Legolas balanced on a tree branch, watching a pack of Wargs with Orc riders beneath him.
About twenty of them. he calculated. One of the Wargs sniffed the tree, then growled. They'd caught his scent. He climbed higher, stealthy as always. But before he was out of sight, an Orc looked up straight at him. It made a strange guttural sound in its throat and pointed its black scimitar at him.
Abandoning all attempts at secrecy, Legolas ran and leapt to another tree where he had a clear shot and raised his bow. Reaching back for an arrow, he nocked it and fired. The Orcs nearest him fell, both pierced with the same shaft. He ducked to avoid the answering arrows. He reached back for another arrow, then realized that he had used all the ones he'd brought with him on spiders. "I really need to remember to make more." he said to himself. He slung his bow across his back and drew his daggers. He leapt the twenty feet down to the forest floor and sliced the throats of two more Orcs in front of him.
The Sylvan Elves that he was head of in Tauriel's absence sprang out of the trees and added their arrows to the fray. Five more left. he thought, swinging his daggers around above his head in unison. A showy move, and useless for defense, but fun. Two of the remaining Orcs fell with arrows through their heads. The last three had shields full of elvish arrows, and were advancing toward Legolas. One was cloaked and mounted on a Warg, the other two on foot. The cloaked one stopped its mount about ten paces in front of Legolas, pointing one finger at him. The two on either side of it advanced.
Drawing their swords, the Orcs charged. Legolas ducked under one blow and met the other with the flat of his left dagger, surprised at the speed and strength of his opponents' blows. Turning to face them, he realized he was possibly in a very bad position. If the cloaked Orc were to attack and Legolas turn to face him, the other two would most likely try to kill him. And if he faced the two in front of him, the last Orc could then do the same.
Trying to avoid that, Legolas turned and backed slowly toward the bushes so he could see all his opponents. It was no use. They were already creeping out of his line of sight, trying to force him to fight one or the other. He sheathed his daggers and reached up slowly for a branch within reach. He found one, and pulled himself out of sight. Safe.
The Orcs poked around in the bushes, trying to find him. Without success, they left. Legolas grinned. It was fun to outsmart them.
"You can try to catch me later." he whispered in their direction, a superior smile on his face. But why didn't the other elves just kill them? he wondered. Then he shrugged. They might not have noticed.
"Or maybe, we can catch you now." An Orcish hand shoved him hard from behind out of the tree. Legolas twisted in the air, trying not to land on his head, and landed on his back. He tried to draw his daggers again to defend himself, but a black blade was already at his throat. Several others with longbows had arrows trained on his head. Legolas lay back in surrender. He knew he was beaten.
The swordsman Orc, still cloaked, placed his foot on Legolas's chest, causing him to wince because of the pressure. It gave a harsh growl and two of its underlings lowered their weapons and left. They returned with rope and bound his wrists. The ropes were so tight he couldn't feel his hands. Then the Orc removed his foot and Legolas relaxed, able to breath again. The leader grabbed him roughly by the shoulder and yanked him to his feet. "You're comin' with us." Legolas glared at him and fought, but a second Orc grabbed his other shoulder and shoved him to his knees.
"Stop that, or I kill you." the first growled.
"You would not dare." Legolas answered. "You would never kill me."
"Oh, yes I would, elf. Now get up!" The Orcs pulled Legolas to his feet again and forced him overtop of a Warg, but he managed to turn his head to the side to avoid his face being shoved into Warg fur. He hated the smell.
The leader Orc mounted the beast behind him and roared a command to its underlings. Where did all these Orcs come from?! he wondered, stunned that the other elves had missed this many Orcs. And that they'd left so early, without waiting for him, as courtesy and respect for his rank required. Not that he was that prideful, but it was common courtesy in Greenwood! Especially for a prince!
The Wargs started moving farther into the forest, south, Legolas noted from the position of the sparse sunlight shining through the tree canopy. Could they be taking him to Dol Guldur?
Impossible. They'd just defeated the Orc armies in the Battle for the Mountain. A few months was in no way time enough for an utterly defeated army to recover enough strength for attack, especially on the Greenwood Elves. His father would simply wipe the awful, rotten existence of Orcs off the face of Middle-Earth. Legolas knew Tauriel would be angry for him speaking like that. She might even slap him. But he hated Orcs. Especially ones who would dare threaten Tauriel, like that infernal Bolg.
By the time they reached wherever it was they were taking him, the forest had grown dark, too dark for his comfort. The trees were few and had sparse leaves, if any, and an unmistakable shroud of gray hung over everything. Legolas didn't know if this in fact was the Orc stronghold, but it was likely. The only time he'd ever been to the Abandoned Fortress was in his youth, on one of Tauriel's 'escapades'. She still had a burn scar on her hand from that one.
An Orc emerged from the gloom that he could barely see. White and tall, he bore a scar on his chest from some elvish weapon, as well as several others that looked to be from the claws of some beast. An wrought-iron claw protruded from the stump of his right arm. Impossible. Legolas thought. He died! I saw him! How could it be possible? Yet it was. Azog the Defiler.
The Orc leader, still cloaked, dismounted and walked to stand in front of Azog, as if to give a report. Tauriel had taught him the Black Speech. Now he could put her lessons to use.
"Who did you bring?" Azog asked the leader of the Orc pack, whom Legolas now recognized as his sworn, and dead, enemy, Bolg. The scars from Legolas's elven daggers were evident.
"The elven prince. We can gain much in trade for letting him live. He also has some information that our master desires."
A pause. "Get him up." Two other Orcs grabbed his arms and yanked him up. They dragged him a few paces and then shoved him to his knees in front of Azog. Legolas gazed up at the albino Orc with piercing, hate-filled eyes. Azog chuckled. Then he turned and waved for them to follow. "Bring him."
The Orcs jerked Legolas to his feet and forced him to walk alongside them into Dol Guldur. They seemed to derive amusement from deliberately tripping him and causing him to twist his ankle against hidden rocks several times. Azog apparently was amused by this as well and roared in laughter at the guards. They continued doing it, as well as managing to steer Legolas into every hole and bump. He would get them for this. And how am I going to keep my promise to Tauriel now? he wondered. She's going to worry, my father as well. I have to get out of here. He tried to fight, but they only tightened their grip on his arms. He fought them anyhow.
It turned out to be useless. Azog noticed his fighting and stopped. He turned and stared at Legolas. Then the Orc raised his fist and slammed it into his jaw. Legolas recoiled from the stinging pain. "Don't try to escape." Azog growled, his tongue mangling the common language almost beyond recognition. "Or you'll end up with worse than that." He turned and started walking again.
Legolas managed to catch a glimpse of himself in a puddle from a recent storm, and saw a black and yellow bruise spreading across his cheek. Worse then that? Just great.
They dragged him deep into the fortress, allowing him to see how much it had changed from his childhood. Then, it had been completely and utterly abandoned. Now, Orcs were swarming around every corner. The Orcs hauled him deep underground to what Legolas recognized as Orc dungeons. He'd seen them before, in the Battle of Gundabad. That was the only real battle besides the Battle for the Mountain that he had ever fought in.
Then he saw there were no other Orcs here. Making one last attempt at freedom, Legolas shoved the Orcs against the walls of the corridor. He tried to grab a weapon, but then he remembered. His hands were tied behind his back. Wonderful.
It turned out Azog had heard them fighting and sent Bolg down to investigate. The one-eyed Orc snatched Legolas by the back of his tunic and dragged him down the corridor to the last cell. Bolg unlocked the door with an iron key and swung it open. He threw Legolas against the far wall and shut the door again. "Try and get out of there, elf!" Bolg laughed and strode away.
Legolas shoved himself up. His head throbbed, as did his wrist. He fell back onto one elbow. He would kill them for this. He would kill them, and then make sure they stayed dead.