Chapter Eight

Three days ago, the Mirkwood royal family had been at peace. Three days ago, Legolas was laughing, showing off his archery skills, and plotting war with the twins. Three days ago, Glorfindel had gotten a good nights rest. It was amazing how much of a difference three days could make.

Idrial had come immediately after hearing of the ill news that had befallen her youngest brother. She sat quietly in his room, next to his bed. Her soft brown hair flowed down around her shoulders and her green and brown dress was rumpled at the bottom. She looked weary, not having gotten the rest she'd needed after her swift ride home. She'd been with Legolas for the past day and a half and she had no plans of leaving him anytime soon. Currently, she was leaning over her youngest brother's head, stroking his hair gently and singing a soft lullaby to him.

Legolas, though he had been coaxed greatly by the healers, his family, Glorfindel, and the twins, had not woken since he had been stung three days ago. His fever had gone down, though his cheeks were still flushed with heat layered onto his still too pale of skin. His eyes were still closed, and the wound on his side had yet to heal over, something to which caused the Mirkwood healers great distress. They had informed Thranduil that they had done everything they could, but only the touch of a truly great healer could save him now. Thranduil had contemplated on taking his youngest child to Rivendell, but that possibility was almost immediately dispelled when a patrol returned telling them the High Pass had closed for the winter.

Thranduil had retreated to his chambers for the first day, but had not forgotten his role as King and had soon gone back to work, though with only half a heart for the decisions he would have to make. Luthin, when he wasn't in Legolas' room, paced the gardens or nearby woods, trying to find peace. Kelderas busied himself with work, training warriors, and anything he could do to preoccupy his mind until Legolas awoke…or faded away, a thought none of the royal family was willing to accept.

The twins had tried to comfort the royal family as much as they could, but even their spirits were growing dim. They had finally decided to assist their sister in making gifts for Legolas for when he awoke. Arwen had gone to work almost immediately after the incident. She'd made just about everything she could think of to make, from necklaces to arrow fletchings and had even sewed him a new tunic out of material she had obtained from around the palace.

Glorfindel seemed the only one at a loss over what to do. A part of him wanted to stay with Legolas, stay by his bedside should he wake up. But another part of him wanted to join one of the patrols and hunt spiders and orcs. He was once again yearning to feel the thrill of hunting down the darkness in Mirkwood, a yearning he hadn't felt in years. Not since Celebrian had been killed. Eventually, the latter part of him won over and he joined a small scouting party that would stay near to the palace grounds.

Captain Kabain, a captain in Mirkwood's army whom Glorfindel had gotten to know well through his visits to Mirkwood, was among the patrol. The blonde haired warrior was intense and always down to business. Glorfindel was looking forward to scouting with Kabain, he needed something else to concentrate on and he knew the elf captain wouldn't let him break that concentration, not when they were scouting for spiders and orcs.

A little over two hours into their scouting mission, Kabain called for a sudden halt with a mild whistle. Glorfindel, though he could only see two of the twenty some warriors they were traveling with, knew that the others were near by. He had never been able to gain as much stealth as the woodland elves when it came to the trees. Though he could keep up with them well enough, he knew that he could never match them, not even the youngest. He was sure that even Legolas could hide from him in the trees. The thought made Glorfindel cringe. He forced it out of his head, knowing that now was not the time to get distracted.

Suddenly, Kabain was next to him. Glorfindel tried not to startle, but even when he flinched in the slightest, Kabain made no notice of it, to which Glorfindel was thankful. The blonde warrior pointed quietly out in front of them. "Do you see it?" he whispered, almost too quiet for Glorfindel to hear. He looked through the trees. At first, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. But then, he saw it. The brown mass that was just an off shade of brown as the rest. He nodded to Kabain.

"It's laying a trap," Kabain whispered. "It knows we're coming. If we hadn't been looking for spiders, we would have passed right beneath it without knowing. See how quiet and still it is?"

"Can you not sense it?" Glorfindel asked, turning to look at the captain.

Kabain shook his head. "Not as much as we would like. It is becoming harder and harder to distinguish the darkness of beings and just the normal darkness of the woods itself." The answer distressed Glorfindel for a moment. Normal darkness. That was something he had never heard any of the Mirkwood warriors use. Perhaps they were all starting to realize that Greenwood was long gone, replaced now by this encroaching darkness. "Only the Thranduilians seemed to be tuned enough into the woods to sense little disturbances such as this one spider."

"Thranduil's kin have always been close to the woods," Glorfindel nodded.

Kabain smiled, which surprised Glorfindel a bit. But the captain suddenly looked at him. "Shall we kill this then?"

Glorfindel couldn't help but smile back. "After you."

And with a shrill whistle, the Mirkwood warriors were suddenly in motion. Elves darted out of spots Glorfindel hadn't a clue had been hiding them. The spider, sensing impending doom, made its move as well. It suddenly launched itself, spitting webbing as it did so. The webbing caught one of the warriors off guard, clinging him to a tree. Glorfindel was in motion after that, making his way to the entrapped warrior. It wasn't wise to be immobile when fighting spiders, especially the brown ones.

Just as Glorfindel had cut the warrior lose, the body of the spider came spiraling down behind him. He turned, blade drawn as it landed in the branches next to him. But it was already dead. Kabain dropped down behind it. "There are more," he said coldly, his teeth grit. "A nest."

Glorfindel nodded, patted the newly freed warrior on the shoulder and made his way up the tree behind Kabain. The sudden sounds of screaming and hissing spiders filled their ears. Glorfindel hated the sound, he always had. He turned, blade ready, and just in time. A spider had descended near them. Kabain was already stabbing at its exposed belly. Glorfindel slashed out, slicing of one of the spider's legs. It screamed before Kabain drove his blade into it's head, killing it.

There wasn't time to celebrate as another spider launched webbing in their direction. Both Glorfindel and Kabain jumped out of the way, towards opposite sides. Glorfindel turned towards where the spider had shot out at them. It was descended rapidly, five Mirkwood arrows already in its abdomen. Glorfindel waited, years of training preparing himself for this simple task. The spider opened it's legs wide, ready to ensnare Glorfindel in them, sting him, and drag him home for supper. Glorfindel wouldn't give the foul beast the chance. He brought his blade up, into the spider's belly and, rolling backwards, he brought his feet up for extra strength as he flung the spider off the tree. He watched as it fell through the branches, finally coming to lay on the forest floor with a loud crunch. It twitched for a moment longer before going rigid.

Glorfindel's eyes scanned the immediate area, but he caught no sight of any further spiders, so he chanced a glance towards where Kabain was. The elf captain seemed to be handling himself well, which Glorfindel had expected. Kabain had years of experience killing spiders, he didn't know why he would ever worry about the blonde haired warrior. Kabain slayed the spider he was fighting and then looked towards where Glorfindel stooped upon his branch. The two nodded at each other before climbing further into the fray above them.

In a few short minutes, the screaming and hissing had lessened considerably. Glorfindel's blade and the front of his tunic was stained in black blood. There were only two spiders left, and Glorfindel decided to leave them for the Mirkwood warriors. He began his descent through the trees. He stopped suddenly, midway. A presence made itself known in the back of his mind and he frowned. What were they doing here? He made his way hastily down the rest of the tree before standing on a branch lowest to the ground. He leaned against the trunk and waited.

Finally, the riders emerged. They looked weather beaten, with snow on their shoulders. Glorfindel guessed that he looked probably much worse, considering the blood and the wetness of his clothes. The trees had been covered in snow, so no doubt he was probably waterlogged as well. Elrond was the first to see him.

"Glorfindel," he asked, almost surprised. "What are you…"

He didn't get the chance to finish as Mirkwood warriors suddenly dropped down on all sides of them. Elrond didn't look as surprised to see them. Gandalf had a smug grin on his face. Kabain dropped down in front of their horses. "Lord Elrond," he greeted, fist over his heart as he bowed. "Mae govannen." Kabain's eyes moved to Gandalf. "Mithrandir." He said, almost surprised to see the grey wizard.

"We haven't much time to waste," Elrond said. "I must see Thranduil and his son."

Kabain's eyes widened knowingly. "Indeed, we will escort you back."

Glorfindel jumped down, going to walk beside Elrond's horse. The elf lord smiled down at him, but Glorfindel had other things on his mind. "I hear the High Pass is closed. You'll be wintering in Mirkwood. Do you think that is wise?"

"Whether it is wise or not, there are some things that I must do to ensure what is to be," Elrond answered. Glorfindel gave him a look.

"You've traveled too much with Mithrandir, I can see," he mumbled. "Speaking in riddles."

The elf lord and the grey wizard both chuckled. Gandalf shook his head. "Elrond is needed here. Rivendell is safe for the time being. But Thranduil's son, I fear, is not."

"Yes," Glorfindel nodded. "He was bitten by a spider and has not woken since." He frowned suddenly. "As much as I love Legolas, and as much as I know you love him as well, do you think it is worth it to put all of Rivendell at risk? Wouldn't the enemy see this as an opportunity?"

"Rivendell is blessed," Gandalf answer for the elven lord, whose face had taken on a distressed look, confirming Glorfindel's thoughts that Elrond hadn't come all on his own accord. There was still doubt clouding Elrond's eyes. "And we may not know for certain how these events will play out. But one thing I do know for certain, if we lose Legolas Thranduilan now, he will not be all we'll lose."

"Riddles, Gandalf…" Glorfindel said.

"I cannot explain further," Gandalf shook his head. "Just know that I will do everything in my power to ensure Legolas is here when middle earth needs him."

The three were silent, as were the soldiers escorting them home. Kabain had his back to them, but Glorfindel knew the elf captain had heard their conversation. He saw the rigidness of the captains shoulders. But it wasn't out of sadness or fear. It was determination. Glorfindel recognized it from his own tenseness.

Review Responses:

Gemini969: I updated, though it was a lot less sooner than I had hoped. :) But I updated! lol.

Kirsten: Yeah, Leggy's hurt. And don't worry, he'll be back in the next chapter. I don't think I could handle writing two chapters in a row where Legolas doesn't an appearance, even if he is unconscious. ;)

Nobody: Yeah, I'm taking special liberties. :) I sort of played with that a little bit in here, and I know it's really making Legolas a HUGE character by using the reasoning I did in this chapter, but that's how I'm justifying it. There probably will be a lot of inconsistancies in this story because I just want to make things happen that probably would never be able to happen if I followed the strict Tolkien guidelines. I'm glad you're liking the story though! Hehe. That makes me happy.

Coolio02: Legolas has a lot to get out of with this one. Don't you just love Leggy angst?

Arialas: Yes, there will be more. More of this story and more of other stories. I can't get enough, lol.

jen: Why thank you! There wasn't much Legolas in this chapter, but he'll be back for the next one. :)

Haldir's Heart and Soul: Well, if you insist that he must live. ;) Ha! I would never kill Legolas, he means to much to me.