Happy Valentine's Day! What a coincidence chapter 14 is uploaded February 14th! Unfortunately not too much romance in this chapter but soon, I promise!

Chapter 14:

The night wore on, the two elves mostly silent and watchful. Tauriel wondered what Legolas was thinking and vice versa. For years they could go for vast lengths of time in silence and still be comfortable. Now, things had changed. Every look, every word, every motion was thoughtfully considered in case it would give the wrong impression. They sat there uncomfortable, both physically and emotionally, waiting for the first light.

"What will you do once we get there?" Legolas asked, finally breaking the silence. It was an innocent enough question, he figured, and he liked to have a plan when he fought.

"Kill orcs," she cracked a smile, "and try to save the dwarf."

"Is he special to you?" She heard Legolas murmur. Tauriel turned to give him a glare, having had enough of his jealousy. However, she saw his face was open and calm, simply curious.

"I spoke with him yesterday. He told such fantastic tales, it made me wonder what lies beyond our borders. He spoke of the promise he made to his mother, and to his uncle and brothers."

"And?" Legolas didn't think that was enough of a reason to risk one's life.

"He simply showed me that there is more to life than I thought; strange considering he is but a fraction as old as us."

"The perspective of a mortal life," Legolas said, wondering what it would feel like to grow old and age.

"Perhaps," Tauriel agreed, "but it was a beautiful thing. When you are only given so much time you must make the most of it. As time wears on, things lose their worth; they must be appreciated before they fade."

"Not everything loses value," Legolas whispered, thinking of her. Tauriel looked at her silver-haired prince, knowing what he meant.

"But most things do," she countered. "To simply cherish the present moment…it is almost a romantic notion."

"It seems like a notion likely to get yourself killed," he said flatly. She knew he was rolling his eyes.

"Must you always act so old and devoid of and agreeable sentiments?" she muttered.

"I am old," he replied. "Don't you like older men?" Now she rolled her eyes at the not so subtle mention of Faervel.

"I like men who are worthy."

Legolas felt a blow to his pride as she reminded him of how poorly he had acted. He had poured his heart out to her, what more could he say? He supposed now he could only act upon his words and show her he was earnest. Still, she remained nestled behind him so at least he had improved upon her graces that much. Or she was just very cold, but he preferred the first explanation.

"I can be worthy," he muttered.

Tauriel smirked at his sullen expression in response to her words. She shouldered him gently to show she was at least partly teasing,

"I know you can."

Laketown was silent, making Kili's screams of agony sound even louder. Fili tried to comfort him, but he knew not how to heal his brother, and he saw him quickly slipping away. Bard's daughters, though young, exhausted all their energy on healing but to no avail. Kili tried to clench his jaw and be silent, for their sakes, but could not as he felt what seemed like the flesh from his leg being torn off. Fili wanted to do something; he could not sit around and watched his brother die. He recalled a shrub which he had seen used in an infirmary once, and set off to look for it. He had not the slightest idea of where to go, but it was an escape from this agonizing wait.

The first rays of dawn brought the boatman and barge back to the shore, where Legolas and Tauriel were well on their way back to the village. They left their horses near the narrow walkway, but still far enough away where orcs would not find them. It was a dark, overcast morning, but the trail of the dwarves was easy to follow. As they neared, the screaming filled their ears. It was more than one scream though…with a start they realized the orcs had beaten them.

Tauriel unsheathed her daggers and Legolas readied his bow. The she-elf entered through the door, immediately stabbing an orc in the gut as she turned. Two orcs threatened the young girls and Tauriel dealt with them swiftly: stabbing one in the shoulder and the other in the heart. They both fell back, twitching but dead. Legolas came in gracefully from the roof. He used his bow to stun one orc while using the other pointed end to stab another. Tauriel dug her dagger into the heart of a particularly foul beast but saw one grab hold of Kili. Without turning her body she threw her dagger into it's neck—immediately causing it to release the dwarf's leg. He tumbled to the floor but was not further harmed. Three orcs surrounded her, causing her to use the wall as leverage to flip over them, while slicing them all fatally. Upon landing, her dagger easily cleaved the neck of an orc trying to enter.

Legolas saw that his bow would be useless in these close quarters and so brought out his twin blades. With ease he sliced the throat of an orc and bashed in the skull of another. He walked further into the home, using both swords simultaneously pierce from chin to scalp two orcs that would bar his way. He dodged the blade of another nearby demon, and quickly twisted his wrist and unarmed his attacker. Tauriel came up from behind and sunk her blade into the orc's chest, pulling her dagger out and into a second as he fell. She saw another raise his arm to slay a dwarf but before she could act Kili lunged forward and killed him with a low blow. She was amazed at how despite his pain and injury he still fought to save his kin. He fell back and writhed, Tauriel starring in horror. The orcs began to retreat but she simply stood. The prince picked off the easy targets as the fell back, trying to get rid of as many as the vermin as he could. At least he pushed one off the bridge, catapulting another into his waiting blades where he was promptly decapitated.

In the distance Bolg called back his troupe to regroup at the bridge. The main target, Thorin Oakenshield, was not there and not worth his time to kill a group of dwarves that were already doomed to die from poison. Legolas heard and was ready to pursue, but noticed Tauriel was not beside him.

"Come Tauriel," he said, keeping his eyes focused on the orcs as the fled. He still heard nothing and did not feel her presence. He took his eye off the orcs to see what she was doing. She was bent over the dwarf, examining his wound. The dwarf had been infected for too long, the poison would kill him, it as a lost cause. "Tauriel. Come." His voice changed as he issued the command. No longer was she Tauriel his beloved, but Tauriel the Captain of the Guard, he needed her to follow her duty.

Tauriel was focused on cleaning Kili's wound, though it looked hopeless. Due to a lack of herbs and healing instruments she simply dug her fingers into his flesh to pick out the pieces of wood, dirt, rock, and metal imbedded in his flesh. She felt him writhe and ordered his friends to hold him down. If only she had something, anything, to ease his pain it would make the procedure easier. It was then she heard Legolas call her, though he seemed distant. She looked up and they locked eyes. She knew he expected her to follow him, so the surprise in his eyes when she didn't was very evident. Kili's cries made her look back down just as his brother brought back an herb she could use. It wasn't ideal, but it might just be enough. She felt, rather than saw, Legolas depart but knew she would easily catch up to him. Either Kili would die, or could be healed enough to be stable; both options would be determined within minutes and then she could follow her prince.

Legolas remained alert though he was in disbelief at Tauriel's disobedience. Although in reality, it was Tauriel, and her actions were always just that, her own. She did what her conscience told her to do. Still, Legolas felt another blow of heartache; first she had chosen Faervel over himself (not that surprising considering how he had acted), but now the dwarf! She didn't even know the ugly thing. It was a dwarf! She could be so frustrating.

A shadow ahead caught his attention and he waved his sword at Bolg, ready to fight the leader. He was completely focused, Tauriel gone from his mind, as he lunged forward, anticipating the two orcs which flanked him. He dodged them easily and gouged their chests until they fell. Without hesitating he met Bolg and their weapons locked. They twisted free and he parried Bolg's attack by swinging his sword behind his back. They met again, the jagged spikes of the orc's blade creating sparks against the smooth elven one. Legolas used this to his advantage as he swung widely, allowing his sword to catch the mace and wrench it from the orc's grip. He seized the opportunity to try to stab him but to his dismay the orc grabbed his blade and did not release, even though he used all his strength to try to free himself.

For the first time they truly stared at each other. A cruel expression played on the orc's face as he easily lifted Legolas and slammed him into the wall. The elf slid to the ground and before he could get up Bolg threw him again against a thick wooden pillar. As Legolas fell to the floor the orc raised his leg to crush his chest with his huge metal sabaton, but Legolas gathered all his strength to hold his foot and eventually push him back. Legolas sprang forward and with his bare fist punched the orc's foul visage. Legolas felt anger, disgust, animalistic emotions take hold of him as he now wrestled and grappled with the orc using only sheer strength. Fighting without weapons was seen as crude. Still, he had been well trained and took the stunned orc and rammed him, head first, into the same wooden pillar. After the fourth blow the pillar began to splinter and Legolas threw him against a different wall.

Legolas thought Bolg would be stunned and falter, but he did not. Instead, he quickly turned back and grabbed Legolas from behind; pinning his arms back and using his tremendous strength to squeeze the life out of the elf. Legolas struggled and gasped for air, this is not how I die, he commanded and did not give in. He felt darkness surround the edge of his vision and the world seemed to sway…he felt Bolg's foul breath to his left and with his last chance he threw his head back forcefully, thankfully allowing him to be released. He quickly reached back to pull out his last daggers and slashed at Bolg mercilessly. His attack did not cause the orc to falter but by now two more ghouls had arrived to help their leader. Bolg left the elf to regroup with his remaining companions and ride back to relay the news of the dwarf company.

The two lesser orcs were no match for Legolas who quickly defeated them. He felt pain and weariness overcome him and leaned against a wall to steady himself, feeling an odd sensation from his nose. He raised his hand to touch the area and was shocked to see his own dark blood on his pale fingers. He felt his eyelids and chest grow heavy and slowly, but unable to stop, he sank to the ground as darkness overtook him.

Tauriel had fashioned a poultice out of the herbs she was given and placed it on Kili's wound, causing him to scream louder.

"Hold him down," she calmly ordered those near her. She knew in order to heal she had to let peace flow through her. She had never been the best healer but hoped that now adequate would be enough. She pressed down on the herbs and his flesh and began to chant the words—pronouncing each sound entirely and letting the words find meaning. "Menno o nin na hon i eliad annen annin; hon leitho o-ngurth."

Kili's shouts died down and he grew still. His chest continued to rise and relief washed over those around him: he would live. His eyes were half open as he looked at Tauriel, the embodiment of starlight. She was beautiful, but now she was like an angel—pure, white, and glowing. The most dazzling part came from her necklace which was like her very own star. He watched, mesmerized, as it beat against her throat as she moved and then fell into a deep sleep.

As soon as Kili was stabilized, Tauriel left in pursuit of Legolas. She climbed to the top of the bell tower to seek the best vantage point; hoping perhaps to catch a glimpse of his silver hair or white horse. She was dismayed to see both their horses still where she had left them, meaning he had not left the village. Dread filled her as she dropped to the ground and frantically began looking for him. She found a broken arrow and followed a path of broken logs and pillars until she came upon that which she feared most. Legolas was sprawled on the ground in an alarming state of disarray. He did not move, he had blood smeared across his face and hands…she would have thought him dead had she not heard extremely shallow breaths pass between his lips.

She shrilly whistled for their horses and gathered up her prince. As she pulled him off the ground she gently probed his chest and found several broken bones. Though he was weak, she was sure she could heal him given enough time. In reality, she knew she did not have a choice because to bring him back to the king like this would probably cost her her life. She heard the horses canter closer and lifted her prince gently across his ride. To prevent his falling off she sat behind him, resting his head against her shoulder, and set off into the forest. She would find the place they had stayed the night and heal him there. She thought she heard him murmur 'Tauriel' faintly, and would have smiled had she not been so worried.

As the sun broke through the clouds over the misty lake; there was no sign of either orc or elf in the gloomy village of Laketown.

End notes:

Sorry for the delay in updating. I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter; I hope I did the fight scenes justice. Also, I know it's not Fili that goes to look for the plant but I don't know the names of any of the other dwarves and it's not that important anyway. This is where I deviate from the book a little bit and set up what's going to happen next, so I apologize if there wasn't much interesting happening. That's actually why it took me so long to write! Anyways, the next chapters should be up according to the usual daily updates. Please review and let me know what you think!

p.s. look forward to a lot more Tauriel/Legolas in the following chapters! And also some Faervel, just to be fair :P

"Menno o nin na hon i eliad annen annin; hon leitho o-ngurth." = What grace is given me, let it pass to him, let him be spared.