"There's still no sign of him, my lord."

Thranduil didn't turn to address Haavelas, the elf who had brought him this news. In fact he gave no indication that he had heard him speak.

Haavelas swallowed, nervously coming up from the tidy bow he usually greeted the king with. As the silence stretched on, he considered his next words to fill it. The moment he opened his mouth to speak, Thranduil spoke for him.

"Then conduct another search, captain." Still he didn't turn from his view of the shadows in the great cavern around his throne. Few of the lanterns had been lit since nightfall and, were it not for the king's pale hair and shimmering robe, he too would have been lost in the darkness.

"My lord, Legolas's last missive stated that he was going to Gundabad. He said he had learned of a strange phenomenon there. If we expand our search, we might –"

"My son's last known whereabouts are from within the forest." Thranduil's voice was like ice, smooth and deceptively calm.

Haavelass shivered imperceptibly. "We have searched the forest, king Thranduil. Many times."

Now the tall form did move and Haavelas immediately lowered his head in a respectful bow. The air seemed to thicken as the king approached, despite the openness surrounding them.

Thranduil circled him quietly, his boots making only the faintest click, his robes the barest whisper on the stone floor.

"Obviously you've missed something," Thranduil said.

He kept his eyes on the bowed elf as he took leisurely strides around him. He stopped once he made a full circuit and silently dared the other elf to voice another protest. His breath was coming a bit shallow as he watched Haavelas. His anger was getting the better of him and he was more upset that it was always there now. As the days passed with no sign of Legolas, Thranduil's composure slipped. Memories of a time long past that all too closely mirrored the most recent weeks came to his thoughts uncalled. To lose what was most precious to him the same way he had another, threatened to drive him mad. A low panic burned almost constantly within him now and being harsh on the newly appointed captain of the guard brought only a moment's relief from the strain on his self-control. The last captain had made much the same argument as Haavelas did now. However, he hadn't known when to stop pressing his point. Banishing him had been a sweet but short lived comfort.

Haavelas was wiser than this it seemed as he deepened his bow and clapped a fist over his heart. "If there is any clue as to what happened to Legolas, my lord; we will find it."

Thranduil stepped back, not sure if he was mollified or disappointed. "Then go."

Haavelas didn't dare raise his eyes to the king as he turned from him. His strides were quick and purposeful and he took every effort not to seem in haste to get away. Once he was among the guard barracks, he breathed his relief. He knew Thranduil wouldn't continue tolerate his failure and it was only a matter of time before he was told not to return empty handed.

It was only after he assembled the party he felt he needed and they were equipped and clear of the kingdom's gates that he shared his intentions. He and those who chose to follow him would scout the lands beyond the forest that led to Gundabad. Legolas's last known location hadn't been far from the northern pass. Haavelas felt certain that if there were any clues to be found, they would be there.

His nerves rattled in every fiber of his body as he voiced his defiance of the king's command. They would either be victorious and the banishment he expected would be stayed by their success or they would return with nothing and lose everything, their kin and their home. Or they would never return at all.

Los Angeles was usually what most people thought of when they thought of California. The idea of there being heavily forested areas with a blanket of snow on pines that towered over the streets seemed foreign to all who believed the state was one of endless sunshine, flat open coastline dotted with palms and dry deserts decorated with cacti. It was true California had all of these things, and up in the mountains of Big Bear, little of the tourist oasis was evident. The winding, steep roads and dense population of oak and pine trees hid away the small town. Only the yearly camping and skiing enthusiasts seemed to know it was there.

To Seren Aneira Evans, it was home. She rarely left the mountains, preferring the quiet of the forest around her to the bustling cities below. Often she trekked even deeper up the mountain, far beyond the paths and roads meant for humans; which, subsequently kept them from roaming from their manufactured journeys. It was winter now and the snow was thick and soft on the ground. Great swaths of it flawlessly stretched in the clearings between the trees, glittering like stars sprinkled on the ground. The moon was high and the night was awash with its pale cerulean glow. This far from the metropolis of L.A. and its suburbs, the air was quiet save for the sounds of animals nearby and the gentle breeze nipping at skin and rustling the trees.

Seren made her way to the center of a clearing she knew well and began to remove the pack she had brought along. She wouldn't make a fire up here as the wind could too easily spark the trees with embers. It had been a dry autumn and even drier winter, thus far and the forest crackled more than groaned these days.

An easel was soon standing in the snow with a canvas on its face. A little table with a battery powered lamp was set up for her oil paints to her right, an array of brushes strapped to a belt on her hip. Seren checked everything was in place one last time before applying a fat brush to a pigment of the deepest cobalt and swirling it on the canvas.

Repeatedly she dipped the tool in the color until the top half of the white expanse before her was covered. Darker colors followed along the line where the paint stopped and were blended upward. After that, lighter shades were layered on until the moon and its gentle light were standing in stark contrast to the darkness. Stroke after stroke, Seren painted until the sky before her was reflected on her canvas. The shining white of the snow was applied next. The paint was of her personal design and was mixed with fine particles of titanium dioxide to bring the snow to life.

Once she was satisfied with the landscape, she began adding trees. Starting with their trunks and using a stippling technique for the branches. The trees farther from her were painted first and would have to dry before she could add more so she took some time to package her used brushes that she would no longer need. She'd clean them at home since it was nearly freezing out and the paint thinner might damage them.

Halfway through her task, a feeling of being watched came over her. She closed her eyes and listened. From the far side of clearing, a sound of crunching snow, faint and slow carried over to her ears. It was too big a sound for a hoofed animal and not soft enough for a pad footed animal. It had to be human.

Seren smiled slowly. Only one person other than herself would venture here and only because he was looking for her and knew where she'd be.

"Hello Taliesin," she called out. Her brother often came up here in the early morning hours if he knew she was up painting and dragged her off for a sparring session. She didn't see the need for continuing the sword exercises their father had taught them but Tal liked to do them still and she humored him, if only because she could persuade him to carry her easel back down the mountain.

A few moments went by and her brother hadn't acknowledged her. Usually, he grumbled immediately about being able to sneak up on her one day but there was no other sound from the direction she'd first heard him.

"Tal, I know you're there! You may as well show yourself!"

A strange crackle began to hum on the breeze and a golden light at the space in the trees where she suspected her brother was bloomed. It was small at first but it quickly grew until it spanned two meters in height and half that in width.

Seren gasped and stumbled over her stool when she stepped back. She glanced at the offending equipment and then back at the light at the edge of the clearing. It shimmered with shifting light but she could clearly see a sickly greenish portrait in the oval, hard black stone for earth and gnarled twisted trees decorated the landscape. Small gangly and pointed creatures with black skin and rotted mouths were moving fast as if toward the portal or whatever it was but Seren couldn't make herself move.

She was transfixed on the scene inside the gold ring of light. It was horrifying. Instinctively the place she saw was repulsive and yet an intense sadness welled inside her and the insane thought to go into it gripped her. She shook her head and turned away from the sight, leaving her easel behind. Her only thought was to get home. More crackling filled the air and despite herself, she stopped her retreat to chance a look back. The opening was pulsing and shimmering wildly now, light cascading over the surface and it seemed to swell in size. Then it flared, bright and blinding. A dark figure tumbled through and with a loud pop, the light disappeared.

Seren looked at the ground and gasped. A man, by all appearances, lay face first in the snow there. He wasn't one of those slimy, clawed monstrosities she had seen. There was no movement from the newcomer and Seren could see he was fair skinned with even fairer hair. He was dressed in odd green… well to her it looked like moss from this distance. A quiver of arrows was strapped to his back as were twin white handled daggers, though there was no sign of the bow the arrows were obviously for.

Not so harmless, then…

The figure breathed and shivered against the cold but otherwise didn't stir. The thought to leave him and fetch the authorities occurred to her but she was uncertain if this was even real. How would anyone believe the story of how he arrived? She could leave out all mention of the light and the world beyond but the weapons and odds clothes would be that much more difficult to explain. Another shiver from the man on the ground shook her out of her thoughts and she took a few steps closer.

"Ar-are you alright? Sir?"

She tiptoed closer. Her rational mind was screaming at her to run the other way but she couldn't bring herself to. As cold as it was, this stranger wouldn't survive long up here and as she crept closer, she saw that he was in no shape to help himself. He was covered in gashes and bruises and a dark bloom was spreading through the snow under his forehead.

Once she was within reach, she gently poked him in the shoulder. There was no response, of course and she hadn't truly expected one.

"Sir?" She poked him again and then gently pulled him onto his back, jumping back as he flopped almost onto her feet.

She took in his face and a cry escaped her. It was a mess! Nearly completely covered in blood and swollen everywhere, she still noticed that his ears came to a delicate point. The skin, where it wasn't smudged with dirt and the sticky red stream oozing from his scalp, was almost luminous and inhumanly smooth. The sick grayish pallor made him look hours dead. The steady rise and fall of his ribcage belied that.

"What are you?" She let her fingers ghost over the shell of his left ear. It felt real enough and was rather warm to the touch considering the temperature. She jerked her hand back. "Is this some new body modification thing?"

Seren looked around the clearing, wondering why tonight of all nights her brother would choose not to show up and cursed for not bringing her cell phone. She never brought it but she had never needed it when she came up here. The distraction it caused at times could ruin the entire muse when she was painting. Deciding that it would be quickest to run back to her house for the phone, she removed her coat and long sweater and draped them over the strange man, leaving her in just her jeans and thermal shirt.

She was tucking them securely under his form to keep drafts at bay when a surprisingly strong hand gripped her wrist. She gasped and looked into wide, ice blue eyes. They flickered, taking in the surroundings as he struggled to speak and narrowed suspiciously as he turned his head wildly from one side and to the other.

"Hey… you're safe. Be calm! I'm going to get help since I can't carry you down the mountain."

He looked at her then, blinking; a question in his eyes and then he looked at the spot he tumbled out of the hole in the air.

She remembered the awful creatures she had seen and took a guess at what he wanted to know.

"Those things didn't follow you here, you're safe."

He didn't seem to really believe this and continued looking about but some of the wildness left his eyes. Finally he looked at her again. "Wh-oo are y-you?"

"My name is Seren. I live just a short distance from here. And you?"

The hand clamped around her arm started to go slack and the man swayed. "Legolas…" He shook his head to try and clear it but unconsciousness reclaimed him once more.

Seren checked all of his vital signs in a hurry to be sure he hadn't died but there was a pulse, steady if a little faint and his breathing seemed untroubled. She tucked him under her garments again before taking off at a run down the hillside.