The Darkness of the Flames:

    There was a song stuck in her head, one she did not recall and could not force from her mind. And so instead, she hummed it faintly, gazing up at the ceiling as the rays of early dawn slowly filled the room. Beside her sat Legolas, wordless, and he also gazed at the sunlight. They had sat in silence for hours now for Legolas had slept for two hours and she had watched over him, although she would never tell him so. It was peaceful and she wondered, if she stayed, if it would always be so peaceful and serene.
      “Why did they leave?” she asked faintly, finally only then breaking their long silence. Even the softest voice sounded harsh after such a hush. But she needed to know why she was alone now.
      Legolas did not answer for a moment, staring unblinkingly into the distance.
      Jei looked at him questioningly, turning her head and embracing her knees suddenly tighter.
      The elf inhaled deeply, chest rising, and he said quietly, “They left because it was their time.” He continued to stare at the ceiling and then, slowly, he turned his head and returned her gaze. “It is the same for all Elves. They leave when they tire of this world. And I am no different.”
      Jei’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly but her expression was suddenly the tiniest bit fearful. “Will you set off across the Sea to follow your kin?” she asked softly. She could not see him really setting off and vanishing from Middle Earth. He seemed the kind to travel, to explore all the hidden corners of the world. And yet he was much too beautiful to be part of Middle Earth. He did not belong in this painful world with his mournful eyes and tender mouth. She gazed at him then, allowing her eyes to caress his features and there was his fragility once more, evident upon his face.
      His lips tightened for a moment and slowly he said, “When I tire of this world, I shall.” And he faced upward once more.
      As if it was an apocalypse Jei settled against the pillar they surrounded, her eyes not leaving his face. She understood suddenly and her heart ached painfully from the revelation.
      “Am I keeping you here?”
      Legolas’ ear seemed to twitch as he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. He did not answer her for a long while and she found her pained heart sinking into her stomach with each passing moment that he was silent. The last thing she wanted was to be a burden, or an obstacle in anyone’s path and most especially not his. He deserved more than she could ever give him.
      He spoke then, voice faint as he whispered, long blond hair shimmering in the morning sun.
      “I am weary.”
      Jei gazed at him for a moment and then, silently, she turned her face away as her expression crumbled. He had said it with a sense of finality, as if he had wanted to say it for so long only there had never been anyone who would hear him. Tears rose in her eyes and she blinked them away, focusing to her side on something, only she could not make it out in her blurred vision. Perhaps he would stay with her there, for the rest of her life. She would grow old and weary as well and when she passed away he would finally set sail for the Undying Lands. They would keep each other company.
      No. He would keep her company. He was tired of Middle Earth already, tired of everything he had already seen and experienced. He had done everything he had meant to which meant he would soon follow all the other elves and go off. He would leave her, no doubt before she had aged enough to forget him. And she would feel his absence until she could no longer feel anything anymore and she would pass away thinking of a young looking elf who had made her smile and shown her courage beyond comparison. Perhaps only then would she pass, a faint smile on her wizened lips. Jei stared blankly, iciness streaking up her spine. It was such a cold and dreadful vision that she had.
      “I am sorry,” he said quietly, as faint as a tender breeze.
      She snapped her head back to look at him, forgetting her tears drying upon her face. “Sorry for what?” she asked with wide eyes.
      His gaze did not leave the ceiling and the sun shone down on him almost lovingly. He smiled softly at the morning, bathing in the rays but it was a sorrowful smile. “For making you believe when there was the chance it was not to be,” he answered quietly.
      Jei blinked at him for a moment and then, understanding, she bowed her head to stare blankly at her knees. “Oh,” she said softly. And she shook her head. “No, I do not blame you for that. In fact, it should be me to apologize.”
      “You?” he asked and he finally looked away from the brilliant morning, looking at her quizzically. “How so?”
      She went to answer but quickly hesitated. How would she apologize for wanting to hurt him physically for deceiving her? There really was no way to say it and she looked at him, lips parted. He gazed back with raised eyebrows, prodding her to answer silently.
      “I can not tell you why nor for what I should apologize,” she said to him after a moment, “but know that I regret it with all my heart. You have been only too kind to me this entire journey and I would not wish to end our friendship on a bitter note, nor over something trivial.”
      His eyes bore into hers as he studied her for a long and silent moment. She stared back firmly, wanting him to understand that she meant everything she had said. A small smile lifted the corners of his lips after awhile and he said simply, “I understand.”
      She smiled back, suddenly feeling it easier to breathe. And together they looked back up at the bright morning dawning.


      The day turned out to be hellish. Gimli was angrier than usual, downright rude to her all day. She thought it probably because of how she had treated Legolas the day before and while she still felt bad she hardly thought it was any of Gimli’s business what went on between her and Legolas. And she had paused in that thought, sneaking a glance at the elf as she had thought it. Not that there was anything going on between her and Legolas anyway.
      They spent most of the day searching all of the rooms and halls of The Last Homely House for some rations that could be carried off with them. There were several non-perishables but everything else had fallen long into decay and rot. Gimli stumbled across several vials of a clear liquid and he had called Legolas over to inspect it, Jei keeping back warily. It turned out to be Miruvor, the cordial of Imladris. Jei did not ask for she was sure eventually Legolas would explain exactly what it was. All she knew was that she was given a small vial of it to carry as was every member of their group.
      The horses were saddled and cared for by the hobbits although Jei thought she noticed Stormrider casting her quick glances for mercy. And beside the fact that they needed new clothes they found themselves ready to be off whenever they felt the need.
      Legolas had looked at her when Gimli had announced it and she understood why he worried. She felt the pull of Rivendell, almost the way she felt its ghostly inhabitants calling for her to stay. She wanted to stay, so badly. All the dangers of the world awaited outside Rivendell. Nothing evil ever entered and this could be her haven, her refuge, the way Elrond Halfelven had wanted it to be for the elves. She was not an elf herself but could she not benefit from an elven sanctuary hidden away from all prying eyes? No one would ever find her again buried away as they were and in time they would pass from memory and be nothing but myth told to children by a fire. They would speak of the woman who had formed a new Fellowship of the remaining members of the original Fellowship and how they had left Bree so long ago and gone, never to be seen again.
      “When will we be leaving?” Gimli inquired only too innocently.
      Jei answered absentmindedly, still lost in her legends. “Tomorrow. Tomorrow we will set out once more. We should make sure we have enough to hold us over until we stumble across another town.”
      “Another town?” asked Merry. “From here we head for Caradhras! It will be long before we encounter other peoples, perhaps until Lothlorien and even then-“
      “Lothlorien?” Jei asked, cutting him off, and she looked at Legolas.
      The elf nodded. “From here we will travel for quite a bit but it will be a shorter journey by horse. We will turn southwards and hold west of the mountains. There we will encounter Redhorn, Silvertine and Cloudyhead. Or Caradhras, Celebdil, and Fanuidhol.”
      “Baraz, Zirak and Shathur,” Gimli mumbled under his breath.
      Jei threw them both a questioning look. “Those are…mountains?”
      “All names for the same mountains,” Legolas answered. “Our goal is the Dimrill Dale. We will have to climb the pass of Redhorn gate and come down by the Dimrill Stair-“
      “Into the vale of Dwarves,” Gimli added.
      “And then to the Mirrormere and finally the River Silverlode,” Legolas said in a final tone. “From there Lorien lies not far.”
      Jei nodded that she understood although inside she was already envisioning the Golden Wood. There was much she had heard of Lothlorien, the Golden Wood, but all was rumor or fairytale. To see with her own eyes would be a treat most valuable. “Then one more night,” she said to the group. “Our things are already packed on the horses. For now let us enjoy Rivendell for in the morning we set off once more.”
      And so it was agreed.


      It was in the middle of the night on the second day that they had been in Rivendell that Legolas woke with a start, coming out of his dreams and into stark reality. Something was amiss and he did not understand why he felt such a thing but he did and he was filled with dread. Straining to hear from his bed he heard nothing out of place. Gimli’s snores could be heard clear across the hallway, followed not so loudly by Merry’s. Pippin dozed quietly and from Jei’s quarters he heard nothing at all.
      No. He heard a faint rustling but no doubt she just could not sleep. Since he had met her he doubted she had had a good night’s sleep. He hesitated momentarily, blinking in the darkness. There was another sound, very faint, and it seemed to come from all around but he put it off as merely the trees settling. But it did not seem to be so and because of it he waited patiently.


      She could not breathe. The darkness behind her closed eyelids was suddenly suffocating. She reached out into it but it was thick, like a strange black molasses. Her fingers slipped through it, into it, and she could not find a surface to support herself with. And a moment later something latched onto her hands, her wrists, and she was being dragged into the darkness.
      Her eyes came open, squeezing enough for her to see, and she found herself grasping bunchfuls of cloth, tearing and ripping in cold fear. Above her was the black silhouette of a Ringwraith, his gloved hands wrapped around her neck and squeezing. She could not focus well enough, black dots dancing before her eyes and she wheezed, thrashing in bed. Flailing.
      Gil-Galad, sweet Gil-Galad. Elendil.
      She tried to cry out in the darkness, opening her mouth, but no voice came to her and she was failing even as she struggled. Air was not reaching her lungs, her throat pinched, and her limbs were becoming heavy. It was such a strain to lift them, much less make them cooperate. Above her the Ringwraith’s breath was icy cold, if he even had breath, and it seemed a haunting breeze blowing mournfully against her face. She could not see well enough to look into his hood to the face beneath but she was certain that what was there would not comfort her. His grip tightened even more then and her vision blackened slowly.
      Isildur…your bane has been cast into Mordor’s flames…but mine burns brightly in this darkness…
      With one more powerful shake the Black Rider steadied, hovering above, hands tight. She tried for one breath, gasping silently, weakly, and her fingers twitched, loosening, and then tightening tremulously before loosening once more. In the darkness was a strange warmth, almost as thick as the molasses. Why did molasses come to mind and when had she been submersed in molasses? Her fingers fell away, dragging and catching on the Ringwraith’s robe folds, and then slipping to the bed on either side of her stiff figure. Her eyes blinked slowly, seeing nothing but blackness, but this blackness was cold and she felt herself yielding, teetering on a strange cliff overlooking the darkness.
      Khazad-dum…Khazad-dum…
      She staggered and fell with a cry in her mind, her shout echoing in the abyss before being swallowed into nothingness.
      Isildur!
      But outwardly she fell limply with a pained sigh.
      Legolas…



      The doors flew open and he was ready, his bow lifted, arrows at his call. The moment the Black Rider swooped in, a robed shade, he let the two arrows fly, he himself moving a second later. The arrows punched into the Ringwraith’s chest neatly, staggering him, and even as he went falling Legolas was diving over his form, landing outside the room.
      The first enemy he saw was a Black Rider trying to get into Gimli’s room. All around shadows moved and Legolas found it hard to distinguish a shadow from a wraith. There was a strange red flicker from down the hall and he risked a quick glance to see what it was but from that look he did not understand what he saw. He anchored another arrow, raising the longbow towards the black rider, but a sudden breath behind him made him turn and shoot blindly, running on instinct.
      A third Ringwraith behind him took the arrow in the face, dropping away into nothing but black robes.
      Perhaps it was time he just shot blindly.
      A small sound forced him to whirl back around and as he did so he caught a fist in the jaw. His head snapped sideways but he did not stagger. He came back with another arrow at the ready, tasting copper blood in his mouth.
      It was one Ringwraith he faced, as dark as the others he had fought but without a blade. The creature came at him again, both hands reaching. Legolas lowered the bow, dropping the arrow, and he fell, taking the wraith’s weight upon himself and flinging him off. The black rider rolled, landing in a heap and sliding, and Legolas rose into a crouch, immediately pulling out another arrow and shooting it.
      The black rider moved in the last moment, swiping the arrow in mid-air and clutching it in his grasp but a second arrow punched into his shoulder, flinging him to the floor once more.
      A door crashed open, wood splintering, and Legolas spun in fear for Gimli. But as the black rider burst into the dwarf’s room a war cry sounded and Gimli’s two-handed axe came flying from out of the darkness, stabbing neatly into the creature. With a small smile at the sudden memory of tallying orc deaths, Legolas turned back to his enemy.
      To discover him gone.
      The elf quickly rose, looking about cautiously. There was no robe on the floor but the creature had disappeared, almost into thin air. He frowned faintly as he lifted his discarded arrow and he raised his eyes to look down the hallway once more. Down at the head of the corridor was the jumping red flicker of light again. He stared for a small moment, and only then did he understand what it was. His eyes widened imperceptibly, figure stiffening and sure enough, now that he focused he heard the crackle of fire.
      “Gimli!” he shouted, staring as more black figures rounded the corner from down the hallway. He moved toward the hobbits’ room, ramming it open firmly.
      “Aye, the fires of Moria will claim another black rider yet!” Gimli roared, lifting his axe from a pile of black cloth.
      “Get to Jei!” Legolas ordered him, looking in his direction and he came to a dead stop as he saw light flicker from the other end of the hallway as well. Gimli turned to look as well as he straightened from the robes, and from the room before Legolas the hobbits came, sleepily.
      “What is it?”
      “What’s wrong?”
      “Get to Jei,” Legolas ordered Gimli once more, jaw clenching. “I will hold them off here.” And he looked back down the hall as the black riders neared.
      “Here?” Gimli demanded, glaring at him. “We will perish here surrounded by fire and blackness! Let us go down the hallway! At least there we have but one enemy!”
      “This room has a balcony!” Legolas said to him and he nodded at Pippin as the hobbit emerged from the room wielding Jei’s crossbow. “We can climb down and round up the horses! We shall be forced to leave tonight.”
      And if they were lucky they would not have to leave pursued by the Black Riders.
      Gimli went a moment later with one last backward glare, mumbling under his breath.
      Legolas pulled Pippin from the room as the hobbit trembled. “Courage, Pippin! The enemy draws near but if we are to fall here then let us fall fighting!” He glanced back down the hallway where the light was suddenly bright and there he saw the first sign of fire, just as Gimli reached Jei’s room. The dwarf slid to a stop and as he went to open the doors they flew open by themselves and she came out, staggering. She fell against the wall, clinging weakly and Gimli motioned for her to hurry. She nodded to him but fell to her knees, a hand lifting to her throat.
      “We won’t make it this time,” Merry said quietly and with a tone of finality.
      Legolas looked at him quickly, frowning, and feeling the rising heat in the hallways from both directions. The hobbit was perspiring but he was calm and Legolas stared at him. He would not let him be calm. One became calm once they accepted the fact that they would perish and he was not about to let Merry accept it. Nor Pippin who aimed the heavy crossbow with trembling hands at the approaching Ringwraiths.
      “Go,” he said shortly and he exchanged his longbow for the crossbow, sliding his quiver from his shoulder.
      “Go?” Merry asked fearfully, allowing the elf to take the quarrel and strap it on. Pippin pulled on the quiver, looking up at Legolas in confusion, wide-eyed.
      “Go,” Legolas nodded. “I will hold them off for as long as I can. Climb down the wall and find your pony. We will meet you outside Rivendell by the Ford.” He anchored a bolt to the crossbow and set it, allowing himself to grow accustomed to the weighty weapon once more.
      “No!” Pippin suddenly cried and he took hold of Legolas’ arm, causing the elf to rear up in surprise. “We shan’t leave you! Not like this!”
      Legolas stared at the hobbit for a moment in stunned silence. And then a small smile lifted his lips. “My friend, this is not the end. Better one remain than three. I will be fine. Gimli and Jei will soon join you, fear not. But go now and await our arrival. We shall not tarry.”
      Pippin remained still, shaking his head wordlessly, but Merry pulled him. “Come, Pippin! You are the only one who can handle the longbow should we have need of it.”
      Legolas nodded to them and lifted the crossbow, aiming down its shaft as the black riders approached. There were three of them, shadows before the backdrop of fire as it raged at the head of the hallway now. He was not aware exactly when the hobbits left, already shooting a crossbow bolt. The only problem with the crossbow was that it only fired one arrow at a time. He would have to be fast.
      The bolt took down one Ringwraith, striking him in the shoulder. He wondered if it was the same Ringwraith as before but these all had swords, he realized, as the Ringwraith’s weapon skid sideways. It vanished a moment later into nothing. Readying another bolt he aimed once more, trying to see passed the smoke rising in the hallway. Bu it was thickening and it stung his eyes a bit now, affecting his aim. He had eight bolts left, nine counting the one at the ready. He couldn’t afford to waste them.
      “Legolas!” shouted Gimli and he whirled, understanding that the two Ringwraiths behind him were much too close to him but the sudden appearance of one behind Jei and Gimli was even closer to them. He shot the bolt, automatically reaching for one of his blades a moment later. Turning back he had but a moment to throw the blade at one Ringwraith before the second reared up before him, swinging his sword.


      Jei barely understood as a crossbow bolt flew passed her head, Gimli supporting her as they tried to reach Legolas. She ached, coughing through smoke and a bruised throat, her shoulder in pain. She bled from it and she cursed the gash she had received from the steel of a Ringwraith’s blade.
      Behind her she heard a rustle of clothing and she turned to look over her shoulder. The scene behind her caused her to stop and stiffen with a gasp, eyes widening in disbelief.
      The crossbow bolt lay in a heap of black robes and reaching down the hallway towards them, a fire roared furiously
      “Sweet Isildur-“
      “Legolas!” Gimli shouted again and Jei found herself practically being dragged. They both coughed on acrid smoke and through the heavy mist Legolas was on the floor, his blade in his hand. But the blade was held close to his face, the Ringwraith’s sword pressed to it, and the creature pushed down powerfully, pushing ever closer to the elf’s throat. Legolas fought back, seemingly just as strong as the Black Rider.
      “Go, Gimli!” Jei cried, shoving the dwarf. “Your friend needs you at this moment and I hinder you. Go!”
      The dwarf looked at her suspiciously but did as she bid him, pulling forth his axe and moving toward Legolas. She followed but painfully slow and feeling as if she had suddenly forgotten something. She glanced back over her shoulder, frowning, but did not return in that direction.
      Legolas flinched as the Black Rider on top of him suddenly flew sideways, sliding across the hallway floor. Gimli appeared above and he accepted his friend’s strong grip, rising to his feet wearily. “I thought it over for myself for a moment,” he confided in Gimli and Jei joined them a moment later, weak.
      “They have not been beaten yet,” she said and a cry broke from her as Legolas suddenly wound an arm around her waist, shoving Gimli at the same time toward the room.
      “We have not the time to wait for them to reach us once more,” the elf said and he pushed Jei after Gimli, pulling forth the crossbow once more.
      The room was quiet and dark, save for the moonlight peeking in and tinting the room a midnight blue. A balcony surrounded a piece of the room, the other bit of the wall overlooking several of Rivendell’s trees through wonderfully clear windows. The balcony was deserted and for that Legolas was thankful. Perhaps for once Pippin and Merry had followed instructions.
      “I’m forgetting something…” Jei whispered as he shoved her toward the balcony. She whirled to face him as he looked over his shoulder once more, searching for the remaining two Ringwraiths. “Legolas-“
      He turned to face her as she stumbled back against something and they both looked to Gimli who hesitated at the edge of the balcony.
      "Gimli-“
      “It is a long way down…” Gimli said in a faint voice Legolas was not accustomed to hearing from him. The elf stared at him and Jei looked over the edge critically. It was a little more than two stories down and Jei saw vines creeping about the walls. She glanced at Legolas quickly.
      “Jei, go. I will follow. Gimli, I will be beneath you as we climb down. Do not fear-“
      “I will fear what I wish and when I wish it!” Gimli thundered, cutting the elf off. “Dwarves were meant to have their feet firmly planted on solid ground, not…flailing in the air!”
      “There’s no other way!” Jei cried to him and she looked over her shoulder. A small sound came from her lips and she dove at Legolas, taking the crossbow and instantly firing. It struck the Ringwraith as he entered the room several feet back, flinging him out of the room once more. She looked at Legolas as he turned his eyes on her. “You go with Gimli! I will follow last!”
      The elf frowned, shaking his head. “I do not think it-“
      “I don’t care what you think!” she shouted even though she realized deep inside that she always cared. She stared at him firmly. “Take Gimli. I will follow. Trust me!” And she hesitated, gazing at him. “Do you trust me?”
      He stared back steadily. “I do,” he whispered quietly, seemingly unable to look away from her.
      Her heart breathed a bit easier at his words. “Then go,” she ordered and she swiped several of his crossbow bolts, hoisting the heavy weapon comfortably. “I shan’t be far behind.”
      Legolas hesitated for yet another moment, looking from the empty doorway to Gimli, who waited impatiently. The fires were flickering in the hallway, throwing light, and he saw now that the entire house was aflame. Only the balcony remained and any moment it, too, would catch. He looked back at her, uncertainly and for a moment he seemed to lean into her, lips parted to speak.
      She stared back questioningly.
      “Come on then!” Gimli shouted to him as he hesitated inches from her.
      Legolas blinked, pulling back and Jei wanted to know what that had been, that moment. She stared still, wishing she could snatch it back, that small would-be exchange. But Legolas was nodding and already motioning to Gimli, leaving Jei stiff.
      He looked over the edge, studying the way down. He trusted the stones of the wall more than the vines creeping down its surface but if the vines could support two hobbits they could probably support a dwarf. “Come, Gimli! Take the vine! I will follow at your side!”
      Jei stood dumbly as the elf swung himself over easily, still caught in confusion. Gimli roared angrily but took hold of the vine nonetheless, carefully climbing over the edge of the balcony. Legolas was ever careful of him, wary of the dwarf’s fear. Jei stood guard at the top still, crossbow at the ready.
      It was only once Legolas was halfway down that he heard Jei cry, “The swords!” And then he knew no more for she did not follow.


      Once on solid ground Legolas lifted his gaze to the balcony, fearful. Jei had not come down and the incessant shrieks of the Ringwraiths could be heard echoing through the night. The Last Homely House was ablaze, fire shooting from its walls and balconies, its turrets and porches. Beside him Gimli also hesitated, looking about warily.
      “Merry! Pippin!” he suddenly shouted.
      Legolas turned in confusion, feeling a strange sense of vertigo, and the hobbits came down the path quickly on their pony, Arod and Stormrider following. “Did I not say to meet at the Ford?” he asked them although there was no anger in his tone.
      “Where is Jei?” asked Pippin.
      Legolas stared at him silently, merely lifting a hand and pointing the way to the balcony. Pippin’s eyes widened and his head snapped up as a crash sounded from above. The remainder whirled as a group just as a Ringwraith came bursting from one of the room windows, sailing downward with a high-pitched shriek. Legolas recoiled from the fall of glass, covering himself and the creature landed with a hard thump upon the solid ground. Protruding form his chest was Ivory and as he melted away the sword was left, standing straight from where it had stabbed into the dirt. Legolas looked up quickly as another crash sounded, followed by the cry of a Ringwraith.
      A second window burst and from it flew the last Ringwraith, falling face up. His robes billowed about his strangely large frame as he fell to earth, his arms drawn in and holding something in an embrace. He fell roughly also, landing painfully, his shriek echoing.
      Coiled in his arms was Jei, the crossbow cradled to her chest, along with her own robe bunched up against her breast. Her free hand held Ebony’s hilt, the blade stabbed deep into the Ringwraith’s form. The creature vanished in a wind and she sank to the ground, loosening her robe. Crossbow bolts spilled forth, along with Legolas’ missing blade.
      Feeling the sudden need to curse at her in his elven language Legolas crouched beside her and took hold of a shoulder. His hand came away bloody as he frowned but then she raised her head, grimacing, and he glared at her. “You went back for it?” he demanded.
      She nodded, and she bled from a small cut in her bottom lip. Her marks were a bit bloodied and she lay there for a moment in stunned silence as he wiped the stains from her lips. “And my blades,” she said after a second. “I can not leave them behind.”
      “Perhaps I’m not the only fool in the Fellowship,” Pippin exclaimed cheerily to that.
      “This is no fellowship,” Gimli growled darkly. And he merely stood in silence as Legolas helped Jei to Stormrider, cautiously watching her. He did not say anything else although he was sure he thought the same thing everyone else in the company thought.
      It was time to leave Rivendell.
All images and works done/altered by ShiNoFuriko and TasogareBan. Please do not steal and always give credit to where it is due.
The Pendulum