Chapter Seven: Weighing the Choices

*“Never.” He pulled her one time, the twice hard. The second time she was able to swing up and get a hold on the stairs. He helped her pull herself the rest of the way up. They stopped, sitting on the stairs trying to catch their breaths for a few moments. He held her hands up to examine them. They were cut up and bleeding from smashing the glass casing with her bare hands and then grinding in the glass shards as she clung to the steps for dear life.

“Are you alright?” He asked concerned.

“Yes, I think so.” They felt the stairs they were sitting on shift slightly. Exchanging one brief look, they stood and hurried down the rest of the stairs, through the grand mahogany doors, and out on the drawbridge. Confused orcs scattered every which way, to busy watching the destruction of their home to care for the two escaping Fellowship members.

Just as Legolas and Serein crossed the drawbridge, the whole tower’s support gave way, and the tower that had once held one of the greatest wizards of all time imploded upon itself and the orcs that had once had a mighty forge below it.

The debris flew over their heads, and both Serein and Legolas dove for cover. They found a large wooden troph filled with water and ducked behind it. Pieces of brick, stone, stucco, and metal flew like bullets through the air, piercing anything that dared stand in their way. A second explosion rocked the ground, and the troph was knocked to its side, leaving Legolas and Serein in the open once again. But there was no time for them to hide once more. Serein turned around to look at the falling tower, and was met with the sight of more debris coming their way.

“Legolas!” She would never forgive herself if someone died on her account when she knew she could have helped. The guilt would have weighed too heavily upon her conscious. Grabbing Legolas’ tunic, she threw him to the ground and covered his body with her own.

Legolas had stood after the troph they had been hiding under had tipped, but he had not turned to watch the dark tower fall. Instead, he had looked for the rest of the Fellowship, hoping they had made it far enough so that they were not caught in the destruction as well. Then he heard Serein scream his name and felt her light grasp pushing him to the ground. Behind her, he could see the sky light up with brilliant colors. Reds and oranges, pinks, and the inevitable black smoke as the flames consumed the tower. He saw smaller pieces of metal coming towards them and hitting Serein on the back as she winced and withstood the pain.

What the hell was going on? She was protecting him? No. He should be the one protecting her! But she would not budge from her position, no matter how much he protested.

“Serein! We should find another hiding place!” He yelled to her over the noise. But she was beyond listening to words. She could hardly comprehend what was going on, let alone think of another way to solve the same problem. She had to keep Legolas safe… after all, it had been he who had cared enough to offer her friendship, and even though it had been unwanted, she would not let him suffer. He was a comrade in the field of battle, and comrades always stayed by each other, unto the death.

Some time later, after the fireworks in the sky had gone out, and after Serein stopped feeling little pieces of debris landing upon his back and bouncing off, she finally moved. Legolas immediately sat up and looked at her. She saw he was going to say something, but when he spoke, they were not the words she had thought she would hear.

“Come. The rest of the Fellowship must have gotten back into rim of the forest.”

“Yes.” She agreed. She had thought he would criticize her for her actions. But he had kept his tongue to himself. A wise elf indeed. They stood. Serein winced. Her back ached and she could feel dried blood flaking with her movements and letting new, warm and wet blood drip. Her hands, too, burned and stung with the movement of pushing herself to stand. But she made no mention of this to Legolas for fear of him thinking her weak. She could tend to her wounds later.

Together the two elves began a quick jog into the fringe of the forest, just where the trees met the open land. Not speaking to one another, they quietly sought out their friends. A knife whizzed by Legolas’ ear.

“Gimli! It is us, Legolas and Serein!” He called, recognizing the hilt of the knife. The dwarf stepped out from the low tree branch he stood upon and smiled.

“Legolas! Serein!” Soon the others came out from their hiding places as well.

“So you fools lived to tell of the collapse of the building.” Gandalf muttered, staring at them.

“Yes, wizard, we have.” Serein acknowledged his musings. Soon the group had built a fire. Originally Serein had been against the idea of building a fire so close to the dark tower ruins, for fear that there were still orcs roaming around, but Aragorn calmed her fears and told her not to worry.

“The orcs will not bother us at the moment until they’ve been provoked or told to, and because there is no one to tell them to, we are safe. They are mourning over the loss of Saruman and their brothers.”

“Very well then.” She had submitted. Now they were all sitting comfortably. Aragorn and Gandalf were tending to the wounds that Pippin and Merry had received, which, needless to say, had been grave, but not life threatening. Gimli was working on making the fire hotter, to boil water faster, and Frodo and Sam were speaking with each other slightly off to the side. Legolas and Serein stood on guard, watching for any sign of orcs.

“Where is Boromir?” Merry asked, already knowing the answer. They had seen enough of the last battle to know, but he wanted to double check anyway.

“Boromir has passed away.” Aragon told them quietly.

“And who is the new fighter? The girl?” Pippin inquired.

“That, my boy, is Serein.” Gandalf stated, giving a quick look towards the girl who paced along near the fire, sword drawn.

“She saved Frodo and Sam when they were attacked by orcs while they were in a bar. She had originally promised to take them over the mountains, but we met again at the base of the mountains and joined forces for a while.” Gimli added, bringing the water over to the injured group.

“That reminds me.” Frodo turned around from his conversation with Sam. “Serein. I thought you had your own business in Mordor. Why were you at the Dark Tower?” Serein stopped the pacing of her watch long enough to look at the hobbit.

“My business was with Saruman.”

“Then you are with Sauron!” Merry cried.

“No. My business entailed killing Saruman, not helping him.” She frowned at the suggestion she would ever try to help the dark forces.

“Why did you want to kill him?” Aragorn asked.

“He had his orcs invade my home. A great deal of it was destroyed, and many were killed. Then he had the nerve to steal from us a priceless artifact that is needed for the future safety of my home. I came to steal back what he stole from me.” She sat slowly, watching out for her bloody and cut up back.

“So that is why you risked your life to go up while the tower was collapsing? Foolishness over a petty, superstitious item.” Gandalf grumbled.

“Yes, that is why I risked my life. I would rather perish knowing I had done all I could to help my home than return empty handed. And it is not just some item, as you so indelicately put it.” She scoffed at him, standing quickly. Then she hissed in pain and stumbled. Legolas caught her as she fell. Gasping yet again in pain as he rubbed against her back, a lone tear made a path down her dusty cheek. Gently turning her over and removing the heavy blue cloak she always wore, Legolas’ eyes widened.

“When were you planning on mentioning to us that you were so severely injured?” He clipped, narrowing his eyes in both anger and worry.

“Never.” She whispered. “It didn’t hurt as much before, and you know what they say: whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” She smirked despite herself. Legolas frowned. How could she make fun of something so serious? She could have literally bled to death without anyone knowing had she not treated her wounds. Or they could have been infected, or… well, he did not wish to think of what else could happen, but he was sure it the other scenarios were just as gruesome.

“I don’t know what they say, nor do I care. You need help before you bleed yourself to death.” He stated roughly.

“Is it that bad?” Aragorn asked from his spot. He couldn’t see it from where he was seated in the dusk of the night. Legolas nodded, and Serein shook her head as a no. Legolas carried her to Aragorn and let the man’s expression do the talking.

“I need a clean wash cloth and much hot water.” He requested. Gimli brought both and surveyed Serein’s back.

“Those are horrible! How did you get them?” He inquired.

“I forget.” She stated.

“She got them by protecting me.” Legolas grasped at his memories of her shielding him from the debris. “She protected me from the debris after we had gotten out of the tower and it caved in.”

“You helped me first. Not only in helping me to find my keepsake, but you saved me when I began to slip off the stairs. If you hadn’t held onto me and pulled me up... ” She added quietly and humbly. She looked up and he looked down. Their eyes met and their gazes held for a moment, both completely trapped in the other’s compelling stares. Aragorn stopped working on her back as he saw the tension arise between the two.

“Thank you.” Legolas finally broke the sensory overload in his mind. Her eyes with their hypnotic flecks of gold had captivated his soul for too many moments, and he feared that had it been any longer she would have kept his soul prisoner for eternity.

“No.” She calmly stated. “Thank you. Friend.” Legolas’ eyes were the most mesmerizing she had ever had the luck to behold they had held her gaze as they sparkled with mirth and worry. It was a good thing he had broken the silence. She might have lost her composure if he had not.

“I knew you’d eventually see it my way!” He laughed. She grinned and laughed too, and Aragon went back to working on removing the shards of metal and stone from her back.

Night had fallen and darkness had consumed the land. The fire had been banked, and the four hobbits and the dwarf had retired to sleep. Only the two elves, human, and wizard remained awake.

“So the one ring has returned?” Serein asked them. She had been waiting for the halflings to go to sleep before she had brought the subject up.

“So it has.” Aragorn nodded in confirmation.

“And all this time it was right under my nose and I didn’t see it. I must be getting slow in my old age.” She joked with a serious tone.

“Would it have made a difference if you had known?” Gandalf asked.

“Maybe. Most likely not. I want nothing to do with that ring. It has only brought greed and destruction to those who wield it. I certainly do not want to take after them.”

“You wouldn’t have wanted the power?” Gandalf tested her.

“I know what that ring can do. And I want none of its power.”

“How would you know the power of that ring?” Gandalf pressed. She didn’t answer, an when it was clear she was not going to, they dropped the matter.

“What will you do now then, Serein?” Aragorn asked the question that had been plaguing Legolas’ mind as well.

“I’m not sure.”

“What do you mean, what will she do? She has what she came for. She will go home.” Gandalf stated.

“You think you know me, wizard.” She replied quietly.

“I think I know human nature.”

“You assume much for one who claims to be so wise. Perhaps you are not as smart as you think you are.” Gandalf did not answer; he merely smoked his pipe in deep thought.

“You know where we head from here?” Aragorn asked.

“Mount Doom.” She nodded.

“You know,” Legolas finally spoke, “we consider you as one of us, one of the Fellowship now.”

“Do you?” She asked, avoiding his intense stare.

“Yes, of course.” Aragorn added.

“So I have two choices. One, bring back to my home what Saruman stole from us and try to rebuild home immediately, or two, go on with you to Mount Doom.” She mussed under her breath. “Such difficult decisions. Perhaps I will walk on them.” She stood and shook her cloak slightly, ridding it of any dust it may have picked up while she had sat on the ground. Turning before any of them could speak, she walked off.

A slight ways off she found a larger boulder to sit upon. Tilting her head up, she watched the night sky, wishing that Valor would send her the answer on a shooting star. Everything had been thrown her way so quickly in life. First rule, then imprisonment, then freedom, and now this quest. She wondered if change and the constant revolution that burned in her life would ever come to a slow down, or even halt for her to catch up.

And now she was faced with a difficult decision. She felt a responsibility to return home, to improve and save her kingdom. But if she went on with the Fellowship, she could help all of the Elvin race as a whole, not just her own people. But could her own people hold out with a tyrant of a King like her brother for much longer?

“You look troubled.” A deep and soft voice echoed in the empty woods and floated to her sensitive ears.

“So I am. I have much to think on, yet I must think upon it all by the dawn.” She sighed.

“Does it not seem like there is never enough time just to be anymore? We constantly need to think, plan, fight. We are constantly on the run, or moving. We have forgotten the times in which the freedom to run and hunt was all we knew.”

“Perhaps you have forgotten. I have never known freedom from such things, so I cannot reminisce with you.”

“You can’t remember one time when you were able to do something simply because you wanted to?” Legolas frowned. A maiden should be one, if anyone, to remember being free to do as they wished.

“No. I have lived my life in constant thought and fear. But now that fear is coming true. Would you like to know something I have learned over my many years?”

“Enlighten me.”

“Do not mock me elf, for I know far more than you could ever imagine.” She spoke in a clipped tone. He smirked and good naturedly waved her mood off.

“I’m sorry Serein. Tell me what you have learned.” He settled on the rock next to her and gazed at the stars.

“I used to believe there was nothing more frightening than your worst fear coming to pass. And that after it came to pass, all of your other fears wouldn’t seem as worth any more. You would lose fear. Well, my greatest fears have come to pass.”

“And you fear nothing anymore?” He smirked.

“That is just it. I have not. I still fear.”

“Then what have you learned?” He laughed confused. She smiled and giggled slightly with him.

“I have learned that there is no life without fear. Fear is what dives us. And I fear that.”

“There is a method to your madness, then. But soon fear will be a memory of the past. Once the ring is gone…”

“There will still be orcs. And elves will still turn against one another, brothers and sisters will still argue. Kingdoms will still war with one another, and people will still die.” She laughed bitterly. “You see. Even with the ring gone, there is no escape from the fear that plagues my heart and mind.”

“Then perhaps you place too much responsibility upon yourself. We were not put alone in this world because of that reason. Friends and family are here to help take some of the weight from you and bare it with you. No one can do everything on their own always. Human companionships is a building block of life, and just as you say fear does, it drives us on through the tougher times.”

“You speak with such eloquence. I wonder how you would react, were you in my position. Well then. I suppose I am going to try to rest before dawn. If I mean to continue on with the Fellowship, I will need my rest.”

“So you’ll come with us to Mount Doom then?”

“Yes. You’ve intrigued me with your philosophies. I can’t leave now, I need to hear the rest of them.” She stood and began walking away, leaving behind her a short laugh, which rang in Legolas’ ears as soft and sweet. His heart once again skipped a beat, but this time he did not force the feeling away. It felt good, fulfilling in a way, to feel so strange.

“Good night then, Lady Serein.” He whispered to himself. *