Adult-FanFiction.org : Lord of the Rings

Underneath alien skies	By : Nuredhel Category: +Third Age > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 1617 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: II do not own Lord of the Rings, it belongs to Tolkien, and i do not earn any money from this work of fiction, it is solely written for entertainment and not for profit at all. do not own Lord of the Rings, it belongs to Tolkien,

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
Love, well that is quite a remedy, it can heal many a hurt. Thranduil doesn’t really believe in it, but he’ll have a lesson to learn also on this subject. This chapter is most definitely Adult due to language and some sexual situations. Nothing really smutty but… You have been warned. Oh, and here he’ll tell the embarrassing story of his first kiss, and he will meet a very special person, he doesn’t know it yet but she will change everything. Ah and yes, he is a klutz when it comes to females, much to his own horror.
Chapter Five: A tale of hearts.
Straight out of the mist
Right out of the darkness
A shimmering light may appear
Follow that beacon, heal the wounded heart
And you will know peace once more.

He was making progress, in fact he was healing so fast Naragh only scratched his head in disbelief and shook his head. He did no longer crave for wine all the time, in fact the idea of drinking almost disgusted him. The pain was almost gone and he could sit up in bed and even move a little. They put a sort of corset around his upper torso to stabilize his back just in case and he was given some strange contraptions made to strengthen his arms. They were shaped like small balls made of metal with a handle on them and he was told to lift them whenever he could, at least ten times in a row. He was furious at first, lifting metal balls? What did they think he was? Some clown? An elfling with yet no strength? And then he tried to lift them and realized that someone had stolen his muscles, or at least it felt that way. He could lift them, for sure, but after ten repetitions his arms felt like jelly. He felt embarrassed and ashamed of his anger and apologized to Akisha’s husband Raigh who had taken it as his task to get the elf back in shape. Thranduil was seriously impressed by the huge man, he had always been the tallest one around but he was more than two inches shorter than Raigh and Hawk was perhaps an inch taller than him too. He did notice something weird though, if Hawk hadn’t been an elf he and Raigh could have been twins, they were so alike it was spooky. Raigh was a perfect physical specimen, so strong and elegant he appeared more like one of the very best elven warriors than a mortal human and Thranduil started to really believe what he had been told of the training these people had to go through.
He was willing to push himself, he wanted to get out of bed and start training so he could return home. Akisha had spoken with the goddess and been promised that someone would come who could get him back home, but not until he was ready for it. And only the Goddess knew when that moment would come. After a couple of weeks Naragh started to massage him every day to prevent his muscles from getting stiff and sore, it felt like hell the first times and he snarled at the old man more than once but he understood the necessity of the procedure and started to enjoy it after a while. Naragh massaged every one of the weapons masters and their partners and some others who lived there too. The people who performed in the shows were taken care of by his apprentices but he had the eyes of a hawk and could see even the smallest injury or flaw right away. Naragh praised his physique and beauty and it made him feel a little proud of himself again but with so many magnificent people around him he was thoroughly robbed of his previous superior attitude. He met Rheynek who was the goddess own hunter, a strange man with white hair, the eyes of a cat and a stunning appearance. He was born to hunt vampires and could move so fast even an elf would seem slow in comparison. He also met Rhylja who were a priestess for the Hunters God, and she scared the living daylights out of him when she demonstrated how she could break even thick logs with just a kick or hit.
Akisha came to him one afternoon, he had been training with the weights the entire day and he felt how his strength was returning. She was smiling and she was pushing a strange contraption in front of her. It was a chair with wheels on it and he stared at the thing with one part shock and one part reluctance. “I am not going into that thing, I am no cripple damn it!”
She grinned and those beautiful blue eyes were extremely determined. “Oh but you are, at least for now. I thought you might want to take a look at this place?”
Suddenly he felt excitement rush through him, everything was better than staring at these walls, like he had for weeks. He was so bored he thought he would go insane “Yes, yes, I want to, please!”
Akisha grinned and got one of the apprentices to help her lift him into the chair. He felt weird, it was humiliating and far below his dignity but he clenched his teeth together, he would endure even this if he could escape the room. Akisha knelt down in front of him and stared him straight into the eye, her gaze looked very serious. “Thranduil, back home where you are from you are a king, and I am sure everybody would do everything you ask of them. Here on the other hand you are a guest, a very welcome and dear guest, don’t get me wrong but now when I let you meet the others here please remember just that. You have to forget about being royal, or else you will get the cultural shock of a lifetime, and I mean it. This place is rough, we talk and interact in a way that will shock you and even perhaps make you feel disgusted but I am telling you, everybody here is family, and I will not have any of my family insulted, shouted at, looked down upon or in any way hurt! Got it?”
He just nodded and she got back up and smiled, the smile was gentle. “Well then, let’s go!”
A short while after he was flabbergasted and in awe and to be honest in shock. The place was gigantic, a giant stadium big enough for chariot races and the famous gladiatorial fights she had told him were purely an act. They hid bags of blood underneath their clothes and made it look as if they got killed. The rest of the round building was just as impressive, five stories below the ground level and seven above, there were sleeping quarters, a huge kitchen and dining room. There were storage rooms for props and training equipment, a huge bath with several large and small pools, an infirmary and a huge library. He saw the living rooms where people could just hang out and relax and he was impressed and started to realize that this place was the most amazing one he had ever visited. He wanted to learn more, he had to.
Akisha let him watch the training within the arena and he stared with huge eyes at the trainers and their apprentices who were drilled without mercy in anything from horseback riding to sword fighting. And the skill of the trainers amazed him, they would demonstrate moves and techniques and he knew that they were just as good as him, better perhaps. Akisha had told him that a very few of these boys and girls ever would become weapons masters, it required exceptional talent and also a very strong psyche. A master could not have any flaws, because he or she would be a terrible opponent if they chose the wrong path and started to drift into the dark side.
Most of them would be professional soldiers or knights, and they were very sought after since the training they received at this place was the very best.
Then Akisha showed him the stables and he was stunned, they were amazing. The place held at least a hundred horses and could probably house twice that many, and the horses… He was slack jawed in amazement and awe. He had already seen Trollcrusher but Raigh’s black stallion Nightblade and Akisha’s steelgray Steelhawk made even a Mearas look plain in comparison. He had never seen bigger or more impressive animals. He said hello to the stable master Dheg who immediately started to ask him questions about the horses in his world and he understood that this man loved horses above anything else in the world. He liked that, and Dheg was such a gentle hearted man who was easy to speak with. They had a long and rewarding conversation and he knew he had found a new friend when they left the place. Akisha then showed him the area around the circus and the small tavern they used to visit when they were having parties or just wanted to let their hair down a bit. It was cozy but strange and Thranduil realized that he really hadn’t been as wise as he thought he had been. He hadn’t seen that much after all. The tavern owner Dern let him taste some of his famous deserts and Thranduil realized that this man was an amazing cook. It was so delicious he would have eaten way too much if Akisha hadn’t stopped him. Dern immediately proclaimed that he would be welcome there anytime and told the elf that someone with such a sensitive palate was rare. The guys who normally ate there would be satisfied with just about anything as long as it wasn’t downright poisonous and he said that he was honored to be visited by such a connoisseur. That remark made Thranduil blush and he remembered how spoiled he truly had been. He should be grateful he had food to eat, there were too many who were starving. He would have to change that from now on.
Akisha helped him back to his room and he fell asleep right away, he was so tired his head spun like crazy but it was a good tiredness. The next day Naragh took him to the baths and he was bathed for the first time since the fall. It was wonderful and Naragh and Raigh decided that it would be good for him to swim. It would strengthen him without putting too much pressure on his now healed fractures. Thranduil had had his own private bath but here there were no such thing as privacy. He realized that with a shock and felt terribly self-conscious when he understood that everybody there were taking baths buck naked and both genders together. He had new scars from the surgery and the injuries, he looked almost gaunt since he had been unable to eat much and still nobody seemed to care. Nobody acted like they were disgusted by him or something like that, they just accepted him as he were and the feeling was wonderful. But he felt shy and bothered and they did smile at him but the smiles were out of compassion and understanding, not malice. He managed to swim for a while and it hurt but in a good way, he knew that Raigh was right, it was the best training for him. And so he had to swim every day and slowly he got more agile and strong. He was allowed back on his feet two weeks later, he could only walk with the help of crutches and he felt like such a clumsy and helpless fool. He had to learn how to walk again and even though he sometimes hurt so bad he cried himself to sleep he discovered a new strength from within. He was stubborn, he had a lot of will but he had turned it in the wrong direction. Now it served him well and he made even more progress. The day he could walk without more than a simple walking stick he wept and Akisha gave him a warm hug and told him he was brave.
Raigh pushed him very hard, he had to regain his muscles which had withered away and he sometimes wanted to scream and curse at the man but did not. He was grateful, they were using their own precious time to help him and when had anybody done that for him? He wanted to succeed, to be strong and fit and a better person when he returned to his son. It was his goal. Akisha helped him train his endurance and speed when he was so well he could run, she brought him into the arena where a group of young apprentices were waiting and Thranduil had been deeply confused. He had wondered how they did their endurance training and Akisha had promised to show him. He just stood there looking at her and the group of about ten young adult humans who all seemed to be incredibly fit and healthy. “So?”
Akisha grinned, a mischievous grin with a twinkle in her eye. “We’re going to play tags and your it!”
He just stared at her with confusion written all over his face and she punched him gently on the shoulder. Then she ran and he swore to himself and rolled his eyes. He had been playing tags before, with Legolas when he was an elfling, but he was an adult damn it. Pride got the better of him, he was going to show these youngsters that he indeed could run just as fast as them. He did manage to catch one of them but only after ten minutes, he was panting and sweat was running of him. His lungs were burning and his feet shaking like crazy. What in heaven’s name had happened to him?
Akisha saw his puzzled expression and grinned. “So, has the king of the wine barrels had a revelation?”
Thranduil almost growled at her but he knew she was right. He had not really been physically active in a long time. The small battle before he fell had been fought mostly by his men and he had been on horseback all the time. He had really let himself go and it was with a lot of shame he admitted that to himself. And so he had to run for hours every day before he swam for two hours and then a stocky huge guy with a bald head and a braided beard presented himself as Wilbwyn and told the elven king that he was his new riding teacher and that he would spend two hours a day on horseback every day. Thranduil almost threw a tantrum, he was a master on horseback and nobody needed to teach him anything thank you very much. Wilbwyn just grinned with a wicked glimpse within his eyes and Dheg came with a rather small horse.
Thranduil rolled his eyes. “Really? A pony?! I am no toddler!”
Wilbwyn rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “No? Prove it. If you manage that horse I’ll eat my words and my saddle”
Thranduil swore and managed to keep his temper under control. He got in the saddle and then he realized yet another truth, he could run and swim and he was getting stronger but riding required that he used his muscles in a whole different way. This horse was doing what it wanted, not what he wanted it to do. He was struggling and struggling hard and Wilbwyn was laughing so hard he almost fell on his ass. “I haven’t been honest with you, I apologize. Shaker here has been trained to test his riders, to find their flaws and the lacks in their training. Don’t worry, you’ll be back to your old self soon”
And so he had to train with Wilbwyn every day too and he soon learned to appreciate the man’s brisk way of teaching. He was accused of being a klutz, of trying to pull the bit out through the horse’s ears, he was out of balance, too impatient and too everything. He was sweating and swearing and only his new determination stopped him from yelling back at the man. He did respect his teachers now, and he wanted to prove himself to them just as he had done with his own father. He was so sore every evening he could barely walk but they were making him progress by showering him with praise when he was doing well and scolding him mercilessly when he failed. He often dreamed of Legolas and he remembered the terrible nightmare. He still had no idea of what his father had been talking about. He was soon fully healed physically, so what had it all been about? He had no idea.
He felt welcome there, they all accepted him and treated him like one of their own and he was very appreciative of this. But Akisha was right, sometimes he was shocked by them, their humor in special. They were rather rough and made him blush rather often and he slowly got used to the frequent use of words which sounded like insults but weren’t. This was a huge family in deed, everybody trusted each other and loved each other and even though they often had small quarrels and fights it didn’t really mean anything. Everybody was just so damn nice towards each other and he had never felt so accepted before. With Raigh and Hawk, Khir and Rheynek and the others he felt like he was a part of a fellowship and he knew that they would help him in any way that they could. It made him feel very humble and so grateful he could not even begin to express it. They almost felt like brothers to him and he wished by the Valar that he one day could repay them for the time and effort they had put into him.
The parties they sometimes held in the tavern had shocked him, the women were dancing in a manner he never had imagined possible, dirty jokes and loud music filled the air and it filled him with a strange sensation. He felt free, untamed. The weight of the crown upon his head had been greater than he had been aware of, here he was just one among many and nobody gave a damn about dignity and honor. Before long he was singing along whenever there was a drinking song and even though he stayed clear of any alcohol he enjoyed himself immensely. He flirted with the serving girls and they flirted back, rather shamelessly but he did not care. He even started to consider whether or not asking one of them to meet him privately could be a good idea. But Naragh seemed to be able to read his mind and told him he should avoid overstraining his back, if he felt the need he still had a couple of good hands. Thranduil had barely ever been so embarrassed but Naragh just chuckled and told him it was just natural for such urges to resurface now that he was getting back to health.
Then one evening they were all gathered at Dern’s and the mood was a good one, it was not one of those wild parties, people were sitting in groups talking and having fun and he was enjoying himself. Raigh suddenly got on his feet. “Let’s have some fun, what about a round of truth or dare?”
Wilbwyn raised his jug of mead and cheered. “Yes, I’ll start!”
He got on his feet and grinned. “The tale of your first kiss or kiss Khan!”
Khan was the bouncer who worked at the door and he was so ugly he looked like the offspring of an orc and a boar.
Everybody laughed and Wilbwyn emptied the jug in one sip before he wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “I’ll go first. The first girl I kissed was a very busty and inviting one, I had managed to gather the courage to ask her out and I stood there outside of her door and wondered what I was supposed to do. She was waiting for me to make my move and so I went for it. “
He perched his lips and made a squeaking sound that made everybody laugh out loud. “But I was standing in a slope and there was a lot of mud, when I reached forward to kiss those pretty red lips like they do in the ballads I slipped and before you know it I was hanging on her shoulders with my face buried between her…charms! She wore a low cut dress that day. And so my first kiss ended up with a solid uppercut and a kick to my nuts, not exactly a tale of chivalry and romance”
They all laughed and so everybody at the table took their turn, they told some stories that were cute and some funny and suddenly Thranduil realized that they all were looking at him with anticipation. He felt like he wanted the floor to open up and swallow him. Wilbwyn sent him a wicked grin. “Come on lad, your first kiss or a kiss from Khan!”
Thranduil would rather kiss an orc! He felt his hands tremble, it was one of his most embarrassing memories and one he was far from proud of but he was no coward, he could not back down when all the others had shared some rather unpleasant memories. He got on his feet but felt them shiver and his voice did tremble. ”Well, ah, I was rather young. I grew faster than the other ellon my age so I was rather tall back then, looked a bit older than I really was.”
He felt himself slip into the memory as he told of something he would have preferred to have forgotten. He had hit puberty rather early and even though elves don’t have to worry about problems like acne, bad smells and the other problems humans has to face it did not mean that puberty was smooth sailings. Far from it. Normally the parents would sit down with their offspring and have that conversation with them the moment they started to change and he could remember when he had shared that very embarrassing little speech with Legolas. But unfortunately for himself his father had been absent when he reached the last stages of puberty and they never had the opportunity to sit down and talk.
Since he was a prince nobody else dared to talk with him about the things he wondered about and so he was incredibly ignorant and innocent. He was very protected and knew naught of sex and the way the body works. He had become increasingly confused, he did not understand why certain parts of his body were all stiff when he woke up in the morning, he had weird dreams at night and suddenly he thought that ellith were rather nice, before he thought they were a nuisance.
A hormonal elf is far worse than a hormonal human being, he was so obsessed with the girls he felt like he was going to go crazy. He was terrified by his own thoughts and could not understand why he wanted to be so close to them. And why he got hard whenever he saw an attractive elleth. One afternoon he had been sitting in the garden trying to read a book and one of the young maidens had come and sat down next to him. She had been talking politely about the weather and the new horses his father had brought home and Thranduil had been suffering. His eyes glued to her chest and his hands carefully placed over his lap to hide the obvious swelling. He had tried to pay attention to the conversation and he was raised to be polite and nice towards the ladies, he had problems but he really tried. And then she got back on her feet, leaned forward and gave him a soft kiss on his lips and said she thought he was such a nice and handsome ellon. He had gotten a good look straight down her dress and something had suddenly happened to him that made him so terrified he almost passed out. He had felt a sort of surge pass through his body and it ended up within his groin and it felt so good he could have screamed, his cock twitched and he felt something wet and sticky streaming out of him.
The girl had turned her back to him and did not see his strange expression and his terrified eyes, what in the name of the Valar had happened to him? He ran back into his room completely in a panic. He had stripped of his pants and washed the fluid of his body and he was shivering and panting. It was then one of his servants found him and calmed the frightened young ellon down and explained the situation to him.
Thranduil could see that the others were smiling at him but they did not mock him in any way, they felt with him. Wilbwyn slapped him across the back in a very brotherly manner. “Damn, your first kiss must have been a great one to make you come in your pants. That must have been quite a day! Bet you are popular among the ladies!”
He blushed and looked down. “I guess I were, for a while”
Akisha and Raigh walked over to him and smiled. “Want some fresh air?”
He just nodded and followed them outside and Akisha turned towards him. Her face was in a way naked, without the usual strict expression. “Are you capable of keeping a secret?”
Thranduil swallowed and nodded. “Good, we trust you my friend, but this is something we don’t show any other than our closest friends. Understand?!”
“I understand!” He felt honored by her words but felt a little uncertain as to what it was they wanted to show him.
Akisha grabbed his hand. “Follow us!”
They went back to the circus and then into a part of the stables where they kept the horses of people who visited the place. Raigh opened a hidden hatch in the roof and they climbed into an old hay loft and from there he could stare into a hidden garden. It was a small triangular shaped room between the tall walls of the circus and the surrounding buildings and it was not big but in one end he could see an old oak tree. It was massive and apparently ancient and he felt a feeling of awe when he gazed upon it. It was so old it made him feel young again. They climbed down and he could see a platform across the lower branches, it looked almost like a sort of talan. Akisha smiled and her eyes were filled with memories, Raighs were too. “This is our place, our little sanctuary away from everything else.”
Thranduil stared at the tree, it filled him with a strange longing for home. “It is beautiful here, so peaceful.”
Akisha nodded. “Raigh built that platform for me, and I gave him my maidenhood upon it, but that is a different story.”
Thranduil blushed, he could feel his ears burn and he looked down. Akisha sighed, she walked towards something almost hidden in the grass. “This is what we wanted to show you. The goddess has brought you here to learn my friend, and we too have a lesson for you. “
He stared at it, it was a grave!
He bit his lower lip, could not read the letters written upon it. “Who rests here?”
Raigh sighed, his wide chest heaved with emotions. “The one person responsible for the worst hurt in our lives, for almost killing us and destroying everything you see here. “
Thranduil gasped and stared at the tomb stone with huge eyes. “Why did you bury such a person here? In your sacred place?”
Akisha sat down on her knees, rearranged some of the flowers planted in front of the tombstone. “Because I forgave her, because she was born as innocent as we all are and it was not her fault that the world betrayed her and turned her into something vile and wicked. “
Thranduil knelt down to. “So, what is the lesson I must learn?”
Raigh smiled gently at him. “That love can endure anything, survive even more. Nothing can stand in the way of a loving heart, remember this. “
Akisha swallowed hard and he was shocked to see tears flowing down her cheeks. “I was a slave when I was brought here, so was Raigh but I saved his life and we fell in love. Back then we had enemies within this city, an evil sect who sought to eradicate this place because it gave people hope and they hated that. “
Raigh knelt down and kissed Akisha on top of her head, the love between the two was so apparent and so truly beautiful to behold. Thranduil felt deeply moved by it and in a weird way jealous. Would he ever have a chance to feel that way about another person? “The sect wanted someone on the inside, someone who would betray their own friends and they found that too. Zoleba who rests here had been the star of the show until Akisha showed up. Oh she was a beauty with hair like spun gold and a laughter like the chime of silver bells. She was stunning and knew it well. But she had flaws, great ones. She wanted it all and she wanted it there and then. She could not understand that you have to work to achieve your goals and when Akisha started to outshine her she turned to our enemies to get her status back.”
Thranduil was flabbergasted by what they told him, such a bitch!
Akisha closed her eyes. “She wanted Raigh and could not handle the fact that he fell in love with me, not her. She tried to seduce him to no prevail and so she told our enemies of my whereabouts, and they found me.”
She fell quiet and Thranduil felt a wave of sorrow from her, he feared what he would be told next. Raigh had a sad expression upon his face. “They attacked her when she was defenseless and vulnerable. They kidnapped her and they…”
His face was pale and Akisha was grabbing on to his hand as if she never could let go of it.
She looked Thranduil straight into the eyes and he was terrified by the dark emotions he could see within her gaze. “They tortured me and raped me, and they were going to kill me when the master who trained me saved me in the last minute. I was close to death but I allowed the goddess to heal me and accepted her gifts. She turned me into something inhuman, and the heritage from my fathered awakened within me and made me even stronger. With the spirit of a snowtiger within there is nothing that can stop me. But the price I had to pay was terrible, I am sterile and will never give my love any children, and I had to leave him behind in order to be trained to the level I am at now. It almost broke my heart and spirit.”
Thranduil felt that his eyes filled with tears, what a truly tragic tale. Raigh caressed her cheek with his thumb. “It almost killed me too, to wake up and find her gone. I was close to killing myself, I truly was. But I did not and after some years we met again and since then we have never been apart. We endured even that terrible misdeed, and learned to love each other again.”
Akisha smiled, a very sad smile. “I returned here to rescue my friends and then I found her, Zoleba. The one who had ruined everything I had had, destroyed the most beautiful thing I and Raigh shared. She was dying from leprosy, rotting away while she was still alive. As soon as she was no longer useful the sect had thrown her away, discarded of her like trash. She was nothing like the person she had been, the beautiful temptress was gone, all that was left was a ruin of a human being. She was suffering and living in constant regret of who she had been and what she had done and so I was merciful and killed her, after I forgave her.”
Thranduil was stunned. “I could never have done that, not to someone who had hurt me so bad, by the Valar, I will never ever be as noble as you are. I bow my head to you!”
Akisha just smiled, a smile filled with melancholy. “Oh I am sure even you would find it in your heart to forgive, it is better than to spend the rest of the years of one’s life in constant hate and regret.”
They got up and left the garden and Thranduil had a strange feeling that he was being prepared for something, but only the Valar knew what. They went to the dining room and were met by the cook Jalisa, she grinned and gave them a huge portion of her best stew. “Shanrae and Thilian has arrived. Ghuad will get here tomorrow, he had some business to tend to.”
Akisha smiled, a truly warm smile. “Oh goody, Thranduil, you’ll get the chance to see how our dragons look!”
The elven king nodded but he felt like all color had left his face and he was trembling within. Seeing a dragon? He’d rather not. “Those two names, who are they?”
Raigh emptied his jug of mead with a loud belch that made Akisha give him a rather angry glance. “Shanrae is Ghuad’s soulmate, Thilian is his adopted daughter.”
Thranduil just shrugged, a dragons soulmate? He wondered what kind of creature that could be!
He finished his meal and went to bed and that night he dreamt of the day Legolas was born and the incredible joy he had felt. A pity really that such wonderful people as Akisha and Raigh never would experience that emotion.
The next morning he went to the dining room and was greeted as usual with welcoming cheers, it made him feel warm around his heart. He felt so loved there, so at home. He was a part of the family but he started to miss his own. He sat down and Jalisa winked at him before she brought him a mammoth portion of eggs and bacon. He stared at the huge meal with narrow eyes, how in the name of everything sacred would he be able to eat all that? Not finishing your meal was an insult to Jalisa and he knew that she was the glue that kept this whole business going. An army marches on its belly and this place worked the same way. Without her excellent food there would be a mutiny rather fast.
He was halfway through his portion when a woman entered the room and he stared in amazement until he realized that he was being rude and pulled his eyes to him again. She was stunning, he had never seen a beauty like her. It was nothing of the ethereal beauty of Elywen or Frostbird or the elegant bladelike beauty of Akisha, this was a sensual and tantalizing creature which made every male in the room turn their heads. He swallowed hard, what in the name of the Valar was she? A peredhel? She did look like one, at least a bit. She had elven ears but her other features were more human, few elleths would develop such generous curves. Her hair had the color of a ripe field of wheat and her eyes appeared to be a deep color of blue. She was gorgeous and moved with the grace and confidence of a queen.
Jalisa brought her a bowl of porridge and a jug of milk and the woman smiled gently. “Could you ask the servants to bring Thilian something too? She has had it rough lately, she isn’t ready to meet everybody just yet.”
Jalisa nodded and Thranduil knew that this had to be Shanrae, the dragons soulmate. That dragon was one lucky bastard no doubt but he was getting curious about that Thilian woman. What did Shanrae mean with the things she said?
He got up and went to the baths, he swam for two hours and enjoyed a good massage and then he laid down to relax a bit before he was going to have more riding and fencing lessons. He would soon be back to his full strength and that felt very good. He dozed off, and again he saw Legolas disappear among the terrible shadows, he woke up with a start and was shivering all over, it was rather cold in there and the nightmare scared him more and more. Could it be a harbinger of things to come? Would there be a final battle between his people and the ancient enemy? Would his precious son die if he could not change his path?
He forced himself away from these dark thoughts and got dressed, walked into the arena where Wilbwyn was waiting. He now got to ride good horses and he had regained his self-confidence and balance but he tried to avoid getting to haughty again. He was almost finished with the day’s lesson when he heard a shout. “Ghuad is approaching, get the horses back into the stable quick”
The stable hands hurried to follow the order and Thranduil felt a strange chill run down his spine, this was the moment of truth, Would he be able to keep his calm or would he be scared shitless and run away like some crybaby?
A shadow passed over the circus and they removed all the object within the arena, he frowned. How much space did that dragon really need? Wilbwyn smacked him across his shoulders again and grinned from ear to ear. “Find something to hold on to lad, we’ll have a minor earthquake soon.”
Thranduil snorted and then he looked up and knew that he would run like a rabbit, he would run but could not cause his feet felt like they were glued to the ground and his heart beat like a drum. His face felt like it was burning once more, it was not real but it sure as hell felt that way and he grasped onto one of the pillars along the base of the stands with all his might. It cannot be, his mind was screaming at him, nothing can be that big?! The wings were wider than the base of the entire circus, he had imagined a dragon like Smaug, Smaug would have looked like a mere bat compared with this mighty beast. First of all, Ghuad had four legs in addition to his wings and was thus a real dragon, not a wyern. The dragon that was going in for landing was black, but it was nothing like the blackness of say a black horse. It was the blackness of polished black steel, of black diamonds or the skin of a beetle. He was shining in the sun like oil on water and the sight was as terrifying as it was beautiful. Ghuad braked in the air, swung his long hind legs down and the overall shape of the body was almost humanoid except from the long neck and tail. He touched down and the ground shook beneath the giant weight, Thranduil felt his mouth go dry, his eyes were watering and he could not stop staring.
The dragons head alone was half the length of Smaugs entire body, his teeth longer than a knight’s lance. The tail was spiked and he could see strange blades at the end, it was a weapon in itself. Ghuad got down on all fours, folded the giant wings in and then there was a bright flash of light and where the dragon had been a man stood instead. He was almost seven feet tall with long black hair with a strange red shine to it and eyes like dark polished amber. He was incredibly beautiful and yet terrifying in some way and there was an infinite amount of power and wisdom within his strange gaze. Thranduil could see that the eyes were like those of a cat, with vertical pupils. The creature went straight towards him and Wilbwyn and smiled at the bald man. Wilbwyn grinned and embraced Ghuad who returned the embrace like a brother would. “Ah, my friend, long time no see. And who might this be? I have not seen that fair face before?”
Wilbwyn reached out and dragged Thranduil forth, the poor elf felt sweat running down his temples and his hands were shivering. He was close to passing out. “This is Thranduil, he is an honored guest here and a visitor from afar. “
Ghuad cocked his head and those terrible but yet so lovely eyes were watching the elf with curiosity. “From afar in deed, I see that you are no stranger to dragons!”
Thranduil twitched, he touched his face again on a pure reflex and Ghuad had something sad within his gaze. “So much fear, such a pity. I think you will overcome it, soon. A pleasure to meet you Thranduil.”
Thranduil held his breath, the dragon knew who he was, he was sure of it. He bowed his head and tried to remain calm and collected but his voice shook. “L..likewise!”
The dragons voice was incredibly deep and smooth, like some slow flowing liquid, it was a voice that could hypnotize you completely. Had he somehow hypnotized Shanrae? Ghuad went towards the dining room and was met with joy and Thranduil felt like he at least had tried to make a good impression. He had not pissed his pants or run away and he had actually managed to smile, even though he felt he was pale as a sheet and shivering like he had seizures.
The rest of the day went rather uneventful, he finished his training, had a nice dinner and spent some time talking about horses and hunting with Rheynek and his mate Enez. She was a petite and lithe woman with dark blonde hair, blue eyes and a constant mischievous glimpse within her eyes. He had been shocked to find out that she in fact was the heir to a kingdom, had made a living as a thief and had grown up in a brothel.
He went to bed early and fell asleep rather fast, he wasn’t even dreaming but suddenly he was awakened by a sound nearby. The rooms within this corridor were reserved for guests and rather nice and he understood that it came from a room further down the row of rooms. It was screams, terrible wails which pierced his ears and made him jump to his feet. He was in shock, it was a woman or girl who was screaming and she did not seem to stop. He heard running feet pass by his door, then the sound got a bit muffled and he heart a soft woman’s voice and one that had to be Ghuads. “Easy my little one, it was a bad dream, nothing but a bad dream!”
The screams became wild racking sobs and Thranduil felt a surge of compassion rush through him, what kind of dreams could make someone scream like that, oh wait a minute, he knew exactly that kind of dreams, too damn well. He did not hear anything more, just distant soft voices and he went back to bed. He had problems falling asleep again, if the one screaming was the dragons step daughter then she really had to have some nasty skeletons hidden in her closet. He wondered what they were.
The morning after he got up, brushed through his hair and took a quick look in the mirror, he looked better, a heck of a lot better. The emaciated expression was gone, so were the bruises and dark shadows beneath his eyes. He was more muscular than before, more defined too and Naragh had been using oils in his hair so it shone and looked like flowing silk around his shoulders. Yes, he did look good, better than ever he would have to admit. He whistled when he finished dressing and got out into the corridor. He had gotten used to wearing rather plain clothes, they were solid and warm but simple. There were no embellishments on them at all, just brown and grey wool or leather and some velvet. He looked like a commoner would back home and it did not bother him at all, not anymore. His vanity was gone, it had been so downright empty, meaningless. Now he was happy to have a meal even though it had been made en mass to feed hundred people and a jug of thin ale with it. He was glad to have something warm to wear and did not miss his expensive robes a bit. And gold and jewels? Those were just worthless things made to show off a wealth he no longer needed. He wondered why he had been so keen on such things in the first place, was it to prove something to himself? To hide a feeling of failure? Hawk was possibly right when he claimed that the encounter with the dragon had smashed his self-confidence so bad he replaced the hole where it had been with a hunger for something he felt he could control, wealth.
He walked down the corridor and saw someone standing by one of the closets, it was a woman and she was trying to put some sheets back into the top shelf but she wasn’t tall enough. She did not look like a servant, and he had never seen her before. She was quite tall with an undeniable elegance, her hair had an amazing color, it looked like polished bronze and shimmered in both red and gold. She had a long neck and he could see that her hands were elegant and fine. And what a body, a narrow waist so small he was sure he could grasp around it, rounded hips with what had to be the best looking rear he had ever seen and a chest which was nothing less than perfect. Her legs seemed to be incredibly long too, and she appeared to be a rather young one.
He walked closer. “Allow me to help you with that”
She turned around and he stared at her with a bit of shock, her face was so lovely. Heart shaped with skin like honey, her big slanting almond shaped eyes shone like jewels and they were a deep color of golden brown. Her lips were full and rosy red and she smelled just wonderful. He was stunned, where could she have been hiding? Then he saw her ears, she was just like Shanrae, and her eyes were like Ghuads, she was Thilian. He gasped and he almost dropped the sheets but managed to put them into the shelf without looking like a moron. “Thank you, that was kind of you”
Her voice was very low, barely audible and she was looking down, like she was ashamed of herself. “Ah, it was just…a pleasure.”
He swallowed and then it just burst out, he could not stop it. “So it was you that I heard yelling like a stuck pig last night?!”
She gasped, turned around, faced him. Her eyes were suddenly ablaze with shock and anger. “I-beg-your-pardon?!”
Her voice was hoarse and he met her gaze with shock in his own eyes, why the hell had he said just that? “Oh I am sorry, I am sorry, I should not have said that, at least you don’t look like a stuck pig, I mean you don’t look like a pig at all, well you do look rather tasty but…”
Wham! She smacked him, right across the face before she turned on her heels with an angry hiss and disappeared down the corridor. Thranduil was left with an aching face and a feeling of absolute horror. What in the name of the Valar had flown into him? Saying something like that to a woman?! Had he finally lost his mind completely? Oh gods, he had to apologize, but how? He whimpered and closed his eyes, why was he such a complete moron when it came to women?
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Underneath alien skies