Forbidden Love {Legolas Love Story}

Chapter 4

Artemis' POV
"Legolas!" I hissed.
"What are you doing outside my window?" Legolas demanded. "And where have you been?"
"Taking Thalia to Lothlórien. But she got captured by Orcs," I explained.
"What?" Legolas jumped up. "How did you get away? And how could you leave her?"
"I was in a tree," I replied, scrambling through the window. "They did not see me, and Thalia told me to get help."
"What about we get some of the guards? Most of them will be sympathetic to our cause," Legolas suggested.
"And horses. And weapons for Thalia. Come on, let's go," I added. "You get the guards. I'll get Dúath for Thalia."
"Why Dúath? And doesn't she have weapons?"
"He's the only one Thranduil won't notice the absence of. And they broke her bow and knives. Hurry up!" I climbed back out the window and down the tree I'd climbed up. Once down, I ran to the stables to get Gil-galad, Hadron and Dúath. Luckily for me, my old recurve bow and a spare quiver of arrows were hanging up. I grabbed them, as well as two spare knives and tied them to Gil-galad's flank. We would ride bareback tonight, as usual. Just as I finished preparing Hadron and Dúath, Legolas returned with the guards, led by Tauriel. Their horses were already prepared, and together we made our way towards the edge of Mirkwood.

"What are you doing?" It was Thranduil.
"Um..." Legolas stuttered, unable to think of a plausible lie.
"Guards, return to your posts," Thranduil said. I cursed under my breath as the guards obeyed. Once Thranduil had gone, Legolas turned to me. "Now what?"
"We go alone. It is our only choice," I replied. "Come on."
Leading Dúath, I directed Gil-galad towards the edge of the forest. Legolas dug his heels into Hadron and followed.

On horseback it didn't take long to reach the small cluster of trees where I had left Thalia. We left the horses a little way away and, like wraiths, moved silently to hide behind a tree. From there, we could see Thalia, tied to a larger tree. Legolas, holding the weapons for Thalia, tried to go to her, but I held him back.
"Wait until the coast is clear."
From our hidden position we could see a large Orc moving towards Thalia. A Mirkwood Royal token lay on the ground beside her. I heard Legolas' sharp intake of breath, and maybe the Orc did too, for he turned around. But he didn't see us, so he turned back and kept walking towards Thalia.
"Come on. You're coming to Azog today. He'll see if you're lying."
Legolas gasped again, and I realised we had to do something. Thalia would be killed!

Thalia's POV
"Come on. You're coming to Azog today. He'll see if you're lying."
The Orc's words struck fear into my heart, but I worked hard not to show it. Then suddenly the Orc stopped. His eyes became unfocused. He toppled forward, and that was when I saw the green-fletched arrow in his back. Another thudded into the tree beside me, breaking my ropes. I realised I knew that fletching. And if I was not mistaken, the owner of the arrows was exactly the elf I wanted to see.

Artemis and Legolas stepped out from behind a tree. Artemis' bow was still in her hands, and I glimpsed her remaining green-feathered arrows sticking out above her right shoulder. Legolas ran over to me and helped me unwind the ropes. Artemis pulled her arrows free and ran lightly toward the other Orcs some way away, starting to shoot even as she ran. Legolas handed me a recurve bow, a quiver of black-fletched arrows and two white knives.
"Artemis' old bow, and spare arrows and knives," he explained. "Come on!"
The Orcs had noticed the disturbance and wasted no time in grabbing their weapons. I would have preferred to have avoided conflict and made a quiet escape but it looked like that was no longer possible.
"Looks like we're going to have to fight them." Legolas seemed to read my mind. Before the Orcs could gain an advantage we readied our bows. Slipping the arrows out of our quivers, nocking them on the strings, drawing back and releasing them with expert precision. All in the blink of an eye. Skill like that could only be achieved after centuries of constant practice, not to mention the arm, shoulder and back muscles necessary. Three Orcs went down and the others became wary of us.