Light wandered in the likeness of a man, in a robe of all shades of golden brown, with a little thrush, fluttering beside him, or perched on his shoulder. He held onto an emasculate lance laced with designs of red fire that shone faintly. Light looked up and ruffled his fair hair with his free hand as the wind blew towards him. How long has it been? He wondered to himself. Well not really long, by the standards of a Maia but it had felt incredibly long to him. Too long. He needed to end this as quickly as he can. Having a servant of Melkor running free is as dangerous as having the Dark Lord himself freed.

He had fought her before. The traitor! Once, he would never believed her capable of such a thing. She was his dearest companion! Was. He had fought her but the fight was never concluded. The fight had weakened both of them and broke the power of his lance. He wanted it to be over. It angered him to know what she had done and felt it his responsibility to end her evil doings. To end her. He flipped the lance effortlessly and strapped it across his back to ease his walk. The thrush chirped once to signal where the entrance is. And he entered the lair of the Shadow.

"Wait, I think you should start from that side and I start from the other and we'll meet in the middle. Agreed?" he smiled warmly.

"That side looks like a whole lot more job to do than the other…" she complained, looking over to where he had pointed earlier.

"Think of it as a way of saying thanks for the anklet I made you," he winked at her and started walking over to the end of the field as she looked down at the bells on the anklet that tinkled every time she moved.

"Light! When you give somebody something, you're not supposed to ask for anything back, you know!" she shouted at him and proceeded to throw a rock aimed at his head when he ignored her. A loud 'ouch' was the reply when the rock found its target.

They worked their way through the whole place and reunited at the centre to marvel at their labour. The evening light was just right as it faded softly into shadow. Light held Shadow close to him and combed her dark hair with his fingers. The two, so much different from each other but yet, share affection for one another. They were the closest of friends.

"Light?" she looked up into his eyes.

"Hmm…?"

"Will we always be together?"

"We will." He replied with a fierce certainty. Shadow frowned at his sudden smirk.

"Who else would be silly enough to do more work for me?" He released her and ran off before she could pick up another rock.

Shadow looked over into the mirror, its cruel ebony frame twisted and turned with sharp thorns as black sulphurous mist extended from it. The mirror looked like a large, gaping mouth in the middle of an agonizing moan. Black, hissing liquid swirled at its centre. She could watch the elf through the mirror as Legolas wandered in her realm.

Then, she caught sight of a white deer following closely behind him.

"Now…how did it get in?"

She stood up and moved closer to have a better look into the mirror, the mist suffocating but bearable since she is so used to it. Frowning, she whispered her disbelief and tried a spell to increase the clarity of the image on the swirling fluid.

There, before her very eyes, is a white doe, panting a little with her effort to keep up with the Mirkwood elf before her. Shadow smiled slightly. It doesn't really matter; they would both end up in her lair anyway. And when they do, she'll be able to take to action what she had planned all these while. It's just an animal, anyway. If it gets in her way, she'll just have to kill it. Flipping her robes, she turned back to sit on her throne.

Time does not interfere here. For hers was the control of time. If she willed it, it shall always be in darkness. The world, never really saw what warmth light could bring with its presence. This is the world created by Shadow. She wanted to feel again, to feel that she is in control of the things around her. For long had she been used like a fool. She could not deny the ever-daunting voice in her mind that called her an imprudent fool. She lashed out at it and screamed when it became unbearable. No longer did she know what was right or what was wrong. All she did was to regain her being, though futile.

And once, she thought she could. She had found an elf-girl all by herself in the dense forests of Everglades. In hiding, she approached her to get to know what a creature this is. For she was beautiful, as she herself was. She found her fascinating that though she is a commoner, she made no other moves to make her life any different from what it already was. She was content to being just the way she was. Not wanting more power, more recognition, or even riches. It confused the Shadow. Who would not want more to life? And, at long last, curiosity got hold and she took up the courage to speak to her. Lalaith never saw who or what she was then. It was always only a whisper in the wind. But she willingly answered. The voice seemed always sad and lonely and she couldn't refrain from trying to help by answering her.

Then, it happened. Lalaith began to visit the forest less and whenever she did, she would hold a look to her, which suggested that something was amiss. And she had changed. Now she began to long that she was something other than what she was. She wished she could somehow be a princess. The Shadow knew what was happening. Lalaith had fallen in love with the elf-prince who came to visit the kingdom. She grew angry. Nothing good would come out of it! The Shadow insisted. She did not believe in love. And events began to occur. The Shadow was jealous, jealous of the look that was on Lalaith's face. As if she did not care for the world anymore. She did things to stop it. When nothing work, it began to grow worse until she had Lalaith promise that she would never love another. That if she did, her lover would most definitely die.

Lalaith believed her when she looked upon the Shadow's form. It was nothing like the lonely voice that she heard. This was a creature of power. A dark Maia. But whatever the Shadow did, she could not get the necklace of mithril from her. Even in the depths of the darkest dungeons, Lalaith held on to the gem on the necklace that shone faintly. She drew her strength from it and lived the horrors brought by the Shadow. It angered the Shadow and more so when she escaped her dark prison. She must not love. The Shadow now decided it is time to end her lover.

A/N: Finally, another chapter. I doubt there would still be the old readers sticking with this story or anyone else for that matter. I guess the steam grew cold and I lost the ability or time to write when my world began to go crazy around me. It's been a long and busy time till I could finally sit down to think and write. Critics and flamers had put me out of this. I understand why they do not like Mary Sues but don't come and tell me that my story suck when you could avoid reading this junk if you'll just heed the warning at the summary of this fic. I hate them. But I would like to thank all who reviewed and made my day. You are all the best! I wish I could have more time to write. Updates would be extremely slow. If you would like to stick to the story, please be patient. I am sorry.