Okay!! I guess the Write Faster Dance worked! Thanks! My muse jumped
back on the chapter it was supposed to be…uh…musing on. Anyway here goes!
JastaElf – As always Thank you! And thanks for that nice email. Again, can't wait for your stuff to go up! You Rock, too, nin mellon!
AJ Matthews – So far Lindir is…uh…okay…for now…I guess…maybe not…
Shinigamio – Yes! Your dance was wonderful! It was a tremendous help. Thank you! And well…there is another cliffhanger at the end of this one. Hahahaha!
Lithia – You were too slow this time. I guess your life is more interesting. And I'm sure that you are definitely not a geeky loser! Certainly not in my book. Thanks for reading! I love to hear from you!!
Lithia – You were too slow this time. I guess your life is more interesting…Uh…I said that. Did you know that you posted your review twice? Thanks times two!!
Horus – Uh, or should I say UV. Or Horus. Or UV? Well, do you have a split personality or something? Doesn't matter. Thanks so much to both of you for being so kind to us, my precious. Urg…Did I just say that? Uh oh.
Norui 3018 TA [June 3018]
The arrow struck Legolas in the chest, the impact driving him backwards. His back hit Beleg Doron, his knees buckling. But somehow he managed to keep his feet under him, leaning heavily against the oak tree. He stared disbelievingly at the length of feathered wood embedded in his flesh. A red stain spread across the front of his tunic, but the lettering on the arrow caught his eyes: Legolas Greenleaf. He reached up one hand and grasped the arrow. He gasped, hot pain flaring through him. He closed his eyes, forcing his breathing to slowness, trying to will the pain away. When he opened them he saw a pair of sandaled feet. He raised his head. Egla Ash stood before them, his blue eyes fixed on him.
"You're not dead." He said, smiling. "That's too bad." His hand curled around the arrow and yanked.
Legolas cried out and sank to his knees, blood spilling over his hands where they clasped his chest.
Egla Ash pulled black ropes from the pack that he wore and pulled the Elf's wrists up and bound them tightly, then wrapped it around his neck.
"I am taking you to join the others. Maybe you'll be lucky and die before we reach Dol Guldur." He cinched the rope tighter. "But I hope not. I want to see you suffer as I did."
"I tried to save you, Egla Ash." Legolas said, trying to see even a trace of the Orc's former self in the blue eyes. "I am s-"
His words were cut off as the Orc backhanded him.
"Din!" [Silence!] Egla Ash hissed.
"Egla Ash, don't do this. I know there must be something of your old self left – "
"Din!!" The Orc backhanded him again hard, his head whipping to one side. "Do not speak to me again or I will kill you now." He yanked harshly on the ropes forcing Legolas to his feet. Blood ran from his wrists and throat where the vile ropes cut into him, the sharp pieces of metal embedded in the rope piercing his skin. He stumbled after Egla Ash, heading south.
The creature Gollum ran in the midst of the group of Orcs. He was frightened, but anger also surged through him. Anger at himself.
"Foolish …foolish, my precious." He muttered. "Foolish. We were foolish."
One of the Orcs trotting beside him, glared down, baring his fangs, yellow eyes full of impatience.
"Quiet." It growled, raising a fist. He would not really harm the small, disgusting creature, which was against their orders. But all that muttering and hissing made him angry.
"They hates us, they do." Gollum said, more quietly, his pale eyes glinting with a greenish light. "But we hates them more, my precious. But we were foolish. We shouldn't have come down from that tree. Oh no." He moaned, clasping his head.
Just before the Orcs had attacked, the Elves had tried to coax him from his high perch, but he wouldn't budge. None of the Elves wanted to climb up after him so only Lindir remained beneath Beleg Doron, calling up to him.
"It was the Elf, my precious." Gollum moaned. "It was the Elf."
Of all his guards over the past months Lindir was his favorite. Such feelings of friendship had been so distantly removed for such a long time that at first he was confused and told himself,
"It is nothing, my precious. The Elves must have tricked us. They are tricksy. Tricksy and sneaky."
But as time had passed the warm feelings grew stronger, but not for all the Elves. No. Those he hated, he insisted. But this one Elf…This one Elf was kind and gentle. His starry glow didn't hurt Gollum's eyes as it once had. The pitiful creature would gaze at the young Elf as he sang or laughed with his friends. At these times Gollum felt almost happy – not the wretched happiness the precious brought him – but a wonderful, bright feeling, like he had a star glowing inside himself.
"Foolish. Foolish."
When the first arrows had come from the dark to strike down two Elves, Gollum had remained very still. His only hope of eluding the Orcs was to stay in the cradling upper reaches of Beleg Doron. The Elves had been surprised by the attack as the Orcs stepped into view, grinning.
"Be still, my precious." Gollum hissed. "Be still and they can't get us."
He fervently hoped Orcs couldn't climb. But in the end it hadn't mattered.
The Elves fought valiantly and Gollum had watched while three were shot full of arrows.. When Lindir was hit, Gollum had moaned in anguish. He watched as the Elf had continued to fight until he was surrounded. He fought bravely and skillfully, his knives a blur of silver. But there were too many of his enemies.
No…No, my precious…"
When one of the Orcs smashed his scimitar's hilt into Lindir's head, rage filled him.
"They cannot do this! Not to him, my precious." He leapt down through the branches and launched himself onto the nearest Orc. He bit and scratched, his long fingers twining in the coarse black hair. The Orc grunted in surprise reaching around to remove the small irritation from his back.
"Don't harm that one!" One of the others spat, grabbing Lindir in a stranglehold.
The Orc finally managed to dislodge Gollum and held him by the scruff of his neck.
"Came off yer perch, did ya, little bird." He grinned, shaking Gollum slightly.
"Let us go. Let us go." He hissed. "Or we will scratch and bite you again!"
"Get a rope on him and let's get moving."
Gollum felt the rough rope circle his throat. His eyes moved to Lindir. The young Elf's face was bloody, his green eyes filled with fear. He looked down when he felt at touch on his hand.
"It will be alright." Gollum murmured, stroking the smooth skin. "It will be fine, my starry Elf."
The Orcs, hearing this reassurance from such a miserable being, laughed, the sound grating on the ears of their captives.
"The little bird comforts the Elf. Ain't that sweet. But it won't be alright, will it, pretty Elf." He squeezed Lindir's face between his strong fingers.
"Don't hurt him, nasty Orc!" Gollum spat, leaping onto the Orc once more.
But he was easily plucked off, leaving the Orc rubbing his ear where it had been bitten.
Three of the Elves lay dead or dying. The other three stood, tied with black Orc ropes, eyes filled with anger and despair.
As Gollum was shoved forward into a pack of Orcs, he heard Lindir cry out.
"Brethil!"
Gollum could see the Elf lying at the foot of the oak tree, blood staining his tunic.
Lindir's captor yanked the rope about his neck, forcing him to move forward.
Gollum grieved for the young Elf because of the pain he felt at the death of his friend, though Gollum had never liked that particular Elf at all. He was always laughing and joking and teasing Lindir. Gollum never liked that. But he would be teasing him no more. And Lindir's obvious sorrow touched the creature.
"Where is the blue eyed one?" Gollum's Orc asked.
One of the others laughed.
"His Elf ain't here. He's gonna wait for him. He said he'll catch up."
The Orc grunted and smiled across at Lindir.
"Looks like we'll really have some fun soon." He said with a leer, then laughed when the Elf paled, eyes wide with horror.
The blue eyed one was strange and he seemed overly obsessed with this one Elf, but it would be fun to see what torments they could inflict on the one that the blue eyed one wanted. He wanted the Elf to suffer. They all knew that. He spoke of little else – when he spoke at all.
"Come on. He'll catch up as he said. Let him have his fun. We'll have ours soon enough." He jerked Lindir's rope, causing the Elf to gasp in pain, his footsteps faltering. "You won't be too pretty for much longer." He laughed.
Gollum looked back at Lindir, wishing he could help his friend. But a sharp tug on his own rope pulled him forward into the trees.
"We were foolish, my precious." He whispered. "But the poor Elf. We hope they doesn't hurt him too much."
Legolas stumbled behind Egla Ash. His chest was on fire and his arm throbbed. But more than the physical pain ate at him. Sorrow and anguish – and disbelief - would be his undoing. Hope, that he hadn't known existed, had died when the arrow slammed into him. Tears burned in his blue eyes, slowly slipping down his pale cheeks. Egla Ash was completely changed, he didn't doubt that now. The cruel delight in the Orc's eyes – as blue as Legolas' own – as he yanked out the black arrow from the Elf's chest had crushed Mirkwood's prince. There was no worse betrayal.
The Orc ropes cut into his flesh, blood trickled onto his tunic sleeves and collar. He felt no fear at his fate, it seemed too distant. His only thought was of Egla Ash's change.
I tried to save him, he thought bleakly. I truly did.
But he hadn't been fast enough.
This brought thoughts up from the dark recesses of his mind, thoughts that had haunted him for years.
Did he truly try hard enough? Did he perhaps delay at some point, and deliberately arrive too late? Why hadn't he warned Egla Ash that his father didn't want him in Mirkwood? Were his feelings for the Orc as strong as he had thought? Or did some well-buried part of him loathed the Orc because he was an Orc?
"I'm sorry." He murmured, those very questions as hurtful as the black ropes that bound him. "I should have – "
"Your tears don't move me, Legolas Elvellon." Egla Ash said, turning to look at the Elf. "And nothing that you can say or do will move me now."
"I tried – " Legolas whispered, his voice hoarse with emotion. "I did. You saw us. We tried to save you – "
"Yes. You and your Ranger." The Orc sneered. "Did you run to him and tell him that the big bad Orc was threatening to kill you?"
Legolas stared at him, the cruel, sarcastic words cutting him more than any knife could.
Egla Ash laughed.
"You did!" He hooted. "You ran to your Ranger. Oh, Estel. Egla Ash is going to hurt me. Help! Help!"
The Orc's laughter stung him. He turned his head away, eyes filled with pain.
"Is he coming after you? Is Estel going to save you this time?" Suddenly Egla Ash jerked the rope so their faces were mere inches apart. "If he is coming for you, we'll take him, too. Then you can watch him die." He spat into Legolas' face. "Just as you watched your little friend back at Beleg Doron."
Sorrow and despair welled in the prince. What if Aragorn did try to come after him? No, he would not let him be taken. Never would he allow that.
The night they had failed to rescue Egla Ash from Dol Guldur, when he had been lying wounded across the fire from Mithrandir and Aragorn, he had heard the two talking about Aragorn's heritage. It had meant nothing to him that night as he lay in a haze of pain and guilt. But he had thought about it later.
Isildur's heir. That was what Mithrandir had called him. Legolas knew what that meant and he knew that at times it was a great burden to the Ranger. He could not be taken by the Enemy.
Suddenly he yanked hard, ignoring the pain that sliced through him, as the ropes tore into him once more. Egla Ash stumbled, releasing the rope as it burned through his hands. Legolas turned and sprinted into the trees trying not to trip over the dangling ropes as he ran.
He was free!
He ran through the forest, every breath burning like fire through his wounded chest. He could hear Egla Ash crashing after him, cursing. He leapt over rotten logs and dodged around tree trunks. Fear gave him speed.
"You won't escape me that easily, Legolas Elvellon!"
His arm ached, hurting more now than it had earlier. And the ropes seemed to be sawing violently into his wrists and throat. He knew that his stamina would not be as great as the Orc's, but hopefully it would be enough. He looked upward at the trees ahead. Perhaps he should take to them, fly above the ground to safety. But even as this thought went flitted in his mind pain ripped through him. He cried out and stumbled, falling to the damp ground, the black arrow bearing his name protruding from his back.
JastaElf – As always Thank you! And thanks for that nice email. Again, can't wait for your stuff to go up! You Rock, too, nin mellon!
AJ Matthews – So far Lindir is…uh…okay…for now…I guess…maybe not…
Shinigamio – Yes! Your dance was wonderful! It was a tremendous help. Thank you! And well…there is another cliffhanger at the end of this one. Hahahaha!
Lithia – You were too slow this time. I guess your life is more interesting. And I'm sure that you are definitely not a geeky loser! Certainly not in my book. Thanks for reading! I love to hear from you!!
Lithia – You were too slow this time. I guess your life is more interesting…Uh…I said that. Did you know that you posted your review twice? Thanks times two!!
Horus – Uh, or should I say UV. Or Horus. Or UV? Well, do you have a split personality or something? Doesn't matter. Thanks so much to both of you for being so kind to us, my precious. Urg…Did I just say that? Uh oh.
Norui 3018 TA [June 3018]
The arrow struck Legolas in the chest, the impact driving him backwards. His back hit Beleg Doron, his knees buckling. But somehow he managed to keep his feet under him, leaning heavily against the oak tree. He stared disbelievingly at the length of feathered wood embedded in his flesh. A red stain spread across the front of his tunic, but the lettering on the arrow caught his eyes: Legolas Greenleaf. He reached up one hand and grasped the arrow. He gasped, hot pain flaring through him. He closed his eyes, forcing his breathing to slowness, trying to will the pain away. When he opened them he saw a pair of sandaled feet. He raised his head. Egla Ash stood before them, his blue eyes fixed on him.
"You're not dead." He said, smiling. "That's too bad." His hand curled around the arrow and yanked.
Legolas cried out and sank to his knees, blood spilling over his hands where they clasped his chest.
Egla Ash pulled black ropes from the pack that he wore and pulled the Elf's wrists up and bound them tightly, then wrapped it around his neck.
"I am taking you to join the others. Maybe you'll be lucky and die before we reach Dol Guldur." He cinched the rope tighter. "But I hope not. I want to see you suffer as I did."
"I tried to save you, Egla Ash." Legolas said, trying to see even a trace of the Orc's former self in the blue eyes. "I am s-"
His words were cut off as the Orc backhanded him.
"Din!" [Silence!] Egla Ash hissed.
"Egla Ash, don't do this. I know there must be something of your old self left – "
"Din!!" The Orc backhanded him again hard, his head whipping to one side. "Do not speak to me again or I will kill you now." He yanked harshly on the ropes forcing Legolas to his feet. Blood ran from his wrists and throat where the vile ropes cut into him, the sharp pieces of metal embedded in the rope piercing his skin. He stumbled after Egla Ash, heading south.
The creature Gollum ran in the midst of the group of Orcs. He was frightened, but anger also surged through him. Anger at himself.
"Foolish …foolish, my precious." He muttered. "Foolish. We were foolish."
One of the Orcs trotting beside him, glared down, baring his fangs, yellow eyes full of impatience.
"Quiet." It growled, raising a fist. He would not really harm the small, disgusting creature, which was against their orders. But all that muttering and hissing made him angry.
"They hates us, they do." Gollum said, more quietly, his pale eyes glinting with a greenish light. "But we hates them more, my precious. But we were foolish. We shouldn't have come down from that tree. Oh no." He moaned, clasping his head.
Just before the Orcs had attacked, the Elves had tried to coax him from his high perch, but he wouldn't budge. None of the Elves wanted to climb up after him so only Lindir remained beneath Beleg Doron, calling up to him.
"It was the Elf, my precious." Gollum moaned. "It was the Elf."
Of all his guards over the past months Lindir was his favorite. Such feelings of friendship had been so distantly removed for such a long time that at first he was confused and told himself,
"It is nothing, my precious. The Elves must have tricked us. They are tricksy. Tricksy and sneaky."
But as time had passed the warm feelings grew stronger, but not for all the Elves. No. Those he hated, he insisted. But this one Elf…This one Elf was kind and gentle. His starry glow didn't hurt Gollum's eyes as it once had. The pitiful creature would gaze at the young Elf as he sang or laughed with his friends. At these times Gollum felt almost happy – not the wretched happiness the precious brought him – but a wonderful, bright feeling, like he had a star glowing inside himself.
"Foolish. Foolish."
When the first arrows had come from the dark to strike down two Elves, Gollum had remained very still. His only hope of eluding the Orcs was to stay in the cradling upper reaches of Beleg Doron. The Elves had been surprised by the attack as the Orcs stepped into view, grinning.
"Be still, my precious." Gollum hissed. "Be still and they can't get us."
He fervently hoped Orcs couldn't climb. But in the end it hadn't mattered.
The Elves fought valiantly and Gollum had watched while three were shot full of arrows.. When Lindir was hit, Gollum had moaned in anguish. He watched as the Elf had continued to fight until he was surrounded. He fought bravely and skillfully, his knives a blur of silver. But there were too many of his enemies.
No…No, my precious…"
When one of the Orcs smashed his scimitar's hilt into Lindir's head, rage filled him.
"They cannot do this! Not to him, my precious." He leapt down through the branches and launched himself onto the nearest Orc. He bit and scratched, his long fingers twining in the coarse black hair. The Orc grunted in surprise reaching around to remove the small irritation from his back.
"Don't harm that one!" One of the others spat, grabbing Lindir in a stranglehold.
The Orc finally managed to dislodge Gollum and held him by the scruff of his neck.
"Came off yer perch, did ya, little bird." He grinned, shaking Gollum slightly.
"Let us go. Let us go." He hissed. "Or we will scratch and bite you again!"
"Get a rope on him and let's get moving."
Gollum felt the rough rope circle his throat. His eyes moved to Lindir. The young Elf's face was bloody, his green eyes filled with fear. He looked down when he felt at touch on his hand.
"It will be alright." Gollum murmured, stroking the smooth skin. "It will be fine, my starry Elf."
The Orcs, hearing this reassurance from such a miserable being, laughed, the sound grating on the ears of their captives.
"The little bird comforts the Elf. Ain't that sweet. But it won't be alright, will it, pretty Elf." He squeezed Lindir's face between his strong fingers.
"Don't hurt him, nasty Orc!" Gollum spat, leaping onto the Orc once more.
But he was easily plucked off, leaving the Orc rubbing his ear where it had been bitten.
Three of the Elves lay dead or dying. The other three stood, tied with black Orc ropes, eyes filled with anger and despair.
As Gollum was shoved forward into a pack of Orcs, he heard Lindir cry out.
"Brethil!"
Gollum could see the Elf lying at the foot of the oak tree, blood staining his tunic.
Lindir's captor yanked the rope about his neck, forcing him to move forward.
Gollum grieved for the young Elf because of the pain he felt at the death of his friend, though Gollum had never liked that particular Elf at all. He was always laughing and joking and teasing Lindir. Gollum never liked that. But he would be teasing him no more. And Lindir's obvious sorrow touched the creature.
"Where is the blue eyed one?" Gollum's Orc asked.
One of the others laughed.
"His Elf ain't here. He's gonna wait for him. He said he'll catch up."
The Orc grunted and smiled across at Lindir.
"Looks like we'll really have some fun soon." He said with a leer, then laughed when the Elf paled, eyes wide with horror.
The blue eyed one was strange and he seemed overly obsessed with this one Elf, but it would be fun to see what torments they could inflict on the one that the blue eyed one wanted. He wanted the Elf to suffer. They all knew that. He spoke of little else – when he spoke at all.
"Come on. He'll catch up as he said. Let him have his fun. We'll have ours soon enough." He jerked Lindir's rope, causing the Elf to gasp in pain, his footsteps faltering. "You won't be too pretty for much longer." He laughed.
Gollum looked back at Lindir, wishing he could help his friend. But a sharp tug on his own rope pulled him forward into the trees.
"We were foolish, my precious." He whispered. "But the poor Elf. We hope they doesn't hurt him too much."
Legolas stumbled behind Egla Ash. His chest was on fire and his arm throbbed. But more than the physical pain ate at him. Sorrow and anguish – and disbelief - would be his undoing. Hope, that he hadn't known existed, had died when the arrow slammed into him. Tears burned in his blue eyes, slowly slipping down his pale cheeks. Egla Ash was completely changed, he didn't doubt that now. The cruel delight in the Orc's eyes – as blue as Legolas' own – as he yanked out the black arrow from the Elf's chest had crushed Mirkwood's prince. There was no worse betrayal.
The Orc ropes cut into his flesh, blood trickled onto his tunic sleeves and collar. He felt no fear at his fate, it seemed too distant. His only thought was of Egla Ash's change.
I tried to save him, he thought bleakly. I truly did.
But he hadn't been fast enough.
This brought thoughts up from the dark recesses of his mind, thoughts that had haunted him for years.
Did he truly try hard enough? Did he perhaps delay at some point, and deliberately arrive too late? Why hadn't he warned Egla Ash that his father didn't want him in Mirkwood? Were his feelings for the Orc as strong as he had thought? Or did some well-buried part of him loathed the Orc because he was an Orc?
"I'm sorry." He murmured, those very questions as hurtful as the black ropes that bound him. "I should have – "
"Your tears don't move me, Legolas Elvellon." Egla Ash said, turning to look at the Elf. "And nothing that you can say or do will move me now."
"I tried – " Legolas whispered, his voice hoarse with emotion. "I did. You saw us. We tried to save you – "
"Yes. You and your Ranger." The Orc sneered. "Did you run to him and tell him that the big bad Orc was threatening to kill you?"
Legolas stared at him, the cruel, sarcastic words cutting him more than any knife could.
Egla Ash laughed.
"You did!" He hooted. "You ran to your Ranger. Oh, Estel. Egla Ash is going to hurt me. Help! Help!"
The Orc's laughter stung him. He turned his head away, eyes filled with pain.
"Is he coming after you? Is Estel going to save you this time?" Suddenly Egla Ash jerked the rope so their faces were mere inches apart. "If he is coming for you, we'll take him, too. Then you can watch him die." He spat into Legolas' face. "Just as you watched your little friend back at Beleg Doron."
Sorrow and despair welled in the prince. What if Aragorn did try to come after him? No, he would not let him be taken. Never would he allow that.
The night they had failed to rescue Egla Ash from Dol Guldur, when he had been lying wounded across the fire from Mithrandir and Aragorn, he had heard the two talking about Aragorn's heritage. It had meant nothing to him that night as he lay in a haze of pain and guilt. But he had thought about it later.
Isildur's heir. That was what Mithrandir had called him. Legolas knew what that meant and he knew that at times it was a great burden to the Ranger. He could not be taken by the Enemy.
Suddenly he yanked hard, ignoring the pain that sliced through him, as the ropes tore into him once more. Egla Ash stumbled, releasing the rope as it burned through his hands. Legolas turned and sprinted into the trees trying not to trip over the dangling ropes as he ran.
He was free!
He ran through the forest, every breath burning like fire through his wounded chest. He could hear Egla Ash crashing after him, cursing. He leapt over rotten logs and dodged around tree trunks. Fear gave him speed.
"You won't escape me that easily, Legolas Elvellon!"
His arm ached, hurting more now than it had earlier. And the ropes seemed to be sawing violently into his wrists and throat. He knew that his stamina would not be as great as the Orc's, but hopefully it would be enough. He looked upward at the trees ahead. Perhaps he should take to them, fly above the ground to safety. But even as this thought went flitted in his mind pain ripped through him. He cried out and stumbled, falling to the damp ground, the black arrow bearing his name protruding from his back.