Legolas POV
Some of the Elves follow me, we go through a gateway and see the Dwarves, a Hobbit, and a few Elves floating away down the river in barrels.
"Holo in-annon! (Shut the gate)" I command.
One of the Elves with me blows a horn. The other Elves and I rush toward the guardpost.
When we get through the bushes, there are several orcs rushing at Tauriel. We shoot them down. As I'm fighting the orcs, I look over and see one of the Dwarves pulls the lever, opening the sluice get and letting the dwarves and others in their barrels through. Some of them fall down a waterfall and float down the river.
I leap to the top of the guardpost as I continue to fight the Orcs. Tauriel, the other elves, and I run after the orcs, shooting them.
~~~
We have caught up to the orcs.
As I'm fighting them, I leap over the river and land with a foot on the heads of two of the dwarves. From this vantage point, I shoot at the orcs on both sides of the river. I take a breath and I aim my bow carefully and shoot, and skewer two orcs through the head with one arrow.
I continue to fight the Orcs, using the heads of floating dwarves as stepping stones to get across the river. I stop pursuing them as the dwarves and others continue floating down the river. That's when I notice her.
I didn't get a good look at the three Elves before, but now that I have, I see that one of them is Aerlinniel. What is she doing with the Dwarves? Is that why she left? To help them?
It seems like all the orcs are dead. I hear a noise and spin around in surprise, Tauriel attacks an Orc and forces it to its knees. Right as she goes to decapitate it with her knife, I stop her.
"Tauriel! Dartho! Ú-no hono. Ho hebo cuin. (Tauriel! Wait! This one we keep alive.)"
I stare after the dwarves for a second, then turn and head back towards the Woodland-Realm.
~~~
Tauriel and I have brought the captured orc to the Throneroom. As I stand with my knife pressed to the orc's neck, my Ada paces around it.
"Such is the nature of evil. Out there in the vast ignorance of the world it festers and spreads, a shadow that grows in the dark. A sleepless malice as black as the oncoming wall of night. So it ever was; so will it always be. In time, all foul things come forth." My Ada says.
"You were tracking a company of thirteen dwarves. Why?" I question the Orc. I need to know why Aerlinniel was with the Dwarves.
Not thirteen, not any more. The young one, the black-haired archer, we stuck him with a Morgul shaft." The Orc hisses. "The poison is in his blood. He'll be choking on it soon."
"Answer the question, filth." Tauriel says to the Dwarf, strernly.
"Sha hakhtiz khunai-go, Golgi! (I do not answer to dogs, She-Elf!)" The Orcs says to her.
I push the Orc a bit as Tauriel whips out her knife.
"I would not antagonize her." I warn.
"You like killing things, Orc? You like death? Then let me give it to you!" Tauriel says and then rushes forward with her knife.
"Farn! Tauriel, ego! Gwao hi. (Enough! Tauriel, leave! Go now.)"
The Orc snarls at her, but Tauriel regains her composure and leaves.
"I do not care about one dead dwarf. Answer the question. You have nothing to fear. Tell us what you know and I will set you free." My Ada offers.
"You had orders to kill them, why? What is Thorin Oakenshield to you?" I ask.
"The dwarf runt will never be king." The Orc mutters.
"King? There is no king under the mountain nor will there ever be. None would dare enter Erebor, whilst the dragon lives." I say, now concerned for Aerlinniel. Is that where she is going with the Dwarves? To the Lonely Mountain?
"You know nothing! Your world will burn!" The Orc says.
"What are you talking about? Speak!"
The Orc tells us, "Our time has come again. My master serves the One. Do you understand now, Elfling? Death is upon you. The flames of war are upon you-"
My Ada suddenly whips out his sword and beheads the orc, leaving the orc's head in my hand. Disgusted, I throw it to the ground.
"Why did you do that? You promised to set him free." I ask my Ada.
"And I did. I freed his wretched head from his miserable shoulders." He answers.
The Orc's body shakes violently. My Ada stomps on its leg to stop the shaking.
"There was more the orc could tell us."
"There was nothing more he could tell me." Hr says and turns and walks away, sheathing his sword.
"What did he mean by the 'flames of war'?" I ask.
"It means they intend to unleash a weapon so great it will destroy all before it." He tells me then addresses the Elven guards, "I want the watch doubled at all our borders. All roads, all rivers. Nothing moves but I hear of it. No one enters this kingdom, and no one leaves it."
I approach the Elves guarding the entrance to the Woodland-Realm.
"Holo in ennyn! Tiro i defnin hain na ganed en-Aran. (Close the gate! Keep it sealed by order of the King.)"
I turn to walk away, but one of the guards calls out, "Man os Tauriel? (What about Tauriel?)"
I stop, "Man os sen? (What about her?)"
"Edevín eb enedhor na gû a megil. En ú-nandollen. (She went into the forest armed with her bow and blade. She has not returned.)" He tells me.
As I walks toward the gate, the guard points out toward the forest in the direction Tauriel went. I need to find out where she went and why she left. Maybe she went after the Dwarves.
~~~
I finally find Tauriel she is staring off into the distance. I aim my bow at her. Hearing something, she turns her head slightly and reaches for something at her side. She whips around and comes to a crouch with an arrow nocked to her bow.
"Ingannen le Orch. (I thought you were an Orc.)" She says.
"Cí Orch im, dangen le. (If I were an Orc, you would be dead.)" We both lower our bows and I say to her, "Tauriel, you cannot hunt thirty orcs on your own."
"But I'm not on my own."
I smile, "You knew I would come."
Tauriel smiles back.
"The king is angry, Tauriel. For 600 years, my father has protected you, favored you. You defied his orders, you betrayed his trust." I tell her. "Dandolo na nin...e gohenatha. (Come back with me...he will forgive you.)"
"Ú-'ohenathon. Cí dadwenithon, ú-'ohenathon im. (But I will not. If I go back, I will not forgive myself.)" She says. "The king has never let orc-filth roam our lands, yet he would let this orc-pack cross our borders and kill our prisoners."
"It is not our fight."
"It is our fight. It will not end here. With every victory, this evil will grow. If your father has his way, we will do nothing. We will hide within our walls, live our lives away from the light, and let darkness descend. Are we not part of this world?" She questions. "Tell me, mellon (friend), when did we let evil become stronger than us?"
~~~~~~
I thought you guys might like seeing Legolas POV, I really hope that you enjoyed this chapter! :) Don't worry, some more of #Leginniel or #Legoniel or #Aerlas or #Aergolas or something like that, soon!
Question: What should Legolas' and Aerlinniel's ship name be?
#Leginniel
#Legoniel
#Aerlas
#Aergolas
Or something else?
Love you my elves from the realm of llamas,
~Ellethwen <3