Wow. That's all I can say to the respose I'm getting from this. I honestly expected people just to add it to their Fav list, or to story alert. I'm glad all of you are enjoying this updated version of TLE and I'll do my best to continue to make it better.

In a review I was asked if this would be slash. No it won't. I have nothing against slash stories, it's just that if I were to put slash in this story, I would ruin the story. Romance is not my strong suit and it is entirely possible that I won't ever have a romance story, unless I get help from others to write it.

Some things in this story I may change, and others I may not.

If there are any queries at all, leave it in a review or PM me.

On to the story...

The Immortal Hero

Chapter 3

When Harry woke up he did with a start. He went from his reclined position to sitting straight up in a heartbeat, his breath caught in his throat as he tried to remember where he was. He pulled his knees to his chest, the movement painful but it made him feel slightly safer by doing so.

A wet nose pushed against his face causing Harry to look up into the concerned eyes of Shadow. He nodded reassuringly and shifted so that he could wrap his arms around the wolf's neck. Eventually his breathing evened out and he was able to look around.

It was still dark but some torches had been lit to provide light. Most of the Fellowship were asleep except for the blonde man who was staring at him in concern. Harry looked around for Hedwig and relaxed when he spotted her sleeping on a rock outcropping, her head under her wing.

His stomach growled softly to his embarrassment but he didn't think that he would be able to eat anything anyway. Shadow licked his face and wormed his way out of the child's grasp. The wolf walked off to where the Fellowship was and stuck his nose in one of the packs. The blonde man stood up, his hand on his sword, but didn't make a move to stop the wolf. Shadow returned with his mouth full of food and dropped it in Harry's lap with a canine smile.

Harry rubbed the wolf's ears in gratitude and lifted the food from his lap. The food was actually stale bread, but it wouldn't upset his stomach too much. Harry looked up at the man and tilted his head to the side curiously, silently asking if he could have it. The man nodded slowly as he released his sword and sat back down.

Harry ripped off a piece of the bread and put it in his mouth. After not eating for several days and drinking only water, the bread felt heavy in his stomach and he was only able to eat half of what was given to him before his body started to protest. Shadow whined when he saw Harry push the rest of the bread away, his concern causing Harry to smile slightly. He gave the wolf some of the bread and put some aside for Hedwig when she woke up.

With nothing else to do until the Fellowship woke up, Harry removed the cloth from his feet to see the damage. The light was poor but he could clearly see how the bottom of his feet were torn up from torture and walking on them later. What he needed was some water to clean them but he was hesitant to openly ask for some. What if no one in the Fellowship spoke elvish?

Resigned to being in pain until he found a healer, Harry rewrapped his feet gently. He was startled when he heard a horrified gasp coming from the blonde man and he dropped his makeshift bandages. The man came closer but stopped when Harry pushed himself backwards to escape. He held up his hands to show that he meant no harm and sat down where he was. Harry took a steady breath to calm down and reluctantly moved back towards the man.

Shadow sat against his back in silent support and licked Harry's ears comfortingly. The man held out his hands for Harry's feet and picked up the material from the ground. Harry slowly moved closer and extended one leg. The man's touch was gentle, even as his face darkened in anger as he stared at the wounds. Harry started to shake as he saw the man's expression and, as if he could sense what caused his reaction, the man's face went blank. He pulled out a water bottle and slowly cleaned the dirt off the cuts before rewrapping the foot. He did the same with the other foot and then Harry moved backwards again.

The man had tears in his eyes as he remained where he was sitting. Harry pulled Shadow into another embrace but kept his green eyes on the man in front of him. Now that he was looking he could see that the man had pointed ears, much like his own were. His face was very beautiful and when he moved he seemed to glide.

He must be an elf, Harry thought slowly. Maybe he can tell me how to get to Lothlorien.

It wasn't long after that the Fellowship started to stir. The elf moved away to the dark haired man to talk to him. The old man sat up wearily and the other man was still deeply asleep. The Halflings and the dwarf were still dead to the world but Harry was concentrating on what the elf was saying as he could understand it.

"Aragorn, the child has been tortured," the elf whispered, his voice carrying in the silence. The man, Aragorn, sat up to rub sleep from his eyes.

"How do you know?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep.

"I bandaged his feet again," the elf replied. "The wounds are both old and new, he has been in pain for quite some time."

"How long has he been awake for?" Aragorn asked as he looked over to where Harry and Shadow were still sitting.

"About an hour, it's hard to tell without the sun to guide us," the elf admitted. "He is very frightened of us."

"If he's been tortured then I'm not surprised," the old man said butting into the conversation. "Will he let you carry him again today?"

"No idea," Aragorn replied. "I can't even ask him, he doesn't understand us."

"Try various languages," the old man suggested. "Unless he's mute, which I doubt as we've heard him scream, he would be able to understand something."

"I'll try that while you wake the others," Aragorn agreed. "He needs to eat something too."

"The wolf stole some bread from one of the hobbit's bags and gave it to him," the elf said with a smile. "Not that he was able to eat all of it, he gave some to the wolf and kept a bit more for the owl I think."

"Thanks for letting me know," Aragorn said standing up. "I'll see if I can get a response from him."

The other two wished him luck before changing languages and waking the others. Harry titled his head to the side as Aragorn came closer to him and just refrained from running away.

Aragorn knelt down in front of him and started speaking different languages. Harry waited for him to speak elvish but he never did. He kept his face blank and his hood up as the unknown words washed over him.

While they talked the others were woken up and eating a quick breakfast. Hedwig flew up from her perch and down onto Harry's knee where she stared into his face as if a concerned mother. Harry held out the bread he had saved and broke it into small pieces so that Hedwig wouldn't choke. Aragorn watched silently, his eyes slightly amused and when the elf came over to speak to him, he merely inclined his head in that direction, his eyes still focused on Harry.

After speaking together quietly, Aragorn held out his arms as if to lift the small boy from the ground. Harry tensed and his green eyes went wide in fear. Hedwig took off from his knee to land on Aragorn's shoulder and Shadow licked his cheek reassuringly. Harry took a breath to calm himself before nodding to Aragorn.

Aragorn gently lifted Harry from the ground into his arms, ignoring the soft whimper, and held him against his chest. Harry wrapped his arms around the man's neck reluctantly and buried his face against Aragorn's shoulder.

The Fellowship started walking again, the high voices of the Halflings weary and their tone suggesting that they were whining. Shadow was walking by Aragorn's side and Hedwig was flying above them, the sound of her wings beating against the still air giving Harry comfort.

Despite having just woken from a deep, nightmare-free sleep, Harry was exhausted. His grip loosened around Aragorn's neck and his body started to relax, becoming more comfortable in his elevated position. He heard Aragorn chuckle softly but ignored it in favor of going back to sleep.

They were still moving when Harry woke again but the child could tell that a fair bit of time had passed. The speed at which they moved at was slower and the loud pants for air from the Halflings revealed how tired they were. Hedwig was still flying and Shadow hadn't moved from his place at Aragorn's side.

Harry lifted his head sleepily and looked around. He blinked a few times when he saw Aragorn staring at him in silent laughter but ignored him to look for the others. They were near the back of the group but not the last. Behind them walked the blonde elf. He noticed that Harry was awake and smiled a greeting. Harry nodded but didn't return the smile.

In front of them were the four Halflings. All four of them looked exhausted and were weighed down by their packs. In front of them was the other man, the knight, and he appeared just as weary as the Halflings behind him. The dwarf was in front of the knight, walking beside the Istari. No one was speaking but the silence was heavy and the smallest sound of feet hitting the ground seemed to echo in the stillness.

Harry spotted a thin bridge not far down their path and knew that they'd have to cross it. It was narrow enough that they'd have to form a single line and be careful where they placed their feet, one wrong step and they'd slip and fall off the edge. Harry tightened his grip as Aragorn started to cross but couldn't help himself as he tried to look down. Aragorn pulled him tighter against his body in protection but Harry had to stifle a gasp as his injured ribs were pressed.

It was when they were halfway across that the light from the Istari's staff went out.

Harry drew in a panicked breath as everything faded into darkness. He heard his companions calling out to each other, more than likely to keep them calm, but Harry was far from calm. He needed light to know that he wasn't in danger.

"No, bring back light, too dark, no, no, no," Harry started to whisper fearfully. "Dark hurts, hurts, alone…"

As his breathing became more wild he threw out his hand and lit it on fire with a thought. The fire brought back the light and shocked the Fellowship. The Istari relit his staff now that he could see it but Harry kept his hand burning until he was off the bridge. He struggled in Aragorn's arms until he was put on the ground where he could throw his arms around Shadow. The fire went out but the light from the staff still remained.

He could hear Aragorn talking to the others, his tone one of amazement and shock, but he was still struggling to calm his heart rate down and didn't pay attention. When he started to actually struggle in drawing breath, Shadow's panicked bark drew the attention of the others. Aragorn was at his side instantly and rubbing back gently, whispering words of comfort in his ear.

Harry didn't really realise that he was speaking elvish until he calmed down and the words started to make sense.

"It's alright, you're safe here, no one is going to hurt you, focus on my voice," Aragorn was whispering. "You have to calm down child; you're not in the dark any more. Your wolf is here and I know he's worried about you. Your owl is probably worried too, and I know that we're worried. When your hand caught fire I think I nearly dropped you…"

Harry took several calming breaths, focusing on Aragorn's voice gave him something to concentrate on, to push away the panic. When he was calm again he went limp against Aragorn, eyes closed and hands still twisted in Shadow's fur.

"Are you alright now little one?" Aragorn asked. Harry opened his eyes in shock and stared up into the man's face.

"I'm glad you can understand me now," Aragorn continued. "It was rather difficult earlier. Do you have a name?"

Harry drew his eyebrows together in thought. After his month of torture by Voldemort's hand his memories of his life were hazy at best. The name Harry no longer applied to him, it meant nothing anymore. He looked up at Aragorn and shook his head.

"You don't have a name?" Aragorn asked shocked. "Well we're going to have to fix that. But we can probably do that as we continue on. It isn't wise to linger in this place."

Harry looked around at the others and saw they were staring at him, clearly waiting to continue. Aragorn lifted him again, waiting for Harry to become comfortable before he nodded to the others and they continued walking again.

"A name is very important," Aragorn started to explain. "It gives us an identity. To be without a name is akin to a crime. My name is Aragorn, Son of Arathorn. The elf walking ahead of us is Legolas of the Woodlend Realm; the red haired man is Boromir, Son of Denethor; the dwarf is Gimli, Son of Gloin; the four hobbits are Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Meriadoc Brandybuck, and Peregrin Took; and the man leading us is Gandalf the Grey."

Harry's eyes focused on the one Aragorn called Frodo Baggins. He remembered the name from the woman who had sent him to Middle Earth and he found it hard to imagine that the fate of this world rested on the Halflings shoulders, literally and figuratively as he guessed that the One Ring was hidden around his neck. He next looked at Gandalf.

He remembered that Saruman the White was the one responsible for starting a war and he wondered what the different colours meant. He guessed that White Istari were ranked higher than Grey Istari and if that was true then the colour must not determine alignment.

"Do your companions have names?" Aragorn asked. If he noticed how Harry was looking at two specific members of the Fellowship then he didn't remark upon it. Harry nodded and pointed to his wolf companion.

"Shadow," he whispered hoarsely, his throat still damaged from his time under torture. He then pointed to the owl. "Hedwig."

The questioned answered, Harry grabbed at his throat painfully. He was glad that he could speak now but it still hurt to do so. Aragorn looked at him in concern when he grabbed his throat and pulled a small water bag from the side of his pack. He handed it to Harry, explaining as he did so that it was water. Harry took a sip of the lukewarm water and sighed in relief as the burning in his throat subsided.

"How is it that your companions have names yet you don't?" Aragorn asked as he took back the water. Harry shrugged as he lifted his arm for Hedwig to land safely. She nuzzled his face in greeting and Harry's expression lightened, though he didn't completely smile.

"What was the name your parents gave you?" Aragorn asked. Harry's expression became sad as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Where are your parents?" Aragorn continued quietly.

"Died," Harry whispered sadly. "Long ago."

Aragorn, and the members of the Fellowship close enough to hear the soft words, looked at Harry in shock and sympathy. Harry hid his face against Aragorn's shoulder, unwilling to face the stares of strangers.

"We must give you a name, little one," the elf, Legolas, stated after a few minutes of silent travel. "We can't just call you 'Little One' all the time now can we?"

Harry gave the elf a look that clearly stated "why not?"

"I suppose 'Little One' could be a nickname," Aragorn said slowly. "But he's right, you need a proper name. I think we should name you after that startling display of lighting your hand on fire."

Harry scrunched up his nose in thought, not entirely sure that he wanted to be named after that.

"How about Calanon?" Legolas suggested. "It means 'light'."

Harry shook his head firmly. The name didn't suit him in the slightest.

"No? Then how about Rilien? It means 'bright'."

Another firm shake.

"Calminaion? 'Bright fame'?"

Definite 'no'.

"Elenion? 'A star'?"

A pause before a decisive shake of the head. Legolas threw his arms up in frustration which caused Harry to jump in shock and cling tighter to Aragorn. Aragorn rubbed his back soothingly before suggesting a name.

"How about Tegalad? It is a firm and strong name that means 'to bring light'. It describes you quite accurately."

Harry thought over the name and played it over in his mind. He liked it better than any of the ones Legolas suggested and it just seemed…right, somehow. He looked at Aragorn and nodded, a small, almost non-existent smile on his young face. Aragorn grinned broadly and introduced Harry as Tegalad to the others in another language. Harry only knew that it was an introduction because he heard his new name amongst the words.

Legolas pouted but Harry could tell that he was only disappointed because Harry hadn't chosen one of the names he had suggested. Aragorn was talking to the elf, still smiling, and Legolas replied with a sharp word and a grin. Aragorn laughed at whatever was said and replied.

Harry didn't even try to follow the conversation, relaxing against Aragorn's shoulder again after dismissing Hedwig. His panic attack and his use of his fire elemental ability had left him drained and tired. He was asleep mere moments later.

When Harry woke up again Shadow was licking his face. He pushed the wolf away and rolled over, wincing as his ribs moved painfully. Shadow walked around him and started to lick him again until Harry sat up with a glare. The sudden movement however had him gasping and his hands darting up to hold his injured ribs.

"Tegalad? What's wrong?" Aragorn asked, having spotted that the child was awake and heard the pain-filled gasp. Harry looked up at Aragorn and shook his head as he brought his knees up to make himself a child-ball.

"How badly hurt are you?" Aragorn asked, sitting down opposite him. "Please Little One, I want to help you."

Harry's eyes filled with tears at the simple statement but he refused to let them fall. No one had ever wanted to help him, mostly it was out of obligation or because it was the right thing to do. The only people who had come close to wanting to help him were Ron and Hermione, but they had left him as Voldemort's prisoner, they hadn't come to find him. Ginny had been too shy to do much of anything for him and his relatives hadn't cared in the slightest.

He brought his eyes up to where Aragorn was staring at him in undisguised worry. He took a shuddering breath and unrolled from his ball. His eyes closed as his chest moved so he jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Will you let me help you Tegalad?" Aragorn asked. Harry nodded as his body started to shake in fear. He didn't really know Aragorn that well but the man hadn't dropped him and had continued to carry him after he used his fire abilities.

He took off his cloak, shivering as the cold air hit him and subtly made sure that his ears were still covered. He wasn't sure that he wanted to Fellowship to know what he was just yet, for now he was just another child who happened to be travelling with them until he could get to Lothlorien.

Aragorn gasped as Harry pulled off the cloth covering his chest wounds. The noise drew the attention of the Fellowship and soon Legolas was by Aragorn's side, eyes taking in the bruises, broken ribs and scars that could be seen. Aragorn gently put a hand on Harry's shoulder, ignoring the flinch, and looked at his back, seeing the damage that had been inflicted.

"Who did this to you Little One?" Legolas asked in horror. "Who would harm a child so violently?"

"I kept getting in the way," Harry whispered, but everyone heard him. "He wasn't too happy about it. He never stopped. It was dark, and quiet, and they were always waiting for me."

Aragorn opened his water bag and wet a piece of cloth before he gently tried to clean the scars on his back. Harry gasped and his face went pale, but other than that he didn't make a sound. Legolas held his hands comfortingly, his thumbs moving across the back of his hands. He paused over his right hand in confusion. Harry looked to where he was staring and tried to pull back the hand when he realised that he was staring at the words carved into his hand Fifth Year.

" 'I must not tell lies'," Legolas read. "Who carved that into your hand? When did they do it? The scars are old."

"A lot of these scars are," Aragorn murmured as he moved to Harry's front. "This has been going on for a while."

Harry hung his head, embarrassed and ashamed of what had been done to his body. His face was flushed and his teeth clenched, but he didn't make a sound as his wounds were tended to.

When Aragorn was done, the cloth he had used was stained red with blood and Harry was barely breathing as he tried to suppress his screams. Aragorn rebound Harry's chest with some of their bedding and helped him back into his cloak. Harry instantly put the hood back on, drawing comfort from the shadows that hid his expression from view.

"Tegalad, who did all this to you?" Aragorn asked softly. Harry wrapped his arms around his body as Voldemort's face appeared in his mind's eye, smiling sadistically.

"He's dead," Harry murmured, wrapping his arms tighter around himself. "He can't find me anymore."

"Tegalad, what he did to you was wrong, you know that right?" Aragorn asked, pushing the hood back so that he could see the child's eyes. "No child, or anyone for that matter, deserves what was done to you. You know that right?"

Harry nodded in agreement, though he could tell that Aragorn knew he was lying. Such pain had been a part of his life since he was fifteen months old and the years added up. His belief that he was an abnormal freak, encouraged by the wizarding population and by the fact that he couldn't even be a normal child in Middle Earth, coupled with his low self-worth had conditioned him to honestly thinking that he deserved to be hurt.

He was surprised when Aragorn pulled him into a hug and was at first unsure what to do. He willed his tense body to relax and rested his head in Aragorn's shoulder. His arms remained on his knees, unsure of where to go. Aragorn was a very broad man and Harry was very slim and small.

"Now," Aragorn said pulling back. "You are going to have something to eat before you go back to sleep. You're far too thin."

Harry gulped at the thought of eating but one look at Aragorn's stern expression he nodded in acceptance. Shadow and Hedwig settled by him when Aragorn went to get some food and another blanket. Legolas was still sitting opposite him, silent and watchful.

"There's something about you," Legolas confessed. "I feel as if I should know you, yet I know I've never seen you before."

Harry shrugged and didn't answer. He waited for Aragorn to return with food, uncomfortable under the intense stare of the elf before him. He didn't want to see the elf when he discovered that he was an elfling.

When Aragorn returned, Harry forced himself to eat the small pile of food in front of him but was unable to eat it all. His stomach was unused to holding much food after being empty for so long so he gave the rest of his food to Hedwig and Shadow, poking his tongue out at Aragorn when the man frowned. His childish act caused the man to smile and throw a blanket at him.

"Go to sleep Tegalad," he ordered. "The longer you rest the quicker your body will recover. But you will eat some more food before we start tomorrow."

Harry gave a silent groan but was inwardly delighted that someone was taking care of him, like a parent would look after a child. His thoughts were absurd but he liked the attention for as long as it would last.

He curled up in a ball, Shadow at his back and Hedwig near his head. His hood fell over his eyes, hiding him from the eyes of the Fellowship, and allowing him to once again drift off to sleep.

His last thought was that he hoped his sleep would be peaceful, but he somehow knew that his nights of relative peace were at an end…

Just a thought I had while writing this...if you would like me to (as in I have enough interest expressed) I will write a side story of the Fellowship's thoughts and reactions regarding Harry/Tegalad. Idea in progress, may or may not go ahead. It's up to you so push the button and let me know! :P