12) The Cast

The next morning, Legolas and Maeryn set out on foot. Legolas now admitted to himself that he felt extremely frail, his body light as air. Whether it was that his deaths were taking a toll on his body or that he hadn't had any food or proper sleep in the past four or five days, he couldn't tell. All he knew was that his body had taken a beating one way or another and it was telling him so this morning.

He now wore a strange patchwork tunic that Maeryn had sewn of the remains of his burial garments and various other scraps she had had lying around. It was predominantly beige with pale blue silk highlights from his death robes. She had also fashioned him a ratty navy blue cloth cape that was fraying at the ends.

"Fine threads for a prince." Maeryn had laughed wickedly while Legolas smiled wryly, shuddering to think of what his father would say.

Maeryn now spoke as they walked through the forest, trying to explain to him how she had rescued him from the orcs. Her story didn't make a lot of sense. But then, Legolas thought, there were many things about Maeryn that didn't make a lot of sense. But it didn't matter how he was rescued. That was in the past. The only important thing was that he was on his way to find Aragorn.

Maeryn supplied the elf with a curved blade and a crude bow with a quiver of three or four arrows. Before he could speak, she said that she could easily make more before she would need to hunt again.

"That deer flesh should last me a few weeks." She chuckled. He didn't see what was funny about it.

By the time they reached the last outskirts of the elven forest, it was nearly noon. Legolas was now where he had been when the orcs attacked. He became more confused than ever as he realized the supreme distance that Maeryn's home was from this spot. But he said nothing. Instead he stared over the vast field with the boulders towards the distant forest that the highway entered. He had been right: it was silly to imagine that in the wide-open spaces, he would be able to see Estel.

"Well, here is where we part." Maeryn said.

"Thank you for all of your hospitality and generosity." Legolas said automatically, without his usual genuine sentiment. He hoped that she realized that he wasn't in the state of mind to muster a tone of true gratitude.

"Well, it is your people that have allowed me to live peaceably in your woods for all these years. I love your kind." She smiled. "Can't stand humans…"She muttered.

He smiled wearily.

"You go now, and find those cursed bastards who killed you, save your ranger friend. And don't forget not to touch anything alive with your bare skin, lest it should die."

At that moment, Legolas suddenly wondered if he even needed these weapons. But then he reconsidered. Don't be ridiculous. You don't think like yourself. Not everything that you would need defence from deserves to die. "Thank you, Maeryn."

The elven Prince carried on across the yellow fields. As the sun beat down on him, his thoughts alternated between longings for a horse, even one as suspicious and intelligent as Tariël, and Aragorn's safety. Eventually tall, straight alders came to line the path and a creek as well. It was here that Legolas saw a shape ahead, lying on the soft earth and dead leaves of the road. It was a man, clad in a long cloak that was now twisted around him and splayed on the ground in strange places.

"Aragorn!" He cried out. He ran to the figure. Aragorn lay on his back, apparently out cold. Legolas knelt beside him and for one fleeting moment, felt the joy of finding him alive and the sadness of finding him injured. Then, abruptly, the elf straightened, stiff as a plank and stood up. His stomach went cold, his white face bitter and angry, and his mouth drawn into a taut, straight line, his lips disappearing.

"This is the worst cast I have ever seen." He said in loud monotone. He stepped back, expecting to feel eyes watching him, but he did not. He looked around and around. "Where is the real Aragorn!" He demanded of the forest, but there was no one there. "Arrrrrrg!" He screamed in sudden frustration, frightening all of the birds out of the trees, as well as taking himself by surprise.

And without hesitation, he thrust his bare hand down upon the face of the ersatz ranger. It instantly dissolved into a thousand monarch butterflies. The elf stood, a yellow and black blur shining into his half-closed eyes, the flutter of two thousand wings upon his face, slipping across and tickling his soft, thin skin. His throat filled with a hopeless pain as he waited for them to disperse.

When they had all gone, he stared at the place where he had lay, water standing in his eyes. There was one butterfly left, perched on a dead leaf where the cast had been. Surrounding it were the dried black carcasses of the monarchs that had had the misfortune of touching his skin. It twitched its wings softly and Legolas knew that it couldn't fly. Its wings were patterned like stain-glass and looked as shiny, reflecting the ground like supernatural mirrors.

"It was you." He raged. He reached his hand down and seized the malicious insect. "You have collaborated with the killers; you will suffer for it here." And he closed his hand roughly, crushing the monarch and its enchanting wings. The crushing sounded of breaking glass and he let the infinitesimal yellow and black shards fall out of his hands.

He stepped back a few paces, breathing hard. He had to think rationally. If he continued to do nothing but feel, there could be no discovering what he should do next.

All right… All right, think. What does this mean? This cast proves one thing: Estel did come this way. It proves that they have him. But they took the time to create a cast and leave it here. Why? Do they know that I am coming? That's impossible… Almost. Not quite.

But why put a cast here? It is a clue and they didn't really believe that I would fall for it, did they? How could they believe that I would believe this to be Aragorn and end my pursuit?

But if they knew I wouldn't fall for it, but they did leave it here for me to find, does that mean that I am walking into a trap? What trap? I am already dead. If they had plans to kill Aragorn, they would have done it already.

Or if they don't know that I am coming, was this cast simply meant to fool casual passers-by? Or to discourage others from continuing on this trail into the woods beyond? If they don't want people coming into the woods and stumbling onto whatever it is they are doing, then that is reason enough for me to assume that that is where I need to be heading. Legolas' thought process sped up steadily until this last thought left him literally running down the path towards the darker woods ahead.

Legolas ran for what felt like hours into the dark wood until he could not run any more. He suspected that he was at the southwest end of the forest – the end that he and Aragorn had been seeking as an exit before they were attacked.

How ridiculous. He thought. All of it. It's as though none of this was ever meant to be. And it needn't have been. If it weren't for my stupidity, falling for that spell, if we hadn't lost Brollas…If none of this had ever happened… Aragorn and I would be safe and alive now in Rivendell.

"There is a soft irony at my having to return here that I don't much care for! It's vulgar!" He yelled, as though angry at the very knarled trees themselves.

Legolas continued to walk the entire day. Though his weariness increased, he felt more and more lucid. Late afternoon turned into dusk and the scenery did not change. The highway cut through a never-ending tunnel of thorned bushes and twisted tree limbs. He could not see the sky and darkness was closing fast, the foliage no longer green, but black. The Prince was just beginning to consider camping in the middle of the trail when a brilliant spill of colour caught his eye. A splotch of yellow was floating towards him down the path, glowing in contrast to the darkness.

"You again! I'll kill you!"

And Legolas began to run towards the butterfly as it diverged off of the trail into the wall of dense branches. For a moment, the elf felt as though his feet had left the ground and all of his limbs were suspended in mid-air by the tangled mess of vines and thorns. Then he had landed and was running through the cavernous forest at the monarch who fluttered along, seemingly oblivious to its seeker. He ran further and further away from the highway, trying to catch up to the insect, which seemed to completely defy everything that the elf knew about the speed of butterflies.

It will lead me to Aragorn's capturers; they are linked somehow… If I don't kill it first…

The trees hung low and closed off the sky, creating a series of tree caves. This area reminded Legolas suspiciously of the area in which he had originally fallen prey to the musical spell. The only difference was that the Prince didn't feel soft moss carpeting under his feet, but rather rough dirt and thorns.

Then Legolas saw something ahead of him that he could not explain. It seemed to be a wall of solid brambles without end. Legolas watched the butterfly slip through and disappear into it. Despite his bafflement, he didn't want to lose it and forced himself to run up to the wall. Up close, he found that he could easily slip inside, as there were two walls that overlapped, leaving a hole. He ran through. It occurred to Legolas that this was some sort of barrier or border or fence. Once on the other side, Legolas found that there was indeed something that the wall had been protecting, if not hiding. Though very small for what it was, it rose high in his field of vision, black and solid and staggering. The elf's voice caught in his throat and he stopped so abruptly that he slid to a sitting position, lest he run right into it.

TBC