Saving Middle Earth

Confronting Maliki

I entered the fortress many of the orcs there just grunted at me as I passed, but none of them touched me. Maliki knew I was coming and they were given orders to let me pass. I remembered those place from when I was here before. I had no intention of entering my metal cage again. Maliki and I were going to meet as equals this time. He knew it was time. Time to decide our fate. I walked up the stairs not bothering with the orcs, I did not even kill any they were not my focus. I reached the top of the staircase and there stood Maliki.

"Well it is about time you arrived and came to your senses. Tell me have you decided to join us. We could be so happy together Indilwen. You will never have to worry about anything when we are together. I will treat you as my Queen. You will want for nothing."

"You make it sound so wonderful Maliki. You seek to hurt those I care about, I am not sure I can let that happen. Even if they have done me wrong."

"You are foolish Lily, do you really think he loves you. You know he cares for another. I do not understand how he can pick a weak redhead she elf over a goddess, but do not worry I can take care of that for you, all you have to do is ask."

"How do you know about her?"

He points over to the cell I did not notice against the wall and there lays Tauriel badly injured and bleeding. She makes hardly any noise other than a slight moan.

"What have you done to her, let her go she has done nothing to you."

"No but she has hurt you and for that she should be punished. You see Legolas claims to want to protect you, but he will not do anything for you. I would avenge all those who have wronged you if you wanted anything to make you happy."

"Let me go to her then. I need to talk to her."

"Very well." he says and commands the orcs to open the cell. I enter.

"I shall give you a time with the weakling, but I must lock you in. I do not want to risk you betraying me and taking her away." he locks the door and leaves. His first mistake.

I run over to Tauriel. "Are you ok? Please Tauriel let me help you." I heal her but as I learned with my aunt I only heal her enough to give her some life back. If I heal them to much they will inflict all the pain to keep her weak. After several minutes she begins to stir and looks up at me with wild eyes and panic over her face.

"Lily, you need to leave. Maliki is here."

"I know, we have spoken, he locked me in here with you. Please do not talk anymore, I will communicate with you through our thoughts the orcs are listening." I whisper to her.

I ask her what happened and she tells me she was captured a short time ago. Maliki was going to get her to tell me that she and Legolas are in love.

I tell her about what I had seen on the cliff outside Mirkwood by the lake all those years ago and how I heard her and Legolas talking about their love.

She calls me a fool and tells me that she and Legolas where talking about me, the dwarf she had fallen for and my brother. I looked into eyes and believed her. There was pain there for loves he had lost. This poor girl had grief. She had been banished by her king, lost her family, friends and home. She was here dying and she had nothing to lose. She even begged me to kill her as the pain was too much.

"No Tauriel you are not going to die, but you have to listen to me and play along. Please even if it seems that things are going wrong you have to trust me."

She nodded slightly and we heard Maliki coming back and she pretend to still be unconscious.

"Alright you are done." He says, the orcs open the cage and pull me out rather roughly.

"Be careful with your Queen". He bellows at them and stabs one of them in the chest.  "What is your decision?"

"Maliki I do not know she could tell me nothing only some garbage that you where here and I needed to leave and then passed back out."

"Weak as I said, your boyfriend is of little intelligence choosing her over you."

"He is not my boyfriend at least not anymore."

"Wonderful now I see you are starting to make sense."

"I know the truth when I see it." Truth was when I saw the pain in Taureil's eyes and what he had done to her, I did know the truth, Maliki would destroy anything to get what he wants even me.

"You have blocked me from your thoughts well done you are getting stronger."

He was trying to read my mind and get inside my head it was so easy for me to block him this time. It took very little effort really.

"Well a lady has to have some privacy." He just smiled at me. I was starting to win; he believed I was siding with him.

"You know who I would most like to rid this earth of?" He paused as I raised an eyebrow thinking he would say Legolas. "Your grandmother, that horrible women has kept you from your true potential. She has hidden you to keep you for herself. To use your powers when she needed them to defeat us. She above all else desires power. You are what she most desires to be and by keeping you for herself and under her watch she has used you for her bidding much like she claims I want to do. While I admit your powers like mine are great and together we are unstoppable, I want to share it with you. To rule this earth and make it our own. Would it not be great Indilwen? A world that we are worshipped for what we really are, not hidden out casted from society."

He touched a nerve and I could not hide my anger towards my grandmother and the fact that she took my family from me. She had convinced them to lie to me. I looked so much like her yet we were not blood had she somehow changed my appearance so that I would not question we were family. I would not put anything past her. She had lived in Valinor and trained with the gods and learned their some of their secrets, which is why she was so good at magic. She also had the 2 of the elven rings to help her. I do not think for one minute that she would not put her needs above that of others.

He smiled he could see in my face that he had turned the tables and now I was questioning my views and beliefs. I said nothing for some time.

Suddenly he stood up and left the room and I heard the door lock behind him. I was there alone with several orcs and a dead looking Tauriel. He had left me alone to think.