A bit late, but here´s chapter 25. Thanks to all who read and of course to those who reviewed ((hugs!).This chapter has only been beta-ed by myself. Please excuse any mistakes.
Enjoy the read!
Alina
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: Not mine
Truce and Dare
Slowly, the air began to warm.
The light that crept across the glittering snow lost its grey tinge and took on a pale shade of red. Soon it would bathe the landscape in a spectacular array of fiery colours.
Léod had never dreaded a sunrise before, but he did so now. He could feel the small specks of ice that his wild ride had flung onto his face melt and wondered whether this was because of his body heat or the growing strength of the sun.
He had finally reached the wooden fence and kept yelling for someone to let him in, but the only one who reacted to him was Beakon, for the great dog had joined his side and gazed up at him as if trying to determine his usefulness.
The young ranger galloped along the fence, still calling as he looked for a gate. He had realized with a sinking feeling that climbing the wooden structure would be almost impossible, for the poles were sharpened on top and leaned outwards, thus preventing easy access. The fence looked fresh, as if it had been erected only a short while ago.
"Quite some defence for such a small village!" he muttered in frustration and Beakon gave a sharp bark that sounded like consent. The human was about to reply when suddenly he caught sight of a path that led towards the settlement. He had not been able to see it before as it lay opposite to the side he had approached first.
Leaning down on his horse´s neck he urged the beast into full speed again. He risked one glance over his shoulder and could clearly see Legolas outlined against the lightening skies. The elf stood so still he looked like a statue, the bow held at his left with an arrow already loosely fitted to the string. Léod knew that his new friend´s stillness could erupt into deadly activity any moment. And as the sun began to rise, he was running out of time.
xxx
The human was not going to make it.
Legolas had suspected as much from the beginning but had welcomed the hope to escape the deadly choice he had to make. For a fleeting moment he wondered whether he would put Léod at risk by shooting the hangman. It would be fairly obvious that the young human belonged with him.
Shaking his head lightly he chased the thought from his mind. The ranger knew what he was doing and had freely offered his help. Now was not the time to worry for his well-being.
At the horizon, soft red light began to spread as if leaking from a hidden candle. It bled upwards into the skies and downwards across the snow. Its center grew in strength and seemed to draw some of the red glow back towards itself. Shimmering and flickering the sun´s rim pushed past the world´s shadow and more light burst from it, sending rays of red racing ahead as messengers of a new day.
Legolas shifted his gaze, his muscles tightening in anticipation. A wordless plea escaped a woman´s lips, but it was not heeded. The elf banned the heart-wretching sound from his awareness and focused on Bowder´s face as he stood high upon the gallows. A man almost as large as himself stepped behind him and placed the noose around his neck, but the tall human´s eyes did not close.
Legolas slowly lifted his bow. Almost reluctantly, he shifted his gaze to the hangman. The human did not wear a hood. His expression was tense, without the leer that the elf had almost hoped to see. Instead, there was a quiet sadness there, a despair that was at odds with his actions.
His heart beating faster, the archer´s sharp eyes sought out the spot at the hangman´s neck he would aim for. His fingers gently traced the fledges along his arrow in a tender gesture he had acquired as an elfling, hoping it would convince the sleek weapon to fly true. Yet today, his soul was not into it. He was not sure he wanted to kill this human.
He was not sure.
Legolas could feel his movements freeze. His doubts broke into his concentration and the quiet wall around him toppled, allowing the woman´s sobs to reach him again. To his mind there was a hidden accusation in the sounds, and when they rose to a pitiful wail he acted without even being aware of the choice he had made.
There was a sickening crunch and the elf could see Bowder´s eyes widen as the ground dropped away beneath him. The rope attached to his neck straightened, soaked red by the light of the sun, but just before it had stretched completely it shuddered. Rotating swiftly, an arrowhead burrowed itself into the soft structure, ripping it apart.
A second arrow followed less than a heartbeat later, then a third. The fourth landed squarely at the hangman´s feet, quivering lightly in warning when the man let out a shout of surprise and made a step away from the hole in the scaffolding where Bowder had just disappeared. Above, the severed rope swung wildly as if still bearing an unseen burden.
Shouts erupted from the crowd, most of them in cheers, but some in anger.
Legolas swiftly strung a fifth arrow, his eyes searching the human faces that looked around in confusion. Many had turned into his direction, and fingers were being pointed. Yet the elf could detect no weapon being aimed at him and thus he simply stood upon the hill, bathed in the growing light of a new day, and waited.
xxx
Léod let out a shout of dismay when he heard the woman cry out in fear. He had heard this sound before, and he had no doubt that it meant he had failed. Even though he had just reached the wooden gate of the village, he had come too late.
Beakon barked frantically at his side, drowning out all other sounds. Turning in his saddle and raising himself in his stirrups, the young ranger sought out Legolas on the hill and his heart bled when he saw an arrow fly, then another. And another.
He could not make out the elf´s face, but he had sensed the reluctance beneath his new friend´s determination to save the doomed man. It had not been a reluctance to act but a reluctance to kill, and Léod could sympathise with that feeling for he knew it well. Yet the world sometimes narrowed one´s choices.
Unbidden, Tracker´s face appeared before the human´s inner eye. It was a smiling face, showing the many wrinkles around his mentor´s eyes that had deepened when he laughed. Léod almost flinched at the image, his heart burning. Some choices were dreadful indeed.
Before he had time to ponder his feelings, he heard the distinctive thunder of hooves from within the village. He had just time to turn his horse out of the way when the gates were opened and a group of riders burst from them, turning right and clearly heading for Legolas.
Léod could make out a man in heavy robes at the head of the riders, a more gruff man at his side wearing an expression of intense anger. The rest of the group consisted of armed men, and two stopped beside the young ranger. Before they could speak, Léod nodded his head. "Aye, I am part of this", he confirmed without being asked, "and I take it we should not stay behind."
The men did not try to hinder him when he spurred his horse to follow the others, yet they joined at either side of him in a gesture that was clearly meant to warn him. With a sinking feeling in his stomach, Léod galloped up the hill he had just descended in a similar hurry.
Legolas had not moved from his spot at the top of the hill and did not seem about to do so. He simply stood, his bow at his side. Several arrows still stuck in the snow at his side, throwing long shadows, but the elf did not reach for them, not even when one rider broke free ahead and yelled angrily at him.
"That´s the one!" The man´s voice oozed hatred so thickly that Léod almost expected black spittle to fly from his mouth. "He killed my son, the pointy-eared bastard! We shall have a double hanging by tomorrow!"
All Legolas did was incline his head to the side in a thoughtful gesture. He did not flinch when the angry man galloped directly at him. The other men began to call for the lone rider to stop, but he did not heed them. Even though his speed was hampered because his horse had to struggle up the hill, Léod felt a growing apprehension. It was clear that the man meant to ride Legolas down, and the ranger could not understand the elf´s calm in the situation.
The yelling rider had almost reached the crest of the hill when suddenly there was movement beside Legolas. First one rider appeared by his side, then a second and a third. Their long hair shimmered in the bright morning light and their stance was as unmoving as Legolas´ had been.
The angry man pulled his horse to a slithering stop, his shouts dying on his lips in surprise, and one of the newly arrived riders turned to look at him. Then he slowly rode ahead to meet the rest of the humans, his hand raised in greeting.
"Mae govannen, friends", Erestor said quietly, "it seems we have arrived in time to help solve a dispute."
xxx
"You cannot let them go like this!"
This time spittle did fly, Léod noticed with disgust, even though it was not black.
"Calm yourself, Marhen!" The small town´s mayor stood up and paced the room again, as he done many times before. His nervousness was apparent, but so was his anger with the wiry man whose temper was flaring up again.
"It has been proven today that your accusations against Bowder were false. Is it not enough for you to have almost condemned one innocent man to death?"
"Pah!" Marhen stood too, his face defiant. "Slawn would have never left me in the middle of the night had he not been forced to do so! And I was correct that my son was killed, was I not?" He pointed accusingly towards a still figure that lay upon the floor, covered by a blanket.
Léod was still slightly baffled by the way things had developed. It seemed that Bowder, the man who had almost been hanged today, had been accused of assisting in the killing a man who had in reality been slaughtered in the attack on the refugees´ camp. So far, the elves had not given away anything about werewolves, clearly deeming this detail not helpful in the matter.
"Slawn was not killed by Bowder!" The mayor´s voice rose angrily. "And neither has one of the elves murdered him. We have witnesses who claim he was slain while he attacked them. I can see now, Marhen, what made you so valiantly argue against us accepting the refugees into our village."
Marhen turned towards the other, his eyes blazing. "So now I am the culprit, am I? You followed my advice willingly enough before. All I did was keep this rotten place safe! Have you not heard that many other villages have been raided? But not this one, as we see. Not this one. And only because I warned you. Only because I persuaded you to build that fence."
"And how, I am asking, did you know about attacks that came as a surprise to everybody else?"
The voice that asked this question was deep and strong despite the low rasp in it. Bowder did not rise as the two opponents had done, and still he easily drew the attention of all in the room. The slight burn marks about his neck were all that bore evidence to his close encounter with death this day, and his eyes were calm.
"I wonder, Marhen. When my wife and I took you in to save you from the elements you said you had been hunting. And yet you bore nothing to support that claim. Not even one dead rabbit."
The thin man´s face paled, only to be flooded with crimson red a heartbeat later. "Forgive me for leaving my prey behind when my life was at stake!" He looked around the room angrily. "Who will you believe? Who will you strike a truce with? Me, a friend of this town, its saviour even, or a dirty loner who socialises with elves..."
He trailed off, only now remembering who sat around the table with him. Erestor merely raised an eyebrow in what was almost an amused gesture. Legolas glowered darkly but said nothing. Léod saw Bowder throw the archer a questioning look and he also caught the slight shake of the head that Legolas gave in return. He wondered what else had transpired between the younger elf and Marhen, but it seemed that he would not find out now.
The mayor stopped his pacing and faced Marhen squarely. There was a firm set to his mouth that had not been there before.
"That is the question indeed, is it not? Who do we trust?" He glanced around the table and bowed slightly into the direction of the elves. "Forgive me, but I would ask you to leave us. The town council has a decision to make. I thank you for your help in the matter."
Erestor answered the bow and rose, the other elves following suit. "We are glad we could be of assistance", he said smoothly, "and I wish your council wisdom in its choice."
Leód and Bowder followed the elves from the small town hall. The door had barely closed behind them when fresh arguments arose, Marhen´s voice carrying a note of panic.
Outside, the face of the village had changed dramatically. The gallows had been taken down, its beams re-used to raise shelters in the market place. The town was crowded with refugees, but many had already been taken in by residents. Fires were burning wherever it was safe, and Léod had the strange impression that their forest shelter had magically reappeared in the middle of the town.
"They will make the right choice." Bowder´s calm voice radiated confidence. "No one shall expel the refugees again."
"Nor accuse you of assistance to murder", Legolas added a bit more heatedly.
The human smiled. "Not unless you have buried some skeletons I have no knowledge of." Turning serious again, he looked around the crowded village. "But I fear we have other dangers to face. With Marhen soon gone, this place will be prowled upon by worse creatures than traitors."
As if in answer to his statement, a howl rose not far away, soon to be answered by several others in a choir of hunger.
"Aye", Erestor agreed quietly, "and when the time comes, we should be prepared." His grey eyes took on a steely tinge when a shout rang out towards his left and he saw Estel wriggle out of Bethran´s arms to make his way towards the group.
"We should be prepared", the dark elf repeated even as he smiled for the boy´s sake, "because I fear that by facing an alliance of raiders and werewolves we dare fate."
"So be it" Legolas replied, his eyes on Estel also, "but at least be do so for a good reason."
TBC