A Second Chance

Chapter 13

Emma blinked groggily as she tried to shake the sleep off. This was the first time that she had gotten more than two hours of sleep and she vaguely wondered what was keeping her oh-so-wonderful jailers. Eventually, she registered that their was a rather strange noise drifting down the staircase.

She moved over to the door to her cell and pressed her ear to it. After a short time, she was able to identify the screeches of orcs, but also the clashing of weapons. Must be some brawl. They don't usually use their weapons, Emma thought. Incapable of walking, she crawled over to the corner of her cell and leaned against the wall, trying to avoid jostling all the parts of her that were injured (few were not).

Suddenly a cacophony of screeches broke through her near total silence. Two orcs bounded down the stairs and over to her cell. Out of instinct, Emma pressed herself up against the wall. The smaller of the two went in and roughly grabbed her, effectively hauling her off the floor. Knowing that it was useless to protest, she just let them drag her out. She was forced to her knees and the larger orc stepped in front of her after taking a furtive glance back at the staircase. The smaller orc, who was now positioned behind her, grabbed a fistful of her hair and wrenched her head back, she couldn't help the squeak of protest that escaped her lips and was surprised when the orcs showed no reaction to it. Then she couldn't hold back her joy when she saw what the larger orc was holding, preparing to swing at her neck.

Oh, how many times she had dreamed of just dying, being released from the pain and suffering. It's not that she really wanted to die, she would rather live, but not like this, in constant torture. She would also never kill herself, couldn't dream of it. She wouldn't have the guts to do it anyways. Not to mention that it was morally wrong.

Still, she couldn't help the giddy feeling that welled up inside her as she saw the ax twitch towards her neck.

oOo

Thranduil drew his sword as he walked across the long bridge of Dol Guldur. He heard the alarms being raised, but did not really care that the enemey was alerted to their presence. He sensed the dark magic protecting the entrance as they approached it and held his palm up, facing the gate and reached for the flow of light inside of him. He sensed the Marchwarden doing the same next to him, though his assistance was not really needed.

He felt the shield of dark magic crumble away and proceeded forward. As soon as they entered, they were bombarded by orcs and wargs and orcs riding wargs and... was that a posessed rat? Thranduil shook his head and out of the corner of his eye saw a flash of bright red hair and knew that Tauriel had joined the fray, he smirked and in one fluid movement, leapt into the middle of the battle, sword swinging in around him like a whirlwind.

oOo

Tauriel twirled in a whirl of blades, orcs falling left and right and all the while, she was keeping an eye on her king, who was merely a blur of platinum and crimson, piling up even more bodies then she. Out of the corner of the eye she wasn't using to watch the Elvenking, she saw two orcs disappear down a staircase. She leapt after them, felling more orcs as she went.

As she crept down the stairs after them, she took her bow off her back and notched an arrow. Peering around the corner, she nearly froze at what she saw.

The two orcs were standing in the middle of the dungeons, one had the head of an... an elf maiden forced back and the other was just swing the ax towards her neck. Moving faster than one would think possible, Tauriel aimed and shot the orc holding the ax and then the other. The elf maiden gasped and fell forward on her hands.

Tauriel moved quickly forward and kneeled in front of her. She gasped when she saw who it was.

It was the mysterious elleth that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere in their forest... and then disappeared. Though Tauriel had seen her only a few times, she was not one to forget a face.