Chapter 16
Legolas's POV
I watched as the people gathered their things, hurrying to get ready for the journey. Men loaded bags onto horses, women ran about making sure that everything was collected, children ran about playing and wondering what was going on. I knew that Théoden had made a mistake in choosing to travel to Helm's Deep.
Aragorn came up beside me, watching the people as well. He shook his head, his hand clutching Arwen's Evenstar.
"We should not be doing this." He muttered.
"I agree mellon."
I watched as Adette led Èothain and Freda towards the horses. Freda was frightened by one of the horses that reared up as she walked past, but Adette was quick to turn back and wrap an arm around the girl, pulling her close. Her brother came back to comfort his sister and Adette took her leave to ready the horses.
"Legolas…"
I turned my head to Aragorn, but he shook his head and walked away quickly. I returned to watching Adette and the children. She lifted Freda onto the front of the saddle and helped Èothain on behind her, patting his leg once they were situated.
Once everyone had gotten ready I went down to the horses and took Adette's hand in mine. She was holding the reigns of the horse that carried the children in her free hand as we walked along, following the people out of their home and into the wilderness.
I was overcome by the feeling that danger was near as we got closer to our destination. I scanned the fields ahead, but to see ahead I would need to climb the hill. When I let go of Adette's hand she knew something was wrong.
"What is it Legolas?" She asked calmly, keeping her voice low.
"I sense something. I'll be back soon."
"Be careful." She warned, touching my shoulder quickly before I started up the hill. As I got to the top I saw that I had been right – something was wrong. I spied Gamling fighting with a scout, a warg not too far away. I quickly pulled an arrow and shot it dead.
"A scout!" I called out before shooting him dead as well. I turned to see Théoden approaching on his horse looking greatly distressed.
"What is it? What do you see?"
"Wargs! We are under attack!" Aragorn shouted.
"All riders to the head of the column!" Théoden commanded quickly, jumping into battle mode. He then rode back to speak to Èowyn while I looked out over the hill. A swarm of wargs were descending upon us quickly. I turned back and saw Adette giving Èowyn the reigns to the horse that held the children.
"Guard them with your life." I heard her whisper.
"I will." Èowyn promised. She then led the horse to the head of the women and children, leading them on to Helm's Deep. I had heard her fighting with Théoden, for she had wanted to stay and fight.
I pulled out another arrow as the wargs neared, and began shooting at them, hoping to take out as many as possible before they reached us. I could hear the horses riding behind me, and turned to see Adette riding Arod towards me, motioning for me to jump on. As the horse passed I swung up onto the saddle, pushing Adette to the back. She grumbled in my ear but I ignored it.
We finally collided with the wargs and the battle began. Gimli was shouting at one of them, taunting it. I shot it dead before he could raise his axe, and he looked at me angrily.
"That one counts as mine!" He shouted. I continued to lead Arod on into a pack of the wargs. One of the scouts leaped off of the back of one, jumping at our horse. I turned my head to see Adette pulling out her dagger and rising off the saddle a bit, tumbling off of Arod's back with the scout.
"Adette!" I called, turning Arod sharply around. She had just thrusted the dagger through the throat of the scout, pushing his carcass back onto the ground. She looked up at me, wiping at a smudge of the scout's blood on her cheek – not seeing the warg behind her. "Adette, look out!"
The monster attacked her, jumping on top of her. I jumped down from the saddle and pulled out an arrow just as I saw Adette stabbing the thing in the neck with her dagger. I shot it through the head with an arrow and it stopped struggling instantly. I crouched down by Adette's head.
"Are you alright?"
"Can't…breathe." She choked, visibly trying to squirm out from underneath the animal. I pressed my shoulder to its stomach and heaved. With a bit more effort, the body tumbled off of Adette, freeing her. She groaned, trying to sit up but falling back in pain.
"Where does it hurt?" I asked, probing her chest and abdomen. She pushed my hands away, getting to her feet without any other groans. Her eyes frantically searched around.
"Where is Aragorn?" She whispered, whirling around. I spotted Gimli, but Aragorn was nowhere to be found. "Aragorn!"
Suddenly, I heard someone laughing. Their laughter was a bit choppy, and I looked around to see Gimli standing near a half dead scout. From the looks of it, it was choking on its own blood. Gimli's axe was pressed against its neck.
"Tell me what happened and I will ease your passing." He spat.
"He's…dead. He took a little tumble off the cliff." The scout continued to laugh. Adette angrily grabbed it about the throat, shaking him violently.
"You lie! You damned liar!"
It continued to laugh until it eventually had its last breath. I spied something in its hand and realized that it was Arwen's Evenstar. Adette must have seen it too, for she pried it from the scout's hand. She then stood and ran towards the cliff, nearly running over the edge. I rushed after her, looking over the side.
"Aragorn!" She screamed. Her scream echoed down into the caverns below. "Aragorn!"
"He's gone." Gimli mumbled sadly, joining us.
Adette sucked in a deep breath as if to scream again, but winced and a hand flew to her ribs. She dropped to her knees, still trying to suck in that deep breath. I bent down, a hand on her shoulder.
"Adette?" I asked worriedly.
She moved her shaking hand from her ribs and my eyes widened when I saw that it was covered in blood. Blood was seeping through her tunic quickly, turning the green material a frightening shade of red.
"L-Legolas." She stuttered incoherently.
"Adette?" My voice was husky and shook as my eyes tried to focus. She fell back slowly, her hand going to rest upon her wound. "Adette!"
I moved her so that she was lying completely flat on the ground. Gimli was watching, dumbstruck.
"Go and get me a horse damnit!" I cried, glaring up at him through my tears. He didn't need any other motivation. He took off running.
I then turned back to Adette. I slowly lifted her tunic to see her wound, and was met with a mass of torn flesh and massive bleeding.
"Oh God…" I went to touch her wound but Adette pulled her tunic back down, trying to keep from crying out in pain.
"Legolas-"
"Shh, don't talk dúlinn." I took one of her hands and placed it against my chest. "Breathe with me alright? Breathe in and out dúlinn."
"Legolas, I can't hold on." She whimpered, closing her eyes tightly. I dropped her hand gently and leaned over her, my face hovering inches above hers. I took her face into my hands and stared at her closed eyes.
"Open your eyes Adette. Look at me." I commanded sternly. "This isn't the Adette I married. The Adette I married would be fighting this, not giving up."
Her eyes slowly opened, glossy from filling with tears. I heard Gimli and the horse come up, but didn't look away from Adette. My hands left her face and I went to pick her up but when I did she shrieked in pain and I released her immediately.
"Adette-"
"Legolas," she gasped, her eyes half closed, "Legolas hold me."
With tears streaming down my cheeks, I gently lifted Adette's body up into a sitting position. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her close to me. I could feel her heart beating slowly, threatening to stop at any moment.
"Don't you give up on me." I growled, holding her closer. I heard her inhale sharply right next to my ear and then nothing else. I waited to feel more of her hot breath but I never did.
Adette's POV
"Sweet Adette, always remember to never give up. If need be, I will come to you if your hope dwindles." Galadriel's voice echoed in my mind. I could almost see her beautiful face before mine.
I opened my eyes, expecting to be dead. Instead, I was standing before a mirror. I looked around to see that there was nothing else around, just a thin layer of white smoke. I looked back into the mirror and saw Legolas's reflection. I tried to speak him name, but no voice came from my lips.
"Adette." Her voice echoed. "Always remember to never give up. If need be, I will come to you if your hope dwindles." It began to overlap and repeat, driving me insane. I wished to scream but my voice still would not come.
And then she was there. I could see her faint reflection, overlapping Legolas's. She smiled warmly at me, her face even more lovely than I remembered. She was dressed in the same gown of white, the same golden curls fell down her front. Her eyes were still as intense as they had been.
"Never give up. Your hope is dwindling. You are fading." Her lips did not move but I still heard her voice. Slowly, Legolas's reflection began to fade. I tried to call out but still my voice would not come. I tried to move to the mirror but my feet wouldn't move.
"Don't you give up on me." I heard Legolas's voice pleading for me to stay alive, to hold on. "Don't you dare give up."
His words awoke within me a newfound hope. I felt it surging through me, swimming through my veins and screaming for me to move, to live. I suddenly found myself speaking Legolas's name faintly, repeating it over and over again. Galadriel's reflection began to fade, and I could only see him in the mirror. My feet suddenly worked, and I began to run towards him, holding my hand out. Once my fingers touched the mirror, the portal was broken.
"Did you hear me Adette?" I felt his breath on my neck and knew that I had made it. I gasped for air, although horribly painful, forcing myself to continue breathing. "Good Adette, keep breathing."
"Hurry lad." I heard Gimli say. I felt myself being lifted, and a terrible pain on my body, but it was hard to locate. It burned and tore through my body and I couldn't help but cry out. Legolas hesitated a moment, but then regained himself.
"I know it hurts dúlinn. Hold on." He murmured, sliding me onto the front of the saddle. He then climbed on carefully behind me, wrapping both arms around my waist. He then spoke to the horse quietly, guiding it by voice. I could feel it galloping, carrying us to Helm's Deep.
"Galadriel." I moaned, my head falling back against Legolas's shoulder. "Help me."
"Shh, Adette. We're almost there, please hang on."
I weakly lifted my head to see that we really were almost there. We only had to ride across the barren field and then we were there. Soon I closed my eyes and fell into unconsciousness to the sound of hooves pounding into the ground and Legolas's murmurs of encouraging words.
Legolas's POV
I was able to find a place for Adette, and laid her down quickly for the makeshift surgery. It would be painful but it would save her life. Luckily she was unconscious, and so perhaps she wouldn't feel anything. I slowly lifted her tunic, shocked to see that the wound was already sewn shut. I cautiously ran my fingers across the place, feeling the stitches. Who could have done this?
"Sweet Adette, always remember to never give up. If need be, I will come to you if your hope dwindles."
"That is probably because she knows something will happen to you. Something bad will happen to you and she's warning you. Turn back before it's too late!"
I looked up as I felt someone's stares and saw Galadriel looking at Adette and I from her perch upon the hill. Her eyes bore into mine when she saw me and I could have sworn I saw a look of sadness on her face.
"Galadriel." I whispered. I gently pulled the tunic back down and grabbed a blanket from the saddlebag I had brought along. I tucked it around Adette carefully, lying down beside her. I took her hand in mine and swept the hair from her face.
I had been so close to losing her for the second time. It made me wonder why I let her come with me on the journeys, why I had encouraged her to keep learning to fight after her parents died. It was as if I had showed her how to get killed.
Suddenly my mind flashed to Aragorn. Aragorn…my dearest friend. I felt tears rising in my eyes as I remembered finding the scout, and brushed open Adette's other fist to see the Evenstar in her palm. I took it from her, eyeing the jewel. What would Arwen think? How would she cope?
"How is she lad?"
I looked up to see Gimli standing in the doorway, looking sad. I motioned for him to come in and he did, taking a seat on the other side of Adette. He set his axe down and sighed heavily.
"Are we all going to die?" He asked, the sound of tears in his voice.
"Someday. That is something we can't change." I clutched the Evenstar in my fist and closed my eyes, praying for Aragorn's soul.