Hello everyone! I do not own Lord of the Rings. I'm sorry about the long wait with all of my stories--I'm updating them all as an apology!
Legolas left the next day, and somehow Adlanniel had managed to hold back her tears until he was gone. To compensate not being able to go, Thranduil had made her his second in command on all matters concerning the small war. She got to read the reports, help decide what to do, help organize supplies, decode messages, and stand in on the war councils, something she had always done, much to the jealousy of Aradan, whose knowledge of battle was equal to that of a snail's.
Four days later, an elf that Adlanniel recognized as a scout came running into the study. She was the only one there; Thranduil had gone to answer an urgent letter from Elrond. "Princess Adlanniel, I must see King Thranduil. I have the latest reports from the borders." He said quickly.
"Give them to me." Adlanniel commanded. The elf looked uncertain. "I am his second in command, please hand them over!" The elf still looked unsure. "It is written right on the envelopes that you can give them to me!" Adlanniel cried. Sure enough, on the envelopes were the words, 'Urgent, give to either King Thranduil or Princess Adlanniel.' Embarrassed, the elf handed them over. Adlanniel quickly looked at the green lines on the back of the first envelope. She sat down at the desk, grabbing a large, leather bound book on the way there. She sat placed it in front of her until she reached a page marked with a green star. She quickly wrote words in her flowing hand under the lines, using the book as a reference. When she finished, it read, 'from Revion, the eastern border, directly south of the Mirkwood Mountains.' Adlanniel pulled a map toward her and scanned it until she found a red dot with an R written on it. That stood for Revion, and he was right on the border, just inside the trees. She jotted that down on the envelope and pulled out the message. It was written in the Tengwar, which was a very bad thing. That meant he hadn't had time to code it, meaning it was an emergency. When she read it her heart sank. Another seven hundred orcs were heading their way, to the south of where Revion was stationed.
She quickly calculated that. Three thousand, five hundred orcs! We are outnumbered now. She pulled out the next letter, which was from Thalion, who was posted right next to the River Running. His letter said the same thing, except that the orcs were still heading south. Adlanniel checked the map again. Thalion's elves had been pushed back into the forest and north slightly, and directly south of them was…Legolas. The orcs were heading toward their weakest point on the eastern border, which was the seven hundred elves that Legolas was the commander of. Her older brother had only lost ten, and they had made a significant dent in the orcs. But the orcs had run, scattered before they were obliterated, and they would regroup at different times and in different places to attack the group. Seven hundred more orcs would put the orcs at an advantage. Calm down. We've got enough relief soldiers still here that they will be safe. I will write the dispatch order immediately, and have ada sign it once he reads these messages. As soon as I read the last message, I'll write it. Legolas will be fine. Adlanniel tried to calm herself. It didn't work very well. It was with shaking hands that Adlanniel opened the last message. It was the scouts on the western border, the ones watching the six hundred orcs on Gladdon Fields. With a cry, Adlanniel let the message drop. It fell to the floor without a sound. Thranduil, who had entered while she read the letter, picked it up. He paled steadily as he read it. It said:
'King Thranduil, I hate to inform you of this, but three hundred more orcs have just come down from the Misty Mountains to join the ones waiting across the river. They moved north about thirty miles this morning and started crossing the Anduin. Their expected landing point is about five miles south of the group of orcs inside the Mirkwood, and we believe it is their intention to join them. I probably need not remind you of this, but that is where we have stationed only one hundred and fifty elves. We are watching their movements and shall keep you aware of what we assume are their intentions.' It was signed by Imrathon, who was one of the five scouts.
Thranduil set the letter on the desk. "Three hundred more…"
"It is more like one thousand, ada." Adlanniel corrected, handing him the other two letters. When he finished she looked up at him. "The seven hundred are heading for Legolas." She whispered.
Thranduil fell onto a couch, looking suddenly pained and weary. "What do I do Adlanniel? Of the hundred and fifty, twenty five have been killed, Legolas has lost ten. We have one thousand, forty five soldiers here; some need to remain her to protect the palace, probably two hundred, bringing that total down to eight hundred and forty five. That is one hundred and fifty five more orcs than elves we can use for relief. By the Valar, seven hundred are heading my son, but the archers need relief more, the have nine hundred heading toward them."
Adlanniel stared at the map, trying to force her mind to figure something out, but the stones and pen marks were blurry and runny from the tears clouding her eyes. Angrily, she wiped them away. "The orcs in the western part of the mountains have all been killed, and so have more than half of the ones in the east. Five hundred elves were posted there, twenty-two died, so if we bring three-fourths of the remaining four hundred and seventy eight elves, which is…" Adlanniel paused to calculate the numbers. "Three hundred and fifty eight elves, to the aid of the archers, leaving one hundred and twenty to find and hunt the rest of the orcs."
Thranduil rose from his place on the couch and hurried over to the desk, standing beside his daughter and examining the map. "You're right! And the group of five hundred orcs on the Old Forest Road has been nearly wiped out, we can move those elves down to the archers as well…how many of the four hundred elves did we lose there?"
Adlanniel checked a smaller book. "One hundred. That was open war, there was no secrecy or planning, the orcs caught them unawares." She answered.
"So since there are still some orcs in hiding…we'll leave fifty to take care of them and move the other two hundred and fifty south to the archers." Thranduil said, moving the stone.
"So there are now…seven hundred and thirty-three elves here to counter nine hundred orcs." Adlanniel calculated. "And we still have eight hundred and twenty five in reserve!"
"And of those, we shall send five hundred to Legolas, giving him an advantage again." Thranduil said. "Thank you Adlanniel. Without you I may not have figured it out until too late. If you hadn't been keeping such accurate records-"
"King Thranduil!" An elf called, bursting into the room. Adlanniel's heart sank. "I have a report from Legolas and it isn't good." The elf was disheveled and covered in thick, blackish blood.
Thranduil took the message but handed it to Adlanniel immediately. "I can't open it." He said softly.
Adlanniel's hands were shaking as she opened the message, and tears sprang to her eyes when she read her brother's looping hand. "Spiders." She remarked quietly, scanning the letter again. "Spiders have come out of Southern Mirkwood and attacked their camp. They were the Naru Adel, the deadly red-backs. There were sixteen and they killed fourteen elves and wounded twenty-seven more, seven of which are believed to be fatal, before they were either killed or forced to retreat. They have been well inside the forest fighting." Adlanniel looked up at her father, her voice, her whole body for that matter, quivering. "They do not know about the orcs."
Thranduil closed his eyes and placed his hands on his temples. "Do that math for me, Adlanniel." He requested.
"If none of the wounded fight and we do not send his messenger back, there are six hundred and forty eight soldiers, plus the five hundred we were going to send him, makes one thousand, one hundred and forty eight elves, against nine hundred orcs. But now if they have to fight the spiders, since the orcs will not make it there for two days, which could change the outcome seriously."
"Southern Mirkwood is a spider haven. It is the only place we do not routinely destroy them. I did not want my elves near Dol Guldur. And now, in these times of war, I send my son." Thranduil said. "You don't think that something shall venture up from Dol Guldur do you?" he asked Adlanniel.
"I hope not ada, I hope not." Adlanniel replied with a shudder.
Thranduil put his hand on his daughter's shoulder and gave it a friendly squeeze. "Do not worry, it will not happen. It may only be a suspicion that it is getting stronger."
But Adlanniel knew her father was just trying to keep her calm. The evil power had been growing in Dol Guldur steadily for a year. It had ceased or slowed after the Wise had discovered it in TA1100, but Adlanniel knew it was there.
Review Responses!
lala: Thanks! I plan on it. I have several more chapters I can upload after a little more editing. Thanks for reviewing!
Southern Gaelic: I was worried about that. I think I made her a bit less Sueish in teh next few chapters. Oh well. Thanks for reviewing, and for the criticism!
--Lady Altaria