The Eighth Flame: (We'll Always Go) Back To The Flames

"Unfortunately, the clock is ticking, the hours are going by. The past increases, the future recedes. Possibilities decreasing, regrets mounting."-Haruki Murakami

He was no weak-hearted, emotional fellow. That he knew and took pride in, ever since he was merely a tiny princeling in his lone Ada's arms, stubbornly insisting that he can hunt down Orcs as well as his father, maybe even better. To which his Ada would chuckle softly, ruffle the short golden locks in front of him and haul him over his shoulder as if he weighed lighter than a butterfly's wing.

He was also rarely at a loss for words. While he may not be at par with his Ada's intense, and most of the time brutal, honesty and assertiveness, he knew he could speak his mind. He knows he CAN speak his mind, say which ever it is he desires to say, in a gentle, charming way he preferred it to be...unless, of course, the situation requires for him to be the opposite.

Most would say that he is of a different half to his Ada, bearing only the striking physical resemblance and naught any further than that. But with all honesty, he knew that despite their contrasting personalities, therein lies the same underlying core of steel, of power, of royalty that has been molded by them and molded them again and again throughout the times.

Just like his Ada, he was a man in control of himself.

When he saw the human woman in Tauriel's arms, looking worse for wear as Tauriel checked for the sign of a pulse from her wrist-and a bruised, blistered wrist at that-he felt his feet moving faster than his mind could allow, clenched hands opening up and reaching out for the human. A protective instinct churned in his gut, surprising even himself. It was only when Tauriel tilted her head at him questioningly that he noticed his eyes were narrowed, his jaw as tense and stiff as the rest of his whole body.

And that's when he realized.

He was behaving exactly the way he did when he was still a child, when his Ada would usually leave him behind whenever his royal duties call for it. His Ada always insisted that it was for his safety, and although he understood such perfectly, being an elfling wiser than most, he could not help but pace around in circles as he looked up at the night sky whenever his Ada would be gone for days.

And now, looking at the woman who was still sleeping on the bed, extreme fatigue and stress written all over her face, unknown feelings were still rushing to his veins like it naturally ran through his bloodstream. There was curiosity. There was worry. There was anger. There was-

"Your Royal Highness," Tauriel's voice clear, strong voice suddenly rang out in the silent room. "Your Ada has requested your ."

He raised an eyebrow in response, wondering why she was in such an urgent hurry, uncharacteristically forgetting to kno-

"I did knock three times, if that is what you are contemplating about," Tauriel's tone didn't change, although she fixed her ever-assessing eyes on the bed. "And yes, I am concerned about her too, as well as her companion, but the King's orders come first. Always does. Always will."

Letting go of the human's wrists, he stood up and nodded his head in agreement. He had now words to offer, none he could retort at Tauriel's comforting and at the same time sharp intuition.

Tauriel's eyes scanned the human's now-healed wrists and lingered there for a moment before heading out of the room. He thought he saw her lips twitch.

Had she noticed? How much has she noticed? And what could she have noticed that he failed to?

Legolas Greenleaf followed Tauriel out of the room, repressing the urge to sigh aloud. Instead, he calmly sucked in a breath as if nothing had fazed him a few moments ago.

But it was not supposed to be like this. It should not be like this.

The blinding red light disappeared as quickly as it engulfed the surroundings without any warning. And along with the said light's disappearance went King Thranduil's usual calmness.

He was now walking repeatedly-no,pacing tensely would be more fitting for a word-in front of the dungeons. In front of the dungeons that was supposed to hold the other human's friend, the princess, captive.

Yet, here they are, faced with an empty, almost spotless dungeon if it weren't for the human skulls piled in the corners and nearly-invisible cobwebs hanging about. And while Thranduil's eyes were dangerously narrowed in front of him, where a certain princess should have been...or rather, where a certain princess was standing merely moments ago...he need not to look behind him to determine what his royal elven guards were thinking of the situation.

Unbelievable. Truly unbelievable. And truly perilous.

If he was a tiny, pitiful peasant and honesty was presented as his guillotine, Thranduil would have confessed on barely staggering knees that an intensifying fear was slowly taking over his being. It was, he knew all too well, the kind of fear that although he had not felt for ages, the memory of it could not ever, cannot ever, be lost within the dark recesses of his mind.

For it was the kind of fear that constricted the common sense out of his mind.

That heaved the breath out of his lungs.

That threatened the calmness out of his sangfroid nature.

That chased away the sanity from his iron heart.

Remained it had. And he was certain, remembered it always will.

Thranduil's icy eyes narrowed into slits. He was bristling with a flurry of disorienting emotions, none of them distuingishable already from the other.

"Ada." Thranduil's sharp hearing picked up on Legolas' swift footsteps from behind him. "You have called for me. What seems to be the-"

Thranduil turned to see his son mirroring the very expression he wore when he realized the mysterious red light vanished along with the human princess. "The human named Cess...or that is what I heard her other companion address her," Legolas was saying, narrowed eyes scanning every inch of the prison. "Is she currently being inflicted with one of your traditional punishments? Where had she gone? "

"A query I as well, have been musing about with not a definite conclusion in hand." Thranduil was unable to restrain the icy venom leaking in his voice. "Or at the very least, it was anything but the conclusion I had reckoned before the befalling of this hour."

"What do you mean? What is it that occured?" Thranduil saw Legolas' blue eyes narrow at the prison, to him, then back to the prison again.

"The insignia of the abhorred dark lord," Thranduil bit out, his stoic facade slowly crumbling away, calmness wearing thin. "I have seen Sauron The Deceiver's flaming eye. And amidst the sickening blaze, the human princess vanished mysteriously."

Legolas' narrowed eyes widened, looking around their surroundings once more as if searching for unimaginable ways to disprove a jest. "Certainly you do not say that-"

"Certainly, without further doubt, I do." Thranduil cut off Legolas' claims about the human, claims that would do no good, he knew this very well, in the long run.

"She is an ally of the fallen Maia."

Aching joints and a stiff neck roused a dizzy Cess from her slumber. Cold tiles greeted her back as she slowly opened her heavy eyes. Breathing in the darkness, Cess let herself sit up, cracking her knuckles as she did so.

Trying to observe the dark room she was currently in, Cess wiped her hands on her skirt. With a final glance around but with no success of identifying anything at all, she nodded to herself and stood up.

Might as well explore this place first before deciding on anything hasty or ru-

"Man, I swear: I saw a red light flashing from there! You can slap me on both sides of my face all you want, but can you please just check it? God, this library really gives me the creeps sometimes!"

Cess heard the loud jingle of keys just outside the room she was in. Looking around quickly, she forced her brain to think and at least, try to piece bits and pieces together. She was in a library?

"Then why are you still coming here, eh," an old, gruff man replied as the jingling of keys became louder. "You just go and read somewhere-"

The door was slightly open, Cess realized as she noted the barely noticeable streak of light.

The men outside must have noticed this as well, because the man with a younger-sounding voice gasped and groaned aloud, saying, "See? The door's unlocked! Someone must have got in. Or a ghost must have got in! Either way, I can't clean what I'm supposed to clean until you check that out, Jeff. PLEASE!"

"Bloody hell," the gruff voice swore as he completely opened the door, keys still jingling.

Cess let the darkness conceal her.

"Who's there?"

As quietly and swiftly as she could, Cess let her instincts take over.

A/N: Happy Independence Day to every fellow Filipino out there! Now if only I could be free from this writer's block, everything would be great. XD

I really don't know what to say other than sorry, Sorry, SORRY to the INFINITE POWER, you guys! :"((( You see,aside from writer's block, I lost interest in *gasps* The Hobbit and all related stuff and got distracted with other fandoms. I have to re-read my LOTR books, have The Hobbit marathons and study every character's psyche again after I post this chapter, since I really HATE OOC writing. And judging by the way I wrote things here, gosh, I think I'm near to making them OOC because of my long Hobbit hiatus. I know, right. I should be shot already or something. XD

Anyway, enough rants about me and more of you guys who are still (hopefully XD) sticking with me despite my epic failures here. Thank you very much to everyone who Favorited and Followed! You awesome humans know who you are. X's and O's. *hands you Thranduil-shaped cookies* XD

Now answering my beloved Thranduilizers' reviews (yeah, Thranduilizer is a word now XD):
x Emberfire x = Your Review is one of the bestest ever,hahaha! You made me laugh with that, and we were actually in public when I first read your review so... *public humiliation intensifies* XD But thank you for putting pressure on me and liking my nonsensical stories. Tbh, I'm the kind of person who NEEDS to be pressured. XD

Rousdower = Yaaaaay! You relate to my offbeat ENTP humor. That's so rare for me! And yesh, I don't think I can stop fangirling over your Reviews anytime soon. *blushing and screaming in seat intensifies* XD

llcyyxx = Your username is quite challenging to remember for slow human beings like me. XD Anyway, about FSOG, personally, as in REALLY, REALLY PERSONALLY, I'm not a fan of BDSM. In fact, I don't like the books at ALL. However, since many people I know online tend to talk about FSOG, and how they're fans of it, I just say the books are better since I don't want to hurt anyone anymore with my brutal honesty. XD

kykyxstandler = OMFG, are you still alive? I am SO SORRY this messed-up brain left you hanging! I dedicate this chapter, as well as all of my sweat in front of the laptop while making this chap, to you. XD Would that suffice? XD

Lastly, I listened to Lindsey Stirling's whole "Shatter Me" album while writing this and it relieved my writer's block somehow. Aw, Lindsey and her violin...my baes. Try checking her out! :")))