Through Wind and Fire (LOTR)

XXII

Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.

- Corrie ten Boom

When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.

- Psalm 27:10

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Blood covered the prince's hands and clothing, and he watched as the dwarves mourned their dead. So this was what war was like, though this was only a taste of it. This only was one battle, and in a war many of these must be fought.

Death was everywhere, it filled the air. The smell of blood was prevalent and could not be ignored. Groans from those who had not yet died or were injured reached Legolas' ears, making him cringe. When he left Mirkwood, becoming involved in a battle with the dwarves age old enemy was not in mind. He meant not for this to happen, but it did. He could not undo this, nor erase it from his memory.

Elves lay lifeless on the empty streets of Dale, on the burnt ruins of Laketown, and at the foot of Erebor. Mindless dwarves, waking the dragon and attracting attention from the enemy, he thought.

Elves were not meant to die, and never in his life had Legolas seen so much death. He had seen the occasional casualty when on guard duty, but never such a massacre that was present this day. Brothers mourned for their fallen family members, and even did his heart cry for the dwarves. They did have feelings, however daft and stupid they seemed to him. Some of these elves he had known, seen every day during training. It seemed not right that they would no longer walk this world, and that he would not see them again until he sail across the Sea.

It was foreign, this sight of dead elves, their pale, limp faces looking to the sky. What if this was how his mother had ended, what if she had died? Legolas did not want to think of that, for as much as he had bitter feelings when he thought of her, he missed her. He had missed out on one of the most influential relationships, not knowing the full extent of a mother's love. Memories he did have from when he was an elfling, but they were few, and often forgotten in the midst of his other thoughts.

Feeling lost, he scanned his surroundings, his heart sinking in his chest. Something in that mountain drew his father there, though he knew not what, but whatever it was, it was dark. With this battle went many valiant warriors from Mirkwood, and more of a struggle it would be to keep the spiders and other foul things at bay. Legolas thought of Tauriel, and his friend's words before he left Mirkwood. He had watched her almost leave with the dwarf, and more and more had be begun to believe that she was his chance for happiness, for a life with another.

Where else would he find love? Deep inside, he knew that it would come on it's own time, but too long had he waited. Every day he saw his peers with their children was like a knife to the heart. It was not that no ellith ever noticed him, for, in fact, too many noticed him and it made him uneasy. None of them would ever be a wife to him, but if not Tauriel, who he was dear friends with, who then?

The prince lived his life not alone, but always there was the nagging of whether or not he would marry, if never would he be so loved, if ever would be granted that happiness so many others had.

And as the prince reeled his bumbling emotions in, his father looked over the ruin. The lonely, quaint Laketown lay as charred debris in the Long Lake. This was the result of his folly and unwillingness to listen to reason. Hard it was to admit, but Mithrandir had been right. He needed not to start a war with the dwarves, and in his attack, the Enemy made a move. Orcs did not band together so on their own, it was clear to the king that there was another mind behind all this. It must have been connected to whatever darkness came from Dol Guldur.