Chapter One submitted 5-17-07.
Here I am with another Tolkien-based fanfiction. If any of you have had the patience to read any of my other fics, then I am glad that you've also had the patience and courage to read this one. And so, without further ado and certainly little more delay, I give you Pillar of Strength, Book One in the Iaur Min Series by GundamWingFanatic90.
Summary: When disaster strikes, Legolas is saved by an ancient warrior who is supposed to be long dead. Rated PG-13 for violence, blood, and action.
Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings, the Silmarillion, or any related characters or works. They belong to Mister J.R.R. Tolkien.
PILLAR OF STRENGTH.
Book One in the IAUR MIN Series.
By GundamWingFanatic90.
CHAPTER 1.
It was a bitterly cold winter's day when Legolas Thranduilion set out from Rivendell to track a group of orcs reported to have been heading towards his home in the kingdom of Mirkwood. With him were his best friends, Elladan and Elrohir Peredhelion. They had ridden out that morning, and by noon they had reached the High Pass. There, they stopped for the horses to rest.
"We've got about two days' hard ride ahead of us until we reach the borders of Mirkwood," said Elrohir to Legolas and Elladan. "If we continue to track them, we may be capable of getting through the High Pass later this evening and moving on tomorrow." Legolas nodded.
"That, we may be able to do. However," he added. "If the storm that I smell and the trees tell me is brewing comes, then we may well be hindered quite enough in our travel as it is." He cast a glance up at the darkening sky. "Would you two be terribly against the suggestion of moving through the night?" The twins shook their identical heads in unison. "Then let us be off, mellyn-nin, that the storm may catch our fading tracks instead of nip at our heels!"
Elladan and Elrohir laughed at the same time, and the trio mounted up on the horses once more before continuing onward.
It was hard going through the pass, but the elves made it to the other side just before dawn the next morning, and thankfully ahead of the storm that would have buried them in ice and snow otherwise. They assembled camp at the foothills of the Misty Mountains after dawn, when they knew that the orcs they were tracking would surely be hunkered down to escape from the daylight. They slept through the day after eating some lembas, and that night, as well. Then the next morning they set out once more, reaching the eaves of the Mirkwood trees before noon.
"The trail continues into the forest," said Legolas. Elladan and Elrohir nodded.
"Aye," they said.
"We should continue on," continued Elladan. "If we do not come upon the vile beings within a day, it would do us wise to go to your father's halls and re-stock on supplies before continuing our search."
"Dan… Legolas…" murmured Elrohir suddenly. The other two turned to him as he paused for a moment. "…If we should get separated, we should make for Thranduil's halls. If such a thing happens and the others are not there, then do not waste time in setting up a search party. You both know what it is we follow, and how dangerous they can be." Legolas and Elladan nodded solemnly, but then the prince laughed lightly.
"Aye, but we shall not be separated, then, shall we?" he asked mischievously. The mood lightening considerably, the twins laughed, and the three of them plunged into the murky shadows of Mirkwood.
It was three hours later that disaster struck.
The trio was riding along a deer trail next to the river, following the tracks left by their quarry, when suddenly screeches rang up all around them. The elves were startled, both by the fact that they had been snuck up on and by the fact that they were surrounded, but nevertheless drew their weapons with a swiftness that would make any man green with envy.
"Yrch!" hissed Elladan. The first of the orcs jumped out at them, only to meet a swift end from Legolas' keen aim, and then the rest of the vile beasts were upon them.
Legolas managed to shoot three of the orcs before putting away his bow and unsheathing one of his knives, the other hand holding onto his horse's reins so that the mare did not throw him off in her fright. He reached down and blocked a strike from his right, slitting that orc's throat, before deflecting another blow from his left and killing that goblin, as well. However, when one dropped out of a tree onto the elf's back, he was brought down.
They landed on the ground, hard, rolling a bit as each fought to stab the other. Legolas was on the bottom, holding the orc's wrist so that it did not bury its knife in his flesh, and the orc had Legolas' arm pinned so that he could not stab it, either. Finally, Legolas jerked upward, head-butting the orc. It momentarily lost its orientation, and that was enough for the elf to throw it off of himself and get to his feet in time to block a strike from another orc.
He whipped his other knife out of its sheath, bringing it around and decapitating the fell being. Then he was suddenly on the ground again, his feet having been kicked out from beneath him. The same orc from before bore down upon him, dagger raised, and again Legolas blocked the strike, abruptly reversing their positions in the process. He tried to stab downward, but his wrist was caught once more in a vice-like grip. They grappled for a moment as the twins dealt death to many of the orcs around them.
Legolas barely noticed that the three of them were being driven apart, nor did he notice how dangerously close to the river he was: his boots were almost touching the surface of the water. Only seconds later did he discover this for himself, for, as he finally managed to sink his blade into the orc's throat, that self-same orc got its feet between the two of them and kicked the young elf off of it back into the water, leaving his dagger behind to stand upright in the creature's throat as it lived out its death throes, the other dagger falling to bury its blade in the soft earth of the bank. The quick current swiftly caught the prince up, and he was swept off downstream.
It was when his head hit a rock a little ways down that consciousness left him to float, face-down, down the river to a fate that only time would reveal.
And so the first chapter ends with a cliff-hanger. I hope you all liked it, and I really hope that you did not fall asleep reading it. If you have gotten this far, please leave me a review. Feedback is much-appreciated, as it is the only way I am able to improve my writing style. Thank you!
There will be a glossary at the end of the story, if anyone is interested.
-Fanatic
