In the Ruins//Legolas

Chapter 13; Doing the Right Thing

"If you harm them, you will have to kill me." Legolas tells his father, steely hatred flaring in his blue eyes. Then the prince turns to them, ignoring Thranduil's broken look of shock, and presses Durion's dropped sword back into his hand.

"I will go with you." He tells them, receiving a look of gratefulness from Tauriel and one of reluctantly pleased curiosity from Durion. They turn to leave, but after just a few steps, Durion stops and turns back to the king. After making sure the other two are out of earshot, he tosses the king a certain leather pouch and then speaks.

"Those gems are not the only thing your wife left you. She left you a son. I advise you to think about which one she would have you value more." The king's eyes widen as he sees a glimmering light erupt from the air in front of Durion. Durion just scoffs and snatches the rune for justice and fairness, Tiwaz, out of the air. The king hastily looks down at the pouch. Then he opens his mouth and looks back up, only to find out the elf was already gone

***

Durion catches up to the two elves and together they make their way to Ravenhill. Legolas separates from them, catching a ride with large bats Durion remembers from Dol Guldur, to get to a better vantage point with his bow and arrows.

"Kili!" Tauriel screams as they see the dwarf fighting many orcs in the ruins. They quickly make their way over and start searching for the dwarf. On their way they encounter and kill many orcs. "Kili!"

"Kili!" Durion calls his name too.

"Tauriel!" They hear an answering cry that echoes through the ruins. Suddenly, Bolg drops in front of them and slams Tauriel into the wall. Durion shouts in surprise and cuts at Bolg's back, now being mindful of where it is protected by the iron plates. The orc lets Tauriel go as he twists in pain and turns to Durion. The orc's fist flies at the elf and Durion drops down, letting it crash into the wall behind him. The kick, however, he is unable to avoid, so he rolls with it. He flies further than he anticipated and his back and head smash against a wall. For a moment, he is unsure where he is and what he is doing. He blinks the fog in his eyes away and registers that Kili joined them. Tauriel must have been thrown away in similar fashion as Durion at some point, because she was lying on the ground clutching her side. Kili jumps at Bolg, slashing him with his sword. Bolg then, however, manages to grab Kili's neck and holds him still as he readies the pointed handle of his mace against his chest.

"No!" Shouts Durion and almost trips over his wobbly legs in his haste to save the dwarf. His hand draws Algiz almost on its own. The impact of the handle against his rule shield makes Durion groan. He feels the sharp point of the mace pushing through the shield as if it was his own skin. Mind still focused on holding up the magic, Durion takes the last few steps that divide him from the orc and Kili and swings his sword at the hand holding the dwarf's head. With an animalistic growl, Bolg lets Kili fall to the ground and swings his mace at Durion, seemingly done trying to kidnap him alive. Durion takes advantage of this and leads him away from Tauriel, who is dragging half conscious Kili to some relative safety. Bolg shouts something at the elf, Durion only recognising the words 'baurz' and 'alba'. He rolls his eyes, quite frustrated with the dark speech. "Come on! Westron?! Ever heard of it?!" Durion taunts the orc and, in response, Bolg charges at him. Durion tries to evade, but the orc's shoulder catches his side, sending him tumbling down some stairs. A pain filled shout escapes his lips.

Through the black spots dancing in front of his vision, he can see Bolg approaching him and he starts searching around for his sword that flew out of his hand sometime during the tumble. Then there is a loud noise, like stone collapsing. Durion twists to see what made the sound, expecting some of the ruin he is on to be gone in the chasm. His eyes widen when he sees the entirety of the watchtower from the other side of the chasm has fallen and created a makeshift bridge across it. Legolas is on it, approaching them with long, confident steps. Durion catches his eye and the elven prince jerks his head to the side, Durion taking the hin and rolling out of the way just in time to avoid being crushed by Bolg's mace. He gets on his feet and finally locates his sword just a few steps to his left. He dives for it, avoiding another attack by the orc and then backs up in Legolas's direction. With an angry roar, Bolg charges at both of them. Durion moves to the left while Legolas to the right, the mace falling onto the tower in between them, creating a gaping hole that leads to the chasm below them. Together the two elves attack Bolg from both sides. The orc swings at Legolas first, the prince dancing away as the tower crumbles under his feet. Durion attacks and slashes at the backs of Bolg's legs. The orc kicks back at him without looking, making him fall back, and continues swinging at Legolas. The prince tries to get to a higher ground, but gets knocked down when Bolg overpowers the elf's block. A corpse of an orc suddenly falls from above them and makes Bolg fall inside the tower and buries him in rubble. The two elves look up and see Thorin atop the frozen waterfall, weaponless and being approached by another orc. Legolas sighs, but throws the sword, Orcrist, up at the orc. Thorin catches the hilt of the sword as the orc falls off the waterfall and glances down at the two elves, a grateful smile stretching on his face.

"Legolas!" Durion shouts a warning as he sees Bolg charging from the rubble. The prince, now with just his daggers, moves back and deflects the mace, moving then behind Bolg, stabbing him in the back. That gets him an elbow in the head and Legolas lets himself fall down into the tower. Durion creeps up behind Bolg and with a shout cuts off the hand that was raising with the mace. Bolg roars in pain and clutches at the heavily bleeding stump, his beady eyes shifting at Durion. The orc reaches behind with his good hand and arms himself with Legolas's dagger.

"You. Will. Die!" Bolg shouts in a heavily accented Westron and Durion leads him away from where Legolas fell.

"There you go. Wasn't that hard, was it?" Durion taunts with a mockingly encouraging smile. Bolg roars and runs at him. The elf ducks under the first swipe of the dagger, noticing Legolas running to them behind Bolg. Durion stops moving. If he went further, Bolg would surely notice Legolas approaching. So he lets himself get cut. Pain blossoms in his right shoulder as the elven dagger glides through his flesh as if it was butter. Durion lets out a choked gasp just as Legolas jumps at Bolg, wrapping his legs around the orc's neck and using his momentum to throw Bolg to the ground. As Legolas falls off Bolg, the tower below him breaks and he almost falls to the chasm. Durion's uninjured hand shoots after him and catches Legolas's, swinging him back on the tower. Legolas pushes up and dives at Bolg, who is running at them again. With one dagger in hand, Legolas goes for the orc's gut, but Bolg catches his hand and grins at Legolas with his disfigured mouth. Legolas smirks, rebounds from a stone and lands on Bolg's shoulders. The orc, not being able to match Legolas's speed just stares at Durion, who is still lying on the cold stone clutching his shoulder. Legolas's dagger sinks deep into Bolg's skull and his eyes roll back as Legolas twists it, adding insult to the injury. Then they feel the tower shake. Legolas jumps off Bolg's shoulders onto the solid ground and Durion sprints around the orc's now unmoving body. He feels the stone break under his feet and jumps. He's not going to make it, he's too far, but for some unknown reason, he doesn't feel any fear. Legolas, on the other hand, feels fear like he never has before. He reaches out and clasps Durion's left forearm in an iron grip and pulls him onto a solid ground. They both let out a tired sigh. Something catches Durion's eye across Legolas's shoulder.

"Eagles..." He smiles at the sky, then that smile slips off as he looks at the top of the frozen waterfall. Two small figures are there, one lying and the other weeping over him. "Thorin!" Durion cries and runs.

***

By the time Durion manages to climb up Ravenhill, some of the company are already there. The dwarves are kneeling around their fallen king and Bilbo and Gandalf sit off to the side. Durion's eyes fill with tears as the rune of loyalty and trust aches in his soul. He hangs his head low as a seed of disgust plants itself in his heart. The last thing he did to Thorin was steal from him. Where was loyalty in that?

"Durion." Gandalf called him. The elf walked over to the old man and sat down next to him. The wizard peeled away the fabric of his tunic on his shoulder and began whispering words Durion didn't understand. The wound slowly closed up, but left a purple scar. "Did you tell Legoals?" Durion blinked in surprise before his look turned into a badly suppressed anger.

"This can't be the first thing we talk about after everything."

"He deserves to know, Durion." The elf shot up to his feet.

"His father tried to kill me and the prince was well on board with that." Durion knew he was releasing all the anger he felt at himself at Gandalf, but at that moment he didn't care, he just wanted to scream.

"He didn't have all the information. Even you thought it was a curse back when you first asked me about it." Durion didn't know what to say to that.

"I...ugh! Fine! Tell him for all I care! I just- Why?! Why does it hurt so bad?!" The elf clutched at his chest. The pain from the rune was becoming overwhelming. Gandalf stood up, worry written all over his face. "I- agh- I'm fine!" Durion backed away, his eyes slipping back to the limp body on the ice. He needed to get out of here. He needed to run!

His back was now turned to the company and his footsteps quickening.

"Durion!" The elf looked up. Kili.Kili stood on shaky legs, being supported by Tauriel. The smile he wore for Durion slipped off when he noticed his uncle behind the elf.

Durion bolted and didn't look back.