Finally we part as the orcs draw too near, letting go of each other to fight our own battles, his hand leaving mine, though we are still joined, now in marriage.
My sword clashes with the thick leather of orc armor, splitting the flesh and bone underneath. I feel my movements are different than before I got to Middle Earth. More smooth and thoughtful. The elves have taught me much since I have been here and I suppose I have learned something from them.
The splashes of blood, the souls of what were once elves, but the torture and mutation created something entirely different. The orc.
But being here has taught me to think positively. So I thank God they are not Uruk-hai. Or else our death would be slow and painful.
I ignore the pain in my hands and legs, the strain in my movements and step as I weaken, the stiffness of my breath and the sting in my lungs.
I whip back the stray locks of white hair from my face but when I do a feel a pain erupt on my side. I throw my sword in the direction where an orc has sliced me, just barely luckily, as the creature ducks.
I yank out my knife and thrust it the same direction when he is back up, his sword smacking against it with force. I hit the tip of my boots to his shin hard with a grunt of fury.
A roar escapes its mouth and I finish it by gripping its shoulder, sending my sword through its gut, watching the tip come out the other end spewing black, and rip it back out.
I pant but whirl around and hold out my blade as another almost gets my shoulder from behind. I kick my shin against his ribs as we lock weapons and he staggers back, my leg hurting just a little from the impact against the leather armor and bone. But I spin my sword so that it is under his and send his blade up and out of range. I turn and stab down, scraping his hip bone and yanking my sword out again.
This time I feel a sting against my face. I stagger back a bit and my fingers go to my lip that throbs. I look ahead at the orc who roars loudly, his sword ready.
I lunge forward my blade hitting his from the right and then the left, the ringing of metal stabbing my eardrums. As I try to get him I realize that miss and he grabs my wrist, snarling and bellowing in my face.
I almost panic but then he yelps, cringing forward and falling down.
I look up and see Thranduil twirling his double swords around through the wind. Another goblin runs past him but he stops it before it gets to me, both his swords crossing over his throat and then splitting it open. He lets the demon land on the ground in front of him and turns around, walking backwards to me slowly to protect me as more swarm around us.
I hold my sword right in my hand as they surround us.
"I'll get the ones on the right, you on the left," I say quietly, catching my breath.
"Now," he says.
I turn and hold my sword down with an arm above my head, blocking as one swings horizontally and then flip my weapon again, slicing his other arm and then stabbing through his leg, whirling around and blocking an upward blow from another demon, hacking this way and that at the creature until I get a wound in his side. I leap to the left quickly as a dark arrow whizzes past my head.
But I have to block as another tries to blow down on my head with his ax. I kick him when our weapons have locked and Thranduil's sword comes across to chop off his head, letting roll to the ground with a thud, along with its body.
He whirls around again his blade cutting up another one's stomach and his other smacking it to the ash.
When I look ahead my vision becomes strained, as if the whole world is in slow motion. I see the bowman ahead. I see the arrow he has ready to fire. I see the snarl he gives me just before he lets go. I see it... heading to my throat so slowly. But I can't move, not even inch. I am frozen.
Something hits me. I fall to the ground sideways, hitting the dirt with my shoulder. All of a sudden I can hear things again. My head flashes upwards when I see... my king... my family... my father-in-law pull an arrow from his chest, covered in blood, and drops it to the ground carefully, a calm look in his eye.
He tries to breathe.
I can't. I can't even heave or choke. All I do is stare as he falls on his knees.
At last my body moves. It lunges forward, grasping his shoulders when he leans back. My right hand clings to his chest as I hear the wailing of my throat come forth.
I don't feel tears. I feel pain; physical pain.
I start to scream. I think I am saying "No!"
He looks into my eyes and all I see is Ryohnin... he looked so much like his father... and that's when the tears come.
My mind is in panic mode. But it can't be. I can't panic.
"Elrond!" I call out in a frantic cry. Though that is pointless. He will never hear me. But I scream it again, my eyes searching the battle field. "Legolas!" I choke.
I try to heave in a breath as my hand holds his flawless cheek. His eyes... piercing. This is the most vulnerable I have ever seen King Thranduil. He looks scared... not in the coward way but the genuine way. Though he seems proud that he saved my life... he loves me. I really was like a daughter to him.
"Did I ever tell you that you reminded me of my wife?" he murmurs.
I smile but not wholeheartedly; not with my eyes that shed tears. "You have been like a father to me. You gave me so much."
"Oh my dear," he chuckles with a tear lingering on his lower lid. "I was blessed to have your company."
That's when I break down and shut my eyes, my forehead touching his chest. God I don't know what power I have in me but anything I do have take it. Let. Him. Live. ...Please just let him live.
Just then I feel a hand touch my cheek. It is soft but older... wiser I believe.
I look up at the panicking eyes of Lord Elrond as he looks at Thranduil's wound.
"My lord please so something—" I beg.
He shushes me gently and takes Thranduil in his arms as he loses life.
"Ada?" I head the concerned voice of Legolas enter the area.
"Legolas," I say looking up at the shocked and frantic eyes of my husband.
I pick up my sword and stand to my feet. "Legolas we have to give them time," I say worriedly. "Protect them. Hurry."
I give him a determined look.
He finally looks into my eyes after looking so sorrowful at his father. But now he shows anger, not towards me, and fury in his eyes. He pulls out his double knives and thrusts one left as an orc runs for them.
I turn around and swing my sword in front of me, hitting an orc across the side of the head and causing him to fly to his back.
I twist my blade to a different angle and knock a sword from another demon with a battle cry. I thrust my weapon down into this one's leg, breaking it.
I slash my sword, sending blood into the ash filled air as I hear the words of the healing spell behind me.
But there are many. They close in on us. My blade tears through the flesh of mutants until I see Gandalf to the right of me, standing with his back to the two sitting elves behind me.
Gandalf, Legolas, and I keep the orcs off of them, willing to give our lives for theirs.
I spit blood when I realize that my lip is bleeding. But I don't care. I flip over an orc's back to stab the one behind him then twirl my sword piercing the first one through his spine and ripping the metal back out again. I see two dwarves who fight in front of me along with a man of Rohan. I spring to behind me and look at the two elves. "How is he?" I ask frantically and rather quickly as well.
King Thranduil's eyes are closed and he looks pale. But when I feel the veins on his wrist he has a pulse.
"I think I saved him," Elrond says.
Oh thank you God. Thank you for hearing your servant.
My eyes look worried but I feel relieved, the lump in my throat coming back.
Snarling behind me startles me but I hear a battle cry and the orc behind me falls on his face, a familiar ax stuck in his shoulder blades.
Gimli runs to us and pulls his weapon from him. The dwarf still looks energized and blood thirsty as he always does.
I turn to face the gates where the orcs are still coming from. Legolas and Gimli stand beside me.
"There are so many..." Gimli says.
"You getting sleepy?" I ask him, quoting Legolas.
The three of us charge forward towards the sun that sets over MountDoom in the distance. Legolas clashes with them first and I see one headed my direction. I act as if I will fight him but as he lifts his sword I do a combat roll to the right, leap up to him and slice open his throat with my sword from behind.
I hit blades with a goblin behind me and do a high kick, smashing his jaw and causing him to fall back.
I throw my sword to the right with a cry, splitting open another's throat that fights with Legolas.
Gimli smashes one's legs with his ax and I elbow the orc in the head to finish him.
I fight with a new energy but the world around me seems to be fading. All I can see are the bodies of my army, our loved ones covering the fields before me. Blood stains the ground and covers carcasses with darkness. The ash from the black mountain rains down on us eerily. The open eyes of the deceased haunt me. Dead Rhûn soldiers, Gondor soldiers, Rohan soldiers, Rivendell soldiers, Mirkwood soldiers, Erebor soldiers... they all fill the scene before me with shadow and moaning.
I feel myself become weary... my body finally beginning to give up... my fingers numb and purple from holding my sword. This is it. If I give up now I will die. But if I keep fighting my body will give in and I will die then. Either way... I accept my fate.
I hear a screeching sound in the distance. I think it is the nazgul but I realize that they already circle us, carrying off men and dropping them from the air.
I hear the squeals get louder. They don't sound like dragons.
"Eagles!" I hear Pippin say from somewhere on the battle field. Thank God he is still alive. "The Eagles are coming!"
We look to the sky as massive birds as big as the fell beasts soar in to where we fight. I watch as one heads straight for a nazgul dragon and connects its beak with its neck, tearing off the black flesh as it roars.
Another flies over my head, scraping up the orcs with its claws as they bellow in pain. The birds cry out loudly in a high pitched battle squeal as they fly among us.
I let myself smile slightly and turn to aid Arwen as she fights two orcs.
I run and jump into the air with a spin kicking one in the head so hard he falls completely over. I stab his back as he crawls on the ground and pull out my sword again that is utterly stained with orc blood.
"Aragorn!" I hear Legolas call. I look up to where I heard it and see a large troll, throw the future king to the ground. Legolas is stuck in a grouping of demons but his eyes are fixed on the man of Gondor.
I charge forward with top speed that I didn't know I had, slicing an orc when he tries to run to me from the side on the way. I stop in my tracks as the troll stomps on Aragorn, the man pulling out his knife to stab the thick grey skin of the monster's foot on his chest.
I leap forward and the beast finally sees me. "Nai uuvanimo turamin!" I scold him. "Get off him!"
The thing looks at me innocently and lifts his foot. Aragorn coughs at the ground, his mouth dripping blood. He looks up at me, surprised.
I hold out my hand for him as the troll stands there idly.
He takes it and I pull him to my feet, though I cannot feel his grasp because of my numb fingers.
"You can go kill some orcs now," I tell the troll.
He eyes me from under his helmet and then turns, lifting his club and smashing his own army with it.
"They're endless," I tell Aragorn.
"We will not see victory Vilora, but Frodo can get the ring into the mountain. I know he can. We just have to keep them here until then."
I am about to speak but turn around as an orc's sword almost gets me from behind. I slash at his neck, cutting him deep in the shoulder when I do and kneeing him in the stomach.
But that makes me realize something. I look back behind me towards Mordor... the eye... the eye is gone... My stomach sinks. But I am not sure if it is in a good way or a bad way.
MountDoom is still there, spewing lava... but the eye is gone.
"Aragorn!" I say to him over the noise.
He looks back at me after stabbing a goblin, his eyes widened. He glances to where I do... seeing the black tower there...
He turns to me. "Did he do it?"
"I don't know," I say.
I duck when a sword swings for my torso, letting it go over my head as I hit the orc's knee hard with the butt of my sword, cracking it. I then stand up and stab the beast with a grunt.
I look to my right and start running when I see white hair and a white robe. "Gandalf!" I say frantically. "Where's Frodo?!" I ask when I get to him.
He frowns at me and looks to Mordor, then back at me with puzzle in his eyes. He whistles with his fingers and an eagle rides down to him, crushing an orc in the process.
The wizard hops onto the bird's back. "Sauron is gone. I will find the hobbits!" he says and takes off to the sky.
If Sauron is dead then that means there is no need to stay here and die. We have to get out of here now.
"Aragorn!" I call to him.
He looks at me after fighting two orcs, killing them both.
"Get out of here!" I say. "We will go back to Minas Tirith before more of us are killed! Gandalf is to find Frodo!"
He nods and calls out to the men that are left.
"Legolas!" I call and turn around. I know he will hear me. He always does.
I begin to run back from the gate.
As I head back I see my elf fighting still.
I pull out my bow, ready to pick off the orcs that surround him from here but something causes him to lunge forward without meaning, coughing when he does, a look stun on his face.
I feel my eyes widen and my heart drop.
Just then an eagle swoops down and takes them out along with Éomer that now helps him...
But I see my elf clutch his stomach, dropping his swords and falling on his knees.
There are no tears in my eyes. I hear nothing. I feel nothing. My world is dust... my heart is gone. My limbs go numb and my whole body is stunned to the bone. The darkness fills my soul like ink dissolves in water. Shadow clouds my brain. And I am taken. I am dead.
I watch my body run ahead and throw itself down to where its soul mate lies on the ground.
The man of Rohan fights off orcs as I do...
My eyes watch... though I am not sure how they do... my heart is ripped out. It is gone. I watch as Legolas coughs up blood, his innocent face screwed up in agony, his moaning filling my ears.
My hands rest on either side of my thighs, shaking. I don't know what to and it seems my body won't function like it should. Without a heart it is hard indeed to function properly.
I can hear my voice begin to weep. I can feel warm water fall from my eyes. I can feel my fingers clutching his shoulders as he cringes in pain.
My soul burns inside with complete anguish as he falls on his back and becomes pale, the blood leaving his wound so quick it coats his arm with red. His flawless skin grows colorless as his childlike eyes stare into the clouds. I am not crying. I am not weeping. I am wailing and panicking, my hands fumbling at the scratch on his abs, covering my fingers with his blood.
My fingers are on his chest, feeling his choking breath, his short gasps for air, as if his lungs have shrunk to the size of mustard seeds.
Tears escape his eyes as he pleads with a mutter so quiet it destroys me, "Help me," I make out.
His eyes shut tightly again, the innocent, adorable face of little Legolas—the vision of him as a child haunting me—straining in complete suffering, his chest shaking as he cries.
If I could feel things... anything... I would speak to him. I can't find words... all I know is darkness...
My hands find his head and I cradle him in my arms like he did with me on the ship, holding his head close to me as tears stain my dirty face and drip on his clothes.
I weep so bitterly that I don't notice him staring into my eyes. "I love you," I hear so quietly from his stiff lips.
"You're going to live," I finally manage to choke out.
"Am I?" he tries to twitch a smile, his dimples covered with blood.
"Yes... You know how?"
"I wish to... so that I don't have to leave you, darling. Who will make sure you stay out of trouble?" he mutters so painfully it makes that lump in my throat quickly come back—if it ever left.
"Someone will save you... and it won't be me... Because I do not have any power. But it will be Eru Ilúvatar. God won't let you die. He won't. You'll see."
"I'll come back to you...?"
I smile out of pure sadness, closing my eyes once more to let two tears fall.
But he still stares at me and when I open my eyes he speaks so softly. "You're so beautiful... my wife," he chokes, trying to breathe. "My only true love..." Another tear slips down his temple.
"You know there's no one else I could love..." I whisper with a shaking voice. I lower my head until it touches his and I shut my eyes. "You're not leaving me. That's not an option. You're going to live. You'll see."
He tries to reply but I can only hear his faint moan from his throat, a cough.
All this time of him taking care of me... of him being selfless, of his adorable smile and his heart lurching eyes, his gentle touch and careful movements he would use to show kindness and love to me, all for nothing... all for dying here. And I can't return the favor. I can't save him. I want him to live instead of me. Take me instead. That's what I want.
I feel his heart beat slow.
"No," I begin to say. I look up at him, holding his face in my hands as life leaves his eyes. "No Legolas don't leave me! No!" I being to scream, trying to get him back.
Just then a light so white it blinds all our enemies fills the lands. My eyes hurt but I open them, a bit startled. Before me I only see white... a white that blasts the orcs with death by a bright sun.
I can't look clearly into it until I see a figure come forth from the light.
She has beautiful, long wavy locks of hair, the color of spring flowers, that fall like a golden waterfall on her shoulders. She wears a pure white dress of silk and her face is utterly flawless, perfect lips and cheek bones with light colored eyebrows and beautiful blue eyes. She looks as if she could be millions of years old, though sign of age was upon her appearance—other than her eyes themselves.
She walks with grace towards me, my eyes seeing nothing else... she seems so calm... is she an elf? An angel?
I watch as she places a hand on Legolas whose eyes are closed now. She bends down with me and lays her fingers on his head. Her voice, so angelic, so wise speaks, "Tanka tel' taurnin," so slowly, like a dream.
I look down at where his hand was covering his wound... but it is no longer there. I see the rip in his leather armor and tunic, the skin of his stomach visible around his cut that is no longer bleeding.
I look up into the eyes that seem so kind, so sure of themselves, that stare back into mine with confidence and power. "Take him back to Rivendell, Vilora."
I shut my mouth and nod.
To my left an eagle has already landed. I pull Legolas onto the bird with me, the burning behind my eyes returning when I see his lifeless face. I hold on tightly, shutting out the thoughts.
I look back at the woman who is there, standing in the battle field of bodies with no orc left, her hair blowing in the gentle wind. She makes a subtle bow of her head, staring into my eyes surely.
I swallow and let the wings of the large creature take us into the sky.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
_______________
PS: please please please COMMENT and tell me anything on your mind or what you think so far. I REALLY need reviews if i am to grow as i writer! thank you!