Chapter Four - Searching

The Elf took a sip of water and then spoke. "Hirath nin, I am a warrior from the Elven court in Mirkwood. My name is Celussë. I have been sent by King Thranduil, to ask for your assistance."

Elrond did not reply, but raised one eyebrow questioningly.

"You see, it is Ernil-o Taur-e-Ndaedelos Legolas Thranduilion. He is missing."

Estel's elbow slipped off the desk, and his head jerked up in surprise. Elrond, however, leaned forward towards the blonde elf and looked at him intently over steepled fingers. "Explain. From the beginning."

"Of course, Lord Elrond. Prince Legolas went out riding alone, early in the evening. He was wearing his weapons, as all do who live in Taur-nu-Fuin, but took no provisions. It seemed that he did not plan to stay out more than a few hours."

The exhausted elf spoke in the flat tone of one reciting a speech that had been written by someone he didn't much like.

"When he had not returned by the day after next, we sent out search parties into the local area. None found any trace of the Prince or his horse. The search was then continued by mounted Elves, who went further into the forest. It was they who found some Elven arrow heads, blackened by fire, and scattered on the ground. However, nothing else was found for a few days."

Elrond raised a hand questioningly and Celussë paused. "Celussë, how long ago did the Prince go missing?"

"Um...about...19 days ago my Lord."

"19 days?!?" Aragorn said loudly. "That's nearly 3 weeks! Anything could have happened to him in that time."

"Celussë," Elrond asked, "Why are you only searching for help now?"

The Mirkwood Elf began speaking again in the flat monotone. "It took many days for us to properly search the forest near the palace, and then many more for us to begin to look further afield."

Elrond raised his hands to his face and rubbed his eyes, looking very weary. "Look mellon nin, your loyalty to your lord is admirable. But to you not think we will be able to search more effectively for the Prince if you were to tell us the truth?"

Celussë looked him in the eyes. "You ask me to speak from my heart?"

"Ye, mellon nin, aquista."

"Then I shall. For I give more loyalty and love to Legolas than I do to his father. You must understand that the death of Queen Nolwe has had a very bad effect on both the King and his son. They will probably never get over their grief."

Elrond gave a barely audible sigh.

"Very well then," the Elf continued, "The day before Legolas disappeared, Thranduil had got news of a small Spider colony quite near to the palace. He ordered that the creatures be eliminated before they had a chance to spread. Legolas was leading the unit, and the King had commanded that no-one was to return until all the spiders were slain. I was one of the warriors in the foray, expecting to meet about 30 smallish spiders. We were met by several hundred along with a contingent of goblins. The Prince ordered a lightning attack and retreat. We killed as many of the creatures as we could before escaping back into the forest. Legolas had organised his troops well and had made, we all agreed, a sensible decision to retreat while we were ahead. Because of this, we left the majority of the beasts dead or dying, with minimal loses ourselves. As it was, 3 Elves were wounded, two of whom later died.

'However, Thranduil did not seem to understand this, and he and his son had a bit of an argument."

Elrond raised an eyebrow.

"All right, they had a blazing row, not that that in itself was uncommon. After it was over, Legolas told me he was going out for a while, and would be back later. I had his horse prepared and he rode off. No-one has seen him since. Please, My Lords, I beg for aid to help find the Prince. Without him, hope for Mirkwood will be lost forever.

"What makes you believe that he has even come to harm?" asked the young man. "From what I hear maybe the Prince has had enough and has run away?"

The Elf answered quickly "No. He didn't. He has been captured, and maybe he is already dead."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because we found one of his knives and the remains of his horse thrown into a ditch four days ago. The creatures flesh had been eaten."

Hirath nin - My Lords

Ernil-o Taur-e-Ndaedelos - The Prince of Mirkwood

Taur-nu-Fuin - Mirwood

Ye, mellon nin, aquista - Yes my friend, please.

yes, a short chapter i know! I'm working on the chapter lengths, I really am!

Thanks Ravenessence and Alex! Yes, I agree, education sucks. Who needs education when you have Tolkien?? As for an argument between Legolas and Aragon…well, you'll have to wait and see… I'm glad the dedication pleases!

Thanks for your kind words Lyn! It was really encouraging for me as a new writer to get such a useful and well thought out review. If you have any suggestions, I'd be really pleased to hear them. Thanks again!

Bob my Imagination and Randomness Monster liked your review aknightofni! Yes, I was hoping the chapter would throw up some surprises! I'm glad u liked the humour too, it's not my strong point.

Glad your likin' it, Legolas-gurl88! Yes, computers are evil. grrr.

Well SirNotAppearingInThisFilm, namárië ar sérë, híninya, means "farewell and peace, my children" I think. I'm still learning as far as the elvish goes! And I called Mirkwood by two names just because I thought both the words were cool. I hope Ed like the next chapter!

Thanks to everyone else who reviewed, I appreciate it and it really made my day! hands round cookies to reviewers

namárië ar sérë, híninya,

see you in the next chapter,

nienna xx