Disclaimer: I do not own any of the LOTR character and never will. I only own the characters I made up.

Chapter 1

He could see it all as if he was there himself. He could hear the cries of the wounded and the dying, the cries of his people and those of the enemy. The sound of battle reached his sensitive ears and he could also hear the war cries of both forces.

He raced to the sounds of the battle, his sun-blond hair flying behind him, his emerald-green eyes searching for anything that will indicate what was happening.

At last he reached the battle field. The sky was red, like freshly spilled blood. The trees from the forest that were present where crying out in sadness, but he ignored these things. His eyes fell to the battle that was being fought in front of his face.

Elves and orcs, were going at it in the middle of a clearing in the dark forest. The spiders of the dark woods were there as well, helping out the orcs. There were few elves left, seeing as most of them were on the ground or they were dragged into the woods by spiders, never being seen again. It seemed to him that the less elves there were, the harder they fought. Unfortunately, no matter how hard they fought, they were still largely outnumbered and they quickly fell.

The elves had formed a circle around something, he couldn't really see what it was. He found it strange that everything and everyone seemed to ignore him as if he wasn't there. He didn't move towards the battle, something was holding him back. Nothing physical, just a feeling that screamed at him to run away before it became to late to do so. He didn't pay attention to this feeling, but he didn't move from his spot.

Meanwhile, the elves continued to fight but their numbers quickly dwindled. A couple of orcs would team up on a single elf and make him move away from the safety of the others. By the time the elf would realize this, he would be to far from the circle and would be on his own. A group of either spiders or orcs would then strike from behind and the elf would then find himself surrounded. It wouldn't take long for the lone elf to die at the end of a weapon or at the of a spiders strike. The scream would then fill the forest and the orcs and spiders would leave to find another victim.

Soon the elves realized that if they stayed where they were, they would all die. The one he assumed was the captain shouted out an order, even thought he couldn't hear what he was saying, which was strange. Slowly the group began to make its way to the edge of the forest so that they would be able to escape. There was only a little more then a dozen elves left, fighting desperately to get whatever they were protecting to safety.

Just as they were about to reach safety, more orcs appeared out of the opposite side with hort bows. They quickly took aim and when the elves registered this new threat, the orcs let their arrows fly. More then half of the elves died and he finally saw what it was that they were protecting. His blood ran cold, as if the heat was robbed and he couldn't breath.

In the middle of the circle there was another elf. This elf wasn't a warrior nor a male. This elf he knew all to well. It was a she-elf. Her sea-blue eyes were wide with fear and here pale-blond hair went down to her waist. She was clutching something to her chest as if her life depended on it. He also knew what this bundle was. Even if he couldn't see it, he knew it was an elfling. A child with bright blue eyes, the brightest he had ever seen and with hair the same color as his, only lighter. Oh yes, he knew exactly who both these elves were.

He was brought back to reality when he saw the captain yell something to her and the remaining elves. They abandoned the fighting and raced to the forest. Unfortunately a new wave of arrows flew from the orcs and killed the remaining elves, with the exception of the she-elf. She made it to the forest, but the spiders and orcs were quick on her heels.

All his senses were screaming their heads off, telling him to turn back and not follow. They were yelling at him that he still had time to turn around, to leave and not to relive this nightmare. He again ignored this feeling and took off after them. As he ran after those in front, everything around him began to dissolve and soon everything was black. He couldn't see anything in front of him nut he knew he was going the right way. Slowly he could make out a figure in front of him and he increased his speed, desperate to catch up.

Soon the figure became clear enough to make out. He realized with a mixture of both joy and dread that it was the she-elf, still holding onto the bundle in her arms. She was still running and her breath was coming in as short gulps of air.

He was forced to stop when a sudden quake made him lose his balance and the ground in front of the she-elf began to form a giant hole. The she-elf continued to run as if nothing happened, and she was running straight into the gapping hole. He quickly ran after her, intending to stoop her. He opened his mouth to shout at her when a shriek cut him off.

To his horror, he noticed that she was at the edge of the hole and had about five arrows embedded into her back. She turned around to face him and seemed to see him for the first time. Fear gripped him like never before when he saw her reach an arm out to him and fall back at the same time. Time seemed t freeze as he reached the edge and tried in vain to grab her hand. He tried to scream, only to find that he had no voice.

He saw her fall into the darkness with one arm still outstretched towards him and the other wrapped around the bundle. He watched as the darkness soon threatened to cover her completely.

He watched as his wife and child disappeared into the darkness...

Thranduil woke up with a start. He was covered in sweat and was clutching the sheets in a vice-grip. He looked around the dimly lit room until he felt sure enough that it was only a dream that he had. Slowly, he got up from his bed and made his way to the washroom.

After washing and dressing, he returned and sat on his bed. That was the third time this week that he has had that dream. He didn't understand why he was dreaming about the event when it had happened several hundred years ago. He knew with past experience that he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, no matter how hard he tried, so he walked over to a window and stayed there until the sun peaked over the horizon.

Later that day, Thranduil sat in his office, working on several papers he had to fill out. As king of Mirkwood, it was his duty to make sure everything was running smoothly and to solve any problem that might arise. His thought, however, were not focus on the work in front of him, but on the dream that he had the last night

"My lord!"

The sound of the voice snapped Thranduil out of his thought and he turned to the direction from were the voice came from. Talan, Thranduil's chief advisor and best friend, was looking at him with a worried look on his face.

"Thranduil, tell me, what is wrong. Talan's grass-green eyes were full of concern. He had silver-gold hair that was tied in a high ponytail and reached to the middle of his back. He was also wearing a silver robe with swirls embedded into the helm of his sleeves. Right now he was standing next to Thranduil with one of his hands on his shoulder.

Thranduil let out a small sigh. "I was thinking about my wife and child," he felt the grip on his shoulder tighten. "I have been having dreams lately. There is always fighting and death in them, and then there is running. I run after her, but it's as if I'm not there. Then the ground shakes and the ground breaks in front of her, but she still runs." At this point he puts his head in one of his hands. "Then she is shot from behind as I see them both falling into the darkness."

Talan didn't say anything for a while. Finally he walked to the front of Thranduil's desk and looked at him in the eyes. "Thranduil, you must put the past aside. I know you still grieve, but you must not let it interfere with ruling the kingdom."

"You're right my friend." He was silent for a while so that he could compose himself. "What is there for me to do today?"

Talan smiled at him. "Well, for starters, I think you should send a patrol out today. The spiders have been venturing closer to Mirkwood. I suggest you send out a party to ride us of this problem, eh?"

"Very well. Inform captain Raindul to get ready and find himself a group of warriors to go and face this threat." That said, Thranduil returned his attention to the pile of papers in front of him.

"As you wish, my lord." Talan bowed and made his way out of the study to find Raindul. He assumed that the captain would be in the training grounds, making sure that the warriors were training. He was correct in his assumptions, for when he reached the training grounds, he found captain Raindul working with a couple of fresh troops.

"Captain Raindul!" Talan quickly made his way toward him so that he could deliver the order and return to his other duties.

"Advisor" Raindul greeted Talan and make a quick bow. He then straightened and, though on the outside he didn't show it, wondered what the advisor had to tell him. Usually Talan would be found in the palace, so what made him come seek him out. "Something you have to tell me, I suppose?"

Talan smiled at the captain. "As a matter of fact, yes. The king has ordered you to take some of your best men and get ride of a bug problem. Oh, and captain, don't take so long." That said, Talan turned around and made his way back inside the palace.