Chapter 3: Allies

Our 3 friends hesitantly approached the horses they were presented with. Seth was doing his best to get on the horse, not because he had trouble with getting up on one but the horse was restless and uneasy with the scent of a wolf Seth had on him.

"Easy, boy. . ." Seth said, while doing his best to calm down the horse. Not that it helped alot. The poor animal looked just about to gallop off on its own anytime.

The Elves looked on in bewilderment. Their horses were not comparable to those of Rohan but they were of good lineage within the Woodland realm. Or, at least good enough to be able to allow a complete stranger to mount up on.

Ruby and Adam were more preoccupied in their thoughts though their line of sight were trained on Seth struggling helplessly with the beast.

Their horses had been wary but allowed them to mount with little difficulty though Adam was quite sure the horse had shuddered when his cold hand came into contact.

The horses will slow us down considerably, thought Ruby, but there was little she could do to refuse the supposedly kind offer from the Elves, since they are the occupants of this world they unsuspectingly stumbled upon.

Adam, however, was more worried about getting back. Even with the Elves' help they may not be able to find the lake. And supposing if they could, how on earth are they going to get back? By jumping into it again? He sure hoped that the Elves will not be too upset that the 3 guests they were trying so hard to chase out ends up disappearing in a lake.

It had barely been minutes into their horse-riding journey when Ruby heard a swishing sound right past her ear.

To others it may have been viewed as a very narrow escape, but fact was Ruby had already anticipated that the arrow would miss her, and thus promptly stayed still.

The next arrow that flew with much more accuracy was caught with one hand, and subsequently thrown back at the shooter, impaling him through his ugly skull.

Ruby turned around to face the Elves, expecting some sort of defensive action to be taken against the sudden attack and was surprised that these filthy creatures that the elves called orcs, had already surrounded them.

The way they snarled and drooled and circled them was not a very nice sight.

"Seth?" Ruby called out. She could see him shuddering, threatening to shift into his wolf form that was more adapted to such unavoidable dangers. Seth had once likened the vampire's craving for blood with the way they morphed into their wolf forms when they are threatened or agitated.

And this was one great example of what would have caused them to transform.

The Elves barely noticed for they were pointing their arrows directly at the enemies.

To their credit, they valiantly surrounded the 3 of them. There were considerably more orcs this time round.

"Time for confessions…" Adam said, although it was directed more to Ruby and Seth.

Darned. This must be one of those flabbergasting 'Adam-y' times again, thought Ruby.

"Look, guys, Elves, occupants of what you call Mirkwood…" Adam started. None of the Elves made an effort to move, still concentrating on the enemy.

"We are not who you think we…" Adam was rudely cut off. An orc had attempted an assault and was promptly shot.

The next few seconds went by in a flash as a flurry of actions started. The orcs advanced in simultaneously while the Elves let loose their arrows to hit them before they could reach them.

If anything, the Orcs were poor archers. Most of their arrows were fired blindly. The occasional accurate ones would only graze the arm of an Elf, causing only superficial wounds to the victim.

Ruby had an all too familiar howl that could only belong to a dog. Or wolf. And in this case, Seth. She jumped off her horse in a flash and ran towards him. An Orc was about to bring an axe down to the unconscious wolf form when he found himself hurtling through the air instead.

Ruby could feel the anger rising up in her. The sight of Seth so badly injured was invoking a surge of rage within her. She looked up and met a pair of dark eyes looking straight at her despite the scene of battle taking place around them.

She knew then, that her brother had given her consent to do whatever she deem fit and she let out a hiss.

Edward had refused to allow Bella anywhere near him when he is hunting; And it was for a good reason. For when a vampire hunts, it is as if a dark immortal beast had taken over their body. However if there were any space for logic and reason to remain during their possessed state of mind, it was anger.

It was fury that allowed them to be able to exact revenge and to protect. Anger was that little shred of humanity they hold on to that keeps them from turning into a complete animal (no offense to the shape-shifters).

And today, it was this very same 'reasonable and logical' fury that kept the Elves safe for Adam and Ruby did not attack any that stood in their way. It was particularly aimed at the Orcs who had injured their friend so badly.

Seth would definitely be alright, for he was still breathing. He probably had broken many bones but they would heal alright. Any injuries that the shape-shifters usually came across were immediately referred to Carlisle, which explains why Ruby and Adam could only help out the only way they knew how, and that was to settle the score on his behalf.

Both of them had been immortals long enough to have forgotten the feeling of physical pain. But it was evident to the entire Cullens family that despite the fast healing abilities their shape-shifter friends had been blessed with, no doubt the healing process was equally painful, if not more intense, due to the rapid speed at which the body recuperates.