When The Trees Sang: Part VII
by Nicole
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Two more days had passed, since that night, and Garania continued to
fade away, drifting more and more from them. Aragorn watched Legolas
often. His heart went out to him, as he could understand well how he
must be feeling. He watched as he rode ahead of him, forcing himself
to remain strong, proud, but inside, slowly crumbling as the pain of
Garania slipping away from him took him over. He knew that in the
end it would surely do him in. They had to stop the king. It was the
only way.
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After another day or so of travelling, they finally caught up with
the armies, who had now grouped together from all of the other
kingdoms in Middle Earth, and were preparing for the battle that was
looming ahead of them. Aragorn stopped to speak with one lone Elf,
who stood aromoring himself with a helmet and sword.
"My friend, what is the word? When will the attack commence?"
The Elf looked up.
"Very soon, my friend. We ready ourselves now, as the king is
approaching fast and we have not much time to prepare for the
attack. He travels with a large band of orcs, and Uruk-Hai. I fear
that we may not have much of a chance."
Aragorn shook his head at the Elf's faithlessness.
"Do not think this way. We need all the good thoughts that we can
get going up against an enemy such as this. Fear not. We shall
prevail through this, and Middle Earth shall not be taken over by
evil again. We shall not let it happen. We cannot."
As he finished saying this, a loud yell came out, barely audible
over the voices of the army. They strained to hear what was being
said.
After a few moments, it finally became clearer.
"The enemy approaches from the East! Ready yourself, we will not
lose this fight!"
Aragorn ran as fast as he could to where the rest of his friends
stood. He gave a quick glance towards Garania, whose gaze was fixed
upon the East. He could see the fear building in her eyes.
"My friends, it is time. As I go into this, I want you to know that
you have my protection. Simply give the yell and I will come."
He looked again at Garania, her eyes still focused towards the East
with a hard gaze. She looked at him when he put a gentle hand upon
her arm.
"My lady, my friend, remember who you are, and fight with all of
your power to resist the power of the evil. May strength be with
you."
She looked at him weakly, her hand going to her sword.
Legolas grasped his bow tightly, and pulled her to him, bringing her
into a deep kiss, before releasing her, and watching the mixture of
love, and confusion in her eyes. He knew that she was slipping
further away as they spoke, but he could not bring himself to face
it. He didn't have much longer to dwell on the matter, however, as
suddenly a large sea of yells erupted in the forest, and he looked
around him and saw that the battle had commenced. He looked quickly
back at Garania, and offered her some last words of love.
"Melamin, I am with you, no matter how this may end. Know that I
love you, and I will love you still."
She stared at him, her eyes colder, but with a warmth of love still
alive in them. She smiled briefly, before watching him run out into
the battle. She stood, for how long she did not know, only slightly
aware of the battle that played on around her. She was brought out
of her daze by the sense of something approaching behind her. She
turned quick enough to instinctively raise her sword and remove the
head of the creature behind her. She looked down at it, uncaring,
and walked slowly through the battle, her sword hanging limply in
her hand by her side as she went. She watched as all around her,
dead orcs littered the ground, along with many of the fallen armies.
Something by a tree in the distance caught her eye. Legolas was on
his knees beside the tree, his face looking towards the ground.
Something inside her stirred as she saw the menacing Uruk-Hai
standing before him, a cruel grin on his face, pointing a large
arrow directly at his heart. She gripped her sword at her side, and
walked over to where Legolas kneeled on the ground, preparing
himself for what he knew was coming. She brought herself between him
and the arrow, standing like a wall of stone between them, staring
the Uruk-Hai directly in the eye.
Legolas watched with horror as she did this. He was just about to
pull her out of the way of danger, when to his shock, he saw the
Uruk-Hai cower under her gaze, and lower the arrow, bowing before
her. His breath caught in his throat when he realized that they knew
her as their master. A pain ran through him, knowing that she was
nearly gone. He had to find the king, and destroy him, before
Garania's situation became any worse. She turned to him, her eyes
cold, unyielding. She placed a gentle hand to his cheek, assuring
him that there was still some part of her left. She left him there,
bringing her pace to a run, trying to defend the Aragorn in the
attack that was now being brought upon him by several large orcs.
Legolas followed her, his bow ready, watching with awe as she
battled the orcs, or the ones whom did not have the chance to see
her face before she ran her sword through them. Her gown flew around
her as she fought. She felt the presence yet again of something
approaching behind her.
She raised her sword, prepared to strike, but instead, her breath
caught in her throat when she saw what was standing behind her. She
collapsed to her knees, racked with sobs as her father stood
cowering over her. In that instant, the battle stopped, and all
around watched with shock, too afraid to attempt to attack the king.
Aragorn watched with fear as the Elf removed his hood, staring down
at his daughter. She looked up at him, tears streaming down her
face. Legolas watched in pain, his heart wrentching as she bowed
before him, knowing that there was nothing he could do. The king
reached down and brought her up to his level, smiling wickedly.
His long brown hair flew out behind him in the wind, and his eyes
shone a crystal blue that cast icy glares at anyone whom he fixed
his gaze on. He was beautiful, much like his daughter, but possessed
an air of evil that brought fear over all who caught a glimpse of
him. He pulled Garania away, towards a large black horse that stood
near the edge of the trees. Legolas started to run after them, but
Aragorn grabbed him just in time to save him from running straight
into suicide. He mounted the horse, pulling a dazed Garania up after
him, and rode off, leaving the battle to continue behind them. The
orcs dropped the battle and went after him, disappearing into the
distance. Legolas stood, shaken and empty. He watched his beloved
wife ride off with that king of evil and wished nothing more than to
go with her at that very moment, no matter the danger. Aragorn had
to support him as they walked from the forest, his strength drained.
They made their way to a small clearing in the woods, where they
made camp for the night. Legolas lay at the base of a tree, staring
up at the sky, refusing to eat or even speak. The rest watched him
with concern.
"I fear for him now, Gimli. He will most certainly die from grief if
we do not find a way to bring Garania back, and remove her from the
evil clutches of that bastard king."
Gimli nodded, casting a painful gaze towards his friend. In the past
few months, he had become more like a brother to him than even his
own kind, and to see him in this way pained him deeply. The hobbits
huddled around Aragorn and Gimli, watching Legolas with sympathetic
eyes.
"Is there nothing that can be done for him?" asked Frodo quietly.
Aragorn shook his head.
"No, I'm afraid the only thing that can help him now is Garania.
Elves are immortal, but there are a few things that they are not
immune to, and grief is one of them. It will surely mean his
destruction if we cannot win this war."
The rest of them watched Legolas for a few more moments, and then
turned back to the fire to make their own beds for the night.
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Garania sat in a large dark room, lit only by a few tall candles
placed sparcely around the room. Instead of finding the room
unappealing, however, she found it welcoming, and felt at home in
the large, dark castle that her father had brought her to. Before
her were several orcs, and her father, who was gazing into a large
silver bowl, watching something intently. She got up, and walked
over to where he stood.
"What is it, Father? What do you see?"
He didn't look up, and continued to stare into the reflection in the
bowl.
"Come, my precious, look upon this. They wait, wait there in the
woods. We will not attack tommorrow. We will wait, perhaps another
day, maybe more. Then they will not be expecting it, and they will
be unprepared. They did more damage to us than I had suspected. It
will not happen again."
Garania looked down into the bowl, which she discovered was much
like the one Galadriel possessed in her wood. She saw Aragorn,
Gimli, and the hobbits huddled around a fire talking. Something was
missing, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Suddenly she
remembered, and looked up at her father.
"Where is Legolas? He is not there."
He looked into her eyes, a cold look set there.
"He is there, over by that tree. You will forget him, do you
understand me? You are done with him. He is against us, and shall be
destroyed just like the rest. You will show no mercy to him, is that
clear?"
She looked at him defiantly, but when she saw the hard gaze casted
back at her, she didn't fight.
"Yes, Father. I understand. He is our enemy. He deserves to be
crushed like the rest."
The king smiled, happy at the change that had come upon his
daughter. He looked her over, suprised at her appearance. She looked
much like her mother, with her shorter stature and hair, but his
blood ran through her veins, and that was really the only thing that
mattered. He remembered the time when he had wished for a son, to
defend him in battle, and help him rule his kingdom, but after
seeing her in the fight today, he was more happier than ever at the
child that had been born to him. Not only was she beautiful, but she
was intelligent, and strong. A deadly combination when armed with a
weapon in battle. It was only days ago that he had watched her
travelling with her husband and the rest of her companions, still
possessing the light that had been bestowed upon her by her
grandmother and mother, but now, it had faded away to nothing, and
the time that he had always known would come about was upon him. She
had joined his side.
| Part VIII |
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