Disclaimer: I don't own Lord of the Rings or Legolas and I really really wish I did!!
*************Chapter 9*************
Legolas cowered and tried to drown out the sound of the crowd's cheers.
Coward…a whisper echoed in the back of his skull.
"No," the former elf prince moaned in reply, not even knowing he was speaking aloud. "I am not a coward. That's not what I am."
The voice then subsided, but Legolas had other things to worry about. A guard had appeared in front of the doorway, ready to usher Legolas into the ring. Legolas sat up straight and tried his hardest to wipe the fear off his face.
The door opened, and the guard looked at the elf in the corner, purposely ignoring the mess Legolas had made on the floor.
"You. Your next." Once again, he gestured over his shoulder with his thumb, and Legolas stood up. He was surprised that his shaky knees were holding him.
Grasping the dagger he had been given, he followed the guard out into the center of the ring. The crowd was silent now. Legolas was just as confused as ever. What was happening? Did they expect him to come out here and fight air?
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Curdolin and his guests. They were sitting in a covered balcony high above the ring. Legolas noticed someone new. There was a woman sitting next to Curdolin. She was younger than he, dressed in fine robes and jewelry. Legolas saw Curdolin lean over and whisper something to her.
The elf shrugged. The woman was probably his wife.
The guard that had escorted Legolas in left him and disappeared through the doorway that led to the cells. Legolas stood there, unsure of what to do.
Suddenly, he felt a movement beneath his feet. The tiniest stir of the earth, and then a loud creaking sound behind him. The elf spun around, just in time for the creaking noise to be overcome by a ferocious growl.
Wolf…Legolas thought. A trapdoor had opened in the middle of the arena, and a snarling creature with blazing eyes leapt out. But it wasn't a wolf.
This creature was much larger, it resembled a wolf, but much more dangerous. A warg.
For a second time stopped. The hound of Sauron and the elf paused and eyes met.
Legolas remembered the first time he had seen a warg. He was merely an elfling then, and had wandered to far into the forest and become lost. A hungry warg with an arrow in its left hindquarter had begun to stalk him, seeing the little elf prince as easy prey. Thank the Valar his older brother Ithilion had heard his cries and come to his aid.
Legolas was hit with a stab of pain deep in his heart. Ithilion was dead. His brother was dead. For a moment Legolas forgot the outside world, forgot about the growling threat in front of him and a whirlpool of memories flooded his mind.
A roar erupted his thoughts, and Legolas looked up to see the warg charging towards him. His dagger in hand, he dropped to one knee and then rolled away, springing back up again once he was out of the animal's path.
This is my test? To kill a warg? Legolas thought in disbelief. He had done this many times; it was nothing new to him. In fact, other than orcs and spiders, wargs and their kin were the only other creatures he had no regret in killing. For a moment he thought of the task easy, but then remembered that now he had neither a way of escape if the worst did happen nor his bow.
He didn't have much more time to think, for the animal turned and lunged at him once more. Legolas leapt back, and the warg landed where he had been just a second before.
Strange…Legolas thought. Wargs weren't usually this fast. Only then he noticed that the thing was terribly thin. Starved. Hunger was fueling its speed.
Again the warg charged, and again Legolas dodged.
This was good, Legolas decided. The tremendous hunger the beast was feeling might make its movement's faster now, but he was always one step ahead. And because it was starved, the warg would run out of energy quickly.
He was right! Even now the animal's movements became slower, more clumsy. Legolas lured it towards the wall of the ring, until he had his back to the stone. Once more, the beast leapt at him, content in making the elf it's meal this time.
Legolas waited until the last moment, then ducked, tucked, and rolled. The warg hit the stone wall at full force. Legolas heard a sick crunching sound as the animal's teeth met the rock. The warg howled in pain and staggered, it's mouth full of fragments of bone. Legolas was in luck, the study wall had done its work, all but one of the canines in the beast's mouth were broken, and one of them was completely gone.
Now was his chance. While the animal was disoriented, he had to injure it further somehow. Legolas knew that it would take more than one flick of his dagger to bring down this warg, even if it was weak with hunger. And even though it's teeth were no longer a great threat, the warg had sharp claws on its paws it could use to swipe at its enemy. If the beast could get close enough, it could gut Legolas in this way.
Legolas wasn't about to let that happen. He carefully aimed, brought back his arm, and threw the dagger.
Because the animal was moving, it didn't land directly where Legolas had hoped, in the heart, but it was good enough. His weapon buried itself in the animal's lower neck up to the hilt, and immediately dark red blood could be seen from under the animal's thick dark coat. It faced the elf, the fire in its eyes never shrinking, and roared in rage and pain. Then despite it's injury, it charged yet again.
Legolas inwardly sighed. Honestly, if Sauron had to breed beasts to do his bidding, he at least should have bred them to be intelligent.
As the warg came closer, Legolas did not jump back. Instead, he jumped forward, almost meeting the animal, but then spun to the right, the animal shooting right past him. Legolas shot out his left hand, grabbed a fistful of fur, and swung himself onto the beast's back.
The warg skidded to a halt, and realizing it's enemy was on it's back, began to leap and buck around the ring, kicking up dust like an angry steed.
Legolas held on with all his might, and reached down and snatched the hilt of the dagger that protruded from the warg's neck. With a jerk, he pulled it out, and the animal cried out in pain and began to spin in circles, trying with desperation to shake the elf off.
This caught Legolas off guard and he slipped a little to the side, but managed with his remaining hand to keep a grip on the beast's fur. With his other hand, he brought his dagger into the flesh of the chest of the animal, then back out, then in again. The warg howled again, and then reversed direction. Legolas slipped a little further, but his grip did not falter. He continued to plunge the dagger into the beast's flesh.
But then Legolas felt a sudden stab of pain in his calf, and he was ripped off the animal's back and into the dirt. Then he realized his mistake: he had slipped far enough to the side of the animal to allow it to twist its foul head around and seize his left leg. The one canine tooth that had not been broken had caught his flesh.
The animal threw Legolas to the ground hard, and his head rammed into the dirt and sand floor of the arena. For a second, his eyes became unfocused. The elf blinked, and he saw the warg lumbering over him. The beast's huge mouth opened, and it breathed its foul breath into his face, making him gag.
Quickly, Legolas shoved his feet under the warg's chin, using his legs to prevent the animal from reaching him with his mouth. Even with only one tooth intact, a warg's jaw could provide bone-crushing force.
The beast roared and fought against him, but it was weak with hunger and loss of blood, and Legolas was barely able to keep it at bay. But he wouldn't be able to hold for long. Even a weak warg was terribly strong.
Legolas's first instinct was to use his legs to push out from under the wargs head, but then he looked in his hand that still held the dagger and had a second thought. If he could get himself even further under the animal, he might be able to deliver the fatal wound, to drive the weapon into the warg's heart.
Legolas decided to go for it. It was either that or that he release the warg and this battle could go on until sundown. He wouldn't get a chance like this again.
With all his strength left in him, Legolas pushed the wargs head up and forward, successfully positioning himself directly under the animal's chest. Taking the dagger in both hands, he thrust it upward. The weapon sunk into the flesh to the hilt, as before, and there was an immediate spurt of blood from the wound, and it only grew.
The warg let out a long, mournful howl, and it's hind legs buckled. The blood from the knife-wound Legolas had given the monster trickled down into his face, got in his eyes, into his mouth even. Legolas gagged and spat the foul stuff out, and pulled the dagger out of the wound. It was followed by a river of blood that soaked him.
The warg whimpered weakly, then its front legs gave way, and it collapsed on top of Legolas. The weight of the creature was heavy on Legolas's body, but not enough to suffocate him. Unfortunately. Animal's blood was all over him, forming a warm puddle around him, and its fur was in his face. It didn't release the most pleasant odor.
Legolas could still feel the animal breathing against his own chest. The warg's breaths became pants, and gradually got shallower and shallower. The flow of blood from the beast's wounds slowed. With one last shudder from its heart, the warg died.
Legolas lay there for a while, barely breathing himself. It was so quiet. Slowly, he put his hands to the dead warg's chest, and pressed up just enough to allow enough room for him to drag himself out from under the beast. He tried to stand, and remarkably he was able to weakly support himself on his injured leg.
He wiped the blood from his eyes, and Legolas looked up. His gaze was immediately met by that of Curdolin's, who was still residing up in his balcony with his wife and guests. There was a pause, and Curdolin's mouth curled up into a smile.
As one, the crowd stood up and began to cheer.
The noise was incredible. Legolas looked all around him and saw the townspeople. Elders, middle-aged persons, and children. All screaming. Some of them threw things into the arena. Flowers…coins…jewelry. Legolas caught sight of one little boy throwing a wooden sword into the ring. The sword landed not three feet from the elf.
Legolas looked at the wooden sword. It was undoubtedly used for play, for he remembered when he and Ithilion would have duels against each other using wooden swords. Once again there was a jolt of pain through his body as Legolas remembered. His brother was dead.
Legolas shifted his eyes from the toy sword to the dead warg beside him, then to the cheering crowd, and then finally rested on Curdolin. Catching the man's eyes with his own. Legolas dropped the dagger from his hands. It landed next to the wooden sword in the dust, the dust that had now turned red with blood.
Without a second glance, at Curdolin, at the crowd, at anything, Legolas turned and allowed the guards to escort him out of the ring.
***************Personal thingy******************
Whew! That was one long chapter! Sorry once again for the blood and gore…I'm just trying to make it realistic. Thanks to everyone who read and I will try and get a new chapter up as soon as I can!! (Now be good and go review!)
FantasyGirl: Well, I'm not finished with it yet! LOL. I made the mistake of forgetting to type up the entire story before posting it so now every time you guys want a new chapter; I have to write it all down. And as you saw, this is one of my longest chapters yet. Yes, it was good of Legolas to not watch the whole fight. I wouldn't want to watch that either, yet here I am writing about it. LOL. I will take your advice and proof read a little more, thanks! Ah, yes…Pirates….*giggle*…it is beyond words. Excellent, excellent movie. And I heard they are making a sequel. I did see the clip after the very very loooong credits! The monkey was cute! At least until he got all cursed again and shrieked. That part made me jump. I will continue to drool over hotties now, thanks!! *gives FantasyGirl a big, big cookie!*
Samwise the Strong: Thank you! Also thanks for adding me to your favorites! *gives Samwise a really really really really really big cookie!!!* Yes…Leggy torture….there will be a few more chapters of that…but I warn you, this will wind around to become a romance, you'll see soon enough! Thanks again!
Andmetwen: What do you mean "Oh no!"? Do you want him to die? I'm confused. Well, as you read now, he didn't die. I could never do anything *that* mean to Legolas. Thanks for reviewing and thanks very very very much for adding my story to your favorites!! *gives Andmetwen a really big cookie*
Ankhesanamun: Gosh, I hope I spelt your name right! How the heck do you pronounce that? Hmmm…well, out of all the things I've been called, (now that's a lot, mind you) I've never been called sadistic. Thanks for reviewing!! *gives Ankhesanamun a cookie*
Wendell: Thank you so damn much. LOL. Another chapter will be coming up soon, I just have to type it! Patience…you will find out who Legolas's lover is. I'll try not to take too long, ok? Thank you very very much for reviewing!! *forks over cookie to Wendell*
Outlawgirl08: Thanks! Yes…poor Legolas. Don't worry, he'll live, he's tough. Just curious…does your pen name have anything to do with Ned Kelly? Cuz you know Orlando and all his pals are outlaws in that movie….*gives Outlawgirl08 a cookie*
XxDarkgoddessxX: *laughs really loudly* OMG, girl, you always make me laugh!! Sorry, he had to go into the arena! I had to make him! Don't worry, he's fine. Just a small leg injury. Won't kill him. Or will it??? *dramatic music in background* Who's throwing rotten fruit at you?? I won't allow that to happen to my reviewers! *throws rotten fruit back* Our Legolas? Ok. I guess I can share.
I wish I could have seen Pirates of the Caribbean 10 times!! I've only seen it 3 times!! My dad won't let me go anymore!! *bursts into tears* I need more Orli goodness!!!
Quote:
I can't wait to see him in "The Calcium Kid, Ned Kelly, Troy, and POTC 2" (those are all his upcoming movies!) The temperature in the theatre will be too hot to stand when the movie Troy is in theatres (he has his shirt off!)
Unquote.
*Moans* I knooooww….. I caaaan't waait….I waaaant him nooooow…..*dies*
Thanks again ever sooooooo much for reviewing, you always bring a smile to my face!!
*gives XxDarkgoddesxX a colossal cookie and gives Legolas a heresy bar (cuz he loves chocolate)*
Nikki: Hey girl!! Who's a madman?? Legolas?? No, he's a madELF. Curdolin?? Yes, he could qualify for that title, but so could Angarod….Oh, no!! *hits self* You mean Eredor?? Well, he's not mad, he's just fighting to survive. It's what he has to do. Sure, he could just give up and get himself killed and he wouldn't have to do it anymore, but soon you'll see that he has a very important reason for wanting to stay alive. I ended it that way because I'm the Author. All my characters are at my mercy!! *laughs evily* Thanks for reviewing and don't hyperventilate just yet! Another chapter is coming soon! And remember, I want Legolas back within a week. Unharmed and unscarred. LOL!! Thank you girl!! *gives cookie to Nikki*
HalandLeg4ever: Thank you! You will see what happens soon enough, I'm already working like a madwomen on the next chapter! One question: Is you pen name short for Haldir and Legolas forever? Cuz if it is, Amen to that!! Thank you!! *gives cookie to HalandLeg4ever*
Byebye!!
~Roseblade22 ; )