Groaning softly, Aragorn clenched his eyes shut tighter and slowly brought his hand up to the thickly bandaged wound. A dull pain throbbed at his abdomen and he softly groaned as he slowly opened his eyes and waited for his eyes to adjust. The sun had just risen over the horizon and was burning off the fog. Arms were wrapped around his torso and held him tightly to another body behind him. Turning his head slowly to look behind him, Aragorn looked to the elf's face. Legolas stared ahead of them and he was barely breathing. Aragorn turned his gaze to where Legolas stared and looked for whatever held the elf's attention. He could see nothing but he did not have elven eyes.

"Legolas?" he questioned softly.

"Do you see them? A whole pack of wargs; they are just staring at us," he replied as his eyes darted side to side.

"Where, mellonin?"

"Right there, beside that spruce tree."

Aragorn looked again and saw no wargs where his friend said they were. The morning birds were singing and Aragorn did not sense any evil nearby. He could feel the tremors of fear racing through the elf as his grip tightened on Aragorn.

"Mellonin, the wargs are not real. They are a figment of your mind," he said softly and grasped his friend's forearm.

"Who am I to trust? My elven eyes or my friend who has never steered me wrong?" he muttered to himself as he continued to stare forward.

"Trust me, my friend. You always have, do not stop now."

Legolas slowly nodded and released his grip on the human. Aragorn slowly sat up and pressed a hand to his wound as he slowly released a breath he had been holding. The wound did not pain him as much as he expected and he slowly unwound the bandages. The dagger did not strike anything vital and it was a clean wound in and out. The wound was already in the early stages of healing and showed no signs of infection. Legolas helped him bandage the wound again before Aragorn turned to Legolas to look at his wound.

"How do you feel, Legolas?" Aragorn asked softly and felt he elf's forehead.

"A little hot and a little sick to my stomach," he replied before lunging to the side to dry heave.

Aragorn frowned as he carefully supported the heaving elf in his arms. Legolas suddenly slumped in his arms unconscious and Aragorn gently rolled him onto his back. The thigh wound was infected again as Aragorn felt the heat radiating from the infected flesh. Swearing, he prepared what he would need to lance the wound and drain the infection. He hated to do it but they would have to start moving after he did this. Gorgias would soon be on their trail and they could not afford to linger. Ignoring the pain from his own wound, Aragorn swiftly lanced the wound and let it drain. Murmuring to his elvish friend softly, Aragorn worked swiftly and was soon done. Packing his things, he stood stiffly and paused for a moment before calling his horse over. Slipping the pack onto the animal, he gently pushed Legolas onto the horse and mounted behind his friend. Gently holding onto the elf, Aragorn tapped the horse onward and traveled across the mountain. He was still several days ride from Mirkwood ad his supplies were running glow. And Legolas' infection was getting worse; he could only hope that the most recent lancing would help. Legolas need extensive care that he could not give out in the wild.

Wrapping his cloak tightly around Legolas and himself, Aragorn guided the horse carefully through the mountain. The air was cooler up there and Aragorn worried that the cool air may affect Legolas. The elf's body was weakened by the infection and his wounds; anything could happen, even a simple cold. Sighing with worry, Aragorn pulled the horse to a stop and took in the surroundings. He was further North than he first thought and possibly a half day closer to Mirkwood. In his arms, Legolas started to shift restlessly and groan soft words. Aragorn picked up the words 'Bretharso', 'no', and 'Estel' amid undistinguishable words. Holding Legolas with one arm, Aragorn held his free hand against his friend's forehead. Trying to recreate the bond he once had, Aragorn slowly pressed into Legolas' mind and sooth his agitation. He sensed shadows, fear and solitude; he passed on courage, calmness and peace to his friend. The shadows retreated and some faded before Aragorn withdrew from his friend's mind. He knew he could not do this here and now without possibly harming Legolas or himself.

Opening his eyes, he felt himself slipping to the side in weakness as the horse shifted to the side quickly. Aragorn bumped against a tree and leaned against it for a moment before gaining some strength again. Sitting up, he rubbed the horse's rump and smiled weakly.

"Hannon lle, mellon nin, hannon lle."

The horse nickered softly as Aragorn glanced around once again and noticed the stark difference. It looked as if several hours had passed while he aided Legolas. Swearing, Aragorn picked up the reins and urged the horse forward and down the slope. Reaching the bottom of the mountain, he urged the horse into a canter and rode across the plain. Occasionally glancing over his shoulder, Aragorn rode until the horse needed rest and it was close to sunset. Seeing no shelter nearby, Aragorn found a large tuft of plain grass and slowly slipped off the horse. Leaning against the horse for momentary support, he reached up and carefully pulled Legolas off the horse. Lowering the elf to the ground, Aragorn looked up as Legolas softly groaned.

"Legolas?" he asked softly and leaned over his friend.

"Strider?"

Legolas' eyes slowly opened and glanced around the area. His friend came into focus eventually and Legolas weakly grinned.

"Shadows no longer haunt my mind and waking thoughts," he muttered quietly and carefully sat up.

"I had hoped it would have helped you but you are still not fully healed. Your mind is still damaged by what Bretharso did to you," Aragorn said softly and braced himself against the ground.

"Are you well?" Legolas asked as Aragorn lifted a hand to his forehead.

"Just a little tired," he muttered and shook his head.

Legolas slowly sat up and worriedly looked over Aragorn. The human was looking pale and a little blurry eyed as the elf looked over his friend. Searching for the flask of water, he offered it to Aragorn and watched as he drank some.

"I just need some rest," Aragorn muttered and slowly lowered himself to the ground.

Legolas nodded slowly and sat where he was to keep watch. The horse stood silently by the two and kept watch along with the elf. The animal could sense that the elf was not his normal self and that was dangerous; especially during such dangerous times when a person needed all their wits and senses. Aragorn slept deeply as his body regained its strength and Legolas remained by his side. Several ours later, Legolas tensed as his ears picked up the faint sounds of movement and he knew the sounds were real because the horse was also tense.

"Strider, you must awaken," Legolas called softly and gently tapped the human's cheek.

Legolas pressed his hand over his friend's mouth when he jerked awake to keep him silent as he motioned towards the noises. Once Aragorn nodded, Legolas removed his hand and turned to look into the shadows.

"Goblins," Legolas muttered softly as Aragorn gently touched his arm.

"We must flee, Legolas. You are not well enough to battle any numbered of goblins," Aragorn said and softly called his horse over.

Before Legolas could respond, a screeching cry rang out and the chaos began. Grabbing his bow and an arrow, Aragorn yelled at Legolas to get on the horse as he released arrows. Legolas was somewhat aware that Aragorn's bow and arrow skills have greatly improved from what he remembered but he did not stop to think as he scrambled on to the horse. He had no weapons and his mind wasn't fit enough to battle a mass of goblins. Moving to the horse, Aragorn swung atop the animal and yelled for it to run. The horse only ran several striders before an arrow pierced Aragorn's shoulder deeply and knocked him from the horse's back. Tumbling onto the ground, Aragorn gasped as the arrow dug in deeper into his back and snapped the shaft and fletching. Rolling to a stop, Aragorn pushed himself up to his hands and knees to look at Legolas atop the horse.

"Go, Legolas! Hide yourself and the horse!" he yelled and pulled another arrow from his quiver.

"What? Estel?" Legolas questioned, confused.

"Go!"

Aragorn yelled for the mare to run and watched as the animal galloped away with Legolas gripping her mane. Reaching for more arrows, his shoulder screamed in pain as he pulled the arrow and aimed before releasing the projectile. Firing as many arrows as he could, he soon cast aside his bow and reached for his sword. Counting the number of goblins, he grimly set his mouth and sent a small prayer to Elendil before leaping towards his foes with a war cry.

(I)(I)(I)

Legolas struggled to stop the horse as he heard the faint cries of the goblins behind him. Part of him wanted to continue running but something deeper told him to stop and go back. Shadows flitted across his mind but he relied on the horse to warn him of real dangers. It was all he could do. Speaking softly to the horse, he pulled the dagger from its hiding spot and held it tightly as he turned the horse back in the direction they just came from. The horse moved nervously under him as he moved under the trees and shadows, closer to the sounds. Stopping the horse, he jumped off and fell to his knees when the world titled on him. Shaking his head to hopefully clear the blurriness, he climbed to his feet and carefully stumbling towards the sounds. Hiding behind a thick tree in the shadows, he silently watched as the goblins kicked and beat Aragorn as he lay unconscious at their feet. Legolas bit his bottom lip as they bound Aragorn's wrists and started o drag him as they moved along. The elf stayed where he was and stared at the spot on the grass where blood glistened there. Aragorn's sword lay discarded to the side from when the goblins overtook him. His mind screamed for him to go after the goblins and save his friend but his body refused to move. He was frozen in place and he could not tear his eyes from the spilt blood staining the soil. He could no longer hear the group of goblins in the distance as they traveled. Images flashed through his mind of blood and agony. He could hear Aragorn's screams of pain echo in his mind. He could see himself punching Aragorn and enjoying the human's screams.

He was saved from hysteria by a sharp pain at his shoulder blade that knocked him to the ground. Muting a yelp, he rolled over and looked to the cause of the pain. The horse was glaring at him and the upper lip curled back in a threatening manner. The two beings stared at each other as the horse pawed at the loose soil and snorted. The pain from the bite wound throbbed painfully and served to clear his mind to put things into perspective.

Slowing standing, he scrambled onto the horse and the animal started moving immediately after the goblins. Legolas clenched his eyes shut and gripped the mare's mane as he wobbled on the fast horse. Finally finding some sort of balance, he leaned onto the horse's neck and bent his head to the wind. The horse moved swiftly across the terrain and Legolas occasionally saw pools of blood that he could only assume came from Aragorn.

Soon, his mount started to slow as she thrust her nose into the air. Shaking her head and stopping, she nudged Legolas' leg as he listened closely. He could faintly hear the guttural sounds from the goblins and could smell their stench upon the pure air. Easing to the ground, he moved closer towards the sounds and slipped behind a large bush to view the group. There were far fewer goblins than before, the missing ones having been killed by Aragorn's sword. They apparently had taken their anger out on Aragorn which Legolas noticed when he saw his friend. His hands were still tied but held in front of him while he was curled tightly into fetal position. Legolas could see blood drip from his fingers to the dirt with regularity. Aragorn's body jerked when goblins kicked him in the lower back but he made no sound. Legolas silently moved to the shrub behind Aragorn and thought of some way to get away silently with the human.

Picking up a few stones, Legolas eyed a few goblins at the opposite side of the camp and threw a small stone at one of the goblins. Hiding, he watched as the goblins he hit shoved a goblin behind him. They argued for a moment before turning their backs to each other. Taking careful aim, Legolas threw another rock and watched as a fight erupted among the goblins. As everyone got involved, Legolas reached out and grabbed the back of Aragorn's coat. Keeping one hand pressed to his own bleeding wound, Legolas pulled with his free hand until Aragorn was behind the bush with him.

Moving quickly, he slipped Aragorn over his shoulder and barely suppressed the whimper of pain as his wounds protested angrily. He walked as quickly as he could with a heavy limp until reaching the silent mare. Pushing Aragorn on first, Legolas followed and wrapped his arms around Aragorn to tightly grip the mane. The mare didn't need to be coaxed into moving and quickly trotted off with her precious passengers. Legolas didn't know where the mare was taking them as he pressed his cheek against Aragorn's strong back. Unbeknownst to the elf, his temperature was steadily rising as infection raced through his body from his thight wound . the mare moved steadily on, making her way towards Mirkwood.

(I)(I)(I)

Aragorn groaned softly as something nudged his knee and pulled him from the darkness. Slowly opening his eyes, everything was blurry as he slowly lifted a hand to rub his eyes. Looking at his hand, his eyebrows lifted upon seeing blood smeared across his palm. His head was throbbing as he looked at his mare's face and realized he was on his horse. The last thing he remembered was the goblins knocking him unconscious. He looked around for Legolas and found the elf sprawled on the dirt unconscious. Leaping off his horse, he stumbled upon hitting the ground and bit back a moan in pain. Everything was screaming in agony as he fell to his knees beside Legolas. Gently touching his friend's face, he jerked back at the heat radiating from his friend. Cursing himself for remaining unconscious for so long, he lifted Legolas into his arms with a grunt and put him atop the mare.

There was nothing he could do to bring the elf's temperature down quick enough. Mirkwood was his last hope and he had to get their quickly. Yelling at his horse to run, Aragorn held the elf tightly as the horse galloped through the forest. Aragorn recognized the woods and realized they were entering Mirkwood. The mare must have rode a full day and a half to get this far. Aragorn had to ask more from the mare and she was willing to give more. The mare wove around the trees and leapt over fallen trees as Aragorn pushed her harder.

Seeing the movement to his left at the last second, Aragorn's head snapped to look and only saw the claws coming down on him. His back arched inward as the mare pushed ahead with a mighty thrust. Instead of tearing him from the horse's back, the claws tore through his back and he cried out in agony. The mare screamed in fright but pushed on harder.

"Elven warriors of Mirkwood! To your prince! Mirkwood to her prince!" he yelled and glanced over his shoulder to the following warg.

His mare was tiring and the warg was fresh as they wove through the forest. Every pounding of hooves was accompanied by a forceful snort as sweat lathered her body. Aragorn looked over his shoulder again at the warg and watched as it leapt at him with claws extended. Everything slowed as he protectively curled around Legolas and turned to avoid looking at the warg.

Something whizzed by his ear as sounds of arrows filled the air. Looking up to the trees, he saw Mirkwood warriors firing on the warg. Two Mirkwood elves atop horses exploded from the trees and flanked Aragorn's mare as they headed towards the palace.

"Please, a little more, my friend," Aragorn coaxed the mare and threaded his fingers through the mane.

The mare snorted and pressed on with determination to slowly out distance the two escorts. The gates were open and welcoming as the mare stormed into the courtyard.

"Healers! I need healers!" Aragorn yelled and looked around frantically.

Stopping, the horse fell to her knees and slumped to her side in exhaustion as Aragorn hit the ground to cushion Legolas. Painfully sitting up, he looked to the mare and laid a hand on her large cheek.

"Thank you," he whispered and saw the sparkle die in the mare's eye.

Lifting Legolas into his arms and struggling to his feet, Aragorn ran into the palace and almost collided with Thranduil. Trying to remain vertical, he ran past Thranduil and went towards the healing wing.

"I need a tub full of cold water to bring down his high fever. Hurry! We are running out of time!" Aragorn yelled at the healers that stood outside the healing rooms.

"Aragorn! Is that Legolas?" Thranduil asked sharply as the healers scrambled around the room.

"It is, my lord, but I can not speak now. We need to get his temperature down before it causes brain damage," Aragorn said and gently lowered Legolas into a bathtub, clothes and all.

He pressed two fingers into Legolas' neck to monitor the elf's pulse as they slowly poured in the cold water. Aragorn felt the pulse change dramatically and he carefully counted the beats. He didn't notice the concerned looks from the elves when they saw his bloody back but he didn't feel it.

Pressing a hand to the elf's chest, he noted that the temperature had dropped and nodded to the healers. They gently lifted their prince from the cold water and wrapped him in a thick blanket after stripping him of the wet clothes. Aragorn stepped away to let the healers work on their prince. Shrugging off Thranduil's helping hands; he turned and slowly stumbled out of the healing ward. Holding a hand to his still bleeding forehead, he walked out of the palace and down to the courtyard. His mare still lay on the courtyard stones as leaves fluttered past her in the breeze. Standing beside the dead horse, he lowered himself to his knees and ran his handover the smooth shoulder

Thranduil stood a few feet behind the human and saw his shoulders convulse in sobs. Just as he started to slump to the side, Thranduil swept forward and caught the human in his arms. Sighing, he lifted Aragorn and hurried back to the healing wing.

"Let us see what ails you, young one," he murmured with a smile. "Surely only something my son and you could get into."

(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)

Well, here is the third chapter. Sorry, it took a bit longer than the other story but I worked on it really hard to get it to you quickly. I realized when I was almost finished with this chapter that it seemed a bit like the beginning of 'An Ancient Bond' which I did not do on purpose. But I do think that this chapter is very unique and I am proud of it. I was very sad to kill the horse but I felt it was necessary. So, hope everyone likes the chapter.

Linuvial Greenleaf- Well, chica I hope you liked this chapter. I thought it was great after finishing it and knew you would probably cry. Last night, I was writing the final scenes with the warg and every commercial on television was about a horror movie and I was watching the finale of Alias with zombies and I was just thinking of what a great night it was going to be. That question was a huge factor when I wrote the scene in the healing wing and knew you would think of it also. I was smirking the entire time and chuckling.

So, you liked the emotion. Well, I hope I can put in enough emotion in this to out do 'An Ancient Bond.' Gail is off to write more responses. Heehee.

Evergreene- Well, thank you very much for the compliment. I hope you enjoyed 'An Ancient Bond' and I will look forward to your review.

Ainu Laire- I hate it when I forget to put in spaces; it is a very bad habit of mine. I love putting in twists and turns in a story and I love reading them. I hate it when I know what will happen because it is the only thing that can happen. I love to be guessing till the very end and then have a moment when I am like I can not believe I did not think of that.

Slayer3- Gollum is one of the most unique characters in that movie. Glad he died at the end but anyway. Hope the movie is good. Well, it is but I hope it is good for the fifth time.

Sielge- Thank you so much for the compliment. You are really making me blush over here. I think a lot of the people like the relationship between the four main characters of Legolas, Aragorn, Elladan and Elrohir. The detail was also commented on quite often in the story and how the readers liked the attention to it. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Firniswin- Okay, so quick excitement and angst, check, got it on the list to include in this story. I still have to lay out an outline of what all I want to do with this story. I have been bouncing ideas off Linuvial Greenleaf for a while of what to do but I have not set anything down to aim towards. Hopefully I will form some sort of direction to go.

Wolf Jade- I confuse these two stories all the time. I have to stop and think of which title goes with which story and what ideas I had for each. TOO MANY STORIES! Heehee. But I thought the spawn of Mordor comment would work if Legolas was not all mentally there which he was not. The only problem is that I am not sure of how Legolas could really be cured by this mental problem. Small problem that I will slowly work through while working on the next few chapters.

NycteaScandiaca- I set a new record! Cheers for me! Heehee, anyway I have put everything you liked about 'An Ancient Bond' down on my list and will put them into this story and hopefully make it far better. That is very interesting about your name and definitely unique. Some of the pen names that I have read from reviewers are very cool.

Elven Kitten- Just poor everyone! Everyone is injured in some way or the other. I am so bad but it feel so god. Heehee, enjoy!

Deana- Thank you for the compliment and I am just having so much fun roughing up both of these characters. It must be a sin to have this much fun. Heehee.

Viggomaniac- Wow, two reviews for the same chapter. I feel so loved. Heehee. Oh yeah, poor Aragorn had to drift around in my demented little brain while I figured out how to write a sequel. I still have no clear and definite idea of what I want to do with this story but hopefully it will come to me eventually. I use to think that my action scenes sucked but I have diligently been working hard at getting better with them and I think that it shows. Punctuation things are very annoying but I have been taking care of them. I am glad that you noticed them. With age comes wisdom about punctuation. That is a very extensive list of what you liked about 'An Ancient Bond' and I will certainly keep them in mind while writing this story. I am still debating if I want to bring the twins into this one and have them be major characters or just show up for a chapter or two and then leave again. Not sure but I will figure it out once I decide what I want to do with this story. I still have no idea. LOL.

Petra- You are certainly allowed to write what you did not like about 'An Ancient Bond' and I will certainly keep them in mind for this story.

Ithil-valon- Beling! Long time no talk. I might keep Thranduil in this story for a few more chapters but I really have no plan for this story; as horrible as that sounds. Which friendship quote are you talking about? LOL, I have a lot of them in my bio.

'Reborn Warrior' is one of my favorite stories so far. That idea was first offered to Linuvial Greenleaf but she said that I should write it and it took me a while to fine tune it. What you liked about 'An Ancient Bond' seems to be what all the other readers liked about the story. I can certainly see why those are the favorite reasons. I was crying when I was writing some of the scenes and the friendship was just heartbreaking. Well, I hope this story will surpass the first one.

Catmint- Rescues are my specialties! I found out I can do that pretty easily; while I am writing the story, it is playing out in my head and sometimes I have to rewind to clarify a few things and then push play again to continue writing. Which paragraph was it? I will try and go back in and chop it up into chapters if I remember to. If my brain does not drift away to spacey land. The 'mellon nin' issue is being fixed for future use.

Aranna Undomiel-I probably should make mention of that and suggest that the two stories are read back-to-back to avoid confusion. Hope you enjoy this chapter and I will see you at the next update.

EstelKid- Thank you so much for the compliment, you are making me really blush over here. Another check for 'Aragorn angst,' got it. Hope you enjoy!

Snow-Glory- I am excited that there is an update also! LOL. I am not sure what I am going to do to Legolas yet but I am sure that it will be twisted some way or the other.

Gwenneth- Sometimes I do not sign in either. Happens to the best of us. Heehee, anyway, I hope you are enjoying the story and here is the new chapter. Enjoy!