Disclaimer and Acknowledgements: As in Chapter 1

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 25 – And So It Begins

Initially Elrond thought something had happened to the young prince but as he stepped through the door, he was shocked to see Glorfindel sprawled out unconscious on the floor. His long strides brought him to his friend’s side in a flash and he dropped down onto his knees.

"What happened?!" he snapped at Celboril and the servant cringed at Elrond’s harsh voice. "I’m sorry," the elf lord apologized quickly. He had never snapped at any of his servants before. He was not angry with Celboril, just too anxious to find out what happened.

"I-I brought breakfast for the prince... just in case he wakens and..." the servant paused to calm his breathing, "...and I saw Glorfindel..."

Elrond did a quick scan of the room and his gaze fell on the empty bed. "Where is Legolas?!"

The servant shrugged. "He was gone when I came in. I looked but couldn’t find him anywhere and I thought I should find you first to look at Lord Glorfindel. I didn’t know how badly he was hurt."

"You did the right thing," Elrond gave Celboril an encouraging smile. Diverting his attention back to Glorfindel, he searched for a pulse and fear gripped at his heart when he found it to be almost non-existent. It seemed to him that Glorfindel had been drained of all his strength, his very soul being torn away from his body. Placing his trembling hand onto the unconscious elf’s chest, Elrond searched his strength and directed it into the prone body trying to bring the elf lord around, hoping that he was not too late.

*****

The commotion woke Elladan from his slumber. Still in a daze, the older twin sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes but before he could do anything else, Elrohir came dashing into his room and dragged him off his bed.

"Wha?!" the older elf blinked in confusion and was almost pulled off balance.

"Come! Quick! I think something’s happened!" Elrohir shoved his brother out of the room as he spoke. "I heard Ada’s voice in Legolas’ room and he wasn’t happy."

The two brothers stumbled into the prince’s bedchamber just in time to see Elrond slumped over Glorfindel, and a terrified Celboril rooted to the ground next to them.

"Father!" the twins made a mad dash to their fallen father pulling him off Glorfindel. "Ada?! What’s wrong?!"

"I’m fine," Elrond brushed his sons off. "Help me get Glorfindel to the bed." The elf lord stood shakily as Elladan and Elrohir carried the blond elf to the bed and laid him down gently.

Glorfindel moaned softly and his eyes fluttered open. Four blur images floated above him and he blinked hard to clear his vision.

"What happened my friend?" Elrond’s voice trembled with exertion and soon found himself being forced into a chair placed behind him by one of his sons.

"He attacked me..." Glorfindel said unbelievingly and shook his head to clear his foggy mind.

"Who?" Elrohir asked in confusion.

"Legolas," the blond elf said blatantly.

Elrond shook his head. "It can’t be. He is too weak to even stand on his own, let alone attack someone. There must be some other explanation." Turning to Elrohir, the elf lord told his son to look for Legolas. "Find our missing friend."

"Pray tell what happened Glorfindel," Elladan prompted and propped the elf lord up on the bed.

Glorfindel started slowly, picking his words carefully.

# Glorfindel strolled into Legolas room after checking on Estel. The human was still asleep and his wounds were healing exceptionally well. His fever had broken sometime in the night and the boy was resting peacefully. Pleased with the progress, the elf lord proceeded to check on the young prince. Brushing a strand of stray hair from the pale face, the elf lord noted that Legolas was still in a deep healing sleep. His eyes were closed and his chest rose and fell in a rhythmic pace. A cool draft drifted in through the window and Glorfindel moved to close the shutters. When he turned around, he bumped into the elven prince, their faces merely a few inches apart. Taken aback, Glorfindel stumbled backwards slightly, not expecting the prince to be up and about so soon especially when he was still in no shape of getting out of bed.

"Legolas!" the elf lord gasped, "what are you doing?" Glorfindel reached for the elf’s arm but something stopped him. He froze, a sense of dread washed over him for some strange reason. Then he realized that the strange reason was in Legolas’ eyes.

Legolas advanced towards Glorfindel, forcing him against the wall. The elf lord tried to evade the prince but each of his moves was blocked expertly and he found himself being driven towards the corner of the room. #

Glorfindel shuddered involuntarily at the memory and shook himself mentally to get rid of the horrifying images. A hand on his shoulder made him jump and brought him back to the present. Elladan looked apologetically at the elf lord and pressed a cup of water into his hand. Glorfindel took the cup shakily and was forced to hold it with both his hands. Even so, his hands trembled so badly that some of the clear liquid spilled from its rim and splattered onto his tunic.

"What happened next?" Elrond was eager to find out what the prince had done to the mighty elf lord.

Glorfindel downed the water in one breath and continued, handing the empty cup back to Elladan with silent appreciation. "He was fast, faster than normally possible for an elf. And before I could do anything, he caught my wrists and slammed me against the wall, pinning my hands above my head. The next thing I know, I was lying on this bed with the four of you staring down at me." He let out a long frustrated sigh and fidgeted uncomfortably under the scrutiny of the foursome.

Elrond pushed himself off the chair and began pacing beside the bed. What went wrong? Why did Legolas suddenly turn violent? Did he overlook something? Where had the prince disappear to? So many question but no answers. The Lord of Imladris was puzzled beyond comprehension. His brows knotted tightly together and he tried to make some sense of the situation but before he could even start thinking, a blood-curling scream filled the air shattering the quiet of the morning. A chill ran down his spine at the familiar yet alien voice.

"Stay with Glorfindel!" Elrond commanded Celboril who gladly obliged. With that, the elf lord made a mad dash out of the room into the hallway with Elladan tailing closely behind.

*****

To Be Continued...

A/N: Okay, I admit that this is an evil place to stop. Please don't hurt me. :P Just remember that if you kill me, you won't get the rest of the story... *backs away slowly*