LEGOLAS

Her resemblance to her mother was uncanny. They could easily pass as sisters. Everyone is stunned the moment Turwaithiel's mother materializes out of nowhere. Especially Turwaithiel, who could not help but stare at her in shock.

"I know that some of you, if not all, would like an explanation but we no longer have time," she states, seemingly avoiding to look at her daughter or Ari.

"The Emerald queen is dead," Lord Araendyl spoke. A shadow was upon his face, his shoulders sunken and he looked like he had been through death and back. Turwaithiel's mother nods, a sad look on her face.

"She is, but her pendant remains," she says and this gets Ari's attention as her eyes seem to grow more wider. She looked like someone who had been slapped multiple times.

"The queens lost pendant? You know of its whereabouts?" She asked, slight disbelief and a hint of hurt. Like she had just been betrayed. Perhaps it was because of the importance of such item to their culture?

Turwaithiel's mother nods, though she does not speak. There is hidden distrust in her eyes. Why does she not trust Ari?

"We must go now before-" she barely finishes her sentence when a second attack from the shadow creatures came. There was a loud hiss and everyone scattered, save for Elrohir and Elladan who had been tending to Laralen. She stirred as the crackling sound of the black fire intensified. I immediately ran to Turwaithiel's side, pulling her with me as we tried to evade the black flames. There was another sound, like a strong howl of wind and I turned to see Turwaithiel's mother in battle. She seemed bigger then, stronger and dangerous. Her cloak whipped around her as air seemed to twist at an alarming speed, creating a sort of barrier between her and the flames. The flames sputtered and decreased but they did not die. I pull on Turwaithiel as she seemed to still be in a state of shock.

Then the shadow queen came, dark flames sputtering and igniting around her. For a moment, her skin seemed ashen and burned until they cleared and she was fair again.

"Is the price for power worth it, sister?" Turwaithiel's mother asks as she battled the dark flames with ease.

"I see you have learned a new trick, Mirluin," the shadow queen replied with a tease. "It would have been worth it, if you had stayed dead."

Mirluin, Sapphire? Emerald, Ruby, Silver. The golden ones. The elves of gems and stones. It took me a moment to shake my amazement. Never had I expected to be witnessing such things. Such...legends. Ari joins Turwaithiel's mother in the battlefield.

"She's alive..." Turwaithiel says, in disbelief. She has still not gotten over the shock. I understood.

"Must we really fight?" The Shadow queen asks, although she sounded more amused than tired. "It is such a waste to spill this much elven blood. Especially of our kind since we are the last ones remaining."

"You have yourself to blame for that," Ari spits out.

"Me?" She replied, sounding insulted as she raised a hand, signaling her shadow soldiers to stop. Her eyes turned dark red. "Who was it that started to mix our blood with others?"

"We were all elves, what did you expect? That our kind would forever stay "untainted"?" Ari was furious now. "Did you really believe our kind could have survived if we stayed inside our borders, never seeking out the rest of our kin? When it was you who opened the gates to these...these outsiders-"

"Enough! I had open the gates as hope for our people. Hope that we may live and our kind will not die and yet I was betrayed."

"You cannot blame the heart of a man for choosing someone else," Turwaithiel's mother states.

"Yes, but I can make it stop beating."

With that, a strong powerful wind surged towards us, bringing with it the dark flames. I pulled Turwaithiel close to me as if I could shield her from the flame. I prepared myself for the pain but when nothing came I opened my eyes to see the flames trapped in round specs of emerald light. The specs, incasing the flames, floated around us that one would think they were merely fireflies. Me and Turwaithiel both turned to find Lara, barely standing as Elrohir seemed to support her weight. The emerald stone hanging from her neck glowed a fierce light. Her eyes were dark, her hands curled into fists.

"Enough," she cried out as her palms opened and the specs of light moved with her command. "Enough of all this bitterness. It was my mother who stole your happiness. It was my mother and no one else. If you are going to make anyone suffer for what she has done, let it be me. Let me pay for what you think has been a great injustice to you." With a crush of her palms the emerald specs bursted and the flames went with them. Lara stumbled as she seemed to use every strength she had left within her just to stand.

The Shadow queen merely laughed. Her shrill laughter the very source of nightmares. With a smile on her face she called forth her shadow creatures, with there hissing and dry shreaking.

"Silly girl," she belowed. "Do you think that killing you off immediately would satisfy me? No. I wish to break you before I kill you. I wish for you to feel the pain before you simply...die."

"I will not let you kill her off," Ari challenges. "She is one of the purest of our kind. Her blood is the strongest. She is our queen."

This seems to anger the Shadow queen more as her eyes turned a dangerous scarlet.

"I am your queen," she exclaimed as she sent a signal for her shadows to attack. Then we were running. Trying to escape the dark creatures. I could hear Turwaithiel's mother screaming run. I kept running, with my hand clasped with Turwaithiel's. Before us was Elrohir who had managed to scope up Laralen and run with her in his arms. I glanced back to see my father and Mantheniel in battle. I had the urge to stop then, to run back and help but first I had to keep Turwaithiel safe. My eyes lingered longer on Mantheniel who wielded her two swords as well as my fathers. The golden circlet on her head. The queen of my people, the wife of my father and the mother of my brother. She was not supposed to be here. As if sensing my alarm, Turwaithiel stopped running and gripped my hand tight.

"We must fight," she stated, she sounded very much afraid as her voice shook but determination was set in her ocean eyes and I could not agree with her more. I give her a soft nod as more of the shadows came towards us. She unsheathed her sword as I ready my bow. This was going to be a fight we were not entirely sure we could even survive in. Two shadows approached us, one from each side.

"Legolas," she spoke, readying her stance.

"Yes?"

"I love you," she turned to me then, a sad smile on her face. I returned her smile and kissed her for a moment, a moment that should have lasted longer before we were lost in the battle.

We fought for a long time, all the while I kept glancing at Mantheniel and Turwaithiel. Both seemed to stand their ground. Around us the shadows seemed to keep multiplying. Ari and Turwaithiel's mother were fending more of them in one motion than we were in a thousand. Just how powerful were they? And just how powerful were these creatures. I stepped back, allowing myself to breathe as none of the shadows have noticed me without an enemy yet. Moments later, Turwaithiel is by my side, gasping for air.

"We cannot win this, not this way, they seem unstoppable," she breathes as a few shadows have noticed us.

"Her power must have a limit?" I asked, hopeful. It was true. We could not win this if they just keep coming. Suddenly there was a loud cry. We all turn to see who it was from. My eyes grow wide in horror, realizing it was Lindethiel. She was crumpled down in the ground, squirming and writhing like her very skin was on fire yet there were no flames that surrounded her. I immediately run to her as Falasdir does the same. Before his hands reach her however a voice orders him to stop. Lord Aerendyl.

"Do not touch her," he ordered as he too ran towards her. "She is being burned from the inside." The shadows seemed to retreat now, happy with their victim. I could hear the shrill laughter, echoing in the woods around us. Lindethiel's scream pierces through my ears as it felt like a stab in my heart. That kind of pain was unbearable.

"Can we not do anything?!" Falasdir practically yells as he fights the urge to hold her. To keep her still. I watch in horror as she screamed in pain as Mantheniel ran to her side.

"Lin?!" She called as she was answered by another pained scream.

"Make it stop," Lindethiel practically screeched. Her eyes were filled with tears. Begging to make it stop. "Please."

"Is there nothing we can do?!" Falasdir practically pleads, his own voice desperate. Aerendyl watches them for a moment as his eyes fall on Lindethiel. He shakes his head. He does not know. Yet in his eyes I could see fear and sadness. A memory swimming inside. He must have seen this before.

"Step away, quickly!" Turwaithiel's mother marches towards Lindethiel who did not stop moving. She was careful not to touch her as she pulled out a small dagger from her waist.

"This is going to hurt," she warned the squirming Lindethiel just before she sliced a part of her skin open. Just above her wrist. It was a deep wound, as blood flowed out.

"What are you doing?!" Mantheniel practically screams her head off, her eyes burning with anger. Turwaithiel's mother merely ignores her as she let Lindethiel bleed out. I am about to ask when with her blood, the black smoke seeped out of her wounds.

"Give me a bandage," she instructs as more of the black smoke left Lindethiel's body. She was unconscious now as Falasdir handed the bandage to Turwaithiel's mother. Aerendyl watched carefully as Lindethiel's wounds were cleaned and bandaged. When she was done, she stood and stepped back as Falasdir now took a hold of Lindethiel's hand. Mantheniel sat beside her unconscious friend. She looked a fright as Thranduil remained standing beside her.

"I discovered it when I was following her around and came upon one of her innocent victims," Turwaithiel's mother started to explain. "She was a child, barely 13. She was not screaming for she was mute. She just stared at me, her eyes revealed all the pain and I wanted to lessen it for her. To make it quick and painless. She had understood as I took out this very same dagger, to slit her throat. It was a difficult decision yet when I was in position, I grew weak and decided to cut her wrists instead. When I did, she moved, making me miss my mark and she bled out. I could not hold her still and begged all the gods to end her suffering when suddenly the black smoke left her body."

We were quiet for a moment as all of us seemed to take a moment for the information to sink in.

"If only I had known it sooner," she added in a whisper. "She would still be alive."

---

ELROHIR

Everyone seemed to be far behind us. Perhaps the battle was over and yet I could not stop running. Laralen lay limp in my arms, her skin paler than usual. She was way past her limit yet she kept pushing. By the gods, her kindness would be the death of me- and her. 

When I  felt that it was already safe enough, I stopped and laid her on the ground. She was still unresponsive it made me think she was already dead but the gentle rise and fall of her chest was enough to keep me sane. It was probably a bad idea to be separated from the group during these times but I just had to take her away. 

A loud snap of twigs caught my attention. We were alone and yet I did not feel we were. I stood up, ready to fight whatever it was that might have followed us when, out from the trees, came none other than Bleon. 

"By gods, boy. I could have shot you." I say as he runs towards us and practically falls to where Laralen laid. He looks up at me, his eyes asking. 

"She'll be okay," I say as I kneel down to place a hand on his head. He took my answer as assurance and touched Laralen's pale face. 

"What on middle-earth are you doing here, Bleon?" A voice calls behind us and we are joined by the rest of the company. I notice Falasdir had Lindethiel in his arms, her arms covered in bandages and were stained with fresh blood. 

"What happened to her?" I ask as Ari and Turwaithiel run towards Laralen. I realized it was Mantheniel who had shouted Bleon's name. Perhaps she had grown fond of him. I watch as she approaches them and Bleon instinctively reaches out for her hand, like how a child would. She holds him close and I look at everyone. Everyone seemed to look distressed and as if they had aged. 

"She's fine," Falasdir assured me as he cocked a head towards Laralen, "her?" 

"Pretty exhausted," I reply grimly. We all fall quiet for a while as some of the soldiers that were with Thranduil move about and start to make camp. 

"Would it be safe here?" Elladan inquired.

"Would it be safe anywhere?" Thranduil countered and this let us all fall into silence once more. 

---

The sound of the crackling fire seemed to put everyone into fidgety state. I could understand why. We were going against someone who had control over fire. Nothing was safe. Across me was were Mantheniel sat, Thranduil stood close beside her, alert and barely approachable. In Mantheniel's Lap laid Bleon, his eyes reflecting the fire between us. Every then and again he would glance at Laralen who was fast asleep beside Lindethiel, monitored by Turwaithiel, Ari and Lady Lorelei, Turwaithiel's mother. I had just learned one of her many names. 

"How did she even get that powerful?" Ari almost whispered. Lorelei turned to her a sad expression on her face. 

"She paid a good price for it," she stated sadly. "Death of the purest soul." 

"Laralen's mother..." 

Lorelei nodded, a sad story behind the glistening in her eyes. "That is how you gain black magic, by killing those who are pure. Those who are innocent. I believe she was weakened from our encounter today... perhaps now she is there licking her wounds or perhaps..." 

"Perhaps?" Ari asks, aware that everyone was already waiting for the answer. 

"She is out there seeking more power...killing more innocents..." 

"She would not go through all that trouble..." Elladan stated, although there was uncertainty in his voice. 

"Oh, you do not know the lengths of effort she would go through for power. You do not know her. She was pure once, so pure until envy and  despair corrupted her." 

The conversation stopped when Laralen started moving. I let out a breath I had not realized I was holding as he eyelids fluttered open and she blinked once, twice and then again before turning to face the person closest to her which was Ari. 

"Ari?" her voice sounded dry and cracked and Bleon immediately got up to give her some water. She was helped up to a sitting position as Bleon let her drink. 

"Why are you here, Bleon?" She asked, almost sounding as desperate as she looked. He made a hand gesture to show that he had come because he had a bad dream. 

"Oh, Bleon. As much as I want you here with me you cannot be here, this place is far too dangerous for you." 

Bleon's face fell but he was smarter than boys his age and understood. 

"You will go home with Mantheniel," Thranduil orders and Mantheniel immediately countered. 

"I will not," she argues, giving him a look as she stands up. "I already told you, I am with you. I will be with you. I cannot- you simply cannot allow me to not be beside you when facing this amount of threat!"

"You are carrying a child, Mantheniel. Have you not been listening? I will not allow you to stay."

"You do not have a say in what I can or cannot do," she counters but I felt her giving up. Thranduil was only being logical. 

"Please," he says then, almost too quietly. 

"You expect me to go home, leave you here and just wait for news? Wait to hear who has died and who was dying and who-" her voice cracks and Thranduil's expression reflects her own. To think these two used to hate each other. 

"Please, I need to know you are safe." He places a kiss on her forehead as she let the tears fall. It was weird to see her cry. She had always been so strong, so fearless and yet now, she feared for everything. We  feared for everything. 

"You will leave tomorrow, when the dawn arrives." He tells her and she nods before he instructs some of the elven men to patrol the woods. We can never be too careful. 

--

It was when the night was darkest when she came back. 

The first thing we heard was a scream of pain from one of the patrolling soldiers. We all stood up, Bleon jolting awake  as Laralen pulled him closer to her. 

Then there was the heaving breaths and chattering teeth of the shadow monsters. The fire had almost burned out. Dawn was just around the corner, I believe and yet she chose this hour to come. 

I would never forget the sound of her laughter, the way it echoed through the woods. 

The screaming and the fighting. 

When dawn came, nothing was the same. 

---

Authors note: Sorry for the super late update and the very very bad  cliff hanger!! I'm really sorry you guys. Any thoughts on what may have happened during that darkest hour? You'll find out in the next chapter!! 

Which will arrive on friday probably. lol 

Bye for now!!