Chapter XVIII - Mí Ohta
Elrohir was finishing strapping a cut on his brother's shoulder and Estel was helping him, holding the cloth, when the door to their cell opened and Legolas was thrown in by Nardü. With a sneer, he said:
"Make sure he lives! Here's a bucket of water, keep him alive!" The twins went immediately to their friend's side, and nodded back to the guard. They were shocked when they saw Legolas' back, he looked as bad as when they'd found him in the mountains.
"Estel, get the water, and cut more bandages, please!" The child complied, and dragged the heavy bucket to the three elves. It was good that he did not have the strength to hold it instead, for it would have fallen when the little dúnadan set his eyes on Legolas.
"Is he... is he going to be all right?" Elladan looked with compassion at Estel, he was yet so young...
"Yes, he will. But please, Estel, bring those bandages." The little one ran to the corner where he'd been tearing Elrohir's jerkin into straps, and produced some more for the wood-elf. He whispered to Legolas.
"Please, mister elf, be well... I believe you now. Please?..." Legolas smiled softly at the youth, and Elladan lead Estel away, assuring him, and leaving Elrohir alone to do his job.
~*~
The next morning, they were all roughly awoken by an orc, who securely bound their hands behind their backs and pulled them out of the cell. He took them out into the open, where his group had already assembled and was preparing for departure. The King and his men came out shortly afterwards, and then, all hell broke loose.
Shouts came from all sides. War cries, orders, or simply the yells of those who were injured and killed, was all they could hear, for they were right in the middle of it all.
Stray arrows whizzed by and, for more than once, nearly hit any of the four that were surrounded by that unexpected war. What horses there were in the clearing, had panicked and were fiercely kicking and neighing their way out of there. The three elves did their best to protect Estel, keeping him in between them, but in the midst of all the chaos, that was an impossible task.
The orcs had put them near a cart, meant to carry their supplies and, as soon as the fighting had begun, Elladan and Legolas had been back to back, desperately trying to untie the tight ropes in their wrists. Whenever the Rivendell elf touched his back, in their uncomfortable position, Legolas made a face and gritted his teeth, breathing sharply in, for the pain shot all the way to his fingertips. His bonds were the first to be loose enough, though, and the wood-elf set the others free in moments too.
They took down the cart and kept it behind them, to cover them from the flying arrows, at least on one flank. Elrohir had been leaning on to it, taking a short break, when a sharp arrow tip pierced the wood and came out just next to his head. He roused at once and tried to find its source, only to see the orc falling with a spear through his chest some distance away.
The men had different strategies than the orcs, though, and started lighting up the shafts of their arrows near the tip, and shooting them thus. The cart took one of these and caught easily on fire, as did some of the orcs and many of the trees surrounding the fight. The four choked on the fell air and tried to move on to somewhere where the air was cleaner, but they could not open their way in the middle of that, not when they were unarmed, and even if they did, the whole clearing was darkening rapidly with the smoke. They took a flask of water from the fallen cart and tried to clean their airways with the fresh liquid. The elves made sure that Estel drank it, for the child was more susceptible to intoxicate.
A dark mist that clouded everything was slowly setting and enveloping the place, and even the elves, with their keen eyesight, had difficulty in seeing through it. Things were getting worse, for they could hardly see, or hear, from which way the danger would come.
An orc suddenly attacked them. Apparently, it preferred to have them dead, rather than in the hands of the treacherous men. Legolas was the one on its way, and quickly dealt with it. Pushing the orc's sword aside with his armlet, he punched it under the chin and threw it back. Unfortunately, in the middle of all the rapid motions, his back protested loudly and left him vulnerable.
Another orc came from the side and was preparing to slash at the wood-elf, when Elrohir came rapidly to his friend's side. He ducked and picked up the fallen first one's sword, to finally give the second one a quick death. It was a good thing there were not many foes.
He turned to Legolas, who was bent over, waiting for the pain to pass and his strength to return. Then he looked back to see how Estel and his brother fared. The child was watching with huge eyes everything that went on around him while coughing hard, and Elladan was by his side, a hand on his shoulder. But out of nowhere came a black arrow, and Elladan had only time to push both Estel and himself out of its way, before it crossed the air where they'd just been.
Horse's legs kicked out from the mist, and Elrohir threw himself to the ground just in time. ~Another close call...~ The animal was making a way between the confusion, and Elrohir thought that they could follow him out. But as he was getting up and just about to call for the others, an orc club hit him from the side. He fell back and his sight was temporarily blurred, he had difficulty in controlling his limbs as well. But the goblin did not have any of those problems. Elrohir was saved by Legolas, who threw himself against it, and taking the knife from its belt, beheaded it without greater trouble.
The Mirkwood elf was gasping terribly from both pain, tiredness and the lack of air. They all were beginning to have trouble breathing. Legolas went back to Elrohir and helped him up.
"We have to get out, and now!"
Yet another orc attacked Elrohir and Legolas then, and behind it, they could see a man following. ~'Tis a lost battle. There's no chance of walking safely out of here!~ Legolas, who had recovered somewhat, picked up another fallen blade and joined Elrohir.
"Yes, it is." The twin was confused with the reply to his unspoken thoughts, but had not the time, nor the chance, to express it out loud, as they had to fight the two who were approaching.
A shout came from behind, a shout from Estel. The two fighting elves were distracted, and the orc did not waste the opportunity; he buried his foul weapon into Elrohir.
Legolas hastily killed him, and in his distress, quickly took care of the man as well. He crouched next to the twin, removed the knife and held the wound fiercely, but the blood poured out freely and too abundantly for his liking.
"Vá!! Sina u-póla nië! U-pólalyë firië, nildonya! U-pólalyë! [No!! This cannot be! You cannot die, my friend! You cannot!]"
He spared a glance to Elladan and Estel, and with some relief he noted how it had only been a scratch the small dúnadan had gotten. When he looked back at Elrohir, though, he saw that the elf was staring at something else. He followed his gaze and saw it too.
King Azgarä stood by his feet, his garments bloodied and his sword held high, but his eyes were sparkling with the fire of vengeance behind them. That was it. That was the end.
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cysne #287's note: MWAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!
cysne's notes: *slaps #287* I've been dying to write this! I've had this and the next two chapters on my head from the beginning! I won't be updating for a while, though, since I have just found out that I have a 600+ page book (which is incredibly boring) to read in 5 days for school (What kind of a *sick* person puts a test on the first day after the Easter holidays?! Oh why couldn't it be about LotR?!?!?! *hangs head*) So, if I don't die in the meanwhile, chapter 19 should be out in about a week and a half or so... I'll give you the title, so you don't say I'm completely evil: "Rombar" ;) HEY! I know it's short, but it was either this, or nothing! I already have half of c19 written down! I'll do my best to hurry! =)
*takes off peaks* There! PHEW!! *wipes sweat off forehead* As some 007 villain would say, errors have a nasty habit for surviving... The chapters I changed were 5 to 7. Me and Aiwendil had a little pending business too... by the end, I was just cutting and adding commas... BAH!!! But I finally figured out who's Lindómawen!! *is proud*
Erenriel - *runs away* DON'T CRUCIFY ME!!!!! *composes self and looks at last chapter's review* I ask for praises and get deathreats... YAY ME!! Well, you should know I could *NEVER* KILL Legolas!! Hurting him is bad enough, dear twin... ;) But I guess it *may* have been a wee too much (and this one too), since it's the result of a *VERY* explosive combination!! Cysne #287 (my evil-buddy-nemesis-split-personality) + boredom of revising + lots of requests to hurt Legolas = *KABOOM!!!* a not so healthy elven Prince of Mirkwood! ;D So, feel free to kill me! (OH NO!! DON'T!! Don't want to meet that spooky Mandos character any time soon... *shudders*)
tapetum - You bet it hurts!! And, sorry, but that Elrohir torture thingy? It's going to take a while... it's hard work, when you have limited vocabulary as I do! =) Hopefully, these last chapters were enough to satisfy your bloodthirst in the meanwhile? LOL! ;) Trip? I wish... that was something that *almost* happened *before* I was born. The most distant trip I ever made, was to Madeira (which is one of our archipelagos) and it was with school - RESULT: I didn't get to see anything of the place! BAH!! ;P
Szhismine - I got 18 as the period's final grade (out of 20)! Don't know how it's like with you, but that's a really good grade! =) Legolas... hmm... did that do? *grin* You're canadian? Funny... don't ask me why, but I got this stupid idea you were australian... WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?? *Weird...* OH! And when do you think you'll start that sequel? *is hopeful*