Adonnenniel moved swiftly within the shadows as she got closer and closer to the outside battlefield. When she left just hours ago, she remembered Mirkwood as a gentle place and now, even though all of the trees, gardens, and statues were still in place, it looked like a different world. Adonnenniel gasped and slammed her back onto a pillar just as a Ra'zac swarmed by to find his next opponent. Just catching a glimpse of the creature made her so sick to her stomach that she had to try and encourage herself multiple times to start moving.
"I need help over here!" yelled an elven warrior. "Wash them down!"
"What are you doing here, Maldor?" Adonnenniel ran over to a stallion and tried to calm him down. "Where is your rider?"
Adonnenniel remembered Maldor on many occasions… but seeing him just made her fears come more to life. This stallion is Legolas' horse and he would never abandon this beast unless he thought it would save Maldor's life.
"Where is he, Maldor?" Adonnenniel questioned.
"Adonnenniel!" came Adanion's voice as he quickly joined their side. "What in the Valar's name are you doing here?"
"I need to find Legolas" Adonnenniel told her brother.
"Now is not the time for love quarrels" Adanion looked over his shoulder repeatedly.
"He is in danger" Adonnenniel spoke firmly. "I felt the same shudder mother felt before father died"
"What!" Adanion looked around more quickly now. "We have to tell the King. He would want to know where his son is"
"No" Adonnenniel rejected.
She could not tear away the gaze of both her brother and Thranduil to find Legolas. They are needed in this battle more than anything. It would make more sense if she went alone to find Legolas since she already could not fight. Adanion seemed to have read what she was mentally saying to him in his head.
"What if the Ra'zacs sees you? They will have great interest in you" Adanion said before he stopped himself. "Listen to me. Find your horse and ride hard on it"
"There is not enough time" Adonnenniel looked back up to Maldor.
"This stallion could be dangerous" Adanion argued.
"But he is the only witness to where Legolas is! In order to find them, I must use Maldor" Adonnenniel told her brother.
"What if he is not where the stallion last left him?"
"There is only one other place he will go"
"I trust that you will know the way. Go swiftly and be careful, Adonnenniel! You do have a vial right?" Adanion asked.
"You know I always do" Adonnenniel lifted her cloak and showed all of the vials that her counsel had given her.
"I hate to let you go alone" Adanion said.
"Right now, brother, Legolas is alone" Adonnenniel replied. "He may need my help in water magic or healing"
"I pray to the Valar that you are there in time"
Adanion went behind his sister and then hoisted her up onto the big stallion. His sides were too big for her petite legs and she almost felt faint just by looking down at her brother.
"I will return with him" Adonnenniel said. "I have to"
"You finally figured it out"
Adonnenniel looked down to him in confusion, "What?"
"How to love" Adanion said simply.
"Not yet" Adonnenniel shook her head.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because I have to tell him that I love him"
"Then you must hurry" Adanion looked around.
"Is there any way I can get past these creatures?" Adonnenniel asked.
"Take the West exit. They will not see you as much over there" Adanion advised.
"Thank you. Take care and find the shade for me" Adonnenniel told her brother.
"If you promise to find him in return" Adanion held his sword with both hands.
Adonnenniel slammed her feet into Maldor's sides and galloped at a breakneck speed. The stallion was running so fast that the wind nearly knocked her off of the saddle and feared that if she fell, it would be the end of her. Adonnenniel forced herself to focus as she looked around the forest, noticing a lot of fallen elves and Ra'zacs everywhere. She felt herself stiffen up as the horse slowed down and stopped in the middle of the battlefield.
"Legolas?" Adonnenniel called out. "Legolas?"
Adonnenniel gasped as she noticed something on the ground, she dropped down and examined the item. It was the item that she had given him before they had parted and now it was lying on the floor, abandoned. She gripped the item to her chest as tears filled her eyes, not wanting to think about what could have happened to Legolas. Maldor's shrill whinny broke her out of her daze as she noticed a figure slowly approaching her.
"Why so sad?" said a tall man with crimson hair and maroon eyes. His face was deathly white; his body was thin and compact and wore a cape. His teeth were filed to points and he had narrow lips… he was the Shade. "Lost your loved one?"
"Stay away from me"
"That is a promise I do not intend to keep" the shade smiled to her. "I live on fear. Your Kingdom reeks of it"
"Who are you?" Adonnenniel got up and faced him.
"I believe you already know who I am"
"Where is Legolas?"
"Ah, so you must be Adonnenniel" the shade chuckled. "He mentioned you"
"Where is he?"
"Don't you see, Adonnenniel? You were too late" the shade said simply.
Maldor let out a fierce whinny and charged toward the shade. The shade made a slight hissing sound as Ra'zacs slowly came to life. Adonnenniel commanded the water to come out of all of the vials around her, creating a giant wave as she flooded the place around them with water, sending the Ra'zacs back to their graves. When she turned back around, she noticed that Maldor had trampled on him, refusing to let the shade back up.
"I will ask you one more time"
"Or what? Join him in the afterlife?"
"Not exactly" Adonnenniel picked up a fallen sword and walked over to the shade. "But you might"
"Adonnenniel, what a shame" the shade laughed. "You lost not only your father and sister, but now your own happy ending"
"And you lost your last chance to live"
Adonnenniel swung the sword over her head and slammed it down onto the neck of the shade. She watched in disgust as the head rolled away, almost as if the shade was still trying to flee.
Adonnenniel turned to Maldor and pet his snout as she took a look around the woods. Her heart slightly skipped a beat as she realized how familiar it was. She dropped the sword, picked up the front of her dress and started off in a run, jumping over fallen comrades and friends. She found a hallow tree with a split opening, she ran to the opening and gasped at what was on the floor.
"You… You found me" Legolas said slowly, he looked pale with bloodshot eyes and his veins shown purple… the shade has poisoned him.
"Of course I found you" Adonnenniel knelt down beside him. "I always knew where… Oh, this is all my fault. If only I'd gotten to you sooner"
"Maybe it's better… It's better this way" Legolas stammered as an uncontrollable shiver went through him.
"Don't talk like that" Adonnenniel scolded him. "You'll be alright"
Legolas let out a sickening cough as Adonnenniel gently laid him down on her lap. Much to her heartbreak, she can't heal him. This will have to be from a, Elf that was born and raised as a healer. Not someone like her.
"We're together now" Adonnenniel petted his hair. "Everything's going to be fine, you'll see"
"At least I got to see you one last time" Legolas whispered as he lost consciousness.
"No!" Adonnenniel yelled out and shook him violently. "No! Please! Please! Please don't leave me!"
Adonnenniel shrank herself over onto Legolas and sobbed onto him. Her hands clutched onto his armor as she breathed in his scent, the scent that she grew so familiar with. The feeling of having him die in front of her was something more than she could ever bear. She picked up her head and stroked the side of his face.
"I love you"
With new found strength she picked up Legolas from under his arms and dragged him out into the opening where Maldor was waiting for them. She tried her best to sit him up onto his own horse but had no choice but lay him across the stallions back with his stomach only on the saddle. Adonnenniel pulled off her robe and placed it and placed it over his body before whispering into his ear.
"Fate will not take you away from me, my love, just hold on a little while longer for me"
She grabbed the reins, found the road and walked as fast as she could back over to the Kingdom. Her only hope was that if she goes back to the Kingdom while there was still time, then Legolas will be able to live through this tragedy.
Poster! Hello everybody! Usually for my stories I tend to make a poster along with it and might have already noticed the image difference for this story! If you guys want to see how it actually looks then go to my homepage, copy, and paste the link on the bottom and you should be able to see it! Thanks for all of the support and help that people gave me throughout this story (you know who you guys are!) and continue to read this to the end! Phoebe!
