its face and into the clearing where several men and an elf were on their knees. They looked up at the arrival of Legolas and the captured elf gasped.
"Prince Legolas?" he questioned shocked. Legolas walked up to him.
"He is dead and so are you." The elf's eyes widened and Legolas signalled his orcs who descended on them with a veracious bloodlust.
"Place the elf's body on a horse and send it to the citadel. Make sure you place one of the princelings arrows on the body."
Walking away from the scene of carnage Legolas faltered and nearly fell. Sauron was shocked; the elf's mind had been almost destroyed and was no longer causing any problems, in fact he was almost sure the elf had faded completely.
'When an elf fades the body cannot survive', the statement appeared in his mind and he remembered it from one of the many elves he had tortured. The elf had been one of the Mirkwood king's confidantes and Sauron had considered possessing him to infiltrate the royal stronghold. It had died before he could actually do anything but had uttered those words as he lay dying.
'The princeling must not die.' He thought angrily. Delving deep inside the oasis Legolas had created, the one bit of light still remaining, he saw the elf sat on a cold desert ground surrounded by ash and one tree.
"So my pet fading are we? Can't have that now."
Legolas turned his head slowly as if deeply exhausted but he wore a small smile.
"Finally realised that all this was futile have you." He whispered, "Took you long enough."
Sauron smiled evilly. "If you die pet then all your friends will die too."
Legolas shrugged. "It matters little if I am alive or not. You will not cease this conflict either way and you will be defeated."
"Dying but still so confident."
"I will die but that is no surprise. My friends will be victorious and you will perish."
"I am afraid you will not die pet, you are too precious to me." Sauron moved forward and clutched the elf tightly, dark energy swirling.
"You will not die without my permission."
Legolas did not even struggle and gave in without a fight. He was too weak and exhausted to even try. His one escape, death, had now been taken away and he was utterly broken. Within his mind he saw Sauron's forces moving, his friends fighting overwhelming odds and he realised that he himself was not the only one falling. The alliance was failing and soon his home then Middle Earth would fall. Bitter choking anguish flooded him and he screamed his misery, till he could scream no more.
**
