Chapter Six

Legolas knew as he ran towards the exit of the cave, closely followed by Lanthir and Limloeth, that running would do no good. As long as they followed the river, the corsairs would follow them, nowingly or not, and they were far too weary now to stay ahead for long. Leaving the river wasn't an option either, for it would leave them lost in the mountains of Mordor.

So what now? Legolas slowed his run to a walk, and Lanthir and Limloeth followed suit.
Legolas turned. "We have to hide and wait until they have passed. They probably haven't seen us yet. Come on!" He moved back into the cave.

"Lainfea!" Legolas said as he reached a crack in the wall of the cave. "Lainfea, you'll hide in here."
The elfling in his arms looked at the crevice. "But it is dark in there," she said with a small voice. Legolas put her on the ground and kneeled to look her in the eyes. "You'll have to be brave, little one. Just sit and wait until me, or Limloeth, or Lanthir come to get you. Do not make a sound, and do not move. Can you be that brave?" Lainfea nodded.
Legolas quickly hugged her and kissed the top of her head. "Good girl."

When she crawled into the crack Legolas could she she shook with fear. He knew how much he asked of her. Lainfea was at the age where she feared the dark, frightened of hidden monsters that might lurk there. When Legolas had been at that age his father had sat with him, telling him there were no monsters hidden in the dark. Legolas knew now that that was a lie. There were always monsters hidden in the dark, but not necessarily worse monsters than the ones out in the open.

"Be brave," he whispered once more to Lainfea, before pushing a large rock in front of the crevice, concealing its existence.
"Wait," Limloeth said, before he could close the fissure. "Someone should go with her. We can't leave her alone locked up in the dark."
"Well, I'm not going!" Lanthir said immediately.
"I meant myself," Limloeth said.
Legolas thought quickly. Limloeth would be able to comfort Lainfea, and she would not be of much use when it came to a battle. If she had difficulty killing orcs, then killing humans was out of the question.
"Good," he said. "You join Lainfea." Legolas gave Limloeth a short hug as well. "Be strong," he said.
"And you," Limloeth replied as she turned and crept into the crack.
Legolas moved the rock until it closed off the fissure, leaving a tiny area open for air to get in, but not enough for it to give away the crack's presence. Limloeth and Lanifea would not be found now.

"Alright," Lanthir said, "now let us find a place to hide as well." There were no more cracks big enough to fit an elf in, so both he and Lanthir has to settle for hiding behind large boulders. Legolas kept an eye on the river and watched as the Corsair ships slowly came closer. He send a silent prayer to the Valar, "Please, don't let them see us. Please, PLEASE!"

The ships came gradually nearer.
Near enough for Legolas' sharp elven hearing to pick up what the Corsairs were discussing. During the years of his captivity he had picked up quite a few words of the Black Speech, though every time he heard it, the dark language assaulted his Elven ears. However, because of this, he could understand what was being said.

Legolas thanked the Valar when he heard that they were not talking about escaped prisoners or elves, they were just discussing a place to set up camp. Legolas and his siblings had not been discovered thus far. Legolas relaxed the slightest bit.

Suddenly, the blood in his veins froze as one of the corsairs pointed at the cave they were hiding in.
"What about that cave?" the human said."That seems like a perfect place for a camp."

Legolas crawled towards his brother and pulled him deeper into the cave. "They are coming this way!" Lanthir nodded. He had witnessed the conversation as well.

As the first corsairs entered the cave, the two elves retreated as far back as they could. However, that wasn't very far, as the cave was not a large one. Legolas looked at the crack where Limloeth and Lainfea where hidden, and was satisfied to see the rock he had placed before it made the crack almost invisible.

Lanthir motioned to him and pointed at an object laying in the middle of the cave.
It was their waterskin. It was also a clear sign telling the Corsairs someone had been in this cave recently, as water was still flowing out of it to wet the dry dirt floor. Before Legolas could do anything to stop him, Lanthir leapt out of his hiding place and sneaked towards the skin.

He had almost made it to the middle of the cave without being seen when a corsair spotted him and yelled an alarm. Immediately, seven other Corsairs started running towards Lanthir, who stood up and waited for them, his knife gripped tightly in his hand.

Legolas whipped out the two orc-knives, he had carried on his back since they had escaped the rison. He would not let his brother stand alone. The corsairs were too fixed on Lanthir to notice him until he slit the throat of the nearest one. Using his knives where he could, he moved towards Lanthir, until the two Thranduillion stood back to back, facing about seventy Corsairs. "Well," Legolas said to Lanthir. "I believe I can finally even the score."

moonshine44 : well I have updated it.. I hope you'll love this one too.
Nessa Ar-Feiniel: what's next? well, lets just says.. it is a loooooooong way home.. and a dangerous one..
sam611: yes corsairs want to hurt elfs.. they make a good prize on the slavemarket..
Randa-Chan: Thanks!!!