The next morning, Elizabette awoke with a feeling of anxiety. The contentment and security of the night before had vanished. She hurried to the dining hall for breakfast.
Legolas was already there. She took the seat next to him. Few people were there and no one protested.
She ate quickly, then went to see Súláríl. He had picked up on her worry and asked,
Why are you so nervous?
Something has happened. The disease gets stronger. We must stop it before more die.
When can we depart?
Elizabette was surprised. Do you agree with me?
Yes. Ask Legolas whether he feels the apprehension.
Elizabette left to find Legolas. He was in his bedchamber.
"Legolas?" she asked, knocking.
He opened the door. "Elizabette? What is the matter?"
She shivered. "Legolas, the evil powers of the disease are stronger. Something happened and I can sense it."
"Are you certain?"
"Yes."
"We had best speak with Lord Elrond. I will come."
Elizabette waited while Legolas put on his white knife and led the way.
Elrond seemed to have been expecting them. He sat at his desk.
Elizabette curtsied and Legolas bowed. "Be seated," said Elrond.
Legolas glanced at Elizabette as they took their seats. She nodded. "My Lord," she said, "I have felt that something is awry. I believe that something has happened with the disease."
Elrond sighed. "You are correct, Elizabette," he said. "I had felt it also and wondered if you would. The power of the disease has grown. Soon it will overpower us all."
"What must we do?" asked Legolas, though he knew already.
"You must seek the source and destroy it. I shall tell you all that I know, but I do not know much."
Elizabette looked at Legolas. He saw fear in her eyes.
Elrond continued, "We know that it is somewhere in Mirkwood. I also believe that it is in the southern part of the forest, somewhere near Dol Guldur."
Legolas shuddered at the name.
"Yet Mirkwood is a big place," Elrond resumed, "and it would take you many weeks to find it if we had no further information. Fortunately we do. There is a seldom- used road that runs to Dol Guldur. About fifty leagues from the river Anduin, you will come to a fork. The left path will lead to Dol Guldur. The right will lead to a small fortress. There you will find the source of this evil."
"How will we find it?" asked Legolas.
"That I do not know. You shall know when you come to it."
"How do you know this?" asked Elizabette.
"Do not forget that I have foresight and can see many things, my child," he said. "I am sorry that I cannot tell you more."
Elizabette sighed. "How will we stop the evil?" she asked.
Elrond shook his head. "I do not know. You will find a way."
Elizabette again glanced at Legolas but this time he could not read her gaze.
"When should we leave, My Lord?" asked Legolas.
"As soon as possible. I shall have provisions set out for you."
---
When at length they left Elrond's study, Legolas and Elizabette returned to their bedchambers. Elizabette stowed her things in her pack. She laid both it and her sword on her bed.
Legolas knocked lightly on her door. "Are you there, Elizabette?"
"Yes. You can come in."
He entered and took a seat on her bed. "Do you wish to do this?"
Elizabette sighed. "No," she replied. "But I must. If we do not complete this task, the elves will all die. And so will we," she added after a pause.
Legolas' blue gaze caught hers. "What will you do once the task is complete?"
Elizabette looked down. "I know not," she said. "I do not wish to return to my own world. But I still do not feel that I belong here. Everything is so strange to me."
"You could come to Valinor," suggested Legolas.
Elizabette shrugged. "I will decide later," she replied. She sat on the bed next to the elf. "I am frightened," she admitted a minute later. "You have done things more dangerous before, but I have not."
Legolas slipped his arm around her shoulders. "Yes," he said, "but I am also frightened. No other disease has the evil power to kill elves."
Elizabette stared at him, realizing something. There was dull horror in her eyes. "No," she said. "It is not a disease."
Legolas frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked.
Elizabette shuddered. "I just realized it. Have you seen any of the elves after they have died?"
Legolas nodded. "Yes," he said. "I watched the burial."
Elizabette closed her eyes. "It is not a disease," she repeated. "Did you not notice that they bled from every orifice in their heads? This is not a disease. It is some evil power that turns their insides to blood."
Legolas frowned again. "What do you mean?"
"The power... It melts their insides and the blood must escape. That is why they die so soon. They cannot eat because where would the food go? Their stomach is gone."
Legolas stared, beginning to understand but wishing that he did not. "That is horrible," he whispered. "There are no words for this."
Elizabette's eyes filled with tears. "All of that blood..."
Legolas embraced her. "How can we do this?" he asked. "If there is some power that turns insides to blood..."
Elizabette frowned suddenly, realizing something else. "Even though I stopped the progress of the disease... If those elves have no insides, they will die anyway. I know not exactly how much I healed. I have the power to save them if they have only been ill for a few days... But I cannot restore their insides."
Legolas closed his eyes. "Does Lord Elrond know about this?" he asked.
"Yes," said Elizabette. "I think that he does."
"Why did he not tell us?"
Elizabette shuddered. "I think that he did not wish to alarm us." After a moment she asked, "Where are the others that came here with us?"
"I have seen a few of them, and most were at the feast," replied Legolas. "Will we ask them to come with us?"
Elizabette shook her head, golden curls slipping over her face. These revelations frightened her beyond anything that she had felt before. "No," she said. "If they wish to return to Mirkwood they can come so far, but we will not ask them to come to this place, Dol Guldur. We should not tell them what this disease does. Unless I miss my guess, they do not know."
---
They left as soon as they could get enough provisions to last the trip. Six of the elves that had come wished to return to Mirkwood. The others stayed at the House of Elrond.
Elrond said farewell to them in his study. "I see that you have discovered the powers of this evil," he said. Legolas nodded but did not speak. Elizabette did not move. "Know that it will not harm you if only you walk near it. But you must be careful, for if one of you falls ill, the other will not be able to complete the task."
Legolas and Elizabette left with the six other elves. They rode side by side at the front.
Súláríl was horrified to learn of the terrible power. We must stop this, he said. Think of King Thranduil dying of this.
I think that that is what Legolas is thinking of, replied Elizabette, glancing at the elf's taut face.
What will you do?
About the king? We can do nothing. I cannot help him. It has already been too long.
---
When they arrived at the river Anduin, Legolas and Elizabette left the rest of the elves. They followed the river southward until they reached the path that Elrond had spoken of.
On the sixth night from Imladris, Legolas sighted the path. Squinting ahead in the dim light, Elizabette saw it also. She looked at Legolas, and he saw that her eyes were filled with fear.
What should I do? he asked Silrocca.
Are you not frightened also?
Well do you know it.
You must help her, Silrocca replied.
How?
You will discover that soon.
---
Legolas dared to light a fire that night at their camp. The trees along the path were sparse, but there were more than they had seen for several days. Elizabette huddled close to the flames, wrapped in her own thoughts. Neither spoke much, concentrating on the task ahead.
As the fire died and they prepared for sleep, Legolas said,
"Elizabette, wear your sword tomorrow. I feel that you may need it."
She nodded mutely. Looking at her expression, Legolas came over to her. "Elizabette? Are you frightened?"
"More than I have ever been before," she replied softly. Legolas knew that she would not admit that to anyone else, save perhaps Elrond.
He sat beside her. She leaned back against him as he put his arm around her back. "So am I," he murmured. "But we can do this. We must."
"Yes," she said, "but I do not see how."
"Perhaps it will come clear as we near it," he said.
"Perhaps." She smiled slightly, feeling contented for the first time in many days. "Legolas," she said. "What do-" She was interrupted by a lone howl, close enough to chill her bones.
Her eyes went wide. She and Legolas sprang to their feet. Legolas drew an arrow and fitted it to his bow with impossible fluid swiftness. After staring into the darkness for a split second, he loosed it. Another howl came, but this one seemed to be of pain rather than menace.
Legolas drew another arrow. "There seem to be no more wolves," he said, "but we must watch. I shall watch first."
"Are you certain?" asked Elizabette.
"Yes. Go to sleep. I shall wake you halfway through the night."
Elizabette lay down and closed her eyes, trying to sleep.
---
When morning finally came, Legolas walked to where the wolves had been. He found no sign of either his arrows or the wolves.
He and Elizabette rode on, but they were wary and had their weapons ready for any danger.
They saw nothing. They reached the fork in the path by mid- afternoon. Riding at a quick trot, they neared the forest.
Elizabette was not anxious to enter the dim forest again. In truth, Legolas was not either. Anything can come up behind us, he thought. I prefer the open, Wood- elf though I am.
There is more cover in the forest, replied Silrocca. For both us and our enemies, she added after a moment.
---
They saw no sign of any life. Both were unnerved by the silence. No bird calls broke the silence, no squirrels scampered up the trees.
"Legolas," Elizabette said at their camp that evening, "I do not like the quiet. There should be some sound here. I feel as if we were being watched." She stared at the fire as if hoping that an answer would come from it.
"Yes," replied Legolas after a moment, "You are correct. The silence has an unnatural quality. Perhaps we are nearing our destination."
Elizabette sighed. "That should be a good thing," she said. "But it does not comfort me."
Legolas smiled. "No," he said, "but at least our journey is not prolonged. Nírë nat i quamë nauva oat met," he added after a moment.
Elizabette glanced up from the flames. "What did you say?" she inquired.
" 'I hope that the disease will spare us'," he translated softly, looking at her. "Remember what Elrond said..."
" 'If one of you falls ill, the other will not be able to complete the task...' But did he not say that we could not catch the disease by coming near to its source?" asked Elizabette.
"He did," responded Legolas. "Yet, do not forget that the elves in Mirkwood fell ill first... because the source is in Mirkwood."
Elizabette looked up at him. Her gray eyes, now filled with suppressed fear, caught his blue ones. "Legolas?" she asked. "Are you frightened of what happened to your father?"
Legolas nodded slowly. "Yes," he said. "I am also sorry that I shall never see him again." He looked away.
"I am sorry," said Elizabette softly. After a moment, she continued, "Perhaps you were correct. Perhaps I should have told you of my dream."
Legolas looked back at her. "No, I was wrong," he answered. "Even if you had told me, I could have done nothing." He shuddered and blinked quickly.
Elizabette caught the motion, though most would have seen nothing. "Legolas... What will we do now? We are in the forest, and we will soon reach the fortress. What do we do? What can we do against a power this great?" she asked despairingly.
Legolas shook his head. "I do not know," he said. "All that I know is that we must do it. If we do not, everyone will die."
"What do you think will happen if we do destroy the source?" Elizabette asked thoughtfully. "Will the disease end, or will those that are already ill die anyway?"
Legolas shrugged his shoulders. "I do not know, Elizabette. How can anyone know?"
She looked upward at the stars overhead that sprinkled the sky like diamonds scattered on ebony velvet. "The stars are so bright," she whispered musingly to herself. "So much brighter than at home..."
Legolas' keen ears caught her comment. "Your world is dirty," he said. "The very air is laden with fumes."
"Yes," Elizabette replied, "that is one of the reasons that I like Middle- Earth."
---
Sorry, sorry sorry it's been so long. I've had four tests in the last two days, two cello lessons, and this afternoon, a very draining audition for Chamber orchestra... and yeah. I've been busy. I don't feel like writing replies, so thanks to:
Yellow Peanutbutter Ruler, bandgeeks101(My fiftieth reviewer!), Thepielord, Jenn, Lady Keshanna of the Night, Celtic Cross (Sorry sorry sorry Amanda: I thought I posted but it turned out I didn't ;), IwishChan.
If I forgot you, I'm sorry. I've got the feeling that I missed someone...
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And one last thing: Of all the people who put me on their favorites pages, I've only ever received reviews from seven of you... and of author alerts... nine of you. Just drop me a review, will you? I want to know what you think. Even if it's only a couple words.