I rode on Vaile, who couldn't have ever served me better. It seemed like we were winning, but I couldn't be sure because I could see the enemies as much as I could see the soldiers on our side. I had killed 57 orcs, and continued to kill more as my faithful friend carried me into the battle field. I had no idea where my friends were, but I was sure Eowyn was safe, because that ivies could resist dragon fire for a good deal of time from what I've experienced. She wouldn't be dead anytime soon. As for Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn? Well let's say I hoped that they had better lucks than me. I was quite glad that I had super powers to control plants. One unlucky orc got stabbed by a pillar of rose bushes, and the other one got jammed in the head by a tree that appeared out of nowhere. I lead Vaile to the edge of the field, to have a glimpse of what was happening. It was a mess. Orcs and men clashing with each other, killing as they fought one another. And there were oliphants. Never thought I would see one of those here. Whatever Sauron did, he must have prepared it for a long time to get oliphants and thousands of orcs. Far away, Legolas was on an oliphant, killing men on it, and later killing the oliphant itself.
"That still only counts as one," I muttered under my breath. Then I had a crazy thought. If Legolas Thranduilion, the normal elf could take down an oliphant by himself, why not an elf with super powers? Ohhhh, this was going to be so much fun. I chose the nearest oliphant, and however unfortunate it was for him or her, I had to kill it. Concentrating, there was a short pain in my heart, then I felt something changing in me, like there was something new in my blood that made me stronger. I got the feeling that this was it. The ground rumbled as I held out my hands. It cracked and soon a gigantic pillar of vines shot from the ground, headed towards the oliphant. It simply squeezed it, choking it and destroying everything around 10 meter radius to death. Legolas looked where the oliphant has fallen, and he saw the vines. Soon he and I made an eye contact, making me smirk.
"Even if it only counts as one, I'm on 65, Prince!" I shouted over the battle sounds. I was sure he heard because he started to shoot orcs vigorously, Gimli chopping beside him. I aimed for the next oliphant. Since killing one oliphant killed at least more than a dozen of orcs, I decided to focus on bringing down the giant monsters. I didn't know how much powers or my wills it will take, but I was ready to give up anything if we could win the battle. And pay back my debt to the Prince, of course.
Another oliphant fell, this time by a spiky giant wood that shot up from the ground and pierced its stomach. 66, I thought. I was so focused on the oliphant, that I didn't noticed the orc that sneaked behind me. If it wasn't for Vaile, I would have died then. But I didn't. My horse jumped in front of me and the ugly orc, and stamped his head with her mighty hoof, causing him to die. I turned around in surprise, and found Vaile standing there above the orc, sniffing. The first time she killed an orc, or killed anything, for that matter.
"Thanks, girl. I owe you one," I said as I patted her neck. She neighed in respond.
"Perhaps a super cube would do?" I asked, and she neighed with joy. For some reason, Legolas was near me now. Only a couple hundred meters away. I put on an ivy wall around us, and continued to kill orcs and oliphants with my powers. You might wonder, how can a 'plant' kill? Well, I warn you to not underestimate them. They are capable of many things than you think. They have their own feelings, own language, and own thoughts, which means they can kill if controlled with great power. That's what I was doing. Oliphants fell down by pillars of vines and woods, while the orcs fell by ivies choking them. Soon, there were green blankets everywhere near me with orc corpses under them. It seemed that there were no more oliphants, except for the one that was slowly walking towards me. I almost felt bad that I had to kill that particular stupid one. After all, it was just being controlled by the stupid mortals. Who was I to kill such creature? But then again, it was a kill or get killed game. And I never, ever got killed, and I was not gonna let this time be any different.
"I'm sorry, oliphant," I whispered to my self as I focused on last time. Perhaps I had used too many of my newly found powers at once. I did succeed on bringing out the vines, but at the same moment the ivy wall disappeared, making me a perfect victim to attack. Please don't let anyone kill me, I silently prayed as I commanded the vines to wrap each of the oliphant's legs. It stopped dead in its track, and another thick vine shot from the ground and chocked its neck. And at the same time, I heard a painful sound coming from my back. I turned around in fear, not caring to see whether the creature was dead or not. I had barely enough time to block the orc's knife with my dagger and slash it's throat. Then I saw the cause of the painful sound.
Vaile was lying there, in front of me, blood pouring from her side. The only explanation that I could come up with is that she got hurt by the orc I just killed. She gave me enough time to defend myself by sacrificing herself. I ran to her, and tried to heal her, but I didn't know how. I just sat there, trying to stop the blood with leaves I created and my hands as much as I can, but it didn't seem to work. I looked into her eyes, and her eyes were peaceful unlike mine. I was sure I had tears coming up on mine.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," I said choking back my tears as I stroked her beautiful black mane that was covered with dirt.
"I think I'll have to pass the sugar cube, Ethi," Vaile's voice said in my head. It was the first time I heard her voice ever in my life. Hearing her voice made me cry. And she called me 'Ethi". That was the old nickname of mine that my parents gave me.
"If you cry, I swear I'm going to kill you, Taurieth" that made my tears stop a little.
"Don't die, ok? And it was great to be your horse. You were the best boss ever. I love you." if horses could smile, I'm sure she did. Then with that as her last word, she was gone. My faithful horse, my companion, my friend was gone. Just like that. so easily and so quickly. I sobbed into her mane for a little longer, then stood up. The battle was still going on. I had to live. I couldn't die. With only my daggers and my powers as my weapons, I jumped into the battle field again.
The ghosts were taking care of the left over oliphants, so I focused on killing the orcs for Vaile and Haldir's sake. To revenge their deaths. Killing the orcs, I saw Legolas, Aragorn and Gimli that were about a hundred meters away. Legolas saw me and obviously thought that I needed help, because he started to make his way towards me. Soon, we were killing orcs side by side.
"89, Greenleaf!" I yelled as my dagger stabbed another orc's that.
"I'm on 86! You better be careful!" he yelled back.
"90!" I shouted. Ten more and it would be a hundred. I might as well as say, now that I thought about it, I think I knew the reason that he kissed me on the ship. I don't know for how long, but it was obvious that this Prince, Legolas Thranduilion, had feelings for me. I wasn't sure if I had the same feelings as him, but it sure wasn't hatred that I felt against him now. We were fighting side by side, which is what I never thought I would ever do in my lifetime. And here was I, stabbing an orc after orc, having each other's back with Legolas of Mirkwood.
"You know, I asked you if you wanted to come to Mirkwood, right?" Legolas said as he killed another orc.
"Yeah! And I said I will go back to Mirkwood after the war!" I answered. He stopped and looked at me. We were both panting, blood falling from our knives as we faced each other. I almost got lost in that ice blue eyes again, if it wasn't for the screaming of an orc.
"Now is not a great time to stand and chat, Legolas! We've got jobs to do!" I said as I stabbed the orc who screamed in between its eyes. Legolas spun around and killed two orcs at once, shouting '93'. I chuckled and took out my small throwing knife, killing the one that Legolas was just about to kill.
"97!" I said and he looked at me like I just betrayed him.
"That was mine!"
"Well you should have killed it first if you wanted to make it yours!" I shouted as my knife found another orc to hit. Legolas muttered something inaudible under his breath but kept on killing. I don't know when they came, but when I looked up from stabbing an orc in the stomach, Aragorn and Gimli were beside us.
"Gimli, how many?" I asked, giving him a quick nod.
"88, Taurieth. That would be hard to beat, wouldn't it?" he answered, laughing. That made me laugh too. Gimli frowned at my laughter.
"Well, master dwarf, I myself is on 101," I said.
"102," I corrected as I killed another. Gimli forgot to move for a second that Aragorn had to cover him for sometime.
"Come on, Gimli! There's still a lot more of orcs here!" Aragorn said as he slashed an orc with his new sword, Anduril. It was a great sword, I must say. Gimli started to kill energetically again, swearing under his breath that he will not lose to some pointy eared and long haired elves.
"Where's Vaile, Taurieth?" Aragorn asked, coming beside me. Did he have to ask that?
"She saved me," I answered, hoping it was enough. Aragorn understood. He took a short break to give me a big hug. It was very encouraging to get a hug in the middle of killing orcs. How clever to give a hug in the middle of a war.
"108!" I informed everyone as I threw my knife at an orc that was creeping behind Aragorn. He let go of me, surprised by the orc falling on his back.
"I saved your life. For putting Gimli in the room back at the ship, remember?" I said, smiling. I had one debt payed. It felt good.
"Thank you." Aragorn said, also smiling.
"I'm going to Mirkwood with Legolas after the war. Just thought you should know," I said, as I came back to killing.
"Really? I thought that would be the last thing you would say to me," his voice was full of surprise.
"So did I. Apparently I have given it some thoughts and concluded that it wouldn't be so bad to be back, you know. After all, that's where I was born. And where my families are buried." I haven't visited my family's grave since I ran away form Mirkwood. I was busy trying to forget what happened, to erase the painful memories that I forgot about my family. I almost felt bad about it.
"You made a great decision," Aragorn said, as he stabbed another orc in the chest.
"Really?" I asked. I was still not so confident about going back there, even if I had made the decision.
"Yes. You'll fit in there just fine, Taurieth," Aragorn reassured me.
"Thank you. You know, you'll make a great king. Whatever happens, know that you have an elleth with super powers on your side," I said, smiling. He smiled back. And that was my last conversation with Aragorn during the war. And I had a bad feeling that it was my last conversation with him ever.
"115, Legolas, Gimli!" I yelled, trying to shrug off the bad feelings. If I used my powers, 130 would be nothing, but I was a bit tired from killing more than the half of the oliphants. I continued to slit the orc's throats with my daggers, killing every orc that I laid my eyes on. Then a familiar situation happened. Legolas was a few meters away, killing orcs with his twin blades. The problem was, that he had no idea that there were a few orcs coming up behind him.
Even if I yelled, it would still be too late. I was sure it would tire me to death, but it was the only option I had. My head hurt when the ivies and vines shot from the ground, strangling each or the orcs. Legolas still didn't notice anything. How stupid he was. Before giving it a second thought, I ran to him and faced the orc myself. Another orc appeared out of nowhere and I ended up facing two orcs at once. I managed to kill the one that came later, but my dagger got stuck between his eyes. I had only one dagger to protect myself.
I could have just alerted Legolas, but he was busy fighting his own, though he seemed to notice me fighting behind him. I have never felt so tired before. The plant controlling thingy was a very tiring job, you know. Especially when you didn't have any chance to practice and get used to it. I fought the orc with only one dagger, and I was pretty good at it, I must say. But this orc was tougher than the others. Bless my luck. Out of all those orcs on the field, I end up with the most toughest orc. See why I said I hoped that other's lucks would be better than mine? But even with only one dagger, I managed to kill him . 117, I thought. 13 more and it would be my new record. Wow. I had actually managed to kill a tough orc with only one dagger. I guess I was better at sword fighting than I thought I was. But my last dagger wouldn't come out, stuck in the orc's chest. Well I guess I didn't have any weapons left now, then. It's fine. I can still kill with my bow and there were two more daggers attached to my quiver, anyway.
There weren't a lot of orcs around us now. Did we win? No, we didn't. Dear Eru. There were still a couple hundred orcs left. Sure. Why not. I guess I'll be making my record, after all. I charged at the nearest orc with two short daggers in each of my hands, stabbing them it the eyes and in the vital spots, instantly killing them. God, have I mentioned I was tired to death? If I didn't, I'll mention it now. If I did, I'll mention it again. I was tired to death, but I kept on fighting. If I stopped, I would get killed, and that was something that I didn't fancy happening. And then it happened again. The chance for me to pay my debt to the Prince of Mirkwood. We were a few meters away from each other, me killing with my daggers and Legolas with his twin knives.
"120, Legolas!" I yelled, as I killed the 120th orc. He turned around and looked at me unbelievably. I was having a hard time believing myself too, but I was too smart to have made a mistake in counting.
"I'm on 102!" He said as if me killing more than him wasn't supposed to happen. I smirked and started to kill orcs again. At the corner of my eyes I saw Gimli struggling with two orcs. He was fighting with all his might, but it wasn't enough. Even the dwarf was getting tired, not that I was surprised. I threw my dagger to him, killing the one that he was struggling with. He chopped the other one. He turned around to look at me, but I had no time to look at him because I was left with one dagger again, face to face with another orc. Luckily, he was stupid enough to be distracted by my sudden yelling and get killed.
Looking around, I saw that the battle was almost over. I had got a few nasty scratches of my own, including the one that tough orc gave at my left arm. Legolas turned to look at me after killing the last orc that was stupid enough to charge on him. We were less than 3 meters away. After smiling at me, he turned to see Gimli, who announced his 101 orcs with pride. I made my way towards them. I inhaled sharply as I saw one last orc coming up behind him. Not again, I thought. He had a talent in drawing the orcs near to him, that Prince. I exhaled as I held up my arm and aimed at the orc, who met it's unfortunate fate soon. Legolas turned around at the sound of it, and saw me smirking. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and I felt someone coming up behind me. I turned around quickly, only to be greeted by an orc stabbing my stomach with his dagger. He took a step back as if to admire his work. Not gonna happen. Biting my lip, I took the dagger out of my stomach and stabbed the orc. That orc had a surprised look on his face permanently. And the pain was nothing like I've ever experienced before. Looking down, I saw blood spread out from the wound. I felt my knees give in, and I fell to the ground as if I had no bones.
"Taurieth!!!" Legolas shouted as he ran to me. I could barely make out the fact that he ran to me becuase he was by my side in a few seconds. Soon Gimli and Aragorn were both by my side, all three if them kneeling. I was gasping for breath as someone held up my head from the ground. That made it a whole lot easier to breath.
"Taurieth?" I must have closed my eyes, because I opened them when someone called my name. Clear blue eyes were looking down at me, but I couldn't figure out wether it was my sight blurring or the eyes had tears in them.
"I payed my debt. But I think... I'll ha-have to pass. Mirkwood," I managed to say between heavy breaths. He said nothing but just nodded. I saw something fell from his eyes. So it was tears, after all. Why was he crying? Oh, right. I was dying. Well if I was dying, I didn't have much time left in this world, did I?
"You gave me everything I needed. A friend. A family. A place to call home. Thank you." I said as I looked each of my friends in their eyes. They all held various emotions; sadness, reassurances, Aragorn even managed a smile at me. Someone was pushing against my wound.
"Be quiet. This is an order. You. Will. Live, Taurieth." It was Legolas. He was trying as hard as he can to prevent any more blood coming from the wound, I could feel. But I could also feel that it wouldn't do any good. I wondered if I was supposed to feel panicky. But I didn't. I felt safe. And satisfied. I had done what I had to do; paying my debt, saving my friends's lives. Though I felt sad that I didn't got to dwell that last combat with Eowyn.
"You cannot die," Legolas said, but it sounded more like he was whispering to himself.
"You can't order me what to do, Greenleaf." I said, but it sounded so faint that I wasn't sure if I had really said that, or wether it was in my imagination. Legolas was crying openly now. It was weird for me to see him cry. I don't know why. It just didn't feel right. Good news; the pain was gone now. Bad news; my friends, including Eowyn, would have to deal with another dead person. Aragorn took my hand, squeezing it tight.
"Tell Treebeard that I said sorry. And thank you... Will you?" I asked, hoping that my friends would grant my one last wish.
"You can tell him yourself," Legolas insisted. I managed to shake my head a little.
"No. No. Please, no," I heard Legolas pray. I took his hand that was still against my stomach. He looked at me, and I managed a smile.
"Thank you," I said. I wondered if Pippin had lived. And Merry too. I almost felt a bit sad that I didn't get to see my daggers sharpened, but then again, I probably couldn't find any daggers of mine for him to sharpen. I also wondered where Gandalf was. he was the reason that I came here in the first place. He was right after all. I did found new friends, who I could call my family, and a place to call home. I hoped that he was here, but he wasn't.
I felt my whole body go calm. I never thought that I would die in the arms of Legolas of Mirkwood. Yet here was I, doing the last thing I expected to do in my long long life. There was a voice calling my name. Three voices, actually. No actually four. You know what? I had no idea how many voices there were, but they made me feel like I was at home. Safe. Softly coaxing me to follow them into the Halls of Mandos, where all my family were. I wanted to follow them, but at the same time I didn't want to leave. But I felt too drowsy to think anything. Who cares. I'll just do whatever I do in the next few minutes.
"Please don't leave me. I love you." Legolas said, his voice full of pain. I wasn't entirely sure how I could still listen to him, but I did. And that was the last thing I heard before I closed my eyes and followed the voices.