Thorns & Roses (Legolas Love Story)

32. Looking Away

Nature can be cruel. Predators are everywhere. Those who don’t need to be protected from outside forces often need to be protected from themselves. In society, women are referred to as “the fairer sex”. But in the wild, the female species can be far more ferocious than their male counterparts. Defending the nest is both our oldest and strongest instinct. And sometimes, it can also be the most gratifying.

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‘You can’t even hold your sword upright and the aim of your blade won’t be true,’ said the taunting voice of the greatest bitch in Middle Earth, ‘You’re going to die out there.’

‘Oh, I’m counting on it,’ I replied with my inner smugness.

The demented dark queen let out a scream of rage, and again, shook the bars that held her prisoner inside my head, causing another splitting headache that caused me to grit my teeth as I led Hasufel to battle towards Pelennor Field.

‘Godddamn–if you have to play hard to get with your so called powers can you please at least act civilly?!’ I snapped inwardly.

She, being the crazy monster that she was, ignored me and kept trying to stretch whatever inner vocal cord she had until it drove me completely mad.

‘Shut up now or this time around I’ll make sure we die the worst way possible by being crushed under an Oliphaunt’s feet!!’ I threatened angrily.

This seemed to work, mainly because given our last near death experience in the caves of Helm’s Deep, the monster also felt the torment of me dying. After all, she also occupied the same body as me, so it would only make sense that death by Oliphaunt was less desirable to her.

‘Now of course it would save us both the trouble if you just lend me your power so we don’t have to experience the inconvenience of dying in battle,’ I taunted her. ‘You know that the moment I see that we’re losing I’m going to opt to kill myself so you’ll have no choice but to lend me your power. Either way, I win.’

The dark queen shouted her wrath loudly in my ears, growling and snarling though not as excruciatingly as long as the first time.

‘No matter what world you are in, some law remains the same. If you stay in a place that isn’t yours, you’ll eventually have to pay the rent. I’m your landlord and you’re my bitch. Today is my payday.’

I smirked condescendingly as I heard the monster yelled again in my head, screaming murder and profanities at me and her usual threats that I had gotten so used to hear after all these years.

‘Yeah, yeah, yeah,’ I mocked her.

Eventually, the monster grew tired that I didn’t listen to her and stomped her feet ceremoniously back further into her cage to sulk.

The dark queen, being the little bitch that she was, remained silent the whole march and I had silently given up the chance of her lending me her power unless I was dying first.

The moment we arrived by the hill that overview the whole Pelennor Field, my breath was suddenly caught in my throat.

The whole six thousand riders of Rohan collectively stopped breathing the moment we saw the armies of Mordor. Their numbers were crippling to see, you’d thought you’re going to faint at the sight. They fill in the whole field like plague. It was midday, but alas, the sun was blanketed by the darkness that loomed over the sky from Mordor.

Sauron’s doing.

Orcs, Uruk-hai, despicable men that give their allegiance to Sauron– all of them formed an alliance to break into the White City of Minas Tirith, which by the look of it was barely hanging on for dear life.