Stars (A Legolas Love Story and Lord of the Rings Fanfiction)

"I love her."

Katherine was dead.

I had failed in my mission to save her, and now her frail and limp body lay in my arms.

"Kat? Please don't be....I-I love you too. Why was I such a coward to not say it sooner?" I was crying openly, my heart breaking in two.

"All you wanted was love, and I couldn't give it to you until it was too late. I'm so sorry, my Celebrían."

I leaned over and kissed her gently on the forehead, already feeling her body growing colder with the harsh breeze.

A light grew from within her, making me start in surprise.

An unseen force lifted her from my arms and up into the air, hovering at about six feet above the ground.

A black substance began to rip and tear itself out from inside her body, turning into a liquid form when it touched the air.

Once it had all been drained from Katherine, the darkness floated to the dead troll and disappeared into it.

Kat was slowly lowered back down and I caught her as softly as I could. Placing my ear upon her chest, I heard nothing.

My heart sank once again, but then I heard something.

Thud, thud. Thud, thud.

She was alive!

By some sweet miracle, she was living once more.

She coughed a little, but remained unconscious.

I realized that despite the strange happening above the ground a few moments before, Kat was still gravely injured.

I lifted her carefully and got onto her horse with her in my arms. I set off for Minas Tirith, which was the closest civilization from where we were.

Within an hour, we reached the White City and I found Gandalf. Hopefully, the Wizard would be able to help.

"Please, Gandalf. There must be something you can do." I pleaded with him, shocking the others with my desperation.

"This is beyond my power. What with her sickness and her injuries, I'm afraid I can be of no use to you. You must ask Elrond."

Katherine was getting weaker by the second and I bandaged her outer wounds as best as I could, but I got back on the horse with her and started the two or three day ride to Rivendell.

Every time we stopped for water or food, I tried to wake her to feed her as well, but nothing I did could pull her out of the deep sleep.

As we rode, I talked to her as though she could hear me. Listening to my voice would possibly keep her from letting go of what life she had left.

"It's a beautiful sunrise. Not a red one, but one with gold and pink accents, and the clouds look so close that you could touch them. I touched a cloud once, when it came low to the ground. I must've only been 60, such a child at the time. But as I reached out to touch it, a giant spider leaped out at me from the mist. Luckily, my mother was there to save me. Mother....I do miss her terribly. She would have liked you." I spoke by train of thought, just speaking of anything that came to mind.

My story was cut short by the sounds of Kat's moans from her delirious state. Blood had already soaked the front of my shirt where her wounds were brushing against it.

"Shhh, darling. We're almost there." I reached down and took her fragile hand with my own, squeezing every so often to let her know she wasn't alone.

Thundering over the bridge leading into Rivendell, I dismounted while the horse was still moving, carrying Katherine as if she were lighter than air.