Disclaimers: I don't own any of the characters or settings from Lord of the Rings or Xena the Warrior Princess

Author's Note:

Warning: Concepts contained in this chapter include fighting scenes, bloody scenes, and death.

This is a LegoRomance (slow-burn)

~ XXV: Blind Faith of Escaping ~

Imladris, 3018 TA, October 29

As she stared at the army of orcs before her, droplets of blood ran down her wounded lips. She had commanded armies similar to those ever since she met Borias, which was several lifetimes ago. Men seemed to obey her every order... her every wish... back then, and she was surrounded by power and grandeur. Now, things were vastly different. Xena had seen the devastation that war and wickedness can inflict on a person. She had lost a great deal in her former life, and it seemed that she would lose much more in this one. As she was pursued by conflict everywhere she went.

Legolas was stuck between nightmare and reality, between loss and darkness, tiredness and anguish, and had devoured the ellon in a temporal struggle he was unsure he would win. 'This is terrible, this cannot be,' he said to himself as he felt his body confined and forced against the pillar. Attempting to ignore the fresh wounds and biting sting in his exhausted body that erupted to new degrees of pain as the cold stone of the pillar came into contact with his bleeding wounds concealed behind his shredded cloak. He should pick up his shattered bits and rebuild his strength, he reasoned darkly. There had been a large number of orcs, and he was well aware that destroying them was a fool's dream.

He felt they could escape and inform the guard in some way. He was fully aware that Aragorn should be concerned by now that he had not returned. His trusted friend would be on the lookout for the human and him. 'The human...' he thought, bringing himself back to the current moment. With a quick look in front of him, everything became silent and an echoing white noise almost burst into his ear, spinning his head. Leaning forward slightly and with his arms still cuffed around the pillar, Legolas watched the scene that opened up in front of his eyes.

Night of her birth in Arda. Thirty-one days ago. Xena, she was called, the warrior princess. Valar, how the stars did fall. He looked for blackness, holes in the heavens. He watched, pale and unwashed. He could neither act nor speak and in front of him rose already a taste for mindless violence. Bodies were lying across the camp, many of them. All dead. Black blood was dripping from their cold bodies, and the smell of blood and death was rising.

And she was standing there, like a rising shadow. She was covered in orc blood, her face, her hair and her body. The elf could not note which part of the blood was hers, and which was from the orcs. The woman seemed different, faceless and fearless as she cut one orc after another. For weapons, she used whatever she could find along her way. How could a human master such wrath?

Now more orcs appeared grey dark creatures with yellow eyes that trotted neatly of catching her. Moving on again. She followed. Some fell by the blades she had found, and some just by using some sort of pressure points. Along with the fight, the wind blew and the dirty dust set on their bodies. Sand in everything. Sand and blood. The orcs were failing. The human was strong, stronger than the elf had ever seen her be.

Another orc approached her from behind, and the two met midway. The orc in front of her shifted slightly. In one hand, he gripped a broken knife carelessly. "You'd best quit," he said. However, Xena was not going to do that, and she saw no use in trying to talk herself out of it. She smacked the orc across the face. The orc collapsed a few yards away and said, "I'm going to kill you!"

He swung with the knife and the woman ducked and he swung again and she stepped back. When the woman hit him again the orc stroke the knife against the side of her head. She went off into the mud and the orc lunged after her with the broken blade and tried to stick it in her eye. She was fending with her hands and they were slick with blood. She started trying to reach for a rock or any rusted weapon close to her to defend herself. They struggled in the dark against the mud. The woman had the broken blade now and they circled like wild animals lost in the brutality of the moment. The orc lurched at her and with one stroke she cut his chest open watching the orc fall to his doom.

And then another was coming down with steady sucking sounds ready to slay the human with an axe. He reached her first, and when he swung with the axe, Xena went face down in the mud, dodging the hit. She'd have died if she was not fast enough. The orc growled at her and before the first word escaped his ugly lips, Xena had jumped on her fit and cut his throat.

The woman paused breathing heavily and smiled grimly. She watched the terrifying scene in front of her, a scene that was her creation. She ignored it and turned towards the area where the elf was still cuffed. There was no time to acknowledge the pain and the injuries she felt in her body and mind. They needed to escape that camp. That was the only thought that was alive in her troubled mind. Xena raced towards the elf, depleting her last reserves of strength. The elf was lost in his own pain, but his gaze was pinned against hers. His thoughts were unknown to her, as were his words as he only managed to mumble a few words to her and lose consciousness.

Breathing hard and staring at the large dark camp one final time, she felt uneasy. Everything was given to them too quickly, freeing the elf and even escaping. She stood in front of the entrance of the ruins, gazing into its depths. Something inside made her question for a second if that was what they were supposed to do or if they were tricked into doing so. She had managed to free him from his cuffs and had secured their weapons. Now she was trying her best to carry the elf outside this camp and bring both of them to safety.

Escape was led by the first glimmer of light in a world that had been in shadows for longer than memory and to have the courage it took to reach for that unfamiliar promise of better days. A night was enough to bring so much darkness to the elf and to the human. How would they ever forget and live through such heartbreaking memories?

Shagrat returned to the ancient ruins from the north, which were strewn with dead corpses and blood, to discover the majority of his troops had been slaughtered. He disobeyed his lord and violated his orders. He erred in presuming that the 'human' was completely blotted out. It seemed as if she was not, and that she was more capable of attacking than he assumed. Now he would return to inform his boss of the news and face severe punishment. But before his return he called upon the orcs to go after the human and the elf, they could not have been far. Both were severely injured and without help, they could catch them easily.

The journey back was neither easy nor short, however, walking away from the forsaken camp made the haste somewhat lessened. Both dealt with pain and darkness, and they tried not to dwell on those now. They were reaching the outside world away from the dark ruins from the east. There could barely move, nor breathe but a few more steps and they would manage it.

Legolas could hear voices that were assaulting his ears, such terrible sounds that it was painful. There were hands touching him, lifting him and moving him. The human in her own shock and pain followed the path without much complaining. For Legolas, he was a prisoner in his own body, dwelling on his pain. And Xena was unable to offer any kind of aid, a prisoner in her own mind.

Until both of them noticed it. When the moon emerged from behind the gloomy clouds, it showed a group of towering silhouettes; these were not orcs, but elves. Finally, they were safe. Legolas and Xena exchanged a gloomy grin just before collapsing in front of them.

Aragorn, Gandalf, Glorfindel, and the others had discovered the elf and human on the trail, not far from the ruins they were going to explore. Aragorn recognised with a wrenching sense of regret that his companion had endured a hell of agony and insanity. A little moment later, he saw that the human had experienced the same horror. The rain began to fall in torrents at this point, and the ranger bent over, sheltering Legolas and gently rolling him over to see whether he might be moved. Glorfindel pursued and kept an eye on the human.

"I am here, my friend," Aragorn said in a lower tone as he softly tried to pull up Legolas into a sitting position noticing that the elf was not responding "We have found you, and we will bring you to safety." He gazed toward two of the guards who rushed over to aid him to pick up the injured elf. Two more joined Glorfindel and secured the human.

"We have to flee," Gandalf said "We aren't safe here."

Aragorn nodded and encircled Legolas, bringing him over to the horse and mounting him with the assistance of the guards. Xena was transferred to another horse, and the company rode back to Rivendell without delay. They needed only to reach protected grounds, and Lord Elrond was one of the most capable healers. He would heal them.

As the group approached Rivendell, the quiet, secluded settlement of Elves drew their attention from afar. "What happened to the Prince?" inquired a voice as an elf from the gate approached them.

"Alert Master Elrond," Gandalf said, seeing the elf whirl around and hurry to locate and inform his lord.

"Bring them both to the healing chambers," Glorfindel instructed as two other elves joined them and began relocating Legolas and Xena's bodies.

The moon shone only as a type of 'by-shine' through the House East of the Sea and up to the city, the moonlight and low-light found at night and twilight, while the whole lower half remained enveloped in mist. Both had been successfully carried into the healing room by the guards. Lord Elrond arrived with Arwen after being informed about them, to find the rest of the party frightened.

The dense mist was dissipating. Elrond leaned over Legolas, the flames' lights flickering. "Alas!" he said, his voice sorrowful. "This is indescribable. What happened?"

"We are not quite certain, but they were both captured by a party of orcs," Aragorn informed Elrond as he and his medics began washing and undressing the injured in order to begin the healing process.

The lord of Rivendell motioned for everyone to go, save for the healers. Both the elf and the human sustained major injuries to their brains and bodies. Their recuperation took more than three days, during which Lord Elrond stayed by their side. He was well aware that the prince of Mirkwood would never recover completely. He'd have to bear yet another wound in his heart. He was uncertain about the human's survival. Time would tell. Legolas and Xena both spent 11 days in the healing wards. Elrond and his healers make the most of their abilities.

((Upcoming Chapter Twenty-Six))

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