Laebeth – I'm glad you're reading it a second time because I did add some new scenes to it, which I thought were necessary to better understand the sequel. Translate in French? Of course you can! That would be so cool! Let me know how it goes.

Linilya Elf – Dum dum dum dum (more scary music)… Ahhhhhhh! (someone screams). Oh, that was just me. :o)

ChirikoFan – Thanks. Read on and you'll find out.

Chapter 13 – What Lies Waiting
Space and Gateway Station
(Ariedel's POV)

I circled the shuttle around the Earth until Gateway Station came into view. As we drew closer to it, I waited for the inevitable call from the station's dispatch. I had rehearsed a number of things I could say. We found the shuttle and were bringing it back. We were chasing a strange man who we believed was impregnated with an alien. We were Christmas shopping and were returning to give Director Warner his present. All three were pretty lame, but it was all I could come up with.

When I turned to Legolas, his brows were furrowed together as if he were in deep thought. Then his eyes started moving back and forth. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"Something is not right," said Legolas.

"Is the queen talking to you again?"

"Nay…but I sense something…I cannot describe it…" He was gripping the armrests so tightly that his fingers were turning purple.

"Legolas, what is it? What's wrong?"

"I sense trouble afoot on the station."

That didn't sound good. I pushed the communicator button. "Gateway Station, this is Shuttle Rockland. We are ready for final approach." I waited for a response, but received nothing. Not even white noise. "Come in, Gateway. Do you copy?"

Nothing…

Legolas was looking out the window as we approached the station. His eyes were wide and I noticed that his breathing had quickened. "She has killed…"

"What?"

"The queen." His voice had dropped down to almost a whisper and he looked about ready to burst out of his seat restraints. "She is no longer contained. She is free and she has killed."

"Please tell me you're kidding."

He turned to me. "Ariedel, we are in deep shit." Legolas had learned the phrase in a movie he had watched on the telemonitor and he had used it a couple of times, much to my amusement. But this time it wasn't so funny.

I steered the shuttle toward the shuttle bay. The atmosphere containment field was still activated, which was a good thing. But the fact that no one had called to validate my identity before approaching the station was not a good sign. I maneuvered the shuttle through the containment field window of the station.

The sight that greeted us made me gasp. All of the other shuttles in the bay were torn to shreds as if something had literally picked them up and tossed them around the bay, making them completely unusable. Some were charred and mangled, from possible explosions, as were some of the walls and the floor. But the damage hadn't reached the doors, which meant that the automatic fire system had extinguished the fires before they could spread.

I set the shuttle down on the only spot with no debris. Legolas quickly unstrapped himself and jumped out of his seat. I followed him to the back where he retrieved his recently purchased pump action crossbow. Then he strapped on the quiver with all the additional wooden arrows. I remembered Aragorn saying something about wood not being affected by the acid blood. Perfect.

I grabbed the backpack that had some of our personal things. These were things I just couldn't leave behind. The rest of the stuff…clothes, shoes…we could do without those. "We need more weapons, Legolas."

"Where do we get them?"

"There's a weapons storage room not too far from here. Are you ready?"

Legolas pumped an arrow into the chamber of the crossbow. "I am ready."

I pushed the button to open the shuttle door.

Legolas stepped out first and he paused at the doorway, his eyes scanning around the shuttle bay. He listened for sounds.

"Anything?" I asked.

"Nay. There is nothing in here. Come."

I followed Legolas through the debris and when we got closer to the doorway leading out of the shuttle bay, I rushed over to the computer on the wall and pushed the button to call it. "Computer, are you functioning properly?"

"I am functioning at proper levels," came the reply.

"What is the location of Jonathan Warner?"

"Jonathan Warner is deceased."

"Raymond Hawke. What is his location?"

"Raymond Hawke is deceased."

I turned to Legolas in a panic. "Shit. Computer, how many Gateway personnel and visitors are alive on this station?"

"Two."

Two? There were thousands of people on this station. What happened to everyone? "Who are they?"

"Crystal Schuyler and Bishop 46537."

Legolas didn't have an ID chip in his neck so the computer didn't recognize him. Bishop 46537 was a lifelike synthetic. There had been quite a few of them on the station, all looked exactly alike, made in the image of their creator. "Patch me to Bishop."

"Patching. One moment."

"Bishop here," replied the soft voice of the synthetic.

"Bishop, this is Lifesource employee, Crystal Schuyler. I just arrived in a shuttle. What happened? Where is everyone? Did they make it off the station?"

"Unfortunately no. The aliens destroyed the shuttles. Everyone's dead." His voice was dispassionate, as most of the synthetics were.

They were all dead. Everyone on the station. How could it have happened? How could one queen manage to kill over two thousand people? Surely someone would have gotten to the weapons and could have killed her. My thoughts ran rampant. I couldn't think straight.

Legolas moved me aside. "Bishop, where are you?"

"I'm in the Communications Tower. I've been up here for the last two days. I was able to send a message to Earth and I apprised them of the situation. I told them not to send anyone up here because it was already too late to save anyone. Why did you come?"

"How do we get to you?"

"That's not going to be possible. The station is overrun by aliens."

What? Where did they come from? Without any drones, the queen couldn't possibly have produced any eggs. Unless…no, it couldn't be possible. "Bishop, were you aware of any drones kept on the station?"

"Yes. There were three that I knew of. One was killed while the other two managed to escape at around the same time the queen did."

"Bishop, we will try to reach you," said Legolas.

"No, I have weapons. I'll come to you."

"How long?" asked Legolas.

"The trams are all out so it'll take me approximately thirty-seven minutes to reach the main shuttle bay."

"We will be here."

Legolas took me by the arm and pulled me away from the doorway. He glanced around, looking high up on the walls. He spotted a catwalk and dragged me there. I started climbing the ladder and he climbed up after me. Then he crouched at the top, one knee down, crossbow ready to fire at anything that came through the doorway.

"I can't believe it," I said. "All those people. They're all dead. There were over two thousand people here. What could possibly have happened?"

Gateway Station

Bishop checked the power supply in both of his blasters. Then he pulled the manual lever to open the hatch leading to the ladder that led down from the Communications Tower. He mounted the ladder and descended. At the bottom, he crouched and glanced up and down the narrow corridor. It was empty so he proceeded forward, keeping his eyes and ears open for signs or sounds of approaching aliens.

Being a synthetic had its advantages. He had extraordinary strength, excellent vision and hearing, had perfect aim with a weapon and had no human emotions that could hinder whatever task he was assigned. But being a synthetic also had a disadvantage. He couldn't refuse the task of protecting a human. The two humans that had arrived in the shuttle were in danger and he needed to go to them and protect them.

He had no emotions, so he didn't feel sorrow for those he had been unable to protect. He had not even known the situation until he was awakened by the computer to continue his shift. He had been out of commission for the last month for upgrades.

Not able to raise communication with his superior, he had gone to one of the authorized station monitors and punched in for visuals. The images he had received were disturbing. Bloody bodies of people lying in corridors, in restaurants, in shops. Burning equipment, shuttles, trams being doused out by the station's automated fire systems.

Then he received an image of the Arboretum. A horde of aliens worked around eggs and tended to the young bursting from the chests of their hosts.

Bishop had asked the computer for a count of living humans. The computer had replied with a total of fifteen. But the number soon began to decrease by one. Until there were none left. He had asked the computer for a count of Bishop units besides himself. The computer had replied with none. The other three Bishop units on the station had been destroyed.

Showing no fear or apprehension, as he reached a tram station, Bishop proceeded at a steady jog along the tracks used by the trams. He headed in the general direction of the main shuttle bay where the two humans were.

Every once in a while, an alien popped out of nowhere to give chase. He simply turned and shot at it with one of his blasters. Luckily the station structure was made of titanium, a substance discovered a while back to be impervious to the affects of the alien acid blood. If the station had been constructed of any other element, the structure would have long since been breached and the vacuum of space would have sucked everything out before the entire station buckled under the extreme pressure.

Gateway Station

The queen had stopped producing eggs over the last few days. There were no more hosts. Only fresh meat to feed the young ones. Instinct told her that more would eventually come. It was only a matter of time.

And then she sensed the one from whom she had been connected to. The being was here. But he was not happy for her, not like the others in her hive. She had been able to communicate with him before and then he was gone for a while. It was during that time that she grew and produced eggs. Now the being was back and she sensed that he wanted to kill her.

The queen sneered and hissed, saliva dripping freely from her massive jaws. Her Elven ears twitched and she called out to him…challenging him to come and fight, if he could get passed her brood.

The silent order was given. Several drones raced off in search of the being their queen sought.

Gateway Station
(Legolas's POV)

A challenge…

I stood up from where I crouched upon the platform, understanding the images coming to me as if they were words spoken clearly…as if the creature was in the same room. The queen was challenging me to come and kill her. "She knows I am here."

Ariedel was seated nearby. "The queen?"

"She is challenging me."

"Well, who gives a rat's ass what she wants. As soon as Bishop gets here, we're headed for Lab B and then we're out of here."

I still did not comprehend how we would get to Middle Earth from this facility, but I did not want to appear as if I was not intelligent enough to understand. Ariedel and I had this conversation before and I hated feeling helpless and inferior by asking too many questions. It was such a stupid thing on my part because this world of hers was so different from my own, but my ego tended to get in the way, as usual. "Would you consider we get back into the shuttle and go back to Earth?" I asked her.

She looked up at me, perhaps to determine whether I jested or not. "No. I want to take you home."

"Thank you for confirming it. I had almost forgotten why we were doing this. Believe me, I have no desire to encounter these creatures again. But if I have to, I will."

Ariedel smiled. "You're getting over your fear already. See?"

"Who said I was over it? I simply said I would confront them if I had to. And it appears that we more than likely will."

Ariedel turned wide-eyed toward the doorway leading out of the chamber. "Are they coming?"

"The queen has dispatched her warriors to search for me. I will be a hindrance to you and Bishop."

"What're you getting at, Legolas?"

"You mentioned that you must go to Lab B to program the trans…trans…" I could not remember the device's name.

"Translocator," said Ariedel.

"Aye, the translocator. Perhaps the best course is for you to go to Lab B with Bishop, program the translocator and then rendezvous back with me. I can divert the creatures away from your destination."

"Are you crazy? You can't hold them off here on your own. There were over two thousand people on this station. That means there has to be almost that many aliens running around."

"If I go with you, they will follow us. I do not know how long it will take you to program the device, but whether I remain here or go with you, I will no doubt be trapped somewhere when they come for me. I would rather you not be with me if that happens."

Ariedel stood up and reached for my arm. "We're in this together. I can't abandon you. If you get yourself killed then what's the point of me programming the translocator to take me alone to Middle Earth. I'm not going without you."

I sighed heavily because I knew that I would not win this battle. Ariedel was a very stubborn female. My own stubbornness would not accept the fact that she was capable of fighting these creatures as well. She had done it before in other situations, of which I was still disbelieving of. But with the appropriate weapons, we would prevail. "We will need weapons then."

"We'll find some."

My ears picked up the sound of running footsteps. "Someone approaches." I turned the crossbow and aimed it at the doorway. A man stepped through it and I targeted his chest with the crossbow. "Is that Bishop?"

"Yes," she said as she quickly headed down the ladder.

I followed after her. "Bishop, what the hell happened?" asked Ariedel.

The man named Bishop approached her and I noticed several weapons hanging from straps on his shoulders. As I approached, I sensed something odd about him. What I sensed was nothing and that was why it was odd. He had no heartbeat, no pulse. There was no sweat, no scent. I reached for Ariedel's arm and pulled her back before she reached him.

Ariedel looked at me as if I had lost my senses. "What?" she asked.

I eyed Bishop suspiciously. "He is not human."

"You're right about that," replied Bishop. "I'm a synthetic. Although some of us like to be referred to as an artificial person rather than an android or synthetic."

"Artificial person?" I asked in confusion.

Ariedel rolled her eyes and grabbed my arm. "Oh, never mind. I'll explain it later. Bishop, this is my husband, Legolas. Legolas this is Bishop."

Bishop eyed me as well. "You are not human either."

"Bishop, what happened here?" she asked impatiently before I could respond.

"I checked the databanks and it appears that a young queen was being held in Observation Chamber C while three drones were in Observation Chamber A. The computer clocked Director Jonathan Warner's death at 11:45am two weeks ago."

Ariedel turned to me in surprise. "That's when we left the station."

"After that the computer recorded the deaths of station personnel and visitors. The dates and times were random. The computer also recorded the destruction of the other three Bishop units on the station. I had been awakened by the computer to begin my shift at that point."

"Awakened?" asked Ariedel.

"I was receiving system updates. We get them on a quarterly basis. Anyway, by the time I was awakened, it was already too late. The aliens had already taken control of everyone on the station. The last few survivors had already been impregnated and I knew I wasn't going to reach them in time."

I frowned. "How could this have happened? I thought there were measures to prevent the creatures from escaping their chambers."

Bishop shrugged indifferently. "The precautions had no effect. Apparently two of the drones killed the third and used the alien's acid blood to burn a hole into the Plexiglas. We've also never had a queen in captivity before. Director Warner obviously underestimated her power, even as young as the computer recorded her age to be."

I shook my head in anger. "And what about weapons? No one had the ability to kill them once they began to multiply?"

"The weapons room is off limits to anyone except Director Warner."

"And he was obviously the first one to go," added Ariedel.

I could not remove the disgruntled look from my face. "I had predicted that this would happen and I warned him when he had me restrained to the chair in that chamber. I could have done something then."

"Legolas, don't even think to blame yourself for this. We left without any knowledge of what was going on here."

"Nay, Ariedel. I sensed something was wrong. I felt it as we left the station. This could have been prevented had I listened to my instincts."

She caressed my arm in an attempt to comfort me, but I was grief-stricken over what had happened on the station. I recalled the young girl on the tram a while ago who had asked why I had pointed ears. She was dead…just like everyone else whose identities I never had the opportunity to know.

Just then the sound of claws on tiles reached my ears and I stiffened. "They are coming. We must leave now."

"Then let's go," said Bishop. "Your shuttle's the only one still functioning."

"We're not leaving the station, Bishop." Ariedel pointed to the doorway. "We're headed for Lab B."

"Lab B? Why?"

"I need to program a translocator to take us to Middle Earth."

Bishop looked from Ariedel to me and then back to her. "I'm not familiar with that place."

"I mean SR-682. If you want, you can take the shuttle and leave or you can come with us. The choice is yours, Bishop."

Bishop sighed. "I'll go with you, but we really have to hurry. The US Colonial Marines will be here in three point sixteen hours. They've been ordered by President Stewart to destroy the station without recourse."

"Oh, great. Just what we need."

I crossed my arms impatiently. "Are we going or what? I can hear them coming."

Bishop removed one of the weapons from his shoulder strap and handed it to Ariedel. He eyed my crossbow with appreciation and then led the way out through the doorway.

We had only gotten several feet before the first wave of creatures bounded around the corner toward us. I raised my crossbow and fired multiple arrows, killing two of the creatures. Both Ariedel and Bishop fired their weapons, which created blinding blue flashes and dispatched two others. More crawled over the dead bodies of their kind and kept coming.

"Looks like we're going to have to take the long way," said Bishop.

We abandoned the path where the creatures were coming from and ran in the opposite direction. I whirled around and shot arrows at the advancing creatures. All of my arrows hit their targets, but there were so many coming at us.

"Bishop, the Hovers!"

"Good thinking."

When I whirled back around to run forward again, both Ariedel and Bishop had disappeared through a doorway. I followed them into another large chamber. This one contained what appeared to be smaller shuttles. Ariedel rushed inside one. I turned to the doorway of the chamber and shot at the creatures that poured inside. They reminded me of a swarm of beetles emerging from a fissure.

"Legolas!" yelled Bishop.

I scooted backward, still firing arrows from my crossbow. Then I ducked to enter the small shuttle. Bishop pushed in after me. Ariedel helped me with the door as Bishop took the controls. The sound of banging outside of the transport echoed within.

"They are on us," I yelled to Bishop as I stared out the front window. One of the creatures was clinging to the outside and hissing at us. I felt the shuttle lift from the ground.

"Better hold on to something," said Bishop calmly with all the patience I lacked.

I watched as Ariedel grabbed anything stationary to hold on to and I did likewise just as the shuttle flipped completely upside down. We had to move our feet along the sides and finally the ceiling of the shuttle to keep standing. When I looked at the window, the creature was gone, followed by several other thuds my ears picked up.

Bishop righted the shuttle once again and advanced toward the doorway.

"He means to fly this through the narrow corridors?" I asked in amazement. And then we passed the doorway and started moving swiftly through the corridor. I moved to the back to look out of a small window. Some of the creatures were giving chase, but they were not fast enough to keep up with the vehicle and soon gave up.

Gateway Station
(Ariedel's POV)

I stood behind Bishop as he steered the Hover through the corridors of the station. The smaller crafts were mainly used outside of the station by maintenance personnel. The front of it had prehensile arms that were capable of doing delicate wire work not able to be done by humans wearing heavy space gloves. The hovers didn't have the capacity to withstand atmospheric entry, so they couldn't be used for planet hopping like the shuttles were. They were also not meant to be flown through the narrow corridors of the station. But I had to hand it to Bishop. He tried to keep the Hover from continuously bumping the walls, but sometimes it just wasn't possible whenever a sharp corner came up ahead.

Legolas came to stand beside me. "They have stopped pursuing."

"Don't worry. There'll be more," I added.

Then his eyes narrowed as he suddenly looked down at the floor in a panic. "Something moves beneath us."

"That can't be good," replied Bishop. I turned to find Bishop staring blankly at the controls which had suddenly blinked out. "And neither can this," he quickly added.

"Tis tearing into the bottom!" yelled Legolas.

"I've lost control," Bishop piped in a voice far too calm for the situation.

Without control the Hover slammed hard into the right side of the corridor before it slammed hard into the left side. Legolas and I lost our balance and went flying to the floor. Then the Hover lost power completely and it dropped from the air. It hit the ground, continuing its forward motion. I couldn't grab anything fast enough to stop myself from tumbling around as the Hover hopped and shifted to its side. Then it finally crashed into something immobile. I flew forward, hitting the back of Bishop's head and came in contact with the windshield. Luckily it didn't shatter or I would have gone through it.

When the dust settled and I was able to move my limbs, I crawled forward and found Legolas starting to move. Bishop unhooked himself from the chair and scrambled to the back where he forced the escape hatch open. The three of us crawled out, dragging our weapons with us and then stared at the crashed Hover.

"So much for getting to Lab B quicker," I said as I glanced down the corridor we had come. There were scattered pieces of the alien which had disabled the Hover as it had clung to the bottom of it. We had crashed into the wall of the corridor where it had ended at a T.

"This way," said Bishop.

Legolas glanced down the corridor one last time to make sure nothing was following us. Then he jogged behind Bishop and I.

Middle-Earth – Mirkwood

Aragorn had never been to the Elf king's home, much less the realm of Mirkwood. He had imagined that it would be situated on some tall tree in the middle of the forest, much like Lady Galadriel's celestial palace in Lothlorien. He had not been prepared to find that Thranduil lived in underground caverns. Oddly enough, even though Aragorn had known Legolas almost all of his mortal life, the Elf had never shared stories of his homeland. Aragorn was not one to pry, so he never asked. Legolas was intensely fond of the outdoors, especially the trees, and this was why Aragorn imagined Legolas and his father to live among the branches.

As he walked through the cavern corridors, Aragorn found the Elf king in one of the upper halls. The chamber was empty of anyone else.

Thranduil sat on a chair at a large table, his gaze resting on a bowl of grapes and apples. He remembered his son was quite fond of grapes and the memory sent a sharp pain through his heart that made him gasp. He was well aware of Aragorn's presence in the hall and chose to ignore the king of Gondor for the moment while he fought to control the tears that brimmed his eyes. There was so much he had wanted to tell Legolas. He assumed he had an eternity in which to do it. But his son had been snatched from him in the prime of his life, never to know the pride and fulfillment of having his own children. There was nothing left to tie him to Middle Earth. His wife was gone and so was his son.

Aragorn stood quietly in the center of the hall, waiting for Thranduil to acknowledge him. The Elf king had been solemn over the last few months since returning to Mirkwood, especially after the memorial service held by Gandalf. There hadn't been a dry eye in the crowd that had gathered. All that had known Legolas had been affected by him in some way or another. Even though Legolas had only been wed to the mortal woman, Ariedel, for a short time, a statue had been erected for her next to the one for Legolas. Ariedel's father had attended the service and was currently locked away in his guest room, not wishing to speak to anyone.

"Free yourself of the guilt, Aragorn," Thranduil finally broke the silence.

Aragorn hadn't been able to rid himself of the guilt of sending his friend to his death. As a king, he shouldn't be feeling guilt. A king was expected to send his troops to battle and knew that lives would be lost. It was expected. Legolas sacrificed himself so Middle Earth could be rid of the creatures that had threatened the lives of those in Middle Earth. "Tis a difficult thing," replied Aragorn with a lump in his throat.

Thranduil looked up. "I will be heading to the Grey Havens in two days. From there I will sail to Valinor."

Aragorn nodded. "I understand."

"Mirkwood will have no king and there is no prince or princess to take my place."

"Lord Elrond says that the time for the Elves is coming to an end."

"It may be true. However, Elves will continue to live in these lands, but they will not be ruled by mortal kings."

Aragorn stepped closer and took a seat opposite the woodland Elf king at the table. "Your son never wanted to rule."

"I know it. His spirit was free, like his mother's. He had no desire to be the center of attention. He hated when I threw lavish celebrations for visiting dignitaries because he was never one for diplomatic talks. It bored him to tears." Thranduil sighed heavily. "He desired to be out battling the threats to our kingdom." He looked up at Aragorn. "He did not even realize that he helped bridge the gap between Elves and Dwarves."

Aragorn nodded again.

"The Dwarf, Gimli could have easily thought to kill me. I had imprisoned his father, Glóin long ago. If not for Legolas, I never would have seen the error of my ways."

"He will be remembered as legend for all eternity."

"My only hope now is that Legolas will be restored in Valinor. But only the Valar can make that decision."

They remained silent for a long time after that until Aragorn finally stood up and walked around the table. He placed a hand on the Elf king's shoulder. "I must return to Gondor now. May you find peace in the Undying Lands, Thranduil."

Thranduil looked up and nodded as he put his hand over Aragorn's. "I shall, Aragorn, my friend."

Aragorn left Thranduil to his thoughts. He knew his company was ready to depart Mirkwood. They had been there for months in preparation for Legolas's memorial. Now that it was over, it was time to go home. Although Arwen was still not due to have their child for another month, he wanted to get her home and comfortable. Long rides were not exactly healthy for expectant mothers.

But before Aragorn left, he wanted to visit the memorial one last time. He walked down the underground corridors and after exiting the Great Gates, he crossed the bridge over the Forest River. He followed a path in the woods to a small meadow surrounded by trees. A tall statue of Legolas stood in the center. Off to the side was a smaller statue of Ariedel.

On the grass surrounding the statues were gifts left by family and friends. Aragorn glanced around and found Gimli seated at a bench near the trees. He was busy studying an elderly woman near Ariedel's statue. Aragorn also noticed Arwen standing near Legolas's statue, her head lowered.

Arwen turned as Aragorn approached. She had tears in her eyes and he gently wiped at her cheeks. "There is something missing," she said softly.

"What is missing?"

"I did not feel his essence depart this world. He dwells not in the Halls of Mandos."

Aragorn frowned slightly. He knew his Elf bride was very sensitive to such things, but he wasn't entirely sure what she meant. "But he is gone."

"He may be gone, but he did not leave through death."

Aragorn's attention was drawn by the elderly woman kneeling at Ariedel's statue. She was emptying a sack and laying things on the ground at the statue's feet. Then she stood and walked away. He turned back to Arwen. "We must go now, Arwen. I will get Gimli."

Arwen nodded and glanced one last time at the statue of Legolas, the Elf prince of Mirkwood. Then she watched as Aragorn walked to Gimli.

"Aragorn, are we departing for Gondor?" asked Gimli at Aragorn's approach.

"Aye, Gimli. We must leave now."

Gimli nodded sadly. The normally cheerful Dwarf had felt somber ever since the news of his Elf friend's death. He was going to miss him terribly. What had started as malice toward the Elf when the fellowship began over a year ago, turned out to be true friendship in a way he had never known. Legolas had shown him the beauty in things he never would have thought to look. He had enjoyed verbally sparring with the Elf and would miss those moments the most.

Aragorn curiously stepped over to the statue of Ariedel. Something shiny caught the light of the sun above. It was an item that the elderly woman had set down at the foot of the statue. The item was like nothing he had ever seen before.

Gimli walked over to stand beside me. "What do you see, Aragorn?"

"Who was that woman that was just here?"

"She was Alma, the handmaiden to Legolas's mortal bride."

Aragorn crouched down and picked up the shiny square metallic object. There were two circles embedded in the center, blue and red. Like jewels, but not quite. There was also writing on the other side. The letters were written in Common Speech. Although he knew the language well, the words were very strange and he read them carefully: Lifesource Transmutator. He had never heard of the words before. He wondered what they meant.

Gimli moved closer to inspect the object in Aragorn's hands. "What is it?"

"I know not what it is," replied Aragorn.

Gimli placed his hand on Aragorn's arm. "It is a sorcerer's stone. Do not touch it."

"I doubt it very much if it was in Ariedel's possession. She was no sorceress." Aragorn turned the object over once again and accidentally pressed his thumb over the blue stone.

Arwen had started walking to the path leading back to Thranduil's caverns when a light caught her eye. She turned around in time to see a bright light engulf Aragorn and Gimli. When the light vanished, they were both gone.