For Disclaimer and other notes see prologue
Wow! I was really supprised at the amount of reviews!(responses are at the bottom) Thank you guys so much, it means a lot to us! We posted this chapter a little earlier than was planned…but I didn't think any of you would object. ;)
Thank you so much Gwenneth for betaing this chapter!
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Strangers in Shadows
By: Amanda & Shelby
Chapter 1
A Break in the Sky
Darkness devoured the two beings as rain showered them.
The only sound that could be heard was the soft rushing and puttering of the rain as it hammered the wet ground, save for the soft sorrow filled weep escaping one of the two elves that sat silently by a fallen tree. A silver tear slipped from the elf's blurry eyes onto his blooded cheek before mixing with rain that flooded his soft face. Strong arms wrapped around his fallen companion, holding him in place, determined to let nothing take him, not even death.
Thaladirith was dying.
Legolas couldn't let it happen. He shook his head. No. He wouldn't let it happen.
Fingers of light descended from the sky behind the dark gray clouds, casting long, haunted shadows across the forest's dark features before disappearing and allowing the darkness to take over once more. The storm was not expecting to rest and the thunder that followed the sparks of light told him that he had not seen the end of it yet. It was going to get stronger before the end.
A deep gasp caught his attention once more. Legolas lowered his head to look at his dying friend, more weeps escaped his lips. Thaladirith was having a hard time allowing the air to flow through his lungs.
Curse the evil that had so grown in this innocent forest. He watched the shadow-like clouds sweeping across what was visible of the night sky as a curtain of his blond hair flew in front of his face, taunting him. He brushed the strands away furiously.
This evil that had taken the forest captive with its villainy was costing his friend his life. A friend he had long known as a friend, but now a guard of the palace as well. They had grown up together and Thaladirith's father was one of the top-ranked elves in Thranduil's court and was extremely loyal to Elvenking. He didn't want to imagine what his father would say, especially Thaladirith's father, Thalion, if Thaladirith died, his father would likely die from his own grief. His wife and daughter had gone to the Undying Lands just a few years ago, to lose Thaladirith would be terrible.
He did not want it to end now.
A flood of tears slid down his stained face. How could a simple hunting trip go so terribly wrong? It was a simple mission in attempt to gather food for those in need.
FLASH BACK
Moving off the Elf Path, Legolas and Thaladirith slowly made their way into the grove of trees. The trail of the herd of deer they had been tracking had been lost in the darkness that was taking over the light of the moon that shone through the trees making the shadows seem larger than they really were.
"We should find a place to make camp for the night." Thaladirith's voice echoed through the surrounding trees, as he looked up at the skies.
Legolas nodded looking ahead of Thaladirith. At the moment, he didn't really care, he was too tired.
So he moved ahead and looked at the trees half-heartedly. "How about here?"
Shrugging, Thaladirith nodded, he didn't really mind.
Legolas dropped his pack down at the base of the tree and followed Thaladirith's lead as the Elf leapt cat-like into the giant trees and found a place to rest. He located a branch right beside his companion and sat comfortably against the trunk as the tree graciously welcomed him into its embrace.
Legolas breathed the air around them silently. The soft sounds of Thaladirith's even breath caused him to slowly give away to a light doze. It was just then when he realized that the breathing of his friend was the only thing Legolas could hear. The usual loud chirping of crickets and the soft breath of the wind that rattled the trees was absent.
The silence was deafening.
He quickly snapped out of his daze when a warning of fear tickled at the back of the prince's mind, but wasn't quick enough as he was knocked out of the tree by a black rush.
Thaladirith turned about quick enough to see the prince get knocked out of the tree by a hairy, black body. Then he noticed the worst. They must have made camp so quickly that they weren't paying attention that they were in the middle of a spider's nest.
Thaladirith felt a heavy weight hit his back, knocking the air out of his lungs. He hurtled toward the ground with the help of a giant spider on his back which flattened him to the earth.
Thaladirith tried to roll over to his back to have a better chance to get to the spider with his hands but to no avail. The spider had pinned the elf to the forest floor, keeping him in place as its pincers snapped at the soft skin under Thaladirith ears.
The struggling elf tossed his head to try to make a harder target for the poison stinger to lock on to. Through the haze of his flying hair, Thaladirith took a chance to look at his companion.
The spiders seemed to pop out of nowhere, multiplying, and started to fight against the prince as he struggled to pull his knives out of their sheath. He knew without a doubt that more spiders were lurking just out of sight, waiting for the prince to come closer to give them a chance to prance on him.
The spiders never happened upon much food out in this lonely area and they were determined not to let their prey get away so easily.
"Legolas! No!" Thaladirith's thrashing had become more brutal as he saw that his friend was being herded into a deadly trap. The spiders would corner him until he had nowhere else to go, and had to fight the creatures. Spiders weren't overly smart, but they knew how to corner prey. And unfortunately, Legolas was falling into their trap, unaware that he was soon to be cornered. Thaladirith had seen it too many times before.
The prince's eyes flashed as a small amount of moon light reflected off an evil being's big eyes making the creature look more dreadful than before. His daggers rose into a defensive position and he backed up hoping to find the solid of a tree to cover his back, but the farther back he went the more his body screamed at him in protest.
The soft light of the moon was quickly devoured as dark clouds decided to invade, making it harder for the two companions to see what they were doing. Droplets of water fell helplessly to the ground, making the forest floor harder to navigate on.
Legolas heard Thaladirith's voice from behind his attackers, but paid no attention to him, he already knew he was going to be trapped. During that moment of distraction, the spider took its chance and used its legs and plunged the elf across the forest floor, causing him to smack into the nearest tree.
A spider to his right had charged, as the elf made effort to maintain his balance, its many legs flashing as they pushed their owner forward. Legolas leapt to the left at the last minute, causing the creature to lose its life as Legolas spun around and plunged his elven knives deep into the head of the evil creature. As a result of his actions, the surrounding creatures hurtled forward, anger and hunger urging them on. The prince took his chance to run through the charging enemy. His knives blurred as the elf flashed them through every body that came his way.
Thaladirith had finally gotten his knees under him and he levered the evil being on his back off him. He reached inside his boot to grab his own daggers and hurried to aid the prince.
FLASH BACK
The prince closed his eyes in silent frustration and turned his silver head up toward the sky. The heavy clouds let loose a few droplets of cold rain water. The lonely drops landed on Legolas' upturned face, rolling down the side of his cheek, attempting to clean the sadness and sorrow from its depths.
He shook his head and hugged the body of his friend into a warmer embrace, careful not to cause him any more pain. He looked around at all the dead bodies of the fallen enemy, and they added no pleasure to his current situation.
He had to get out of here, and quickly. With no healing medicines and not enough knowledge of the healing arts, Legolas couldn't do anything. Nor did he want to bring further discomfort to his friend.
Legolas slowly got to his feet shaking off any other memories that trapped his mind within, took Thaladirith's unconscious form and placed it over his shoulders, and started to make his way back to where he thought the path that led them home was.
The rain was starting to pelt down harder than before and it made it hard for the prince to see where he was going. His golden locks stuck to his face mixed with the tears of guilt and the rain that the clouds still cried.
Legolas let his mind wander once more. I could have prevented this! I know I could have, but no...I had to lead Thaladirith into a spiders nest... He shouldn't have tried to save me. Who cares if I'm the Prince or not? He let his mind wander once more…
FLASH BACK
The spiders were gradually slowing down, but Legolas and Thaladirith were also getting tired. Thaladirith's countless wounds were throbbing with pain. He put that thought aside and with determination turned to the next threat.
Legolas blocked an attack with his elven knife, and used the other to plunge the blade deep into the back of a spiders head, killing it instantly. He pulled the knife out quickly and used his elven reflexes to turn around and face his new opponent.
A loud deafening crack was heard and blinding light descended from the clouds as lighting broke the sky. It was followed by a loud roar as thunder mimicked its companion.
Legolas jumped at the loud noise and light. Then, everything began to happen too quickly.
Thaladirith watched the lighting as it hit an old, tall tree behind Legolas, detecting it like a magnet does metal, and ripped it horizontally in half. A panicked Legolas was knocked off his feet and plopped down in the to-be landing spot of the tree, as the last few spiders fled, vanishing through the trees and into darkness. Legolas had barely gotten to his feet when he was knocked over once again.
Thaladirith used his best instinct and ran forward pushing Legolas forward with all his might, out of the path of the falling wood. It landed with a loud crash.
Legolas rolled over in disgust about being pushed from behind again. He quickly gained his feet as lightning sounded in the background once again. His eyes lit upon a sight that broke his heart.
Thaladirith lay on the ground buried beneath the giant trunk of the tree.
He was motionless.
"NOOOO!" was the only sound Legolas was able to force from his shocked body. His voice echoed through the trees as he dropped his weapons and ran to his fallen friend, kicking the worthless spiders out of his path.
The prince landed soundlessly on his knees and attempted to lift the fallen log from his friends back. But the broken tree was heavier than it looked. He jumped to his feet and attempted to push the log, but no avail. It wouldn't budge. He reached out for Thaladirith's extended hand and desperately felt for a pulse. He moved his fingers around his companions wrist, until they met with a small, slow beat. He sighed in relief and tried once again to push the tree from its deadly perch atop his friend.
It seemed like hours before the tree finally budged, and he rolled it off slowly as Thaladirith cried out in pure pain. Legolas winced himself, as he rolled the log the rest of the way off Thaladirith's legs, and went slowly back to his friends aid.
Thaladirith's breathing was slow and he had a few broken ribs, how many he had, Legolas could not tell. His eyes sparkled with tears as he thought of what this brave elf had done for him. I would have done the same. He let his thoughts wander again as he looked over any other injuries and gasped out loud when his soft fingers detected a large bump on the side of Thaladirith's neck. He had been stung.
The fair haired elf looked behind him for his pack; he saw nothing. He turned his head and looked all around the nest; and saw nothing. All his supplies were gone. He wasn't much of a healer, but he did have an antidote for the spider poison. He stifled a small cry as his friend lost consciousness.
FLASH BACK
His eyes were glazed with the tears that were threatening to pour over once more. He swiftly wiped them away with the back of his hand. He wasn't going to let his friend die. His foot steps made no noise as he waked toward what he saw was the muddied Elf Path. The rain saturated the previously dry ground making it a mucky wet substance. It stuck to the prince's boots and leggings as he walked the trail, so he moved over to walk on the wet grass.
He lightly shifted the body that was draped over his shoulders and made an effort to move forward once more. He wanted to get home before dawn, but he knew it was impossible even without the heavy rain, the walk was still a two or three day journey.
Legolas' body was getting tired and his wounds were throbbing with pain. He swayed as he stepped forward; his eyes, now half closed, were not even paying attention to his actions. He slowly moved each foot. One in front of the other; he kept telling himself, and felt a warning of mistake run through his body as he stepped down.
A click broke through the pounding rain and at the same time a sharp pang broke into his ankle like a rush of pain-filled wind was whirling around his ankle, spreading severe pain up his leg, followed by a loud whooshing sound.
He dropped Thaladirith out of shock and fell down on his knees as something heavy landed on top of him. He looked up to see what it was when the ground beneath him gave away like a sheet being pulled quickly from under a piece of glass. He let out a yelp as he fell into unknown darkness.
Wow! That is sure a long chapter, longer than most of the other ones! Thank you to all who read and reviewed last time!
Review Responses
viggomaniac- yay! Our first reviewer! Thank you so much!
Othrilis, incisigoth3, Deana, Karri, Zammy- wow! Thank you guys a lot for the review! I hope you liked this chapter! More will be here soon!
Mornflower- I am so sorry about your friends sister! Shelby and I will keep you and your friend in our thoughts and prayers. Thank you for the review!
Legolass Q- Thats one of my favorite lines too; "...the creatures that shall hide from fear of me, cower beneath my shadow which will rise like death before the dawn." Shelby wrote that! Thank you for the review!
MorierBlackleaf- Thank you for the review and the advise that you left me in your email! We can always use it! ;) I hope the plot will keep you entertained!
You guys are awesome! I would have longer responses, but I got to go. ;) Remember to review! Please!
Namarie for now!
Amanda & Shelby
