simbelmyne

WARNING: THIS STORY IS RATED NC-17

Not long ago, a group of authors of the Open Scrolls Archive gathered and started a Virtual Village based on the premise of a new world that resembled Middle Earth but wasn't Tolkien's Middle Earth. It was an Alternate Universe, where time and space had little meaning :

IImedhuir: The Valley of the Dark Dreams

This is the story of some of their citizens, it involves how Legolas got the mate he didn't want and Mirë found what she wasn't looking for.

In the wrong place at the right time

This story is part of the Virtual Village Sagas.

Disclaimer: None of the characters you know is mine. Actually, only M. is mine.

I am rating this NC17 for later, just in case I manage to write some worthy smut.

Aerin, Jillian, Sind, chicas you rock my socks!

Chapter 6: How to lose an elf in one hour

The sounds of nature, primarily one persistent and unfamiliar birdsong, intruded in Marian's sleep. She stretched, eyes shut, avoiding the unwelcome morning light. Sore muscles confirmed that the events of the previous night had not been a dream. She'd made love with the "Elf".

Legolas had not only been a tender and passionate lover but lying with him had touched something deep inside of her. Mentally she shook her head. She was undoubtedly making up an emotional bond that didn't exist to the stranger she had had sex with for no reason at all. It had been a one night stand, casual sex, nothing more, she argued with herself. There hadn't been anything else there.

He was gorgeous like anyone she had ever met before, close to those models one saw in photographs and didn't believe they could be for real.

His beauty intimidated Marian. If it weren't for the tender, honest way he treated her …Okay, here she was wishing there were more between them, but she rationalized that it was kind of sick to be attracted to a kidnapper, no matter how endearing or handsome he was. Reasoning further, she convinced herself she must be suffering of a severe case of Stockholm Syndrome (*).

She opened her eyes and found herself enveloped in Legolas' tunic. It was still warm from their shared body heat, the scent of the past night and the faint foresty smell she had identified as his own personal aroma permeated the finely woven fabric. Marian, pleased, and past the point of dwelling on the passion of the night, was now pondering how this exchange with her captor could be best used to her advantage. She now had leverage to convince him to lead her out of the valley, or to simply let her go. She was sure she could find her way back to civilization.

Her eyes searched for her lover of the past night and she frowned at not finding him anywhere, though his tunic was still there and she couldn't imagine him leaving her on her own.

Standing up, she stretched again, and without minding her state of nakedness she walked over to where her clothes had been put to dry the night before. Incredible sex could do wonders for a woman's self-esteem.

No, rephrase that, incredible sex with a gorgeous man that made you feel the most desirable woman on earth did wonders to her self esteem.

The sweats were still slightly damp as she got dressed by the still burning fire and Marian felt a slight chill, but almost finished dressing just in time to be startled by Legolas standing behind her, not letting her pull the sweatshirt on as he pulled her against him and kissed her naked shoulder.

"A wonderful morning to you, Marian" he said softly into her ear, as he continued nibbling at the tender skin beneath her earlobe.

She shivered and let him continue for a bit before turning in his embrace and kissing him.

"An excellent morning, Legolas. Where were you?" Marian replied, moving slowly out of his arms. He was terrible distracting and unless she put some distance between them she could bet her head that they'd be repeating the past night's performance in no time.

He let her go reluctantly and watched with regret as she finished dressing. "I went to look for some fresh fruit for our breakfast. Did you by any chance miss me?"

Pleased he saw her blush. "I was just wondering … and fresh fruit for breakfast is an excellent idea. Did you find any?"

With a sigh Legolas retrieved two apples and lembas from his knapsack. "It is not much, but I am sure it will be enough until we return to the village"

Marian turned around fast enough to almost lose her balance and stared at him "Oh no, Legolas. I am not going back. Not now, not ever."

He was now staring back. Taking a deep breath he explained calmly: "You don't have another choice, Marian. There is nowhere else to go."

"I am done with the whole charade, Legolas. You have to let me go back and get help. Don't you see you can't just kidnap women against their will and have them join your cult, sect or whatever you call your secret society thing?" she replied exasperated.

"There is no charade, Marian, whatever a charade is. You must understand this is not your world and you have nowhere else to go. You will return with me to Imedhuir," he explained patiently, though he started to feel a slight annoyance at her stubborness. There was regret in his voice as he added: "I am sorry you were ripped away from your world and brought here against your will … but it is done now and we will do whatever is in our reach to try to make your life here joyful and satisfying."

Marian was losing her patience. "Look Legolas, I have no intention of having a joyful and satisfying life here. I can't believe how did they brainwash you into believing this nonsense, but there is no other place than Earth, my world," she tried to calm herself and switched tactics. "I thought that after … last night you would help me get out of here. I promise I will not turn you in to the police or anything. Please let me go, I will not accuse you but I have to get help, I have to go back, don't you see?"

He was torn between the feeling of guilt rising at her desperation to go back and anger and disappointment at her admission that she thought that their lovemaking would buy her his consent to let her escape. Both were comprehensible but, after his own thoughts about the shared night he was hurt and disappointed.

"Marian, last night's lovemaking does not change the fact that I will take you back with me, for your own good. And I did not contemplate it as any kind of bargain between us either;" Legolas said sharply.

This was not how she wanted things to evolve and Marian sought now frantically for alternatives. "I am sorry if I interpreted it that way," she said turning away from him, afraid he'd read in her face that she was now struggling for a way, a scheme to escape again. "Then we will leave for the village after breakfast?"

Legolas sensed she was disappointed, but so was he. Her quick submission was not in character, as far as he could tell, but he remembered their exchange of the previous night. Maybe if he could get a promise from her that she would accept going back it would be binding enough and ease his apprehension until the elf found a way to convince her about the village.

"Yes we shall, to arrive there before nightfall. Are you now willing to accept that we have to return to Imedhuir?" he asked.

Marian doubted only the slightest moment before answering "I suppose I will have to."

"Would you give me your promise not to run away from me or the village?" he insisted.

Marian turned around to look at him, knowing her last chance was to convince him she was playing along. Putting her mind blank and all her effort on not showing her true intentions, she looked straight into the piercing blue eyes. "Yes."

He walked up to her with long strides and caressed her cheek lightly, while he smiled. "Then I promise you that I'll do whatever is in my power for you not to regret trusting me, Marian."

"Thank you" she whispered closing her eyes at the tenderness of his caress and the honesty of his promise. Legolas was the sweetest man she had ever met, the best lover and most noble person she could think of.
And still she had already decided she would betray his trust in her.

****

They were walking for a whole hour before Marian played out her scheme. It was just the head start she needed.

She started to search around her neck and her clothes frantically, before saying loudly "Oh God, no!"

Legolas turned around. "What is amiss, Marian?"

"I … lost it. My mother's necklace. I had it yesterday when I stopped by the river … and then when it started to rain. I don't remember after that," she explained, her face showing her genuine distress.

"Your mother's necklace?" he asked. "You weren't wearing a necklace last night in the cave, Marian."

She had planned his reaction so she continued. "Then I must have lost it while we confronted the bear. Oh God, Legolas, we have to go back!"

He was aware that it had to be a piece of high sentimental value to her. "Are you certain you were wearing it yesterday?"

Without even blinking she lied: "Yes. Could we go back, please?"

Legolas looked at her and then at the heavily clouded sky. They had to move on if they wanted to reach the shelter of the village before another storm hit them.

"I will go back and search it for you, Marian, while you continue walking towards the village. I can move faster and I will return to you swiftly, so we might reach Imedhuir before dark. I shall find your necklace. Will you continue the journey until I return?" he said, stepping closer and laying his hand on her arm to reassure her.

His kind demeanor made Marian feel even worse at the scheme she was playing, bad enough to make tears well up in her eyes.

"I will. Thank you for your kindness, Legolas. You are a good man," she said.

He smiled at that. "You will soon recognize I am not a man, but an elf, but until then I thank you for your words. It is naught but the consideration you deserve from a friend, and I hope to become at least your friend, Marian."

"I think I would like that very much, Legolas;" she said trying not to give herself away.

Legolas took her hand in his and touched the knuckles with his lips. "I shall hurry back then, to start working on that immediately. Be careful, Marian."

The touch of his mouth on her skin reminded her of the past night and Marian shivered. "I shall"

The elf was smiling as he secured the bow at his back and leaped high up to the next tree, searching for the middle branches which would allow him to move faster as he disappeared into the forest.

Marian looked after him with her mouth hanging open. As she watched him move into the trees in a manner she had no logical way to explain as being possible to a human, her self-assurance crumbled and she had to start to believe that maybe, just maybe, all what he had told her could be true.

But for the moment she had a last opportunity to flee and she had to use it, and shaking herself into motion she took a quick look around and pondered the direction she should take before starting to run away from the village and Legolas.

***

It was the fifth time he had searched the area of the encounter with the bear and he had even backtracked Marian's trail to the River, but Legolas could not find anything that could even resemble a necklace. He had even returned to the cave and searched there as well, the remains of their shared bed and the floor.

It was then that he doubted. He had been trying to remember how it might have looked like and replaying her abduction in his head … and nothing. Then he reasoned that if Marian had actually worn a necklace when he had taken her from Earth it must have been taken away from her upon her arrival at the Inn and it was not likely that Thranduil would have consented giving it back to her before she settled in the village.

Then, her whole acquiescent behavior after they left the cave in the morning began to make sense.

Fool! Thousand times a fool! She had taken advantage of his good will towards her and tricked him as if he were but a babe.

Still struggling to believe that he could be wrong and the woman had not lied and then broken her promise to him he hurried back to where he had left her.

Marian was gone, of course, and she had wandered in the opposite direction to the village.

Shaking with anger against himself for his stupidity and against her for tricking him, Legolas started to follow the clear tracks on the muddy ground. How could he still worry about her after her deceit? Her motives were noble and came from self preservation, at least in her eyes. Nevertheless, he could not let her continue with her irresponsible actions and she had to accept her new reality.

As for himself, he would have to learn to handle the intense and contradictory emotions she brought out in him. No matter what his feelings for her might be he would not let the woman fool him again.

***

Seeing Legolas prowess had set the worm of doubt in Marian's beliefs about the place she was in and if it might really be another world than her own. She tried to identify all the plants and animals that she could see, finding that she could not.

But that wasn't reason enough to give up. There was no parallel world to Earth, there weren't any humanoid aliens that kidnapped earthlings and this was certainly not a situation she could not explain sensibly and logically.

Of course, after the abduction her mind wasn't thinking clearly, she pondered as she kept on running.

As she revised in her mind what she had seen of the place and her kidnappers, especially Legolas, her doubt grew, fighting her stubborn notion that she had to be right or else she had no hope of escaping. It took her little to figure out that moving at the speed she had seen him move, he would catch her in no time. Who knew what other superhuman abilities he had, and the absurdity of her flight became more real with her with every meter she advanced. She realized that she was well and truly lost and all her noble intentions were not strong enough to quench her doubts.

Marian kept on looking back and up into the trees expecting to see the blonde man or whatever he was appear somewhere pursuing her with a vengeance, probably furious because of her deceit.

The ground was slippery and muddy, and as she kept on running not really looking where to, she skittered and fell to the ground gliding on the mud towards a ravine she hadn't seen appearing in front of her.

Managing to turn around to lie on her tummy she continued her descent, ripping off small bushes and branches in her effort to get a hold of something to stop her fall.

Desperate, she began flailing her arms around her and then she felt the ground beneath her come to an end as her feet kicked into the void as she slid off the cliff. But the last branch she was holding on to with her left hand didn't break and stopped her descent.

Dangling of the cliff, her left arm painfully stretched and resisting her whole weight, Marian took carefully a deep breath as she commanded herself not to panic and not to look down.

Still, instinctively she looked towards the chasm beneath her.

It wasn't that deep, only fifty meters or so, only enough to break her neck. Or at the very least injure her severely and leave her helpless; alone in the forest. As if she weren't helpless already.

She took another deep breath, being very careful not to shift or move much as to not strain her precarious hold. Luck had not been kind to her: she had caught the slim branch, the only handhold in her path, with her left hand; which was now shaking with the effort of holding her aloft. She thanked any available deity for the gift of a handhold, and then realized their would be no way for her to change hands, or climb over the edge. Not a chance in Hell.

Marian contemplated her choices. A: Wait and hope for Legolas to find her tracks and save her or B: just stay there and wait until her body went numb and her strength lessened and she fell to the rocky ground beneath her, hoping again that she'd survive the fall and Legolas (again) or someone else found her.

Dangling above a precipice put things very much in perspective. If she chose A or B, she would have given up her escape, her last resort to return to the life she thought she belonged to and she had worked so hard for. It would be to accept that she had been wrong and had to submit to Legolas and his peers. Her only pride was that until this moment she had always had a choice and the possibility to decide on her own.

And what was she fighting for? Every step she took she had to admit that it was very likely she was somewhere else and her life as she knew it was not in her hands anymore.

There was the amazing night she had spent with Legolas and all the sensations that just thinking of him provoked in her, and not just desire.

As she felt tears of frustration run down her cheeks, unbidden, Marian realized that there still was choice C: just let go of the branch and maybe get over and done with the freakish nightmare around her. At least she would go on her own terms, and it would be *her* choice.

It took another deep breath to make up her mind. The decision to let go came with ease that one only finds when firmly wedged between a rock and a hard place.

Her arm was shaking with the effort of holding on to the sprig, the palm of her left hand probably as cut and bruised as the right one, which was now wiping away the tears in her face furiously. No one would come for her. And she had failed miserably trying to make it out on her own.

Marian whispered a prayer and then, counting to five, her brain ordered her fingers to let go of the branch.

There was the brief feeling of freedom and weightlessness that seemed to last forever, though it were mere seconds until a strong hand closed around her wrist and cut her fall.

***

(*) The Stockholm syndrome is a psychological state in which the victims of a kidnapping, or persons detained against their free will - prisoners - develop a relationship with their captor(s). This solidarity can sometimes become a real complicity, with prisoners actually helping the captors to achieve their goals or to escape police. The syndrome develops out of the victim's attempts to relate to their captor or gain the kidnapper's sympathy.

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