CHAPTER 12

          Taken slightly off guard, Aragorn saw the flash of metal right before he felt its blade cut into his arm.  He had positioned his sword in time to take the brunt of the blow, but the thing just slid under his guard and managed to leave its mark.  Grimacing slightly, he returned the blow in kind, but didn't manage to hurt the thing, but his attack forced it back somewhat.  His arm felt terrible, more than a wound normally should, and risking a glance, he saw it mirrored those that Elrond had received.  The fact that the elf had gone on, even in such pain, surprised even him. 

          His attention returned immediately to the shadow creature, looking for an opening.  It did have form, that much was sure, for no attack to be that strong without some muscle behind it.  But then again it was a creature of magic.  He couldn't be sure. 

          He lunged at the creature, reversing his attack at the last second, and managed to bring the sword down on his opponent's thigh, but he met no resistance, and had to roll forward with his momentum to keep from getting stabbed in the back.  That answered his question.  He wasn't going to be able to stop it.  But maybe the elf could.

          Keeping his guard up, and deflecting the blows, he saw that Elrond had not moved, but was tensed on the floor, ready to spring.  He now aimed his blows more on directing the being backwards towards the elf, rather than blocking.  For this he paid with a few more wounds, but although extremely painful, none were too serious.  Only if this battle lasted too long would he risk his life, for he would bleed to death.  He was a swordsman, a soldier, at heart, and this was what he did best.  In his element, he ignored the pain as best he could, and solely focused on forcing the shadow back.

          Impressed at the swordsman ship, Elrond continued to watch the battle, wincing everything the shadow connected a blow.  Then he noticed that the landed blows were not fault of the man, but calculated risks, so that he could force the creature towards him.  He readied himself, still lying on the floor so as not to bring attention to himself. Knowing exactly what he was going to have to do, he drew upon his inner light, trying to fight back the rest of the darkness, and strengthen his body and soul as much as possible.  He risked exposing himself by doing this, for he was sure the being could sense it, but Aragorn was doing his part of distraction very well, and kept the thing preoccupied enough that it either ignored the elf or didn't care to notice. 

Again he drew upon his light, seeking it from deep inside, when he felt a soft glow join his.  Perplexed, he focused on that glow, and found it to be coming from outside.  Seeing that Aragorn was still fighting off the creature, he realized with a shock that this glow, this light was coming not from the man, but rather, another elf.  Legolas was somehow giving up his last bit of magic to aid him in his fight.  He was stunned, for he had never heard of such a thing, and didn't think it possible, yet it has happening.  He quickly absorbed the extra energy, slight as it was, and now found that Aragorn had positioned the shadow creature in front of the elf. 

With the grace and speed known of his race, Elrond jumped to his feet and leapt at the creature, grasping at the shadowy form.  He quickly found himself in the midst of the battle, so Aragorn pulled back, and Elrond unleashed his and Legolas' inner light. 

Never before had he felt such cold as he did when he immersed himself in that creature, and for a few moments he thought it would overwhelm him.  But then he again felt a slight push from his fallen elf, and that extra energy combined with his and began to eat away at the darkness, as it had with his wound. 

Impassioned beyond all reason, Elrond fought with his life force, and that of Legolas, and soon found their light to be growing stronger than the darkness.  He continued to focus that light throughout his body and into the shadow around him.

Aragorn, seeing that Elrond was behind the creature, stepped back so as not to wound him with his sword, and was surprised to find the elf soon immersed within the shadow.  The creature seemed almost as surprised, and soon began to howl, in anger more than pain.  It then lost form, and began to swirl around the elf, obviously overpowering him, but then a light, bright and radiant, from within the elf began to shine forth.  When it touched a part of the shadow, that shadow dissipated.  Soon, the swirling mass of darkness gave into the light, and with a sudden final burst of radiance, it disappeared.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

          Still blinded by the sheer brilliance, Aragorn blinked the tears of pain from his eyes, and ran towards his fallen friend.  Oh no, he can't be dead.  How could he lose two of his best friends within the same day, within minutes.  He knelt by the elf, who now lay collapsed on the floor.  Seeking a pulse, he held his breath, but soon found one, surprisingly strong. 

          He grasped the elf's hand, trying to wake him, and was soon relieved once again to see the elf's lids flutter open.  Only in unconsciousness or unnatural sleep did their eyes close, and it was disturbing to see an elf with their eyes closed.  He met the elf's gaze and smiled, but held a hand on the other's chest as he tried to sit up.  "Rest, the darkness is gone."

          Blinking slowly, the Elf Lord gently smiled, and replied, " But our friend is not."

          Shocked, he looked down, confused as to his friend's words.  Thinking he might still be slightly shaken from his ordeal, he smiled again and comforted his friend that he was indeed well and had managed to destroy the creature.

          Now slightly irritated that he was being held down, and that Aragorn didn't understand him, he frowned and clarified himself.  "Legolas still lives, Aragorn."

          "What?!"  Getting up, he glanced back at Elrond as he struggled to stand, and helped the elf up, but then practically dragged him over to Legolas.  He still hung there, not moving, the arrow still protruding from his chest.  But now a subtle difference could be found.  Amongst the filth and blood on his face, mingled tears.

EPILOGUE

          Aragorn returned to the room he had visited so many times with in the past few days, and looked down upon the still form upon the bed.  Lying there peacefully, with hand gently folded over his chest, was Legolas.  He sat in a chair besides the bed, and gazed upon the unmoving elf, thinking over the past few days.

          After the destruction of the shadowed darkness, they found the cloak it had been wearing, and in it the key to Legolas' chains.  Elrond, still unsteady and worn from his battle with the shadow had again knelt down besides the structure and let Aragorn work at the chains.  At first they had seemed to resist, and he became worried, but finally they let go of their prize, and the elf fell forward into Aragorn's awaiting arms.  He has set his friend's broken body down besides Elrond, and together, attempted to save their friend.

          At the memory, Aragorn bowed his head, and when able, again directed his gaze at the prone from on the bed.  There he met a steady, blue gaze.  "Hello Aragorn."

          "Welcome back my friend."  He took hold of the elf's hand, and gave it a squeeze, careful as to not hurt any remaining injuries.  Both he and Elrond has begun healing once away from that underground torture chamber, but the severity of Legolas' injuries would keep him bed-ridden for many days, and he wouldn't regain his true strength for many weeks.  None of the healers were exactly sure how deeply the darkness had effected him, but all held out hope, for Legolas had proven them all wrong many a time before when it came to recovery.  "How are you faring?"

          Since entering Rivendell, he had been in and out of conscience, but only now did he truly awaken.  And waking to find Aragorn brought a slight smile to his still bruised lips.  He had watched the man gaze at him, and then delve into far-too recent memories, but waited until he had his attention to let him know that he was awake.  Now posed with a question, and trying to formulate an answer, he found that he was still awfully weak, and that trying to sit up was not the thing to do. 

          Seeing his friend struggling to sit up, he gently placed a firm hand against his chest, and gave him a don't you dare look, and the elf relaxed back into the pillows.  Closing his eyes a moment, he tried to collect himself and now wince at the very intense pains he still felt. 

          Fearing something wrong, Aragorn turned to fetch Elrond, but was restrained when Legolas reached for his hand once again.  Eyes still tightly shut, he responded, "I will be fine soon enough.  Nothing that will heal itself."  Opening his eyes again, Aragorn saw the pain and agony still haunting his friend, and desperately hoped that he was right.  "I hope you're right my friend, for if you decided to stay, what else would give me an excuse for escaping to your forests?" 

Smiling, he pulled his hand away, and ordered his friend to rest now.  Seeing no reason not to, Legolas did just that, and soon his eyes lost their haunted shadows, and became clear once again.

Once sure that his friend was indeed asleep, and resting peacefully, he left to go find Elrond.  After many minutes of searching and asking of his whereabouts, he found him once again in his chamber, sitting alone. 

"Enter Aragorn.  Don't just stand there."

Rolling his eyes at the elf, he walked into the chamber, hoping he wasn't disturbing any too important thoughts.  But some thoughts he did want to interrupt, for he didn't want the elf dwelling on the past, plus he had some questions.

Noticing the look in his friend's eyes, he again motioned his friend to the balcony, but this time not to escape, but rather to enter a place of as much beauty and life possible.  Rivendell was a paradise for some, and it was the life of its people and nature which made it so.  Once on the balcony, overlooking his city, both King of Elves, and King of Men, sat in silence. 

This time it was Elrond who broke the silence  "Before you even ask, I'm just fine."  It was true to a point, for like Legolas, he had begun healing at his normal rate once the darkness was destroyed and he returned home.  "But how is Legolas?  Is he awake?"

Silently laughing to himself at the other's question and answer approach, he told him that their friend had indeed awoken, and seemed to be over the worst.  "But I fear he has a long way to go before he is the same elf as we knew him.  Can you tell me what exactly happened?"

Steadying himself, for the memories were still fresh, he looked directly into the ranger's eyes.  "Basically, the race of elves have an inner light of sorts, a soul perhaps, a song.  It goes by many names and forms, but it is what gives us our abilities and our heightened senses.  You of course knew that." 

Aragorn nodded, so he continued.  "As you probably figured out, in a way, that shadow creature was the darkness, evil, of every soul over time condensed into one.  We saw it in shapes, but it still only remained in its condensed form.  That's why when the arrow left his bow, it disappeared, only to reappear once it had found its target.  The only reason I was physically damaged was because it was passing through me as it made contact with Legolas, thus solidified while still partially in my body.  Like that arrow, he could inflict damage in that form.  But never could he leave his resting place, nor could he ever be seen in the light of day, and only as shadow at night.  He needed a body, a host, for reside in."  Aragorn had figured as much, but he let the elf continue without interruption.  "The reason he picked Legolas was because he was the only one who could ever be a challenge.  He was evil incarnate, and with such twisted evil comes twisted thoughts and views.  One was he couldn't turn down a challenge, which also explains why he ignored me and kept fighting you, even though I'm sure he could sense what I was doing."  He paused.

"And what exactly were you doing?"

"That light, song, soul, I spoke of, is a precious and dear part of every elf.  It is only when that is gone that an elf can truly die.  Hence people say that only darkness can kill an elf; it's not darkness so much as a lack of light.  When I was hit by that arrow, I felt a darkness enter my soul, from that wound, and it partially incapacitated me, as you saw when I fell."  He lowered his gaze, faltering, but quickly regained his composure.  "I was still aware, only my body had frozen due to the shock of such a foreign darkness.  But even as I listened and sensed what it was you were doing, I could feel that with my passion, my light grew stronger, and was able to combat the dark presence.  So while you distracted the creature, I turned to drawing forth every ounce of light I possibly could find, and in doing so found that Legolas was still alive, for he sensed what I was doing, and gave up his own light, thus actually his life, to empower mine."

"You mean, even in his state, he was still aware?"  He felt terrible, for now he thought that Legolas had sensed him when he assumed he had died, not bothering to check even for a pulse. 

At his friend's obvious discomfort, Elrond put his hand on the man's shoulder, "No, he would not blame you for such a thing, don't even think that for the smallest moment.  He wanted us to leave him, for he knew that all was lost."

"But it wasn't, because we were there, you saw how he fought once we arrived."

"The only reason he fought was because he needed to survive for us, no him.  He had already given up on his own life." 

Deeply shocked, Aragorn blinked and jerked at such a thought.  Stopping his thoughts from going any farther, he silently motioned the elf to continue, not wanted to contemplate what such a horrid thing.

"Well, as I was centering that energy, both his and mind, I waited until I saw that I could catch the creature unaware.  Then I simply let his shadow envelope me, as was its nature, for part of evil is greed, and as strong as our combined power was, if turned it would have been deadlier than anything he had imagined.  Knowing this, I let the light work upon the shadow, must as sunlight on a tree's shadow, it ate away at it before he could collect himself enough to absorb it.  A couple of times, it's resistance became to much for me, but again Legolas was there to give of himself, and together we destroyed it."

Aragorn sat in silence, amazed at all that happened, and he finally let it all wash over him, letting his thoughts wander from all the different possibilities and could-have's and should-have's.  He always experienced this, usually after a battle or confrontation, but rarely before with this magnitude.  Only with the Fellowship had he experienced such serious doubts, regrets, and relieved blessings. 

"Elrond, I honestly don't know what to say, to think."

"Then don't.  When you have to, you will, but not before, nor after.  I know you came here to make me stop dwelling, but now that you know as much as I do, I must in turn make sure you don't make such a mistake.  Life is a risk, Aragorn, I have always said that.  But its payoffs are so great, that we have no other greater duty in life than to survive, and keep our people alive.  We are entering a time where elves are no longer needed or wanted, but I hope that through you and others, that we will not be forgotten.  Maybe, sometime in the future, there will never again be need for such talks as these.  But as long as we fight for the good of all, there will always be those who fight to oppose."

"My friend, never before have you spoken so, but I am honored to hear you say such things." Taking the ancient elf's hand in his, he pressed it to his lips, and promised, "But as long as I survive, and as long as man survive, your people will not be forgotten, and these times not buried in history.  You are of an amazing race, one that will not soon be abandoned to myth, and I can swear this unto you, no matter our future, no man under my reign, or my son's, or his son's, will forget you and your kind, Lord Elrond."

And with that, the two sat in silence, friend and friend, father and son, ruler and ruler, watching the city below them, living and surviving.