Ohmygoshes ohmygoshes ohmygoshes IVE BEEN WAITING TO UPLOAD THIS CHAPTER
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"Your highness," Cúthalion said, jogging up. "The spiders are coming."

Legolas kept walking, unfazed. "Yes, I fear they've been following us for some time."

Cúthalion nearly stumbled, chestnut hair shifting. He struggled for the right words, "what do you wish for us to do?"

"Hasten your pace. We might be able to stumble upon a patrol."

The younger ellon paled. "Might?"

"Don't lose hope yet, the spiders will take one whiff of us and go running in the other direction!"

Legolas smiled, easing the tension. Cúthalion wasn't reassured, but some color returned to his face as he nodded.

Maiwia tugged on my hand. "Are you alright, Brennil?"

"Just trying to focus, is all." Storing up energy took most of my concentration. Trying to filter energy in through my skin—without it overwhelming me. But I wanted to be prepared for when we're attacked. So if being prepared meant that I might be a little sidetracked, so be it.

I twisted the leather bracelet around my wrist, feeling the beads, entangled in the braids, rub softly against my skin.

My thoughts trailed back to Gifu, like tendrils lost in time. Her smiling face exhausted but rosy, a squalling baby all wrinkled-like in her arms. She would coo back to the child, playing with its tiny fingers and toes. Nursery rhymes would have been heard softly from Sunnwyn. Silent tears in Gifu's eyes, seeing Sormer in their baby.

"Lum?" Legolas asked softly.

I jumped, noticing how close he came. "I'm fine."

He easily saw through the lie. He responded by squeezing my hand, then he let go and moved further away.

"Um, your highness?" Hencef asked uncertainty. The question made our herd of children halt, making way for Legolas to stride to where Hencef had stopped. Her brown hair spilled over her shoulders as she leaned down, peering into an overgrown patch of dark brush. Well, everything in a forest is overgrown, I guess.

Her eyes widened, adding to the sudden paleness of her face, as she realized what she was looking at.

Legolas took out one of his knives, carefully moving aside twigs. And backed up.

"We still have several days until we reach the palace. Hurry our pace and we can make it in a day or two. I'll lead us through a known sentry territory." He sheathed the weapon. Just like that, we continued. As if something hadn't happened.

Legolas whispered in my ear as he moved to the front. "Body wrapped in webs. They're close."

*********

Yeah, real close, I thought an hour later, while recalling the incident, just as Maiwia screamed.

Dreadfully, I turned around. I almost just wanted to hop up in a tree and let the spiders do what they want—

Snap out of it, Lum. It's the forest talking.

Pulling free Gorthaden, I faced the handful of children just as a spider, taller than two of me stacked on top of each other, broke through the tangle of trees.

"Children! Drego! Stay together!" Legolas boomed, bow already loaded and twanging. The spider ahead shrieked.

"It burns! It burns!" Its voice, high and raspy, made a little whimper come out of Maiwia as she ran away. I, however, stared dumbly.

Nobody told me they could talk!

"Cúthalion! Drego!" Legolas pushed me out of my stupor. There Cúthalion was, standing tall like a tree, holding a knife threateningly. Apparently, he thought a few sparring lessons with his prince was enough to take on a mirkwood spider.

"Drego! Protect the children!" Cúthalion, horror in his eyes as the spider reflected in them, decided that was enough. He wouldn't last a minute against the spiders, but maybe he'd survive if he'd run. Which is what he did, following Legolas's orders, turning to protect the others in their exodus.

The spiders screeching renewed as Legolas took ahold of his knives, slashing through its legs. It fell in a crumpled mess, not dead, but not necessarily a threat either.

That was fast—

Spiders, more than I could count—at least seven—entered. They crawled with a terrifying speed with their twitching legs over their fallen comrade. They were all a tangled mass of writhing black and brown bodies and legs and gleaming, hungry eyes.

Inside, I was screaming like a child, wishing I could run with the actual children. Outwardly, I tightened my grip on Gorthaden and ran forward.

"Ew ew ew ew ew ew," I squealed as the spiders came too close for comfort, their arachnid bodies being made disturbingly clear.

Using Legolas as an example, I ducked under the reach of a spider's mandibles and sliced. I managed to hit something—and I ran out from under its body. Despite adrenaline running through my veins, I was twitchy and barfy, wanting to get away away away from these overgrown bugs.

But the spider had seven other legs.

Darn.

Gritting my teeth, I raced towards it again as it raced towards me.

I almost ran away again.

The way its legs moved, the way its beady eyes gazed at me in eight different ways, the fact that it was a SPIDER,

"Aaaaaaahhhh!!" I screamed both in terror and disgust as I, again, ducked under it's very badly aimed mandibles and hacked at more than one leg this time.

It fell.

Finally.

Black, juicy liquid seeped out of its body. "Oh, gross." I cringed.

Another spider took its place, very stupidly jumping down from above. I crouched in terror, sword raised point-up as I practically hugged the hilt—

—It's dark body descended like a storm cloud—a very heavy, gross, warm storm cloud.

The spider shrieked as it impaled itself on my sword. But it crushed me as it fell, locking me under its weight. And it was still alive.

My heart raced in panic, fear, disgust. Terror terror terror.

A spider is on me, a spider is on me!

A high keening sound was coming from my being.

Struggling not to breathe, I closed my eyes, pictured myself distinctively somewhere else, and twisted my blade deeper into its gut. Warmth leaked down, covering my hands.

Oh gross, oh gross, gross, gross, gross!

The beast stopped moving, its legs curling in as death claimed it. My heart leaped into my throat as those pointed legs came towards me—

And raised the body just enough for me to escape.

I stood shuddering for a moment, right before yet another spider attacked.

Risking a glance towards Legolas, I saw he was holding his own. Just barely. Most every spider somehow sensed how good a fighter he was and had decided they all wanted a chance against him. Like they wanted a challenge. He fought like, well, an elven warrior. The bow was now of no use to him—the spiders had gotten too close, a bad sign. Now his twin knives glinted light and flung blood. As I watched, a spider twitched its leg dexterously, right when Legolas lunged to slash another spider, sending him flying against a tree. Ouch, that had to hurt. He got to his feet just barely before—

"Oof." I spun around, stumbling—Gorthaden thirsting for spider blood—trying to suck the air back into my lungs. A particularly small—for a giant spider—and ugly arachnid raised up on its back legs, hissing venom.

Then, with much more speed than the others, it lunged. I scarcely had time to move. It came so fast, I wasn't able to move my feet in time, just fall over onto the ground. But as I fell, it scraped my arm.

I bit my tongue to keep from crying out. It tittered victoriously, and angrily, I pushed myself up. Dirt and rocks bit into my palms as I did so and, sputtering out a couple leaves, I reached for Gorthaden. The crashing of many legs approached—

I turned onto my back and swung swiftly. And hit square on. It must've been young, for its skin wasn't as calloused as the others. So, my sword sliced cleanly through what had to be its head.

My disgust replaced anger tenfold as darkish blood and something undeniably slimy waterfalled onto me.

"Oh Valar", I squeaked, then snapped my jaw closed, wiping vigorously at my face.

Spider tastes terrible.

Standing and sputtering, I braced myself for another attack. But none came. I even had enough time to survey my surround—

All the spiders were attacking Legolas. And as I took my first running step, Legolas was finally overwhelmed.

"No!" I yelled idiotically, alerting my coming to the terrible creatures and ruining my chance of surprise.

Although, as some of the spiders peeled off, I caught a glimpse of Legolas struggling to regain footing while warding off a spider trying to sting him. He was on his back—not good when fighting. The flash of a knife, the blur of a stinger.

I saw the opening and took it, not caring. Swiftly, I maneuvered around the hissing spiders and lunged for Legolas. I landed practically on top of him, shielding him with my body.

Reaching within, I pulled on the star-light reserve in me. Taking a metaphoric fist, I yanked it out and pushed.

Through the brief white, I heard the spiders shrieking.

"Legolas," I hissed. "Come on."

He wasn't answering.

"Legolas." I shook his shoulder, beginning to panic. The spiders would attack soon—when the shock of what had happened wore off. I didn't have time. No time at all.

The star-light began to fade, and I opened my eyes wide to the darkness. I didn't have time to let my eyes adjust, as soon as they did, so would the spiders'. And I couldn't afford to let loose any more energy, I had to keep some for me, otherwise, I'd be too drained to move.

I hooked my arms underneath both of Legolas's shoulders and began dragging him away.

"Noro!" Legolas suddenly croaked, sounding weirdly alert for having been unconscious a second earlier.

I stumbled in shock, which was enough time for Legolas to stumble to his feet, favoring his right leg. With eyes not yet adjusted, I put my shoulder under his arm, helping him run—well, stumble-along. "Run."

"Where to?" I whispered, my worry skyrocketing as I heard how strained Legolas's breath was. He was panting—and we had barely made it out of range of the spider's still ongoing screeches. I shuddered. Minutes ago, I could hear their uncanny voices rasping 'where did the foods go' and 'it blinds me.'

"The... children," Legolas rasped, then coughed. Another bad sign.

"I—I don't know where—" I wanted to sit down and scream while pulling chunks of my hair out. Something was wrong with Legolas, I could barely see, the children were nowhere to be found, I was surrounded by an evil-infested forest, and—oh yeah—giant spiders want to eat us!

"Focus," Legolas struggled. "Focus... stay calm. You—can find them."

"Maybe—maybe in a billion years." I didn't recognize any trees—why would I? I couldn't hear anything besides Legolas's panting, the spiders' far off shrieks, and my own ragged, panicked breaths.

"Focus—" Legolas gasped as he put pressure on his left leg.

"Focus," I repeated. "Focus..."

Okayokayokay. I could do this. Maybe. Possibly. Never—

FOCUS.

Stopping behind a large tree, I gently lowered Legolas. "Sit."

Legolas chuckled softly while clutching his side. "Woof."

Maybe if I wasn't so—I don't know—worried for our safety, I would've rolled my eyes.

What to do what to do what to—

Legolas would know what to do, but he was probably in so much pain his head was clouded and—

—and his head was drooping.

"Hey!" I whisper-yelled, tapping his cheek softly. "Stay awake. You have to stay awake."

Groggily, he groaned—then pressed a finger into the wound on his leg. That's one way, I guess.

Okay, so I couldn't count on him to get us out of this. So, I needed to—

Find out where in arda I am.

Without thinking, I looking to the tree-leaf-covered-sky to find the sun. And of course, the dreary and gloomy forest had grown just enough to block out the sun. Or any of its light.

You'd think weeks of knowing that information would've stuck in my head by now.

Refraining from smacking myself—or kicking something—I clamped down real hard on my panic and forced it to be a minor thing in the background. Which proved to be as hard as wrestling a bear or making Gimli eat something green.

Think.

So, if I can't find where I am or what direction I'm heading without using the sun then how do I—

The spiders were still making a racket. In the same direction they had been since we left them.

So... if the spiders were that way, where Legolas and I and come from... then the children were that way, just in a different direction. Diagonal, sorta.

But going that way would lead us past the spiders again. It was worth the chance.

"Come on," I said to Legolas as I helped get him to his feet, then put his arm around my shoulders. "I got a plan."

"Do it."

"...aren't you going to question it?" Check for kinks, add things I hadn't thought of, maybe even offer a new plan that made a whole lot better sense?

"I trust you." His voice was almost swallowed up by the strange forest.

"I don't trust me at the moment." And I didn't. I was panicked. Freaked out. Scared out of my wits. And this forest was not helping any. "I'm absolutely terrified that I'm gonna lead us to our deaths."

Legolas tried to chuckle, but it came out as a wheeze. "Good, if you—you weren't then I'd be questioning—your sanity."

Sadly, I had to agree with that.

And then—we were back to where our skirmish with the eight-legged creatures had been. I didn't dare go any closer to the area, but I could hear the spiders talking, conversing. Silently, I was amazed at how these things could actually talk—or think intelligently at all. Had it been them that polluted this forest or had the sickness in the trees drawn them?

I lumbered the both of us around the twisted trees, praying to all of the Valar, Eru, and any ainur that would listen that we wouldn't step on a twig and alert the spiders to our location.

The trees, as sick as they were, seemed to be helping us. As if through the evil they could sense their prince was hurt. Their limbs twisted ever so carefully to hide our movement, pulling roots back so we wouldn't trip—albeit their movement was jagged, strained.

I wasn't sure if the forest had finally had enough of me and was giving me mind-boggling hallucinations or if this was all real, but I went with it. I silently thanked the woodland guardians, brushing a hand here and there as I went against their bark, trying to send all my appreciation and reassurance into my touch.

Legolas was getting hard to lead along, his breathing even more uneven. Through the dim scenery, I was able to make out his face. His eyelids were drooping, his skin deathly pale, and a thin sheen of sweat was covering his face, neck, no doubt his whole body.

Nervously, I kept us going—

Something enormous rustled the leaves above, dropping down dead branches, twigs. Quickly, I tucked both Legolas and myself into the crook of a dead tree, hoping the scraggily dark bush would help hide us.

The dark mass moved above, its body seemingly only a shadow. It was close enough I could smell the rotten odor emanating from it, close enough to hear the clack of its legs against wood. The hissing of its breath.

I clapped a hand over my mouth to keep from whimpering.

I pushed myself and Legolas harder against the tree, hoping we wouldn't be sensed—

The tree groaned. The wood seemed to cry out as its deaden body cracked—I felt it moving away from me. I quickly grabbed Legolas as the rotten wood fell, it's heavy limbs crashing through nearby trees. The sound of hundreds of leaves rustling, the crack and snapping of branches sounded clear like a hundred horns.

I stood frozen with panic, arm around Legolas's waist, his arm draped over my shoulder.

"Keep moving," he suddenly whispered, with some effort.

Nodding, mostly to myself, I tried scurrying in a direction opposite the fallen tree—

"Ahhh! Food! Food is here!"

No, no we're not!

The spider dropped down, it's seemingly eight-million eyes locking on both Legolas and I. Awkwardly, with the wrong hand, I unsheathed Gorthaden.

"Leave me," Legolas whispered. "Noro!"

"Nope, uh-uh." I shook my head, gripping both my best friend and sword. It was like trying to use a toothpick to slay an orc.

The spider suddenly let out an ecstatic screech, its many legs scurrying at an incredible speed, moving its bolder body—

I refused to close my eyes, instead, I held my quaking sword aloft, frantically searching for anymore star-light to use. But I had used it up, all except for a tiny—

The spider screeched again but in rage instead of eager mirth. I wondered briefly if I had let loose some energy without my knowing, however, the question was answered as I saw several lethal elven bodies slashing with knives, twanging bows.

My knees almost went weak with relief.

In a matter of moment, the shrieking spider slumped dead, wounds from a team of elven warriors.

"Prince Legolas—"

"Boe de nestad!" I frantically yelled, pleading with the dark-haired warrior. At that moment I refused to let his dark armor and muscled body intimidate me. "An ngell nîn!"

The soldier's eyes only widened a fraction of an inch.

"Dernon!" He yelled. "Tolo!"

Another warrior rushed over and, with the both of them, they took Legolas from me. They handled him much better than I, moving quickly. I was relieved they left his dignity intact by not carrying him, just aiding him in moving.

"Children—" Legolas gasped. "Where are they—?"

"We found them, Hir Legolas. They're safe."

"Celeblam, get—the children and Lumornel to safety."

"Goheno nin, Prince Legolas, but we will not leave you."

The rest of the elven warriors march in around us, making a wall of sorts, as we starting walking swiftly to hopefully where the children resided. Legolas was sagging between the two ellyn, trying and mostly failing to keep his head up. The mirky dim light reflected off the sweat shining on his skin.

"Are any of you a healer?" I asked desperately, searching the faces of the patrol.

A grim-faced blond ellon nodded. "I am, hiril vuin, but I will not see to the Prince until we are out of harm's way."

I looked at him pleadingly, even though I saw the logic in the words. He shook his head.

"It would be no use to heal the Prince only for us to be ambushed by spiders a moment later, hiril Lumornel."

I sighed shakily, gazing again at Legolas. The fabric of his tunic between the shoulder blades was bunched up because of the odd angle his arms were at. The green of his attire stood out from the other elves. They looked as if they were part of this forest—which, I guess, they kind of were. The dark armor they wore looked as if it was made of many leaves or scales, each segment a varying shade of brown and black. They easily could've hidden against the bark of a tree and never be noticed. As long as the dark cowl that, at the moment, was down was covering their faces. The many weapons decorating their bodies made me feel monumentally safer, even with the gloom still pressing down on me.

But... here the weighty air seemed to be... lighter. Could we be getting closer to the palace? I could only hope so.

A rustling far off alerted the warriors.

"Dagon, Olon, and Morfinnor flank us through the forest. If any foe approaches, lure them away and slay it." Celeblam, who appeared to be the captain, thought for a moment. "Tuiwon, go with them."

The four ellyn nodded and bounded off into the forest, taking to the trees. They reminded me of squirrels.

The remaining ellyn moved to fill in the spots.

I was wound tighter than one of Mother's twine balls, every snapping twig and fluttering leaf made me jump. The armory on the elves no longer felt safe. I wanted to get away away away from here. To safety. To sunlight.

Or at least to talk to someone, no matter how awkward it could be.

But it was clear that silence was a must. I refrained from sighing in frustration and gripped Gorthaden tighter.

Sometime later, we stopped. I didn't know where--there wasn't anything special about the place—

"Lumornel!" Maiwai exclaimed, running to me with her blonde braid bouncing. Immediately, an ellon that had been standing guard by a tree warned her to be silent. From the stiffness in his shoulders, I guessed it wasn't the first time he had to do that.

"Maiwai," I said quietly, kneeling to her level. "You must be quiet."

Legolas's groan made me swivel my head in his direction. Celeblam and Dernon had lowered him down, resting him against a tree. If possible, his face was even paler.

Thonor, who was the healer, immediately ripped open Legolas's trousers above the wound. He didn't even hesitate as he ordered someone to build a small fire and heat a blade in it.

The wound... It was black and bloody and all things terrible. Redness, not of blood, crowned the injury and tiny lines of black veined their way up and almost around Legolas's leg. So that's what a spider sting looks like.

Valar.

"Maiwai, go stay with Anorlass." Then, without even waiting to see if she obeyed the order, I scurried over to Legolas. Then preceded to take the rag right out of Thonor's hand and dabbed at the sweat on Legolas's forehead.

Thonor looked at me in surprise.

"Clean away the blood," I quipped, then blushed. I heard a few of the ellyn sniggering behind their hands, and surprisingly, saw a blush erupt on Thonor's cheeks.

"You're quite the show," Legolas said quietly, grinning tiredly at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Me? I have a feeling you're the show at the moment."

"At the moment?"

"Uh-huh," I began jokingly, "I plan to steal away all the attention." Like sure I would. Eyes on me? No thank you.

"I'm positive you would, you wouldn't even have to try—" He broke off in a hiss as Thonor began clearing the excess blood away from the wound. I blushed at his words.

Seeing the tell-tale signs of fatigue in his eyes, I kept talking. Anything to prevent him from falling asleep. He winced when water was poured on his injury.

"Braiglach gave me a letter."

His eyes flickered to me. "I saw."

"I haven't read it yet." I pursed my lips; that wasn't much of a conversation starter. Legolas gazed in apprehension at the fire, at the knife starting to heat.

"I've been thinking..." His attention was back on me, watching me as I spoke. "Your penmanship is terrible. Once I have an opportunity, I'll teach you. Well, give you pointers."

Legolas almost choked. "You've never seen my writing—"

"That's beside the point—" I gripped his hand, trying to calmly wipe at his forehead.

"But Lumornel—"

I put a finger to his lips. "And I also have a confession: I hate that tunic on you. The color is absolutely awful."

From the corner of my eye, I saw the hot knife coming.

"And," I added quickly, "I once ate twenty-seven pieces of Esgaroth taffy in one sitting—"

Legolas cut me off with a muffled yell as a warrior stuffed a cloth in his mouth just as the knife began to cauterize his wound. Thonor pressed the knife down in two-second bursts, careful not to burn healthy tissue.

I clutched Legolas's hand throughout the quick process, letting him try to break the bones in my fingers.

And then it was over, just like that.

A new layer of sweat covered his forehead and I got to work mopping it up. I let my fingers graze his skin softly, even though I knew I shouldn't. Then, perhaps going a step too far, I pushed stray strands of hair away from his face.

"Do you," he began between breaths, "really hate my tunic?" Legolas actually sounded offended.

Thonor produced a salve and began applying it.

"No," I said. "I'm just really bad at coming up with distracting stuff quickly."

"What about eating twenty-seven pieces of—"

"Don't tell anyone about that," I hissed, feeling yet another blush creep up.

He smirked—oh valar—and flicked his eyes to the surrounding ellyn. "Well, you just told all of them—"

Legolas cut off as my blush deepened, making him chuckle softly with a 'goheno nin.'

We sat quietly for a moment, both of us watching Thonor apply mystery things to the wound. I let my ears wander, listening to the soft conversing of the few elves, the rustling of mirkwood leaves, and the ultimate suffocating silence of the air. Eck, whatever Thonor was spreading like butter, it smelled downright rotten.

"So, were they good?"

"What?" I asked in surprise.

Why could I always sense a grin in Legolas's voice? "Was the taffy good?"

I bit my cheek, hiding my face from him. "Yes," I said meekly.

"All twenty-seven?"

"Would you—ahg!"

He bit back another grin.

*********

After just two days of traveling and one night of resting, we were finally here. We had passed not too far from my tree-home and I had felt the intense urge to run to the door, throw it open, and hold my parents close. How long had I been away from them? From my own bed, my home? A year?

I pushed away that urge, I'd go there soon, but first I needed to be with Legolas. I knew that if the roles were reversed, he'd do the same for me.

So now, we stood across the bridge from the wide entrance to his home, gazing upon it in wonder. In wonder of how we had come to be back here. We weren't here to finally rest from a journey, to rest and give out hugs with family members. Quite the opposite. For Legolas, at least. No father waiting for him inside and only work for his elfdom awaited him now.

How soon would they coronate him? I wondered. How soon before he's 'King' and not 'Prince'?

The elven patrol had dissolved as soon as we returned, some of them taking the children to help set them up with families, and only a few remained to act as guards. Now, those guards stayed a respectful distance away. But still, I whispered.

"Are you okay?"

Legolas gazed at the entrance across the forest river. "I'm terrified," he whispered back.

My heart clenched for him, but mostly I was surprised at the revelation. It's not often royalty reveal their fears.

I refrained from holding his hand and giving him my support. His words from Lothlorien still echoed in my ears. Instead, I settled for, "I'm here. All the way."

It wasn't that long ago—or was it?—that Legolas had said something similar in the dark, the night before a battle.

I waited until he was ready to take that first step, I didn't push him—not even gently. And finally, we walked with his shoulders back towards the entrance.

Two guards at the open doors bowed deeply. "Caun Legolas."

Legolas gave them a curt nod, a princely nod, and also gave them the polar opposite; a warm greeting. It was such a Legolas thing to do that I smiled.

After words were exchanged, he took a step over the threshold but hesitated.

"Why was there no patrol on the outskirts of our territory?" He asked the question like it had just occurred to him, yet I knew he had been sitting on it for some time. He had confided in me about it, saying that the patrol we had been traveling with would've had no answer, for they likely would've been stationed where they were for quite a while. He had asked anyway, and they—making Legolas's prediction come true—had no answer.

"We were ordered to pull in closer to the villages, hir vuin."

Legolas hesitated further. "Who ordered?"

The guard took on an expression of confusion. "hir vuin, King Thranduil."

*********
"You can only come to the morning through the shadows"
         —J.R.R. Tolkien

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Translations:
Drego— flee

Noro— run

Boe de nestad---he needs healing

An ngell nn---please

Goheno nin—forgive me

Caun---prince

Hir vuin---my lord

Brennil—lady

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I love everything about this chapter. Suspense. Fight scenes. fLUFF. Thranduil. gaaAAHHHH

So, you've heard my thoughts, what're yours? What do you hope to see/read next? Also, was anything in the chapter confusing? If so, what can I do to make it better?

So last chapter I said there was FINALLY nice weather. Now it's too hot. eeuuugghhhh.

Go away heat. please.

Novaer, mellyn
~awatin~