The following week, the leaves on the large oak trees were starting to curl and fall to the floor. Winter would not be long in coming. Legolas sat outside one of the cabins on roughly hewn logs, with some of the older Rangers in the village; Berengil, Daernon and Asvard. He listened contentedly, and with some amusement, as they discussed the best spots to find trout in the small stream that ran through the forest. As well as arguing about the best tickling-technique for catching them.

Wren approached them and after listening to the men for few minutes, said with a grin and a raised eyebrow, "You know of course that it is quicker to shoot them, than make friends with them?"

The men guffawed and held up their hands in dismissal of her suggestion. She laughed and turned to Legolas and in her easy way, she asked, "Do you fancy an early rise tomorrow morning? Strider asked me to go and survey the ravine to the east of the forest with another ranger. We have poor visibility of it from the ridge, and so a thorough assessment of it is long overdue."

Legolas felt his insides twist inside of him, conflicted with a strong desire to go, but having just previously obligated himself to another task.

"I wish you had asked me earlier, but Beringil asked me to inspect the arrows and bows in the weapons store and help him improve them..." He nodded in Berengil's direction, who was still talking about fish.

Legolas thought he saw a flicker of disappointment in her eyes, but she answered lightly. "No matter, I will ask Rodorin or Faolán to come."

The next morning, Legolas was assessing the weapons in the armory and discussing the finer details of arrow design with Beringil, when his ears pricked at a long sharp whistle in the distance that suddenly stopped short. He paused and looked to the forest, as Beringil began a solitary conversation about whether they should be using yew or mallorn to make the Ranger's bows. As there was no obvious cause for alarm, Legolas continued in his task, mildly distracted but not acknowledging his own sense of unease.

Some twenty minutes later, Rodorin ran breathless and bleeding into the village. He had clearly run some distance, and he was alone. There was a large gash on his upper right arm.

As he gasped to take a breath, one garbled word left his mouth; "Wren."

Strider, who had left his cabin at the commotion, was upon Rodorin in few paces. He nearly shook him, as the urgency rang in his voice.

"What happened!?"

"The ravine. Orcs, dozens of them! They've taken her-" he spluttered as he gasped, heaving between breaths. "I slept in... she left without me."

Before Strider could stop him, Legolas had lunged towards Rodorin, grabbed him by the neck and lifted clean off the floor.

"You abandoned her?" he spat with disgust, a rage inside him building like a ferocious storm.

Strider placed a strong hand on Legolas's forearm and with face close to Legolas's own and his eyes earnest, said in elvish;

"Peace my brother, this does not help her..."

Legolas let Rodorin fall to the floor, leaving him gagging. By the time Rodorin had caught his breath again, Legolas was already at the edge of the forest with Strider and several other Rangers in pursuit.

Legolas ran, with Strider hard on his heels but falling behind. He was focused on reaching Wren; and he did not care who was with him. He ran for some time. At the sign of the first dead orc he pulled up to a sharp stop, looking all around, searching for signs of life.

As he stepped over the corpse, bow drawn, he saw another and another; seven dead in all. Wren had done some significant damage but she must have been overwhelmed. His sharp eyes noticed flash of red on the ground, almost indiscernible among the puddles of black orc blood. It was if his heart had been pierced by one of his own arrows. His bow arm wavered. When he felt an arm on his shoulder from behind, Legolas spun and almost loosed his arrow at Strider.

"Take courage Legolas, she lives still. I know it," he said hoarsely.

As the other Rangers rushed up, heaving, Strider began giving instructions. The trail was obvious. The underbrush had been heavily trampled and there were signs of orc blood intermittently. Legolas scanned for the ground for any further signs of Wren. He saw none. Strider divided the Rangers and each group set a different course. Three groups, one to flank either side and one to follow head on. Legolas led the group in direct pursuit.

They followed the trail as it led down the ravine. Trees grew on either side and the visibility was poor. Legolas soon lost sight of the other two groups. He could hear them, if he stopped to listen, but he did not stop.

As he crept noiselessly through the forest, he saw an orc scout to his right shifting nervously on its feet as it looked around. Legolas signaled to his Rangers to wait, before circling round the scout. Noiselessly he approached him from the rear with the utmost calm, knife drawn. Before the scout sensed there was a living being behind him, Legolas reached out and dragged his blade across the ignorant orc's neck. He fell with a gurgle as Legolas caught his body with his free hand and rolled it to the ground with a dull thud.

He continued moving between trees and around boulders. Through a gap in the trees, he saw her.

She was standing erect and defiant, her hands tied. She was bleeding from the large swollen cut on her hairline. A shadow crossed over his eyes and he found it hard to think clearly. Three orcs surrounded her with their weapons drawn. One filthy creature had his face pressed up against hers. Legolas struggled to swallow the bile that had risen in his mouth and stop his fingers from letting his bow string loose. But the orc's knife was drawn and pressed up against her throat.

Questions were being spat at Wren from the orcs in a mixture of elvish and the common tongue:

"How many Rangers?"

"Where is the village?"

"Where are the lookouts?"

Wren's lips were pale and taut. She uttered but one sentence, her lips curled upwards and for that received a hefty blow to the face.

"Orc scum...You will all be dead before the night falls."

Unable to contain himself any longer, Legolas was about to loose his arrow when his eye caught the slightest of movement through the trees. Strider and his Rangers were in place on the opposing side. Legolas counted sixteen orcs in all. His eyes flicked through the trees, and caught glimpses of multiple bows pulled taut and arrows ready. There was a soft call of a wood pigeon and the first arrow flew, followed immediately by dozens of arrows from all directions. Orcs began falling to the ground where they stood; the Rangers were skilled marksmen.

Legolas loosed one arrow from his bow, and one of the orcs standing near Wren fell dead. Before the second orc nearest to her was able to glance at its falling comrade, it received an arrow through its eardrum, deep into its brain.

Completely surprised by the onslaught of arrows raining down on them from all directions, within seconds the entire orc company was decimated. Only one remained...the orc who held a knife to Wren's neck. It had shifted its body position so that it held her tightly in front of him, all the while trying to shield itself from the archers that were now partially visible in the underbrush. Unsure of where to look, it shuffled with her to and fro, Wren wincing as it blade dug further into her neck.

"Move and she dies, Man-filth!" he called out in no particular direction.

Legolas stepped out from his shelter behind an elm tree.  An arrow was notched on his bow, the string pulled to its full extension and his arm tensed and taut. He stood rigid, in clear sight of the orc.

He spoke in a slow voice, snarling out the words in the guttural, orcish tongue.

"Be warned Orc, should you draw another drop of blood, you will beg and plead for death long before I gift it to you..."

But as the last word was uttered, Wren was thrown back, carried by the grip of the orc as an arrow thudded between its eyes. As they fell together, the orc's knife sliced across her neck.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Mwhahaha...Sorry, not cool! Next update soon...I promise. I would love to receive your comments and PLEASE vote on this chapter if you enjoyed it. Each vote and comment helps the wider circulation of my story, I really appreciate them!!!

DEDICATION: To LucyBoal for being there from the beginning but also for deciding to read my story all over again when she got to the end! As well as being the one to find all my cheeky odes to and quotes from LOTR - I snuck another half quote into this chapter when I edited it today, just for you! ;)