Yes, dear readers. It is Thranduil and his army!
"Help has arrived!" Pippin squealed excitedly.
"Thank Eru..." Elrond breathed.
"The women and children are all in the wagons and carts, my lord." Bellethiel told Legolas.
"Lead them to the trees, away from this valley! Put up full guards around all of them." Legolas replied. She nodded and ran back to issue more orders. Legolas beckoned to his soldiers, men and elves.
"Best get a move on! They're moving in fast, laddie." Gimli reminded him.
"Alasse, you make sure Bellethiel gets the refugees to safety." Legolas said.
"And let you have all the fun?" Alasse teased. He narrowed his eyes sternly. "Yes, Legolas." She ran back to Elrond. He remained on his horse between Bellethiel fleeing with the people of Rohan and Legolas with his fighters. Legolas and Gimli led the charge, advancing straight toward the Orcs.
Alasse hopped on the roof of the only remaining wagon which was now empty of refugees, so she could see exactly what was going on. She gulped, as she watched the black monsters descend down into the valley. Valar, protect us! She prayed.
Legolas slashed his razor sharp white knives into the first Orcs that tried to headbutt him. Gimli was hollering with glee as he whacked his ax painfully into limbs and lower torsos of the unfortunate beasts.
Some of the men from Rohan who had been regaining their strength took up arms and barricaded themselves against the wagons behind the trees, daring the Orcs to even think of harming their wives and children. They might not be able to hold them off very well, but they would certainly try. Unfortunately for the prisoners, these men were petrified at the sight of the monsters and fled in retreat the way they had come. They passed Thranduil who just let them go. If they were deserting, that was their choice.
Alasse's stomach knotted when she saw something else besides the Orcs coming to them: trolls! "They have trolls!" She told Elrond.
The Orcs were fighting hard against the soldiers. Several men of Gondor dropped to the ground and a handful of elves, but they did not relent. Gimli was attempting to sever a limb from one of the trolls that was flinging huge maces, but he fell back to the ground. The troll saw him and raised his giant foot. "Gimli!" Legolas cried and tossed one of his knives through the air, sailing straight through the troll's throat, cutting all the way. The huge, nasty creature swayed and tumbled toward earth. Gimli screeched and rolled away as quickly as he could, just barely missing getting squashed!
"Thanks for nearly liquidating me, ye pointy-eared imbecile!" He hollered at Legolas who smiled in relief that his friend was okay. "Baaahhhhh!" Gimli bellowed, wielding his ax into every beast that came within his reach.
Legolas noticed that his small army was dwindling too quickly. "Fall back! Fall back!" He ordered. They didn't have to be told twice and hurried back to Alasse and Elrond. "Cut them off at the west section!" Legolas yelled. The soldiers obeyed, forming a line of defense in front of the shelter of the trees. Many of the Orcs headed there.
"Archers, fire!" Bellethiel yelled. Arrows from the elves up in the trees whizzed through the air, striking Orcs in the throats and trolls right between the eyes. Elrond rode up back and forth across the 'stonewall' of men and elves trying to protect the former prisoners. Elrond galloped on the advancing Orcs with his sword held straight out, impaling any enemy in his path.
Unfortunately for Alasse, Legolas, and Gimli, they were being targeted by most of the trolls. They were thankful they could divert the sluggish monsters' attention from the women and their little ones, but there was little shelter for them to run to. Legolas jumped on the wagon beside his sister, and back to back, they prepared to fight off these horrid creatures. Gimli was under the wagon, waiting to take the enemy by surprise, as was Pippin who was inside.
"Rather like Helm's Deep, don't you think?" Legolas asked loudly was he shot down several Orcs in their tracks.
"This is nothing like Helm's Deep!" Alasse argued, spinning her bow staff. "We have no stone walls to shield us!" The forged steel on her weapon from the old wizard was three times as effective in lasting damage as it had been before! The blunt impact of the steel stave completely disfigured Orc's faces or limbs with one hit.
The Wood Elves under Thranduil's command split up into four sections: two rushing the Orcs seeking out Bellethiel's company, one set of elves to meet them head on and the other to cut off any chance of escape by surrounding them; the same went for the other two. The Orcs were distracted by the newcomers, which led them away from the Rohan people and Bellethiel, with Elrond encircling her!
"Ohhh!" Gimli growled as an Orc belted him across the nose with his gauntlet fist. That made the red-headed dwarf really angry! And he slit the monster's hand off then went on a rampage. Pippin was pelting Orcs with food from the wagon, blinding them in the eyes with the smashed juice of tomatoes, vegetables, and fruit. And he was stabbing them with his little blade when they came too closely.
"There are four more trolls!" Alasse informed Legolas. He saw one of them go down. Then his face wrought with horror when he saw one staggering close to them, too close! He drew his bow and fired as quickly as he could into the troll's brain and temple. It still came for them. Legolas fired faster and hit it in the throat, then it finally crashed down. "Legolas, where are you going?!" Alasse shouted as her brother raced down into the crowd.
"To see if I can take out the other two before they get any closer!" He yelled back.
"Stupid elf!" Gimli yelled at him, before chopping his ax clearly through an Orc's foot.
Tatsu was inside a wagon, several children and women all huddling closely around her. She kept her arms firmly protectively around the little ones clinging to her for comfort. She prayed loud and clearly in Elvish.
Bellethiel was ferociously felling Orc after Orc after Orc. There was already a sizable pile at her feet. But she was cut off guard when one suddenly grabbed her from behind! She snatched a dagger from her hip and whipped around to cut him, but he held her by the throat! She front snap kicked him but his grip was nearly impenetrable. She gagged and felt the strength quickly leaving her body. Her vision was starting to fade as black spots danced before her eyes. Then the Orc screeched like a butchered pig as a long Elven sword sliced through his chest from behind. The Orc released her and flopped on the ground. Elrond was glowering down at it, jerking his black blooded sword from its wretched body. "You alright, child?" He asked the gagging captain.
Bellethiel nodded, rubbing her throat. "Th-thank you." She panted. Elrond smiled then charged at the remaining Orcs, who were getting cut down to size thanks to Thranduil's men.
Legolas just barely managed to get through the running Orcs and miraculously ducked from being blown to kingdom come by a troll's sledge hammer! He dug his knife into the troll's leg and used it as a hold to climb up the creature's head. Then his heart dropped into his stomach when he looked ahead. The last troll was coming straight for Alasse and nearly upon her! Legolas wasted no time and drove his knife into the troll's brain that he was on, and steered the beast's head forward straight towards its partner.
Alasse had just shoved six Orcs onto their backs by clunking them across the noggins, and Pippin and Gimli had just scurried out from under the wagon when Alasse felt huge fingers clasp her around the waist! She paled in terror as she realized she'd been picked up by a troll. She beat the enormous pest with her staff but it did no good. Then her staff fell from her hand! She wriggled and tried to slip from his grip, but she couldn't. Gimli and Pippin saw her predicament and charged at the giant, stabbing it in the legs. But the troll only waved his limbs back and forth, flinging them off. Pippin gazed up in fright as he saw the troll bring Alasse closer to his head. "Noo!" He screamed.
Alasse struggled but couldn't get out of the gigantic hand. Just as the troll opened its horrid smelling mouth, the beast jerked forward...for two reasons. One, Legolas's troll-shaped vehicle had just headbutted it from behind, knocking it off its feet. And two? Two, being that a livid Thranduil thrust his sword through the air, deeply into the troll's brain! The creature released the elleth and fell forward, crushing the wagon in its path. The troll behind it tumbled as well, dead as a door nail. Alasse fell through the air. Thranduil raced forward on his steed and Alasse softly landed on the horse's rump behind her father, grasping him tightly by the waist. They galloped to wear the other troll lay dead, searching frantically for Legolas.
"Do you see him?" She asked Thranduil. Thranduil breathed anxiously. Where was his son? Had he been crushed by the troll?
"That still only counts as one!" Gimli scolded the blonde-haired elf who was shaking his head as he walked beside him, Pippin in tow.
"You two goons." Alasse growled playfully.
"Legolas, are you alright?" Thranduil asked worriedly.
"I am fine, Ada." Legolas smiled cheekily.
"Did ye see the way he brought down that troll?" Pippin boasted.
"Hmph!" Thranduil begrudgingly threw his nose in the air and rode off to kill some more Orcs. Legolas and Gimli were acting like children at a picnic, not mature beings on a battlefield. He'd deal with their shenanigans later. What mattered was that Legolas was indeed very much alive! Alasse bent over and grabbed her staff off the back of an Orc piled high on top of his comrades.
Once the rest of the Orcs had been vanquished, Thranduil finally halted his horse and turned his head back to Alasse. "Alasse, are you alright, iell-nin?" He asked sadly. That image of the troll nearly making her his lunch would remain with him for a very long time. Alasse squeezed him in a tight hug around the waist.
"I'm glad you came." She murmured happily.
"So am I." Thranduil agreed with relief.
This didn't feel right without Aragorn in on it!