Only Time

Ch. 14 ~ Alliances

At dawn as the Mirkwood guard gathered for the trip to Erebor, Legolas came to tell me that Tauriel had left before first light against his father's wishes. So it would just be he and I along with King Thranduil and the army of elves. Sunset was made ready as we both got ready in our respective quarters. I put on my battle gear, strapped Altherial, my daggers, and throwing stars into their respective places and placed my head piece on. With my hair braided the night before, I was ready for war.

Legolas and I met King Thranduil in the main hall and he told us to ride on ahead to see what we could find out before the rest of the army joined. We nodded and walked toward the stables as the king disappeared back into his great room. Wordlessly, we mounted our respective steeds and headed toward Lake-town or what was left of it. As we neared, the smell of smoke and burning timber and dragon was pungent. We saw the lord of Dale, Bard and the survivors on the shoreline and rode toward them. We dismounted our horses and looked around as Legolas approached Bard and spoke to him. I looked around until I found Tauriel in the distance standing with non-other than Kili; one of the dwarves as well as heirs to the fortune of the Lonely Mountain. He along with his brother and one other were trying to get into a boat to go join Thorin.

I overheard Kili begging Tauriel to come with him but she refused though with great effort. Legolas approached her then. Before jumping into the boat, Kili came back one last time to give Tauriel some sort of stone. Whatever conversation Legolas had with Bard was now over and we saw a Mirkwood messenger ride in with orders for Legolas from his father who was already on the move from Mirkwood to join him. Surprisingly, this piece of news also came with news of Tauriel's banishment for disobeying Thranduil's orders. Neither Legolas nor I took kindly to the news as Tauriel looked on in shocked disbelief. Legolas mentioned Bolg and Azog the orcs in charge and that something was coming. He disregarded his father's orders and asked Tauriel and I to accompany him to Gundabad.

Legolas and Tauriel shared a horse while I rode on Sunset. We reached Gundabad and climbed to an unseen by others cliff, it was my first time there.

"This place reeks of death. It is almost physical, like you can reach out and grab it." I whispered as Legolas nodded. Then he looked from me to Tauriel and said:

"My mother died here. I do not know how but there is not a grave or memory and as you know my father does not speak of her." Tauriel and I exchanged shocked glances just as a hoard of bats flew by and we bent down low. We heard brute armies exit the mountain at this wicked place and knew it was time to return to Dale where Thranduil had to have reached by then.

"We must go back and warn your father." Tauriel said as we got back on our steeds and flew back toward Dale.

By the time we had arrived in Dale, Thranduil's army was facing off against an army of dwarves. They were falling right into a trap! The orcs started to appear from beneath the earth and at the last possible moment new alliances were formed as dwarves, elves, and men put aside their differences to fight the orcs; their combined enemy. We all jumped off of our steeds just as Mithrandir came into view. He was alive! And here! Legolas called his name and then yelled:

"Gandalf, watch out!"

Gandalf whirled around to see a giant troll lunging toward him with its hammer raised about to strike. Both Legolas and Tauriel pointed their bow and arrows at the troll ready to take it down as Gandalf stumbled backwards. But then the troll grunted and fell face down on the ground as I stood on its back with three of my throwing stars buried in its head. The other two lowered their weapons as Mithrandir looked at me with awe as I hopped off lightly and moved toward the beloved wizard whom I thought was dead for sure.

"No one can beat the speed of our princess, can they?" Mithrandir grunted, clearly emotionally affected.

"No they cannot." Legolas answered proudly with a small smile.

The moment of togetherness was short lived as more orcs poured over the walls and we assumed battle positions. I looked out and saw Thranduil battling a whole swath of orcs and trolls; I knew what I had to do. I jumped up on Sunset, unsheathed Altherial, and rode into the middle of the fight. Just as Thranduil was surrounded by many orcs, I jumped up on Sunset's back and rode him that way until I was in the position I wanted to be as Thranduil watched in shock, I whistled to Sunset who reared up on his hind legs and froze in place as I flipped over his head and took out about 7 orcs and one troll before ever landing on the ground beside Thranduil.

"Thought you could use a hand."

I said looking up at him from my crouched position. All he could do was nod as he tried to recover from what he had just seen. I smiled at him knowingly and straightened my position just in time to take on some more orcs as did he. We fought side by side in the village proper as buildings fell to ruin and with them did many orcs. Legolas and Tauriel fought side by side as well. We all stopped when we heard a loud crash as Thorin and his kin rushed from the mountain, finally breaking the spell and joining the fight.

Finally we felt as though we fought the orcs back enough. It was quiet. Everything stopped. As Thranduil took stock of the deaths of his battalion, I went to find the others. I saw Mithrandir approach Thranduil saying that the battle was not over and that there was another army approaching from the north but Thranduil was not interested. This was not his fight he claimed. I saw Mithrandir avoiding eye contact with me; I knew then I needed to know what happened to him at Dol Guldur. He felt my gaze upon him and turned away.

"Please princess, do not ask this of me now."

"Mithrandir, give me your hand please. I must see what you saw. What happened to my aunt and uncle?" He looked at me with a pained expression as Tauriel watched the exchange.

"Your aunt is very weak but she heals quickly." He grunted out as my eyes widened in shock.

"Very weak? Mithrandir, your hand now!"

I was no longer courteous; my voice was urgent. He sighed and extended his hand onto me as I took it and closed my eyes, I saw it all. The fight at Dol Guldur between my aunt, uncle, Saruman, and the 9 undead kings of men along with the Necromancer that turned out to be none other than the dark lord Sauron himself. I saw my aunt use the light of Earendil to banish Sauron to the east just as something within me snapped and I knew whatever hold he had on me was gone the instant Sauron was banished. I finally let go of Mithrandir's hand and clutched at my own heart.

"Sauron." I whispered.

Mithrandir let me get my bearings as he looked up and saw that Thorin and his kin were going up the mountain after the main two orcs to finish it once and for all. Tauriel had overheard Thranduil say that he would not participate in any more fighting and feeling hopeless and angry at his arrogance towards others, she raised her bow and arrow at the king claiming he had no heart. When he cut her bow in half with a swift move of his sword and pointed it at her throat, Legolas intervened saying that if his father was to harm Tauriel, he would have to kill him too. I watched all of this with anger in my eyes. Tauriel wanted to go and help Kili fight.

"I will come with you." Legolas said to Tauriel after facing off against his father and protecting her.

"As will I." I said stepping out of the shadows. My anger was not directed at them but at Thranduil who could not hold my own cold gaze for long.

Without a second glance at anyone including Mithrandir, we ran off in the direction of the post of orcs after Thorin and his kin hoping we were not too late; sure that we were headed straight into a trap but also sure of our new found alliances despite it all. One way or another it was going to end on that mountain top.