Chapter 6. Darkness

"Meldon?" Legolas' panicked voice echoed eerily throughout the cave. "Meldon?!?! Where are you?"

"Legolas!" Elladan's voice broke through Legolas'. "It's ok." He soothed "We're still here."

But Legolas wasn't listening anymore. All he could hear was the dripping of water. And suddenly the darkness was engulfing him. Pressing down on his chest. Suffocating him. Unaware of anything but the darkness he tried jerking backwards and only succeeded in hitting his head very hard on the rock wall. Bright flashes weaved through his vision. And suddenly he was in his father's lower caverns. All alone, terrified, and screaming for his ada or his naneth to help him.

*~*~*~*~*

Elrond and Estel could hear the screams from a ½ mile away.

"ADA!!!!!! Nana!!!!!"

The words were mixed in different languages, Quenya, Sindarin, Silvin,  and westron.

Aragorn felt his heart sinking when he realized that his friend was asking, no begging for anyone to help him. To save him. He could also hear the yells of Adoril, Elladan and Elrohir as they tried to help him.

Though they were already at a gallop, they pushed the horses even harder.

*~*~*~*~*

Elladan had been screaming at Legolas for a long time and now his voice was raw. He looked at Adoril and Elrohir; he knew their voices were raw as well. 'What was taking Estel so long!' He thought angrily.

He heard the hoof beats long before he saw them. When he looked up into the calm face of his father he could have cried in relief but the thought of anything coming from his raw throat, he cringed.

"Hurry ada." He croaked.

Elrond frowned at him. "Where is Meldon?"

"I am here." Their heads whipped around in shock at the tired, scratched up, dusty elf standing in front of them.

Elladan frowned and rubbing his throat with one hand and gestured with the other, he pointed to the hole where Legolas had calmed to mere whimpers and then to the elf.

Meldon laughed softly, "I found a way where we can get Legolas out." His brow furrowed. "Though we will need many lanterns."

Aragorn leaned over the hole. "Legolas? Can you hear me?"

A sob answered him. "Please ada."

The young ranger drew back in shock; he had never seen his friend like this. So disoriented and confused that he didn't recognize anyone.

Legolas, despite the pain, had curled into a tight fetal position. He had seized even the whimpers and lay staring blankly into the darkness. He could hear it. He could feel it taunting him.

"Legolas."

It whispered in his ear. Caressed his cheek. Embraced him with its coldness.

He was cold. So cold.

"Come to me Legolas."

A cold hand seemed to slide down his cheek, gently caressing the terror stricken prince.

"Come to me and you will be free." It promised. The cold, compressing darkness promised.

He took the promise and everything faded into oblivion.

*~*~*~*~*

The first thing Legolas felt was a hand on his chest. Then as his other senses flooded into him. He was aware of someone, actually 5 other people in his room. He forced his eyes open. And nearly died of fright.

Adoril, Meldon, Elladan, Elrohir and Aragorn were all leaning over him. Identical expressions of worry and concern on their faces.

He groaned. And tried to move an arm over his eyes but was immediately prevented from doing so. He closed his eyes trying to remember something, anything that would explain why he felt like someone drugged him, why his body felt like someone used it for target practice and why his closest friends were leaning over him. He opened one eye and immediately closed it again.

Nope, wishing wouldn't help in this case. 'Well', Legolas reasoned in his head. Wishing very rarely helped anything, in any case. Though it would be nice.

"How do you feel?" Aragorn's worried voice broke through his thoughts.

Suddenly Legolas remembered. He and Meldon fell in a cave hole, and the darkness and then he had.

He opened his eyes again. "Elladan. I am going to kill you. I don't know how, but I will. I will make sure to do it very painfully, and very slowly."

Elladan coughed and ignoring the quick grins on everyone else's face, quickly changed the subject. "Elrohir." He croaked. "Go get Adar."

Legolas frowned. Why in the world was Elladan talking like that? Then he remembered. He swallowed. "Are you well Meldon?" He coughed, his voice coming out barely above a whisper.

Aragorn quickly gave him some water.

Meldon nodded, "I am well my prince." He grinned suddenly "As you can tell I am not the one flat on his back."

Legolas rolled his eyes. "I am fine." He tried and with some help from Aragorn managed to sit up. He looked down at his body in dismay. His right arm was completely swathed in bandages, as was his left knee and his left ankle. He groaned. Elrond was going to kill him.

A light chuckle brought the attention of all to the doorway. "Don't worry Legolas. Knowing that this wasn't your fault I won't give you a lecture on how one shouldn't go looking for trouble. However.." He let the threat unfinished. He checked over the bandages, and then peered into his eyes. "How does your head feel?" He questioned, he knew from past experiences that concussions had to be treated very carefully.

"Like a dwarf decided to use it for an anvil." Legolas confessed a wry smile on his fair face.

Elrond laughed. "That is something I would expect." He told the prince. "I believe what happened, is that you fell first on your left leg the hardest, then as Meldon fell on top of you, you fell on your arm, breaking it and your collarbone and giving you a concussion. And," there was a teasing smile as he looked at Meldon. "That is why Meldon only has a couple scratches." He finished his examination, and cleared his throat.

Instantly the room was filled with "Oh! I forgot something!" and "The horses! They have to be groomed!" and "I'll go with you's." Soon the room was empty except one very patient Elven Lord and one stubborn prince.

Elrond gave Legolas a small smile. But the look on his face filled Legolas with complete dread. His father usually had that look on his face when Legolas was in trouble and gotten caught.

"It's not your fault Legolas."

The words caught Legolas off guard. What wasn't his fault?

Elrond seeing the confusion explained.

"When I found Celebrian's escort party," He began quietly. "Only one was left alive. He managed to choke out that orcs had captured her before he too died. All the elves.." He faltered remembering all too well each face, each elf that had died. How they died, the agony before they must have felt before they died. "All the elves had been tortured in one way or the other. They all died in agony."

Legolas looked in horror at the Elven Lord. But he wasn't looking at him; he was seeing the faces of his friends. His friends that had died. His friends that had died in agony. His friends who needed him and he wasn't there. A sob lodged itself in Legolas throat. Tears came unbidden and unwanted.

"It's not your fault Legolas." Elrond said once more, seeing the pained expression on the prince's face.

Silent tears fell fast and furiously. "But it is!" Legolas sobbed. "I sent them! I sent them to their deaths! I did. Me. I sent them."

Elrond gathered the prince in his arms. For all the pride, stubbornness, and all of his Wood-elf characteristics, Elrond was reminded of another time when he had held the prince in his arms. It had been after Legolas' naneth (mother) had left for the Undying Lands. Elrond had found the elfling lost near Rivendell, half frozen to death on the High Pass over the mountains. Legolas had informed the Elven Lord "he was looking for nana. (mama)" And if the Elven Lord would tell him if he knew where she was. Cause "he missed his nana." He had held the sobbing prince then too.

"Shhhh. It's not your fault Thranduillion. (Son of Thranduil.)" He soothed the prince. After a long time the sobs finally seized, but Elrond could still feel the turmoil whirling around in Legolas.

"Tell me of your father's caverns." It was not a request. Legolas could see that easily.

He sighed, brushing errant tears from his face.

"Mirkwood was under attack. My father recently told me that he thought that it was because evil had returned to Dol Guldur."

Elrond nodded, very few knew of the true evil that had dwelled and continued to dwell there.

"Adar decided to send anyone under 50 years of age and the women to the caverns. There were many warriors who died in defending the woods. We were at the caves for 3 weeks. I did not mind, cause I had my friends with me. We played happily and freely roamed the palace. My naneth.." His voice broke in pain. He struggled to continue, despite the pain of remembrance and the tears the threatened to choke him. He had spoken of his naneth in several years. The subject was still to painful.

Silence reigned for several minutes.

Finally gathering his emotions together, Legolas continued.

"My naneth told me not to go down by the lower caverns. But Adoril dared me to, and so." Legolas laughed, though it sounded more like a sob.

"So I went, and I got locked in the lowest cavern for a week. Though it felt like years." Legolas smiled though the smile looked more like a grimace than anything. "I screamed for someone, anyone to save me." He turned his eyes to the still silent Elven Lord. "Did I." His voice faltered, "Did I call when I was in the cave?"

Elrond smoothed the coverlet silently thinking before he answered. "From what I heard from Elladan and the others, and from what I myself heard, you were screaming for about an hour for your Adar and Naneth."

Legolas felt his breath leave him in a rush. An hour? He screamed for an hour? No wonder why his throat hurt. A blush worked its way to his face. He screamed for an hour.

Elrond smiled at the shame faced prince. He tipped the head up and looked into the silver-blue eyes.

"Sometimes you need to just scream, elfling."

Legolas looked at him. "I'm so scared." He confessed whispering. "I'm scared of the dark. I'm scared of that voice that whispers to me in the dark."

Elrond's paternal heart clenched. Legolas had faced orcs, wargs, and spiders, yet the simplest thing scared him. But, Elrond reminded himself; the prince had been a small elfling when he had been trapped in the darkness for nearly a week. Such traumatic experiences could have done a lot worse.

Legolas laughed, a bitter, ironic, self-condemning laugh. He voiced Elrond's thoughts. "I can face a horde of orcs fearlessly, I can go into a spider nest unafraid, I can look wargs in the face, but I can't face the darkness."

Elrond sighed. "What bothers you about the darkness Legolas?" He could see a connection between the recent tragedy and the past incident. Now he wanted to make sure he was right.

Legolas chewed his lip deep in thought. It came to him so suddenly that he nearly gasped aloud.

"The voice, in the dark. It is always one of the ones that died. They always call for me. Or tell me that I am theirs." He turned a questioning gaze on the Elven Lord.

"Why? Why do they call me? Is it because they blame me? Why?"