Avadis - A legolas story (slow moving!)

Chapter 42 - Reunited

"Avadis!" Legolas' voice was the first that she heard as the noise of battle slowly seeped back into her mind. "Avadis go!" Legolas was running over the rapidly emptying battlefield, jumping over bodies and pushing aside orcs as he went. 

She raised her hands up to the sun, slowly turning her wrists in dazed astonishment. What has just happened to me? 

Arrows whipped past her face and thankfully her instincts took over her weirdly hypnotic state. She dove downwards, swooping to pick up her weapons and taking a few orcs down with her on the way. But the feeling of their flesh against her sword did not give her the same thrill as it had a few moments before. Soaring back up into the sky, she watched as Legolas took down the archers with ease before continuing to chase the groups of orcs as they retreated back towards Mordor.

"Come on Avadis, fight," she talked to herself, spinning her swords around in her hands as she tried to shake the feeling of unease from her mind. Her heart still pounded loudly inside her mind, no matter how hard she tried it refused to become silent. She no longer felt the pain, but something she found much, much worse. She felt numb. 

...

By this time the city of Gondor was crawling in ghostly figures, and the few orcs who remained on the battlefields were quickly slain by soldiers returning to their home in victory. Avadis lowered herself gently to the ground beside the dark black mass of the beast's body she had slain from the sky. Using her sword, she cautiously lifted one of it's wings in search of it's rider, but there was no body to be found. This did not surprise her, what she had faced was not a creature that was bound to the same worldy constraints as she was. Whoever it was, he was long gone. 

She tucked her weapons back by her side and lifted her body up once again, her wings complaining in pain from the ordeal. She flew over the mess of bodies, counting her friends as she went. Legolas still charged after the orcs, his hair flying wildly behind him. And there was Gimli on the base of a catapult, discussing something with a soldier as he cleaned his sword. Flying closer to Gondor, Aragorn was bent down to the ground over the body of a wounded soldier, yelling orders loudly to another. She smiled with a sigh of relief. Good, they were alive.

Flying up to the highest peak of the white tower, she spotted another figure walking along the neatly cobbled path. "Gandalf! Gandalf!" She cried as loud as she could, her feet stumbling roughly against the stones as she made a mad sprint towards him. Her eyes quickly filled with tears as she came closer and closer. With all her speed she practically flew into his arms with such a force that it was a miracle he was not knocked over. Only when his arms wrapped around her did the gravity of her whole journey fully hit her, and she gave in to all of her emotions, sobbing uncontrollably against his shoulder.

He said nothing, not even in surprise, but his arms held her just as tightly as she clung to him in a way that promised her he would never let her go. When her cries had passed, she stepped back slightly and looked up at him, tear streaked lines running through the weird collection of dirt and blood which was splattered over her face from the mess of battle. "Are you hurt?" He carefully tried to wipe her face, holding her still as he identified every single cut and scrape. 

She shook her head, barely able to speak to him. "No... well maybe... I don't know... Ow!" She flinched as he practically shoved his thumb into a fresh cut that had opened up on her cheek. "Okay well... I might be after that."

He frowned at her a moment before pulling her back in for a hug, "you have done well my child." He ran his hand gently over her hair and Avadis took in deep breaths for a moment more, enjoying the stillness around them as the world finally began to slow down again. 

"I don't know if I have, I just..." Avadis' voice wobbled and she looked down to the ground.

"You are here. You have fought well, and you have helped these people win a victory. And so I believe you have done very well indeed" he replied before taking a deep breath and holding her head gently in his hands, "Your mother would be so proud, and so am I."

Avadis swallowed and nodded, tears welling up in her eyes as he gently took hold of her hands.  

"I have so much to tell you" she sniffed, rubbing her cheeks with the back of her hand and wincing as her tears mixed into hidden cuts she had not yet discovered. With her eyes now clear and the tears having passed, she took a moment to study her old friend's face, seeing how his tired eyes looked down at her with loving concern despite the incredible stress he must have battled over the last days.

He smiled down at her, placing his hands neatly on his hips and letting out a loud sigh. "I do not doubt it, but there will be time for us to talk later. We have victory here today to celebrate before we dive back into the darkness at bay. Take time to heal, and sleep, and breathe fresh air again. There is no worry now of him returning. You are safe from him here." 

Deep within his eyes, Avadis could see a inkling of understanding, the slightest hint that he may know of what she was going tell him. Perhaps in his waiting within the city he had not been so idle, his thoughts extending to the worries she had shared with him before he departed. Regardless, she knew that she must bring herself to peace of mind before she could fully tell him of all that had happened. He was right, they were in a time of both celebration and mourning, of victory and loss. Sauron had faced yet another defeat, and had retreated back within his own walls in shame. There was no rush, and no need to worry.

A trickle of blood slipped down the side of her face from another cut above her eyebrow, causing Gandalf to frown even more. After wiping it away, she copied his stance and stood with her hands on her own hips, sleeves rolled up and hair tied back. "I will rest... after I help you." It had been so long since she had seen him and she did not want to leave him while there was still so much work to be done. The city had fought with all of the strength left within it, and death was  all around them as a result of their bravery and courage in the face of unspeakable evil. 

"You are hurt and tired..." Gandalf began to argue before one stern look from Avadis made him sigh in defeat, throwing his hands in the air with a shake of his head.

"If you must... but I will not be happy about it. You shall hear my grumbling about you until you find the time to sit and be still" he said, beginning to walk to a stairway off to one side of the platform, Avadis keeping up with every single stride. "I do not have the energy left to argue with you" he muttered.

Avadis smiled and linked her arm through his as they descended the stairs into the madness that was below them. "Do not worry for me, I will rest with you when there is the time to do so" she leant her head on his shoulder. Despite how desperately Gandalf wanted to send her to the healers, he gently patted her arm in return, secretly glad for her company again after such a battle. She was as stubborn as she was kind, and he was glad that the horrors of war had not taken these things away from his favourite companion.