Hey everyone! Well, I'm back. Unfortunately, I have been so so so busy and haven't got my other stories continued. However, I wrote this one the day I wrote chapter 18 but waited to post it for a week.

Overthrown

Chapter 19

Pinprick Lights of Home

Aragorn cried out in shock and leapt across the bridge, grabbing Legolas' wildly swinging hand by the tip of his fingers. Legolas had somehow managed to grab onto the invisible bridge as he fell, and hooked his legs around Lodrin. With his legs half in the enchanted water, the elf prince was quickly losing his bid to stay awake, and the unconscious human was dragging him down.

"Legolas, hold on to me!" Aragorn yelled, shaking Legolas' arm. Legolas blinked rapidly and his grip tightened on his hand. "Okay, come on." Suddenly, the twins were there with them, Elladan grabbed Legolas around the middle and Elrohir reached for Lodrin's shirt. His hand skimmed the water below and he pulled back, a sleepy tingle rubbing the edge of his brain. That was more powerful then usual.

"He's slipping." Legolas yelled, Lodrin's water logged body falling from the Prince's knees to his ankles. Still, the sleepy elf managed to hold on tighter.

Aragorn hooked his own ankles over the far side of the bridge and began straining, pulling the load up with Elladan's help. Finally, they managed to get Legolas' waist up over the edge and Elrohir grabbed Lodrin. Fighting the tingle in his hands, Elrohir pulled the sleeping human onto the invisible bridge.

"Legolas, speak to me." Aragorn whispered, patting the elf on the face. His eyes were half closed in light sleep, blue eyes unfocused. At the King's words, the elf blinked and glanced around.

"Lodrin." He muttered, pushing Aragorn aside and sitting up. The King grabbed Legolas' elbow, despite his protests, and pulled the lithe creature into a standing position. Legolas straightened his shirt and shook his wet legs as though trying to shake away the sleep. The King steadied the elf and went over to Elrohir and Elladan, ignoring the skittish men still waiting to cross the forsaken bridge.

"How is he?" Aragorn asked, kneeling next to his brothers. The Elladan was checking the young man's breathing while the other was rubbing his hands dimly. "Are you alright?"

"No," Elrohir answered, confusion lacing his voice. "My hands…I feel…" He blinked stupidly and looked up at the human. "I feel tired."

"That is impossible." Aragorn answered, glancing back at Legolas who was leaning against Arod with Laren and Gimli. "You weren't in the water."

"I know, but I feel…" The rest of his sentence was cut off in a very human yawn. Confused, the two stared at each other until Elladan broke the silence, staring at his own hands.

"My hands tingle also." He said, looking up, frightened. "They merely touched the child's wet clothes." He glanced at Lodrin, who was completely soaked. His pale face went even whiter, his brown hair contrasting strongly. "He is barely breathing. That water is more potent then usual."

"I agree." Aragorn said, scooting to the edge of the bridge and staring down into the swirling water below. It was black and innocent ebony in the dim sunlight. "We are close to the city, if there is one left. There may well be a healer there still. We must hurry. We can do nothing for Lodrin now."

"And Legolas?" Elladan asked, coming to Aragorn's side and staring down at the water too. Aragorn shook his head and glanced up at his friend who was doing his best to remain awake. Standing beside Arod, the Prince looked as though he hadn't slept in four or five weeks and his movements were halting and jerky.

"Watch him. He seems fine enough but if we let him fall asleep, he might not wake up for a few days. As it is, Lodrin will be out for a few weeks. I myself have fallen in this water, when I was five, and I remember naught for three days." The twins nodded and together, loaded Lodrin onto Elladan's horse.

Gariel now approached from the other bank, looking worried. "My men do not want to cross, my lord Elessar." He whispered to the King, watching the elves over Aragorn's shoulder. Aragorn sighed and watched the Arnor men.

"They will have to. Once we move, bring them across. They will follow your lead. We must get Lodrin to Thranduil's home." Gariel scowled, the look so sudden and quick, Aragorn was unsure it had even been there. If this man had a problem with Lodrin, that was his business, but Aragorn would not risk the boy's life so Gariel could be comfortable in his hatred.

"I will do as you command, my lord." He said, nodding at him before moving off. Aragorn watched the man closely as he moved away, a jumble of thoughts welling up in his head. He was starting to doubt his trust of Gariel. The man was a royal pain in the…

"Estel!" Elladan called. Aragorn turned and saw the elf was on his horse, Lodrin asleep in front of him. The elf was worried and rightly so. They had to move on.

"Alright." Aragorn called. "Come on, let us move on!" He re-crossed the bridge, grabbed his horse and swung himself on. As Gimli was trying and failing to get on behind Aragorn, the King stopped Laren.

"Make sure he dose not fall asleep. He may not wake up." Laren nodded, her wide eyes flickering slightly in the dim light. With a last understanding nod, she bowed her head and took off to Arod. "Gimli, hurry up and get on." The Dwarf answered with a few well chosen words and, in the end, relented in the help of a young solider.

The rest of the ride was seemingly uneventful. Half way to their destination, Legolas nodded off on Laren's shoulder and was shaken awake by Aragorn who was riding beside them.

"You must stay awake, your highness." Laren whispered in his ear. Legolas blinked and looked over at Aragorn whose brow was creased in worry.

Night fell and the riders rode on. Laren had been on this path so often, the ride she could do in her sleep. With Legolas' warm weight resting against her, harder then it would normally have been, she led Arod around some small boulders and cantered him up a short rise. The Prince was awake, she could feel it in the way his body moved with Arod, but he was drifting. The power of the river was too strong and un-natural.

Her people were usually not as susceptible to the river's effects. Elves, being the strongest of people, would be knocked out for a few hours or maybe a few days. The human was now almost dead, Legolas was slowly fading and the twins of Elrond were tired after merely touching the wet clothing.

A ticking sound made her turn and stare off through the darkness around them. As the sun set, the shadows grew and cast dancing figures across their path. "Spiders." Legolas whispered, his head lifting slightly from her chest. His blond head turned to the left and watched the trees over Aragorn's shoulder. The man and Dwarf turned too.

"Legolas? How many?" Legolas blinked rapidly a few times and his eyes shifted over the uneven lip ahead. The spiders were behind there, off somewhere they couldn't see but moving forward rapidly. Laren shifted her seat and reached down to her side, flipping open the cover on her sword sheath.

"Five or six large ones. Three small." He answered, his face stoic and lined. The black poison lines harsh in the faded light. Aragorn leaned back, raised his legs slightly and moved his horse backwards. The animal obeyed, compensating for the weight change and flicking his tail in irritation.

"Gariel, spiders." He whispered to the second in command. The man nodded and motioned his men. The word moved down the line and ended with Faramir and Pippin.

Legolas slipped from Arod and pulled out his bow and arrows. Notching a slim shaft, he crouched down low and aimed at the ridge before them. Laren shuddered. They were so close to home, yet the spiders hadn't been stopped. There must really be very few wood elves left.

Laren was soon down next to him, her sword out in front of her, watching the darkening trees ahead with a quickening heart. The trees were suddenly quiet around them, tense, listening. The spiders, too, had quit moving just beyond their sight. The men behind grew worried and wary, not moving and barely breathing. After a few tense moments, Legolas moved forward.

It was as he reached three trees to the ridge when the spiders decided to play. One lunged at him and the rest took off toward the others. Legolas rolled sideway and took off into the forest, drawing on an advantage, any advantage.

Legolas felt his feet slowing, his legs seizing up but plunged on, ignoring the sounds of battle behind him. The spider squealed, the scuttling of its legs hissed in the forest's discarded leaves. A thicket of leaves lay ahead of him and he plunged through, rolling across the canopy floor as the spider leapt at him. It cleared him and continued forward, ramming into a large tree.

Legolas had no time to grab a long knife from his back. Instead, he grabbed a stick off the ground and plunged it blindly up at the figure descending from above. The spider's attack ceased and the offending creature fell back, watching him. Its ruined eye hung on a slimy red cord from its head.

Legolas hissed at it and began walking backward, pulling a knife from his back. The spider decided the pain was the right price to pay to have an elf meal. It started stalking toward him, clicking in its offending language.

The lunge was wild and searching. Legolas sprang, grabbing a branch above him and pulling himself up and over the spider. The tree coaxed him up as he climbed one handed, holding the weapon in his bad hand, pulling upward in his good hand. Below, the confused spider began to climb, calling the elf back to fight fair. Legolas laughed lightly, trying to imagine this was just another hunting trip.

The thick branches here offered a little protection from his would be assassin. Leaping from one tree to the next with little sound to announce his passing, he managed to circle the clearing, a full twelve trees away from his pursuer.

Suddenly, another spider leapt from the darkness. Legolas jumped from his hiding spot and hit the ground, tumbling in a very un-elegant fashion, across the leaf strewn forest floor. The spider clicked angrily and advanced on him, swipping at him with a hairy leg. Legolas fell to a push-up position and scuttled backwards on his hand and tip toes, backing away as fast as he could. The spider tried to sting him. Advancing with his sting slicing into the soft earth. The other spider was watching, hissing at the battling beings across from him.

Legolas rolled, timing his movements with the dropping of the stinger. The spider shrieked in pain as his blade sliced through its heart and blood spurted onto his face. As he cleared the falling body, the spider's legs gave out and it collapsed, sending up clouds of dust. As he made to get up, there was suddenly a hush of sound, so intense it made his heart falter. Legolas stopped, crouched low on his branch and let his gaze wander around the clearing. The spider in the trees was stopped as well, not moving.

An arrow flew past him, slicing through leaves and small branches, sinking home in the spider's head. The creature cried out, screaming in pain and fell from its own tree. Hissing, it turned around frantically, looking for the new attacker and received yet another arrow in its body.

Legolas felt his heart unclench and turned to see behind him three royal scouts. They smiled at him and continued firing, their arrows low in number and their weapons incredibly scratched and stained. Although they were a pitiful sight, there could be nothing more beautiful to the wood elf Prince.

The spider, knowing it was beaten, scuttled off through the trees screaming profanities at the elves behind. The leader slumped back against the nearest tree and looked down at his bow, which was nearly snapped in half.

"You're Highness." He said weakly. "We are glad to see you are alive, and…" He motioned to Legolas' neck, "Relatively alright."

"How did they get so close?" Legolas asked, leaning closer to the other elf. The elf shrugged and rubbed his face.

"We have very small numbers." He said thickly, his voice laced with defeat. The other elves shifted and rubbed different parts of their bodies in pain and weariness. "We were nearly massacred in the attack. We thought you were dead." Legolas looked away, his eyes following the spider's progress as it staggered further and further away. "I am Calanon." Legolas nodded to the leader and turned his attention to the other two. "Adan and Thalion."

"Thank you. I owe you." Calanon shook his head and extended his hand in dismissal.

"I doubt it. You tired him. We just shot." Suddenly, he looked grim. "Come, we must show you." Legolas motioned back to where the soldiers were. "No, we have others helping them. Worry not, just come."

Legolas sighed and followed the three off through the trees. There was short climb through familiar forest hills until they reached a ridge and a broken bridge spanning a river. On the other end, through the fallen darkness were bright, flickering lights. Broken homes and fallen stones were all that was left but there was no mistaking what he saw before him. Pinprick lights of home.

P.S.

Zammy: I know I'm lucky to have a horse. She isa sweet horse, I'd like to beleive. She's also firey and a pain in the a...nimal.LOL. Good luck getting your horse. I hope you can and I hope you have fun with it.