~Predator~ Book One

Warnings:
1) Alternate Universe
2) Marysue character
3) LOTR characters will be out of character
4) Strong language
5) Strong sexual content
6) Graphic violence

Chapter 1 – Arrivals​

Middle Earth – Somewhere North of Udun

The alien drone stealthily surveyed the surroundings.

The landscape was foreign to him. Snow-capped mountains in the distance blocked the view of whatever was further south. The cold wind blew strongly, making his elongated shiny black head shiver. He longed for the heat of the hive but knew it was no longer within his reach.

The drone turned to look back from where he had just come. Smoke rose from the crater where the ship had crashed. There was heat coming from it. He decided he would return to the heat of the ship and build a new hive there. But before he could think further on it, the ship suddenly exploded.

He hissed angrily at this unexpected development, his inner jaw extracting to taste the singed air, sticky saliva dripping from his sharp teeth. Now forced to seek shelter elsewhere, he crouched to caress the egg he had managed to make off with before stealing away on the ship.

His mind was not developed enough to realize that his instinct to gather hosts for the queen egg had resulted in the crash of the ship. The remaining crew had sacrificed themselves and the ship in an effort to kill the creature, to prevent any future spread of the lethal alien species. They didn’t survive long enough to see that their attempt had failed. While they perished, the creature still lived.

Another explosion startled the alien into action. The land beyond the ship was flat and uninteresting. He turned and surveyed the snow-capped mountains to the south again, instinct telling him to seek shelter there. He promptly picked up the queen egg and made off into the darkness.

As the last surviving drone, it was his job to see that the species flourished, to see that his new queen had a hive to breed in, to see that his future sons and daughters had hosts to incubate and feed from.

Middle Earth – Udun – One month later

A large procession of Elves on horseback moved through the path along the mountains of Udun. They traveled in two single-file lines, following their king back to their homeland in Mirkwood. Their business in Udun had been brief and unfortunately bore no fruit. There was nothing in Udun to bargain with.

A young Elf boy ran alongside the riders, inquisitive sapphire eyes scanning every detail of the landscape. Something caught his attention and he stealthily moved to the edge of a nearby cliff. Down in the valley below, against the white snow, a dark shape moved quickly, yet struggled with a large object.

The Elf boy lowered himself to the ground, resting on his chest as he tilted his head curiously and frowned. He had never seen such a creature. It was no Orc for its head was too large. He watched it for some time, watched it make its way through the snow, its sharp tail swinging left and right to maintain balance.

“Legolas!” came the voice of a woman.

The Elf boy turned to look over his shoulder briefly, his shoulder length blonde hair flying around his face. Then he turned back to the creature below.

It had made little progress along the far side of a mountainside as it slipped on the frozen ground, digging its claws to prevent itself from falling. Then it lost its grip on the object it carried.

The Elf boy narrowed his eyes at the screeching sound the creature made as it tumbled after the object. Both the object and the creature stopped short of a ledge that would have dropped them into the frozen lake below.

The creature hugged the dark object affectionately.

“Legolas Thranduilion, bad ad bo lin roch alag!” came the voice of the woman again. (Legolas, son of Thranduil, get back on your horse immediately)

The Elf boy quickly stood up and ran to catch up to the tail end of the procession. He ran passed several others before reaching his horse. Legolas vaulted up on his steed and turned to the woman riding on his right. “Naneth, im cen nad min di Udun imlad. Ha ulunn man im uida.” (Mother, I saw something in the Udun valley below. It was a creature I have never seen before)

The Elf woman smiled. “Ennor panna an rem ulunn, Legolas. Le innas govad nad min idhrenn tol.” (Middle Earth is filled with many strange creatures, Legolas. You will certainly encounter some of them in the years to come)

Young Legolas glanced back one final time before his mind became preoccupied with the treacherous path the Elves were passing ahead.

Middle Earth – a little over 2,000 years later – Anfalas
(Ariedel’s POV)

I couldn’t believe Hawke screwed up again. Didn’t the idiot have any sense in his fat empty head? Everyone else I knew had no problem getting to where they needed to go, be who they needed to be. Why did he always manage to fuck things up so bad that I couldn’t figure a way out of it?

The last time I had transmutated, I found myself in the frozen tundra of Slogov…and with no coat, the bastard! And now this…where the hell was I?

To think that only three days ago, I was enjoying the suns of Avalon before I received the dreaded call. Another one of those missions. The missions I feared most of all. Find and exterminate. Easier said than done.

Maybe I just wasn’t cut out for this kind of job.

Maybe I should have retired early, like my brother Seth. He had stared death in the face one too many times and with a son on the way, he discovered that life was far too precious to waste on the goddamned bug hunts.

And so they kept turning to me and I was scared shitless everytime I went.

At first I thought it wasn’t going to be so bad. So far it had been solitary bugs here and there. Dealing with one bug at a time built up a bit of my courage to handle the more complex missions that dealt with entire colonies of bugs. I psyched myself up for this one bug mission…

Only Hawke spilled his coffee on the keyboard just as the transmutation occurred and in his attempt to wipe it up, he hit some keys that altered the relay. Not only did I find myself transported into the wrong candidate, and on a galloping horse, mind you, but I also had no weapons.

The shock to the unsuspecting candidate forced me off the saddle and I landed in the sludgy dirt. After that I blacked out.

When I woke up, I found myself in medieval times…and I really mean the dark ages.

The moment I opened my eyes to the blurry world, I was ecstatic that I was finally able to. After blinking several times to try and clear my vision, I found myself staring at a plump, wrinkled face smiling down at me.

“My lord, she’s awake! She’s awake!” yelled the woman.

My initial reaction to the older woman was shock and surprise. I had no idea where I was or who this old woman was. All I knew from the mission briefing was that I should have been in the body of a woman on her way to the location where I needed to confront the bug and kill it.

An older man with gray hair and gray streaks in a neatly trimmed beard pushed the plumb woman aside. He was dressed in a strange looking burgundy tunic with a velvet collar and a thick gold necklace hanging from his neck. He also wore a plain gold crown on his head. I wanted to laugh because he looked like something right out of King Arthur.

“At last,” said the man.

When I tried to sit up, the man placed a beefy hand on my shoulder, a bit too familiarly, I was thinking to myself.

“You are bedridden for the next few days, Ariedel,” he said in a commanding voice.

Ariedel. I locked the name in my head. This was my name in this world, not Crystal Schuyler. “Where am I?” I asked. As the words came out of my mouth, they sounded strange, but I couldn’t figure out why.

“You’re in your chambers. It was lucky for you that the medic was within the grounds.”

What the hell was this old man saying to me? I looked down at myself and sighed in relief. At least I hadn’t been transported into a man’s body. But Hawke had still fucked up. I bet he did it on purpose just because I wouldn’t go out with him. “This is great, just great.”

Then it suddenly dawned on me why my own words sounded strange to me. It was because I was suddenly speaking with a weird accent as if I had been born with it. A byproduct of the poor soul I had pushed out. I imagined the real Ariedel back at Gateway Station was waking up in a strange world, just as I had. When my mission was over, she’d be sent back, any memory of the experience would be erased and she would never know that anything had ever happened to her.

“And just what were you trying to prove by risking your life on that crazy horse?” asked the man angrily.

I had no idea how to reply because I had no idea what the real Ariedel had been up to at the time I was transported to occupy her body.

“My daughter has horses from Rohan, trained by the best horsemen in all of Middle Earth, yet she constantly chooses to ride that untamed black stallion gifted to her by that old wizard, Gandalf.”

“Gandalf?” My head started spinning. I had no clue what he meant or why he was interested in telling me about his problems with his daughter.

The face of the older woman appeared again. “Are you hungry, my lady? I made you your favorite. Tripe in red wine sauce.”

“Tripe?” I scrunched up my face and stuck out my tongue. “Gross.”

The woman frowned. “Now why on Middle Earth are you making that face?”

“I make that face all the time when you try to feed me tripe, you old buzzard,” answered the old man with a half smile.

When I was finally able to sit up, I turned away from them as they continued to argue about tripe. A glance around the room didn’t hint at where I was, other than knowing I was definitely not where I needed to be.

The luxurious furniture was made of thick, ornately carved wood. Large, colorful tapestries hung from the walls. The light in the room was coming from a number of lighted candles. My eyes landed on an oil painting hanging on the opposite wall from the bed I was on. The woman in the painting was seated in a red-velvet chair, dressed in a royal blue and white gown, resting her hand on the neck of some kind of dog.

At least part of the transmutation had worked because the face of the woman in the painting was mine. That’s how the transmutation device worked. You were sent somewhere and you occupied the body of someone already there, but it’s really you…like switching places. And everyone around you thinks you’ve been that person all along. The transmutation device was a complicated piece of machinery that baffled me to no end on its function. Seth knew more about it than I did because he had been part of the team that had developed the technology.

And then it hit me…the transmutation device. Where was it? Without it I wouldn’t be able to return to Gateway. The panic overwhelmed me and I began to shiver uncontrollably. I was stuck here. Son of a bitch! I was stuck here! “Who are you people?” I finally asked fearfully.

“Who are we? I am your father,” the older man stated.

“And I am Alma, your handmaiden,” the older woman quickly followed.

The two turned to each other and raised their eyebrows.

“I’ll get the doctor,” said Alma as she turned from me.

I watched her rush out of the room and then I turned to the man claiming to be my father. “Please tell me who you are.”

“I am King Alexor Draconir of Anfalas, your father.”

“And…and who am I?”

“You are Princess Ariedel, my daughter.”

I fell back on the bed, my head slumping down on the pillow and covered my face with my hands. What was I going to do now? This was like a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from, only I was wide awake. I was stuck here…never to see the suns of Avalon again.

The Ash Mountains

A small group of Uruk-hai roamed the mountains, wandering aimlessly, with no purpose other than to find food. The rest of their kind had perished in front of the Black Gates in the final battle against Man. Their master vanished and so did the Uruk-hai’s reason to exist. It was every Uruk-hai for himself. They didn’t band into groups or aid each other in any way. It was no longer their instinct.

One Uruk-hai wandered into a crevasse, following a rat. The crevasse opened into a small cavern. He glanced around and noticed something dark sticking out of the snow covered walls. It resembled a spike, maybe from a weapon. Curiosity got the best of him and he began to dig the snow around the spike. The more he uncovered, the more he realized that it was another creature.

It had arms and it had legs. But the back of its head was elongated and its jaw revealed permanently bared teeth. A beautiful creature, the Uruk-hai thought. He reached a hand to touch the creature’s skull, knowing that it had been dead for a long time. But the snow had kept it well preserved. Maybe it was still good enough to eat.

The Uruk-hai was preoccupied with the creature’s head and didn’t see the hand make a small movement. With lightning speed the hand lunged at his throat. There was no time for the Uruk-hai to yell out and no time to fight. The creature overpowered him and cut off his air supply to force unconsciousness.

The alien drone bubbled with excitement. After all this time, finally a host to birth the queen. He dragged the unconscious Uruk-hai further into the cavern and down a narrow passage, deep down into the bowels of the mountain. The passage opened into a huge cavern.

The alien had worked alone for many years to secrete its resin and create the interior, which resembled the inside of a giant rib cage. The hardened resin insulated the cave from the frigid temperatures outside. The alien placed the Uruk-hai against the wall and proceeded to cocoon him.

Once the task was complete, the alien pulled out the egg of his queen from a large hole he had hidden it in and set it down close to the Uruk-hai. The drone hissed and lovingly caressed the egg, waking the hibernating infant inside.

Awake, my queen. The time has come…

Anfalas
(Ariedel’s POV)

The days that followed went by incredibly slow. I had never been so bored in my entire life, just lying around, getting waited on by God knows how many handmaidens. I wasn’t even allowed to take my own bath. These people really took this medieval living very seriously. They even called me Princess Ariedel. It was just so funny to me that I laughed every single time.

It wasn’t long before I heard talk of preparations for my marriage to a certain Prince Yardell, I knew this was getting out of hand. I was supposed to be on a mission, I wasn’t supposed to be lollygagging around, getting married and stuff. No matter how much I protested, my supposed father and my head handmaiden Alma argued that the prince of Forlindon was a perfect match for me. Over my dead body was I going to marry one of these weird medieval people, even though I wasn’t the real Ariedel. Maybe she didn’t want to marry some dumbass prince either. And if she did, well, it was too bad for her. This body belonged to me until I somehow managed to find the transmutation device.

When I was finally able to walk on my own and regained much of my strength, the discovery of the stables outside my window was no surprise. Every castle had stables, didn’t it? I intended to make full use of them when the opportunity presented itself.

An opportunity did present itself a couple nights later, when the castle was quiet and everyone was asleep. I snuck out of my room and went in search of something more appropriate to wear for riding.

In one of the rooms on the main floor, right off the kitchen, I found stacks of neatly folded garments. I recognized them as what the guards wore under their armor. My white sleep gown came off and the men’s garments went on.

In another room I found battle gear. Maybe some body armor and a sword wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Maybe I wouldn’t draw as much attention to myself if I was dressed like a guard. After donning some armor that was small enough for me, to my belt I added a heavy broadsword that was taller than me and dragged on the floor as I walked. The final piece was a helmet. Now I was ready to get the hell out of this place and search for my precious transmutation device so I could get the hell home again and kick Hawke’s ass.

The courtyard was quiet, except for the loud chirping of crickets. I walked in the shadows as I approached the stables. There were hundreds of horses. But only one drew my attention because he knickered as I came near.

Alma had described the horse I had fallen from, calling him Blade. He was black and huge, with a thick mane and forelock that reached passed his nose and shoulders. His legs were stocky and feathered near the hooves. This had to be my beloved steed.

What a perfect retribution this would be…steal the horse they told me I shouldn’t ride. I wasn’t exactly stealing him. I just needed to get back to where I had originally transmutated. The device had to be there somewhere. I just didn’t know how I was going to find the place because I didn’t get a chance to even look around before falling off the horse when I transmutated into the candidate.

I tacked up Blade and then silently led him out of the stall, still keeping to the shadows. I froze near the gate when I saw a guard standing there. But he didn’t move. In fact he was asleep, snoring rather loudly. Blade and I slipped passed with barely a sound.

Once I was well out of earshot, I mounted the black horse and nudged him forward. With years of riding lessons when I was young, it was all coming back to me. But Blade was obviously well-trained because he obeyed my cues without hesitation. Now all I needed was to figure out where I had been riding when I fell.

The search began…and went on and on. For days.

Luckily there were plenty of freshwater ponds around. I would give anything for a fishing pole. But the fruits I found in some of the trees were good enough for now. There would be plenty of time for a fat juicy steak when I got home…if I ever got home.

The Ash Mountains

The Uruk-hai woke from his slumber and immediately realized he couldn’t move. He was trapped in something hard, something that didn’t give when he tried to move his arms. An angry roar escaped his distorted mouth as he recalled the moment the creature had grabbed him by the throat. He struggled once more, calling up his brute strength to try and free himself.

A nearby sound made him stop abruptly. He turned his head slightly and noticed an oblong object resting across from him. Something was moving inside of it. A moment later the top of the object opened in quarters. The Uruk-hai’s curiosity was peaked. It could be food…he hadn’t eaten in days. He struggled again.

There was more movement inside the object. Then three spindly legs edged out slowly, followed by three more. The Uruk-hai stopped struggling as he watched a crablike creature emerge. It looked like food to him. The Uruk-hai growled angrily because he couldn’t move to get to it. He had no idea that this facehugger intended to make him the food.

Suddenly the facehugger launched itself from the open egg and flew through the air to land on the Uruk-hai’s face. The Uruk-hai struggled, swinging his face left and right in an attempt to dislodge the creature, but the facehugger wrapped its tail around his neck and slid its birthing appendage down his throat. The struggling soon ceased.

Nearby the drone watched in satisfaction as the facehugger planted the embryo into the Uruk-hai, pushing it deep down his throat to lie in his chest. It would only be a matter of time now before the queen was born and being the only living drone, he would have the privilege of servicing her as the alpha.

 

Chapter 2 - Captured​

Anórien
(Ariedel’s POV)

On the eighth day I led Blade toward another rocky hill. There had been plenty of them around. But this one had black smoke rising on the other side of it. Smoke…maybe it was another village where I could get some supplies. As I approached some strange sounds reached my ears…like cries of pain and metal striking metal.

Blade and I reached the top of the hill just as the sun was starting to go down. What I saw from that summit made my eyes widen. Blood and dismemberments. I was witnessing a battle between two groups of people: those in black and silver armor and those in rusty armor.

Fires burned in a dozen or more places as they tried to kill each other. The men in black and silver were mainly archers, shooting arrows into their enemy. And the battle was definitely in their favor.

Among them I spotted a shorter man, with a thick red beard. He used an axe against the rusty armored men. This was unbelievable. What world still fought with swords and bows in such a blood bath?

A rider on a white horse caught my eye. He wore no armor, just a green tunic. With no effort, he jumped off the horse and ran forward, pulling two long knives from his back. As a rusty armor lunged at him, he sliced the man’s neck crossing both knives in an X. The rusty armor’s head came off.

I gagged, feeling bile rising to my throat. As gruesome as it was, I couldn’t take my eyes off the one in the green tunic. He had long blonde hair, part of it tied back in a tail. His clothing appeared spotless. He looked like an angel, but given his fighting style, he was more like an angel of death…slicing and dicing everyone in his path. His movements were like a dance, deadly accurate and unforgiving.

In a single fluid and swift motion, he slid his knives into a sheath on his back and retrieved his bow. He was just as deadly with it, shot after shot finding its target. Not one arrow missed.

“Legolas!” yelled the small red-bearded man. Whatever it was he had shouted, it drew the attention of the blonde one. “Legolas! Up there!”

Legolas. Was that his name? He turned to where Short Red Beard was pointing. It took a few seconds for it all to register. He was pointing right at me. Oh shit.

As I watched him retrieve an arrow and take aim, Blade moved before I even had a chance to react, as if he sensed the trouble I was in. He took me back down the hill. I glanced back but didn’t see any arrows come sailing after me.

I heard the hoofbeats behind me when we reached the bottom of the hill. A quick glance over my shoulder and I saw the archer galloping after me on his white horse. Blade was stretched out in a full gallop, but the lighter horse behind me was eating up the ground rapidly.

Up ahead was the forest. I had attempted it a few days ago and found it to be too thick to go on horseback. But now there was nowhere else to go. I needed to lose this archer or I was dead meat.

Seconds later we hit the trees and I felt the branches scraping at my arms and legs. Luckily armor protected them or I wouldn’t have any skin left. Blade leapt over obstacles on the ground and tore through the trees.

A movement to my right drew my attention. There he was…a few feet away, aiming his bow.

And then it happened. Something solid hit me in the chest and I fell backward off Blade’s back.

When I hit the ground I grabbed at my chest but found no arrow. An arrow hadn’t knocked me off my horse, a goddamned branch did. But there was no time to argue with myself about it because the archer turned his horse and came right at me. I did the only thing I could do…I drew my sword and held the incredibly heavy thing up…barely.

The archer still had his bow up, an arrow aimed right at me. His horse circled around me and I followed him to keep him in my sights.

“Lower your sword. My arrow will pierce your heart before you can make a move.” He had an accent, just like everybody else in this freaking world.

“Not through this armor, it won’t,” I said through clenched teeth. But my bravado didn’t last long as my helmet slipped forward over my eyes, blinding me momentarily. I quickly pushed it back up, pretending it never happened.

Without missing a beat, the archer threw his leg over his horse’s neck and slid off its bare back, bow still aimed right at me. “Do you care to wager your life, warrior?” He moved forward toward me.

I took a couple steps back, the weight of the sword starting to force my arms down. If I was going to die, then it was going to be on my feet fighting…one more step and before I realized what happened, I was on the ground…on my back with my legs bent over a fallen tree. So much for the thought of dying while fighting. Had this been any other time, I would have laughed at my clumsiness.

He lowered his bow and exchanged it for one of his knives before coming at me. With one knee pressing me down at the chest, he touched the blade to my throat. “Who are you?” he asked menacingly through clenched teeth.

“I’m no one,” I replied.

“You are not an Orc and you are not a barbarian, judging by your armor. What are you then?”

My helmet suddenly slipped backward off my head and my long sandy blonde hair came tumbling out.

“A woman,” he said in shock as he stared down at me with electric blue eyes so pale, they almost looked clear.

I had never seen eyes that color on any man. But this was no ordinary man. With his long blonde hair, his ethereal eyes and his pointed ears…pointed ears? I was about to die by his hands and the only thought that crossed my mind was how beautiful he was. Beautiful and quite dangerous. But was he more dangerous than an alien?

He removed the knife and grabbed me by the top of my chest plate, drawing me nose to nose with him. “You are a spy then,” he spat out angrily as he continued to stare with those smoldering eyes.

Why was he so pissed off at me? What had I done to him?

He released me, roughly pushing me back down to the ground before he got up. “Do not move!”

I didn’t move, except for my head, which I lifted to see what he was going to do.

Just then out of the darkness, my faithful steed crashed through the branches and reared up in front of him. The archer ducked and scrambled out of the way right as Blade’s powerful hooves crashed down on the spot where he had just been standing.

I awkwardly got up on my feet, which I found to be extremely difficult wearing armor.

Blade reared again in front of the archer and just when I thought it was the killing blow, the archer raised his hand and closed his eyes. Blade stopped rearing as the archer spoke some strange language to him. The horse snorted furiously several more times before he slowly went down first on his knees and then the rest of him. Blade calmly shook his head, his long mane and forelock flying every which way. My horse was a traitor. He just turned to the dark side on me.

The archer turned his attention back to me. Man, he looked really pissed off, like I was the cause of all his problems. What the heck did I ever do to him? He approached me again and at first I thought he would stick me with his knife, but he only cut the straps holding my armor in place.

In fact he cut off every piece of it until I stood only in leggings and tunic. But that didn’t seem to satisfy him. As defenseless as I was, he found it necessary to tie my wrists together in front of me.

“Let us see you try anything now, woman,” he finally said in satisfaction.

“My name is not woman. I’m Ariedel.”

He frowned at the mention of the name, but then looked at me like I was some slug in the mud. “Aye, of course you are.”

It was obvious he didn’t believe me.

“Legolas!” came a cry from the woods. “Where are you, you damned Elf?”

Elf? I turned to look at him. An Elf? Well, that explained the pointed ears. I shook my head. What the hell was I thinking? There were no such thing as Elves. Elves were in fairytales parents told their kids. Then a thought nagged at me. No one ever thought there’d be aliens either. Yet they lived. Why couldn’t Elves live?

“Legolas!” The branches ahead moved as the short red-bearded man and several other men and horses approached, some carrying torches.

The Elf turned to them. “I am here.”

“Legolas,” I repeated. “Is that your name?”

He glanced back at me. “Hold your tongue or I will cut it off.”

Enough was enough and I had had enough. I yanked my bound wrists out of his grip and backed away from him. “Go ahead and cut off my tongue! Just do it because I’m not gonna shut up. Yeah, that’s right, I’m gonna just keep talking until somebody tells me where the fuck I am and where I can find my transmutation device because I need it to get the fuck back to where I came from. As for you…” I waved my bound wrists at him and laughed. “I mean…come on, an Elf?”

The short red-bearded man came into view and looked up at me in surprise.

“Oh, and let me guess, you must be a dwarf, right? So where’re the dragons and the goblins and Merlin the magician! Is King Arthur and Sir Lancelot going to ride up and join this little party any second now? Or better yet, can somebody please wave their magic wand and wake me up from this goddamned nightmare?”

Legolas stared at me like I just came down from the clouds. In fact they were all staring at me strangely.

A dark-haired man moved to stand behind Legolas. Correction, he was an Elf, too, judging by his pointed ears. “She is a witch. She speaks with strange words meant to confuse. We must kill her before her spell takes over our minds.”

So now I was a witch. That was just so original I wanted to puke.

Legolas took a few steps toward me until he was only a foot away. He stared directly into my eyes and all I could do was look right back up at him. Then my mind played tricks on me as his eyes mysteriously went from pale blue to a dark blue and then back again. “Nay, Elladan, she is no witch,” he finally said. “She is a spy.”

Blade snorted as one of the other Elves walked around his reclined body. Surprisingly, this other Elf looked exactly like the one near Legolas. Twin Elves? “This horse’s saddle bears the shield of Draconir,” said the twin.

Legolas walked toward Blade. When he stood in front of him, he pushed the stallion’s mane aside, revealing a brand on its neck. It was the same design I had seen on the flags flying outside the castle. It was the shield that belonged to the man who kept insisting he was my father. “And so does the horse,” stated Legolas.

“Aye, she has stolen a horse from Alexor,” said the dwarf.

“I only borrowed him!” I yelled out in my defense.

Legolas moved toward me again. “Then we shall see to it that you return him.”

I quickly shook my head. “No…I can’t go back there. Those people are crazy.” My argument was pointless. These men, including my friend the archer, were just as crazy.

He grabbed me by my bound wrists and dragged me over to Blade, forcing me into the saddle. “Eria,” he told the horse and Blade obediently lifted himself up on his feet. Then Legolas turned toward the dwarf. “Gimli, what of Moriden?” (Rise)

“The vile minion is dead, along with his retched men, except for that one.”

One of the other Elves dragged forward a man with rusty armor.

“And my father’s bow?” asked Legolas.

Another Elf approached and handed Legolas a black bow with some intricate carvings. The man in the rusty armor was brought forward and pushed down on his knees before Legolas.

“Let this be a lesson to anyone who steals from the woodland Elves, especially from my father. I release you to spread this word to your barbarian friends, if any still live.” Legolas motioned to the Elf who cut the man’s binds.

The rusty armor got up and ran for his life, disappearing in the darkness of the woods.

“Arod!” Legolas called out. His white steed trotted over and after Legolas secured the bow behind his back, he mounted the horse’s bare back.

As usual, I didn’t have the good sense to know when to keep my mouth shut. “Let me get this straight. You wiped out an entire army because they stole a bow?”

“Be silent!”

“Or what? You’ll cut out my tongue? Are you gonna start that again?”

Legolas took hold of Blade’s reins and we made our way back through the woods. The dwarf mounted behind one of the other Elves on their horse. Apparently he didn’t have a horse of his own.

We came out of the woods a few minutes later and headed across the plains and up over the hill where I first witnessed the battle. The scene on the other side of the hill was pure carnage. Nothing moved. They were all dead. Some were dismembered or sliced up badly, while others had multiple arrows sticking out of them.

This was the work of Elves? The Elves I read about in books were nothing like this. They were a magical, peaceful people that never resorted to violence. Killing hundreds to retrieve a stolen bow? They weren’t Elves, they were savages. Worse than the barbarians they had killed.

Satisfied that all were dead, Legolas led the group back over the hill.

“Legolas,” said the dwarf. “I must take my leave of you now and return to Gondor.”

Legolas halted his horse and everyone else stopped behind him. The Elf carrying the dwarf nudged his horse beside Legolas. “Farewell then, Gimli. I thank you for helping me retrieve my father’s bow at the risk of your own life.”

“And I would do it again, my friend.”

The two reached out to rest their hands on each other’s shoulders. “Cirion, Aeglos, Gellam, go with Tirnen and Gimli. I shall see you back home. The rest ride with me to Anfalas.”

While the four Elves went with the dwarf, the remaining six Elves, including Legolas turned in the other direction.

“Legolas,” yelled out the dwarf. “I shall soon see you in the company of King Elessar.”

“Until then, my friend!” replied Legolas.

The Ash Mountains

The Uruk-hai woke for the second time. The last he recalled was the crab creature launching itself at him. He found he still couldn’t move. And then he felt a terrible pain in his chest…an excruciating stabbing pain.

The drone watched a short distance away…and waited.

The Uruk-hai roared in pain. Something was slamming at the inside of his ribcage. It moved around inside him and slammed again repeatedly. The pain was overwhelming and he continued to roar. The sound of his voice echoed loudly inside the large cavern and then was abruptly cut off as a loud crunching sound immediately followed.

The Uruk-hai’s chest suddenly exploded outward, blood and gore flying through the air. The flesh-colored infant queen took its first breath of air and squealed.

The drone quickly bounded over and brought his face close to the infant, providing courage and support.

The infant squealed again, it’s tiny spiked crown rising up in superiority.

The drone was proud and hissed in excitement, then nudged the infant.

The baby understood the telepathic thoughts projected by the drone. Feed…She sniffed at the body of the creature she had emerged from and then started to eat it.

Anórien
(Legolas’s POV)

We rode at a jog for several hours before I glanced at the others in my company. They looked weary from days of travel and the battle with the barbarians. I raised my hand and halted Arod. Everyone halted behind me. “We will make camp here and continue on in the morning.”

Lembas and red wine were unpacked, ready to be served and a fire was prepared. I turned to the woman on the black horse. Ariedel, she had called herself. She was a spy who had stolen the horse from Draconir and then pretended to be Draconir’s daughter. Ariedel wouldn’t be out here alone, days away from her home. He had known Ariedel when she was a child and she had been shy and aloof. Word had also spread that Draconir’s daughter, later raised in a convent, was a recluse that avoided contact with anyone but her father and handmaidens. This spirited woman was definitely not Princess Ariedel Draconir.

I walked up and grabbed the woman by her wrists, pulling her off the saddle. She fought to free herself from my grip while I dragged her near the fire. When I released her wrists, she fell backward and glared up at me with fire in her pale grey eyes.

“Bastard,” she called me as I walked away.

Elrohir handed me a square of Lembas and a goblet of wine. Then he moved on to give the woman some. I sat on the other side of the fire where I could keep my eyes on her.

She ungratefully yanked the Lembas out of Elrohir’s hands. After taking a bite she spit it out and stared up at Elrohir with venom. “Are you kidding me? This is it? No beef stew or chili? What kind of camping trip is this?” She tossed the Lembas on the ground in disgust.

For the life of me I could not figure out why this woman amused me so. She spoke strange words with expressions that led me to believe they were foul curses.

She watched me from across the fire, then reached down to pick up the Lembas she had tossed away. After several more bites, she decided it was not so bad. “Hey, how about some of that wine?” she asked after several minutes.

Wine. She wanted wine. Being a thief, she had the nerve to even request it. I just stared at her for a moment as she stared back at me. Her eyes gave her away. She feared me and that was fine.

After some time I stood up and walked over to her, offering her the goblet I drank from. She looked down at it in revulsion. Perhaps she did not want any afterall. I shrugged and as I started to walk away, she quickly reached out and grabbed the goblet from my hand. I watched with amusement as she gulped the contents as if it were water. The wine was strong and made her sputter and cough. When she saw the amusement on my face, she made a point of finishing the rest of the wine and I could see her fighting to not cough again. Her will to defy me was amusing. And I had no idea why I thought that.

“Wait,” she said before I could walk away. “How about untying me?”

“So you can sneak behind me and plunge a knife into my back? Not a chance.”

“Come on, do I really look like I’m capable of doing that?”

I looked deep into her eyes. Aye, she was quite capable of it. She wanted to avoid going to Anfalas at all costs, it seemed. Perhaps her crime was far worse than just stealing a horse from Draconir. Had she also killed someone?

She continued, “Besides, you’d know if I was sneaking up on you, right? Don’t Elves have a sixth sense or something like that?”

I thought it over for awhile longer. Finally coming to a decision, I crouched down and untied her wrists, but I stared her down, trying to instill further fear into her. I wanted her to know that I would not hesitate to kill her and sleep well afterward. “Do not even think about escaping. I will hunt you down and you will arrive at Draconir Castle as a corpse. Am I clear on this?”

She rubbed her chaffed wrists, looking wryly at me. “Perfectly.”

The look upon her face hinted to me that she understood but perhaps did not intend to follow my advice.

Anórien
(Ariedel’s POV)

An hour later the Elves were asleep. I looked around for Legolas and spotted him sitting up on a huge boulder. He was facing the opposite direction, staring at the full moon above him. I half expected him to start howling at it.

I silently crawled away from the fire and kept going when I entered the bushes. I knew I wasn’t going to get far on my hands and knees, but I wanted to make sure I was far enough away so no one would hear me.

Just then I ran into a pair of black boots. “Going somewhere?” asked the voice above me.

I recognized the voice. It was Legolas. Shit! I lifted myself up and sat back on my heels, trying to think of something quick. “Look, I have to pee, okay?”

He frowned at me.

Maybe he didn’t know what I meant. “You know…make water, urinate, empty my bladder. How else do you want me to describe it to you?”

“I know what it means,” he replied in irritation. “Get on with it already.”

It just so happened that I really did have to pee. When he made no move to leave, I looked expectantly up at him. “Do you mind? I’m not going to do it with you standing there watching me. Turn around.”

Legolas retrieved one of his long knives. “Do anything else and you will feel the point of my knife.” He turned his back to me impatiently, knife at his side.

I proceeded to take care of business. “Aren’t you getting tired of threatening me with your knives?”

“I will cease when I can trust you will not try to escape again.”

“I wasn’t trying to escape. I said I had to pee.”

“You will ask my permission next time.”

I scrunched up my face and mimicked his words. “You will ask my permission next time.”

Legolas whirled around and the tip of his knife was at my throat. “You mock me?”

But the threat didn’t last long as I moved to stand up, pulling the leggings with me. I saw his eyes drift downward. How typical. This Elf was just like any other man. Show a little skin and they get all distracted. “Why don’t you lighten up, Legolas?”

He moved closer to me as he grabbed my arm. The tip of his knife started to pinch the spot right under my chin. “What do you mean?”

I stared into his blazing blue eyes. “I thought Elves were supposed to be easy-going.”

He angrily narrowed his eyes. “You try my patience, woman.” He abruptly released me, pushing me backward with some force.

When we arrived back at the Elf camp, he took me by the wrist and led me back near the fire. I laid down and rolled over on my side. Then to my surprise, I felt him lie down next to me. I assumed it was to make sure I didn’t try to escape again.

“Why are you taking me back to Draconir Castle?” I asked him.

“I will see you return the horse you stole and receive your punishment.”

“What’s the punishment for stealing a horse?”

“In some villages, death by hanging.”

I knew I wouldn’t be hanged because the master of Draconir Castle believed I was his daughter, so rightfully the horse belonged to me. “Why do you hate me? I did nothing to you.”

“Be silent, woman.”

“You can’t even call me by my name?”

“You are a prisoner.”

“Back where I come from, even prisoners have names and they’re considered innocent until they’re proven guilty.”

“A horse with the shield of the Anfalas king was in your possession. You are guilty.”

“You’re so sure of this?”

“Aye.”

“Fine. We’ll see.” I was going to prove him wrong and then he was going to be sorry he ever met me.

Anórien
(Legolas’s POV)

This woman was quite entertaining, if anything. At every opportunity, she attempted to escape. It became a game in which I actually looked forward to what she would endeavor next.

The day after her feeble attempt to crawl away, she spurred her black stallion down into a canyon, thinking that the heavy horse would be able to navigate the vertical slide. Luckily neither she or the horse were injured in the tumble that resulted. As punishment I made her walk for most of the morning and afternoon, leading her horse instead of riding him.

She glared at me with such venom and uttered the most colorful words in my direction. Shithead, Elven prick, asshole. I had not idea what these words meant, but I recognized the emotion behind them.

The next day she managed to make off with a bow and arrow and found herself blocked in a gulley, with no exit. When I approached her, she threatened me with the bow. “I’ll shoot you. I swear, I will.”

“Go ahead,” I said, spreading my arms wide, giving her more access to my chest. “Shoot me.”

She took aim as I continued moving toward her. When she released the arrow, it sailed clear over my shoulder. Either her aim was atrocious or she intentionally missed, but I respected her for making the attempt nonetheless.

I reached out and snatched the bow from her hands. Then I leaned into her face, trying to appear angry, when in fact I was highly amused. “Would you like another arrow?”

“Yes, that would be nice,” she said with a smug smile.

I cursed in Elven and led her by the arm back to our camp.

And the day after that, she ran off into the darkness again, thinking I could not see her from where I sat in the tree. I shook my head in disbelief and hopped from the tree branch. After grabbing my bow, I set an arrow, took aim and fired. The arrow struck the ground in front of her. She was startled and spun around, seeing me approach.

When I finally reached her, she put her hands on her hips and looked at me with a grin. “You missed.”

I reached down for the arrow and held the point right in her face where a dead rabbit dangled. “I never miss.”

She stared at the dead rabbit and even in the darkness I could see her eyes widen. But then she pretended that she was not in the least bit impressed. “Hey, great, now we can have rabbit stew for dinner tonight.”

She did not wait for me to lead her back. She turned and headed back on her own. I shook my head again and could not help the smile that spread across my face.

Two days prior to reaching Anfalas, I was resting beside her on the ground. The next moment, she began coughing rather violently. When she sat up, her hands reached out for support. Unfortunately one of them rudely went to my face. As I struggled in irritation to push her hand away, I suddenly found the point of my knife at my throat. I stopped struggling and stared up at her.

“Don’t like it much, do you?” she asked with a smile.

I smiled back at her, admiring the skill at which she had put me in this position. “Do you intend to cut my throat anytime soon or must I lie here indefinitely?”

“That’s cute, Legolas. Don’t follow me this time.”

“You know I must. If you do not want me to follow, then you will have to kill me now.”

She got up on her feet, still pointing the knife at me. “Stay.”

I sat up and patiently crossed my legs, holding my hands out in a helpless manner. But I was unable to prevent the smile.

“Good boy,” she said as she backed away. And then she turned and made for the trees.

From the corner of my eye, I saw my kinsmen head for their horses. “Nay…I will go.” I went after her. Such wicked cunning from a woman. She earned my admiration tenfold.

She was running up ahead, turning her head to see me coming. Her breathing was labored as she ran faster. I caught up easily and just as she turned to me, I launched myself at her, dragging her to the ground. She reached with the knife in her left hand, trying to strike me with it. I took hold of her wrist and applied enough pressure so that she dropped it.

She continued to struggle beneath me. “Get off me, damn you!”

I pinned her wrists above her head. “Stop struggling.”

She stopped for a brief moment, glaring up at me. There was fear, anger…and something else. Hunger…and it was not for food. My eyes drifted down to her lips where she was breathing heavily from the exertion of running. They were parted in a seductive manner, drawing me into her. I battled my own wits to control the sudden urge I had to dip my tongue into her beckoning mouth…to taste what she had to offer.

“Don’t even think about it,” she spat out at me. “I’ll pull your pointed ears out of your head.”

I released her and she quickly got up and ran back in the direction of camp. I continued to stare at the ground where she had lain beneath me, still feeling the heat from her body. The urge had been so strong. Had she not woken me from my spell, I feared I would have violated her. I closed my eyes to the vile thought. Nay…never.

On the last day prior to reaching Anfalas, she made one final attempt to escape. This was after the Elves in my company had bound her from head to toe with rope and she was lying across her horse’s saddle. She had managed to hop off her horse and kept hopping because her legs were bound and she could not take any steps.

I smiled at Elladan and Elrohir beside me as they chuckled. “I should allow her to keep going for a time and see how far she actually gets in that manner.” We laughed again before I nudged Arod forward and walked him in her direction. She continued to hop even as I walked up beside her. “Tis a fine day for hopping.”

She turned her face to look up at me. “Fuck you.”

She had used that inflection many times now and I truly wanted to know what it meant. “Fuck you? I am unfamiliar with that phrase. What does it mean?”

“It means that you should take an arrow and shove it up the hole in your backside.”

I could not stop the smile and nodded with interest. “Aye, I imagined it might mean as such. Very colorful.”

She stopped hopping and sighed heavily. “This is exhausting. Can you get my horse for me, please?”

I smiled again and turned to my company. Blade was released and he trotted over. I reached down and grabbed her by the rope, lifting her to lay across the saddle.

“This is humiliating, Legolas.”

“I realize that, but you leave me no choice.” I heard her sigh again as we headed back to the others.

 

Chapter 3 - Promises​

Anfalas
(Ariedel’s POV)

Later that day, we were in sight of Draconir Castle. When I left more than two weeks ago, it was dark and I hadn’t even thought to look back. The castle was breathtaking in its splendor from a distance, like something right out of a fairytale.

We rode on along the countryside, heading for the main gate. Luckily Legolas had the good grace to untie the rope around me. But it cracked me up that they had to tie me up like a mummy to keep me from escaping. A couple of times I thought I was dead when Legolas caught up with me. But then I realized that he was playing with me, trying to scare me. He had no intentions of killing me, no matter how many times he threatened it to my face.

When we got close enough I could make out the guards standing on either side. One of them ran inside and a moment later a horn blew three times. The remaining guard at the gate allowed the Elves to pass.

Once we were inside the courtyard I saw King Alexor Draconir standing at the door of the castle. Beside him was Alma.

The minute she saw me, she screeched and ran toward me. “My lady, my lady,” she cried out along the way.

From the corner of my eye I saw Legolas turn to look at me. Without looking back at him, I slid out of my saddle to greet her. Not far behind was the king.

The Elves dismounted and bowed their heads to Draconir.

The king addressed them. “What goes on here? Where did you find my daughter?”

I knew Legolas was staring at me. I could feel his eyes on the back of my head. Before he had a chance to answer Draconir’s question, I jumped in to give my own interpretation. “I went for a ride on my horse and these Elves captured and tortured me mercilessly.”

“What!” The king turned to the Elves.

I turned to finally see the surprised expression on Legolas’s face. His brows were crinkled together in disbelief.

“What is this about, Legolas?” asked the king.

My gaze fell back on the king. “Wait a minute. You know him?” I asked.

“Are your senses still lost, Ariedel? Do you not recognize Prince Legolas, son of King Thranduil of Mirkwood? Do you not remember screaming in delight as he chased you through the halls when you were a child? Or when he taught you how to use a bow?”

“No…” I looked at Legolas. Prince Legolas? Chased me through the halls when I was a child? “How old was I?”

Alma answered before the king could. “You were seven.”

“If I was seven then how old was he?”

“Two thousand, nine hundred and ten,” replied Legolas.

I laughed. Yeah, right. The joke was over. “Father, won’t you punish him now? He did unspeakable things.” I needed a really strong word. “He defiled me.” I was going to smile the whole time they’d probably whip his hide.

“Is this true, Legolas?” asked the king in a serious tone.

Legolas was still looking at me, the harshness of his anger completely gone. Then he turned to the king. “Forgive me, my lord. I did not recognize her for she has grown since last I set eyes upon her. I thought she had stolen a horse from your realm and though I may have been harsh with her, I did not defile her as she says.”

I noticed that he looked a bit nervous all of a sudden.

“What nonsense is this?” the king asked as he turned back to me.

I was about to argue my case, but Legolas kept talking. “You know me well enough, my lord, to know that I am not capable of such an act.”

The king nodded his head slowly. “Yes, I do know this. Ariedel, why do you bear such false accusations against Legolas?”

The jig was up. The Elf was obviously honorable in the eyes of the king and of course I had no memory of anything before the day I found myself here in this castle. So he chased me around the halls and taught me how to use a bow when I was a kid. Big fucking deal. Maybe I needed to come clean…partially. “I wanted to get away from the castle for a few days. I knew that if I had asked you, you wouldn’t have let me go alone. Then I ran into the Elves and they captured me. Legolas didn’t defile me…but I was treated poorly by him. And so he should still be punished.”

Legolas replied quickly. “For that I sincerely apologize. As I said, I thought she had stolen a Draconir horse.”

The king nodded again. “Then you are lucky to be alive, Ariedel, for Legolas is not known to spare lives unless it serves a higher purpose. Go inside now.”

“But…”

The king was angry now. “I do not want to hear another word.”

My cheeks heated up in humiliation. I expected to see satisfaction on Legolas’s face, but his anger was long gone.

Alma nudged me by the arm and I allowed her to lead me away, but not before I had another look back at Legolas and the other Elves.

“You and your kinsmen are no doubt weary from your journey. Remain at the castle to eat and rest,” suggested the king.

“We are grateful, my lord.”

“It is I who am grateful, for Ariedel has not been herself of late. There is no telling where she would have ended up if not in your company. I sent a legion of guards in search of her…”

Their voices faded as I turned back to enter the castle.

The Ash Mountains

The alpha drone crawled on the resin covered cave wall, watching as the juvenile queen fed on the carcasses he brought her. The bodies were easy to come by. They didn’t suspect as he snuck into their camp and dragged off those that strayed too far.

The Uruk-hai were aware that their numbers were dwindling and with each passing day, more of them disappeared mysteriously. The strange tracks in the snow revealed that something was dragging them away. They decided to be prepared the next time the creature made an appearance. It was time for them to fight.

Anfalas
(Legolas’s POV)

The guilt was consuming me. My ego did not want to believe that I had been wrong. I assumed she had stolen the horse and was posing as Ariedel. Of all things, it was difficult to believe that this fiery woman was Ariedel Draconir. She had been raised in a convent after her mother passed on. I visited her once when she was eleven. She had been passive, listless and unemotional, not to mention her frightful desire to remain indoors…never wanting to sit under the heat of the sun. I never returned after that, unable to bear her apathetic countenance. Something must have happened to her since then.

The dinner bell sounded and a moment later the door to her chamber opened. Ariedel stepped out and made to move down the corridor.

“Ariedel,” I called out softly.

She whirled around in surprise at the sound of my voice and frowned at me. “So now I have a name.”

I studied her slight form in the pale gown she wore. “I apologized in front of your father for my behavior and I do so again before you now. I did not know it was you. What else would you have me do?” She was a vision that nearly took my breath away.

“Are you always so cruel to women?”

I frowned. “Nay.”

“Then what was your problem with me?”

“I was angry because…I could not imagine a woman so fair resorting to thievery.” It was the truth. I had no reason to lie.

The look on her face was painful. “You were so sure I was guilty.”

“Will you forgive me?”

“I don’t know if I can.”

She might as well have stabbed me in the heart with a knife as she backed away several steps and then turned to rush down the corridor. Her desire to flee from my sight pained me more than the blow of any Orc. I was confused by this feeling. She had meant nothing to me in the beginning. But her willful spirit captured my heart and even more so the moment I discovered her true identity.

In all of my years I had yet to desire any female so much that she would bring me down to my knees to beg forgiveness. Yet I craved forgiveness from Ariedel. This was an incredibly undesirable feeling. I punched at the wall beside me to clear my thoughts. Nay…I would not beg for forgiveness. Not now, not ever.

The dinner bell sounded again. I headed down the corridor to the staircase. When I reached the main floor, I followed the sounds of laughter to the dining hall. Some of the Draconir Castle guards were seated at the main table with the Elves in my company. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, eating and drinking. King Alexor was seated among them and beside him was Ariedel.

She had to be famished, yet she was daintily picking at her food with her fork. I moved into the room and of the many empty seats, I chose to torture myself further by sitting directly across from her at the table. Her eyes came up to meet mine briefly before she looked back down at her plate.

“Well now, Legolas, you appear well-rested,” commented the king.

“Thank you, my lord. I have not felt a bed beneath me for many days.”

“What business brought you so far south of Mirkwood?”

“My father was returning to Mirkwood after a long visit with the king of Gondor. Along the way a band of barbarians attacked their company. Several of them made off with his belongings, including his bow.”

The king looked on in shock. “Vile filth they are!”

Ariedel looked up at the king. “I see no reason to risk lives for a bow.”

The king turned to her. “You forget, my dear, that an Elf’s bow is like his own arm. You cannot separate the two.”

She made an obscene snort. “That’s a load of crap, if I ever heard any.”

Everyone at the table grew silent.

The king turned to her in shock. “Ariedel! You dare insult our guests?” Then he turned back to me. “Forgive her, Legolas. As I said, she has not been herself for some time now. The words that come out of her mouth are like the work of a dark wizard. It’s frightening.”

“She is forgiven,” I said as I looked at her with a hint of a smile.

Ariedel still had that pained look when she turned to me. Something about her drew me into the depth of her grey eyes. I had never met a female…woman or Elf…that demanded my attention without even asking. I was not able to look away.

“Perhaps I need to send you to Forlindon sooner than expected,” said the king.

“Forlindon?” I asked curiously as I raised my goblet to drink.

“The prince has asked for her hand.”

Her hand? She was spoken for?

Ariedel sighed heavily and cut in. “I said I have no intention of marrying that Prince Yokel or whatever his name is.”

“You will do as I say and marry Prince Yardell.”

The desire to crush the goblet with my hand was overwhelming. The prince of Forlindon of all people. Anyone but him.

“What say you to a favor, Legolas? Will you do me the honor of escorting my daughter safely to Forlindon?”

I attempted to control the clenching of my teeth. “I am afraid I cannot.” I had no desire to take her into the arms of that Forlindon brute.

Ariedel locked eyes with me and I saw her trying to convey the need to have me be her escort. Perhaps she thought that once she was away from this castle, she might be able to somehow convince me to let her go.

“I am expected…at Mirkwood,” I said, still seething over the news that she was to wed Yardell.

The king looked disappointed. “That is unfortunate. I will have to send my guards then.”

Her eyes continued to plead with me. I was unable to refuse. I stared back at her briefly before turning to the king. “Perhaps I can do this favor, my lord. I will send word back to Mirkwood of my delay in returning.”

The king clapped his hands and rubbed them together in merriment. “Excellent. I will have the maids prepare my daughter for the journey in two days time.”

Anfalas
(Ariedel’s POV)

Later that night, I went to the stables to see how Blade was doing. I took a brush from a shelf and began to slowly run it over his thick neck.

“I suppose I’ll never get the chance to find my way out of this.” Blade knickered softly in response to my words. “If I did happen to find my transmutation device, I’d find a way to somehow take you back with me, Blade.” I smiled to myself. “I’m sure the director at Gateway would throw a fit if he suddenly saw a horse grazing in the station’s arboretum.”

“Thinking about running away again?”

I whirled around and there stood Legolas. “Will you please stop sneaking up behind me?”

Legolas came up to stand at Blade’s head.

I watched him gently caress the horse’s muzzle and couldn’t imagine those same hands had used a bow to kill barbarians with such precision that it scared the shit out of me. “I suppose you want me to forgive you in exchange for volunteering to take me to Forlindon.”

“Why is it so important to you that I go instead of your father’s guards?”

I shrugged.

“Perhaps you think you can persuade me not to take you there.”

I turned to him. Could he read minds? Was that some kind of Elf thing? “No…that’s not the reason. For your information, I think it’s a good punishment for you. You’re gonna have to put up with me for however many days it takes to get me there.”

“Thirty-five days from Anfalas to Forlindon. I fear you will be the one punished.”

“Thirty-five days? Why do we have to go on horseback? Can’t we fly?”

He snorted. “How do propose we do that?”

“Don’t you people have any airports?”

He frowned slightly. “Air…port?”

“Never mind.” I shook my head and went back to grooming Blade. What was the rush to get there anyway? I would rather it took thirty-five years.

“You ran away to avoid your union with the prince of Forlindon?” asked Legolas.

“Yes.”

“You care not for him?”

“Of course not. I don’t even know him, never met him before in my life.”

“I do not envy you. Why do your people insist on arranging marriages? Among the Elves, two people choose each other and wed for love and to bear children.”

I sighed heavily. “I couldn’t agree with you more.” I reached out and touched his arm. “Legolas, maybe you can talk to the king. You can convince him to forget the whole thing.”

Legolas shook his head. “I cannot. Tis not for me to change the mind of your father, no matter how much I despise Yardell of Forlindon.”

“You know him?”

“I wish I did not.”

“So just from your reaction, I’m venturing to guess that this guy is a complete jerk.”

“Jerk?”

“A bastard.”

Legolas gritted his teeth. “Aye.”

“What makes him so bad?” I needed to know.

“I fought along side Yardell two years ago. He is a coward and a cheat who will use his own people as shields against the enemy. He and his company of men have been known to raid villages in search of women of which they violate and toss aside.”

“But why doesn’t someone put a stop to what he does?”

“His sire, the king of Forlindon, tolerates his son’s behavior. He is the only heir.”

I shook my head. “I can’t marry someone like that. What am I going to do?”

Legolas gave me a pained look. “I know not what you can do, Ariedel.” He appeared to sympathize with me.

I turned away and returned to brushing Blade. “I suppose you’re happily wedded.”

“Nay, I have no wife.”

A plan began to suddenly take shape in my head. It was out of desperation, but I had nowhere else to turn. “I’m guessing that the reason I have to marry Prince Yardell is because my father wants me to marry into royalty. So nothing less than a prince will do. What if you were to ask my father for my hand?”

He frowned at me in surprise. “Me?”

“You’re a prince. You’re royalty.”

He shook his head. “I have no desire to be wed at this time.”

“It won’t be for long. Just so I can get out of this castle and not be forced to marry Yardell. Then we can get divorced and go our separate ways.”

Legolas looked at me like I had four heads. “You mean for me to fool your father?”

“I would be eternally grateful.”

“If you were immortal such as I, that would be for a very long time.”

Immortal? Did I read something about Elves being immortal? Of course. That explained his age. But two thousand plus years was a damned long time. Jesus, he must have done a lot in his lifetime with that many years behind him.

“Even if I had a desire to wed you, Ariedel, the king would never allow an Elf to marry his only daughter.”

“How do you know?” I asked.

Legolas didn’t seem to have an answer, but at least he looked as if he might be entertaining the idea just a little bit and not opposed to the whole thing.

“Please, Legolas. You have to help me. I can’t marry someone like Yardell. I’ll kill myself before I let that happen.”

“Yet you are willing to wed me, whom you know just as little.”

I put the brush away and turned to him. “You’re right. I don’t know you, but I’m pretty sure I can trust you. Besides, as far as we’re concerned, it’s not for real. We’ll just pretend to be married when we’re around everyone else. Will you at least think about it?”

“I will seriously think on it this night, Ariedel.”

I moved toward him. “Thank you.” I stood up on my toes and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. As I stepped back away, I felt my own cheeks heat up. What was it about this Elf that made butterflies dance around in my stomach? The night he had tackled me on the ground, I swear I thought he was going to kiss me. I saw it in his eyes. And God only knew how I had wanted him to. But he hesitated too long and I lost my nerve. As I looked into his eyes now, I could see that desire again. “Good night.” I turned and quickly walked away before he could read it on my face that I wanted him to drag me down into the hay and fuck the ever-living shit out of me. I was certain the real Ariedel didn’t quite have the experience to handle it.

Anfalas
(Legolas’s POV)

Marriage to a woman…

This was something I had never contemplated before. I assumed I would eventually wed an Elf. Yet no elleth had the ability to keep my interest for very long. They were far too dependent of me, had no other interests in their lives except to be with me and do all that I bid them to do. None stirred my emotions, not even a spark of anger to make me think I felt something for them. (elf maiden)

My father was constantly trying to peak my interest in one maiden or another. Did he not know me by now? I was rebellious by nature and cared nothing for a complacent mate. I needed someone with spirit, maybe a bit of aggression to match my own. I needed someone who wanted to share in my adventures and not sit idly at home, waiting with bated breath for my return.

Ariedel…everything she said, everything she did…I felt as if I hung on her every word when she spoke, curious to hear what she had to say. She rebelled against me at every chance and it ignited me into a frenzy.

When she tried to convince me that I should ask for her hand, I knew it was a plot to run away again. She had no desire to wed Yardell and I blamed her not for that. Yardell was a despicable man, a waste of human flesh. I had no desire to see Ariedel wed him. I had no desire to see her wed any man for that matter.

I glanced around and found that I had walked myself into a corner of the garden. As I started to walk back, I realized that Ariedel’s balcony was directly above me. There was no light coming from her room. Was she asleep? Another quick glance around and I found no guards standing about.

Flowered vines grew along the walls of the castle near the garden. I tested their strength and began to climb. When I reached the balcony, I hopped over the balustrade and silently moved toward the door. My keen ears heard no sounds coming from inside, except for the steady rhythm of Ariedel’s breathing. I tiptoed into the room and moved to the side of her bed.

Ariedel was sound asleep beneath the covers. Her wavy dark blonde hair lay spread across the white pillow. She appeared so vulnerable in this state that I wanted to wake her and hear her speak. I crouched beside the bed and continued to study her face.

What was it about this woman that stirred me so? I could not quite grasp it, yet something was there. The feeling was intense and demanded my awareness. Before I could stop myself, I reached out and brushed my fingertips across her cheek. She stirred briefly and moaned softly in her sleep, almost in pleasure. The sound was erotic to my ears and I fought the urge to lean in and kiss her slightly parted lips.

Ariedel stirred again and I quickly pulled my hand away. She turned and moaned again. “Legolas…yes…” she said softly. I stood up and retreated into the shadows of the room, watching as she moved her hands beneath the covers. She called my name yet again and moaned.

It was clear to me that she was dreaming and I happened to be the subject. Her dream was heated and she kicked the covers aside. Unable to look away, I watched as her hands moved beneath her sleeping gown and she moaned in pleasure again. The sight of her hands between her legs made me nearly gasp for air. I had never witnessed a female pleasuring herself and my own desire was suddenly running out of control.

“Legolas…please…” she moaned outloud and writhed in the bed, grinding against her hands. “Yes!”

I lost my wits and fought the urge to respond to her. She wanted me. I closed my eyes, trying to fight the desire that was consuming me, seeking its own release.

And then she cried out and sat up, wide awake and gasping for breath.

I dared not breathe for fear that she would see me in the shadows.

Ariedel fell back into her pillow and curled herself into a ball, rolling onto her side with her back to me. “Legolas, please don’t abandon me…please…” She was weeping.

The sounds of her soft sobs tugged at my heart. I needed to get away before I made it known that I was there. She may have been seeking comfort from me, but I knew that if she had known I was in her room, she would have been angry. I slipped out the balcony door without a sound and crawled back down the vines of the castle wall.

Anfalas
(Ariedel’s POV)

In the morning I headed down to the dining hall, hoping to find the king around. The sound of voices coming from one of the other rooms drew my attention. As I moved closer to the slightly open door, I recognized both voices. Legolas and the king. Was he telling the king about my plan to fool him?

“I understand if you are not in agreement with this union,” said Legolas.

“Legolas,” replied the king with a sigh. “Ariedel is young and naïve, not to mention the fact that she has forgotten how to behave like a proper woman. She rebels against me at every opportunity. I fear that the accident has caused great trauma to her head.”

“And for this you believe her to be mad?”

“Exactly.”

My jaw dropped. So the king thought I lost my marbles.

“The princess is not mad, my lord. As you say, she is young and naïve and perhaps a bit spirited. But I find these qualities…appealing.”

I shifted to sneak a peak inside the room. Legolas was standing near the fireplace, while the king was seated near the window. It looked like Legolas was going along with my plan afterall.

“And how does Ariedel feel about this?” asked the king.

I decided this was my cue to step in before it all fell apart. “I’ll tell you how I feel,” I said as I stepped inside. Both Legolas and the king turned to me. I moved toward Legolas and much to his surprise, I put my arms around him. “I’m in love with Legolas, father.”

The king raised his eyebrows. “I see.”

“What say you, my lord?” asked Legolas, brushing his hand down my back.

The king stood up and at first it looked like he was going to blow his top. But then a smile crept up on his face. “I say let the wedding commence.”

I turned to Legolas and conveyed my gratitude through my eyes, hoping that he would understand what this meant to me. But seeing his face only reminded me of the wet dream I had the night before. He had been all over me, driving into me so hard in the dream that my thighs actually hurt in the morning. I felt my cheeks heat up at the memory of the dream and my heart started racing. He looked into my eyes and I had a feeling that he knew something. Maybe he could sense the sweltering heat I suddenly found myself feeling every time he was anywhere near me.

 

Chapter 4 - Marriage​

Anfalas
(Ariedel’s POV)

Legolas left for his home the day Alexor Draconir had consented to the marriage and he wasn’t going to return for five weeks. That meant I was stuck here for at least that much time. So far I counted three months in this place. I lost all hope of finding the transmutation device and I lost all hope of anyone coming to my rescue.

But once I got this wedding out of the way and I was allowed to leave the castle, I would have to figure something out. I had no plans to be an Elf housewife, even if it was to one of the hottest guys I had ever laid eyes on. Too bad I couldn’t take him home with me. Being a nature geek, he would probably get a kick out of the Avalon suns, all three of them.

Above all, I had come here to do a job. An alien lurked somewhere out there and he was in possession of an egg. Being the only egg, the facehugger would implant a queen to continue the species. If I didn’t exterminate the drone and the egg, this entire planet would soon be infested. And then it was lights out for everyone.

A terrible thought went through my mind. What if the egg had already hatched? What if the facehugger had already implanted the queen into a host? What if the queen was already lurking out there, laying more eggs?

As the wedding day got closer, I began to get jittery, like this was for real. No one knew that Legolas and I were only doing this so I wouldn’t be forced to marry Prince Yardell and that we would eventually just go our separate ways.

What really got to me was my wedding gown. Alma made it with her own hands and I gasped with tears in my eyes when I first saw the shimmering white dress. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, hundreds of layers of soft gauzy material, like something an angel would wear. I felt sick to my stomach over the fact that I was fooling everyone into believing that Legolas and I were really in love.

Two days before the wedding, the heralds sounded the arrival of Prince Legolas and King Thranduil, along with a multitude of Elves. My heart was beating so hard when I saw Legolas that I thought it was going to burst out of my chest. I hadn’t seen him in five weeks and as the days wore on, I found myself thinking and dreaming about him a lot, wanting to see him so badly. It had been a long time since I had felt like this. My last fling had been with Randle Dorian. But that seemed like a lifetime ago.

Legolas approached and reached up to caress my left cheek. “I have counted the passing days to see you again, my lady.” Then he took my hand and kissed the inside of my wrist tenderly.

I felt my cheeks flush at the intimate touch because I knew everyone was watching us. I gave him a small smile. “Uhm…yeah, I missed you, too.”

Legolas turned to the handsome Elf standing next to him and I noticed the striking resemblance between the two. “May I present my father, King Thranduil of Mirkwood. Father, this is Princess Ariedel Draconir of Anfalas.”

I bowed before the Elf king as was probably traditional. “It is a great pleasure to meet you, my lord.”

He gave me a genuine smile and kissed the back of my hand. “I am truly amazed to finally meet the woman who has my son’s heart. Many an Elf maid’s heart has Legolas stolen, but none have ever succeeded in stealing his.”

My eyes shifted nervously in Legolas’s direction. Holy shit…I couldn’t believe I was going to put him through this. How could I be so heartless. But then again the very idea of becoming his bride gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling. I just wished we were doing it for the right reason.

After the two kings greeted each other amicably, Legolas and I entered the castle behind them, walking arm in arm.

“Legolas?” I whispered.

Legolas leaned closer to me. “Aye?”

“Are you sure you want to go through with this?”

“I do this for you. Are you regretting your decision?”

“No. I can’t marry Yardell.”

He nodded. “Then we shall wed as planned.”
The Ash Mountains

The cavern teamed with alien drones, busy removing empty eggs and replacing them with unhatched ones. The alpha drone looked on in contentment as he lingered near the queen. She continued to produce eggs, the sack beneath her filled to capacity.

A scout bounded toward the alpha and stopped short as the queen hissed furiously. He lowered his head in subjection and slowed his approach with a hiss of his own. His news was urgent and although he revered the queen, his desire to please the alpha outweighed his fear of her.

The alpha drone tilted his head, listening to the thoughts of the drone. There were no Uruk-hai hosts to be found anywhere. The scout had traveled far and came across no living beings. The alpha turned to the activity in the cavern. Facehuggers scrambled around, looking for living hosts. The Uruk-hai had provided them with the necessary bodies to produce the horde and now there were none left.

The alpha crawled closer to the queen and he conveyed his fears.

The queen turned her head and growled a response. They needed to move the hive closer to food. The decision was made.

The alpha squealed and hissed and the activity in the cavern came to a complete halt as drones and facehuggers listened. None moved, except for the tilting of massive heads in unison.

A moment later when all thoughts were conveyed, the cavern was frenzied with activity once again. The mass exodus had begun.
Anfalas
(Ariedel’s POV)

On the night before the wedding day, I watched from my balcony as hundreds of people showed up at the castle gates. Legolas was in the courtyard greeting them all. There was a lot of hugging going on so I assumed these were his closest friends. Even though I was feeling guilty and was in no mood to meet anyone, he summoned for me anyway.

I met King Elessar, whom he also called Aragorn and his wife Arwen, who was also an Elf. Gimli, the dwarf was there, too. But Gimli wasn’t the only little person. I met a whole slew of midgets with big hairy feet, who Legolas referred to as Hobbits. Frodo Baggins, Meriadoc Brandybuck, aka Merry, Peregrin Took, aka Pippin, and Samwise Gamgee and his wife Rosie. I was somewhat grateful to see that although Rosie Gamgee had big feet, at least they weren’t hairy.

And there were so many others that I met. Like I’d really remember all of these weird names. There is no one simply named Michael or John? No Debbie or Karen? It was Faramir, Eówyn, Éomer, Elrond and whatnot. It was making me crazy.

During the feast that night, I listened to dozens of stories of the adventures they all had. The recent one had something to do with a ring and how it needed to be destroyed. They battled evil and saved the world. That was special. If they only knew the other evil that was lurking not so far away. They described Orcs and Uruk-hai, but they didn’t seem quite as nasty as the aliens I knew.

Legolas and Gimli enjoyed sparing verbally with each other and I wasn’t surprised to hear that the two of them used to outdo the other in the number of bad guys they killed. I found the stories fascinating and for a short while I forgot who and where I was.

Later that evening as everyone went to their appointed rooms, Legolas escorted me out of the dining hall. As we walked down the long corridor to the stairway, I glanced at him. “You have no idea how much I appreciate you doing this, Legolas.”

“As I said, I do this for you. I have no desire to see you wed Yardell.”

I looked down, wondering what his plans were after the wedding. “Are we leaving right away tomorrow?”

“We will depart the day after tomorrow.”

“Where are we going?”

“We go to my home in Mirkwood, which incidentally will soon be renamed to Eryn Lasgalen.”

“Yeah? What does that mean?”

“Wood of Greenleaves.”

“Any chance of taking a little detour?”

“Detour? Where to?”

“I wish I could see a map.”

“Your father keeps one in the library.”

“Aha,” I said as I grabbed his arm and we ran in the direction of the library.

When we reached it, Legolas showed me where the map was. I unrolled it on a large table and stared at it for a long time. Rohan, Mordor, Gondor, Shire, Anfalas, Forlindon, Mirkwood. So many places.

I closed my eyes and pictured the map I had seen at Gateway Station before I went on this little adventure. Director Warner said the alien was holed up in the Ash Mountains. That’s where the creature’s signature had generated from. I opened my eyes and looked at the map again. The Ash Mountains were far east of Anfalas, on the north end of a place called Mordor. I pointed to the name on the map.

When I looked at Legolas, he was staring with his mouth open. “Mordor?” He looked up at me with a frown. “Why do you wish to go there?”

I wasn’t sure how I could answer that question without drawing suspicion to myself. But no matter what I’d say, I knew it wasn’t going to sit well with him. He apparently had an aversion to Mordor because of the stories I had heard earlier during dinner. Mordor had been the setting of the final battle between good and evil. “There’s something I have to do there. A task I must perform.”

Legolas looked at me, his brows furrowed together. “What task?”

I wanted to tell him everything. I wanted to tell him how I had gotten here, how no weapons came with me…and that I had been sent to exterminate a creature that could infest a planet in a few short months if it was unleashed upon the population. But the words wouldn’t form on my lips. He would think I was a lunatic…not that he didn’t already think that of me. “Please don’t ask me to explain because I can’t.”

Legolas looked at me and I found myself staring into his electric blue eyes. “To venture back into Mordor, the memory of the battle is still fresh in my mind.”

“I don’t expect you to go if you’re afraid.”

“I am not afraid,” he replied defensively. “I fear nothing.” He sounded a bit unsure of himself even though he was trying to sound convincing. “I will take you where you want to go, Ariedel. But I cannot expect anyone to accompany us.”

“Why not?”

“I will risk my life for your venture, but I will not risk the lives of those in my company. We have lost far too many of my people.”

“I understand.”

Then he looked back down at the map. “We will head northeast through Rohan with my company and stop at Lothlorien to rest. Then you and I alone will head southeast into Mordor.”

I sighed in relief. Now my only dilemma was what I would do once I had the creature in my sight. I had no weapon to kill it with. Swords and knives were useless because they would melt when they came in contact with the alien’s acid blood. Or would they? If I was quick enough to decapitate it before the blade melted. Then I remembered how heavy the swords were. I could barely hold it up with both hands, much less get a good swing out of it.

A few minutes later Legolas walked me to my chambers and I turned to him before walking inside. “So…I’ll see you tomorrow then,” I said.

He stared into my eyes and my heart started racing.

God, he could set me off with just a look. I wanted him to kiss me but I wasn’t about to ask him. I needed to remain focused on the fact that this was a marriage of convenience and nothing more.

“Good-night,” he finally said.

“Good-night.” I backed through the doorway and closed the door, leaning my back on it with a heavy sigh. This was pure and unadulterated torture.
Anfalas
(Ariedel’s POV)

The next day I had serious cold feet about the whole wedding. Maybe it wasn’t a binding contract because I wasn’t getting married in Avalon. No, people got married off world all the time. It was totally binding. But then again, I really wasn’t myself. I was Ariedel Draconir of Anfalas, soon to be Ariedel Greenleaf of Mirkwood or Eryn Lasgalen, or whatever Legolas called his home lately.

While Alma and the rest of the handmaidens prepared me for the ceremony, my head was spinning with thoughts. “So do any of you know what it’s like to marry an Elf?” I asked as the girls fixed my gown.

Allegers, a dark-haired handmaiden looked at me sadly through the mirror. “Elves are immortal, my lady. I wish not to upset you, but as the years pass you by, your Elf husband will not age at all.”

I frowned at her. “That’s not what I meant, Allegers. But thanks for pointing that out to me after I tried so hard to forget it. What I meant was, what’s the ceremony like?”

“Forgive me, my lady. I misunderstood.”

“It’s fine.”

Alma shooed the handmaidens out of the room. “Out! All of you!” When the girls rushed out of the room and closed the door, Alma turned me around to face her. “I witnessed the marriage of King Elessar and Lady Arwen, whom you know is an Elf. It was held outdoors, under the trees. They exchanged their vows before all. It was quite lovely.”

“Who’s presiding over the ceremony?”

“Gandalf the White Wizard will most likely do the honors. He is a dear friend of your father and of your prince.”

No church? No priest? What faith was an Elf? Did they believe in God? Did wizards have the same privileges of captains and judges?

An hour later, with a semi-sheer veil covering my face, King Alexor Draconir and I rode side by side through the open courtyard. We rode outside the gates and guided our horses into the woods west of the castle. Several Elves waited among the trees ahead. The king dismounted first and then helped me off Blade’s back. Then he led me by the hand through the trees, followed by the Elves. Another Elf stood further ahead and on the ground was a carpet of what looked like flower petals. The Elf instructed us to remove our shoes and we did.

The king led me through the trees, following the path of flower petals. They gave off such a beautiful aroma, it was magical. And then up ahead were the guests. A mixture of Elves, dwarves, hobbits and men and women. The smiles on their faces was damn near frightening. They were happy about this union. They knew nothing of the falsehood behind it. They all slowly parted as we approached. Further ahead was King Elessar and beside him stood Legolas.

Legolas was dressed in a silver tunic with a high collar and long flared sleeves. As we came closer, I could distinguish silver thread embroidered throughout the tunic. His leggings were of the same material but with no embroidery. His long blonde hair was unbraided and untied, pushed back behind his pointed ears. On his head rested a wire crown of some sorts. It looked like silver. He looked enchanting…like something out of a fairytale.

Legolas’s eyes never left me as the king led me forward. When we reached the makeshift altar, Legolas held his arm out to me. I released the king’s arm and took Legolas’s. I was so nervous I was shaking. He gave me a small smile of encouragement.

Then I faced forward. Before us was an older man with long white hair and white beard. In fact everything about him was white. So this was Gandalf the white wizard. He regarded me curiously and I found myself unable to look him directly in the eyes because it almost seemed like he was looking into my soul…knowing my secrets.

Gandalf then spoke. His voice was soothing and my restless nerves began to calm.

During the ceremony, I moved my hand up along Legolas’s folded arm until it touched his. He glanced over at me and tightened his fingers through mine. For some reason it felt so intimate, our fingers tangled together. My cheeks heated up and I turned back to look at Gandalf as he continued through his speech.

At one point in the ceremony several Elves began to sing. Their voices were high and melodic. The words were in Elven so as they sang, Legolas leaned closer and translated for me, a smile on his face.

The lyrics spoke of beauty and love and I started to silently weep. It wasn’t because of the song. It was because I was taking this beautiful moment away from Legolas. He should have been sharing it for the first time with someone he loved, someone he really wanted to marry.

At the end of the song, one of my handmaidens came to lift the veil from my face. I wiped at the tears in my eyes and turned to Legolas.

He leaned closer and whispered to me. “Weep not, my lady. All is fine.” He squeezed my hand to emphasize his words.

We turned back to Gandalf who stepped closer to us. “By the power given to me by the Valar, you are now united Legolas Greenleaf and Ariedel Draconir as husband and wife.” He nodded toward Legolas with a smile.

And I nearly gasped as it suddenly hit me. The kiss! How could I have forgotten something so important? Legolas was supposed to kiss me. Oh shit…oh shit…oh shit. I turned toward him and he placed his left hand on my right cheek as he leaned forward. I closed my eyes and felt his lips touch mine in a soft, lingering kiss. My knees knocked together nervously. When he finally pulled away, he gave me that small smile again. I knew I was twenty shades of red and I hated the feeling. It was just a simple kiss. Hell, I had seen plenty of action back home. Why the hell was I acting like some love struck schoolgirl being kissed for the first time?. Shit…my knees were weak and I could feel it all the way down to my toes.

A huge cheer went up from the guests and I nearly jumped out of my skin. We turned around and Legolas took my hand in his arm as he led me back through the path. I could see the sun through the trees, but I knew it was close to sunset. When I looked down at the flower petals on the ground I realized that Legolas was barefoot too. In fact, everyone was barefoot.

At the end of the flower path, my faithful steed Blade stood unsaddled and held by an Elf. Legolas lifted me up on Blade’s bare back. Then he vaulted himself up behind me, reaching around me for the reins. As Legolas guided Blade through the forest toward the castle, all of the guests walked a short distance behind us.

“I’m sorry, Legolas.”

“Why are you sorry?”

“I’m sorry for stealing this moment from you. You should have shared this with someone you love.”

“You have stolen nothing from me, Ariedel. I will always cherish this moment.”

I bit my lower lip, still feeling the effects of his kiss. This was dangerous territory. Why did he have to be so damned likeable? I preferred it when he had been cruel to me. But as I thought back on it, he hadn’t been all that cruel. In fact, if I recalled correctly, our little games resembled flirting. Maybe that’s how Elves flirted…tried to shoot arrows at each other.

Damn…I didn’t want to fall in love with him.

When we finally reached the castle, Legolas dismounted and helped me down. A guard took Blade away and we waited for everyone else to catch up. They all surrounded us with congratulations and hugs and kisses.

The decorations in the dining hall reminded me of an outdoor garden. Dozens of tables were set up in a large square so everyone was able to see each other. The cooks outdid themselves with the feast that was brought out.

Even the wine tasted especially good. I knew I was drinking a lot more than I probably should have, but every single time someone rapped on their damned goblet, Legolas had to kiss me. Not that I minded too much, but I was getting the sneaking suspicion that he didn’t mind it too much either and was actually pretty eager to do it.

After the feast, the tables were moved aside and the minstrels played cheerful music. I watched as everyone danced and it looked like a sort of Mediterranean fox trot or something of that nature.

Legolas held his arm out to me. “Shall we?”

I stared up at him with a blank look. “Shall we what?”

“Dance?”

“Oh, no…I…I can’t dance like that.”

He gave me a smile. “I will teach you.”

I shook my head again but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. He took my hand and pulled me up on my feet. In a few short seconds he instructed me on the steps and then we went at it. I kept stepping on his toes, but we were laughing so hard, I couldn’t breathe. Everyone kept urging us on and I lost myself in the moment.

Legolas pawned me off to a couple of the Hobbits. Merry and Pippin each took one of my hands and we kept circling and circling until we got so dizzy we almost fell. And then I found myself dancing with Aragorn. His wife Arwen was expecting and couldn’t dance so she sent him off to find another partner, which happened to be me.

As we danced and laughed, I glanced in Legolas’s direction. He was standing with Gimli, his eyes following me. He had a smile on his face and for that brief moment my stomach tightened into knots so severely I couldn’t breathe. No…This couldn’t be happening to me. I couldn’t be falling in love with him.

“I fear that I have not done well in distracting you from your new husband, Princess Ariedel,” said Aragorn.

I turned to him. “Oh, I was just lost in my thoughts. I’m sorry, King Elessar.”

Aragorn led me back to my seat and I tried to catch my breath. “Thank you for the dance,” he said with a smile. “But please, call me Aragorn. I abhor titles.”

“As do I, so I expect you to call me Ariedel.”

He nodded and then returned to his wife’s side.

I fanned myself with my hand and then reached to take a drink from my goblet. When I glanced over to my right, I found Gandalf looking at me as he smoked a long-stemmed pipe. He had somewhat of a smile on his face, but I knew he was studying me.

When he stood up and walked toward me, I got nervous and waved to a servant for more wine. The servant was quick to fill my goblet and disappeared in a flash. I raised the cup and gulped half of it down.

“May I have a word with you, Princess Ariedel,” said the old wizard.

I didn’t look up at him. “Yeah, sure, have a seat.” But he had already seated himself beside me. “What’s on your mind, Mr Gandalf?”

“No need to address me formally, princess. I am just Gandalf.”

“That’s fine as long as you stop calling me princess. In fact I wish everyone would stop calling me that.”

He smiled. “I wish to speak to you about your quest.”

I was in the middle of drinking and almost choked on the wine. “My quest? Whatever do you mean?”

“You, my dear Ariedel, are not Ariedel.”

I turned to look at him. He knew. Somehow he knew.

“You have come to fulfill a quest. However you came to be here is a mystery I fear you will not share with anyone. Therefore all I wish to do is confirm the nature of your quest here?”

“And what exactly do you think you know?”

“Something lurks in Mordor and it is not the Eye of Sauron. You have been sent to deal with it.”

I frowned at him. He hadn’t really given me any details. He just had a roundabout feeling. Maybe all he was able to do was sense the deception. But I could always deny what he was sensing. “What else?” I asked.

“If you go alone, you will not beat it.”

“I’m not going alone. Legolas is coming with me.”

“Legolas has a wealth of courage, but his courage may fail him.”

“What do you propose then?”

“I will accompany you and Legolas on your journey when the time comes.”

I shook my head. “No. I don’t think so. He’s not going to go for it. He said he lost too many companions battling the evils of Mordor.”

“I will convince him.”

“Gandalf, you can’t tell Legolas any of this. He won’t understand.”

Gandalf patted my hand with a smile. “You forget that we of Middle Earth have witnessed many things you would never understand.”

“This is different, I’m telling you.”

He nodded and stood up. “We will discuss details later. Let us continue to enjoy the evening’s festivities.”

I watched him walk away and wondered what else he knew. Did he also know that the marriage was a charade?
Mordor

The alien horde moved slowly through the deserted plains of Mordor, heading in a westerly direction. They passed fire and brimstone, relishing in the heat from the volcanic mountains. Most of the drones carried an egg, while others scouted the surroundings, making certain the coast was clear for the rest to pass.

The queen towered above the others, her bulky weight forcing her clawed feet to leave deep imprints in the earth. The vulnerable facehuggers scrambled close to her feet, never leaving the safety of her protection.

The alpha drone was far ahead of the others, even further than the scouts. He traveled faster alone and unhindered. He reached the crest of a tall mountain and surveyed the valley beyond. There were peaks of light scattered along the dark horizon. In his experience, light meant food. The alien breed had no eyesight. They used their senses to see, but the drone couldn’t judge the distance. It didn’t matter. They would reach food, no matter how long it took.
Anfalas
(Legolas’s POV)

When the festivities came to an end, we bid everyone a good night and headed up to Ariedel’s bedchamber. It had not occurred to me until that moment that we would be expected to share quarters, especially when in the company of others. We were supposed to behave as husband and wife.

Ariedel’s personal handmaiden, Alma, was in the bed chamber when we stepped in. She looked up from the bed she was fixing and smiled warmly at Ariedel. “You are here at last, my lady.”

Ariedel’s eyes were transfixed on the bed. A white silk sheet covered it and tossed on the sheet were white rose petals. A quick glance around the room revealed dozens of vases full of white roses. Hundreds of candles were lit all around. It was quite a romantic setting, one worthy of newlyweds.

“All is ready, my lady, my lord,” said Alma. “A pleasant night to both of you.” Alma walked to the door and backed out as she closed it.

I stood behind Ariedel. She stood rooted to the spot at the foot of the bed, unable to take her eyes off it. What was she thinking? Did she worry about the sleeping arrangement? Did she expect me to sleep on a chair or on the floor?

I walked to a chair near the bed and from the corner of my eye I knew she was watching me. Something white was lying across the chair. I took it and as I held it up, I realized it was a nightgown. Or rather a very sheer, see-through nightgown. Hoping to lighten Ariedel’s mood, in jest I held it up higher and looked at her through it. When the look on her face registered fear, I quickly tossed the nightgown aside. “Fear not, Ariedel. I have no plans to consummate our marriage on this night.” But I will have you some other night, I thought to myself.

Ariedel was shivering like a frightened deer.

I began to undo my tunic. “I will sleep on this side and you will sleep on that side.”

Her voice was faint as she uttered, “Oh God…” Then she fled into the bath chamber.
Anfalas
(Ariedel’s POV)

I stared at myself in the large mirror. God, I had forgotten about the wedding night. Hell, there was a shitload of things I forgot. Consummate our marriage? He was expecting me to sleep with him, only he wasn’t exactly thinking about sleep. I felt foolish, like a virgin on her wedding night. I was no virgin, but I had a sneaking suspicion that the real Ariedel was.

This nervousness around him was so confusing to me. It wasn’t like I had never been with a man. But he was no man…he was an Elf…and he had my senses completely out of control. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been so obsessed with any guy before. And now that he was mine to have, I was shaking like a leaf. But there was something else I couldn’t quite put my finger on. An inkling of a thought that maybe he wasn’t as interested in me as I was in him. I didn’t think I could tolerate his rejection. And if he was interested, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from falling in love with him. I already felt myself slipping deeper. I couldn’t let it go any further.

What if they came for me? There was always that chance. It had happened before when I was trapped on Halvasin, at the time I was asked to infiltrate the drug ring. How could I possibly leave Legolas if I was in love with him?

I stared at myself in the mirror again. Well, I couldn’t stay in the bathroom all night long. So I fought with my wedding gown to remove it, which hadn’t been an easy task. Still wearing my undergarments, I stepped out of the bathroom, passing beside Legolas who was sitting on the chair where Alma had lain my nightgown. Yeah, sure…that was no nightgown. It was something you used to strain sauces. There was no way in hell I was wearing that in front of him.

Legolas got up and went into the bathroom. While he was gone, I found a less revealing nightgown to wear. Once I was changed, I jumped under the covers in bed and pulled them all the way up to my chin, watching the flower petals floating around as I moved.

Legolas came out of the bath chamber a few minutes later. His hair was tied back and he had nothing on but a pair of white lounge pants. The sight of his bare chest tightened my stomach into knots. He walked around the room, blowing out most of the candles except for some near the bed. “If you prefer, I can sleep on the floor,” he said with a bit of compassion.

“That wouldn’t be fair to you, Legolas. You can’t sleep on the floor forever.” I held my breath as he slid under the covers.

Then he turned on his side to face me. “This is not the first time we have slept this close, Ariedel. You need not fear my intentions.”

“I know.” He referred to the few days we had slept out in the open on our way to the castle a couple months ago, when we had first met and he had wanted to make sure I didn’t try to escape while he was asleep. The difference here was that we were now married and he had every right in the world to do whatever he pleased with me.

“Good-night,” he finally said.

“Good-night,” I replied. I wanted to add ‘sweet prince’ to the end of that, but was glad I hadn’t. That would have really been awkward. Not that this wasn’t. Sleeping in the same bed with an Elf I was married to. If my friends could only see me now. And that thought only reminded me of my friends and family, that I would probably never see again.

But neither of us could sleep. We were still wired from the evening’s festivities. So we decided to just lie in bed and talk.

He told me more about the battle at Helm’s Deep in vivid detail. “I could see the Orcs approaching in the dark, their torches lit. There were thousands of them, all heavily armored and extremely ugly. Gimli stood to my left and he couldn’t see over the wall we stood behind.” He smiled, looking off as if picturing it. “Even when faced with those impossible odds, we found the time to humor each other.”

I smiled back at him.

“The Lorien archers were standing all around us. And then the rain came and you could hear it pinging off the armor. It was so loud, it was all I could hear.”

I was riveted by the way he described things. The expression in his eyes, the way they changed colors and the way his voice changed…it was so mesmerizing.

“As the Orcs continued to draw closer, Aragorn gave the order to be ready and we loaded our bows and took aim. I had my sights on the ugliest Orc in the bunch, right up front.”

I laughed. He continued to describe the events and I kept forgetting to breathe, feeling as if I was there at the battle with him, shooting arrow after arrow.

Later when he talked about the beauty of Rivendell, or Imladris as it was known to Elves, I could feel my eyelids growing heavy. Sleep finally took over.

When I opened my eyes again, the bed chamber was bathed in sunlight. But something else demanded my attention. It was the warm body lying next to me, the one I was casually snuggled up against, like I belonged there. I closed my eyes again and inhaled his unique scent, making chills shoot up my spine. It felt so right to be this close to him…so comforting.

I moved my head back so I could look at him. His eyes were partially open. At first I thought he was awake, but then I remembered that Elves didn’t really sleep with their eyes closed unless they were sick or distressed. He was in what was called Elven reverie. I waved my hand in front of his face to make sure. His eyes didn’t flinch.

I took the opportunity to study his face at great length. He had perfect skin, not a single blemish or scar. His brows were several shades darker than his hair. His ears were small and ended at perfect points. But my attention was drawn to his heart-shaped lips. They always looked inviting as I recalled the feel of them when he kissed me at the altar and a hundred more times throughout the feast the night before.

How in the world was I going to stop myself from falling in love with him? I already loved everything about him…right down to his pointed ears. It was going to be virtually impossible to keep my feelings for him in check. I wanted to go home more than anything, but how could I go on with my life if I felt so attached to him.

A minute later Legolas stirred and his eyes came into focus. They were the palest blue I had ever seen as they roamed over my face so close to his. I literally lost myself in their depth. For a minute it looked as thought he was going to kiss me, or maybe was just thinking about it. But then he moved away and abruptly sat up, running his fingers through his tousled blonde hair. A minute later he got out of bed and went into the bathroom.

I rolled over on my stomach and groaned outloud as I sniffed the scent that lingered on his pillow. Who was I trying to kid? It just wasn’t going to stop. What did I get myself into?

 

Chapter 5 – The Pain of Love​

Anfalas
(Legolas’s POV)

With most of Ariedel’s belongings packed into a wagon, and after we all bid King Alexor Draconir farewell, we mounted up and rode out of the castle grounds. Our procession consisted of over a hundred. In one day more than half of the company would continue east to Gondor with Aragorn and Arwen. Gimli planned to head north to Eryn Lasgalen with us where he would remain for several days before heading to his homeland.

I was however curious about Gandalf. He chose to also go to my home. The old wizard seemed preoccupied of late and I planned to speak to him when the opportunity presented itself.

As we rode on, I tried to play the loving husband, riding along side Ariedel, occasionally reaching for her hand to kiss it. I tried to make it look like it was a natural thing…but I could see that it affected her. In a good or bad way, she gave me no clue.

In the afternoon we stopped to rest at the foot of some hills and to allow the horses to feed on the sweet grass. To take my mind off of things, I practiced with my bow further down the field. A short while later Ariedel approached with a goblet of water.

“Thank you,” I said as I took it and drank.

Ariedel took the bow from my hand and inspected the intricate carvings on it. “It’s a beautiful bow.”

“The Elves of Lothlorien made it. It has served me well.”

She started to hand it back to me.

“Would you like to try it?” I asked.

She looked into my eyes. “Sure, why not.” She retrieved an arrow from my quiver. After setting the arrow she aimed and released. I had been using a tree stump as a target. She missed it by three feet. “That didn’t go off very well,” she said in embarrassment.

“Here, let me help you.” I took another arrow. The moment I came up behind her, I could sense her heart beating faster. I moved her hands to the correct position and helped her stretch the bowstring. My cheek was pressed close to hers and as her scent invaded my nostrils it nearly took my breath away. I tried to ignore the sudden rush of heat to my chest and concentrated on the arrow. “Look directly down the arrow at exactly the spot you want to hit. Do not close your right eye. Focus both of them.” She appeared distracted as well. I rested my left hand low on her back. “Now release.”

Ariedel let the arrow go and it struck the tree directly beside one of my arrows. She became so excited, she yelped and turned around to hug me. Out of pure reflex, I laughed and lifted her off the ground, twirling her around. When I finally set her down we were almost nose to nose and I saw the heated blush come to her cheeks.

“Thanks for the lesson,” she said as she looked down and quickly pulled away. Ariedel almost made it away with her dignity, if her feet had not suddenly gotten caught up in the hem of her skirt and she nearly pitched forward. She glanced back to see if I had noticed.

I would have pretended I had not, but I could not help the smile on my face. It was apparent that I flustered her greatly. As I recalled the dream she had when I first brought her back to her home, it left me thinking that she desired me. Yet she denied her feelings right to my face, pretended they did not exist. I watched her retreating back and she glanced over her shoulder at me one more time before disappearing in the midst of our camp’s chaos. What could she be feeling? Did she not understand that I was obsessed with her? Perhaps she did not.

Rohan
(Ariedel’s POV)

When night came, some tents were pitched up. One of them was for Legolas and I. During the evening meal, which was prepared by some of Aragorn’s people, some of us sat around the fire and drank wine. I didn’t want any but Legolas kept offering me some from his goblet.

“Are you trying to get me drunk or something?” I asked him with a smile.

He laughed. “Or something?”

“I know what you’re trying to do, Legolas and it won’t work.”

“What am I trying to do?”

“You’re trying to convince me to give up my quest.”

“I have said nothing to convince you.”

“It’s not what you’ve said, it’s what you’re doing to me. You’re making me fall in love with you.” There, I said it. It was out in the open.

He smiled and glanced around to make sure no one was within hearing distance. “You are my wife. You are supposed to be in love with me.”

Gimli approached at that moment so we couldn’t say anything further. “Ah, there you are, Legolas, princess.” He was carrying a large jug. “Have some of this.” He sloshed the contents of the jug into Legolas’s goblet, spilling some of it on my gown.

“Gimli, watch it!” yelled Legolas.

And then Gimli fell all over himself trying to brush it from my skirt and apologize. “Forgive me, princess. I am a drunken fool with four left thumbs.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s okay, Gimli. It’s time I tossed this old gown away and you gave me the perfect reason.”

Legolas took a sip from the goblet and raised his eyebrows. “What is this?”

Gimli beamed. “You like it? It is made from the passionfruit that grows on the trees around Lake Evendin.”

“It is quite good. Ariedel, you must try it.” He held the goblet out to me.

I took a sip. It burned my throat all the way down and I gasped. Legolas guzzled the rest of it down and asked Gimli for a refill. How could these guys stand it? They drank it like it was water.

“Gimli, you have outdone yourself,” said Legolas. “Upon your next visit to my realm, you must bring more of this passionfruit wine.”

“Aye, a splendid idea, my friend. I will bring wagons full.”

Legolas clanked his goblet against Gimli’s jug and they drank. I watched as Legolas got tanked. He was laughing with Gimli and it was heartwarming to see him so happy. But I knew he was starting to feel the affects. The look on his face as it suddenly hit him was priceless.

“Are you all right, dear?” I asked him.

Legolas leaned toward me with a crooked smile. “I am fine, dear.” He reeked of the wine and I had to lean away from him.

Gimli was watching us and he giggled. “Legolas, I think your bride is trying to tell you something.”

Without taking his eyes off me, he asked, “And what do you suppose she is trying to tell me?”

“I do not think you need me to spell it out, you damned fool.”

“You are right. I do not need you to spell it out for me. Good-night, Gimli.” With that Legolas stood up and proceeded to pick me up, throwing me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

I wanted to scream but I noticed people were watching us and laughing in a knowing manner.

“Good-night,” yelled Gimli behind us.

Legolas staggered toward our tent and I was afraid he was going to drop me in the process. Once inside the tent, I detached myself from him and fell backward on the bed roll. He accidentally came down with me. But when he looked at me with his piercing blue eyes, I knew that it had been no accident.

“Legolas, you’re drunk.”

“I am not drunk. Elves do not get drunk.”

I might have laughed if I didn’t think this was a very dangerous position to be in. I didn’t want this to happen…even though my heart was telling me to let it happen. Legolas lowered his lips to mine and kissed me slowly, testing my response. I was frozen, unsure of what to do. He kissed me again, this time tugging on my lower lip with his teeth. My lips parted and he dipped his tongue into my mouth. I could taste the passionfruit wine on his tongue as it brushed against mine. He kissed me slowly and I savored the taste of him. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop myself or stop him. A moan escaped my throat as he kissed me deeper, his tongue exploring my mouth intimately. He urged me into his mouth and as I went he surprised me by sucking on my tongue.

A surge of chills shot up my spine and I moaned again. And then suddenly he stopped moving and his weight was crushing me. What the hell? I gave him a hard shove and he slid off me, landing somewhat on his back.

I smiled and shook my head when I realized he had passed out cold. “I can’t believe this. I finally get the courage to let him kiss me and he passes out.”

He groaned and slowly rolled further onto his back, his eyes still closed.

I edged closer to him and snuggled up to his body heat. There was nothing wrong with snuggling, right? I squeezed my eyes shut as the desire to touch him nearly overwhelmed me. I couldn’t touch him. I just couldn’t. But I continued to torture myself until I finally fell asleep.

When I woke up in the morning, Legolas wasn’t in the tent. I jumped up and rushed out, afraid that they had left me behind. But the camp was still there and people were walking around, some preparing breakfast. I looked around the camp and finally found Legolas a few feet from the back of the tent. He was on Arod’s bare back, pitched forward on the white gelding’s neck. His eyes were closed and he literally looked green.

I walked up and Arod knickered softly as I caressed his neck. “Legolas?” I gently shook his shoulder.

Legolas stirred and opened his eyes. “Huh?” His tired eyes darted around and then fell on me.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

He slid off Arod’s back in a very undignified manner and leaned against the horse for support. “Do not ever allow me to drink passionfruit wine again.”

“You’re hung over,” I said with a smirk as I helped him back to the tent

Ithilien

Three farmers were busy tending to their newly grown crops.

One of them stopped to wipe sweat from his face and he glanced up at the clouds forming above. “A storm approaches.”

The other two farmers stopped and looked as well. Then in unison they returned to their work.

A short distance away, the alpha drone peered out from behind a tree. His jaws leaked saliva as he surveyed the land before him. It teamed with living hosts. They moved about the village performing their routine tasks. Men, women and children. The alpha drone parted his jaws in delight. Then he spun around to retrace his steps and regroup with the queen.

Rohan
(Legolas’s POV)

My insides were no longer heaving their contents at last, thanks to Gimli’s potion to counteract the effects of the dreaded passionfruit wine. The mere thought of the wine forced me to close my eyes and think of something less sickening, like the face of an Orc about to attack me.

Ariedel rode further ahead of me. I nudged Arod along faster until I was riding side by side with her. “You are quiet this morning,” I said.

She avoided my gaze, trying to hide her feelings from me.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

She shook her head silently, still avoiding my eyes.

I reached for her arm. “What is it? Tell me.”

She pulled her arm away from me with force. “It’s nothing.”

A wave of guilt suddenly washed over me. Something had happened during the night and I could not for the life of me remember. “Did I force myself on you last night?” When she did not respond, I reached for her reins and dragged Blade to a stop. “Ariedel, tell me.”

“No, Legolas.” She lowered her voice so no one else could hear. “You didn’t force yourself on me.” But she looked at me with anger.

“Then why are you angry with me?”

“I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at myself for allowing you to kiss me.”

I released her reins and she kicked her horse forward again. I nudged Arod and he fell back into step with Blade. Again she avoided looking at me. “I am puzzled by your behavior, Ariedel. Do you or do you not want to be with me?”

Ariedel finally turned to me and I was surprised to see that her eyes were filled with tears. “I do. Can’t you see that? It’s just…” Her words hung in the air as she wiped at the tears on her cheeks, glancing around to make sure no one was watching. “I don’t think I’ll be here much longer.”

I frowned at her statement. “What do you mean?”

She sighed heavily and continued to wipe at her eyes as she looked up at the sky in exasperation. “Can’t you just let things go? Why do I have to explain everything to you?”

“I only wish to understand your pain.”

“My pain?” She laughed, but not for long as her lips trembled. “It hurts too much to love you, Legolas. It just hurts too much.”

It hurt too much to love me? I could not understand what she meant by it. Why did it hurt? What kind of pain could I possibly be causing her? I felt a set of eyes on us and as I glanced behind me, I found Gandalf watching. When I faced forward again, Ariedel had galloped ahead.

Gandalf drew Shadowfax beside me and our horses matched steps. “There is trouble afoot so soon, my friend?”

“Nothing I cannot handle,” I replied, unable to mask the uncertainty in my voice.

“You asked me earlier why I chose to ride with you to Eryn Lasgalen.”

I turned to him. “And you said you have not been to my father’s caverns in ages.”

He smiled briefly. “But you know that’s not the real reason.”

Gandalf always seemed to maintain a mystery about himself that I never questioned. Of all those I had met in my lifetime, I trusted him the most. His wisdom and foresight were crucial on many occasions. “Why not speak of it now and spare me the guessing and obscurity of things to come?”

“How well do you know Ariedel, Legolas?”

“I must know her well enough if I have chosen her as my wife.”

“She has spoken to you of a quest in Mordor.”

I turned to him again. “Did Ariedel speak to you of it?”

“Not exactly.”

The old wizard coerced her. I knew it. No wonder he decided to remain in my company. He wanted to know more about this quest. “What did she say to you?”

“Only that she must go there.”

“Then you know as much as I do, which is nothing.”

“I do know this. She will fail and so will you.”

“Such confidence from my dear friend?” I asked with a smile. “How do you know this when neither of us even know the nature of this quest?”

“Only Ariedel holds the answers.”

“I will force her to tell me.”

“Nay, Legolas. You can’t force the girl. There are things we wouldn’t understand and that is why she has not told us anything more.”

“You cannot expect me to sit idly by. I must know her purpose if it is not to be by my side.”

“Put aside your anger, my friend. It won’t do you any good in this situation. Besides, I sense that we will know soon enough.”

I stared ahead at Ariedel. She was riding beside the supply wagon being driven by Gimli and the two were talking to one another. I sensed Gandalf’s eyes on me again so I turned. “Is there more?”

“I know why you chose to wed her?”

I turned away with a frown.

“She was promised to Yardell of Forlindon. I know, as well as you do, what a foul man he is. You did the right thing, Legolas. She would have perished with him.”

“Tis not the only reason, Gandalf. My heart has grown fond of her.”

“I am aware of your love for her.”

“She does not share it.”

“There, I’m afraid, is where you’re wrong.”

“But she says it hurts to love me. I do not understand the meaning.”

“Aye, love is one of those mysteries in life that we must endure. And the fairer sex is just as complicated, my friend.”

During a rest, Ariedel and I stood together, sharing a goblet of water.

She touched my arm, drawing my attention to her hand. “Don’t look now, but your father is watching us. I think he suspects something.”

I did not look to confirm her findings. “What will you have me do?”

“I don’t know. What are we allowed to do in front of everyone?”

“Allowed to do? I do what I please.”

“Well, then do something.”

There was much I wanted to do, but I hid my thoughts with a smile. “As you wish.” I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her hard against me. She seemed a bit surprised when I kissed her intimately, dipping my tongue into her mouth to taste her.

At first she hesitated, but her resistance did not last long and she melted in my arms. When her arms circled around my neck, it was all I could do to control the intensity of my desire for her. After a few minutes, I broke the kiss but lingered near her lips. “Is he still there?”

Ariedel was out of breath as she glanced over my shoulder. “He’s gone.”

I turned my head and looked around. Then turned back to Ariedel.

She lowered her arms from around my neck and let her hands slide down the front of my tunic, sending shivers through me. “I…uh…I better go see what’s cooking for dinner.” She pulled away and walked off, her cheeks flushed bright red.

Ithilien

One man hid behind a wall, heavy sword in hand, his breath coming out in gasps. He peered around the corner. One of the creatures was right there. He lunged out and swung his sword with a triumphant yell. The alien’s head rolled to the ground. The man dropped the melting sword and grabbed another. With a battle cry, he ran toward the burning town hall and slashed at another creature lurking in the doorway. It’s arm came off at the elbow. The creature screeched and rolled on the ground. The man’s eyes blazed in hatred. A sound from above made him look up in time to see an alien leap at him from the burning rooftop. He saw nothing more.

Bone-chilling screams filled the darkness in the Ithilien village. Fires burned within some of the homes, a result of reckless attempts to kill the creatures that had invaded at sunset. The attack had been swift and the villagers had been unprepared as they were dragged away kicking and screaming into the night. They were clueless to what fate awaited them in the caverns of the Mountains of Shadow, just east of Ithilien.

Rohan
(Ariedel’s POV)

Later that night, as we sat around the fire, some of the Elves entertained us with some songs. I noticed that the Elf couples in our company always tended to sit closely together. Even though Legolas was sitting beside me, I didn’t think it was close enough for a newly married couple. I scooted closer to him, sitting between his legs and as I leaned back into his chest, he wrapped his arms around me from behind. “What’re they singing?” I asked.

Legolas brought his lips to my ear and translated the words to the song. “You have been the light in my days. When I feel lost, you are there to guide me. When I forget to breathe, you are there to watch over me. As I search for the brightest star in the sky, I find it in your eyes.”

I had always been a sucker for love songs. The melody was haunting. The Elven words rhymed and they sounded so beautiful. I completely lost myself in the melody and in the feel of Legolas’s lips and his warm breath on my ear. When I shivered, he brought his arms tighter around me. I closed my eyes and pressed my face against the side of his. Nothing mattered to me at that moment, nothing but him.

When we were alone in our tent, lying beside each other, I moved close to him like I did every night. He always obliged me by wrapping his arms around me.

On this night, I tilted my face up to him and his pale blue eyes regarded me with wonder. I reached up and brushed my fingers over his cheek and then slid them over to his lips. “Kiss me.”

Legolas didn’t hesitate. He lowered his lips to mine. He kissed me slowly but with so much passion that it took my breath away. I clung to him as if my life depended on it. I wasn’t sure how long we had been kissing. All I know was that my lips felt swollen from him biting and sucking on them. I nuzzled my face against his neck, right below his chin and promptly fell asleep.

Minas Tirith and Ithilien

“My lord, my lord!”

Aragorn turned from his book at the urgency in the voice. He stood up to face Galion, the captain of his guards.

There was desperation in the man’s face. “My lord, you must come quick. Our scouts have returned from the Crossings of Poros.”

Aragorn didn’t hesitate. He followed Galion out of the library.

He rode hard for three hours with a squadron of heavily armed guards. When they approached one of the southern most villages of Ithilien just beyond the bridge over the River Poros, Aragorn saw faint smoke rising from more than a dozen burned homes. The fires had long since died down.

They moved their horses at a walk as they made their way through the central roadway.

Aragorn looked on in dismay, halting his horse and dismounting. When he turned to Galion, the guard dismounted as well. “Any survivors?”

“None, my lord,” replied Galion. “There were no bodies either.”

Aragorn frowned. “No bodies? Nothing in the ashes?”

“Nothing.”

The king of Gondor circled in place, looking for some sort of clue as to what could have happened. Then he found it. A stone archway belonging to the town hall remained standing. He walked toward it and curiously inspected several deep scratches in the dark brick. He placed his fingers in the grooves. Whatever made these marks had a large hand…three clawed fingers. It couldn’t be an Orc, nor was it Uruk-hai. He glanced up and around the arch.

Something on the ground drew his attention. He crouched and rubbed his bearded chin briefly before reaching down to touch it. His fingers came in contact with the clear substance. It clung to his skin as he raised his hand. The thick, gooey gel dropped from his fingers with a plop. Its foul stench reeked and made his nose wrinkle.

Then something further away made his eyes widen. He scrambled over to it. It was a clawed hand, severed at the elbow by the sword lying beside it. The blade appeared melted. Aragorn inspected the severed end of the arm, noting the colorless blood. He reached down to touch it…

…And then someone screamed. Aragorn jumped to his feet and rushed over toward his men. They were trying to hold down Galion who struggled beneath them in agonizing pain.

“What has happened?” asked Aragorn.

One of the guards pointed to Galion’s hand. His flesh and bone had partially melted away and continued to melt before everyone’s eyes. “There is something behind that wall, my lord. Galion made to pick it up and it ate away at his flesh.”

Aragorn stared at the mangled stump that used to be Galion’s hand. “Bind it quickly.” He made for the wall and several of the others followed behind him.

There, lying on the ground was an oblong object, looking like black metal in the light. Aragorn crouched and picked up a stick, nudging the object around with it. His eyes widened when he saw the object had a mouth full of teeth. It was the head of some creature head and its metallic blood oozed from where it was decapitated at the neck.

Evidently the villagers had fought against these creatures in vain. None were left alive. No bodies. What had they done with the bodies?

Aragorn unsheathed a knife from his belt and made to cut the skull. The tip of the knife burned and melted away.

“Look, its blood melts metal,” said one of the guards.

Aragorn stared at the melting knife tip in disbelief. A creature whose blood melted metal and human flesh. He poked the head with the wood stick again and realized that the wood was unaffected by the blood. “But it does nothing to wood.” He stood up and turned to one of the guards. “Build me a wooden box to carry this back in. If there are any other pieces, I want them all.” Then he turned to another. “I want messengers sent to the leaders of all realms. We need as many as can possibly come. It appears we have a new threat to deal with.”

As Aragorn headed back toward his horse, the guard followed behind him. “My lord, the Elves of the woodland realm might still be traveling. My guess is they have probably reached Lothlorien by now.”

Aragorn mounted his horse and looked down at the guard. “Then you will reach them sooner. Gandalf is with them. I need him here.” He kicked Breggo into a gallop, heading back to Minas Tirith.

 

Warning – There is graphic sexual contact in this chapter.

Chapter 6 – Gruesome Discoveries​

Lothlorien
(Ariedel’s POV)

We arrived in a place I could only describe as a fairyland. The inhabitants were all Elves. Legolas led me by the hand up a stairway that wound around a huge tree. We followed behind Gandalf and some of the other Elves, including Thranduil.

When we reached the top, we were greeted by a man and a woman. Of the two, the woman drew my attention. She was a beautiful Elf, even more beautiful than Legolas. But then again, most of the Elves I encountered were beautiful. There wasn’t an ugly one in the bunch.

Legolas leaned closer to whisper in my ear. “Lady Galadriel approaches.”

Her blue eyes were spiritual and when she trained them on me, I could feel her looking into my head, into my soul, into my very existence. A gasp escaped my lungs and the sound made Legolas turn to me.

“I know why you have come. But you are too late. The evil already spreads like a disease beyond the borders of Mordor.” The voice had been in my head. Her lips hadn’t moved. But her words startled me. How did she know? She turned to Gandalf and smiled. “It is good to see you again, Gandalf.” This time she spoke aloud.

Gandalf bowed his head. “The pleasure is mine, my lady.”

She greeted Thranduil next, but I didn’t hear their words. My thoughts were still clouded by the words she had spoken to me.

And then she moved to Legolas. “I see you have brought back a wife.”

Legolas didn’t introduce me, which I found to be pretty rude.

“I know who you are. You have come from a far off place beyond the stars.” Again the voice was in my head. She knew…I was flabbergasted. How could she know? “You may trust your abilities against one creature, but will you trust them against a thousand?”

“What?” I asked her aloud. A thousand aliens? Where did she get the idea that there were that many?

My question went unanswered as Galadriel then turned to Thranduil and Gandalf, her expression quickly turning grave. “Aragorn sends word. Remain in Lothlorien for his message.”

There was no debate, no inquiries. No one questioned how she knew Aragorn was sending a message. We were to remain until some messenger came via pony express. According to Legolas, that was a two day’s ride, maybe shorter if he galloped all the way.

We descended the winding stairway again and Legolas took me by the hand through a thicker part of the forest.

“What’s the deal with her talking in my head? Or was I imagining it?”

Legolas smiled. “She is Galadriel, the lady of light and she possesses great power. She can see into our minds and sometimes speaks but not through her lips.”

I turned to look at him. It sounded to me like he was smitten with her and I felt a tinge of jealousy. “She’s beautiful,” I said just to see how he responded.

“An elleth of extraordinary beauty.”

I stopped and pulled my hand away from his. “So you lied to me then.”

He frowned at me. “About what?”

“You told me the other night that you were never in love.”

“And I spoke the truth.”

Now I was getting mad. “That’s bullshit, Legolas. How can you say that when I can see you’re clearly in love with her.”

“With who?”

“With her?”

“With Lady Galadriel?”

“No, my grandmother!” I said sarcastically.

“But I do not even know your grandmother.”

His innocent comment made me laugh, but I was still a little mad.

The corner of his mouth tilted upward in a half smile as realization seemed to finally dawn in his pretty little head. “I am not in love with her.”

“You lie. I can see it in your eyes.”

Legolas stepped closer to me. “Ariedel, what you see in my eyes is what I feel for you.”

My mouth hung open, but no words came out. Was he trying to tell me in a round about way that he was in love with me?

He continued to smile. “You would battle her for my heart?”

“I’d blacken her eyes and flatten her nose across her face,” I said through clenched teeth before I could stop the words. After working so hard to deny my feelings for him and making it somewhat clear that I didn’t want a relationship with him, my reaction to the possibility of him and Galadriel was enough to convince Legolas otherwise.

Legolas laughed and took my hand again, leading me further into the forest. We came across a lagoon from which Elves filled jugs. They smiled pleasantly in our direction. “I swam in this lagoon the last time I was here,” he said with a smile. “With Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin.” He motioned for me to try the water.

I removed my shoes and dipped my toes into the surprisingly warm water. He watched me as I waded in further, lifting my gown up so it wouldn’t get wet. My aching feet were loving the feel of the heated stones beneath. “What causes the heat?”

“Some say the stones are heated by a spell cast by Lady Galadriel.”

“It feels wonderful.”

He stood smiling and watching me for a while before reaching his hand out to me. “Come. The evening meal awaits us.”

I waded back out and he picked up my shoes before leading me back through the woods to where the others were camped.

After we ate, we sat around the fire to listen to the Elves sing as usual. Legolas held my hand on his lap and translated the words for me as he had done on previous nights.

The small lagoon with its heated rocks kept nagging at me. I wanted to see the rocks. I needed to know what made them hot. “I’ll be right back,” I said to Legolas as I got up.

A few minutes later I approached the lagoon. The moon was full that night and it reflected magically over the tranquil water. I walked to the water’s edge and crouched down to run my fingers through it. Then I stretched further and dipped my hand in to retrieve a rock. The rock was smooth and almost perfectly round. As I stared at the rock, it almost looked like there was something burning inside it. Was it volcanic?

A sound drew my attention and when I looked up, a gasp escaped my throat. A white tiger was slowly moving toward me. In the crouched position I was in, I was afraid to move. I swallowed hard and the tiger stopped advancing. It rumbled deeply in its throat as it stood staring at me.

A movement from above made me glance up quickly. It was Legolas. He was crawling on the tree limb above me, his eyes locked on the tiger. “Do not move,” he whispered to me.

I wasn’t planning on it, but he wasn’t taking his own advice. He dropped down in a crouch beside me and the tiger roared in anger. It made me jump backward. I grabbed Legolas’s arm and noticed the look on his face. He looked excited as he moved forward, completely unafraid. “No…Legolas.” My hands fell away from his arm as he kept moving. The tiger roared menacingly again as it stared back at the approaching Elf. I bit my thumbnail nervously.

Legolas reached out and the tiger bared its teeth before it sniffed his hand. My jaw dropped as Legolas reached further and ran his fingers through the tiger’s thick white coat. He crouched and continued to touch the tiger as it roared and laid down on its side against him. The look on his face was magical. He was smiling, his eyes blazing blue. I could have just stood there watching him like that forever. Then he turned to me. “Ariedel.”

I jumped again. “What?”

“Come here.”

“No way.”

“Come,” he insisted.

There weren’t very many people in my life that I trusted. But I was surprised to find that I trusted Legolas more than anyone else and I had no idea why. I slowly moved toward him.

The tiger shifted and roared at my approach. Legolas held its head against his chest.

I crouched beside Legolas and he took my hand, guiding it to the tiger’s coat where he had me run my fingers through it. It was incredibly soft. Tears welled up in my eyes. I had never touched a wild animal before. They were rare in this day and age back on Earth or on Avalon. The excitement of touching the tiger’s fur and Legolas’s fingers at the same time was overwhelming. When Legolas looked at me with a smile, I smiled back at him as the tears came down my cheeks. “This is so amazing.”

A minute later to my dismay Legolas released the tiger and it rose and bounded away without a glance back in our direction. We stood up and watched it disappear into the woods.

Legolas turned and pointed a finger at my nose. “Do not ever wander off alone in these woods.” He looked dead serious.

I ignored his warning. “How did you do that? How were you able to get close to that tiger?”

And he ignored my questions. “You would have been killed if I had not come in search of you.”

“I’m sorry,” I replied, thoroughly chastised for my obviously reckless actions.

Legolas placed his fingers under my chin and tilted my face upward. “I do not want anything to happen to you.” He tilted his head and kissed me lightly on the lips.

I closed my eyes, waiting for more, even tilting toward him. But he pulled away from me.

“How about a swim?” he nonchalantly asked.

I bit my lower lip and glanced over at the inviting water. “That sounds wonderful.”

“But we must remove our clothing.”

Skinny dipping. Of course he’d suggest that. Any guy would jump at the chance to get a girl naked. “What if someone comes?” I asked, pretending to be concerned.

“No one will come. They are all taking their rest.”

I turned my back to Legolas and started to unfasten my gown in front. As I took it off and moved on to my undergarments, I could tell he was watching me. I kept my back to him as I stepped into the water far enough to submerge myself. With my feet touching the stones, the water was deep and came up to just below my neck.

When I turned toward shore, Legolas was removing his wrist guards and then he proceeded to his boots. The tunic was next. As he began to untie his leggings, I turned away again, feeling my breath start to come out in gasps. This wasn’t good, not good at all. Two naked people in a warm-watered lagoon…supposedly husband and wife…supposedly. And especially after knowing how he felt about me. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to resist him for very long if he made a move.

I heard a small splash to my left and then he was swimming around me under the water. Oh God, could he see me under the water? Even though it was dark, the water was crystal clear. He surfaced and ran his hands over his face. When he looked at me, I looked away, turning to my right to admire a rose bush on the nearby shore. I could hear him moving toward me.

“Ariedel…”

When he reached me, he touched my face, turning it in his direction. I closed my eyes. Oh God, oh God, oh God…I was in serious trouble. If I opened my eyes, I knew they’d eventually wander down into the water where I knew he was naked, and probably damned perfect, too…like everything else about him.

“Why will you not look at me?” he finally asked, his thumb slowly caressing my cheek.

“Because I’m afraid.”

“What are you afraid of?”

“You.”

“You need not fear me. I will not hurt you.”

I could literally feel myself melting. “I know.”

Legolas leaned closer and kissed me lightly on the cheek. “I sense your desire. Tis as strong as my own.” Then he abruptly moved away from me, swimming backwards. “But I am a patient Elf. I can wait.”

He swam circles around me again. I wanted him with every fiber of my being. Was I out of my flipping mind? His blue eyes blazed in my direction and I found myself unable to look away. I felt warm all over…the desire to taste him was overwhelming. Was he casting some kind of spell on me? “Stop looking at me like that,” I said to him. “You make it so difficult for me to resist you.”

Then he moved toward me again and I stared wide-eyed at him. His eyes blazed a bright blue and he had the same excited look as when he approached the white tiger. His right hand moved behind my head. “Then do not resist me,” he said before his mouth descended on mine.

I responded without question. We devoured each other hungrily…kissing, licking, sucking, biting. I felt my self-control quickly slipping away, as if it never existed.

My hands were between us, pressed against his firm chest and I could feel his quickening heartbeat beneath my right palm. I gently raked my nails on his flesh and brought my arms around his torso, relishing in the feel of my breasts touching him. He moved away from my lips and nipped at the side of my neck and then my shoulder. I moaned softly and caressed his muscular back.

Legolas slid his lips up along the side of my neck and came to my ear. “I fear that I do not have as much patience as I thought.”

I had no self-control, no ability to resist him and every nerve ending in my body was crying out for him to touch me. I wasn’t going to wait for him to ask me twice as I slid my arms around his neck in a tight embrace. I knew this was a clear signal to him that I accepted the path we suddenly found ourselves on.

Legolas didn’t waste any time. He turned me around so my back was to him and his arms slipped around my waist from behind as he gently sank his teeth into the side of my neck, leaving his mark on me. His breath was hot against my skin. I closed my eyes and moaned softly as his hands moved up to my breasts. His fingers brushed over my nipples briefly before I became aware of his right hand. He had slid it down my stomach and a gasp escaped my throat when his fingers slid between my thighs. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been so turned on by any guy. It had to be this virgin body I was in. There was just so much heat wherever he touched me. He slid his fingers inside me and I cried out softly. I brought both of my hands down to where his were, forcing him to dig deeper. And then I wanted to touch him. I wanted to know if he was as excited as I was.

Legolas groaned in my ear as my hands moved between us and grasped his erection. He was definitely primed and ready for action. I moved my hips and ground myself hard against him. He uttered another groan and spun me around to face him. His mouth went to mine and he pulled me into his arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck. He lifted me up, pulling my legs around him and then carried me through the water and out onto the damp, moss-covered bank.

After lowering me down on my back and coming down with me, Legolas bent to bring his lips to my right nipple, running his tongue over it and sucking hard. A moan escaped my throat. When he started to gently bite on it, I thought I was going to lose my mind. Then he switched to the left side, subjecting it to the same relentless pleasure. I brought my hands up and buried my fingers into the wet strands of his long blonde hair.

Legolas finally stopped tending to my breasts and started kissing my torso, moving downward. I wasn’t sure what to expect from him, wasn’t sure what Elves did when they made love, but everything he did so far felt good and was burning me up feverishly. I squirmed as he pushed my legs further apart and buried his face between them.

When I felt him graze my folds with his tongue, I moaned again. “Legolas, oh God…” I was so hot down there already, and with him licking and sucking, I couldn’t stop the cry that came out of my mouth. His fingers were right there with his mouth, penetrating me deeply. I cried out again and dug my fingers in his hair even further, wanting to pull it out of his head. The heat continued to build between my legs as Legolas sucked hard on my swollen bud and the feel of his surging lips brought on a spasm that shook my entire body. It felt so incredibly good as I gasped and cried out uncontrollably. I wanted the feeling to last forever, but it seemed to be over too quickly.

Legolas came back up over me again and I looked up at the flames in his blue eyes just before he kissed me passionately. When he raised himself up slightly and his left hand disappeared between us, I felt his fingers stroking my folds once again. It didn’t take long for that heat to build up, just from his touch.

Then I felt him slowly push himself inside me. I had been through this before, but I had forgotten the brief moment of pain that came with it. The pain subsided quickly, replaced by the heat and the pleasure running its course through me.

I reached for him and pulled him down on me, wrapping my legs around his waist, which brought him even deeper. I cried out and Legolas covered my lips with his. I moaned against them as he drove in and out of me. Then he pulled back to look at me and I lost myself in his eyes as the wave hit me. My thighs squeezed his waist and I let out another cry. He covered my mouth again as the wave kept going and going.

As he planted himself deep, he groaned against my lips, shaking and shivering as he came inside me. His whispered groans were like music. I cradled his head, bringing his face against my neck as his cries became louder.

When it was over, we were clinging to each other tightly, neither one of us wanting to let go. Tears filled my eyes and Legolas lifted his face to run his lips over my face, kissing the tears away. He kissed my lips and I couldn’t seem to quench the thirst I had for him. Finally he pulled away to gaze into my eyes with an affection I knew was real.

I couldn’t think of anything sentimental to say, no loving words. But I bit my lower lip with a smile. “Can we do that again?”

Legolas smiled back at me. “We can do this all night if you desire it.”

“Why is it that I’m out of breath and you’re not?”

“It takes much to tire an Elf.”

“So I didn’t wear you out?”

“Nay,” he replied smugly.

“We’ll see about that,” I said as I pulled him back down to my lips.

Three hours later I had Legolas huffing and puffing. Although it did come at a cost of a near fatal heart attack for me. I didn’t think I was ever going to be able to catch my breath again. Or walk for that matter.

Lothlorien – Two days later
(Legolas’s POV)

My recent nocturnal activities in Lothlorien with Ariedel left me with a sense of accomplishment. I had known when it first began two nights ago that it would not be difficult to persuade her. The sexual tension between us had been incredibly heightened in the days before that. And now that we had finally consummated our marriage, I found it humorous that Ariedel suddenly could not keep her hands off me. But who was I to argue. When she touched me, I had a strong desire to touch her as well.

We had spent most of the first evening by the lagoon and then again the next night. Although I knew she had never been with a man before, she did things to me that had me wondering what they had taught her in the convent where she had spent most of her life. It was not an unheard of act among Elves or men, but no elleth had ever brought me pleasure with her mouth before. Yet Ariedel did it to me and I could not deny the satisfaction it brought. (Elf maiden)

I was in council with my father and Lord Celeborn when the marchwarden of Lothlorien entered in a rush.

Orophin looked at his lord first before turning to me. “Forgive my intrusion. There is a contingent from Forlindon just outside our borders. Ten men in all, including Prince Yardell. He has requested an audience with you.”

I turned to my father in surprise, then turned back to Orophin. “He is here? How did he know I would be in Lothlorien?”

“I know not, Prince Legolas. But he is adamant about speaking with you and seeing Princess Ariedel.”

When I left the talan with Orophin, my father and Lord Celeborn followed. Several moments later we were riding out to the border. Ariedel rode behind me on Arod.

“What the hell does he want?” asked Ariedel.

“I am certain he wants to know why you broke your engagement with him,” I replied honestly.

“I had a message sent to him. Wasn’t it enough?”

“Yardell is very persistent.”

“I really have zero desire to see him. Can’t someone just send him away?”

“Ariedel,” I said as I turned to her over my shoulder, “he will continue his pursuit of you until this is settled. Let us settle it now and be done with.”

With us rode my father, Lord Celeborn, Orophin, his brother Rúmil and a contingent of ten Lothlorien guards. No one was taking any chances, in case Yardell decided to take Ariedel by force.

When we reached the border, I caught sight of the ten men sitting on their horses. Two other Lothlorien guards were perched on trees above them, bows in hand, ready to shoot if necessary.

Yardell immediately broke from the others and rode up to us, a rather angry sneer on his face.

I brought Arod to a halt as Yardell circled his horse around us. From the corner of my eye I saw the rest of the Lothlorien guards notching arrows and drawing their bows. “How nice of you to come wish Ariedel and I a pleasant future,” I said, even though I was bristling with anger that he dared make an appearance. Yardell and I did not see eye to eye and he knew of my dislike of him.

“I didn’t come here for that, Elf and you know it!” He quickly glanced around, remembering that he was surrounded by Elves.

“Didn’t you get my letter?” asked Ariedel behind me.

“I did and I don’t accept your apology.” Then he turned back to me. “I challenge you, Legolas of Mirkwood.”

Ariedel slid off Arod’s back and marched up to the furious Forlindon prince. “I told you in my letter that I wanted nothing to do with you and your grotesque ways.”

“You were promised to me. This Elf swayed you, Ariedel.”

“No he didn’t. I make my own decisions.”

“Tis not a woman’s place to speak her mind. They do not make their own decisions.”

Ariedel’s face turned an angry red and she clenched her teeth. “How dare you show up here and threaten my husband and flaunt your goddamned chauvinistic shit in front of me. I don’t know you from Adam and now that I’ve finally met you, you bastard, I can’t believe my father would have agreed to me marrying you! You’re an egotistic asshole who has no respect for women, so I’ve been told. And now I’ve witnessed it firsthand. Get your carcass the hell out of here before I knock you off your horse and beat the ever-living shit out of you.” To drive her point home, she drew a dagger from her belt and held it up with malice.

Yardell’s expression was priceless. Apparently the man had never been lectured by a woman in such a degrading manner. I was a bit shocked myself at the words that had spilled from Ariedel’s mouth. But I had to give her credit for the colorfulness of her spirit. Whenever she asserted such aggression it made my blood run hot with desire for her.

Yardell continued to stare at the livid woman before him. Then he whirled his horse around and galloped off, his men quickly falling in behind him.

Ariedel turned around and stared at the gawking faces staring back at her. “What?” she asked innocently, as if the incident had been something that occurred on a normal basis.

Thranduil suddenly burst into laughter and drew his horse up beside mine. “Legolas, your new bride reminds me very much of your naneth.” (mother)

I smiled at Ariedel as a blush came to her cheeks and then she walked over to mount up behind me. “You took all the fun out of Yardell’s challenge,” I said to her. “I would have fought him.”

“I don’t want anybody fighting over me, Legolas,” she replied impatiently.

“But I so would have enjoyed cutting him just a little bit.”

“He needed more than just a few cuts, ion nin,” added Thranduil. “His head needed to be separated from his body, worthless man that he is.” (my son)

“I could not agree more, adar,” I answered. I turned to look at Ariedel over my shoulder with a smile. In all actuality, I was quite proud of her for standing up to the vile man of Forlindon.

We followed the rest of the Elven procession back to Caras Galadhon.

Lothlorien
(Legolas’s POV)

On the morning of the third day, Ariedel and I were returning from our evening by the river and heading back to camp hand in hand. Ariedel kept stumbling on the front of her gown so she jumped on my back. As I attempted to carry her, she playfully covered my eyes with her hands. I spun us around and around and she laughed. Whenever Ariedel laughed, I did not want it to stop. It was one of the most pleasant sounds I had ever heard.

Upon arriving at our camp, I stopped in my tracks at the greeting in front of us. Ariedel stopped laughing and slowly lowered herself from my back. Before us stood Gandalf, Gimli, Lord Celeborn and my father. Their faces were grim.

My heart nearly jumped to my throat. The message from Aragorn had arrived and I feared the worst. Aragorn was dead, or Lady Arwen… “What has happened?” I asked in a sudden panic.

Gandalf turned to someone behind him. A Minas Tirith guard approached with a wooden box. He set it on the ground and lifted the lid. I was reluctant to look inside the box, fearing that I would find the head of a friend. Ariedel moved alongside me as I approached it. I was surprised to find an erratically elongated head of a black creature with sharp teeth. In my mind’s eye I recalled the image of a dark creature carrying an oblong shape along the side of a snowy mountain…over two thousand years ago. This resembled the creature I had seen back then.

Ariedel gasped beside me and pulled away. “Is this it? Is this the only one?” she asked. She rushed over to the guard. “Were there anymore?”

The guard nodded solemnly. “There are more, my lady.”

“Shit…” she said under her breath.

I glared questioningly at Ariedel. “What do you know of this creature?”

She suddenly turned to me as if seeing me for the first time, her mouth open in a state of confusion. “I…uhm…I guess I have a lot of explaining to do, don’t I?”

Gandalf stepped up. “Let us gather in the hall, away from prying ears.”

Lothlorien
(Ariedel’s POV)

Explaining the laws of transmutation to people who didn’t even know about electricity was an impossible task, so I kept it simple. Simple in a sense that I used sorcery as an excuse for how I knew about the aliens. But Lady Galadriel, who was also in the room, knew the truth and she voiced in my head that she understood why I avoided the truth about certain things. There were things Legolas would never understand. Not even the great wizard, Gandalf would understand. They all accepted my explanation as gospel and didn’t question it any longer. Apparently people here had visions all the time.

“Tell us once again the cycle of these creatures,” requested Lord Celeborn.

I had explained it in such a rush the first time that I knew none of them had really gotten the gist of it. “It begins as a crablike creature that comes from a large egg. They call it a facehugger because it attaches itself…” I used my hands to emphasis the image. “It attaches itself to the face of a living host. It has an appendage that slides into the host’s throat where it deposits an embryo in the stomach. The embryo grows rapidly and eventually breaks through the chest of the host. They call this creature a chestburster.” I glanced over at Legolas. He was standing near a pillar, his arms folded across his chest, his face a mask of anger and suspicion. His eyes scared me because they were icy cold as he glared at me.

“Why does it go through all that?” asked Gandalf. “Why grow inside of a host?”

“It assumes certain similarities from the host. Without it, it can’t form. So if it grew inside of a horse, the resulting creature would run on all fours. If it grew inside of a human, then it could stand on two legs.”

“And it’s blood can melt anything and burn flesh,” added Gandalf.

“Yes, that’s right.” I looked up at Legolas again. His brows were knotted angrily together. The only time I had ever seen him so angry was when we first met and he thought I had stolen a horse from King Draconir.

Galadriel finally spoke aloud. “Their numbers grow and will continue to grow as long as there are living hosts for them to use. The queen must be destroyed to stop the production of eggs.”

“Aye,” said Gimli. “We must ride to Gondor as soon as possible.”

Lady Galadriel left the hall first, followed by Lord Celeborn. Then Gimli, Thranduil and Gandalf stepped out, leaving me alone with Legolas. He was watching me from where he stood. I got up and headed for the door, only he stepped in front of it, preventing me from leaving.

“Why did you keep this from me?” he asked angrily.

I kept my voice calm as I responded. “I didn’t think you would believe me. I wasn’t sure if the creature even existed. I just knew where I needed to go to look for it.”

Legolas pointed to the table where the box containing the alien’s head sat. “You planned to destroy it by yourself?”

“Well, yes, I did plan to.”

“You could have warned us sooner about it! And now an entire village has vanished! Men, women and children…possibly dying as we speak…these creatures bursting from their chests!” He slammed his fist into the wall next to me, making me jump.

“I’m sorry.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Sorry?”

“It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. It was supposed to be a quick job, in and out. Just one bug.” My eyes watered as I pictured the poor souls being cocooned and then enduring the painful, agonizing moments before their chests exploded. “Oh God…what have I done?” I covered my face with my hands and burst into tears, falling to my knees in front of him.

A minute later I heard Legolas crouch down in front of me. He pulled my hands away from my face and I saw that the anger in his expression had faded. He touched my face and wiped at my tears with his thumbs.

“Legolas, I didn’t know what to do or…or who to turn to.” I looked into his eyes, my vision blurred by my tears. “I should have trusted you.”

Legolas pulled me into his arms. “Forgive me, Ariedel. I mean not to take my anger out on you. You are not at fault.”

I pulled away slightly so I could look at him. “I really am sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen.”

“I know.” Legolas kissed each of my eyes. “Come. We must make haste and ride hard to Gondor.”

 

Warning – There is graphic sexual contact in this chapter.

Chapter 7 – Deadly Horde​

Minas Tirith – Two days later
(Legolas’s POV)

The external gates of the white city opened upon our approach. As we rode through the next three gates, the avenues were teaming with people preparing for battle. Some of them were clearly injured, their bandages standing out in contrast to their dark clothing. I was reminded of the last battle that transpired here, where trolls broke through the gates. The structure was still in repair, even after a year’s time, for the damage to the white city had been extensive.

When we arrived at the final gate, we dismounted just inside of it.

Aragorn greeted us there. “You don’t know how glad I am to see you, my friends,” he said with relief flooding his face.

“What has happened since you sent your messenger?” asked Gandalf.

Aragorn looked extremely tired and fatigued. “Much has happened. The creatures have attacked us two nights ago and again last night. They’ve taken more than a dozen men thus far.”

Ariedel frowned at this news. “How far away is the village they attacked?”

“A hard three hour’s ride.”

“They’re traveling an awfully long distance to get their hosts. It’s that or they haven’t found a suitable lair to set up the queen’s hive.” Ariedel shook her head in anger, mumbling softly to herself. “Damn, I wish I had my equipment with me. I could easily run a scan and be able to produce exact numbers and exact locations. Damn that Hawke. I swear I’m going to kill him if I ever have the displeasure of seeing his ugly face again.”

“What do we have for weapons if we cannot use swords?” Thranduil asked Aragorn.

“The creature’s blood melts anything it touches,” replied Aragorn. “But even though swords and arrowheads melt, they still do considerable damage. It has worked thus far. We’ve been able to kill many of them. What we did discover is that neither wood nor mithril are affected by the creature’s blood.”

“Mithril?” I asked curiously. The blades of my long knives were mithril. I could use them without damage. Mithril was indeed a magical element that withstood many destructive forces. A mithril vest saved Frodo from being speared by a troll in the mines of Moria during the quest.

“Then let us prepare for what awaits us on this night, for I am certain they will strike again,” said Gandalf.

The night seemed to come far too quickly as everyone prepared for the attack. We stood at the battlement walls of the first level, peering out into the darkness. I was again reminded of another battle, fought at Helm’s Deep. I would prefer to battle Orcs or Uruk-hai any day over these seemingly cunning creatures that had no weapons except for their teeth and bare claws.

As I stared out into the darkness, nothing moved. All was quiet, far too quiet. When I glanced over my shoulder, I saw Ariedel standing near an archway. Her face was a mask of concern. Something was not sitting right with her. Was something amiss? I left my post and approached her. “Are you all right?”

Tears spilled from her eyes. “No, I’m not all right. They’re going to kill us all.”

I placed my hands on her face. “We will prevail. You will see.”

“You don’t understand. One is difficult enough to deal with. But more than one? Goddammit, how did it ever get to this?” She stared at me with her pale grey eyes for a moment as I wiped at her tears. “I love you, Legolas. You know that, right?”

“Aye, I do know it.” I had known for some time, but to hear it from her lips elated me.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. Now I’m afraid it’s too late.”

“Tis not too late, Ariedel.” I leaned in to kiss her. “I love you as well.”

“Legolas!”

I turned at the sound of my father’s voice. He was pointing out into the darkness. I pulled away from Ariedel and ran to stand beside him. At first I saw nothing and then as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could see shapes moving rapidly. Faint points of light from the moon above that reflected on their shiny black heads. My heart sank in despair. There were hundreds of them.

The Steward of Gondor, Faramir, came to stand beside Aragorn. “Where? I see nothing,” said Faramir.

I turned to Gandalf and he seemed to understand my request.

“A show of light would seem warranted.” Gandalf raised his white staff and a light flashed from it, brightening the valley below and revealing the vile creatures that advanced. They briefly screeched at the light directed at them before commencing their approach.

Aragorn’s eyes widened at the sheer number of them and he called out to anyone that listened. “Torches! We need torches! Light as many as you can!”

The creatures moved rapidly on all fours, heads raised, teeth gleaming, skeletal tails swishing for balance. There was only one creature in Middle Earth I feared more than anything. A Balrog of Morgoth, the fiery creature that had attacked us in the mines of Moria and nearly claimed the life of Gandalf. At the time the sight of the Balrog had shook me down to my knees in fear. These creatures had the same affect on me, watching them run through the grassy plains sent cold chills through me. Where did they come from? Were they a new spawn of Sauron? Was the Dark Lord still alive afterall?

“Do you sense anything, Legolas?” asked my father.

A special Elven trait passed on to me by my mother gave me the ability to sense the emotions of animals and to speak to the trees. I extended my senses out over the plains, feeling the creatures. But I felt no anger coming from them, no hatred, no thrill, no need for revenge. Nothing emanated from them. Nothing stirred the air. Nothing stirred the trees for the trees themselves could not sense the danger surrounding the emotionless creatures. “They are impassive. I sense nothing.” Perhaps they were not animals at all.

As the creatures reached the base of the external wall, they began to climb it, their claws digging into the stone. We quickly set arrows to our bows. I took aim at the nearest creature and released the arrow. It embedded into the creature’s forehead with a spray of smoking fluid and then fell to the ground. I shot arrow after arrow, switching from left to right.

My father was beside me, shooting his own arrows. Aragorn’s archers did likewise. But there were too many of them and they soon came leaping over the wall at us. We had all been warned about the creatures’ blood and to avoid it when swinging swords.

I pulled my long knives from my back and prepared for close combat. One creature came at me and I slashed at it with both blades, jumping away from the spraying blood. Thinking I had finished it off, I turned to deal with another. Only the creature had not fallen. It pulled me down with it and as I attempted to scramble away, its jaws opened and something swiftly came at my head, startling me. A second set of jaws, smaller and attached to an appendage that came from its mouth. I moved my head out of the way as the small jaws came at me again. Then the creature was lifted off me by Gimli, who drove his axe into its chest. I quickly rolled away as the spray of blood nearly hit me. Gimli’s axe was destroyed, but luckily the Dwarf had extras close at hand.

I notched an arrow in my bow and targeted another creature trying to make off with an archer. My arrow pierced its head. I sent another arrow into its chest and it finally released the archer and fell backward. To my left Aragorn was dealing with a creature. Directly in front of me, my father was shooting arrows down at the creatures climbing the walls.

Faramir had an endless supply of weapons and he fought the creatures with swords in both hands. The Steward of Gondor was also heavily armored. But the spraying blood of the creatures soon had him pulling the melting armor off.

I moved to the wall and was back to my knives as a creature jumped over it. With a quick slash, I cleaved its jaw and half its face off. Something burned the back of my right hand and when I looked, some of its blood had gotten on me. It was not much, but the pain nearly blinded me. And more creatures jumped over the wall for me to deal with.

Gandalf used both sword and staff. He would swing his staff powerfully, knocking the creatures down before delivering a killing blow with his sword.

The battle went on until three hours before dawn appeared in the eastern sky. Aragorn, Arwen and Faramir went around looking for wounded, while Gandalf inspected the fallen creatures for signs of life.

I stood beside my father, sensing the grief in the men as they discovered their friends or family dead or taken away by the creatures.

Hours later, with the morning sun shining through the windows of the large hall, while the wounded were tended to, Ariedel tended to the wound on the back of my hand. The flesh was charred black and just the sight of it was as excruciating as the pain I felt coursing all the way up my arm and into my chest.

Gandalf stood nearby, his arms folded, lost in his thoughts. We both turned to Aragorn and Faramir as they approached us.

“We counted eighty-four of the creatures dead,” said Aragorn.

Gandalf raised his eyebrows and unfolded his arms. “Eighty-four of them dead, but how many of our people were taken?”

Aragorn sighed before responding, not wanting to meet the Istar’s eyes. “Thirty-seven.”

Ariedel abandoned her task of wrapping my hand and walked into the middle of them. “That means there’ll soon be thirty-seven more of them. And who knows how many didn’t actually come last night. The queen isn’t stupid. She won’t send her entire horde out at once, knowing that we can cause them damage.”

Gimli stepped up as well. “We need to make weapons of mithril, like Legolas’s knives.”

“There’s no way we can make them in time for another attack if they come again tonight,” said Faramir.

Ariedel suddenly seemed lost in her thoughts, biting at the nail on her thumb. I stood up and approached her, placing my hand on her arm. “Do you have something in mind?” I asked her.

“Yes. We have to find the hive, get in there with torches and burn them all while they sleep. They remain dormant in the daylight hours as long as they don’t hear any questionable sounds. We have to get them there. It’s the only way.”

The others looked on, but they appeared skeptical.

“They learn quickly,” she added. “They probably already know our defenses and how to deal with it. We won’t survive another attack.”

Aragorn turned to Gandalf. “What are your thoughts, Gandalf?”

“It sounds reasonable, Aragorn. If we cannot defeat them in our domain, then we must defeat them in theirs. They may not expect it, which gives us the upper hand.”

Aragorn turned to Faramir for his opinion.

“I agree,” said Faramir with a nod

Aragorn frowned and walked away to stand with Arwen. They spoke quietly together, but Arwen was agitated. She knew the dangers of these creatures and knew that Aragorn would do everything in his power to protect his people. Aragorn turned and walked back. “Then let us raid their horde. But not all will go.” He looked at each of us at great length before continuing. “I ask only one of you to take a company of men.”

I understood why he only wanted one of us to go. If the plan failed, then the attack would come to Minas Tirith again and with all of us dead, there would no longer be any hope of defeating the creatures. “I will go.” Whatever possessed me to speak, I did not know. Everyone turned to me. I avoided Ariedel’s eyes, fearing what I would see in them. “I can enter with scarcely a sound. I can also hear them if they approach.”

My father, who had sat silent throughout, took the moment to stand up. “He is right, Aragorn. You, of all people, know Legolas’s abilities the most.”

Aragorn looked at me with concern and spoke quietly. “Aye,” he sighed softly. “I do know his abilities.”

“I’m going with him,” said Ariedel with conviction.

I turned to her with a frown. “Nay, Ariedel, I cannot allow that.” She was about to protest, but the stern look from my father gave her pause.

Aragorn turned to Faramir. “Select your men and bid them to rest for a short while.” While Faramir nodded and walked away, Aragorn turned to me next, laying a hand on my shoulder. “You should rest as well, my friend. You will be riding hard, following their tracks in the dirt to their hidden lair. You must reach it while there is still light.”

I nodded and looked down at the hand Ariedel had not finished wrapping. She walked up and took my hand. Then she led me away.
Minas Tirith
(Ariedel’s POV)

I stood near the wooden armoire, watching Legolas twitching nervously where he sat on what looked like an overstuffed lounge chair. He was scared, I could see it in his eyes, in the way he breathed. I knew how he felt. When I had seen the aliens for the first time on my first mission, I wasn’t able to stop my knees from shaking.

And then here I had watched from a window of the second level of the white city. I watched the men battle the aliens, being sprayed with their acid blood, being dragged away. It was horrible.

Legolas had fought like someone possessed, shooting his arrows and then slashing away at them with his knives. He was able to avoid the blood except for the time it got on the back of his hand. Just a few drops had left four deep gouges that I cleaned thoroughly to prevent infection and then wrapped his hand in a clean cloth. “Legolas?”

His head jerked up in my direction briefly before he looked away again. Christ, he was jumpy.

I slowly moved toward him. “You don’t have to do this.”

“If not me, then who?”

I stopped a couple feet away from him, my eyes welling up with tears. “I don’t want you to go.”

Legolas met my watering eyes and didn’t say anything. Then he reached his hand out to me. When I gave it to him, he pulled me toward him.

I straddled his lap and slid my arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around my back and held me tightly. I inhaled his scent and pulled back enough to get me near his ear. He moaned softly as I ran my tongue along the tip of it. “Who will I have here if I lose you?”

Legolas placed his hands on my face and pulled me away so he could look into my eyes. “I will return. I promise you.”

I brought my lips to his and kissed him. This could quite possibly be the last time I would ever see him again. I wanted to send him away with something to remember and maybe even with something to look forward to if he returned. No, not if. When he returned. Yes, when. I didn’t want to think about the ‘ifs’.

Despite the fact that we had very little time, I reached down and started unfastening the front of his tunic. He didn’t stop me. In fact, he was pushing my skirt up my thighs so he could have access to my bare skin beneath.

But I had other plans. I leaned forward and ran my tongue along his chest. His fingers went into my hair. The night we had first made love in Lothlorien, I had later gone down on him and he had acted as if that had been the first time for him. I wanted to do it again.

As I slowly slid off his lap and between his legs, I continued to run my tongue over his flesh, moving down his muscular torso. My fingers worked on the ties holding his leggings up. I loosened them and moved them out of the way to expose him. It had to be a sin for him to be so perfect. I had seen my share of naked men and Legolas was going to be the one whose image I would never be able to get out of my head for as long as I lived.

I wrapped my hand around his shaft and bent to graze the head with my tongue. Legolas sucked air through his teeth and then groaned deeply as I slid him into my mouth. When I used my teeth he gasped. I loved hearing the little sounds that came out of him whenever we were intimate like this. He was an extremely passionate lover and whenever we climaxed, it was pretty intense.

I knew the very moment he was about to explode because his groans deepened like a wild animal and that only made me suck even harder. He tasted so good, I couldn’t seem to get enough of him.

When it was over, he pulled me back up on his lap and kissed me fiercely. Once Legolas got started, he was on a sort of heightened state of sexual awareness. All I had to do was touch him again and he was ready for more.

So as I straddled his lap, I guided him inside me. He slid his hands under my skirt and dug his fingers into my hips, forcing himself deeper. I cried out as his thumb moved to my swollen clit and rubbed it. Being on top gave me the advantage of moving at my own pace and I stretched it out as long as I possibly could, which really wasn’t very long because he was killing me with every groan out of his mouth. The minute the wave hit me, I could feel Legolas letting go and releasing his seed inside me.

We held each other for awhile afterward, whispering words of endearment to each other. Until it was time for him to go. I wanted him to stay, but if I delayed him any longer, then the chances of him and the other men reaching the hive before sunset would be slim.

At the front gates I gave him a kiss and a hug. “Don’t forget what I said about not making a sound when you’re inside the hive.”

“I will be as silent as a ghost,” he acknowledged with a smile, the fear he felt earlier had vanished, as if it never existed.

I wanted to smile, but my lips were trembling as I reached up to caress his cheek. “Please come back to me in one piece.”

Legolas backed away and mounted Arod. With one last look, he spun the horse around and bolted away, twelve of Aragorn’s men trailing behind him. Thirteen of them in all…that was a pretty unlucky number.

Ithilien and the Mountains of Shadow
(Legolas’s POV)

We had ridden hard into Ithilien for nearly two hours, following the wide lane of deep tracks in the dirt, left there by the aliens. Much closer than expected, the tracks veered left into the Mountains of Shadow. We traveled single file into a canyon that reminded me of Dwimorberg Mountain where Aragorn had enlisted the Army of the Dead one year ago during our quest to destroy the One Ring. The tracks continued on for some time and ended at an obscure cave opening. So this was their lair.

We dismounted and prepared the oil sacks and torches. As we entered the cave, I could sense the fear in the men. When I turned to look behind me, I saw them quickly glancing left and right, expecting an attack at any time. I faced forward again, feeling the same fear beginning to creep up on me. Where did these creatures sleep? I had yet to see any dozing about.

The walls of the tunnel were covered in a strange sediment I was unfamiliar with and contained spirals and grooves. I motioned for someone to begin leaving a trail of oil. If all went well, and once the entire hive was well soaked in oil, we would return to this point and light it with a torch. The oil trail would ignite and the flames would continue into their lair and destroy the aliens.

The path continued on and on, seeming with no end in sight. Someone sneezed behind me…It echoed throughout the tunnel and we all froze in our tracks. My keen ears strained to listen. But there was nothing.

The man directly behind me started to move forward, but I blocked him with my arm as a sound suddenly reached my ears. A deadly sounding hiss. But it was not coming from deeper inside the tunnel, it came from where we had just come…Behind us.

The sounds of claws scraping on stone made my eyes widen. Something was coming. “Swords,” I yelled.

Swords being drawn echoed in the tunnel. And then someone screamed. The tunnel was far too confined for bow and arrow. I drew one of my long knives and prepared for battle. The attack came swiftly from all sides.

The creatures clung to the ceiling of the cave and crawled on the walls like ghostly apparitions. I slashed at them, hoping that their blood would not reach any of the men. More screams followed and in the darkness I saw silhouettes rushing passed me, dragging the men away.
Something slammed into me from behind and I pitched forward on all fours, dropping my knife. Before I could reach for the other on my back, a sharp blow struck the left side of my head. I could feel warm blood dripping down the side of my face and into my eye. Then darkness quickly claimed me.

 

Chapter 9 – Gateway​

The Mountains of Shadow
(Ariedel’s POV)

Randle pointed to what looked like a shadow in the side of the mountain face. We galloped up and dismounted.

I grabbed a torch and rushed in, not waiting for him to follow.

“Hey, wait up, goddammit. I’m picking up two facehuggers still alive in there.” Randle jumped in front of me as we made our way through the tunnel.

“What happened to the alpha?” I asked, waving the torch back and forth to light the path ahead of us.

“It’s gone,” he said as he looked down at his locator.

The sound of scrambling feet made us freeze. Randle pulled out his blaster and disintegrated the two facehuggers charging at us.

“That’s it. They’re all gone.”

“What about the eggs? Any of them still around?”

“I’m picking up seven.” He reached into a pack slung over his shoulder and revealed a piece of equipment.

I recognized it. Affectionately called “The Bomb”, it had the potency of a nuclear bomb, but without the radiation. Randle planned to place it somewhere inside and detonate it when we were a safe distance away.

Something shiny on the ground caught my attention. It was one of Legolas’s long knives. I picked it up and realized it was covered in alien saliva. “Legolas!” I called. The only response I received was my own voice echoing back at me through the tunnel.

Randle ran behind me as I moved further down the tunnel. We came to a cavern where we saw the bodies of those that had died from the aliens bursting through their chests. They were all dead. Some of the eggs resting in the center of the cavern were unopened.

Randle moved silently to position The Bomb near them, then he pulled out a device to sync the frequency. “Okay, it’s done. Now what?”

“I’m not leaving until I find Legolas. He’s in here somewhere.”

“ Crystal, he’s probably dead, just like everyone else in here.”

“Then I want to see his body. I’m not leaving until I do.” There were two other passages beside the one we had just come through. “You take the one on the left and I’ll take the middle. Holler if you find him.”

Randle pressed his blaster into my hand and disappeared into the left tunnel. The blaster was unnecessary at this point because the aliens and the queen were all dead. Unless, of course, one of the eggs decided to open up.

I rushed down into the middle tunnel, waving the torch around. Then I froze in my tracks when something caught my eye. A glimpse of long blonde hair on the ground, near the entrance to another cavern. “Legolas!”

In the center of the cavern I could see a grouping of eggs that were on fire. I ran forward dropping to my knees in front of his slumped form. “Legolas,” I said as I felt for a pulse and was relieved to feel it, faint as it was.

His face was covered in fresh blood, as well as dried blood and his nose was smashed and bloodied. There was a deep hole in the side of his head where blood had flowed and dried on his face and neck and all over his hair. His clothes were torn in so many places, shredded and bloodied. His left shoulder had a large flap of skin missing like something had taken a bite out of him. There were holes burned in the front of his tunic and I could see charred flesh beneath. And the skin of his left leg was mangled from what looked like a dose of acid blood and God only knew what else. If he had been a mortal man, he would have already been dead. Shit, he was a mess.

Then he began squirming in panic and crying out in pain.

I put my hands on his face, trying to get his attention. “Look at me, baby, look at me.”

Legolas was gasping from the pain he was no doubt feeling. He opened his tear-filled eyes and looked at me, recognition coming to him. “Ari…Ariedel…”

“Shhh, save your breath, Legolas.” I looked up. “Randle!” I heard Randle’s footfalls echoing through the tunnel.

A quick glance around the cavern told me the story. This had been the last stand. Alien drones were scattered dead all around. Nearby was the queen, a tangle of skeletal limbs, her acid blood flowing from a dozen places all over her, arrows sticking out in various places.

I glanced back down at Legolas. He stared up at me, laboring to breathe, face scrunched up in pain. The poor Elf had killed all of these aliens by himself and suffered some serious damage in the process. “Randle, get over here!”

“The white gulls…they call to me,” Legolas said breathlessly, his blue eyes paling to gray and glazing over before he passed out.

I knew what that meant. I heard him talking about white gulls with fascination and wonder on many occasions. The dreaded birds called to Elves, luring them to sail West. I didn’t understand any of it and just figured he was talking about Heaven or some equivalent to it. No way was I going to let him die. “No fucking way. You are not going to die on me, you stubborn Elf.”

Randle appeared and quickly began scanning him. “He’s got a queen inside him.”

My eyes widened. “What? Check it again!”

“I’m looking right at it, dammit!”

I grabbed the scanner to check it myself. “Son of a bitch!”

Randle grabbed the blaster out of my hand.

“What’re you doing?” I asked wide-eyed, watching him point it at Legolas.

“We have to kill him,” said Randle.

“No!” I pushed his blaster aside.

“He’s on his last breath, Crystal. Why would you want him to suffer through the thing bursting through his chest?”

I couldn’t stop the tears that exploded from my eyes. “Don’t you touch him!” I wanted to hug Legolas, but he had so many injuries, I didn’t know where it was safe to touch him.

“Then what do you propose we do?” asked Randle.

I wiped at my eyes. “We take him back with us and we get the little bitch out of him.”

Randle gawked at me, but he knew I was serious as a heart attack. “Oh, that’ll go over real well with the director, a good reason for him to fire you.”

“Fine. Let him fire me because if he doesn’t, I’m going to quit.”

Randle put his blaster away and pulled out another device. This was the translocator. It would take us directly to the platform on Gateway Station, bypassing the effects of the transmutation device. The real Ariedel wouldn’t be returning to Middle Earth in my place. He held two of the translocators in his hand and handed one to me.

“What about you?” I asked him.

“I’ll take the horses and get them far enough away before I detonate. I want to make sure the explosion happens. Then I’m coming home.”

I carefully raised Legolas up by the shoulders, trying to ignore the serious injury to his left one, and wrapped my arms around him before activating the device. Middle Earth faded with a flash of bright light.

Ithilien

Aragorn drew his horse to a halt when he saw two horses galloping in his direction. He called for everyone else to halt. Just then the rider on the gray horse vanished into thin air. Everyone gasped and started whispering among themselves. The horses stopped upon reaching the group. It was Legolas’s horse, Arod and Ariedel’s horse, Blade.

And then something else drew Aragorn’s attention. There was a massive explosion some distance away. The very top of the tallest of the Mountains of Shadow had just blown its top. The tremendous force of the explosion rained stones on Aragorn and his company. They shielded themselves from the onslaught.

Aragorn stared in complete amazement and confusion at the mushroom shaped cloud rising over the demolished mountain, wondering what could have caused its destruction.

Gateway Station
(Ariedel’s POV)

We materialized on the translocator pad in the lab. “Get me a gurney!” I yelled to whoever was in the room.

A minute later Legolas was being wheeled down to the Emergency Operating Room. And ten minutes later he was prepped for the extraction. The doctors on Gateway had done this thousands of times. They rarely operated on civilians, only important dignitaries and station personnel. But I called in every single favor and pulled some strings and now they were working on my Elf.

A few minutes later Randle stepped into the observation room. I looked up at him expectantly. “Well?”

“It’s done. The mountain’s history.” He removed his long Elf wig and studied me for awhile. “Have you seen Warner yet?”

“No. He’s not on the station.” I knew I was never going to hear the end of it from Director Warner. He’d have my hide for this. The main objective of the missions was to stop the spread of the alien species, which meant exterminating any of them wherever we found their signatures. It was not our objective to socialize with the people on the planets, nor try to save them from chestbursters. We were simply supposed to destroy the aliens and dispose of any host carrying an embryo. There was no way I could have killed Legolas. He wasn’t even supposed to be involved in any of this.

If it hadn’t been for Hawke…

And speaking of the devil…Raymond Hawke stepped into the observation room overlooking the operating room. He actually looked happy to see me.

The sight of him spun me into a whole new dimension of ‘pissed off’ I had never been in my entire life. I walked up and punched him hard in the face. “You fucking bastard!” Then I attacked him, knocking him to the ground and punching him in the face again.

Randle had to pull me off of Hawke, but not before I got the chance to slam my boot right into his family jewels.

Hawke glared at me through clenched teeth as he wiped at the blood on his lip. “I see you had a little fun down in fairyland,” he said as he got to his feet.

“Shit, Hawke. Do you even know what you caused? Do you know how many people died because of you?”

“Hey, it wasn’t my fault it took you so long to do your goddamned job.”

I moved to jump on him again, but Randle held me back.

“Will you cool it, Crystal?” Randle turned to Hawke. “Get the fuck out of here. Just get the fuck out…before I kill you myself.”

Hawke gave me a final sneer before he turned and walked back out of the observation room.

I was seething inside, trying to calm my frazzled nerves as I turned back to watch the progress in the operating room. Before they could work on anything else, they had to extract the queen. There was no telling when it had designs to break out, so this was their first priority.

The operating room was equipped with the appropriate machines to dispose of the infant queen. After they cut Legolas open, they would shock the queen into stasis, extract her and then dispose of her in some method I was unfamiliar with.

When they began to cut into Legolas’s pale chest, I turned away, unable to watch.

Randle touched my arm. “Come on, let’s get you something to eat.”

I pulled away from his hand. “I’m not leaving him, Randle.”

He held his hands up in defense. “Okay, fine. Just thought I’d ask.”

I turned to him with a frown, knowing that he didn’t deserve my anger, not after he had risked his life to rescue me. “I’m sorry.” In reality, if it hadn’t been for Randle coming to get me, there would have been no way to save Legolas from the queen that would have burst from his chest.

“It’s fine. I can understand what you’re going through.” He turned toward the observation window, to look toward the Elf lying on the operating table. “It’s obvious how much you love him.”

My eyes immediately filled with tears. The thought of Legolas fighting the aliens and the queen by himself, the pain he had felt from every wound that had been inflicted upon him…I just couldn’t bear it. When I broke down in sobs, Randle wrapped his arms around me and I let him comfort me for the moment.

Gateway Station
(Legolas’s POV)

…I ran out of the tunnel as fast as my feet could carry me, which seemed odd to me with all of the injuries I sustained. The creatures were behind me…so close that I could hear their raspy breathing behind my ear. The sun was out and the heat was comforting. But the creatures continued to pursue me, even in the light. It had been my understanding that they slept when it was light…yet there they were, running behind me in full light of the sun. A pain suddenly seized my chest and I gasped. The pain came again with such intensity that I lost my footing and collapsed in the dirt. I began coughing in spasms, turning to lay on my back. The creatures were upon me in the next moment, surrounding me, but not attacking. Saliva dripped from their grinning jaws as they leered and hissed at me. Another spasm of pain seized my chest and I clutched at it with both hands. Something was moving inside me. It was one of them. It was inside me. Nooooooooo… And then it burst from my chest. I saw pieces of my bone, flesh and blood spray out at the creatures standing around. My heart had stopped, yet I still lived as the chestburster gurgled and turned its tiny head in my direction, parting its jaws to hiss at me…

I woke up gasping for air. My hand automatically moved to my chest and I was relieved to see that there was not a large gaping hole in it. With a heavy sigh I realized that the creature bursting from my chest had only been a dream. My vision was blurred and I blinked rapidly to focus my eyes. There was an incredibly bright light to my right and I avoided it by turning my head in the opposite direction.

My fingers felt numb and I raised my left hand to look at it. They were still there…all five of my fingers. But there was something white wrapped around my hand all the way up my wrist, like a thick bandage, only it was made of a hard, yet light material. Further up my arm were more bandages.

I remembered the blow to my head and raised my hand up to my left temple, feeling for the wound I knew was there. There was a bandage wrapped around my head. Out of pure reflex, I tore the bandage off and felt the wound beneath it. My skin had been sealed somehow, or it had healed during the time I had been unconscious, of which I knew not the length.

A glance further to my left revealed a strange looking chair made of shiny metal. There was a table nearby, also made of the same shiny metal. Right beside me was another metal table. On it was a goblet made of clear glass and it was full of water. I reached to touch it. The glass felt cold, and despite my parched throat, I left the water alone.

I turned my head to the right to inspect the bright light. It was the shape of a large square on the wall, the flame behind it did not move. The light just glowed from whatever source was within. I decided not to dwell on its mechanics at the moment and continued the inspection of myself.

There was something imbedded into my forearm with a thin clear rope attached to it. I followed the rope to where it ended at an object resting on a metal rod above me. The object resembled an oilskin with a clear liquid inside. I touched my arm and felt something hard and thin under my skin. What was this? Why was it inside my arm? Just as I was about to pull it out, the wall in front of me opened as if by magic.

A dark-skinned woman entered wearing very strange white clothing. She smiled at me and moved to one of the tables. “It’s good to see you finally awake, Mr Greenleaf.”

My eyes narrowed at her. Who was she? How did she know my name? I suspiciously watched what she was doing. She had something sharp in her hands and raised it up to the light, tapping the edge of it with her finger.

“Here’s something that’ll ease the pain,” she said as she advanced upon me.

I panicked and quickly rolled to my left. The metal spike came out of my arm, spraying blood into the air and I fell to the hard floor. The impact forced a howl from my throat and then I gasped for breath from the intenseness of the pain that hit me. Never in my two thousand years had I ever felt such severe pain.

The woman came around the bed and I scrambled away, finding myself blocked into a corner. “Nabad o nin!” I yelled out, my voice sounding gravely and strange to my ears. (Get away from me)

The woman finally moved away and the wall opened again to let her out.

I gathered my legs up, staring at the polished floor I was sitting upon. Every bone in my body ached with blazing pain and I shook uncontrollably. The throbbing on the side of my head made me dizzy and lightheaded with nausea. The sound of voices reached me through the magical wall that had opened and closed and I listened, hoping to discover where I was and what was going to happen to me.

“I was just going to give him a shot for the pain and he freaked out, yelling at me in some weird language,” said a voice, the one that belonged to the dark-skinned woman.

“I told you to keep him sedated at all times. He’s not from this world and won’t understand anything around him,” said the second voice. This voice was familiar to me, but I could not focus enough to search my memory.

“I’m sorry, Miss Schuyler,” said the first voice again.

The wall opened again and I closed my eyes, not wanting to look at anyone. I just wanted to be left alone. I wanted to heal myself and be rid of the frightening images that kept appearing in my mind’s eye. Grinning jaws that dripped saliva. I shuddered.

“Legolas?”

The female voice was very familiar, but I did not want to see who spoke. I covered my head with my arms. “Gwanna erui nin.” (Leave me alone)

“Legolas, look at me.”

The voice finally registered. It was Ariedel. I felt like a complete coward, afraid to open my eyes. Her hand touched my head and gently smoothed my tousled hair.

“Baby, I’m so sorry this happened to you.”

The sudden need to look upon her eyes overwhelmed me and I removed my arms from over my head. As I turned toward her, she laid a warm hand on my cheek. “Ariedel…” I uttered in a whisper.

“Yes, it’s me,” she said, pushing my loose hair away from my face.

I pulled her into an embrace, squeezing my eyes shut to the pain that came with the simple movement. “Man sen sad? Mas im?” (What is this strange place? Where am I?)

“Legolas, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

Then I realized I had spoken Elvish to her. I switched to the Common Speech. “Where am I? This is a strange place.”

“It’s all right. You’re in a place to help you heal. You suffered some serious injuries, Legolas. You nearly died.”

I pulled back slightly to study her tear-filled eyes and saw that she spoke the truth.

“Come on,” she urged. “Let me get you back in bed.”

I allowed Ariedel to help me up on my feet. I needed to lean on her as my legs were very unsteady. She helped me to the bed and helped me lay down, adjusting the short tunic to cover me. It was then that I realized my left leg was heavily bandaged, in the same material that covered my left arm.

Ariedel pressed something near the bed and spoke into it. “It’s okay now. You can come back in.”

The wall opened to admit the dark-skinned woman again. She approached with a small tray of things and I started to move away from her.

“It’s all right, Legolas. She’s just going to give you something for your pain. It’ll help you sleep.”

“I do not want to sleep.” If I slept, I feared that I would dream of the creatures again.

The woman stood beside the bed and I watched as she stuck the sharp object into my arm with a slight sting and squeezed the other end of the object. Then she extracted it and proceeded to reattach the thin needle into my forearm where it had come off. I watched her hands carefully and felt another sting. When she finally walked out of the room, I turned to Ariedel. The pained expression on her face made me feel as though she could not stand the sight of me. Had my face been disfigured during my battle with the aliens?

“See? That wasn’t so bad, was it?” she softly asked as she came around to the right side of me.

I felt a soothing heat beginning to spread all over me and the sharpness of the pain began to slowly fade.

Ariedel pushed my hair away from my face and then caressed my cheek. “My poor Legolas. How did you ever survive?”

Tears involuntarily filled my eyes. I did not want to remember the ordeal. I wanted the images to go away. To think that I survived Orcs and Uruk-hai of the fiercest kind, grizzly wargs, cave trolls, giant spiders. I had confronted a demonic fiery balrog and screeching Fell beasts carrying Nazguls. I had ridden atop a giant mûmak to bring it down on the fields of the Pelennor during the War of the Rings. I had feared nothing. But I feared the sightless, stoic creatures I recently battled. Grinning jaws with dripping saliva. I closed my eyes and frowned.

Ariedel leaned closer and kissed me. “I love you,” she said against my lips. “Please get better quickly. I miss being with you.”

I opened my eyes as she began to move away and I quickly reached for her wrist. “Nay, please stay with me. Do not leave me here alone.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Ariedel took my hand and squeezed it.

Even this simple gesture caused me pain. But I desperately tried to hide, for I did not want Ariedel to release my hand. Then she carefully climbed into the bed with me, slipping under the sheets and turning toward me.

I slowly rolled to the right toward her and my eyes settled on her beautiful face, wet with tears. When she caressed my cheek again with gentle fingers, I closed my eyes. Her fingers brushed over my brows and I felt her lips touch mine once again. I wanted to kiss her back but I was beginning to feel numb and unable to move.

Then I felt nothing at all.

Gateway Station
(Ariedel’s POV)

I laid next to Legolas and gently caressed his cheek as he faded into a drug induced sleep. My tears just kept flowing. He had always held a sense of power, his mere presence always commanding and fearless. But he looked so helpless and vulnerable like this, all bandaged up, his normally perfectly groomed hair loose and erratically hanging in his eyes. I pushed it aside, tucking it behind his pointed ears.

His breathing was shallower than normal. I had lain next to him enough during my time in Middle Earth to notice this slight change.

When presented to me, the doctor’s final diagnosis had been beyond startling. An entire list of injuries…enough to kill any mortal man. But evidently, not enough to kill an immortal Elf.

On his right side, Legolas had three fractured toes, a bruised kidney, a punctured lung and four broken ribs. The latter two injuries were what caused his shallow breathing.

His left side was even worse. He had a sprained ankle and a fractured wrist. He had needed skin and muscle tissue grafts for his mangled left shoulder from what looked like his flesh and muscle, down to his bone, had been torn by sharp teeth. His left leg had also needed similar grafts from the melted flesh caused by the alien acid blood. His nose had also been broken and had to be rebroken to realign it properly, which accounted for much of the bruising on his face.

I studied his serene, yet scarred face. Aside from the many scratches and scrapes on his normally flawless skin, and the bruising from his broken nose, he had a deep purple bruise over the left side of his face. It was mainly over his brow and the white of his eye was blood red, from the blow he had received, which had also cracked his skull. When I had first seen the gory injury back in the cave, I immediately knew what had caused it. I bit my lip and tried to block out the image of an alien’s inner set of jaws slamming into the side of his head with the force of a jackhammer and seriously wondered how Legolas had survived it. Such a blow from an alien was meant to kill the recipient. Even a fresh kill could be used to carry an embryo of a drone that only needed a period of one to two hours to gestate. A queen normally took much longer…sometimes even as long as a week.

I just couldn’t imagine the severity of the pain he probably felt all over. Aside from all those injuries, the extraction of the queen had gone without incident and left Legolas with a faint scar down the middle of his chest. It would fade with time, as would the rest of his physical scars.

But I seriously worried about the mental scars…his sanity. Many people, even the bravest of the brave, never recovered from the mental damage suffered when confronted with such extreme circumstances. When I saw Legolas cowering in the corner as I entered the medical room earlier, I knew he had really suffered.

These alien demons did that to a person. It was as if they had some kind of telepathic connection into the human mind, causing the fear and the anxiety. For those fortunate enough to survive, they were left with a constant reminder of the ordeal…scary dreams that woke you in a cold sweat in the middle of the night. It frequently led to a destructive downward spiral into insanity where some subjects actually committed suicide, choosing death over a life plagued with alien nightmares.

Before my mission to Legolas’s planet, I had only been assigned three other missions that involved the aliens and with the use of my specialized weapons, it had been easy to dispose of them. Even so, they haunted my dreams, putting me in impossible situations where I would never be able to survive.

My fingers brushed over Legolas’s slightly parted lips. “You’re alive, that’s what’s important.” I moved closer to him and kissed his lips lightly before pressing my face against his and closing my eyes.

I hadn’t realized I had fallen asleep until someone woke me with a light shake to my shoulder. When I turned I saw it was the nurse on duty.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, Miss Schuyler, but Director Warner is looking for you.”

I gently pried myself from Legolas, kissing him lightly on the right brow, the only uninjured spot on his face, before walking away from the bed with a yawn.

This was the moment I had been dreading. Jonathon Warner, the director of Lifesource, the company I currently worked for, had been down on Earth when I first arrived with Legolas. Apparently someone had thought it important enough to notify him of the situation. And now here he was.

I found him in my office, pacing in front of my desk.

The minute he saw me, he stopped pacing. “What in the hell were you thinking?” asked Warner in rage.

Despite the fact that I wanted to holler right back at him, I kept my anger under control. “All right, I know bringing Legolas here was a bad idea. But if it wasn’t for him, the people on that planet would be in a lot worse shape. I couldn’t just leave him there to die after all he sacrificed and suffered. Those aliens nearly ripped him to pieces.”

“It’s like bringing a caveman into our century, Crystal. What happens when he wakes up and freaks out over all this shit around him that he doesn’t understand?”

“He’s not a caveman, Warner. His people are far more advanced than that. Besides, I left strict instructions that he be kept heavily sedated.”

“He’s not even human. How do you know that sedating him won’t kill him?”

I blinked several times, the thought never having occurred to me. He wasn’t human. He was an Elf. What if Warner was right? What if the drugs going into Legolas’s body were poisoning his system? “I can’t take him back there looking the way he does, Warner. He’s still is critical condition.”

Warner paced again, like a caged animal. “Do you realize how much it’s costing Lifesource to keep him here? Our facility is not geared toward long term hospitalization.”

I couldn’t believe all he cared about was the costs involved. And now I couldn’t control my temper. “Hey look, I wasn’t the one who fucked up! You can give that lecture to Hawke. I was ready and willing to do my job and that little prick put me on that planet with no weapons and in the wrong body. The lack of weapons and being in a body which held no authority over herself or others was a substantial nuisance. Eliminating the threat, which quickly turned to a hell of a lot more than one alien, fell out of my hands and into those of the Elf whose care Lifesource fucking owes him.”

Warner sighed heavily, mulling briefly before turning back to me. “Has the threat on his planet been eliminated?” His voice had gone down to just above a whisper.

“Yes. Randle made sure of it.”

Warner rubbed his jaw. “As soon as his health improves, I want that Elf off this station.”

I frowned as he turned and walked out of my office. “Right, and I’m going with him,” I seethed to myself.

But was it right for me to go back to Middle Earth with Legolas when the real Ariedel had more of a right to be there than me? After all of this, I had forgotten that she was here on Gateway, probably scared senseless, when I had been transmutated into her world, to replace her. If she were to return with Legolas, would she even love him as I did? Would Legolas know that she wasn’t me?

Maybe it was time for me to confront the real Ariedel. I needed to know what she was like. I needed to know if Legolas would have fallen in love with her as he had fallen in love with me.

Minas Tirith

Aragorn’s troubled expression had turned to anger throughout the ride back to Gondor and to the white city. He had taken his men to the demolished mountain and they had found no trace of anyone or anything. At least nothing visible above the enormous piles of boulders that would not be simple to move. It would have been easier to think that Legolas had never even gone to the Mountains of Shadow, that somehow he was further south, safe and away from the destruction.

But Aragorn knew the path of the creatures had led Legolas to this place. To be certain, they would have to dig for weeks in the rubble, to find his remains and of those that had also been unfortunate. He could not bring himself to give such an order to his men. Instead he turned Brego and headed home.

Arwen had met him at the first gate of the first level and she knew from his brooding expression that Legolas was dead and so was Ariedel, his new bride. And now he would have the unfortunate task of informing the Elf king.

Thranduil knew before Aragorn even entered the chamber which he had been temporarily using during his stay at Minas Tirith. His son was dead and so were any prospects of continuing the Thranduilion line. But he had already resigned himself to the news. He had been watching from the top level of the white city and witnessed the destruction of a mountain far off in the distance. He had immediately known that it was where Legolas had gone. Nonetheless, Thranduil steeled himself for Aragorn’s words that would confirm what he already knew.

Aragorn walked up to the Elf king, his eyes quickly filling with tears. He was afraid to speak because his lips were trembling. But he knew the words were not necessary. Thranduil was plainly aware of the news he had come to tell him. “I am sorry,” was all Aragorn could get out. And then Aragorn broke down, falling to his knees at Thranduil’s feet. Legolas had been like a brother to him almost all of his life while growing up in the Elrond household in Rivendell. They had been on so many adventures together and he cherished the time they had spent in each other’s company. Aragorn could not believe that Legolas was gone. The Elf had been indestructible. And now he was gone forever.

Thranduil lowered himself to the floor with Aragorn and took the man into his arms before shedding his own tears of grief.

Gateway Station
(Ariedel’s POV)

Someone informed me that the real Ariedel was in the station’s Arboretum with Randle. The large double glass doors of the Arboretum slid open when I approached them. After a quick glance around I found the two sitting together on a bench in front of the bird fountain. I moved a little closer and observed them from where I stood behind a tree.

Randle was talking very animatedly, his hands moving to describe whatever it was he spoke of. The real Ariedel had long pale blonde hair, compared to mine which had darker streaks in it. Even from this distance I could tell that her eyes were light amber, almost like a cat’s. Her pale skin and soft features made me think that I was looking at an angel. She giggled and covered her mouth bashfully at whatever Randle told her. She was utterly beautiful and angelic.

My heart sank because I knew Legolas could have easily fallen in love with her, this sweet and gentle young woman that was probably the complete opposite of me. Then I observed something totally unexpected. Randle reached up and removed her hand from over her mouth. She was staring wide-eyed up at him, but unafraid as he leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips. She responded by wrapping her arms unsurely around his neck. He reassured her with a deeper kiss.

I felt a little strange watching their private interlude, but I needed to speak to the real Ariedel. So I tried to make as much noise as possible to warn them of my approach.

They quickly pulled apart and Randle turned to see me coming. “ Crystal, how’s your Elf doing?” he asked as he stood up.

“He’s…uhm…he’s still in critical condition, but I think he’ll be all right.”

Randle reached down for Ariedel’s hand and pulled her up on her feet. She seemed so tiny beside him, almost like a child. But then again I wasn’t exactly an Amazon. Anyone standing beside the towering Randle seemed small. “Ariedel, I want you to meet Crystal,” he said, turning to her.

The real Ariedel studied me with her pale amber eyes. It was apparent that Randle had told her about me. How much, I didn’t know. She timidly cleared her throat before speaking. “Tis a pleasure to finally meet you, Crystal. Randle has told me so much about you.”

Even her voice was sweet. My heart just kept sinking further and further. If Legolas ever got the chance to meet her, he’d dump me like a hot potato to be with her. “All good things, I hope,” I replied with a smile.

She continued on. “How does my father fare? And Alma, my handmaiden?”

I glanced up at Randle, wondering how much I was allowed to tell her. He gave me a nod. “They’re both well,” I replied honestly. Although I hadn’t really seen them since I had left Anfalas with Legolas, immediately after we were married.

Her brows furrowed slightly as if she wasn’t sure whether to say something. Then she spoke even more timidly. “Did the marriage occur?”

“Marriage?”

“To Prince Yardell?”

“Oh, that marriage. No.”

She sighed in relief. “I thank you for not allowing it to happen. I did not favor him much.”

“Yeah, he really was a…” I tried to find the right word without sounding too harsh. “…total loser. But…I’m not sure you’ll be happy when I tell you the rest.”

“The rest?” She looked worried again.

“You’re married to an Elf.”

Her face went even paler. “An Elf.” She said it as if left a bad taste in her mouth.

“Legolas Greenleaf.”

She gasped and looked even more shocked than she had been when I told her she was married to an Elf. “Son of Thranduil of Mirkwood?”

“You know him then?”

“My archery mentor? I was but a child when I knew him.” She reached for my hand in desperation. “Please, I have no desire to be wed to him.”

Randle cut in when he saw that she was getting upset. “Ariedel, honey, why don’t you go over there and feed the squirrels. I need to speak to Crystal alone for a minute.”

The real Ariedel continued to look at me with her timid imploring expression, then nodded her head in Randle’s direction before walking away.

“ Crystal, I’m taking Ariedel to Earth in the morning.”

“I take it you haven’t told her yet, based on her reaction to being married to Legolas.”

“No, I haven’t. But I know she’ll go with me.”

“Are you sure this is a smart move?”

“She’s not going back there. I want her to stay with me.”

“Randle, you asshole,” I uttered through clenched teeth. “Don’t you dare hurt that poor young girl. She’s been through a lot.”

“I know what you’re thinking. I’m sorry for all the shit I did to you in the past, but…I think I’m in love with her.”

I glanced over his shoulder to watch the real Ariedel smile as the squirrels came down from the trees to take peanuts from her fingers. She was like a fragile young creature, innocent and demure. Was this the kind of woman Randle desired? Someone who needed his protection and guidance? “So she’s not going back to Middle Earth?”

“No.”

My eyes shifted to look into Randle’s. “And you’re sure she’ll be fine with it?”

“She has no love for her home. I’m sure especially now, knowing that she’s married to an Elf. Besides, everyone will think she died in the blast when the mountain exploded.”

His statement made me realize that those in Middle Earth would think that Legolas was also dead. “How long did it take her to get accustomed to all this technology?” I asked, waving my hands at everything around us.

“It took a pretty long time and it was scary at first, but I think she likes it now.” Randle smiled. “She really gets a kick out of plumbing.”

I couldn’t help but smile. Plumbing. Yes, the simple things we took for granted. Middle Earth had no plumbing. No sinks and no toilets. It was a freshwater lagoon and a bush when outdoors, or a basin full of water and a chamber pot when indoors. “Well, good luck to you then, Randle. Don’t hurt her like you hurt me or I’ll have to hunt you down and kick your ass.” I think I wounded his ego when I said that. Or maybe he felt bad for dumping me the way he had, to pursue other skirts.

“I’ll be seeing you,” he said before he turned and walked over to the real Ariedel.

She smiled at his approach, then turned to look in my direction. When I waved to her with a smile, she waved back. Then I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. If she had no intention of returning to Middle Earth, then Legolas would be alone there. Did I want to leave everything I knew behind me? Leave Avalon forever? Did I want to spend the rest of my life with Legolas in his world? Somehow I had a feeling that Legolas would have no desire to stay in mine. He was a Prince and heir to an Elven throne. He had too much to lose.

I needed to make a decision and soon.

 

Chapter 10 – Gateway’s Guests​

Gateway Station – Three days later
(Legolas’s POV)

I opened my eyes and discovered the strange room that I was in had not been a dream. I was still there. And my pain was still there. I looked around and my eyes fell upon Ariedel sitting beside the bed, her head resting near my left hand, her eyes closed. I raised my hand, noting the hard bandage I had observed previously and reached to touch Ariedel’s hair with my exposed fingers.

She stirred briefly before coming fully awake. “Legolas, are you all right? Are you in pain?” The sudden look of pity on her face made my stomach queasy.

My physical pain was severe, but I felt a need to keep my weakness to myself. I did not want to be treated as an invalid. I was an Elf. An Elf does not break. “I am fine,” I replied a little too harshly than I had wanted to sound. But the pain in my head impaired my judgment.

Ariedel stood up. “No, you’re not fine. I’ll ask the nurse to give you something to help you sleep. You need to rest so you can heal.”

For some reason she felt it important that I remain unconscious. “Nay, I cannot heal myself if I sleep. I need to remain conscious.”

“But you’re tired. I can see it in your eyes.” She brushed her fingers across my brow.

Now that I was far more coherent than the last time I had awoken in this strange place, I felt a sense of mistrust surrounding Ariedel. She was still holding back information from me. She had yet to explain where I was and how I had gotten here. I drew away from her touch, unable to stand the pity I saw on her face. “I have slept long enough.”

She frowned at my action. “You need medicine to block the pain. Your injuries are serious. You won’t be able to function with that kind of pain.”

“I will deal with the pain.” I gave her a stern look, knowing that no amount of herbs in Middle Earth could take away my pain or the ability to control the dreams of the aliens that continued to haunt me. “Do not allow them to give me anything more,” I said with all seriousness. But she looked skeptically at me. Not having had the opportunity to observe myself in a mirror, I wondered what I looked like. “How bad do I look? It cannot be that bad.”

Her eyes told me what I needed to know without her saying anything at all. Then she walked over to something on the wall and returned carrying a mirror. She held it out to me and I reached for it.

It took me a moment to mentally prepare myself before raising the mirror up to my face. If I did not know better, I would have thought the image of an Orc had been placed on the surface of the mirror. My face was hideous…scarred and bruised. Ariedel was watching my reaction, so I tried to appear unfazed as I quickly lowered the mirror. “I have had worse.”

“Who are you trying to kid, Legolas? You have not.”

I frowned at her. “You know nothing about me,” I snapped unintentionally, but I did not apologize for it.

She seemed unaffected by my outburst. “You seriously don’t know how bad it was when I brought you here. They had to replace muscle and skin in your left shoulder and left leg. I know it bothers you so why do you act like it doesn’t?”

I ignored her question. “What magic is capable of replacing flesh and muscle to my injuries? Not even I can heal myself so extensively.”

“Legolas, there’s a lot you wouldn’t understand in my world.”

“In your world? What do you mean by such a statement? Am I not back in Gondor?”

“No,” she replied rather unsurely. “Definitely not in Gondor.”

“What is this place then?”

And for the next few minutes Ariedel went on to tell me everything about the aliens and where she came from and that we were no longer in Middle Earth. The more she told me, the more suspicious I became. When she finished, I could not even look at her. “And you say you are not Ariedel Draconir?” I asked skeptically, keeping my eyes focused on my hands resting on my lap.

“No.”

“That the real Ariedel is in fact also here in this world of yours because she was brought here when you were sent to Middle Earth…to physically replace her.”

“Yes.”

“How is it possible that her own father did not recognize that he looked upon you and not his true daughter?”

“It’s hard to explain the mechanics of transmutation. I don’t really understand it myself. All I know is that a person is sent to a designated location to replace someone already there. The person being replaced is transported to the transmutation platform here on the station. Everyone thinks the new person is the old person, as if the switch never happened. Things like paintings are even altered.”

“Paintings?”

“It’s a very complicated device. I don’t know how else to explain it.”

“If you are here, then how can the real Ariedel also be here?”

“Oh, we didn’t exactly leave Middle Earth the way I originally came. There’s another way called translocation. It’s a device used to go places quickly, especially if the places are too far to go by ship. Even in hyperspace, it would take too long.”

This tale of hers was becoming more and more outrageous. Even though I truly had no idea what she spoke of, I relayed my questions as they came to me. “Why did you not use this other device instead of taking the real Ariedel’s place?”

She sighed heavily. “The way it was supposed to happen was that I was to replace someone in the vicinity of the alien. It wasn’t supposed to be Ariedel. It was someone who had knowledge of the area and who had the ability to make choices without interference from anyone else. As Ariedel I couldn’t come and go as I pleased. That’s why I had to run away from the king of Anfalas around the time you found me.”

“So you could have come to replace me, for instance?” I was not sure why the idea had even come to me when I did not believe much of what she explained. For all I knew we were in Minas Tirith, in a room I had never seen before, that contained some items that could be explained as those used by wizards.

“No, I don’t think the intended subject was an Elf.”

“Perhaps Aragorn or even Gimli then.”

“Legolas, I don’t know who it was supposed to be.”

I finally looked up at her with a frown, wondering why she continued to fabricate this elaborate story. Why could she not tell me the truth? “How do I go back?” I asked, hoping that this would elicit some truth from her lips.

“Well, that’s a little difficult.”

“Why is it difficult?”

“Because everyone thinks you’re dead.”

I tried to understand how this woman could have been so deceitful and untruthful when she knew I loved her more than anything. Back in Lothlorien, when I first became aware of the creatures, I had asked her if there was anything else she was keeping from me. She had said there was not. So if there was truth to her story now then it meant she had lied to me again in Lothlorien. And now she told me she was not Ariedel, that she was someone named Crystal Schuyler, someone not from Middle Earth, but from a distant star. And that we were on a floating structure that circled another star. These things sounded strange and impossible. In truth I had seen many strange things in Middle Earth that I did not profess to understand. Many wizards had powerful magic and much of what Ariedel spoke of sounded like magic. But to pretend to be someone else? And from another star? This was unforgivable. What reason could she possibly have to lie this way?

She sighed and had that pitied look on her face again. “None of this was supposed to happen, Legolas. No one was supposed to get hurt. Especially not you.”

When she reached to touch my face, I moved away from her again. “So what you are saying is that we were never supposed to meet. That all we have been through together was never supposed to happen.”

Ariedel retracted her hand. “That’s not what I’m saying.”

“I question your love for me. Is that also a fabrication for my benefit?”

“You think I’m faking my love for you?”

“Perhaps you are. Everything else that concerns you seems to be a pretence.”

“You stubborn, Elf. I told you there are things you wouldn’t understand. If I had told you any of this awhile back, you would have thought I was a lunatic and had me committed.”

“I thought that about you prior to knowing any of this!” Had it been any other time, we probably would have laughed at my comment. But I did not say it in jest and she knew it. Perhaps my words had been far too harsh and I could not understand why I continued in the untrusting tone I adapted to. “You must think me a simpleton. I have seen magic and I have seen unexplained wonders. You forget that I am over two thousand years old compared to your measly, what? Twenty-five? All I had asked from you was for the truth, regardless of whether you thought I could take it or not. Yet you continued to withhold it from me until now? Everything about you is a lie! I do not know how I can believe anything you say.”

“I told you my reasons for lying to you and I’m sticking to it. You’re not being very fair to me. I don’t think I need to apologize for keeping the truth from you. My job prevents me from speaking of my missions to anyone, especially to anyone on a planet that has no knowledge of space travel.”

“Am I just anyone then?”

She blinked several times and I knew she was trying to think of something insightful to respond with. “No, Legolas. You are more than just anyone.”

“What would your plans have been if in fact you managed to complete your mission? Would you have left and allowed the real Ariedel to return to Middle Earth after you had already fallen in love with me? Would you have allowed her to continue where you left off…as my wife?”

She raised her hand to her temple and rubbed it. “I…I didn’t exactly think that far ahead. I mean, I thought I was stranded…”

“Stranded? So you truly never had any desire to remain in Middle Earth? Or with me?”

“Legolas, will you please just stop? I don’t have all the answers. I was confused and scared and…and all I had was you at the time.”

“To be used at your convenience.”

“No! I told you I didn’t want to fall in love with you! I told you it hurt too much because I knew that there was always a slight chance that someone would come looking for me, that I would eventually have to leave you and the thought made me sick! Well, it’s too late now because I love you and nothing is going to change that.”

Was it the truth or was it a lie? I did not know what to believe any longer. “You should have just left me to die in that cavern!” The left side of my head began to throb painfully and I closed my eyes to the agony.

“Please let me get the nurse so she can replenish your pain medication.”

“Nay, I do not want anything! All I want is to get home!”

“Legolas, you’re battered and broken and undoubtedly in a lot of pain. You wouldn’t last an hour without the meds they’re giving you.”

I looked down at the needle in my right arm and the tubing attached to it, feeding potions into my veins. Holding my breath, I pulled the needle out in one swift motion, clenching my teeth to the pain. I glared up at Ariedel in defiance. “Watch me!”

She shook her head sadly at me and turned to walk to the wall. It opened to let her out before closing again.

I stared for a long time at the wall she disappeared through, my brows furrowed together in anger. Perhaps there were things I did not understand, but I planned to find these things out the moment I was healed. I planned to find out plenty, including how much she really loved me. But not until after I had healed enough to move around with less pain. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. My senses became alert and I mentally traced a path through my system, finding my injuries and determining the severity of them before attempting to drift into a deep healing reverie.

Gateway Station
(Ariedel’s POV)

I sat in the darkness. The only light source came from the single purple bulb hanging in the ceiling of the chamber on the other side of the thick Plexiglas. This was not a place I normally visited on the space station. But I was in a foul mood and I didn’t want to run into anyone I knew on my way to the apartment I maintained when I was at Gateway. I had heard about this chamber and for reasons unknown, my feet dragged me through the hatch several hours ago. It wasn’t a restricted zone, nor was it guarded in any way except by video, so I had no trouble getting in. The door simply cycled open when I had approached it.

So I sat there, wiping at the tears that kept sliding down my cheeks after the confrontation with Legolas. I had been unprepared for his suspicious reaction to the truth about me and had been unprepared to answer some of his questions, which he had every right to ask. I had known he would be upset when he found out I had lied about a bunch of things and I responded truthfully, no longer thinking it necessary to keep the truth from him. But for him to think I didn’t love him, in spite of everything, it was just too much. I loved him with all my heart, more than I had ever loved anyone else in my life. Yet he doubted it and I had no idea how to rectify the situation.

I also realized that it could be the drugs talking. Warner might have been right about the meds poisoning Legolas’s system. Maybe they made him irritable and he was better off without them. But could Elves really heal themselves? Maybe small cuts and bruises, but not the injuries he had sustained. It was a miracle he had still been alive when I found him.

I looked up and stared through the Plexiglas. It was in there somewhere. The queen they had extracted from Legolas. I seriously wondered why Warner decided to keep her. Was he planning to hand her over to Weyland-Yutani or did he have something else in mind? I shook my head. Idiots! After all that happened in the past, they still didn’t understand what they were messing with.

This chamber and several others on Gateway Station had been built by Weyland-Yutani, better known as The Company, to house living aliens to be used in their research. I knew there was a need to understand these aliens better, which also led to better methods of destroying them. There was interest in their acid blood and how they produced it and how they were impervious to it. Granted, there were breakthroughs in medicine because of these aliens and cures for so many incurable diseases. But I just couldn’t understand the need to keep them alive. Couldn’t The Company do their research on dead specimens?

I knew of at least two people that shared my views. One of them was my brother Seth, who was retired from the bug hunting teams hired by Lifesource. The founders of Lifesource owned the transmutation and translocation platforms that had been functioning on Gateway Station for the last ten years. I had also been employed by them for awhile, but only recently joined the teams. Seth had been on the teams since the very beginning. He had even been a part of the construction of the Lifesource platforms. When Seth had gone on missions, he always got the job done and made sure he didn’t leave until every last alien was dead.

The other person who shared my views was General James Burbank, President of Lifesource and retired from the United Systems Colonial Marines (USCM). He always said ‘a good alien was a dead one’. He was a great mentor and despite his gruff and tough disposition, I grew to love him like a father. When Seth retired from the teams to be with his family, Burbank turned to me. He hyped me up, saying that killing the aliens was a piece of cake with the right weapons and equipment. Burbank even went with me on my first mission and I was scared to death. But killing my first alien had given me such a rush, like no drug could ever have. The thrill of hunting and finding it from a safe distance, the thrill of targeting it with my weapon, the thrill of pulling the trigger. One less alien to threaten the lives of the human race. Despite the rush, no amount of counseling could ever make the nightmares go away.

These creatures were dangerous and far more intelligent than they led anyone to believe. Unexpected accidents occurred throughout the early years, when they had first been discovered. There had been attempts to domesticate the creatures. Some military genius thought he could bend them to his will and use them as some special force. And, of course, he was killed by one of the aliens he had tried to domesticate. Even after that, there were probably others out there still trying.

There had also been rumors of an attempt at cloning an impregnated host. The Company had gone to Fiorina “Fury” 161, an outer-veil mineral ore refinery being used as a correctional facility, where an emergency escape shuttle from a Class A military ship named The Sulaco had crashed. The only survivor of an entire USCM team was Ellen Ripley. She soon discovered that she carried the embryo of an alien queen within her. When she realized that The Company wanted the queen, Ripley jumped into a pit of lava, killing herself and the alien queen in the process. It had all been in vain. The Company was able to retrieve her DNA from the blood sample taken by the resident medic on Fury. But no one survived to tell the tale of whether a clone of an impregnated Ripley had ever been created.

I stood up and slowly walked toward the Plexiglas. As I gazed through the clear plastic wall, I tried to find the form of the juvenile queen. They had been feeding her large pigs since she had been extracted and knowing how quickly the creatures grew, I expected her to be the size of a full grown drone by now.

The walls were covered in the resin material the aliens used to fabricate their hives. The queen had been busy. It already looked like the interior of a cave. But I saw nothing else. Maybe they had moved her to another chamber elsewhere on the station.

I started to turn around and caught a movement from the corner of my eye. As I turned back and focused on the spot, I began to pick out the details. Small skeletal arms that ended in claws, two fingers longer than the others, a sloping back like a t-rex ending in a long tail. Her head was still small, but there was no mistaking the elongated crest distinctive of a queen.

She must have sensed me staring at her and slowly crawled toward the Plexiglas. Her hands came up to touch the barrier between us. I watched as her mouth opened in an agitated hiss. I couldn’t hear it through the four inch thick plastic, but I knew the sound well. She had no eyes, as was typical of the species. I often wondered how they were able to see. They obviously had other senses to detect their prey.

When she turned her head to the side, my eyes widened in shock at what I saw. Maybe the shadows were playing tricks on me. I closed my eyes and shook my head. But when I looked again, there was no mistaking it. She had tiny black, pointed ears. A trait passed on by the Elf she had occupied for a short time. Depending on what species the embryo occupied, the resulting alien often had some of the host’s qualities. Be it four-legged or bipedal. But never anything so detailed as ears. And if Legolas had unintentionally given her pointed ears, what other special trait had the Elf unknowingly passed on to this alien queenling?

The young queen backed away and then suddenly slammed her head into the Plexiglas, startling me. She slammed into the barrier again, her mouth open in another angry hiss. She wanted out and I had a distinct feeling that she would eventually get her way.

Gateway Station
(Legolas’s POV)

My own cry of horror woke me and I found myself still lying in the bed I had found myself in earlier. I instinctly glanced around the room, looking for any signs of an alien threat. There was no one else in the brightly lit room, no shadows for anything to hide in.

I sat up and cringed at the pain in my head. My eyes darted around the room again. I could not shake the feeling that I was not alone. I quickly tossed the covers aside and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. The walls of the room felt as if they were closing in on me, making the space smaller and smaller. I needed to get out.

Remembering the way the nurse had opened compartments in the wall the last time she was in the room, I slid off the bed and walked unsteadily to the wall I knew contained clothing. I laid my hand on a particular place and the wall opened. Inside was a white garment, tunic and leggings in one piece. It was similar to what Ariedel had, only hers had been black.

I pulled off the gown covering me and looked down at myself. Beside the bandage covering my shoulder and arm, there was also a bandage over the center of my chest. I did not recall receiving any injuries on my chest besides the alien blood splatterings, which had not amounted to much damage. When I pulled the bandage off, I found a thin scar running down the center of my chest and wondered what had happened?

And then I felt the presence again. My eyes scanned the room instinctly, but there was nothing. Then came the voice…but it did not speak words. My first thought was of Lady Galadriel. I called out to her, but she did not respond. It was not the Lady of Lothlorien. It was…something else…calling to me.

I proceeded to slip into the strange garment and after a few moments figured out how to close the front of it by drawing a metallic clasp upward. Another glance into the wall compartment revealed a pair of thick-soled boots.

Minutes later, I walked to the wall where everyone came and went through and watched it automatically slide open upon my approach. The corridor beyond the doorway was empty. Something guided me to the left and I proceeded carefully, having to occasionally lean on the wall for support.

When I came to an intersection of corridors, I glanced down each of them. I had no idea where I was going or why I had thought it necessary to leave the sanctity of my room.

The voice called again and I found myself turning to the right.

Up ahead two men were walking in my direction. They were conversing casually with each other. When they saw me, they gave me strange looks, but continued on. What was the matter with them, had they never seen an Elf before?

There was a doorway at the end of the corridor, just beyond another intersection. The need to see what was on the other side overwhelmed me. But my senses screamed danger. While my better judgment told me to turn around and go back, my feet moved me forward as if they had a will of their own.

 

Chapter 11 – The Will to Kill​

Gateway Station
(Ariedel’s POV)

I had enough of the little queen’s presence and backed away from the Plexiglas. Just as I was about to turn to leave, the hatch suddenly cycled open. The sensors had picked up someone approaching and I was about to hide in the corner before I realized that I wasn’t violating any ordinance.

When the hatch opened, the last person I had expected to see standing at the doorway was Legolas. He stepped into the room as if he were in a trance. At first I didn’t think he saw me standing off to the side. But then I remembered he was an Elf and was aware of everything around him, including me. He was wearing the typical white space station jumpsuit that could be found in every room in Medical. It looked a bit short at the sleeves and was too big around the middle.

“What is this place?” he asked without looking at me. When I didn’t answer his question, he kept walking toward the Plexiglas as if drawn to it by some unknown force.

“Legolas, what’re you doing out of Medical?” I was about to step in front of him to prevent him from going any further, but the look he gave me stopped me cold in my tracks. He was daring me to stop him and I knew I wouldn’t win the battle, despite his injuries. Not this time.

Legolas placed his hands on the clear barrier and the movement of the juvenile queen drew his attention. “This creature was inside me,” he stated.

I bit my lower lip, trying to decide whether to confirm his statement. When we had talked about his injuries, I had purposely avoided telling him he had been implanted with an alien embryo and that it had been extracted. Apparently he had figured it out on his own. “Yes,” I replied.

“Why is it in here? Why has it not been destroyed?”

“Because the bureaucrats of The Company think they can tame her and maybe learn a few things at the same time.”

“Her? I was implanted with a queen?”

“Yes. The Company’s never had a queen in captivity.”

The alien queenling behind the barrier was focused on Legolas, her head tilting to the left and then to the right.

“She speaks to me,” he whispered.

“Speaks to you?” This was something new. I had heard that those who had an alien extracted from their chests always said they felt some kind of connection with it. But none ever reported hearing the creatures speak to them. I was suddenly curious. “What does she say?”

“She wants me to…free her.”

My heart jumped to my throat and I feared the worst. Would he seriously harbor thoughts of releasing the alien queen? “Look, Legolas, you can’t let this thing out.”

Legolas turned to me with a disgruntled frown. “I have no intention of freeing her.” He turned back to gaze at the alien, his brilliant blue eyes blazing in the tiny light coming from inside the alien’s chamber. “But I will kill her.” He glanced at the barrier, inspecting the sides and then the ceiling. “How do I get inside?”

“What?”

“Get me inside there.”

I started to panic when he suddenly slammed both of his clenched fists into the thick plastic. “No!” I yelled at him as he slammed the barrier again and winced at the pain in his casted hand. “Stop it! You’re not going in there.”

Legolas turned to me and that look was on his face again, daring me to deny him his way.

I blinked several times, thinking that I was seeing things. The bruises on his face had actually faded since the last time I saw him, which was only about four hours ago and his face had still been purple then. I wanted to kick myself for doubting he could heal himself. He even seemed to be walking a lot better than three days ago. Why hadn’t I believed him when he said he could heal himself?

“If this creature is not destroyed, it will kill everyone in this structure,” Legolas warned in an eerily calm voice.

I stepped between him and the barrier, trying to draw his attention away from the young queen. “Look, I know exactly where you’re coming from. I don’t like the idea of this thing being kept alive either. But it’s not up to me. I don’t rule the roost here and neither do you.”

“It will kill everyone,” he repeated.

“A queen usually doesn’t do the killing. She sends the horde out. All she wants to do is breed.”

Legolas shook his head. “Nay. She wants to kill.”

“How do you know this?”

“Tis what she says. We are her enemies and she will kill us.”

“But that’s not possible…”

“My instincts are to kill my enemies.”

He didn’t have to say anymore. I immediately picked up on what he meant. Another trait she acquired from him. Killer instincts.

The aliens had a hierarchy that consisted of a queen, an alpha drone who bred with the queen, the drones that went in search of hosts and the assassin drone. The latter was always a solitary being stranded far from the hive. He had no desire to search for hosts because there were no eggs to service, no queen to lay them. He was committed to kill every living thing in his territory.

But for a queen to have those killer instincts? This was something new. I often wondered why the aliens always assumed the bad traits? Why couldn’t they assume any of the good human qualities? Like pity and kindness.

I shook my head. What was I thinking? There was nothing good about these creatures. They were evil and would remain evil no matter what was bred into them.

Legolas turned and moved away. He glanced around the cramped space. “Why are there no windows in this place?”

“I think I mentioned this is a space station. But there are windows elsewhere.”

He continued to look around, his face troubled. “I need to see sunlight or I will go mad.”

I walked up to him and placed a cautious hand on his shoulder, expecting him to move away from me. “Legolas, I’m sorry about earlier. I’ve just been…” I sighed heavily. “I’ve been going crazy, worrying about you. And I was really stressed out about how you were going to react. I know better now that you don’t need to be protected from any of this. It was patronizing of me to think you wouldn’t be able to handle the change in your surroundings.”

Legolas turned to face me, his expression softening. “I am also sorry. I did not mean the things I said.”

“I know.”

“And I do not think you are a lunatic.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Well, there may be some truth to that.” When he smiled back, my heart melted. It seemed like a millions years had passed since the last time I had seen him smile. “You look a lot better.”

He nodded, but didn’t say anything.

“How quickly can you heal yourself?”

“I fear the damage is extensive. I have only been able to heal myself on the outside. My internal injuries will take some time to heal.” He reached up and touched my cheek. “Forgive me for doubting the reality of what you told me. I understand why you kept it from me. There was no reason for you to explain more than what I needed to know if there was no chance that I would ever see such things. And now that I am here…on this structure with magical doors, I greatly desire that you show me more.”

“Come on, I know just what you need to see.” I took Legolas’s hand and led him out through the hatch. As the door closed behind us, he suddenly stopped to turn back toward it. “Is she still talking to you?” I asked.

“Aye.”

I tugged him away by the hand.

Legolas was soon distracted by the things around him. I took him to the public area of Gateway Station and walked beside him down the main corridor. We walked slowly because of his injuries, but I was impressed that we had gotten this far without him collapsing on me. There was always a lot of activity in the main corridor and people went about their business. He seemed to be fascinated by the clothing everyone wore. I knew now that he understood he was without a doubt not in his world.

“What is that?” Legolas was pointing to the tram we walked toward.

“It’s a transport for those who don’t feel like walking. They take the tram to different parts of the station via a network of tracks.”

We got into one of the tram cars and sat down on a bench. The tram started to move and Legolas was fascinated by what he saw from the window. I watched the different expressions on his face: fear, fascination, excitement. Then he turned to look at the different people sitting around us.

A young girl behind us caught his eye and she smiled at him. “Why do you have pointy ears?” she asked.

The little girl’s mother shushed her. “Lucy, that was not a nice thing to say.” The woman looked apologetically up at Legolas. “Sorry.”

“There is no need to apologize. I will answer her.” He turned to the little girl. “My ears are pointed because I am an Elf.”

The little girl giggled and I bit my lip to keep from laughing at the mother’s shocked expression.

When the tram came to a stop, I took Legolas’s hand and led him out. Up ahead was the Arboretum.

The sounds of chirping birds got his attention and he sniffed the air. “Trees. I smell trees.” He sniffed again with a smile. “And flowers.”

The main paths were crowded with people, so I took Legolas down one of the side paths. He looked around in amazement and then did something totally unexpected. He went up to a tree and closed his eyes as he hugged it. After a minute he frowned and pulled away from it.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“This tree is sad.”

“Sad? How do you know that?”

“It told me.”

“The trees speak to you?” I decided not to press it. He had already surprised me in more ways than one when it came to his Elven abilities.

“It does not like this place. There is no heat from the sun and the water it drinks does not taste natural.”

“Nothing on this station is natural.” Then I saw his eyes widen and freeze at something behind me. I turned around and saw one of a number of panoramic windows in the Arboretum. Outside of the window was the Earth. I watched the expression on his face as he slowly started walking toward the window.

Legolas reached his hands up to the glass as if he wanted to touch what he was seeing. Some puffy clouds covered parts of the planet. At the moment the continents of North and South America were visible. “I cannot grasp what it is I see before me.”

“It’s Earth.”

“Middle Earth?”

“No, just Earth. The third planet from the sun. We’re actually pretty far from Middle Earth.” What I had really wanted was for him to see my home world, Avalon. But that was a long way from the station. “Picture yourself so far high in the sky that you can see everything. The land and the water below.”

“People live there?”

I figured it was a rhetorical question so I didn’t answer him.

He continued to gaze at the planet for a long time before he frowned. “It spins. How do the people not fall?”

Trying to explain gravity to an Elf was going to be difficult. “We’ll save that for another time.”

“Tis breathtaking.” Then he turned to me and tugged at my hand to pull me closer.

I wrapped my arms around him. “Hey, when you’re up to it, I can take you down there. I know a nice little beach where we can swim in the water and then lay in the sun.”

“The sun?” Legolas leaned toward my lips. “I want to go now.” He kissed me.

I returned his kiss with a lot more passion than I had intended. My desire for him was just overflowing. He brought his hands up to my face and I wrapped my arms around his waist as he deepened the kiss. And then he grunted in pain before I realized I had been embracing him too tightly, causing him pain maybe to his broken ribs and the incision where they had pulled the queen from. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

He ignored my comment and turned back to the spinning planet below the station. “Ariedel, I am serious. I want to go now.”

“But what about your injuries?”

“Do not fret about my injuries. I am fine.”

“Are you sure?”

He gave me a frown. “Please, I loathe the idea of anyone coddling me, especially you.”

I put my hand on his face and smiled. “Oh, right. My fierce Elf warrior doesn’t want anyone feeling sorry for the state he is in. I’m beginning to actually believe you’ve never been hurt before in your life.”

“Well, there was one other time,” said Legolas. “During a raid, I was stung by a spider and paralyzed for several hours.”

I laughed. “You were paralyzed from a spider sting? A little itty bitty spider?”

He frowned at me. “Itty bitty spider? It was the size of a cave troll.”

“Oh. Sorry.” I stood up on my toes and kissed the scar on the side of his forehead. It was the only scar that was still clearly visible. “Are you sure you don’t want any sympathy?”

“What will it get me?”

I smiled at him. “Anything you want.”

“Anything? Hm…I can think of many things.”

Gateway Station

Director Warner walked into Lab 36 with the grace of a bull in a china store. “Don’t you people have anything better to do than to bug the shit out of me when I’m in the middle of important business?”

Hawke ignored Warner’s tyrant demeanor. “You’re not going to believe what I just overheard. I’ve got it on video.” He pushed some keys on his computer keyboard and the image on the screen changed. “Take a look at this.”

Warner leaned over Hawke’s shoulder and stared at the screen. It was Schuyler and the Elf and they were in the alien queen’s observation chamber. He listened to the conversation.

“Because the bureaucrats of The Company think they can tame her and maybe learn a few things at the same time.”

“Her? I was implanted with a queen?”

“Yes. The Company’s never had a queen in captivity.”

“She speaks to me,” whispered the Elf.

“Speaks to you? What does she say?” asked Schuyler.

“She wants me to…free her.”

Hawke froze the image and turned to Warner. Warner’s mouth was hanging open. “How about them apples? The thing is talking to him and he actually understands her.”

Warner’s expression changed and he suddenly grinned. “This is huge, Hawke. Huge.” He rubbed his hands together. “We can finally know what the hell these aliens are saying to us.”

“So are we keeping the queen then?”

“Hell yeah, I’m not giving her to Weyland-Yutani for them to get all the credit on this one. Imagine what we can accomplish if we know what these aliens are thinking. Where is he?”

“Who?”

“The Elf?”

Hawke called up a computer printout and scanned it. “Schuyler’s in the Arboretum. I’ll bet one month’s salary he’s there with her.”

Warner started to walk away. “Send someone over there to pick him up.”

“I’m on it.”

Warner walked out of the lab, unable to wipe the grin from his face. At long last his name would finally be associated with something substantial. He would get the credit for discovering the ability of this Elf. What he needed to do quickly though was to relay his intentions to the President of Lifesource, General Burbank. It needed to be documented or Weyland-Yutani could take the credit before Warner even had the chance. He would tell the General that he intended to do extensive research on both the queen and the Elf.

Maybe he could put the two in various situations, to get them to communicate and the Elf could translate what the queen said. Warner thought about the book contracts that would come in. Everyone would want to know all about the experiments. He excitedly rubbed his hands together. The possibilities were endless.

Gateway Station
(Legolas’s POV)

“We need to get you a different color to wear,” Ariedel pronounced as she inspected my clothing.

I looked down at what I had on. “What is wrong with white?”

“You look so much better in green.”

“What happened to my clothes?”

“You mean what you had on when you got here? It was all torn and full of holes from the acid blood. The only thing worth saving were your boots. They’re in my apartment.”

I was disappointed that my clothing could not be saved. But I could not go around with holes in my tunic. My Elven tunic, shirt and leggings would probably be difficult to replace here in this place. This meant I would have to wear the local clothing.

“I’ll set you up with some better clothes. We can pack a bag and take a little trip down to Earth.”

I took her hand and held it, a thought suddenly coming to me. “What do I call you?”

“Pardon?”

“Do I call you Ariedel or do I call you Crystal?”

She smiled. “I like when you call me Ariedel.”

“Then I shall continue to do so.” I was glad that she chose Ariedel. It would have been difficult for me to call her by any other name. But I would continue to remember her real name…Crystal Schuyler.

We turned away from the window and were about to head back through the path we had come. Suddenly three men stepped into the path ahead of us. I felt Ariedel suddenly squeeze my right hand tighter. When I turned to her, her expression revealed anger.

“What the hell do you want, Hawke?” she asked the men.

The dark-haired man in the center smiled. “I have orders to accompany the Elf.”

“What for?”

The man shrugged.

I sensed something insincere about him…something devious. When Ariedel started to step forward, I tugged at her hand to stop her. I did not need her to fight my battles. “Where will you be taking me?”

“Legolas, you don’t have to listen to this asshole,” she advised.

I boldly stepped forward. “I await an answer.”

“Well,” replied the man named Hawke. “If you must know, we’re taking you to the lab.”

The lab? Was that short for laboratory? Why would they be taking me to a laboratory?

Then Ariedel jumped in front of me. “Over my dead body are you taking him to the lab.”

Hawke shook his head, making a sound with his lips and then suddenly backhanded her hard across the face, sending her to the ground.

I lunged at him and grabbed him by the throat with my right hand. As I pushed him into a tree, I easily lifted him off the ground. “You will die for that!” Then I heard Ariedel yell out behind me before I felt a sharp blow to the back of my head.

When I awoke I could not move. My hands and legs were bound to a chair, metal clasps holding them down. I looked around and found that I was in the chamber on the other side of where the young alien queen was.

A man stood near the barrier. “It certainly takes a long time for you Elves to come around.”

I glared at him. “Where is Ariedel?”

“Ariedel?” He looked confused at first. “Oh, right. You must mean Crystal. She’ll just have to return to her duties since she’s not of any use to me here. You, on the other hand, are of great interest to me.”

“Where is she?” I asked again, frantic to know that she was all right.

“She’s fine. But where are my manners? Allow me to introduce myself. My name’s Jonathan Warner. I’m the director of Lifesource. We’re in charge of off-world missions to eliminate the alien threat. But I’m also greatly interested in finding out all there is to know about these beings and how we can use them to better our own lifestyles.”

“These creatures provide nothing of use to the human race.”

“Now there’s where you’re wrong. A large company named Weyland-Yutani has discovered hundreds of breakthroughs in medicine because of their research. All that aside, I’ve decided to keep the queen here instead of transferring her into the hands of Weyland-Yutani.”

“And what interest am I to you?”

“I recently found out that you, my friend, can understand what they’re saying.”

“They? Who?” I knew who he meant, but I asked anyway.

“The aliens.”

I wondered how this man had found out? Had he been standing outside the door at the time Ariedel and I had spoken of it? Surely I would have heard him if he had been.

“I need you to tell me what she is saying,” he said as he folded his arms.

I glanced in the direction of the clear barrier. Even though I could not see the young queen, I sensed her presence. And the moment I reached my mind out to sense her, she spoke to me.

“What is she saying?” asked Jonathan Warner.

Without turning my face to him, I shifted my eyes up in his direction. “She tells me how she wants to eviscerate you so she can feed on your heart and entrails.”

He smiled. “How interesting.”

I glanced at the barrier behind him and saw the queen moving toward it. She suddenly slammed her head into the barrier, causing Warner to jump out of the way. He turned toward her and tapped the barrier with his finger, angering her further as she slammed into it again.

“You must destroy this creature,” I insisted.

“Not until I get everything I need to know out of you and her.”

The queenling spoke again and my eyes narrowed as she conveyed the desire to be reunited with something…others of her kind…here in this facility. I turned to Warner in shock. “There are others here.”

Warner turned to me and raised his eyebrows. “Others?”

“Other creatures. They are here in this facility. Where are you keeping them?”

Warner looked from me to the creature and then back to me. “Can she sense them? She told you they were here?”

“Aye. And they must also sense her. It is dangerous for them to be here.”

“We have things under control. They can’t escape and neither can she.” He walked to the wall.

I watched as he pressed something blue and spoke into a black circle.

“Computer, what is the current location of Raymond Hawke?”

A voice responded from the black circle. “Raymond Hawke is in his quarters.”

“Patch me through.”

“Patching through. Please hold.”

Another voice replied. “Yeah, this is Hawke.”

“It’s Warner. I need you up here in the observation chamber containing the queen.”

“Yeah. Give me a few minutes to get dressed.”

“Just hurry up, goddammit.” Warner walked away from the wall.

I attempted to bring this man to his senses. “They want to be united and will stop at nothing to get what they want. You must destroy them before it is too late.”

“I would have agreed with you…maybe yesterday. But today, no. What we have here is something extraordinary. The ability to communicate with them has been something we have all strived for. To know their thoughts, to know why they do what they do.”

“I do not have to know their thoughts to answer that. They kill and breed. What else is there to know?” I seriously questioned the sanity of this individual, or the sanity of any other who thought they could somehow tame these creatures. They would never bend to the will of a human. Or Elf or any other being.

“So tell me, how does she communicate with you? Do you hear her words to you?”

“She projects images into my mind. There are no words.”

“Does she understand you if you talk to her?”

“I do not know.”

“Well, talk to her. See if she responds.”

This was my only chance. I had a distinct feeling that this man did not have the best intentions in mind for me. “Untie me and I will cooperate.”

Warner looked skeptical. “No, I don’t think so. You’re a savage. You’ll probably try to kill me when my back is turned.”

His reference to me as a savage was grounds for me to show him just how savage I could really be, but I gave him the most sincere smile that I could muster without any scorn. “I will not kill you.”

“Do I have your word?”

“I will not kill you,” I repeated and then quickly added, “You have my word.”

Warner approached and pressed something on the side of the chair. The metal clasps raised, releasing my wrists and ankles. Before he could blink, I lunged at him and wrapped my arm around his neck from behind. As I tightened my grip, he gasped and struggled briefly before collapsing.

I released my hold and let him fall to the floor. “You mentioned nothing about not rendering you unconscious.” I walked over to the wall with the blue button and pressed it. Remembering the way Warner addressed the voice in the wall, I cleared my throat. “Computer, what is the current location of Ariedel?”

“Ariedel is not a name in my database,” came the immediate response.

I wanted to smack my forehead for not thinking. “I mean, Crystal. What is the current location of Crystal Schuyler?”

“Crystal Schuyler is in her quarters.”

“Patch me through to her,” I said, using Warner’s own words.

“Patching through. Please hold.”

A moment passed before a voice replied. “This is Crystal.”

I touched the black circle where her voice had emitted from. “Ariedel, is that you?”

“Legolas?”

“Aye.”

“Where are you?”

“I am in the chamber with the queen. A man named Jonathan Warner had me strapped to a chair. But I am free now.”

“Did he let you go?”

“Nay.”

“You didn’t kill him, did you?” she asked with a bit of concern in her voice.

“Nay, I rendered him unconscious.”

“We have to get you off this station, Legolas. I think he’s going to try to use you for some unethical experiments. The idiot doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing.”

“Then let us be on our way. How do I find you?”

“Do you remember how to get to the tram?”

“Aye.”

“Take the tram and wait for the exit to the shuttles. I’ll meet you there.”

“What is a shuttle?”

“Just listen to the voice in the tram. It’ll say ‘ Next Stop Shuttle Bay’. When you hear that, get off at the next stop. And hurry up. If Warner wakes up, he’ll try and stop us from leaving the station.”

“I am on my way.”

I moved away from the wall and was about to leave the chamber. But I stopped to take one final look at the young queen. She seemed agitated. Did she know I was leaving? She slammed into the barrier again and again, projecting images of freedom to me, ordering me to release her. The need to destroy her overwhelmed me, but I did not know how to get into her chamber and I did not have the time to figure it out. I turned and rushed out of the chamber when the door slid open.

Remembering the path Ariedel and I had taken earlier, I followed the same one and ended up in the main corridor. The tram was up ahead. I glanced around at the people walking about, minding their own business. Not wanting to draw further attention to myself, I walked as casually as possible toward the tram.

Gateway Station

The queenling continued to slam her head into the plastic barrier until a crack suddenly appeared. She paused to study it briefly, her crowned head tilting from side to side. Freedom was on the other side of this barrier. Freedom and prey. She called out to her kind, telling them that she would be coming soon.

In another part of the station, three drones simultaneously detached themselves from the resin they were camouflaged in. This drew the attention of the lab technician manning the observation chamber. He glanced at the aliens beyond the plastic barrier. The drones began squealing and hissing in a menacing manner. The crewman hadn’t seen them act this way since they had been brought in two months ago. Normally they just hid among their resin and paid no one any attention.

The technician watched curiously as the aliens gathered together, facing one another and hissing. The technician went to the wall monitor and asked the computer to locate Director Warner. The computer informed him that Director Warner was in Observation Room C. He was about to ask the computer to patch through when a blood-curdling screech vibrated through the room.

On the other side of the plastic barrier, two of the aliens attacked the third, tearing into it and throwing the pieces at the Plexiglas. The acid blood ate through the four inch plastic like it was made of tissue.

The two remaining drones leapt through the opening in the barrier and lunged at the screaming technician. They subdued him and raised their heads to call to their new queen. Their first host was available. They immediately sensed that the queen was displeased with them. She didn’t want hosts. Not yet. The drones had new orders. They hissed at each other, then proceeded to rip the unconscious technician apart.

The queen was bubbling with excitement. She slammed her head into the barrier. It cracked further. With one final blow, the barrier came down in chunks. The queen crawled through the hole and approached the unconscious body of Warner. She sniffed him and was about to take a bite when a sound drew her attention. She quickly scrambled up the side of the wall to the ceiling.

Hawke casually waited for the hatch to cycle open. Then he walked through the opening. “Okay, I’m here.” His eyes came up and he froze in his tracks. The barrier had a huge opening in it and Warner was lying on the ground. “What the fuck…” He started to walk to the wall monitor and from the corner of his eye, he saw the movement too late.

The queen jumped on him and tore off his head before he could utter a sound.

The two drones on the other side of the station sensed that their queen was free. One of them would soon assume the role of alpha. They didn’t know which of them it would be, but for the time being, their main task was to eliminate any threats to their existence.

Warner came awake and slowly raised his head. He heard gurgling sounds and hissing. There was a movement in the shadows in front of him. A glance to his right and his eyes widened. The barrier. Something had broken through it. But he didn’t care how it had broken. His only concern was the thing that would get out…or perhaps was already out.

The queen sensed the other living presence and turned from her feeding. She scrambled out of the shadows and approached.

Warner saw the young queen, blood mingled with her saliva dripping from her open jaws and he began scrambling backward. In a panic he turned and stood up to run toward the hatch. The hatch opened, but he never made it.

The queen was on him, sinking her sharp teeth into the back of his head. She slashed at his throat with her claws, preventing any further sound. Releasing the dead human, her head came up to curiously inspect the open hatch.

Freedom…

 

Chapter 12 – Paradise​

Gateway Station
(Legolas’s POV)

“Next stop shuttle bay,” said the voice from somewhere above.

I stood from my seat and stepped toward the doors that moved. When the tram came to a stop, the doors opened and I headed out. There was a lot of activity around me. I looked around at all the people. When I turned, the tram was pulling away.

There were many corridors up ahead. A map nearby revealed where each corridor led and one of them led to the staff residences. I did not know which one was Ariedel’s and I did not want to risk missing her.

Moments later another tram arrived. I watched the faces that came out.

Ariedel soon appeared. “Legolas!” She rushed over to me and we embraced.

“Are you all right?” I asked, seeing the fresh cut on the left corner of her lips from where Hawke had struck her.

“Yes. What about you?”

“I am fine.”

Ariedel took my hand. “Come on. We can take a shuttle down to Earth.”

I allowed her to pull me along behind her. She chose one of the corridors without needing to consult the map and we headed to the very end, which opened into a large chamber.

Lined up in rows were what appeared to me as cottages made of metal. Ariedel pulled me in the direction of the furthest one.

“What are these?” I asked curiously.

“They’re shuttles used to fly from the station to the surface of the planet and back again.”

I froze in my tracks, not sure about flying in one of these small structures.

Ariedel turned to me. “Don’t worry, honey, I’ve flown these things a thousand times in a simulator. It’s as easy as driving a car.”

“I do not have a clue about driving a car, as I know not what it is, but I will endeavor to trust your abilities.” I followed Ariedel inside the shuttle, as she called it. There were two seats behind a large window and Ariedel took the left one. I glanced toward the back of the shuttle and saw many other seats lined in rows, with an aisle in the center.

“Sit over there,” she said, motioning to the empty seat beside her.

I sat down and watched her pull straps from the back of the seat. I followed her example and did likewise, finding the clasp to hold me to the seat. Then my thoughts quickly wandered to why these restraints were necessary. My eyes narrowed at the colored lights that suddenly appeared on the tabletop before us.

Ariedel’s hands moved swiftly over certain parts of the tabletop. There was a sound to my right and when I turned to look, the door was closing.

“Do you see that blue and green circle thing over on your right?” she asked.

I turned my head and saw something on the wall beside me. There was a blue and green circle with a line up and down over it. “Aye.”

“How’s your hand?”

“Which one?”

“The one with the cast.”

I held it up. “Tis fine.”

“Good. Do me a favor and smash that thing over there,” she said as she motioned with her head toward the circle.

I did not question her request. I smashed the plastic panel with my cast and sparks flew from it. “What was this?” I asked as I stared at it curiously.

“Tracking unit. Now Warner won’t be able to follow where we’re going.”

I suddenly felt the shuttle move and stared through the window. We rose from the floor and moved forward. There was a large opening ahead and beyond it was nothing but blackness and small pinpoints of light, like the sky at night.

“Sit back and hold on. It’s not a very smooth ride on the way down.”

I turned to her. “Ariedel.”

When she turned to look at me, I held my casted hand out to her. She gave me her hand and smiled. I pulled it to my lips and kissed it. Then I released it so she could maneuver the shuttle. As I faced forward and the shuttle moved directly through the opening and out into black space, I felt a sudden rush of fear pass through me. It was followed by the image of a vacant corridor. I was unsure of what to make of it. Perhaps it was nothing. The closer we moved toward the blue and green globe, the fainter the queen’s presence felt to me.

“I can no longer feel her,” I finally said.

“Who? The queen?”

“Aye.”

“Good. The little bitch can rot in hell with Warner and Hawke and anyone else who thinks they’re going to be able to tame her.”

I continued to feel ill at ease. But my thoughts soon drifted toward what I was seeing before me. The shuttle shook relentlessly as we passed through the clouds that shrouded parts of the world below. I was amazed at the wonder of flying this high above the ground.

When we passed the clouds, I saw the earth beneath. There were mountains, some capped with snow and then we flew over a large expanse of water. The sights were breathtaking and amazing. To be able to see a world from this height…I sadly thought about Middle Earth, knowing that I would never see it again, nor my father or my friends.

Earth - Tahiti
(Ariedel’s POV)

I decided the best place to take Legolas, without anyone questioning his Elven looks, was a quaint little resort in Tahiti. I had been there once before with some friends and the people were pretty bizarre, with body piercings and multi-colored hair. Legolas would blend right in with his long blonde hair and pointed ears.

Upon arriving, I registered us in one of the picturesque huts that sat right in the water near the beach.

Legolas’s eyes never stopped moving as he took in everything around him. We walked along the white sand toward the path leading to the huts and I watched his reaction to the surroundings. He unzipped his white jumpsuit and pulled his arms out so he was bare-chested.

Then he dropped to his knees and spread his arms out as he closed his eyes and tilted his face up to the sun. I could have sworn I saw him glowing. Getting him off that cold, sterile space station was probably the best thing for him.

I lowered myself to my knees and moved closer in front of him. It was happening right before my eyes…the power of Elven healing. The scar on his chest became fainter. The scars from the skin and muscle grafts on his left shoulder faded to almost nothing. I waited several minutes, watching his beautiful face taking in the heat from the sun. “Hey.”

Legolas opened his eyes and gave me a faint smile. “Hey.”

I ran my hands over his chest and moved even closer. “I love seeing you in the sun like this.”

Legolas lifted his hand to my face and brushed his finger over the sore on my lip. The pain there seemed to slowly disappear. Then he slid his fingers into my hair. Our lips came together in a heated exchange.

A few minutes later we were in the hut, undressing each other. Legolas grew impatient and we never made it to the bed the first time around. It was the entryway and then the floor leading to the bedroom. We were like wild animals on a feeding frenzy before we finally hit the bed and he sank himself inside me for the third time in the last fifteen minutes.

…Thank God that part of him still worked.

Afterward, we were lying side by side on the bed. His arm was stretched out under my head and he lazily twirled my hair around his finger.

I decided to bring up the subject to get an understanding of what he wanted to do going forward. “Legolas?”

“Hm?”

“Do you want to go back to Middle Earth?”

He turned his face toward me. “You said it was not possible.”

“I never said it wasn’t possible. I just said everyone thinks you’re dead. I’m sure they’d be awfully surprised if you suddenly show up again.”

“Aye, I want to go home.”

I half-hoped he had wanted to stay in my world. But the look in his eyes told me all I needed to hear. He didn’t belong in this technologically advanced world. “Okay.”

“And you?” he asked.

I turned my body around to face him. “I’ll go wherever you go, as long as you want me to.”

“I want you with me, Ariedel. If you are willing to give up your world for mine.”

I couldn’t believe I was about to say this. But Legolas had become everything to me, my whole world. It was strange for me to think this way because a few months ago I never would have dreamed I’d be leaving the existence I knew for something totally foreign. “I would give it all up for you.”

He smiled and caressed my cheek.

“When we go back, there’ll be a lot of questions to answer,” I said.

Legolas nodded his head. “We will have to come up with a believable story.”

“The first thing we should do is find Gandalf. He knew there was something different about me. Maybe he can help us figure out what we can say to everyone.”

“An excellent idea, Ariedel. He will know what to do.”

“When do you want to go back?”

Legolas looked into my eyes for a long time. “Whenever you are ready. Perhaps there is someone you wish to see, friends and family you wish to bid farewell.”

“My brother Seth and some friends on my homeworld.”

“Can the shuttle take us there?”

I shook my head. “Going to Avalon requires cryosleep. It’s a long way away and the ship moves so fast that one would cease to exist in real time. That’s why we have cryosleep chambers. You sleep through the ride.”

“Can we not take one of those ships with the cryo…sleep chamber?”

“We can’t. Legolas, I don’t know what cryosleep would do to you. You’re immortal. What if it has some weird side affect and makes you age or something? It’s never been tested on Elves, you know.” I tried to laugh it off, when in fact I felt a lump in my throat at the idea of not being able to see my brother or my friends again. But I knew the risks in the job I was involved in and so did they. For all they knew, I had never returned from my mission to Middle Earth.

Legolas looked sad. “So there is no chance for you to say good-bye to them.”

“Not in person. But I can always call them on a communicator.”

“I am sorry, Ariedel.”

“Don’t apologize, Legolas. I committed myself to you when we were in Middle Earth. At the time it was for the wrong reasons, but now I can’t imagine my life without you.”

“We will start our own family in Middle Earth. I want us to have children. Lots of them.”

“I’m pretty sure I can make that happen,” I said with a smile. I just needed to get the birth control microchip extracted from my hip. A simple visit to a local medic. I would take care of it as soon as possible. “Yeah.” I leaned closer and kissed him. Then I wrapped my arms around his neck so he wouldn’t see me cry.

Tahiti – One week later
(Legolas’s POV)

I woke with a yell, sitting up in bed. Ariedel immediately woke up beside me. I ran my hands over my sweating face and attempted to slow down my heavy breathing.

“Another bad alien dream?” she asked sympathetically.

I closed my eyes with a frown, trying desperately to keep my emotions under control. What I wanted to do was crawl under the bed and hide.

Ariedel placed an arm around my shoulder and caressed my arm. “Legolas, talk to me. If you talk about it, you’ll feel a heck of a lot better. Trust me. I’ve been there.”

“What do you want me to talk to you about?”

“Well, you never did tell me what happened in the cave in Middle Earth. Why don’t you start with that?”

“I cannot.” The thought of reliving the event brought a shiver through me.

“I know it’s difficult. Just try.”

I swallowed hard and slowly began to tell her the exact events beginning with the moment I entered the tunnel with my company of men. By the time I had finished at the point where Ariedel had found me, I was sweating, shivering and crying.

Ariedel had her arms wrapped around me, her face pressed against the side of mine.

“I feel like such a coward. Some brave Elf I turned out to be,” I said as I wiped at the tears in my eyes.

“Don’t you dare say that about yourself. No one working for Lifesource ever managed to kill an entire horde of aliens, including the queen and alpha drone. Do you realize that you single-handedly did the work of an entire United Systems Colonial Marine team. And with just a bow and a knife.” Ariedel put her hands on my face and turned it toward her. “Legolas, you are the bravest person I have ever met in my entire life. Just because you fear them doesn’t make you a coward. The aliens are the most fearsome creatures in the known universe.”

“But I cannot for the life of me understand why I fear them. Why do I fear them more than an Orc, a giant spider, a warg or…or even a Balrog. I’ve confronted and battled all of these things and I do not sit here and tremble with fear from doing so.” The frustration I felt from this unexplainable fear surmounted everything else I felt.

“People have written entire books on the subject of what makes these aliens fearsome. Some say its because they absolutely have no emotions whatsoever. Not an ounce of remorse. They live for a single purpose and that’s to kill every living thing in the universe. Anyone that comes in contact with them and survives…their lives are changed forever. It’s a life altering experience.”

“You have had contact with them, yet you do not quake in fear from your experiences.”

“Okay, there’s a big difference between my experiences and yours. I’ve only dealt with single drones. The assassins, they’re called because they’re not part of a hive. Their sole purpose is to kill. Plus I had the appropriate equipment to locate it and the appropriate weapon to destroy it before it even knew I was tracking it. You had none of those things to help you and you managed to survive.”

“Barely.”

“You survived. That’s all you need to remember. And do you want to know something? If you ever had the unfortunate luck of running into them again in an uncontrolled environment, you would only grow more immune to them. The more you know about their instincts, their movements and actions, the less threatening they become.”

What Ariedel said seemed to make perfect sense. I recalled my first experience with giant spiders in the woods of Mirkwood near my home. It had been terrifying. But the more contact I had with them, and the more I killed, the quicker my fear diminished. I had confidence in my abilities and managed to survive countless battles in the near three millennia I had lived. The fear I felt for these emotionless, unfeeling creatures would soon pass. But for it to pass meant having to confront them again. “I never want to run into them again.” I never wanted to show fear in front of anyone, especially not in front of someone I loved. But Ariedel was the only one that understood my fears and she did not think me a coward at all.

“And we’ll make that a reality when we go back to Middle Earth. The aliens are gone and we’ll never see them again.”

I slipped out of bed and walked out of the open balcony doors. The sky to the east was red, telling me that the sun would be rising soon. I looked up into the sky directly above me, inspecting the stars, knowing that one of them was Gateway Station. The mere thought of the station brought a pain to my stomach for no apparent reason. Something was not right up there. The feeling was so strong that it nearly brought me to my knees.

Ariedel came up behind me, pressing her naked body against me. “Come back to bed, Legolas.”

The feel of her skin against mine immediately aroused me, as did her fingernails raking along my back. I soon forgot about the space station and allowed her to lead me back to bed. There we engaged in an early morning romp at our leisure.

Later that morning, we had occupied our time by scuba diving. This was one among a number of activities Ariedel had shown me and this one happened to be my favorite. The sights beneath the clear water along the reefs were spectacular. I observed fish of brilliant colors and wondered if the seas in Middle Earth contained such creatures.

But not all of them were harmless. When we encountered a large sleek fish with a dorsal fin, Ariedel quickly steered me away from it and later told me it was called a shark and that some were known to attack people if provoked.

Ariedel captured many of our moments with what she called a camera, which created frozen images of whatever it was pointed to. She always surprised me whenever I was deep in thought and captured my image as I looked to the sun. The images were forever captured on a material she called plastic and she placed them in a book we would take back to Middle Earth with us.

As the days passed and I moved more physically, the pain from my injuries began to diminish. Ariedel had removed the cast from my left hand and when I looked at myself in the mirror, I saw that the scars on my left shoulder had almost faded completely. Even the scars on my left leg were almost gone. The only scar that seemed to take forever to fade was the one on my forehead.

While the daytime hours were spent outdoors, participating in many water activities, the nighttime hours were spent dining on fine foods and drink. Then we danced slowly to music played by local minstrels. The instruments the minstrels played were strange to me, but the music was pleasant.

Ariedel had to show me how to dance to the music as I was unfamiliar with it. It was plainly easy, almost like embracing with a side to side motion. I found it rather pleasant.

These were the moments I cherished the most with Ariedel for they drew us intimately close, arousing my senses into a frenzy so that I wanted nothing more than to ‘bang’ her. I smiled to myself at the memory of when she explained what that meant after I had heard her say it and I had laughed so hard my ribs ached.

“What’re you smiling about?” she asked me as we slowly danced.

I leaned closer to her ear so no one else around us would hear. “I want to bang you right this moment.”

She giggled and wrapped her arms tighter around my neck. “Patience, my love.”

“I have mentioned countless times that I have no patience when it comes to making love to you, Ariedel.”

She looked into my eyes and her smiling lips invited me to taste them. “This is just like a honeymoon.”

“Honeymoon? What is that?”

“It’s what people do right after they get married. They go on a romantic trip together.”

“This is definitely romantic,” I said before I kissed her lightly on the lips. “If I recall correctly, our honeymoon was spent with Gimli, Gandalf, my father and a whole slew of Elves as we traveled toward my realm.”

She giggled and returned my kiss.

The next day, we had just returned from riding ‘jet skis’ and headed for the lounge on the beach. They served many of the fruity cocktails I quickly grew fond of. Except for the one called ‘Mai Tai’. That cocktail reminded me too much of the Passionfruit wine Gimli had given me some time ago that had made me vomit for hours.

“What’ll you have?” asked the barkeep.

“Two Tequila Sunrises, please,” I replied as I pushed in the barstool for Ariedel before sitting myself done beside her.

A moment later the barkeep placed the drinks before us. We sipped them and I smiled at Ariedel as she stared at my face. “What?”

“Your nose is peeling,” she said.

I reached up to feel my nose and scraped my nail on the dead layer of skin there. “I fear the sun here is too strong for my skin.”

“I’ll just have to rub more sun block on you.”

The idea of Ariedel rubbing anything on me was enough to arouse me. “Perhaps we should go back to our cottage so you can take care of this task.”

“Hey, those are totally cool,” said a young man sitting two seats away from me.

I knew not what he meant. “Pardon me?”

“Your ears. Where did you get them?”

I turned to Ariedel briefly and she whispered to me from the corner of her lips before I turned back to respond to the young man. “I had surgery a couple of years ago, in Los Angeles. Talk to a Dr Dolittle.”

“They are really cool. I’m gonna have to look into getting them. Thanks, man.”

Later that afternoon, Ariedel took me to several shops that sold what they labeled as ‘antiques’. We browsed the shops together and she found several items that would accent her gowns back in Middle Earth. I was more in the market for weapons, since I had lost my Lothlorien bow and quiver, as well as my Elven long knives.

“Hey, Legolas, what about this?” asked Ariedel.

I had been admiring something called a Beretta, which fired small projectiles at unheard of velocities. When I turned to Ariedel, I saw that she held some kind of bow. I walked over and took the weapon from her hand. “What is it?” I asked as I tested the weight and inspected the chamber in which an arrow could be placed.

“It’s called a crossbow. Looks like this particular one loads the arrows with the pump action thing under here. Pretty cool.” She turned to the shopkeeper. “Hey, you think he can try this out before we decide whether to buy it or not?”

The shopkeeper nodded his head. “Yeah. I’ve got a shooting range in back of the shop.”

We went through the back of the shop and outside was a range with a variety of targets. There were several other people out there, some firing weapons similar to the Beretta I had been looking at. One was firing a much larger version with a longer nose. It rested against his shoulder and created far more damage than the smaller one.

I stood behind the wooden barrier and after a quick demonstration from the shopkeeper on the functionality of the crossbow, I slid the pump down until an arrow clicked into place. Then I held the crossbow horizontally and looked down the center of it at the target far ahead. I pulled the trigger and the arrow flew faster than any I had ever shot from my bow. The arrow struck the center of the target. I pumped another arrow in and shot it, landing it right next to the other.

“That’s pretty good shooting, mister,” said the shopkeeper.

I turned toward him. “I will take it.”

“How much?” asked Ariedel.

“Fifteen hundred universal dollars.”

I turned to Ariedel, not sure what a universal dollar was, and where I could possibly get fifteen hundred of them.

She smiled at me. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got plenty. It’s not like I can take any universal dollars to Middle Earth with me.” She went into her pocket and handed the shopkeeper a blue plastic card. I had seen her use this on numerous occasions during our stay at the resort.

Tahiti – Another week later
(Ariedel’s POV)

I sat down at a public communications booth while Legolas stood just outside the door. After sticking my credit card into the slot, I hesitated punching the number I needed to call. A dozen thoughts were going through my head. What if my brother wasn’t home? What if his wife answered instead? What if General Burbank was there? What was I going to say to him? I punched the number and waited.

After four rings, an image appeared on the screen in front of me. It was Wendy, Seth’s wife. She stared at me and then smiled. “ Crystal, my God, where have you been? Seth’s been going crazy. Are you all right?”

“I’m doing just fine.”

“Where are you? Are you back home or still on Gateway?”

“Actually, I’m in Tahiti on Earth.”

Wendy raised her eyebrows in surprise. “ Tahiti. What’re you doing there?”

“I’m on my honeymoon.”

Wendy’s jaw dropped and then she stammered for a few seconds before she was able to continue. “Well, I guess I’ll say congratulations. Who’s the lucky guy?”

“His name is Legolas.”

“I’ll…uh…let me call Seth. He’s outside with Kira. Hang on.”

When I glanced outside, Legolas turned to me. “Is everything all right?” he asked.

“Yeah, I think so.”

A minute later Seth’s face appeared on the screen. “Jesus Christ, Crystal. What the hell happened to you? The last I heard, you were being sent to SR-682 on a mission.”

“Well, I made it to SR-682, but something got messed up.” I went on to tell him that I had arrived with no weapons and that I had lost the transmutation device that was my ticket back home. Going through the rest of the story, including my marriage to Legolas, I ended with Randle Dorian finding me and my return to Gateway with my badly injured husband.

“So where are you now?” asked Seth.

“I was just telling Wendy that I’m on my honeymoon in Tahiti on Earth.”

“All I care about is that you’re okay.”

“I swear I’m fine.”

“When are you coming home?”

“I…uh…I’m not sure, Seth. That’s the reason I’m calling.” I told him about what Warner had tried to do with Legolas and why it was important for us to disappear for awhile. “So I’m not sure if I’ll be coming back or not.”

Seth frowned. “You can’t mean that, Crystal. You can’t just disappear.”

“It’s something I have to do. I love him, Seth.”

He slowly shook his head. “I don’t like it, but I understand.”

I motioned for Legolas and he sat down beside me. “Seth, this is Legolas. Legolas, this is my brother, Seth.”

“Tis a pleasure to meet you, Seth,” said Legolas.

“I suppose I should thank you for everything you did for my sister, Legolas. I’m glad she ran into you and not someone who wouldn’t have helped her in the situation she was in.”

“There is no need to thank me.” Then he smiled. “She enchanted me from the moment I first set eyes upon her.”

Seth smiled back. “Yeah, she certainly has a way, doesn’t she?”

I laughed at his sarcastic comment. “Hey, I resent that, dear brother of mine.”

“So I hear you’re a prince. Does that make my sister a princess?” asked Seth.

Legolas turned to me with a smile. “It does. She will make a fine queen someday.”

“Oh God, no,” added Seth with a laugh. “That’s totally gonna go to her head.”

Legolas frowned at the comment. “I do not jest, Seth.”

“Yeah, I guess not. Just do me a favor, Legolas. Take care of her for me, will you?”

“Tis no reason to ask it of me as a favor. I do it because I love her.”

Seth nodded. “Good-bye then.”

“Good-bye,” said Legolas before turning to me with a squeeze of my hand and then getting up to resume standing outside the booth.

I knew he was leaving me alone so I could say good-bye to Seth. Tears welled up in my eyes as I turned back to the screen. “How’s Kira?”

“She’s doing a lot better.”

I missed seeing my niece. “Give her a hug and a kiss for me and tell her I love her.”

“I will.”

“We’re going to Gateway tomorrow morning and translocating to Arda…I mean, SR-682. Good-bye, Seth. I love you.”

“I love you, too, baby. Good-bye.”

I quickly ended the transmission before I broke down in tears. Legolas was immediately at my side, holding me close as I cried.

Tahiti
(Legolas’s POV)

On the fourteenth day of our visit to Earth, we placed our newly purchased belongings into the shuttle and strapped ourselves to the seats.

I watched as Ariedel sat quietly for a moment and took a deep breath. “Are you all right, Ariedel?”

She turned to me with a weak smile and I saw the tears in her eyes. “Yeah, I’m just…” She breathed and closed her damp eyes. “I’m going to miss all of this.”

I nodded. “I will miss scuba diving and, of course, I will mostly miss the projection box.” The magical box that projected images had been quite addicting.

She gave me a half smile. “Right, I had to practically drag you kicking and screaming away from that thing whenever one of those old classic movies came on.”

“I especially liked The Terminator,” I said with a sly grin. “I’ll be back,” I imitated the voice of the man who had spoken those words. “Perhaps we should have purchased one of those shotguns like he had.”

She gave me a look. “Who needs a shotgun when you can have a blaster? Much cleaner and more effective.”

A blaster. The mention of this new weapon fascinated me. “Where can I get one?”

“I’ve got one in my apartment on the station. We’ll get it before we head for the lab to translocate to Middle Earth.”

I sensed that there was still something bothering Ariedel. “Something else troubles you.”

She raised her eyebrows and sighed heavily. “I’m not sure what we’ll do if we run into Warner.”

“I will take care of Warner.”

“Hopefully it won’t come to that. I mean, all we have to do is get a few things from my apartment, head to Lab B, program a translocator to take us to Middle Earth and then we’re gone.”

“Sounds simple enough,” I said, even though I did not understand a single word of what she mentioned. I also recognized the sarcasm in her voice, so perhaps it was not as simple as she said it was.

“Chances are slim that we’ll miss him because he’s aware of every transmutation or translocation that happens.” Ariedel set the shuttle into motion. “Say good-bye to Tahiti, Legolas.”

I looked out the window at the huge expanse of the clear ocean beyond the beach ahead and locked away the image into my mind. “Good-bye, Tahiti.”

Then Ariedel raised the shuttle up from the ground.

Tahiti

At the resort’s beachside bar, the usual crowd of drinkers gathered. Some watched and pointed to the shuttle that rose up and then headed at a slant into the sky.

“Hey, turn up the TM, man,” said someone sitting on a barstool. “The President’s talking.”

Everyone turned to the telemonitor as the bartender increased the volume. The image of Martin Stewart, president of the United Systems, was on the screen.

“…and the last communication was that of a crewman indicating that the station had been overrun by the aliens and that he was the last survivor. It’s unknown as to the reason none were able to evacuate in shuttles or why none of the safety measures utilized to contain the creatures were put into place...”

“Is he talking about Gateway Station?” asked someone.

“I think so,” responded someone else.

Stewart continued to speak. “…await the arrival of the US Colonial Marines within twenty-four hours. It is my unfortunate duty to inform those who had family or friends on Gateway that the station must be destroyed. We can’t risk the chance of any aliens making it down to Earth. With the loss of Gateway Station, we will also lose our ability to transport via transmutation or translocation. As I’m sure everyone is aware, Lifesource has been a valuable asset to our continued effort in ridding our planets of these deadly aliens. Plans to build another Lifesource site orbiting Avalon had been discussed over the last three months, but it will take years before the site will be up and running.”

“How many people were on that station?” asked another individual.

“Goddamn, there had to be over two thousand people up there.”

“Hey, that shuttle that just left, wasn’t that a Gateway Station shuttle?”

Everyone looked at each other. If they hadn’t already heard the news on the TM about the aliens taking over Gateway Station, the occupants of the shuttle would be in for a very unpleasant surprise when they arrived at the station.

 

Chapter 13 – What Lies Waiting​

Space and Gateway Station
(Ariedel’s POV)

I circled the shuttle around the Earth until Gateway Station came into view. As we drew closer to it, I waited for the inevitable call from the station’s dispatch. I had rehearsed a number of things I could say. We found the shuttle and were bringing it back. We were chasing a strange man who we believed was impregnated with an alien. We were Christmas shopping and were returning to give Director Warner his present. All three were pretty lame, but it was all I could come up with.

When I turned to Legolas, his brows were furrowed together as if he were in deep thought. Then his eyes started moving back and forth. “Are you okay?” I asked.

“Something is not right,” said Legolas.

“Is the queen talking to you again?”

“Nay…but I sense something…I cannot describe it…” He was gripping the armrests so tightly that his fingers were turning purple.

“Legolas, what is it? What’s wrong?”

“I sense trouble afoot on the station.”

That didn’t sound good. I pushed the communicator button. “Gateway Station, this is Shuttle Rockland. We are ready for final approach.” I waited for a response, but received nothing. Not even white noise. “Come in, Gateway. Do you copy?”

Nothing…

Legolas was looking out the window as we approached the station. His eyes were wide and I noticed that his breathing had quickened. “She has killed…”

“What?”

“The queen.” His voice had dropped down to almost a whisper and he looked about ready to burst out of his seat restraints. “She is no longer contained. She is free and she has killed.”

“Please tell me you’re kidding.”

He turned to me. “Ariedel, we are in deep shit.” Legolas had learned the phrase in a movie he had watched on the telemonitor and he had used it a couple of times, much to my amusement. But this time it wasn’t so funny.

I steered the shuttle toward the shuttle bay. The atmosphere containment field was still activated, which was a good thing. But the fact that no one had called to validate my identity before approaching the station was not a good sign. I maneuvered the shuttle through the containment field window of the station.

The sight that greeted us made me gasp. All of the other shuttles in the bay were torn to shreds as if something had literally picked them up and tossed them around the bay, making them completely unusable. Some were charred and mangled, from possible explosions, as were some of the walls and the floor. But the damage hadn’t reached the doors, which meant that the automatic fire system had extinguished the fires before they could spread.

I set the shuttle down on the only spot with no debris. Legolas quickly unstrapped himself and jumped out of his seat. I followed him to the back where he retrieved his recently purchased pump action crossbow. Then he strapped on the quiver with all the additional wooden arrows. I remembered Aragorn saying something about wood not being affected by the acid blood. Perfect.

I grabbed the backpack that had some of our personal things. These were things I just couldn’t leave behind. The rest of the stuff…clothes, shoes…we could do without those. “We need more weapons, Legolas.”

“Where do we get them?”

“There’s a weapons storage room not too far from here. Are you ready?”

Legolas pumped an arrow into the chamber of the crossbow. “I am ready.”

I pushed the button to open the shuttle door.

Legolas stepped out first and he paused at the doorway, his eyes scanning around the shuttle bay. He listened for sounds.

“Anything?” I asked.

“Nay. There is nothing in here. Come.”

I followed Legolas through the debris and when we got closer to the doorway leading out of the shuttle bay, I rushed over to the computer on the wall and pushed the button to call it. “Computer, are you functioning properly?”

“I am functioning at proper levels,” came the reply.

“What is the location of Jonathan Warner?”

“Jonathan Warner is deceased.”

“Raymond Hawke. What is his location?”

“Raymond Hawke is deceased.”

I turned to Legolas in a panic. “Shit. Computer, how many Gateway personnel and visitors are alive on this station?”

“Two.”

Two? There were thousands of people on this station. What happened to everyone? “Who are they?”

“Crystal Schuyler and Bishop 46537.”

Legolas didn’t have an ID chip in his neck so the computer didn’t recognize him. Bishop 46537 was a lifelike synthetic. There had been quite a few of them on the station, all looked exactly alike, made in the image of their creator. “Patch me to Bishop.”

“Patching. One moment.”

“Bishop here,” replied the soft voice of the synthetic.

“Bishop, this is Lifesource employee, Crystal Schuyler. I just arrived in a shuttle. What happened? Where is everyone? Did they make it off the station?”

“Unfortunately no. The aliens destroyed the shuttles. Everyone’s dead.” His voice was dispassionate, as most of the synthetics were.

They were all dead. Everyone on the station. How could it have happened? How could one queen manage to kill over two thousand people? Surely someone would have gotten to the weapons and could have killed her. My thoughts ran rampant. I couldn’t think straight.

Legolas moved me aside. “Bishop, where are you?”

“I’m in the Communications Tower. I’ve been up here for the last two days. I was able to send a message to Earth and I apprised them of the situation. I told them not to send anyone up here because it was already too late to save anyone. Why did you come?”

“How do we get to you?”

“That’s not going to be possible. The station is overrun by aliens.”

What? Where did they come from? Without any drones, the queen couldn’t possibly have produced any eggs. Unless…no, it couldn’t be possible. “Bishop, were you aware of any drones kept on the station?”

“Yes. There were three that I knew of. One was killed while the other two managed to escape at around the same time the queen did.”

“Bishop, we will try to reach you,” said Legolas.

“No, I have weapons. I’ll come to you.”

“How long?” asked Legolas.

“The trams are all out so it’ll take me approximately thirty-seven minutes to reach the main shuttle bay.”

“We will be here.”

Legolas took me by the arm and pulled me away from the doorway. He glanced around, looking high up on the walls. He spotted a catwalk and dragged me there. I started climbing the ladder and he climbed up after me. Then he crouched at the top, one knee down, crossbow ready to fire at anything that came through the doorway.

“I can’t believe it,” I said. “All those people. They’re all dead. There were over two thousand people here. What could possibly have happened?”

Gateway Station

Bishop checked the power supply in both of his blasters. Then he pulled the manual lever to open the hatch leading to the ladder that led down from the Communications Tower. He mounted the ladder and descended. At the bottom, he crouched and glanced up and down the narrow corridor. It was empty so he proceeded forward, keeping his eyes and ears open for signs or sounds of approaching aliens.

Being a synthetic had its advantages. He had extraordinary strength, excellent vision and hearing, had perfect aim with a weapon and had no human emotions that could hinder whatever task he was assigned. But being a synthetic also had a disadvantage. He couldn’t refuse the task of protecting a human. The two humans that had arrived in the shuttle were in danger and he needed to go to them and protect them.

He had no emotions, so he didn’t feel sorrow for those he had been unable to protect. He had not even known the situation until he was awakened by the computer to continue his shift. He had been out of commission for the last month for upgrades.

Not able to raise communication with his superior, he had gone to one of the authorized station monitors and punched in for visuals. The images he had received were disturbing. Bloody bodies of people lying in corridors, in restaurants, in shops. Burning equipment, shuttles, trams being doused out by the station’s automated fire systems.

Then he received an image of the Arboretum. A horde of aliens worked around eggs and tended to the young bursting from the chests of their hosts.

Bishop had asked the computer for a count of living humans. The computer had replied with a total of fifteen. But the number soon began to decrease by one. Until there were none left. He had asked the computer for a count of Bishop units besides himself. The computer had replied with none. The other three Bishop units on the station had been destroyed.

Showing no fear or apprehension, as he reached a tram station, Bishop proceeded at a steady jog along the tracks used by the trams. He headed in the general direction of the main shuttle bay where the two humans were.

Every once in a while, an alien popped out of nowhere to give chase. He simply turned and shot at it with one of his blasters. Luckily the station structure was made of titanium, a substance discovered a while back to be impervious to the affects of the alien acid blood. If the station had been constructed of any other element, the structure would have long since been breached and the vacuum of space would have sucked everything out before the entire station buckled under the extreme pressure.

Gateway Station

The queen had stopped producing eggs over the last few days. There were no more hosts. Only fresh meat to feed the young ones. Instinct told her that more would eventually come. It was only a matter of time.

And then she sensed the one from whom she had been connected to. The being was here. But he was not happy for her, not like the others in her hive. She had been able to communicate with him before and then he was gone for a while. It was during that time that she grew and produced eggs. Now the being was back and she sensed that he wanted to kill her.

The queen sneered and hissed, saliva dripping freely from her massive jaws. Her Elven ears twitched and she called out to him…challenging him to come and fight, if he could get passed her brood.

The silent order was given. Several drones raced off in search of the being their queen sought.

Gateway Station
(Legolas’s POV)

A challenge…

I stood up from where I crouched upon the platform, understanding the images coming to me as if they were words spoken clearly…as if the creature was in the same room. The queen was challenging me to come and kill her. “She knows I am here.”

Ariedel was seated nearby. “The queen?”

“She is challenging me.”

“Well, who gives a rat’s ass what she wants. As soon as Bishop gets here, we’re headed for Lab B and then we’re out of here.”

I still did not comprehend how we would get to Middle Earth from this facility, but I did not want to appear as if I was not intelligent enough to understand. Ariedel and I had this conversation before and I hated feeling helpless and inferior by asking too many questions. It was such a stupid thing on my part because this world of hers was so different from my own, but my ego tended to get in the way, as usual. “Would you consider we get back into the shuttle and go back to Earth?” I asked her.

She looked up at me, perhaps to determine whether I jested or not. “No. I want to take you home.”

“Thank you for confirming it. I had almost forgotten why we were doing this. Believe me, I have no desire to encounter these creatures again. But if I have to, I will.”

Ariedel smiled. “You’re getting over your fear already. See?”

“Who said I was over it? I simply said I would confront them if I had to. And it appears that we more than likely will.”

Ariedel turned wide-eyed toward the doorway leading out of the chamber. “Are they coming?”

“The queen has dispatched her warriors to search for me. I will be a hindrance to you and Bishop.”

“What’re you getting at, Legolas?”

“You mentioned that you must go to Lab B to program the trans…trans…” I could not remember the device’s name.

“Translocator,” said Ariedel.

“Aye, the translocator. Perhaps the best course is for you to go to Lab B with Bishop, program the translocator and then rendezvous back with me. I can divert the creatures away from your destination.”

“Are you crazy? You can’t hold them off here on your own. There were over two thousand people on this station. That means there has to be almost that many aliens running around.”

“If I go with you, they will follow us. I do not know how long it will take you to program the device, but whether I remain here or go with you, I will no doubt be trapped somewhere when they come for me. I would rather you not be with me if that happens.”

Ariedel stood up and reached for my arm. “We’re in this together. I can’t abandon you. If you get yourself killed then what’s the point of me programming the translocator to take me alone to Middle Earth. I’m not going without you.”

I sighed heavily because I knew that I would not win this battle. Ariedel was a very stubborn female. My own stubbornness would not accept the fact that she was capable of fighting these creatures as well. She had done it before in other situations, of which I was still disbelieving of. But with the appropriate weapons, we would prevail. “We will need weapons then.”

“We’ll find some.”

My ears picked up the sound of running footsteps. “Someone approaches.” I turned the crossbow and aimed it at the doorway. A man stepped through it and I targeted his chest with the crossbow. “Is that Bishop?”

“Yes,” she said as she quickly headed down the ladder.

I followed after her. “Bishop, what the hell happened?” asked Ariedel.

The man named Bishop approached her and I noticed several weapons hanging from straps on his shoulders. As I approached, I sensed something odd about him. What I sensed was nothing and that was why it was odd. He had no heartbeat, no pulse. There was no sweat, no scent. I reached for Ariedel’s arm and pulled her back before she reached him.

Ariedel looked at me as if I had lost my senses. “What?” she asked.

I eyed Bishop suspiciously. “He is not human.”

“You’re right about that,” replied Bishop. “I’m a synthetic. Although some of us like to be referred to as an artificial person rather than an android or synthetic.”

“Artificial person?” I asked in confusion.

Ariedel rolled her eyes and grabbed my arm. “Oh, never mind. I’ll explain it later. Bishop, this is my husband, Legolas. Legolas this is Bishop.”

Bishop eyed me as well. “You are not human either.”

“Bishop, what happened here?” she asked impatiently before I could respond.

“I checked the databanks and it appears that a young queen was being held in Observation Chamber C while three drones were in Observation Chamber A. The computer clocked Director Jonathan Warner’s death at 11:45am two weeks ago.”

Ariedel turned to me in surprise. “That’s when we left the station.”

“After that the computer recorded the deaths of station personnel and visitors. The dates and times were random. The computer also recorded the destruction of the other three Bishop units on the station. I had been awakened by the computer to begin my shift at that point.”

“Awakened?” asked Ariedel.

“I was receiving system updates. We get them on a quarterly basis. Anyway, by the time I was awakened, it was already too late. The aliens had already taken control of everyone on the station. The last few survivors had already been impregnated and I knew I wasn’t going to reach them in time.”

I frowned. “How could this have happened? I thought there were measures to prevent the creatures from escaping their chambers.”

Bishop shrugged indifferently. “The precautions had no effect. Apparently two of the drones killed the third and used the alien’s acid blood to burn a hole into the Plexiglas. We’ve also never had a queen in captivity before. Director Warner obviously underestimated her power, even as young as the computer recorded her age to be.”

I shook my head in anger. “And what about weapons? No one had the ability to kill them once they began to multiply?”

“The weapons room is off limits to anyone except Director Warner.”

“And he was obviously the first one to go,” added Ariedel.

I could not remove the disgruntled look from my face. “I had predicted that this would happen and I warned him when he had me restrained to the chair in that chamber. I could have done something then.”

“Legolas, don’t even think to blame yourself for this. We left without any knowledge of what was going on here.”

“Nay, Ariedel. I sensed something was wrong. I felt it as we left the station. This could have been prevented had I listened to my instincts.”

She caressed my arm in an attempt to comfort me, but I was grief-stricken over what had happened on the station. I recalled the young girl on the tram a while ago who had asked why I had pointed ears. She was dead…just like everyone else whose identities I never had the opportunity to know.

Just then the sound of claws on tiles reached my ears and I stiffened. “They are coming. We must leave now.”

“Then let’s go,” said Bishop. “Your shuttle’s the only one still functioning.”

“We’re not leaving the station, Bishop.” Ariedel pointed to the doorway. “We’re headed for Lab B.”

“Lab B? Why?”

“I need to program a translocator to take us to Middle Earth.”

Bishop looked from Ariedel to me and then back to her. “I’m not familiar with that place.”

“I mean SR-682. If you want, you can take the shuttle and leave or you can come with us. The choice is yours, Bishop.”

Bishop sighed. “I’ll go with you, but we really have to hurry. The US Colonial Marines will be here in three point sixteen hours. They’ve been ordered by President Stewart to destroy the station without recourse.”

“Oh, great. Just what we need.”

I crossed my arms impatiently. “Are we going or what? I can hear them coming.”

Bishop removed one of the weapons from his shoulder strap and handed it to Ariedel. He eyed my crossbow with appreciation and then led the way out through the doorway.

We had only gotten several feet before the first wave of creatures bounded around the corner toward us. I raised my crossbow and fired multiple arrows, killing two of the creatures. Both Ariedel and Bishop fired their weapons, which created blinding blue flashes and dispatched two others. More crawled over the dead bodies of their kind and kept coming.

“Looks like we’re going to have to take the long way,” said Bishop.

We abandoned the path where the creatures were coming from and ran in the opposite direction. I whirled around and shot arrows at the advancing creatures. All of my arrows hit their targets, but there were so many coming at us.

“Bishop, the Hovers!”

“Good thinking.”

When I whirled back around to run forward again, both Ariedel and Bishop had disappeared through a doorway. I followed them into another large chamber. This one contained what appeared to be smaller shuttles. Ariedel rushed inside one. I turned to the doorway of the chamber and shot at the creatures that poured inside. They reminded me of a swarm of beetles emerging from a fissure.

“Legolas!” yelled Bishop.

I scooted backward, still firing arrows from my crossbow. Then I ducked to enter the small shuttle. Bishop pushed in after me. Ariedel helped me with the door as Bishop took the controls. The sound of banging outside of the transport echoed within.

“They are on us,” I yelled to Bishop as I stared out the front window. One of the creatures was clinging to the outside and hissing at us. I felt the shuttle lift from the ground.

“Better hold on to something,” said Bishop calmly with all the patience I lacked.

I watched as Ariedel grabbed anything stationary to hold on to and I did likewise just as the shuttle flipped completely upside down. We had to move our feet along the sides and finally the ceiling of the shuttle to keep standing. When I looked at the window, the creature was gone, followed by several other thuds my ears picked up.

Bishop righted the shuttle once again and advanced toward the doorway.

“He means to fly this through the narrow corridors?” I asked in amazement. And then we passed the doorway and started moving swiftly through the corridor. I moved to the back to look out of a small window. Some of the creatures were giving chase, but they were not fast enough to keep up with the vehicle and soon gave up.

Gateway Station
(Ariedel’s POV)

I stood behind Bishop as he steered the Hover through the corridors of the station. The smaller crafts were mainly used outside of the station by maintenance personnel. The front of it had prehensile arms that were capable of doing delicate wire work not able to be done by humans wearing heavy space gloves. The hovers didn’t have the capacity to withstand atmospheric entry, so they couldn’t be used for planet hopping like the shuttles were. They were also not meant to be flown through the narrow corridors of the station. But I had to hand it to Bishop. He tried to keep the Hover from continuously bumping the walls, but sometimes it just wasn’t possible whenever a sharp corner came up ahead.

Legolas came to stand beside me. “They have stopped pursuing.”

“Don’t worry. There’ll be more,” I added.

Then his eyes narrowed as he suddenly looked down at the floor in a panic. “Something moves beneath us.”

“That can’t be good,” replied Bishop. I turned to find Bishop staring blankly at the controls which had suddenly blinked out. “And neither can this,” he quickly added.

“Tis tearing into the bottom!” yelled Legolas.

“I’ve lost control,” Bishop piped in a voice far too calm for the situation.

Without control the Hover slammed hard into the right side of the corridor before it slammed hard into the left side. Legolas and I lost our balance and went flying to the floor. Then the Hover lost power completely and it dropped from the air. It hit the ground, continuing its forward motion. I couldn’t grab anything fast enough to stop myself from tumbling around as the Hover hopped and shifted to its side. Then it finally crashed into something immobile. I flew forward, hitting the back of Bishop’s head and came in contact with the windshield. Luckily it didn’t shatter or I would have gone through it.

When the dust settled and I was able to move my limbs, I crawled forward and found Legolas starting to move. Bishop unhooked himself from the chair and scrambled to the back where he forced the escape hatch open. The three of us crawled out, dragging our weapons with us and then stared at the crashed Hover.

“So much for getting to Lab B quicker,” I said as I glanced down the corridor we had come. There were scattered pieces of the alien which had disabled the Hover as it had clung to the bottom of it. We had crashed into the wall of the corridor where it had ended at a T.

“This way,” said Bishop.

Legolas glanced down the corridor one last time to make sure nothing was following us. Then he jogged behind Bishop and I.

Middle-Earth – Mirkwood

Aragorn had never been to the Elf king’s home, much less the realm of Mirkwood. He had imagined that it would be situated on some tall tree in the middle of the forest, much like Lady Galadriel’s celestial palace in Lothlorien. He had not been prepared to find that Thranduil lived in underground caverns. Oddly enough, even though Aragorn had known Legolas almost all of his mortal life, the Elf had never shared stories of his homeland. Aragorn was not one to pry, so he never asked. Legolas was intensely fond of the outdoors, especially the trees, and this was why Aragorn imagined Legolas and his father to live among the branches.

As he walked through the cavern corridors, Aragorn found the Elf king in one of the upper halls. The chamber was empty of anyone else.

Thranduil sat on a chair at a large table, his gaze resting on a bowl of grapes and apples. He remembered his son was quite fond of grapes and the memory sent a sharp pain through his heart that made him gasp. He was well aware of Aragorn’s presence in the hall and chose to ignore the king of Gondor for the moment while he fought to control the tears that brimmed his eyes. There was so much he had wanted to tell Legolas. He assumed he had an eternity in which to do it. But his son had been snatched from him in the prime of his life, never to know the pride and fulfillment of having his own children. There was nothing left to tie him to Middle Earth. His wife was gone and so was his son.

Aragorn stood quietly in the center of the hall, waiting for Thranduil to acknowledge him. The Elf king had been solemn over the last few months since returning to Mirkwood, especially after the memorial service held by Gandalf. There hadn’t been a dry eye in the crowd that had gathered. All that had known Legolas had been affected by him in some way or another. Even though Legolas had only been wed to the mortal woman, Ariedel, for a short time, a statue had been erected for her next to the one for Legolas. Ariedel’s father had attended the service and was currently locked away in his guest room, not wishing to speak to anyone.

“Free yourself of the guilt, Aragorn,” Thranduil finally broke the silence.

Aragorn hadn’t been able to rid himself of the guilt of sending his friend to his death. As a king, he shouldn’t be feeling guilt. A king was expected to send his troops to battle and knew that lives would be lost. It was expected. Legolas sacrificed himself so Middle Earth could be rid of the creatures that had threatened the lives of those in Middle Earth. “Tis a difficult thing,” replied Aragorn with a lump in his throat.

Thranduil looked up. “I will be heading to the Grey Havens in two days. From there I will sail to Valinor.”

Aragorn nodded. “I understand.”

“Mirkwood will have no king and there is no prince or princess to take my place.”

“Lord Elrond says that the time for the Elves is coming to an end.”

“It may be true. However, Elves will continue to live in these lands, but they will not be ruled by mortal kings.”

Aragorn stepped closer and took a seat opposite the woodland Elf king at the table. “Your son never wanted to rule.”

“I know it. His spirit was free, like his mother’s. He had no desire to be the center of attention. He hated when I threw lavish celebrations for visiting dignitaries because he was never one for diplomatic talks. It bored him to tears.” Thranduil sighed heavily. “He desired to be out battling the threats to our kingdom.” He looked up at Aragorn. “He did not even realize that he helped bridge the gap between Elves and Dwarves.”

Aragorn nodded again.

“The Dwarf, Gimli could have easily thought to kill me. I had imprisoned his father, Glóin long ago. If not for Legolas, I never would have seen the error of my ways.”

“He will be remembered as legend for all eternity.”

“My only hope now is that Legolas will be restored in Valinor. But only the Valar can make that decision.”

They remained silent for a long time after that until Aragorn finally stood up and walked around the table. He placed a hand on the Elf king’s shoulder. “I must return to Gondor now. May you find peace in the Undying Lands, Thranduil.”

Thranduil looked up and nodded as he put his hand over Aragorn’s. “I shall, Aragorn, my friend.”

Aragorn left Thranduil to his thoughts. He knew his company was ready to depart Mirkwood. They had been there for months in preparation for Legolas’s memorial. Now that it was over, it was time to go home. Although Arwen was still not due to have their child for another month, he wanted to get her home and comfortable. Long rides were not exactly healthy for expectant mothers.

But before Aragorn left, he wanted to visit the memorial one last time. He walked down the underground corridors and after exiting the Great Gates, he crossed the bridge over the Forest River. He followed a path in the woods to a small meadow surrounded by trees. A tall statue of Legolas stood in the center. Off to the side was a smaller statue of Ariedel.

On the grass surrounding the statues were gifts left by family and friends. Aragorn glanced around and found Gimli seated at a bench near the trees. He was busy studying an elderly woman near Ariedel’s statue. Aragorn also noticed Arwen standing near Legolas’s statue, her head lowered.

Arwen turned as Aragorn approached. She had tears in her eyes and he gently wiped at her cheeks. “There is something missing,” she said softly.

“What is missing?”

“I did not feel his essence depart this world. He dwells not in the Halls of Mandos.”

Aragorn frowned slightly. He knew his Elf bride was very sensitive to such things, but he wasn’t entirely sure what she meant. “But he is gone.”

“He may be gone, but he did not leave through death.”

Aragorn’s attention was drawn by the elderly woman kneeling at Ariedel’s statue. She was emptying a sack and laying things on the ground at the statue’s feet. Then she stood and walked away. He turned back to Arwen. “We must go now, Arwen. I will get Gimli.”

Arwen nodded and glanced one last time at the statue of Legolas, the Elf prince of Mirkwood. Then she watched as Aragorn walked to Gimli.

“Aragorn, are we departing for Gondor?” asked Gimli at Aragorn’s approach.

“Aye, Gimli. We must leave now.”

Gimli nodded sadly. The normally cheerful Dwarf had felt somber ever since the news of his Elf friend’s death. He was going to miss him terribly. What had started as malice toward the Elf when the fellowship began over a year ago, turned out to be true friendship in a way he had never known. Legolas had shown him the beauty in things he never would have thought to look. He had enjoyed verbally sparring with the Elf and would miss those moments the most.

Aragorn curiously stepped over to the statue of Ariedel. Something shiny caught the light of the sun above. It was an item that the elderly woman had set down at the foot of the statue. The item was like nothing he had ever seen before.

Gimli walked over to stand beside me. “What do you see, Aragorn?”

“Who was that woman that was just here?”

“She was Alma, the handmaiden to Legolas’s mortal bride.”

Aragorn crouched down and picked up the shiny square metallic object. There were two circles embedded in the center, blue and red. Like jewels, but not quite. There was also writing on the other side. The letters were written in Common Speech. Although he knew the language well, the words were very strange and he read them carefully: Lifesource Transmutator. He had never heard of the words before. He wondered what they meant.

Gimli moved closer to inspect the object in Aragorn’s hands. “What is it?”

“I know not what it is,” replied Aragorn.

Gimli placed his hand on Aragorn’s arm. “It is a sorcerer’s stone. Do not touch it.”

“I doubt it very much if it was in Ariedel’s possession. She was no sorceress.” Aragorn turned the object over once again and accidentally pressed his thumb over the blue stone.

Arwen had started walking to the path leading back to Thranduil’s caverns when a light caught her eye. She turned around in time to see a bright light engulf Aragorn and Gimli. When the light vanished, they were both gone.

 

Chapter 14 – Pursuit​

Gateway Station

The white light faded, revealing a Man and a Dwarf, both shocked and surprised. Aragorn dropped the metal item he had been holding before the white light had swallowed them and he quickly drew his broadsword.

Gimli grunted and retrieved his axe from his back. “I have the impression that we are no longer in Mirkwood.”

“It appears that way, Gimli. But where is here?” asked Aragorn with curiosity. Everything around him was strange. The room was white, much like those in Minas Tirith, but none of the furnishings were familiar. Aside from that, there were bodies of men and women tossed about, some dismembered. Fires had broken out in various places as was evidenced by charred walls. The Man and Dwarf knew nothing of the equipment in the room. They knew nothing of the translocator platform and its functions or the large computer system that made it operate. No such equipment existed in Middle Earth. Having experienced many strange things in their battles, the two accepted this as another challenge and cautiously walked around the room, inspecting the bodies for signs of life.

Everyone was dead.

Aragorn walked up to something hanging on a wall. As he neared it, the wall beside him slid open. He exchanged glances with Gimli.

“A way out?” asked Gimli.

“If there is a way in, then there surely must be a way out,” stated Aragorn, even though he was well aware that they had not entered through any door.

They exited Lab B and headed down a long corridor. At an intersection, they glanced ahead and to the left and right.

“Which way?” asked Gimli in confusion. “The passages all look alike.”

“Let us try the left one.” Aragorn took his sword and scratched the tree symbol of Gondor on the corner wall. “I will leave these marks along the way so we can find our way back, if need be.”

The two took the left corridor. They went about halfway when a sound from behind made them turn abruptly. At the intersection they had just left, an alien rounded the corner and hissed furiously.

Gimli’s eyes widened. “Ach, it’s one of those hideous creatures!”

Aragorn clenched his teeth and looked at his sword. One swipe and it would melt away, leaving him completely defenseless. He looked up as the alien started toward them. “Run!” Aragorn pushed Gimli ahead of him and they dashed down the corridor, a teeth-gnashing alien on their heels.

Middle-Earth – Mirkwood

Arwen stared at the spot where Aragorn and Gimli had vanished. Her heart pounded in her chest and she turned and ran along the path back to Thranduil’s caverns. Along the way she ran into the elderly woman who had placed things at the foot of Ariedel’s statue. Arwen pulled the woman to a stop. “Who are you?” she demanded.

Startled, Alma replied quickly. “I am Alma. I was Lady Ariedel’s handmaiden.”

“What were you doing at her statue?” Arwen wondered if the elderly woman was a sorceress with ill intentions in mind.

“I was placing things there.”

“What things?”

Alma shook her head in confusion. “Just several things that belonged to her. Although there was a strange metal object that I did not know. She had it with her the day we found her after she had fallen from her horse many months ago. I had kept it in my room and meant to ask her about it, but in the excitement of the wedding and all, I had completely forgotten about it.”

“What kind of object?” asked Arwen, frantically trying to understand what could have caused Aragorn and Gimli to vanish.

“I do not know, my lady. As I said, I had never seen it before the day she had injured herself. I assumed it was something she had picked up on her travels.”

Arwen released the nervous handmaiden and continued down the path to the bridge. The guards at the Great Gates didn’t stop her as she ran through and continued on down the corridors. She found Thranduil and Lord Elrond, her father, seated at a table in Thranduil’s Hall. The two turned at her approach.

Elrond stood up, noticing the frantic look on his daughter’s face. “Arwen, man ha lin?” (what is it, Arwen?)

“Aragorn is gone!”

Thranduil stood up as well. “Gone? Gone where?”

“I know not where. One moment he was standing in front of Ariedel’s statue with Gimli and the next they were both gone. They vanished in a flash of bright light.”

Thranduil turned to Elrond. “The work of a wizard,” stated Thranduil. The Elf king moved toward the doors and called out for his guards. Four armored Elves rushed into the hall. “Find Gandalf and bring him here!” ordered the king.

The Elf guards rushed out in search of the white wizard.

Gateway Station
(Legolas’s POV)

“Where is the horde mainly located?” I asked Bishop as we ran down along the tracks of the tram, Ariedel close at our heels.

“They’re in the Arboretum. It’s the only place on the station that has a constant tropical climate. The aliens love heat. Plus it’s big enough for them to create their resin walls where they encase the hosts. Luckily the Arboretum is on the opposite side to where we need to go. There’ll be a larger concentration of aliens in and around that place and we need to avoid it.”

I was beginning to find it difficult to concentrate. The queen kept taunting me. She kept projecting images to me. I could see her drones searching for me…for us. And someone else…I stopped running and looked down, trying to clear the image that was scrambled in my head. I was vaguely aware that Ariedel and Bishop had also stopped and walked back to me.

“Legolas, what’s wrong?” asked Ariedel.

The image began to clear. Two men were being pursued. I squeezed my eyes shut and reached out to sense my surroundings. Something familiar about the man…someone familiar. And then it came to me. ”Aragorn…”

“Aragorn?” repeated Ariedel.

I opened my eyes and glanced around. How was it possible that I could sense the ranger here, on this station far from Middle earth? More importantly, I had seen the image of what one of the creatures was seeing. It was pursuing Aragorn…and Gimli. “Aragorn and Gimli are here.”

“What? That’s impossible, Legolas. How could they have gotten here?”

“I know not how, Ariedel. But they are here. I can sense them.”

Bishop looked on in confusion. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but who’re Aragorn and Gimli?”

Ariedel ignored Bishop. “What’re we going to do? We’ve only got two hours and eight minutes before the marines arrive and blow the station up. It takes at least forty-five minutes to program the translocator for SR-682.”

In my mind’s eye I kept seeing the image of Aragorn and Gimli being pursued. “They are being pursued. We must find them.” I turned to Bishop. “How can I find their location?”

Bishop motioned with his head and hopped up onto the platform. Ariedel and I quickly followed him. We went down a short corridor and entered a room. Bishop sat in front of various pieces of machinery, including one that looked like the telemonitor that I had enjoyed viewing on Earth. He began pressing small squares with letters on them and the telemonitor screen came to life. The image changed every few seconds, revealing some part of the station.

“There!” I yelled, seeing a view of Aragorn and Gimli rushing into a room. Aragorn glanced around, realizing he was trapped. He whirled around and raised his sword. Up ahead and coming fast down the corridor was one of the creatures.

“Computer, seal door in compartment 36K, main level,” said Bishop.

I watched the image and the door slid closed, followed by a loud thud as the creature struck it from the other side. “How do I get to this compartment?” I asked, pointing to the image.

“It’s not far. It’s actually just beyond Lab B,” stated Bishop.

“I don’t get it. How could they be here?” asked Ariedel.

We jumped back down to the tracks and kept running for another ten minutes. Finally Bishop jumped up onto another platform. “It’s this way.”

After running through a series of corridors, I stopped in my tracks at something on the wall. The white tree of Gondor was scratched on it. “Aragorn passed through here.” I followed Bishop and Ariedel down the corridor and into a chamber full of mutilated men and women.

“Holy shit, oh Jesus,” said Ariedel, covering her mouth.

Bishop went around to check for survivors, but I could sense no life in this room. They were all dead.

Ariedel was on the verge of tears. “Bishop, what’s going on? I thought the aliens didn’t kill when a queen is present? They should have taken these people as hosts.”

“I can’t explain it. It must be some new behavior we’re not aware of.”

Ariedel spotted something on the floor near a silver platform. She stepped over to it and picked it up. “It’s my Transmutator. The one I had with me when I arrived in Middle Earth. It has my initials on the barcode. I thought I lost it.” Then she looked up at me. “Aragorn and Gimli must have found it and accidentally pushed the return button. That’s how they got here.”

Despite the fact that I still did not understand the mechanics of this Transmutator she kept referring to, at least it explained Aragorn and Gimli’s presence in the station. “Ariedel, do whatever it is you need to do here and I will search for Aragorn and Gimli.”

Ariedel grabbed my arm before I could address Bishop. “No, Legolas. Bishop can go.”

“Sure,” replied Bishop with an indifferent shrug of his shoulder. “I can find them for you.”

I turned to Ariedel. “And Aragorn will take off his head before he can utter a word. You do not know the king of Gondor as I do.” Ariedel released my arm. She knew I was not embellishing Aragorn’s erratic behavior when the ranger was running scared. I imagined the combination of the strange surroundings and the appearance of the alien were creating havoc in Aragorn’s mind.

Bishop stepped up. “If you’re going to go, you better hurry. The US Colonial Marines will be here in less than two hours, give or take ten or fifteen minutes. Compartment 36K is down the corridor, turn left at the intersection, then right and right again.”

Ariedel grabbed my arm before I could turn away and she threw her arms around my neck to kiss me fiercely on the lips. “Please be careful.”

“I will.” I looked up at Bishop. “Bishop, seal this doorway and do not open it unless it is I.” I pulled away from Ariedel and stepped through the doorway, turning to make sure that it closed behind me.

Gateway Station
(Ariedel’s POV)

I watched Legolas disappear through the doorway and the door sealed behind him. Something nagged at me like something terrible was going to happen. I shook my head to clear the cobwebs and rushed over to the computer, steering clear of the bodies scattered around.

Bishop ripped open the door of a locked compartment and retrieved a translocator on the shelf. Then he walked over and sat down at the keyboard, handing the translocator to me. He began to type swiftly and the images on the screen changed to a list. The list scrolled rapidly and then paused on the reference for SR-682 as it flashed.

“Where shall I program the drop point to be?”

I nervously tapped my foot, trying to think clearly. My thoughts kept drifting to Legolas and the possibility that he would be overwhelmed by the odds. Nearly two thousand aliens against him. What if that crazy alien queen sent her entire horde after him? He didn’t have enough arrows in his quiver to handle all of them. Why the hell didn’t I give him a blaster before he left? Shit!

“Miss Schuyler…where on the planet do you want me to program the drop off point?”

“Oh…uh…” I closed my eyes to think. Gondor…Anfalas…Lothlorien. Where? Then I thought about Legolas’s father, thinking that the poor Elf king was probably distraught over losing his son. Where was Legolas from again? Mirkland? Mirkshore? “Mirkwood!” Not that the name mattered much to Bishop or the computer. The database didn’t contain the names of locations on the planet as they were known to the occupants. That’s why the computer recognized the planet as SR-682 and not Arda. “Shit, Bishop, I don’t know.” When Bishop punched some more keys and a map popped up on the screen, I stared at it intensely. Finally I pointed to what looked like Mirkwood, in the forest near the river. “Here it is.”

Bishop continued to type on the keyboard. “Bar code on the device.”

I looked down at the device in my hand and turned it over to the bar code. “Uh…it’s 974 dash HJLFH dash 0000567945 dash 799.”

More typing. “Okay. It’s programming. It’ll take approximately thirty minutes.”

“Goddamn, we’re cutting it close. Is there any way to communicate with the USCMs? Can’t we tell them we’re here before they blow up the station?”

“Their ship is in hyperdrive and we can’t communicate with them until they come out of hyperdrive. They’ll reach Pluto by that time and the ship’s computer won’t even need to wake up the crew to do the job. It’s all programmed.”

“Shit,” I said through gritted teeth. I started to pace nervously, biting my thumbnail. “Bishop, put Legolas on screen, please.”

“I can’t. The computer’s programming the translocator.”

Just then there was a sound coming from the ceiling. I looked up just as several aliens crashed through. Before I had a chance to raise my blaster, one of them slashed it out of my hand. Another swipe and everything went dark.

Gateway Station

Aragorn walked around the room for the hundredth time, looking for anything that could be used as a weapon. The pounding on the other side of the door panel had not stopped ever since he and Gimli had found themselves trapped.

“Aragorn, they will be breaking through this door in a matter of moments,” stated Gimli. It was the obvious.

Aragorn turned to stare at the door, at the way the metal was beginning to cave from the continuous bashing of multiple alien heads. There was no other way out. They would have to make a last stand, their only weapons a sword and an ax. “Do not strike them until they enter the room. We may be able to escape behind them.”

Gimli nodded beside Aragorn and held his ax ready. “Let them come.”

The pounding continued until one finally broke through the metal door. The alien inserted four fingers into the opening and with powerful skeletal hands ripped the door completely from its frame. After tossing it aside, it turned to the occupants in the room and hissed in triumph. More hosts…

Aragorn and Gimli prepared themselves. There were two others behind the one who had taken the door off. Just then an arrow pierced the head of one, followed rapidly by two other arrows, killing the second creature.

The alien in front turned at the sounds of his squealing brethren and received two consecutive arrows in the face. It collapsed at Aragorn’s feet.

Aragorn stared at it briefly before looking up to find Legolas running toward the threshold. “Legolas,” he uttered in shock.

Legolas stopped on the other side of the fallen bodies of the aliens and kicked them out of the way. “Aragorn, Gimli.”

Aragorn rushed over and grasped the Elf in a firm embrace. “I thought you were dead.”

“I nearly was,” replied Legolas. Then he turned to Gimli and they exchanged a greeting.

“Tis good to see you alive, lad,” said Gimli with a cheerful laugh.

Aragorn made note of the scar on the left side of Legolas’s forehead. He thought that if it was in this state now, with the healing powers of the Elves, the wound must have been deep when it had been inflicted. Then he smiled at Legolas’s weapon. “What is this contraption?”

“It is called a pump action crossbow.” Legolas demonstrated how the arrows loaded. But he knew they did not have much time. “Come, we must go.”

Aragorn and Gimli followed behind Legolas as they maneuvered around the dead aliens, trying to avoid the acid blood that spilled from their wounds.

“Legolas, where are we? What is this place?” asked Aragorn.

Before Legolas could explain, they were accosted by more aliens. Legolas dispatched them easily, their squeals of pain echoing loudly through the corridors. They ran into many more along the way back to Lab B.

Not having an adequate weapon to fight against them, Aragorn and Gimli felt helpless and remained behind Legolas. He had no problems killing whatever aliens threatened them. He still had thirteen arrows in his crossbow and fifty more in his quiver.

They kept running, even when he would occasionally turn around to shoot one or two aliens that suddenly popped out of nowhere and pursued them. He never missed a target, no matter how fast it was moving or how far away it was.

Aragorn looked around at the establishment in wonder, the structure made entirely of materials he was unfamiliar with. He followed Legolas without question for the Elf seemed to know where they needed to go.

Moments later they were passing the corridor where Aragorn had scratched the symbol of Gondor on the corner wall.

“This is where we came, Legolas. Why do we go back there?”

“Ariedel awaits us.”

He looked surprised. “Ariedel? She is also here?”

“Aragorn, there will be time to explain. We cannot dally any longer.”

Gimli simply shrugged when Aragorn turned to him. “Tis best we follow, Aragorn. The Elf will answer our questions soon enough. I am certain we will not be able to shut him up when that time comes.”

Aragorn smiled and followed Legolas down the corridor. The door at the end did not slide open as he had seen so many other doors do in this place.

Legolas pounded on the door. “Bishop, open the door.” When there was no response, Legolas suddenly realized something was wrong. He extended his senses beyond the door, feeling for his wife. His eyes narrowed when he did not feel Ariedel. He pounded again. “Bishop!”

Aragorn looked at Legolas in confusion. “What is it, Legolas? Who’s Bishop?”

Legolas pushed Aragorn out of the way as he backed up and aimed his crossbow at a small panel to the left of the door. The arrow struck it and sparks flew. Legolas went back to the door panel, slid his fingers into the frame and pushed the door open with his extraordinary Elven strength. “Ariedel!” he yelled as he rushed into the room.

Bodies were still scattered around on the floor, but luckily none were Ariedel. Then Legolas walked around several large pieces of equipment before he found Bishop. The android was missing his right arm and left leg, milky white fluid pouring from the stumps. His head was nearly severed from his neck and more white fluid leaked from his mouth. Legolas was surprised to find Bishop was still alive.

Bishop looked up as the Elf approached. “I know…what you’re thinking. I’ve looked… better…right?”

Legolas did not understand the android’s humor. “Bishop, what happened?” he asked as he crouched near him.

“They came…from the ceiling,” said the android, his voice sounding more mechanical and broken. “I…tried to stop them. There were…too many.”

Legolas swallowed hard, trying to control the sudden rapid beating of his heart. “Ariedel…”

“They took her.”

Legolas glanced down at the floor for a moment, his eyes widening and his mind opening to communicate with the queen. She was excited that she had something he cherished. She beckoned to him…Come and save her, if you dare, she said. Legolas clenched his teeth in a sudden rage he could not seem to control. He stood up with a furious growl and went around the room, collecting blasters that were tossed about.

Aragorn and Gimli stared at the dismembered man, his blood the color of milk. Both of them were not sure of what to make of him. Orcs had green blood. So it was possible that there were people that did not have red blood.

Without a word to anyone, after Legolas collected everything he needed, he rushed out of the room.

Aragorn had never seen his friend show such anger. He was about to run after him.

“Wait,” said Bishop. “Take the translocator. On the table here.”

Aragorn reached for the device. It looked similar to the one he had found at the foot of Ariedel’s statue.

“It’s still being programmed,” continued Bishop. “When the green light comes on, it’ll be ready for use.”

Aragorn did not know what the strange being was telling him, but he put the device in a pouch at his belt and slapped Gimli on the shoulder. “Come, Gimli.”

The Man and Dwarf rushed out of the room to follow their Elf friend.

Bishop swallowed hard, fluid still leaking from his lips. He reached into his android brain to the chronometer there. The US Colonial Marine ship would be arriving in one hour and seven minutes. He hoped that the others would make it off the station alive.

 

Chapter 15 – Something Stirs​

Gateway Station
(Legolas’s POV)

I ran hard, following the tracks of the tram. The four weapons I had taken from the dead were strapped to my shoulders. The crossbow I carried in my right hand. Behind me I could hear the footfalls of Aragorn and Gimli. They were trying to keep up.

As long as I remained on these tracks, I would eventually find the Arboretum, knowing that it was on the opposite end of Lab B. I kept my mind open, waiting for images projected to me from the creatures or the queen. None so far revealed Ariedel’s state. If any harm came to her…I could not even think it. I should never have left her alone. The guilt suddenly washed over me. She had not wanted me to leave her. She had suggested Bishop go in search of Aragorn and Gimli. I should have listened to her. But would I have been able to protect her in such tight quarters as the room she had been in? Even Bishop had been overwhelmed by the numbers that came through the ceiling. The creatures had obviously left through the ceiling as well since the door had still been locked when I arrived.

After nearly fifteen minutes of continuous running, up ahead were several of the tram cars, blocking the passage. They were scattered around and piled on top of each other as if the tram had crashed.

I jumped up to one of the cars and then reached for another, pulling myself up. At the top of the pile of cars, I could see the other side. Three creatures waited for me at the bottom and many more beyond that.

The Arboretum was through the doorway on the left. They had known I was coming and the queen had more than likely dispatched the drones to confront me at the entrance.

I raised one of the blasters and pulled the trigger. The red flashes struck the three creatures at the bottom and they screeched in agony. At that moment, Aragorn and Gimli had scrambled up to stand beside me. I unstrapped two of the weapons and handed one to each of them.

Aragorn stared at his weapon in confusion, then held it as I did. He pulled the trigger and shot at the quickly approaching creatures. Gimli followed suit. The three of us slaughtered the creatures as they poured out of the Arboretum.

“Keep them at bay. I must get inside,” I told Aragorn and Gimli.

Aragorn nodded. “We will cover your back, my friend. Go.”

I strapped the two remaining weapons further on my shoulder and jumped from the tall pile of tram cars to the floor below. I landed in a crouch next to a stack of dead creatures. Luckily I had landed far enough away to avoid the blood that pooled around them. Then I stood up and ran for the doorway.

The sounds of more blasts came from behind me. Aragorn and Gimli were dealing with those trying to pursue me. But I knew not what to expect when I entered, hoping that their numbers had dwindled when the people of the station fought against them. I could not image two thousand creatures fitting inside the Arboretum.

Gateway Station

Ariedel regained consciousness and found herself encased in alien resin. Just as most victims experienced, a sense of panic came over her, followed by the feeling of being trapped, unable to move. She glanced around the darkened chamber of the Arboretum.

The place seemed like some foreign land. What had happened to the trees? Most of them were covered in resin and the dead and decaying bodies of those that had suffered impregnation were still there. Over two thousand people dead. But she knew that not all of them had been used as hosts, so luckily there weren’t as many aliens as she had originally thought.

Her mouth opened to scream for help, but no sound came out. She was more terrified than she had ever been in her life. Never in the years that she had been working at Lifesource, going on alien missions to kill the beasts, did she ever get caught by them.

Then another thought came to her. Had she already suffered a facehugger? Had she been implanted with an alien embryo? If so, then she was already dead. The surgeons on the station were all dead. No one would be able to perform the surgery to remove the alien.

Aliens scrambled around in all directions, completely ignoring her attempts to free herself from the cement-like resin. Something was happening because they all seemed pretty agitated and rushing in the same direction.

Then something else drew her attention. An egg opened several feet away from her. Long spindly legs emerged from the top.

Ariedel couldn’t take her eyes away from the crab-like facehugger that crawled out. It paused at the top of the egg briefly, as if it was determining where the fresh hosts were. Then it dropped from the egg and moved rapidly in Ariedel’s direction. Her eyes widened and she let out an involuntary scream.

Just as the facehugger leapt into the air to attach to Ariedel’s face, something struck it and it flew sideways away from her. In mid-scream, Ariedel turned to see the thing lodged into the resin wall beside her, an arrow imbedded into it. It continued to twitch wildly and then died.

An arrow, she thought. There was only one person she knew who had arrows. “Legolas!” Her eyes frantically searched left and right for him. But she didn’t see him.

Legolas lowered the crossbow only briefly as he scanned around from where he was perched high up in the ceiling frame. He wanted to make sure there were no other facehuggers threatening Ariedel. The fact that one had tried to attach itself to her told Legolas that she was not already impregnated with one of the creatures. That was a good sign. But it also meant that he would need to be extra vigilant because any eggs that opened would immediately try to attack her.

Outside of the Arboretum, Aragorn and Gimli continued to scorch the aliens that came at them from every direction. The blasters were effective in killing them from a safe distance, more successful than swords or arrows.

“Take that, you foul-faced retch!” yelled Gimli as the Dwarf dispatched another one trying to climb up the pile of tram cars.

Aragorn aimed at some crawling on the ceiling, high above them. He shot them down and had to dodge out of the way as one nearly fell on top of him. The ranger wanted nothing more than to follow Legolas into the chamber on the left. But the aliens continued to pour out of the entrance. Hundreds and hundreds. Legolas had earlier climbed the wall of the structure and had disappeared inside through an opening. Aragorn and Gimli had successfully kept the aliens from pursuing him, but they lost track of him the moment he was no longer in their sight.

Legolas continued to scan the Arboretum, waiting for the large wave of aliens to exit. He had effectively dispatched any aliens that had caught sight of him and pursued him up the resin-covered trees and up into the steel ceiling rafters. He jumped from one rafter to another to avoid the aliens and then turned to fire both blaster and crossbow.

There were two goals he sought. One was to free Ariedel and the other was to kill the queen.

But the queen was nowhere in sight.

Legolas’s keen eyes picked up movement near Ariedel. Another facehugger scrambling toward her. He aimed his crossbow and fired an arrow. The facehugger was stopped dead in its tracks.

Ariedel saw the arrow flying down and catching the facehugger in mid-stride, lodging it into the floor. She couldn’t move her head far enough to see where the arrows were coming from. She just knew that he was on high ground. “Legolas!” she called out again.

Legolas heard Ariedel calling out to him. After determining that the path was clear, he began to descend from the ceiling rafters, dropping down into one of the taller trees.

Three aliens were immediately charging him from different directions. Legolas raised his crossbow. Two arrows flew to the right and then he whirled and shot another coming from behind. The screams of the dying aliens echoed through the Arboretum.

“Legolas!”

Legolas continued descending the tree and then finally dropped the fifteen feet down to the floor. He ran along the path in the direction he knew Ariedel was. His eyes glanced left and right, at the dead people encased in resin, their chests blown open, their faces frozen in twisted agony. It brought back memories of the cavern on Middle Earth, where he had received severe injuries while battling these creatures. He was not going to let that happen again. Not to him and not to Ariedel…or Aragorn or Gimli.

Ariedel barely heard the approach of someone. She immediately recognized Legolas’s light footfalls and then saw him rounding a corner up ahead and running toward her. Her eyes immediately filled with tears at seeing him unharmed. When he reached her, he pulled an arrow from his quiver and quickly began to use the tip to hack at the resin holding her firmly.

Her eyes darted around behind him, waiting for aliens to come charging at any given moment. Legolas pulled a large chunk of resin from in front of her and she was able to get her arms free. She wrapped her arms around his neck in a desperate hug. Then movement caught her eyes. “Legolas, behind you!”

But Legolas was already whirling around with his crossbow, having heard the alien approach before Ariedel had even spotted it. He fired two arrows at the approaching alien and it flew backwards with a screech from the impact of the arrows to its face. Another alien came from higher up and he shot an arrow into its throat.

Ariedel pulled the strap of the blaster from Legolas’s shoulder and fired at another approaching alien. “Legolas, please get me the hell out of here. I’ll take care of anything coming.”

While Legolas continued to hack at the resin with the tip of the arrow and pulling away the chunks, Ariedel shot at any approaching aliens from over his shoulder. Finally he had enough of it off for him to lift Ariedel out. The minute her feet touched the floor, he grabbed her hand and pulled her along behind him. He shot arrows at the aliens coming at them ahead while Ariedel shot the blaster at those coming at them from behind.

And then Legolas came to a grinding halt, Ariedel plowing into his back at his sudden stop. “Uh oh,” said Legolas.

“What?”

“Well, this really blows.” Another phrase Legolas picked up from Ariedel. “The queen is blocking the exit.” Both Legolas and Ariedel peered around the corner of a resin covered tree.

The fifteen foot alien queen was pacing back and forth in front of the Arboretum exit. Her jagged teeth were bared and her breath came out in heavy gusts of fury. The small black pointed ears were prominent near her jaws, on the sides of her massive face.

The horde numbers were dwindling fast. She hadn’t anticipated that the one who had been a host to her would have the ability to kill off so many of her drones. Her horde had been able to kill the beings on the station that were considered a threat, while all others were taken as hosts for more of the drones. Why was it that they could not kill four more of these humans?

There had been three drones on the station in the beginning and the two that had escaped their chamber constantly fought each other to be alpha. Both had been too distracted and ended up perishing in a blast in one of the chambers. Luckily she had previously allowed both drones to service her and her horde had grown regardless of the absence of an alpha.

The queen raised her crest in anticipation. He was close. She could feel his presence just as she knew he could feel hers. The breed’s intelligence was limited. They ran on instinct alone. But she had a spark of smarts and actually had enough sense to pity the fact that his mind could not be manipulated like the rest of her horde. She could have used him to lure more prey to the station and then perhaps used him to move the horde off the structure to a place where there would be an endless supply of hosts. But he refused to bend to her will and now she would have to kill him.

Legolas turned to face Ariedel. “I will distract her away from the doorway. When she moves away, I want you to run out. Aragorn and Gimli await on the other side.”

But Ariedel wasn’t listening to him. Her eyes were focused on something to the right. It was a Hover, only much smaller than the ones that were used on the outside of the station. This one was built for one person, but still had the prehensile arms at the nose of the craft.

Legolas followed her gaze and his eyes landed on the Hover as well.

Ariedel bit her lower lip. “It’s going to take a lot of arrows and a lot of blaster shots to take her down. Not to mention that any alien still alive will be charging back in here to protect her.”

“Ariedel, you have that look in your eye.”

“What look?”

“The one that tells me you are thinking to do something irrational.”

“Talk about irrational. You wrote the book, Legolas Greenleaf. Now I’m going to get in that Hover and I’m going to be the one distracting her. Then you can do whatever your little Elf heart desires to do to kill her.”

Legolas frowned at her. She continued to put herself at risk when all he wanted was to protect her from any harm. But he saw the reasoning behind her plan. He could not very well fly the Hover. There had not been any time for lessons on how to maneuver the craft.

Ariedel waited for him to acknowledge her plan and when he didn’t say anything, she turned and headed for the Hover. She didn’t see the facehugger leap at her until an arrow speared it in midair. She turned back to Legolas, who gave her his ‘be more careful next time’ look. Ariedel pulled open the door of the Hover, climbed into the single seat and slammed the door closed around her.

Legolas stepped out from behind the tree and took several more steps forward. He regarded the size of the queen in comparison to the height of the one he had confronted back in Middle Earth. This one was much smaller in height and sleeker. The addition of the pointed ears made her look less threatening. But Legolas knew she was just as deadly as any other, if not more so.

There was nothing good about these creatures. They had no feelings, no pity, no remorse. She turned her head to regard him. Her mouth opened to reveal her six-inch jagged teeth, transparent like icicles hanging from a rooftop. The thin membranes stretched around her jaws as she hissed. Even though the temperature in the Arboretum was warm, thick vapors came from her mouth with every ragged breath she took.

The queen had no eyes to see the Elf standing before her. But her mind projected the images through a complex sensory organ inside her skull. This was also used to communicate with her horde. Her head tilted left and right, regarding the Elf with genuine curiosity. So small and so delicate. Humans broke easily when she wrapped her claws around their puny fragile frame. But she knew this one was different. She could still sense fear in him. He feared her, yet she sensed he had much more courage than most others. He also held weapons that killed her kind and she knew he was skilled with them.

Legolas raised the crossbow. Somewhere behind him he could hear the sound of the Hover. He fired three arrows at her face. The queen took the blows, but didn’t falter. Then the Hover appeared, flying at the queen with incredible speed.

Ariedel grinned as she brought the Hover head on with the queen. The queen lowered her head and flared her crest. Ariedel spun the Hover around at the last second and took the impact on the side of the small craft. She quickly maneuvered the prehensile arms and the pinchers at the ends grasped the queen’s crest.

The queen shook her head from side to side in an attempt to dislodge the flying craft that had attacked her. She swung her tail at it, making contact over and over.

Ariedel cringed everytime the tail slammed into the side of the Hover. It echoed with a loud clang. Then something behind her sparked. It was the cooling unit. Without it functioning, it was going to quickly get extremely hot in the tight space. Ariedel released the queen’s crest and one final swipe of its tail nearly sent the Hover spinning out of control.

Legolas ran to the left side, firing arrow after arrow into the queen’s limbs. But the creature would not move away from the doorway. It obviously knew they sought to go through and escape. She was too large to fit through the doorway, so she wouldn’t be able to pursue them once they got out, unless she took out a chunk of the wall to widen the doorway.

Meanwhile Aragorn and Gimli had run out of targets to shoot at. They carefully clambered down the stacked tram cars, avoiding the dead carcasses of the aliens, with oozing acid blood spilling and melting everything in its path except for the station’s titanium structure.

Once they reached the floor, Aragorn and Gimli raced for the doorway of the chamber Legolas had disappeared into. Their path was blocked by the bulky body of the queen. This was a creature neither of them had ever seen and they stared in awe at the enormous being.

Aragorn saw Legolas on the other side, avoiding the queen’s tail and lashing arms. The ranger ran forward through the doorway, nearly getting himself stepped on by the queen’s large clawed feet.

Gimli waited for an opening and decided the best path was between her legs. He dashed forward as fast as his feet could carry him. Then he felt something grab him and pitched forward on his face.

Legolas ran forward and fired multiple arrows at the queen’s chest as she tried to pick Gimli up by his legs. The Dwarf dropped his blaster in an attempt to free himself.

Aragorn ran forward as well, firing his blaster into the queen’s face. The shots didn’t seem to have any affect on her skeletal armor. He was forced to duck at the last second as her tail came lashing out at him.

Ariedel flew the Hover at the queen again, distracting her from her hold on Gimli. Gimli was released and forgotten as the queen confronted the larger threat.

Aragorn ran over to drag the fallen Dwarf away before the queen could step on him. Without a weapon, Gimli remained out of harm’s way while Aragorn rushed forward again to shoot his blaster. Again, his shots left no mark on the queen. But it was enough to annoy her into turning and lashing at him with her tail again.

Ariedel maneuvered one of the Hover’s arms to grab one of the queen’s pointed ears. The queen whirled back around in rage and with incredible force struck the side of the Hover with her arm.

Legolas watched in horror as the Hover flew sideways into the wall and deflected it to slide into a mountain of resin. The resin gave out from the force and the heavy pieces cascaded down to completely bury the Hover.

Mirkwood

Gandalf stood in the spot where Aragorn and Gimli had been before they vanished. Behind him, Thranduil stood beside Elrond and Arwen. The white wizard closed his eyes and tried to imagine what could have befallen the king of Gondor and the Dwarf.

Arwen spoke up. “The handmaiden had placed a strange metal object that belonged to Ariedel near the statue and I recall seeing Aragorn picking it up to inspect it.”

Gandalf opened his eyes and turned to Arwen. “A strange metal object, you say?” he asked curiously.

“I do not know anything else about it. The handmaiden was also unaware of its function. She said that they found it in Ariedel’s possession when she had fallen from her horse many months ago.”

“Aye, I recall Alexor mentioning Ariedel’s fall. I had given her a black horse, hoping that it would bring her out of her recluse. She took the horse out for a run and fell from it unexpectedly.” Gandalf had an idea that the device might also have been the cause of Ariedel’s fall. Such a mystery shrouded the young girl. Unfortunately all the answers to his questions were gone when she went in search of Legolas and they were killed in the explosion of the mountain. He wished he had had more time to talk to her about all of those mysteries.

“What of this metal object, Gandalf?” asked Thranduil.

Gandalf glanced around the secluded glade and his eyes fell upon the statue of Legolas. He sensed a flicker of something…he was unsure what it was, except that the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Something was about to happen. “Something stirs in the air. Do you feel it?”

The three Elves turned to each other. Elrond and Thranduil were older and wiser, but the younger Arwen could sense much more than the other two Elves. Her eyes widened in wonder. The air around her was indeed changing…it was a foreboding of something to come.

“I will call for the guards,” stated Thranduil.

Gandalf held a hand up before the Elf king could move. “I do not think we will need them, Thranduil.”

“Then what do you propose we do, Gandalf?” asked Thranduil.

Gandalf gave him a brief smile. “We wait.”

 

Chapter 16 - Redemption​

Gateway Station

Legolas would have run to the fallen Hover had the queen not suddenly charged him. He tore his eyes away from the wreckage and focused on shooting multiple arrows into the queen’s face. There had to be over a dozen arrows in her face, yet she still lived.

“Aragorn, help Ariedel. She is trapped in there.” Legolas ran down one of the paths of the Arboretum and the queen immediately went after him.

When the queen disappeared into the resin-covered trees, Aragorn and Gimli rushed over to the pile of resin chunks that had fallen over the Hover. The Man and the Dwarf quickly pushed the heavy pieces of resin aside, until they had uncovered the metallic object that had flown around the queen earlier.

Through a circular glass cover, Aragorn saw Ariedel inside. She was not moving and he saw blood pooling around the seat beneath her. In a panic, Aragorn pounded on the glass until it shattered. Then he pulled Ariedel out and onto the floor.

From the corner of his eye, Gimli spotted several approaching aliens. He grabbed Aragorn’s blaster and whirled around to shoot at them. The five aliens screeched as they dropped.

Aragorn turned Ariedel over on her stomach and saw where she was bleeding. There was a thin piece of metal lodged into the back of her thigh. Just as he was about to pull it out, Ariedel regained consciousness.

Ariedel coughed and gasped and then fought against the hands that were on her, thinking they were aliens. She cried out at the pain in her thigh.

“Fear not, Ariedel, tis I,” said Aragorn.

Ariedel looked over her shoulder. “Aragorn,” she said as she smiled and then howled in pain when Aragorn quickly yanked the metal out of her thigh.

Legolas moved to higher ground, scrambling up the white lattice walls of the Arboretum. When he was high enough, he checked his crossbow and reloaded the maximum number of arrows he retrieved from his quiver.

The queen was seething below, stomping loudly back and forth, her face turned upward to where he was. She attempted to latch onto the lattice, but it couldn’t support her weight and she fell back down to the floor.

Legolas took the opportunity to fire more arrows into her chest. He felt cold satisfaction with every arrow that struck her. All of those innocent people killed on this station. Even though he realized that the fault was not with him, guilt still flooded through him. He had warned Warner. Perhaps he should have been more persistent, or remained to see the young queen killed instead of thinking of his own self and leaving the station.

Not able to climb the lattice walls, the queen attempted the resin-covered trees. She crawled up the nearest tree and reached her hands out to grab the Elf.

Legolas ducked out of the way and then quickly moved higher until his hands reached the ceiling rafters. He pulled himself up and balanced on the thin beam.

The queen below attempted to reach the rafters, but was too far away.

Legolas aimed his crossbow and shot several more arrows into her just for good measure. He could sense that the queen was weakening. But he wondered how she was able to last this long. The queen he had fought back in Middle Earth had been strong, but it had not taken this many arrows to bring her down. The idea that this queen had gained some of his Elven traits came to mind. Elves were resilient and stronger than mortal men. Had this queen acquired more strength and resistance to harm as an attribute along with the pointed ears?

Just then the queen hurled herself upward and her large claws wrapped around two of the rafters. Legolas nearly lost his balance. Holding on with one claw, the queen used the other in an attempt to grab him. Legolas hopped along several more rafters. He aimed his crossbow and shot arrows into her hand and arm. She screeched and hissed and gurgled in anger as she found she could no longer use the limb.

Feeling a sense of triumph, Legolas hopped back to the beam directly above her. He crouched and glared down into her arrow-riddled face. She opened her mouth to reveal her jagged teeth. His entire head would have fit in her mouth if she were able to pull herself up to grab him. But he knew she was unable to. Her other arm was now limp and useless beside her, thanks to his tactical shooting. “I tried to see things from your perspective. But I find nothing good in you. You deserve to die like the rest of your kind.”

In a last ditch effort to kill the Elf, the queen whipped her tail up at him. It struck the beam beneath his feet with a loud clang. Legolas backed away and the tail came at him again. The force of the second blow dislodged the beam from the ceiling. The beam, the queen and Legolas tumbled the fifty-five feet down to the ground with a tremendous crash. Athletic as Legolas was, he could not withstand such a drop without injury and he took the brunt of the fall on his back.

The others heard the crash, thinking the entire ceiling had come down.

“Aragorn, where’s Legolas?” asked Ariedel, her teeth clenched in pain from her injury.

Aragorn exchanged a worried look with Gimli and then he got up. “I will return shortly.” He headed down one of the paths at a jog and continued until he came across a heap of white ceiling rafters. Beneath them was the queen. She squirmed and screeched unable to get up from the tangle of beams. Aragorn noticed that one of them had impaled her into the floor. He looked around for Legolas and then saw him stand up.

Legolas felt a stabbing pain in his back, but he had felt worse not too long ago. The crossbow was still in his hand, much to his amazement. He stepped over several beams and went right up to the queen’s immobile face. Even now, while impaled to the floor, she still attempted to get to him. She could not move her head, but her jaws opened and her inner jaws shot out toward Legolas’s leg. But she was shy by four inches.

With clenched teeth, Legolas slammed his foot down on the protruding inner jaws and shot two arrows into the muscle and bone. A dozen Elven curses spilled from his mouth. Then he staggered backward, finally feeling some satisfaction. He heard Aragorn coming up behind him and he turned. “Ariedel…is she harmed?”

Aragorn sighed with relief at seeing his friend still alive. “She has an injury on the back of her thigh, but she lives.”

With a final look at the squirming alien queen, Legolas stepped over the fallen beams and headed back down the path to the main entrance of the Arboretum.

When Legolas and Aragorn reached Ariedel, she had a worried look on her face. “Legolas, we only have a few minutes before the marines blow this place up. We’ll never make it back to Lab B in time to retrieve the translocator.”

Aragorn went into his pouch and pulled out the translocator device. “Is this what you are looking for?”

Ariedel ripped it out of his hand. “Yes!” She saw that the green light was engaged, meaning the device was properly programmed. Then she turned to Legolas. “Bishop?”

Legolas shook his head sadly. “He was in pieces when we found him.”

Ariedel bit her lower lip and then turned to see a dozen aliens rushing in their direction. “Everyone get together.”

Legolas picked Ariedel up in his arms and Aragorn and Gimli put their arms on his shoulders. Ariedel pressed the green button and a bright light surrounded them. When the light disappeared, so did they.

The aliens charged the spot where the humans had just been, only to find they had disappeared. They frantically looked around and called out to their dying queen, knowing that they were not going to get much of a response from her.

Just a few million miles away from Pluto, the USCM ship named Nostromo II came out of hyperspace. It settled into its reduced speed and only a minute passed before a surge of blue light blasted in three pulses from one of its protruding gun ports.

A blast echoed through the circular corridor surrounding Gateway Station and then a wall of flame blew through into the Arboretum, rushing over the perplexed aliens.

Seconds later the station incinerated into a fireball before the vacuum of space killed the flames. Gateway Station ceased to exist.

The Nostromo II, its crew still in cryosleep, slowly lumbered around Pluto to face the direction it had originally come. It automatically sent a transmission to Earth that the task was complete before it accelerated and jumped back into hyperspace.

Mirkwood
(Legolas’s POV)

When the bright white light disappeared, we were no longer surrounded by the cold steel white walls of the station known as Gateway. In front of us stood Gandalf, Elrond, Arwen and my father. They all stood staring at us with their mouths open, as if they had not expected us to suddenly appear out of nowhere. I suppose their wonderment was warranted.

I glanced down at Ariedel in my arms. She had lost consciousness. Thinking of nothing but her well-being, I carried her across the glade of grass, vaguely aware that a large statue in my image stood at the center.

I jogged down the path to the bridge and crossed it. The footfalls of everyone else came to my ears. They were following. I carried Ariedel inside my father’s caverns and down a series of corridors to my chambers. After laying her face down on my bed, I ripped the material on the back of her right thigh, exposing the wound. It was not very deep and was no longer bleeding

As I retrieved a bowl of water and some healing herbs, the others had entered the room. I proceeded to tend to the wound while I heard Aragorn recounting to the others what had happened to us.

Both Gandalf and Elrond had many questions and Aragorn answered them to the best of his knowledge and ability, while my father remained silent.

Moments later Ariedel stirred and came awake. “Legolas?”

“I am here.” I reached out to push the hair from her face when she turned toward me.

“Are we still on Gateway?” she asked with worry.

I smiled. “Nay. We are in my home in Mirkwood.”

Her eyes instantly filled with tears. Then she raised herself up so she could wrap her arms around me. I quickly embraced her in return. “It’s finally over,” she said softly. “God, I’m thirsty.”

“I will get you something.” I stood up and turned around, thinking about what I could get for her to drink. My father stood before me. I frowned at the tears in his eyes and then remembered that he must have thought me dead. The thought of my father suffering this knowledge for the time I had been gone brought on a wave of guilt.

“Legolas…I thought I lost you…” said Thranduil.

I knew he was trying desperately to keep his emotions inside. The only other time I had ever seen my father weep was when my mother died.

He suddenly threw his arms around me and embraced me fiercely. My father was not normally very emotional or affectionate, but I could not imagine the pain he had suffered thinking me dead. “Goheno nin, adar. Im ú-ind lin presto.” (forgive me, father. I never meant to worry you)

“Ú-moe edaved,” he replied in my ear. “Ha maer gar lin bar ad, ion nin.” (it is not necessary to forgive. Tis good to have you home again, my son)

He finally released me and grinned. I turned back to Ariedel and she smiled at me with tears in her eyes. When I turned to the others in the room, everyone was hugging each other. What had father started?

When I returned with a goblet of water for Ariedel, all the others had left the room. She was sitting up, mindless of the pain at the back of her thigh, and staring down at the device that had brought us back to Middle Earth. I sat down beside her, sensing her grief. “Tell me your thoughts, meleth.” (my love)

She sighed heavily. “I can’t get over the fact that Gateway is gone.”

“We do not know that for sure.”

She turned to me. “Oh, I do know. The United Systems Colonial Marines always get the job done or they die trying. In this particular case, as Bishop said, the computer did all the work. There’s no doubt in my mind that it obliterated the station without recourse.”

“There was no one alive on the station anyway,” I said, trying my best to soothe her troubled thoughts.

Ariedel leaned her head on my shoulder and glanced down at the device in her hand again. “I know I made the decision to come back here with you. But now that I’m here, I just can’t stop thinking about how much I’ll miss Seth.”

I took the device from her hand and inspected it absently. “Is there a way to return by using this device again?”

“No. It was programmed for the translocation platform on Gateway. That’s gone now.”

I caressed her face and turned it so she would look up at me. “Perhaps someday your brother will come to visit you.”

She smiled at me. “Maybe he will.”

Mirkwood – Eleven years later
(Legolas’s POV)

I crouched on a tree branch, trying to make as little noise as possible. Across the small brook was a doe and her two small fawns. It had been many years since I had seen any this close to our homestead. The little ones dipped their noses into the water to drink while the mother remained vigilante. I smiled at the sight before me.

“ Ada…” (daddy)

The doe and her fawns darted back into the trees and were gone. I glanced down to the ground and saw my young daughter bounding up. I jumped from the branch and greeted her with a hug and a kiss on her little pointed ear. “Man ha lin, Anwar?” (what is it)

“Naneth lin tirio.” (mom is looking for you)

“Na hín?” (is she)

“Aye and tis not good.” Anwar sounded grave as she reverted to the Common Speech.

“Am I in trouble again?” A smile spread across my face as Anwar snickered scandalously. Her name meant ‘overwhelming wonderment’ in Elvish and she truly was. She hopped on my back and I gave her a piggyback ride as we headed in the direction of our cottage along the river.

We passed Alma along the way. She was playing some sort of game with my two sons, Brendan and Elril. I had to stop and kiss their foreheads which seemed to repulse my older son, Brendan and embarrass him in front of his older sister.

“ Ada, stop it, I am not a baby!” he cried out.

“Aye, I keep forgetting that,” I called over my shoulder as I continued on with Anwar on my back.

When we reached the cottage, the sight that greeted me nearly broke me into fits of laughter. There was my beautiful wife, covered from head to toe in red mud. In her arms was one of the three abandoned white tiger cubs I had brought home several weeks ago. Only it was not white at the moment. It was covered in the same red mud as Ariedel.

I set Anwar down and she ran off to chase one of the other tiger cubs. “What happened?” I asked, trying to sound serious without laughing.

“This little beast of yours decided to drag a bucket of water into that pile of red dirt I had back there. You know, the one I planned to use for my herb garden. I tried to get him out of it and one of the other two little bastards pushed me in.”

Again I attempted to stifle my laughter, but could not stop the smile. Ariedel had the look of death in her eyes. She wanted to kill me for bringing those tiger cubs home. But I knew what I had to do to make things right. As I approached, I locked my eyes on hers.

She shook her head in warning. “Cut it out, Legolas. This is not a good time for that. I am really, really ticked off right now.”

When I reached Ariedel, I pulled the cub from her arms and tossed it on the ground where it bounded away to find its siblings. Then I wiped the mud off her face with my sleeve before devouring her lips. It was but a few seconds before she melted in my arms. I knew I had this affect on her and I shamelessly used this power to my advantage to get what I wanted. But Ariedel held the real power. I desired her every moment of every day. Even when she was heavy with child, of which luckily she was not at the moment. Three Elflings in eleven years…that was plenty for the moment.

I pulled away from her lips and picked her up in my arms. “I have an overwhelming desire to bathe you.”

“Oh God…” she uttered breathlessly.

I smiled because she was well aware that there would be more than just bathing involved.

The Mountains of Shadow

A flock of fell beasts swooped down from the night sky toward a new pile of rubble of what used to be the tallest of the shadow mountains. There had been plenty to eat in the last few years as the rubble created many places for critters to hide and they were easy pickings for the fell beasts.

One solitary beast rummaged through a pile of small stones. It smelled something beneath the pile and began to dig, using strokes from its powerful claws. Several minutes later it uncovered a grayish-green oblong object. The fell beast sniffed around it, catching the scent of something live. Then there was movement within, causing a growl to rumble deep within the fell beast’s throat. It was about to break the object open with its razor sharp teeth when the top pealed open. The movement brought the fell beast closer to sniff…

The facehugger inside leapt on the unsuspecting fell beast’s face. The fell beast opened its mouth and swallowed the facehugger whole. But the facehugger continued to do its job. It planted the embryo of its queen.

At another mound, another alien egg was uncovered, but the fell beast was unaware and flew off to find other more interesting things to feed on.

The alien egg opened a moment later and the facehugger emerged. Finding no hosts to attach to, it scrambled off into the night on its spindly legs.

The End