Here is the second part, sorry it took so long but I had to completely re-
write it after I lost my original. Enjoy!
"LEGOLAS"
The voice of his brother, Aerandir, brought him out of his thoughts and back down to earth with a thud.
"Have you been listening to a word we've been saying or have you just been daydreaming about Ariandir again?
"Every time I close my eyes"
"You've got to stop thinking about her. Every thought makes it more painful." Legolas looked at the ground and tried desperately to force from his mind the thoughts of what the orc's could have done to his fiancé. It was unbearable.
"Do you want to save her? Asked Aerandir
"With all my heart"
"Then you need to pay attention! So far, we have a diversionary attack on the main strong hold and a small party to break in and rescue Ariandir. Is that all right?
"I don't care how we save her as long as we can." Replied Legolas bitterly.
"Then it's agreed" said Aerandir in a final tone.
"There is one small problem of the amount of troops we have and need." Said Galahern
"We need a large portion of the troops for the diversion but we need sufficient cover for if things go wrong. What shall we do?
"My archers will take care of any orcs" put in Legolas.
"I do not doubt the skill of your archer's prince Legolas but in hand to hand combat your archers will be useless."
"Galahern has a point brother" said Aerandir loudly as Legolas stood up and opened his mouth furiously.
"Although you train your archers well, very few of you will be a match for the battle hardened orc army in hand to hand"
"Whose side are you on" yelled Legolas rounding on his brother.
"Are you all against me rescuing Ariandir?
"LEGOLAS" Yelled Galahern "No one is against you. We just don't want you rushing in and getting your self killed. If you get yourself killed you'll be no good to any one." Legolas fought to keep tears from his eyes and to keep his mind on the task. He wanted Ariandir back so badly he was forgetting to be reasonable.
A few days later, Legolas could be found sitting on a wall on his father's palace thinking about the up coming task. It was the middle of the night. As he couldn't sleep he had left his bed and gone to sit outside where could think more easily. He had accepted his brother's offer of a battalion of infantry and the first Mirkwood Archers, his own troops. He was lost in his own thought when a loud shout made him jump a foot in the air.
"Hey! Said the voice.
"Who's there?
"Oh you won't know me."
"Just tell me you name"
"You first. What's your name?
"I haven't got time to play games" said Legolas faintly annoyed
"Yes you have or you wouldn't be sat out her at this time of night"
"That's none of your business"
"I just made it my business"
"Why do you want to know who I am?
"Just curious. What are you doing outside at this time?
"Not that it's got anything to do with you but my fiancé has been captured by the orc armies and I'm thinking"
"Oh, you must be Legolas Greenleaf. Pleased to meet you" and a hand reached down for Legolas to shake. He did so but very reluctantly. He disliked touching things he couldn't see.
"O.k. I'll come down now and show you who I am. Other wise it's not fair, is it?
"No, of course not" replied Legolas quickly. He was obviously supposed to agree. Then a short boy swung down from the tree above and landed with a soft flump on the wall next to Legolas. "Hi, I'm Onimas." Said the boy Legolas was taken aback. He had suspected a man at least but sat in front of him was a boy with straight brown hair and turquoise eyes. He looked no older than 10.
"How old are you? He asked
"Fourteen" replied the boy
"I heard about your quest and have come to offer my services."
"I have no time for people who want to waste it" snapped the Elf.
"What are you doing out at this time of night?
"Nothing"
"Well get lost, you can't help and I'm not going to let you." With that he swung down and started back to his room. He had barely gone three paces when the boy shouted down to him.
"You can't stop me coming along and if you fail to save Ariandir, don't come crawling to me for sympathy"
"What would you know about it" retorted Legolas, the tears burning his eyes.
"I bet you've no idea what it's like to lose someone you love" And with that he turned on his heel and stormed off to the palace. He was so furious he didn't even hear Onimas' reply.
The next day, Legolas stood fully clad in armour with the rest of the troops, ready to begin. He had had an uneasy feeling ever since he had departed from Onimas that he should have listened and that he might follow as he had promised and Legolas didn't want that. For some strange reason he was caring about a boy he hardly knew. It was incredibly strange. He didn't think he could have thought this way about anyone else than his beloved Ariandir. It wasn't that he loved the boy but it was a deep cut caring for him. He was lost on his own thoughts when a voice in his ear spoke to him.
"Legolas" It was Istalindir.
"Good luck in saving Ariandir. Come back as well, for her sake as well as ours." Legolas tightly embraced his brother.
"I will, I promise" he replied. The last look he had of his brother was him looking out to them over the battlements of the castle. Two days later, the army could be found traipsing through the battle ground where all this had started. Legolas looked down over the area and spoke quietly to himself. "One month ago, I was a soldier here. One month ago, Ariandir was kidnapped." He stood there quietly talking to himself. Aerandir gently laid his hand on his brother's shoulder. Legolas looked sadly into the warm blue eyes of his brother and almost collapsed in tears on the spot. They walked down the pass to where the battle had taken place with Legolas stopping every few minutes to gather him self together. They reached the bottom and Aerandir had just given the order to set up camp when there was a loud shout.
"ORCS! Legolas whipped round to see a large number of orcs crowding into the clearing. The orcs were clearly trying to use the same tactics that they had used the first time the two sides had met but it wasn't going to work this time.
"READY!" shouted Legolas over the heads of his men.
"ATTACK!"
The elves piled into the on coming army with all the strength they could muster. All the anger and the sadness poured out in a tidal wave of merciless fury. Any body would have thought this would have made any army turn tale and run but the orcs were well organised and fought back with courage almost amounting to fanaticism. The clash of weapons could have been heard a mile off. Legolas was taken over by such a wave of anger that it made him shake by rage. He was in command of this; he was going to kill them all. He lifted his sword up and looked at it. He had never wanted to harm another creature so much in his life. His brother looked at him and saw, in his eyes, a fire he had never seen before. It was a fire of anger, pain and suffering and Aerandir didn't like it at all. He felt all cold inside and was incapable of a happy thought as he stared at his brother with mounting concern.
Half an hour later the battle was still raging fiercely and the dead or dying bodies of warriors from both sides littered the ground and were becoming more of a hindrance than a help. The only comfort was that there were far more orcs diminishing than elves. Legolas was now in the thick of it and he was beginning to tire. He had just struck an orc down when he felt a blow to the back of his head. He collapsed in a daze and rolled over. Above him was an orc with sword raised ready to hit out. Legolas braced him self for the impact and cried
"HELP"
Something small hurled itself at the offending orc and bowled it over knocking the sword out of its hand. The scuffle was over in a matter of seconds. With the victims head rolling down the gentle slope of the battle ground the perpetrator got steadily to its feet. It was Onimas. He had a cut on his right cheek and it was bleeding profusely. "I told you I would be coming." "Get out of here, you'll get hurt" said Legolas
"What, more than I all ready am? Replied the boy
"Fine you can stay, but keep close so I can defend you."
"You, look after me, after the way you handled King Kong a minute ago? He indicated the dead orc.
"I'd rather protect myself thanks"
"Don't get cheeky with me or I'll get you taken away"
"Oh, fine way to repay me for saving your life and DUCK! Onimas pushed Legolas' head down and flipped over him while swiftly drawing his sword from its sheath and slicing the Orc in half.
"We'll settle this later" said Legolas and with that, disappeared into the tangle of warriors and orcs fighting for survival. Onimas stood for a moment looking after him and then followed.
The battle was edging on an hour and a half when the last reminisces of the orcs finally disappeared in to the darkening trees. Legolas collapsed wearily on a rock and buried his face in his hands. There was a clatter of a sword hitting the ground and Onimas' voice said
"Bloody hell; are all your battles that long?
"Not normally" replied Legolas with a smile
"But occasionally they are"
He looked up as Onimas dropped in a pile at his feet in exhaustion.
"I swear I'll never take part in a battle that intense as long as I live. Promise me it gets easier now?
Legolas laughed. It was the first real laugh he'd had in months and it filled his brother with joy to hear his brother like this again. He went over to where his brother was sitting and took a second to work out that the person Legolas was talking to was defiantly not a soldier from his army.
"Who are you? Said Aerandir flaring up with caution
"It's alright brother" said Legolas soothingly "He's a friend"
"Oh, well in that case you'd better introduce me to him."
So the next five minutes was spent introducing Onimas to all the major commanders and setting up camp. Onimas was just talking about his family when a rustling behind them and Onimas in one swift movement drew a stick that was lying by the fire and in one swift movement brought the stick straight down through the middle of the bush crashing onto the head of the eavesdropper and sending the thing sprawling. The creature barely had time to register it had been hit before Onimas was kneeling on its chest with a knife at his throat.
"It's an Orc" he informed the gathering.
"N'ndengina ho Onimas" said Aerandir quickly Don't kill him Onimas
"Out cold but apparently a remainder of the force from earlier on" said Onimas obeying Aerandirs' command. "We should search the surrounding areas for any more."
"I agree. We should find out what it was doing there."
Soon a platoon of elves were crashing there way through the under growth searching for any more orcs that might be lurking behind the bushes. But after half an hour of making a lot of noise, the search was called off after no trace of even an orc sword was found.
Next morning the camp was packed up quickly and every one was ready to go in under fifteen minutes and the army was marching off towards the open plains of the brown lands. Suddenly, quite unexpectedly, an elf fell out of a tree above crashing down to the floor and causing a great panic which quickly diminished under the strong leadership of Aerandir.
"He's an intelligence trooper" said Legolas in amazement.
"I had no idea we had deployed any.
"I sent some out last night to gather the whereabouts of the enemy strong hold"
"Nikerym" whispered the soldier. Captain
"Mani marte?" said Legolas What happened
"We got to the orc fortress from the information we gathered from our orc friend last night." Whispered the elf
"We tried to infiltrate it but the orcs got to us first. We lost three men in the first attack. Then two more in the getaway. I was wounded but I got away to come and give you the information we discovered." "Lle ume quel. Go and rest" said Aerandir You did well
"If there are as many orcs as he says there are then were going to have a hard job keeping a successful assault up. You're going to have to be very quick to get Ariandir and escape without the orcs realising what's happening."
"I think we can manage it. We have one more day till we meet up with Galahern at the edge of Mirkwood so we should have a large enough army then." replied Legolas getting to his feet. They marched for the rest of the day until they reached the edge of Mirkwood where they were met by Galaherns' troops soon after they arrived.
"The orcs have been patrolling the edges of the woods. We've had to be very careful in avoiding the enemy."
"Tomorrow at first light we must begin our march to the brown lands for that is where our spy told us it was." replied Aerandir
"We must get to the base before the orcs know what's happened." Said Legolas
"I agree" said Galahern
So they rested for the dark hours and by the time the sun rose in the east, the army was ready to move off. They marched all the way until they could see the top of the central tower of the orc strong hold. This was where they would part ways and go into battle there separate ways. For some of the elves, it would be the last time they would look upon the different forces taking there separate paths. I will now tell of what happened to Aerandir and Galahern in their assault on the strong hold. They watched Legolas' troops depart and then set off for the castle all ready marching in line abreast. Now I must bring you up to date on the format for a defensive battle line in the elvin army. It consists of a row of infantry at the front. Then there is a row of archers and then the infantry take up the remaining places until there are no more. They marched forward in this fashion until they reached the top of a gently sloping hill that lead all the way down to the entrance of the fort. Here a rude shock awaited them. At the foot of the hill, waiting for them, was the largest orc army they had ever seen in there lives so far. There were thousands of orcs and goblins spread out from about half way up the hill to the gates and for about a mile either way of where Aerandir stood. He heard Galahern swear softly at his side as he gazed in astonishment at the size of the army. With a shriek and a snarl, the orcs and goblins started forward tearing up the hill like a black cloud on the side of the slope.
"DESIEL!" roared Aerandir at the top of his voice ready
"NAUR!" Fire A deadly hail of wood streaked past his ear and struck the advancing forces like a hammer blow. The first few troops in the advancing force knew nothing of this though. The elvin bowmen shot them down without mercy but there were thousands more behind that and they pressed on towards the infantry with withering speed. They reached the elves before the bowmen could reach for another arrow. Lashing out with there weapons, the first elf move was a vicious up cut which finished the first attacking row and immediately they launched themselves on the offensive. It was a bloody battle and because Aerandir couldn't see clearly over the heads of the fighting men he had no idea who was winning the confrontation.
"Sir!" Aerandir turned to see a messenger.
"I bring urgent news from the left flank sir." Said the messenger
"The orcs are flanking us and coming around behind us to cut us off and surround us. It's the same on the right as well"
"Ta naa neuma!" shouted Galahern who had also heard this. It's a trap!
"RETREAT!" bellowed Aerandir at the top of his voice "Its impossible sir they've got us surrounded" Aerandir spun around in desperation. It couldn't end like this. Legolas was counting on him to help save Ariandir. They were trapped. Aerandir and his troops were going to die, trapped like rats. There was no way out.
Legolas' troops crept round the out skirts of the fortress. It seemed to have been built in a kind of hole. There was a slope leading down to the walls on each side and Legolas was trying to use this to his advantage. They reached the top of the hill by crawling flat on their stomachs to the ridge. Legolas fitted an arrow to his bow and took careful aim at the sentry on the wall. There was a gentle fizzing noise as he released the arrow and it sped towards the orc, striking him right between the eyes. He fell over the wall and landed with a soft thump outside the compound. "Come, we must move quickly." whispered Legolas and they moved down the hill trying to be as quiet as possible. They reached the foot of the hill and pressed themselves flat against the wall. Legolas took one step out and threw up a grappling hook which caught on the top of the wall. He climbed up the rope and after he had reached the top there was a continuous stream of men climbing up and over the wall. They crept along the parapet and down a flight of steps leading to a door. Legolas opened it and the walked inside. "So far so good" said Legolas walking a bit further along the hall to the first corner. They walked around the passages searching for the chamber with Ariandir in it.
"This isn't right, this is too quiet" muttered Legolas.
"Legolas" Onimas came out of the room in front of him "The whole of the right and left wing has been searched and she's not there but I have concerns about that. It's just too quiet. I don't like it at all."
"I don't either but we have to find Ariandir, everything depends on it." They moved along the corridor towards a pair of grand doors.
"This is the entrance to the tower" said Onimas
"Let's be careful" Legolas pushed on the grand doors and they swung open to reveal a grand room with pillars and big windows letting in a lot of light. In the centre of the room was a pillar that was larger than most and tied to the pillar was
"Ariandir" shouted Legolas and he ran towards her with the rest of the team
fanning out to protect him. Legolas reached the bottom of the pillar and drew out his sword but Onimas was too quick for him. He sprinted to the pillar and took a leap, slashing the cords that bound Ariandir to the pillar. Legolas caught her at the bottom and lay her gently on the ground
"Ariandir, Ariandir. Are you alright? Speak to me" His voice was choked with tears. Ariandir opened her eyes a little and smiled.
"You took your time" she whispered
"I was beginning to think you didn't love me any more"
"Amin mela lle and nothing will ever change that" whispered Legolas back and he hugged her tightly. Then they kissed. Her gentle touch and loving care all came back to Legolas in a moment. It was like rediscovering a friend he had once had and it filled his heart with joy. He hugged her like he never wanted to let her go.
"Can you walk?" he asked her eventually.
"I think so" she replied and with help from Legolas and Onimas they managed to get her standing. They had barely gone five paces when Onimas shouted
"Ariandir, look out!" He ran forward and dived in front of her. As he did so an arrow struck him in the chest and he collapsed on the floor in pain. "ONIMAS" shouted Legolas and ran to the fallen body of his comrade in arms. Ariandir knelt down and drew back his jacket revealing a large wound.
"This is beyond my ability to heal" said Ariandir
"There's nothing we can do for him"
"Thank you" said Legolas
"Life without Ariandir would not have been life at all" "I know. Do me a favour will you?" croaked Onimas and Legolas leaned over towards him
"Don't forget me"
"I won't I promise" said Legolas quietly. Onimas smiled, gave a grimace and died. Tears were streaming down Ariandirs' face.
"Let's go" said Legolas.
"There's nothing more we can do for him." Ariandir nodded and stood up.
"Let's go" called Legolas.
"That might be easier said then done" replied another elf Legolas look up. Until that point he had been looking at Onimas. Now, as he looked up, a nasty shock awaited him. They were surrounded by thousands of orcs.
"LEGOLAS"
The voice of his brother, Aerandir, brought him out of his thoughts and back down to earth with a thud.
"Have you been listening to a word we've been saying or have you just been daydreaming about Ariandir again?
"Every time I close my eyes"
"You've got to stop thinking about her. Every thought makes it more painful." Legolas looked at the ground and tried desperately to force from his mind the thoughts of what the orc's could have done to his fiancé. It was unbearable.
"Do you want to save her? Asked Aerandir
"With all my heart"
"Then you need to pay attention! So far, we have a diversionary attack on the main strong hold and a small party to break in and rescue Ariandir. Is that all right?
"I don't care how we save her as long as we can." Replied Legolas bitterly.
"Then it's agreed" said Aerandir in a final tone.
"There is one small problem of the amount of troops we have and need." Said Galahern
"We need a large portion of the troops for the diversion but we need sufficient cover for if things go wrong. What shall we do?
"My archers will take care of any orcs" put in Legolas.
"I do not doubt the skill of your archer's prince Legolas but in hand to hand combat your archers will be useless."
"Galahern has a point brother" said Aerandir loudly as Legolas stood up and opened his mouth furiously.
"Although you train your archers well, very few of you will be a match for the battle hardened orc army in hand to hand"
"Whose side are you on" yelled Legolas rounding on his brother.
"Are you all against me rescuing Ariandir?
"LEGOLAS" Yelled Galahern "No one is against you. We just don't want you rushing in and getting your self killed. If you get yourself killed you'll be no good to any one." Legolas fought to keep tears from his eyes and to keep his mind on the task. He wanted Ariandir back so badly he was forgetting to be reasonable.
A few days later, Legolas could be found sitting on a wall on his father's palace thinking about the up coming task. It was the middle of the night. As he couldn't sleep he had left his bed and gone to sit outside where could think more easily. He had accepted his brother's offer of a battalion of infantry and the first Mirkwood Archers, his own troops. He was lost in his own thought when a loud shout made him jump a foot in the air.
"Hey! Said the voice.
"Who's there?
"Oh you won't know me."
"Just tell me you name"
"You first. What's your name?
"I haven't got time to play games" said Legolas faintly annoyed
"Yes you have or you wouldn't be sat out her at this time of night"
"That's none of your business"
"I just made it my business"
"Why do you want to know who I am?
"Just curious. What are you doing outside at this time?
"Not that it's got anything to do with you but my fiancé has been captured by the orc armies and I'm thinking"
"Oh, you must be Legolas Greenleaf. Pleased to meet you" and a hand reached down for Legolas to shake. He did so but very reluctantly. He disliked touching things he couldn't see.
"O.k. I'll come down now and show you who I am. Other wise it's not fair, is it?
"No, of course not" replied Legolas quickly. He was obviously supposed to agree. Then a short boy swung down from the tree above and landed with a soft flump on the wall next to Legolas. "Hi, I'm Onimas." Said the boy Legolas was taken aback. He had suspected a man at least but sat in front of him was a boy with straight brown hair and turquoise eyes. He looked no older than 10.
"How old are you? He asked
"Fourteen" replied the boy
"I heard about your quest and have come to offer my services."
"I have no time for people who want to waste it" snapped the Elf.
"What are you doing out at this time of night?
"Nothing"
"Well get lost, you can't help and I'm not going to let you." With that he swung down and started back to his room. He had barely gone three paces when the boy shouted down to him.
"You can't stop me coming along and if you fail to save Ariandir, don't come crawling to me for sympathy"
"What would you know about it" retorted Legolas, the tears burning his eyes.
"I bet you've no idea what it's like to lose someone you love" And with that he turned on his heel and stormed off to the palace. He was so furious he didn't even hear Onimas' reply.
The next day, Legolas stood fully clad in armour with the rest of the troops, ready to begin. He had had an uneasy feeling ever since he had departed from Onimas that he should have listened and that he might follow as he had promised and Legolas didn't want that. For some strange reason he was caring about a boy he hardly knew. It was incredibly strange. He didn't think he could have thought this way about anyone else than his beloved Ariandir. It wasn't that he loved the boy but it was a deep cut caring for him. He was lost on his own thoughts when a voice in his ear spoke to him.
"Legolas" It was Istalindir.
"Good luck in saving Ariandir. Come back as well, for her sake as well as ours." Legolas tightly embraced his brother.
"I will, I promise" he replied. The last look he had of his brother was him looking out to them over the battlements of the castle. Two days later, the army could be found traipsing through the battle ground where all this had started. Legolas looked down over the area and spoke quietly to himself. "One month ago, I was a soldier here. One month ago, Ariandir was kidnapped." He stood there quietly talking to himself. Aerandir gently laid his hand on his brother's shoulder. Legolas looked sadly into the warm blue eyes of his brother and almost collapsed in tears on the spot. They walked down the pass to where the battle had taken place with Legolas stopping every few minutes to gather him self together. They reached the bottom and Aerandir had just given the order to set up camp when there was a loud shout.
"ORCS! Legolas whipped round to see a large number of orcs crowding into the clearing. The orcs were clearly trying to use the same tactics that they had used the first time the two sides had met but it wasn't going to work this time.
"READY!" shouted Legolas over the heads of his men.
"ATTACK!"
The elves piled into the on coming army with all the strength they could muster. All the anger and the sadness poured out in a tidal wave of merciless fury. Any body would have thought this would have made any army turn tale and run but the orcs were well organised and fought back with courage almost amounting to fanaticism. The clash of weapons could have been heard a mile off. Legolas was taken over by such a wave of anger that it made him shake by rage. He was in command of this; he was going to kill them all. He lifted his sword up and looked at it. He had never wanted to harm another creature so much in his life. His brother looked at him and saw, in his eyes, a fire he had never seen before. It was a fire of anger, pain and suffering and Aerandir didn't like it at all. He felt all cold inside and was incapable of a happy thought as he stared at his brother with mounting concern.
Half an hour later the battle was still raging fiercely and the dead or dying bodies of warriors from both sides littered the ground and were becoming more of a hindrance than a help. The only comfort was that there were far more orcs diminishing than elves. Legolas was now in the thick of it and he was beginning to tire. He had just struck an orc down when he felt a blow to the back of his head. He collapsed in a daze and rolled over. Above him was an orc with sword raised ready to hit out. Legolas braced him self for the impact and cried
"HELP"
Something small hurled itself at the offending orc and bowled it over knocking the sword out of its hand. The scuffle was over in a matter of seconds. With the victims head rolling down the gentle slope of the battle ground the perpetrator got steadily to its feet. It was Onimas. He had a cut on his right cheek and it was bleeding profusely. "I told you I would be coming." "Get out of here, you'll get hurt" said Legolas
"What, more than I all ready am? Replied the boy
"Fine you can stay, but keep close so I can defend you."
"You, look after me, after the way you handled King Kong a minute ago? He indicated the dead orc.
"I'd rather protect myself thanks"
"Don't get cheeky with me or I'll get you taken away"
"Oh, fine way to repay me for saving your life and DUCK! Onimas pushed Legolas' head down and flipped over him while swiftly drawing his sword from its sheath and slicing the Orc in half.
"We'll settle this later" said Legolas and with that, disappeared into the tangle of warriors and orcs fighting for survival. Onimas stood for a moment looking after him and then followed.
The battle was edging on an hour and a half when the last reminisces of the orcs finally disappeared in to the darkening trees. Legolas collapsed wearily on a rock and buried his face in his hands. There was a clatter of a sword hitting the ground and Onimas' voice said
"Bloody hell; are all your battles that long?
"Not normally" replied Legolas with a smile
"But occasionally they are"
He looked up as Onimas dropped in a pile at his feet in exhaustion.
"I swear I'll never take part in a battle that intense as long as I live. Promise me it gets easier now?
Legolas laughed. It was the first real laugh he'd had in months and it filled his brother with joy to hear his brother like this again. He went over to where his brother was sitting and took a second to work out that the person Legolas was talking to was defiantly not a soldier from his army.
"Who are you? Said Aerandir flaring up with caution
"It's alright brother" said Legolas soothingly "He's a friend"
"Oh, well in that case you'd better introduce me to him."
So the next five minutes was spent introducing Onimas to all the major commanders and setting up camp. Onimas was just talking about his family when a rustling behind them and Onimas in one swift movement drew a stick that was lying by the fire and in one swift movement brought the stick straight down through the middle of the bush crashing onto the head of the eavesdropper and sending the thing sprawling. The creature barely had time to register it had been hit before Onimas was kneeling on its chest with a knife at his throat.
"It's an Orc" he informed the gathering.
"N'ndengina ho Onimas" said Aerandir quickly Don't kill him Onimas
"Out cold but apparently a remainder of the force from earlier on" said Onimas obeying Aerandirs' command. "We should search the surrounding areas for any more."
"I agree. We should find out what it was doing there."
Soon a platoon of elves were crashing there way through the under growth searching for any more orcs that might be lurking behind the bushes. But after half an hour of making a lot of noise, the search was called off after no trace of even an orc sword was found.
Next morning the camp was packed up quickly and every one was ready to go in under fifteen minutes and the army was marching off towards the open plains of the brown lands. Suddenly, quite unexpectedly, an elf fell out of a tree above crashing down to the floor and causing a great panic which quickly diminished under the strong leadership of Aerandir.
"He's an intelligence trooper" said Legolas in amazement.
"I had no idea we had deployed any.
"I sent some out last night to gather the whereabouts of the enemy strong hold"
"Nikerym" whispered the soldier. Captain
"Mani marte?" said Legolas What happened
"We got to the orc fortress from the information we gathered from our orc friend last night." Whispered the elf
"We tried to infiltrate it but the orcs got to us first. We lost three men in the first attack. Then two more in the getaway. I was wounded but I got away to come and give you the information we discovered." "Lle ume quel. Go and rest" said Aerandir You did well
"If there are as many orcs as he says there are then were going to have a hard job keeping a successful assault up. You're going to have to be very quick to get Ariandir and escape without the orcs realising what's happening."
"I think we can manage it. We have one more day till we meet up with Galahern at the edge of Mirkwood so we should have a large enough army then." replied Legolas getting to his feet. They marched for the rest of the day until they reached the edge of Mirkwood where they were met by Galaherns' troops soon after they arrived.
"The orcs have been patrolling the edges of the woods. We've had to be very careful in avoiding the enemy."
"Tomorrow at first light we must begin our march to the brown lands for that is where our spy told us it was." replied Aerandir
"We must get to the base before the orcs know what's happened." Said Legolas
"I agree" said Galahern
So they rested for the dark hours and by the time the sun rose in the east, the army was ready to move off. They marched all the way until they could see the top of the central tower of the orc strong hold. This was where they would part ways and go into battle there separate ways. For some of the elves, it would be the last time they would look upon the different forces taking there separate paths. I will now tell of what happened to Aerandir and Galahern in their assault on the strong hold. They watched Legolas' troops depart and then set off for the castle all ready marching in line abreast. Now I must bring you up to date on the format for a defensive battle line in the elvin army. It consists of a row of infantry at the front. Then there is a row of archers and then the infantry take up the remaining places until there are no more. They marched forward in this fashion until they reached the top of a gently sloping hill that lead all the way down to the entrance of the fort. Here a rude shock awaited them. At the foot of the hill, waiting for them, was the largest orc army they had ever seen in there lives so far. There were thousands of orcs and goblins spread out from about half way up the hill to the gates and for about a mile either way of where Aerandir stood. He heard Galahern swear softly at his side as he gazed in astonishment at the size of the army. With a shriek and a snarl, the orcs and goblins started forward tearing up the hill like a black cloud on the side of the slope.
"DESIEL!" roared Aerandir at the top of his voice ready
"NAUR!" Fire A deadly hail of wood streaked past his ear and struck the advancing forces like a hammer blow. The first few troops in the advancing force knew nothing of this though. The elvin bowmen shot them down without mercy but there were thousands more behind that and they pressed on towards the infantry with withering speed. They reached the elves before the bowmen could reach for another arrow. Lashing out with there weapons, the first elf move was a vicious up cut which finished the first attacking row and immediately they launched themselves on the offensive. It was a bloody battle and because Aerandir couldn't see clearly over the heads of the fighting men he had no idea who was winning the confrontation.
"Sir!" Aerandir turned to see a messenger.
"I bring urgent news from the left flank sir." Said the messenger
"The orcs are flanking us and coming around behind us to cut us off and surround us. It's the same on the right as well"
"Ta naa neuma!" shouted Galahern who had also heard this. It's a trap!
"RETREAT!" bellowed Aerandir at the top of his voice "Its impossible sir they've got us surrounded" Aerandir spun around in desperation. It couldn't end like this. Legolas was counting on him to help save Ariandir. They were trapped. Aerandir and his troops were going to die, trapped like rats. There was no way out.
Legolas' troops crept round the out skirts of the fortress. It seemed to have been built in a kind of hole. There was a slope leading down to the walls on each side and Legolas was trying to use this to his advantage. They reached the top of the hill by crawling flat on their stomachs to the ridge. Legolas fitted an arrow to his bow and took careful aim at the sentry on the wall. There was a gentle fizzing noise as he released the arrow and it sped towards the orc, striking him right between the eyes. He fell over the wall and landed with a soft thump outside the compound. "Come, we must move quickly." whispered Legolas and they moved down the hill trying to be as quiet as possible. They reached the foot of the hill and pressed themselves flat against the wall. Legolas took one step out and threw up a grappling hook which caught on the top of the wall. He climbed up the rope and after he had reached the top there was a continuous stream of men climbing up and over the wall. They crept along the parapet and down a flight of steps leading to a door. Legolas opened it and the walked inside. "So far so good" said Legolas walking a bit further along the hall to the first corner. They walked around the passages searching for the chamber with Ariandir in it.
"This isn't right, this is too quiet" muttered Legolas.
"Legolas" Onimas came out of the room in front of him "The whole of the right and left wing has been searched and she's not there but I have concerns about that. It's just too quiet. I don't like it at all."
"I don't either but we have to find Ariandir, everything depends on it." They moved along the corridor towards a pair of grand doors.
"This is the entrance to the tower" said Onimas
"Let's be careful" Legolas pushed on the grand doors and they swung open to reveal a grand room with pillars and big windows letting in a lot of light. In the centre of the room was a pillar that was larger than most and tied to the pillar was
"Ariandir" shouted Legolas and he ran towards her with the rest of the team
fanning out to protect him. Legolas reached the bottom of the pillar and drew out his sword but Onimas was too quick for him. He sprinted to the pillar and took a leap, slashing the cords that bound Ariandir to the pillar. Legolas caught her at the bottom and lay her gently on the ground
"Ariandir, Ariandir. Are you alright? Speak to me" His voice was choked with tears. Ariandir opened her eyes a little and smiled.
"You took your time" she whispered
"I was beginning to think you didn't love me any more"
"Amin mela lle and nothing will ever change that" whispered Legolas back and he hugged her tightly. Then they kissed. Her gentle touch and loving care all came back to Legolas in a moment. It was like rediscovering a friend he had once had and it filled his heart with joy. He hugged her like he never wanted to let her go.
"Can you walk?" he asked her eventually.
"I think so" she replied and with help from Legolas and Onimas they managed to get her standing. They had barely gone five paces when Onimas shouted
"Ariandir, look out!" He ran forward and dived in front of her. As he did so an arrow struck him in the chest and he collapsed on the floor in pain. "ONIMAS" shouted Legolas and ran to the fallen body of his comrade in arms. Ariandir knelt down and drew back his jacket revealing a large wound.
"This is beyond my ability to heal" said Ariandir
"There's nothing we can do for him"
"Thank you" said Legolas
"Life without Ariandir would not have been life at all" "I know. Do me a favour will you?" croaked Onimas and Legolas leaned over towards him
"Don't forget me"
"I won't I promise" said Legolas quietly. Onimas smiled, gave a grimace and died. Tears were streaming down Ariandirs' face.
"Let's go" said Legolas.
"There's nothing more we can do for him." Ariandir nodded and stood up.
"Let's go" called Legolas.
"That might be easier said then done" replied another elf Legolas look up. Until that point he had been looking at Onimas. Now, as he looked up, a nasty shock awaited him. They were surrounded by thousands of orcs.