Careful

What you're feeling

On the inside

You should try to remember

The good times and the high life

Are you feeling all right?

Finger Eleven -- `Good Times'

Chapter IV: Shadows Remembered

He was so near, so very close... he could smell the blood now, sweet and heady. Blood? Was that what he wanted? `Yes,' something whispered to his mind.

"I have brought clean clothing, linens and covers." Called a voice from the door; there stood Legolas, or at least it was his voice behind the stack of fabric he bore.

Elladan turned about, facing his brother, and within seconds, a realization struck Elrohir. What was he doing? This was Elladan! This was his brother, his twin, the other half of himself! No, Elrohir shook his head; he would not, he could not do it.

He drew back a pace, and the wings that had been in his shadow drew back into his shadow. If one could see closely, a glint of white would have been seen as his enlarged canines drew back into their normal size, though they remained sharper than they should have been.

"Elrohir! What in the Valar's name are you doing up and about?"

His face drawn and pale, Elrohir stared at Elladan blankly, looking as if he were about to tip over at any given moment. Legolas set down his load and helped Elladan guide his brother back to the bed, turning down the cover as he crawled in.

"I shall fetch you some tea, so that you can sleep." Elladan said, leaving the room for a moment to seek out the healer. He found Celvandil, eventually, in the library.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, glancing at the papers spread haphazardly about her.

"Your human friend found your brothers' symptoms to be rather strange, so he asked me to look them up."

"And what have you found?" Elladan frowned, sliding into a chair next to her.

"The bite is too deep to be a spider's... and his skin being so cold." She shook her head, "I looked into all sorts of animals, and eventually checked the old records. The only lead I can find is, well, a vampire."

"Vampires?" Elladan gave a laugh.

"It sounds foolish, I know."

"There have been none since the First Age!"

"Celvandil shook her head, sadly, "There was one."

"I have not heard of this..."

"Not many have. They have kept it under close wraps, for it would have caused quite a panic."

"Do you know any more about this?" Elladan asked, his voice growing in intensity.

"I know little more than that He was one of our own, a betrayal just before the Last Alliance. It was said to be He who had slain Oropher during the Battle, and was not seen again... most say that he was wounded and perished, but they found no remains."

"So he may have escaped..." Elladan followed. Celvandil nodded gravely.

A new voice broke into their conversation, deep and authoritative, "The shadow in the East has been growing steadily these past decades, and I fear it may have caused something in these woods to stir. Something evil to awake."

Elladan and Celvandil turned about quickly to find themselves looking at the king Thranduil, a sombre expression across his face. after those cryptic words. "He was filled with so much hatred..." Thranduil shook his head, as if trying to rid himself of an image, "I did not know Aidan well, for I was young at the time he betrayed the kingdom and was exiled. I managed to wound him, but it was too late for my father."

"So it is true then?" Elladan asked.

"Indeed. Aidan's hatred, I fear, and his... blood lust drove him mad long ago."

Elladan's grey eyes widened, "What will the bite do to `Ro?"

"He was bitten then?" Thranduil asked, raising one delicate brow.

Celvandil nodded, "That is what it would seem to be... I mean, it is not quite a spider bite, and there is nothing else it could be..."

"We have not much time then..." Thranduil said, hastening from the room in a swirl of cobalt blue and silver winter robes. They made quick time to Elrohir's room, preparing themselves for the worst, but they were certainly not prepared for what they had found.

The door was flung open by Thranduil who immediately cried out in alarm. There, framed in the lamp glow, was Elrohir, his body standing firmly with one arm reached out, stretched, and his hand wrapped about Legolas' throat. From his back sprouted a pair of glossy bat-like wings which reflected the red-orange light, making them seem to be on fire, and his eyes gleamed cerulean and silver. Legolas' feet failed to touch the ground, dangling just above it. He could not breathe; Elrohir's claw-like grasp about him was too tight!

Nails, sharp and cold, cut into his skin, and try as he might to pry away the grip, Elrohir now possessed a supernatural strength he had not had before.

Thranduil was the first to react, flinging himself onto his son's attacker and trying to pry him away. At last he managed to extract Elrohir's hands from Legolas' throat, and quickly he dragged him away. But Elrohir simply attached himself to the king's back, hissing and clawing like a wild animal, and flapping his wings wildly.

Elladan yelled out, "Stop it! Stop it!" Even as he tried to pull his brother away from Legolas. Using his own body to shield his son from harm, Thranduil dragged his unconscious form away from the rampant elf.

Celvandil screamed, noting how strong Elrohir was before she took off down the corridor to find the guard.

Estel was nearby, and came as soon as he heard the commotion. Together he and Elladan attempted to drag Elrohir off of the king, both struggling to hold him while trying not to hurt him at the same time. This proved difficult, because he thrashed about so violently.

Eventually, when Estel had grabbed one of his wings harshly, Elrohir gave a blood-chilling shriek and whirled about, flinging the two against the wall behind him. Estel's head cracked against the wall with a sickening sound, and he rolled to the ground in a heap. Now the reinforcements came, Celvandil followed by the three nearest guards she could find, all hurling themselves towards Elrohir with their weapons held outwards. He lifted his great wings, flapping them to create a substantial gust of wind that launched them backwards.

Taking this moment to slip out the door, Elrohir nearly flew down the corridor like a bat out of hell.*

Elladan saw this, and with barely a second glance at the others, he followed behind his twin, calling for him to halt.

Elrohir left the palace through the main doors, and climbed a snow-dusted evergreen near the huge stone wall to reach the woods.

From upon the top of the wall he looked down for a moment, and Elladan despaired for he could see no trace of his brother in the creature that now gazed down on him with eyes like ice. There was only animal instinct; sheer madness and broiling hate, directed towards all living things. Elrohir's expression was so spiteful that Elladan actually felt a shiver go along his spine.

Then Elrohir jumped the wall silently, using his wings to help him glide in the descent into the treetops on the other side. Cursing, Elladan clamoured in hot pursuit, racing into the frigid, perilous wood behind his twin.

To be continued...

* Please excuse the pun.