literature

A Tale of Loss || Legolas

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Literature Text

From A Tale of the Bard series




It was just like one of those dreams where you ran through the long, dark corridor with no doors or turns on your way. You couldn’t catch breath and when you tried to scream, no sound came out from your lips. And even If it did- there was no one to hear you. The feeling of deadly danger was your only companion in the soundless world.

And what scared you the most was that you never knew where you were running to nor what was chasing you.

The chase from your dreams always stopped when your eyes opened with your voice waking up the whole household.

But in that moment it wasn’t your scream that resounded in the mines. It was something dangerous and dark, making your soul turn and twist in your chest. It was something you’ve never felt before.
You stood there, on the cold moist ground, trying to ease your nerves while watching the sea of Orcs retreating back into the shadow.

"What is this new devilry?" you heard Boromir say but your eyes were glued to the old wizard figure. He was silent and his eyes were closed shut as he tried to concentrate. The sound from far away reached your ears and you looked around unsettled.

Your hand touched Aragorn’s arm. The gesture wasn’t to reassure him, because you didn’t have that much of a power, but to help yourself find the courage you begun to lack as the long corridor before begun to color in red. It was a vibrant kind of red, the one that made the stone walls burn like a steel put into the fire.

"A Balrog — a demon of the ancient world." your gaze moved back to Gandalf as you listened to his chill giving voice. You felt scared before, terrified even but then, in one second you understood that it was nothing in comparison to the fear that shook your body in that moment.

"This foe is beyond any of you… Run!"

Aragorn grabbed your arm and shoved you before him. He didn’t have to tell you twice, you would give everything to get out of that place, far far away. Away from the Orcs, from the fire and from the darkness.

As you passed through the small doorway you reached another stairway that lead to the level below, and perhaps the way out. You moved behind Legolas, your eyes watching every step your feet stomped on, trying not to slip. But as you were too absorbed with that you almost didn’t notice a bigger problem- the stairs were broken and lead to nothing.

You grabbed the Elf’s clothes and pulled him back so he and Boromir wouldn’t fall into the depths of Moria mines. And when everyone was on the steady ground a moment to take a breath appeared. It was short but long enough for you to take a look down. The abyss below you seemed to be the same as it did the last time you looked into it. But as you gazed into it longer you noticed, that it changed. It wasn’t only waiting for your death, it was trying to kill you.

Hand was placed on your arm and you were ordered to stand up.

The stairs made a turn that led to the way down. You never liked stairs. They seemed to be too long and you moved through them too slow. You hated them especially in the situations like that one, when you had to be quick and swift because your life depended on it.  

The terrifying roars filled the air and a cold shiver ran down your spine. You were hot and tired but you felt a chill overwhelming your body.

And then, suddenly you stopped your chase before a wide gap in the stairs. You wondered how you were supposed to cross it and why it always happened to you. It was quick decided that in your book there would be no stairs because it was their entire fault and they had no place in your marvelous tale. And then Legolas jumped on the other side of the crack.

“Isn’t there any other way out?” another earthshaking roar answered your question “I guess not.” your eyes widen and you took a deep breath. There was no way you could do that.

But as Legolas extended his hand and someone pushed you forward you had no other option than do as you were told. Your feet touched the edge of the steps made of stone and a pair of hands gripped your arms and pulled you to a warm body.

A second later you stood behind your Elvish companion. Gandalf soon followed but if jumping through the break in stone wasn’t difficult enough, the sound of arrows’ whistle pierced through the air. You crouched on one of steps and drew your crossbow. One of the Orcs’ archers was killed by Legolas’ arrow, while the other was only lightly touched by your bolt. The distance was too much for your weapon to do much of a damage.

As Boromir brought two Hobbits on the other side, the upper part of the stairs broke making the gap even bigger. Arrows still flew in the air as Aragorn tossed Sam to the man who just appeared near you. Your hands still gripped the crossbow tightly. The whole situation made you nervous, you were afraid of yours and your companions’ lives.

Aragorn reached for Gimli but he raised his hand to stop him from doing what he intended to do.
"Nobody tosses a dwarf." and then he jumped forward but didn’t made it fully on the other side what ended with him falling back, Legolas grabbed the Dwarf’s beard pulling him up.

"Not the beard!" he cried.

When Gimli was safe again you looked towards Aragorn. Another piece of stairs fall down almost taking your two companions with them. You breathed heavily while thinking what to do next. And then, you heard it. The Balrog was near. The stones were crumbling and your surroundings collapsed into the burning abyss. The falling rocks broke the flight even more, making the few steps where Aragorn and Frodo stood a separate part. The scene before your eyes reminded you of illustrations from the book you were not allowed to touch, the one that spoke about the place your parents didn’t want to talk about, the image of hell.

"Come on!" your heart stopped as you saw the flight of steps move in different directions.  They shifted their weight forward making the stairs lean across the divide and slam into the steps you were standing on.

And when everyone were on the same side a little bit of joy appeared in your heart. Yet another obstacle was overcome and you begun to think that you could make it outside. You ran down again with fire burning everywhere you laid your eyes.

"Over the bridge! Fly!" Gandalf shouted and you moved forward passing him by.

There was something in those dreams you had once for some time. The road without ending and without the beginning, the muscles that were burning through your skin, your legs that tangled with each other and your movements that seemed so weird, unnatural. All of that was scary, terrifying, making you panic. You opened your lips to scream, your eyes watered but no sound came from you. It seemed as if the world was looking down on you, laughing. You were alone there.

And then you would wake up in your warm bed with satin sheets and already cold glass of milk standing near it. Your sweat covered skin would glister in moonlight and you would look around your bedroom, understanding it was only a nightmare and you were safe.

But that, that wasn’t a dream. The mines of Moria were real, the fire was burning your skin and the sweat covered your whole body. You wouldn’t wake up, and even if scream left your lips, no one could hear it.

You turned around and the time seemed to slow down in the same moment. A bright flash of light appeared with the bottom of Gandalf’s staff hitting the bridge made of stone. The Balrog stepped forward onto the bridge. You looked at it only for a second but the view would always stay in your mind for the rest of your life. It would haunt your nightmares and dreams, it would chase you in the never ending corridor for eternity.

The bridge collapsed under the demon, making it fall down to the unknown with glowing whip gripped in its hands. The old wizard watched the monster disappear in the smoke. He took a breath before turning towards the Fellowship standing on stairs.

The next few moments happened before your eyes in a slow motion. A burning whip tangled around Gandalf’s ankle, dragging him towards the depths of hell. He grabbed the edge of the bride but he hardly could keep himself above. As you stood there with your eyes open wide, Frodo rushed towards the wizard but was stopped by Boromir. Seconds passed and your legs begun to refuse obedience.

And when the next words reached your ears your heart stopped for a moment. It was the end.

"Fly, you fools!"

The arrows were shot and your hand grabbed Aragorn’s clothes pulling him towards you, towards the way out. Everything was lost and you couldn’t stay there. Your ran up the stairs and your companion soon followed. Your eyes were full of tears but they didn’t fall down.

You never looked back. There was no sound around and you couldn’t scream as your voice died in your throat. You forgot where you were going and from what you were escaping.

And then you saw a light at the end of the passage, it was bright, the exit was right there. And you quickened your peace, your legs were tangling and you almost stumbled. Your lungs hurt and your heart was beating rapidly. You didn’t feel joy, you didn’t feel sadness, pain or fear.

You felt nothing.

And as your knees hit the hard ground outside the mines, you knew one thing- it was a nightmare, and you couldn’t wake up from it.



"And when you look into the abyssthe abyss also looks into you"
                                                                                                    -Friedrich Nietzsche


Another chapter is up. I have to say that I begun to hate stairs while writing this chapter, because, dang it, I can't find any synonyms XD And I hate repeating words again and again ;-; But I did it anyway... I still hope you won't see it. 

So how you like it, my sweet Bards? ;> (Yeah, I don't like it too, but I still would love to read your feedback ^^)

Bullet; PinkPart 1 (Prologue): A Tale of the Bard (Also, here you will find any information considering the series!)
Bullet; PinkPart 2: A Tale that has just Begun
Bullet; PinkPart 3: A Tale of Dangerous Places
Bullet; PinkPart 4: A Tale with only few Words
Bullet; PinkPart 5: Here you are!
Bullet; PinkPart 6: A Tale of the Woods

Check out my gallery for other LOTR/Hobbit xreaders! 

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