Broken (sequel to Caught)

On My Way

"SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP ME! OH ERU, LEGOLAS! WAKE UP!"

Elrond heard the scream from the gardens, and immediately his feet were running. That was the voice of the son of Cyras!

He saw the two children kneeling by Legolas, screaming frantically. They hovered above him, not knowing what to do. They were only children, anyway. They could not be expected to know anything of healing.

Elrond skidded ungracefully to his knees, taking in the appearance of the fallen elf. His face was deathly pale, and his eyes were closed. His mouth hung slightly open, and his entire body was limp.

"Thranduilion! What has befallen you?" he cried, but Legolas remained unresponsive. Fearing the worst, Elrond put his fingers to Legolas's neck, searching for a pulse. At that moment, the twins and Aragorn pulled up beside him, looking in shock at their fallen friend.

There was tense silence as Elrond searched frantically for any sign of life. Elrohir also began to look, putting his fingers on Legolas's lips, looking for breath. Almost a full minute passed, and Elladan had hung his head in sadness when Elrond let out an ecstatic cry, feeling a tiny beat beneath his fingers. A moment later, Elrohir confirmed that he was still alive when he felt a shaky breath on his fingers.

Elrond gathered the elf in his arms, hating how lifelessly his head lolled to the side. He motioned for the twins, Aragorn, and the children to follow him as he rushed up the stairs and burst into the Halls of Healing.

The healers, who had been trained not to panic in such situations, quickly made up a bed and let Elrond lay Legolas upon it. While a few of them started to thoroughly examine him, while the head healer came up to Elrond.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I do not know. The only ones present were the children," he said. The healer's eyes immediately turned steely. Every elf who even vaguely knew Legolas harbored a great hate for Cyras.

"I bet the boy did it," he spat. "Wanted to finish where his father left off!"

"Stop it, Dulinnor," Elrond said. He knelt down to be level with the children. "What happened to Legolas? Do you know?"

Darean had tears running down his cheeks, which seemed to scale Allenda beyond belief.

"I didn't do it, I swear! We were just talking, and I was thinking so I wasn't paying attention, and Allenda started screaming and he just fell over!"

"Shhh, penneth, I believe you. Allenda, can you tell me exactly what happened before Legolas fell?"

The girl sniffed, but stepped forward.

"We were just sitting, and he looked at the tree, and then his eyes went...fuzzy, and then he went really white, and then he closed his eyes, and then he fell."

"Alright," Elrond said. His eyes were soft. "You may leave now. I will send someone to tell you news of Legolas when we find out what is wrong."

The boy looked like he was about to protest, but the girl just dragged him away, causing a small laugh from Elrond before he turned to Legolas, becoming serious once more.

"Can you see anything wrong?" he asked, and the healers all shook their heads.

"His breathing and pulse are still weak and getting weaker, but we can't find any reason why. He has a past injury but it's almost healed. There are no signs of poison," one of them said, and Elrond sighed, placing a hand on Legolas's cold cheek, looking sadly at his closed eyes.

"What is wrong with you?" he whispered. There was no response.

He reached out with his mind. Not in the direction of Legolas, but his father.

O:o:O

Thranduil was alone. The guards had captured Cyras and taken him to the dungeons, and all that was left was himself, the silence, and the broken shards of glass on the floor.

There was a small voice in his mind.

'Thranduil.'

He went into his own mind, looking confusedly at Elrond, who had somehow gotten there.

'Elrond? What are you doing here?' he asked, taking shape within the void.

'Legolas is in Rivendell.'

Thranduil felt tears begin to well up in his eyes. At least his son had died in one of his favorite places.

'He has fallen ill. We do not know why.'

Thranduil immediately was filled with overwhelming relief.

'Oh, thank the Valar!'

'Thranduil. That's bad,' Elrond said looking at him like he was crazy.

'No, no, not the falling ill part! I thought he was dead. Valar, thank goodness.'

Elrond looked at him quizzically, but he waved it away.

'Never mind. I'll explain it all, when I get there. I'm on my way.'

Elrond nodded, his presence fading from Thranduil's mind. The king snapped back to awareness, walking out of the door and pointing to a guard.

"You. Get my horse ready, and arrange an escort. I leave for Rivendell within the hour."

O:o:O

Thranduil was giving instructions to the guards and the remaining council members, explaining that Cyras needed to be kept under constant surveillance and that a party should be sent out to see if the real Anomeda was anywhere around. She had been a valuable member of his council for many millennia, and Cyras was not that old, so there really had been an elleth named Anomeda. He must have somehow taken her out of the palace and hidden her, and Thranduil was hoping that she was somewhere within the woods.

There were twelve elves accompanying him. They carried the banners of Eryn Lasgalen.

Even though he knew he should not give himself false hope, he had put his son's circlet within his robes' inner pocket, on the off chance Legolas wanted to come back to his home.

It was about noon when they set off. Thranduil looked onward.

'I will be there soon, ion-nin. Wait for me.'