"This is ridiculous." Legolas mumbled as he followed Haldir southwest towards Isengard. "I could be out looking for Ryna right now and leading her back from the shadows."

"You tried that." Hadir called back. "She doesn't trust you enough to believe you. Otherwise she would have taken you with her."

"The same could be said for you, Haldir."

"Why would she trust me more than her husband?" Haldir shot back and Legolas grasped for an answer a moment before shutting his mouth. He didn't want to be on this damned journey with Haldir. The two of them, though friendlier to each other, had no love for each other. Haldir still believed that Legolas was responsible for all that had happened to Eleryna before and during the war. Legolas didn't like his wife's bodyguard. If he had been around for some of the events, such as the Nazgûl attack, Ryna would have been safe. But he hadn't been. As for the attacks in Mirkwood, Haldir had refused to go to Mirkwood with her. The two had been at each other's throats during the war to the point that they had both been knocked unconscious by Ryna. But Haldir, for once, was right. Why would Ryna trust him more than her own husband who had been through so much with her. Yes, he had not been there when she had received her near fatal wound, but he had been with her throughout most of the war. If she didn't trust him, who did she trust?

Elrohir.

The name vibrated in Legolas's skull the echoes of the drums of Khazad-Dûm. Elrohir had always been the closest to the youngest of the siblings. Not even Arwen could claim such a relationship. Elrohir would be the one trusted above all. He was the one to pull Ryna from the fires when she had woken. Legolas had been too stunned to move and so had not helped the woman he loved. If she felt she needed help, she would go to Elrohir.

"Haldir,"

"What is it now, Legolas?" Haldir answered from next to him.

"Where is the younger son of Elrond?"

"In Rivendell as far as I am aware. Why do you ask about the son of Elrond?"

"Trust. Ryna would trust him above all of us. She would go to him for aid. What are the chances that we can get to Rivendell before her?"

"None existent." Haldir said and Legolas's hope faded. "We spent more time than we should have searching the Golden Wood for her. It is very possible that she could have arrived and left with her brother by now. Which makes it even more important that we try to find Gandalf and warn him. Elrohir may not be able to control Eleryna if she sees him again."

"You go to Isengard." Legolas snarled. "I'm going to look for my wife."

"There is no need for that." Gandalf's voice boomed. The two elves looked and saw the wizard standing in the middle of the road, dressed in gray robes.

"It is good to see you alive, Mithrandir." Haldir greeted and bowed his head slightly. "The Lady sent us to warn you. Eleryna has left the safety of Lórien. We assume it is to find you, or Sauron I should say."

"I see." Gandalf said and whistled. "If she has fallen back under the hold of the delusion, then she will seek out someone she trusts with her very life."

"Elrohir." Legolas said. "He is the one who pulled her from her delusion in Minas Tirith. He is the only one who has not said that she was crazy." Haldir and Gandalf both looked at the Elf prince. It was true. Everyone had been telling the youngest child of Rivendell that al she believed real was a lie and that the war was over when for her, the war was not over. Sauron was hiding, waiting the right moment to capture her and once again make war upon Middle Earth. In her mind, she had failed in destroying the Ring even though everyone was telling her that she had. Everyone except for Elrohir. When he visited, he spoke to Ryna like a normal person, that she was sane. Legolas hadn't understood at the time when their whispers would suddenly stop when someone else entered the vicinity. They had been talking about her war that was being waged in her mind and soon, it would begin to play out in the real world and there was no telling how dangerous that could be. "Elrohir is the only one who hasn't told her that the war is over. I didn't understand before, but now I do. He has played along with her delusion this entire time. That would earn her trust above even that of her father's and grandmother's."

"I see what you are saying, Legolas." Gandalf said. "But if you are correct in your thinking, then we do not have time to waste. I believe I can find the way to cure her. It is a malady of the mind and so we have to cure the mind."

"And if she can't be cured, Mithrandir?"

"We don't have a choice, Haldir." Gandalf mounted Shadow Fax. "We have to find a way to cure her mind else risk Sauron being able to use her from the grave and then all that she fears will come to pass. Let us go. We must find them before we lose her entirely."

Eleryna dodged one blow and killed her attacker before blocking another blow. The Orcs had come upon them in the middle of the night while they were getting ready to set up camp. It was the same amount of orcs as had been Urukai when they had kidnapped her from Parth Galen. They would not take her this time. She knew that it would only be a matter of time before they knew that she had left the supposed safety of Lothlórien and come after her again. Sauron wanted her as a servant. He wanted to use her power for her own. Well she wouldn't let him. She would fight him until her last breath and even then, she would fight him. She would ensure her body burned and not able to be possessed as Boromir's had been. She shouldn't have let him follow her. But she could not change her mind and she didn't want to be alone. But taking him with her had been a mistake and he had fallen when he could have lived. It was the reason she had brought Elrohir, part of the reason anyway. She trusted him and she knew that he could take care of himself. And, he would be able to save her if something happened to her. She didn't like knowing that Sauron now had physical form and could come after her himself if need be.

She blocked another blow that held against her. She moved back attacked again. The blade blocked and held. She pushed against the orc, knowing the only way to beat it would be to kill it. She needed to take its head.

"Ryna," she heard a voice call. She tried to shake it off, but it stayed with her. She couldn't let herself fall victim to Sauron's magic now, not while her life was at stake.

"Ryna," now the voice was starting to sound like Elrohir's. Was he hurt? "Ryna!" No, he wasn't hurt. The blade fell away and she lost her grip on hers. The glow of fire surrounded her. Two hands grasped her shoulders. "Ryna, wake up." She blinked and saw Elrohir's face in front of her, the scars on his cheek glowing in the dull light from the camp fire. She blinked again and looked around.

"Are they dead?"

"Yes, Sister. They are dead. We killed them and got away. You were standing guard and I stupidly came up behind you."

"Did I hurt you?"

"No, but you need sleep so it does not happen again."

"But,"

"I'll stand guard, Little Sister." He smirked. "You're safe as long as I watch over you, my Lady." He bowed deeply and she shoved him over, causing him to lose his balance. The two siblings began laughing. For Elrohir, the laughter was forced. For some reason, Eleryna had started fighting. He at first had thought the she was practicing her forms, still getting back in shape from her imprisonment. But when she had dodged two attacks and blocked a third, unseen and attacking multiple unseen enemies, he knew something was wrong. When he had fought her, her eyes seemed far away, as if she were in her own private battle. If what she had said when he brought her back was anything to judge by, the delusion was getting worse. This was more than just a malady of the mind or left over anxiety from a war. Anxiety would be seeing an enemy in the shadows. The blank look in her eyes was the work of magic. Ryna was right. Sauron was still trying to win. Two forces were fighting over his little sister and he had just become the champion of the light. All because Ryna trusted him more than anyone else in the world. He would follow her back into the fire and bring her out the other side.

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