I don't own any of the characters, places etc. They all belong to Tolkien.

The thunderous drums died down and were replaces by a loud shriek, a sound Legolas knew only too well.

"Orcs!", he spat, turning to Aragorn beside him and throwing him a meaningful glance.

Immediately, the fellowship sprang into action. Aragorn urged the hobbits behind Gandalf, who stood at the back of the chamber, while Boromir hurried to the door and peered into the great hall. The blonde Gondorian barely managed to pull his head back to escape two long black arrows, which bore themselves in the wooden door instead.

"They have a cave troll!" he announced, slightly shaken.

Legolas collected some of the dead dwarves' axes from the floor and tossed them to Aragorn, who used the weapons to bar the door.

"Prepare for battle!"

It was not a request, it was an order. Now the dark-haired human was every inch the future king of Gondor, ready to do everything necessary to win this fight, to get the fellowship to safety. Legolas smiled when even the Hobbits drew their swords in an instant. He locked his eyes with those of his best friend, and all he could see there was confidence.

"We will get through this," Aragorn seemed to tell him without words, and he smiled. Yes, they would make it. For the sake of Middle-Earth, they had to make it!

The door shook by the violent jolts from the outside while they placed themselves for the coming fight. Legolas stood in the front line between Aragorn and Boromir, bow drawn and ready to let the arrow go. Gimli had climbed the tomb of Balin with his axe ready, while Gandalf and the hobbits stayed further behind.

The first cracks appeared in the wood, and the shrieks of the orcs grew louder. Legolas aimed carefully for one of the gaps and fired, killing the orc behind. In a movement quicker than an eye could follow he had the next arrow notched, but before he could release it the door crashed down and the enemies came swarming into the chamber, swords lifted and eager to kill.

The elf and Aragorn shot arrows in rapid succession, bringing many of the orcs down, but even more of them followed and soon metal clashed against metal as the real battle begun.

Legolas danced expertly out of reach of the orcs, still using his bow to kill them and watch the backs of his friends. The hobbits fought bravely with their short swords, and they did better than anyone of the others would have expected. Gandalf used his sword and his staff in turn to get rid of his attackers.

Suddenly, the ground shook with heavy footsteps, and the doorway seemed to explode. Boulders flew around and drew everyone's attention to the entrance where even more orcs appeared dragging a huge creature by a chain attached to its neck with them. Roaring, the troll brandished an equally gigantic hammer and sent a new shower of dust and stones over the frozen fellowship by hitting the stone wall of the chamber.

Legolas quickly stepped in front of the raging creature and fired an arrow at it. He hit the trolls shoulder, but didn't receive the reaction he had hoped for. The troll only howled in anger and pain, grabbed the arrow shaft and yanked it free from his own flesh. Then it wielded its weapon again, attacking even more fiercly. The orcs followed its example, convinced that they would be able to kill their prey without effort now that their frightening reinforcement had arrived.

But the fellowship wouldn't surrender that easily. They concentrated on the battle with the orcs, only keeping an eye on the troll to avoid its attacks, which was difficult enough. It didn't take long before the troll spotted a prey that was occupied with two enemies at once – Gimli, still standing on the tomb and swinging his axe. The dwarf didn't realise the troll had its attention on him until it was nearly to late. He hardly managed to jump away when the hammer crashed down and shattered the slab he was standing on only seconds before. The jump made him lose his balance and he tumbled to the floor. Another orc took the opportunity to attack Gimli, but he was hurled away when the hammer connected with his body. The dwarf only stared at the troll, helpless when it raised its weapon again to finish him off.

Legolas noticed the predicament his dwarven friend was in just in the moment the troll swiped the orc away. He was standing on the ledge that was surrounding the room, holding his bow in one hand and wielding one of his twin knifes in the other. The orcs came from both sides, but he still managed to parry their blows. When he saw the troll raising its hammer to kill Gimli, Legolas knew he had to act very quickly. Without thinking further he reached for his quiver, pulled two arrows out, notched them to his bow, aimed and fired in one fluent movement. He knew he had saved the dwarf when the missiles hit the troll right in the chest and sent it stumbling backwards, howling in pain and forgetting about the easy prey it was about to kill one moment ago.

Gimli didn't need to look who had saved his life, for he saw the two elven arrows embedded deeply in his opponent's body. He smiled and groaned at the same time. Legolas would definitely not let go about that! A dwarf who needed to be saved, and by an elf of all people! But now was not the time to think about that, first he had to help the others getting rid off the orcs still swarming around. Perhaps he would get the opportunity to return the favor before the battle was over and get equal.

As soon as he was sure Gimli was safe for the moment, Legolas turned to face his own attackers again. The next moment, he felt a burning pain in his right side. He looked down in confusion and saw a black arrow embedded in his own body, blood already soaking his tunic. He cursed and pressed his hand to his side, trying to staunch the heavy bleeding, but there was another orc running towards him and he had to parry the sword that came crashing down, trying to behead him. The pain grew excruciating, but he held on.

From the corner of his eye Legolas saw a movement, and he ducked just in time to escape the heavy iron chain the troll was swinging at him. The orc he had fought wasn't so lucky and tumbled down from the ledge with his torso ripped open. The second stroke followed immediately, hitting the wall behind the elf and sending a shower of stones on his head. One of them hit him hard on the head, and he felt warm blood run down his temple. Before Legolas could even think of something to do, the troll sent the chain again, this time downwards. He jumped to the side, the sudden movement sending a new wave of sheer agony through his body. Dark spots began to dance before his eyes, and he felt very dizzy.

'Stay awake', he desperately told himself.

The troll sensed the weakness of his prey, and he moved the chain to kill, but it hit stone pillar instead and winded itself around. Despite his weakened condition, Legolas saw his chance and locked the end of the chain with his foot. Then he stepped on the chain and ran over it toward the troll, stepping on its shoulders and firing an arrow right to its head. But the missile bounced off the hard shell, and the creature went beserk. Legolas knew better than to try again and jumped down to the floor, stumbling back to get out of his enemy's reach. He crashed in the chamber wall hard and couldn't hold back a pained scream when the arrow in his side was pressed deeper in his body. The elf gritted his teeth, grabbed it and broke the shaft off to get it out of the way.

Legolas barely managed to fight the orcs who chose to attack him. He didn't even notice when the troll grabbed Frodo and the Hobbit screamed Aragorn's name for help. It was hard for him to stay conscious, so he only became aware of the desperate situation of his friends when Sam frantically called Frodos name. He snapped out of his half-conscious state then, to see Aragorn lying motionless against the wall with the Ringbearer to his feet, while Gimli and Gandalf took turns to attack the troll and get its attention away from the two helpless companions. A cold shudder ran down Legolas' back as he stumbled towards his best friend. He felt guilty for forgetting about the others and not looking after them.

'Don't be dead! Please, don't be dead!' he thought desperately, hoping for Aragorn to make at least a little move to prove he was alive.

When he was only a few steps away from the ranger, he saw the movement of his chest as he draw breath. A wave of relief washed over him, and he turned his attention toward the troll. Only then he noticed that Merry and Pippin had jumped on its back and beat it with their bare fists.

Legolas stopped right in front of the troll, notching an arrow to his bow and waiting. The moment the monster lifted its head and opened its mouth in a loud roar, he let go. The arrow hit the troll's throat through the open mouth and pierced its brain. The creature swayed on its feet, then fell forward, already dead before it hit the floor.

For a moment, they just stood and stared at the creature in disbelief. Legolas was the first to move, turning to Aragorn and stumbling toward the still unconscious man, ignoring the pain in his side and a new wave of dizziness. He dropped to his knees next to his friend and looked him over for any visible injuries. There was a bleeding gash at the back of his head, where he obviously had hit the wall, but apart from that he seemed to be unharmed. Legolas shook his shoulder lightly to wake him up.

"Estel! Come on, open your eyes. You must wake now!"

Aragorn responded with a groan, and his eyelids fluttered open. He stared at the blonde elf hovering above him, pain and confusion evident in his eyes. Legolas smiled in relief.

"Hey, there. You're alright? How do you feel?"

"My head… hurts." Aragorn winced when he tried to sit up, and the elf hurried to help him. "But I'm okay. What about the others? Frodo?"

Legolas turned to look at the hobbit. He sat on the floor, with Gandalf and Sam at his side, and was obviously unharmed.

"They are fine. Frodo isn't hurt," Legolas told Aragorn.

The man gave a small sigh.

"I feared the worst. The troll was after him. I tried to protect him…"

"You did well," Legolas interrupted. "He owes you his life."

The truth was, the elf didn't even know what had happened while he had been at the edge of unconsciousness fighting the orcs, but he had to calm Aragorn down. His friend looked quite upset, and they had to compose themselves quickly. The danger wasn't over.

"And what about you?" Aragorn narrowed his eyes and looked his elven friend over, taking in the paleness of his face and the thin film of perspiration on his forehead as well as the trail of blood that ran down his cheek. "You don't look so good."

"I'm fine," Legolas insisted, despite the fact that he didn't feel fine at all. He felt terrible. There seemed to be some trolls right in his head that were busy lashing out, and his side was on fire. It was hard not to give in to the darkness that tried to catch him.

Aragorn, however, wasn't fooled. "No you're not fine. Do you think I'm blind?"

In the darkness and with all the dirt he hadn't noticed the blood stained tunic of the elf yet, but he could see clearly that something was wrong. Legolas looked as if he was about to faint.

Before Legolas could answer, there was another shriek. More orcs! They came from another passage the opposite direction from the hall. And it sounded like a great number of them. The fellowship didn't stand a chance to defend itself again.

"To the bridge of Khazad-dum!" Gandalf shouted.

Aragorn jumped up, ignoring the pain in his head, and it was Legolas who swayed on his feet when he rose from his knees. The human quickly grabbed his arm to steady him.

"Mellon nin?" His worry grew with every moment. He knew the elf was hurt, but it seemed to be much worse than he thought.

Legolas gave him a weak smile, trying to reassure him. He didn't succeed for the ranger only felt confirmed that he was near collapse. But there was no time to do anything, and they had to hurry after their companions out of the chamber and through the hall.