LOTR || ⤜𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙩 → [Legolas x OC]

⤜ 30 → prey

Rosa did not mean to fall.

She meant to swiftly take off into the night at a smooth, steady flight.

But then it occurred to her... she never actually had to use her wings at all up until now - this unfortunate point in time. Perhaps if she tried using them earlier, she would've realised earlier that—

"I CANNOT FLY!" Rosa screamed and tumbled through the air like a cannon ball.

The wind whipped her in all directions as she thrashed about, trying to orientate herself mid-air. But that was a little challenging and she was failing terribly.

The tower behind her was a blur of ghost green and pale purple lights. She could hear the guards shouting and the whistling of arrows speeding passed her. With one last effort she pushed her wings out and down. Then back up again, repeating the cycle. Who knew flying could be so exhausting?

Throwing a quick look over her shoulder, Rosa could see Maloki at the balcony, standing stiffly with his hands clasped behind his back and looking straight at her with so much rage. His guards were gathered around him, loading their crossbows and firing every arrow they had at the girl. But either they all had terrible aim, or she managed to miss every arrow so far as she manoeuvred through the sky. Just then, Daerion burst into the balcony and upon seeing her flying away, he charged towards the edge ready to lunge.

This was bad news for Rosa. She could barely already fly as it was.

But as Daerion was about to take off, Maloki shot his arm out, effectively stopping him. He looked at Maloki confused. "She is escaping!" Daerion yelled, angrily gesturing to the fading figure in the sky. "Let me leave! I will bring her back."

"No," Maloki said simply, watching as Rosa managed to dodge another arrow fired by his guards on the ground. She was too high up and too far away for any of them to reach. "Everything is going according to plan."

What did he mean by that? Before Daerion could question, Maloki had pushed away the guard to his left and seized his crossbow, aiming it straight at Rosa. He brought it up to his eye and squinted, angling his head low. He could see her panicking, trying to flap her wings harder and higher. The sight was truly pathetic to him, Maloki chuckled, lifting his bow higher and following her with ease.

Rosa quickly realised that trying to fly and escape and dodge arrows at the same time quickly drained her of what little energy she had. Ahead, there was a large cluster of trees a good distance away from the tower. She only had to make it a few more feet before she could take cover in them, shielded from the arrows. With this thought in mind, Rosa concentrated all her effort into flying towards the trees. They were almost below her feet now. She was nearly there!

But something was wrong.

Well, other than the entire situation she was facing, something else was wrong and she felt it before she could see it.

The unmistakable twang of a bowstring seemed to ring in the uneasy silence. Then the familiar sharp whistle of another arrow and she was abruptly knocked forward. It only took a second to register the explosion of pain, the searing heat and the feeling of her shoulder being ripped apart.

Rosa cried out, glancing down to see the head of an arrow penetrating through her right shoulder, protruding into her front side. She tried to maintain her flight, but her wings kept getting caught against the shaft of the arrow sticking out from behind. The movement created bursts of pain, shooting up her neck and down her arm. Her cry was cut short as she tumbled through the air towards the fast-approaching ground.