Chapter 20

They were getting close to the place the scream had originated from. With their sharp eyes, they could see orcs in the distance, though the orcs could not yet see them. Limloeth was tied to a tree, but they could not see how badly she had been hurt.

Legolas suddenly became aware of his little sister in his arms, and stopped as he reached a few bushes.
"Lainfea, you will hide here. No matter what happens, you will stay hidden. Understand?"
Lainfea shook her head. "No," the little girl said. "I want to help Limloeth too."

Legolas looked at her. Her long blond hair was tied into a ponytail, and her hands were at her sides. She would have looked a very capable killer, if only there hadn't been a stuffed animal thrust into her belt. If only she hadn't been a child.

"Forget it, Lainfea," he said. "You will say here, and wait for us to come and get you."
Lainfea shook her head. "Give me your knife," she said, holding out her hand.
"No," Legolas said firmly. "We have no time for discussions."
The little girl folded her arms in front of her chest. "I want the knife."

Lanthir watched the power struggle between Lainfea an Legolas from a distance. Two stubborn minds locked together in a wordless battle. He smiled. One day, it would be interesting to see who would win, but now was not the time.

"Give her one of your knives, Legolas," he said.
Lanthir ignored his brother's deadly glare and walked towards him. "Give her the knife," he said once more, and then his voice turned into a low whisper only Legolas could hear.
"If none of us makes it, what will she have left, Legolas? She will die of starvation, very, very slowly. Give her the dagger, so that if she dies, it will be swift, or at least she might be able to take out a few orcs for us."

Legolas slowly shook his head. "I will not let her die," he whispered, for Lanthir's ears alone.
"Then keep her in your sight where you can prevent it," his brother answered.
Legolas' hands still made no movement towards his knives.
"Remember the last time you asked Lainfea to hide, brother," Lanthir said, only partially knowing the impact of these words on the older elf.

Legolas closed his eyes. For a minute he was at the cave in Mordor again, urging his sisters into the fissure, trying to keep them safe from corsairs... he had almost killed them that day. He had locked the crack with a large rock, and when the corsairs had taken him, he had realized there was no way they could have moved the rock without outside help. He remembered the guilt he had felt, that he sometimes still felt. He remembered how he had thought that with the help of his sisters, the battle might not have gone so ill.

He looked at his sister once more. Her arms were still crossed, and she continued to stare at him, silently demanding the knife. With a shiver he realized that she did look a capable warrior. In spite of the fact she was a child. In spite of the teddy bear stuck in her belt. She had a fire in her eyes that told him she would make a difference.

"Give me that knife," she said once more. And this time Legolas reached behind is back, and pulled one of his knives out it's sheath and placed it into her hand. Her little fingers closed around it and she smiled. With a weapon she would not be afraid. With a weapon she would hurt those who wanted to hurt her.

Lanthir and Legolas both saw their sister's glow change the minute she touched the knife. The light that surrounded her shined brighter, sharper, and more dangerous. Legolas sighed, seeing all too well how Mordor had affected his youngest sister, forcing her to grow up before her time. He strung his bow. He knew that as he did that, his own luminosity would brighten as Lainfea's had. He nodded at Lanthir, who was holding two knives, knowing that he was noting the same thing.

They would fight together again. The last time they had done so, Lanthir had almost died, and Legolas was captured. Yet none of them tried to think of that. Things were different now. They were better armed, better trained, and better rested.
'And they had Lainfea,' Legolas' mind added, hoping it would prove an advantage.

"Let's go," He said, and started off once more towards their foes, and their sister.

Limloeth hated her weakness. She knew healers were very well respected in the Elvish world, but she would give anything to be able to kill like her siblings. To be blind to other people's feelings.

The tree the orcs had tied her to seemed to feel her despair, and shared its strength, but Limloeth was not grateful. She could feel it give too much; too much of the trees live would flow into her body, and it would die soon.

A useless sacrifice, for there was no way for Limloeth to escape her death now that she had been caught by orcs again.

Her healing power showed her more than the dying tree. She could feel the misery the orcs felt. She could feel their pain, their abused bodies, their twisted thoughts. She could feel which ones were born orcs, and some of the very old ones, which had been elves once. Their hurt was added to the pain of her own wounds, inflicted by their whips. Just the same, she did not have the strength or capacity to hate them; all she could do was pity them and hate herself.

She thought about the short life she had had in Osgiliath and the work she had done in the Houses of Healing. Those few weeks had been the only time in her life she had been content with her destiny. The only time she had not prayed the Valar to make her a warrior instead. She had relieved so much pain there and learned so much.

Yet all that knowledge had not prevented her from stumbling upon a group of orcs. It had not made her reach for a knife and fight her way out once again. It had only made her hestitate, and in that moment of hesitation, she had been overwhelmed.

One of the orcs moved closer to her, and the endless pain of its tortured soul brought tears to her eyes.
"Crying already?" the vile creature rasped as it took its whip from its belt.The being licked its lips. "Oh, this will be good."
"I'm so sorry," Limloeth cried heartbreakingly, repeating it every time the whip struck her body.
She could not hate these creatures. She could not hate them, for she knew the orc could never hurt her as much as it had been hurt itself. "I'm so sorry..."

Suddenly the pain that had radiated from the orc rose to level that nearly made Limloeth scream, and then, it abruptly stopped. She looked up. The head of an arrow protruding out of the orc's chest, the arrow having passed through its back and out the front.

Everything happened at once. From the place were she was tied she could see flashes of her brothers. Lanthir kicking and turning using his blades and body to kill as much orcs as he could. Legolas stayed back a bit, shooting all orcs that threatend Lanthir, Limloeth, or himself. Watching silently, Limloeth observed how fascinating it was to see them move, even though none of them managed to get very close to her.

After a while, Limoeth wasn't even sure if they were trying.

They stayed on the egdes of the open space, drawing the orcs away from her, without any attempt to free her. What were they expecting? That she would just magic herself out of her bonds? She struggled but the ropes only dug into her chest.

What kind of rescue operation was this?

Then suddenly the ropes gave way and a small hand grabbed hers.

"Can you walk?" Lainfea asked her older sister.
Limloeth nodded.
"We have to sneak," the little girl informed her. "This way."

The two sisters sneaked out of the orc camp, while the two brothers kept the orcs busy. While they were moving Limloeth could feel the plantlife around her move. Bushes shifted, grass straigtened, Ithilien did all she could to keep the elflings safe. They moved undetected.

After a while Lainfea turned towards her sister.
"Can you run?" she asked, altering her former question.
Limloeth nodded.
"Good," the youngest said, as she stood upright and and whistled using her fingers. "Because we'll have to."

In the distance Limloeth could see her brothers turn away from the battle and run toward them, followed by every orc still able to move.

TBC

Roguish Smile: I hope this eases your worries a little.

Moriarwen: Well... Noo.. but she could be worse!

CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur : Well if you were doing a happy dance before you went working.. you should have something to dance about after work: so I updated.. I hope you'll like it.

Karone Evertree: Yeah, he really needds to work on his sneakyness. but then again I'm sure a part of him really wanted to be found.

Rutu: Yes I can update again today. The question is, can you review twice a day?