༶•┈┈⛧┈♛Foxgloves and Greenleaves ♛┈⛧┈┈•༶

Chapter 5: Legolas

"You will not get away with this." I threaten.

"Oh, but I believe I already have Mirkwood Prince!" the orc hoarsely chuckles. "No one, not even your elven king of a father, will come to save you nOW-" The orc roars in pain, doubles over, and falls at my feet with an old Mirkwood arrow in its back.

More arrows rain down upon us, making their way to the neck of an orc. I look in the direction of where they came from, shielding my eyes from the glare of the sun. Sliding from the top of the hill was Miranna, shooting two or three arrows at a time. Her hair flies in the wind as she concentrates on aiming for the last of the orcs.

"She is no amateur." I murmur to myself, watching Miranna in awe. "And she is no lucky shot."

Miranna skids to a stop in front of Virago and I, scanning the area. "Are there anymore?" She huffs, out of breath. "We must keep moving, there will be more following us." She helps me mount Virago, now quickly trotting into the forest ahead of us.

"Where are we going?" I ask, looking around warily.

"To my mother's homeland: Delamaris, Kingdom of the High Seas."

I scoff. "Delamaris? It's too far. We'll never make it!"

"With a regular horse we won't. But with Virago, we'll make it before dusk. Hyah!"

We head to the western coast of Middle Earth, stopping a few times along the way.

"You never told me why you wandered into my forest the other day." Miranna says, sipping water from a nearby stream.

"Can I trust that you will not tell?"

"You have no one to tell other than the forest and I. And Virago." She adds quickly when Virago glares at her owner.

I explained to her the mission my father bestowed unto me before I left: go north and find Strider.

"Hm... I do not know of this Strider. Do you not know his whereabouts?"

Heat rises to my cheeks as sweat starts to drench my brow. "N-no. I was hoping you would."

She smirks. "Are you implying that you're lost?"

"Yes. I have not a clue where he could be. Or even who he is."

"I hope this Strider fellow can wait." She says, standing up. "We're not too far from Delamaris, only about a couple of miles or so."

We ride in silence, letting the whistling wind and Virago's gallops do the talking for us. Miranna's hair flies in my face, but I don't say anything. The smell of seawater entered my nostrils as we grew closer and closer to the Western coast of Middle Earth. All of sudden, Miranna stops Virago, looks around warily, and draws her knife.

"What is it?" I whisper, drawing an arrow on my bow and looking around.

"We're being watched." She whispers back. "I don't know who or what."

We stay silent for a moment, scanning the trees and intently listening for any sort of movement. Then, to my right, a faint rustle comes from a nearby bush. I shoot the first arrow, only to miss its target, who merely steps aside.

A she-elf dressed in blue armor points a trident at us and speaks in a strange language closely similar to Sindarin. Miranna answers her in the same strange language as five other soldiers appear from the trees, waiting for the next command.

"We'll see what the King has to say about that, daughter of Nerine." The she-elf speaks in Common Tongue. "You'll have to come with us."

The soldiers surrounding us bind our hands, mouths, and feet with seaweed. I attempt to break them, but they hold.