Chào các bạn! Vì nhiều lý do từ nay Truyen2U chính thức đổi tên là Truyen247.Pro. Mong các bạn tiếp tục ủng hộ truy cập tên miền mới này nhé! Mãi yêu... ♥

A Way Out

Legolas moaned and rolled over onto his side. What had happened? Where was he?

He opened his eyes and took in his surroundings, he was in a bedroom, but not his.

He was laying in a soft bed, wearing a light green tunic and was barefoot.

Legolas pushed the covers off of him and sat up. The room was lit by a small fireplace, which cast a warm glow about the room.

There was a single window that was closed and Legolas was about to stand up and open it when he heard someone coming into the room.

He tensed, waiting to face whoever came in. To his surprise it was Elrond who entered.

The elf lord offered him a kind smile and closed the door behind him.

"Good morning Legolas. How are you feeling?"
How was he feeling? He was a mess! He didn't know where he was or how he had gotten here, he felt as if there was something he had forgotton, something important....

Then it hit him, the fight in the forest, the elves he had killed, and Thalion.

Oh Thalion! What I have done?

The weight of what he had done threatened to crush him, he had killed his brother!

Thalion, who had always protected him and kept him safe, had been slain by his hand.

Legolas buried his face in his hands and wept.


He didn't deserve to live! Why had he allowed himself to become a killer?
A monster, a liar, a murderer, and a traitor.

Elrond sat down beside him on his bed. He wrapped the young elf in his arms, it was ment to comfort Legolas, but all it did was make him feel worse.

He didn't deserve anyone's compasion, or pity.

The only thing I deserve is death.
And what about Sauron? Will he still be hunting me? What can I do to escape him? All those years I spent suffering by his hand, how am I supposed to recover from this?

Elrond could sense Legolas' distress. The Lord of Rivendell sighed and decided to carry out his plan.

"Do you remember what happened Legola? In Mirkwood?"

Legolas lifted his face out of his hands, tears were streaming down the sides of his face, making him look even more frail then he already was.

"Yes, I remember, most of it."
"Do you know what happened after we brought you back to the palace?"

Legolas shook his head. He had no memory of the days after he- he shuddered as he thought about what he had done.

"We brought you back to the palace, you were unconcious for almost three days. When you awoke you went-"
Elrond paused as he considered what he was going to say.
"Mad. You began attacking anyone who came near you. We could do nothing to stop you, so we had to isolate you from everyone else."

"How? What did you do?"
Elrond closed his eyes as the painful memories came back to him.
"We had to lock you away in the cells, with your arms and legs chained to the walls. It was the only way to keep you contained."

Legolas said nothing as he took in Elrond's words. Had he really become so unstable? Did he harm any more elves? Were any more dead because of him?

"We summoned Gandalf and Galadriel. Your father and I feared that you were still being controlled."
Elrond continued.
"When they arrived we searched for any traces of darkness in your mind but there was none."

Legolas moaned and once again placed his head into his hands. He had known that he had been acting on his own will. Yet he had welcomed the possibilty that maybe he was being controlled.

In a twisted way, it would have eased his sorrow and guilt knowing that he wasn't fully responsible for all the deaths.

But he was, all of it was his fault.

"After we found no traces of the enemy in you we took council together to decide what to do. Thranduil could not bear to see you harmed, and neither could the rest of us. In the end I offered to bring you to Rivendell, in hopes that you would find healing here."

"Your father agreed and so did Gandalf and Galadriel. We gave you a strong dose of sleeping powder and brought you here. You have been laying here asleep for nearly five days."

Legolas uncovered his face once again and asked the questions that had been plaguing him since he'd awokened.

"What did my father do? About Thalion? Do all the elves know what I did? What did they say?"

"Your father is still grieving for Thalion, the whole kingdom is in mourning. Thalion was buried just a day after the-"

Elrond decided not to finish his sentence.
"Your father blamed his and the other elves' deaths on orcs, and there was thankfully enough evidence to prove that it could have been orcs. He told his people that you were in shock after what had happened, and that you were having nightmares of your captivity."

"The people believe that you have come here for healing. And I can only hope that you find some here."

Legolas took in his words with disbelief, and disgust. Why did his father lie for him? His people deserved to know the truth about what had happened.

That he was responsible for the deaths, that he was the one who had killed Thalion.

And how did Elrond expect him to find healing? He was scarred for life! He would never heal from his torment and suffering.

His light was nearly gone, he was truly broken, a shell of what he used to be.

"What about Inwë? Is she alright?"
"She was dying of grief Legolas. For Thalion, and for you. She sailed for Valinor just a few days ago, I am sorry."

How many more lives can I ruin? I have murdered my own brother, hurt my father, drove Inwë away, killed countless elves and men, why can't I just die?

"What am I supposed to do now Elrond? I cannot walk away from this, and I will never recover from it. As long as I remember what I did I will always suffer."

Elrond knew that the time had come to reveal his plan. He placed a hand comfortingly on Legolas' shoulder.

"There may be something I can do to help you Legolas. In fact, there are two things you could do."

Legolas glanced at him desperately. Whatever these options were he wanted to hear them.

"You can sail to Valinor, leave Middle Earth and all of its grief and suffering. The memory of what happened to you would remain with you. But there is a chance that it would fade in
time."

"Your other option, is to allow me to remove the memories of your capture and everything that followed from your mind. You would remember none of it, and perhaps you would be able to find peace again in Arda. But it is your choice Legolas. Whatever you want choose to do will not be hindered by me, or anyone else."

Legolas thought over his two options. He could sail west, and he would never have to suffer again. No more fighting, no more struggling to fight the evil that had poisoned the earth.

He could be free, truly free.

But something was holding him back. It felt wrong to just leave because of what he had suffered through.

His father would have lost both of his sons, all of his family, he would be alone to face the shadow of the enemy.

The question he had to ask himself, would it be worth it if he stayed?

He wouldn't remember what Sauron had done to him, or what he'd done to Thalion.

I could have a chance to start over, and repair the damage I have caused.

Legolas closed his eyes and breathed in heavily. He had made his choice.

"I will stay, if only you take my memories away."
Elrond nodded grimly.
"If this is what you want Legolas, then so be it."

»»»»

Legolas lied still and motionless on his bed. The effects of the sleeping powder Elrond had given him was beginning to take affect.

Elrond stood beside his bed and watched him slowly drift off to sleep.

"Are you ready Legolas?"
The young elf nodded and began to fall out of conciousness.
The last thing he heard was Elrond softly saying,

"Be brave Legolas. Be brave..."

»»»»

It was different from when Sauron had stripped his memories from his mind. He had been hard, cruel, tearing away his memories like a wolf ripping into flesh.

This was far more gentle, the memories were simply being pushed away far into the back of his mind.

In a place where he would never find them, where they would never resurface or trouble him again.

He was slowly being set free, the chains that had held him were falling away.

Yet he still felt an emptiness inside, a hole that had been made inside of him. One that could never be filled, one that had been made by the years spent imprisoned.

That would always be an empty place inside of him.
One he would struggle to fill as he went through his days on Middle Earth.

He would spend the rest of his life trying to find his place in the world he was no longer a part of.

»»»»

Sauron watched in silence as the orc presented him with Legolas' "message."

The orc disappeared before his master could react. He had barely escaped Mirkwood with his life and he did not wish to have it taken from him as soon as he returned to Mordor.

The Mouth was present at the time and hissed in disgust at the sight of Kanor's head on the floor.

"That miserable rat will pay for this. I can be in Mirkwood with a force of enough orcs to bring him back here, and then you can finish what you began with him."

"I have no need for Greenleaf any more."
Sauron replied to the complete shock of the Mouth.
"My Lord; what do you mean? Why would go through all this trouble only to let the elf go?"

"He has donr what I meant for him to do. I would have prefered killing him to letting him go but he is of little concern to me now."

The Mouth snarled in disappointment. Torturing the young elf had been such an enjoyment to him.

There were no longer any elves his age wandering about Middle Earth. Elves that were young and easy to break; that was why Sauron had chosen Legolas in the first place.

The last elf to be born in Middle Earth....
I knew that he would arrive someday, and his birth would mark the end of the elves' time in Middle Earth.

Now Sauron was done with Legolas. What the elf did now did not bother him in the slightest. He had more pressing matters to attend to.

Which is recovering what was stolen from me...
And destroying the free people of Middle Earth for good.

Of course; even though he no longer needed the elf it would do him no harm to make his life as difficult as possible.

"I believe that I will take permanent residence in Dol Guldur for the time being. I trust that you can handle things here?"

"Me?"
The Mouth asked in bewilderment.
"Kanor is now dead, someone has to take his place."

The Mouth nodded slowly, and then grinned. He would enjoy his new power greatly.

Meanwhile Sauron prepared himself to move to Dol Guldur. He had been there before, bringing the spiders and other fell things to Mirkwood.

Now that he would remain there for awhile things would get even harder for the Wood Elves.

And that is just how I want it to be. I have no power in the other elven realms, but Mirkwood is completely at my mercy.

They shall be the first to fall under my hand, and no one will be able to save them.

Summoning what power he had Sauron vanished out of Mordor and headed for Dol Guldur.

His power was growing every day, and once he had reclaimed his Ring, all of Middle Earth would be at his mercy.

And he had none.

»»»»

End of Part 1


Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: Truyen247.Pro