Author's Note
...A bit of explaining to do- a couple years ago I began this story. To make an extremely long story short, I could not continue it at that time. I am so very very sorry to anyone who may have reviewed or enjoyed the story back then, I always meant to continue and hoped that I would revisit it one day. I can only promise that I will try to keep up with updates. Writing is a stress relieving outlet for me and while I want the reader to enjoy, I write for my own enjoyment as well. Again, I am sorry to anyone who began to read this before and I hope that this time I can complete it.
I especially want to apologize to gemstone, tychen and Isadora2. Thank you for the encouragement. I hope I don't let you down.
On a technical note, I apologize in advance for bad grammar. While I don't normally write fanfic, I have been notorious in my other works for long sentences. I hope it doesn't get too bothersome. I will try my best to catch myself but sometimes time does not permit it. Enjoy!
-Athena
Context ...
We are taken to a time before the creation of the Fellowship, when the growing threat of Sauron is newly realized and gradually investigated. The alarm is being raised. This story occurs between the time that Frodo of the Shire is warned to "keep it secret, keep it safe" by Gandalf the Grey who rides to seek council with Saruman the White, and before Aragorn son of Arathorn journeys to meet Frodo at the Prancing Pony.
Prologue
Present time…
Elladan leapt easily up to the fallen tree. "No!" he screamed in shock, his eyes coming to rest on the small mound where Aragorn, his brother, held an unmoving Legolas in his grasp, knife poised for the kill. He could see Arwen, a ways below, struggling in vain with the ropes which bound her. The anger within him rose, and so did the urgency. And suddenly he was back there, in that horrible dungeon…
"Elladan, you must end it. If it is not in my power, then I leave it in yours…"
Aragorn had known what might come of his sacrifice. He was far too dangerous in the hands of evil. Elladan felt the bitter, hot tears sting his eyes. One man's life for the life of many, for the survival of Arda…there was no other way. He had given his word. He was the eldest and as such, he accepted a responsibility that Elrohir, Legolas and even Estel would never know. He notched his bow, drew the arrow, tears brimming in his unwavering eyes…I love you my brother…
The tears fell freely now, glowing as they spilled from her closed eyes, her countenance cast downward in sorrow, the crystalline orbs splashing against the harsh ropes which cruelly bound her delicate wrists. So much sorrow, in one so fair. And yet, the Lady's words were ever in her heart… "Hope remains…" As though possessed by another spirit, stronger now than her broken soul, she felt a soft melody rise from a place beyond her memory, a place where her love unshaken kept her warm with its power...
And she began to sing….
O môr henion i dhu:
Suddenly there was a light in the doomed darkness that the dusk had swiftly become. Legolas could barely breathe, the hand clasp firmly around his throat, crushing his last breath, trapping it tightly. He gasped, trembling as his tired and broken body struggled to spend its last strength. The eyes, so empty, so hateful, so foreign…not the soft grey spheres that mirth refused to abandon. In his tidal wave of pain, and sorrow, and confusion, the sound of sweet desire, like the scent of athelas to a dying man, consumed his mind and rekindled his hope.
Ely siriar, el síla
It was a tense moment, as though time had suddenly stopped and all of its temporal slaves frozen in terrible awe. Aragorn stood, the knife in his hand, inches from the elf's heart. His limbs trembled with rage and victory as he paused before the kill relishing the fear in his enemy's eyes…the enemy…in a moment, a brief moment it would be over…
Ai! Aníron Undómiel
Undomiel…Evenstar…the words came to him, slowly, repeated, so slowly…a small gasp escaped him, he blinked in confusion, clinging to the hatred, to the darkness…
Tiro! El eria e mor.
Legolas fought to remain conscious, he did not dare flinch let alone breathe as he witnessed the true and awesome power of an immortal love. Aragorn's eyes widened, their intensity changing, softening, shimmering. Could it be recognition? Could this song fight a magic darker than Sauron's own evil, more powerful than Mithrandir's sorcery? And suddenly, his gaze shifted…
I 'lir en el luitha 'uren.
Slowly, gracefully, she looked up to him, the song louder now, flowing freely…
Ai! Aniron...
"Undomiel…" he whispered, not fully aware yet more aware than he had been in a very long time. The pain in his head increased as the darkness momentarily dissipated, leaving a hazy cloud of confusion in its wake. What is happening to me? She was so beautiful, on her knees, her eyes pleading, expressing such a deep love. And in that moment, that brief moment, the spell was broken…
In one awful release the tension exploded –
Legolas seized the precious moment, took the only chance he needed and thrust his hand forward to clasp the evil medallion and pull it from his friend's neck, breaking the chain. The stone burned ferociously in his palm and he threw it with all of the disdain, anger and revenge he could manage. The stone broken into a thousand pieces, the glasslike material shattering against the bark of a tree and scorching the trunk with its evil and corruptive fire.
Aragorn inhaled sharply as the stone collided with the trunk, his vision clearing, the hand on Legolas' throat releasing. He dropped the dagger in horror. "Legolas-?" he choked, his mind unable to process what was happening, where he was, what he was about to do. There was no memory of that now, only the sweet song, and now the strange feeling of Legolas' strained breathing, and an unbearable aching in his side. He relaxed his grip completely as Legolas sunk to his knees.
Legolas smiled in spite of himself, relief washing over his disbelief.
The arrow found its mark-
Aragorn gasped in shock and surprise more than pain. His eyes widening in disbelief as they slowly fell to the arrow's shaft, protruding from his chest. "…legolas…" he whispered, clearly trembling crimson rising to his lips…. He swayed for a moment, then suddenly, he could not feel his legs as they collapsed beneath him. The last coherent thoughts swirled in his mind. As the blackness overcame him, he was suddenly back there…reliving the moments leading to this end as his life flashed before him and the adventure, which had not yet ended, once again began…….