The Men rode in silence now, hearts raging within their breasts. Legolas spurred his horse on, with Aragorn close behind. They could hear the Orcs now and they knew the Orcs heard them. Legolas readied his bow, as they turned a corner and gained full view of the Orcs. Legolas sighted on the Ring Wraith's horse and let two arrows fly. One hit the horse in the rump and the other in its upper leg. The horse whinnied in pain and stumbled. Legolas aimed again as the Men rode around him to engage the Orcs. The horse fell to its knees and the Ring Wraith tumbled off it, screaming in frustration and anger. Then Legolas caught sight of an out flung arm from behind the Ring Wraith.

Legolas began to cut down the Orcs that plagued Aragorn, leaving him free to battle with the Ring Wraith. Aragorn engaged the Wraith and forced it to step away from Brianna's unconscious body. Legolas continued to kill Orcs, but rode around the battle to where Brianna was. He dismounted and went to her, lifting her up into his arms, her head lolling loosely around on her neck. The Wraith wailed in fury as Legolas took Brianna to his horse and gently sat her on the horse's back. He mounted then, and trotting in a tight circle could see that nearly all the Orcs were dead, with few Men lying there. Legolas shot two Orcs that had gained the trees, then watched with eyes that looked like flinty ice as the Men cut down the remaining survivors. The Ring Wraith looked around, its arms holding its sword outstretched. It screamed, and backed away from Aragorn, then it kicked its horse who rose unsteadily onto its feet. The Ring Wraith mounted and the Men and the Elf watched it go because they knew that a Ring Wraith was too much even for the Sword That Was Broken.

Aragorn dropped his sword point to the ground and wiped the sweat from his eyes. Around them were the bodies of the Orcish party and a few Men. He wiped the sword on the grass, cleansing it of the stinking Orcish blood. Legolas brought his horse over to where Aragorn stood, Brianna limp in his arms like a doll that has lost all its stuffing. He passed her gently to Aragorn, who laid her out on a patch of clear ground. In the daylight the wounds on her body were sickeningly obvious.

She was covered with bites that were still slowly seeping blood. Her body was scratched and savaged, especially around her waist, shoulders and breasts. There was a slight trickle of blood still leaking from her bloody nose. Her mouth was bruised and her split lips trickled drops of blood that wavered as she breathed. She had two black eyes and you could see that in a few days her body would be similarly colored. The points of her ears had been bitten off, as they had reminded the Orcs too much of their old heritage, so her ears were ragged and bleeding. Her inside of her legs were dark with dried blood and Orcish sperm and as Legolas gently turned her over he could see that her anus had been torn. Tracks of tears coloured with blood lined her cheeks. Silently he wept, the tears falling like crystal in the innocent sunlight.

"Legolas."Aragorn quietly said as he knelt next to his friend, "Can you do anything for her?"

"Do we have any kingsfoil? It might help, help slow the effects." Legolas angrily wiped his eyes and took a deep shuddering breath. This was only some girl, only a quarter Elvish. He needed to get a grip; he couldn't help her if he went to pieces. Still nobody deserved something like this to happen. If only they had been able to follow right away, if only. If onlys never helped anyone. Aragorn nodded and handed Legolas some from a pouch that he always carried on him now. Legolas chewed it and started to place it on the worst of her wounds. Suddenly, Brianna's eyes flicked open and her mouth opened in a round circle, she scrambled away from them and managed to get on her feet to run away.

"No, no, no, no, no! Get away from me! I'm so cold, so cold! Legolas, where are you? Somebody please get them away!" Her eyes were wide and unseeing, the whites glaring out from her face. She had gone slightly mad with the shock, fear and pain. "I'm not Elvish, not Elvish! You hear me?! Leave my ears alone! Ah it hurt, it hurts! Legolas, get them away! Where'd you go? I'm lost, lost in darkness, and I lost Legolas, he's somewhere around in the stream." She started scrubbing frantically at her arms as if she was covered in a swarm of biting, loathsome insects. Legolas and Aragorn stared at her in pity and shock. Legolas rose to his feet and slowly moved towards her. "I'll do whatever you want, just stop, stop, I can't breathe! Ah nooo, the Wraith! Get him away from me! No, no, no, no." Her screams subsided into whimpers as she slowly sank to the forest floor, curling into a fetal position, her arms curled protectively over her head. She rocked slowly from side to side, still mumbling 'no, no, no.'.

"Brianna, it's Legolas. You're safe, safe now. Can you look at me?" Legolas knelt next to her, speaking softly. His heart felt like it was being slowly shredded into little pieces.

"Legolas?" She repeated in a hopeful voice. "Can't be Legolas, no, no, Legolas is lost like me. It was shining and then the sword came down and the blood went everywhere. I've still got my necklace, William.I'm just a little cat who got kicked in the head.kicked in the heart."

"Brianna, it is I. Look at me, please. C'mon, look at me."

"Orcs don't say please. You're trying to trick me!" Her voice rose to a scream and she jumped to her feet. "Legolas?" Her eyes cleared from the mists of madness for a moment as she looked at him. She wavered on her feet from blood loss and fatigue. Then she saw Aragorn behind Legolas, and started to scream again. "Thomas, no, no, get away from me! William, where are you? You said you'd make sure that you were there when Thomas was around. Legolas went away too, and the Orcs got me. Legolas!" She dived into his arms, and hid her eyes against his shoulders, shaking like a frightened animal. Awkwardly, he comforted her as her tears wet his shirt.

"Aragorn, I think you must remind of her of her betrothed."

"And why is that bad?"

"He forced her, claimed her is what she called it." Legolas' voice tightened with anger. "The poor, poor girl. She probably trusts you because you're the only one here not connected with violation. Maybe if you blind fold her, and she can't see us, she'll cope better." Legolas nodded in agreement.

"Brianna, Brianna, I want you to put on a blind fold, ok? It'll hide you from everyone except for me." Legolas asked her softly. She looked up sniffing.

"Ok." She agreed in a subdued whisper. Aragorn handed Legolas a length of cloth and Legolas wound it around her eyes. "It's dark! Let me out, Legolas!" She wailed.

"Shhh, it's all right. I'm here with you. Now I'm going to get on my horse and my friend is going to pass you up to me, and then we're going to go to Lothlorien, and then to Rivendell. You'll get to meet lots of Elves, maybe even my family. Ok?"

"'Kay. I'll really get to meet Elves?" She said unsteadily. Legolas mounted his horse, and nodded to Aragorn to pass her to him.

"You sound like a hobbit I know, Samwise Gamgee. He was fascinated with Elves too." He turned his head and addressed Aragorn, "I'll go to my people, they will have more chance of healing her then Men. Here, I think we part ways."

"Ride like the wind, Legolas. She desperately needs help. Here, take these blankets and these supplies. Your journey will take longer then ours." Legolas accepted them, and wrapped the blanket around Brianna's bruised body.

"I'll see you again, my friend. Tell Arwen not to worry, and reassure those silly hobbits. Gimli will just have to wait for us to finish our contest. I ride for the woods of Lothlorien and the Lady Galadriel." He turned his horse to the direction of Lothlorien, and lightly tapped his horse to get it moving. "You may want to send a force to protect Brianna's family. If Sauron has failed to get her, he may grab for any with the mixed blood he can get." Legolas rode off, with the wounded girl cradled in his arms. Aragorn watched him go, then organized his Men to return to the city and do as Legolas suggested.