Out of Mirkwood
Scribbles-on-Parchment
July 20, 2020
Chapter 50 – Realizations
"What do you mean you think Legolas was first taken by elves?" Kélion demanded, "Are you saying that you think someone captured him and took him to the yrch?"
Annion did not meet the prince's eye but just looked at the ground and nodded slowly.
"I believe that someone from the palace followed him when he disappeared into the woods. Nearby we found two more dead spiders and while the weapons that killed them had been removed, we did find another arrow in the brush."
This time it was Brêgon who produced a broken arrow from his pouch. The blue and grey fletching was torn almost all the way off and the sturdy elm was split in half near the tip. Êmand reached over and took the arrow from the guard, looking it over carefully as Brêgon continued,
"While it is not my place to say anything hîr nín I would like to suggest that perhaps Prince Legolas's death was more than just a tragic accident."
Êmand felt dread filling his heart as he listened to the ellon's words. The hurt from the elfling's violent death was still too near. He handed the splintered arrow shaft over to Meldir and remarked,
"I do not recognize it. The fletching is strange, and the shaft appears to be made out of elm, which is not found anywhere in the Greenwood. This arrow did not come from one of our people," he turned to Brêgon, "But you said that you also found human footprints. What of those? You are hiding something from us. I can see it in your eyes."
The Silvan elf looked startled at the accusation.
"Both the elven footprints and the human's came from the same direction. They appeared to have come from the edge of the forest. If you seek to know my humble opinion, I do not find it hard to believe that Legolas was attacked by several Noldor elves and at least one human."
Meldir scowled darkly,
"We have not had dealing with them for ages. Why have they come into the Greenwood now? If they intended to wipe us out why did they not come years ago after the first attack?"
The eldar turned to look at Kélion who stood there looking slightly ill.
"If the Noldor have infiltrated these woods then why did they leave Legolas to the yrch? Why not take him hostage and use him against us? Surely they would have seen the advantage that taking the prince captive would have given them."
Meldir's hand tightened around the shaft of the arrow as he said this, anger glinting in his eyes.
"How could they be so cruel as to leave an innocent elfling in the hands of yrch? Legolas could have been alive. He should still be alive."
"They wanted this," Êmand's low voice caused all of the ellyn to glance over at him, "Don't you see. They wanted us to suffer. They want the king to fade."
The Silvan turned to look straight at Kélion with a fierce gaze,
"If Thranduil were to fall into darkness the whole of the Greenwood would fall apart. The powerful magic that has protected us for centuries would fall to you Kélion, but I do believe you would follow soon after him, for that is the nature of such deep grief. Do you not see that they are trying to destroy us?"
Meldir glanced over at his closest friend unsure of how the ellon would take Êmand's words. He could see the anger and sorrow buried deep in the deep azure eyes, but on the outside the prince seemed unfazed. The commander silently cursed the cold egos of the Sindar. If Kélion did not open up more than the eldar feared the prince would explode one day.
"Then what do you advise I do? My adar lies ill behind those doors and my brother is dead. My people are falling apart around me, and darkness is taking over these woods. What should I do? My list of allies is thin, and I do not have the strength to fight it all. So as grateful as I am that you came to me with this information, it does not change the fact that Legolas is gone. No doubt soon you will also tell me that it is only a matter time before my very own people being to desert the Greenwood."
As the prince spoke the heartbreak in his voice became more and more apparent. The situation was beginning to sink in and become a painful reality.
If the Noldor decided to attack, the Greenwood would be left with a grieving and ill king and would fall. It was not a matter of if, but when. Either the darkness and treachery would take it down from the inside or Noldor elves and yrch would destroy it from the outside.
After the two guards had been dismissed, Meldir sent Êmand to summon Narril to check on the king. As soon as the older elf had left and shut the door behind him, the commander walked over to Kélion and wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulders.
"You are not alone in this mellon. There are those around you that can help you. You do not need to put up walls around yourself again. It is alright to let others see what is troubling you. It will not destroy you. Now tell me what is on your mind, for I can see that you are greatly worried."
As Kélion's bright blue eyes came up to meet his, Meldir was surprised to see tears pooling in the azure depths.
"There is so much hurt and pain," the Sinda said as he all but collapsed into his friend's arms, "My heart feels as if it is being torn in two. So much has happened that I have yet to grieve properly for Legolas, but if I stop to do this, I fear that everything around me will fall. It is as if I am carrying the weight of everything on my back and it threatens to crush me under its weight."
The prince let out a shuddering breath as he let his guard down for the first time in many days. He knew his adar was waiting for him to return though he could not bring himself to face the Sinda yet.
There were things that were weighing on his heart and if he did not speak of them now, he feared he never would.
"Tell me everything mellon nín."
Meldir hugged the shuddering body of the younger ellon to himself and waited patiently. Kélion had done this for him on many occasions and he was happy to finally be able to return the favor.
"It isn't fair. None of it is. How can it be that I am left to live while my brother lays slain and my adar lies fading behind that door? It should have been me. I should have been the one killed by the yrch. I should have run after him and saved him, but I didn't. Instead I stayed behind and let him die. I killed him."
Meldir could feel tears wetting the shoulder, seeping through his tunic.
"You did not kill him. Legolas made his own decisions and he did not need you to make it for him. There truly was nothing else you could have done so do not tear yourself apart by thinking these things when you know they are not true."
"How can you say that?" Kélion pushed against the arms that held him and stumbled back several steps, tears streaming down his face, "I was his brother and I was supposed to protect him."
"And I was his friend. Does his death not also lay in my hands? Mellon you need to let go of this anger and guilt. Grieve for him yes, but do not blame yourself or you will follow in his footsteps. Your adar is still here and the both of you will need one another if any of us are going to survive."
Kélion sat down heavily on a plush chair that sat next to the great wooden desk as several tear streaks made their way down his face.
"I am not sure if I want to try and push through the pain anymore," he looked at his friend with sad eyes, "Did you know Meldir that I am so close to just giving up entirely? I am so close to just letting the pain and sorrow overpower me and to let myself fade."
The Silvan commander went pale at the prince's last comment. He had known that the Sinda's pain would be great, but he would never have guessed that the powerful ellon would just give up on all hope and allow himself to be consumed by darkness. Thranduil… yes, he would have imagined that, but never Kélion.
"Why did you never tell me this sooner? How long have you been feeling such overwhelming grief as you would give in to it?"
Kélion looked at his friend with the most sorrowful gaze Meldir had ever seen.
"I have felt this way since my naneth died. Only I had Legolas to keep me rooted in place. But now…"
"But now you have me. Now you have Êmand, Narril, Nalledir, Thalion, your adar. You seem to have become so focused on those that you lost mellon nín that you have forgotten about those that still care and who are here beside you. Legolas would not have wanted you to do this to yourself."
"Legolas would not have wanted any of this!" Kélion's eyes flashed in sudden anger that startled the other ellon, "He just wanted to be free. To roam the forest and have adventures, only we wouldn't let him. And do you see where that led him? To his grave!"
"Calm yourself Kélion! Lest you say something that you regret." Meldir snapped, "Maybe we all let him down, but that doesn't make a difference. He isn't here anymore, and he won't be coming back. He's gone from this forest, he left, and you were not meant to follow."
The little green leaf has left this forest, but do not yet despair.
The words the tree had spoken to him the previous day suddenly came crashing into the prince's mind. Do not yet despair.
What had the tree been trying to tell him? Could his brother still be alive? By some miracle could all of this just be another act of dark magic just as the palace gate in the forest?
The prince sat up straighter. What if Legolas never was dead…
"Meldir!"
The Silvan elf jolted in surprise at Kélion's sudden cry. He looked up from where he was pouring his friend a drink from a crystal pitcher almost spilling water down the front of his tunic. The prince was no longer sitting in the chair beside the fire but was kneeling on the floor holding his head in his hands as if in great pain. The Sinda's normally pale skin had gone almost completely white.
With a gasp the ellon slammed the pitcher down, not caring that as it splashed water out on the king's desk and was kneeling at his friend's side in an instant.
"Tell me what is wrong mellon?" Meldir could not keep worry from creeping into this voice, "Do you need me to fetch a healer for you, I am sure Narril will be here soon."
The Silvan moved to get up and call for help, but Kélion reached out and grabbed the ellon's arm tightly and gasped,
"No. Don't leave."
As the Sinda's eyes connected with his, Meldir couldn't help but gasp at that power the seemed to burn inside of his friend's blue eyes, making them appear to glow. He had seen this only once before, when Thranduil had sealed off the Greenwood from the rest of arda. How was the power of the king still with the prince? How had it not been removed from him after Thranduil was out of danger?
"It is breached," Kélion choked out, "The barrier is falling… they are coming. The power of the king is failing."
Meldir grabbed the prince's shoulders even as he heard the door behind him open as Êmand arrived back with Narril.
"Who is coming, Kélion?"
"Yrch and they know we are here."
Elvish Translations:
yrch – orcs
hîr nín – my lord
adar – father
mellon – friend
mellon nín – my friend
naneth – mother