A Monster Like Me ~ Legolas

Orcs ~ The Breaking of the Fellowship

They finally came to a rest, pulling over to a small clearing on the bank of the river. Forn crawled out of the water, careful no to disturb the boats that circled around her. She fell to the ground with a sigh, closing her eyes as the Fellowship busied themselves around her. 

She managed to fall asleep before she was prodded in the chest with something sharp. She snapped her eyes open, readying herself to eat whoever dared to wake her. She looked down at a sheepish looking dwarf, holding a broken flint in his small hands. Forn closed her jaw, and looked down at the dwarf's small pile of wood. She released a sigh as she realized what the dwarf wished her to do. 

Slowly the dragon hauled herself to her feet, and trudged over to the pitiful pile of wood. In a breath that resembled a huff, sparks flew from her nostrils, set the wood ablaze. She settled herself down by the fire, and the hobbits leaned against her warm body, warming their toes on the fire in front of them. Forn sighed in contentment, and settled her head down on her forearms, allowing herself, once again, to drift off to sleep. 

~*~

Forn was awakened by the scent of panic. She shot to her feet, disturbing all around her.

Forn? Legolas asked, placing a hand on her in an attempt to calm her down. What ails you? 

Something is wrong! Forn whirled around, trying to find the source of the smell. Frodo! Where is he? Boromir? Where have they gone? Legolas too looked around, trying to spot the missing members. 

Go search for them! I will awaken Aragorn!  And Forn leapt into the air, following the scent that would lead her to her hobbit. 

Forn swirled around the forest, letting the branches of trees reach out and scrape at her underbelly, but she did not notice, all of her concentration was on finding the missing hobbit (and man but he was considerably less important in her mind).

Orcs! Forn exclaimed, as she spotted them through a small gap in the tree. All of Galadriel's warnings of what Sauron would do if he knew of her existence ran through her mind, before she plunged through the trees, throwing up her wings to protect the small hobbit, that the Orcs were approaching. Forn whirled around so she was facing Frodo, with all of her might, she slammed her chest into the ground, causing the gem to swing open, revealing the twelve lovely necklaces. Frodo hurriedly took one, as arrows and swords bounced off Forn's scales, as she did her best to shield the hobbit. He closed the gem and placed the necklace around his neck. 

Run! Forn bellowed, and she wheeled around to face her attackers head on. She did not have time to check if the hobbit obeyed her, for she was too busy deflecting the spears that threatened to scrape her tender underbelly. With one long breath she roasted the Orcs that had been attempting to stab at her, and once she was satisfied that they were all dead, she turned to try and help the others. 

She heard a horn in the distance, and strained to hear the sound, but it was this sound that distracted her from the Orcs that approached from behind. The only thing that made her aware of their presence was a black tipped arrow sinking into her softer underbelly. 

Little one! She cried out, stumbling backwards. She breathed deeply before roasting her attackers, but it didn't stop her from falling to her side. 

Forn! Came Legolas' panicking voice. Forn knew this was no regular arrow. The scales on her underbelly, although weaker than those that decorated her body elsewhere, were still strong enough to deflect man made weapons. She could feel it killing her. It was as real as the Orcs that swarmed her, layering her body with heavy chains as she weakened with every second. 

Little one, please, I love you dearly... She trailed off as the pain became too much to bare. What was this arrow made of? Why was it affecting her so? What poison had it been soaked in?

Forn, please! Where are you?  Legolas' cries became more and more hysterical, but Forn was growing too weak to answer. Instead she lay her head down on the trees that surrounded her. They reminded her so much of her rider. They reminded her so much of Legolas, how he always warned her not to hurt the trees, how he spoke to them, how he told her their stories. She wished he were here now, to tell her about these trees in her last moments. She wished that she could tell him that it wasn't his fault. She wished that she had more time.

And the only thing that Forn remembered before her world went completely back, was an enraged cry.

~*~

Legolas had never shot so many arrows in his life. He had never been so enraged as he was in that moment, seeing dirty Orcs surrounding his beautiful dragon. He charged forward, he had already witnessed one death, he was not about to see another. He slashed through every Orc he could see. He was blinded by his rage, cutting down everything that moved. 

And soon, nothing moved. He raced to Forn, pulled away the greasy chains that weighed her down, but even as she was freed from the chains, the dragon did not move. 

"Aragorn!" Legolas screamed, as he rushed to the arrow sticking out of Forn's underbelly. "Aragorn please!" He kept screaming as he pressed his hand to Forn's wound, trying to stop the bleeding. "Aragorn!" He screamed again, his voice going raw. The man finally made an appearance, sliding to his knees by the arrow. 

Aragorn pulled Legolas away from Forn's side, and together they removed the arrow from Forn. Aragorn dropped to his knees again, giving orders to the elf and dwarf. 

Aragorn's expert hands managed to stop the bleeding, and remove some of the poison. But most importantly, he kept the poison from reaching Forn's heart. As the man, dwarf, and elf knelt by the wounded dragon's side, Aragorn finally spoke of his plan.

"You mean not to follow Frodo and Sam?" Legolas asked cautiously, still stroking his dragon's scales gently. 

"Frodo's fate is no longer in our hands," Aragorn said.

"Then it has all been in vain The Fellowship has failed," Gimli grumbled, leaning himself against Forn, much to Legolas' displeasure. 

"Not if we hold true to each other We will not abandon Merry and Pippin to torment and death Not while we have strength left!" Aragorn exclaimed. Gimli nodded, but Legolas hesitated, looking at his wounded dragon with worry. 

"We will find the hobbits," Legolas murmured, still gazing at Forn. "But we cannot leave now. First, we must honor Boromir, and second, we must let Forn recover. We cannot leave her." The man and dwarf nodded in agreement, and the three stood to recover Boromir, letting Forn rest, and letting her fight off the poison. Aragorn could do nothing else for her. It was left to Forn, and since Forn is a fain creature, she was not about to let Middle Earth see a world without something as beautiful as her.