The first thing Thranduil felt when he stepped through the doorway between worlds was a feeling of being stretched tight from within. Shadows pressed heavily on his energy and he felt suddenly raw. The strange world seemed dim and he wondered if his vision would be permanently so affected by the environment.
He passed his gaze around the landscape. They were in a rocky crevasse shaped like a crescent moon. A smattering of trees and grass were before them and a pond sat some distance behind them. Its surface was still except for where a small cascade of water tumbled into it from the rocks above. The doorway hovered in the air between, flickering softly once in a while.
"I have to go back!"
An elven woman, one of his most gifted healers, was nearly the color of slate and appeared somewhat vaporous in form. Thranduil's mouth parted in shock at the sight of her.
She looked to him, her golden eyes shining. A gasp rent from her throat and her face went gaunt. "There's no magic here… I have to go back!"
Thranduil gestured for three guards to help her and they took her by the shoulders, helping her cross the portal. Once on the other side, they handed the healer some water and her color improved, though she was visibly weak.
Nuinethir stepped up beside him. "This place… It stretches us thin. We can't remain here long. Legolas may have faded by now. There may be nothing to find."
Nothing to find…
Thranduil's jaw clenched and he breathed deeply through his nose. "I will entertain that possibility once we've exhausted every avenue of inquiry, Lieutenant."
After assessing the rest of his party, the elvenking commanded that they begin their explorations. The crevasse had a metal door in the wall opposite from the water and one natural exit in a gap by the northern end. They chose this path and began making their way out into the night.
The going was slower then he'd anticipated. Many felt weakened by the shadows and the unfamiliar terrain slowed them. As they made their way through the trees on the mountainside, Thranduil thought about the phenomenon here that affected some of his kin as it did while others seemed not to feel it at all. He himself felt wearier than he had before stepping through the doorway. The invigoration of magic that charged his limbs and readied him for battle seemed absent.
The healers were the most affected. After that, those with foresight – no matter how minor their talent – were diminished. His quickstriders and those best trained for battle and least gifted with magic were the least troubled while anyone with heightened senses felt it enough to know it was there but were able to defy it.
There's no magic here!
The sentence stayed with him. This world didn't seem to have an undercurrent of life flowing through it. Everything here was just a construct of living tissue but no real life. No trees spoke, no birds called out with any meaning and simply squawked mindlessly. No waters murmured about the life of the world and no breeze whispered of renewal as it drifted across the land. The world here was utterly silent. It had no soul, no music. It was chaotic and ever-changing, but without any purpose. It was this very absence that weighed on their energy. The world had no magic because it had no soul. And those most sensitive to the life held within the lands of Middle Earth, were the most gravely affected here.
Thranduil's eyes widened at what this would mean for himself and his kin. He could only hope they found Legolas and returned home before it was too late.
"Why do you not wish to learn to fight?"
Seren looked up from where she was drawing in the dirt with a stick and found Legolas staring at her intently. "Oh… Every time I'd ever tried, I have nightmares afterward. My parents, on my doctor's suggestion, insisted on the exercises in order to keep me strong." She glanced at Tal, sleeping on the other side of the fire. "I was a very sick child."
They were in a storage room within the old mine and there was a tiny fire going for warmth, sleeping in the blankets she'd brought since the old barracks were in shambles and infested with rodents. Thus far, there had been no sign the Suits knew of this place or had followed them after they made a break for it through the trees.
Tal complained at length about being closed in once they reached a decrepit tunnel but he was the first to fall asleep when they made camp. Seren and Legolas spent the hours since, talking quietly about their worlds and customs. The subject of war in Middle Earth prompted Legolas to ask the question he did now.
"Tal made the moves into a dance so I could learn but I couldn't use weapons, not at first. The sound was just so horrible to me – I don't know why. Fighting my brother and father, even in training, just scared me out of my wits. When I grew older, I learned to suppress it and was able to master the basics –swords and all – but still the nightmares would come. Now, I can practice once in a while for a time so I try to oblige Tal when I can. I know how much he misses it and our parents – the family learning the art together."
Legolas smiled and his gaze drifted to the flames. He carefully considered his next question, unsure he wouldn't upset Seren with such a personal query.
"Tal mentioned your parents before… What happened to them?"
Seren stiffened a little and her breath stuttered once as she drew it in. "It was five years ago but at times, it seems like yesterday. Our mom… People say she died of a broken heart, that she couldn't live without our father. She passed a few months after he did. There was no apparent cause. She just went to bed one night and never woke up. I found her, in a pile of dad's clothes on the bed and all of the drawers on his dresser half open. She had a smile on her face for the first time since he passed."
Seren looked down at her doodle in the dirt and wiped it away with a foot. She began a new image and Legolas thought she would say no more but after a few moments, she spoke again.
"My father… He died like Bruce Lee." She smiled wistfully at the comparison. "There's an entire culture that surrounds reviving the combat and weapon styles of ancient civilizations. Dad used to do presentations and compete in tournaments and one can collect an impressive list of injuries that never fully heal. As he grew older, those injuries began to bother him. But he'd just swallow a bunch of pills and declare himself fit for battle. He couldn't fathom ever giving it up. At his last tournament, he took something for a headache and went to lie down before the banquet. When the champion failed to show up, they went to his dressing room and found him unresponsive on the couch. By the time, he arrived at a hospital, he was gone. The doctors said his heart stopped because of aspirin induced edema." Seren laughed a soundless and bitter laugh. "It was the first showing he'd won in over a year and it was supposed to be his last before retiring."
Seren looked at Legolas then, eyes glassy and bright. He was sitting there across the fire, silent and still as a statue.
"Well… he never had to worry about what he'd do with himself in retirement." She murmured and went back to doodling in the dirt with her stick.
"What about the dance you learned with Tal? Do you still do it?"
Seren raised her head and smiled. "Only when no one's looking."
A yawn escaped her suddenly and she shuffled down into her blanket and wished Legolas a good night. He returned the sentiment and laid on his back to study the stars peeking through a ventilation shaft, listening for Seren's breathing to even out in slumber.
When he was certain she wouldn't wake and that Tal still slept, he rose silently and reached for his knives. Seren had given him a map in case they were separated and he tucked it into his left bracer. After checking that he had everything he needed, he took a moment to gaze fondly upon the humans before slipping out of the room, down the shaft and out into the starry night.
There was a lot of activity among the F.B.I. agents when Drecker arrived at the camp. It was two hours before dawn but they were all immaculately dressed and speaking with urgency. The leader seemed agitated as he demanded a list of all the possible routes leading to and from the mountain, every resident living on its slopes and any other pertinent structures they could find information on and dismissed them.
Drecker tried not to smile about the agents' difficulty. "Did you lose something?"
"The Evanses assaulted the agent I sent to collect their friend," the leader said. "And then ran off into the trees."
While Drecker knew this wasn't any better for him than it was for the agent, he found it hard to sympathize. He liked the Evans kids (when Tal wasn't trampling all over his town with that beast he called a truck) and they wouldn't have assaulted anyone without cause.
"So why are you looking for them on the mountain? They were in town last I knew. Coming this way would be stupid."
The agent sighed. "They know about the others in our custody."
"Ah," Drecker replied. "And you think they'll try to rescue them?"
A single nod was the only response Drecker received. He thought of the old mine and wondered if he should mention it. It had been a small operation but it wound through the ridge surrounding Big Bear. The Serrano tribes successfully petitioned for it to be closed when the excavation intruded upon their land and all entrances had been sealed. He doubted anyone could get inside, but if there was a chance, the agents would learn of it and it would be his ass on the line.
"They are no paths up or down this mountain except for the main road. If they wanted to move unseen, they'd use the mine."
The agent slowly turned and stared at him.
Drecker swallowed. "I'll get you the blueprints."
When the Sheriff left the tent, the agent tapped the mic hanging on his ear and waited for a response. It was answered a moment later by his second-in-command who stood outside with a few others.
"Set up the infrared perimeter. No alarms."
Legolas tip toed between tree trunks and studied the map once more. Seren's cabin was a little further west from his current position. A rise in the mountainside blocked the clearing from view but he knew her land would be on the other side. He closed his eyes and brought up a memory of it, trying to recall the tree line. He decided to veer south and remain within the coverage of pines until he had to abandon it.
The snow muffled his steps which he was grateful for as he stumbled once when a wave of dizziness passed over him. It was his third episode since leaving the mine. They were increasing in frequency with every hour it seemed. He felt beyond tired and the world seemed dreamlike all the time now but he didn't stop or slow.
He reached the top of the ridge and looked down at the site where Seren's home once stood. Three white tents sat there now and light from within illuminated the figures occupying them. There were three figures between the first two tents, moving about and generally unaware he was right outside. The last tent had a much dimmer light but he was sure he counted six figures, all sitting and not moving as freely as the others. They had to be Haavelas and his men.
Keeping to the trees, Legolas skirted the camp until he came to the cluster of pines that sheltered the clearing from the road and studied the remaining agents spread out on the lawn. The tents were almost right up against the rise of rock but an agent patrolled the stretch behind them and came toward his hiding place. Silently he crouched and maneuvered further into the pines and hid behind a thick trunk, watching the agent as he stopped and peered into the trees for a few moments before moving on.
When it was safe, he returned to the spot where the trees came closest to the tents and judged the distance. He watched the agents as they wandered in their assigned patterns. Finally, his chance to go came and he hurried across. He tucked up behind the last tent, looking for a way in. It was a solid wall of strange fabric. He pulled one of his knives out and made a neat slit along the bottom of the tent where it met the ground just wide enough for him to wiggle through.
Caireann jumped and had to stifle a gasp when the blade suddenly started slicing the fabric of the tent. The others looked to what had so startled her and glad smiles broke out over their faces as Legolas's head pushed through the opening he had made. He wiggled in, dragging snow and dirt with him. Once inside, he gazed upon them, smiling.
"I'm so glad to see you alive, my lord," Haavelas said quietly. He almost didn't believe the sight before him. The prince was a bit disheveled, bruised and thinner than he had been before and his color was muted but it was unmistakably the wayward elf he had defied the king to find.
"I'm glad to see you as well, Haavelas." Legolas noted the way the elf listed to one side and frowned. "Are you alright?"
"They wounded him with some strange weapon," Caireann whispered crossly.
"It's healing well," Haavelas said quickly. "I can manage well enough to leave this place."
Legolas nodded. It would have to do. There wasn't much time to waste. He studied the shackles on his kin, dismayed to find the metal cuffs didn't have an easily accessed lock or hinge. He couldn't smash them open either, because the noise would give them away.
He stood to follow the chain that ran through loops attached between them and felt something hit his back in two places. He heard Caireann gasp but his body froze and a crackle filled his ears as he shook where he stood.
A black clothed arm extended into the tent from the hole that had been cut in the back, wielding a taser. Coiled wires stretched from it to the leads that had latched onto Legolas's leather armor, crackling terribly while the elves could only watch the prince shudder.
"No!" Haavelas shouted, struggling against his cuffs.
Every muscle seized and Legolas felt his heart trip and stammer. Pain seared through his chest and his vision dimmed. When it abruptly stopped, he fell to his knees reaching blindly for the things in his back but they started another attack and all he could do was fall to the floor convulsing with the unnatural rhythm coursing through him.
The zippered entrance of the tent opened and an agent appeared, grinning.
"So good of you to join us, Legolas! You're just in time."
The current in his body suddenly stopped but Legolas had no strength to rise. He hurt everywhere, his chest felt like it was filled with acid and his muscles continued to cramp painfully. Simply breathing was an extraordinary hardship. Dimly, he was aware of cold metal encircling his wrists. Before unconsciousness claimed him, he heard another agent approach.
"The transport is here."
"He went to the cabin!" Seren hurriedly packed her bedroll while Taliesin did the same with Legolas's empty blanket.
"Probably," Tal agreed.
When he woke and found no sign of the elf, he roused his sister. It was just before dawn now and they were supposed to be searching for another portal. Legolas's disappearance had changed their plans.
"Cursed, foolish hero…"
"He's probably trying to protect us," Tal interjected.
Seren whirled on him. "Exactly! Taliesin, he's sick. He doesn't know the mountains – a map can only do so much – and who knows what state the others are in? It was foolish to go alone."
Tal wanted to argue, to make Seren understand – he'd even have her stay here if he could but he knew that would be impossible.
Once they had everything stowed away, they took off from the mine at a run. Seren wove through trees and flew over the terrain, stopping or slowing to let Tal catch up before taking off again. When they were kids, they both explored the mountain they lived on but Seren had continued that tradition when he became too busy with martial arts to join her. After he moved into town and would come to visit her, he sometimes found her home empty and had to wait for her to return from running through the trees, clueless as to where he could look for her.
"You shouldn't be so careless in these hills, Seren!"
Now he wished he hadn't given it up. He would have wasted time picking his way over the land without Seren to lead him. As it was, he struggled to clear obstacles and didn't always see a low branch in time while his sister leaned and sidestepped and hopped her way around everything. He wanted to grumble about the time it was taking but had no breath to speak and could only grunt every time she told him to hurry.
Seren veered south and slowed her pace. She turned back toward him and made a 'be quiet' gesture. Tal looked to his right at the ridge of rock they had avoided and the halved pine tree beyond it and realized they had reached the clearing where her cabin used to be.
The sun was finally rising above the eastern peaks and lit their way through the trees to the south end of Seren's property. They hadn't need to go far to see between the trees, that the camp was nearly gone. Only a few agents remained to roll up the tents.
"No!" Seren ran to the western edge where it dropped off fifteen feet onto the road below and spotted a white straight truck sitting there. Through the open back door, she saw Legolas and the others sitting on a bench inside, staring ahead unseeing. IVs were hung above them and when Legolas did move, his motions were slow and clumsy.
Her chest clenched tight. "Legolas… Haavelas…" She quickly counted those she could see and surmised they were all inside. Legolas gradually turned his head, searching but seeming confused about what he was looking for. Then he saw them and his eyes widened but at that moment the door was slammed shut.
"We have to stop them!" Seren looked at Tal as the truck started to roll away.
Tal's mouth was set in a grim line. "There's nothing we can do."
"Tal…" she growled in warning.
"We can head them off – I know that – but then what? It's crazy, Seren! I won't risk your safety -"
"I'm going, with or without you. If you want to protect me, you'd better keep up."
She ran back into the trees and Tal followed a moment later. He could live with himself if she was hurt, he'd hate himself but he'd live. He could live with himself if they let the elves go but it would kill Seren and she'd never forgive herself, much less him. He couldn't live with Seren hating him; not for a day, not for a minute.
"Alright! Wait up!"