I quickly stepped away from him, trying to look anywhere BUT at him.

"Hello," I said curtly.

"Have I come at a bad time? I can come back later," said the general, face red and struggling for words. He obviously knew I knew he liked me.

"Yeah," said I. "I was just about to go....check the maps,"

I pushed past him, and when he didn't follow, I kept walking out of the clearing and into the forest. Amara had to run to keep up with my fast pace.

"Check the maps?" Amara mocked me. "Uh, hello? What kind of excuse is that? You like him back, don't you?"

"No!" I said, not looking at her. I didn't stop until I made it back to my horse.

"You like him!" Amara smiled.

"Sh!" I hushed her, as some of the soldiers looked up to hear our conversation.

"You like him!" Amara repeated in a whisper-yell tone.

"No I do not," I whisper-yelled back, my tone urgent. "Amara, he is my general! He works under my rule! It's just weird! And I had no idea he liked me until you told me a half a minute ago. I have no feelings towards him. Our relationship is strictly business,"

"Fine. I guess maybe I thought you'd finally find love," she said.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"What I meant was that you haven't even had a crush! You've been sheltered by your controling father for so long, you probably don't even know what love is!" Amara explained.

"I-" I paused.

"I knew it! You don't know what love feels like!" Amara threw up her hands in exasperation.

"Okay, so what if I don't know what love feels like. Maybe then I won't go off into a relationship that will only leave me heartbroken! Tell me at least one of your 'crushes' that actually worked out in a real relationship," I snapped at her, getting quite annoyed with her. All I wanted was to get my saddlebags packed so we could head out again.

Amara thought for a moment. "Well.....no, none of them actually worked out, but-"

"Then there's no reason for you to be hovering over me all the time! I don't need a relationship coach!" I finally exploded.

Amara just stared at me, a hurt expression on her face that instantly made me feel bad.

"I'm sorry," said I. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm just stressed out,"

"No," she waved a hand at me, smiling again. "I understand. If I were you, I would be stressed out too, with a whole army you have to march into war that you may not win, and a best friend who cares SO MUCH about you, and a guy who also cares so much about you....wow. Such a stressful life,"

"If it makes you feel any better, I'll talk to him," I finally gave in.

"Well, if you put it that way," said Amara grudgingly, even though I could tell that she wanted that all along. "Sure! I'll bring him right here,"

"Wait, no! Not now!" I shouted after her, but she was already gone, skipping away to get Saevel.

I sighed and finished packing my saddlebags.

Amara found me again, her face lit up like a firefly. She ran over to me, her eyes shining.

"I found him. He's in that direction, just walk in the direction I came from and you'll find him. Oh, this is so exciting!" Amara smiled.

"Nothing is going to happen," said I as I walked in the direction Amara came from.

"You don't know that," she smiled.

"Yes I do!" I shouted back as I walked too far in the forest for her to hear me.

"General Saevel?" I called into the trees. "General Saevel, it's me, Lura,"

I came out of the trees into a beautiful glen where the stars shone down onto the grass and made it sparkle. The branches of the trees hunt down, and the leaves reflected the starlight so it looked like tiny lights were hanging off the trees. There was one singular rock in the center of the glen, and there was General Saevel, standing next to it.

My heart caught at the beauty of it all.

"Just Saevel, please," he said as I walked towards him and we met half way across the glen.

"Hello, Saevel, there was something you wanted to say to me?" I asked.

"Yes, there was," he looked down at me, hazel eyes shining, and grasped my hands in his. "Lura, I know you don't have much experience leading an army, but when you lead us today, I saw the fire and passion, a type of leadership I had not seen in many elves before. I have to admit, I doubted you. I had seen you before in the palace, and I was taken aback by your beauty. I did not think your personality would live up to the standards of your beauty, but it does,"

"Saevel, you barely know me," I said, trying to flinch away from his grip on my hands, but he held fast.

"Yes, but I feel like I've known you for years. When you say that you have wandered the palace like a ghost, I have noticed you. I wanted with all my heart to walk beside you, but I did not want to upset your father, and you know how he is when he gets angry,"

I nodded. That we could agree on.

"I heard every soft footstep, noted every way your beautiful golden hair swishes when you walk, and saw the way your crystal blue eyes sparkle with the tears you so bravely hold back," he said, a smile on his face. "And I love every single part of you,"

I jerked away from him at that last comment. "You....what?"

"I love you, Princess Lura, and I wish I could take back every single moment where I was too afraid to go to you. I wish I had gone to you sooner," he said. "I wish I could have realized that I loved you sooner rather than later,"

"And you told my best friend instead of me?" I said, blinking back tears. I honestly wasn't sure if they were sad or happy.

"I'm sorry, I was afraid you'd say you didn't feel the same way about me....but when you found out I knew I couldn't wait any longer. I love you, Lura. Please say you love me too," General Saevel got down on one knee and looked up at me, grasping my hands again. This time I didn't jerk away.

I didn't know what I felt for him. I didn't know if what I felt was love in a LOVE LOVE way, or just a love in a friendly way. But she guessed that the fast beating in my heart and the strange magnetic pull I felt towards the General meant that I loved him.

"I don't know what to say," said I, fumbling over words.

"Then don't speak, just feel," said Saevel, before standing up and kissing me. I felt a strange rush as my heart skipped a beat. The wind whisked past is, blowing our hair and swirling autumn leaves around us in a beautiful scene of love, light and leaves.

I felt his passion through the kiss as I kissed him back, knowing then that Amara was right. Something did happen. Maybe I shouldn't have yelled at her about being my relationship coach, because she did a pretty darn good job.

Finally pulling away, we stared at each other for what felt like forever, falling into each other's souls and bewitched by each other's beauty.

"Princess Lura-" he started, but I stopped him.

"Just call me Lura, please,"

"Lura, I am glad that you have chosen to follow your heart, and that your heart led you to me......" said Saevel.

"I am glad that Amara accidentally told me about you....I wouldn't have known. I wouldn't have ever been this happy," I said, cheeks flushed to a bright pink color.

After a while longer, I finally decided it was time to get moving again. The horses were fed and the elves had time to unwind before the battle. Now, we ride to Rivendell. Now, we ride to battle.

"I'm going to go back to my horse. Don't follow me just yet, get some berries or something," said I, forcing myself to take my eyes away from his.

"As you wish, malady," he said, though as I walked away, I felt him still standing there, watching me as I faded into the trees.

As I got back to my horse, I saw that Amara had already given the order for the elves to pack up their bags and ready their horses. Now they were just waiting for my command.

I tightened the girth and gave one last apple to my horse before walking to check I had everything I had brought in my saddlebag.

"So, did anything happen?" Amara asked, suddenly right beside me.

I jumped, started by her sudden appearance.

"Well," I started, not sure if I should tell her everything or not.

"Tell me, oh this is so exciting!" Amara smiled. "Did he ask you to marry him? You better have said yes!"

"Amara, slow down! We're not even there yet," I said, smiling to myself as I double checked and triple checked.

"So something did happen! I knew it! What happened?" Amara's eyes were shining with anticipation.

I didn't say anything, not sure what to say until Amara playfully poked me.

"Okay, Okay. I'll tell you, just let me get my army back on their horses. I'll tell you on the way, okay?" I said, hands up in defense.

"Fine," she said. "Ah, the suspense is killing me!"

Amara mounted her horse, and I mounted mine.

"We will be regrouping at the edge of the forest! Be there as fast as possible, please, so we can begin our journey to Rivendell. We will not stop again, unless we have an upmost dire need to, so prepare yourself for the battle we ride towards," I said, swinging my horse in the direction of the edge of the woods and rode there, Amara following suit. As soon as Amara, Saevel, the other generals and I counted all of the soldiers we were on our way again.

Saevel stayed a good ways back behind me, so no one would suspect anything. Amara brought her horse right next to me.

"So," she said. "You said you'd tell me what was going on with you and General Saevel. Tell me EVERYTHING,"

I then recounted everything that had happened. I told her about the glen, and I told her about what he said, and about the kiss. With every word, Amara's eyes grew bigger until they were as round as saucers.

"I knew something would happen between you two!" she smiled. "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!"

"Okay, you were right," I laughed.

"Who is the best best friend ever?" Amara asked me.

"You," said I, thinking back to the moment that Saevel and I had. It was my first kiss, and one that I would remember forever.

I looked behind me and smiled at him, and he smiled back, breaking his concentrated face for a moment to shine those handsome hazel eyes at me.

"Aw, you two are so cute!" said Amara. "I can just imagine you two, kissing as a battle rages around you...."

I looked at her and raised my eyebrow. "Amara, then we'd die! I need to focus on this battle. Legolas trained me, but I've never actually been to a real battle. The only one I've ever been to was the one on the river, with the dwarves and the barrels, but that was not even close to the amount of orcs we ride to now. I can feel them, massing in the dark, their long, jagged, bloody swords clanging in the darkest places of the world, teeth gnashing, feet stomping in heavy iron boots, armor as thick as steel,"

"Relax, Lura. You will walk away from this battle," she said. "I know it,"

"How can you be so sure?" I asked.

"Because I just am," said Amara. "I have hope. You should learn that word. Stop being such a downer all the time,"

"I'm sorry, but it is such a dark world that we live in, Amara. I cannot dare to hope," said I.

"Then why are we going into this battle? To die? If we do not hope, then what do we fight for?" Amara asked.

That took me off guard. I had no idea what to say to that. There was a reason Amara was my advisor, for moments like these when I could not see myself.

"There is some good in this world, Lura, and it's worth fighting for,"

We rode in silence for the rest of the journey as I pondered over what she had said. Amara passed the time by blabbering on about what Saevel and my children would be like, but I paid no mind to that. The future scared me. It was a like a large looming black cloud that I was riding blindly into. I had to focus on this next step, this next choice, this next battle.

I would walk away from this battle, if it was the last thing I did. I would fight for our kin in Rivendell, and I would fight for the good that Amara was talking about. Even if I couldn't see it, I knew it was there, guiding me to Rivendell.

And I was not just going to walk away from this battle. I was going to walk away victorious.

We rode to the bottom of the rocky hill overlooking Rivendell and stopped there, as not to alert the orcs that reinforcements are here. I swung off my horse and landed with a soft thump on the rocky ground. Amara and Saevel did the same, and followed me up to the ridge.

What we saw would haunt my nightmares forever.

The city of Rivendell was up in flames. The west wall was burning, the south wall was burning, along with the north and the east. The gates were open and creaking wildly on their hinges, the iron bent in grotesque ways as if a troll had barged through them. The screams of our kin echoed over the rocks, and the war cries of the orc army shook the ground like thunder.

Elves ran for their lives towards the last homely house, which stood above the flames. A last ring of untouched elves stood between the line orcs and Elrond's keep, and the rest of the elves fought bravely in the rest of the city, fighting on the bodies of their brothers.

My keen elf eyes could see every last dead body, and every last drop of blood flowing in the streets of Rivendell. I could see the inhuman ways that the limbs of the fallen elves were bent, and the wounds they sported all over their bodies.

It was a massacre.

A hand flew to my mouth and tears flooded my eyes as I looked out over the burning city and heard the guttural cries of its inhabitants. Were we too late?

Saevel put a hand around me and pulled me close, so close that I could feel the quickness of his heartbeat and the roughness of his breathing.

Amara was the first to speak. "They're dying down there....what are we still doing up here?"

I realized how lost in the moment I had been. "Oh, right, yes," I said breaking away from Saevel's grasp and running down the hill, Amara at my side.

"Was he a good hugger?" Amara asked me.

"What?" I asked, caught off guard.

"I said, is he a good hugger? Like is he strong and masculine?" She asked.

"I mean, I guess, I wasn't really focusing on that, I was focusing on Rivendell," said I as we neared my army.

"Oh, right," said Amara. "Maybe I should have been doing that instead of watching you two hug and wondering what your children would look like," her eyes got all misty as if she were once again imagining these things.

"Amara!" I scolded. "Rivendell!"

"Right! Sorry!" she said as we mounted our horses. I wheeled my horse to the front of the restless army, and saw the fear that was in their eyes. The same fear was most likely in mine.

"General Gael, take your army to the southern gate. General Aegnor, take your army to the western gate. General Aelene, take your army to the eastern gate. And General Saevel," I left a pause after his name as I looked at him. He winked back at me. "Take your army to the northern gate. As that is the most overrun with orcs, Amara and I will accompany you,"

"Smooth," she whispered in my ear.

I shook her off.

"Okay, let's go!" I said, pointing off towards Rivendell.

No one moved.

"Go!" I said.

No one moved again.

"Onward!" said I.

No one moved yet again.

"To war?" I tried, but still no one moved.

I looked to Amara for assistance.

"You have to give them a good dramatic battle speech. To make them ready for battle," whispered Amara.

"Oh," I said, wheeling my horse around to face my army. "Um...hi," said I, not sure what to say.

"Great start," said Amara sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes before looking back at my people. Such a strange thing to say....my people. I didn't feel like a princess.

"I know that I haven't exactly been the princess, the leader, the elf, that you guys wanted me to be. I know that I'm from a long line of drunkened kings who do nothing but sit on their throne and drink their wine, not caring about their people. I know that I have not cared for you either, walking the halls of my palace and moping about my problems when I should have been helping you with yours. I know that I'm inexperienced, and I haven't seen much battle before, and heck, this is my first battle I'm leading you guys into. And I know once we clear that ridge and begin riding down to Rivendell with no return possible, you'll start thinking that I brought you all here to die, and that there's no hope left. And the Lura a month ago, the Lura a week ago, heck, the Lura a DAY ago, would have agreed with you. I was taught my whole life that there is no hope. We are all standing in darkness, and no matter how hard we fight for the light, we will always stand in darkness, and that there is no point in fighting because there is no hope! But today my advisor..." I paused. "...my best friend..."

Amara smiled, and I smiled back through the tears forming in my eyes.

"...taught me that I was wrong. She taught me that there is some good in this world, and that it is worth fighting for. Some of you may ask me, Lura, where is the good? And I will say, that the good can be found anywhere if we care enough to hope. The good can be found in our friends, and in our family. And that is why we are all standing here today, about to plunge into a battle that some of us may not walk out of. We are here to protect our friends, and our family, and to fight for the good! I may not have seen it before, but I see it now! Today is a day of new beginnings. Today is a day where we see the good in each other, and fight for the good around us. Today is a day where that good is victorious because I am willing to lay down my life for the cause of the good. Now who's with me? Who's willing to fight for our friends, to fight for our family, to fight for the good? Because no sword is too small, no elf is unimportant, no arrow shot into the heart of darkness is inconsequential. We all are needed to fight for the good, and we all can do it. We can all charge down that cliff and through those burning gates FOR THE GOOD! We all can slay orc after orc, even if it looks like we may be outnumbered, FOR THE GOOD! And we will NOT STOP FIGHTING until we CLEAR EVERY LAST SPECK OF DARKNESS OUT OF RIVENDELL, FOR THE GOOD!"

My voice grew louder as the tension in the air grew tenser and tenser, elves narrowing their eyes, ready for war.

"WE WILL NOT STAND BY WHILE OUR BROTHERS SUCCUM TO THE AGONY AND DEATH THAT DARKNESS BRINGS! WE WILL RIDE TO THE AID OF OUR KIN, AND AVENGE OUR FALLEN BROTHERS AS WE TAKE BACK WHAT IS OURS! AND WE WILL DO THIS FOR THE GOOD!"

"FOR THE GOOD!" My army cried after me, echoing across the rocks like a thunderbird. Saevel looked so proud of me, and my heart burst.

I raised my silver elven sword into the air in the heat of the moment. "FOR THE GOOD!"

"FOR THE GOOD!" They said, raising their swords with me. Amara raised hers the highest, tears in her eyes.

"WE WILL NOT STOP FIGHTING UNTIL WE WATER THE GROUND WITH ORCISH BLOOD! WE WILL NOT LET THEM DESTROY WHAT IS GOOD AND GREEN IN THIS WORLD! WE WILL FIGHT TO THE DEATH FOR THE GOOD! TO BATTLE!"

I turned my horse and galloped up and over the ridge, and this time, my army followed me.

The elf with the horn lifted it to his lips but Amara snatched it away from him.

"I've always wanted to do this," she said before blowing a long shrill note out of it.

Orcs and elves alike looked up at us as a large mass of reinforcements thundered over the cliff edge and down to Rivendell, swords out of the sheathes and arrows nocked and ready to pierce orc hides.

It split off into four squadrons, the four generals splitting off and going to their assigned locations. As we were riding down to the burning city, Saevel looked behind him and raised his sword, shouting an order.

"Hado i philinn*!" he called out, and the elves behind me released a volley of silver arrows, and with great aim, they struck the hearts of the orcs between the Rivendell elves.

With a great wailing cry, the orcs that had been struck fell and laid amongst the dead, twitching in odd directions.

After another volley, a new hope rallied our Rivendell kin and with a greater, more hopeful cry, they sprung back into battle.

My white steed galloped faster and faster as the downhill run gave us such momentum, that to onlookers it might look like the hooves never touched the rock, and we just flew down towards the burning city.

Crashing through the gates, I slashed out my sword and cut off the heads of five orcs in one swoop. I then stabbed at another, using the advantage of being on a horse to kill them without getting any injury.

My horse trampled over the charging orcs, and I unsheathed a silver dagger with my left hand and stabbed at orcs from that direction as well as the right.

Saevel fought beside me with grace I had not seen in many other fighters. He seemed to twirl in his saddle, taking on orc after orc as his long hair flew perfectly in the air.

He then leapt off his horse and onto the roof of a nearby house, running at nearly the same speed of his horse and stabbing orcs as he ran. Once satisfied the roofs in that sector of the city were cleared, he jumped off them, landing back on his horse without breaking his stride.

I continued to stab at orcs, trying to reach a higher ground where I could then stop and shoot at them from above. Some archers were ordered to stay on the cliffs and shoot down from above, but I trusted their aim, so I was not scared that they would hit me.

I looked to my right and saw Amara standing on the saddle of her moving horse and shooting arrows down at the surrounding orcs as the horse galloped on. She didn't waver for a second, even at the high speed the horse was going. She twirled around and around sometimes with only one foot on the saddle as she shot orcs and killed them instantly.

An elf I didn't know got pierced by an arrow and fell from his saddle, joining the sea of dead bodies below. I made a mental note in my head to learn the names of the elves of my army.

I heard a loud squealing noise and noticed that Amara's horse had been stabbed! I was too far away from her to do anything about it, but her eyes narrowed and she leaped off her horse as it fell and onto the head of the orc that had stabbed her horse. She vengefully stabbed him in the head before flipping off him and onto a roof. From there, she was able to rain arrows down on the orcs from above.

An orc stabbed in my direction but got a kick to the face instead. He tumbled backwards before getting run over by my galloping horse.

Looking up, I saw Amara struggling to subdue an orc who was attempting to stab her. They were locked in a battle of strength, and it looked like she was losing. She was being pushed back to the edge of the roof, about to fall to the ground below, if he didn't run her through first.

Thinking quickly, I flung my dagger through the air before it clunked into the orc's head. He fell with a groan onto the roof and then slid off into the carnage below. Amara looked at me with a grave and determined, yet relieved face, and nodded in thanks. I nodded back before turning back to the battle before me.

Orcs who were fleeing from the elves who had come in through the South Gate found themselves in our path. I sliced a few of them before ducking under an arrow shot from an orcish bow. Amara stuck him with one of her arrows soon after. Orcish archers do not have the best aim.

As I was stabbing another orc in front of me, an orc jumped on the back of my horse and tried to take me on from behind. I twisted awkwardly in the saddle, trying to get at him and the orcs in front of me.

I whispered a command to my horse, which meant she would zig zag and try to avoid orcs as much as possible, so I could turn to focus on the orc behind me. At such an awkward position, I couldn't protect my side and he easily stabbed at it, slashing my side through my thin elvish armor. I grimaced in pain, trying to throw him off my horse before he stabbed me a second time.

Before he could do that, however, he was stabbed in the head with a dagger. I recognized that dagger. It was my dagger.

I grabbed it and pulled it out of his skull as he fell from the horse, looking up towards Amara. I nodded quickly in thanks to her, and she nodded back, the debt of life repaid.

Saevel and I fought side my side, him taking on the orcs from the northern side, and me taking on the orcs running from the southern side, each helping each other out when we needed it. A scout from the western squadron rode up and waited for the orcs running from the west, and and an eastern squadron scout elf came from the east to cut off the orcs running from the east.

Rivendell elves encircled us and took on some of the fleeing orcs to lessen our load of them. Amara shot down orcs before they even reached the circle of Rivendell elves.

Together, the four of us in the center, the Rivendell army, and Amara killed every single orc who ran!

Soon, the cries of orcs ceased and the battle was over. We had won!

Raising our swords and bows into the air, we cried our victory call.

"FOR THE GOOD!" we shouted. "FOR THE GOOD!"

"We did it!" said I as I turned to Amara who jumped down from the roof and did a front roll out of it. She then stood and walked over to Saevel and I.

"No," she said smiling, "you did it,"

Boom......

I looked up.

Boom.

"What was that?" Amara asked.

Boom. Boom.

"Sounded like drums...." said Saevel.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

My heart dropped.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

"What is going on?" cried a Rivendell elf who I didn't know.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Then, over the ridge, came a giant army of orcs.

"Reinforcements," I breathed.

~•~

Elven phrases:
*Hado i philinn: Release Arrows!