NEW LEAF (Legolas FF) | ✔️

Chapter 25.1: Encounter

LARALEN

We travel fast. Fast enough that by the end of the second day, we had already made it across the mountains and are now making our way to Lothloríen. My heart drummed wildly at the thought of being able to see Bleon again. My sweet, innocent, Bleon.

"He is not going to let you fall," Andriél says as she pulls her horse next to mine. I turn to her, an expression of surprise and confusion on my face. Her eyes flicker briefly on my arms and I follow them to find my knuckles white as I gripped on the reigns too hard. I loosen them a little and smile sheepishly at her. She flashes me a smile of her own before her eyes move forward to the path ahead.

Looking at her, right now, makes me understand why Elladan had fallen for her in the first place. She looked serene but not at all weak or delicate. She was beautiful, in a strong way. The way her eyes held so much wisdom and her shoulders carried strength. She was also very strong-willed if I remember correctly.

I wish I was like her. Instead, I am just... Me.

"What troubles you?" She inquired after a while. I do not look at her but feel myself frown at the question. There were a lot of things troubling me.

I shrug, "I do not know." I admitted quietly. "A lot of things, I suppose." My eyes travel to the head of our company which was Haldir and Ari. They seemed to be arguing about something although it looked to be one sided since Haldir wasn't even talking.

"Are you worried about your abilities?" She offers.

"The lack of it," I reply tersely as we ride through a calming forest. I notice how the air around us seemed to grow lighter and I was placed at ease.

"We are near," she says just under her breath. Like she was afraid of speaking too loudly. I grip the reigns tighter. They had told me all they could of the people that dwelled here. More timeless than any other thing in the world. They were here from the very beginning.

I look over at Haldir. Perhaps that is why he has such an aura about him. The same feeling you get when you fall into a peaceful slumber. I do not hear them at first but then their voices come through. Singing a soft melody that seemed to bring happiness into every part of me. They were there, above the trees peering down at us. One had even managed to exclaim Haldir's name. I felt at bliss. Almost too blissful as the reigns of the horse seem to disappear between my hands.

"Lara?" I hear Andriél's voice call to me as the world seemed to slip off underneath me and I am falling again.

"Lara!" Ari calls but I do not hit the ground nor do I feel anything. I am floating, surrounded by the beautiful sounds.

"Do not touch her," a voice. A beautiful, elegant and whimsical voice. "Let her fall. Let her sleep."

-

I was in a forest of bright jeweled leaves. A lake was before me, music filled my ears. Elves danced around a fire, with marks painted across their skin. In the middle were four elleths. Two had golden hair and the other two had dark. One I recognized as Turwaithiel's mother. She played a stringed instrument, her voice carrying a melody. The others played other instruments and everything was merry.

Everything was good.

Then I hit the ground with a grunt. The smell of fire entered my lungs. The fire was black, devouring everything. Screams filled my ears as I staggered to get back up. But I could not. I was paralyzed.

Panic seeped through me and I began to cry, struggling and forcing my body to move. To fight against the poison. An elleth clad in a dark cloak looms over me. I try to speak, ask for help but I could not. I see that she cradles a baby in her hands. It cries silently through the sounds of chaos and destruction caused by the unnatural fire.