Happy Halloween! You know the drill with the asterisks.
*"Your madness ends here, Tharbadir," said someone behind Thar. Thar's eyebrows shot up in surprise and he turned to see Legolas. The young Elven archer already had an arrow aimed directly at Thar's forehead.
"You will come with me to my father. He will then judge you for your treason against the Woodland Realm," Legolas declared. Thar immediately drew his sword.
"You will be dead before you take me and Meleth to the king," he threatened. Meleth gripped Thar's shoulder.
"Thar, please, don't do this. It's not worth it."
"This is for you Meleth. Stand back," Thar ordered.
"Let it go Thar. You could have escaped already and forgotten about Legolas."
"I won't forget. If you're staying here, then he dies. He already knows too much."
"Enough! You are both coming with me," Legolas demanded. Thar shook his head.
"We are not going anywhere with you," he insisted. He then swung his sword towards Legolas. Legolas immediately jolted his head backwards, the tip of the blade just barely missing his neck. Meleth gasped in terror when two long daggers appeared in Legolas's hands.
"No! Stop!" She screamed. But Thar was too blinded by his ambition to listen. He continued to swing at Legolas, while Legolas parried each attack with his daggers. The two continued fighting, each clash of their weapons seemed to be getting louder and more intense. Thar roared in anger when he couldn't even so much as prick Legolas with his blade.
"You are not as strong as you think are, son of Thranduil!" Thar yelled. Legolas didn't reply, but instead leaped, spun, and aimed a kick at Thar's torso. His foot crashed into Thar, knocking him backwards. Thar managed to stay on his feet and launched at Legolas again, screaming a battle cry as he did. Legolas ducked and quickly got behind Thar, using one of his daggers to cut the back of his leg. Thar cried out in pain and sank to his knees. Legolas pulled his dagger back. There was blood oozing down the blade.
"Thar!" Meleth screamed. Thar spat a Sindarin curse in agony. He was still holding his sword. He screamed in pain as he wrenched himself back onto his feet and swung again at Legolas, attempting to behead him. Legolas dropped to the ground, rolled, and sang his dagger deep into Thar's side. All sounds retreated from Meleth's hearing, until only the sound of Meleth's heartbeat can be heard. When Meleth screamed Thar's name one last time, she almost didn't hear it. She couldn't take her gaze off of Thar's pained expression. Thar looked at Meleth with grief and pain storming in his eyes, and he fell off his feet and hit the ground.
Meleth turned and ran, tears streaming down her face as she did. She could hear Legolas calling her name behind her, but she ignored him. How could she ever trust him again? He was going to go tell the king what he had found out, and she would be punished severely for sure. Her life in the Woodland Realm was over now.**
*Legolas walked up to his father's throne, where Thranduil sat looking down at him.
"Father, Tharbadir is dead. He was plotting to kill me," he said. Thranduil raised an eyebrow.
"You killed him?"
"I had to. He had gone to madness, and would not stop trying to kill me."
Thranduil wearily sighed and got to his feet. "You did what needed to be done. I take it this was in self defense?"
"Yes father. I would not have done it any other way," Legolas assures him. Thranduil nodded in approval.
"You did what needed to be done. What of Meleth?"
"It is as I suspected. She is in possession of a dark magic within her. After Tharbadir died, she ran. I couldn't stop her."
Thranduil turned away from Legolas and sighed.
"I need to speak to her. She cannot leave this realm. Take the entire Guard with you and go find her. Bring her here alive and unharmed."
"Yes, father," Legolas replied. In his mind, the sight of Thar's blood on his dagger sent shivers down his entire body. He tried hard to conceal his disdain.
"Is something wrong, Legolas?" Thranduil asked. Legolas shook his head.
"No, nothing is wrong." But there was.**
*Meleth knew that what she was doing was against the Elves' wishes, but she also knew that at this point it was pointless to think about that now. She was no longer one of them anymore. She wept for Thar, and she wept for Tauriel. Tauriel was the only one Meleth was able to trust. For a while she had thought she can trust Thar, but she was wrong.
She made it to the home of Radagast the Brown. She hoped that Radagast would help her find out how to escape without the Wood-Elves finding her. She got to the door and flung herself upon it. She couldn't keep herself calm. Her life was already crumbling all around her. From this point on, nothing was going to be the same ever again.
"Please! Open the door, I beg you," Meleth pleaded. She didn't wait for Radagast to open the door but instead flung it open. She saw Radagast from behind a table. Standing next to him was Tauriel.
"Meleth, what is the matter?" She asked. Everything was a matter. A bad matter. Thar was dead, everyone knew her secret, and she was being hunted by the people she had once called family.
"I need your help. I have no where else to turn to," Meleth said. Radagast sighed.
"Well this is quite the fix to get into. Now there are two Elves that need me," he said. Tauriel smiled in response to the wizard's remark, which triggered a raised eyebrow from Meleth. When did Tauriel begin meeting with a wizard, let alone Radagast?
"Please give us a moment," Tauriel told Radagast. Radagast snorted but nodded and walked out the door, closing it behind him.
"When did you two become friends?" Meleth asked.
"Radagast has ways to show me glimpses of my past. I'm trying to find out where I come from."
"Does Alagos know about this?"
"He found out once but he doesn't know I'm still doing it. Neither the king or anyone else within the kingdom knows."
"It appears as though I am not the only one keeping secrets," Meleth said. Tauriel shook his head.
"You are not. Now what are you doing here? Where's Thar?" Tauriel asked. Meleth's eyes fell to the floor.
"Tharbadir is dead."
"Dead? How?" Tauriel asked.
"He was killed by Legolas."
Tauriel's eyes widened in shock. Her expression then quickly twisted to anger.
"Legolas did this? How could he?" Tauriel demanded.
"It's not his fault. It was out of self-defense. Thar had gone mad and attempted to kill him," Meleth explained.
"Legolas knows your secret?"
"At this point, everyone probably does," Meleth said. Tauriel stepped forward and put a soft hand on Meleth's shoulder.
"What are you going to do about this?" She asked.
"That's why I came here. I was hoping the wizard would have a solution."
Meleth and Tauriel both gasped when they heard sudden movement outside and Radagast complaining.
"What is it you want?" He asked.
"Bring out the maid you are protecting here, wizard. I know she is in there."
Meleth covered her mouth when she recognized Legolas' voice. Tauriel grabbed Meleth's hand and led her over to a table.
"Get under there, quickly!" Tauriel whispered. Meleth crawled underneath the table and covered her head with both hands. She watched Tauriel grab a small bag tear the top open and sprinkle dust across the table.
"Tauriel?"
"Don't worry. This dust will conceal you so that if someone comes in, he will not see you," Tauriel explained. Meleth understood, but still felt uneasy. She hated being here, and she hated that all of this was happening in the first place.**
* Tauriel inched closer to the door, peaking through a crack. Legolas was towering over Radagast eyeing him suspiciously.
"I can see the deception in your eyes wizard dwarf. Let me in," he demanded.
"Now see here. No one calls me a wizard dwarf. What an obscene and rude thing to say. You are not going into my home. She's scared of you and wants to be left alone…"
Tauriel opened the door and stepped out. It was time for her to stand up for her friend.
"Legolas."
Legolas frowned upon seeing Tauriel. "What are you doing here, Tauriel?" He asked.
"I am doing the right thing. I am protecting my friend. She has done nothing wrong. She carries a dark power that was not even given to her willingly. Let her be and do not come looking for her again," Tauriel ordered. Legolas sighed.
"Always rebellious, aren't you Tauriel?" He asked. Tauriel allowed a smile to slip.
"It is something we both have in common. You know it," she said.
"I think you misunderstand me. I am here to protect Meleth."
Tauriel raised an eyebrow. "How can I trust you?" She asked. Legolas shook his head and vaguely grinned.
"You can't. I want Meleth away from my father just as much as you do."
"You lie."
"I would never lie…to you."
"What is your plan then?"
"I want to get Meleth out of Greenwood."
Then, behind Tauriel, she could hear Meleth chanting. It was in a language she wasn't familiar with, but it sounded evil. Legolas tensed.
"She chants in the Black Speech."
Tauriel turned to face her friend, who was now standing. The dust had worn off on her, and she was staring up at the ceiling chanting like a witch.
"The dark power within her mixed with the chants will summon dark forces," Legolas said grimly.
"That's not her! Meleth is not doing that on her own will!" Tauriel insisted. Legolas looked in at Meleth and watched her. Her pupils were gone, replaced by hollow, blank white.
"This isn't just any dark influence. She has the spirit of a Barrow-Wight."
"What is a Barrow-Wight?" Tauriel begged. Legolas drew his dagger, still not cleaned from his encounter with Thar.
"I must warn my father of this. The Barrow-Wights must not get into Greenwood."
Meleth finally faced Legolas after chanting and glared. Her skin had slowly turned sickly pale. Her eyes were still a hollow white. She raised her hand, and Tauriel was flung like a doll backwards out the door of Radagast's home along with Legolas and Radagast.
"My lord!" Elros shouted. Tauriel felt her head hit hard ground. Bright lights exploded across her vision and a terrible ringing pierced her eardrums, threatening to make them burst. Her hands went to her ears, pressing down hard to drown the noise out, but it was all in her head.
She looked up, the entire top half of her body trembling as she did, demanding the support of her elbows. She saw Meleth step out of Radagast's hut. For a second, she looked alright. Her pupils were back, and her expression was one of terror. For a second, the real Meleth was back.
"Help me," she begged, just barely speaking above a whisper. Her pupils then slid back out of sight and she screamed.
"Stand your ground!" Legolas screamed above the rising roaring sound.
Tauriel slowly got back up to her feet, never turning away from Meleth.
"They're coming!" Legolas shouted. Then arrows flew.**
*Thranduil walked alongside Alagos as they walked out the front doors of the kingdom.
"How can one be infected by a Barrow-Wight if one has never crossed our borders?" Alagos demanded.
"It was the black gem. The gem must have contained the spirit of a Barrow-Wight contained within by Morgoth in the First Age," Thranduil replied.
"So when Meleth's father found the gem, he woke the spirit up and it went into Meleth's mother, also infecting Meleth herself as well."
"And now more are coming. They are being drawn to the one inside Meleth."
"What will become of Meleth?" Alagos asked, already knowing the answer to the question.
Thranduil answered without emotion. "She must die if the Greenwood is to be free of darkness." He turned around to look at his Elf guards accompanying him already armed for battle.**
*Tauriel drew her dagger, twirling it in her hand to get its feel, just as Meleth lashed out at her with her own dagger. The two daggers clashed hard. An ache bolted through Tauriel's wrist. Tauriel winced and pushed Meleth's blade away.
"Meleth, this isn't you," Tauriel begged. The thing that looked like Meleth only snarled in reply and advanced harder, just barely missing Tauriel's cheek by an inch. Tauriel leaped to the side, and an arrow flew straight past her. Meleth's blade deflected the arrow so hard, it snapped in half.
"Stand back, Tauriel!" Legolas yelled. He launched past Tauriel and swung two blades at Meleth.
"Legolas, wait!" Tauriel screamed. It was as if Legolas didn't hear her. He and Meleth were in close combat. Blades clashed faster than Tauriel could count, and the longer the fight went, the faster Meleth seemed to go.
"They're here!" Elros screamed within the explosion of thunder. Tauriel turned and saw an army of ghosts screeching and heading straight for the Elves.
"Stand your ground!" Legolas ordered. The other Elves around Tauriel stood their ground. The ghosts ran into the Elves, and the battle began.
"Barrow-wights!" Elros warned. Tauriel twirled her dagger again and blocked a killing move from one of the ghosts, who had a long sword in his skeletal hand.
"If you think I'm going to let you take this kingdom, you're mistaken!" Tauriel said. She knocked the ghost's sword aside and stabbed deep into its throat. The ghost screamed and dissolved away.
Perhaps now was the time for Tauriel to summon her mysterious powers, whether it drew attention or not. At least Legolas knew.
Before she could start however, she heard the horn that signaled danger near the kingdom. She saw King Thranduil and Alagos leading more guards against the ghosts.
And Legolas had Meleth off her feet, and the tip of his dagger was at her neck.**