Chapter Twenty Three

Thunder continued to rumble over the Misty Mountains, as the group from Rivendell moved over the same broken ground that Legolas had crossed an hour before. The clouds were still staying above the rocky peaks and right at that moment it looked like they were dumping a torrent of rain on the eastern slopes. However, the sun was still shining above the travelers, and they all fervently hoped it stayed that way.

The memory of Legolas's fist smashing into his face kept coming back to Aragorn. There was not the slightest hint of anger at the elf for doing it. If anything, he felt anger at himself for not figuring out what Legolas had planned to do. He was no mind reader, but he knew his friend as well as he knew himself. He should have realized that the elf would do something to try and protect those he loved.

Elladan and Elrohir rode up beside their foster brother, as they were all forced to slow their pace over this stretch of the rocky ground. They looked at Estel and then looked across at each other. Elladan shook his head, then said, “Why do you always feel guilty whenever you find that you cannot control a situation?”

Aragorn was not surprised that his thoughts had been read so easily in the expression on his face. “I should have known he was planning something like this,” the ranger replied softly, looking at first one twin and then the other. Then he looked down and shook his head.

“Why is that?” Elrohir asked.

“I know him. He would do anything to protect his father and his friends---us---from harm. I should have been more alert to his elven tricks.”

“I repeat. Why is that?”

“Because, he’s done it before.”

Once again the twins looked at each other. This time there was a look of disbelief on their faces.

Elladan recovered first. “He has hit you before? I never heard that. When did this happen?”

“And why?” Elrohir added. He was as intrigued as his twin brother to hear that tale. This incident in Rivendell was the first time he had heard of either friend hitting the other outside of a playful cuff after one had given the other some kind of insult.

“We were on our way to Lorien. It was about five years ago, I think. There had been reports of orcs riding wargs in the area where we were, so we decided to travel close to the Anduin, hoping we could avoid them in the open stretches beyond the treeline.

“The orcs decided to do the same thing. It didn’t take long for us to run right into three of them. They didn’t see us at first. Then, I slipped in some mud, fell and hurt both my left leg and my right arm, as I rolled over some rocks. They spotted us then and headed our way. I couldn’t walk or draw my sword or an arrow. Legolas quickly dragged me into the brush, and I protested rather vehemently. I even tried to crawl out of the brush and follow him. He didn’t want me trying to fight off the wargs and their riders in my condition, so without saying a word, he came back to me and just punched me and knocked me out. He had never done that before, and I was totally unprepared for it, just as I was unprepared this last time.”

Elrohir, though sorry his brother had been hurt, was much more interested in the outcome of the warg fight. “What happened?” he asked rather anxiously.

"When I finally came to and dragged myself out of the brush, I saw that there were two warg bodies by the river and three dead orcs nearby. According to Legolas, he ran the last warg off with an arrow in its neck. I doubt it made it very far. Legolas was sitting on the ground, because, of course, he ended up getting himself injured worse than I was, though luckily, not too seriously. It happened because he was protecting me." The ranger shook his head. "He's so stubborn."

 “He is not the only one,” Elladan remarked. “You have a stubborn streak, too, when it comes to feeling guilty. You always seem so determined to take the blame for the bad things that happen, even if you are in no way at fault.”

Aragorn looked indignant. “I only feel guilty about things that are my fault,” he declared defensively, a big frown on his face. He had spoken so seriously that despite the fact the statement sounded almost comical, neither twin could bring themselves to laugh.

“Of course,” was all Elrohir said, though it was a little on the sarcastic side.

Elladan looked at Aragorn with something approaching sympathy. “You said yourself you could not use a sword or a bow. If you had been out in the middle of the fight, you would have had only a knife for defense and then Legolas would have had to worry about you, as well as the wargs and orcs. Then, he could have been very badly hurt---or killed. Think about it, Estel.”

Elrohir raised his eyebrows in a gesture that all but dared the man to argue with his twin’s logic.

Elladan didn’t give Estel a chance to agree or disagree with what he had said, when he quickly returned to the original point that was being discussed. “You say you know Legolas so well. Then, you know he would have found some way to accomplish his goal. You could not have stopped him, Estel, whether you suspected some trick or not.”

“I could have hit him first,” the ranger suggested, “then tied him up.”

Elrohir laughed. “I imagine you would have tried that very thing, if it had occurred to you to do so. But, you still are not to blame for what happened. Legolas has a mind of his own, as we all know quite well, and will do whatever he sees fit to do.” He had no intention of mentioning the poison that was firmly ingrained in Legolas's body. It would serve no purpose but to cause more distress for the human.

There was no sense in arguing with his brothers about this, so Aragorn just took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then, he saw the land in front of him flatten out and quickly urged his horse forward at a run. The twins were right behind him, and the rest of the group soon followed.

Thranduil was in the rear, having been unusually quiet since reading Legolas's letter. It took only a moment for him to pass both Elrond and Glorfindel. He was not going to be the last one to reach his son.

~*~*~

It didn’t take long for Legolas to reach the spot where he believed the hidden gap in the cliffs was located. Even close up, the opening was cleverly concealed. There was not the slightest hint of a trail or pathway that would give the opening’s existence away. The slightly sandy ground looked undisturbed, probably swept clean of any tracks there might have been by the almost constant wind that blew down from the mountains.

It was only when close up and moving at a slight angle that the elf could discern the subtle shift in the look of the uneven cliff face. The gap in the rock would appear non-existent to anyone who didn’t know to look for it.

He headed into the gap.

The opening and beyond allowed for only the width of a horse with barely three feet more than that to spare. Legolas turned left and moved down a dirt trail between stone that soared several hundred feet above his head, ending in a narrow opening overhead that was the only thing keeping the pathway from becoming a true tunnel. The sun had to be directly above the opening before sunlight could shine down to the ground. At present, Legolas was in deep shadow.

After going a few yards, the trail turned back on itself and he found himself going in the opposite direction. A few more yards and it turned back again. This zig-zagging continued for several more turns and then suddenly opened out onto the canopied forest he well remembered. Looking at it, he felt the same foreboding he had felt, when he and Estel had been here before. Now, however, he knew what the foreboding warned him of. That knowledge didn’t ease his mind any. If anything, it increased his fear. He couldn’t keep his body from shuddering.

Mordraug could not have picked a better place to hide out, if indeed this was where he called home. He could go undiscovered and undisturbed for ages and evidently had, because until the attack on Legolas almost three weeks ago, no one had caught sight of the dark elf in close to two millennia. Or perhaps, it was just that no one had lived to tell about the encounter.

Elenblaith stamped nervously. The stallion evidently felt the darkness that permeated the forest just ahead of him, as acutely as he had the last time he had been there. He was also very attuned to the uneasy feelings of his master.

Legolas bent forward and stroked Elenblaith’s neck, speaking soothing elvish words to calm the horse. The elf could feel the tense muscles beneath him. He realized that his own muscles were taut, as well. There was no way staying here and staring into the trees would get anything accomplished, so he started forward cautiously.

In less than two minutes, the trees closed in over Legolas's head. The forest looked just as it had previously. If he hadn’t known any different, he would have believed that he was again moving into the forest from the opposite end, so alike did everything look from this end to that.

Legolas started down the right hand trail. Unlike the first time he was here, he now knew it didn’t really matter which one he took. Mordraug would make his presence known, when he was ready.

The archer wondered if the dark elf was aware that it was Mirkwood’s prince and not its king that had entered the forest. He didn’t know how keen Mordraug’s powers were. He was no wizard or magician of any kind, so there was a question as to what kind of powers the snake could have given him, if any. It was possible that the snake possessed all the power and Mordraug only gave the commands.

For all Legolas knew, Mordraug could be watching him at this very moment. If the prickling on the back of his neck was any indication, he probably was.

The young elven archer moved deeper into the trees, now clearly feeling eyes upon him. He wondered how long it would be before Mordraug confronted him. Knowing he had only an hour’s leeway, Legolas decided that if Mordraug didn’t reveal himself soon, he would have to force the issue.

Five minutes later, Mordraug left the trees and walked out onto the pathway in front of Legolas. His look was grim, and his eyes flashed in anger. He was plainly not happy to be seeing Legolas instead of Thranduil.

Legolas couldn’t stop himself from smiling at the dark elf‘s displeasure. The time had definitely come to settle matters.

TBC