Disclaimer and Acknowledgements: As in Chapter 1

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

Chapter 26 – Friend or Foe

Elrohir wandered down the corridor in search of the missing prince. Still not believing that Legolas would attack Glorfindel, the twin tried to think of reasons why the prince would do such thing but nothing came to him. Legolas was a peaceful and gentle being. He should never hurt anyone on his own free will but what has brought him to do such a thing and why? As he approached his father’s bedchamber, he saw a figure slithered into the room from the corner of his eyes and quickly followed.

"Legolas? Is that you?" the elf called out quietly as he stepped through the entrance.

The blond figure, having been cornered in the room twirled around with an angry hiss and backed against the far wall. Elrohir let out a loud gasp when he saw the elven prince… or whom he thought to be the prince. Legolas’ eyes were no longer blue. A dark mist clouded them and the dark matter swirled sinisterly in his eyes, giving them a demonic look.

The dark haired elf moved cautiously towards the creature, thinking that he would be able to subdue Legolas in his weakened state. The creature’s eyes darted around wildly as Elrohir closed up upon him and without warning, it let out a piercing scream and lunged at the twin.

Totally unprepared for the attack, Elrohir staggered backwards against the assault and crashed into the wall. The younger twin gasped as the air was forced out of his lungs and he found himself struggling to draw in a breath. Black spots danced across his eyes and for a moment he thought he was going to pass out. Blinking hard, Elrohir tried to get his vision back into focus. He was shocked by how impossibly strong the creature was, something that he had never encountered before. The Legolas-creature gripped his wrist tightly and pinned his hands slightly above his head. Elrohir struggled and tried to break free but he couldn’t seem to find the strength to do so. He wanted to kick out but his legs had gone weak and could hardly hold him upright. An invisible force pressed against his chest and he felt his energy slowly draining out of his body. Seconds before darkness took over him, he saw his father and brother crashing into the room.

Elrond and Elladan rushed into the room just in time to see Elrohir slipped lifelessly onto the ground with Legolas still standing ramrod straight in front of the heap on the floor.

"What the..." Elladan started but before he could finish, the creature snapped around and snarled, baring its teeth at the father and son.

Elrond reached out his hand, motioning Elladan to stay behind him and approached the creature with great care, not wanting to scare it into sudden movement. Elladan stuck closely behind his father, watching with apprehension as creature moved gradually away from his twin brother. The creature let out a shrill cry suddenly and the prince’s eyes cleared before they rolled back into his head. His knees buckled and he fell limply onto the ground.

Elrond and his older son watched in horror as the terrifying event unfolded in front of them and shuddered when a chilled presence brushed past between them. Elladan rubbed his arms as goosebumps broke out on his skin. Pushing back the awkward feeling, Elladan crouched down beside the unconscious prince while Elrond went to aid Elrohir.

"He’s fine," the older twin called out to his father, "just out cold." Elladan lifted the limp body and carried him to the elf lord’s large bed, placing him on the soft mattress. "How’s Elrohir?" he asked as his father helped the dazed and confused elf sit up against the wall.

Elrohir groaned and swatted haphazardly at his father when Elrond placed his hand on the elf’s forehead. "What hit me?" he muttered as his befuddled mind tried to make sense of what happened.

"What happened, `Ro?" Elladan knelt beside his father and watched the older elf revive his younger brother.

"Huh?" the young elf responded in confusion, still groggy from the assault. Fortunately for him, the demon had just fed and did not drain as much essence from him as he did Glorfindel.

"Did Legolas attack you?" Elrond’s voice brought his son back to reality.

Elrohir shuddered. "Yes...but it was not him... there was something else... " The elf trailed off.

Elladan recalled the weird sensation and shuddered again. "Something brushed past me after Legolas collapsed. It was icy cold and... and..." the twin was at a loss of words. "It felt wrong."

"I felt it too," Elrond added solemnly. "An evil presence. But where did it come from? And where did it go?" The elf lord sighed and helped his son up shakily onto his feet. "Shall we see how Legolas is doing? Maybe we can get some answer from him."

Legolas groaned, the pain in his body seemed to have return to haunt him with a vengeance. He heard Elrond calling out to him urging him to wake and the prince blinked a few times bringing the faces in front of him into focus.

"Wha?" the wood-elf took a deep breath and winced. "What’s wrong?"

"Legolas, do you remember what happened?" Elrond sat down gently beside the elf prince and brushed a wayward strand of hair out of his face.

The young elf frowned in confusion and shook his head. "No. Did I do something wrong?"

"You attacked Glorfindel and Elrohir," Elladan said evenly.

"WHAT?!" Legolas bolted upright in the bed and fell promptly back onto the pillows, his vision swam sickeningly and pain shot through his mending arm and body.

"Don’t worry, they are both fine. Nothing a little bed-rest won’t heal." The elf lord put in quickly at the young prince’s distress. "We need to know what happened."

Legolas pushed himself up gingerly and Elladan propped him up with several pillows. Sinking into the soft pillows, Legolas sighed and began his story, starting from the unfortunate fall to when they got thrown out of the village.

"So Estel was accused of murder after he opened the box?" Elrohir interrupted from the large chair beside the bed that his father had deposited him in earlier.

Legolas nodded and thought back to the time after they pried the box open. "I felt something when the lid was lifted. A chill went through my body." The elf shivered at the memory. "I thought it was only a draft."

"Apparently not." Elrond interrupted. "You may have released something that was kept sealed in the mithril box for many millennium." The elf lord sighed and rubbed his tired eyes. "This is something that I cannot deal with alone. We must find Mithrandir. I would need his help in subduing this demon."

"I will send word for him," Elladan excused himself and left the room in a hurry.

"Now we need to find its mode of possession so that we can prevent it from happening again." The elf lord got up and started pacing back and forth in his bedchamber deep in thought. "Do you remember anything unusual after you opened the box?"

Legolas closed his eyes and searched his mind. Nothing was out of the ordinary that night. He had gone outside to sit under the stars after Aragorn finally dozed off in the healing hut. And when he returned, the human was gone. Then he remembered the chill that he felt and the uncanny silence that accompanied the feeling.

*****

To Be Continued...

A/N: No evil cliffie. *g* And sorry for short reviews. Time is precious and I can't seem to get enough of it. :P Sorry this installment came a bit late. Was busy ALL DAY and only found time to sit down at the computer. :S