Unspoken ( A Legolas Love Story )

4: Unexpected Respect

He rose at the break of dawn and left his cabin, breathing in the crisp air that still had whispers of winter. The village was just beginning to stir after a night of prolonged merriment. Some distance away next to one of the thatched houses, he saw Wren and Strider in earnest conversation. His keen elven eyes and ears noticed that she was somewhat agitated and he heard his name mentioned. She looked almost instantly in his direction with piercing eyes. Legolas was dismayed that he had been caught prying yet again and dropped his gaze. But the conversation was over. She was heading in his direction; he braced himself as she approached him. Then he realized that she had no intention of stopping. She began speaking without altering her pace.

"It seems I am being reprimanded for asking after your day yesterday. Therefore, I dare not ask you how you slept. Perhaps you had best not stay too long with the Dúnedain, lest you gain some humor."

Before he had time to respond, she was past him and headed towards the forest. He watched her as she strode away from him, her dark hair falling in waves down her back. He shook his head at her impertinence. In the light of the day, he realized that she could not have been more than twenty. She was a mere girl, yet she spoke to him as his equal.

He turned to meet Strider's gaze as he walked up the path to meet him. Strider looked at him intently, almost apologetically.

"You must excuse Wren. She is young and headstrong. Too quick to speak her mind or jest at times."

Legolas raised an eyebrow and his gaze returned to where he had last seen Wren heading towards the forest, but already she was out of sight.

"She is however an exceptional scout," said Strider following his gaze. "There are few are able to track so well as she or advance undetected." The elf felt the heat rise to his face at the reminder of yesterday's encounter.

Legolas opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the warning sound of a horn from the lookout on the hill, one long blast, a pause and two short sharp notes. Legolas looked to Strider inquiringly, but Strider was moving away already in the direction of the forest.

"A company of over a dozen orcs approaching from the western side, heading towards the forest."

Legolas spun and followed. Strider's urgency was palpable. Legolas knew that was because in all likelihood Wren was heading directly into an ill-prepared ambush. As Strider broke into a run, he turned and commanded in a loud voice to the bearded, beleaguered Ranger that had just stuck his head out his cabin.

"Beringil, rouse the Rangers and follow us!"

The horn sounded again.

Strider did not wait; there was no time. Legolas grabbed his bow and quiver that he had left outside his cabin door as he passed, and kept pace with the Ranger. Strider rushed through the forest, not caring who overheard them.

The first sign of Wren was a dead orc with an arrow between its narrow, yellowed, lifeless eyes.  A grotesque, fanged creature with its sallow-skinned, gnarled limbs splayed awkwardly and its rib cage plainly visible. The rest of the orc company was divided and searching for the assailant. Wren was nowhere to be seen.

Legolas only knew of her whereabouts when a second orc fell, as an arrow whistled through the air. Legolas followed the angle of the arrow's trajectory with his eyes as it led steeply upwards. She was in the trees. At the arrival of the two warriors, the orcs regrouped and focused their attention on the elf and the man.

The orcs, however, were clearly tired, disorientated and poorly equipped for any sort of battle. Legolas and Strider fought together and carved through the orc company with ease. All the while, Wren continued to pick off the orcs who were on the perimeter of the skirmish. The orcs were dwindling. Wren leapt out of her tree; her arrows must have been spent. She drew a large curved dagger as she landed between two orcs. A third orc, unnoticed till this moment, with his weapon raised, charged out of the undergrowth. He must have been a straggler or held back in the hope of avoiding the fight. His size was formidable. She was clearly outmatched. Legolas raised his bow and the large orc lay dead on the ground almost instantly. In a split second, Legolas loaded his second arrow. Before he could loose it, Wren spun around with ruthless efficiency, and with two stokes, the two remaining orcs dropped dead almost simultaneously. The fight by all appearances was over.

Wren turned and surveyed the scene. Fixing her brown eyes on the blue eyes of the elf, with no trace of humor or jest, she placed a hand to her above her breast and bowed her chin in gratitude and said thank you in Sindarin elvish.

"Le athae."

Legolas was astonished, so much so that he almost did not return the gesture and customary response. Strider rushed over to Wren's side, having witnessed the last few moments of her orc encounter. He briefly chastised her for leaping out of her place of safety without having thoroughly assessed the danger. But as she lowered her eyes at his rebuke, he put his arm around her, drew her to her side and leant to kiss her head.

"Fine shooting little bird; by my count you took out six orcs."

"Eight." She corrected with pride, eyes sparkling again. "If you count the ones who also died by my blade."

But Legolas's sharp eyes had noticed the faintest of shadows cross her face, as the kiss had landed on her forehead.

At that moment, several Rangers rushed in breathlessly and interrupted the scene. As they surveyed the nineteen dead orcs, they looked in wordless admiration at the three who had dispatched them. Immediately Strider began barking orders and the Rangers hurried to secure the area, retrieve weapons, and prepare to burn the orcs.

Legolas tried to make himself useful. He heard Wren laugh again and tease two of the Rangers.

"How kind of you to join us, Daernon and Asvard, considering how poorly you must be feeling today..." The two middle-aged Rangers looked much the worse for wear after the previous night's festivities. They responded grumpily about having to get out of bed prematurely, while a few of the brighter-eyed Rangers sniggered.

She showed surprising skill for a human. Particularly such a young female. No wonder Strider was glad to have her as part of his company. And yet, he still simmered with annoyance from their previous encounters. As Legolas contemplated this, his gaze was drawn towards a slight figure, dragging more than her body's weight in orc.

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Le athae ~Thank you/You were helpful (formal)

Some orc action! Do you think Legolas's first impressions of Wren are fair or accurate? I would love to receive your comments and please VOTE on this chapter if you enjoyed it. Each vote and comment help the wider circulation of my story, I really appreciate them!

Legolas Artwork: Kindly used with permission from the very talented 'the wise snail', please see her other beautiful work on https://wisesnailart.deviantart.com/

DEDICATION  nightwraith17   : Thank you for being Wren's biggest fan and restoring my faith in her, when it was taking a hammering! And for dropping literally a dozen great comments on every chapter, I got to see my story through your eyes, what a treat!