Chapter 35 reviews:
LOTR Lover 24 and 7 (Janani): I don't think that you have reviewed my story before. It makes my happy when someone tells me that they think that my story is awesome. Thank you for the review!
Jule Johnson: I plan on making them meet this chapter, and if they don't, then they will meet in the next chapter. This story is almost finished! Just be patient a little while longer and hopefully I won't disappoint you.
Moonlight Butterfly: I agree with that as well. That's what I tell all my friends whenever something bad happens. Glad that you liked the chapter!
Avion Jade: Ah, the dream of Elrond. Have no idea where that idea came from. And yes, Leggy really did see Elrond. It should be fun, but I'm still trying to figure out the little things.
Eye of Newt: Thank you for the review and I am so glad that you think my story is good.
KerowynGreenleaf: You liked the last three chapter? Alright! I don't think that Glory will actually strangle Erestor, although I have to agree with you when you said that Erestor deserves it. If things keep going as they are going, then I do think that Glory will be driven mad and go insane.
Emily: That's ok. Education is important, but I am glad that you took the time to read my chapter. I hope that you passed your test!
Animebishieluver: O.O ...ok...I'll get to work as fast I my schedule will let me...and I was so not stalling!
Twilight Shadow: Ah yes, the meeting that everyone is waiting for! It should be in this chapter, but if not, then it's in the next chapter. Glad you liked the chapter!
Silver Mirror: Glory and Erestor are so cool. Making people think is what I like best, and it's so easy to do, too! I'm happy to know that you liked so much about that chapter!
Chapter 36
Legolas kept looking around him, hoping to catch a glimpse of the elf he saw earlier, if only to prove to himself that he wasn't crazy. Every little noise made him jump.
He could have sworn that the elf looked surprised when Legolas had seen him. Legolas had told Estel first, seeing as he was the closest to him, but when Estel had looked to the place where the elf was, he had said that he didn't see anything. This had made Legolas frustrated. This, of corse, had caught then attention of the three elves in front of him. After telling them the same thing he told Estel, the twins and Raindul had looked at the same place as Estel had, they also said that they didn't see anything.
Estel had given him an apologetic look, Raindul had said something about being stressed and nervous, and one of the twins had called him crazy. Legolas didn't like it when people called him crazy, human or elf.
After that, Legolas had kept his eyes on the elf, watching him as he watched him back. It sent shivers up his spin whenever he thought about it. The elf also looked a bit confused, but Legolas could've cared less.
He was so lost in thought that when Estel gently tapped his arm, Legolas nearly jumped out of his skin and cried out. Instead, he turned to look at Estel, his heart hammering in his chest.
"Legolas, are you alright?" Estel whispered.
Legolas was about to ask him why he was whispering before he remembered where they were. "Yeah, I'm fine." He said as he nodded his head.
Estel gave his friend a suspicious look. If he didn't know any better, he would've said that it looked more as if Legolas was trying to convince himself. Estel just let out a sigh and shook his head lightly.
Ahead of them, the twins and Raindul walked along, keeping their eyes on the surrounding woods.
"Hey Raindul," Elladan whispered, "how long until we get out of here?"
"That depends on how fast we walk." Raindul whispered back. He looked around them for a few moments. "I would say that we are just short of the halfway point right now." Next to him, Raindul could hear Elrohir give a soft groan.
"My feet are starting to hurt. How long have we been walking?" Elrohir whined in a soft voice.
Raindul looked over to the elf walking next to him. The twins were older than him, but they sure acted less mature. "Your feet probably hurt because you have been riding most of the time, and also don't forget that Shadow bit your leg. As for how long we have been walking? I would say several hours. It's getting dark and night will be upon us in about two hours."
Elrohir began muttering curses at Shadow under his breath while Elladan gave Raindul a surprised look. "How can you tell night from day in here? It's so dark!" He whispered.
"You have to be watching the little light there is closely."
The three elves in front turned to look at Legolas, who's eyes were trying to see everything at the same time.
"How do you know that?" Raindul asked. He was curious as to how his prince knew that.
Legolas turned to look at the three elves, then looked at Estel, who was also looking at him, waiting for an answer. "I have been here before. I learned that while I was trying to find out which way to travel."
"How long ago was it since you've been here?" Raindul asked.
Legolas shrugged. "Not sure. I do know that it happened before any of this happened."
Elrohir rolled his eyes. "Come on Legolas, even we knew that."
"What? I was just answering his question!" Legolas whispered harshly.
"Lets pick up the pace a bit. That way we can get out of here sooner." Raindul suggested. The others quickly agreed and picked up the pace of the march, wanting to get out of the woods as fast as they could.
Erestor whistled a tune as he made his way to the library. After what happened out in the garden, he decided that a little reading might be the best way to calm down and spend the time as he waited for dinner.
A few elves were in the library, other council members, to whom Erestor gave a polite nod of the head. It always helped to be friendly.
After selecting a nice book, about a thousand pages long, he took his favorite seat, which was by the fire place and provided the best light to read by. Once there, he settled down and began to read.
He was halfway through the book when the dinner bell rang, telling everyone inside that dinner was being served.
After carefully marking his place, he put the book down and made his way to dinner. After dinner, I think I'll go to the Hall of Fire. Then I'll go and check on Glory. Just to make sure that he is actually eating something. Hmm, maybe I should bring him a snack.
As he was making his way to his seat, Erestor stopped short when he spotted Glorfindel sitting in his seat, which was located next to Erestor's.
"Glorfindel! How nice of you to join us for dinner." Erestor said with a smile on his face.
Glorfindel looked over to the advisor when he heard his name. He mentally groaned as he spotted Erestor making his way to sit next to him. In Glorfindel's opinion, Erestor looked a little too happy.
Not wanting to be rude, Glorfindel smiled as the advisor took his seat. "Yes, well, I managed to finish the work on time for dinner."
"You did? Well its about time! You're spending far to much time inside now a days, Glory." Erestor said.
Glorfindel felt his eye twitch at the nickname. "Yes, I agree." He couldn't help but say that with his teeth clenched. Erestor either didn't notice or chose to ignore it.
Servants brought out dishes of meal and drinks and soon everyone was having dinner. Glorfindel felt as if he hadn't had a decent meal in years. After all, how can you have a decent meal if your working on evil paper work pretty much all day?
"Glorfindel! Long time no see!"
Glorfindel looked behind him to see Lindir making his way towards him. Lindir was carrying his lute in a pouch on his belt and his harp in one hand. Glorfindel gave the musician a smile and wave.
Lindir stopped and stood behind Glorfindel's chair. "Are you going to the Hall of Fire tonight? Some of us are beginning to think that you might never show up again."
"That's what I said!" Erestor said. He was eating without looking at his food, and that made Glorfindel wonder how Erestor knew where his food was on his plate.
Once Lindir and Erestor began to talk, Glorfindel tuned them out. Instead, he thought about what his Lord was doing and how the twins and Estel were. Shouldn't they be back by now? He knew from experience that it didn't take too long to travel to Lothlorien and back.
A poke to the side of the head brought him back from his thoughts. He looked at Erestor, who looked as if he was going to poke him in the head again. "What?"
"Ha! See? I told you he wasn't listening to what we were saying!" Erestor said with a smug look on his face. Lindir frowned.
"I'm sorry. What were you saying?" Glorfindel asked, feeling a bit guilty.
"I asked if you were going to join us tonight, at the Hall of Fire." Lindir said.
"Oh. Oh, yes! I think that tonight I might be able to join you tonight. I have nothing else to do now that I finished everything." Glorfindel responded.
"Great!" Erestor said, then he stood up. "Hey everyone! Let us all go and have some fun at the Hall of Fire!" The other elves that were there cheered and quickly agreed, except for a few of the councilors, who sunk into their chairs with embarrassment at seeing their mentor and chief advisor acting the way he was.
Glorfindel almost felt sorry for them. Almost.
"Come on Glorfindel, let us go!" Lindir said as he grabbed the captains arm and proceeded to drag him out of the room. Erestor followed.
Before he knew it, Glorfindel found himself standing in front of the large double-doors that lead into the Hall. Just as he was about to go in, Erestor grabbed his arm.
"Glory, do you know how to dance?" Erestor said with a grin, which Lindir wore as well.
Dear Valar, what have I gotten myself into? Glorfindel thought.
A shriek sounded throughout the night.
Raindul did a quick turn and brought a sword down, slashing a spiders head in half. He quickly turned around to see one of his men being dragged into the woods, only to hear the screams from the elf before a silence followed. He sent a quick prayer to the Valar's before continuing to attack the creatures from the woods.
Elladan hacked the legs off of another spider before stabbing another in the face. He wiped the blood that had splatted on his face off before stabbing another spider on the side, wincing as it shriek before dying.
Elrohir slashed a spider open from behind, watching as it gave a few kicks before curling up. He bent down to pick up a knife he dropped only to stand up when he felt a gust of wind fly over his head. He quickly brought his sword up and stabbed another spider in the mouth just as the creature tried to bit his head off.
Estel threw a dagger, hitting one of the spiders in the eye, making it shriek out in pain. He jumped up onto the body of a dead spider and turning around to attack the three spiders that were following him. When the closest one was about to strike, Estel jumped off the body and swung his sword, cutting the top of the spider's head off. The other two jumped over their dying comrade so that they can have a go at the human. Estel ducked underneath one and brought his sword up, stabbing the spider in the belly, before rolling to the side. He quickly stood up, only to come face to face with the last spider. They stared at each other for a few seconds before the spider lunged, only to meet the steel from Estel's sword.
Legolas stood somewhere in the middle, keeping the spiders far enough so that he can use his bow. He would shoot his arrows rapidly, always aiming true and hitting the spiders in the face or in the back of the head whenever they reared up. Only when he ran out of arrows did he pull out his twin swords and charge into the battle, hacking into any spider that got in his way.
Shadow, unable to move, had to rely on the two elven horses that had pulled him along. The two horses lashed out with both hooves and teeth, not allowing any of the spider creatures to get to close to Shadow.
"Raindul! We won't be able to hold them off for much longer!" Elladan shouted from his spot.
"I know that! I'm trying to find us a way out of here!" Raindul shouted back. His eyes landed on the two elven horses and an idea popped into his head. "Everyone! Listen! I need all of you to get as close together as possible! I have an idea!"
Raindul waited a few minutes before whistling at the horses, whom turned their attention to the Mirkwood elf. Raindul whistled out a short pattern and the two horses began to gallop towards him, smashing and spider that stood in their way as they dragged Shadow in his stretcher behind them.
When they got close enough, Raindul wrapped an arm around one of the horse's neck and swung himself up onto its back. When he looked over to where he heard Elladan's voice, he saw the group fighting off the creatures. As he drew closer, he shouted. "Hey! I need two of you to ride the other horse and the rest of you get on the stretcher with Shadow! I can have one more ride with me!"
When he rode up to them, Raindul grabbed the closes hand, which was Estel's, and pulled him up to sit behind him. He watched as the twins got on the other horse while Legolas and the other Mirkwood elves jumped onto the stretcher with Shadow. When he was sure that everyone was ready, he commanded the horses to run faster.
They trampled over any spider that was too slow to get out of the way in time as they raced by. They continued to race by, not stopping for anything, even when they were sure that they had left the spiders far behind. They continued throughout the night, never slowing, the horses continuing their risky rush.
The trees slowly began to become less dense, allowing the light from the rising sun to filter through. Only then did they slow the horses into a trot. Estel turned around to face the stretcher. "Are you guys alright back there?"
There were a few mumbles and groans before he heard Legolas call back. "A bit sore, but we'll live."
When they finally came out of the woods, all but the Mirkwood elves felt their eyes widen with wonder.
In front of them stood a set of huge double-doors that had vines and leaves carved into it. A large wall stood there as well, telling anyone that crossed it that they won't find an easy way inside.
Raindul smiled. "Welcome to the gates of Mirkwood."
-lets out a long sigh- wow, that took a bit to write, but I'm proud of the way that it turned out. Ok, I promise that Legolas and Thranduil will meet in the next chapter. I promise! I was going to make them meet in this one, but I wrote this instead. Don't hate me!
Okay, my hands are starting to hurt from typing this. Hope yall enjoy it!