Fan Fiction ❯ Fate of the Fires ❯ Dancing on the Edge ( Chapter 18 )

Fate of the Fires

Part XVIII: Dancing on the Edge

Lady Mars

AN: I don't own LotR nor am I making ANY MONEY off of this...

***

Aragorn sat between Elladan and Arwen, staring down at his blood covered hands. He could hardly believe what had just had just happened. Even after everything the pair had seen, everything the pair had lived through, he couldn't let his friend die like this. It wasn't a proper way for a warrior like him to die. It was hard for him to fathom that his friend was hanging on the edge of life. It was hard for him to come with grips that he might out live the immortal. The elf had been more than a friend to the ranger; he had been a brother in times where he needed one, an advisor, an adversary, and the greatest companion anyone could ask for. Aragorn looked up wearily at the others sitting on various benches outside the elf's room. Elrohir was fairing as well as he was. The elf was the second one to arrive and had born as much of the emotional burden as his human brother. Legolas had become a brother to the elder elves of the household as much as he had to the human. The elf looked older than he should be sitting there. Worry was etched in his face and he looked tired; they all did. He couldn't blame them though, it had been a long few hours and there still was no word on whether or not the elf would live to see the morn.

The hobbits were idly stroking the white fur of any hound that would accept it; the creatures were as edgy as the occupants of the hallway. Gimli had settled down next to Elrohir, trying to rub the perpetual weariness from his eyes, but it was to no avail. The threat of death loomed constantly over all of their heads and there was nothing they could do about it.

Next to Aragorn, Elladan was lost in his own world. He had been perched outside his room when the alarm had been raised. But it wasn't the elf's current condition that worried him; there was something else treading on his soul. The small blue pendant dangling form his hands held all of the elf's problems. There was something he didn't like about the stone, something rather unnerving about its presence. It seemed to be radiating an unknown power, but Elladan didn't want to bother anyone with his current problem. He just continued to sit quietly, waiting for a moment that he could slip away and speak to his father. Fortunately he didn't have to wait long.

The doors to Legolas' room swung open and out stepped the tired, blood spattered forms of Elrond, Gandalf, and Gorfindel. Elrond whispered in elvish to one of the servants before addressing the company. The group was now sitting on the edge of their seats in nervous anticipation. The elf lord couldn't bring himself to look at them initially.

"Father?" The sound of Aragorn's voice forced the elder elf to look up again. His heart broke with every pair of eyes that he came in contact with. He sighed before gathering himself enough to answer.

"I hate to say this, but" Elrond started.

"It doesn't look good, does it?" Elladan replied rather gruffly. The elf lord nodded.

"We will be blessed if he makes it till morn. We managed to get the bleeding to stop, but he has lost a lot of blood and Valar only knows what Thaurer put on that blade of his…" The elf lord drifted off as he became lost in his thought again.

"I would be best to pay him your last respects now," Gandalf continued in Elrond's wake. "I realize this is hard to comprehend, but he doesn't have long to live." The other exchanged glances, unsure of what to do.

"How can you say that?" Elladan mumbled. "HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?" The elder twin had rose from his spot and was fuming. "After all he has been through, all the HELL he has lived through, all the DEATH and DESTRUCTION he has seen, all the lives he has fought for…" His words died as he sat down again. "He can't… It can't… It can't end this way. He's to YOUNG DAMN IT!" The first tears of pent up anguish slid down his face. Elrond stepped over to his son and set his hands on the youth's shoulders.

"I know my son; it is hard, but we just have to accept it," he said quietly, trying to console the youth. Elladan brushed his father's hands off of his shoulders and glared at him. Fire danced in the youth's eyes.

"I will not accept it," he growled. "I will not ACCEPT THIS FATE!" The twin hurled the small crystal across the hallway and it shattered against the opposite wall. The elf lord grabbed his son by the arm and drug him off in a fit of rage. The fire in the youth's eyes had disappeared as his father drug him away.

Gandalf watched the pair as the disappeared down the hallway before turning to the crystal shards on the floor. He carefully picked up each shard; his eyes betrayed his sense of fear. Once he had all of the pieces, he stood and followed Elrond's path.

***

The elf lord roughly pushed his son into one of the chairs in his library.

"What has gotten into you?" The elder hissed. "What would drive you to act like this? I THOUGHT I had taught you better than that."

"But father, I..." Elladan stuttered.

"SILENCE!" the elf lord bellowed. It was obvious that the elder's nerves were frazzled. "I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in my halls, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

"Do not torment the child Elrond; it was not of his doing." The elf lord looked up from his son to see Gandalf standing in the doorway. The wizard entered the darkened room and set the crystal shards on the lord's desk. "I believe that had a hand in it." The elf lord gazed at the shattered remains of the crystal on his desk. He looked back up at the wizard skeptically.

"Are you sure this was the cause of it?" He questioned.

"Almost entirely," the wizard replied.

"Are you sure this is, or was, Arrnamir?" he questioned again.

"I was hoping that you would be able to tell me that; it was your cousin's after all." The elf lord sighed.

"It was, but I never saw much of her, let alone it." The wizard sighed. "But it could be it; there aren't too many blue gems like this floating around." Elladan turned back and forth, trying to keep up with the conversation.

"But is it supposed to have that kind of effect on people?"

"I wouldn't know; not much is known about it."

"I hate to interrupt," Elladan mumbled. "But if I'm not needed, I would like to be going." Elrond looked down at his son.

"Go," he whispered. "Your time is short." The younger elf darted from his chair and out the door. Elrond watched his son leave, shaking his head.

"He values his friend," Gandalf said quietly.

"I know, I know. It's just hard to imagine what he's going through."

"I can wager a guess." The elf lord sighed, sitting in the now vacant chair; it was going to be a long night.

***

Elrohir leaned heavily on the banister of his balcony. The grief was hard to bear, hard to comprehend. He had never experienced grief like this before. It had hurt when his mother had moved on, but this didn't compare. He had become attached to the younger elf and he couldn't bear the thought of the person who was like a brother to him dying. Never before in his long life had he felt so lost.

"He's going to die isn't he?" Elrohir turned to see Merry standing next to him. He shifted his gaze back from the hobbit to the empty gardens of the palace. "You can't accept it, can you?"

"It's not a matter of acceptance, young hobbit," he mumbled. "I accepted that when you left with the ring. It's more of a slap in the face. After everything we, no HE, has been through, he's slipping through my fingers so easily. And there's nothing I can do about it. He's just going to pass on and all we can do is sit here and watch. I feel so helpless."

"I know; we all feel the same way. He'll pull through; he's' too strong to let something like this end it all."

"I sure hope you're right…"

***

Aragorn sat by Legolas' bed, his friend's hand clenched in his. Many times before he had been like this, many times before he had felt this same grief. The ranger couldn't come to grasp with the grief that washed over him constantly. Through everything the pair had been through, nothing could stop them from being together; they had made a pact to stay together till the bitter end and now the bitter end had come.

"It can't end this way," he mumbled through his tears. "It just can't end this way. It's been too long, too hard a fight for it to all end this way. I'd never be able to forgive myself if it did end this way." The ranger buried his head in his arms to hide the falling tears despite the fact he knew his friend couldn't see them. It was hard for him to understand why fate had taken such a cruel twist, but all he knew was that he had to tell Legolas how he felt. He sat up again and brushed a few errant strands of hair out of the elf's face. "It's funny; when this all started, I though you were some self center elf who wanted nothing to do with any human, boy, was I wrong. You're more of a friend than any man could ask for. I don't know how you put up with me after all of these years, but it doesn't matter. You showed me much more than I could have ever asked you to. You've been the best friend anyone could ask for…"

"As have you Estel." Aragorn looked up to see the weakly smiling face of Legolas.

"Legolas…" The elf weakly lifted his right hand and placed it on the ranger's face.

"You have nothing to fear, I will be all right." Aragorn sighed.

"I know," he whispered. "It was just scary there for a few hours."

"I bet." The elf let his hand fall back to the bed. He shut his eyes to block out the pain; it hurt everywhere. Aragorn slowly got up from his spot.

"I really should let you rest…" He made his way around the chair and toward the door.

"Estel, wait." The man stopped and turned to his friend; the elf looked so fragile laying there. "I'd rather you stay." Aragorn smiled and went back to his chair, taking the elf's hand back into his own. "Thank you…" He watched as his friend fell back into an easy sleep.

"You're welcome mellon-nin…"

***

Elrond slowly entered into the Legolas' room, weary of the fact that the youth may still be sleeping. He was met with and empty bed and a rousing chorus of growling.

"Tampa tanya, ascarerea!" Legolas' voice echoed through the room. The hounds stopped growling but didn't relinquish their cold stares. "Don't mind them," he continued. "They've been doing it to anything that walks through the door all day. They think he's still alive." Elrond slowly walked past the line of beasts, stopping to gaze at Devil who stood by the door to the balcony. This was the only beast that didn't make any noise when he had entered. The beast sat with almost a regal grace to it; this unnerved the lord slightly.

"And, may I ask, what are out doing out here?" Legolas froze at the lord's voice. He turned slowly to look over the back of the bench he was seated on.

"L.. Lord Elrond. Um…" he stammered.

"I thought I told you not to leave that bed," the elder replied sternly.

"I… well…you see… it's…" Legolas stammered.

"It's my doing father." Elrond turned to see Elrohir standing in the doorway. "I thought he could use some fresh air."

"Is that so?" Elrond questioned. Legolas nodded. "You didn't let him come out here on his own?"

"Oh heavens no," Elrohir replied. "I knew you would kill him AND me if I had. He's stubborn, but I won."

"Well if he did no damage…" The lord stopped when the thunder of hooves roared past on the path below.

"Who was that?" Elrohir asked, coming up to the edge of the balcony.

"I don't know," Elrond replied. "But he sure was in a hurry." Elrohir nodded his agreement. They didn't have to wait long for the answer because Legolas' doors swung open violently and all the hounds lunged at the same moment.

"DOWN!" Legolas roared before the incomer was drowned in Devil Hound. The beasts backed down but remained snarling. The all stood and watched as Haldir danced around the bodies of the hound in his way and dashed to the balcony. He stood, clutching the doorframe, trying to catch his breath.

"L… Lord Elrond," he stammered. The Lord walked over to him.

"At ease my friend," he said with a bit of tension in his voice. "What has happened that bring you here in such a rush?" Haldir took a few more gasps of air before proceeding.

"Lorien… Lorien had been overrun with orcs."

***