Chapter 4:
Fight of the Warrior King

Thranduil rushed into the clearing, slashing away at spider silk that hung in his way with one of his long knives. The first thing he registered was a pile of spiders that seemed to be busy struggling with something.

"Legolas!" He called. A choked cry was his only answer. With that, he lunged at the disgusting creatures that were just beginning to notice him. They shrank back. It wasn't the first time they had seen the King of Mirkwood, and it was never pleasant. A few of the dozen or so spiders simply crawled away, afraid. The rest he mercilessly hacked at with his knives. He had soon freed Legolas from the pile of spiders, but more came.

They poured out of the trees, hissing and gnashing their fangs at the two elves. There was no way he could fight that many off, he realized. Although the King of Mirkwood was no coward, he was also no fool. He couldn't stay and fight with an elfling laying on the ground unconscious.

Suddenly, arrows can flying from the trees and terrible shrieks were heard. Spiders began dropping from the trees with arrows embedded in them. A dozen heavily armed elves poured into the clearing.

"My Lord! Are you well?" Asked one. Thranduil nodded. "And the boy?" He asked, face full of concern.

"Not for long. He is badly hurt. Why are there so many?" The King asked, picking Legolas up and wrapping him in his cloak.

"It seems to be a nest, and one very close to the palace, my lord. What should we do?" He asked without stopping the barrage of arrows.

"A few shall come with me, and I will send a messenger back to call for more soldiers. I want this nest completely cleaned out. Leave no spider alive." He commanded, tucking the tiny form in his arms. He gave a pathetic whimper.

"What about you and the boy, my Lord?" He asked. Thranduil sighed. How he would love to stay here and take revenge on these foul creatures, but he had to first see to Legolas.

"I must get Legolas back." The archer nodded.

"I understand, my Lord."

Taking a few soldiers with him, he set off at a run with the small bundle in his arms. He knew that all of this jerking around couldn't be good for him, but there was no other way. He ran until they were a good distance from the nest and the sounds of battle had faded. He thanked the Valar that the guards had had enough foresight to send help when he had run out so quickly. Laying the still form on a clump of grass, he opened the cloak. He gasped. It was worst then he thought.

"You two!" He ordered to two nearby soldiers. "Return to the palace as fast as you can. One of you, tell a healer to take a horse and come as quickly as possible. The other will bring more troops to help clean out that nest!" They took off immediately.

"You!" He said. "Go find the Atheles plant!" He took off as well. "The rest of you will stand guard!" No one asked any questions.

He looked back at Legolas, who was trying to curl into ball, such was his pain. Thranduil forced him to lie flat and began to gently remove the shirt, trying not to disturb the wounds more.

"Get me water!" He barked and one of the soldiers immediately ran off to follow the order. About that time, one of the other soldiers returned with a great heap of Atheles in his pouch. He immediately gave it to the king. A stream wasn't too far away, so it did not take long for the water to arrive.

Tearing off a piece of his cloak from on the ground, he doused it in water and began to clean out the wounds. The boy cried out and shied away from the touch.
"Hold him still!" He ordered the two soldiers beside him. They did so, cringing. Thranduil hated to do this, but the poison was quickly spreading. He needed to take care of the cuts now.

When he had cleaned out all the wounds on the top half of his body, the king searched for something to use as a bandage. One of the soldiers immediately offered his cloak. Taking it without a word, he tore it into strips and then began to chew on the Atheles. He then put it over the cuts on Legolas' body, once again making him cry out in pain, then bandaged them.

He finished his neck, head, and chest. Then he repeated the process on the lower part of his body. He found a particularly nasty cut on his leg, just above his ankle. His clothes were torn and ragged, so he didn't bother with putting them back on him. He merely rapped him in his own long green cloak. Only moments later he heard the pounding of horses hooves from the direction of the palace.

He turned just in time to see soldiers of horseback, bows and arrows strapped to their backs, burst into the clearing. They did not stop, however, having orders to go directly to the battle. Behind the soldiers rode the healer, going somewhat slower.

"Milord! Are you hurt?" He asked immediately.

"No. Check the boy." The King said shortly, allowing the healer to take the shivering form from his arms. Thranduil considered taking the horse and aiding in the fight taking place in the spider nest, but he knew that Legolas needed to get back to the castle as fast as possible.

The answer presented itself suddenly when another horse came charging towards them. It was Aradwen.

"My King! What has happened?" She asked, eyes full of concern as they fell on the young prince.

"It can be explained later. You are to return to the palace with the healer and see to my son's well being. I will take this horse." Without another word, he leapt upon the beast's back and rode off into battle. It was over by time he got there, or at least he thought so. The loathsome creatures lay dead all around them, but something bigger was coming. They could here loud hissing and stomping.

On the left, a wall of vines fell away suddenly to reveal a previously unknown cave. Just at the mouth was a spider over ten feet tall and twice as wide. Its hideous eyes observed the dead all around and became enraged to see those that she had spawned useless to her now. The soldiers immediately started shooting at it, but the thing took no heed of the darts. Seeing that a bow would be no use, King Thranduil drew his sword.

A/N: More revisions. Thanks to all reviews who offered constructive criticism and just plain encouragement!