The Lost City Of Cirus

Author's Note:
I'm very sorry about the horrendous delay on this chapter but I had a horribly stressful Anatomy assessment that has kept me occupied for the past few weeks.
Thank you to all of you who have reviewed this story recently, I promise to have chapters out more quickly in the future.
Even though it's been delayed, here it is. Hope you enjoy and please review.

Thirty-Two
Fallen

Aragorn pushed his sword deep into the heart of a Chamele and watched as it slumped to the ground. It was the last one standing that Aragorn could see for miles. The rest had either been killed or there were a few that had fled the battle in order to save their lives.

Legolas came up behind Aragorn and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder before he spoke.

"Looks like we have done it King of Gondor. We are safe again."

"Yes but it has cost more lives than I'd hoped. We had not expected them to have poisoned weapons."

"Aye but we have triumphed in the end." Gimli said, axe slung over his shoulder.

Just then Elrond rode up upon horseback and swiftly dismounted to join the small group.

"You have found an antidote to the poison?" Aragorn asked hopefully.

"Yes. I have healers, including both my sons who have returned from the battle by my request to care for those who have been injured, caring for all the victims of this poison. That is why I'm here. We need to gather up any who are still alive because they may be able to be treated if we hurry them back to our camp."

The other three nodded and called out to Seobryn as he came up over the hill. Aragorn embraced his captain before instructing him to lead all those still standing on the battle field in a mission to save as many injured soldiers as possible. Seobryn nodded and headed off to do as his King requested.

The small group of four remained on the hilltop, each lost in their own thoughts. Legolas seemed to be nervously casting his gaze about in every direction and it wasn't until it began to unnerve Aragorn that he questioned the Prince.

"What is it Legolas?"

"Have you seen Aquila at all?"

Aragorn shook his head and so the Elf turned to Gimli who responded in a similar manner. Aragron watched as the look of worry grew in his friend's eyes.

"She'll be around here somewhere Legolas." Aragorn tried.

It didn't seem to calm the Elf's nerves though.

"Sphenurus. Have any of you seen Sphenurus?"

"I have." Elrond said calmly. "He was brought back to camp not long ago, suffered a facial injury. Not a fatal blow but we were worried that the poison would kill him were it not treated. He is being treated with the antidote as we speak."

"If Sphenurus is back at camp then where is she! He was supposed to watch her!"

Legolas took off to search for his missing love. His heart beat wildly in his chest and every passing minute that went by without any sign of Aquila twisted a spectral dagger deeper into his heart.

He was running now, leaping over fallen foes and allies, his eyes racing over the landscape as far ahead as they could see, trying desperately to spot her. He could hear the others running after him, calling out for him to slow down and calm down but he would not. He continued to run and he continued to call her name, hoping beyond hope she would be standing just over the next rise.

He dashed up a small hill but when he reached the top he froze in his tracks. The three who were hot on his heels when he crested the hill stopped at its base and looked up at his back. In the blink of an eye though the Elf was gone and, after exchanging looks, the three went after him.

However as they reached the hill's peak they too froze on the spot as the three took in the sight before them. The large plain spread out in front of them before it rose up into the mighty mountains that continued high into the cloud filled sky. The grasslands were littered with the bodies of slain Chameles and fallen Elves, Men, Rocs and Dwarves; they had certainly lost more than they thought they would.

But not too far from the small hill upon which they stood Legolas knelt on the dusty ground, his form stooped and his shoulders heaving irregularly. In his arms he clutched the limp body of a Roc and Aragorn's breath caught in his throat as he realized just who it was the Prince was clutching to his chest.

The Elf held her body in his arms and pulled her as close to his chest as he could manage as he wept. Tears fell from his bright blue eyes, now dulled by pain, staining his dust-covered cheeks and falling to splash upon his hands and her still face. One hand stroked her hair from her face before he pressed his forehead to hers.

No one on the hilltop moved, each too stunned to say or do anything. Tears, unbeknownst to Aragorn, welled up in his eyes as he watched his friend clutching his fallen love to him.

A tortured wail rose up from the plains below them and all snapped out of the daze they had fallen into as they realized it was Legolas. Another wail, even more piercing than the first fell from the Princes' lips as he threw his head back, his face a portrait of tortured pain, and lifted his right hand to clutch at the left side of his chest.

Aragorn and Gimli looked on in confusion but Elrond knew exactly what was going on. He wasted no time and took off down the hill faster then Aragorn could ever remember him moving. He almost slipped on a patch of grass that was wet with blood, and as he reached the bottom of the hill his cry rang out over the desolate plain.

"Legolas!"

Legolas looked up at the approaching Elf, his features were contorted in pain and fresh tears fell from his eyes. His right hand still clutched vainly at his tunic on the left side of his chest, as though having his hand there would somehow dull the ache he felt gripping his chest.

Elrond fell to his knees beside the Prince and gripped his shoulders firmly in his strong hands. He looked straight at him as he shook him firmly, causing the other Elf's eyes to snap up and lock with his own.

"You listen to me you hear Legolas?" Elrond spoke firmly but in a voice that he hoped would help to calm the Prince. Legolas was going to have to concentrate very hard if he was going to get through this with his life.

"Legolas. Are you listening carefully?"

Legolas now seemed to be staring past Elrond as another bolt of pain lacerated his heart and he grasped a fistful of his tunic, gritting his teeth.

Elrond shook him again, harder this time and the other Elf's eyes snapped back to his. Legolas swallowed hard and nodded to Elrond to show he was listening.

"Ok Legolas. You're going to take a very deep breath for me and then I need you to stop focusing on the pain."

Waterlogged eyes bored into Elrond, pleading with him to not have to do such a thing.

"I don't want to. I don't want the pain to go away."

He clutched at his chest again and this time the cry he emitted was as though from one taking a knife blade to the heart. This finally snapped Aragorn and Gimli into action and they ran down the hill to where the pair knelt.

Elrond held up a hand to stay them, warning them that he needed space and silence for this task. Aragorn understood immediately what was going on so he put an arm up in front of Gimli and shook his head gently to warn his friend not to go any closer.

"Legolas I know you think you need to hold onto the pain to hold onto her but that's not the way it is. You need to let the pain go and remember a specific moment in your time together where you felt nothing but total bliss. Can you do that for me?"

The Elf's lower lip trembled and his breathing was haggard, his hand clenched and unclenched at his tunic and he would wince every now and then.

"If you can't think of a specific time because it's too hard to concentrate then think of several but you need to do this."

The Elven Prince hollered out again and fresh tears fell from his eyes as he tossed his head back, squeezing his eyes shut against the blinding pain gripping his heart. Elrond gripped the Prince's shoulders tighter and shook him violently.

"She would not let you do this Legolas! She would not let you go like this."

To the side stood Aragorn and Gimli, tears stained the King of Gondor's cheeks while the Dwarf looked on in confusion.

"What's wrong with him Aragorn?" Gimli questioned quietly so only the Man could hear him.

Aragorn looked down at his friend in surprise but his eyes quickly softened and he placed a hand on the Dwarf's shoulder before he answered him.

"You know of the Elves immortality don't you Gimli?"

"Of course I do!" He grumbled indignantly.

"Well an Elf will live a natural life forever, but there are two ways that their immortality can be cut short. An Elf can be slain by a mortal wound………or they can die of a broken heart."

Gimli gasped softly and turned his eyes back to the wailing Prince before them, tears now welling up in his own eyes.

"Oh, no…" He whispered as he watched the Elf continue to clutch at his breaking heart.

"Legolas she would not let you die in such a way, you know this. Please do this for me, I need you to focus."

Legolas closed his eyes and slowly Elrond could hear his erratic breathing begin to slow and even out. The hand that had been clutching at his heart fell into his lap, though tiny winces would slip from his lips every now and then.

Elrond waited for many long moments until he was sure the Prince was in a stable enough frame of mind to head back for camp. He gently placed a hand on his shoulder and roused him from his deep state of concentration.

Legolas' tear filled eyes opened but he couldn't look Elrond in the eye. He remained kneeling upon the ground even as the Elven Lord rose back to his feet.

"Come," he addressed all three "we have to help get the survivors back to camp before nightfall.

The three began to slowly head off, deliberately taking their time so that they could make sure Legolas would follow but that he was also given the space he needed. Elrond heard rustling behind them and assumed it was Legolas getting to his feet.

He turned to confirm the assumption but was met with the empty eyes of the Prince as he stood with his fallen love clutched in his arms. Elrond looked back sadly at him and returned to where the other Elf stood.

"Legolas, we need your strength to help us carry survivors back to camp with us."

"What are you saying?" His voice was barely above a whisper as his throat was hoarse from crying.

"We will need both your arms to be free."

"I will not leave her here." Legolas' eyes glared coldly at the Elven Lord but Legolas continued before Elrond had a chance to even open his mouth. "I will not leave her body here to be ravaged by all number of creatures."

Aragorn nodded to Elrond and he dropped the matter, allowing the Prince to carry Aquila's body with him as he trailed behind them.

"I'll go on ahead Aragorn to see how many survivors there are. Make sure you keep an eye on Legolas, I don't want him falling too far behind."

Aragorn nodded and glanced back at the Elf, slowly dragging his feet behind them.

"Poor Legolas." Gimli said sadly to Aragorn as the two walked after Elrond. "Do you think he'll be alright now?"

"I sure hope so my friend but I'm not convinced he will be."

Legolas trudged slowly behind Aragorn and Gimli. He held Aquila's limp body in his arms and pulled her as close to him as he could manage. Tears still fell from his now bloodshot eyes and stained her pale skin as they fell upon her.

It quickly became too painful for Legolas to look upon her still form and so he lifted his eyes to focus on following the others. Placing one foot in front of the other becoming his sole task and the only thing he allowed himself to focus on. With his eyes locked forward he would stumble occasionally on rocks underfoot but he managed to right himself, with some effort, each time.

Suddenly Legolas stopped. His keen hearing having picked up on a noise he wasn't sure of. He glanced around, thinking that perhaps it was a lingering Chamele. However when he felt something brush lightly against the front of his tunic he looked down in confusion.

He breathed in sharply and held his breath as he saw Aquila's hand had been the cause of the sensation at his chest. But her hand had not been there before and even now as he watched intently he could see her fingers tremble slightly. He then flicked his gaze up to her face where her eyelashes fluttered slightly but her eyes barely opened. However it was when he heard her voice call softly for him, so quiet in fact he wouldn't have heard it had he been walking, that he knew for certain she was alive.

"Legolas….." she gasped out in a tiny whisper. The one line sapping her strength enough to force her hand to fall back to her side.

"Aquila…Aquila!" Legolas pleaded, as she seemed to still again.

"Aragorn!" He then called out loudly to his friend.

The Man stopped at the sound of his name and turned to face his friend.

"Aragorn!" The Elf called out, more frantically this time and Aragorn gave him a confused look. "Come, she lives!"

"What?"

Aragorn couldn't believe what he was hearing. He looked down at the limp female in Legolas arms, the arrow still protruding from her abdomen, and then looked back up to his friend.

"Aragorn!"

The Man finally managed to pick his feet up and run back to where the Elf stood. He looked his friend in the eye and was worried by the hope he saw shinning there.

"She lives Aragorn."

"How do you know this Legolas?"

"She spoke to me, I could barely hear her but she spoke all the same. Her eyes opened a little before and her hand came up to my chest."

"Legolas are you sure…"

"Aragorn you must believe me, she may yet die if we don't get her help! Put your ear to her breast if you do not believe me!"

Aragorn was about to object when he decided that if he at least did this it might calm the Elf. So, as instructed, he lowered his ear to her left breast. He waited patiently for any sins of life to reach his senses but he heard none. Then just as he was about to lift his head he heard the slow, ragged intake of breath and turned startled eyes up to Legolas.

Aragorn said nothing to the Elf but instead stood straight again and, cupping his hands about his mouth, called out to Elrond.

"Elrond!"

Even though the Elven Lord was some distance ahead of them his sensitive hearing easily picked up on the cry. He spun around and Aragorn took this as a sign to continue.

"She's alive Elrond! You must come quick!"

Elrond sprinted back to where they stood and stared at them in disbelief.

"You say she lives?" He asked in confusion.

They nodded vigorously and Legolas held the Princess's body out towards Elrond, who motioned for him to keep her held close to his body. The Elven Lord then stepped up to Legolas and lent down, pressing his ear to Aquila's lips.

His breath caught in his throat and his eyes flicked up to meet Legolas' worried gaze. Two fingers flew to the pulse point on her neck and remained there for a few moments before he dared speak.

"Her pulse is very weak, and her breathing shallow and labored, but she is alive Prince Legolas."

Legolas instinctively reached for the arrow protruding from her belly but Elrond stopped him before he could even lay a finger on it.

"Removing that now would be a very bad idea I'm afraid. The wound would bleed out with no way for me to stop it. You need to take her back to camp as swiftly as possible; my horse is just over the next hill. Ride hard and fast, they can remove the arrow there and treat the poison."

"No."

"What do you mean no! You want to save her don't you?"

"I want you to take her. Elrond you're the finest healer in Middle Earth. I want you to be there to treat her. I will stay and help rescue the remaining survivors and then follow on foot."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Legolas nodded and then moved closer to Elrond so that he could transfer Aquila from his arms to Elrond's. The Elven Lord carefully accepted her from Legolas and held her tight against his body. Legolas watched with worried, tear filled eyes as the other Elf took her but he bit down on his lower lip and nodded to Elrond.

Elrond wasted no time hurrying off to where he'd left his horse. He didn't dare look back for he feared the Prince would change his mind and he needed to get Aquila treatment as quickly as possible.

He reached the white horse he'd left over the hill and mounted it, careful not to move the woman in his arms too much. He couldn't risk the arrow slipping in the wound and doing further damage.

A few words to the horse and its hooves were flying over the barren plains. The green of the woods where the camped waited for them could been seen easily by Elrond's keen eyes but still he urged the horse to hurry. He could not let her die or they would surely loose Mirkwood's Prince too.

To be continued…