LOL!!! You guys really like that chapter, didn't you? I'm glad it tickled your funny bones!!
@Abbi Cat : Ha! Ha! Ha! I love your laughter! Thanks!!!
@caz baz : Actually, it is not more on getting Legolas' clothes off but Orli's! My, he has a great bod! Have you seen the pics where Orli was filming in Malta, the one where he was bare-chested in the sun? Ai! I swear I went into spontaneous combustion in mere seconds! To tell you the truth, I love Legolas/Orli without his clothes on. Girl fantasy, you know.
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There was deep silence in the Deep as men and elves, as well as a dwarf, took position and waited for the enemy's arrival. The atmosphere was so thick with tension, and the mood was somber. They all dreaded this coming battle, yet feeling oddly excited just the same.
As he leaned against the parapet at the top of the high wall and stared at the dark gloom beyond, Legolas could feel Gimli's steady eyes on him. Rankled, the elf rounded on the dwarf and snapped, "What?!!"
"Nothing." Gimli grinned. "Just…enjoying the view." He gazed knowingly at the silver circlet atop Legolas' head.
"Cease that, or I'll throw you over the side!" Legolas said through gritted teeth.
"Good. Then I'll drag you along with me!!"
Commander Jaden who stood several feet away, listened in amusement at the two friends' bickering. Try as he might, he couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped his lips. Legolas heard and he glared at the elder elf. "When I get home, my father and I are going to have a long talk about this blasted crown!"
"As you wish, your highness," Jaden obediently replied, still smiling.
Legolas took a deep breath, and then asked, "By the way, how's my father, Jaden?"
The commander looked directly at the prince before he answered, "He is well, but he is missing you."
The prince grew silent for a while, longing for his father's comforting arms and encouraging words. He lifted his gaze to the sky above, knowing that the Mirkwood king loved to stand at the balcony outside his chamber at night to stare at the moon and the stars. "I miss him too," Legolas said softly.
Several moments later, Hawkeye came flying back, squawking in warning. Everyone in the fort looked up in apprehension, fully understood the meaning of the eagle's appearance. They stared expectantly as the great bird landed on Legolas' raised arm.
"Tell them the enemy has been sighted," the prince told Jaden. "They are only several leagues away."
Jaden ordered an elf warrior to relay the message to King Theoden who had taken position with Eomer on the north side of the fort. A series of commotion ensued as the warriors got ready to meet the Saruman's army.
Not long after that, Legolas and his fellow elves began to hear the faraway sound of thousands marching feet. Then the enemy's torches came into view, winding up the open land towards them like a storm of fireflies.
Aragorn had left his position at the eastern tower and came near to his friends. "This is it, then."
The elf nodded. "Indeed, it is. Fight well, Estel."
"Same to you, Legolas." Aragorn turned to the dwarf. "Gimli, be merciful with that axe, will you?"
"Not a chance!" the dwarf replied, grinning jubilantly. He could barely contain his excitement. Smiling at Gimli's response, Legolas and Aragorn gripped each other's arm in brotherly fashion and exchanged gazes. No more words were said for they already knew each other's heart. Soon after, the ranger turned and headed back towards his position.
Then they all waited.
But they didn't have to wait too long for the battle to begin…
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Legolas fired his last arrow. It hit one Uruk Hai dead center in its forehead. The elf didn't wait to see the creature fall but instantly slung his bow across one shoulder and took out his twin ivory-handled daggers.
The elf deftly flicked his wrists. Another Uruk Hai fell under the slice of the sharp blades, but more still kept coming. Legolas had already lost count of the dreadful creatures that he had killed, but he could still hear Gimli shouting out his success in frenzy.
"Fifty nine!"
Thwack! The dwarf swung his axe mightily at an orc, throwing the creature back down the ladder it had just climbed. "Sixty!" Then Gimli hit another, and another, in rapid succession that he had no time to shout his counting. When he paused to take a breather, Gimli frowned. "Right. Where was I? Sixty or seventy?"
Yet an ugly orc managed to climb over the parapet. "Oh, what the heck!" Gimli yelled. He lifted his axe and slammed it into the orc's groin. "One hundred!!!"
Eomer, who was engaged in a sword fight with two orcs several feet away, somehow found the ability to cry out, "One hundred?!! Gee, Gimli, don't you know how to count?!!!"
The dwarf whirled and fumed. "Shut up, human! I didn't hear you counting!"
"That's because I'm saving my breath! Arghh!!!" Eomer swung his sword in a powerful arc. It easily cut through both the orcs' necks. Their severed heads fell to the stone floor and rolled aimlessly away. The Rohan warrior looked up at the dwarf, grinning. "See? Two in one!!"
Gimli's lips curled in distaste. "I can make better than that!!" He spied a ladder that the enemy had put against the high wall. Several orcs were still climbing it, trying to get over the wall. The dwarf ran to it, put down his axe for a moment, grabbed the ladder and gave a mighty push. The ladder moved away from the wall, and slowly toppled over backwards to slam onto the earth.
"Hah! Ten in one!!" the dwarf shouted.
Legolas rolled his eyes at that. Trust that dwarf to find a contest in all this chaos!
He resumed brandishing his blades, never failing to slash his victims to their death. The heavy rain that had fallen as soon as the battle began had dwindled to a drizzle, making the floor quite slippery. With his sodden hair plastered to his head, Legolas ducked as arrows flew from the enemy's line down in the valley below.
About two thousands of them had climbed up the wall of the Deep, but there were still several thousands of them lying in wait to make further destruction. Bloodcurdling screams and cries of terror echoed all around him as bodies of orcs, men and elves toppled one after another. Blood meshed together with the rainwater. The Deep was rapidly turning into a dumpsite for corpses.
In short, it was a total disaster.
Pivoting on the ball of his heels, Legolas stabbed one orc in its middle and kicked the other one around its legs. The creature fell and the elf instantly swiped his blade against its throat. As he straightened up, Legolas took the risk to survey the situation around him.
Eomer was fighting side by side with Gimli at the parapet. Both were counting like mad. Jaden was still leading the elven troops, shooting at the enemy until they finished their last supply of arrows. Legolas saw that Aragorn was determinedly defending the eastern tower. King Theoden was not far from him.
Legolas' sharp eyes saw how focus Aragorn was in his battle with a Uruk Hai that he was completely unaware of a coming danger from behind. An orc was advancing towards him; a sword was already raised high to give the ranger a fatal blow.
Pulling out his bow, Legolas ran to the nearest orc corpse and pulled out the two arrows imbedded in its throat. He nocked them to the bow, took aim and let it fly through the hundred yards of the battle area. It all happened so fast that the orc didn't even know what had hit him.
Aragorn whirled around when something collapsed behind him. He frowned to see the arrows stuck deep in both the creature's eyes. He knew of only one person who could make that kind of shot. Legolas.
The ranger looked around and saw the elf prince smiling back at him. Aragorn gave him a quick salute of gratitude, then they both resumed facing their enemy once more.
Saruman's army had also come with powerful weapons with them. They had brought along several catapults and dragged it near to the wall. They put flaming missiles on the catapult and let them fly in powerful trajectories.
Those burning balls landed all over the Deep; onto the parapet, in the courtyard, sending the men and the elves running for cover. Some were not so lucky and the burning flames instantly engulfed them despite the wet condition. Their shrieks of painful terror merged against the orcs' loud growl of satisfaction.
Legolas sheathed his blades. He and the others rushed to help extinguish the flames off their unlucky comrades but, suddenly, a giant explosion caught them totally by surprise.
The next thing he knew, Legolas was flying high into the air. After what seemed like a full time freeze, he came slamming onto the ground…and everything just turned black.
TBC…
Yes. Evil cliffie from Mordor!! Sorry. I just had to stop there! I couldn't resist it!