Legolas short story x reader 'Symphony' *finished*

Chapter eleven - So far away for far too long

We already saw the little village in the far distance but didn't make any haste to come there as quickly as possible: we had time on our side so we walked in silence and comfort. Whenever someone wanted to rest, we'd rest and sing songs. But now we were walking, descending the mountain with the scarlet red forest on top of it. The mountain up was difficult, but going down went quite okay if you pay enough attention to your steps and have enough patience to carefully think of your next move. And that is what we did. It took us hours to descend it, but we all weren't harmed when we reached the ground and that is what counts.

'Thank you for staying. I do not think I would escape the Orcs if you were not there to help me in the first place.' Legolas said and looked at me with a gentle smile on his face. 'But you did not need to impress me with your fighting skills.' He said and chuckled. 'I was rather good, wasn't I?' I grinned back and received a kiss on my cheek. 'You were amazing. You should have seen their heads when you made your big entrance.' I laughed at the memory of their facial expressions and we all tried to imitate them. Legolas had the best Orc face, though he wasn't sure if that was a compliment.

'So those creatures are called Orcs?' Herdith asked Legolas who nodded. 'Yes, those creatures are called Orcs, though these ones were stronger than usual.' My smile became brighter. 'Or you have grown a bit slow and weaker.' Legolas punched me playfully with a played angry look on his face but an amusing glow in his eyes. 'But,' Herdith started his question, 'why do Orcs dress that way? They were hardly wearing anything.' I looked at Legolas with the same questioning look on my face. 'Do you know why they do that?' I asked. 'How would I know?' Legolas said. And so we started to philosophize about Orcs and their dress code. It is an odd subject to talk about, but it made us laugh and we were all feeling cheery while we neared Herdith's home.

And there it was, the little wooden house where we had met Herdith's father. I looked into the distance and saw him lifelessly cleaning the stones from the back bloodstains. It just didn't go away. His was slightly bowed, his shoulders hung as did his head. He stared at the stains, probably reliving the scene that had taken place a couple days before. I pitied him as he looked up and, though he couldn't see me because of the distance, I could see his face. I saw the inner part of his eyebrows raised and pulled together, the corners of his mouth pointed downwards. His eyes stared into the Nothing, they had lost their focus and became blurry with tears. I hated myself for taking my time on our way back: every second that this man had been miserable was like a sharp dagger in my heart.

And I couldn't take the pain of those daggers anymore. I looked at Legolas and he read the pain on my face, he nodded. That is one of the fine things of Legolas, he doesn't need words to understand me, one look was more than enough. I ran at my full speed towards the man, my feet slightly hurt because of the effort I made but that pain was nothing compared to the pain the daggers left in my heart. I reached the village with Maethorion on my shoulder.

Herdith's father looked up when he heard my voice. 'Sir?' I asked. The man's eyes widened and filled themselves with fright. 'A-are you alone? Where is your friend? Where is my... m-my son...' His voice was trembling and very soft, I heard his despair, his loss and his pain. He wrapped his arms around his body as if he wanted to comfort and guard himself for the coming pain from my answer.

But I smiled at the poor man. 'My dear sir, your son is with us.'

The man looked up in disbelieve. He scanned my face and saw my genuine smile. His eyes changed, he rose his shoulders, stood tall and got the same smile on his face. In his eyes glowed a breathtaking light of happiness. 'W-where is he?' He asked me and looked around, the brown locks that hung from his head shook along with his movement I had seen Legolas sneaking up to me, I felt him standing close to me and knew Herdith was with him. 'I-is he here? Is he okay?' He man asked and I nodded. 'Look for yourself.' And with that I took a step to the left, showing Herdith behind me. He saw his father and screamed a loud 'papa!' when he ran to the man. Tears ran out of his father's eyes as his smile turned into a bright laugh and he caught the small Herdith and lifted him up in a warm embrace. 'You're back, you're alive!' The man said in disbelieve and held the little kid so tight as if he was afraid that he would dissolve in ash or be taken by another pack of Orcs. 'So far away...' The man sobbed, 'so far away for far too long...' Herdith placed his head on his father's chest and enjoyed the protective arms of the old man that were wrapped around him. 'Never let me go again.' Herdith cried. 'Never, my son, never. Stay here with me, safe and together.' The father answered and I watched the tears fall on Herdith's head. 'I missed you so much...' He whispered. 'I missed you too, papa.' His son sobbed.