So sorry, a lot has happened in the past few weeks. I now give you the long awaited next chapter. I am sorry (again) for the inconvenience.

When they caught up to the other two, they had reached the doorway to the realm of the Mountain King. Ancient pictures carved in stone above the door seemed to glow with darkness as Kali looked at them. "The way is shut; it was made by those who are dead." Legolas read. A chilling silence hung in the air menacingly.

Aragorn glared defiantly at the doorway; "I do not fear death!" he strode right in. Kali followed after, then Legolas quickly went after her, forgetting his fear. Leaving Gimli, the dwarf.

"An elf go underground when a dwarf dare not? It's unheard of! I'll never hear the end of this…" he muttered as he slowly jogged in after the Fellowship. Wading through human bones and stepping on skulls he found them on a small rocky path in the darkness. Kali's eyes glowed and Aragorn's sword lit the way, and by that light they moved on. The path became covered and littered with human skulls; Aragorn bowed his head in respect of the dead, Legolas helped Kali walk lightly over them, and Gimli winced every time his foot crunched down on one.

Finally they came to the entrance to the caverns, and once they went through the wall sealed shut behind them. "I don't like this…" Aragorn muttered, keeping his sword at the ready. A glowing figure appeared a little ways from them;

"The way is shut; it was made by those who are dead… and the dead keep it." He rasped and grinned. Ghosts appeared on the far wall, floated down to the chasm floor, and surrounded the Fellowship. Legolas pushed Kali behind him and shot an arrow into the Ghost King, who was coming closer. It went right through without harming the figure; Aragorn stepped forward and blocked the King's sword with his own. "That sword was broken!" the horror in his voice was evident and he gazed at the sword with terror.

"It has been remade." Aragorn said, then he swung at the ghost king again and threw him back to the floor. "I am Isildur's heir. You have a debt to repay. Fight for me, and regain your honor!" The ghosts looked skeptical. "What say you?" Aragon uttered as he waded through the crowd of sectors, keeping them at bay with the sword. "What say you?" He looked down the blade of his sword and stared the King down.

The Fellowship stood on the bank of the river, waiting for the black ships to come sailing up the river. "Legolas," Aragorn muttered to his friend, "Fire a warning shot." The Elf aimed, and at the last moment Gimli nudged his bow to the side so his arrow went off-course and pierced one of the pirates. Everyone looked at Gimli in exasperation; could he just lay off killing people?!

"Alright," Gimli called, "We warned you, now surrender."

"To you and what army?" laughed the captain, sneering at the company.

"This one," Kali said, and the entire ghost armada came shooting out of the mountain right at the ships. And they all attacked, in seconds the ships were theirs.

Kali sat on the stairs of the first boat, calmly waiting as the black ships sailed on to Gondor. Aragorn stood at the bow and Gimli was below decks inspecting the weapons. Legolas came over and sat next to her, "Maybe we have some chance of winning." He said quietly, taking her hand and holding it. She squeezed it lightly back and kissed his cheek shyly, blushing a little. He stared at her small blush for a second then decided he really wanted to see more of it. "Are you embarrassed? Shy?" He put his face really close to hers and her blush grew. He loved seeing her flustered like this, it was adorable. He still liked her smile better though, "Smile," He whispered and pecked her on the lips. She gasped a little and smiled timidly, she had never had this kind of feeling about anyone else before, it was new and strange, comfortable and familiar. What was it? Love. Whatever the odds, they would overcome any obstacle.

When they arrived an army of orcs waited for them on the bank. "You're late pirate scum!" The Fellowship jumped off the side of the boat and landed on the shore. The orcs realized that those were all the people on board and grew confused. Then the army of ghosts swelled out of nowhere and attacked, followed by the Fellowship.

Orc after orc, she shot down until her arrows were gone. Pulling her knives out, she made use of Legolas' training and sliced at any attacker. But there just seemed to be no end to them. The elephants, bigger than she remembered the elephants from Earth being, seemed to be causing the Riders more trouble than the orcs were to the mounted warriors. Stomping around, the elephants squished whole horses flat like they were stepping on ants.

Kali saw Legolas leap up onto one and slice at the ropes holding the basket on top; all the people fell off the side as they were dragged down with it, but the leader stayed on. Legolas tried to make his way over to him, but the leader threw a spear and missed him by inches. But it was enough to knock him off balance for a second. Kali called out to him, worried that he might have been hit, but he turned to her and smiled slightly; he was alright. She nodded and parried a strike from an orc, then ran another through.

All too soon to be real, it was over. The ghosts carried away the orcs and elephants in a glowing green tide, leaving the Riders and her friends untouched. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas stood and waited for the ghosts to finish before conferring about their release. Kali sheathed her knives and ran to Legolas, throwing her arms around him and nearly knocking him off balance. She cried a little onto his shoulder, relived. It's over, it's all over. He squeezed her back and Aragorn and Gimli looked on smiling.

Legolas stoked her hair and held her close; her heart throbbed with delight and the feeling of ecstasy. Finally… finally!

A shattering scream of anguish tore through the battle field. Everyone turned to the sound; Eomir held the body of his sister in his arms, tears running down his face.

"EOWEN!"

Two days later…

Kali sat on the edge of the bed stroking the long golden hair of her friend, Eowen. She had received some wounds and it seemed that her arm was paralyzed. It was up to her friend to live, the choice to live through all that mental struggle… Kali felt her friend's forehead. Burning. She dipped the cloth in cool water once more and laid it on her friend's forehead. Eowen sighed in her sleep; Kali felt her heart sag, there wasn't much hope. But she would stay with her nonetheless, to the end.

Legolas stood in the doorway to Eowen's room in the infirmary. Kali hadn't spoken to him in days, tending to her friend took up all her time, but it still bothered him how Kali wouldn't speak to him, much less even look at him. If he came in to give her a meal she would ignore him and the food and stare at the wounded girl in distress. Why?... he thought angrily.

Kali bent down and kissed Eowen's forehead lightly, then a tear fell; then they all fell. Not stopping, never-ending, flowing from the hole in her heart that her friend, the first friend she had had in many years, possessed. Warm and salty droplets fell gently on the pale beauty's fair face.

Legolas watched this in shock, was this how deep a bond between women really was? Did Kali love her friend more than she loved him? No… that can't be… unless she never really loved me. But… His mind reeled from all this, his heart telling him one thing, his mind another. It made him feel nauseous, jealousy again. He had felt it when Eomir had talked to Kali at the camp that night, he felt it now. Maybe… he glanced at her again, if I let her go now I won't feel the pain of her losing interest in me, leaving me for another. Would she do that? Again his mind and heart clashed, and he turned away. I need… to be alone.

Kali didn't notice the single tear that he left behind on the stone floor for her sake.

Sorry it's so short.