A Lasting Legacy [ Thranduil X OC ]

Chapter 4

Thranduil arose the next morning in a good mood.
He had a plan concerning what to do with the troublesome creature and her people and he had been delivered a letter from Legolas.
The letter contained nothing but Legolas's travels but he would take what he could get.
Raising a goblet of wine to his lips, he was stopped mid-sip by the arrival of Tauriel in the great hall.
Instantly she bowed then spoke,
"My king, our patrols have spotted Orcs crossing into Ardor, close to our borders. Shall I call for a group to quell them?"
Slowly setting the cup down, Thranduil responded,
"No, do not worry yourself over such trivial matters. I will go myself with a patrol and take care of the scum. Today I need you to train a new batch of archers."
Tauriel seemed taken aback by his courteous response for she stood there, unmoving.
Raising a brow, Thranduil waited.
"Was that all captain?"
She responded carefully,
"Yes my Lord, I just wanted to be sure...", cutting her off he replied,
"I'm quite sure thank you, let me know if any serious matters need to be brought to my attention."
Standing up, he then calmly walked out of the room to his connecting chambers.
Putting on his light armor, he armed himself with his favorite sword.
He had not had the pleasure of wiping the earth of such undesirables in so long, that this would truly be a treat.
Just then he remembered something that soured his mood considerably.
If he didn't hurry, she would be there.
She seemed to always get to an area of trouble before him now, how he did not know.
But he would rather die a fiery death before ever being in debt to the beast.
Walking faster now, he called to his guards to ready his elk.
Mounting up, he urged the animal to go faster, nearing the borders of the two forests.

Arden dismounted her horse as her and her company found the orcs.
They seemed to be camped in a rocky outcropping and she quickly notched an arrow in her quiver.
Aiming carefully, she waited.
As soon as she saw an orc clearly, walking into view, she released the arrow.
With a gurgling scream, the hideous creature fell and simultaneously enraged the others.
As they began to run towards the group of trees they stood behind, she raised her arm then lowered it in signal, sending a storm of arrows into the orcs' wake.
One by one they fell, none getting close to their hideout but a flash of something made Arden pause.
Looking out across the rocks, she saw none other than Thranduil and a handful of soldiers.
Purposefully not looking his way, she felt his penetrating stare.
Mounting her horse once more, she signaled to her men, and they rode out to finish the last of the beasts.
Swinging her sword in one large arc, she instantly decapitated 3 orcs and kept going.
At some point, Thranduils' men had also joined them in the slaughter while he stood resolutely in the back.
Once more she felt his cold stare upon her form and it was unnerving.

Thranduil continued watching her.
He hated what he saw, not so much her but her very physical being.
She was still gorgeous.
The way in which she glided her sword, gracefully turned her horse and anticipated movement was one of the most beautiful dances that he had ever seen and he hated her for causing his minds' betrayal.
A dance of death, he could have laughed, how fitting.
Still he watched her and his men as they worked together.
It didn't take a scholar to see that his men still looked up to her as a captain.
She had most likely trained them so he wasn't surprised, they also followed her cues effortlessly even if they weren't meant for them.
Just then he noticed a problem.
One of his newer and younger recruits had gotten off of his horse and walked over to the body of a slain orc.
Thranduil sighed, he would need Tauriel to teach this one better.
Every good soldier knew to never make yourself vulnerable to an orc, dead or alive.
Readying his sword, Thranduil was about to move as he saw the young man move toward the corpse.
Kicking the body once, his soldier seemed to think the orc had indeed been killed and turned his back.
As though a horrer scene in slow motion, Thranduil saw the orc slowly stand up behind the young elf as he religiously watched his comrades finish off the rest.
Already in movement, Thranduil spurred his elk towards the idiot, cursing his foolishness.
But he was still too far away when the orc pulled out his blade and thrust.
In the blink of an eye, a womanly figure shoved the boy out of the way and took the fatal blow.
The blade pierced through Arden's abdomen and she let out a pain-filled grunt as she hit the ground.
Already halfway there, Thranduil stopped his elk but let an arrow fly, killing the offending animal for good.
She didn't seem to move and he selfishly wondered if all his problems had just been solved.
The rest of her men continued to finish their slaughter and never once looked her way.
Confused, he watched and waited.
The boy seemed to be beside himself as he stared in shock at his heroine.
Gingerly she sat up and brushed off her shirt.
Standing up, she turned to look him straight in the eye as she slowly pulled the sword from her body, unflinching.
Thranduil tried hard to mask any visible reactions to the grotesque scene, but couldn't seem to keep his eyes from widening slightly.
With the sword fully out now, she threw it to the ground and remounted the horse she had launched herself from.
No blood was evident on her clothing.
"What of this world are you", Thranduil muttered in shock to himself as she rode away to rejoin her soldiers.
Seeing that the orcs where taken care of now, they disappeared into the forest from which they came, leaving his men to burn the bodies.

*Fun fact; Thranduils' name translates to "Vigorous Spring", whereas Legolas' translates to "Green Leaf".