Fathers and Sons

Chapter Four

Note: Yes, I know Legolas is much older in canon, and yes I know Faerun isn't a 'mystical land across the sea' but I just thought I would remind everyone that this story is AU.

"Legolas..." the soft voice caught Legolas's attention as he stood in the smoky cavern, fire billowing up at him from below the precipice where he stood. It was a familiar voice and as Legolas peered through the smoke, a lone figure appeared before him, as if she had come from thin air.

As she seemed to float towards him, Legolas looked upon her yellow hair, cerulean eyes, and gentle facial features. She met his eyes as she moved closer to him.

"You know who I am," she said, her voice serene despite the surrounding chaos. The screams and cries of the dying echoed in Legolas's ears.

Yet, Legolas focused on the woman. She wore a set of Elven leather armor with a pair of blades fastened to her belt. There was a beautiful cherry wood bow- one Legolas felt drawn to- secured to her back, along with a quiver of arrows.

"I have not seen you before," Legolas responded to the woman as she reached forward to brush a finger against his cheekbone. He gazed into her eyes, trying to search his thoughts, his memories.

"You have seen my face before," the woman whispered. "Not so long ago, for you were a small Elfling when last we met. I am Tinnurrien. The one who gave you life."

Legolas inhaled. "You are my mother?" he stammered. He tried to focus on her face, to imprint it on his memory. He had so many questions. She was a complete blank spot in his life.

"Yes," the woman held his gaze. "My son, it pains me to see that you do not know of me. That your father has hidden me away in his memories, where I have lived in darkness, buried in his heart... just as my body lies buried in these mountains."

Legolas gazed around him. "Where is this place?" he asked.

"This is Gundabad, the place where I met my end. Where I fought for our realm. It was not so long ago in the life of an elf." As she said that, a spot of blood spread across her torso, and before Legolas's eyes, her skin turned grey and mottled, flaking away bit by bit as if consumed by fire.

"My son, I come to you, reaching across the void of death to bring you a warning. What happened here threatens to come to pass once more." She stepped back as Legolas watched in horror. "An evil has risen in the north. An evil that I cannot name but its eyes look towards you, towards Thranduil. Your lives are in danger. Come find me in the place where my bones lie and only then will you understand..."

As she said that, she slowly faded away, and instantly, Legolas was in his own bed, sitting up as the knock on his door chased what vision remained in his mind.

Legolas blinked wearily, trying to grasp what his mother was trying to tell him. Danger, warning.

Before he could dwell on his dreams any longer, the door to his chambers burst open and Thranduil strode in and pinned him with a narrow glare. "Still slumbering?" he questioned with a scolding tone. "Are you a prince of the woodland realm or are you a dwarven drunkard who overestimated his own fortitude?"

Legolas responded by scrambling out of bed and getting dressed and retrieving his weapons and armor before his father could throw more scolding remarks his way. As he stood in front of Thranduil in the doorway, he regarded the king curiously. In all the decades of Legolas's life, his father had never mentioned his mother. And Legolas had learned long ago not to bring the matter up. But now, questions circled about as he remained troubled by the dream that lingered in his thoughts.