Author’s note: I know this took almost an eternity, but in the beginning I had decided not to continue it at all. After the last chapter a had a MAJOR writer’s block and just didn’t know how to continue it, and then I was more focused on my other stories and completely forgot about it. But, until now, I’m still getting reviews about this, so I decided to finish it. Keep in mind that this chapter sucks a little, because I’m not good at all in writing action scenes.

Disclaimer: The unknown characters belong to me, J.R.R. Tolkien owns the rest.

Who Lives On Love Lives On Forever

Chapter Six - To find and to loose

By Marylou

       

“Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”

-L. Tennyson-

~~~~ Aragorn ~~~~

I was in despair. Sarina had definitely chosen right when she asked for my kingdom in order to give Legolas back.

I couldn’t choose. It was unbearable. I loved Legolas more than my life and I honestly cared about Arwen, but the kingdom wasn’t mine to give. What would I say to my people?

King Thranduil was as clueless as I was. Be both struggled to find a solution, but be just couldn’t find any.

I was almost going crazy, when a servant came to announce me that I had visitors. The gods seemed to have heard my prayers, for they had sent me the best help that I could ask for.

“Gandalf! Gimli! I’m so happy to see you!” I exclaimed when I saw the wizard and the dwarf entering the room. “You come at a time when your help is greatly needed.”

“What has happened Aragorn?” Gimli asked with concern, “And what is Legolas’ father doing here? Something has happened to our friend, am I right?”

The dwarf was right, as usual. I started telling them the whole story, carefully letting all the details about my relationship with Legolas out. They knew nothing about it and it was certainly no time for revelations. Gimli, though, was very curious to find out why the guards had shot him. I didn’t mention that I was chasing him.

I didn’t know what to say. I looked at king Thranduil for some help, but he just stood there silently, waiting for me to give an answer. Then I met Gandalf’s eyes. His gaze was intense, almost as if he was piercing through my soul.

He put his hand on Gimli’s shoulder. “Tis not important now, Gimli. What’s important is to help our friends and that’s very difficult.”

Once again, someone knocked on the door. I invited them in, wandering who could it be again. Three of the guards walked into the room.

One of them made two steps forward and introduced himself to me. “My king, my name is Aimon and I am the captain of the gate-guard. I am the one who shot your friend last week.”

I looked at him more closely. I tried to remember the incidents of the night, to see if I could recall his image, but the only thing in my mind was Legolas. The guard continued talking.

“Once again, I would like to offer you my sincere apologies. I never intended to hurt such a good friend of yours. However, I’m here because of an entirely different reason. I would like to offer you my services and help you find your friend and your wife again.”

I was shocked and looked at him skeptically. “How do you know about it?”

“The news spread quickly in the palace my king,” he said calmly.

I sighed. He was right. I could expect that I could hide such a major event, such as the queen’s disappearance. “And how do you plan to help me?”

Aimon started explaining me a plan, which he and some other guards had come up with. One of them had followed Sarina when she left the palace and saw that she went to an abandoned cottage at the surroundings of the city. They had planned the attack there with every single detail. They would create a diversion to distract the kidnappers, as Gimli, Gandalf and I would try to free the elves.

The plan sounded good to me and it was, after all, the only solution to our problem. I looked at my friends to see if they agreed and everyone nodded.

^^^ In the meantime, at the cottage ^^^

Legolas was finally starting to regain consciousness. He looked around him trying to understand where he was. The only thing he could remember, were the men who had hit him the previous evening.

Suddenly, with the corner of his eye, he saw a thin figure sitting on the floor a few meters away. His vision was still blare, so it took him a few moments to recognize who it was.

“Arwen,” he tried to say, but then he realized that his mouth was covered. He made an attempt to move and then he came to the conclusion that he was tied, very tightly, on a chair.

He struggled with the ropes for a while, but soon gave up. He looked at Arwen in despair. She was tied and gagged, as well.

That moment, the door flung open and a small figure entered the room. Legolas gasped at that sight. He hadn’t seen Sarina for almost fifteen years and certainly didn’t expect to see her again, like that.

The red-haired woman looked at Legolas and sneered. She walked closer to the elf and gently removed the cloth from his mouth.

“So we meet again, Legolas of Mirkwood,” she said calmly, as she removed a strand of blond hair from Legolas’ face.

“What do you want, Sarina?” Legolas answered coldly, his emerald eyes shining with anger.

“Relax, my dear Legolas. This is not a way to greet an old friend,” Sarina said sarcastically and slowly traced Legolas’ cheek with her fingers.

Legolas pulled away abruptly. “Don’t touch me,” he hissed, “Answer me! What do you want?” he asked again, this time a little louder.

“Playing hard to get, elf?” Sarina whispered, her face only inches away from Legolas, “It’s you, I want.”

But, before she could do anything, she fell on the floor, holding her stomach. Legolas had kicked her violently with his knees.

The men, who had followed Sarina into the room immediately made their way to Legolas, but Sarina gestured them to stop. “Do not touch the elf!” she commanded sharply.

Then, she turned to face the prince once again. “Do not think you’re not going to pay for this, Legolas,” she said coldly, “Because, we’re going to stay together for a long time, my dear. Or do you honestly think that your beloved will sacrifice his kingdom for someone like you?”

Legolas caught his breath. How could this daemon ask Aragorn to do such a thing? He closed his eyes, trying to think. He wasn’t sure what Aragorn would choose, but somehow he had a feeling that he wouldn’t like it.

“Shocked, aren’t we?” Sarina asked ironically. She was back at her feet again and walked closer to Legolas. “As much as I would like to stay and chat,” she continued, as she strapped his mouth again, “I have other important things to do.”

And with that she walked away, followed by the men, who didn’t miss the chance to shoot some hateful looks at the elves.

Legolas turned around to meet Arwen’s gaze. She seemed to be as desperate and panicked as he was. They both asked their selves the same question. What was Aragorn going to choose?

^^^ The same night ^^^

Aragorn’s heart was racing in his chest, as he walked silently with his friends and his guards. Their plan was well organized, but he still couldn’t get past his doubts and his fears. If the slightest thing went wrong, he might loose his two beloveds and he was sure that he couldn’t handle that.

They had almost reached the end of the forest when the soldiers stopped. “This is it,” Aimon whispered and pointed at a small cottage, about 50 meters away. Aragorn looked and saw some men, sitting around a fire at the entrance of the cottage.

“It’s time,” Aragorn whispered and the others nodded. Aimon counted the men, who sat by the fire. They were six. A fair number he thought, since he had six of his men with him as well.

He counted to three and then they started their attack. The kidnappers were panicked. They stood up at once and pulled their swords. They seemed to be very skilled and determined.

As the battle went on, Aragorn gestured to his friends to follow him and run to the cottage. The front door wasn’t locked, but the next one was. “Legolas!” Aragorn shouted as he tried to break the door. When he heard a muffled cry from inside, he started hitting the door more frantically.

“Step back,” Gandalf commanded and raised his wand. With a spell he caused the door to disappear.

Aragorn run inside the room and saw his lover tied on the chair. He rushed to his side and quickly cut the ropes with his sword. Then he untied Legolas mouth. In the meantime, Gimli and Gandalf helped Arwen with her ties.

“Are you all right, my love?” Aragorn asked as he cupped Legolas’ face with his hands. The elf nodded and quickly stood up.

“Look!” Gimli suddenly screamed, pointing outside the window. “There are more!” He was right. Almost a dozen of riders were approaching the cottage.

“We must run,” Aragorn shouted and everyone started running. They had almost reached the exit, when Arwen stumbled on her dress and fell down. Aragorn immediately noticed that and run back to help her get up.

He picked her up and quickly run off to catch up with the others. They continued running frantically, but it was almost obvious that they did not have any chance to escape. The men were outnumbering them, plus they had no horses.

All of a sudden, Gandalf stopped and turned around. “Continue, don’t stop,” The old wizard screamed to his friends, “I will try to stop them.”

It was true that the men were no matches for Gandalf’s extraordinary powers and he soon finished them with his wand, but he had not counted on one thing.

As the darkness had taken over Sarina, she had traveled to Mordor, where she had encountered some of the few dark forces that were left after Sauron’s time ended. And there, she had been introduced to the world of dark forces, which she now possessed almost excellently.

Her battle with Gandalf was fierce. They cast spells to each other, one after another, and when all seemed to have ended the defeated one, would regain their strength again and continue.

The others had stopped in a clearing a few meters away and watched the battle without breath. Aragorn had to put all his strength to prevent Legolas from going back to help the wizard. The elf fought him with all his strength, screaming Mithrandir’s name.

And then it was all over. The screams, the noises, everything stopped after a white thunder appeared and white light covered the entire area. When it disappeared, a deadly silence was spread around.

The sight they faced, left everybody in horror. Aragorn was too shocked to hold Legolas anymore, so the elf freed himself and run as fast as he could back to the two figures that were lying motionless on the ground.

The others soon followed his example, but when they reached him, his intense creams pierced their ears. “Mithrandir! Mithrandir!” the elf cried mournful, “He is dead! He is gone!”

To be continued…

One more chapter to go and then I’ll have my conscience clear! What did you think about this one?

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