Reighn O'Haire stared into the fire before her, not seeing it. If you looked close enough, you could see that her eyes were unfocused. Her mind wandered to the magical web that created the earth, melding her spirit with the earth's. Her mind flew over tree and rock to a place she had never seen before. This place was ancient. She recieved a mental picture and gasped at the sight of Rivendell, home of Elrond. Reighn had read the books, and had felt that they had more fact to them than most thought. In fact, even now she wore tan riding breeches and tall black boots, along with a dark green elven tunic and tan undershirt. But her mind was not on clothing. She had felt a disturbance in th ley lines of the web, which meant that a new power had just awakened, and she had tracked it here.
    Her mind floated past faces she should have recognized, and she did. A door opened, and she felt the strong pull of new magic within, she entered the room spiritually, and was surprised at what she saw. There, on the bed lay a sleeping elf maiden, tossing and turning. Somehow, her nightmares had awoken her power, and for Reighn to have felt it from so far in the future, then this woman must have a great potential.
    Her mind suddenly snapped back to her body and she backed away from the fire. She slung her Celtic made bow and quiver of arrows onto her back once more, and strapped a wicked looking sword there as well. She pulled on a long, hooded dark green cloak and whistled. Out of the dark came her dark dapple-gray stallion, Shadow Walker. He stopped in front of her and she mounted, turning his head in the direction if a familiar ruin. A circle of ancient stones.
    Once there Reighn dropped the reigns in front of the last standing archway and began to chant in an older version of gaelic. She pulled glowing green strands of power from the ley lines and wove them together to form a gate. it stood, glowing around her, and in the center, showed the entrance to Rivendell's valley. She smiled grimly and urged Shadow Walker through. She had begun the mission to find this new power and teach its weilder to use it, before she killed someone, or someone evil took over her vunerable mind....

Jairah woke up with a gasp, her body shooting up in the bed. the bedcovers, made of elven-silk, slipped off her small form as she recoiled into the headboard of the bed, and started to shiver. She was clad only in a thin nightgown of white gossamer, her long blonde hair had been released of its usual retraints (she kept styled away from her face most of the time because she could not have it flying in her face, missing her aim with her bow and arrow.), and it was flowing down her shoulders, as she shivered mightily. Her lover, Legolas, was not in the bed beside her.

She had chosen to go to her sleep early in the evening, and he had remained awake, speaking with Elrond. They had only arrived in
Rivendell a few days prior, and much was to be talked about.

She rose from the bed gently, and grabbed her robe of blue silk, wrapped it around her tightly, left the room, barefoot, in search of Legolas. Only he could calm the fear inside.

The nightmares had been coming more and more frequently since they'd arrived in Rivendell. For so long, they'd been on a journey, and that journey had seperated them and finally they were reunited a month ago, in Lothlorien. They had seperated from the rest of the old Company, all save Aragorn, who had journeyed with them here to Rivendell, for it was his home.

And then the nightmares had come. Jairah couldn't even begin to describe the horror of them, she couldn't even describe them at all. It was as if she was drowning, trapped under the black waters of Moria perhaps, and she was being pulled down into the darkness. It made her so afraid, and uneasy.

She ran down the steps, her bare feet barely making a sound as she descended them, looking wildly for Legolas. He was in the main room, speaking softly with Elrond and Aragorn, who had Arwen sitting at his side.

Legolas, who was listening as Aragorn and Elrond spoke, sensed Jairah's fear as she came nearer to him. His head turned to the staircase before she'd reached it, and watched as she came into view and flew down the stairs. He opened his arms as she ran to him, a blur of blue and white, and blonde hair. She reached him and threw herself on her knees down on the floor in front of his chair. He put his arms around her.

She was trembling horribly. He smoothed her hair back as she looked up to him, her face troubled and teary. He felt the fear inside of her.

"What is it, my love?" he asked her urgently. She'd been having nightmares ever since the second night in Rivendell, and even though he'd always been able to console her back to sleep, her face never looked as frightened as it did now.

Jairah could not speak, only press herself into Legolas' body, hugging him around the midsection. He kissed the top of her head, tried to comfort her. He spoke to her in their language, words of comfort, and of love. He stroked her head.

She would not stop shaking. Her long hair was spilling into his lap, and reached almost to the floor, she was in danger of sliding onto it. Legolas' loved Jairah's hair, and also did not want it touching the floor.

He gently pushed her back, making her release her embrace from around his torso. He bent down and picked her up, into his strong arms, and he looked her in the eyes.

"Another nightmare?" he asked in their Sylvan-tongue.

She did not speak, only nod her head, and then lean it on his shoulder. He did not like the way she was trembling.

He looked at Elrond, Aragorn, and Arwen, who were all watching with concern. Elrond, who understood the language of the Silver Elves, looked at Jairah with the most concern.

"These dreams have been plaguing you ever since you arrived, Jairah, daughter of Sandros." he said, rising from his chair and walking over to Legolas and Jairah, who was still in Legolas' arms. He put a hand on her forehead and shut his eyes.

He was trying to see inside her head, to see the nightmares, but for some reason he saw nothing but the trees of Lothlorien, sprinkling their golden leaves to the ground, and the image of Legolas. Not a bit of darkness did he see that would have been the remnants of the nightmares.

He removed his hand and stroked her hair. "Take comfort, Lady Jairah." he said with a smile. "The nightmares will not stay long. This is a joyous time for you, take heart."

She tried to smile at him, in gratitude, but the fear was still gripping her heart. She looked at Aragorn, and Arwen, who were leaving the room quietly, then to Legolas, who was looking at her, his eyes full of concern and love.

Elrond's hand left her face, and he started to up the stairs from whence Jairah had came, and he disappeared.

Legolas kissed Jairah's cheek and sat down in his chair again, with her arms still wound about his neck.

"What was it this time?" he said to her, in the Sylvan tongue again. He tucked one side of her long hair behind her pointed ear. He let his fingers run through the length of it before placing the hand around her waist.

Jairah shook her head. She'd stopped trembling.

"Blackness, Legolas, the same blackness. The same feeling, of hope dying and being drowned in thick black water. Something evil is in my mind, something horribly evil."

She shuddered, and he kissed her on the forehead. "Nothing evil will be able to touch you." he said softly. "Not as long as I am here."

The ice of fear around her heart started to break as he kissed her. She felt herself relaxing, as she always did she she was in the arms of her lover. She leaned her head on his shoulder again, and they sat in the chair, quiet for a moment.

Her thoughts drifted to what Lord Elrond had said. This was to be a joyous time for her, and Legolas. In a week they were to be married here, in the great hall. The hobbits and Gimli were coming, and Gandalf was to perform an ancient ceremony of the Sylvin people, uniting their souls together. Legolas' father, King Thranduil, was also to attend.

They sat there, quietly, untill Legolas broke the silence.

"It is late, love." he whispered. "Let's go take some rest now, shall we?"

She nodded, and he rose, with her still in his arms, and carried her up to their room.

    Reighn waited for two more days, recovering from the immense power drain that creating the gate had caused. As she did this, she watched over the woman that held the new power. She learned that her name was Jairah, lover of Legolas. She was better migically of the third day, but still physically worn when she sensed it. And evil shadow had somehow made it across the borders of Rivendell, and was heading straight for the blonde elf. Reighn's bright green eyes flew open in shock and she quickly tossed her long mane of deep red hair into a low ponytail before grabbing her weapons and letting out a shrill whistle. Shadow cantered up, bareback, but she did not spend the time to tack him. She jumped up onto his back and urged him foreward into a gallop, heading straight into the valley, hoping she'd get there in time.

    Jairah felt more refreshed than she had in days. Somehow, the dreams had not come the night before, giving her the most rest she'd had in weeks. She was in fact waiting for the other members of the fellowship to arrive. She walked in the gardens with Arwen, a smile on her face that had dissapeared on the first night of the dreams. Her heart felt lightened and she prayed that the dreams had left her for good.
    But what happened by the gazebo no one had expected. There, she and Arwen were attacked - Or rather, she was attacked, Arwen was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. They screamed as the shadow blasted them magically. Legolas, Aragorn and Elrnd came running to see what the commotion was. And what they saw, shocked them. A large, black shadow stood over the two elves, its eyes glowing red. Legolas shot an arrow at it, but it passed through the shadow harmlessly. The men looked at each other helplessly as the shadow walked closer to Jairah, strangely ignoring the other elvin woman. What they needed was Gandalf and his magic, but that was not what they got.
    A blast of pure green magical energy shot passed the three men and struck the shadow, the force of the impact throwing the creature into a tree. A tall gray stallion charged passed on his rider vaulted off his back and stood in front of Jairah, a wicked silver sword in her gloved hand. She wore a dark green tunic of unknown origins, and her deep red hair created a splash of color. She raised her free hand, gathering energy from the earth around her and preparing to throw it at the shadow.
"Who are you," she questioned the being in a deadly voice.
The shadow hissed, "Celt.."
"Aye," she replied, "I am a Celt, now answer the question!"
The shadow hissed again and roiled in anger, "I am Krassssh'nak, ssssevant of the Dark Lord Ssssauron."
Her eyes narrowed, "Well Demon of Fire, what are you here to retrive?"
The shadow hissed angrily, "I am here for the one that callssss hersssself Jairah. My masster wishesss the use of her powerss."
"Shadow you try my paitence," she said, "Go back to your master and tell him he will not have the New!"
"Never," she shadow screamed shrilly, "If I do not sssuceed my masster will continue to plaque her mind with dreamsss."
"But you will still be dead," the woman said and throw the maigc blast at the creature.
The creature screamed and retaliated by throwing magical fire at her. she dodged and charged him, the blade in her right hand began to glow with a white light, celtic runes on its side glowing with fire. She brought the blade up and swung, the creature's head came off. Elrond's eyes widened as he recognized the ancient celtic blade, "Athair..."

    Reighn stood silent for a moment before resheathing the blade on her back and turned. She walked over to Jairah and knelt, speaking in her thick celtic accent, "Are you alright New One?"
The blonde elf stared at her and spoke, "W-what did you call me?"
A look crossed her face, "You don't know.."
"Know what," Jairah asked.
"That your powers have awakened. That is what has called me here," she replied, "I am Reighn O'Haire, come to train you to control your powers."
"P-powers," the elf stuttered, and then groaned, "I knew I should have listened to my mother about all of that earth magic stuff."
"You did not belive it," Reighn asked in shock, "But you must have it in your veins to weild the power!"
"I don't understand," Jairah whispered.
Reighn sighed, "I will show you." She placed a hand on the elf's shoulder and closed her eyes, recovering images and memories long forgotten.

    "Ma!"
"I'm here child," Seldria spoke, exiting the forest. A small girt about eight ran to her, "I thought you'd left me mama!"
"Of course not love," the woman said, smiling, "Never."
The little girl smiled, "Where are Daddy and Misha?"
The woman's eyes saddened, "Daddy and Misha aren't coming home..."
Tears filled the girl's eyes and she stared at her mother, "Why Mama?"
"The Shadows got them baby," she answered.
The green eyes opened wide in shock, "Why?"
"Their master wants the Celts to dissapear, because only we have the power to stop her."
"We do?"
"Aye," the woman sat down, "Long ago our ancestors developed a strong sense of the good and just, they kept mainly to themselves, and allowed their existence to be forgotten by mortals and immortals. Then the Lady Challan came, seeking their power, for our ancestors had developed a power to use the earth's life force to fight for good. They refused though, seeing the evil in her. The sorceress mad herself immortal, and so, the King Dahlin created Athair, the sword of light. This sword was created to kill the shadows mortally, instead of magically, and it held magic, magic so strong that it would be able to kill the evil witch.
    But it did not go as planned, Dahlin wounded the sorceress, making her dissapear for centuries, until now. The Sorceress Challan has returned to seek revenge on our people, and she succeeds. We fight her, but we do not have the power. You have been trained your whole life in the ways of the earth and its magic, and when your power awakens, you will be giving the sword Athair, which has been handed down in our family for generations... From the very hands of Dahlin."

    And so the child learned more, until she came to the age of twelve, and the shadows attacked. Her mother fought, killing many, but was taken in the end, and as she crouched in the corner, frightened, the sword awoke! Her power awakened and the wild magic destroyed everything but herself and the sword. She spent many years training to control the magic, and when she succeeded, she began to hunt the shadows...

    "Who are you," Jairah asked when they visions left her mind.
Reighn turned sad eyes to the elf, "I am that child Lady Jairah. I am Princess Reighn O'Haire, Heir of Dahlin and weilder of the sword Athair...."

Nobody had moved since Reighn had killed the shadow creature, all save for Arwen, who had recoiled as soon as Reighn had stepped in front of Jairah. She'd gone running for her father and Aragorn. She was a strong elf, but even this shadow had struck fear into her heart.

Legolas watched the strange creature with the red hair, kneeling in front of Jairah, with her hand on her shoulder. Jairah's body shook as the girl passed her memories to Jairah, and when she was finally released, Jairah moved back, away from the girl, slightly afraid.

Then the girl announced her name, "Reighn". She carried a beautiful sword, which was now sheathed at her side.

Legolas took this moment to run to Jairah's side and pick her up protectively. "Who are you?" he asked, a bit angrily.

Reighn turned her gaze onto Legolas for the first time. "Legolas," she said, with a small smile on her face. "I mean her no harm, please do not fear me." She said. "I am here to help."

Legolas narrowed his eyes at her, he did not trust her, though she did protect Jairah from the shadow. He looked at Jairah, who was breathing fast in his arms, still frightened.

"It said it was a servant of Sauron!" Jairah said. "But Sauron is destroyed!" The name of Sauron caused everyone fear in their hearts, except Reighn.

Reighn shook her head. "No. He still lingers. It is true that he is very weak, with the Ring of Power being destroyed. But he is seeking all power left, all magical power. Jairah posesses in her blood, a power so old and powerful that Sauron would use it to re-emerge."

(Author: Alasia)

    They stared at her when Elrond spoke, "That is Athair is it not?"
Her eyes flashed up to the elf Lord, "Aye."
"How can you weild it? And what do you mean power," Elrond spoke.
A slight smile flickered over Reighn's lips, "Jairah knows who I am, and what the power she holds is. I would introduce myself properly. I am Princess Reighn O'Haire, Heir of Dahlin and wielder of the sword Athair."
Elrond gripped the railing by which he stood, "A true Celt then."
She smiled and tucked loose hair behind her ear, revealing an intracate celtic dragon tattoo on her neck, it was small, but it was there, "Aye.
I am a true Celt. We are few, but we live."
"But they no longer exhist..."
"They do," she said, "If we did not then I would not be here."
"What do you mean," Aragorn asked, staring.
"I am from thousands of years in the future. I am the only one strong enough to feel your power awaken Jairah," Reighn said, then
addressed the entire group, "Sauron can steal her power as long as it stays wild and untrained. I have come to teach her to control and use the Power."
"What if I don't want to learn," Jairah said.
Reighn's eyes saddened, "Then I fear that Sauron will get ahold of the Power and destroy us all with it. The power you now weild is stronger than even that of Galadriel. You have Celtic blood in your veins, or you would not weild the Power at all."
"What is this power," Legolas questioned, pulling Jairah into his arms.
"The Power is the power to draw on the earth for magical power. The stronger your ability the more you can do. The Celts are healers, we heal the earth when it hurts, and we fight the neverending darkness that threatens it. Jairah now holds the power to making a dieing sapling grow and flourish. With training she could eventually be able to regrow entire forests and heal lands the size of Mordor," Reighn responded.
"Can you do this," Arwen asked in curiosity.
Reighn smiled, "Aye. I have trained for this my entire life. I came into power when I was ten, I have had Athair by my side since then. When my home was destroyed I took to the forest and the earth and Athair taught me to use my powers. - she faltered - I am the Heir of Dahlin, therefore I hold the responsibility of my people, a lot wieghs heavily on my shoulders."
"Will the dreams go away," Jairah asked.
Reighn turned to her, "They will. I will sheild you while you learn, until you are strong enough to sheild yourself."

Legolas watched as Jairah paced in their room. She was clearly troubled. They had made their way to their room after the meeting with the mysterious Reighn. Jairah had been unable to sit still, though he begged it of her.

"I did not ask for such powers. I do not want them!" she cried, wringing her hands and pulling on her long hair. "And Sauron! He lingers! After we all endured such heartache and suffering to make sure that he never again would bring terror to Middle-Earth. All the time we spent apart..." she trailed off, and kept pacing.

"How do we know we can trust this Reighn?" Legolas asked her softly, his eyes following her back and forth as she walked the cool marble floor.

Jairah stopped suddenly and looked at him. "We must. We have to. If what she says is true, then we must trust her. The shadow was familar to me, Legolas. Familiar. That is what has haunted me in my dreams, that is the blackness i spoke of. I recongnize it now."

She started pacing again. "Of course, Elrond knows what she is. And if Elrond trusts her, we must also. I saw inside her memories, she revealed them to me. Those shadows took her family, Legolas. That is how she came to be what she is now, a rogue of some sort. She is quite powerful."

"She said she could make you quite powerful, that you posess the most power of all of her people..." Legolas said slowly.

Jairah stopped pacing again. "But thats precisely the thing, my love." she said, smiling sadly. "I do not know if i wish to powerful. She said i was more powerful than Galadriel. And there is no elf more powerful nor wise than Galadriel. And now the power that lies in the blood in my veins, it can overshadow her.... i do not wish for that."

Jairah sat down on the end of the bed in a sort of frustrated huff. Her hair was falling over her shoulder again and she angrily pushed it away.

"I feel like shooting something, anything," she said, angrily. She looked over to where her bow and arrow sat against the wall, longing to take it out and wield an arrow into the deep of a tree.

The anger in Jairah disturbed Legolas. She rarely was angry. Fear was the most common emotion that she had outside of any other. He moved and sat next to her on their bed, touching her hair gently.

"It will be alright." he said softly. "This power runs through you, so you must learn to use it. I would beg you to learn..." he whispered as she looked at him, wide-eyed.

"If what Reighn said was true, Jairah, " he said. "If you do not learn to use this power that was borne with you, then Sauron could take it. He could take you." His words faultered him as he spoke the last sentence, touching her hair again softly. "I would beg for you to learn from her, all you can. But i say so for my own selfish reasons. I could not bear it if you were lost. It would be the end of me."

Jairah looked at him tenderly. "If this is what you ask of me, then i will do it. But not for Middle-Earth, for you. Because that is what you ask. I could not deny you anything." She leaned forward and kissed him gently, then they embraced.

*******

Reighn smiled as she listened to the conversation that the Elven-lovers had had. She had been counting on the persuasion of Legolas to convince Jairah that she needed to learn to use the power in her blood.

As she now patrolled the borders of Rivendell fast, she marvelled at how beautiful the place was again. She hoped that she could prevent any evil from crossing these borders again.

    "Are you sure you want to do this Jairah?"
The blonde elf looked up at Aragorn, "No. But I haven't got a choice."

"You're right, you don't"

The council chamber fell silent as they looked ar Reighn, she moved into the room, face carefully blank. Now that she was clean and wearing armor that was retrieved from the campsite just outside Rivendell, she looked like nothing they had ever seen. She wore a tall necked blackened ring mail shirt, its sleeves baggy like an oversize t-shirt that reached her elbows, and the shirt split at her belt line, the slits on either side were made for easier riding, and she wore a tight black undershirt. Her hands were gloved in strong, yet soft black leather and she wore black breeches that disappeared into black knee-high boots. Her mahogany (AN: closest color I could find to describe the color - only it's slightly brighter than that) was bound into a low ponytail with a wide strip of leather and her piercing green eyes watched their reactions.
    She had spent the night watching all of them, and placing them into different categories of harmless, dangerous, deadly, and
don't-make-him-mad. She quickly sized up the Dwarf that was staring at her, he had not been there last night. Nor had the wizard in white, but she could sense his power, and realized that he would make a good ally. She looked at Jairah, "We begin... Now."
The elf's eyes widened, "W-what are we going to do first?"
Reighn looked at the others out of the corner of her eye and spoke, "First you are going to connect yourself to the earth, so that you can sense other magical presences. Then when you have found your center, I will teach you how to block out the overpowering sense of magic."
"Okay."
Reighn turned, "Come, we must be outside."
    The Celtic woman led Jairah outside and to a grove of trees. And much to the shock of all the others she had a forest green over tunic waiting there. She removed her weapons (a dagger and throwing knives) and then she removed the ring mail shirt, replacing it with the tunic. She looked over to Jairah, "You cannot do this with weapons in the circle, take them off."
It was a command and so, Jairah did what she was told, and follwed Reighn to the center of the grove and knelt in front of her. Reighn opened her eyes and looked into Jairah's, "You cannot do this without a guide. Finding your center is the most important and most difficult of the training. I will be filtering my training of blocking your senses from magical energy, and you will subconciously do it, you will know how to use this sense, and find your focus so you can walk the ley lines."
She took both of Jairah's hands in her now ungloved ones, "Close your eyes. Look deep into yourself. Look for a source of light. It will be a colour, when you find it, tell me the color."
Jairah moved into herself, searching for this light, and when she found it, it was a sight to behold. Her spiritual self stood in front of a
crystaline pedistal, and floating above it was a pulsing orb of light. It flickered between withe and a shade between amber and red. "It's an odd red-amber color," she said softly.
Reighn smiled at this, "The color of your core determines what out of the earth you can control. In your case, you can use fire to your advatange, and reform the earth. You will be able to move mountains in time.... Now, touch the orb."
Jairah did as she was told, and she felt a jolt and suddenly appeared in a place that held a glowing silver blue energy in the form if a web, brancing out in all directions, and connecting. She opened her amber eyes and was surpirsed to see Reighn standing in front of her, her clothes solid white. Jairah looked down at herself and nitoticed that her clothes were white as well.
Reighn spoke, voice echoing, "Welcome to the web. This is the source of our magic, each line is a ley line, these you can draw on to aid your magic, so that you do not pull on your life energy. Where we stand not is the Center. This is where our Power comes from. We are all connected to it, the web will come to your defense at all times, but the effects can be devistating, and it does not do it unless you are in complete peril."
"Ah, the new one."
Jairah looked up to see a tall ice blue eyed man walking toward them. His white hair was pure as snow, and reached his waist, his clothing was white. He walked along one of the lines. Reighn smiled, "Athair..."
He smiled when he reched them, "Hello child."
"Who?"
He smiled at the elf and spoke, "Why, I am the sword Athair. I am a spirit sword, a magical being created by the power of the First, with the aid of the web itself."
"Athair is the one who trained me Jairah," Reighn spoke, "Well, he and the web taught me. When he was a human, many lifetimes ago he was a fire-caller like you are. I suspected this because of the shade of your eyes. I cannot teach you to weild the magic, I can only teach you to harness it. Fire is not one of my powers. Athair has offered to teach you."
Jairah nodded, "Then I am centered?"
"Aye," Reighn smiled, "I must tell you one thing, When you leave the web you will be both mentally and physically drained, this exhaustion will dissapear with the control you will gain and as you gain experiance in walking the Web. Athair can only teach you here, because he only exhists in his true form on this plane. He will meet you in your dreams."
"But the nightmares?"
Here Athair spoke, "Rieghn has all the powers except the one you wield - you will learn of these as well - onee of which is Dream-weaving. While I teach you to block out the Sense she will enter the part of your mind that contains your dreams, even though you cannot remember them. For these nightmares to come to you the one doing so must have something attached to you in some way, because he could not without a source, because the Web protects its people. She will find the source and find a way to retrieve it."
"Aye," Reighn spoke, "I will leave you now, because I will be of no use. You will not feel me in your mind."
With these last words, she dissapeared in a flash of green light.

*****

    When Reighn exited the Web she nearly collapsed. Holding Jairah to the center and transferring the control of it had taken more out of her than she was willing to admit. When her breating eased she sat straight again and took Jairah's hands again. The elf's eyes were closed and her face was clam and relaxed. Reighn took a deep breath and closed her eyes, allowing herself to be pulled into Jairah's mind by the torment that covered the depths of it. Her spirit-self reappeared in the recurring nightmare, and the green eyed woman watched it for a moment before begining to trace the connection to Jairah's mind. The glowing strand of energy led her for a long time, and to her it felt like eternity. She felt herself pass into a realm where the land was sick and dieing, the ley lines thinning. She was blasted of a vision of a tall volcanoe, a castle set into its side. She was led into it and into a room.
    She was shocked at what she saw. The strand of energy connected to a man, one who was unconcious and bleeding. And orc to her right spoke and to her it sounded like shouting in a canyon, "WHy did Sauron ever resserect him anyway?"
"We do not question our master," another hissed.
Reighn turned to the man, pushing their words away from her mind. This man did look like he had been touched by death, yet he was young and srtong. Suddenly she felt a yank on her spirit form and she was pulled from Jairah's mind and into the man's. His thoughts were tormented and she learned his name. Images swirled around in confusion... This man, he was so confused and hurting. Through the darkness she could see a form standing in the center of the madness, it was the man, in the center of it all. Then she noticed that she was the only spot of pure light in this mind. She walked toward him, and she saw him kneel on on knee his face in his hands as he tried to sort it all out.
    She reached him and placed a hand on his bare shoulder, his head snapped up and he looked at her with wide, serene brown eyes. Everything around him froze, and she subconciously began to put things back where they belonged. She knelt next to him and noticed the tearstains on his cheeks. She whiped them away with her glowing thumbs and kissed his forehead. He was staring at her, the torment within him begining to calm. Reighn spoke, "Hello Boromir of Gondor."
His eyes widened, "W-who are you?"
She smiled, the action calming him, "I am a friend."
"I don't understand."
"I have traveled far on the spirit planes to find you," she explained, "You have been ressurected, your thoughts are confused because of this. The torment you feel is that of being used by the Dark Lord Sauron to cast evil dreams into Jairah, daughter of Sandros. The pain you feel is the physical torture being put to your body."
She pulled him to his feet and he looked around in awe. His thoughts were clicking into place, and he became aware of what was real and what was not - and this was real, "Will you not tell me why?"
"Shhh," she whispered, placing a finger over his lips, "I have found you, and I will not leave you alone. I know now what is going on, and I have begun the process of healing your mind. You must do the rest."
"I-"
Her eyes sparkled at the handsome man before her, and she began to fade, her energy dpeleated "I must leave you here, but I will not be gone. If you need me, call my name in your mind and I will come.... I am called Reighn."
She faded completely and Boromir was left standing there, his world lighter. SHe was gone, yet he could still feel her there with him, and he was comforted.

    Reighn had spent two days in exhaustion, but she continued to train Jairah. She had somehow come to the conclusion that she would never have any time for herself. She still hadn't figured out a way to rescue Boromir from Mordor, and the worry was eating her alive. She had been in contact with Athair for a little over half the day, him giving her updates on Jairah's progress. She sat in the gazebo, rain pouring down, exhausted, she was unable to move from the sudden overload of her senses when she came back from the Web. She was hit with blurred vision, freezing and her legs had turned to jelly from sitting for so long. So, she had collapsed to her knees, and sunk into a
cross-legged position. She sat there for two hours, regaining her energy and marveling at how the rain fell sofly on the tree overhead, and caused a grey mist to overtake Rivendell, making it look so magical and romantic. That was when she felt it.
    The mental pull hit her with such force that she sat bolt upright and stared at nothing, wide-eyed. Then she heard her name being called and she knew that it was Boromir. She went into a trance almost immediately and followed the line that now connected him to her.

*****

    Boromir had regained his sense of touch, and now he truly felt the physical pain that had once been a dull sensation. His thoughts began to roil again as Sauron entered his mind again, and he screamed a single word: Reighn.
    he was kneeling by the time she got there. Tears were streaming down his face as he tried to fight against Sauron. She quickly walked to his side, place her hand on his shoulder and gave him her light, her strength. He felt the burst of warmth and strength and lashed out at the unwanted presence. Sauron drew back, startled, shocked that one with such a ruined mind could still fight back. Boromir fell forward onto his hands, breathing hard from the exertions of trying to keep what was his. He felt warm, comfprting arms surround him, and he was filled with light. He turned to see Reighn kneeling there next to him and he wrapped his arms around her waist, laid on his side and placed his head in her lap, not wanting to let go of the light.
    Reighn smiled at the man holding onto her and stroked his hair, whispering to him that it was alright, that nothing could hurt him. He was trembling, and his emotional state had collapsed. She sighed inwardly and began to push his mental state back into the right places gently. It was like a big jigsaw puzzle, one that she knew the pieces to by heart. She sent out mental images of calming things, of warm breezes and green trees, of laughter, and love. She was giving him memories, ones that she held dear, and whether she wanted to admit it or not, she had given herself to him fully. She had surrendured her soul unconsciously when she had found him, lensing him strength, and now, she gave him love.
    Boromir had stopped trembling as things began to move back into place and he recived happy images from the woman who had so willingly helped him free himself from the prison that was his mind. She had rescued him that day when she appeared, glowing from the inisde out and placing warmth and light on everything around. He'd thought about her often when he felt the darkness try to pull him back into it, and her light had come up from somewhere to engulf him, and he was thankful for it, and he loved her in return for her strength when he had none.
    Reighn suddenly pulled out of his grasp and he turned to stare up at her. She streched out next to him, and laid her head on his bare shoulder, speaking softly, "I will find a way to free you from this prison..."
He in reply wrapped an arm around her and whispered the only words that came to him, "Thank you fro giving me your light."
He felt her smile as much as the light that came from her grew brighter at her happiness. She felt glad that he knew how to call on the light of good, whether it was through her or through himself. She knew that he was fragile, both inside and out, and she knew suddenly what she had to do to rescue him from Sauron's clutches. But now? Now was to be spent with Boromir, here in this place, in thier dreams and minds, spirits melding as they prjected their feelings to the other without knowing it. She would stay here, and she would meld sheilds around his mind to blck Sauron out before she grew enough strength magically to build a two way portal. And she would stay here until she knew the sheilds she wrought around him even now would hold. And she felt her strength returning as the Web responded to their feelings, to the need that projected from both of them that they did not know they had.

Boromir longed for love and light.

Reighn longed for arms to hold her, for the chance to settle down in one spot for the rest of her days.

And their longings reached for each other.

*****

    When Reighn returned to her physical self she was in a large comfortable bed, with many faces surrounding her. Jairah sat on the bed, and Legolas stood behind his lover, a hand on her shoulder to give her strength. Gandalf and Elrond were off somewhere mentally, Aragorn was asleep, his head resting on Arwen's, who slept in her lover's arms. Gimli had fallen asleep in a chair, and was snoring loudly. She allowed her eyes to flutter open, smiling for the first time in many years - Really smiling. She sat up and to the startlment of everyone, Jairah let out a shriek of surprise that snapped everyone back to the room. Reighn was clothed completely in white, which turned black as she usually wore. On her arm she wore a burgundy armband of cloth.... The color the Celts used to signify either blood-fued or that their soul was taken. In her case, both were true.
    She stood and walked put of the room, retrieving Athair from its piosition on the wall, she strapped the sword around her waist and donned her bow and quiver. She walked, the others following. When she came to a halt at the doors leading to the hall of healing she stopped. She turned to Jairah, "Will you help me?"
"Help you?"
"Aye," Reighn replied, "Will you lend my your magical energy to keep the gateway I'm about to create up?"
"Of course," Jairah said, and then, as an afterthought, "But why here."
Reighn's eyes flashed, "I'm going to retrieve someone who will need extensive medical care, and days of solid sleep."
Jairah only nodded and Reighn linked them together so that she could use Jairah's gathered magical strength. She turned to the doorway and began to chant in old-gaelic. A green celtic knot appeared below her and she gathered the strands of magic and wove them into the gateway. It glowed bright white for a moment and she did not wait, she ran through, sword drwan.

******

    The gate appeared in the open doorway that led to the chamber that Boromir was being held in. She entered the room, killing the two orcs on guard one after the other. She ran to the cell and magically unlocked the door. She flung in open and knelt by his side, "Boromir?"
His soulful brown eyes opened at the sound of her voice and widened, "R-reighn."
She smiled a little, "In the flesh. Come, we must leave here before Sauron gets wind of my intrusion."
She helped him sit up, wincing at the open wounds that covered him, She put his arm around her shoulder and stood, walking slowly toward the gate. They reached it and stepped through it, just as Sauron reached the room.

    They fell through the portal and it snapped shut just as Sauron reached it. The group surrounding them stared openly and Jairah
stuttered, "B-boromir...."

(Author: Jennzah)

Reighn pushed everyone back with her mind. Only Jairah remained in the circle with Reighn and Boromir, and Jairah's eyes were open wide at the sight of Boromir, laying on the floor.

Legolas was the first to move. He pulled his bow out and aimed it at Boromir. "She has brought back a ghost!" he cried. "That is not Boromir!"

Reighn quickly stepped in front of Boromir protectively. She moved her hand slightly, and the bow was pulled from Legolas' hands and thrown to the wall. "No!" she cried. "It is the very same Boromir you once knew. I will not explain it now. He needs to be attended to! He needs rest!" She was staring at Legolas angrily, her green eyes fixed on his blue ones, when Jairah's knees gave out from under her and she fell to the ground.

Her eyes had rolled up into her head, from extreme exhaustion. Lending her powers to Reighn, who had performed such a huge feat as to pull Boromir though the threads of magic had been the final straw, she was tired from training as well. All her Elven-strength had left her.

Legolas went forward immediately after she fell, and touched her forehead. Usually he could see inside her head, feel her feelings, and most of all when he touched her, but he felt nothing but a damp, sweaty forehead and this frightened him.

"Elrond!" he called urgently. She was breathing, so she was not dead, but he was afraid that she was not inside herself, that Reighn had taken her powers and along with it, lost Jairah along the way.

Elrond knelt at her side, and touched her forehead as well. Legolas studied his face as Elrond closed his eyes and tried to see inside of Jairah's head.

Elrond opened his eyes, and looked at Reighn, who was busy watching over Boromir, then back at Legolas, whos face looked more worried with every passing second.

"I see nothing," Elrond said sadly. "I do not see her inside. Something must have gone wrong. I know not of the magics that Reighn
performed to bring Boromir here, but something must have gone wrong."

Legolas looked at him in fear. "What? What could have gone wrong?" He looked down at Jairah, who appeared only to be sleeping.

"I could not tell you, my friend," Elrond said sadly, again. He looked down sadly at Jairah. "Only that she is not there."

Legolas got to his feet in anger and went over to where Reighn sat, watching as elves attended to Boromir.

"Something is wrong!" he said angrily, grabbing Reighns shoulder. "Something went terribly wrong! You took her power, you used it to bring him here, but she is not!"

Reign looked up at him tiredly. "What?" she said.

*********

Jairah had fallen into the dark water. The dark water that she'd dreamt of, and woke up screaming from. She clawed forward, and up, trying to find the surface.

She let out a piercing scream as she broke free of the murky water, finally. All around her was darkness. She struggled to get out of the water and then was falling again.

She hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of her. She quickly got to her feet, and looking up, she saw that she was in a circular room, all black marble. Torches were the only light in this room.

A noise behind her. a low, low hissing. "jairrraaahh.." it came. She turned slowly and saw Orc's coming forward towards her.

She let out a yelp and went for her bow, but her bow was not on her back. She did not carry her blade, nor her dagger. She was completely defenseless.

The Orc's came closer, and closer, and she readied herself to fight, but found that when they reached her, she was unable to hit them. They lifted her off her feet.

"Masssster's been expecting you, elf." an Orc said to her, spitting in her face.

Another orc hit him. "He said to keep her unssspoilt!"

They carried her off into the shadows, and into a larger black room, where chains hung from the celing. they put her in these chains and she hung, defenseless, from the ceiling.

The Orcs stepped back from her, seemingly satisfied. "She is a pretty thing, isn't she?" One said.

"Mm..." said another. "When Massster is done with her i'd like to taste her flesh."

Jairah struggled with the chains, and tried to remember what Reighn had taught her, but when she tried to center herself, she saw only darkeness. Athair was nowhere to be found.

She cried out, the only name that she thought might be able to hear her. "Legolas!" she cried, as much out of her mouth as in her head. They were able to communicate through thought before.

"He will not hear you here." she heard a evil voice in her head say. "no one will hear you here."

she felt energy shift around her form, winding its way around her hanging body, her torso, past her face.

"who are you?" she demanded in her head.

there was no answer.

Legolas was having a hard time controlling his anger. He wanted answers from the sorceress, and he wanted them immediately.

Reighn, who wanted only to rest and watch over Boromir, was troubled. She had not counted on this happening. She was searching for Jairah, in the web, but did not see her. She could not feel her presence anywhere.

That meant only one thing. When Reighn had pulled Boromir through the portal, something had come in after them and pulled Jairah through. Which meant that the dark lord now had in his possession the spirit of Jairah, the mind of her, held captive in his fiery prison. He meant to use her power to recreate himself.

Reighn was loathe to tell Legolas this, she knew he would be fiery angry. After they had moved Jairah's body up to their room, he had been pacing the room while she sat and searched. He wanted answers.

Reighn came out of the web, tired, worn. She rose to her feet, and turned to him.

"I know where she is." she said clearly.

Legolas stopped pacing and turned to face her fully. "Where?"

Reighn closed her eyes again. "She is being held by the Dark Lord. When I brought Boromir through the portal, the Shadow must have reached through and latched on to Jairah, pulling her mind and spirit to the Dark Land. That is why she is not inside her body."

Legolas' eyes flashed a blue flame. Reighn could feel his anger, and his pain, it came out very strong.

"You did this to her, " he said quietly, angrily. "She trusted you. We all did. You asked of her to use her power, and you did it for your own selfish reasons. And now she is lost."

Reighn looked at him, just as angrily. "Selfish? You begged her to learn the power, for your own selfish reasons."

Legolas stopped, he did not know how she knew of that conversation.

"Yes. I begged her to learn from you because it would protect her. You used her power and she is lost."

Reighn moved to speak, then closed her mouth.

Legolas drew near to her. "I do not need to tell you that she was precious to me. You knew. And yet you still risked her life for your own reasons." He was so close to her that their noses were going to touch in a second. He drew up to her ear. "Find a way to bring her back." he whispered. "Because if the Dark Lord takes her, and she is lost, you will have more than one life destroyed in your hands."

With that, he took leave of her, walking calmly up the stairs and to the room where Jairah's body lay.

*****

(Author : Alasia)

Reighn was exhausted both mentally and physically and still she did not rest. She had barely and magical power left, and she knew that with Jairah's training only partially complete, that she could only protect her mind for so long. She paced the length of the area used for the council, tired mind searching for answers. She was deep in thought, her defenses down, vulnerable. She did not see, or sense Elrond, Aragorn, Arwen, Gimli, and Legolas enter the room and sit down. Elrond, however, brought her back to herself, "Reighn."
Her head shot up and she stared at Elrond for a moment, the shadows on her face stark. Her skin was pale and her exhaustion was plain to everyone in the circle. She gazed around the group and finally spoke, "I have no solution for you-"
Legolas stood and she raised a hand, "But I do have a spark of hope for you, and a full telling of the truth behind what has happened here."
The elven archer sat down again, glaring daggers at the sorceress. She continued, "Since Jairah's training is far enough ahead she will be able to protect herself for a time. I have been unable to contact Athair, something is blocking him. I will go after her through the web when my strength is returned.
    "Now, as for Boromir. He is alive again because Sauron resurrected him. He was the vessel that Sauron was using to give Jairah those dreams. I am a Dream-weaver, and know that you have to have something connected - however remotely - to your subject. When Jairah went with Athair to continue connecting herself to the web I entered her mind and tracked the thread that connected the dreams to Sauron.
    "The strand led me to the room in which Boromir was being held. His mental turmoil was so great that he himself yanked me from Jairah's mind and into his own. His mind was a pit of blackness, his thoughts and memories confused. His senses in fluctuation. He was filled with so much turmoil, confusion and pain that my mind subconsciously began to direct everything back to its place within him. I connected myself to him mentally so that I would be able to tell if Sauron tried anything again. I had begun the healing, but he had to finish it, and he had no mental defenses.
    "Three days passed when he called out to me mentally. The cry was so strong I was pulled to him immediately, he was trapped in his mind, it was all chaos once again, and Sauron was trying to use him again. He was actually fighting back, and so I poured my strength into him and he banished the Dark Lord from his mind. He collapsed and I began to rebuild once again. I cannot tell you what happened in those hours, but I wrought enough shields around him to protect them and then left. I regrouped my strength and went after him. I reasoned with myself that I did so to help protect Jairah from Sauron, but Legolas, you were right, I did this for my own selfish reasons.
    "I did not know the shadow would take her, and i cannot tell you that all will be well. I am so exhausted mentally and physically that I will be out of commission for days. I wil draw on the Web as much as I can for strength to speed up the strengthening process until I am strong enough mentally, and then I will go after her, but I cannot so it alone. I will do this in three hours time. But my attempt may fail because I do not have the strength on my own right now. I just wish I had another source to draw on, one that Sauron could not touch. If Athair was not blocked I could draw in his power, but I cannot reach him..."
There Reighns voice trailed off.

(Author: Jennzah)

The group was all deep in thought, when Legolas spoke up. "You said you need another with only a small amount the power?"

Reighn nodded, looking curiously at him.

Legolas looked pained, holding back something. He closed his eyes. "While in Lothlorien, before we were separated, Jairah and I shared blood, which bound us together from that moment on." he said bitterly, opening his eyes. "Would this not mean that I would possess some of this power?"

Reighn nodded again. "It would have passed to you in her blood. However small an amount, you would possess it."

Legolas looked at her with stone cold eyes. "Then i will help you, but only to get Jairah back. Tell me what i need do."

Reighn rose from her chair. "I will rest for the three before mentioned hours. Then we will meet back here."

With that, the group dispersed.

******

Legolas walked away from the council area, his heart heavier than he ever remembered it being. He did not trust Reighn, but he was going to have to heed her word if he was to see his beloved returned to him.

He was about to return to the room where she lay, when he heard his name being called. "Legolas!" it called.

He turned in curiosity to see where the voice was coming from. He saw the young Hobbits, Samwise and Frodo, running towards him.

"Legolas!" they called again, and he watched as they ran with their small legs to him.

Sam was the first to reach him, and he held out his hand. "Hail, Master Elf!" he said happily. "How fare you?"

Legolas had not the heart to tell him, as he watched Frodo walk up more slowly, and shake his hand. Frodo did not speak, but could tell something was wrong with the elf, as he looked dark. Legolas always had been the most spirited of their Company, especially since Jairah had come into his life.

Sam was still chattering away, not noticing a thing. "So!" he said. "Lovely to be in Rivendell again, with the elves!"

Frodo looked again at Legolas. "And where is your beloved? Surely she must be around."

Legolas looked at Frodo, the pain searing around his heart.

"Alas," he said. "You have arrived to sad tidings."

Frodo stared at him, and Sam stopped chattering about the trees or some such nonsense.

"Sad Tidings?" Frodo asked. "Where is Jairah?" Fear entered his heart, for he was fond of Jairah, she'd helped him on his journey to Mordor.

Legolas looked at him again. "She has been taken by the Dark Lord." he said softly. He began to quietly recount the tale of Reighn, the nightmares, and at last, the return of Boromir and the taking of Jairah.

"Who is this Reighn, who can wield a power so great?" Frodo asked.

"She is from the future" Legolas said. "She came because the power in Jairah is great, and it brought her here. She sensed the Dark Lord's presence, though we could not."

Frodo and Sam could not speak.

"There is a bit of hope, so it may seem." Legolas said. "Though i doubt myself in it. I have some of Jairah's power. And in a
few hours, Reighn will teach me to use it so that we may retrieve Jairah. I am afraid i will not be strong enough, and something will go wrong. I cannot aim an arrow at an evil like this. I am to be but a pawn in all of it."

Frodo put a hand on Legolas' arm. "It will be alright, my friend."

Legolas could only look at him. "Let us hope. For i fear she may be lost forever

Legolas could only look at him. "Let us hope. For i fear she may be lost forever."

Frodo shook his head. "You mustn’t think like that, my friend. Doubt will only ensure a failure." He tried to smile as the elf looked at him, pain stricken on his face.

Legolas turned and motioned for the hobbits to follow him. "I am headed back to her side, until it is time for me to perform this task. I feel stronger in her presence."

The hobbits followed him as he went back to their room. Jairah’s body had been laid out on the bed, her hair combed sleek down her shoulders. Frodo came up to the bed and stroked her forehead.

"It is good to see you, Lady Jairah." He whispered as he placed a kiss on her forehead. "Even though we meet again under such
circumstances."

Legolas closed his eyes as he took her hand. Frodo looked at him, it pained him to see such agony on his friends face.

"How unfortunate that this had to happen now," Sam said quietly from behind Frodo. He did not touch Jairah, only looked. "In only a few days time you were to be married."

Frodo turned and gave Sam a look. "Hush, Sam! They will be married still. They will succeed in bringing her back." He looked back at Legolas, who had tears in his eyes, something that Frodo had never seen before.

"I can only imagine what torment she might be facing, in the Dark Lord’s presence." He looked over her body tearfully, and stroked her hair. "It was my wish to take her away from everything after we were married, perhaps to hide for a little while only, to have some time for ourselves, to catch up on all the time we’d lost. I realized, while she was journeying with you towards Mordor, that forever may not be long enough for us. So I wanted to take her and hide us away, just for a time. What if I never see that time?"

Frodo stopped him. "You will. Please. No more doubt, Legolas. It will not help you. Now, where is this Reighn woman?"

The tears that had come into Legolas’ eyes dissipated. "I believe she is taking rest, that is what she had said she would do. I have no doubt that she is taking that rest with Boromir, who will slumber for many days."

Legolas was correct. As he and the hobbits stood in the room with Jairah’s body, Reighn was on the other side of Elrond’s house, clinging closely to Boromir as he slept, recharging her power as fast as she could.

*****

One of the Orcs that served Sauron was dangerously close to Jairah’s foot. She wanted to kick it, but she felt weak, tired. She did not know why she could not fight for herself physically, and this troubled her.

Mentally she was exhausted. She felt the presence, whom she assumed to be Sauron, trying to enter her mind from time to time, but she resisted. And everytime she resisted, she was hit with a colossal force, sending her body backward, hitting the wall behind her, and sometimes flipping her body completely around the chains, her arms aching with every spin.

She longed to know what had happened, why she was encased in this prison. She longed to be free of these chains, to be free period. She wanted Legolas, she wanted to be in his arms and safe.

She thought of Reighn, and cursed her name. The sorceress had asked to borrow her power so she could bring Boromir through some mystickal portal. And now Jairah was here and Boromir had been taken to Rivendell. Something must have gone wrong.

Jairah closed her eyes and thought hard about what had happened. When Boromir had fallen through the portal with Reighn, Jairah had seen him. Then it had felt like something had grabbed her body, hurling it through the same portal, right as it closed. And then she’d fallen into the black water. It must be Sauron, she reasoned.

"yesss." She heard the voice echo in her brain.

"leave me be!" she replied, as much in voice as in mind. She felt the energy rush around her body again, weaving around her. It whooshed past her ear, then tried to push its way into her mind again. She repelled it, pushing it back, and was immediately treated to a blow to her face, hitting her so hard it drew blood. She spat it out defiantly.

"You wont get my power! I will never let you!" she screamed, struggling in vain to get free of the bonds that held her.

"That is where you are sorely mistaken." She heard the voice again. "You will give it to me, willingly. I will break you down untill you cannot take it anymore, or I will kill you. There are ways of killing the mind and the spirit, without the body present."

She closed her eyes again. ‘so I am not in my body’ she thought. ‘that is why I cannot fight for myself. It is only a matter of time untill he breaks my barriers down.’

"in that you are correct" she heard the voice say. "so you may either give me your power willingly, and join my side, pretty elf, or you can wait, and resist, and I will break you slowly, and you will die."

The words lingered in her ears as she felt the presence slide back from her.

She hoped that Reighn had realized her error, and was working on finding her. She worried for the mind of Legolas, who must be sick with worry and fear. She did not have time for another thought as Sauron struck her again, sending her into unconsciousness.

*****

Frodo had been sitting with Jairah’s body, while Sam had gone to find Aragorn, and Legolas paced the hallway outside. He was restless, and wished for nothing more than to begin the process to retrieve Jairah.

Frodo took his eyes off of Legolas for a moment, and cast them onto Jairah. He noticed that a small trickle of blood was coming from the corner of her mouth, and he called for Legolas frantically.

"Legolas!" he called. The elf returned to the room. Frodo pointed to Jairah’s mouth, and Legolas leaned over her and gently wiped the blood from her mouth.

"What is happening?" Frodo asked urgently. Legolas stared at the blood on his fingers for a long moment before he looked at Frodo in fear.

"He is torturing her," he said. "There is no doubt in my mind, that if the Dark Lord wants to take Jairah’s powers, and she is resisting, that he would have Orcs to torture her or maybe it is he himself. We must find Reighn. It has been almost three hours. It is time to rescue Jairah, for I do not believe we have much more time.

*****

(Author: Alasia & Jennzah)

    Reighn awoke with a start. Her head was pounding and her body screamed with fatigue. She sat up a little and stretched, then stood and leaned over Boromir, kissing his forehead softly. It was time.

    She exited the healing hall and began to walk across the grounds to Jairah's room, where she knew that Legolas would be. He stride was long and sure, yet slow. She could feel the exhaustion more now than she had before she'd gone to sleep - mainly because that had not been a restful sleep. She had been regenerating her power as fast as possible, and she still did not have nearly enough as she would like to have. She stopped outside Jairah's door for a moment, taking a deep breath, then entering. She pulled the door open and strode into the room. Two small Hobbits looked up at her, eyes wide, and Legolas gave her a death glare.
"It's time," she said, examining Jairah, seeing the blood and realizing that they didn't have much time, "Come, we haven't much time."
The trio followed Reighn down to the council room and took seats as she sat crosslegged on the floor. She looked up at Legolas and spoke, "Focus your thought on Jairah, that is all you need to do. I will not tap directly into your power. But I will use it to bring you along with me, to help, for I am not strong enough to take on the Dark Lord myself."

"You must close your eyes, and think of her," Reighn said again. "We will be pulled into the web, and from there you must follow me"

Legolas nodded, and Reighn closed her green eyes. She heard the others enter the room and she took a deep breath. She felt her feet drop out from under her spiritually and suddenly, she was at the core of the Web. She turned immediately and searched for the key line that Jairah was connected to. She found in, and noticed how seemingly fragile it seemed. She walked down its length cautiously, Legolas following her , testing the area for traps. She found none on her way, and she soon found herself within the castle of Sauron. Only this time, she could feel the dark lord's presence.
    They made it to the tower in which Jairah was being kept, and it was all Reighn could to to keep Legolas from running to her immediately. She was hung by her wrists, by chains suspended from the tall ceiling of the tower. They watched in horror as Sauron, circling her like a harpy, whispering in her ear, rained a blow on the top of Jairah’s skull. The elf was out cold, and at any minute, Sauron would be able to enter her mind and steal her power.

Legolas went to pull out his bow, so that he might shoot Sauron, but found he was not wearing it. "No." Reighn said. "Only Althair can be used in the web. No conventional weapons. You will not be able to harm him."

"Do something, then! He is going to kill her!" Legolas whispered back frantically.

Reighn could feel that Jairah was about to break, and her shields were disappearing

"Listen to me," she said to Legolas. "You must do exactly as I say. When I say, run forward and release her from the chains. I will keep Sauron occupied so that you may do this."

Legolas nodded.

Reighn closed her eyes and mustered just over half her strength and threw the raw power out at Sauron just as she felt Jairah's shields broke. The power hit Sauron and made him fly across the room and into the wall. He growled at her and stood, and the charged her. Reighn had not been expecting the physical attack and was slammed into the wall.

She looked at Legolas "NOW!" she yelled, and he sprinted forward towards Jairah, pulling the clasps on the chains. She fell into his arms, broken and bloody. He had barely time to catch her before he heard Reighn battling with the Dark Lord, he turned, and watched with wide eyes as the red haired woman fought with the huge dark shadow.

    "I will not let you ruin my plans," Sauron growled out.
She grinned slightly and perforned an uppercut to his jaw, "You messed with the wrong Celt ugly."
She back kicked him in the head, pushing power into the blow. The force of it threw him across the room and through the heavy oaken door. the red haired woman looked up as Sauron stood, and prepared a magical attack. She mustered all that was left of her power and threw the raw power at him. Blinding light seared through the room and the dark lord screamed. Reighn fell to one knee and reached out mentally for her link with Legolas. She had yet to use his power, so she grabbed the cord and pulled.
     They flew back towards Rivendell on a wing of fresh power that Reighn could not feel. They landed with a hard thud in the Center, Jairah landing next to her. Reighn stood and drew a little more of Legolas' power, and pushed Jairah's mind back into her body before she forced herself back into her own, and Legolas back into his. She gasped for air as soon as she reached it and collapsed onto her forearms. She breathed heavily for a long while before she managed to muster enough strength to look up. Legolas was also breathing heavily, but he had sat up and was looking at Reighn with wide eyes. Reighn looked like hell - frozen over. She gazed around the circle with bloodshot eyes before getting wobbily to her feet. She gestured to the door and Legolas streaked out of the room. She turned to the other people in the room, "It is finished."

    Her eyes rolled back in their sockets and she collapsed. Aragorn walked over to her and picked her up, moving toward the healing hall. When he reached the room he placed her on the bed next to Boromir and left, for the room that held Jairah

Everyone had gathered there, indeed, the room was quite full when Aragorn reached it. Frodo and Sam were bunched in the corner next to her bed, Gandalf opposite the bed, and Gimli stood next to him, straining to see over all the tall people. Aragorn saw Arwen, standing next to the doorway, just inside, and smiled at her.

Legolas had fled to this room almost immediately, not caring that he left a tired and worn Reighn behind. He sat now, beside Jairah’s body on the bed, clasping her hand in his, speaking to her in their Sylvan tongue. He hoped that she could hear him now.

Elrond came striding into the room to inspect Jairah. Everyone moved aside except for Legolas, as he came round the opposite side of the bed to where she lay. Her body was bruised, and broken, blood staining her mouth where she’d been struck by the Dark Lord. Her wrists were bruised from the horrible iron chains.

Elrond sat next to her, and touched her forehead. He smiled as he did so. "She is here," he said joyously. "You have brought her back."

Legolas closed his eyes, and said a silent prayer. It had worked. He opened them again, and stroked Jairah’s bruised cheek.

"When will she awaken?" he asked. "And what of these wounds?"

"Her spirit sustained much torture and damage at the hands of the Dark Lord" Elrond said, his hand still on her forehead. "I can see it. These wounds are a result. But they will fade. She will be well again, within a few days. She will awaken, any minute, but then require immediate rest after we have performed the healing ritual."

As if on cue, Jairah’s body began to convulse. Everyone stopped and watched as she furrowed her brow, and opened her mouth, gasping for air, coughing hard. She sat up and blood came out of her mouth, just a little. She opened her eyes, shielding them from the light.

She seemed unable to see, for she said nothing. "Legolas!" she called, frantically.

He had her in his arms in an instant, comforting her. "Shh. It is alright. You are here, with me," he said to her in their tongue.

She held fast to him, tears starting to flow down her cheeks. "I was so frightened! I didn’t know what happened, something went wrong, terribly wrong! And then Sauron, he was trying to invade my mind, take my powers…and I would not give in! He said he would kill me…." She hiccuped, and held him tighter. He kissed the top of her head.

"But he is gone now. We stopped him, just in time. Had we been any later he would have…" Legolas stopped, his voice stuck in his throat. He did not want to say such things to her. All that mattered is that she was there now, in his arms.

"Lady Jairah.." Elrond’s voice came in the Sylvan tongue. "We must get you to the hall of healing. Your spirit has sustained many wounds and brought them back to your body."

‘Master Elrond?" Jairah raised her head from Legolas’ chest. "Why can I not see you? What has happened to my vision?"

"I believe it is temporarily lost, because you were touched by the Dark Lord. and it will return when we have finished in the hall of healing. Please, let us attend to you."

Jairah looked around the room with her unseeing eyes, then nodded. She allowed Legolas to pick her up, and he carried her to the hall swiftly, where he was made to give her over to the elves there. He was not allowed to go in with her. He did not want to let her out if his sight, for the last time he did, she did not return for many months. He closed his eyes as they took him from her.

Sam and Frodo skidded to a stop behind him, just as the doors closed.

"I knew it would be alright," Frodo said. "She risked her life for me, once. I knew she would not be taken by the Dark Lord. No soul who does such noble things could be."

Legolas just stood still, in front of the doors. He would wait untill those doors opened again, untill he could take her back upstairs, away from everyone.

Nearly two hours passed before the doors did open again. Sam and Frodo sat with him, making small pleasantries, but his mind was not on the talk. His mind was with her. They heard elvish chanting from inside and the occasional moans of Jairah when the magic hit her full force. He knew that she would be fine, that they were taking wonderful care of her, but every time she cried out he wanted to run into that room and snatch her away.

Then, the doors opened and they bade Legolas to enter. He walked slowly into the room, as it was a place of mystical energy, and deserved respect.

Her bruises and cuts were gone, and they had washed her hair and bathed her, and she was clothed in a beautiful blue dress, stones around the neckline. An elf maiden was brushing her long blonde hair as Legolas approached. Jairah was half asleep, from the healing magicks, and she looked at him sleepily as he knelt down in front of her and kissed her cheek. She smiled, but did not move. She was as weak as a newly born puppy, the elves told him. She will need rest.

He thanked them and swept her up in his arms. Her head fell back as he did so, she’d slipped into sleep. He kissed her cheek again as he walked past Frodo and Sam, who watched as he took her upstairs and closed the door to their room behind him.

He laid her on the bed and drew the curtains to the room, in case her eyes were still sensitive to the light, then crawled into the bed next to her, gathered her to him, and let his mind rest. She was safe now, and he could rest.

For two days, all of Rivendell was quiet as Jairah, Legolas, Boromir, and Reighn slept. The mortals slept in a separate part of the hall of healing. They were checked on accordingly.

On the night of the second day, Jairah awoke and heard the song of the lark coming in the window. The room was dark, however, except for a few candles that had been lit around the corners of the room. In the dusky light she tried to sit up, but found that her lover was grasping her too tightly. She smiled and kissed his temple, as he slept next to her.

"vanima cundu, harya me hon, u harya me mel.." she whispered into his ear. (Beautiful prince, who holds my heart, you have my love..)

She pushed some small wisps of hair off of his forehead, and stroked his hair for a short time before he awoke, his mind becoming aware of her touching him. He smiled and took her hand from his face and kissed it.

"Jairah.." he said. "You came back to me."

"Of course," she said. "You came and rescued me. I saw it in your mind, you were dreaming of it." She touched his forehead gently. "You and the sorceress came and rescued me."

Legolas did not speak, just looked at her, smiling at him, their heads laid on the silk pillows that the bed held. Then he leaned forward gently and kissed her forehead, her eyelids and her cheeks feverishly.

"I was afraid you’d been taken, my love." He said, his voice wavering. "I would have died, had that happened. I could not bear this world without you."

She put a finger to his lips as he drew back away from her face. "Don’t speak of it. It is finished." She wound her small arms about his neck. "This is where I belong, here, with you. I wont leave again, not by my own will." She leaned forward and kissed him gently, for several long seconds. Then she drew up and leaned her head against the stone headboard of the bed.

She was quiet, for a moment, as he also drew up beside her, and started running his hand through her long hair. She stared at the candles in the corner, the light reflecting off her eyes.

"Of what do you think of?" he asked her quietly.

She looked at him again and smiled. "You," she said. "I think of you. You possess my blood. That is how you came after me in the Dark Land. You must have the power."

Legolas nodded. "I did nothing, only followed the orders of Reighn. She needed our power to get to you."

Jairah’s eyes shined at him. "Our power…" she repeated. "yes, I suppose it is ours. Not mine, not yours. Ours. Because I possess your blood, from that day long ago when you saved my life."

"We have been bound from that moment in Lothlorien, when you cut open our hands and combined our blood." Legolas said.

Jairah nodded. "Then there is no need for a ceremony, except for formalities. We cannot disappoint Elrond." She rose from the bed, pushing herself gently out of Legolas’ embrace, and went to the window. She opened the heavy drapes, and the stars jumped out at her. She smiled when she saw them.

"Look," she said. "The light of Earendil. She shines upon us." She pointed to the star, shining the brightest in the sky.

Legolas came and took her in his arms, and they looked up into the sky together, in silence, appreciating the light the star gave off.

Jairah looked down into Rivendell, and sighed. "I shall be sad when we leave this place," she said, turning to look at Legolas again. "I do love it here. But it is time, quite soon, to leave. After the ceremony, a few days after."

"Where will we go? Though I must be honest, I do wish to take you far away from here, from everyone, just for a little while. We have lost so much time. I wish to hide you from the world, except for my own eyes. Is this selfish?" Legolas looked down at her.

Jairah’s eyes twinkled. "Our friends will think so." She said, smiling. "But I do not have any qualms with it. I should like to go back, home to Mirkwood, and get lost in the forest for a short time. Then, perhaps, we will go where our hearts take us. Perhaps we’ll make a home somewhere in the wood, near to your father, or perhaps not. It does not matter." She said. "Wherever we go, as long as I am with you, I am home."

She reached her arms up and embraced him again, and he kissed her cheek again. They held eachother for a long moment before they broke away, and she kissed him gently again and then went to brush her hair.

"What of the sorceress?" she asked. "Has she left Rivendell? I had hoped I could thank her for my rescue."

Legolas looked at her, his eyes a bit dark at the mention of the Sorceress. "I believe she slumbers, still, in the hall of healing, with
Boromir."

"Ahh," Jairah said. "Boromir. How has he fared in all of this?"

"As far as I know, he has not yet awoken." Legolas said. "She seems to have feelings for him. But as to the future of them, or his recovery, I have no information."

Jairah nodded. "I must thank her, regardless of what wrongs were committed. Mistakes were made, but things were made to be alright."

Legolas looked at her. "I am not sure if the Dark Lord has been destroyed. I only saw a bright flash of light and heard him scream. Only Reign will know this."

Jairah stopped brushing her hair, and started braiding it away from her face. "We will let her alone then, untill she is ready to remerge. Leave her with her beloved. " She smiled at Legolas again. "Come now. Let us take a walk? I feel the need to be in the forest."

They linked hands and walked out of the room, bound for the trees of Rivendell.

*****

(Author: Alasia)

    The days that passed were lost to Reighn as she slept, regaining all of the lost strength that she had used. When she awoke she
changed into a most comfortable, yet elegant, deep green elven dress and planted herself next to Boromir, refusing to leave her side. This was how Jairah found her six days after the rescue. The female elf entered the hall of healing and walked over to the pair. She didn't understand how Reighn could love Boromir so much when they had never met physically, but then, she determined that it didn't really matter. She walked up behind the sorceress and placed a hand on her shoulder. Reighn jumped and looked up, sighing in reilief when she recognized Jairah.
"How is he?"
"He is fully healed physically, I do not know when he will awaken."
The woman's voice was surprisingly soft to Jairah's ears. The elf squeezed her shoulder, "He will be fine.... And I wanted to thank you for coming after me."
"I only did what anyone would have done for me."
"Have you located Athair yet," Jairah asked curiously.
"No," she replied, "He is hiding from me. He will come when he is ready to."
    Jairah nodded and left the room as quietly as she had come. Reighn stared after her for a moment before turning back to Boromir. She gripped his hand tighter and laid her head down next to his, falling into a light slumber.

    She awoke the the feeling of somone stroking her hair softly and she smiled to herself for a moment, reveling in the feeling. She looked up to see Boromir watching her with a tiny smile on his face. She lifted her head and looked into his eyes, immediately getting lost in the warmth and love within them. He reached up and stroked her cheek softly and she leaned into the caress, her eyes fluttering closed. A smile graced her lips and she turned her head, pressing a kiss into the palm of his hand.
    When her eyes opened again he was sitting up, and she flung herself into his arms, holding on for all she was worth. He held her tightly, wondering if this was just a dream. But somehow he subconsiously knew that it wasn't. THat he really had woken up to find her hand in his and her head resting on the mattress next to his. He stroked her loose red hair and kissed her forehead. She smiled up at him and leaned up, kissing him. Boromir pulled her closer and returned the kiss, pouring all of his emotions into it, just as she was. Her arms twined around his neck as the kiss seared into her soul. She felt so complete. So full.... So loved....

    Reighn and Boromir spent the next three days together. Reighn wanted to make it last as long as possible, for she knew that she had to go back to her own time. Back to the time of jeans and t-shirts. Of cars and heavy metal. And she did not want to. She wanted to stay here in this place, with Boromir forever. But she knew that if she did not, that the Shadows of Challan would succed in destroying her race, and that the world would fall into darkness forever.
    Though these thoughts plauged her mind, she did not let them take her away from the present. The entire fellowship, Arwen and Elrond sat in the council room, awaiting an answer from the sorceress. She stared at them all, not able to answer the question of whether or not Sauron was still alive. He should be dead, a blast of that magnitude would have blown up L.A. She sighed, "I am sure he is. A blast the size of the one I threw at him would have leveled Minas Tirith from far away. I did this at point blank range."
"Then you will be leaving," Legolas questioned.
"Yes," Reighn said, sqeezing Boromir's hand, "I have no choice. There is still a war to rage in my own time. I cannot and I will not let Challan destroy my people."
"Who?"
She looked up and locked gazes with Arwen, "Challan is a evil sorceress as dark, if not darker, than Sauron. She is of Celtic heratige, but has turned to the side of evil, and because of this the Power has left her. But you cannot quiet and already trained wizard. She has gained control of the shadows - like the one that attacked you when I arrived - and is traveling the world systemattically eliminating the Celts. We are the only ones on the face of the planet that still know that magic exists. I must go and help them fight."
"You will stay for the wedding," Jairah asked softly.
Reighn looked at the ground, "Yes, but not for much longer after that. I must get home, if I do not, then there will be nothing left when I do."
    Throughout all of this Boromir had remained silent, thinking. When he did speak, no one was expecting what he said, "I will go with Reighn... I no longer belong in this world, I am dead to everyone, including all of you even though I sit here before you..."
Silence. No one knew what to say to this, so it was answered with a nod and the group broke up, praying for something to happen to ease the tension that now filled the air of Rivendell.

    The wedding day dawned clear and bright, the sun streamed into the chapel from high windows, creating streams of light that poured into the room. Gossamer and ribbon decorated the room. White lillies and star flowers sprinkled through the room, making it so much more cheerful. The Fellowship sat, waiting for the ceremony to begin. Reighn had been asked to give the cerimony a Celtic blessing at the last moment by Jairah - which had shocked the sorceress to noo end. So now, she stood near Gandalf in the white cerimonial garb of the Celts with a bright red ribbon in one hand. Legolas stood nearby, an incomprehendable expression on his face.
    When Jairah entered the room, she was glowing. The room brightened immediately, and everything stood still for the two elves. She wore the traditional white, and looked stunning in it. She walked toward them, taking Legolas' arm halfway down the aisle and continuing the walk with her lover. They reached the top of the steps and  Reighn stepped forward. The pair faced each other and she wrapped the ribbon around their hands. She spoke first in Celtic that none of them understood, the words flowing around them like liquid silver. She made no move to translate, but sprinkled some blessed water over thier joined hands, said something else and stepped away.
    Gandalf replaced her in front of the two elves shortly after and the cerimony continued on as planned, the red silk around their hands creating the only splash of colour in the vision of white and silver.

    Reighn and Boromir stayed that night, spending that night saying goodbye to those they wished to. The next morning was silent as Reighn created the silver-green portal that would return them to her world - their world. Hugs were passed around silently, and tears were shed, before they stepped through the portal. The Fellowship blinked as it flashed shut, making it seem as if Reighn and Boromir had never been there. Silence reigned supreme for long moments before the Fellowship turned their backs on the archway, returning to the lives they had always known.