THE RED RIDER ; lord of the rings {legolas} ✔

Chapter XVII

Chapter XVII

The Fellowship slept in the main hall on the ground amidst piles of blankets and pillows. I woke in the middle of the night; two beds were empty. I scanned the room quickly and determined that Aragorn and Legolas were missing, but they could handle themselves.

I crept out of the blankets and put on my red cloak over my thin black shirt and trousers and pulled on my boots. The night was cold, and there seemed to be a veil between me and the sky unlike most nights. I walked out silently to the stone steps and looked around; one figure stood on the left facing the east.

"What are you doing awake?" Legolas asked me as I approached him.

I exhaled and joined his vigil at the edge of the path. Below us, Edoras slept soundly, but the sky was a deep blue, stars barely visible above thin wisps of cloud and mist. "The stars' absence causes a lack of nighttime premonitions," I said. "This means one of two things." I looked eastward; not towards where the sun would rise like Legolas was, but more towards Mordor. "The eye of the enemy is moving."

Legolas left a silence, and I could tell he was trying to see into Mordor like I was. "Or?" He asked. The or was extremely unlikely.

"Or the volcano is erupting." Legolas turned towards me, surprised, and I stared back into his face, eyes narrowed. It was a rare time to see Legolas' face open. "Mana sa, mellonin?" I asked quietly (What is it, my friend?). "Mana presta'lle?" (What troubles you?).

"I forget that at night, by the stars, you see more than anyone, Elenathrian," Legolas said, but he seemed unable to close his face, instead turning back out eastward to hide from my gaze.

"Pol'lle carfa enni, mellonin," I said, frowning. (You can talk to me). It seemed strange to me that Legolas' face was so revealing but he would not talk; most times, it was the other way around - he spoke what he meant to say, never more, and he kept his face carefully guarded so that no one could see what he was really thinking. Most times, I was good at being able to tell what people were thinking if it was written on their faces, but I'd never seen that expression on anyone before.

Footsteps behind us could barely be heard, but I turned towards them, grateful for some kind of interruption. Legolas was making me feel confused, and I wasn't sure how to deal with it.

Aragorn approached us, tucking his pipe into his coat.

I turned back towards Mordor, trying to see beyond the mountain range and at the tower of Barad Dûr itself without attracting the attention of Sauron.

"The stars are veiled," Legolas spoke for me. "Something stirs in the East, a sleepless malice." Aragorn turned to me, but I was focused on the tower in the great distance. "The eye of the enemy is moving."

I looked back at Meduseld. Something inside stirred as well. I summoned power down from the sky and lit a silver fire in my palm, the clouds dissipating. The stirring, however, remained.

"He is here!" Legolas said, eyes narrowed. Aragorn, however, was watching the flames in my hand, but I was doing all I could to keep it going.

The stirring was not so much a stirring as it was an awakening, now, and I said, "Go," and they both sprinted inside.

As the door closed, I could practically feel the eye of Sauron burning through Edoras. The flames in my hand felt quite cool, and I fed them with more power, the silver fire lighting a circle around me. I murmured a spell that came to me easily, the words musically quiet on my lips as I heightened the power of the fire. The silver flames encircled me, growing taller as I channeled as much power as I could through them. The stars above grew brighter, the mist and clouds evaporating.
"Avánië, túra hen Sauron'va
Nëa etya cálë'ar va'elen!"