The Insidious Ring - LOTR - {Legolas Love Story}

Chapter 13 - Monster from the Deep

Sorry for the long wait! Schools back so I'm super busy and won't be updating as often :( The picture for this chapter is a picture of how I imagine Faervel to look, but isn't relevant to the chapter, sorry! xx

We'd been sitting on the rugged shores for some time now. The hobbits were fidgeting on their rocky perches and Gimli was muttering to himself. In that time of complete defeat from the locked door, all the emotions I had been battling to ignore overwhelmed me.

I missed Legolas. I missed his friendly smile. I missed his gentle laugh. I missed his comfort and I missed his friendship. I regretted everything I had said to him, every cold shoulder, every sentence. I knew I had reason to fear him, but wouldn't loving Legolas for a short time be better than never giving it a chance? Would he be worth the heart break? Would he love me? Or maybe mother was right, and maybe in the end, I was better off without him.

Dark thoughts circled around my head, followed by equally dark questions. I would have to make a decision, or I would forever be uncertain on what to do. I was torn between what was safe and what was right, but all I knew was that I had feelings for Legolas, and I didn't want to see him hurt.

Before my thoughts could envelope me, Frodo stood, excitement and realisation growing on his face. For the past hour Gandalf had been muttering different things at the door, hoping it would open, but it still remained tightly closed. The moon was now lower in the sky, which made everything darker. The water remained still, but eerily so. Boromir and Aragorn were both watching the icy pool carefully, which I was thankful for.

"It's a riddle..." Frodo said, almost to himself as most of the Fellowship had lost interest in the door. "Speak friend... And enter..." He looked eagerly at Gandalf. "Whats the elvish word for friend!?" He asked, a small smile growing on his face. I was listening, but only slightly, as the water of the lake had started to ripple. Aragorn noticed this too, and I saw him place his hand lightly on his swords hilt.

"Mellon." Gandalf stated, almost warily, as if he was surpised Frodo seemed so positive. At his words, however, there was a great rumbling noise that sounded like stone rubbing against stone. We all looked in awe as the door split in the middle and opened, almost magically. Gandalf chuckled, and I smiled, knowing we could finally move on with our quest.

Everyone gathered outside the doorway, and cautiously followed Gandalf in. Gandalf blew on a luminous stone, which immediately lit up and cast the room into brightness. He fitted the stone into the end of his staff and moved further inside, giving us a better view of the room.

"Soon, master elves, you will enjoy the great hospitality of the Dwarves! Roaring fires, molt beer, red meat off the bone!" Gimli said to Legolas and I loudly, boasting to everyone, but the room we were in looked far from hospitable. The walls were grey and moldy, and the stone chipped and scratched. The floor was covered in debris and, to my horror, skeletons still encased in clothing. The skeletons looked small, so I guessed they were dwarvish, but there was still the odd pile of hunched bones that suggested Goblins had died here also. The air was rank with the scent of death and I immediately wished I did not have such a sensitive elven nose.

"This isn't a mine..." Boromir whispered in horror. "It's a tomb!" That was when everyone else noticed their surroundings. I often forgot I had elvish senses, and that everyone else would be slower to realise things. The hobbits looked down in alarm to see they had nearly trodden on a carcass. Gimli cried out and ran from one pile of remains to the next, calling out in dread as he took in the amount of bodies. Legolas plucked an arrow out of a nearby skull.

"Goblins!" He told us, throwing the arrow to the floor. He drew his bow and nocked an arrow, and I did the same. Boromir and Aragorn unsheathed their swords, although there was no onslaught, and no attack. Boromir looked at Aragorn sternly.

"Make for the Gap of Rohan. We should never have come here!" He told Aragorn, and I watched in dismay as the hobbits, who were huddled together in fright, backed away from the grisly sight and towards the exit. They reached the door and were backed by moonlight, making them appear as if they were glowing. For one, peaceful moment, they looked almost angelic, but the beauty was ripped away when Frodo was jerked back and he fell face first into the dirt. My eyes widened as he was dragged through the pebbles and closer towards the lake. The hobbits were trying to help him, and past them I saw a massive tentacle grasping Frodos ankle. The tentacle was followed by many more, until they all met up at the body of a massive water beast.

It was massive, taking up the center of the lake. It's rubbery skin was oily black and its tentacles were covered in little suckers. It sloshed and trembled in the water, causing waves to come as far as the walls. It had an enormous mouth filled with rows of spikey teeth, and its onyx eyes were dark with desire. I knew then that the beast was after the Ring, as was almost anything evil in this world.

"Strider!" Sam yelled, catching Aragorns attention. Only seconds had passed, and Frodo was nearly in the water. I put my body into action, letting the arrow in my bow fly. It struck the tentacle holding Frodo, causing it to go limp and slither back into the water, but it was swiftly followed by a second, then a third. The air was full of the monstrous limbs, and beasts growling was almost deafening.

One of the tentacles grabbed Frodo again, but this time it didn't wait. It flung Frodo into the air and swung him around, all the while making Frodo yell in pain and fear. Aragorn, Boromir and Legolas joined me. Arrows were flying through the air and swords were slashing at any tentacle that could be reached. Even the hobbits and Gimli were trying to stab anything at their height.

Even though the beast was covered in arrows and gashes, it still slowly brought Frodo to its mouth, as if it would swallow him whole. With a mighty effort, Aragorn and Boromir cut two tentacles clean in half, including the one holding Frodo, who dropped with a yell into Boromir's arms. The beast was thrashing and waving around wildly, obviously in a large amount of pain. I would have felt sorry for it if it hadn't tried to kill Frodo.

"To the Mines!" Gandalf screamed over the clamour, racing into the doorway. The hobbits and Gimli followed him, followed by Aragorn, Boromir and Frodo. Legolas and I stayed back, shooting arrows anywhere we could to hold the beast back. As soon as Frodo was taken inside, the beast stopped its wild thrashing and its glassy eyes turned on me, or more specifically, the chain around my neck. Before I could move away a tentacle had grasped my waist and was hoisting me into the air.

"You posses a ring of power, elf." A dark voice said in my mind, "But it is not one I know of, and I know many things." The voice, which I guessed was the water beasts, was evil and sinister, and made my head throb. I had no idea what it was talking about. My ring was a perfectly normal ring. How could it be a ring of power? I heard an ominous chuckle in my mind that sounded like rocks breaking, but it suddenly turned to a scream of pain so loud in my head I cried out in pain. The tentacle around me vanished and I was suddenly falling through the air. The pain in my head was so unbearable the only thing I could do was watch in horror as the ground came up to meet me.

And then everything went black.