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"The old people say, everyone has a song to sing. This song is the reason we are on this earth. When we are doing what we came on this earth to do – teach me how to look into my heart."
Chapter 27
Stealth and Tenacity
While she waited for the jailer to replace the cot as well as bring her what she needed to care for Legolas, Anayah took the time to carefully assess his condition. When she smoothed his hair back from his eyes then felt his forehead, she was alarmed to find his skin cold and clammy, an ill omen for his overall condition for it meant that the end was near. When checking for his pulse, she frowned then shook her head for it was extremely weak and slow – her friend was in shock and if her healer's instincts were accurate, he was beginning to let his despair wash away his will to go on.
After the jailer had walked up the darkened hallway after leaving the last of the supplies that Anayah had requested, she went about making Legolas more comfortable and seeing to his new injuries. It wasn't so much that the latest beating had created any life-threatening injuries as it was that his captivity had denied his true nature as a wood elf and what he needed both as himself and as a wood elf, to survive. For some time now, he had been kept in a cell in the dark and had not been able to breathe the fresh air of nature nor had he been able to look at the stars in the sky. Even that solace had been denied him and that fact in addition to the most recent beating by the jailer had almost completely destroyed his spirit – that part of him that kept him tethered to life. Legolas Thranduilion, Prince of Mirkwood, was dying.
After quickly seeing to her friend's wounds, she covered him with the clean blanket the jailer had brought at her request as well as her own cloak. Anayah then picked up his upper body and after scooting in behind him and wrapping her arms as tightly around him as she could, started whispering her message into his ear.
"I hope you know that I am not going to give up on you, Legolas Greenleaf, even if I must stand as witness to the very last beat of your heart, I vow to you on my honor, that I will go beyond even that in my attempt to get you to listen to reason. I will stand in the doorway of the Halls of Mandos and bar your entrance to that hallowed place with my own body if it means that I will have one more chance of convincing you to stay with those of us who hold you so very dear to our hearts. This is not the time for you to make your final journey, and I am going to do my best to make you see that – this I swear to you on Manwë's beard."
She gently caressed his head as she rocked him, desperately trying to soothe him and reach his bruised and dying spirit in the process.
"Legolas, I know that you are frightened and hurting and oh-so-very-tired of everything right now and I really can't blame you for feeling this way because if I had to endure what has been forced on you, then I too might do the same thing – I too might despair. In truth, I can't promise you that you will see the sun of a new day, but what I can promise you is the possibility that the sun will rise and with it will come new hope, and that, my friend, is all any of us have."
Anayah again checked his pulse and frowned when she found that it was even slower than before. Even his respirations were becoming shallower and slower as he slipped farther and farther away from a life that he had come to hate.
"But if you decide to make your final journey, my friend, then you are denying yourself the chance to experience many new and wonderful things – new challenges and possibilities – and you are denying your friends and family the chance to experience them with you. I realize that sounded really selfish, Legolas, but if you leave us, the sun will set on our hearts and that is something I don't know if any of us who care for you will be able to bear."
The natural color started to leave her friend's face and a sheen of cold sweat appeared on his brow, another sign that his time was ending. Anayah was almost desperate in her attempt to convince him to stay and had to make an extreme effort to keep her own tears from falling.
"If I cannot convince you to stay – if you really want to go – then I will understand, as will Estel, as will your Ada – but only if this is truly what you want. If your spirit tells you to go and that is the path you choose, then all of us will give you our blessing although I want you to understand this one thing, Legolas Greenleaf – I will not willingly let go of your hand. If I walk you to the border that lays between this life and the next and have not convinced you by that time, to stay with us, then I will open my hand, set you free and wish you well – with all the broken pieces of my heart."
Knowing that only one more option was available to her to try and save her friend's life, Anayah closed her eyes and began to share some of her own elven life force with the dying elf she was holding in her arms. If anyone had come upon the two at that moment, they would have witnessed the appearance of a golden elven light that reached out and completely enveloped the two occupants of the cell.
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To the untrained eye, the orchard across the broad path from the slave barracks that Aragorn and Halgar were forced to call home, was dark and empty. To one who knew what to look for, however, the presence of the two big elves would have been evident. Súrion and Saeros, the two Stealth Specialists of Anayah's Thurin Tirith Guard, stood beneath one of the fruit trees, seeming almost a part of the tree's shadow, as the two watched the barracks.
They had witnessed the changing of shifts – one group of slaves coming home from the quarry and another group of slaves walking to the quarry to begin their shift. When the two elves saw Aragorn, Halgar as well as the large human the twins had told them about, they knew the time to contact Aragorn was upon them.
Súrion finished putting on the camouflage face paint that would help him blend in to his surroundings then turned to the elf standing beside him.
"I shouldn't have any problems getting in and out but just in case, give me until the shadows of the fence compound reaches the path then come and find out what is wrong."
After receiving a nod from his Unit partner, Súrion started making his way towards the barracks. Saeros watched the Silvan Guard closely as well as the surrounding area, ever ready to warn his friend of danger.
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Aragorn had just finished his evening meal and was reaching for the cup that held his allotment of tea when an extremely large pair of arms came around him from behind and prevented him from moving while a hand covered his mouth, effectively preventing him from crying out as well. Then, a soft, quiet voice whispered in his ear.
"Be at peace, Ranger, for it is only I, Súrion. Quietly call your friends to you."
Without turning to look at the Silvan Guard, Aragorn caught the attention of both Halgar and Lothur and waved the two to come to him then seated themselves on either side of him and with their backs to the window. When Súrion emerged from the shadows, the two jumped, but to their credit, did not cry out for the two had not seen him sitting in the shadows cast by the window even though he had been virtually in front of all of them. After he had been introduced, they waited for him to tell the reason for his visit.
"The twins ran into difficulties after they left you Strider."
When he saw Aragorn stiffen, he laid a reassuring hand on the young man's shoulder before he quickly continued.
"Don't worry yourself overmuch for them for they have been liberated and are back in camp recovering from their ordeal."
"Who are you talking to?"
All three humans jumped for they had not heard the barracks guard approaching them but when all three looked around them, as well as to where the Silvan Guard had previously been sitting, they saw that he was gone.
"We have just been talking among ourselves, Master Guard." Halgar motioned to the area around them. "As you can see, there is nobody else here."
The guard shifted nervously from foot to foot and looked around the area and even went as far as to look behind where the three were sitting. He glared at the three.
"I know I heard another voice. The three of you had better not be trying to pull something on me or I swear you will be working double shifts for a month!"
With nothing further to say, and after glaring at the three men one last time, the guard turned on his heel and stomped away angrily. After he had gone, there was a collective sigh of relief and after thinking about it a minute in silence, Halgar visibly shivered.
"Well, that was a once in a lifetime experience. I knew elves were naturally stealthy, but we were talking to him one second and then he was just … gone! That is one sneaky elf!"
"Thank you!"
The voice spoke right next to his ear causing Halgar to jump and clamp a hand over his own mouth to stifle the small girly-scream that threatened to come out of it. The three men slightly turned to see a smiling Súrion once more sitting behind them. Aragorn rolled his eyes and shook his head. Then Súrion once more turned serious.
"Strider, your sister pledges her support and after listening to what the twins had to say, has begun to gather current logistical information for you. She says that she will get you anything you need although it is her strong advice that you leave these barracks and return to the camp."
The big Silvan Guard was quick to notice the look of stubbornness that fell over the young Ranger's face.
"Ok. I will relay your wishes to her."
Lothur leaned a little closer to Súrion when he spoke.
"Our communication network is in place and each barracks Captain will soon know then relay to us how many slaves in a particular place can be trusted and who will be willing to either fight or contribute in some other fashion to our cause. We will soon know numbers – how many archers, foot warriors, spear, sword and ground support warriors that will be willing to fight for their freedom."
Aragorn nodded his approval.
"I will want to meet the Captains – even if only briefly – so that I may let them know, in person, that our pledge of support is a valid one."
Lothur nodded.
"As you wish – I will arrange that for you."
The big human took a drink of water from his flask before he continued.
"There are three armories and each of these has a surplus weapons room that is full of old and surplus weapons. These rooms have a back service door, which is locked, from the inside and nobody ever goes into them. Someone is going to have to get inside the armories and unlock the doors – if you can do this, the slaves will do the rest – will remove the weapons and store them without anybody being the wiser and until someone can get them out of Hoth."
Súrion nodded his head in acknowledgement of this information.
"Just remember that you don't want to show your hand to the military of Hoth too soon."
He laid a hand of encouragement on each of the humans' shoulders.
"I have to go, but if you have a need – anything at all – set a drinking cup, upside down, on the window sill and we will soon be here."
The Guard slightly shifted his position then pointed to the doorway.
"Who's that?"
All three heads snapped around to peer in the direction the elf was pointing but not seeing anything they turned back.
"There's nobody …"
Halgar's voice trailed off when he saw that the elf was gone and he shivered as he turned to his friends and rolled his eyes.
"I really wish he wouldn't do that!"
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Rahan looked to where the twins were sleeping on their palettes a few feet away from the fire but when he saw they were still resting, he turned his attention back to the mesmerizing flames. There was so much that needed to be done before they could all go home and it was his fervent prayer that all the Valar watch over them and keep them safe until they could leave. He sighed deeply because his heart was telling him that before it was all over, they would all face perils that would change them.
His thoughts were interrupted by a high-pitched squeal but when he leapt to his feet with his hand on his sword and turned towards where the sound had come from, he started roaring with laughter. He quickly wiped the smile off his face when he saw Elladan shooting a righteous rendition of the "Look of Doom" at him. He took his hand away from his sword as he slowly walked to where the recently frightened eldest twin and an equally shocked Elrohir were now sitting upright on their palettes.
"Lord Elladan, don't tell me you have never once in your long years woken up to see a beautiful woman looking back at you!"
Rahan had to work hard at keeping the smile off his face.
"Captain Rahan, to answer your question, there have been many times that I have woken to see who I had at first thought was a Valar looking back at me for such was their beauty to behold. I can tell you with certainty, however, that none of these women, elf maiden or human, ever had a body covered with dust and dirt, four legs and extremely bad breath."
Having gotten over his original scare, Elladan finally broke out laughing, followed closely by Elrohir who had only not laughed in the first place because he hadn't wanted his brother to hurt him.
"Hiril, you pretty lady. What has befallen you that you should be in this condition?"
Elladan got to his feet, wincing in pain as he did so, then proceeded to caress the mare's dusty head and kiss her on her nose. Rahan walked up to them with the appropriate grooming materials and a suitably luscious apple.
"Isn't this your father's mare?" The Guard asked.
"Yes, Rahan, she does indeed belong to my father and is the mare that Estel rode here when he came in search of Legolas."
He checked her over carefully but other than a saddle that was almost upside down and herself being dusty with bits of forest debris all over her, seemed to be in excellent condition.
"It seems that she has faithfully hidden herself as her rider asked her to and since she thinks that she has waited too long, has come to seek our aid."
"Indeed, Captain. Now, shall we all see to this faithful lady's needs?"
The three of them then turned to the mare to groom, feed her, and settle her in with the rest of the horses.
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Anayah still sat holding her friend in her arms and still continued to share her elven energy with him. Throughout the long hours of the night, here had been no sign that his condition was improving but even so, she was not giving up and continued to hold him and gently rock him. It was her sincerest hope that on some level of consciousness he knew that there was someone near who cared and from that caring could derive a small measure of hope.
She was startled out of what she was doing when she felt a hand on the side of her face and when she looked down, saw the sapphire eyes of the Prince looking back at her. After wiping a tear off her own cheek she bent over and kissed Legolas on the forehead.
"Welcome back, my Prince."
Legolas frowned before he answered her.
"Manwë doesn't have a beard."
TBC
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I got an anonymous review from someone named Tracey who felt my whole story was "pathetic and overblown – including the bad guys." She also called my OC a Darth Vader. Please refer to the explanation of elven magic that is farther down this page.
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Tracy: I was thinking of many ways to respond to you, but I have more important things to do than responding to a confrontational junkie. What I can't understand is why it took you 26 chapters to figure out that you didn't like the story. Your bad manners were amusing for about 5 seconds but since I have other things to do and since you are hiding behind your anonymous review so I cannot respond to you privately, I will leave you with two thoughts. First, if you truly loved Tolkien and had studied his works at all, you would know that my "bad guys," the Wainriders, as well as their war chariots, are cannon. Second, I will give you my most favorite and beloved toll free telephone number along with the admonishment that this is my story, not yours, and therefore does not have to be written to your specifications – and it is AU. Here is that telephone number. 1-800-WHO-CARES. Have a nice day!
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nana halfelven: You're my heart girl! I thank you for your support and your wisdom in this matter and to that end have included your review:
Ah, an opportunity to "review the reviewer"... I think "anonymous Tracey" must miss a lot. Go back to the beginning of the series and read BETWEEN the lines, dear, and THEN tell us what you think...
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linuvial greenleaf: You are my right arm! Rowr! Go my little pit bull … go! Thanks for your support and encouragement! By the way, my book, Morgoth's Ring, came into the bookstore today. That makes either 12 or 13 of Tolkien's books that I have. I still want to get, The Road Goes Ever On, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, The War of the Jewels, and The Peoples of Middle Earth.
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kukumalu: I missed you but am so happy that you are back! You're in college aren't you? I forget if I've asked you that or not. Well, anyway, clap, clap, clap – that's three claps on the back – just for you! Deadlines, even self-imposed ones, are a pain in the you-know-what – this I know from personal experience!
Sorry about the gross out … I did warn you though! (Heeheehee!) It wasn't really so much that the twins were saved by a girl but that they were saved and avenged by someone who cared about her brothers, foster or not, and didn't want to see them hurt anymore. Besides, she was not alone but had all four of her Guards with her although she would have done the same thing if the Guards had not been with her.
Greyfell already knows that she can take care of herself because he saw her hold her own with the Palace guards the night the B stabbed Legolas in his hand and leg – plus Anayah knocked Greyfell on his caboose twice in the forest.
Hope you get some rest and hope you continue to enjoy the story.
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CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur: You didn't want the chapter to end - that was so nice of you to say … well here's another chapter for you and although part of it might be kind of sad, I hope you still enjoy it. Thanks for the review! 8-)
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Horsiegurl: I'm very happy that you are still enjoying the story. There is a lot more excitement to come so stick around! I enjoyed hearing from you and look forward to your next review.
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Karone Evertree: I just finished watching the movie AVP (Alien versus Predator) for about the 5th time and every time I see one of the Aliens dribbling that sticky drool all over the place I think of Anayah telling the twins they would feel like warg spit! I know this next comment is kind of off the wall but bear with me … Remember in Lion King where the hyena was telling how the mere mention of the name Mufasa (I don't know if that is spelled correctly – sorry!) made her shiver. E.g. Mufasa Well, I think of the twins, warg spit and one of the Aliens all in the same room and …. Mufasa. I think I have had FAR too much caffeine, too many cookies and have been cyber-hanging around Linuvial Greenleaf for far too long – she is rubbing off on me!
Well, the twins are out of the thick of things for a bit and I don't want to give away what's going to happen in this story so my lips are zipped. I'm not telling just in case you are like me and read the reply to your review before you read the story.
Hope you enjoy this chapter! Thanks for reviewing.
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Orontelmi: I thank you so much for your kind words and it also makes me happy that you acknowledge that the story does have depth, something that some readers don't seem interested in looking for or acknowledging.
About Anayah erasing the jailer's memory … No, you did not miss anything – let me explain, although I will remind you that this story is AU.
Everyone knows that elven magic did exist. The three great rings of the elves, Vilya, Nenya and Narya which were forged by Celebrimbor, are an example of magic's existence as well as its use. Then there are the Silmarils forged by Fëanor and which caught the light of the two trees of Valinor inside of them and the palantíri which were also created by Fëanor. There is also evidence of magic when Galadriel sent a white mist to rejuvenate and protect Eorl and his people during his great ride north when they rode to the aid of Gondor. I wish to point out at this time, not to you, but to those who poo-poo the idea of empowered women in any LOTR story … Galadriel was an extremely powerful elf, capable of doing magic. Although Tolkien said, in Unfinished Tales that Galadriel was incapable of punitive actions, I wish to point out, and I forget what book I read this in, that it was Galadriel, herself, who brought down the walls of Dol Guldur during the War of the Rings.
Anayah is not only an elf but she also carries the blood of the divine within her, the blood of the Maiar, and it doesn't matter that she is only half-elven or that her Maia ancestress, Melian, was many generations removed. It is all a matter of genetics. It is a proven, scientific fact that certain genetic traits can show up many generations later which is what is happening to Anayah. She doesn't like using magic but will use it in extreme circumstances such as the room shaking the night Legolas was stabbed in the hand and leg by the Wainrider leader. In this case, it was purely instinct. How Greyfell knew to tell her what to do about the jailer will be explained later in the story.
Although Anayah is not an Istar, which is an Order, not another race of beings, Gandalf has tutored her in the use of some basic magical spells, hoping to channel her talents towards good and he has taught her that with power comes the great responsibility to use that power wisely – which she would prefer not to use at all because of the moral dilemmas involved.
The Istar Order were forbidden by the Valar to reveal themselves in forms of majesty, or to seek to rule the wills of Men or Elves by open display of power. Anayah knows this and even though she knows she is not Istar, still feels a deep responsibility to not use her magic in case it should be seen as a defiance of the law set down for the Istar. She is young and with the years will come the wisdom to know when she should or should not use her magic.
I know I have probably talked your ear off but I hope you understand a little bit more about how and why Anayah possesses the power to perform magic. Some things were just not meant to be fully understood. In closing:
A phrase used by the title character in the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare … Hamlet suggests that human knowledge is limited: There are more things in heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy science.
Thank you very much for your review. If you have any further questions, just let me know.