Third POV
"Such is the nature of evil." Thranduil spoke as he paced in a circle around the orc. "Out there in the vast ignorance of the world, it festers, and it 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."
"You were tracking a company of thirteen dwarves. Why?" Legolas interrogated.
"Not thirteen. Not anymore. The young one, the black-haired archer, we stuck him and that pretty she-elf with a morgul shaft. The poison's in their blood, they'll be choking on it soon."
Legolas tensed.
"Answer the question, filth." Tauriel ordered.
"I do not answer to dogs, she-elf!" He spoke in black speech.
Tauriel pulled out her blade as Legolas warned him. "I would not antagonize her."
"You like killing things orc? You like death?" Tauriel asked. The orc growled and licked his lips. "Then let me give it to you!"
"Enough!" Thranduil ordered in elvish. "Tauriel, leave! Now." Thranduil continued in the common tongue, "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."
"You had orders to kill them." Legolas continued, barely concealing his fear and rage. How dare they lay a hand on Miranda! "Why? What is Thorin Oakenshield to you?"
"The dwarf runt will never be king." The orc answered.
"King?" Legolas scoffed. "There is no King Under the Mountain, nor will there ever be. None would dare enter Erebor whilst the dragon still lives."
"You know nothing!" The orc claimed. "Your world will burn."
"What are you talking about?" Legolas asked. "Speak!"
"Our time has come again," the orc growled out with a sick grin on his face. "My master serves the one. Do you understand now, elfling? Death is upon you. The flames of war are upon you." The orc began to cackle but was cut off when his head was severed from his body.
"Why did you do that?" Legolas asked his father as he stared at the orc's severed head before dropping it to the floor. "You promised to set him free."
"And I did," Lord Thranduil said. "I freed his wretched head from his miserable shoulders."
"There was more the orc could tell us," Legolas said.
"There was nothing more he could tell me," his father answered.
Legolas followed him and asked, "What did he mean by 'the flames of war'?"
"It means they intend to unleash a weapon so great; it will destroy all before it," Thranduil replied. "I want the watch doubled at our borders. All roads, all rivers. Nothing moves but I hear of it. No one enters this Kingdom. And no one leaves it." He continued looking up at his son.
"What about Miranda?" Legolas asked, an edge in his voice. "The orc said they struck her with a poisoned arrow."
"If she was really hit, then there is nothing that can be done for her now." Thranduil said turning away. "She will be dead by morning."
Legolas steeled himself and walked towards the doors, his mind felt numb. "Close the gate. Keep it sealed by order of the King."
"What about Tauriel?" One of the guards asked.
"What about her?" Legolas asked, a sinking feeling in his stomach.
"She went into the forest," the guard replied. "Armed with her bow and blade. She has not returned."