Of Futures Past (Legolas)

3

Alana awoke with a jump to Frodo yelling, "Put it out, you fools! Put it out!". Allowing a vision to overtake her for a second, Alana realized there was no escaping the Nazgul who would soon arrive. 

"You idiots! My protection spell means nothing if you send a flare out to the enemy!" Alana yelled out, corralling the  hobbits up the steps to the top of the outlook, getting her blades ready, though she was still weary from the spell.

Calling a nearby mouse to her, she put a glowing mark of her name on its back and sent it on its way to Aragorn, who would hopefully arrive soon. The scream of the Nazgul pierced the air and Alana clutched her head in pain.

Slowly, unwaveringly, the servants of Sauron made their way to the top of Weathertop, surrounding the group who quickly pressed Frodo to the centre of them.

"Whatever you do, they must not reach Frodo." Alana said, holding her daggers up.

The Nazgul attacked and Alana did her best to fend off as many as she could to protect the clumsily fighting hobbits, but soon Frodo could no longer resist the temptation and put on the ring, causing another wave of pain to spread through Alana. The pain distracted her enough that the Nazgul's blade was able to slice her left arm, but she had to continue fighting or else they would all die. In her now blurry vision, she did not see one of the Nazgul approach the invisible Frodo and stab him, but she heard his scream and attacked the Nazgul who had stabbed him, using her remaining powers to set him on fire as Frodo managed to pull the ring off his finger.

Aragorn arrived then and managed to ward off the rest of them with his sword skills and a flaming torch.

"Strider! Help him Strider." Sam yelled, crouched at Frodo's side.

Aragorn lifted the blade and it crumbled to dust. "He's been stabbed by a Morgul blade. This is beyond my skill to heal. He needs elvish medicine."

"What about Alana?" Sam asked desperately, looking at the elleth who was on the verge of collapsing.

Alana smiled weakly, stumbling over to them. "I might have been able to slow the process were I not weak from Frodo putting on the Ring and I myself also being cut with the Morgul blade."

Aragorn's head snapped up to her immediately. "You have been...?"

"It is only a small cut, do not worry Aragorn. I will reach Imladris in time. Besides," Alana switched to elvish, "you know I will gladly kill myself before I turn into one of them. That is not my fate."

"You must not be so quick to turn to such dark thoughts." Aragorn said concernedly.

Alana gave the harshest glare she could in her weakness. "Frodo is most important. I will not hear another word of it. Now, we must move."

Alana somehow gathered all her willpower and managed to walk past the stunned hobbits and Aragorn, who picked Frodo up and followed after her.

When they stopped to rest, earlier than they might've otherwise, Alana knelt next to Frodo and pulled together as much magic as she could to pull the darkness of the Morgul blade away from Frodo's heart. If she were well, she could have slowed the process indefinitely so they would not run out of time, but in her current state, she almost fainted just limiting it to within a small area on his shoulder.

"Alana, stop. You must rest." Aragorn said.

"And we must continue moving. We cannot afford to rest any longer. This short time is already too long."

Fighting her fatigue, Alana pushed herself up, pulling Frodo with her until Aragorn took him from her with ease.

"We move now, hobbits." Alana said, leaving no room for arguments.

Somehow, the next day she managed to stay upright and following along with the others, though her vision was nearly gone and she had frequent hallucinations. She managed to follow the darkness of the Ring, as much as it repulsed her.

Finally, when neither she nor Frodo could continue moving, the group stopped and Aragorn, with Sam, went to look for athelas.

It seemed an age before they returned, but with them came a face that brought Alana much joy. Arwen knelt next to the Ringbearer, asking him to return to the light, and offering what little help any other elf could, but it was much needed.

Once Frodo was tended to, Arwen made her way to Alana's side.

"Do not worry about me, dear cousin. I will be fine. You must bring Frodo to Lord Elrond. That is your priority." Alana said before Arwen could speak. When she tried to protest, Alana cut her off. "You know the fate of our world depends on him. It is your duty." Arwen nodded then, pressing a quick kiss to Alana's forehead, which was ghostly pale and burning.

Aragorn and Arwen then argued about who should ride with Frodo, but Arwen was decided to be the one as she was a faster rider.

Aragorn then turned his attention to Alana, treating her with athelas as best he could, but his focus was obviously on his love and Frodo riding into danger.

"Aragorn. I cannot focus my foresight well at the moment, but it seems Arwen is in no danger. That much I know." Alana mumbled, blinking back sleep heavily.

"You must rest now, Alana. You are poisoned and have continued travelling two days straight now." Aragorn ordered.

"You must get moving, the hobbits should be brought to Rivendell as soon as possible." Alana rebutted, smiling weakly at the man.

"We will, once you have rested." 

Alana was internally cringing at the pain she was suffering and clenched and unclenched her hands in an attempt to refocus herself. "I will survive the journey to Imladris on my own, do not worry. But the hobbits must see Frodo as quickly as possible so they may not begin to lose hope, and idling waiting for me will only trouble their hearts more."

Aragorn sighed. "You have too little care for yourself."

"No, I care for myself greatly, I just have seen too many glimpses of the future not to know the outcomes of this action." Alana replied, staring fixedly at Aragorn's eyes, though they were nothing but grey blobs to her. "You cannot convince me otherwise, Aragorn, and I will not rest knowing it causes the hobbits more harm."

"Very well. We will move on ahead tomorrow morning, but tonight, the hobbits also need rest, and I will treat you as best I can." Aragorn conceded as a smile rested on Alana's face.

"Thank you, Aragorn. I will rest now."