I know it has been ages since I have updated this and I am sooooo sorry. My partner on almost 5 years asked me to marry him so I have been busy planning our wedding and so have not had five minutes to sit and write anything. I hope that this will make up for my months of absence from writing.
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Unnatural Powers
A few days passed and the fellowship seemed at peace during their visit to Lorien, but something still hung over them. Unanswered questions still plagued their minds as they awaited news of the elven companion. They had nothing of Legolas or Aragorn since they had arrived, Legolas being whisked away almost as soon as they had arrived in front of the lady of the wood. The hobbits along with the dwarf had gorged themselves on food whilst Boromir kept to himself, his mind clearly far away. Legolas' strength was slow to return to him and Aragorn had remained with him, watching over his old friend. Galadriel was yet to visit them since their arrival in Lorien and the ranger grew impatient, wanting answers to what was happening to the Mirkwood Prince.
'Your thoughts are loud Mellon?' said Legolas weakly as he smiled at the ranger.
'You can hear my thoughts?' Quizzed the ranger.
The elf nodded 'It comes and goes… I can't seem to control it.' he replied.
'You will learn to Legolas.' said a soft voice as Galadriel floated into the room 'I am sorry that I have not come and seen you sooner, the people are uneasy about the ring of power being within out borders.'
'I understand, it's a heavy burden to hold the lives and happiness of ones people in the palm of your hand.' replied Legolas as he nodded his head at her arrival.
'Indeed it is.' she replied as she floated to his side, perching herself at the edge of his bed and placing her cool hand against his feverish cheek.
Legolas welcomed the cool touch, it brought him some relief from the fire that ripped through his tired body.
'How did this happen to you Mellon-in?" she asked softly as she tilted her head like a cat.
Legolas went on to tell her the story, watching her face carefully as he did so. Her features were etched with horror as he finished his tale, shoulders shaking. a wave of dizziness hit him and he wavered, slumping having against the wall he was leaned against.
'Legolas?" asked Aragorn as he placed a comforting hand on the elf's shoulder.
'I am fine Estel, just a little dizzy is all.' he replied as he smiled weakly at the ranger.
Aragorn nodded, unconvinced that the elf was telling the whole truth.
'This is a grave story indeed.' Started Galadriel as she stood and walked to the balcony at the edge of the room 'unfortunately there is no way to stop the weakness that comes with using this power. Even I suffer when i use mine and i have had these abilities all my life. I can teach you how to control them though, but i do not know to what extent. These powers are unnatural, not god given.'
Legolas looked away, ashamed. He was ashamed, he felt wrong. Like he no longer had a place in this world. They had taken away what he was and replaced it with a weapon, that was all he was now. He feared what kind of pull the dark lord would have on him as they ventured closer to Mordor, whether the evil inside him would be drawn to Sauron.
'I know what you are thinking Legolas, and you should not fear such things.' she said as she smiled sweetly at him 'if the dark lord had any power over you, you would have managed to get the ring off of Frodo by now and made off with it. However you do not feel the pull it gives like the others do, you can resist its unconscious calls. Fear not Mellon, you will be fine.'
Legolas sighed, relieved at her words, but uncertainty still gnawed at his mind as he watched her leave. He felt like his part in this tale had changed, and he did not know whether it was for good or evil. Darkness however pulled at his mind, dizziness hitting again and the elf knew now that something was wrong. He looked at Aragorn with wide eyes, not knowing what was to come.
'Mellon-nin?' said Aragorn quizzically as he grabbed the elf's shoulders in an attempt to steady as he wavered again.
Legolas' eyes rolled back in his head as his body began to shake, his limbs going rigid. Aragorn fought to keep the elf still as he seized in his arms.
'HELP' he pleaded as tears welled up in his eyes 'Somebody help me.'
Two elves ran into the room, pulling the ranger away as they began to work on the Mirkwood Prince. The man could do nothing but stand and watch helplessly as they fought to steady the elf and after what felt like an eternity, Legolas' body stilled. Blood had spilled down his cheeks, staining the white tunic he wore.
'Is he alright?' pushed Aragorn as he watched them lay the elf down in his bed.
'He will be.' replied one of the elves cryptically, his expression did not match his words.
Aragorn's heart sank. Legolas' body was now fighting the powers it now possessed, like a disease. If they did not find a way to help him, the prince would almost certainly die. He watched as the elves left the room and then returned his attention to the ragged breathing of his elven companion, his skin almost as white as the sheets that covered his prone form. Aragorn sat and watched him sleep for some time, fearing that if he took his eyes off of him for a moment, he would slip away. They had been fast friends from the moment they had met. Legolas had been sent by his father to seek out the ranger after the battle of the five armies. He had been accompanied by a fair elven warrior, he remembered that she has the reddest hair he had seen on an elf. She barely spoke a word, her face emotionless but her eyes had told Aragorn a different story. They were full of sorrow, and it wasn't until some years later that he had learned that she had fallen for a dwarf. Kili, nephew to Thorin Oakenshield. She followed Legolas without question, loyal to her prince and she remained loyal until her death. Aragorn remembered that day as if it has only happened yesterday. The rained battered at them the days before as they trekked across the sodden plains near the North of Mirkwood. They had been running from an Orc pack that had been tracking them for almost 3 weeks, but they were now confident that they had given them the slip. Legolas' keen sight had not picked up any sight of them for the last two days and their heavy boots could not be heard through rock nor earth.
'We should find shelter' Aragorn had said, his skin sore from the rain.
'Agreed.' Legolas had replied as his eyes scouted had the failing light for signs of somewhere they could set up camp 'There!' He exclaimed as he had pointed towards a cave, a few miles away in the distance.
Aragorn could not see what the elf could, but he had come to trust him and so he followed the princes lead and sure enough within half an hour of jogging they were finally out of the downpour and attempting to light a fire with the little sticks and twigs that they had managed to scavenge from the cave.
'How long till we reach your kingdom?' asked the ranger as looked at Legolas who stood guard at the caves entrance.
'We are not 3 days away now.' said Tauriel, surprising Aragorn.
The ranger nodded and smiled in appreciation of her answer and then watched her as she walked up to the white-haired elf, whispering to him. Aragorn strained and managed to catch the end of their conversation.
'My lord, I do not understand why we must take him to Mirkwood.' she stated bluntly
'My father asked me to seek him out and discover his true name. I have done that but I do not know now what he wishes for me to do.'
'You know that i am banished. What do you expect me to do when we arrive?' she quizzed, her gaze never faltering.
'You will stay at my side Tauriel.' he finished bluntly before turning away from her and walking into the cave and sitting himself down in a dark corner. Nothing could be seen of the elf but the light from the fire dancing in his eyes.
They had slept through the night with no interruptions and were greeted with no rain the next morning, but the cloud above threatened to drench them at any moment. Legolas had been uneasy that day, his eyes constantly scouting their surroundings for signs of their trackers.
'Something does not feel right.' he had stated as his eyes bore into the ranger 'We should run, and run hard as I fear that the enemy is not far.' he finished as he sprinted off, followed by Tauriel and then Aragorn.
The man's legs had ached from the constant running then had done for the past month since first meeting each other. Hours past and the looming cloud above their heads got darker and more sinister. Their hearts had leapt in fear as the howling of wargs could be heard from far off in the distance. These were not the orcs that had been tracking them before, they had been of foot.
'Wargs' Legolas had spat as he had come to a holt.
'What do we do?' Tauriel had asked, drawing her knives.
'They are a few leagues ahead but they are in our way. All we can do is hope that we can avoid them, or that they are a small enough group that our arrows can make quick work of them.' The prince had stated as jogged on ahead.
'They will almost certainly pick up the mans scent.' She had shouted after her prince.
Aragorn remembered he had scrunched his nose at her remark but shrugged it off as he knew that she was not wrong. Elves were almost impossible to track using smell, even by foot prints as they are so light on their feet that they can walk atop snow. Legolas had not responded and carried on running, only coming to a stop some hours later when they arrived a the peak of a steep hill, large stones littering the top. They crouched behind one as they caught site of the warg pack below. Sure enough they were ridden by orcs, adorned in black blood encrusted armour. There were twenty at least, too many for them to fight off.
'What do we do now?' Aragorn has asked, he knew there were too many for the three of them to fight but also the could not sneak past unseen.
'We wait, they don't appear to be aware that we are here.' Legolas had replied 'hopefully they will move on.'
So they waited, and they waited but the orcs made no sign of moving off. Aragorn knew deep down that these orcs were either charged with trying to kill any elves or men that dared walk this path, if not that then they were waiting for someone to arrive. The sun was starting to set and the shadow of the night had begun the blanket that pains that surrounded them in darkness.
'My lord they don't appear to be leaving any time soon.' Tauriel had stated 'Perhaps we should try to sneak past them when the darkness comes.'
'No!' Legolas had spat 'they will almost certainly pick up Aragorn's scent then. Perhaps even ours.'
'Then what do you suppose that we do?' She'd growled, her eyes fixed on the orcs that had sat below them.
Legolas did not know what to do. If they went back they would almost certainly encounter the orcs that they had evaded, but if the stayed the would be slaughtered.
'We rest, I will take watch. Tomorrow may bring us a solution.' he replied as he drew one of his knives and stood deadly still, the only movement was that of his eyes flicking about from side to side.
Tauriel and Aragorn had taken Legolas' advice and they did indeed rest that night, but what greeted them in the morning would haunt the ranger for the rest of his life. He was woken by the sound of growling, he'd cracked open his eyes and was greeted by yellow ones staring back at him. He had turned his head to see Legolas' bloody and limp in the grasp of who he assumed was the leader of this rabble. Tauriel has been sat crouching like a cat ready to pounce, her knives in hand.
'Drop your weapons, or i kill the elf scum.' the leader has spat as he'd pushed Legolas' head back with the flat of his blade before placing his knife's edge against the elf's exposed throat.
'You will die before you have a chance' she had snarled.
'Oh really.' it had said before stabbing Legolas in the side, causing the elf to yell out as he eyes flew open.
'You will regret that.' he had said.
'Well I am the one who has the scums life in my hands and you're tellin' me that I'm gonna regret it.' the orc had laughed as he'd pulled out his knife and placed it once again against Legolas' soft throat.
Before the orc had a chance to react, Tauriel had leaped to her feet, dodging the warg that'd snapped at her with his mighty jaws and drove her blade into the orc's neck before he had fallen to the floor, gargling as blood filled his lungs.
'Kill the she-elf' he had roared before falling to the ground dead.
Tauriel had stood in front of Legolas' bloodied body and protected it like a mother would protect her child. Aragorn leapt to his feet, the warg that had been watching over him now very much engaged on the elf who had killed his master. He cut down the orcs and wargs as the ran at him from all directions, watching as Tauriel also killed them with ease. It was when he had killed the last warg that he has witnessed it. He'd watched from a distance as the creature crept up on the weakened prince, watched as it pulled out his knife. All Aragorn could do was shout 'Look out.' This had caught her attention and she had turned and watched in horror as the orc raised his blade, ready to strike. In the blink of an eye she threw herself atop her prince, and screamed as the blade struck her in the back. The action had startled the orc, giving the ranger enough time to cut him down. The battle was now over and Aragorn stood panting as he looked at the pile of bodies at his feet. He pulled Tauriel off of the prince and already her eyes were unseeing. Legolas however was alive but barely, his breathing was rapid blood coated his pale lips. The man gently laid Tauriel against the cold grey rock beside them and them went about inspecting Legolas' wounds.
'Tauriel.' he had said as the elf had begun to return to consciousness.
'Stay still.' The man had said 'your wounds are grave indeed'
'Where is Tauriel, she is an excellent healer.' Legolas had said as his eyes had begun to focus on the man that loomed over him.
What greeted his blue orbs was an expression that had haunted him until this day.
'I am sorry my friend.' Aragorn has said as his eyes had flicked to Tauriel's body that lay just a few meters away from them.
Legolas' gaze had followed his and after some time of silence he had broken down. Aragorn had done his best to comfort the elf as well as tend to his wounds. Legolas had refused to leave her there and so they remained there for another day, only leaving due to one of his father's patrols coming across their camp. It had taken some years for Legolas to recover from her death, but after he had been healed he had left Mirkwood again, with Aragorn and for some months they traveled middle earth with no real destination. Ending up in Rivendell.
And so they had before close friends over the years, brothers even. Legolas had taken arrows for the ranger, protecting the future king of Gondor with his life and Aragorn had done the same, and so now, as he sat watching the elf die in front of him, he knew that there wasn't anything he wouldn't do to save him. He would find a way. Even if it killed him.
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Well there it is. Once again sorry that it took so long. I hit a bit of writer's block with this one but I have also been super busy wedding planning. Please let me know what you think and i promise I will try not to take as long to update it again. Hope it was worth it!