The Insidious Ring - LOTR - {Legolas Love Story}

Chapter 9 - Nightmares

I was running, stumbling down a long corridor. Behind me was a light, beautiful and blissful, but impossibly out of reach. Chasing me, coming from the bright light, were hundreds of ugly goblins and dangerous orcs. The goblins scuttled accross the ceiling like ants, and the orcs thundered behind me, growling and hissing as they went.

I continued on the never ending corridor, running as fast as my muscles would allow, but I never ran out of air, and I never puffed or lost my breath. I could hear the orcs advancing, and I let out a cry as one clutched at my hair which was flowing freely behind me. I ripped my hair out of the orcs grasp and doubled my speed. It was then that I realised I was totally naked apart from my ruby ring that hung around my neck on a golden chain. All of a sudden I felt a rush of feelings towards the ring, and knew I would never let harm come to it. I clutched it in my hands and continued on my wild chase.

Just as my knees began to buckle and my stength started to ebb, I saw ahead of me a dark red glow, like lava pouring from a volcano. As a neared the light I saw it was coming from a door. The door had no handle, and the hope that had started to rise in my chest vanished. I was at a dead end, with orcs and goblins close behind. I let out a quiet sob and rested against the door, but at my touch, the door vanished and I fell through, away from the vile things that persued me.

I lifted myself from the floor to see I was in a small room, alight with a fiery glow. Everyhing was quiet apart from my heart thundering in my chest. And that was when he appeared. Like mist, Sauron materialized, covered from head to toe in steely armour. I backed myself into a corner and whimpered. But there was something so enticing about Sauron. He slowly raised his iron hand, and held it infront of him in a gesture of encouragement. He wanted me to take his hand, and why shouldn't I? What did I have to fear of this being? He seemed so trustworthy, so honest, that I took a step forward. I raised my own hand, and took another step closer to Sauron.

Yet then, when my hand was only inches from Saurons, an image filled my head. It was only a flash, but in that moment I saw a beautiful pair of blue eyes, staring at me with all the love in the world. My heart swelled with hope, and love. I realised the danger I was in, and withdrew my hand from the air. I stumbled back and crouched on the floor, whispering to myself. It wasn't real. It wasn't real. I needed to escape. Escape. Escape. Escape...

~Legolas's POV~

I awoke with a start as I heard screams fill the night air. We were camping on a rocky outcrop, and as I quickly search our surroundings, I saw no threat. My eyes came to Faervel, who was wailing and tossing on her makeshift bed. I hurried over, as did Gandalf and Aragorn. Everyone else kept their distance. Faervels eyes were tightly shut and sweat poured off her. Her beautiful face was scrunched up in pain and fear, and her hair was tangled in her hands. Aragorn looked baffled, his eyes wide. Gandalf looked just as confounded and I yelled at him to do something. I was panicking, roughly shaking Faervel, trying to wake her, but her eyes stayed glued together, and her bloodcurdling screams continued. Aragorn tried tipping water on her, but that only made her whimper. I had tears streaming down my face. I hated to see her scared.

Just as suddenly as she had started, Faervel stopped screaming. Her thrashing ceased and she lay still, a tear escaping her eye. She was breathing quickly, her eyes moving frantically under her eyelids, but still she did not wake. She shuffled her legs and curled them under herself, holding herself in the fatal position. She was crying, tears leaking from her eyes. Then she started whispering, indiscernable at first, then more intelligible. She was whispering it wasn't real, and that she needed to escape. At her words I took a step back. I felt so helpless. I didn't know what to do, but I wished so hard I could stop her anguish.

Abruptly, Faervel shot up into a sitting postition, her eyes wide and full of fear. She looked around, and upon seeing us, she relaxed slightly, shoulders sagging and still breathing hard. She had awoken. I took a step towards her and immediately enveloped her in a tight hug, holding her as if she could slip back into the realm of dreams at any moment.

~Faervel's POV~

Legolas hugged me, and I hugged him back, feeling safe in his arms. I pulled away and saw tear tracks running down his face.

"What happened?" I asked, confused to see everyone awake and staring at me.

"You were having a nightmare, but we couldn't wake you." Legolas replied quietly, wiping tears from my face. I was puzzled. I rememberd being scared, but my memory of the nightmare was already escaping from my mind like water through a sieve.

"I'm afraid I can't remember what I dreamt of." I said quietly, turning to Gandalf. "I only remember the fear, a pair of blue eyes and a red door glowing like embers."

Gandalf looked worried at my description, but decided it was best to leave the matter for now. The sun was rising and since everyone was awake, Sam started to cook breakfast. I took a deep breath and, finally, my heart rate returned to normal. I thanked everyone for their concern and went to eat. As I ate, I noticed my ring wasn't on my finger. I panicked, not wanted to lose the ring I had worn for most of my life. I started checking my pockets, my boots, my backpack. It was only when I went to push some hair out of my eyes that my hand grazed over a chain on my neck. I didn't remember ever having a necklace. I pulled the chain out from under my shirt and saw my ring was threaded through it and hung heavily at the base of my throat. I let out a sigh of relief, only to double back and frown. How had my ring gotten on the chain? I was sure I had it on my finger last night. I shrugged it off, putting the ring back under my clothes, but not before Gandalf saw it, and concern trickled through him like the beginnings of a flood.