::SNEAK PEEK:: The Wall that Fell Chapter 12, by Lossefalme

*** I apologize for making everyone wait so long for Chapter 12, even though really it hasn’t been nearly as long as usual… 😉 But I thought I would post this anyway, because all you readers have been so kind to me, and you deserve it! Written 8/31/04.***

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Legolas stood on the bank of the Great River at a narrow section of beach between two great wooden piers. He still held his knives in both hands, his fingers wrapped around the familiar hafts, the white blades of the weapons still slick with dark blood. His face was grim and pale in the dull light of the moon, but he was not looking at the bodies of the Haradrim he had just slain.

Gimli walked up beside him, but even with the crunching of the Dwarf’s heavy boots in the gravel the Elf did not turn. The bright blue eyes stared out toward the ocean in the south, searching, seeing far away. The dark water of the river frothed at the gravel just inches from the toes of Legolas’ boots, and now that the battle here had finished, the whisper of the water and the creaking of the tied boats were the only sounds in the hollow night.

Gimli looked a long time into the direction where Legolas stared, but the Dwarf could see nothing other than endless water fading away into the darkness of the unknown. He tilted his head to one side, straining his eyes as best he could, but despite his uncanny ability to see well in dark places, he could detect nothing of interest that might demand such rapt attention from the Elf. At last Gimli cleared his throat, trying to make his presence known, and then finally there seemed to be some flicker of life behind Legolas’ unwavering gaze.

Gimli took his chance. “Legolas… may I ask what it is you’re staring at?”

The Elf turned his head at the question and despite himself Gimli drew back at the look in Legolas’ eyes. It was something the Dwarf had never seen before; something ancient, something vivid and frantic, something almost like fear.

“The gulls, Gimli,” Legolas said raggedly. “Did you not hear the gulls?”

Gimli blinked at the question, not understanding it, but the Elf didn’t even give him time to answer. Instead Legolas brushed by him quickly, heading up the beach toward Aragorn, his face more brooding and grave than ever before.

The Dwarf watched him go, a frown passing over his face beneath the beard. He leaned on his bloodied axe and sighed heavily, shaking his head. He supposed he would never understand the Elves.

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