Chapter Seventeen: Live Forever

*As the arrows sailed through the air, nearly all of them found their targets. Orcs dropped, but other came running over them. Soon the entire building was surrounded and under siege. Orcs dove into the windows, trying their best to break through the wooden and metal barriers that had been built up. The archers continued to string their bows, and more orcs fell as they were shot down. Serein and Legolas too, were shooting at orcs through the window slits.

Then the giant obsidian and ivory doors that had once been polished to emit a magnificent shine were pounded upon. The orcs had reached their inner sanctuary. This was the last stand before death. Slowly the doors began to be forced open. Elves gathered to press up against it, but they were unproductive. As they lined up against the door, they did not realize that they left no one to continue shooting orcs through the windows.

Suddenly, with a large crash, an orc came stampeding his way through one of the windows. Though the orc met an untimely end due to one of Legolas’ arrows, more followed. Too many. They couldn’t be stopped as they all poured in. The elves that had been guarding the doors left to grab their swords to fight and soon the doors were flung open.

Through the doors came an unholy number of orcs. They came in swarms, trying to pick off the unsuspecting elves. Fortunately, Serein and Legolas had taught the elves better than that. Soon the elves had banded together to form small, tight groups. They fought in an almost circular motion, allowing the orcs to come to them. They watched out for each other’s backs and were careful enough to avoid any foolish mistakes. Few of the elves chose to fight outside of the group formation, and those that did were only the most skilled of skilled.

“Legolas! Behind you!” Someone shouted. He ducked just in time as an orc ripped an ax through where his head had been. Ducking low, he spun his sword backwards and jabbed. It hit the orc and went through it’s engorged belly. Pulling his sword out, he turned to thank his savior, but found none. Unusual. Still, he kept on fighting.

An orc ran at him and he quickly whipped out one of his long knives. Running the orc through, he dropped the knife and kept fighting. Two orcs at once. He was able to hold them off with his sword, but when a third entered the scene and tried to crush him with a bone-crunching grip, Legolas stopped playing nice. Using the third orc as a block of sorts, he forced the other orcs to kill it. Then he threw the dead orc at the other two, knocking them out. While they were out of touch with reality, he took the opportunity to quickly and efficiently stab them through their blackened hearts.

This wasn’t such hard work. Who was he kidding? He was working up a good sweat with the orcs. Still he was proud that the other elves had survived this long and killed so many. He and Serein must have been better teachers than he had thought. Speaking of which, where had Serein gone?

Serein had posted herself in front of the hidden doors to the dungeons. Though they had worked hard to conceal the doors, there was always a possibility that an orc would be smart enough to spot the signs. So far she had only fought orcs that had been interested in attacking her, not in getting to the doors. Still, she never knew.

As she battled the dirty orcs, she found herself watching the elves she and Legolas had taught. All of them were skilled enough after only two days worth of practice that they were doing fairly well. She could only count three dead elves, and many dead orcs. That had to be a good sign, what with so many more orcs than elves.

An orc approached her and swung his mighty broad sword. So she swung hers. Then she made a quick and high slice in the orc’s direction. The creature fell, his throat slit. Another followed him. Serein swept her sword around in a half crescent, then buried it deep within the orc’s left shoulder. The orc fell.

More ran at her. Kicking one into another, she punched one down and took the second to slit their throats. An orc snuck up behind her and grabbed her neck. Though she struggled for a few seconds, she soon gave up and allowed her body to go limp. When the orc let go of her thinking she was dead, she turned around and ran it through on her sword.

The orcs were dumb. Numerous, but ever so dumb. But their numbers could prove to be the elves’ undoing if they didn’t compensate for the drastic numbers difference somehow. As she faced yet another orc, she did not hesitate to decapitate it with a ruthless bitterness. Slowly she went though the motions of lifting her sword and cutting through the thick grimy flesh of the creature. Black blood oozed from every broken blood vessel and vein. A fowl odor permeated the air, not that it already smelled much better. Now it smelled of death and vile evilness.

“Jercar, take a group of orcs up into the rafters and begin shooting with your bows and arrows!” She yelled to an elf she remembered seeing as an excellent archer with a keen eye.

“Yes my Lady!” The man nodded slightly. Picking a few elves from his circle, he dragged them away so they could find a place suitable to aim from.

“Serein! How are we to fight this many off?” One of the elves shouted.

“Just keep fighting!” She answered back. She herself did not know. The orcs had begun with over two hundred. Now there were still many, but they were slowing down and coming in gradually. She needed a way to occupy the orcs for a short time, gather them all in one place so the archers would have a better chance of fighting them.

“Legolas!” She yelled out, searching for him through the messy battlefield. She couldn’t see him at all. It was almost as if the orcs had swallowed him up into their blackness.

“Serein?” A voice came from behind her. She jumped and readied her sword. “Serein, it is only me. You did call for me, did you not?” Legolas asked concerned.

“I did, but I did not see you come up from behind me. Legolas, we need a way to bunch the orcs together in one place. That way the archers can shoot them down easier and us foot soldiers can pick them off from the outside edges. Have any ideas?”

“Draw their attention to the center of the room somehow.”

“How though?”

“When Boromir did it, he used the Gondor battle horn’s sound to call them to him. And it worked fairly well. Though these orcs might not fall for it, they certainly looked foolish enough to.”

“Do you have the horn then?” She asked. Her question was foolish, however, for she had seen the horn on his belt loop the moment he had mentioned it.

“Yes. But I cannot let you blow the horn. You would be slaughtered instantly!” He objected violently.

“That is why I did not promise to live through this battle!” She cried, stealing the horn from his belt. Running into the crowded room, she fought to get herself through the swords, arrows, and other obstructions that blocked her path. Soon she stood in the dead center of the room.

“Serein! Don’t do this!” Legolas pleaded with her over the roar of the crowd.

“I have to! For my kingdom and my people! Legolas, inform the archers to ready themselves for a large target. Make sure they are equipped with enough arrows!”

“Serein…”

“Do it!” She commanded. Hearing no reply, she assumed he was doing as she had requested.

“Legolas, ready yourself, I’m about the call them!” She gave them one finally warning. Then placing her rouge stained red lips gently over the mouth of the horn, she blew. Blowing long and hard, she called the entire orc population in her direction in the center of the room. The orcs advanced quickly, giving her no time to regret her actions or feel fear. Wielding her sword, she hoped it would be enough to keep the orcs at bay.

She knew orcs all around her were being shot down before they could touch her. Legolas was once again acting as her guardian angel, saving her from afar. But in truth, he had saved her from where she was in general. If she could ever think of a way to repay him… one that was worthy of his truth, compassion, and bravery…

Legolas hated the fact that Serein could take charge as much as she had. In reality, he loved the characteristic in her. It was a good quality for rulers to possess, along with a sense of humor. However, Serein took it a step too far. She put her life in danger to save others to often, he noticed. Well, this was one time he was going to make sure it didn’t affect her.

He perched atop a rafter in the roof right above her. Then as she blew the horn, he shot arrows at the orcs that were closest to her. He watched as she herself cut a few down, but he knew she would not be able to watch her back while she was in the center. That was his job.

Orcs were being cut down easily now. The arrows were making a huge dent in their numbers, plus the swordsmen on the ground were helping just as much. Fifty orcs were all that Serein could count left. Only fifty, of two hundred! And some of the orcs were beginning to back off. In fact, one was running out the doors like no tomorrow and not looking back. They were succeeding, they were beating the orcs! After a few more minutes of heavy cover fire, the orcs stopped their fighting all together.

Slowly, as if time stood still they seemed to each be thinking the same thought, if orcs thought at all. Then within mere seconds of their stopping, they began again. Only this time they did not push forward. Instead, they turned tail and began running as hard as they could out of the main hall. They exited through the door and windows, jumping when necessary to get out as fast as they possibly could.

As they left, the elves watched in silence. Their victory was surreal. It had not yet dawned upon them that they had won, defended their homes, and one against the odds. Slowly, they dropped their weapons and made their way to the windows to watch the mass exodus of the forty some orcs that were left after the battle.

They stayed, frozen and awed until the last orc had disappeared beyond the horizon and out of view. Slowly, very slowly, they moved back to gather their weapons. No one spoke, they hardly dared breath for fear that it was not real. Finally, one voice broke the silence.

“You have fought your battle. You have fought valiantly, and wisely, for you are still standing. In short, my elfin friends, you have won.” Serein stood atop the steps to the throne, surveying her subject’s faces as the truth dawned upon them. A huge cry of elation filled the small crowd of elves as they cheered. Serein gave a sad smile at them all before speaking again. “Will some one please inform the women and children to come up?”

“Now? With all of the orc bodies lying here?” Someone asked.

“Yes. They have a right to see what is so vile that we have been trying to rid Middle-Earth of them. And they have the right to be witnesses to the first of many words I wish to speak to you. Quickly fetch them.” It took a good twenty minutes for all of the women and their children to find their husbands, sons, brothers, and fathers as they came up from the dank dungeons.

“No problems in the dungeon?” Legolas asked Lakner as he came up.

“No. We could hear all of the noise though. How many did we lose?”

“We began with thirty elves. Today we have lost three.”

“Three. The number would have been much higher had we not been prepared as we were. And the woman and children could have been injured as well.”

“Or worse. Orcs have needs as well. Flesh might be cannibalistic to our race, but to theirs it is a way of life.”

“By eating the flesh of their victims? If those were the only spoils of the war, I would not wish to begin the war in the first place.”

“If those were the only spoils of war, no one would wish to begin the war.” They smiled, but heard Serein clearing her throat. Clearly she was going to make a speech.

“Did you patch things up between you two?” Lakner whispered.

“I am not sure. We were speaking during the battle, and even before it, but it was mostly on battle tactics, not love.”

“You will never have her then?”

“No, I will. She loves me, as I her. But her pride…”

“Is still the problem.” Lakner finished with a grim nod. He had assumed as much. They stopped speaking listen to her speak.

“Today was a horrible day.” She began with a grim smile. “We rose with the dawn as usual, and, as many in the training camp may have told you, I was not in the best of moods. Prince Legolas and I worked the trainees harder than the day before, and considering their limited practice, they did quite well.” She paused, then smiled brightly. “Of course we did not mention that to them while they were working. It would not do to have spoiled their ego’s before the war.” The crowd laughed. Then her grim smile reappeared and she went on.

“So today began as a horrible day. Yet it has ended on the highest note I could ever have hoped for. As you know, we heard that the orcs were coming shortly after five, and were ready for them by five thirty. I must say, you are punctual elves.” More laughter.

“So we battled. The brave men and women that risked their lives in battle today thought little of the consequence. They fought for what they believed in, hat they know, and what they love. They fought to protect their homes, families, friends and their very culture.” Serein had to pause. It was getting hard to breathe.

“I cannot relay to you how proud I am to say that this is my kingdom. This is Haze. The city of elves that is now only a legend to all others, has made a stand here and now. They have spoken that they will not go quietly into the mist. We will not fade and die with the passing of time. We will thrive on pressure to survive, and survive we will!” Cheering arose. She smiled brightly, but held up her hands to signal silence.

“Today we did lose three of our own. Three wonderful elves who gave their very lives, who gave their immortality, to save us all. Their souls have been released from bondage, and we must remember them always. But we must go on. We cannot dwell on the sad forever. To honor them, we must continue what they died believing in. We must rebuild our world, our city. We must improve the quality of life, bring back arts, bring back what we lost during the first of the War of the Rings.

“That time of darkness has finally ended. The humans have been united under one king, Aragorn of Gondor. The dwarves and elves have begun to out aside their differences and reform a friendship between our races. We can no longer ignore the outside world as we have. We must welcome visitors, teach them of ourselves, help them and in the process grow and change, adapting to the times which we have been placed in. We live in a wonderful era. Do not deny yourselves experiences that can enrich your lifestyle.”

“We must clean up this mess, but more importantly, once it is cleaned, we will have a day of rejoicing. To celebrate our lives, those of the three lost, and our victory!” She concluded with a proud smile upon her face. Looking out appreciatively into the crowd, she smiled. They deserved the happiness they had.

Minder stood forward. Raising his voice as loud as he could, he began to quiet the crowd. When all had settled down, he began to speak.

“I think we can all agree that our Queen Serein has brought back life to our dull and broken world.” The din was huge. Everyone clapped and cheered in agreement. Minder calmed them once more. “And I believe, that to thank her for her hard work, in not only helping us to ready for the orc attack, but in her work to retrieve the Gemstone of Haze and helping to destroy the one ring.” More cheering. “I believe that to thank her, we should help her to clean and rebuild her home. This palace has long since been an eye sore to us all. Once it was a grand place where balls and galas were held constantly. It glowed in the haze, lighting our way. Now it is a battle scene for the hellish. I propose we rebuild it to its once splendor.”

“Agreed!”

“I second the motion!” Shouts came from the crowd. It was unanimous. Minder turned to see his queen held un-fallen tears in her eyes.

“I would be honored if you would rebuild my home.” She bowed her head in hopes that no one would see her watery eyes. She did not want them to think her queen weak and overly emotional. She spoke again. “But for now I would be happy just to get rid of the orc bodies.” She laughed, as did the rest of the crowd.

People began to break from the meeting. The children ran outside to play while the women and men began dragging orc bodies out of the hall. It had been decided that they would pile the orcs outside away from the river and then burn their bodies. It was a hard, laboring task to drag their heavy bodies out, but one that was very satisfying. When a few of the elves learned Serein was helping, they began to object. She blew them off.

“I fought in the battle and helped to make the mess. It is only fair I help to clean it up as well.” She reasoned out for them. Legolas, too, helped drag the orcs out.

Serein had been avoiding him as long as she could. But soon she was so tired from her physical exertions in first the training camp, then the battle, and now cleaning that she had to rest. Minder had forced her to sit on the throne, but when he had left, she sat down on the steps instead. She did not feel comfortable simply sitting on the throne. It was not her place. Yet. She would need to work her way up to it. But while she sat and rested, Legolas caught up with her.

“Serein.” Her heart melted as his deep voice rolled her name out of his lips. Could she swallow her sick sense of pride long enough to tell him…?*

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