For disclaimers and other assorted information, see chapter 1

Chapter 10

Legolas quickly notched an arrow and fired. Tirinvo was also firing as more orcs continued to appear. Both Elves were firing rapidly, but were losing ground. With horror, Legolas realized that he and Tirinvo had been forced into the clearing. They were surrounded by orcs on all sides. Already, Tirinvo had his sword out, fighting. A harsh voice sounded and there was a break in the fighting.

An orc laughed seeing Tirinvo and Legolas surrounded and spoke in the common tongue. "We were going to kill you and leave your bodies for your friends to find. A slap in the face of your lord here. But now, I think, we'll take you with us. That will be a bigger blow to your Elves," he spit the word Elves, "and it will give my troops some fun. We love playing with Elves." He leered.

Legolas, despite his best intentions, blanched. He thought briefly of Celebrían, Elladan and Elrohir's mother who had been tortured by orcs and left for Valinor soon after being rescued. He squared his shoulders and glared at the leader who had spoken. He aimed his bow at him, but knew the leader was outside of his range.

"You will not take us." He yelled, also in the common tongue.

The orc laughed.

"We may die, orc, but not before many of you first," Tirinvo snarled, his sword covered with orc blood. However, his arm also was cut from an arrow wound and dripping with his bright red blood.

"We'll see," the orc replied. He then motioned to the orcs surrounding the two Elves and gave orders in their natural tongue. It appeared that in the first few minutes of the fight, the Elves had managed to kill the few orcs with bows. The rest had swords, axes and similar implements.

Taking advantage of the break, Legolas whispered quietly to Tirinvo in Sindarin.

"Alas, I am running out of arrows, Tirinvo."

"I am out already, Legolas," he replied. "But I will not be taken by orcs. I will die first." His voice was firm despite the pain that was evident in it.

"As I. Valar watch over you," Legolas said formerly and bowed his head briefly. Tirinvo returned the bow and then both Elves smiled grimly at each other.

"Let us not wait for them," Tirinvo spoke.

"Agreed."

With unbelievable speed, Legolas jumped forward, his bow singing as he fired quickly at the closest orcs. Two fell in quick succession before they had even realized the Elves had resumed attacking. To his side, Legolas heard Tirinvo's sword make contact with another orc.

Legolas reached back for another arrow and cursed as he realized it was his last one. He paused for a second and aimed for the leader. The shot was true and the distance enough, but at the last second the leader pushed another orc in the way. The lesser orc gurgled and fell, the arrow embedded in his throat.

The prince pulled out his knives and engaged an orc that rushed at him. His blades swung and quickly became drenched in dark blood. He was dimly aware of Tirinvo fighting madly also. He heard the other Elf gasp in pain once, but Legolas could not tell what had happened nor could he take the time to check.

Then, as he drove his one of his knives into the orc in front of him, he was aware of another rushing from the side. Legolas turned left to meet him, but as he pulled, his knife refused to come out of the dead orc. The Mirkwood Elf got his free knife up to block part of the blow, but without both to stop it, he knew he would die.

The orc's blade hit his and slid down. It stuck deep into his upper left thigh, barely missing his stomach and internal organs. As Legolas prepared for the blade to continue through his leg, ending his life; the orc suddenly jerked and jolted. It fell backwards, with two bright arrows sticking out of its chest. Legolas gasped, yanked his blade from the first, dead orc and then reached down and pulled the blade from his leg. He swayed, but quickly set his jaw and did his best to ignore the pain and the blood pouring freely down his leg.

Where had the arrows come from? They had been excellent shots to miss him and strike the orc. He heard yells in both orcish and Sindarin and then close to him, a familiar voice said, "Legolas, how badly are you hurt?"

He looked around wildly and gasped in surprise. "Poldon, what are you doing here?" The other Elf stood next to him, his sword already wet with dark blood.

"We were looking for you. Good thing we found you!" The Mirkwood captain replied. He spun to his side and engaged an orc rushing toward them. Legolas shook his head in disbelief and reached up to where his sleeve joined the tunic at the shoulder and quickly tore it off. He wrapped the make-shift bandage around his leg to slow down the bleeding. Luckily no other orcs attacked while he was working on his leg.

As he finished, he looked up again. The fight had drawn Poldon away from him. He saw Tirinvo still fighting, with only one arm holding the sword. The other hung limply at his side. He saw Elladan and Elrohir, their swords engaged as well. The orc captain was still barking orders from the side of the clearing and he saw an arrow fly towards him. It hit his arm and caused him to jump back. Before he could reach up and remove it, another one flew towards him. This one embedded in his heart and killed him instantly. Legolas turned his head to see who was firing and got a glimpse of Estel. "Estel?" he said, but then another orc attacked.

While fighting, Legolas heard a young nervous voice call out. "Elladan! Elrohir!" There was a pause, then more panicked, "Legolas!" Enraged, Legolas redoubled his effort and the orc fell. As soon as he had shaken his knives clear, he looked again at the young Man standing at the edge of the clearing.

He was no longer shooting arrows, but was fighting with an orc. His dagger was no match for the orc's sword, but he was dancing around and fighting the best he could. Estel was using his quickness to evade the heavy blows, but was struggling. Obviously he had called out when first engaged, but could no longer spare the breath to call again.

Legolas gaped for a second and then started racing towards the fight. The other four Elves were too involved in fights to help the teen, but both Elladan and Elrohir were trying to direct their fights to get closer to him. His leg hampered him and the prince worried he would be too slow to reach Estel.

As he watched in horror, the orc reared back and swung his sword towards Estel's unprotected head. Rather than stepping back or ducking it, the teen jumped forward, his dagger extended. He jammed it hard into the orc's stomach, pushing with all his weight. The sword was outstretched and missed Estel's head. The orc's arm, however, connected and the force of the blow pushed Estel over. Amazingly, he maintained his grip on the dagger and the orc fell with him.

"Estel!" Legolas yelled as he watched them topple. He reached the pile of arms and legs and yanked the sword out of the orc's grip and tossed it away. Before he could do anything else, another orc charged in. The Elf jumped back, away from Estel, and the orc followed. A furious but brief fight followed and then the orc's head was separated from its shoulders. It fell with a dull thud, followed by the body.

The Mirkwood Elf glanced around briefly and saw that the area near him was clear. He raced over to Estel, who now was kneeling next to the orc he had slain. His blade was still embedded in its stomach.

"Estel," Legolas winced as he dropped to his knees next to the Man. "Are you hurt? Did he strike you?"

The teen looked up. "Legolas!" He stopped; his gray eyes filled with tears.

"Estel! Where are you hurt?" Legolas reached out and grabbed his friend's shoulders, dropping his knives in the process.

"Me? I'm not hurt." Estel looked upset though.

"You do not look well, Estel. Do not hide it. Where are you hurt?" Legolas demanded.

"I am not hurt, Legolas. His arm hit my head, but it is nothing."

"Let me see." Abruptly, Legolas stood up and dragged Estel with him. His leg hurt too much to continue kneeling. After a second glance around took make sure no orcs were within range, he began checking the teen over, starting with his head.

There was a knot and Estel winced slightly as the Elf prodded it. But the skin was not broken.

"Really, Legolas, that was the only place where I was hit. You don't have too…" his voice trailed off as he got a glimpse of Legolas' face.

It was set and angry. In fact, it made Estel think Legolas looked calm upon finding the spiders in his room in comparison.

As Legolas' hands continued moving over Estel's body, checking for injuries, he muttered to himself. "I cannot believe Elrohir and Elladan would be so stupid to bring a young teen into a fight. What were they thinking? Taking you from Imladris. Were they thinking?"

"Legolas," Estel tried again, but the Elf continued to ignore him and mutter under his breath as he checked Estel's legs. Estel even thought he heard some Dwarvish curse words come from the blond Elf.

"Amazing," Legolas said as he stood up. "You are not injured. I cannot believe it. You are very lucky."

"Legolas, I told you I was fine," Estel griped. "Oh, no!" he cried and pointed behind the Elf.

Legolas twirled quickly and saw an orc bearing down on him. The Elf shoved Estel backwards and dimly heard the Man cry out as he tripped over the orc he had killed and fell to the ground. The Elf rushed forward to meet the orc, regardless of the fact that he had dropped his knives when he was checking Estel. He ducked the first blow and danced to the side. The orc swung his sword again and, for the second time, Legolas ducked out of the way.

"Legolas, catch!" He heard and then saw something fly towards him. He sidestepped the next blow and grabbed the knife that Estel threw. The second followed quickly and he snatched it out of mid-air also. Then he stepped forward and engaged the orc. The fight was harsh, knives and sword clashing, but it ended when Legolas brought his knife down through the orc's shoulder, separating the arm from the body. The orc swayed and then fell as Legolas swung back through to behead him.

Gasping for breath, he turned and looked around. Poldon was stepping back from the orc he was fighting with as it fell. Elladan was looking around to see if any were lurking around the clearing. Elrohir was kneeling next to Tirinvo who was lying on the ground. Legolas could not tell if Tirinvo was alive or dead. No live orcs could be seen.

TBC…

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A/N: That was my first fight scene… how did I do? Was it believable? Let me know. I can only get better with constructive criticism!

I'm almost to 100 reviews! (wipes a tear away) I've never hit a hundred before (conveniently ignores the fact that this is only the second chapter story written) Thank you, thank you! I appreciate the reviews! They help feed the squirrel and keep the ideas coming.

And to all who celebrate it – Happy Halloween!

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