Untold Stories (the Sequel to Forbidden Love)

What You Didn't See

Artemis' POV
around the same time as the Battle of the Five Armies

"Artemis! Were you even listening?" Tauriel demanded.
"Yes. You said that King Thranduil told you to tell us to go rid the forest of the spiders," I recited boredly, resisting the urge to imitate Tauriel's bossy voice. She didn't look happy that I actually had been listening.
"So if you're done messing around, let's go already," Tauriel snapped. I shot her a look, one eyebrow flicking up.
"Who's the princess here?" I muttered under my breath. Luckily Tauriel didn't hear. She was annoyed at me enough already; I could sass her later. As we left the room, Legolas waited by the door for me.
"Must you keep antagonising her?" he asked.
"Yes. She does it to me at every opportunity," I answered. Legolas rolled his eyes and changed the subject.
"We have suspicions that the spiders are coming from somewhere else. Tauriel refuses to waste guards to track them, so could you?"
"I guess, but what's she going to say when she discovers that I'm missing? She's going to kill me."
"I'll cover for you." Legolas followed me out the door and we split paths: he followed Tauriel and the guards, and I took a more roundabout route to find the spiders so that I could then track them.

The spiders weren't hard to track. There were quite a lot of them, and they weren't smart enough to cover their tracks. I quickly discovered that they came from Dol Guldur, the ruined fortress to the south. I got just close enough to see that there was a spider nest in the ruins; a general feeling of evil radiated from the place. But I didn't go any closer, I didn't want to, and I'd be hard pressed to make it back in time if I lingered any longer. So I left, following the spiders' tracks again, as it seemed the most logical course.

"What's going on here?" The guards were escorting a bunch of dwarves towards the palace, Legolas taking up the rear. I came up behind him.
"Artemis! What took you so long? We could have used you," Legolas said, surprised.
"The spiders had a nest in the ruins of Dol Guldur. I barely stayed, it's so far away. What's going on?"
"We found a bunch of dwarves here. One of them had this," Legolas replied, showing me Orcrist. "He wouldn't tell me where he got it."
"Did it occur to you that they might have passed that troll cave, and picked it up?"
"No. But they still wouldn't explain why they were here. And you know Father. He wouldn't be happy if we had let them go. So you say you tracked the spiders to Dol Guldur?"
"Yes," I answered. I caught sight of Tauriel listening. Legolas noticed my gaze.
"Let her tell Father. She can take the credit. It doesn't matter."
I groaned a little, but knew there was no point contesting with Tauriel for the credit.

The Next Day:
"Legolas! What happened?" I had been practising with my weapons, but I seemed to have missed something major.
"The dwarves are gone. They are using barrels to escape along the river. We have to go after them."
I grabbed my quiver, slinging it easily onto my back.
"Wait! There are Orcs after the dwarves too. Stay, in case they make their way to the palace."
"I'm coming with you. They won't get to the palace, not while we're fighting." I followed Legolas out the doors, noting that the river gate had been closed. The dwarves wouldn't be able to get out. But now they were blocked up, helpless against the Orcs attacking them. The guards on the gate had been killed, and the dwarves, weaponless and cornered, weren't going to be able to hold out much longer. I raced towards the gate, ready to fight.

As I ran, I saw one of the dwarves –one of the younger ones– climbing from his barrel and up the steps to the lever that operated the gate. He almost made it before an arrow hit him in the leg, and I saw a large pale Orc lowering his bow. I was about to go up to help the injured dwarf (whom I think I heard named as Kíli), but all too soon the Orc's bow was raised again, and I was forced to sway sharply to one side to avoid the arrow that flashed through the air, aimed at me. But the sharp movement caused me to lose my footing on the river-drenched ledge. I desperately tried to regain my footing. With difficulty, I managed to right myself. I had almost gotten a stable foothold when a throwing knife whirled past me, grazing my arm, and in trying to dodge it I fell. There was nothing to grab, and my knives flew from my hands as I scrabbled at the rock. Then I hit the icy water, my head going under.

I gritted my teeth as a sharp pain shot through my head, and I felt warmth –blood– mingling with the cold water that I could feel on my face. My head came up again as the current tossed me about, and I almost cried out when my leg struck hard against a rock. A sharp point dug through my trousers, gashing my thigh. But I managed to grab onto that same rock to keep myself from being swept down the river as the gate opened and the barrels moved through. I noted with relief that Kíli made it into his barrel, but I had no time to focus on the dwarves. I needed to get myself out of the water, and deal with my head and leg, both now bleeding hard.

I hoisted myself onto the rock, managing with difficulty to reach a standing position. Then I made my way back to Mirkwood with another injured guard, following the others. The Orcs had gone after the dwarves, although I wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

"Legolas, where are you going?" Legolas had just come out of the gates, carrying his weapons and looking purposeful.
"Tauriel went after those dwarves. I'm going after her," Legolas replied. "No one can hunt thirty Orcs alone."
I felt for my knives, but they weren't there. I remembered I'd dropped them at the river, so I checked my quiver and fell into step beside Legolas.
"What are you doing?"
"Coming with you. What else?"
Legolas stopped, turning to face me. "Artemis, you're injured. You have blood running down your face and a wounded leg. Go find Thalia and get those injuries looked at."
"But I want to come!" I answered, guiltily realising I sounded like a child whining.
"Stay," Legolas said kindly. "I'm going to try and talk her out of it. We may well be back very soon."
I dropped my eyes from his, to the floor. "Fine. Just don't get yourself killed."