Orcish Revenge
Chapter 6 - Rescued & Caught

Legolas awoke to the sound of swords clashing. He eased himself up slowly. He fell back down with a thud.

'Snuhpack! Kill the runt!' a muffled shout echoed.

'Shut Up Hadgrit!' another muffled voice yelled in reply. The there were clanging swords again and a thud.

Someone was attacking the guards. Legolas' heart lightened. Someone had come to save them. Then Legolas' heart stopped. "Runt".

'Merry? Pippin?' he whispered, edging against the wall, whispering through a crack.

He heard only sobs. Perhaps his captors where about to kill them, perhaps they were begging for their life. Legolas forced his weak and tired body upwards. He stood for a moment breathing heavily. Then he threw himself across the room, towards the door. He crawled forward, past the other captives. He stopped when heard more voices.

'Pippin?' the voice said softly 'Why are you… Faramir? What happened?' Legolas heard rapid footsteps heading towards one corner. Now Legolas new that the Orc guards were dead. He called out to the voices.

'There are some people in here. And we would very much appreciate being released' He spoke coarsely, his throat dry and sore.

Legolas heard footsteps of heavy boots. Then the jingling of keys. Then the door opened and torchlight flooded into the prison chamber.

'Legolas!' Pippin cried running in and helping him up.

'Good evening master Peregrin' Legolas smiled 'How does it come to be that you are my rescuer?'

'I ride with the Rohhirm', Pippin answered, wiping the tears from his eyes.

'Why do you cry? What evil has befallen this rescue mission?' Legolas asked waking another prisoner. Pippin stepped aside. There lay Faramir, son of Denethor. Keeper of Ithilien. Graceful in defeat. He lay peacefully, sword in hand. Èomer knelt beside him, holding his wrist.

'This is indeed a sad occurrence', Legolas said softly, holding Pippin's shoulder.

'Perhaps' a soft voice said from behind them 'Perhaps this was supposed to happen. Perhaps we were supposed to be captured, and Èomer come to rescue us. And perhaps this halfling was supposed to overcome these horrible Uruks' They turned around to see an Elf standing, using the wall as support. His dark, brown hair flowed down to his waist. His clothes shimmered even in the dull light of the hut. He held a golden knife in his hand and was cutting the bonds on his legs. He gave a small, consoling smile to Pippin. Suddenly Pippin felt much ease on his heart, his pain ended and his suffering fled.

Legolas smiled and said to Pippin; 'This is Uthienel (Youth-een-L). An elf of great wisdom, skill and strength'. Uthienel bowed in response.

'A Pleasure to meet you', Pippin said weakly.

'The pleasure is all mine. Many stories of your bravery have I heard' Uthienel said waking the other two elves in the hut. The elves stood as soon as their bindings were cut. 'This is Lurai (Lure-Eye) and Simetai (Sim-et-Eye). They are brothers, and my travelling companions'

'Greetings. Peregrin, son of Paladin' The two brothers spoke, bowing together.

'Perhaps I could interrupt. The battle continues and these men are lying on the floor' Èomer said gesturing towards the remaining prisoners.

'Of course! Fetch some water and I shall soon have them on their feet!' Uthienel cried. To Pippin's suprise Èomer obeyed and without a word he left in search of water. For the first time Pippin realised that the sounds of the battle did indeed continue outside.

After a while, Èomer returned carrying a helm filled with water. Uthienel took the helm and sprinkled some leaves into the water. The leaves instantly dissolved. A sweet smell came from the water. The other prisoners soon awoke. The first of these was a tall, heavily built man. He had an axe strapped to his back and a sword on his belt. A knife was in his hand and several more were strapped upon his belt. He also had a round shield on the ground. Pippin stared at him with awe. He had not seen even Aragorn so armed.

'Here is your bow, Hindike (Hin-dike)', Legolas said handing him a long bow.

'And your arrows' Uthienel smiled handing Hindike a large amount of arrows 'your quiver is unfortunately broken'

'Then I will have another made in Edoras. That is if King Èomer is planning on returning to Edoras' Hindike said taking the bow and placing the arrows in his shield.

Everyone looked at Èomer. Èomer did not reply at first.

'I shall take the Halflings to Minas Tirith, in Faramir's place', Èomer sighed at last.

'And Lady Èowyn? And the riders? What shall they do?' Hindike asked.

'Lady Èowyn shall be told of Faramir's fall. Then she may do as she wishes'.

'And the riders?' Uthienel asked.

Èomer was not allowed to answer this. Horns were sounding in the valley. And they were not the horns of the Rohirrim this time.

'More Orcs!' Legolas shouted.

The men ran from the hut. Èomer stepped to the open door. He sighed and drew his sword. He stepped outside of the hut. The sun was struggling to rise through the darkening clouds. Hundreds of Orcs were pouring into the camp. Èomer looked to the top of the hill in time to see a great beast stomp into view, it looked as though it was a Warg bred to an immense size. Many Orcs were mounted on normal Wargs beside this monstrous creature. The beast let loose a deafening roar. Men were fleeing to the other side of the valley. Archers were lined up along the hilltop. Many Orcs were falling before they could reach the opposite side of the camp. All riders had left the camp and were climbing the hill quickly. Èomer shouted for the others to follow. He ran as quickly as possible. His horse had fled before the Orcs. Soon the Orcs were upon them. They killed many men before taking the group by force.

They awoke at the feet of a huge being. He stood tall and strong above them. He wore a long brown cloak and hood. He turned to the guards 'Kill the elves and humans. Leave the halfling to me!'

The guards took Uthienel, Legolas and Èomer out of the room they were currently kept in and dragged them into the room beyond.

'So halfling, whom do you serve?' The tall creature spoke.

'The free people of Middle-Earth' Pippin snarled.

He seemed to think for a moment. 'Where are your kinsmen?'

Pippin trembled. His voice was cold and harsh.

'Where are they!' he shouted, raising his open hand.

Pippin couldn't fight the thoughts in his head. Whispers stabbed into his mind, probing and penetrating his thoughts. He tried to fight it but could not resist, 'They are…'

The door burst open and two arrows flew through the doorway. They pierced the cloak and the creature fell to the ground with a terrible scream. Hindike stepped into the room, bow in hand. Pippin let out a small sigh of relief. Legolas came in after Hindike, carrying Èomer. He had been severely wounded.

'Where is Uthienel?' Pippin asked looking through the door.

'He is taking care of he guards' Legolas said, tending roughly to the gaping wound on Éomer's side.

'How fairs the battle?' Èomer coughed.

'Try not to speak, the battle is won' Legolas said carefully propping Èomer head up with a folded cloak.

'How is that possible, we were out numbered by far' Èomer spluttered.

'Rivendell came to our aid'. Uthienel said entering the hut, blood dripping from his knife.

'Then let us leave this horrid place. Let us find Merry, Sam and Gimli and go to Minas Tirith!' Pippin squeaked. Èomer coughed an approval. So they left the Orc's camp and made their way into the Rohirrim's camp on the other side of the hill, away from the burning bodies of the fallen enemies. Laying down his head, Pippin drifted into a deep sleep, listening to the voices of Gimli and Merry discussing the qualities of a good smoke.

Revised version - Some slight additions and modifications, fixed spelling and grammar etc. No changes to the story, just an improvement on the writing.