At first, Tauriel was too shocked to react at all; after a moment, though, she pushed Legolas away once again, and this time, he let go of her. His face betrayed that he was almost just as surprised as she was; his eyes were full of embarrassment as well. However, while she did her best not to look at him, he could not help but stare at her, admiring her features. Her cheeks were now slightly red, but it only made her look prettier.

That was not the best time for admiring, though, as they heard a noise. For now, this noise was coming from afar, nevertheless, they were pretty sure it would change soon enough as they recognised it perfectly.

"Orcs," Legolas grimaced, glancing away; as he looked around, he understood that the orcs were coming from the mountains. It was nothing strange. After all, it was one of their lairs, one of the most known ones. Still, it did not change the fact he had hoped they would not meet those creatures so early on their way.

While Legolas had never had any problems with fighting with orcs, it was not the best moment for that. There was only Tauriel with him, and it was obvious to him that she was not completely healthy yet. Besides, orcs always moved in packs, and even trying to escape them would be difficult as he was not sure how big this pack would be.

"They must not see us," he added, grabbing Tauriel's hand when he noticed that she was reaching for an arrow.

"They will see us, if they haven't already," she replied, frowning. "Hiding won't help us now, we must get rid of as many as possible before they reach us."

Although he would rather not agree with her, he knew perfectly that she was right. Orcs moved fast after the dusk, and the sun had already set. Besides, one could not forget that although defiled, they had once been elves, and their eyesight was still much better than that of an average human.

"There are only two of us. Are you sure that –"

"I have never thought I'd live long enough to see my lord Legolas chicken out," answered Tauriel, letting out a small chuckle.

The smirk Legolas sent to her reminded her of the good old times, and she could not help but smile as well. Now, feeling him let go of her hand, she reached for an arrow once again and prepared to shoot. By her side, Legolas did exactly the same.

"You have a better aim, and I'm faster," he said. "Take down their commander first, and I'll take care of the rest."

There was no point in arguing; besides, Tauriel knew that Legolas was right. However, there was one thing that made her feel uneasy: she wondered why the orcs from Moria would move to the east. There were many possibilities but none of them managed to calm her down. Taking a deep breath, she waited for the best moment to shoot.

"Don't let them get to close," she heard Legolas' whisper close to her ear. "And avoid the arrows. The archers will be somewhere in the back."

It was nothing Tauriel would not be aware of; nevertheless, she realised that Legolas said that because he was worried about her, so she did not feel irriration but thankfulness. The fact he was by her side at such a moment calmed her down.

"Do not do anything silly," she replied to him in the same low tone. His response to that was a quiet chuckle only she could hear.

"Have I ever done such a thing?"

Smiling softly, she waited no more. It was the perfect moment to take one of them down. Recognising who the commander was was not difficult: it was always the biggest and the ugliest one. This one was particularly big and ugly, and for a moment, Tauriel felt some strange weight in her chest.

The one at the head of the pack was not just an orc. She would recognise those broad shoulders and armoured body anywhere. Although he was so far away, she could notice his mismatched eyes and a mocking sneer.

She faltered, feeling her arms go weak. The fact that the arrow did not fall down was nothing short of miraculous.

"Tauriel, what are you waiting for?" she heard Legolas' voice as if from afar. "Take him down!"

It was his arrow that finally hit the aim. The commander's eyes opened wide when the arrowhead sank deep into his neck. Once he fell down onto the ground, he was nothing but a grey mass in which Tauriel was not able to recognise anything nor anyone. Only then did she understand that it was not the very orc that had killed Kili...

The one that had killed Kili was long since dead. He would not hurt her anymore. He had died and laid buried under the stones at the Ravenhill.

"Tauriel!" Legolas called her name once again, this time bringing her back to reality.

Not answering to his call, she began shooting. This time, it terrified Legolas how merciless and fast she was. Soon, though, both of them ran out of the arrows and they had to reach for their swords. While he was not one who preferred fighting like that, he knew that Tauriel had always been good with her daggers.

Nevertheless, there were way too many of them, and two elves were not enough to get rid of such a throng of orcs. And he, Legolas, had a quest that needed to be fulfilled as soon as possible, because the fate of all Middle-earth depended on it. It was not his will to survive; rather the fact he knew it was his duty to do so.

This time, it was not necessary to tell Tauriel to attack the orcs. As soon as she realised that she had run out of arrows, she hung the bow over her shoulders and reached for the daggers she had attached to her belt.

Although Legolas smiled at first, seeing how enthusiastic she was, he then felt anxious. Something about her was not right. The blush upon her cheeks was not something he would ever be willing to see. The sparkles in her eyes were nothing healthy, either; he wondered if she did not try to hide her tears away from him.

It was not wise to let her go against all of the orcs by herself, so he soon joined her, reaching for the double blades he wore on his back. While he knew he could use Tauriel's behaviour as a distraction and simply get through unnoticed, he could not leave her there to be killed. She was his friend, and although proud like any elf, he was not heartless. Even when he was aware of the fact he could not stay there to fight.

Legolas was pretty glad that the orcs were so stupid. Yes, they knew how to fight, but they were predictable; at the same time, they could hardly predict what their opponent would do, therefore the young prince did not have problems fighting them. Nevertheless, there were way too many of them, and he and Tauriel would never be able to defeat all of them.

No matter how many times he called her name, she fought as if in a trance, her face wet from tears mixed with sweat. There was only one time he had ever seen her in such a state, and back then, she had almost died.

Having decided to ignore the orcs, he finally approached Tauriel. Their swords met as she had not seen him coming there and was ready to kill him as well.

"There are too many of them!" he told her, frowning. "We must get out!"

Tauriel, though, was not willing to agree.

"If you want to leave, go. I shall stay here," she told him, sinking the dagger in the chest of another orc. "I cannot fail again."

At that moment, they were parted by more of those foul creatures and each of them had to fight to stay alive; there was no time for talking, and in this turmoil of battle, Legolas lost the sight of Tauriel once again.

Out of sudden, they heard a great voice of one of the orcs. Although they could not understand what it was saying, the creatures began departing just as quickly as they came. Legolas frowned, watching them leave – it seemed they were expected somewhere and they had no time for fighting two little elves.

Not at once did he notice Tauriel laying on the grass. Although she was a great warrior, she had been outnumbered and finally someone knocked her down.

With a quiet sigh, he put the blades back into the sheaths on his back and leant down to pick Tauriel up. No matter how much she had been fighting against it, there was nothing else Legolas could do at this moment. With her being in this state, they needed to head to Imladris.