The Way Back Part 3

As always anything of value belongs to JRR Tolkein, other than that it belongs to whosoever law says it does and I'm content with that. For fun not profit.

A/N I can't quite belive how long this chapter has taken me and I'm still not happy with it, or even convinced that it adds anything but I offer it up for consideration as a start for the next stage of Legolas's journey back towards himself. I had intended to split up the chapters posted to date into two seperate books and tidy up the errors I've noticed but I haven't got around to doing that either. I'm having some format and checking issues so I apologise of there any are spelling or punctuation errors I have missed

Many, many thanks to those who enquired and reassurred me about their enjoyment of my rambling, it means more than I can explain and I hope you continue to enjoy it. Simple pleasures taken where and as they are found are the secret to surviving life these days IMO.

Musings in the Southern Forest

The leaves were just starting their turn towards red and gold and the early morning air was a acquiring a tang that spoke of ripeness and a changing wind when they halted their trek south. They could go no further if they were return home within the time frame the king had set for their mission, and their supplies would not last longer than that. Now they would turn back towards the old road and the mountains and home.

They had left Thranduil's Halls just five days after returning from Dale, nearly two cycles of the moon past, on a scouting mission that had been in the planning since the the circuit of inspection at the end of winter. It had been a long trek to reach this point, far further south than any of their people had ventured since the shadow had arrived at Dol Guldar. But they would go no further on this trip, certainly not to that fortress, even had they been willing to take the risks, and had permission to do so, it would take them nearly as long again to reach and the seasons would not be on their side.

As Legolas took his turn on first watch he found himself glad that they would soon be on their way back to his father's Halls, eager though he had been to make this journey. It had never been the intention to push to the deep southern forest but rather to gauge how the lands closer to the mountains were recovering. The word from the trees had been that the dark creatures were gone and that renewal had begun, but even in communion with the king the forest mind was not skilled in describing things of degree. Only elvish eyes could judge how far the renewal had progressed and how complete it was. After much debate and heartsearching the king had reluctantly agreed to the scouting.

Legolas had viewed the trek with great anticipation from the moment his father had agreed to it, before Elrond's visit, and to his son leading the expedition. That had been something he had not dared to hope for. Though he had been careful not to press for inclusion in the party, much less leadership of it, the chance of being one of those sent had woken a light in his heart and hopes, stiffening his resolve on those days when the darkness of regret settled upon him. The longing to feel a part of his people's future once again, to know the comradeship of a small group of his kin about a common end, had been so strong that he could almost taste it. When the king had reluctantly agreed that it was proper that he should be one of the company, and the Council had agreed, his joy had been almost as great as if he had heard that Sauron was destroyed. The thought of it had occupied as many of his dreams as the past had in the days before they set off to Dale, at times driving even the image of Tauriel and the battle before the mountain from his thoughts.

Only the thought of the further anxiety he would bring upon his father so soon after his flight and return had dimmed his gladness, yet he knew, too, that the worry he could see in Thranduils eyes as they discussed the matter was not only for him. Since his youth Legolas had known of the shadow that settled upon his fathers heart when he looked towards the south, towards the place where he, and their people, had lost so much. It had been many years since he first understood the strength of his father's belief that Sauron would return to haunt the world, trapping them all once again in the web of his malice and evil. A belief that had long ago decided the king that he would rely on no other for his people's protection and defence, one that had strengthened in light of the withdrawl from the world of the ring bearers and the White Council's refusal to accept that the Necromacer was Sauron returned.

Legolas found himself frowning at the thought of it. How long had it been since Lothlorien closed its borders to all, or since the inhabitants of Imladris had last ridden out to do battle with the evil? A millenia or more, perhaps closer to two? He could not be sure but something of that order. It was as if they had sought to deny the passage of the years and the truth of the darkness that was again seeking to find a foothold in Arda. A denial his own land could not afford, or believe whe they saw its influence daily. Yet the other elven Realms could not truly believe that all was well could they? The battle before Erbor must have told them differently surely? Elrond at least must know the threat that faced them, for his brother's line in the north could have no comfortable illusions. Perhaps that was why his sons spent much time with the rangers of the north, for he had heard they did, seeking out the creatures who had so wounded their beloved mother. Legolas knew little of the twins, other than the stories of their dour nature and grim deeds, but he could easily imagine the pain and anger that drove them to their reckless orc hunting.

But whatever the reasons for it the self imposed isolation of the other elven Realms placed a heavy burden upon the Elves of Greenwood. Though his father spoke rarely of his bitterness at being cast as the bulwark between the recovering dark lord and the world Legolas knew that it must be deep and real. How could it not be when so much of his energy and power was spent in trying to protect their beloved forest and its people from shadow, and without the costs of it being even acknowledged by those he might have expected as allies in the fight? Yet for all his father's untiring efforts they had lost much to that creeping evil, both elves and forest land. Now he was risking further losses and Legolas knew that his father's worry was not for him alone, but for all he sent and for what they might find.

Legolas pushed the thought to one side for a moment and adjusted his grip on the bow in his hand, an arrow already knocked. He listened carefully but the only sounds were those of his companions preparing the nights camp and he relaxed a little, allowing himself to savour the smell of late summer leaf and flower, but he did not ease his grip on his the forest seemed calm and peaceful they all knew better than to drop their guard, particularly as the sun began to set. None had ventured into this part of Greenwood since the creatures of darkness had first appeared and thought they had seen no current evil they still could not be sure of what they would find. His mind drifted back to his father and the debates that had raged before the decision was king had been reluctant to send any, much less his recently returned son, to a place that had been so blighted for so long and the Council had been divided on the matter. Too much was unknown some said, true and those were things that needed to be known others countered. A few could move swiftly some said, more would be safer argued others. But only the King could finally decide and in the end he had allowed the trip for all the grief it might yet bring to him.

Yet he had been clearly unwilling to risk loss of life, or worse, and did so only because he knew that there may never be a better chance to discover the damage to the southern forest. But he had chose for it to be a small party and he had not hidden his doubts from anyone and his words of instruction had left no room of his intent, nor any possibility of misunderstanding when he had addressed them on the morning of their leaving
"If there is any sign that the power of the dark one or any of his minnions lingers in the south then abandon the mission and return north again. The spiders may be departed but a Nazguil might yet linger for all the white council belief that they all fled with Sauron. Do not approach the fortress on any count, I would not risk losing any to such a fate as capture would be unless the need is dire and for the moment it is not. It is true that I would know more of what happens in the south but I would never wish to pay such a price for that knowledge where there is a choice. For the moment there is such a choice and so my instruction as your king is clear, stay well north of Dol Guldar and if danger still lurks the other side of the mountains return immediately and tell me so."

Yet the king needed to know what manner was the lingering damage to the forest, and how soon they might look to see it recovered, or if evil lurked that might yet make its way north again. Yet his spies in the south of Greewood were not of a nature that could give him all the information that he needed, the forest, its birds and beasts, even its rodents and insects, kept the Elvenking better informed than many might suspect but their ability to gather and relay information had its limitations. They could tell him that the spiders had not sprung from Dol Guldar but they could not tell him where they had come from; they could report that they were gone but they could not tell where they had gone to or why, only that they could no longer be seen.

Nor was Lothlorien able to tell them much of the forest's woes, at least the king had made no mention of hearing from them. But then the Golden Wood had been silent to all for many years, welcoming none, not even their kin from the north. For a moment he wondered what welcome Elrond had found, though he was kin by marriage so discourse between the two Realms was bound to be greater than with those who had less blood tie. Yet despite the familial relationships Legolas found himself wondering just how communication there was between the two Realms. He shook his head with a smile at his own foolishness and put the thought away for a time when he had less pressing concerns to occupy him.

Legolas looked around at the lengthening shadows and sighed, so they had come. But he had seen the fear in his father eyes the evening before they had set off when they had dined together and said their private farewell, felt it in the stiffness of his fathers body as he had embraced his son in a manner that was rare between adult elves of any station much less an Elflord of his fathers standing. For he had known only too well that once they crossed the mountains they would be hostages to fate and beyond the reach of any help should remnants of the darkness linger to assail them. No wonder he had been so reluctant to venture south in the days when the spiders roamed.

The truth was that if the king had been confident that the evil would not return he would have waited longer before sending anyone south of the mountains, but he feared that with each year that passed the chance that the evil would return grew. He had never doubted that the war was not yet over, or that their lands would once again have to fight for both their survival and their peace, the only question was how long the current respite would endure. He had risked this mission in the hope that it would hold this summer at least and soon this summer would be fading. Sending his son on the first journey back to the south was one more source of possible grief, but one he understood the need for. A concern he could let none see.

The duty of an Elvenking at war was hard as diamond.

Legolas smiled softly, sending up a prayer for his father's peace as he caressed a turning leaf. Now that son was here in the south, making his way through the greening forest, standing watches and taking his turn with the fishing pole and his heart sang with the pleasure of it, even as the remaining signs of the legacy of the days of shadow that were all around them grieved that heart. He could no longer wonder at his fathers hestitations or doubt the justice of it and the weight of that concern hung upon them him.

Yet the knowledge was not his alone for all of his party knew that this journey may involve some danger and so the days had been watchful and the nights tense. They had taken the kings words of warning to heart and moved with great care and stealth where the land allowed it. Sleep had been scarce and they had travelled as lightly as they could, staying in one place only when the need for rest became pressing even for elves. The long summer days were a boon but even so their progress had been slower than any would have wished, for moving at night carried extra dangers and they avoided it except on those occassions they had found themselves close to old spider haunts at sundown. The southern forest was an uncomfortable place for those used to the lands that lived beneath the Elvenkings protection,for even in the days when the spiders had sought to occupy ever more of their lands the forest had never felt so silent and distanced. Legolas was not sure how much of this was his own disconnection with the land of his birth, but from the wary looks of his comrades they too felt less than welcome in places.

A sudden sound in the branches above him caused him to step away and raise his bow looking for the cause of the disturbance. He only relaxed when he caught side of a couple of squabbling squirels both staking a claim to a particularly nut laden branch. He shook his head at them and called out a instruction to share before turning his eyes back to scanning the trees around him.

Despite this they had managed to cross the old road and make their way towards the heart of the southern woods. Here they knew that spiders had nested yet it seemed that the kings spies were right in their tweetings , brays and yaps and the monstrous arachnids were now gone and signs of new hope were all around them. He found that it further eased the remains of sorrow that still lurked at his heart. Every flower decked glade, every bee buzzing round a tree hollow nest, every flitting bird and scurrying rabbit was a joy to him; a joy that not so long ago he had not thought to feel again. No longer did he fear the conversation of his comrades, or worry what they might say to each other when they were out of his hearing; nor did he think every frown or watchful look to be directed towards him. He knew that the aftermath of his deeds at Dale were not yet entirely spent but now he could allow himself to believe that one day they would be. Just as he hoped that one day the forest around him would forget the torment it had known.

That did not mean that the past had ceased to chafe at him only that the resulting pain was muted. The voice of the imp of despair rarely made itself heard now and when it did it was soon banished by the daily demands of the Realm and the gentle pleasures of his father's house. He had expected that the regret might return to bite him after seeing Tauriel and being reminded of their deeds on that fateful day, but he had discovered that they were moving into the past, a memory rather than something of the present. It was true that Tauriel had still figured much in his thoughts on the journey home, and some of the memories the sight of her had stirred had been uncomfortable, but not in the way they had on the winters day that had brought him home.

Not that all was truly well with him yet and this this journey to the south had served as a useful distraction from the vague unease that had followed him home from Dale having learned much about her that had been unknown before. But his worries were more about the future than the past now, particularly her future for he could see no way forward for her while she remained so unwilling to accept her own faults in the matter of the dwarfs. Or perhaps her fault in anything. Like a stubborn child she could not release her belief in her rightness despite all evidence that said otherwise. He wondered if she ever would or if some part of her would forever remain frozen, her picture of herself ever as the wronged heroine. The thought troubled him, and he had wondered how he would have survived had he been so unable to accept his fault.

Here south of the mountains the memories of those mis-steps took on a different perspective for all around him was the evidence of how mistaken and naïve she had been, and how close he had come to grave error in his desire to support her.

Even now with Sauron fled and summer barely on the wane it was clear that the shadow had laid heavily this side of the mountains, more so than even the darkest areas of the forest to the north. Seeing it he could not escape the truth that venturing here in the dark days would have been as disasterous as his father had claimed. Moving through the trees would have been dangerous if not fatal for even those that might look upon them kindly were weakened, they remained so even now nigh on eight circles of the seasons after the fortress was cleared. In the darker days few of these trees could have been relied upon to bear their passing even were they willing to do so, forcing the elven force to travel at ground level.

That alone would have been to risk death for there were no roads here any more, and the pathways between long abandoned villages were lost to thorn bush and nettle, which gave plenty of places for an enemy to huddle. Stealthy movement would have been impossible and the enemy would have been able to attack them from all sides while their ability to have defended themselves, hemmed in by hostile trees and chest high brambles, would have been severly restricted, allowing spider and warg to pick them off at will. Though it was true that the the same barriers would have hampered any orc it was not orc that had held this southern land, it had been Sauron's malice, spider and the shadow of the nine that had blighted it. Every step they had taken south from the mountains had brought it home to him how dangerous this land would have been before the Necromancer fled. The quiet watchfulness of his companions, the hands hovering close to bow and knife served as a reminder of what might have been the fate of any who ventured here in the days when Sauron still languished in Dol Guldar. Even now the sense that evil might be just beyond the next group of trees kept them all silent and alert. But nothing had accosted them and their progress had been free of attack or other dangerous events.

No, to follow the spiders south would have been more than foolhardy it would have been stupidity of a breathtaking level. Yet he doubted that Tauriel would accept that even now, for she seemed to have woven herself a mythology around her actions in the time before her desertion as much as she had around her actions after it.

As for the present, it was clear the spiders were gone from this part of Greenwood and there was no sign they had ventured beyond the forest. Yet that did not mean that all was well in the forest, they might still linger further south, as might one or more of the dark spirits that served Sauron. Legolas shivered at the thought, the truth of it was that he was glad that his father had forbade them to venture further south than the line of the Gladden River, which they had reached but two sunrises ago. Any further might bring them within sight of the fortress and none wished to venture that while any chance of it being occupied remained. A little more scouting around this camp, a few more days of mapping spider nests and warg lair and their task would be done and they would return home.

The forest was narrower here than around his fathers halls and the trees less closely packed, making their task easier for there was more room to move, fewer fallen trees and less sense of oppression. The light seemed brighter too and the leaves of the trees were closer in colour and vigour to those of their home woods than they had been in some places. Few new trees had sprouted here in the days of the shadow, but nor had many fallen, and the undergrowth was not as dense or impassible as it might have been, allowing them to move at ground level. That proved to be fortunate given that they could not be sure of the goodwill of the trees or the location of those places where spider webs still hung in tattered curtains still sticky, still coated with venom in places. More than one of their company had become caught in these poisonous filiments before they decided to take the longer ground route wherever they could. Fortunately the venom lacked its previous power and the webs had lost the ability to bind or cut and so none had sufferred any real injury. But even elves became weary of having to watch very foot step and the thrill and challenge of moving back into this land so long lost to them had eventually faded and the trek had become a chore rather than the adventure they had first considered it.

Most were also becoming wearily aware of the lightening of their packs and the limitations of the nightly meal summer fading that became more of a concern for they could not hunt here as they would have done within the Elvenkings lands. They had lived off the forest's summer bounty for much of their journey only relying on the small supplies they carried with them when crossing though those places where once the spiders had had their lairs. There the trees were still sullen and silent and the fruits they bore were small and bitter and the water had a cloudy, almost smoky look. They had moved through those areas as quickly as they could, lingering only to offer their regret at what had been sufferred and the hopes of the King and his people that peace would remain with them. The occassional boar or rabbit would break from cover and hurtle across a clearing before disappearing into shadow once again but the elves let them go for the king has warned them against shedding any blood in the forest until more was known about its state, however tempting the game.

Where they could they sought out the healthier parts of the forest and those where the trees showed signs of shaking off the fear they had lived with for so long. In these greener places the sound of life was all around them and his companions spoke of whispers from the trees as they passed, faint and uncertain as they were. He could not hear them, an ever present reminder of the costs of his past, but one he had little time or inclination to think about while danger might lurk around every bend or behind every bush.

Legolas shook off his growing sense of melancholy as he looked around him, smiling as the foliage closest to him rippled in gentle air, reaching up to run his finger along the serrated edge of a twirling leaf. He up looked towards the reddening sky, felt the soft late summer breeze pull at his hair and smiled, the forest was shaking itself free of the painful past even if some elves found it a hard thing to do. The canopy that had been brown and grey in the days of Sauron was once again wearing many shades of green, and though the colour and texture of the rank piles of old leaves trapped in drifts in bushes and tree roots bore testimony to the sickness that had prevailed here, grass and summer flowers had begun to poke their heads up in search of light and rain. The leaves that fell as the season turned would be red and orange and crisp as a roasted apple, and the snow falls of winter would remain white and bright and undisturnbed by the tracks of dark creatures.

There was no cause for despair it seemed, for the moment the evil was gone and the forest lived, even further south. More than that it was beginning to thrive again, this was clear enough to elven eyes, for the sights and sounds of summer life had been all around them as they had moved south across the Old Road. Even now as summer matured a sense of peace wrapped the forest. Birds still flitted within the tree tops and butterflies and bees harvested nectar from the summer flowers that still shone in gaudy colours on bushes and vines and rabbits danced with little fear in the small glades.

Behind him he could hear the sounds of a camp being made, and the smell of woodsmoke began to drift upon the gentle breeze. Tonight it would be a hot meal for they had caught some particularly fine river trout in one of the clear springs they had crossed and found a large patch of summer mushrooms as well as some early pine nuts. His mouth watered at the very thought of it. They would rest for a day then turn west before making their way north again across the old east road and towards the mountains. Another turn of the moon, or a little more, should see them back in their home woods and they would be within the kings halls in time for the harvest feast.