Green Cloaks || Legolas

Twenty four

Merry and Pippin were cornered. Orcs surrounding them from all sides. There were creatures amongst them too. Hulking black skinned beings that were the size of men. They strode confidently over the earth, imprints of the white hand of Saruman stamped on their foreheads. Luin hadn't seen orcs quite like them before but he had heard stories. Uruk-hai, they were called. Bastard creatures bred between orcs and humans. Intelligent and stronger than their orc counterparts. Luin grimaced and quickened his steps. This was not good.

"Luin!" Pippin cried as Luin landed next to them in a flurry of blue.

"Are you two alright?" He asked, pointing his sword at the oncoming foe. A orc with a wicked black axe chase charging and Luin ducked under the swing, carving the creature in half as he moved. "Boromir!" He called as more figures came from behind. The man threw the orcs back. His own sword clanging against steel as he fought.

Luin cursed. The orcs just kept pouring down the hill. Their black figures too spread out amongst the trees for him to use a wide scale attack and branches above too dense for him to fly. They really were cornered. "Call for backup!" Luin commanded as he sliced through two opponents. His second sword shooting out of it's sheath and hovered in the air at his side. It speared any orc that go too close while Luin fought with one blade in hand, his staff in the other. The black armour falling around them but still there were more. Luin could see a Uruk-hai watching them from a clear spot on the hill. It's face pulled into a smug sneer, the white hand of Saruman clear on it's forehead. His cursing redoubled along with his slashes.

He had forgotten about Saruman in the grief at loosing Gandalf. Tragic mistake. The emotions had made him blind. The white wizard had known Luin as almost as long as Gandalf. He knew how Luin fought, how powerful he was. He knew which terrain hindered him and how he could be put at a disadvantage. Saruman had even helped train him. Luin shouldn't have been so foolhardy.

The horn of Gondor rang out in a deep note behind him as more orcs fell upon them. Merry and Pippin both had their daggers out and were stabbing at any part of an orc they could reach. Luin clubbed a orc over the head with his staff, knocking it back before stabbing him. "Where are the others?" He called, worry staring to make his tone higher. Boromir gave another long blast of the horn. Then another.

"Run!" Luin screamed as more orcs advanced. They retreated back a few feet. His second sword providing them cover as they staggered to the ruins of a statue. The stone a weathered form of a praying lady. Merry gave a yelp of surprise and Luin turned. He walloped the orc slashing at Merry with the end of his staff. The heavy wood clanging against it's helmet. "Move!" He commanded and the hobbit scrambled back.

Luin didn't see the Uruk-hai on the hill pull a long red rope from it's belt. The rope was thin and attached to three stone weights. The Uruk began swinging it. The red blurring faster and faster before spinning through the air. "Look out!" Boromir called. Luin raised his hand and his sword spun out to defend him. The blade hit the red rope and his blood chilled. He barely had time to take a step back before the rope knocked his sword out of the air and, like it was homing in on a beacon, hit him. It wrapped around his chest, pining his arms to his sides as he fell back. The weights pulling him down.

As soon as the rope touched him, Luin wanted to scream. His energy, his Qi. Something which flowed through him like a endless current for as long as he could remember, cut off. His swords fell from the air and he hit the dirt. He couldn't feel it. He couldn't feel his spiritual energy. It made him gasp with pure panic. "Luin!" Merry and Pippin were at his side. Their hands tugging on the rope.

"Get it off!" Luin cried. "Get it off! Get it off!" The hobbits scrabbled at the rope but it didn't budge. The cords too tangled for them to undo. His breathing was coming in too fast pants now. Panic filling his senses as he struggled. This was soul binding rope. It was specifically designed to hinder spiritual energy. There had been some recovered from the shipwreck. Luin had no idea how Saruman now had it.

"Luin!" Boromir called. The man was by himself against the oncoming orcs and he was beginning to flag. Luin couldn't do anything but gasp as a arrow hit him in the shoulder. Boromir staggered back for a second in pain. Luin struggled against the rope but it was futile. It was so tight that he could feel it cutting not his skin. Boromir roared and cut down the orc approaching.

"Legolas!" Luin called desperately. "Aragorn! Gimli!"

A second arrow hit Boromir in the abdomen. He staggered back as Merry and Pippin cried out. Luin kicked his legs against the dirt, trying to push himself up. Boromir staggered to his feet, sword still swinging. The third arrow hit him in the chest and he went down. Sword hitting the ground as he fell to his knees.

Luin screamed out as the orcs filed around Boromir's broken form. Merry and Pippin yelling as they were picked up and carried off.  A Uruk-hai loomed over him and grinned. It lifted its sword and Luin stared resolutely up at it as the blade came down. For half a second he thought he would die. Tied up, defenceless and scared. Then the blade thudded into the ground by his ear and he was being pulled up. The Uruk-hai heaved him up like a sack of potatoes and threw him over it's shoulder. Luin felt the breath leave his lungs as the creature began running, his chest thudding against it's armour. 

Luin opened his mouth to cry out when another orc appeared in his vision. He saw the blur of a sword pommel before everything went black.

——

Legolas felt his heart stop as he saw Boromir lying on the earth. Aragorn had gotten there first. He was crouched at Boromir's side, bloody and ragged from battle. Legolas scanned the battlefield, chest constricting as he spotted a silver glimmer. He sped up and froze. Luin's swords were lying in the leaves. One was next to a dead orc, the other on the barren earth a few feet away with a familiar staff. The wood stained blue.

Legolas fell to his knees. Luin's sword and staff. In over sixty years, the elf had never seen Luin abandon his swords like this. They had fallen to the ground, dirt smudging the hilts and all the jewels decorating them. Legolas fumbled at the neck of his tunic. His fingers curling round the blue stone hanging on a chain around his neck. Normally it would pulse in his grip. A sign of warmth and life. A connection to Luin's powers that was always a link between then despite the distance. Only now it was cold and still against his palm.

Fear and sorrow flowed through him like a tidal wave. A loud gasp rattled his chest and he wanted to scream. It was too much. Luin could be dead, at the very least something was terribly wrong. No spiritual energy in the jewel. No pulse. He collected the blades gently, with almost robotic movements. They slid easily into his belt. The swords a heavy weight on his hips. The weight all wrong next to his hunting knives, a reminder that they weren't his. "Legolas", Aragon was standing. Boromir still at his feet, blood on his lips and his eyes closed. His death another punch of emotion to his chest.

"Luin", Legolas muttered, eyes bright with water. Aragorn strode forwards and gripped his shoulders.

"Legolas", his voice was determined. "My friend, Luin is strong. We shall get him back. I promise". Legolas nodded. He would get Luin back. There will be a reckoning when he does.

Unedited