Title: "Revenge"
Author: LegolasLover2003 aka Ashley
Category: Book - "Lord of the Rings"
Genre: Angst/Adventure
Rating: M
Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to "The Lord of the Rings". I just adore it to pieces! Legede is a character of my own invention however. You may use him, but please ask permission to do so first.
NOTE: This story takes place after "Savior & Destroyer". You MUST read that story first for this one to make sense.


REVENGE


Chapter II:
Swift Kills in the Dead of Night


Emyn-nu-Fuin... The Mountains of Mirkwood...

Long had it been since Legolas looked upon it's slopes, and never had he seen them in happier days when his kin knew them as the Emyn Duir. The prince had heard stories of these dark mountains as a child. Growing, he had been told of the evils that dwelt within it's crags and tunnels... dark things that should not be forgotten.

Now, standing before it, a part of the prince was filled with fear. Tileng was within these peaks, he knew... and so too was Aragorn. Dropping from his mount, the prince urged the fair creature to return into the folds of the trees and await his return. With the horse gone, Legolas began his ascent on a small passage, nothing more than an old deer trail really, that looked as if it had seen no beast for centuries. The prince stopped for but a moment, bending his bow and stringing it quickly. Then he crept up into those hills, silent as the grave, his weapon at the ready should need arise.

Day grew into night but the keen eyes of Legolas peered through the gloom as he climbed ever higher, leaving the forest floor far below. Wind whipped about him and soon it became apparent that even his skill as an archer would be of no use here. No arrow could fly straight and true in this gale. So once more the prince bent his bow, un-stringing the weapon this time and placing it on his back. His pale hand took from their sheaths one of his white handled knives as he crept through the darkness.

Then he saw it.

In the shadow of the mountains there stood two men, each talking to the other, though no fire burned. Men in the realm of his father were an uncommon sight... men hiding in these evil hills was rarer still. Swiftly... silently... the Elven prince crept upon the two sentinels, the rounds of his eyes wide to take in any light that the stars could spare. Neither mortal heard the archer's approach and they continued on in their conversation just the same.

At least none noticed the Elf until Legolas grabbed one of the guards round the shoulders and chest and held his knife beneath the man's throat. "Move, and I kill him now." the prince spoke quietly, his voice directed at the other on watch. "Where is the Ranger? Speak softly."

The man across from the archer smirked, one hand resting on his sword. "Lose someone have ya? Guess it's a good thing we picked up a stray today, ay?" When Legolas made no move nor sound, the human continued. "He's in the cave yonder. Doubtful you'll make it far enough in. I don't think even an Elf could storm this place."

A flash of light in the prince's eyes was all the warning given before his blade sliced through the throat of the man he held and his lithe body was spinning toward the other. The human brought his sword to bear but it was not enough, as one precise downward cross slash opened the man's chest and he tumbled to the dusty ground, same as the other. Legolas spun his knife, flinging blood from the blade before stepping toward the entrance to a cavern of sorts. Far back in it's reaches he could see light... a torch it seemed and thus, leaving the two dead sentinels where they lay, he picked his way forward carefully, crouching in the shadow. He drew his other blade, fearing that the need to use it would be soon upon him. But no one came from within the cavern, no person dared show their face, though if the occupants within knew that battle was soon to be upon them, the prince could not say.

Inch by inch, Legolas moved further into the mountain. The light in the back of the cavern now fell upon him and not for the first time did he sense a feeling of dread in his heart. How many men was he to face? How many would die upon his blade tonight? None of these men were innocent if they worked for Tileng. None of them deserved the Elf's mercy.

Then Legolas stopped, holding his breath in silence as the sound of feet crept into his ears. They were coming closer, two... no three of them. The light shifted as shadows flickered across the cavern walls and every muscle in the prince's body coiled itself to spring.

"You're having too good a time with'im." one voice spoke as the three rounded a bend in the cavern. "Suppose that Elf won't show, ay? What then?"

The archer could hear the smirk in the man's words even before that voice sounded. "He will. That princeling filth will show himself. I'm sure of it."

"Yeah but we're playin' with fire 'ere, Tileng." came the voice of the third man. "Yer stirrin' up these here woodland Elves. Their king ain't likely to take kindly to..."

"I know what I'm doing." their leader spoke darkly. "I could care less about the Elves. I'm only after one of their ilk anyway."

Legolas could see them now, though he was still shrouded by shadow. The two who walked behind were older than he had placed them from their words... and not from the same part of the world as Tileng, which was obvious enough by the accent of their tongues. But it was the man in front that garnered the prince's full attention... his full ire...

Tileng Handiri...

Rage boiled in the son of Thranduil's veins. His hands clenched the hilts of his knives tightly, knuckles white in anger. Every instinct in Legolas screamed at him to flee, that here was the source of his greatest pain. But the prince's heart bid him go on.

As Legolas readied himself, Tileng held up a hand, stopping where he stood. Both of his companions fell silent as their leader drew a sword from his side.

Not just any sword either...

Strider's sword... Estel's sword...

"I don't hear the guards ahead." Handiri spoke softly, his eyes glancing about the cavern and the rocks. Fearing an ambush, the man walked backward a few paces. "You two, go ahead and see if the way is clear."

Panic gripped Legolas for a moment, for if the men moved another ten paces ahead, they would surely see him. Which meant that he had to go through these two first...

But the prince had not the time to ponder his next course of action for already the two were walking forward, their own weapons, one a sword and the other an axe, drawn from their belts. The archer sprang then, launching himself at the first, the sword wielder, and gutting him where he stood before ere he realized it. A pivot on one heel brought both of his knives, crossed together, over his head in time to block a downward axe strike aimed for his skull. Legolas kicked out then, slamming his soft booted heel against the inside of the man's left knee, sending him to the ground. There was one swift movement as the prince's arms flexed and pulled his blades apart. Caught between the two knives, the human's head rolled clean from his shoulders not a second later. Blue eyes, glinting in the light of the torch, found Tileng then, the human standing there... smirking... just twenty, maybe thirty paces away.

"Always did think you looked better in blood. Too bad it isn't your own... yet." Handiri spoke, that smirk remaining at his lips.

Unlike the guards he had felled so far however, the prince knew his adversary was a seasoned warrior. To take him on in this small space, on his own ground, could easily be a mistake on his part. Knives held before him in a readied stance, the archer kept his gaze fixed on his target.

"Return the Ranger." Legolas spoke, twirling his knives within his hands, blooding sliding from their sharpened tips effortlessly. "He is not the one you seek."

Tileng laughed, "True enough, Elf. I seek you. To finish what I started. But your Ranger friend... his screams amuse me." the man let Estel's sword tap against the stone ground. "Does it hurt? Knowing you're the cause of his pain?"

"I am the cause of nothing." Legolas hissed, walking forward slowly, his body tense. "It is your hand that hurts him. Your hand that hurt me long ago. I have done nothing but try to save a friend... and flee from your tainted grasp." again he twirled his knives, blue gaze looking for an opening... for the best place to strike.

Aragorn was in the cavern somewhere beyond this man... If only...

Handiri raised his stolen sword, "Then have at me, Elf. If you delay too long, my men will think something amiss and come looking." he smirked, his dark gaze piercing in the low light.

There was nothing to be done and the prince knew this. Quickly he sprang, spinning his body to add strength and momentum to the side swipe of his knives. They rang out in a clash, both blades catching Tileng's sword. But Legolas did not stop there as his arms pressed, sending the sword out to the human's side, the long blade's tip pointed overhead to the cavern ceiling. A split second passed as the knife in the prince's right wrist turned, blade toward the ground, before pulling the weapon back in front intending an upward slash from hip to shoulder across the exposed chest of his foe; his other knife poised at the ready near his head should need for a downward blow or defense present itself.

But something happened then that the son of Thranduil had not foreseen. A prick at his neck, a soft whistle of air just before, and the knives fell from Legolas' hands, his fingers, his arms, free of all feeling. His body went numb, never able to carry out the final death blow against Tileng as the Elf crashed to the cavern floor.

Laughter assaulted his ears and soon Tileng was kneeling next to him, a mocking smile on his face. The human took in the prince's collapsed form, the body flat against the cavern floor, the head propped slightly up against the wall of the cave, and the arms that lay limps at his sides... but it was those blue eyes that glared up at him, understanding... seeing... and the fear in the depths of those eyes... yes. That fear is what Handiri had so desperately wanted to behold once more. A man appeared from down the tunnel with a small blowpipe, obviously he was the wielder of the instrument that had felled the prince. Tileng then reached out, taking Legolas' chin in hand and forcing the Elf to stare up at him.

"You're mine now... to do with as I please. Hope you enjoy your stay." he laughed once more, issuing an order for his men to pick up the paralyzed Elf and to take him... 'to see his friend'.


TO BE CONTINUED...


Elvish Words To Know:

NA


Author's Notes:

- Tileng is obviously going to look much older than he did in "Savior & Destroyer" but I won't have Legolas really dwell on that JUST yet.

- I know a blowpipe is a blowgun but calling it a blowgun sounded stupid since they have no guns... but they do have pipes!

- The accent of the first guard to speak is actually an Australian accent. In fact, when writing the dialogue, I kept hearing David Wenham in my head when he played Fletcher in "Australia" so that's what I went with. Most of the men in Tileng's gang have a similar accent as well, though Tileng himself does not.


Muse Moments:

Nil sighs happily, standing back, hammer in hand, admiring her handiwork. "There... I knew my room felt naked without these little guys."

"Oh yes because a poster of Heath Ledger's The Joker from "The Dark Knight", a poster of GACKT with two guns drawn, a poster of GACKT in a kimono with a katana, a poster of small biographies of all the character in "The Lord of the Rings", a poster of a shirtless Balian of Ibelin from "Kingdom of Heaven", a poster of Will Turner from "Pirates of the Caribbean", a poster of Josh Groban from his "Awake" tour, a poster of Legolas in Helm's Deep armor, a movie poster for "JAWS", a sheathed katana, a panda banboo wallscroll calender, and a poster of, creepily enough myself and Helen from "Troy" are not enough to un-naked your walls?" Paris asks with a raised eyebrow.

Nil shrugs, "Yeah but... something just felt wrong. These little buggers make it right." she pats the White Handled Twin Fighting Knives of Legolas. "Plus I like the symbol of the family of Oropher right there too. Very very nice."

Legolas walks by, looks at the knives, then tilts his head. "Nil... did you steal my..."

"Nooooo these are MINE! MY OWN! MY PRECIOUS!" she giggles.

The Elf sighs, rolling his eyes. "Why did I even bother to ask?"