Wanderlust (Legolas LOTR)

A Dead End

With white-knuckle intensity, Thaliniel gripped the hilt of her thin elven blade as she inched her way past the columns of steam in the cavern, searching futilely for any sign of Legolas or Elladan. She could make out what appeared to be some light footprints across the dusty floor of the cave, but she was no tracker and hardly knew what to make of them.

Suddenly, she stilled, her body rendered immobile by the worst imaginable sound-a solitary screech, followed by another, then another, until a rising cacophony filled the tunnels and echoed through the cavern.

Goblins.

All she could think of was an illustrated storybook of Narylfiel's which had a picture of a goblin with cruel yellow eyes and sharp, wicked teeth. In that particular story, the handsome elven hero saved his lady love from the goblins' attack, but here in the present, Thaliniel was very much alone without hero or prince to save her.

She would just have to save herself.

The horrible screeching racket grew louder, and Thaliniel catapulted herself across the cavern to the corridor farthest away from the sound of the goblins. Still clutching her elven blade, she flew through the darkened tunnels as quickly as her feet could carry her, not daring to pull out the moonstone for fear of attracting unwanted attention to herself.

She darted across an open intersection and collided with a creature barreling across from the other corridor. The force of the blow knocked Thaliniel and her sword clattering to the ground. In the inky dark, she groped quickly for her weapon, her ears picking up a low groan and sounds of movement from whatever she had just run into.

At last! Her fingers brushed the cold steel of the blade. Thaliniel deftly felt down the side to the hilt, but before she could grasp it, her enemy grabbed her wrist and forced it from her hand.

Thaliniel gasped at the pain caused by its grip, and then quite unexpectedly her assailant let go.

"Thaliniel, is that you?" Legolas' voice pierced the darkness, his surprise evident. "I thought you were a goblin!"

Thaliniel did not even have a chance to reply, for Legolas grabbed a hold of her again, forcing her up from the ground and then handing her back her sword with a warning not to drop it again. Before she could scarcely draw her next breath, he had firmly gripped her by the hand and was pulling her back down through the tunnels at a dead sprint.

Even so, the cries of the goblins grew louder, and from time to time, Thaliniel could see the flickering glow of their torches lighting up the dark spaces behind them.

At last, and it was bound to happen eventually, for goblin caves are meant to be tricky mazes, Legolas and Thaliniel reached the end of their tunnel, only to find a jagged wall.

Thaliniel swallowed hard as her hands moved frantically across the closed off end of the corridor-a dead end. She tried hard not to dwell on the implications of that unfortunate wording. "This is it," she said at last. "We're trapped, aren't we?"

Legolas turned from the opposite wall where he had just been conducting the same search. "No-no, of course not," he assured her. "We'll get past them," he said, but his voice was not nearly so confident sounding as he hoped, especially after noticing the fine mist gathering in the corner of her eyes.

Wordlessly, he gathered her into his arms to comfort her, to draw on her soft warmth, her scent, the curve of her body next to his for some comfort of his own, and somehow his mouth gently found hers, and Legolas kissed Thaliniel, kissed her as if it were the only right thing to do in that moment-his lips on hers, and for every slow thrum of his heart as time seemed to wind down, his mouth moved gently against her own, feeling beat for beat the way her hair curled against his hand, and the surprised intake of her breath, and how she pulled him even closer by wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and shoulders.

The shrieks of the goblins grew even louder. Reluctantly, Legolas pulled away from her, tucking the moonstone into his vest to leave them in total darkness. Very carefully, he guided Thaliniel between a narrow crawl space in the rocks.

"No matter what happens, Thaliniel," he said huskily. "Once the goblins clear the pass," referring to the intersection of corridors behind them, "you run. Run and get out of these caves. Find the other elves." Legolas slipped her the moonstone and then quietly turned away from her.

He felt her small hand on his shoulder.

"I can't just leave you," she confessed quietly.

"Yes, you can," he assured her as the howls and sound of running feet grew closer. "Protector, remember?" Legolas found her hand on his shoulder and brought it to his lips. Then he turned from her, carefully unsheathing his long, white knives. Legolas found a hiding place of his own, where he could spring out easily to surprise his enemies, determined to kill as many as he could, to fight as long as possible in order to give Thaliniel her chance for escape.

Then they came--a horde of goblins, some with torches, others with cruel looking knives or blades, all screeching, shrieking, crawling, some sniffing like hounds, and Legolas threw himself into writhing mass of dark flesh right after they crossed past Thaliniel's hiding spot.

He knew this was a fight he could not win, but Legolas vowed to take down as many enemies as he could, to prolong the inevitable as long as possible.

Thaliniel ran for her life. She looked back-she knew she shouldn't have, but she just had to see Legolas one last time. Later, she would wish that she had never looked, for her eyes beheld Legolas, made golden and fierce in the goblins' torchlight, as he carved his way desperately toward her, only to be struck down by the sheer numbers of his enemy.

For a second, his eyes met hers, telling her to go. She swallowed a sob and then kept running.

- . - . - . - . - . -
Okay, so finally we have a first kiss! What did you think about that? ... and another cliffhanger-seems like Legolas' time in the caves is quickly going from bad to worse! And where is Elladan?

Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment!