Title: Fading Authors: Nyx E.mail: prettyelfgirl@hotmail.com Pairing: Legolas / Aragorn Rating: NC-17 overall Beta: Another huge hug for Kiri – thank you, Sweet, you are always doing great jobs. Don’t worry how long it takes! Feedback: Always very welcome… you know, it is the air we breathe *smile * Summary: Aragorn is attacked by a cavetroll during the battle at the Pe- lennor fields… how far will Legolas go for the love of his life? Author’s notes: This is a co-production with Akasha *hugs * - who is really an excellent “Legolas” and we always have lots of fun to think about new evil things we could let happen to the guys *eg * FADING Part 1 -Aragorn- I hear the odd sound behind me, but I cannot react as I have Orcs and Uruks surrounding me, fighting against them, I need all my strength. The sounds comes nearer. It is dark, loud, powerful. The earth beneath my feet begins to shake. It must be something huge. Another hard strike to an Orc and he falls, dead before he hits the ground. I don’t dare to hope for complete victory, because one dead Orc is re- placed by ten new. And now I find the time, time to turn around and... A cave troll, just inches away from me. I try to run away, for I know that I cannot fight him with my sword from this position. I have to leave, must get away from him to find a better place to fight him, but I struggle. I hit the ground hard and feel stunned. I can hear Legolas’ voice, screaming my name and warnings. It comes from far away and I don’t know where ex- actly he is. I cannot see him, but he must be there. Somewhere under all this Orcs and beasts and monsters from Mordor. I hope, I really hope, that he is alright. We did not speak much before the battle began, we never did so, but we had always something like a silent understanding, an invisible band between us. So were one of us was, there was the other one too. I lost Legolas somewhere in the middle of the wildest fight, when the horde of Orcs parted us. Again I can hear him screaming my name, with more force this time. Something like panic is in his voice. It alarms me. I know him my entire life and loved him for a long time now, but I never, ever heard him before screaming, not in panic and agony. I turn around and in the very same moment I know it. The cave troll is over me, lifts his huge foot and presses it onto my chest. I can barely breath. An arrow hits the troll, but it is not enough to kill him. I can see it is one of Legolas’ arrows – my elf, my love, my hero. He has stopped screaming my name. I have lost my sword, but the troll is distracted enough to give me time and grab one of the small daggers I carry with me. I drive it into his foot as hard as I can. All I can do is hope that it will help, that the troll will let go of me. I can’t do anything more. My lungs are burning and I gasp for air. The troll lifts his feet again - another scream from Legolas somewhere in the thick of the fight – and then... Pain. That is all I can think, all I can really feel. I don’t know where it comes from or which part of my body exactly hurts. My whole body is one hurt- ing mess. -Legolas- No. No! "NO!" I hear myself scream, and I feel the pain deep within my heart. Pain, because I cannot bear what I see, and pain because I am not able to help him. My arrow wasn't deep enough, although very well aimed, the troll is too big and it takes more than just this arrow to kill him. To keep him away from my beloved. I can see how the troll steps with his foot on his chest. That huge foot. Oh, please, let the Valar keep him from hurting Aragorn! He is needed here. Middle-earth needs him. I need him! But all of a sudden, I know that my plea was in vain. I can hear it. Throughout the noise of the fight, the screams and shouts of the warriors, the clinging of swords and knives, I can hear another sound, more terrible and cruel than anything I've ever heard... It is the sound of bones cracking. His bones. Aragorn's bones. NO! I want to scream, but no sound is leaving my throat. I want to run, but there seems to be no way to reach him. I want to cry, but all I seem to be able to do is stand there and listen to the sound of the bones in my head, repeating over and over. Cracking, splintering. Aragorn! Did he come this far, fought this hard, only to meet his match in a cave troll? And why wasn't I there next to him? I could have killed the troll if only I had been closer to him. Closer. With a gruelling sound, I stab my knife right through the neck of the orc in front of me, pulling it back out to kill another one, while my eyes drift off to search for Aragorn. He cannot be far. When I find him, my heart stops. Time stands still, as I see him lying on the ground, breathing heavily, barely moving. It cannot be! I don't want to believe what I see, don't want to trust my elven eyes, but in my heart I know I am too late. I cannot help but stare at him. At his body, broken and smashed from the weight of the cave troll. He will never be able to walk again, if he survives at all. The mere thought of it seems to tear me apart. IF he survives... He has to. He must! Because if he does not, it will be the end for both of us. "Legolas..." He looks at me, I know it, but I cannot meet his eyes. I cannot face him now, so I kneel down next to him and take his hand. The sound of the fighting fades, but whether my ears deceive me or the fight is ending, I cannot tell. All I see, hear and feel is him. My beloved Aragorn. My love, my match, my heart. My life. -- tbc --