Bound By Blood {Legolas x Reader}

Chapter Eight - Fangorn Forest & The Golden Hall

Adriel sat atop Arod who quietly followed behind Gimli and Legolas through the maze of tall trees and roots as the trio followed Merry and Pippin's footprints. Adriel held onto both Arod's and Hasufel's reins loosely in her left hand, keeping a close watch on both the forest and the three men jogging silently in front of her. Aragorn picked up speed and moved farther ahead of the group, his sharp eyes nimbly following the Hobbits' trail. Arod suddenly stumbled over a large root, a small grunt escaped from between Adriel's lips as she jolted forward in the saddle. Gritting her teeth she hunched forward to try and relive the burning pain in her side, she grumbled and cursed as the wound continued to throb.

"I think it stopped bleeding though," she thought to herself in a hopeful manner as she tightly pressed her hand over the bloody bandages. Adriel pulled back lightly on Arod's reins, slowing him to a weak trot. "Are cin okaui nin mellon? Are you okay my friend?" Adriel whispered softly to Arod as she gently patted his neck with her right hand. A large grin crossed Adriel's face as the horse seemed to snort back in response, she chuckled softly before looking back up to where she caught a glimpse of Gimli licking his finger. The Dwarf huffed loudly from in front of her, Adriel eased Arod to a stop beside him so she could get a better look at what he was doing. Gimli wore a look of disgust on his face as he spat something out.

"Orc blood," he reported as he looked over to where both Legolas and Aragorn now stood a few metres in front of where he and Adriel were. Adriel's face scrunched up. "Did he really just purposefully lick orc blood?" Aragorn growled as he quickly continued forward, Gimli jogged forward to catch up with the Ranger. Legolas stayed closer to Adriel as she once again urged the horses forward, leading them around the thick roots and jagged rocks that littered the forest floor. A cool musky breeze blew past causing the scattered sunlight to sway along with the canopy of leaves that shielded them from the midday sun.

"This must remind you of home," Adriel murmured to Legolas as he walked alongside Arod. He hummed softly and nodded.

"It does. Before the spiders and the sickness of evil it was very much like this, do you remember?" he quietly responded as he looked up to Adriel. A soft smile etched its way onto Adriel's face as she looked down to him.

"I spent far too much time in those woods to forget. If you can recall, your father tried to get rid of me daily so I had to memorize every detail of the forest to find my way back," she snorted. He smirked up at Adriel and chuckled.

"Maybe if you weren't such a bad influence he would like you," the Elven Prince teased, a small smile working its way onto his face.

"I barely did anything," Adriel huffed as she weakly nudged his arm with the edge of her boot.

"You used magic after he specifically ordered you not to then proceeded to disarm his entire guard while they were trying to apprehend you. Not to mention the company of Dwarves you led straight to his kingdom knowing his hatred of them and then decided to have yourself a prison break. That's not even a quarter of what you've done to spite him!"

"Well I saved his entire guard and his pest of an heir from being Orc food. And the Dwarves escaping was not entirely my fault, I only gave Bilbo instructions on where to find the keys to the dungeons and the drunk Elf that held them. Oh and then even after he imprisoned me I once again saved your ass from being an Elf-kebab if you don't recall," Adriel grumbled. Legolas laughed lightly, placing a gentle kiss on the back of her hand. Adriel rolled her eyes halfheartedly, looking back up to where Aragorn was now crouched to the ground examining the leaves and mud in front of him.

"These are strange tracks," the Ranger murmured as he gently trailed his fingers over a large misshapen indent. Adriel squinted her eyes to get a better look, dots filled her vision and she quickly stopped trying to identify the large blob, blinking to try and calm her swimming vision. She closed her eyes completely, taking a deep breath to calm her spinning head.