Thranduil stared out the window as Galadriel and Celeborn sat in chairs nearby. They were patiently waiting for any news from the guards that were sent out.

"I wonder when any of them will come back with news?" wondered Thranduil.

"Hopefully soon and they'll tell us that Haldir is still alive. With the creatures that he might encounter in Mirkwood's forests, he could be anywhere. I just hope that he has not been attacked," Galadriel said.

Celeborn stood up and started to pace the room when they heard a soft knock come to the door. Thranduil called 'come in' to whoever was at the door and the door soon opened. He turned to see his children and the twins walk into the room. Legolas was the first to step forward.

"What is the matter? There are guards everywhere! I am not saying there usually aren't any around by there appears to be more than normal!" wondered Legolas.

Thranduil inwardly cringed ever so slightly. He really didn't want to have to tell the younger elves what happened just yet.

"You hesitate to tell us anything, as usual. Something has happened, hasn't it? We can possibly help you," Nanaylia told him.

The three older elves glanced at each other, a bit unsure if they should tell them. Thranduil turned towards Galadriel, wondering if he should say anything. Galadriel nodded, facing the ground. Thranduil motioned for the four to sit down, which they promptly did.

"It's Haldir. He's missing," Thranduil told them.

"What? He's missing? How?" Elladan demanded.

"We are unsure. All we really know is that he did not return and you all should know that it has been hours since he left," Galadriel told them.

The four glanced at each other before Legolas decided to speak up first.

"How can we start helping?" he wondered.

"Now wait a moment. I can't see how you can possibly help," started Thranduil.

Galadriel stood up and walked over to the king in mid sentence. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Let them help. We need all that we can get. What would be the harm in them just looking? I am sure that if they find anything, they will let us know," she wondered.

"I'm worried about the gargoyles. You know how dangerous they can be," Thranduil replied.

"But we don't know if the gargoyles are even still around! You told us that after Legolas defeated Manlin all those years ago, they simply disappeared. There had been no sign of them at all," Galadriel protested.

"Doesn't mean that they didn't recently return," murmured Thranduil. "But I feel that my children are capable enough to help. After all, Haldir's a friend to us all. Will you allow your grandchildren to go then?"

Galadriel and Celeborn glanced at each other before nodding. Smiles grew on the four faces and the children hurried out of the room. The three older elves watched them leave and Thranduil wondered if he was doing the right thing by allowing them to help.

"She could even help us more than what you realize," Celeborn called out to him.

Thranduil broke out of his trance and faced Celeborn. He appeared slightly puzzled by the statement and the two could tell.

"I mean that if the gargoyles are indeed back and they do have Haldir, Nanaylia could be the best one to confront them and maybe even get him out of their grasp," Celeborn told him.

Thranduil turned back towards the window and gave a slight nod.

00000

Yancha slowly stepped around the tree, her eyes fixed on Haldir. She carefully walked towards him as he lay on the ground near the ouskirts of the clearing. His back was facing her so he couldn't see her coming. She placed a hand on his shoulder but he turned his head to see who it was.

"I heard you coming. What do you want?" demanded Haldir.

"I want you," she replied.

Haldir gasped as he took in what she said and tried to crawl away from her but the binds on his ankles prevented him from going far. She jumped on him and pinned him down. He cried out in pain as he felt her claws slowly sink into his arms and her knees kept his legs pinned to the ground.

"You will be mine whether you like it or not," she growled.

Haldir tried to move his face away from her as she moved closer to kiss him. He gasped when she succeeded in doing so. Haldir could feel her tail moving about his legs and it was making him very nervous. Yancha could sense his restlessnes and she took her face slightly away from his.

"Am I bothering you elf? I can't understand why. Aren't you enjoying this?" she innocently asked him.

"If you call this enjoyment, I'd like to see what you call pain," Haldir replied.

She growled as she moved her tail right up his leg and he gasped once it hit his groin area. Much to his mortification, the gargoyle's tail stayed in that area of his body. Yancha soon moved her head back in towards him and started to kiss Haldir's neck and jawline. Haldir found he still couldn't move underneath her so his body was free for her to do what she will with it.

"You know, it's been a few years since a handsome elf like yourself came through here. We don't get too many elves through these woods anymore," she whispered into his ear.

"Too bad I can't call you attractive yourself. You look like you've been to Mordor and back," he replied through clenched teeth.

The gargoyle growled at him before lifting her hand and scratching him across the face. Haldir winced as he felt something wet slide down his neck from his cheek.

"You will pay for that remark," she quietly told him.

She removed one of her hand from his wrists and grabbed a rope from her waist. She wrapped one end of it around his wrists before tying the other end to a nearby tree.

"What are you going to do to me?" wondered Haldir.

"Something that you will never forget," she replied.

Her claws were now making their way through his hair. Haldir tried to shake his head in order to get the hands from him, but instead they held his face straight and he found himself looking directly at her.

"Don't try to resist. It'll only bring you more pain," she told him.

Haldir gritted his teeth as she moved further down and began to rip his clothing. He shut his eyes, not wanting to see how much damage she would do. He immediately found out that the purpose she had in mind was totally different than what he first thought. Her new intention was to injure him all over his body with her claws. He could feel the pain course through his body from the wounds and tried not to cry out in pain to give her satisfaction. Haldir heard her walk away from him and he opened up his eyes. He glanced at the wounds he could see before glacning over at the gargoyles.

'When will they find me here?' he thought. 'I sincerely hope it's soon otherwise I am going to be dead.'

00000

"Why are we heading this way?" wondered Elladan.

"Because none of the other elves wanted to come here. Listen, if you three do not want to come, I'll head in by myself," Nanaylia replied.

"And why would you want to head in there again? I seem to remember being told what happened the first time you two went in there," Elrohir said.

"And I've lived in there for so long that I'm no longer afraid. I'm not saying he's in there for certain. I'm saying there's a possiblity he is and I don't want to pass that up," she explained.

Legolas followed her as they headed into the Dark Forest. The twins clearly remembered when they first went into this area 15 years before and they didn't want to relive the experience. When the four became closer within sight of the borders, Elladan and Elrohir stopped. Legolas and Nanaylia turned around and stared at them with confused looks.

"You're not coming with us?" Legolas asked.

"And you're leaving us?" Elladan replied.

"Listen, I can understand why the two of you don't want to join us in there. I'm not leaving Nanaylia to in there alone. Start heading back if you'd like. We're not forcing you to come with us," Legolas told them.

Elladan and Elrohir glanced at each other before shaking their heads.

"If you're heading in there, then so are we. I can remember a time when you didn't want to go back there," Elladan said.

Legolas and Nanaylia smiled at each other before they continued onwards. The four glanced around at the trees. It was eerily quiet. No chirping of the birds or no movement of the squirrels. The wind wasn't blowing and the leaves on the trees weren't even moving. The four prepared their bows in the event something would happen.

"What should we do here?" wondered Nanaylia.

"I'd say we look around this area and then move on. We stay together when we move to a different area," Legolas replied.

The four spread out to see what they could find. Elladan thought about the gargoyles he had seen before. Except through the occasional time when Nanaylia transformed, he hoped that he would never see one again.

"I sincerely hope that Haldir came nowhere near here. Legolas and Nanaylia don't often come here and they live nearby," he quietly told himself.

"Elladan, Elrohir, Nanaylia, over here!" came Legolas' voice.

Elladan turned around and hurried in the direction the voice was coming from. He soon came to a clearing where Legolas was kneeling beside a tree. Nanaylia and Elrohir were already by his side.

"This is bad," Elrohir simply stated.

"What is?" Elladan wondered.

Legolas lifted his hand to show him something and Elladan's eyes widened when he saw what it was: Haldir's bow and quiver.

"The gargoyles have him," Nanaylia said.

They all knew that it was on everyone's mind before it was even said.

TBC...