Together, Legolas and Aravis walked side by side, but they might as well have been a thousand leagues apart. They were chained separately, unable to provide comfort or even to touch each other's hands. The males were changed to the males and the females to the other females. All marched together through the hot, dark, damp and musty room. The two elves, along with the other thirty or so men and women, had their hands chained together in front of them with large manacles. The wrist manacles were linked to another manacle that was around their necks. There was another link that chained all the neck manacles in the group together. The group was split in two lines. Up ahead towards the front of the lines, the two groups were separated. The men were merging off to the left and the woman to the right. There were guards posted every few feet to keep the groups moving.

The heat and smell in this room was oppressive. It made it difficult to breath. Many were gasping for air from adrenaline and fear and others were whimpering. However, Legolas and Aravis kept their faces calm and their emotions in check as they were taught. They were warriors and they had to be brave.

Legolas and Aravis were lucky enough to be walking side by side. Discretely checking on Aravis, Legolas looked at the elleth. Aravis was strong, and she was hiding her fear well. To anyone else, she would appear calm and collected, but to Legolas, he could see the fear and uncertainty in her big, brown eyes. He knew her well. Her braided brown hair was plastered with sweat and it stuck to her face.

Aravis, who had been looking towards the front of the line, felt Legolas's eyes on her. Turning to meet his gaze, she saw her own fears reflected in his eyes. He was afraid too. They were all afraid. Legolas looked tired and he was exhausted. His hair was also plastered with as much sweat as her own hair was. She could feel the sweat trickling down her temples and her back and chest.

Aravis tried to muster up as much of an encouraging smile as she could. Legolas did the same.

Slowly, the group moved forward. Both lines would take a few steps, and then stop for a few minutes. Then they would take a few more steps, and then stop. Every time they would stop, a new cry of agony would be heard from both the men and woman's sides of the room. Every new cry brought new flinches to those still left in the line.

The two elves were close enough now that they could see the end of the line. Every time the lines stopped, the persons at the front of both lines were unchained from the rest of the lines and brought forward. A few minutes later, fresh cries would erupt. The next man that was about to be taken to the left attempted to break away but the muscled soldiers guarding the groups began to beat the chained man.

The guards took the man away, and the lines moved forward again.

Finally, Aravis and Legolas were at the beginning of the line. Two guards came to each of them and unhooked them from the rest of the line. Each guard grabbed an arm and proceeded to escort them forward. Aravis panicked for a moment and started to struggle. One of the large guards back handed her face, and Legolas heart beat increased and he lunged forward to try to reach her, to protect her.

Legolas's two guards tightened their hold on him, dragged him backwards and the one on the left punched him in the gut. Legolas doubled over as Aravis was dragged away. As Legolas tried to regain his breath, Aravis's cries joined the others that had gone up in the room in the last hour.

Legolas was dragged by the two guards to the left area and what he saw horrified him. There was a branding iron heating up in a blazing fire being stoked by a tall, dark man. Legolas was going to be branded.

Legolas's breathing increased and he began to struggle and fight the guards, even as he knew the action was futile. He was too tired to put up much of a fight. They continued to drag him forward and tied his right arm in place with leather straps on a small wooden table. The two guards held his body and tired to keep him still. The elf was far stronger than they originally thought. They had never seen an elf before.

The man wielding the branding iron came closer with the hot metal and Legolas's struggles increased even more. The guards could barely hold him down and the guard to the right of the elf struck Legolas hard on the temple with his elbow. The elf suddenly went slack as the branding iron made contact with his skin. His whole body jerked in response.

The hissing sound of his burning flesh and a strangled moan were the last things Legolas heard before darkness claimed him.


Hey everyone, so i have this new story. I'm hoping to update once a week, but im not confident that i can keep to that schedule. lol

anyway, i know the name Aravis is a blatant rip-off of the character Aravis from the boy and his horse. Buttt i really like the name, so im using it.

if anyones looking for a translation, Aravis can be ( and will be in this story) loosely translated into A're - Sunlight and Van- Fair. so for this story her name means fair sunlight.

I'm pretty excited with this story and i will be updating as much as i can as soon as i can.

please give feedback. any reviews are greatly appreciated. i love constructive criticism or positive feedback :D

Thanks so much!