You Must Have Faith

Chapter Twenty

Vera's POV:

As we stood silent in the throne room, I pondered my own words.  I had no doubt that Thranduil was doing the same, although I was almost certain that our trains of thought were quite different.

Am I actually so willing to die for this cause?

I came to a realization that day.  I had become so invested in this cause, in this people, that self preservation had become null and void.  I would save this land, our land, or I would die trying.

A horn sounded from outside, followed by a clashing of steel.  Without a conscious thought, I sprinted from the room, followed closely by Thranduil.  I did not stop until I reached the gate, although Thranduil had branched off at some point.  In the back of my mind I knew it was to retrieve his armor, though I didn't dwell on it at the time.  Against my impulse, I stopped before I went outside, assessing the situation.

A small group of orcs, with a single Uruk-hai, were fighting with the palace guards.  I strode out onto the bridge, swords drawn but not up.

"Halt!"  I shouted, stopping in front of the creatures.  The Uruk-hai leered at me before opening his filthy mouth to speak.

"The Lady of Darkness has sent a message for you, Queen."  He spat.  "You are not prepared to die."

I smirked, allowing my rage to fill me for just a moment.

"I may not be ready to die, filth, but you are already dead."

Before I finished my sentence his head had left his shoulders.  I picked his head up by the hair and threw it at the other orcs.

"This is my answer to your master."  I declared.  "Tell her that if I am to die, than she will fall with me."

The orcs spat and screeched at me, one snatching up the head and running away, the others having been slaughtered before they could move.

I allowed my facade to fall, my shoulders slumping slightly as I leaned heavily on my sword where it had stabbed into the ground.  I could hear footsteps coming up behind me, from the sound of them it was Thranduil.

"They have been taken care of.  It was a message for me, I answered with their leaders head."

With the words my face re-hardened, turning I looked Thranduil dead in the eye.

"They will attack tonight.  My sister never took dawn attacks for granted, she loved to strike in darkness.  Our eyesight benefited us against most enemies.  With the army that she wields, it makes the strategy even better.  We must meet with the captains, get our men into position.  We have six hours, at the most."

Thranduil merely nodded at me, and together we took off into the castle, shouting for the captains as we ran.  When people say that battle is a blur, they never include the planning sessions.  Five hours later I had no idea how I had gotten there, but I knew it was right and that I needed to hold the flank.  I was the last resort, if they got through Thranduil they would still have to mess with me.  If it had been up to me I would have been at the front, but since it was my sister I had to be as fresh as possible for the fight ahead of me.  The time ticked by slowly, like the silence before a tumbling avalanche.

Then, with a horrifying screech, hordes of orcs emerged from the darkness of the trees.  Elves and orcs can see almost equally well in the dark, fortunately I was also blessed with the ability to see.  However, it was best if I was in puma form, so that was how it was.  I would only turn to human if I absolutely needed to, I was strongest as a puma in the dark.

I kept a watchful ear on the branches above me, I wouldn't have put it past my sister to bypass my men in the trees and attack me directly.  It was what I would have done.  As if my thoughts were a signal, there they were.  I could hear the ugly clacking of their claws against my precious trees, so I leaped up before they could catch me off guard on the ground.  I crawled into position above their heads, leaping down behind them in silence.  Surprisingly, they didn't jump down to the ground.  Instead they pulled out bows and began to nock arrows, taking aim at my men.  Thankfully it was a small force, so it took me a minute at most to take care of them.

I hopped back down among my men, licking the disgusting blood from my chops.  They didn't even flinch, thankfully.  But no sooner had I regained my position than a horde of Uruk-hai broke through our defense and charged us.  Time seemed to slow, and I saw everything in a crystal clarity.  Duck, dodge, bite, claw, jump.  My motions were executed with extreme precision and delicacy.  I took the front of the attack, my men protecting my flanks and back so that I could do my work in the front line.  I was never sure how much time had passed when I fought, but since the sky was beginning to lose its stars I knew that it had been much longer than I had thought.

The adrenaline prevented me from realizing that I had been wounded until one of my soldiers pointed it out.

"My lady, are you alright?"  He seemed so concerned, and I realized with surprise that it was my test dummy from training who was asking.  I looked where he was looking, and found that I had a large gash down my side.  Luckily it wasn't deep, just long and I was able to stop the bleeding with a few harsh licks.

I inclined my head to him, my eyes conveying my thanks and he returned the gesture before turning away to go back to his post.  I quickly jumped up onto a branch to check how the rest of the battle was doing, and to my dismay we were losing.  Such a large number of men had been given to me that the rest of the fronts were lacking, and where our losses were obvious, the enemy seemed unending.  But there was no sign of my sister.  My eyes narrowed, I knew the coward was going to wait until we were all exhausted but there was nothing I could do.  She had lost the sense of decency that would have her respond to an honest call to fight.

I shifted back to human and called down to my troops.

"Men!  I know that our orders were to stay here, for me to stay rested in time to fight their captain.  But our forces are losing, without us they will be slaughtered.  As a leader appointed by the King, I must do as I see fit.  And I see it fit for us to attack.  So take to the trees, and we shall rain death from above them."

I shifted back to my puma and took off, hearing most of them follow but a select few stayed behind.  I knew they would, it was their duty to protect the palace.  They would alert me should their threat become too large.  I pounded through the canopy, not even pausing before I charged off the branch I was on and onto a massive troll.  I latched on with my jaws, using my back paws to gain momentum and wrench its head around with the rest of my body weight.  A flurry of arrows came down onto it, taking care not to hit me as I wrestled.  

Soon enough the pressure on its neck and its weakening from the arrows made it give up and its neck snapped with a horrifying crack.  I disengaged and landed on top of its massive body, standing tall atop my kill.  I reared up on my back legs and unleashed a screaming roar, a sound that only a puma can make.

To my pleasure the orcs and goblins surrounding the troll faltered, frightened by my presence.  An answering screech from within the forest made them come back at me though, and I gave a final glare at the darkness of the depths of the forest before I pounced off of the troll and into the mob, fully prepared to slaughter them.

A/N:  I'M BAAAACK!!  Sadly this may be the only update you guys get on this story, my professors decided that it would be a great idea to give us loads of homework over Spring Break.  However, I will try my best to get two updates for each of my stories out this week.  I'm really proud of this chapter, but this is my first time writing battle scenes so let me know how I did.  Next chapter will be Thranduil's POV, hopefully I can get that out so you aren't left hanging.  Also, that sound that they make is one of the freakiest things I've ever heard.  Comment what you think of this chapter, I love to hear what you guys have to say, and vote if you liked it.  Love you guys!