i cannot go back

[of_mirkwood]

In the end, they were utterly unprepared. Legolas had disagreed with his father's marching upon Erebor but to be attacked by both dwarves and orcs was madness. Not to mention the cobbled together army of men who counted as their sole allies in this - Legolas thought that it was a battle left untouched. He was not the king of Mirkwood, though, and that was not his call to make.

The Orcs from the North were on the move again under a banner he had not seen for long years. Gundabad, that old stronghold of Angmar, and an ancient enemy set to rise again. He and Tauriel had scouted the area only to find a fresh regiment marching their way toward Erebor to relieve Azog and his horde and it was too late. The dwarves were all but spent and his father's army too - heavy casualties on both sides. It was not ideal.

Still, Legolas could do nothing but fight. When the dwarven king marched out from his hall of stone to take on Azog directly, Legolas feared for him. He still bore Orcrist, that fine Elven blade, and it felt right to put it back in Thorin's hands one last time. Still, even with the sword, the dwarven king fell even if he took the orc with him. A Pyrric victory, it seemed, and hollow.

He could not go back. He could not make his way back to Mirkwood with his father after all this blood had been spent and Thranduil seemed to agree. He sent him searching for a Ranger, one of the Dunedain from the North, a man they called Strider.

Legolas pushed his way through the thick forest until he came upon an old door of dwarven design, one with letters illuminated by the moonlight. These old dwarven doors often had tricks to them and while the design was that of Durin, the letters illuminated were Elvish. A curious puzzle indeed.

"Speak 'Friend' and enter," Legolas said, puzzling at it. He thought for a long moment before remembering that old puzzle, the one that had stumped Gandalf but been easy for a halfling.

"Mellon," he said softly, stepping through the door and back into the Nexus once more.