Disclaimer: Y’all know the drill. Not mine, never will be.

Real life has been intruding with a vengeance lately. I’m trying to get back on my writing schedule so please bear with me.

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                                                    The group of elves moved warily through the trees, eyes and ears trained for any sign of orcs. They had tracked the foul creatures to this part of the forest, near the river. Haldir led the left side, Glorfindel the right as they crept along stealthily in a skirmish line. The orcs had to have gone to ground somewhere close.  They never would have willingly braved daylight if they could help it and the elves knew they were close. They could sense the creatures, but could not yet smell them. The need to find the orcs’ lair was great as they had only about three hours of daylight left. Abruptly, Haldir signaled the troop to halt. He silently made his way down the line to Glorfindel.

                                                      “There is a cave about one hundred paces ahead to our left. I think this is the place we search for,” he said, his voice no more than a whisper.

                                                      “Good. You and I will scout, and the others can position themselves for an attack. If the creatures are in this hole, it might be best simply to bring the hill down on top of them.” Glorfindel’s mind was moving quickly. “Let us see what we have here, shall we?” Haldir smiled grimly and followed the Balrog-slayer forward.

                                                       As they approached the mouth of the cave, their stealth increased. Barely stirring the grass beneath their feet, they inched forward all senses trained on the cave and its occupants. The smell that assailed their sensitive elven noses confirmed their suspicion that the orcs had chosen this as their den. A quick peek inside revealed that the cave was quite large and the orcs were not near the entrance. The two elves crept back to their companions to plan their assault on the cave.

                                                 Elrohir fidgeted, impatient to begin the extermination of the orcs, but knowing that no action should be taken until the scouting was completed. He stilled himself, taking care not to reveal his restlessness to Estel, who crouched by his side. The human was somewhat reckless already and Elrohir had no wish to encourage the trait. His father and Elladan would never forgive him if he caused Estel to get hurt. His sharp eyes caught sight of Haldir and Glorfindel returning and he moved forward to meet them.

                                               “The orcs are there,” Haldir intoned softly, “and far back into the cave. From the look of the hillside it should be no difficult matter to pull it down on them, but we need to make certain that this cave has no other openings first.” Elrohir nodded in agreement.

                                                “I volunteer for that. I have had much experience finding orc dens.” Elrohir’s face was grim. No one spoke for a moment. The twins’ mother had suffered so badly at the hands of orcs that she had been unable to stay with her family and had sailed to Valinor many years ago. It was a sore subject with the family she had left behind and since then Elladan and Elrohir had made it a personal quest to rid their world of as many orcs as possible. Estel cleared his throat.

                                                 “I will go with you.” Estel locked eyes with his foster brother, as if daring him to object. Glorfindel chimed in before Elrohir could reply.

                                                  “I think it best to send two pairs of scouts for this. I will take Keltir and scout the right side while you and Estel take the left. We will meet back here an hour before sunset if we find nothing.” He nodded to the others and went to collect his scouting partner. Haldir shot a warning glance at Elrohir but said nothing, moving to deploy the rest of the elves in their troop. Estel wisely held his tongue and followed his foster brother around the left side of the hill.

                                                   Haldir positioned several elves on each side of the crest of the hill. There were large stones in abundance; it would be relatively simple to seal the cave from this side. He sincerely hoped that if there were other entrances that they would not prove problematic. They had just begun the ground work necessary to bring the stones down when Elrohir and Estel returned. Haldir met them out of earshot of the others.

                                                “This hill is as riddled with openings as a wheel of cheese,” Estel reported with disgust. “We found three and smelled orcs in two of those. The only good piece of news we have is that all of the openings have rocks such as these above them” Haldir digested this for a moment before replying.

                                                 “If Glorfindel and Keltir report the same we will either have to split our forces to collapse the entrances simultaneously, or abandon the idea altogether and make haste for the Keep. Let us hope he returns soon.” Grim looks were exchanged by all three. They had not long to wait, as Glorfindel and Keltir appeared over the crest of the hill at that moment. From the somber look of them, the news they bore was no better than Elrohir and Estel’s.

                                                 “How many did you find?” Elrohir queried with a sigh.

                                                  “Five,” Glorfindel answered succinctly. “Three that we were certain held orcs, and two that had not been disturbed in some time. With as many rocks as we saw around each, it should not be difficult to create a cave-in at each. Our problem is that we have not sufficient numbers to do all at once.” Haldir thought furiously.

                                                   “Well then, let us collapse as many as we can. Even if we do not kill all of the orcs we should be able to reduce their numbers sufficiently to eliminate the immediate threat to the Keep and Imladris, especially if we hurl burning branches into the caves before we collapse them.” Haldir had had much time to consider their options as he waited for the others to return. Glorfindel’s eyebrows climbed into his hairline.

                                                   “Rather ruthless, but I believe it may be our best option. The creatures certainly do not deserve mercy at this juncture. Very well, Haldir, we shall follow your lead on this.”  Glorfindel motioned for the others to follow him as he made his way to the rest of the troop.

                                                   They decided to split the group into five units, one for each of the tunnels they knew to contain orcs. Each group consisted of seven warriors, five to topple rocks and two to light and throw branches. The collapsing of the tunnels was to occur one quarter hour before sundown, the last possible moment before the orcs would emerge from the cave. Haldir and his group had the originally discovered tunnel, and set to work as soon as the others were out of sight. At the appointed time, Haldir and an elf named Toldur began hurling burning branches into the mouth of the cave as swiftly as possible. At Haldir’s signal, the other elves began the rockslide. The entire side of the hill came down with a crash, almost burying Haldir and Toldur. Toldur escaped with a few minor scratches, Haldir with a bad gash on his arm, and a badly bruised left leg. There were no sounds from the buried cave. While they waited for the rest of their party, Haldir’s injuries were tended.

                                                 Estel and his group were the first to return, with much the same result to report as Haldir had. They had, in fact, collapsed two entrances because the tunnels were so close in proximity. Elrohir returned next, and had met with a measure of resistance from the orcs. He had taken an arrow in the shoulder, but was fairing well due to the absence of poison and the quick tending of the wound. They had successfully collapsed their tunnel and had killed all the orcs who had escaped the rockslide. The group lead by Keltir had also been successful, but at the cost of one warrior’s life to the arrow of an orc. Glorfindel returned last, with the least favorable news. His group had collapsed their tunnel, but had been attacked from the surrounding trees as night fell and had been forced to retreat. They had lost no warriors, but almost all were injured to some degree, including Glorfindel himself, who had taken three glancing blows from arrows. They decided to make for the Keep before the orcs got close enough to give them problems and made good time in spite of the injuries. They reached the keep two hours after midnight without further event.

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                                                   Legolas paced along the inner wall of the Keep restlessly. He had healed enough for Lord Elrond to allow him a measure of physical activity. As much as he hated leaving his father’s side, he badly needed to be outside and active once more. He took no more than an hour at a time away from Thranduil. He had done a bit of target practice, but his shoulder was still sore enough to prohibit more than a few shots, so he mostly walked the wall, pacing, his nervous energy apparent to all who watched. Finally, he climbed the nearest rooftop and perched himself at its highest point. He sat, gazing into the starry sky for a long moment, lost in his own thoughts. A commotion below him at the gate caught his attention and he swiftly climbed down and made his way to the courtyard. Haldir was just limping through the gate as Legolas arrived.

                                                   “Mae Govannen, tithen ernil [little prince or princeling], did you miss us?” Haldir was in fairly good humor despite all that had occurred that evening. He sobered as his companions bore the body of the fallen warrior past.

                                                “What happened?” Legolas chose to ignore the hated nickname and was focused on his friend’s wounds.

                                                “We tracked the orcs to a hill riddled with caves and did our best to drop it on them and not ourselves with mixed results.” Haldir gave him the condensed version of events. “I am fine, just got hit by a few rocks. Estel has not a scratch, Elrohir took an arrow to the shoulder, but will be well and Glorfindel has several minor wounds. We lost Meneler, and Lothdil and Urlim look bad. I estimate that we took out better than three quarters of the orcs.” By this point, Legolas had draped Haldir’s arm across his shoulders and was supporting most of the older elf’s weight as they moved across the courtyard to the entrance of the Hall. “Legolas, you need not. I can walk.”

                                                 “Aye, I can see how well you do so. You are limping so badly you were about to fall when I reached you. And Lord Elrond calls ME stubborn! Mellon-nin, either you accept my aid or I shall knock you out and carry you.” Legolas scowled at his obdurate friend. Haldir sighed and acquiesced. Legolas was fully as immoveable as his father when he wished to be and this looked to be one of those times. Haldir favored the younger elf with a searching gaze.

                                                “How fares your Adar?” Haldir saw a shadow flit over Legolas’ features.

                                                “There has been no change. Lord Elrond assures me that he will wake, but that does not make the waiting easier.”  Legolas kept his attention on the hallway ahead of them, careful not to jostle his friend as they walked. They entered the Hall and Legolas guided Haldir to a chair near the center of the room.  Elrond arrived scant seconds later, having been roused from his bed. He touched Elrohir’s face briefly before turning his attention to Lothdil and Urlim, the two seriously wounded elves. Elladan arrived on his father’s heels and took up the task of treating his brother’s wounds.

                                                Legolas favored Haldir with a wry look and stated, “Well, I suppose you will have to settle for my assistance, mellon-nin.” He gathered the materials necessary to cleanse and bandage Haldir’s wounds. Haldir made no protest; he knew that Legolas like Haldir himself had been trained in the tending of wounds as part of his warrior’s education. Indeed Legolas was better at it than most of the warriors he had had wounds tended by in the past. He had a light touch and a steady hand. He was certainly better at wound tending than Haldir’s brothers, the injured elf thought with a slight grin at his siblings’ expense. Legolas had Haldir’s arm wound washed and bandaged and his bruised leg salved a short while later. After shrugging off the older elf’s thanks, he made his way to Thranduil’s side to wait.