The History of Legolas - The Last Green Leaf

Author’s Note: First off, The Lord of the Rings and all associated characters belong to Tolkien and his estate. I am not making any profit off of this story, save the enjoyment I had making it.
Also, I promise that the next update will be soon since this chapter is kind of a cliff-hanger. *feels evil*



“Hérion, Legolas, we really should be getting back.” Arthion said, putting his bow over his shoulder.

“Should we not enjoy the rest of the daylight that we have left? Ada has given us the entire day to hunt. Besides, this is Legolas’ first real hunting trip. We should let him enjoy it while it lasts.” Hérion said, always the one to push the limits.

“The sun is setting.” Legolas pointed out, looking to the sky. Through the trees, they could see the sky that was painted orange with the setting of the sun.

“Let us enjoy the rest of the daylight we have by walking back home. We are already far enough away that it will be dark before we get back.” Arthion said, walking away. Hérion sighed and followed his older brother, and Legolas fell into line behind him.

It had been many years since Legolas had begun to learn how to use the bow. By now, he had fully matured into an adult elf in body. He was tall and his blond hair was pulled back with plaits behind his hears, signifying that he had mastered the bow and was capable of battle, though he had not seen it yet. Over the years, Thranduil had gradually loosened his grip on Legolas and let him wander the forest by himself. However, he still did not let his youngest son join his brothers on patrol with the guard. Legolas, while frustrated with is father’s overprotection, accepted the fact that he would probably never get a chance to use his archery skills, save on hunting trips.

Most of the hunting excursions that he had been on with his brothers had lasted only a half of a day, but when the three brothers had asked Thranduil’s permission to leave on this particular trip, the king was in a good mood and allowed them the entire day. Legolas had never been outside the caves for such an extended period of time in his life, and he was quite enjoying it.

“It is a sad thought that we do not get to enjoy the peace of the outdoors like this more often,” He remarked, gazing at the trees around him. He could hear the whispers in the branches around him and desperately wanted to linger near them and listen to what secrets they had to tell.

“Aye.” Arthion said, not looking back.

“If our elder brother was not so afraid of the dark we might be able to stay out longer!” Hérion jested, smirking mischievously at Legolas, who smiled and shook his head. His older brother was a fully-grown elf in body, but inside he was still an elfling at play most of the time. Always the jester.

“Afraid of the dark, eh?” Arthion asked as he turned to face his brother, a sly smile crossing his face. Legolas sighed and chuckled. Arthion always indulged in Hérion’s immature behavior. Out of the three, Legolas was usually more responsible.

“Indeed!” Hérion chirped with an amused tone in his voice. Arthion drew the knives that he had sheathed on his back and bent his knees in a fighting stance.

“Take back your words and your life will be spared!” The elder declared comically. Hérion drew his knives and mirrored his brother’s stance.

“Never!” He cried, engaging Arthion in battle.

Legolas stepped back and laughed as he watched his brothers’ spar in the woods. Arthion was clearly better than Hérion with the knives as he had more years experience to work with. Hérion, however, was faster than his elder brother, which evened the level. Legolas watched, smiling amusedly. He observed his brothers’ footwork and recognized the style in which they were engaged; it looked almost like a dance. Arthion’s and Hérion’s knives clanged as they met, the sound of metal upon metal echoing off the trees.

“What do you say Legolas?” Hérion asked, looking at his younger brother. “Who is the better fighter?” In that moment, Arthion dropped to the ground and swung his leg at the back of his brother’s knees, throwing Hérion on his back.

“The one who does not look away!” Legolas laughed.

Arthion chuckled and stood, holding out his hand to Hérion to help him up. Hérion took his brother’s hand, but instead of pulling himself up, he pulled Arthion to the ground and then leapt up himself, putting a knife to Arthion’s throat.

“The duel is mine!” He declared proudly.

“Not yet!” Arthion said, grabbing Hérion’s ankle and pulling him to the ground. The two older sons of Thranduil began to roll around on the ground, wrestling, as two elflings would do.

“You two are going to get us all in trouble if you roll in the dirt much longer,” Legolas pointed out, a smirk on his face.

“Fear not, Legolas! It will not take me long to defeat this fiend!” Arthion jested. Hérion laughed as he tackled his older brother, who threw him in a summersault over his head. The younger landed with a loud thud.

“I shall make you pay for that!” Hérion declared, charging at Arthion once more.

Just as Legolas was thinking to himself how ridiculous his brother’s looked, he heard something in the trees behind him. The youngest prince of Mirkwood whirled around, but could see nothing through the brush.

“Brothers, perhaps we should leave,” he said in a low voice. But his brothers did not hear him for they were too busy fighting to the death on the ground. Legolas turned back to his siblings.

“Arthion! Hérion!” He shouted. The two elves stopped their rolling about and looked at their brother.

“What?” The two asked in unison.

But before Legolas had a chance to explain his concern, he saw Arthion’s eyes grow wide at something behind him. Slowly, the youngest son of Thranduil turned and saw eyes, many eyes, staring maliciously at him. Legolas froze, realizing what was before him: one of the great spiders.

“Legolas! Get out of the way!” Arthion screamed, jumping up from the ground.

The spider lunged forward towards Legolas, who jumped out of the way just before he was trampled. Hérion dodged out of the way, but Arthion was surprised by the creature’s speed and caught off-guard. The spider kicked him with one of its many legs, knocking him against a tree. His head collided with the sturdy bark and his world instantly went black.

“Arthion!” Hérion and Legolas cried in unison. Hérion leapt atop the spider before drawing his bow and arrow. The creature began to buck and shake, trying to rid himself of the elf on his back. Hérion could not load his arrow on his bow properly and keep his balance at the same time and he was thrown onto the ground with one great heave of the spider.

“AGH!” He cried as his back collided with the hard ground. The spider was immediately over him, it’s stinger ready to plunge into his flesh.

Legolas, paralyzed with fear watched as Hérion dodge the creature’s stinger stabbing at him. A thousand thoughts whizzed through his head as he tried to determine what he should do. Innocent to the fear of battle, Legolas did not know the proper course of action. He looked over to Arthion, unconscious on the ground. His elder brother could not save them. It was up to him.

Legolas whipped out an arrow and loaded his bow, aimed, and shot the spider in the leg. It let out a cry of pain just before charging for an extremely surprised Legolas.

“Legolas!” Hérion cried, reaching out with his arm as if he could reach is brother from his spot on the ground.

The youngest son of Thranduil ducked out of the spider’s way and scrambled up a tree, not really sure what he was doing. The foul creature followed Legolas and grabbed his foot with its mouth. Desperately, Legolas grabbed a tree branch and clung to it with both of his hands, letting his bow drop to the ground. He held as long as he could, but the spider’s heaving was too great and he was forced to let go. He dropped to the ground, landing right next to one of Arthion’s abandoned knives.

Legolas saw the glint of the knife on the side of his eye and he reached out to grab it. The spider saw him reach for the weapon and it extracted its stinger and began to stab at Legolas.

“You will not take my brother!” Hérion shouted, drawing another arrow and shooting. His shot hit the spider’s abdomen, causing another screech.

Legolas took this moment of his foe’s distraction to his advantage and reached for the knife, just as he took it in his hand, he felt something sharp graze his left side. Without thinking about the pain in his side, he clenched the knife in his hand and slashed it across the underside of the beast, causing a spray of black blood to fly. Legolas scrambled out from underneath the spider as it began to thrash and cry out in pain, slowly dying from its mortal wound.

Arthion, upon hearing the shrill cries of the evil creature slowly came to his senses just as Legolas came to his side.

“Brother, are you alright?” Legolas asked, helping Arthion sit up.

“I am fine…” Arthion’s voice trailed off as he looked at his youngest brother, who was covered in a black, sticky liquid. Legolas was shaking as he looked at the spider that was thrashing in pain. The youngest looked away and closed his eyes.

“Make it stop,” He said quietly. Though the spider had nearly taken the lives of him and his brothers, he could not bear to see it in such pain. It was a living creature, just as he was, and the sounds it was making tore at his heart.

Suddenly, Hérion shot another arrow straight into the spider’s head, putting the creature out of its misery. Legolas sighed and looked down at the ground, trying to let the shock of the kill out of his body.

“Are you two alright?” Hérion asked breathlessly.

“I’ve had worse hits to my head than this,” Arthion said, a smirk on his face. Legolas nodded, but did not say a word.

“We had better get back and get you washed up, Legolas. Ada will not want to know about this.” Hérion said, picking up his knives and putting them back in his sheath.

“Indeed. He will not want to know that any of us were involved in a fight with such a fell creature.” Arthion noted.

“Aye.” Legolas said quietly, as he helped Arthion to stand. Just as the two brothers were nearly standing straight, Legolas felt a sharp pain in his side.

“Ah!” He cried out, grabbing the left side of his chest and falling back to his knees.

“Legolas?” Arthion caught Legolas’ left arm, revealing a deep gash in his side that was beginning to bleed profusely. “What happened?!” the elder demanded.

“It…hit me…” Legolas replied in a pained voice as he pointed to the dead spider.

“The stinger…” Hérion gasped, coming closer to his brothers.

Legolas began to gasp for air as his body was robbed of its blood. His muscles grew weak and he found it difficult to keep his balance. His vision was beginning to get blurry, and he blinked to try and correct it. The youngest of Thranduil’s sons could no longer hold himself up, and he fell back into Arthion’s arms.

“Legolas!” his brothers cried.

“Don’t tell Ada…” Legolas breathed as he slipped into unconsciousness.