WOW! Thanks for all the awesome reviews guys!
brownie24: thanks for the review and the opinion! keep reading!
jadedsakuya: thanks! hmmm, good point. still thinking about it. thanks for the review. hope you like!
Lindelea: hehehe, me too, but they're so much fun to write! ne way thanks for the opinion. I'm torn too, but I'm narrowing it down. thanks a bunch!
Okanim: nope, you can never complain too much if you have a good reason (that's what I say anyway!) ooooh, I like 3Musketeers… thanks!
Legolaslover: thanks much! read on!
aemorin2: thanks!
Alezandrane: of course not:gasps: how could I kill off one of the main characters? that would put my story down the tubes! (oh well) thanks!
Rebecca: um, because I can? hehe, thanks!
Marisa: hmmm, you think I can do it? I dunno…hmm. we'll see. thanks for the review, it means a lot coming from one of the best writers I've read on this site. thanks!
neo: thank you. I thought I needed to kinda work Thranduil in, because I want to establish a good family relationship kinda thing. I don't want to completely ignore him, and I couldn't think of any other way… thanks.
Miss Independent3: thanks. no…no Legolas dying or anything (that would be horrible!) thanks for the opinion/review!
Teresa: oooooh, I was thinking about that. other people have suggested that too, but I don't know. hmmmm :think, think think: thanks!
Sebstar: thanks much!
spotnmushlover246: hmmm, interesting idea. maybe I could work that in somehow. Thanks!
longivity101: yeah! I think… anyway. thanks for the review. I'm still thinking on it!
arwen101: a girl huh? I was thinking more along the lines of twins (boy and girl) anyway…I'm almost decided. thanks!
Myri78: hehe thanks! thinking bout it…
swimaura: thanks much for the opinion and the review. everyone's input is being taken into careful consideration. glad you like it!
forfiwen bloom: aw, thank you. that's so cute (I wish I had a boyfriend) I might incorporate some of that…we'll see
disclaimer: if you recognize it, don't own it (wish I did) don't sue please, unless you like dustbunnies!
Chapter 16
There was nothing that could have prepared her for the darkness and immense vastness of Mirkwood Forest. She felt oddly comfortable with her sense of direction, but the ordinary gloominess of the day seemed tenfold this afternoon. The sky was overcast and no light shone through the thick boughs of the surrounding trees. Elenayave eased quietly through the foliage, searching for any clue that would lead her to Legolas. After figuring out what the orcs had planned for him, she'd rushed off to their room and readied herself for the worst. She was dressed in a dark green and brown tunic, similar to the ones Legolas wore, and a pair of dark leather breeches. Knee high boots protected her lower legs, and tough bracers were strapped to her forearms. Not sure that she would remember how to use her weapons, she had hesitantly grabbed her bow and snapped a quiver full of arrows on her back. A dagger had been neatly tucked inside her boot, just in case, and twin knives were hidden in their sheaths. But surprisingly, her equipment was still relatively light weight, enabling her to move just as gracefully as before.
Elenayave struggled to focus her sharper Elven senses, to find anything to lead her in the right direction. She wasn't exactly sure what she would do once she found him or if she were forced to confront the enemy, but she knew she had to get to him or something would go horribly wrong. Tuning out everything, even the sound of her own breathing, she closed her eyes and listened. In the distance, she heard an Elvish voice and the ringing clang of steel meeting steel. She took a deep breath and quickly proceeded in that general direction. As she moved closer, the shouts amongst the warriors became clearer and the putrid smell of something she couldn't quite identify intensified. Quickening her pace, she tripped suddenly over what she had thought to be a rock. Upon looking down, however, she came face to face with a gruesome image. She barely stifled her scream as her hand flew to her mouth.
The creature, whatever it was, was grayish in hue, rather stunted in growth, and possessed gangly looking limbs. Its eyes were wide open, anger shining brightly in their yellow and red irises, even in death. Straggly hair sparsely covered its bloodied head, and its nose was squashed back against its face. A thick green and gold fletched arrow protruded from its chest, and blackish blood oozed from the wound. The beast's lips were pulled back in a ferocious snarl, bearing its sharp and rotting teeth.
Elenayave took a swift step back in revulsion, fighting back the churning feeling in her stomach. Pushing her illness down, she yanked the arrow out unsteadily and examined it. After a moment, she found what she was looking for: a small leaf shaped marking in between the feathers on the shaft. Legolas's signature mark. The arrow was a good sign. Hopefully, he was still nearby. Not wanting to draw unwanted attention to herself, she decided against calling out for him and to move on, keeping a close watch on her feet, lest she trip over another body.
A sudden yell from a familiar voice immediately took her attention.
"Get him out of here! He needs medical treatment, now!"
"Thank God," she murmured. If Legolas was yelling at his men, at least he was still alive. Unfortunately, she had a sick feeling whoever he was talking about wasn't going to last very long in the current situation. Making a split second decision, she charged through the trees into the chaotic clearing ahead of her. She eyes instantly zeroed in on him, standing far to her right with a few of his company surrounding him. Other Elves were scattered around, but holding their ground pretty well against the invading orcs. Behind Legolas, she saw an Elf, propped against a tree, breathing hard and a black arrow in his side. He was tightly clutching at the wound, trying to cease the blood flow, and his face was paling rapidly.
All around her, arrows flew, some Elvish and some not. The sounds of battle and beings dying filled her ears and whirled in her senses, bringing forth a scorching bloodlust that she never knew existed. And suddenly, she hated them all. How dare these foul creatures invade her home and kill and injure her people? How dare they even set their disgusting feet on the earth of her people's realm? With an impulsive cry of disgust, she drew her knives and stormed into the middle of the fray, not even thinking twice about her knowledge of weapons. It was as if…she just knew. The knives felt so right in her grip, almost like an extension of her arm, as she whirled and slashed through the horde of orcs.
As soon as the sound had left her mouth, Legolas had known she was there. Turning, he set eyes on her, and his stomach twisted into knots. What did she think she was doing? She hadn't even been retrained with her arms as of yet, and here she was charging into battle without so much as a worry or a care. Was she trying to get herself killed? But yet, as he watched her, he grew more at ease, as she seemed to slip back into the way of things, and soon, she was fighting just as well as she had before her accident. It seemed that a training session was not necessary.
She worked her way over to him slowly, taking out any orc that tried to cross her path. Finally, she was fighting back to back with him, and she felt somewhat reassured.
"What do you think you're doing?" he asked. "There was no way you could have been sure you would have remembered!"
"I came out to help!" she replied, slicing at the orc nearest to her.
"Lena, listen…this is not the time…"
"No! You listen!" she snapped, feeling slightly irritable. "They're after you, Legolas! They don't care about the others. If they can get rid of you, they've done what they came for. We need to end this! Now!"
Legolas was silent for a moment as he moved to take the head of an attacking beast. Then he opened his mouth, as if to reply. But the thought was quickly banished when another came running at him, swinging a large scimitar in its hand. Instinctively, he yelled out, "Hit the ground!"
He and Elenayave ducked at exactly the same moment, Legolas kicking out with his left leg as she rolled to the other side. As the orc wavered and started to fall, Legolas brought his knife up to deflect the plummeting blade. Elenayave came around from his left and struck the orc full force over the helm, and the beast dropped quickly to the ground.
"Nice move," Legolas murmured as he looked around for the next attack.
"Yeah, don't know for sure where that came from, but okay. Anyway…"
"If we can draw them closer to the river, perhaps we can get across and leave them on the other side."
"You can't do that unless you have everyone working together. You need to call them all back and regroup," she replied, her breathing just starting to slow down. "Make it look like a retreat. They'll follow you."
"Round everyone up," Legolas said. "Get them all to head toward the river. I'll call ours in."
Elenayave took off running into the trees, hoping she wouldn't run into any more orcs. Her arms were tired and sore, not used to being exercised so much and in such a way and she wasn't sure if she could keep up a good enough fight to keep herself safe. Whipping past a small company of Elves, she yelled, "To the river! Everyone to the river!"
She spared herself just enough time to see if they were complying or not. Surprisingly, all of them seemed to sense her urgency, and turned to head out towards the south. Feeling slightly more invigorated by the apparent respect she had from them, she made her way through the thinnest parts of foliage, treading along the clearings, and calling for a quick "retreat" to the Forest River. Once she had made her rounds, she headed back toward where she had last seen Legolas. The injured Elf that had been leaning against the tree was being escorted off the field and back to the palace, but Legolas had gone.
"Tell me, sir. Did Legolas already set out for the river?" she asked the pale Elf.
"Yes, my lady. He left but a moment ago. If you hurry, you might catch up with him."
"Thank you," she answered, pressing her hand to his ashen cheek. "May the Valar speed you to a hasty recovery."
He nodded and managed a weak smile, then wished her luck as she moved on. She sped through the branches as fast as she could, a grim smile on her face. Why did it seem she was always running, and never had the time to slow down and look at things? But she reminded herself that Legolas's life, as well as many others, was possibly on the line, and she kept her pace. Approaching the river, she heard nothing but the bubbling and rushing of the water over the stones. She slowed momentarily and crept up along the tree line. No one was there. How could that be? She had made sure everyone had known. Legolas had just left for there, the Elf said it himself.
Elenayave hesitantly stepped out onto the sandy ground by the shore and listened. Not a thing stirred around her, but a queasy feeling sank to the bottom of her stomach. She was being watched. Her body tensed naturally, ready to take off at a second's notice. Her ears pricked at a minute sound behind her and she strained to listen for it again. Suddenly, a warm hand clamped down over her mouth, and she instantly panicked. She started struggling violently against whomever it was holding her, attempting to free herself from their grip. In a desperate last ditch effort, she threw her elbow back into their gut hard. She heard something crack sharply and the body behind her gave. The person grunted in pain and their grip loosened.
"Lena, you idiot," he croaked from behind her.
Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. Whirling around, her eyes landed on Legolas, doubled over and holding his stomach. "Ohhhh, Legolas. Oh God, I'm so sorry. You should have told me it was you. Oh no. Legolas…"
"Shh. We need to get up into the trees," he whispered.
"But your ribs, I heard something crack…"
"Come on!" he hissed, grabbing her hand and pulling her along with him. He pushed her up the tree in front of him and followed quickly behind her. Pain shot through his abdomen and chest and his lungs heaved to force air through his body. At least two of his ribs were broken, hopefully no more than that.
"Legolas, I am so sorry. I didn't know," she continued to apologize when they were seated comfortably on the hidden talan.
"Where did you learn to do that?" he asked, gingerly probing his ribcage. The skin was already hot and flushed and it was starting to swell.
"You taught me that, but I never thought I'd use it on you…wait. Why are we up here?"
Another Elf shushed her and pointed. Below them, the orcs patrolled the river banks, looking over the ground at tracks left in the loam.
"But I thought Elves don't leave footprints in the soil," Elenayave said quietly.
"We don't," he answered with a small grin. "But they don't know that, do they?"
"Oh," she said, a slow smile spreading across her face. "Ohh, I get it."
"We've done this to them so many times, you'd think they would smarten up to it. But orcs are truly stupid creatures, Princess," he whispered in response, giving her a wink.
"Stop flirting shamelessly with my wife in front of my eyes, Armereth," Legolas growled playfully at his friend. "And get over here and help me. I can hardly sit up."
"That was a beautiful stroke, Elena," Armereth intoned. "I bet he never thought you'd ever execute it so well, and on him!"
Legolas scowled and tried to move, but the pain was keeping him pretty much immobile. A grimace swept across his features briefly, and he let himself slip back down.
Elenayave moved to sit at his side, and she gently put her hand on his forehead. "I am truly sorry, Legolas. I feel horrible."
He grinned up at her. "Don't. It's all right. This sort of thing happens a lot when you're in the guard. You can't take it back, and you can't prevent it. I'll be fine." He paused for a moment and thought. "I just need some pain medication and to wrap it up well so I can walk. And maybe a nice back rub when we get home."
She giggled and leaned down to press a kiss to his cheek. Wrinkling her nose, she laughed. "And a bath! You smell dreadful, Legolas!"
hey guys! i've pretty much decided what to do for the sequel. thanks so much for all your great input. i appreciate it, and i've thought about all your suggestions. don't feel bad if it doesn't go your way (i had to decide one way or another) and all your ideas were great. thanks so much for your support. hope you liked this chapter. let me know!