Finally Free (Final Book in the Aerlinniel's Secret Series)

Chapter 1: Sad Faces

Aerlinniel POV

"Aerlinniel. Aerlinniel, no! I will not let you do this alone." Faelwen shouts at me.

"It is the only way. I cannot risk losing someone else. Also, I need you here." I tell her.

She gives a sigh and gives in, "I know. Just, please, promise me you will be careful."

I give her a hug and whisper, "I promise."

Quickly, I let go and run into the mountain before she can change her mind. It is cold and has an erie feeling to it. I am alone for a while until I finally hear heartbeats.

One I do not hear, is Legolas'. I really hope he is still alive. I miss him so much. My heart yearns to hear his voice again.

The heartbeats I heard are getting closer. I quietly take out my sword, preparing myself to fight. I stop, take a deep breath, and turn down another hallway.

"How did a she-elf get in here? Let's get her!" I hear one of them command.

I take a deep breath.

For Legolas

~a few months earlier~

"How much longer until we get to the Woodland-realm?" Caunedhiel questions.

"Soon, very soon." I tell her, she has been getting impatient.

"I sure hope so, I am so done with traveling for now." She tells me.

I smile at her and tell her, "Here we are."

"Elo! (Wow!)" Caunedhiel exclaims. "This place is beautiful."

I give a small sigh. Hopefully one day I will be able to see its beauty. We continue up and the guards let us in.

I cannot wait to hear Faelwen's, Elarinya's, and Mallory's voices. I have missed them so much, it has been too long. But, first, I need to talk with King Thranduil.

"Follow me." I tell Caunedhiel.

"Where are we going?" She asks me and I stop for a moment.

"We must tell King Thranduil, Legolas' Ada, about what happened." I reply, sadly.

"Oh."

We are both silent the rest of the way. I am not looking forward to this. How am I supposed to tell King Thranduil that his ion (son) has disappeared? That no one knows where he went or what happened. Or whether or not he decided to leave or was taken.

We are finally close enough for me to hear his heartbeat, and it makes me more nervous. When we get to the doors I take a deep breath before walking in. It does not take long for him to notice us.

"Aerlinniel! Welcome back! Who is your friend here?" He greets us.

"This is Caunedhiel." I answer.

"Why the sad faces? Where is Legolas?" He questions.

"He-- I--" I stutter. I take a deep breath in and out and try again, "King Thranduil, there is something I have to tell you."

"What happened?" He asks, sounding concerned.

"It is Legolas. He has disappeared." I reply, scared of what his response will be.

"Disappeared? He just disappeared?" He questions, confused.

I answer, "Yes. He was hurt during battle and was unconscious for a while. When someone went to check on him, they discovered that he was gone. No one know what happened. We did our best to search for him on our way here. I wanted to let you know what happened before I went back out looking for him. And, I promise that I will not stop looking for him until I find him."

"Thank you. Now, please leave me for I would like to be alone right now." I could hear the sadness in his voice and that only made me hurt more.

I nodded my head and went to turn around before making a decision. I run up to King Thranduil and embrace him. I know we both need it.

He stiffens for a moment before hugging me back. I let go and Caunedhiel and I leave the room.

"Where to now?" Caunedhiel asks, putting her hand on my shoulder.

"To see my friends, Faelwen and Mallory, and my sister, Elarinya. It has been too long since I have last heard their voices."

We both walk to my sister's room. When we get there, I knock but there is no answer. She must be out on a ride or walking through the castle.

"She must not be here. What do you want to do, Aerlinniel?"

"We will wait here until she returns. As much as I would love to give her a hug right now, I do not feel like searching everywhere for her." I tell her.

"Alright, sounds good to me. You know, we have known each other for a long time but I have never met your sister or Mallory and Faelwen." Caunedhiel informs me.

My mouth drops open as I come to the realization. "You are right, I cannot believe you have not met them yet. Well, you will be meeting Elarinya in just a moment because she is coming this way."

I stay silent, waiting for her to notice me. I then hear a loud gasp and she runs over to me almost knocking me over as she hugs me.

"Aerlinniel," She sobs, "Promise me you will never leave for that long again."

I feel awful. I hold her tightly and promise, "Oh, Elarinya. I will never leave for that long again. And, if I do, you shall come with me."

I rub her back as she calms down. She then apologizes, "Sorry, I just missed you so much."

"No need to apologize, Elarinya. I have missed you greatly too. Also, there is someone I would like you to meet. This is my friend, Caunedhiel." I introduce her.

"It is very nice to meet you, I have heard a lot about you. All hood things, I promise." Caunedhiel tells Elarinya.

"Awe, I have heard a lot about you too. It is good to finally meet you." She then gets really excited, "Oh! I should go get Faelwen and Mallory. They will be so happy to know that you are back and alive. I will be right back."

She then runs off before I can say anything else to her. How am I supposed to tell her that I have to leave again soon?

~~~~~~

Ah! Here is the first chapter of the last book in this series! I hope you all are excited, I've got a lot of this planned, hehehe. ^~^ Updates are every Sunday!

Love you my elves from the realm of llamas,

~Ellethwen <3