Greenleaf (Legolas x Aragorn)

Chapter IX

As the traitor had just revealed himself, the inevitable fight began. To say that the battle was unfair would be an understatement. Even if Gimli and Aragorn were great warriors, they were not able to win over an army of violent dwarves and a mad elf -whose unique powers appeared to be back to what they once were.

Of course, Therlos had chosen this exact moment to show off his abilities. As if they were not part of the show, no dwarf interfered yet. They simply stayed there watching the scene.

At first, it was Gimli that was a victim of Therlos' powers. Right under his feet the floor was getting weak, the stones moved and cracked allowing roots to emerge in the room. Gimli naturally used his strong hands to get out of their trap when they quickly caught his feet and ankles. Aragorn did not watch the roots get higher and higher on the dwarf's body and jumped towards the elf. But Therlos was careful and held him away with a simple thought. Aragorn felt his entire body freeze  and each of his attempts to move felt like a punch back against his skin.

Gimli and Aragorn both felt ridiculously helpless. They only could use their eyes to look at Therlos' shaking hands as he  maintained them still. "You two can not imagine how great this feels. The simple idea of life laying in the palm of my hands."

Aragorn knew what Therlos had planned for them and he felt foolish for not seeing it sooner. Therlos had granted more time to Saruman, dedicated his growing power to him and was now using it to strangle one of his friends with dead roots. He used every bit of strength he had to go against Therlos. Even if it hurted him he kept trying to move closer to him and each time the pain proved itself to be useful. He was not moving fast but he surely was disturbing the elf standing before him. He tried over and over and as soon as he felt the small breach he used it to his advantage. "Do you think Elrond offered you his knowledge and wiseness for you to stand against your own kin now?"

Therlos' struggle subtly appeared on his face as he looked at Aragorn fighting. The young elf was using more and more of his strength and it sometimes got lost in the room surrounding them. Everyone could hear the walls move and shake and it showed Therlos' lack of practice. Yet, he was still very strong and Aragorn's fight remained brutal. "He can not see it yet, but he will when it is over." Therlos' small fear could be seen in his eyes as he spoke and looked around trying to contain his capacities with even more shaking hands. "I am doing this for my kin, you shall never challenge my loyalty!"

"There will be no place for loyalty when elvish life will be gone, Therlos! Stop this madness!"

In this instant, Therlos made the mistake to act out of vengeance. He made the roots hurt Gimli more violently as a threat for Aragorn's words. But it did not make him anything but more determined. Less power was thrown upon him and he moved one last time before being able to reach the elf. "You are still an apprentice after all." The king used all the anger he had been containing to hit Therlos' cheek. Therlos' body fell down as well as the root he had been bringing up. The two warriors could finally breathe correctly and they did not care when Therlos' remained motionless.

They both were well-aware of the position they were in and they instinctively chose to make their way out of the dreadful Rivora as fast as possible. Yet, it was not so simple. As they rushed out of the room with the lord's guards following them, they only got outside to confront even more angry enemies.

Aragorn instantly missed the sword he had given up earlier but he was glad to see that Therlos was gone, surely hiding from using energy for something that seemed useless to him. Aragorn was disarmed and used everything he found to defend himself. He had never been so glad to have a devoted Gimli protecting him but they both knew his bare hands would not last long in this fight. It seemed like a miracle to find his axe in the hands of a dead body laying in the dust.