Author's Note: Again, all spoken words are Sindarin, or else they are marked. No point to make the Elves speak Westron among each other (unless they are certain Cousins) smirk

Chapter 1: Strange Feeling

Third Age of the Sun,
Mirkwood

The clash of weapons and cries of the warriors faded to the back. The bitter, southern wind seemed to freeze Rafél to the core, emptying him of all warmth he ever had. But it was not the wind that tried to stop his heart from beating. It was the darkness closing around his fëa, ripping his soul apart. His own fear.

He had never been this afraid in his life.

"Don't give up, Legolas," the voice not his own asked, his trembling hands holding the limp body closer. Distant blue eyes gazed up at him, asking forgiveness. A shiver ran through the other's body, increasing the terror in Rafél's mind. "Fight," he hissed, his fingers trying to keep their hold on the bloody garment.

Blood.

It was everywhere, staining his hands and the ground around them, its warmth being the only thing to drive away the cold that tried to take a grip of his mind. It was a blood he had sworn to protect. Blood of the one he had looked after for years. Blood of a youth dying in his arms.

"Legolas, I beg you… Do not give up." His voice trailed of, his eyes trying in vain to encourage the other Elf to go on. The blue eyes fell shut, his breathing slowing down. The uneven beat of his heart grew weaker, the flow of his blood slowing down. Rafél bowed his head in despair, his lips repeating a silent prayer like a mantra, begging the Valar to save his dying Prince. "How did I not see this coming? Why didn't I do anything? Why couldn't I die instead of him?" he whispered, his mind falling back to the events of past. For there was no future…

Six days before

Legolas halted among the branches, his steady gaze sweeping over the ground far below. There was nothing out of ordinary, but the familiar feeling in the back of his mind told otherwise. Something dark was present. But it seems that no-one else is sensing anything, he mused, watching as the rest of the novice-patrol passed him. He looked back down again, frowning. He was so certain that he had felt something…

"Legolas, are you coming?" another voice called, Shannai stepping onto a branch next to Legolas'. "Thrénandu is coming back soon if you do not hurry up," he added as an afterthought, smoothing his bronze hair. "Oh, too late," he muttered, throwing Legolas an unhappy glance.

Indeed, Thrénandu was returning along their trail, his keen eyes spotting the novices immediately. He reached the couple, giving them a questioning look. "Is something wrong?" he asked, his light blue eyes shifting to Legolas.

"Nothing," Legolas answered rather absently, trying to fight off the growing sense that something dark was watching him. The feeling in the back of his mind was persistent, not giving up as he tried to fight it back: it pulled away and dashed past him as he tried to reach it. "I just stopped to check the path below…" he mumbled, gazing up to his tutor.

Thrénandu nodded slowly, his mind easily reading through the lines that something was out of place. "Very well. Now, as there is nothing wrong, would you join to the rest of us? Rafél would have my head if we are late again," he smiled at Legolas, then headed back towards the other novices.

"Has Rafél ever truly threatened him, I wonder?" Shannai mused as they walked after the others. "I mean, Thrénandu is a captain and everything, even if he works as a novice-trainer at the moment. But then again, Rafél is a lot older than Thrénandu, isn't he? And I would say that Rafél is a way more dangerous than Thrénandu, sometimes." He halted his account, turning to Legolas. "Are you even listening to me?" he asked, annoyed. "You look very out of everything, which is a bad thing: you have to be constantly aware of everything when you are on a patrol, you know."

"I know," Legolas said slowly, trying to put his mind into focus. "My apologies, what were you asking?"

With a sigh, Shannai returned back to his earlier topic. "I just wondered if Thrénandu is truly afraid of Rafél hurting him."

"Of course not, in a normal case," Legolas snorted. "Thrénandu respects Rafél greatly, but they have also fought together for a long time. Though it might be possible that in some very unlikely occasion, Rafél might hurt him. But I do not believe that we would see such a thing happen."

"Even if something would happen to you during Thrénandu's classes, when Rafél is not around? Like today?" Shannai insisted.

"Well, Rafél would be angry, of course," Legolas said haltingly. "And he would come with us to the classes after that," he finished.

"Why did he not come today?" Shannai asked. "This was a patrol, after all."

"Maybe he didn't see it necessary," Legolas answered, irritation in his voice. The dark feeling hadn't yet completely passed, and he was not in a mood to listen Shannai's never-ending babbling. Speeding up, Legolas climbed to a higher level of branches, forcing Shannai to silence himself in order to follow.

Below, in the shadows of the tall trees, a shape moved in a swirling darkness. "It is time," it hissed maliciously, and then disappeared, leaving a deathly silence in its wake.

to be continued…