Chapter 12:

A/N: Chapter twelve is here! Thanks to all my lovely followers, favoriters, reviewers and readers I love you all! Thanks for taking the time to read this story! Please review to let me know what you think and feel free to PM me any time with questions or ideas!

Kieanas POV

Just as I am about to run off into the woods in search of Frodo and Boromir I feel a warm hand on my wrist and turn around to see the concerned blue eyes of Legolas looking down at me. "Be careful mellon-nin, I sense that we are not alone in these woods." he says.

"W-what is it you sense?" I ask the intensity of his gaze momentarily catching me off guard.

"I do not know, but whatever it is I fear it is not friendly to our cause." he says. "Be on your guard and have your bow at the ready."

"I will." I say forcing myself to smile at him which he returns briefly before releasing my wrist and turning to run off after Aragorn and Gimli.

"What was that all about?" Merry asks when I join him and Pippin at the edge of the forest.

"Nothing he just said to be careful, not to wander too far from the river and to stay together. So don't you two go wandering off ok?" I say deciding to keep Legolas' ominous warning to myself.

"What are we supposed to do if we find them?" Pippin asks.

"Bring them back to camp if we can, they can't have gone far." I say hoping my words are true. "Come on, and have your within easy reach just in case you need them."

"Do you think we will need them?" Merry asks.

"I do not know, I hope not but we are in the wild now and every day we are getting closer to Mordor so you can never be too careful." I say. "It is better to be prepared to fight and not have to, than to not be prepared and be caught unawares."

"I hope Frodo is alright." Merry says.

"So do I Merry, so do I. I asked the Valar to protect him and I am sure Legolas has done the same, and maybe Aragorn as well. Now come let us find your cousin and put your mind at ease." I say.

About half an hour we walk into a clearing, I scan the area quickly searching for any trace of Boromir or Frodo. I am about to suggest we start heading back towards the river to meet back up with the others at the campfire when I hear the sound of many booted feet heading towards us.

. "Draw your swords and get behind me." I call out to the hobbits who are a few feet ahead of me.

"What's wrong?" Merry asks.

"We're not alone" I say the strong, foul scent of orc and something else assaulting my senses.

"W-what do you mean? What's out there?" Pippin asks.

"Yrch." I mutter just as a band of roughly fifty orcs breaks through the tree line. Drawing my bow and fitting an arrow to the string "Run!" I yell releasing the arrow and watching as it sails through the air before burying itself in the skull of an orc bringing him down with a crash.

"But you can't fight them alone." Merry protests drawing his sword.

"I'm just going to hold them off while you two find a place to hide." I say firing another arrow and taking down another orc. "Go! There is no time for debate you must flee!" The two hobbits exchange a look before linking their hands and running off into the forest. I turn and watch them until they are out of sight before returning my attention to the orcs who are now just a few feet away from me, taking a deep breath I sling my bow across my back and unsheathe the twin knives that used to belong to my mother, no I will not think about her now I think to myself forcing the memories to the back of my mind and using my years of training to force myself to focus on the task at hand.

"What have we got here? An elleth alone in the woods? And one from Lothlorien no less. I'm going to enjoy killing you." An orc says earning a growl of approval from those surrounding him.

"I have always wanted to try elf flesh." another says drawing his sword and advancing on me with a snarl.

"You will never have the chance." I say decapitating him easily with my twin blades watching with grim satisfaction as his lifeless body falls to the ground. "Who's next?" I ask turning to face the rest of the orcs who seem to be momentarily stunned by the death of their comrade. I take advantage of those precious seconds and start running after the Hobbits when I hear a horn blow coming from somewhere beside me. Reaching the tree line I look back over my shoulder and see Boromir fighting the orcs I have just escaped. I hesitate a moment before running back and trying to fight my way over to him my years of training allowing me to quickly dispatch my enemies. "Behind you!" I yell out to him seeing a large orc advancing on him with a sword raised above its head ready to strike. Fitting an arrow to my bow I fire at he orc killing it just as it is swinging its sword toward the Gondorian warriors neck.

"It would appear I was wrong about you." he comments as I appear at his side breathing heavily. "You are a fine warrior."

"Now's not really the time, but thank you for your words." I say spinning around and swiftly stabbing the last orc in the chest.

"Where are the little ones?" he asks.

"I had them run, and I would suggest we do the same, more of them are coming this group was just a scouting party." I say just as an arrow comes flying through the air and embeds itself in the mans chest. I look up in horror to see a large orc standing at the edge of the clearing flanked by a massive army.

"Run" Boromir says.

"No! I will not leave you." I say slinging my arm across his shoulder and pulling him with me as the orc fires another arrow in our direction.

"Go, find the Halflings, protect them!" Boromir says shoving me away from him and drawing his sword even as another arrow hits him.

"No!" I protest.

"Go! There is no use in both of us dying." he growls and reluctantly I admit to myself that perhaps he is right.

"You are a noble man Boromir of Gondor, your sacrifice will not be forgotten." I say before reluctantly turning away from him and running as fast as I can away from the oncoming orcs.


Legolas's POV

"We'll cover more ground if we split up." Aragorn says when we come to a fork in the path. "You two take the left and I will take the right."

"Are you sure it is wise to split up?" I say.

"No, but we need to find Boromir and Frodo and splitting up will allow us to cover more ground more quickly." he says.

"Be careful mellon-nin, we are not alone in these woods." I say.

"I am always careful Legolas you know that." he says with a grin.

"I mean it Estel. I sense the presence of the enemy." I say.

"I will be careful mellon-nin don't worry so much." he says before disappearing down the forest path.

"What is it you sense?" Gimli asks as we start walking together down the opposite path to the one Aragorn did.

"Orcs. I can smell their foul scent on the air" I say.

"Are you sure it isn't something else?" he asks.

"After centuries of fighting them their scent is permanently burned into my brain. I will never forget their foul aroma as long as I live." I say. We continue to walk down the path looking left and right for any sign of our missing companions when the sound of a horn is heard over the chattering of the birds and animals that inhabit the forest.

"What was that?" Gimli asks.

"The horn of Gondor, Boromir needs our help, come quickly and draw your axe!" I say and we break into a run bursting out of the tree line into a clearing strewn with orc bodies, some with Galadhrim arrows sticking out of them. "She was here." I murmur to myself scanning the clearing for any sign of Kieana.

"Who was?" the Dwarf asks.

"Kieana." I say still frantically scanning the sea of bodies for any sign of her.

There's Aragorn." Gimli says as Aragorn walks up us.

"Boromir's dead. He fell defending Merry and Pippin." he says.

"Where are they?" Gimli asks.

"They were taken by the orcs before he could stop them." Aragorn replies.

"They're alive?" Gimli asks.

"They were when the orcs carried them off." he replies.

"Have you seen Frodo or Kieana?" I ask.

"Frodo's gone, he's continuing the journey by himself. I haven't Kieana since we parted ways at the campfire." he says.

"I have to go and find her." I say running to the edge of the clearing and up a small hill that commands a wide view of the area. I scan the trees searching for any sign of where she might have gone growing more frantic by the second until finally after what seems like an eternity I spot her running through the trees in the direction of the river. Satisfied that she is safe I turn around to re-join Aragorn and Gimli only to hear a scream that will haunt me for years to come. I spin back around and watch in horror as a small band of orcs appear in front of Kieana taking her by surprise. She recovers quickly and draws her twin blades spinning around and slashing at the orcs closest to her taking two of them down in one swift motion. I break into a run launch myself from the ground grabbing hold of a tree pulling myself up into its branches.

Keeping my eyes fixed on Kieana I swing from tree to tree, years of running through the treetops of Mirkwood allowing me to move much faster above the ground than I would have on it. I come to a halt when I reach the edge of the small clearing where she is fighting the orcs and look down trying to judge the distance to the ground to see if it will be safe to jump or if I should climb down a few branches first. Coming to the conclusion to jump I drop from the tree landing on the ground with a light thump and start running towards the battle on the opposite side of the clearing. But to my horror before I can reach Kieana and pull her to safety a large orc looms up behind her as if out of nowhere, and in his hands is a large branch which he has raised above his head poised to strike the unsuspecting elleth before him. Frantically I pull my bow from my back fitting an arrow to the string and firing it at the orc even as he brings the branch down on her head causing her to fall to the ground and lie there unmoving. The arrow hits its mark bringing the orc down with a loud crash and causing its companions to flee one of them snatching up the lifeless body of Kieana and slinging her over his shoulder.

A pain the like of which I have never felt before brings me to my knees, it almost feels as if someone has reached into my chest and ripped my heart out. Eventually after what seems like an eternity myself to my feet I slowly walk back through the forest towards the clearing paying no attention to where I am going and almost colliding with Aragorn and Gimli who are coming in the opposite direction carrying the body of Boromir between them.

"Look where you're going pointy-ear, you almost ran into me." the gruff voice of the Dwarf says breaking me out of my numb state and forcing me back to the present.

"Sorry. I wasn't paying attention. "I say.

"That is obvious." Gimli grumbles "and where did you go running off to anyway? We could have done with your help back there."

"I went to find Kieana." I reply and even to my own ears my voice sounds devoid of emotion, something.

Aragorn seems to have picked up on for he is looking at me with his brow furrowed as if in contemplation. "Where is she?" he asks softly.

"They took her." I reply simply before my years of warrior training finally start to kick in and I push my emotions to the back of my mind. "We should honour him for his sacrifice." I say gesturing to the body of Boromir.

"Are you alright mellon-nin?" Aragorn asks his eyebrows raising at the abruptness of my change in attitude.

"I will be fine, there is nothing we can do for her right now, we should focus on the task at hand before deciding or next course of action." I say keeping just barely keeping the warrior mask I have perfected over the centuries in place.

"We will set him in a boat with his affects and send him down the river." Aragorn says. "After that we will continue our journey on foot."

"You mean not to go after Frodo?" I ask a short time later as we watch the boat carrying Boromirs' body drift slowly down the river.

"His fate is out of our hands now." Aragorn replies.

"Where do we go from here?" I ask.

"Well we have two choices. We can either make directly for Gondor or pursue the orcs in the hopes of rescuing Merry, Pippin and Kieana." he says.

"Is there even a question? Surely if there is even a slim chance that she and the hobbits are alive we should search for them, surely we owe them that." I say.

"I agree but I wanted us to make the decision as a group, Legolas, it is apparent that you wish to pursue the orcs and attempt to rescue our companions. Gimli are your thoughts? Shall we go to Gondor or hunt some orcs?" Aragorn asks.

"Lets hunt some orc!" the dwarf says raising his axe above his head as if to emphasize his point.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Next chapter will be the start of The Two Towers. Hope you liked the chapter! Leave a review and let me know what you think and favourite or follow if you are enjoying the story!