13
The Battle
I had been having Neglis fly low over the trees so we would best be able to spot Legolas' group. Besides, I wanted to see the look of surprise in the other's faces when we arrived, and it would be even better if we appeared to come out of no where.
Neglis seemed to be thinking this whole effort was futile. He looked back at me in a way which begged the question of why Legolas was so important anyways.
"Legolas is the man," I said with a grin. "He's one of the best archers around, and he cooks up a mean steak to boot."
Neglis whipped his head around with a confused huff. I'll translate it as, "What the hell?" I think Aldarion was about ready to say the same thing.
"I was joking, of course," I replied. "I doubt he cooks much at all. I don't even know whether they have cattle in Middle Earth. Hmm... No steaks... That would seriously suck. These poor people don't know what they're missing."
Neglis was shaking his head again, but I think he inwardly enjoyed my wise cracks. I think Aldarion was about to ask me what a cattle was when our ears all picked up the same distinctive sounds which demanded our immediate attention.
From somewhere below us, we heard the cries of battle and the sound of metal on metal. We all started searching for the source. We soon found it. Legolas and his party had located Shea and Lauren, but they had also run into a particularly large band of orcs.
"Legolas, my friend," I stated to the air, "you just can't avoid those pesky orcs, can you?" Then, gaining a more serious look on my face, I said, "Let's go, Neglis!"
Neglis' eyes widened at the prospect of engaging in battle, and he went in on the dive. I had to tighten my grip significantly. Aldarion gave a little yelp and almost fell off. Fortunately, I grabbed his arm before that could happen.
"Neglis, remember!" I yelled in the howls and whistles of the wind rushing up against us. "Attack the orcs and try not to hit any of the elves or men or dwarves or whoever else Legolas has on his side, okay? And we have to get some seat belts or something here! This is nuts!"
Neglis' neck was tense, and I got no response that I could see. Great.
The ground rushed up to us, and in mere seconds, we were on them. Neglis veered down into the chaos that was occurring in the clearing below us. Neglis knew what to do and swept into action. He immediately used his immense claws to tear apart several unfortunate orcs as we flew by, only metres from the ground. All around us, the enemy's forces had taken notice of our dramatic entrance rather quickly and were scattering and trying to form some sort of defence against us while not getting in the way of Neglis' sharp talons and defiant maw filled with equally sharp teeth. I could even see glimpses of everyone raising their arms and steadying themselves as I quickly darted my head around, looking for Legolas and his people. Neglis was producing a small gale with his large leathery wings as he flew in loops around all the combatants. I could not help but smile at the nice tactical advantage we had of being in the air where they could not touch us. At least, it was highly unlikely. I suppose there was always the threat of a lucky shot with an arrow.
I suddenly twisted my neck around, for I had located Legolas and the others. They had been retreating into the forest before, against the overwhelming advance of the orcs. Now that the orcs were spreading apart in a very unorganized fashion, I saw Legolas and his team taking the opportunity to make their way back into the center of the clearing. The orcs were too busy keeping an eye on Neglis to see their attacks coming. Even Shea and Lauren were taking swings at orcs with their swords. I'm sure Elrond would have been so pleased.
I had Neglis land on the far side of the clearing, where Legolas' party had been retreating to. As I had expected, the orcs immediately took the opportunity to attack now that we were grounded. Neglis welcomed them by viciously swinging out his long tail, catching two unsuspecting members of the vanguard right in the chest. They went hurtling several metres backwards and landed without getting back up.
"Good shot," I thought.
This dramatic show of power delayed the orcs' charge, but only for a few seconds. You see, it appears the orkish mind is rather small and doesn't do a lot of thinking in general. I suppose that's why they are so easily manipulated and commanded. In any case, they renewed their attack, but those few seconds were just enough time for Neglis to come all the way around to face them. He steadied himself, and I knew exactly what he planned to do next, so I also made sure I was holding on tight.
"You'd better hang on," I called back to Aldarion. He did so without questioning.
As soon as the enemy forces were within a few metres of us, Neglis let loose a very large and very hot stream of fire into their ranks. Instantly, the front members of the attacking force fell to the ground, lifeless. Others behind tried to run around the hot geyser of fire (which Neglis swayed from side to side to catch stragglers), but were received by Legolas and the others with a steady volley of arrows. In less than a minute, there were easily forty bodies in front of us. The remaining orcs finally decided a tactical retreat would be advisable and ran in the opposite direction. I heard the men in the party give sighs of relief, but it was at least two more minutes before Legolas put down his bow and moved towards the rest of us. I guess he had been listening to make sure the orcs didn't decide to come back. Still, he didn't seem any less tense than he had been two minutes ago.
"James!" Shea cried out as she ran towards me. Lauren gave a wave from farther behind. Her shirt had a large stain of orc blood on it. Nice touch.
Anyways, Neglis saw Shea running towards us and swung his neck out to give a huff and a little smoke arose from his mouth. Shea stopped dead in her tracks.
"It's all right, Neglis," I said. "She's a friend."
Neglis still didn't seem to trust her, but he turned his head away from Shea. Giving another huff, he kept a wary eye on her, though. I gave a slight smile at this. After all, drakes aren't the most sociable creatures. They stow away in their mountain caves to keep away from people. I suppose they find people in general to be a nuisance. I was glad to be an exception to that rule.
I jumped down from Neglis' back at that moment and walked over to Shea. She immediately gave me a bear hug, muttering things repeatedly about how she was so glad I was all right. I couldn't help but smile at the display of affection. Then I looked over Shea's shoulder to see Legolas, the other elves, and two other human soldiers staring our way, blankly. Upon further observation, though, I realized they were all in fact staring at Neglis. I let go of Shea and moved towards Legolas.
"What?" I called out. "Never seen a drake before?" A rather large smirk crept up my face while saying the last bit.
Legolas gave me a glance and then went back to staring at Neglis. I don't think Neglis liked the attention, because he gave a rather volatile huff from behind me. Legolas and the others recoiled a little, as if the mere sound had forced them back.
"It's true I guess," I thought with a grin. "The huff is worse than the bite."
Presently, Legolas' eyes became a little less pancake sized, and he was about to say something to me when one of the human warriors proclaimed, "You tamed a drake?" He had his sword in hand and seemed ready to defend himself in the event Neglis should happen to bear down on him. Even more amusing was the look on his face which said to me, "Are you crazy?" I thought in response, "Perhaps."
Anyways, I don't believe Neglis liked the concept of being "tamed", for he gave a very loud growl at the comment. Needless to say, it wasn't an appreciative growl. The human soldier took a step back in grim response.
"He's a friend," I said to the human warrior with a smile. Then getting back to the seriousness of the situation, I looked to Legolas and stated, "Well, now that everyone's found everyone else, let's all get back to Rivendell and give Elrond's high blood pressure a break, shall we?"
"Yes," Legolas agreed, finally taking his eyes off Neglis and focusing on me. "Yes, we should leave at once, in case the orcs regroup and decide to head back here."
I heard a slight huff behind me from Neglis, and I knew he was hoping they would.
I smiled again, somewhat hoping the same thing, and said, "Right then. You guys start heading back, and we'll fly back to let Elrond know everything's all right." Legolas nodded and I turned around to get back on Neglis. Shea and Lauren gave me waves before heading into the forest (rather dejectedly, due to the fact that Neglis had made it clear he was NOT going to give the two girls free rides on his back) with the other elven and human warriors. That one human warrior who had made the "tamed" comment was also going with them, but he was still staring at Neglis as if he didn't dare turn his back on the drake. I chuckled a bit and climbed up onto Neglis.
Before entering the forest himself, Legolas called out to me, "Hey James!"
I turned to my left to look at him. "Yeah?"
"Thanks," he said with a slight smile.
"Aw well shucks," I said, also smiling. "It was nothing." Though I didn't show it, I deeply appreciated his gratitude. It meant a lot to me to receive appraisal of any kind from a great warrior like him.
He gave a nod and headed back into the forest after the others. I was about to have Neglis take off when I noticed Aldarion still standing there.
"Oh yes, that's right," I said. "Climb on board, and we'll head back."
Aldarion gave a wide eyed stare at Neglis again, and suddenly sputtered, "Um... I believe it would best if I went along with the others. There could still be orcs out there, and they could use my help."
I couldn't help but grin and play with his fear of Neglis. "Oh but Elrond's going to throw a fit if I return without you. You'd better come with us."
Aldarion‘s eyes grew even larger (which I hadn't actually thought was possible), and he replied quickly, "The defence of the human girls takes priority. Elrond will understand that. I must go." He gave a slight nod and dashed off into the forest in the direction the others had gone.
"Huh," I said with a grin and turned back to Neglis. "Well I guess it's just you and me, buddy."
Neglis gave a very approving huff at my comment, and we took off and started heading back to Rivendell.