Authors notes: - I am very sorry for the delay but University has just
started again and also I seem to have hit a brick wall with the story line.
Due to this there may be a few delays with the next chapters. I am very
sorry. Please review and make my day :-)
I will resort to begging!!! Please please please! Thank you for all the
reviews I have received and thank you to zerocool who left quite a few. It
is much appreciated!!! Anywho I hope you enjoy and again please review!!!
** The creatures swarmed into Ithilien their shouts of bloodlust echoing despite the heavy rain. What greeted them was not what they had expected. There was no waiting warriors in fact a solitary figure was the only sound of life. They advanced on the figure, an elf, maybe a survivor of the original attack. The elf gave no indication that it had heard them and their lips curled in anticipation of its death. Standing over the elf the leader of the creatures snarled. The elf snapped his head up but instead of the fear the leader expected there was a smile on its face.
"Farewell" it said and the leaders forehead furrowed in confusion. Then he fell over backwards with an arrow embedded in its chest. The elf had not moved a muscle.
"Surprise" the elf said and with a flash he was on his feet knives in hand. Within the blink of an eye he had decapitated one of the creatures before embedding both knives in another's chest. Both creatures dropped like stones. Legolas twirled his knives and readied for the upcoming battle.
"Elves are not so easy to defeat" Legolas snarled and the creatures screamed as one and attacked. Arrows swarmed out of the trees felling many of the creatures and Eomer and Gimli burst out of the tree line screaming their own battle cries. They fought their way to Legolas's side and proceeded to deal their own kind of personal fury.
The battle went ill quickly as soon as the element of surprise had been lost. The surviving elves from the original attack had numbered twenty- seven and with the three additional warriors it still left them with only thirty warriors. The elves may be more skilled and fighting as if possessed but they were outnumbered. As soon as one creature felled more took its place. Soon elves began to fall. Legolas saw each one and a piece of his heart died. They were his friends. He knew each one personally. When they moved to Ithilien he had taken the time to get to know each one and it hurt so much to watch them die. They had trusted him, moved here instead of going to the Havens with the rest of their families and friends. He had failed them and he could never face them again without feeling overwhelming guilt. It was then the harsh realisation of what exactly they were doing hit him. They were fighting a lost cause and he was condemning his warriors to death because they could not win. This fight to the death was because of him. The grief that had consumed him followed by the anger had driven him to fight. His failure drove him to this. They should not have to suffer because of him.
"Fall back! Retreat!" he cried. He was met by shocked looks. "Now fall back!"
He watched as another elf fell. The warriors began to retreat.
"What are you doing?" Eomer hissed.
"I will condemn them and you to death if I continue with this pointless exercise in revenge." Legolas hissed back.
The elves retreated into the trees disappearing as if they had never been there. Legolas remained with Eomer and Gimli. The lithe elf darted in and out of the trees and Eomer and Gimli had a hard time to follow him and evade the creatures. Suddenly Legolas disappeared from view. Eomer and Gimli skidded to a halt in confusion. Something curled around their ankles and they were pulled under the ground. With shouts of surprise they fell hitting mud hard.
"Quiet!" Legolas hissed and the three froze. They heard the creatures pass them by and suddenly all they could hear was the harsh breathing of Eomer and Gimli.
"Where are we?" Eomer demanded.
"Underground." Legolas stated as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.
"We realised that!" Gimli snapped.
Legolas rolled his eyes. "We built a series of underground passages."
"Elves in tunnels?" Gimli said sceptically.
"Passages and we did it for that exact reason. Who would expect elves to appear out of the ground?"
Gimli laughed. "A pointed eared dwarf I have surpassed myself!"
"I think not master dwarf," Legolas said trying to sound dignified.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night!"
Legolas rolled his eyes again but a ghost of a smile appeared on his lips. He would dearly miss his friends if anything happened to them and that furthered his resolve to get them out of here.
They made their way through the passages and suddenly appeared in a huge cavern. Both man and dwarf halted in shock. The cavern had been decorated so that it did not even appear to be underground.
"What is this?" Eomer asked.
"War room." Legolas said bluntly.
"Elves have war rooms?!" Gimli questioned.
"Nay. War room is probably an inaccurate name. Our scouts report here. The maps are here. Any problems that arise are discussed here. That is the only reason why the room is here so the colony can remain peaceful without a noticeable interrupt if a problem arises. Mirkwood had a war room and it was a cold dismal place. I recognised the need for it but I did not want it to remind me of the one in Mirkwood, too many disastrous missions were decided there." Legolas smiled a soft sad smile.
Slowly the other elves entered, their numbers greatly reduced. Fifteen remained.
Legolas turned to face them. "It is over. I want you to leave to the Havens."
Stunned silence reigned. "My lord?" one of the warriors questioned confused.
"Ithilien cannot be saved. Only more death will be the result. It is only through my selfish desires that I made us fight here."
"Nay Legolas." the elf tried to protest but Legolas stopped him.
"No we have done what we set out to do. We have restored the forest. It will recover from this attack. Our numbers are too few to accomplish any more. I do not want the last of the elves to die fighting a useless battle. You deserve to be with your family and friends. I cannot and will not ask you to stay."
"We choose to stay." The oldest of the surviving elves said stepping forward. It was the elf that had talked to Legolas earlier.
Legolas smiled. "I know you do and that is why I make this an order. Ithilien is lost. We shall return to Gondor for there is something I need to do and then you will depart. You have all served me well and I cannot thank you enough."
"What about you?" the elf asked.
"I am to remain. We must go now. It will not be long before the passages are discovered and I for one do not wish to be cornered underground."
"We shall do as you command my lord." The elf replied bowing.
"Thank you." The elves set off into the passages. Legolas remained still, Eomer and Gimli beside him. Legolas removed his emblem of Ithilien that signified that he was its lord. Resting it on the table in the centre of the room he turned to regard his two friends. Both watched his eyes as they became misty and a tear ran down his face leaving a silver trail.
"I am no longer its lord. I am once again the youngest prince of Mirkwood."
"You have served it well." Eomer said.
"Nay." Legolas whispered and he set off to follow the elves. The two mortals looked at each other and then followed. This was far from over.
*
** The creatures swarmed into Ithilien their shouts of bloodlust echoing despite the heavy rain. What greeted them was not what they had expected. There was no waiting warriors in fact a solitary figure was the only sound of life. They advanced on the figure, an elf, maybe a survivor of the original attack. The elf gave no indication that it had heard them and their lips curled in anticipation of its death. Standing over the elf the leader of the creatures snarled. The elf snapped his head up but instead of the fear the leader expected there was a smile on its face.
"Farewell" it said and the leaders forehead furrowed in confusion. Then he fell over backwards with an arrow embedded in its chest. The elf had not moved a muscle.
"Surprise" the elf said and with a flash he was on his feet knives in hand. Within the blink of an eye he had decapitated one of the creatures before embedding both knives in another's chest. Both creatures dropped like stones. Legolas twirled his knives and readied for the upcoming battle.
"Elves are not so easy to defeat" Legolas snarled and the creatures screamed as one and attacked. Arrows swarmed out of the trees felling many of the creatures and Eomer and Gimli burst out of the tree line screaming their own battle cries. They fought their way to Legolas's side and proceeded to deal their own kind of personal fury.
The battle went ill quickly as soon as the element of surprise had been lost. The surviving elves from the original attack had numbered twenty- seven and with the three additional warriors it still left them with only thirty warriors. The elves may be more skilled and fighting as if possessed but they were outnumbered. As soon as one creature felled more took its place. Soon elves began to fall. Legolas saw each one and a piece of his heart died. They were his friends. He knew each one personally. When they moved to Ithilien he had taken the time to get to know each one and it hurt so much to watch them die. They had trusted him, moved here instead of going to the Havens with the rest of their families and friends. He had failed them and he could never face them again without feeling overwhelming guilt. It was then the harsh realisation of what exactly they were doing hit him. They were fighting a lost cause and he was condemning his warriors to death because they could not win. This fight to the death was because of him. The grief that had consumed him followed by the anger had driven him to fight. His failure drove him to this. They should not have to suffer because of him.
"Fall back! Retreat!" he cried. He was met by shocked looks. "Now fall back!"
He watched as another elf fell. The warriors began to retreat.
"What are you doing?" Eomer hissed.
"I will condemn them and you to death if I continue with this pointless exercise in revenge." Legolas hissed back.
The elves retreated into the trees disappearing as if they had never been there. Legolas remained with Eomer and Gimli. The lithe elf darted in and out of the trees and Eomer and Gimli had a hard time to follow him and evade the creatures. Suddenly Legolas disappeared from view. Eomer and Gimli skidded to a halt in confusion. Something curled around their ankles and they were pulled under the ground. With shouts of surprise they fell hitting mud hard.
"Quiet!" Legolas hissed and the three froze. They heard the creatures pass them by and suddenly all they could hear was the harsh breathing of Eomer and Gimli.
"Where are we?" Eomer demanded.
"Underground." Legolas stated as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.
"We realised that!" Gimli snapped.
Legolas rolled his eyes. "We built a series of underground passages."
"Elves in tunnels?" Gimli said sceptically.
"Passages and we did it for that exact reason. Who would expect elves to appear out of the ground?"
Gimli laughed. "A pointed eared dwarf I have surpassed myself!"
"I think not master dwarf," Legolas said trying to sound dignified.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night!"
Legolas rolled his eyes again but a ghost of a smile appeared on his lips. He would dearly miss his friends if anything happened to them and that furthered his resolve to get them out of here.
They made their way through the passages and suddenly appeared in a huge cavern. Both man and dwarf halted in shock. The cavern had been decorated so that it did not even appear to be underground.
"What is this?" Eomer asked.
"War room." Legolas said bluntly.
"Elves have war rooms?!" Gimli questioned.
"Nay. War room is probably an inaccurate name. Our scouts report here. The maps are here. Any problems that arise are discussed here. That is the only reason why the room is here so the colony can remain peaceful without a noticeable interrupt if a problem arises. Mirkwood had a war room and it was a cold dismal place. I recognised the need for it but I did not want it to remind me of the one in Mirkwood, too many disastrous missions were decided there." Legolas smiled a soft sad smile.
Slowly the other elves entered, their numbers greatly reduced. Fifteen remained.
Legolas turned to face them. "It is over. I want you to leave to the Havens."
Stunned silence reigned. "My lord?" one of the warriors questioned confused.
"Ithilien cannot be saved. Only more death will be the result. It is only through my selfish desires that I made us fight here."
"Nay Legolas." the elf tried to protest but Legolas stopped him.
"No we have done what we set out to do. We have restored the forest. It will recover from this attack. Our numbers are too few to accomplish any more. I do not want the last of the elves to die fighting a useless battle. You deserve to be with your family and friends. I cannot and will not ask you to stay."
"We choose to stay." The oldest of the surviving elves said stepping forward. It was the elf that had talked to Legolas earlier.
Legolas smiled. "I know you do and that is why I make this an order. Ithilien is lost. We shall return to Gondor for there is something I need to do and then you will depart. You have all served me well and I cannot thank you enough."
"What about you?" the elf asked.
"I am to remain. We must go now. It will not be long before the passages are discovered and I for one do not wish to be cornered underground."
"We shall do as you command my lord." The elf replied bowing.
"Thank you." The elves set off into the passages. Legolas remained still, Eomer and Gimli beside him. Legolas removed his emblem of Ithilien that signified that he was its lord. Resting it on the table in the centre of the room he turned to regard his two friends. Both watched his eyes as they became misty and a tear ran down his face leaving a silver trail.
"I am no longer its lord. I am once again the youngest prince of Mirkwood."
"You have served it well." Eomer said.
"Nay." Legolas whispered and he set off to follow the elves. The two mortals looked at each other and then followed. This was far from over.
*