Title: Fallen Leafs
By: Areli
Rated: PG
Feedback: blessedbell64@hotmail.com

Disclaimer:  Middle-earth and its characters belong to J.R.R.Tolkien.

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Chapter 13

They reached Fangorn by nightfall.   
 
Gandalf leapt off his horse and ran into the forest. Legolas stayed next to his horse on the 
ground just before the forest. Aragorn and Gimli stopped to wait for him.  
 
"Come Legolas. The horses shall be all right."  
 
"Yet I don't trust mine. He may be a spy to Saruman." Legolas said worriedly. "It is all 
right. I shall stay here."   
 
"I will stay with you." Aragorn said.  
 
"And I as well."   
 
Gandalf had been long gone and seemed to have not noticed their absence.  
 
"Tell us Legolas, what happened?" Aragorn said after a moment.   
 
Legolas stared up at the full moon and breathed in deeply.  
 
"Must I tell about it?" he asked.   
 
"Yes." Gimli said sternly. There was a long moment of silence that seemed to stretch out 
before them like an endless cloak.   
 
At long last Legolas spoke, his thoughts collected.  
 
"Saruman tempted me with the ring. He told me to use it...over and over again...he 
shouted that I put it on and join them..."  
 
"At long last I grabbed the ring. Things seemed hopeless for me at the time. That is, until 
I remembered what Gandalf had told Frodo in the Mines of Moria."   
 
"What did he say?" Gimli asked.   
 
"He said that we were to make the best of the time we had. To have hope as I thought of 
it. So I took the ring and put it on. I was cast into the world of shadows and tried to 
escape from Isengard but Saruman sensed where I was and knocked me unconsious."  
 
"I woke up on a torture rack. They wanted to mutilate me into an orc...I was of no more 
use to them..."  
 
"At the last moment Saruman told them to stop, that I would die slowly in a cold 
chamber. And as I was dragged down the halls, I saw that the ring was on a chain around 
Saruman's neck. In the darkness of the chamber the ring clattered to the ground as 
Saruman turned. It rolled towards me, as if seeking me."  
 
"I picked it up shakily and put it into my pocket before it tempted me further yet I didn't 
feel it's effects any longer. I do not know why...perhaps they have poisoned my body..."  
 
"That is simply too terrible to comprehend." Aragorn said sadly. He hugged Legolas for a 
moment. "I am so sorry my friend that we did not come sooner." Legolas smiled slightly.  
 
"At least you came at all. I am eternally greatful."   
 
They waited long into the night for Gandalf to return yet he never seemed to. Aragorn 
and Gimli began to grow drowsy and fell asleep on the ground while Legolas continued 
to look around at his surroundings, making sure they hadn't been followed and such.   
 
Gandalf suddenly appeared and stared at Legolas for a moment.   
 
"What?" Legolas asked. Gandalf continued to stare yet shook his head.  
 
"No...it is nothing..." he hopped on his horse. "Come, wake the others up, we must ride to 
Mordor now."   
 
Legolas shook the two awake and told them of their new destination. They were 
obviously less than thrilled but knew it to be their duty.   
 
Together the three rode off through Rohan's fields, directly to Mordor.
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Chapter 14

After a while the horses simply refused to go any further into Mordor. Gandalf sighed 
and told them to release them. They knew the way home.   
 
"Such evil that dwells in these lands..." Legolas breathed.  
 
"Yes there always has been." Gandalf said as they walked through the mountains of 
Mordor.   
 
"How are we to do this? I am sure it is guarded now more than ever." Aragorn said. 
"They will expect us."   
 
"I am sure we will have no troubles." Legolas said.   
 
"Oh? And you are so certain of this are you?" Gimli asked, annoyed. "And how are you 
so certain Master Elf?"   
 
"I can sense that they do not wish to be near us." Legolas said looking off into the 
distance.   
 
"I sense no such thing." Gandalf replied, walking down a slope.  
 
Legolas leapt past him gracefully and continued walking through the ranges. Soon he was 
completely alone.   
 
He kept walking, his very thoughts were completely bent on returning this ring to 
Mordor. It did not matter if he lost the others along the way.   
 
"I cannot see him!" Aragorn called to Gandalf. "Do you think he realizes that he is 
suddenly very alone?"  
 
"Perhaps he is very aware of this..." Gandalf said softly.   
 
  
 
An arrow hissed past Legolas' ear as he walked through a passage. Another one landed in 
front of him.   
 
He whipped out his bow and an arrow. Within fractions of a second, two orcs lay dead at 
his feet.   
 
"Such fools to challenge an elf..." he said in an amused tone.   
 
Two more attacked him before he reached the gates of Mordor. It was odd that only four 
total had attacked him. The gate was not guarded as well.   
 
It was more than likely a trap but Legolas did not care in the least. He walked through the 
gates after only a few moments of struggeling with opening them. There was a long dark 
path that led to the fortress deep within Mordor.  
 
Legolas went on the path and walked past the way towards Mt. Doom.   
 
  
 
"Where is he?" Aragorn yelled over the fighting that was taking place. Around thirty orcs 
had appeared out of no where and they were fighting horribly. They at least were not 
loosing.  
 
"We could certainly use his help!" Gimli snarled.   
 
Gandalf called out a spell that sent forth fire that burnt the rest of the orcs that remained 
standing.   
 
"We must hurry. He is not taking the ring to Mt. Doom." Gandalf said. Aragorn and 
Gimli looked at him in disbelief.  
 
"Then where is he taking the ring?"  
 
"To Sauron."   
 
"Traitor!" Gimli yelled.  
 
"I do not understand." Aragorn looked at the ground, dumbfounded.   
 
Had he not just saved him from the evil that had tormented him so? And now he was 
working with those that had caused him such pain. It was simply not logical in Aragorn's 
mind.  
 
"Nor do I." Gandalf said. "We must stop him." His eyes narrowed on the Man and the 
Dwarf. "At all costs."   
 
They quickened their pace but were soon stopped again when goblins and orcs attacked. 
Some other creatures appeared to join in the battle that had not been named by the people 
of Middle Earth.   
 
Legolas should have been attacked Aragorn thought.  
 
As he slayed his enemies, thought raced through his mind. The pieces came together.   
 
Legolas had been rejected by the horse since he was impure. He did not go in to Fangorn 
since the forests would give away what he truly was. He was eager to get to Mordor and 
especially cheerful for what little time they were still with him. And then he ran off and 
did not stop. It began to make sense to Aragorn.  
 
Yet one major piece went against him.  
 
Why was he near death in the dungeons of Saruman? Would Legolas really have been 
insane enough to risk dying in order to have one piece of evidence against him being a 
traitor?   
 
The battle finally stopped and they kept going. Sprinting by the end of it. To their 
surprise no monters attacked them until they reached the gates.   
 
The gate was packed with monsters trying to get to them. They backed away from the 
gate and looked for alternative roots.  
 
"We may have to fight." Aragorn said sadly.  
 
"We may die." Gandalf added. Aragorn nodded.   
 
Gimli's eyes filled with the fire of battle. He was ready for death. He had been since he 
had seen Moria. There was no future for him.   
 
"Then let them open the gates. We shall beat them back!" Gimli yelled.   
 
The gates opened as if on cue.  
 
Monsters swarmed them like a tidal wave. They were sputtering before they could react.   
 
Still, they managed to regain their composure and were beating off every monster that 
came to them.   
 
Things were going well for them after a while. Yet the monsters did not seem to stop 
coming.   
 
The battle raged for one hour...then another...it seemed that it would never end.  
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Chapter 15

Legolas was bowing before the eye of Sauron when they heard the shrieks of the 
ringwraiths. They burst into the main chamber where Sauron and Legolas were and 
walked up to them in great haste.  
 
What news? Legolas "heard" Sauron ask.   
 
"They refuse to accept. Thranduil will send an army after Legolas." a wraith said.   
 
"Father..." Legolas murmered. For a moment he wondered why he was doing this. For a 
small moment he remembered that he was Legolas, prince of Mirkwood, son of 
Thranduil.   
 
The moment passed and Legolas was once again, a slave to Sauron's will.  
 
You have the ring do you not Legolas? Sauron asked.   
 
"Yes." Legolas said, drawing the ring out. He held it up towards the eye.   
 
Give my ring to me Legolas.   
 
Legolas hesitated. Thoughts of his father merged into his mind.   
 
Legolas! Sauron's voice roared. The ground shook.  
 
The ringwraiths drew around Legolas, their swords drawn.   
 
"Give our master the ring..." they commanded.   
 
Legolas' hand quivered slightly as it slowly went towards Sauron. For a moment, nothing 
moved except Legolas.   
 
All stopped and watched.   
 
Legolas suddenly seemed to snap out of it. The look of realization crossed his face as he 
suddenly pulled the ring back towards him.   
 
"No!" he yelled putting the ring into his pocket and grabbing his bow and arrows.   
 
FOOL! Sauron's voice boomed. Give me my ring!   
 
"No!" Legolas repeated as he shot at the wraiths. He ran through the main chamber and 
leapt down the flight of stairs.  
 
Get me my ring!! he heard Sauron yell to the wraiths.   
 
Their shrieks plagued the foul air as Legolas broke out into a mad dash for any exit. Yet 
he found that they were all sealed off.  
 
He could not win.   
 
The wraiths approached him. He shot at them with deadly accuracy yet more wraiths that 
he had never seen before began to appear from behind the wraiths he had shot.   
 
At long last one wraith grabbed Legolas' bow and tossed it to the other side of the room. 
Legolas grabbed his swords and began to fight with those.   
 
  
 
Aragorn weaved his way through the thousands of orcs and goblins all running towards 
the castle. The monsters had suddenly stopped attacking and began to run towards the 
castle. They all seemed to hear the cry of their masters and were more than eager to help. 
  
 
The three companions knew all too well that Legolas was within that castle and more 
than likely giving the ring to Sauron.   
 
Aragorn simply couldn't believe that Legolas was a traitor. A large part of him believed 
that Legolas was still his ally. He only hoped that he could get the ring from Legolas and 
"snap him out of it" as it were.   
 
"Legolas!" Aragorn yelled to no one. He would never make it in time...  
 
  
 
"Give us the ring Leoglas..." a wraith ordered Legolas.   
 
"Never!" Legolas shouted, slashing every wraith he could see.   
 
More creatures suddenly flooded the room that they were in. A small circle of space 
surrounded Legolas, leaving him in the middle of a room filled with creatures ready to 
kill him.   
 
His swords shook in his hands as he glared at his enemies. He knew they would kill his 
body and take the ring.   
 
All was lost and it was his fault.

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