Missing Elf and a Strange Spell
I am sorry for the long wait...I kinda had writers block...I really hate that.
That and I was also getting a Beta for my Grammer...I apologize for my Grammer mistakes before and I am going to try and fix them.
I would like to thank Kalisona for pointing out my errors,
and I would also like to thank my Beta. Her name is Iyone (Not in real life, Obviously) she is my friend from school and I told her about my story Missing Elf and Strange Spell before I started writing it, so I think she deserves to be the Beta...Sorry i'm rambling...
Well Please Enjoy Chapter Five
Chapter Five
The next three days were uneventful. On the ninth and last day of the ride, the ten travelers were finally in the forest of the Wood-Elves. The day was spent riding to the palace.
The forest looked beautiful yet dangerous. The company was on a small road that led through Mirkwood. Everyone, except Aragorn and Gandalf, looked around and saw fallen or twisted trees, roots sticking out of the ground and spider webs everywhere. They also noticed that the forest was a lot quieter then they expected it to be. Apart from the silence and spider webs, it reminded Merry, Pippin and Gimli of Fangorn.
Pippin, who was sitting in front of Gandalf, looked up at the Wizard.
"Hey, Gandalf? Is Mirkwood suppose to be so quiet?" he asked.
Instead of answering Gandalf looked at Aragorn, who looked back, both with a worried look. They had noticed the stillness as well.
"Gandalf?" came Pippin's voice. The Wizard looked back down at the Hobbit.
"Is Mirkwood suppose to be so quiet?" he repeated.
Gandalf looked at Pippin a moment longer. Then he finally answered, "No, it is not."
"I don't like that answer," said Merry from behind.
"I don't like it either Merry, but that just gives us reason to move quicker," said Aragorn. Then he added, "We have to hurry, and be quiet. There are a lot of dangers in this forest. Dangers you would not wish to face."
That said, everyone started on their way again at a faster pace. No one said a word; the only sound was the horses' hooves on the small road.
At around midday the horses stopped and started neighing. They tossed their heads and stamped their hooves.
"What's wrong?" asked Sam nervously.
"The horses sense something," answered Faramir from behind the Hobbit.
"Well, what do they sense?"
"I do not know."
Suddenly there was a low hissing sound that was soon joined with another and then another.
"Wh-What is that?" asked Frodo.
"Spiders," answered Aragorn while he got out his sword. The others soon followed his example.
"Can you tell how many there are?" asked Gandalf.
"No. Their hissing is echoing, which means I can't even tell where they're coming from," answered Aragorn.
"Should we stay on our horses or do we fight on the ground?" asked Boromir.
Aragorn looked over at the man "No. Stay on your horses."
"But-."
"But nothing. Truth be told it does not make a difference if we are on a horse or not. These things are fast and deadly. We must try to get away!"
"But they are just spiders," said Pippin.
"These are no ordinary spiders," said Gandalf.
"What do you mean?" asked Merry.
Before anyone could answer his question a large spider jumped down from above and landed in front of them. It was soon followed by four more. Frodo noticed that these spiders looked like the spider, Shelob. He also noticed that they were a half a size larger then she had been! Frodo looked back and shared a worried look with Sam, who noticed the same things.
"Never mind," they all heard Merry squeak.
"Only five? Come now this can't be that big of a challenge for us," said Gimli.
"You will be surprised, Gimli. Even the Elves have trouble with these beasts at times. It sometimes takes up to three Elves to kill one but that is also because their weak spot is either their eyes or their underside and they guard their weak spots well," explained Gandalf.
The horses were forced into a tight circle so the company was trapped. The group then heard another sound, but this sound was not a hiss of a spider.
It was a low angry growl.
The spiders hesitated for a moment before, what everyone guessed was the leader, moved into a position to pounce on Aragorn. Just as it moved, another creature pounced on it. The company watched in amazement as the creature fought the spider. Then the rest of the spiders joined in on the fight with the new creature, so now it was fighting all spiders at once. The company then realized what had saved their lives.
The creature fighting the spiders was a wolf!
The wolf was the size of a horse but it was also very thin. It had pure white fur. The company noted that its ears were more pointed then the average wolf. They were pulled out of their thoughts by a yelp from the wolf. The company watched and soon they saw a spider fall down dead. It was soon followed by another, then another and finally the wolf was just fighting the leader of the spiders.
The wolf snarled and growled. It bit and scratched. And finally the spider started weakening. The wolf jumped onto its back and sunk its teeth into the neck of it, killing the beast instantly.
As the wolf slowly stood, the company held it breath, not knowing if it would attack them next. Instead of attacking, the Wolf sat down and stared at the group. This gave the group a perfect view of it.
They all saw that it wore a Mithril collar with a Green emerald in the shape of a leaf on the side of it. The wolf tilted its head at them and the emerald shined.
"Look at its eyes," whispered Gimli.
They all did and they noted that it had light purple eyes.
"I have never seen a purple-eyed wolf before," said Boromir.
"I have never seen a wolf that big before," said Merry.
"I wonder how it got so big," said Faramir and everyone nodded.
The wolf then stood. It turned and started walking away from them.
"Where is it going?" asked Pippin.
Pippin got no answer. Instead Aragorn urged his horse to follow it and the others followed him.
"Why are we following a wolf?" asked Merry.
"We are following it because it is heading towards the palace," said Aragorn.
"Oh!"
Every few moments the wolf would look back behind it at the group as if to check that they were still following it. At one point it got far ahead of them and when it looked back it stopped and waited for them to catch up then started walking again.
"It's as if it is trying to lead us there safely," said Aragorn.
"Well it's wearing a collar. Maybe it belongs to one of the Elves," said Boromir.
"Who do you think it belongs to?" asked Faramir.
Gandalf, Aragorn and Gimli all looked at each other, then all said in unison, "Legolas."
"Why do you say that?" asked Frodo.
Gandalf answered, "Because there is a green leaf-shaped emerald on the side of the collar"
"So, what does the emerald have to do with the wolf belonging to Legolas?" asked Pippin.
"It's not the emerald that tells us. It's the color and the shape of it," said Aragorn.
"Ok what do those have to do with the wolf belonging to Legolas?"
"Because Legolas' name means Greenleaf and having that jewel on the collar might tell the other Elves that the wolf is his," said Gimli.
"Oh, that's neat!" said Pippin.
They followed the wolf until they were only about an hour away from the palace. Then the wolf started to run on ahead and before anyone could say a word, it was out of site.
"Well, I wonder why it did that," said Sam.
The others shrugged while Gandalf spoke, "I believe it did that because we have company."
"How do you know that?" asked Eomer.
As an answer to his question, a lone hooded Elf jumped out from a tree with his arrow pointed at Eomer's head.
"Well this looks slightly familiar," muttered the man.
After that about two-dozen other hooded Elves jumped from the trees, all with arrows pointed at the company.
"I know how you feel, Eomer," said Gimli.
Gandalf raised his hands, "Pease, my friends, we mean you no harm. We have come-."
"We know why you are here," said the lead Elf.
"Then why do you still have those things pointed at us?" asked Gimli.
"Just for safety, Master Dwarf," replied the Elf.
"May we ask who you are?" asked Aragorn.
The Elf removed his hood to show long black hair pulled back in the same fashion as Legolas wore his, but without the small braids behind his ears.
"My name is Keegan and at the moment I am the leader of this patrol."
"At the moment?"
"Yes, the true leader of this patrol is Legolas but he is…." Keegan trailed off.
"Not himself," finished one of the other hooded Elves.
Everyone, except the hooded Elves, looked at the new speaker.
"And who might you be?" asked Gimli.
The Elf moved and stood beside Keegan. Then the Elf lowered their hood to reveal a female. She also had long black hair. Though her's was not pulled back. "If you must know, my name is Elwyn. Me and Key here are friends of Legolas," she said glaring at Gimli.
"El…Not now."
"Key-."
"No, El. You know what Las will say. Come on; let's take them to the palace. He will want to see his friends again."
The company dismounted and walked with the Elves around them. As they walked, Pippin approached Keegan and Elwyn. He asked, "Umm…excuse me. Who was that white wolf?"
The two Elves looked at each other and then down at Pippin. It was Keegan who answered, "You will find out in due time, my friend."
"Well it must be really rare. I mean it had purple eyes and it was huge," Pippin continued.
"One of a kind actually," muttered Elwyn as she moved on ahead.
"What's wrong with her?" asked Frodo.
"I can't answer that," replied Keegan.
The group walked in silence and soon they came to what looked like a wall of intertwined branches and roots on the side of the mountain. Keegan said something in Elvish but no one was able to hear what word he said. Then the intertwined branches and roots slowly started to untwine. The travelers watched in amazement as the branches and roots moved aside and revealed a doorway in the mountain. Three Elves came and took the company's horses. As Keegan walked through the doorway, the others followed.
The Hobbits looked back and watched as the wood moved back into place. The four looked at each other and spoke in unison, "Wow!"
The group looked around the entrance hall, and what they saw amazed them. Although they were in a mountain it didn't look like it. Instead of looking like a cave it looked like the inside of a castle but it had roots going around the walls, ceiling and even on the floor. There was sunlight shining in but where it came from was a mystery to the guests.
There were elves walking around doing their own thing and paying no attention to the guests in their halls. The company noticed that every Elf either had black or dark brown hair. Not one elf had blonde hair like Legolas did.
At the far end of the hall there were big wooden double-doors with an elvish inscription over top of it. There was also a single door on either side of the room, which also had an elvish inscription over top of each.
In the middle of the room was a large fountain, entirely made of mithril. It had a large stand in the center and on this stand was a spider. It was on its stomach with its legs hanging off the side. It had three arrows sticking out of its back. Around the rim of the fountain were four Elves, each with a bow and arrow pointing at the spider. Water was spraying out of each arrow tip. The fountain reflected the sunlight so that it danced off of every surface in the room.
"Whoa," whispered Boromir.
Keegan looked back. He saw everyone's faces and smiled. He looked at Aragorn and Gandalf, both of whom were the only ones who didn't look amazed, and spoke, "I'm guessing none of them have seen a fountain made of mithril before?"
Gandalf smiled and shook his head.
"Do you know how long it took to make that thing?" asked Boromir.
Keegan shook his head, "No, I don't. This fountain was built before my time."
Boromir just nodded his head. The double-doors at the far end of the hall opened and Elwyn came out.
"The Elven-King will see you now. Follow me."
She turned and went back through the door. Keegan and the guests followed her through. After everyone was inside, Keegan and Elwyn left. They shut the doors behind them.
The room they entered was the throne room. Like the last room, it had roots and branches snaking their way over the walls and ceiling. At the end of the hall was a throne carved from a tree stump. It had high armrests and a straight back. It looked as though it grew right out of the floor. Sitting in this throne was the Elven-King. A mithril crown, similar to the one Legolas wore at Aragorn's crowning ceremony, held his black hair out of his face. He wore a silver tunic with gray leggings and brown knee high boots. A forest green cloak was pined around his shoulders.
The King had an emotionless face as he watched his guests walk up to him. On his left side stood three Elves also with mithril crowns on. Two of them – the females – were twins. One of the twins was wearing a long forest green dress and the other was wearing a silver one. The third Elf was male. He wore the same color clothing as the King except he wore no cloak. On the King's right sat the white wolf, its head slightly tilted to one side. It looked as though it was smiling at the company.
The group finally stood in front of the Elven-King and his face still showed no emotion. The King looked at each member of the company one at a time. When he looked to Gimli, he started to glare and he opened his mouth to say something but was stopped by a growl from the wolf.
Thranduil looked at the wolf and the group saw the wolf shake its head slightly as if to say no to the King. "Very well," they heard him mutter.
"King Thranduil, we apologize for just coming without sending word," said Aragorn.
The Elven-King just looked at him for a moment. Then he said, "You did not have to send word to me, for I already knew you would be coming."
"How did you already know?" asked Pippin.
"Pippin!" whispered Merry as he grabbed Pippin by the shoulder.
Thranduil put a hand up, stopping Merry from pulling the younger Hobbit back, and answered, "I knew, young Hobbit, because my son told me you would be coming to see if he was alright."
Pippin narrowed his eyes in confusion. "But, we have come to see Legolas," he said.
This made Aragorn, Gandalf and Gimli chuckle. They remembered how Legolas had taken his crown off before he saw the Hobbits. The three Elves beside the King also chuckled. The King on the other hand did not look pleased.
One of the female Elves spoke, "Yes, we know who you are here for, young Hobbit."
The other female then spoke, "Legolas is the one who told us."
"But then that means…" started Sam.
"That Legolas is our brother and youngest Prince of Mirkwood. I am Alagan. This is Vanya in the green dress and Raina in the silver dress…I think. Only Legolas can really tell them apart," said Alagan as he looked at his sisters. Vanya and Raina both nodded and Alagan smiled.
"Wow! How come Legolas never told us he was a Prince?" asked Pippin.
"I guess you could say he doesn't really see the point of telling people," answered Alagan.
"Why?"
"I don't know. You will have to ask him that."
"Ok, where is he?"
"Right here."
The guests looked towards where Legolas's voice came from and all gasped.
End of Chapter Five
AN -Wow!...Look what I did...aren't i mean? Well I will try to get the Sixth Chapter up soon...