Chapter 10
With the horses, they had doubled the time it had taken to return to the small sea village. By that time, Legolas had returned to his normal self. He healed quickly as any elf, yet his mind seemed not at rest. Often he questioned his father and Celeborn about Idrial. They had not been sure he would have known what had happened in the field. They told him all they knew, and news that she lived seemed to put him slightly more at ease. The gnawing fear in his heart that he was returning to a dying wife seemed unshakeable.
Gimli went with Venet up to the city when they arrived. Aragorn joined in the search for Jehethra's client. The three elves made all haste to their tents, unable to deter Legolas a moment longer.
As they rode up, mother and daughter were standing outside to meet them. Idrial stood tall, though she leaned heavily on her mother's arm. A thick cloak was clasped around her thin shoulders to protect her now frail frame. Her eyes, usually more akin to the sea sparkling beneath the morning sun, now appeared as the waters will on a dark and chilled day. It seemed to Galadriel that some lucky rays broke through the brooding cover as Legolas dismounted and ran to his wife.
Perhaps. She watched her daughter take a few faltering steps, lifting her arms to Legolas just as he buried her in his embrace. Perhaps they are true.
"My love." his whisper was muffled by her hair. He felt the moisture in her eyes against his neck. He held her a little bit harder.
At last she felt safe. All this time she had been trying to hide from herself, to prevent what she knew would happen. Her soul longed painfully to leave her, but standing there, with his one arm around her waist, the other holding her shoulders, she felt at peace. She tucked her head comfortably against his shoulder.
"Come, my love. We should get you inside." He wrapped her in his arms, guiding her into the tent and up the stairs to their bed chamber. His fear returned as he felt how much she needed his support. She leaned heavily into his arms.
Gently he laid her in bed, tucking the blankets around her. He watched her from the corner of his eye, unable to look away from her for long. Thranduil had brought up a salve for his back. Using the small mirror on the dresser, he tried to apply it to his back.
"Oh, come here and let me help you, silly." Idrial sat up with effort.
Dipping her hand in the oil, she gently dabbed it on the gashes that were still open. He felt her hands shaking. Tears welled, blurring his vision. It still seemed surreal that his beloved Idrial might not live through the night.
He turned to see she had laid down again, her eyes closed. He took her in his arms again, looking down at her.
"My love?" She opened her eyes. "You are not well."
She sighed as if she did not want to talk about it. "My blood is replenishing."
"Yes, but that is not what I meant."
Again she sighed. "I have been avoiding it. It has made it easier." At his quizzical expression, she clarified, "To hold it at bay. I thought….if I waited for you, you could help me. But holding is so hard…. My soul longs to escape, I must let it go. That is the only way… there may be no way at all."
"Idrial, no. Don't talk like that." Legolas pulled her tight, once again feeling the tears in his eyes. "You can't fade. Not now. Hold on, please."
Her eyes sparkled with tears of pain. "I can't. I have held already too long."
"You have to. There must be a way. Please my love, no…." She sighed, taking his hand, she squeezed it tight, and then her fingers loosened, so much so that Legolas had to grab her hand to prevent it from sliding back to her side. "Stay with me."
She looked up into his horrified eyes. She tried to smile, moving her hand within his, as if trying to hold it again. His mouth moved as if he could not find words. She closed her eyes. Slowly the light in her skin faded, gathering into an orb over her chest. It pulled free of her and rose away. Her body went entirely dark. The Eldar spirit had left her.
"No! No, my love!" He clutched her limp body, his cry wracking his body.
He could not take his eyes off her dark body. He held her close, feeling her skin growing colder under his hands.
A strange sound, like wind whistling through an old forest, had been building in the room. Legolas looked up to see Idrial's spirit hanging above him. Although the elf could feel no wind, the orb began to spin as the wind-like sound grew. Louder and louder the spirit wind blew, faster and faster the orb spun, until it broke into a whirlwind of golden points like luminous shooting stars. They moved through the air, taking on the shape of a she-elf. She hovered where the orb had been, her true form revealed. Her hair, like the weave of a golden spider, was lifted as if by a wind, her skirts billowed. She eyes glowed a hot white for her radiant face. Tears like liquid gold rolled down her cheeks.
In the center of her chest, where her heart should have rested, laid a gaping dark hole. Black smoke curled slowly from it, twisting and coiling around her like bonds, choking the light that was her soul.
Legolas was still aware of Idrial, cold in his arms. He looked on her soul, witnessing her true pain. It burned his own soul, as if they shared the pain. He suffered under the realization that all he could do was watch as his wife fought for their lives in a separate realm. A sensation was building in his chest, some strong, almost painful desire. The rest of his body he could not feel. It was as if all but his chest was entirely numb. A golden haze similar to the she-elf above came before his eyes, and it blinded him, sending the world into blackness.
. . . . . . . . . . .
When they had heard his cry, they had feared the worst. Yet the sight that met them when they threw open the couple's door halted them all, even Galadriel. On the bed the couple lay, their cold, dark bodies entwined. Above them hung two golden forms. A she-elf, bound with black ropes of shadow, her mouth opening a silent scream of agony. An elf formed of the same spirit light floated beside her, facing her. He reached forward, trying to take her into his embrace. The shadow held him away, bending the rays of his hands back like streaming fire. It wound further about the she-elf, tightening its hold until her back arched, her hands clenching in fists, her spirit desperately attempting to escape the pain that held her fast.
The elf pushed harder, the glow of his hands dimming as the shadow tried to hold it back. He pushed again.
The shadow bonds shattered like ice, shooting out and back like daggers. The three standing witness dodged. The shards dissolved before they reached them.
The elf reached again, and with his hand brushed the tears from the she-elf's cheek. He brought his hands together and laid them over the hole that still pierced her breast.
The light about them suddenly flashed and intensified, filling the room as if a god had dropped a star from the heavens. Thranduil slammed the door against the burning glow. The luminous halo about its frame lasted several long seconds. Once again it flared, then faded. The door was opened again. The two lovers still hovered over their earthy forms. The elf removed his hands from the she-elf's chest.
She was whole.