Laitheryn barely registered Elladans' jump of surprise as the momentum he achieved threw both he, Dinenant and the young Lord to the ground. His attention was focused directly on the shower of arrows that shot, safely, over their heads and right into the stunned crowd of orcs.

Several Orcs screamed in shock and pain as their reflexes were too slow to avoid the attack. Laitheryn could dimly hear their bodies following as bolts sliced through their ancient weak armour and pierced their skin. Another scream, near his location made him jump at the sheer misery behind the wail. Uncontrolled by conscious, Laitheryn glanced towards the sound.

His gaze located the creature that had made the sound, and saw much to his horror that the Orc had several bolts embedded into his skin, all nonfatal shots, meant only to cause pain and a slow death. The orc screamed in pain as its dark blood drained, slowly, onto to the surface of the ground. Its sword lay uselessly next to it as the orc did not appear to have enough strength to lift it, even if it was to quicken its own death.

'It was once an elf…' Laitheryn thought, saddened by the callousness of the second born.

While Laitheryn would not hesitate to rift an orc of its life, he would ensure that its passage into death would be as painless and as quick as possible. The orcs were a cruel and twisted creature, yet it was not their intention to become monsters. They had been elves, tortured into what they had become, and still deserved a quick death over a long and painful one. 'Yet the Adan may not see them as they once existed….They only see them as they are.'

The monsters screams seem to thicken, as the last of its blood drained from its wounds and ensuring that its body gradually shut down as there was not enough of the life fluid to maintain its function. It gave a weak warble before its eyes shut for the last time. Laitheryn offered a quick prayer for its eternal soul before his gaze left the pitiful sight.

His next thought were the elves that had, until recently, been surrounding Elladan, Almir, Dinenant and himself. And he preyed that none had been badly injured by the sudden attack, as it was only he and the Greenwood Elves that had been slightly prepared for the impending assault. Shifting slightly he flickered his gaze around the circle of elves. What he saw pleased him and he thanked the Valar for the inherent kindness in elves for their kin and even those unrelated to them. For, despite the differences between the two realms, the Greenwood elves were crouching over many of the Imladris kin, having brought many to the ground by sudden movement.

Laitheryn sighed in relief, without the Greenwood elves sudden concern for those that resided in the last homely house it was far more likely that many of the party he accompanied would have been gravely injured due to the unexpected attack. Laitheryn privately thanked the Valar for blessing him with the ability to understand nature once more, pleased that he was able to assist his friends, but concerned that the sparse nature of the desert spoke of danger.

A sound echoed in his ears and Laitheryn turned his head in the direction of the noise that had caught his attention. A flicker of something he only could identify by logic passed overhead and he followed the course of this arrow to its target. The orc it targeted evaded it by luck, its shield happened to have found the course of the attack and the silver arrow head reflected harmlessly off of the thick metal.

The orc jumped back, seemingly aware of its luck and threw several dark curses back at those targeting it. Some were in a language that Laitheryn had only heard of and recognized only a few words of the dark tongue. He shivered at the twisted language drifting to his ears and tried his best not to hear it.

Suddenly, while still hurling insults at those 'cowards' around it, the dark orc charged in the direction the original arrow came from. Laitheryn found himself swallowing as he realized the fatal mistake the orc had just made. Orcs were not a smart creature, their intelligence having been driven from them by the darkness that made them, and this one had just exposed his small group, and his back to a counter.

It was not long before several twangs of un-tended bows echoed to him followed by the dying cry of the orc that fell. The one that had left the circle of orcs fell harshly, onto the bloodied grounds of Arda, four bolts cutting through the weak armour on its back and the last bolt was the fatal shot. The fifth arrow found its way through the back of the corrupted elf's neck and had severed the connection between the creatures' lungs and its mouth. It died a second later, as the young elf watched the orcs blood speed out of its wounds and it struggle for the breath that could not come.

Laitheryn found himself hoping that those corrupted by the hands of another would find the peace in death that it had been rift of in life. The Orcs had much pain and many deaths to answer for; yet their actions were not fully their fault. It had been stressed repetitively to Laitheryn during his training that it had not been their will to become Yrch in the first place…and whatever atrocities they had committed after their fall must be partly blamed elsewhere.

Shaking himself of these thoughts the young elf watched the fate of the small circle of orcs. They had assembled in a circle, pressing their small shields together, in hopes that the small pieces of thick metal would protect them from the deadly rainstorm of arrows that fell their way. For a moment it appeared to be working, as some arrows reflected off the shields and missing their targets. The orcs seemed to sneer at the humans in the shadows around them, mocking them for their folly.

From the center of the orcish party, protected from the human assault; some of the orcs found a way to fight back. Laitheryn watched as an opening appeared in the midsized shields of the outside orcs; suddenly a bolt shot through the circle, following several others that had appeared from the orcs.

The blonde elf followed the orc's attempt at a counter attack back to the humans hiding in the darkness. He lost sight of the arrows quickly, as his vision was cut off by many of the crouching Greenwood elves surrounding him. He did not miss the cries of the humans that fell due to the counter attack. One stopped quickly, while the other moaned on for what seemed an eternity until that one too died. Laitheryn sighed, the cries of the dying Adans' sounded so young….to young to be witnessing this kind of battle.

More arrows shot from both parties, and the battle field grew confused with flickers of death coming from both directions. Laitheryn watched as the battle slowly shifted back to the orcs' favour as none of their members fell to human hands. However by the sounds that echoed through the darkness, Laitheryn could tell that some of the humans were being hit.

The darkened creatures hollered at the hidden attackers, a faint sound of victory coming from many of their combined voices. '…Yet the battle is not won….I am unsure on who I wish to win now…it may be that the humans are no different to the orcs.'

It appeared that the humans had noted that their bolts were no longer effective against the orcs. Laitheryn observed as the last bolt flew harmlessly into one of the orcish shields.

The silence that occurred after was unnerving, as he watched the confused orcs send panicked glances all around, looking for their invisible attackers. One of the tallest, and most broadest across, bellowed a challenging note into the surrounding dark. Its call went unheeded and unanswered by the humans that haunted the shattering orcs. 'They are not in position yet. If the orcs were to attack, they could win…yet they will not give up their captives so easily.'

Suddenly a harsh whistle echoed to the left and Laitheryn flickered his gaze in the direction of that sound. This appeared to be a signal of some sort; as a horde of men appeared from the darkness and rushed towards the shattering orcs. The first thing that Laitheryn noted was that they wore an assortment of old leather clothes, browned in age with obvious signs of ill use. He could see the appearance of patches over some sections and bits of twine held some of the sketchier pieces together. These men were not from a trained army, yet appeared to be used to fighting.

Their charge was unanimous and the orcs shrieked as they approached, turning so that their backs were to their companions in an effort to stem the charge.

The orcs raised whatever weapons they had on them, and Laitheryn was still struck with the sheer number that remained. Of the eighty orcs of the combined party, it appeared that only thirty to forty remained. Yet there seemed to be more then double that number of humans. '…The Valar have traded Yrch for Adans…I pray that their intentions for us are not as dire as those of our first captors.'

Laitheryn watched as the humans charged forth, nearly two waves which seemed to crest upon the dark bodies of the orcs, temporarily stopped by the darkened weapons of the foul creatures. As the chaos around him increased Laitheryn was unsure of where to look. A shout attracted is attention and he responded by switching his gaze over there.

A human was being cornered by three orcs. He appeared to be young, younger than some of the other humans he traveled with. In the minds of the orcs, age meant everything. The younger their victim was, the more likely he or she was to be inexperienced and an easy target. This human was no exception to that.

The human youth had dark blonde hair, which was dirtied by the mud that had been smeared on his face to blend him in with the shadows they were trying to imitate. His hair hung in dirty limp locks round his face and shadowed his desperate dark brown eyes. 'This child does not belong here; he has no experience in these matters.'

The youth took a desperate swing at one of the orcs, only to miss as the orc merely stepped out of the way of the clumsy gamble. The youth tried again, having to take a step to reach the offending orc, which was clearly enjoying the youths' attempts to harm it as it laughed as the child missed once more.

Laitheryn knew this method that the orcs were employing on this human. It was an easy tactic, one that anyone with experience would see through. As the youth continued to try to attack one of the orcs, it would move further and further ahead, forcing the victim ahead too. Slowly the orcs would cut the vulnerable fighter off from his group and then surround him, where they would then kill their victim.

Laitheryn knew he had been lucky to survive his own ring of orcs, when they had tried this tactic on him. They had misjudged his age and skill and had ended up dead instead. But this youth was not as skilled as he was and would surely perish.

The boy had gone to attack the lead orc once more, falling further for their trap, when it had finally responded and brought the flat side of its sword down on the boys arm. The boy let lose a scream as his weapon dropped, uselessly to the ground of Arda, and Laitheryn knew in that moment that the boy's fate was sealed; his arm had just been broken. Confirming Laitheryn's suspicions the human instinctively clutched his arm with his other hand, leaving himself completely vulnerable to attack.

The young fighter barely dodged the next attack, falling backwards as the sword swung towards him, ending up on his back on the ground. Laitheryn could almost sense the fear emanating from the child in this moment. Laitheryn watched as the youth desperately scooted backwards and saw the dread forming in the young humans' eyes when his back came in contact with the boot of the orc behind him. The creature gave off a cruel laugh which Laitheryn could hear even from where he resided. The youth's gaze went from fear to one of surety and the elf knew the youth had realized his own mortality in that second.

The human youth seemed to accept this fate as he did not move as the sword descended once more. Instead of flinching away from the deadly weapon once more, and possibly encouraging more pain for his efforts the human boy stayed still and allowed the sword to fall. Laitheryn winced as the humans head flew and rolled away from its body.

The corrupted elves stared as if surprised at how easily they had beaten a child, and then howled in satisfaction. Laitheryn averted his gaze as one reached down and picked up the boy's severed head, he had no wish to see what the orc intention was.

A moment passed and the group that he had been watching gave up a mighty victory cry, which was echoed by the remaining orcs as a way to frighten their enemies. The boy's death was one of only a few orcish victories in this battle.

Helplessly Laitheryn looked elsewhere in the battle, and locked his gaze onto a small group of humans. Of all he had witnessed these seven seemed to be the most skilled and were making the most headway on the orc numbers. There were many brutish bodies strewn behind them as they charged further in to the mass of orcs.

The leader had dulled auburn hair, darkened by the soil that had been poured over him; his soul darkened by the blood that had been spilled over him. The tall human gave no thought to numbers as he gave off a loud war cry before charging with a group of twenty assorted men right into the center of the orc army.

His thick sword flashed in the dull light, following in its wake were droplets of dark pitch coloured blood that had just been rift from an orc corpse. The human spun sharply and blocked the blow coming from his left, bringing the dark blade straight down on the orcish arm in front of him. The orc screamed in pain as it watched its arm be severed, and Laitheryn swallowed his sympathy for the beast.

Instinctively the dark beast clutched its bleeding arm with its other, and howled in a mixture of pain and anger at the red haired human. Before more could move in the Adan spun in another tight circle, the thick sword gaining momentum as he reached his goal. Laitheryn watched as the wounded beasts' head fell away from its body. A second later the dead body collapsed next to the others that had fallen.

The human laughed at the carnage before turning to press another of the faltering orcs with his blade. His sword found another victim and more yrch blood fell and coated the second born.

It appeared to the young elf that these twenty men were the most talented from the army of humans that had surrounded them. Instead of spreading out their talent and helping the weaker members of their group, they stuck together and allowed the others to be killed.

Risking a glance around the battle field confirmed this, for it was littered with both human and orcs, some dead and some dying. Laitheryn could hear the moans coming from those still alive; the symphony of human and orc cries of agony and pain sounding no different from one another. The human fighters and Orcish warriors were in pain and were dying, and their pain at such a callous death was no different.

He watched the dying for a second longer until the sight and the sounds became so unbearable that he looked away, to the only sight he could. Without realizing it Laitheryn had switched his gaze back to the plundering humans and even though they had lost a few members the ferocity of their attack had not waned.

Under the constant pressure from the human fighters the orcs seemed to lose their nerve. As their numbers dwindled down so did their courage, until finally there was only a few left standing. Those still alive turned to flee but the human fighters easily surrounded the unguided orcs and cut any chance of escape off.

The slow orcs seemed to realize this and howled in anger as the knowledge that their lives would end this day. Laitheryn's gaze settled on the dark aurburn haired human once more and watched him callously taunt the orc he was facing off against. The orc bravely dove towards the human, who spun quickly to miss the descent of the large axe like weapon it held.

The orcs weapon fell towards the grounds of Arda, for a split second. The orc howled once more and hefted the axe upwards, on an angle spearing right towards the human fighter. Before it could hit the second born warrior danced backwards and cut the dark weapon clear through, the top of the axe falling uselessly to the ground. The orc's eyes seemed to glaze in panic as it seemed to realize it was now defenceless against the human fighters.

The man cut in once more and before the beast realized what was occurring the human had dragged his sword quickly across the orcs' chest. The cut was not deep enough to kill the beast, and was intentionally inflicted to cause pain.

Beside that defenceless orc, two more fell as human swords found their way past their armour and into their bodies. Laitheryn watched as their life blood slowly drained from their bodies. There was a deep grief in there eyes, as their existence as orcs ended as painfully as their initiation, soon that grief faded as their darkened souls fled away.

Another of the monsters' gave a desperate cry and tried to cut his way to freedom. It succeeded in wounding one of the human warriors, and a human cry joined those of the orcs still alive. The human fell quickly, its cries ending as the orc trampled over it in an effort to escape its certain death.

The dark orc tried to run through the hole in the circle of humans, but its charge was met. As it passed the circle the humans on either side of it reacted. Laitheryn watched as, almost in tandem, one of the human blades swung for its waist, while the other swung for its throat.

Both cruel hits fell almost at the same moment and the young elf watched as the orc was cut almost in half at the first blow, only to lose its head at the second. Black blood spurted up from both injuries, the most coming from where its head used to be. The elf watched as it rained down, like a bloody rainfall on the two humans that had ended its life.

A weak cry turned Laitheryn's attention back to the man he supposed was the leader of the party. The red haired human darted around the third last orc, circling the clumsy beast like a cat, cutting ribbons of its flesh in his wake. His cruel inflictions of his blade were not deep enough to end the creatures suffering, but this human seemed to enjoy watching his prey suffer.

Laitheryn could not help the shudder that coursed through him as he watched the orc suffer the same torture he had under the trees of Mirkwood, cuts merely meant to hurt…not kill. Despite the pain the orcs had caused all of his kin, from the forest realm and from the valley realm; he had never wanted the orcs to suffer as much as these three were. It disgusted him to watch humans that enjoyed death just as much as the orcs that had previously been their guards.

The elf watched as the human brought his flickering sword across the back of the creatures' knees. Before the beast could fall the human darted back around it and seemed to be satisfied that the torture was almost complete. The human smirked towards the fallen orc, apparently aware that the orc's life was slowly and painfully dripping from its multiple wounds.

The orc moaned weakly in pain and gazed up at its killer. Laitheryn found himself comparing the compassion he saw in the humans' face for the amount that the orcs showed to their elven captives. The dying orc seemed to whimper pitifully and the elf found himself wishing that the dark human would finish the creature off, before the wounded soul had to feel more pain.

It was not to be.

With a final laugh the red haired human turned from the adversary and seemed to take scope of the situation behind him…all the orcs were dead or were dying.

"How callous…." Laitheryn whispered.

"I fear for our fate." Elladan whispered back.

I know…I know…Very late. Very sorry. Please don't hurt me. Don't seem to have much time to type anymore. I've been swamped at my campus…to many classes. I finally decided to drop one of them so I should be able to start updating at a more frequent pace.

Thanks to everyone who read this chapter…and those that have been waiting for this story to update. I really do appreciate your patience and will update every week or every other week from now on.

Laitheryn's section on this story will be ending soon…and I'm wondering whose section to concentrate on next. The three choices are Elladan, Elrond or Thranduil…leave a review and tell me which one you would like to read next.

Next chapter should be more interesting…

As I will explore Laitheryn's history in different stories. I know I've glossed over quite a few things (or have just mentioned them in this story) and I will go back and explain these incidences later on.