Chapter Twenty One

A stunned Aragorn repeated the last two words that Ricard had just spoken. "Too late?"

It was only now that Ricard truly understood how deep the friendship between this man and the elf went. Even when the ranger had said earlier that Legolas was his brother, what that meant hadn’t really sunk in. Ricard never had anyone this close to him, not even members of his own family. In the beginning he had believed that Allaura filled that role, but that had proven to be a sham. "I am sorry," he said with genuine feeling, the sympathetic look still on his face.

A few seconds of silence passed with no word from Aragorn. Ricard could no longer stand to see the plaintive look in the ranger’s gray eyes, so he tried to offer some hope. "I cannot be sure. This has never happened before. I could very well be wrong." He gave a slight shrug of his shoulders. He didn’t know what else to say.

"You are," Aragorn stated with as much conviction as he felt in his heart. "Legolas is one of the strongest-willed people I have ever known, and I have known many. He will break free of this."

To himself, Ricard said, ‘I hope you are right.’

Looking up at the other man, Aragorn asked, "What is it that has affected him so much more than it did me or certainly you, who has fallen prey to this bizarre stone for years?"

Ricard had wondered that himself. Having finally come to a conclusion, he was going to do his best to explain what he thought had happened.

With a sigh, he began. "The stone has the power to muddle our minds so that we, when exposed to it, gave in to Allaura’s will. To be honest, I think we would have succumbed to anyone who had the necklace. Then, for a time, it made us forget." Ricard shook his head.

"As for Legolas, his reaction is probably due to the fact that elves are so sensitive and in tune with their surroundings, not to mention their ability to discern what mortals cannot. I believe that he is able to look beyond the mere surface of the stone, which is all we could do. I think he sees into the stone’s inner core, and it in turn penetrates deep into his very soul."

The idea that anything evil could reach the soul of his friend was chilling to the ranger. He had always thought that the innermost part of any elf was sacrosanct and nothing and no one short of Ilúvatar himself could reach it. That this might not be true and that Legolas’s soul was being violated by a power none of them could truly comprehend nearly brought Aragorn to tears, as he watched Legolas stare transfixed at the necklace.

Very slowly, Aragorn approached Legolas. Before getting too close, he bent down and sank to his knees. He didn’t want to tower over the sitting elf, who already felt threatened enough. The man tentatively reached out a hand and placed it gently on the elf‘s left arm. "Legolas, it’s me, Estel. Please look at me." His voice was soft, and he spoke in Sindarin, trying to put Legolas as much at ease as he could.

There was no response from the elf, who continued to stare at the necklace, seemingly oblivious to all that surrounded him.

"Please, mellon nin. You must hear and acknowledge me."

As before, this plea went unanswered, but Aragorn was not about to give up. "Legolas," he called a bit louder, though still with a gentle tone. He squeezed the elf’s arm.

This time there was a reaction. Without looking up, Legolas said in a voice that barely sounded like his, "If you touch me again, human, I will kill you."

Aragorn jerked his hand back. He could feel the goose bumps forming on his skin. He didn’t think a demon spawned by Morgoth himself could have sounded more sinister or threatening.

The worst part of it was that Aragorn believed him. Never in all their years together would he have thought such a thing was possible. In fact, he would have staked his life on the absolute knowledge that the elf would never deliberately hurt him.

Legolas’s words of warning had now turned the ranger’s world upside down, and he sagged back on his heels, as if his body had suddenly deflated.

Even though Ricard was not all that secure on his uninjured foot, despite having the crutch, he leaned over and put a comforting hand on Aragorn’s shoulder. He managed to keep from saying once more that he was sorry. He knew that no matter how heartfelt the sentiment would be, the ranger didn’t want to hear it.

He was right. Aragorn suddenly straightened himself up and squared his shoulders, though he remained on his knees.

A thought had come to him. Before, he had been convinced that Legolas was so completely lost, he wasn’t aware of anything outside of the stone’s influence. But if that was true, Legolas wouldn’t have felt his touch or spoken to him. So now Aragorn realized that a part of the elf’s mind must not be concentrating on the stone. Instead, it must be trained outward, a guard of sorts, to warn the elf of anyone trying to take the stone away from him.

Aragorn realized that there was still a chance that he could reach the part of Legolas’s mind that remained free.

With a renewed sense of purpose, the ranger tried again to contact his elven friend. "Legolas, please look at me."

The appeal went unanswered. It seemed that the only time the elf reacted was when he was physically touched.

Coming to a difficult decision, Aragorn reached out and once again put his hand on Legolas’s arm. It was a dangerous move, considering the threat Legolas had made. ‘At least he can’t fight me while staring at that accursed stone,’ the man thought, perhaps foolishly, but he would soon know one way or another.

Almost before Aragorn could register it, a fist came flying toward his face. He just barely managed to lean out of the way and take only a glancing blow.

As he fell to the side, Aragorn grabbed at the necklace. He missed the pendant, which was still in Legolas’s right hand, but the man’s fingers closed in around the dangling chain. He jerked it as hard as he could, using his momentum to aid him. Aragorn was half expecting the chain to break and was surprised when the whole necklace came away in his hand.

Thinking quickly, the ranger stuffed the necklace in an inner pocket of his tunic. That’s all he had time to do, as Legolas’s body suddenly slammed into him and drove him to the floor.

Landing on top of the man, Legolas curled his fingers around both sides of the opening in the front of Aragorn’s leather tunic and began to pull it apart. When the opening widened, Legolas slipped his hand inside, attempting to reach his now hidden prize.

The look of unbridled fury on the elf’s face almost distracted Aragorn, but just as Legolas’s hand reached the top edge of the pocket, the ranger grabbed the wood elf’s wrist and yanked it free.

"No!" Legolas screamed. "It is mine!"

"It is evil, and you are better off without it. Legolas, listen to me. Allaura has used it to bewitch you, but you’re stronger than she is and stronger than it is."

"Give it to me," Legolas demanded, completely ignoring the ranger’s words.

The archer struggled, squirming his body from side to side, hoping to dislodge the man’s hold on his wrist. When that didn’t work, he began tugging on Aragorn’s arm with his free hand. All that did was make the ranger’s grip tighten. However, the human’s strength did not match that of the elf, and Legolas broke Aragorn’s hold.

He again reached inside the tunic and tried to get his hand inside the pocket.

"No you don’t," the ranger said, as he jerked Legolas’s hand free once more.

In total frustration and fury, Legolas let out a scream that made Aragorn cringe.

Legolas’s strength was greater than that of the human, and on the third attempt to reach the necklace, he succeeded. He pulled the necklace free of Aragorn’s tunic and gripped it in his hand.

Then Legolas went after Aragorn. The elf quickly wrapped the chain around his wrist and then grabbed the man’s neck and began to squeeze.

Suddenly the elf’s body went limp and fell against Aragorn.

At first Aragorn had no idea what had just happened. He thought maybe the elf had been overcome by the intensity of his struggle. The truth was far simpler.

When Aragorn looked up past the golden head resting against his shoulder, he saw Ricard teetering on his one good foot, the crutch held in the air. The man had hit Legolas on the head. Despite the fact that his best friend had just been knocked unconscious, Aragorn smiled. He coughed a couple of times and rubbed his neck. He was sure that if Ricard hadn’t hit Legolas, the wood elf would have choked him to death.

Aragorn eased Legolas onto the floor next to him. He got up on his knees again and bent down. The first thing he did was unwind the necklace from around Legolas’s wrist and put it in another of his tunic pockets.

Next he ran his fingers over the elf’s head to locate the bump he knew would be forming there.

"I am sorry," Ricard said apologetically, a trace of concern on his face. "I did not know what else to do to stop him from choking you. I hope I did not hit him too hard."

"Don’t worry. This elf also has the hardest head of anyone I’ve ever known." Though he was making a small parody of the comment he had made earlier about Legolas’s strong will, his tone was grim.

Not knowing the humorous give and take that existed between the elf and the ranger, Ricard wasn’t quite sure how to take that remark, so he just said, "Good".

Once Aragorn located the lump on the right side of his friend’s head, he explored its size and then pulled his fingers away. There was no blood on them. "It isn’t too bad. You didn’t even break the skin. He’ll be all right."

However, it wasn’t the bump that worried Aragorn. It was the possible condition of the elf’s mind, when he woke up, that put a frown on the man’s face. He was sure it would be too optimistic to think that Legolas would wake clear headed and in control of his own thoughts, but Aragorn was willing to hold out a tiny bit of hope that that would be the case.

Ricard spoke up and pretty much dashed the ranger’s hope. "He will not wake up as himself." There wasn’t even the smallest bit of doubt in his tone.

Aragorn hung his head. "I didn’t really think so." He then looked up at Ricard. "But how can are you be so sure?"

"If his soul has not been irreparably damaged, it will take time and great effort to bring him back. The stone‘s hold on him will not break easily. And he will not be happy to wake up and find he no longer has it in his possession."

Aragorn was willing to deal with that, as long as Legolas woke up knowing him as his best friend and not just as someone trying to take the blue stone from him.

Even now in unconsciousness, a frown marred Legolas’s normally fair face, reflecting the turmoil within.

Aragorn’s face also reflected his own inner turmoil. "Since this has never happened before, do you have any idea what we must do?"

A shake of Ricard’s head answered Aragorn’s question before his words did. "No, not really. All we can do is wait and see how..." He took a deep breath before saying the next word. "...bad it will be. I guess we go from there and do the best we can."

"Thank you," Aragorn said. He hadn’t missed Ricard’s use of the word ‘we’.

"For what?."

"You kept him from killing me and getting control of the necklace again. Also, you care. I appreciate that, and so will Legolas, once we get him back." He truly was grateful for the other man’s help.

Ricard smiled. Maybe he could help these two friends and in some small way make up for what his wife had done to them.

It wasn’t very long before Legolas groaned and began to stir. Ricard was surprised and relieved at how soon the elf recovered. He thought with the force of the blow he had delivered, Legolas would be out far longer.

Knowing the inborn ability of elves to heal quickly, Aragorn wasn’t surprised at all. He had no idea how Legolas was going to react, so he held his breath expectantly, as the elf opened his eyes.

Legolas stared up at the face of the ranger directly above him. For a moment, the blue-gray eyes of the elf were unreadable.

TBC