A/N: Chap 2 everyone!
Enjoy!
XXX
Rae
...
Running his long slender fingers along the page edges of the book he read, Saruman sighed heavily. The large tome was boring and he glanced out the thin window that graced his study high in the mid-rooms of Orthanc. He idly flipped the book shut and stood to his feet making his way out into the lush gardens that grew inside of the perimeter of the high stone walls of Isengard, the fortress-like stronghold that surrounded the tall elegant black spire that rose from its center, the only dwelling in the encampment.
A frown crossed his gaunt features as the wizard thought back to years not long since when he had thoroughly enjoyed walking through the trees and garden paths that surrounded his dwelling. The rich plant life no longer gave him such pleasures and his mind roved to darker thoughts. He was a being of great patience, but he knew his time was coming, it was coming soon when he would no longer serve humankind or the creatures that roamed Middle Earth. The time was coming when they would serve him, a slight grim smile decorated his countenance and he stopped in the middle of the path, his sharp ears picking up the faint sounds of a flock of crows heading in from the west. The thin smile broadened as he looked overhead, "So my friends you have returned. What word have you of that which I seek?"
Saruman stretched his hand out and held it slightly up, the overlarge sleeve of his robe sliding back down his arm. A sleek black crow spiralled down from the flock that swirled overhead screeching and calling one to another and speaking as one to the Maiar.
"And the elf and the human have escaped Moria and Paxcyn isn't even close to their whereabouts? Why am I not surprised? Perhaps it is time they had a bit of assistance. I think I'll send a troop of orcs to point him in the right direction. That ought to encourage that fool to take me more seriously. I have grown weary of men. Soon their time will run out and I will suffer their company no more." Saruman glanced out over the tops of the surrounding trees his gaze thrown far into the future. The crows had begun to settle in the sheltered canopies of Isengard.
The bird that had lighted on his arm cocked its head slightly, one dark beady eye watching the wizard. "Very well. It is that fool Drelent's turn. Let's us hope for his sake he is as smart as he thinks he is." The white-haired man looked at the crow perched on his tunic sleeve. "You know the one of whom I speak? The man with the scar," He drew a line with one bony finger down the left side of his face.
The bird croaked at him, hopping closer to the wizard's face.
"Find him, tell him that the elf and the human are heading towards him. Make sure he knows what direction they are coming from, it is important to me." He eyed the bird carefully. "Do you understand?"
The crow stood tall and loosed a high pitched screech that sent its companions exploding into the air around them. Ruffling its dark feathers the bird launched itself into the sky and headed back out west the direction it had come from followed by the cloud of black birds that followed it.
Aragorn dropped easily over the edge of the craggy stone ledge onto the plateau below and Legolas followed. The ground they had been traversing for the past several leagues was broken and rough, but they still managed to keep up a good pace. Keeping to the wild areas and staying away from any frequented paths or roads to avoid being seen, they hoped to evade Paxcyn and his men. Other than animal tracks, the two had seen no signs of any other living being having been in these parts in a very long time.
"I don't suppose anyone's come this way in many, many years," Aragorn commented as the two friends scrambled over another rocky ridge, battling their way through a choking tangle of barbs and bracken. In places, the grass was chest high and razor-edged so that it scratched and tore at the two as they passed, and again, in places, there was nothing but loose, pointed rocks which made footing dangerous and walking a tedious chore. The wilds could be quite inhospitable when they wanted to be.
"Frankly that does not surprise me," Legolas commented wryly, sparing a glance around them. "But you are right. My people are fading away and no longer wander the wide world as they once did, while the lives and memory of men are short and many things are swiftly forgotten..." the slightly wistful tone in his voice turned back to amusement once more as he watched Aragorn try to disentangle himself from a prickly bush the ranger had tried to push through and instead become ensnared in. "But I suppose that occasionally some things are better left forgotten. Are you quite all right?"
"Just - fine," Aragorn pulled the arm of his overcoat free from the sticky, piercing barbs of the sprawling, mammoth weed. Unfortunately all that meant was that now the hem of his cloak was tangled up in it instead. Bending down, he untangled that only to have it snag all over his sleeve again. When he tried to stand it caught his hair. The young ranger was quickly becoming frustrated and his friend's laughter did not help matters.
He shot the elf his best "this is NOT funny" glare, but since he was still mostly tangled up with the sticky, pricker vines all that did was make Legolas laugh harder.
"Of course I don't know... I think it is worth coming all the way out here to see this..." Legolas grinned devilishly.
Aragorn would have done something to the prince for that, but the vines still held him and the harder he tried to get out the more stuck he seemed to become. "Very funny," he said in a tone that suggested it was not at all. "Are you going to stand there and laugh all day or are you going to help me get out of here before Paxcyn and his crew find the Palantir and waltz off into the sunset?"
Legolas really did try to stop laughing, but the resulting smirk was just as bad. "But you're doing such a good job on your own," he said as he moved towards the ranger, trying to be careful to not get snagged himself. "Besides, without the map, no one but us knows where the stone is."
"Well, he sure seemed to be able to find us pretty well. Hurry up, I think this plant is trying to eat me," Aragorn grumped, although he was not quite as irritated as he acted.
"Patience, patience..." Legolas' nimble fingers moved quickly, trying to help extract his friend. "Stop moving, you're making it worse."
Aragorn rolled his eyes and sighed, trying to stand still. That worked for about five seconds. Then he started trying to disentangle himself again, but whenever he moved it seemed that five new vines stuck to him.
"I said hold still," Legolas shook his head, shooting his friend an impatient look. "When one is stuck in a carnivorous plant I would think they would wish to do all in their power to aid those trying to get them out..."
"WHAT?! What do you mean carnivorous? Legolas!" Aragorn's eyes were so huge Legolas couldn't help laughing again. The elf rocked back on his heels, almost unable to breathe for a moment.
Aragorn glared at his friend accusingly. "You made that up, there's no such thing as a carnivorous plant this big."
"Strider, all I said was *if* one was... You're the one talking about it eating you." Legolas' impish grin told the truth. It had simply been too good an opportunity to pass up. Besides, the prince still had that whole Moria thing to pay Aragorn back for.
"Legolas you are so lucky I am stuck in this thing..." Aragorn growled, although his lips were beginning to curl into a smile without his leave; his friend's mirth was infectious.
"Hm... well maybe I should leave you there then..." Legolas pondered for a moment, ducking his friend's swing. "All right, all right, there, you're free!" Legolas pried the last barbs off the ranger's cloak.
"Now we can..." Legolas stopped as he noticed that several of the vines had caught about his boots and snagged at his leggings unbeknownst to him while he was freeing his friend. He started to pull them off, but had about as much luck as Aragorn had been having.
Aragorn, now free, was dusting burrs off his cloak as he turned and saw his friend's predicament. The look of puzzled vexation on the elf's face was very satisfying.
Legolas was surprised, he did not usually have problems like this with nature. The twisting mess of gooey-sticky prickers seemed especially fond of the prince's long hair and caught and tangled mercilessly.
"You know... you're right..." Aragorn was grinning like a Cheshire cat. "Come to think of it that IS a rather funny sight..."
"Strider. Shut up." Legolas glared at his human friend. "This is *your* fault. Now help me out and if you say another word I swear I will shoot you."
Aragorn laughed, shaking his head. "Can't take as good as you give eh? All right, I won't let the carnivorous plant get you..." he stepped forward.
Suddenly a vine shot out and twisted around his ankle. Both of the friends jerked in shock and Aragorn tried to jump backwards. The vine, however, held tight and began winding rapidly up the ranger's leg, jerking him off his feet and pulling him towards the centre of the mass, while the ones tangled about Legolas tightened down, catching his wrists and ankles like snaking ropes. With a zing of panic, Legolas realized that he couldn't move as he struggled against the suddenly prehensile vines.
Humour changed to alarm very quickly. Aragorn drew his sword, hacking at the creepers around his legs, scrambling backwards as more flung outward to grab him. It hadn't been his imagination then, the plant really had been trying to hold onto him before!
"Aragorn!" Legolas' call for help was choked and urgent. The vines had wrapped around the captive elf's chest and looped around his neck. Now they were drawing tight and trying to strangle him.
Surging forward quickly Aragorn chopped and hacked at the deadly weed, trying to cut away the vines holding the prince.
A waving sea of tossing, groping green tentacles curled quickly out towards the ranger, trying to ensnare him once more as well.
Legolas couldn't breathe. He struggled with the plant and managed to wrench one hand free, but the thick vines around his neck continued to tighten crushingly and black spots danced in his vision.
Aragorn reached Legolas and grabbed the coils of vegetation around the prince's neck. It was hard to cut them without cutting Legolas, but somehow the ranger managed, dragging his friend backwards out of the plant's reach.
The elf gasped for air as the pressure was released, but there was no time yet for relief. The angry vines shot out and wound around Aragorn's sword arm, trying to wrench his blade from him and draw him back in.
Grabbing his friend around the waist to hold him back, Legolas slashed the vines with one of his knives.
The two friends scrambled back quickly, trying to get as far away as they could. Whether the vines decided they were too much trouble, or because they got out of its reach, they would never know, but after a few moments the vines followed them no more and they made their escape quickly down the rocky slope.
After putting a safe distance between themselves and the thing that had attacked them, the two friends stopped to catch their breath and collect their thoughts.
Legolas rubbed his neck, his breathing slowly returning to normal.
Aragorn was staring back up the hill with a wary gaze, still breathing hard. "What *was* that... *thing*?"
"Apparently it *was* a carnivorous plant..." the elf shook his head, who would have thought that his jest would turn out to be true?
Aragorn looked at his friend with a wry gleam that Legolas recognized well. A smile was beginning to replace the alarm in his young eyes. "Legolas, what *is* it with us? Even the shrubbery wants to turn us into a snack!"
Legolas rolled his eyes and did not bother responding. "Oh Strider, only you..."
"Only I what? You were stuck in there too!" Aragorn protested as they resumed walking.
"Only you could find humour in these kinds of situations!" Legolas returned, although his smile gave away that Aragorn was *not* the only one.
"Well I don't care," Aragorn shrugged it off with a laugh. "I am *never* going to be able to look at a weed the same way again."
It was nearly dusk and Drelent sat near the sparking fire watching the men he had recruited to help him retrieve the map Saruman sought. By all rights, they looked the part of merely a hunting team out scouting the region for game.
It was the cover they were using as they passed from Isengard and headed north, the Misty Mountains towering over them on their right as they made their way towards Moria in an attempt to find the two companions that carried the map.
Four men accompanied Drelent, his longtime associate Gyn was egging on a rather rough game of target practice. The older tracker was in his late sixties and his love of ale had given him a rather rounded look about his girth and he continually engaged those around him in amusing small talk. His appearance, however, belied what Drelent considered to be one of the sharpest wits he had met not to mention that the old hunter was an expert with the crossbow and always hit his target. He had not seen another man possess such accuracy and the two had become fast friends, accompanying one another on many hunts and excursions. He smiled ruefully as Gyn taunted the younger hunters who were trying hit a small target he had carved into the trunk of a tree a good hundred yards away with throwing knives.
The younger men in his employ were new to Drelent. Gyn had recommended the brothers Rhyddry and Selvic. The two hailed from East Emnet, their accents giving them easily away. It seemed the older hunter had found them in a small town on one of his escapades and had been rather impressed with their developing skills in tracking and hunting.
However, the dark-haired youth that comprised the fifth member of their party was something much different. Drelent watched as he stepped up and tossed a heavy double-bladed knife with deadly accuracy at the tree. That one worried the tracker. His background was a mystery and he would not speak of it. Neither Drelent nor Gyn could place his accent and no one in the town Drelent had first met him in had even known who he was. But the hunter had quickly discovered that the boy had a love for killing and it did not seem to matter to him what his prey was, he excelled at dispatching it with swiftness and precision. It was his coldness as a killer that had convinced Drelent to seek him out for this particular job; he had the feeling he was going to need someone like that before this was all over.
Drelent hid a sneer as Gyn tormented the dark-haired hunter.
"You call that a hit?" The rounded older man rocked back laughing as Romyr turned towards him, a dark glare on his face.
"If you think you can do better old man, go right ahead."
Drelent feigned innocence as Gyn glanced back him raising one eyebrow slightly at the implied dare. Returning his gaze to the angry youth his smiled turned feral and he answered softly, "In my sleep young one, in my sleep."
He hadn't moved the fallen log he sat on. His crossbow lay in his lap notched as always, ever ready. Romyr stalked back towards the older hunter, ready for a fight when Gyn released the catch on his weapon. The bolt sang through the air, barely brushing the sleeve of Romyr's tunic as it flew by, slamming itself directly into the centre of the carved out target.
Rhyddry whistled softly as he quickly ran to the tree to inspect the bolts placement. "Mighty pretty Gyn." He called back as his brother joined him snickering softly,
"Messed up that fancy blade handle of yours Romyr." Sedric laughed.
Romyr turned on his boot heels and paced to the tree jerking his weapon free of the wood. Gyn's bolt had, in fact, scraped a deep line in the polished handle as it had buried itself in the target.
Whirling back towards the older hunter he held the knife up and threatened, "If you ever do that again…"
His warning was cut off as the woods around them erupted with the raucous calls of a hundred crows shrieking and crying at once, the sound of their wings beating the air was like the rush of a river and the younger hunter cringed involuntarily.
Drelent stood and moved to the centre of the campsite making himself seen. He was fully aware that his employer often used odd means to communicate with those in his service and he had the feeling that Saruman was attempting to contact them.
A large crow dove through the canopy of the trees and swept the camp, espying it. He turned for another pass and lighted down on the rock that Drelent had occupied moments ago. The flock of birds circled just feet over their heads watching intently.
Out of the corner of his eye, Drelent saw Romyr heft his knife, flipping the blade casually in his hand to a better throwing position, his sights on the bird that had entered the camp.
Preventing the young man from following through, the hunter turned towards him, and motioned with his hand palm out, "Stop! Don't. I want to know what it has to say."
Selvic traded confused glances with his brother. Drelent heard the young tracker question him, "See what it has to say? It's a crow right?"
The hunter chose to ignore his men and concentrated on the bird that hopped closer to him. When the creature saw that it had the man's attention it repeated in croaking harsh words the message Saruman had given it.
Upon completion of its speech, it vaulted skyward and swept back towards the south heading away from the woods with the cloud of birds that accompanied it.
The occupants of the camp sat in silence after the crows had left, no one daring to speak. What they had just witnessed was not something common but rather an act of magic and they were unsure of how to proceed. The snap and crackle of the fire dominated the night sounds and after a few moments the soft singing of the nocturnal insects took up once more.
"That was a crow." Selvic repeated himself quietly again.
Drelent nodded his head. "Did you hear what it said? The man and the elf are heading our way. They have escaped Moria and Paxcyn's lost them." He sighed heavily as the implications weighed on him. He cast a dark glance at Gyn. The older tracker simply looked to the forest floor.
"Paxcyn's a good tracker Drelent." Gyn didn't like what his friend was implying.
"I know."
"So what is the problem?" Romyr seated himself on the ground near Gyn and gazed up at the older man.
"The problem is the young hunter that our employer has ordered us to take care of Paxcyn if he couldn't come through."
"And he hasn't." Drelent finished Gyn's unspoken thoughts, "Damn I wish he had."
"Again I ask you what is the problem?" Romyr glanced at Drelent.
"We have to get rid of Paxcyn in order take over the job. He will never stand down and let us have at it. He will do all he can to thwart us and he will blow our cover. We need to gain that elf and human's confidence and we can't risk him ruining that. Saruman won't tolerate our failure."
"And *that* is a problem?"
"You are a cold-hearted one aren't you?" Gyn glared at the dark-haired youth. Shaking his head he eased up onto his feet slowly and walked around the fire away from Romyr, seating himself next to Drelent.
"Well, I can't do it." Drelent sighed. "I've known the man too long."
"*That* is why you hired me." Romyr spoke softly. "I know him not and I do not care about him. I will take him out. Tell me what he looks like."
Gyn turned towards his friend, the worry evident in the furtive glance. Drelent nodded slowly, the young hunter was right, this was exactly why he had hired him. "Fine. Then you'll have to take him out quickly and I want it to be merciful do you understand me?"
Romyr simply nodded his head a small smile creeping onto his face.
"Now, they have a head start on us. Saruman said our destination lay in the fiery plains below the peak of Methedras. We need to move out now. They'll be there a day or two ahead of us even if we leave right now."
"It's late Drelent." Gyn observed.
"Very well, everyone catch an hour or two of sleep. We'll head out before dawn. I have no intentions of disappointing Saruman. We get our hands on that map or the seeing stone whichever we can. He'd like both but if we can get the stone, I think we'll be alright." He glanced around the sombre ring of men. "Everybody agreed?"
They nodded.
"When we have the information that we need from the elf and his friend we'll kill them," Drelent nodded his head at Romyr who smiled even broader, "that will be the job of you three. And then we'll retrieve the items. Until that time we are gamers' out on a long hunt. You will be civil," His gaze lighted on Romyr, "And you will be polite."
Again he waited until every head nodded in compliance, "Good, then either I or Gyn will do the talking. Now all of you bed down and rest. I'll wake you before dawn."
Drelent watched as the men turned in for the night. He remained seated on the rock long into the late watches, his eyes focused on the fire, his thoughts fa- flung to the task that awaited him. The world was no longer the safe place he once knew it as, no one could be trusted these days. Glancing down at Gyn he smiled as the man snored deep in slumber, well perhaps some he told himself. Within moments the heaviness of their job flooded back in and he sighed kicking a log back into the fire that had shifted out of the ring of rocks as the wood burned down. Dawn was not far off, closing his eyes for a moment he allowed himself to rest.
Legolas studied the map intently, with Aragorn standing near and looking over his shoulder. "I think we are nearly there," the elf concluded, rolling the scroll up once more. "It should be a little to the-"
"Legolas," Aragorn stiffened. "There's something over there, through the trees," he hissed in his friend's ear.
Legolas froze and his hand went immediately over his shoulder for his bow. A moment later he saw it too, a dark shape hidden by the trees.
Made incredibly wary by their many misadventures to this point, the two friends split up and crept towards the unknown shape. As they got closer it took on the distinctive form of an orc, lurking behind the trees, as still as stone... but something wasn't right... Aragorn paused, squinting at it and trying to figure out what in the name of reason it was doing.
Legolas, across the glade, suddenly rose to his feet and laughed. The orc did not move. Aragorn rose, confused and not sure what exactly they were seeing, but knowing that Legolas would not behave that way if there were danger... he hoped.
Moving closer Aragorn saw that what they had seen was, in fact, a very detailed and realistically carved life-sized statue of an orc, but the depiction of the foul beast seemed to be caught in a mockingly comical moment of terror for it was permanently frozen in ungainly flight.
Once he could see it for what it was, Aragorn couldn't help laughing either. "What in the name of reason is *this*? Who would make such a thing?" he chuckled as he and Legolas circled the base of it.
"The Drúedain if I am not mistaken," Legolas let his fingers drift over the ancient statue. "They were neither human, dwarf nor elf, but a kind all their own. Hatred between their people and the orcs was fierce. They crafted statues such as these to protect their lands and territories, for whatever they put into them the orcs feared and would not wantonly pass while their owners were alive. Some of their work was said to hold magic, although we are now far from what was once their most accustomed territory."
"I've never heard of them," Aragorn shook his head, then eyed his friend. "Or are you just making this up again?"
Legolas shot his friend an amused glance. "Nay Estel, the Drúedain were very real. They lived before my time though, in the days of my father and Lord Elrond, when the world was younger. It seems they have all but vanished now, yet some of their work still remains it seems."
Moving on once more the friends came to a long, rough plain crisscrossed with deep, jagged rifts that let down into steaming fissures that randomly released brief hisses of hot vapour up into the air.
"Pleasant sort of place," Aragorn muttered as they picked their way along and Legolas had to agree with him.
Ahead in the distance and growing nearer they could see what looked like the ruin of a vast structure. Neither of them had to ask if the other thought that was their goal. Out here in the middle of nowhere... what else could it be?
When they finally reached it they walked slowly around the exterior perimeter as far as they could.
It had once been a magnificent building, but what was left of it was slowly giving in to gravity and age. The roof had crumbled into its vast interior and its proud beams lay at odd angles on the remnants of the stone walls. The air was still and the field seemed smothered in an ancient quietness that robed the area.
Legolas walked lightly through the sparse grasses, running his fingers casually over what used to be ornate runes and pictograms carved into the stone itself.
"I have never heard of this place." He whispered quietly and yet his soft voice was easily carried to the ranger who was peeking into the interior of the building. "Even the style of the architecture is strange to me."
Aragorn disappeared from sight, stepping cautiously down into the sunken floor of the main hall. His boots sounded hollowly on the cracked marble flooring, the tiles had bent and warped beyond their limits as the building resettled. Here and there light streamed down from above illuminating the darkened recesses of the chamber, from cracks and crevices, unseen holes high up above. Dust filtered down, sparkling in the light.
"Aragorn?" Legolas quickly stepped to the sunken entrance and glanced about the interior, easily spotting the man as he cleared debris from a broken, dilapidated stone table that somehow still stood in the middle of the chamber.
"Legolas, over here." Aragorn called out quietly unwilling to disturb the heavy silence, "Bring the map." A notch in the failing structure above lighted the table well enough to read the all-but illegible writing.
The elf quietly padded up next to the human and retrieved the scroll, laying it out across the top of the stone. The writing was still puzzling but it matched the runes on the exterior of the building.
Aragorn leaned down and scrutinized the lay of the land on the parched paper. "This has got to be it" He traced his fingers down the edge of the Misty Mountains, tapping the building that was indicated, pressed up against the roots of the hills.
"But where in here?" Legolas glanced around them cautiously, his bow in hand. He was not thrilled to be inside the crumbling structure.
"Well," Aragorn turned and walked to a corner of the room, pulling a piece of fabric from under a pile of rocks, "Why don't we go explore!" He grabbed a stick from a heap of debris and wrapped the fabric around it. Crouching on the floor he removed a small flint rock and struck the blade of his elven hunting knife quickly against it. Sparks jumped from the edge of the weapon igniting the old fabric and setting it ablaze. Smiling to himself the ranger glanced at the back of the chamber. Two passages led off in opposite directions and the human-headed towards the darkened hallway to their right.
"Strider!" Legolas called after the human. He knew the man did not have a clue as to where he was going and he was not eager to follow him into the unknown darkness.
"Come on Legolas, it's here somewhere." The ranger's voice floated softly back to the elf.
With a deep sigh, the prince jogged after the human. It would be just like the man to pick the wrong corridor and then need help getting out of whatever mess he stumbled into. Legolas descended into the passageway after his friend. The light from Aragorn's torch could barely be seen as the human rounded a corner and moved down a set of steep stairs hewn from the mountain itself.
Legolas' eyes easily pierced the unnatural gloom as he followed his friend. He touched the man's shoulder lightly when he caught up with him. Strider glanced quickly over his shoulder. "Does that map say anything about *where* in this place, the seeing stone might be?"
"If it does, I cannot read it." Legolas paused at the bottom of the steps, another sigh escaping his lips.
"What?" Aragorn, looked back from the passageway he had entered.
"It's just that... it's another cave." Legolas muttered, his eyes were huge in the dim light.
Aragorn walked back to the elf and grabbed his elbow, starting the prince walking, "It's not a cave" he tried to reassure Legolas.
The elf glared at the human incredulously, easily moving out of his friends' grip and pushing the man slightly away from him, "Really? You're carrying a torch. We are descending, it is dark, it is dank and it smells. It's a cave."
"It's a passageway." Aragorn corrected as he moved cautiously forward.
"In a cave." Legolas growled quietly.
"No, it's a hallway in a collapsed building." The ranger retorted absently as he brushed thick cobwebs from their path, stepping through the hole he had made in the silvery curtain.
"That's better?" Legolas asked sarcastically. He shuddered slightly as he stepped past the tatters of the thick web, remembering the last time they were forced to deal with spiders.
"Legolas!" Aragorn was trying his best to ignore the elf. His curiosity had gotten the best of him and he was eager to find the palantir. He had never seen one himself and he was thoroughly enjoying the hunt.
"It's a cave, I don't care what you say, it's a cave," Legolas muttered decidedly.
Aragorn stopped mid-step, "It's a dead end." He held up the torch he carried, lighting the back of the tunnel. A slab-stone door stood closed in their pathway. Unused torches in wall mounted brackets lined the last ten feet of the walkway and he began to set them on fire with the one he held so they could better see.
The ranger moved to the back of the corridor once more and stepped up to the door, passing his torch across the front of the huge stone slab.
"There is writing around the door." His fingers traced the odd patterns on the edge of the rock entrance. "Wait, look at this!" Aragorn set his torch in an unused holder and peered at what seemed to be a handle inset into the wall to the right of the door. The handle looked to be nothing more than a metal bar held crosswise on a circle of stone. The whole mechanism was recessed into the stone. There were writings above and below the square that the handle was set into. "Legolas take a look at this."
But the elf hadn't heard him.
Legolas eyed the floor of the passageway suspiciously. The last ten feet of the corridor appeared to be stone tiles carved into the rock itself. Each one was set at an odd, irregular angle to the one next to it. When Aragorn had walked across them, his footsteps had rung oddly, almost sounding as though they were hollow. The elf crouched down near the ground and pressed his fingers into what appeared to be a very deep crack that ran the length of the hall, ending about a half a foot from the track the stone door was set in.
Pressing his ear to the ground, Legolas rapped his knuckles lightly against the stone. It sounded thick enough, but there was a gnawing unease in the back of his mind. He glanced at the writings on the door, his eyes landing lastly on Aragorn.
"What the heck?" Aragorn muttered. He reached into the alcove, grasped the handle and turned it right. Nothing happened. Quickly he reversed the motion, pushing it left and it gave way easily, sliding beneath his weight.
"Aragorn! NO!" Legolas jumped to his feet and rushed forward.
"Look its turning!" Aragorn glanced at his friend. The smile on his face faded as a loud, harsh sound assaulted their ears. He tried to pull his hand away from the nitch in the rock but two metal grates slammed together, trapping his wrist and pinning his arm in place. He cried out, startled by the trap as it sprung. In the middle of the grates, where they met, each had a semi-circle carved out of it. When they slammed shut the halves had created a perfect circle around Aragorn's wrist that he could not escape from.
"Legolas." The human pulled desperately at his arm, twisting and jerking against the newly formed bonds, trying to free himself. "Help me. Get me out of here. I'm stuck."
A deep rumble in the earth beneath them caused both human and elf to stop. Legolas glanced back down the passage they had come from as a keening howl pierced the eerie half gloom.
"Orcs!" Legolas whipped his bow off his back and notched it, moving to stand in the middle of the hall, blocking Aragorn from their advance. The prince wondered where they had come from, for he had seen no signs thus far that this structure was an orc haunt.
The screeching calls of the evil beasts set the human on edge. He was vulnerable, pinned as he was, and Legolas would need help. Who knew how many there were? Frantically he wrestled with his caught hand, trying everything to get the bars to release him. Blood from the injuries he was inflicting on himself glinted dully in the firelight.
He turned with his back to the wall his pinned arm across his chest as he clumsily drew his sword.
The odd grating rumble grew as the wave of orc bodies flooded the hall with darkness. They rushed headlong towards the elf and he, in turn, felled each one. Still they pressed in and he retreated slowly, diminishing their numbers even as they were replaced.
The ground shook under his feet and Legolas was thrown off balance. Aragorn stumbled, turning back to the rock face and shoving his sword in its scabbard once more as he braced himself against the wall.
Legolas fell forward, catching himself on one hand. The ground moved beneath him, the centuries-old dirt and sand that littered the floor rushed towards his fingers and fell through the crack beneath his supporting hand. In alarm, he realized that the floor of the passage was splitting apart, somehow retracting into the walls on either side.
The slight inattention was not lost on his enemy and the elf found himself shoved to the ground by the bulk of an orc. He twisted underneath the foul beast and thrust the arrow in his hand through his attacker's heart, throwing the creature off of him even as more rushed in.
Leaping to his feet he unsheathed his elven blades and swung them in a wide arc, cleaving through the breastplate of another assailant. Spinning in a tight circle he plunged the blade into another orc's throat, and the creature fell with a strangled cry.
Aragorn watched in horror as the ground beneath his friend tore in half and disappeared. The elf staggered to the left as the floor slid out from under him. He turned away from the attacking horde that still rushed forward, oblivious to their impending doom and leapt for the small ledge near the stone door next to Aragorn.
The ranger reached out with his free left hand and grabbed the elf's tunic, holding his friend against the rock face as the ground beneath them rolled and bucked. The front wave of advancing orcs fell into the ever-widening shaft. The sounds of their bodies reaching the bottom of the deep, gaping pit was never heard.
With a loud click, the floor pressed seamlessly into the rock walls and the rumbling stopped. Aragorn glanced over his shoulder at the horde of orcs on the other side of the chasm. It was obvious there was no way the creatures could bridge the gap and they had no wish to fall into what seemed like a bottomless gorge. They slowly melted back into the surrounding darkness of the hallway and disappeared the way they had come.
Aragorn and Legolas were balanced on a ledge that was barely six inches deep. For the elf it wasn't a difficult thing to do, but the human was finding it hard to maintain his footing. His fear got the better of him as he looked down into the inky blackness of the gorge that fell away behind him and he desperately struggled against his bonds.
Legolas looked up from the chasm and noted his friend's distress. He easily stepped next to the ranger and tried to quiet him.
"Aragorn, be still. We'll get you out of there." He touched the man on the back trying to get the ranger's attention.
"I have to get out. They'll be back." He pulled fiercely against the metal prison. His heart was in his throat. He was trapped in the dark with orcs not far away... seeing them rush down the hallway at them like that... it had brought back memories of Moria all over again and all he knew was that he had to get free, now!
Legolas noted the blood on the sides of the grating. He needed to stop the man's frantic attempts. Carefully, he stepped around the ranger, straddling his friend and pressing the man forward, pinning him against the rock face. Giving Aragorn a few moments' sense of security.
"Estel." He placed his face next to the human's, resting his hands on the ranger's back. "Listen to me, you are only hurting yourself further. Relax, calm down now." The softly spoken elven words had the right effect and the human slumped forward. Resting his head against the stone wall, Aragorn nodded.
Legolas reached around the man and touched the grating, prying at it to see if it could be released. Aragorn didn't move or speak while he tried to open the metal doors.
"I have a thought." Legolas placed his hand gently on the man's back once more. "Can you still reach the handle?"
"Yes." Aragorn answered quietly. "Just."
"Try to turn it back the opposite way and see if it will move."
Aragorn did as he was told. Twisting his wrist painfully inside the metal prison until the handle reset with an odd thunk. The grating released and separated, sliding back into the walls of the small alcove.
Aragorn quickly pulled his hand out and stepped slightly aside from the nitch. Legolas lightly walked around the ranger and took the man's wounded hand in his own, looking it over and quickly pulling a length of cloth from the human's knapsack to wrap the wounds with.
"It does not feel broken." Legolas massaged the man's wrist for a moment before Strider wrapped his own fingers around his hand and more forcefully felt for broken bones.
"No, I think you are right." He glanced over at the elf, "Thank you Legolas."
With the handle reset, the floor began to slide back into place, rumbling and growling as the ancient, unused gears in the trap worked slowly. With the loud ring of stone against stone the ground sealed itself back together.
Legolas unslung his bow and stepped forward onto the resealed tiles, his eyes searching the darkness of the passageway ahead of him for any signs of the orcs that had fled it moments ago.
Aragorn stepped behind him. Testing his weight on the ground, he bounced slightly to see if the floor would give way beneath them.
Legolas noted the movement and turned towards his friend a slight grin on his face. "What are you doing?"
"Making sure it stays." Aragorn whispered back.
"And if it doesn't?"
"That's not funny." He glanced back down the hall listening intently. "Let's just get out of here before they return, shall we? I don't think we'll be able to get into that room from this way. Maybe there is another entrance." The ranger smiled at his friend and gingerly stepped around the elf, his sword drawn. He grabbed the last torch on the wall on their way out and silently walked back the way they had come, Legolas trailing him with his bow drawn.
They reached the top of the steps with no trace of the orcs that had attacked them. Aragorn looked back at Legolas, a frown on his face, "Why do you think the orcs didn't return?" He asked over his shoulder.
There was not the time for the elf to answer as Aragorn was pulled from the passageway and drug into the main chamber of the ancient ruins, the pommel of a sword impacting with the back of his head and driving him to the stone floor.
Legolas was caught totally by surprise. He heard Aragorn cry out and stepped forward only to have several sets of hands pull him from the darkened hallway and drag him into the dimly lighted inner chamber. The beam of a crossbow caught him alongside the head and he stumbled off balance, dropping to one knee. A vicious kick to his stomach dropped the elf to the stone floor and a booted foot flipped him over onto his back and pressed down heavily against his chest before he could respond.
When he struggled against his attacker the bolt of a crossbow was shoved into his face and he heard a gruff voice growl, "Lay still or I'll put one through that head of yours. Understand me?"
Legolas glared at the man that held him pinned to the floor. He angrily shook the hair out of his eyes and stilled his movements. It was then that he heard the shuffling, grunting noises of the orcs and he shifted slightly, readjusting his vision to stare in horror at the evil horde of creatures that stood to the side of the main chamber, watching intently but passively, as he and Aragorn were subdued. Now he knew why they had had no more trouble from the foul beasts. He angrily glared back up into the face of Vaeric.
A soft groan, caught the elf's attention and he watched as Aragorn was roughly jerked upright, his arms pinned behind him by another of Paxcyn's men. His captor pulled a blade from his boot and held it tightly against Aragorn's throat, thoroughly enjoying himself.
Booted footsteps rang against the stone and the orcs shifted uneasily as Paxcyn stepped down into the hall and approached Legolas' prone form.
"Where is the map?" He was tired of chasing these two, tired of losing them and tired of having to report to an employer continually unhappy with him. He hated the orcs and had done everything he could to dissuade Saruman from sending them out in the first place, but they had shown up and now he had to work with them. In the end he supposed they served his purpose but he would be glad when this job was over. With a sigh, he glanced at the ranger and his man that held him captive, "Don't make me repeat myself."
At Paxcyn's slight nod Aragorn was forced roughly to the ground, bent over his knees, his hands tied tightly at the small of his back. The man guarding him raised his sword ready to smash the pommel of it against the human's head again if the elf would not comply.
"I have it." Legolas spit the word at Paxcyn, unwilling to allow his friend to be injured any further.
"Good." Paxcyn stepped back a pace and motioned Vaeric off of the elf. "Bind him and make him show you where it is."
Legolas had no desire to be bound by these men. By whatever foul orders they were working with orcs and seeking a palantir, he was in no way going to allow them to take him captive. He began to wonder if they were more than just treasure hunters looking for a rich prize... the presence of the orcs seemed to bear that out. Sweeping his legs out he caught Vaeric and brought the man crashing to the ground.
Quickly springing up, the elf slipped a blade from its sheath on his back and knelt over the human, pressing the edge of his weapon against the man's throat, using the slight moment of surprise he had been given.
"Let the ranger go." He growled at the man who held Aragorn down.
Paxcyn sighed, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. He walked to the large stone table and leaned against it, placing his crossbow carefully on the top of it before bending down to look eye level at the elf.
"Listen. I don't care if you kill him." He glanced at the man guarding Aragorn, "I'll just have Dryxyn kill your friend and then I'll give you to the orcs *after* I get the map out of you." The man stood up and glanced at the foul creatures behind him before turning back to glance at Legolas, "Really, they won't care what shape you're in when I'm through with you. But I think you know that, don't you?"
Paxcyn leaned back against the table and crossed his arms over his chest, watching the elf with idle disinterest.
"Don't do it Legolas, they can't be allowed to have it." Aragorn called out in elvish, struggling against his captor. The man standing over him brought the pommel of his sword down against the ranger's skull, splitting open the freshly healed cut he had taken from Paxcyn's stirrup earlier.
Aragorn went limp beneath the heavy blow, slumping sideways before his aggressor grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled his head up. The ranger's eyes were half-lidded, stunned by the painful stroke. He breathed raggedly and blood flowed easily from the head wound. He had been struck thus a few too many times recently and it was taking its toll.
"Be still Estel. Even if they have the map they will not get the stone." Legolas replied in the grey tongue, hiding their conversation.
"I grow tired of waiting." Paxcyn spoke quietly as he watched the two friends.
Legolas glanced quickly at the man, "If you allow your men to injure the ranger further, I will kill this one," he pressed the blade down harder against Vaeric's throat for emphasis, "destroy the map, and I couldn't care less if there is anything left of me to let the orcs play with. Do you understand me?" He glared at Paxcyn once more.
Paxcyn glanced at the black creatures behind him. He hated this sort of stuff. No money was worth working with orcs or elves. Both were simply impossible. It was supposed to have been a simple job. Inwardly he cursed Rigo. If only that drunken idiot hadn't run from them, no one else would have been involved. True, he honestly didn't care what happened to the ranger or his elf friend, but he could tell by the fair being's gaze that he wasn't kidding about destroying the map and killing Vaeric. Saruman had been very adamant about the retrieval of the map and he was afraid they would have little chance of retrieving the palantir without it.
"Fine. Dryxyn, back off." Paxcyn motioned his man away from the ranger who slowly slid onto his side, trying to bite back the bile that rose in his throat. The last hit to his head had made him nauseous but he was not willing to stop fighting.
"Legolas..." Aragorn started to protest but stopped as when the elf glanced at him - he had a plan, the man could see it in the deep blue eyes that watched him, begging him to trust him.
Legolas held the ranger's gaze as he set his elven blade on the ground and moved away from Vaeric.
Vaeric stood slowly to his feet, his face contorted in rage. When the elf looked to Paxcyn and inclined his head slightly in surrender, the angry man lashed out, punching Legolas in the side of the head and causing the prince to stumble and fall back to the ground.
Legolas wrapped his fingers around the handle of his discarded elven knife, but Paxcyn jumped forward, stepping on the flat of the blade effectively pinning the weapon to the floor.
"Ah ah." He glared at the elf, raising one eyebrow, "There'll be none of that."
Turning his attention to Vaeric he shoved the man hard, causing him to stumble back towards the entrance to the main chamber. "Damn it all Vaeric. I ought to just let the elf kill you for sport. Now go on get out of here. Help set up the camp outside."
Paxcyn turned back to Legolas and motioned him up, drawing his sword and indicating what he wanted with the tip of his blade.
"Now give us the map."
Legolas nodded and reached over his head to his quiver.
"Hold on there." Paxcyn stopped the elf. Pressing the point of the sword against the buckle on Legolas chest that held his quiver in place on his back. "Unbuckle it, take it off and hand it to me."
Aragorn moved slowly, the motion drawing Legolas' attention, as he painfully sat up and watched what was going on. He blinked blearily in the half-light.
Legolas easily slipped the quiver off his back and handed it to Paxcyn. The man pulled the map out quickly and glanced over the yellowed paper, making sure it was the real thing.
"Now sit down." He instructed. Legolas complied, seating himself next to Aragorn.
Dryxyn walked over to the seated elf and crouched in front of him, quickly tying the elf's hands together with a length of rope. He pulled the knots tightly and jumped to his feet well out of the nimble beings reach.
"Why don't you just kill them both and we'll be rid of them?" Dryxyn asked his chief.
Paxcyn turned a sneer on the smaller man, "Well Dryx, if it's true what them orcs say about this place being full of traps, I figure they'll make good bait. Better than getting ourselves dead for that stone when we have someone else that's expendable."
Soft snickers came from the far side of the room where the orcs still gathered.
"You think that's funny?" Paxcyn called out to the creatures. "When they're dead, you're next. So get this and hear it good. I'm leaving them in your guard tonight. You so much as look at them wrong and I'll put a bolt in you." He sheathed his sword and retrieved his strung crossbow. "And I don't care what your master says. I'll slay the whole horde of you if do anything to them or if they get away from you tonight. You understand me?" He glared at the creatures that shifted and dropped their gaze uneasy in his presence.
"We understand." One of them spoke up from the front of the group.
"Good." Paxcyn turned back to his two prisoners and leaned down close. "Don't think for a moment I won't feed your carcasses to those pit spawned monsters. You stay put, I might find you useful and prolong your life."
With that threat made, Paxcyn left the main chamber followed by his men. The orcs watched them go and slowly spilt into the room, rounding the table and glaring at the two captives.
"Behave." The one who had spoken moments ago growled at them.
"Why do we have to take orders from that human slug?!" one of his subordinates protested, looking at the prisoners with hungry eyes.
"Cause if you don't it'll be your head on the block and not his if Master hears about it!" the first one growled back. "So we take orders. For now." The creature laughed darkly and turned his evil gaze on the captives.
Legolas stared the dark creature down before turning to Aragorn. He grabbed the man's overcoat in his bound hands and pulled them both back to rest against the thick stone cylinder that held the table aloft.
Aragorn rested his head slowly back against the stone and closed his eyes, "This was a really good idea."
Legolas knelt next to him and pressed the human's head forward. The ranger pulled his knees up to his chest and laid his head on them with a small sigh, his hands still bound painfully behind him.
Gently Legolas pushed the man's hair away from the newly opened wound, trying to get a better look at the cut.
"It doesn't look bad."
"It feels bad."
"I bet it does." Legolas pressed his fingers under the human's chin, forcing Aragorn to lift his head and gaze into the elf's blue eyes. "I don't think you have a concussion this time. Why don't you rest?"
"Right." Aragorn glanced around the room to where the orcs were settling in, making small fires in groups of two or three from the debris that littered the chamber. "I don't think so."
"Aragorn you need your strength. I think tomorrow may be difficult if what Paxcyn says is true about this building being set with traps." Legolas glanced out and let his eyes rest on the nearest fire, the jump and weave of the flame a hypnotic distraction to their predicament. "I'll wake you and you can take watch while I rest later."
With a nod the ranger laid his head back against the stone and closed his eyes, trying to relax. It was difficult with his hands tied painfully behind him and the soft sounds of the orcs were a constant reminder of the situation they found themselves in. A few moments later, he felt Legolas' fingers wrap in the sleeve of his overcoat, pulling him slowly closer until his head rested on the elf's shoulder.
"Now sleep." Legolas whispered softly in the grey tongue. Aragorn simply nodded against his friend and allowed himself to finally relax.
Aragorn gently jostled his shoulder, the slight movement was meant to alert the elf that was sleeping with his head resting against the human for what slight comfort he could find. But it was unnecessary, Legolas was already fully awake, watching their guards, his keen eyes alert for chances to escape.
Paxcyn and his men entered the main hall. His lips pulled back in disgust as he walked through the refuse that littered the old marble floor, leftovers attesting to the orc's makeshift camp.
As he approached the two prisoners, the dark creatures that had kept watch over them all night pressed out of the way, melting in with the shadows that still marked the hall in the faint pre-dawn.
"Get up." Paxcyn kicked Aragorn's boot and stepped back as the ranger and the elf slowly made their way out from under the edge of the huge stone table. "I see you made it through the night in one piece." He glanced back at the orcs that shifted curiously in the wings of the main chamber.
Legolas grabbed Aragorn's arm and helped the man to his feet as their guard moved away from the table. Neither one of them answered their captor and he turned dull grey eyes back on his prisoners.
Motioning Dryxyn over, Paxcyn brushed past Aragorn, laying his crossbow on the table and spreading the map out once more on the top of the stone behind them.
Dryxyn, cautiously stepped forward and pulled a long, serrated knife from the sheath at his waist. Approaching Aragorn, he slowly moved the blade in a clockwise circle indicating he wanted the man to turn around. With a quick glance at Legolas, the ranger obeyed.
Blood rushed into his fingertips as the small man cut the binds on his wrists, letting the ropes fall to the floor. Aragorn quickly stepped away from Dryxyn, massaging his aching fingers and hands.
"Now him." The ranger motioned with his head to the elf who stood bound next to him.
"I don't think so." Paxcyn spoke calmly, not looking back at the two, his eyes intently roving the yellowed paper in front of him.
"You can't mean to keep him bound up the entire time?" Aragorn felt his anger rising.
"I can and I do." The older man finally turned and stared at the ranger. "You I can control easily." He glanced at the elf and looked him over, "Him, not so much. And I don't trust him." Paxcyn leaned against the table, half sitting on the edge of it, "Besides you're only getting a reprieve. When we move out you'll be bound just the same as he is. I just want your hands in front of you so I don't have to watch you every step of the way. You understand?"
Legolas glared at the man. Aragorn simply nodded once.
"Good." Paxcyn took a deep breath, the scowl vanishing from his face, "Cause we need to talk. I want to know everything you know about this place."
Aragorn looked at Legolas in confusion, but the elf was frowning as well. "Everything *we* know?" He questioned their captor.
"Do I need to repeat myself?"
Aragorn shrugged and answered, "We know nothing of this place. I have never heard that anywhere like this existed."
"And the markings on the building are not elvish if that is what you are thinking." Legolas added quietly.
"Damn, that's what I was afraid of." Paxcyn swore softly.
"Why?" Aragorn tipped his head slightly, eyeing the man curiously, "What have you heard?"
Paxcyn stared at the ranger for a few moments, obviously weighing the need to even explain himself to his prisoners; in the end his desire for more knowledge of the area won out and he told them what he knew, hoping it would trigger something and they would remember more, he had a feeling they would need all the information they could gather.
"Alright, this is what my employer told me," He began to give an account of what he had been told but Aragorn interrupted him.
"Who is your employer?"
The man scowled at the ranger, "Do you want to hear what I know about this place or shall we just go off down another tunnel where the floor might drop out on you again?"
"It is well. We would hear what you have to say." Legolas touched his friend's arm with his fingertips silencing the young human.
"Alright then," the frown slowly melted from the man's face as he recalled the conversation he had had with Saruman. The wizard had seemed forthright, but Paxcyn was still uneasy about being in the ancient building. "From what I was told this used to be some sort of a place of wisdom and knowledge."
Paxcyn stopped speaking and glared at the orcs, they were talking amongst themselves while the man was distracted. When they noted his attention they quieted, several of them crouching down, waiting the human out.
"Anyway," Paxcyn pushed off from the table and rounded the ancient stone top. He walked to the far side and leaned down upon it, resting his head in his hands and staring at the map as he spoke. He had no qualms about the position his prisoners were in and trusted his men to keep their eyes on them. "There was some catastrophe that brought the building down."
Paxcyn glanced around them at the dilapidated stone structure, "And some of the things kept in here were never removed. I don't know why. And my employer has a special interest in the one spoken of on this map." He flicked a corner of the torn paper in front of him, "This thing is the last link to prove the existence of this place."
Legolas spoke up, "If it is as you say, and this was such a place, then I fear we tread where even the Valar would not dare to go. Places of such knowledge are most often guarded by ancient powers that are best not woken. There are reasons why those who have gone before you, have not been successful in retrieving what you seek. We dare not hunt for this. We would do well to leave this place." He turned huge blue eyes on Aragorn, imploring the human to believe him.
The ranger started to speak, but was cut off as Paxcyn stood, shaking his head; a look of disgust distorted his weathered features.
"Right." Paxcyn spat at the elf, rolling his eyes, "Elves and their damned horror stories, just tales to scare people off, if you ask me." He motioned Vaeric forward. "If you can't tell me anything more helpful than that then I think it's we best go exploring. Time is short gentlemen, bind the ranger."
"Dryxyn, get the orcs on their feet. We're going in." He called to his men.
Vaeric approached Aragorn with a length of rope. The ranger automatically stepped away from the man.
Paxcyn cleared his throat and tapped his crossbow down on the tabletop. Aragorn glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes and the man picked the weapon up aiming it at the elf, quirking an eyebrow up as he silently questioned Strider. The ranger stopped moving and raised his hands before him, allowing Vaeric to bind them.
They chose to try entering the locked chamber using a different route, since the passage to the right had led to the dead end and there was obviously no way anyone wanted to try a repeat of the previous day. Two halls led from the main room that the men were assembled in and Paxcyn led them down the passage that fell away towards the left.
Unlike the tunnel they had been in yesterday, this one was dank and smelled of mould. The eerie dripping of unseen water echoed off the cold, dark walls. The floor beneath their feet was roughly hewn stone and in places the rock itself had buckled, causing irregular breaks in the flooring that tripped up the company. The passageway sloped gently downward at first, dropping into a steep shaft. Into the floor of the shaft, shallow steps had been carved. The rock was deteriorating and the steps crumbled as the company picked their way carefully down.
Legolas was sure-footed in the darkness and Paxcyn shoved him out front, following him with a sputtering torch; the pool of light from the fire barely reached the steps that dropped away ahead of the elf.
No one spoke as they descended and the shuffling, murmur of the orcs in their midst echoed oddly off the broken walls of the passage.
Legolas' eyes were huge in the near pitch black of the hall and he swallowed hard against the fear and the dread that caught at him. This was no ordinary darkness. A flicker of evil touched his mind and he paused mid-step, catching his breath.
"What is it?" Paxcyn whispered, the sound of his voice loud in the deafening silence.
"I do not know." Legolas glanced around them trying to find the source of the growing dread, "We should leave."
"Get moving." The man growled, giving the elf a hard shove.
Unbalanced by the push, Legolas fell back a step. The old stone under his feet gave way and he lost his footing, tumbling down into the darkness. There was nothing he could catch hold of with his hands bound like they were and nothing to stop his fall.
"Legolas!" Aragorn shoved Vaeric out of the way and passed by Paxcyn, who raised his torch higher and slowly followed the two. The ranger heard the sound of his friend's body as it hit the base of the stairs some distance down. The darkness wrapped about the human, thick like a living thing, slowing his progress to the bottom.
Vaeric rushed forward to stop the ranger, but was halted by Paxcyn who pressed his arm out to the side holding the man back. "Let them go first. If there is anything down there let them find it before it finds us."
"Legolas?" Aragorn reached the last step and gingerly stepped down. A moan to his left alerted him to the elf's position and he knelt near the prince in the darkness. "Don't move. Are you all right?"
The sounds of the elf's quick, frightened breaths echoed off the walls and slender fingers grabbed the front of the ranger's shirt urgently. "I am fine." Legolas answered, pulling the human down close and speaking softly to him, "Something wakens Aragorn, I can feel it. We need to find a way out of here."
Before the human could question the elf further, the soft light of the torch touched the two and Aragorn could make out his friend in the dim lighting. A cut marred the fair being's forehead and his leggings were torn at the knees where he had taken the brunt of the fall. The prince's wrists ached terribly from trying unsuccessfully to stop himself, he feared they had been sprained by his attempts to slow his sudden descent. Being numb and bound as tightly as they were hadn't helped matters at all.
Aragorn drew his breath in with a soft hiss as he gently brushed Legolas' hair away from the cut on his head. "Is anything broken?"
"I think not." Legolas tried to stand, but Aragorn pressed him down.
"Just wait until they reach the bottom. Rest for a moment while you can." Aragorn glanced back up as Paxcyn descended the steps, followed by his men and the orcs. The dark creatures shifted nervously, their eyes darting far ahead, piercing the darkened passage.
"They feel it as I do." Legolas noted their uneasiness as he sat up slowly, finally having caught his breath.
"Can you walk?" Paxcyn towered over the two prisoners, glaring down at the elf.
Legolas nodded once and stood stiffly to his feet with help from Aragorn.
"Good. Then get going." Their captor motioned up the dark tunnel with his head.
Aragorn started into the passageway but was quickly pulled back by his friend. "No wait!" The elf was scanning the floor of the hall.
"What?" Paxcyn frowned at the prince, "You said you were fine."
Vaeric moved forward, "I'll get him going." He growled as Legolas knelt back down to the ground and carefully ran his fingers around the edges of the tiles paving the walkway.
"These are the same stones that lined the passage yesterday." Legolas glanced cautiously up the hall. Turning to Paxcyn he asked the man to lower the torch he held.
Paxcyn obliged the elf. Vaeric had stopped, watching as Aragorn knelt beside the prince to get a better look.
The firelight jumped and danced across the stone floor, throwing strange angled shadows about them. Throughout the hall, several tiles seemed covered in shadow, depressed into the floor a bit more than the others around them.
"Do you see it?" Legolas pointed them out to Aragorn. "They are different." He ran his fingers gingerly around a tile directly in front of them that sat a fraction of an inch lower than the ones that surrounded it.
"I see." Aragorn reached out his palms and laid them flat against the stone intending to press it down and find out what they were dealing with, but Legolas grabbed him, jerking him back.
"No!" The elf whispered fiercely, "Look at the walls." Legolas regained his feet once more, suppressing the moan that the ache in his knees gave him. Cautiously stepping a few feet into the hallway, careful to avoid the odd tiles, he approached the left wall. Holes more than an inch wide decorated the long passageway at random heights and intervals.
Without being asked, Paxcyn stepped carefully near the elf, making sure his feet only touched where the prince's had. He raised the torch to the height of the hole as they both tried to see into its depth. The sharp glint of metal flickered in the yellow light and the elf glanced back at the man who had drug him down here.
"The floor is a trap. We must walk only on the tiles that are not sunk in." Legolas informed Paxcyn.
The man nodded slowly and called back to the men and creatures behind him, telling them what they had found and to pay attention.
The walls were lined with sconces that still held torches. As they made their way slowly down the passage, Vaeric and Paxcyn cautiously lit each one, shedding more light on their path and making it easier to distinguish which tiles would trigger the trap that had been set.
A chill of darkness shot up Legolas' spine and he stopped dead in his tracks. A feral shadowy evil touched him, barely running its' fingers through his awareness. Something was waking, something knew that there were intruders and the fact delighted it.
The elf swallowed hard and backed up a step. Aragorn had noticed Legolas' reluctance to proceed and had stopped, turning back towards his friend as Paxcyn and Vaeric came up on either side of him.
"I cannot go any further, and you cannot ask me too." The elf glanced back at the orcs. They sensed something to, but it was familiar to them and they advanced past the prince making their way warily into the darkness.
"Don't play these games with me elf." Paxcyn spat at the prince and shoved him a step forward.
Legolas stumbled and quickly stepped back. Aragorn walked up beside his friend and touched the elf lightly, redirecting the prince's attention.
"What is it?"
"I do not know, but we have woken something. Something that should not have been roused. We must leave." Legolas' eyes were huge and frightened in the firelight; he implored the man to listen to him.
"Look, if Legolas says it's not safe, then it isn't. We need to leave." Aragorn glanced back at the orcs that continued to cautiously creep down the hallway.
Paxcyn was irritated, he wanted nothing more than to find this stone and leave, but a tiny voice in the back of his mind was warning him off. As much as he had no love for elves, he had heard the tales of how they could perceive things that humans could not. Before he could respond, Vaeric stepped forward and smashed the wooden pommel of his crossbow against the side of Legolas' head. The blow caused the elf to stagger sideways and Aragorn jumped forward quickly to stop him from overstepping onto a depressed tile.
"Paxcyn said move, do it now!" The man growled at the elf. He kicked out at the prince as Legolas tried to stand up, catching the fair being in the ribs and dropping him to the ground as the air was forced from his lungs. "Get up you lazy elf!"
Paxcyn himself walked down the corridor, the orcs had gone so far down the hallway that he could not see them in the dark. "Be careful damn it! All I need is you to step on a trigger stone and set this whole thing off." He peered into the darkness not caring if Vaeric killed the prisoners or even the possibility of the orcs getting themselves killed. He didn't want one of the oafs setting off the trap they were all precariously standing on, however.
"Stop it!" Aragorn rushed Vaeric as the man turned to kick the downed elf again. The ranger brought his hands down hard between the man's shoulders, stunning him and stopping him from attacking the prince.
Vaeric turned on the ranger with barely concealed anger. He quickly drew a blade from his belt and approached Aragorn who was trying to step away from the angry man without touching down on one of the wrong tiles.
The knife sliced through the air near Aragorn's face as he ducked the blow, spinning quickly out of the way and dancing lightly over a depressed tile, barely missing stepping down it.
Paxcyn turned and walked back towards the scuffle. Dryxyn was watching in muted surprise from the back of the hall.
"Vaeric!"
But the man paid his captain no heed and rushed after the ranger.
Aragorn sidestepped another arcing swing as Vaeric caught up with him. He slammed his fists into the side of the man's head, stunning him and sending him staggering sideways. Taking advantage of the surprise of the moment he drove Vaeric against the wall, intending to knock him out, but the man was holding his knife in a defensive position. Unable to compensate for the driving blow of Aragorn's shoulder he slammed into the rock wall his hand pinned in front of him and the blade slipped into his abdomen. With a stifled cry he slumped to the ground in shock, curling into himself.
"Legolas run!" Aragorn turned back to the elf to see his friend slowly gain his feet once more, "GO!"
Paxcyn was running back up the passage now as quickly as he could without triggering the trap. "Dryxyn stop them!"
The small man stood in front of the steps they had descended and drew his knife but the elf was already pelting towards him, easily avoiding the darkened tiles on the floor. As Dryxyn brought the sword up, Legolas kicked out at the man's midsection, felling the human with the fierceness of his blow. He leapt over the downed guard and fled up the steps.
Paxcyn shouted back down the hallway to the orcs, the dark creatures materialized out of the inky blackness they had retreated into, "Bring them back here now!" He pointed down the way the prisoners were heading.
Aragorn was a good pace behind Legolas. It had taken him a moment to gain his bearings and map a safe path back to the stairway. He could hear the orcs running down the passage behind him. A spear thrown by one of his pursuers shot past his head, missing him by a hair breadth. They were gaining on him.
"Get out of the way!" He yelled at Dryxyn, motioning with his hands for the man to move and ready for him if he didn't.
Aragorn spied the very first tile that Legolas had noticed was different and sped towards it, a plan forming in his mind.
Dryxyn followed the ranger's gaze and noted the determined set of the man's jaw as he ran back towards his position.
"Paxcyn!" The small man screamed at his boss as he turned and raced up the stairs away from the hall.
Somehow Paxcyn understood. He was too far away from the steps to reach safety. Raising his torch he saw the tiles ended not a hundred yards ahead of him and raced for the opposite end of the tunnel.
Aragorn gained the edge of the hallway and purposefully stepped on the depressed tile. The floor moved beneath his foot as the tile slipped out from under him and he fell onto the stairs, barely catching himself with his bound hands.
The orcs were not as lucky. The sing of arrows filled the passage as crossbows hidden in the depths of the wall aimed and cocked for just such an occasion released their deadly volley, catching the foul beasts in a killing crossfire.
Bolts filled the air and Aragorn glanced back as he heard the orcs screaming, caught between the firing weapons, their bodies littering the hall behind him. Throwing himself forward, the ranger slipped on the crumbling steps and staggered up the ancient stairs.
Legolas gained the upper hall and raced toward the main chamber. He skidded to stop on the threshold of the room, as he took in the scene before him.
A small contingent of men filled the hall, scouring through the remnants of the orcs camp from the previous night. They stopped and stared, surprised by the elf who stood in the passageway.
A tall, dark-haired man stepped forward and approached the bound prince, taking note of the elf's dishevelled appearance and the ropes that tied his hands tightly together. "Do you need assistance?" He asked cautiously. His dark hair was shot through with streaks of grey and his eyes were deep brown like the forest floor. A scar decorated his thin face and he wore leather arm guards, a matching buckler covered his chest.
Legolas quickly glanced behind him as the cries of the orcs reached his ears and he stepped towards the man who addressed him.
"My friend and I have been taken captive and we are being used by a band of men and orcs to help them hunt for things in this building. Will you help us?" The elf did not reveal the full truth to the man, uncertain of who these newcomers were.
The man raised one eyebrow and stepped closer to the fair being. Unsheathing a short blade he cut the elf's bonds and glanced down the darkened passage. "We will help you. We were just passing by and saw the camp set up outside. We have heard tales of this region, it's not safe to be in here."
"That we know." Legolas agreed breathlessly. He turned swiftly as he heard footsteps pelting up the hallway behind them. Aragorn tumbled into the main hall, falling to his knees as he gained the safety of the large room.
He was breathing heavily and slowly looked up as Legolas knelt beside him. "Strider, are you all right?" The elf squeezed his shoulder sharply and the human glanced up and out into the room catching his breath as he stared at the five watching him intently.
"A ranger and an elf?" The man who had freed Legolas questioned the two. "Odd travelling companions I would think."
"Some of them..." Aragorn watched the men in front of him, cautiously wary of them as he tried to warn the other, "not all gone..."
"What?" Legolas glanced back down the hall and caught sight of a black tide rushing forward. Some of the orcs had actually survived the onslaught of the loosened crossbows and they heedlessly followed their prey into the main chamber, intent on recovering the two prisoners. "Yrch!" The elf pulled the human with him, jerking them out of the path of the creatures and pressing them against the wall beside the tunnel opening, shielding the man with his body.
The men in the main chamber had little time to react as the orcs spilt out into the hall. They unslung their bows and felled the beasts as they rushed towards them. In moments the creatures were dead.
"I thought you said there were men!" The dark haired man glanced at Legolas.
Paxcyn stepped out of the tunnel, followed by Dryxyn, his crossbow strung and ready. His eyes narrowed as he saw the man who stood in the centre of the room. Angry recognition flashed through his eyes. And he started to speak when a bowman to the left of the leader of the small group fired a single bolt into the man's heart. Anything he would have said was silenced as he looked in shock at the shaft that protruded from his chest. Confusion crossed his weathered face as he locked eyes with the dark haired man and he shook his head not understanding the turn of events. His body dropped to the floor, his spirit gone before he fell.
Dryxyn laid his drawn sword on the ground and stepped away from Paxcyn's dead form. He was quickly taken into custody and bound. Two of the men escorted him outside.
"You didn't have to kill him." Aragorn watched the whole scene incredulously.
"Was he not the one that took you prisoner?" Dark brown eyes stared at the silver ones.
"Well yes but..." Aragorn glanced at Paxcyn, "Did you know him? He acted like he recognized you."
"Recognized that he was in trouble more likely. Never seen him before in my life. But he did have a weapon and my men thought him a threat or they would not have fired on him." The dark haired man walked over and held his knife out to Legolas, proffering him the pommel of the weapon. "My name is Drelent. My men and I live not far from here. We were just on our way into the woods to hunt. The store houses are getting empty and it looked like a good day for it when we passed by your campsite."
Legolas severed Aragorn's bonds and passed the knife back to the man, nodding his thanks curtly.
Aragorn hissed as the ropes fell away and he massaged his tender wrists. "Really? Didn't know anyone lived out this way." He pressed Drelent.
"Well the game has been poor this season near our village so we have been forced to go farther to seek food." He glanced around the inside of the building, "This really isn't a safe place to be, why don't you come outside? We've set up our camp on the plains, you're welcome to stay with us tonight if you like. I'd be very interested to hear how you got into this mess." Drelent glanced at the bodies of the orcs and the human, "And why a human was working with orcs." He kicked Paxcyn's body, turning the dead man over onto his back.
Legolas bent down and quickly removed the map from the man's inside pocket. "Something that he took from me." The elf explained as he stood and gazed back at the questioning look Drelent was giving him. He passed the map to Aragorn who pressed it inside his tunic, following their rescuer out of the collapsing building.
Drelent's laughter carried through the camp. He glanced over the sparking fire that burned brightly in the centre of the circle of men who lounged around its shallow stone wall, eating what small catch the hunters had scoured from the surrounding area. They had made their camp near the forests that bracketed the plain in front of the ancient building.
Night had rapidly drawn over the grassy meadow they had camped on, and Legolas and Aragorn had found themselves quickly enveloped by the men who had rescued them from Paxcyn and the orcs earlier in the day. They seemed a fairly inclusive group. Drelent had four men working with him, Gyn, Romyr, Rhyddry and Selvic. They all claimed to be from southern Rohan, but Aragorn was sure that their accents were wrong. When the ranger had questioned Drelent on the length of their search for game, seeing as how Methedras, the mountain they camped below was well over one hundred and fifty miles from their home, the hunter had merely shrugged it off and returned the question with one of his own. Aragorn filed away the information for later use. He liked Drelent, and Gyn his second in command had been a pleasant fellow as well. Portly and happy, Gyn was an excellent shot with a crossbow and had bagged nearly all the game they were now dining on.
The other three that comprised the small company had kept to themselves, keeping their conversations and contact with the elf and the ranger limited. Even now, Drelent had sent them into the forests on the edge of the plain in search of more wood after they had seen to Dryxyn, making sure the man was well tied up and had had food and water for the night.
Legolas had remained silent for the better part of the day. During a quiet moment when the two had been left alone, Aragorn had questioned his friend on his reticence. The elf had responded simply by saying that the men seemed all wrong to him and he was certain they were not who they said they were. He had watched them carefully throughout the day, his suspicions only deepening.
"So you say the floor fell beneath you when you turned the handle?" Drelent leaned forward, his tone incredulous as he listened to Strider recount their exploration of the building that sat quietly behind them, resting in the slight fog that hugged the ground near the base of the mountains.
"It did! Half the orcs fell in with it! And I couldn't get my hand freed. Legolas and I were stranded on one side with the orcs on the other!" Aragorn laughed now, but it hadn't been funny at the time and Legolas glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes, a smile pulling at his own lips.
"Now there is a situation that I would never wish to find myself in." Drelent elbowed the man next to him with a huge smile, "What say you Gyn?"
"I'd say that would be a mighty fine spot to find oneself in." Gyn tipped a mug of mead to his lips and took huge his gulp. In the seconds that his eyes were hidden from their guests he glanced at Drelent, his gaze questioning the man he called his boss. He grew weary of these two and wished to get on with business. Drelent smiled back and nodded almost imperceptibly, motioning ever so slightly with his eyes into the trees behind Aragorn and Legolas.
He had in fact sent the others out into the woods to circle behind the camp and wait. At a signal from Drelent the three hidden hunters had orders to kill the elf and the ranger, but Drelent wanted to learn everything he could from the two before he disposed of them. Saruman had told him in no uncertain terms that failure was unacceptable and that those who failed him paid for it, as Paxcyn had. Drelent had hated killing the man; he'd known Paxcyn for years, always as the competition. But Romyr had enjoyed it. He was a killer at heart and the one reason Drelent had hired the youth in the first place; he had no conscience at all.
"So tell me how far *have* you explored the ruins?" Drelent pushed his guests for more information.
Before Aragorn could respond Legolas gently brushed his fingers against the ranger's leg. His eyes were fixed on the men across the fire, not giving away the silent communication that passed between them.
Strider pretended to be caught off guard and asked Drelent to repeat the question, leaning forward and filling his mug with a second draught of mead. With the attention off himself and onto his actions, Strider glanced down at Legolas' hand resting near his thigh. The elf made a sharp cutting motion with his fingers before laying them back on the ground. If the ranger hadn't known what to look for he would have simply thought that the elf was shooing away a pesky night bug or a crawler, but the warning was taken to heart and when the human sat back once more he sipped his ale before answering.
Legolas had seen the slight nod that Drelent had given Gyn when the man had silently questioned his boss. He had followed the hunters almost imperceptible gaze out into the woods behind them when no one paying him any attention and had caught glimpses of the hunters hidden in the forests, the tiny glints of starlight on their arrowheads tipping off the keen-sighted prince.
He realized that Drelent was using them for information and he had told Aragorn to stop telling the man anything with the simple warning he had given the ranger. He feared they had just stepped from one trap into another.
Aragorn's answer did not please their guest and Drelent's barely contained look of surprise and anger tipped him off.
"I mean surely you haven't come all this way simply for game? I see no provisions that would carry you this far on such a trip. So I ask you again my friend, why so interested in the ruins of an old building?" Aragorn smiled openly at Drelent, his questions easily deflecting the others.
"Tales." Gyn spoke up from where he sat, answering for Drelent. He stirred from his resting place against a boulder that poked from the broken ground and he shifted the logs in the fireplace with a long thick stick. "The townsfolk tell of tales from that place. Might be we could take our own back and add to the fire of the myth." He chuckled at himself, downing his second mug of ale.
"Yes, tell me of your home." Legolas questioned softly.
All eyes turned on him. Gyn glanced at Drelent, the tables had turned and the interrogators had suddenly become the interrogated. It was time to end the conversation.
Neither man answered the elf and the tension stretched over the camp imperceptibly.
Aragorn turned and glanced behind them into the forest. "I think Romyr and the others might need help collecting that wood. They've been gone an awfully long time." He barely caught the darker shape of a human pressing back against a tree; it was so fast he almost questioned whether he had seen anything or not.
"They'll be fine." Drelent glanced over the ranger's head and motioned towards the woods with his chin, "They'll be back any minute now."
Legolas' fingers closed about his bow that lay near his side. He and Aragorn had retrieved their weapons from Paxcyn's camp earlier that day and he tensed where he sat ready for any sudden movements.
In the darkness, Romyr notched his bow and sighted in on the elf's head. He pulled the arrow back, realigning his mark. Rhyddry and Selvic followed his lead, readying their bows, and sighting in on their targets.
Romyr breathed in deeply and released his breath, his sharp gaze narrowing down to the point of his arrow resting just above Legolas fair head. His fingers began to relax, easing up on the bowstring, when a dark shape fell from the sky above the camp sweeping mere feet over the heads of the men seated there.
Drelent and Gyn ducked as the dark, swooping shape swept over their heads, a shrill, keening cry piercing the air, marking its arrival.
Legolas glanced at Aragorn, a huge smile on his face.
"Mithrandir, with help!" He whispered as he leapt to his feet drawing his bow up with him and running towards the dark figure that had landed just outside the light of the campfire.
"Friends of yours?" Drelent asked a bit darkly. He was irritated with the interruption.
"Yes." Aragorn smiled at the man, "We've been waiting on them." He slowly gained his feet and walked after the elf, who threw himself into the arms of the man that now stood next to the dark shape that had fallen from the sky - Gwaihir.
Drelent looked back into the woods, and quickly motioned his men back in. Their plans had been waylaid, it was time to regroup. Gyn glanced at his boss. But Drelent simply shook his head, "We still have a chance to retrieve the palantir, it'll just be a little more difficult now." He answered the man's unspoken question.
"Perhaps." Gyn watched as the large bird turned a piercing gaze towards the campfire, folding its huge wings along its back, "Or simply more challenging. Might be fun to bag me a great eagle now mighten it?" He fingered the wood of his crossbow idly as he stared back at the four.
Drelent laughed dryly and slapped the man on the back, "Gyn, my friend, I knew there was a reason I kept you around." He glanced into the night and watched as Romyr walked back to camp his face dark and angry, his arms loaded with wood they had *scavenged* from the forests.
"Sit." Drelent commanded the young man and his companions, "And smile Romyr. Don't worry you'll get another chance."
The youth dropped his load carelessly on the ground and slowly glanced at his employer, his irritation uncontained. When Drelent turned towards him to emphasize his instructions the younger hunter simply looked away, working on controlling his anger and seating himself crosslegged before the fire. He had very nearly blown their cover and released his arrow when Gwaihir had literally dropped into the camp.
"That's a great eagle." He whispered darkly at Drelent, "Do you have any idea..."
Gyn cut him off leaning forward, "That one is mine. You leave him to me and do what you have been told."
Romyr shook his dark unruly tresses out of his eyes and smiled back at the ruddy-faced man, "You mind your own self, or you'll wake to find that I have slit your throat old man."
"Romyr!" Drelent glared at the youth, "Leave Gyn alone and Gyn don't you be pushing it. We're all a bit tense. We just have to keep this charade up until we get our hands on that damn palantir, seeing stone, whatever is, that rock inside that pile of debris. You all know what happens if we fail."
Gyn sat back and calmed himself. Romyr breathed in deeply and let his breath out slowly, his eyes flicking up as the elf and human walked back towards the campfire trailing an older man and the great eagle. "They come."
Drelent stood and smiled openly at the foursome, the dark frown that had decorated his face, completely erased from his countenance.
"Welcome!" He held out his hand to the wizard that walked next Legolas, "And what an entrance that was. Gave us quite a scare." He smiled at Aragorn, "Your friends didn't warn us you'd be dropping in." He laughed lightly at his own joke.
"Well met." Gandalf inclined his head slightly and wrapped his large hands around the hunters. "Yes, we were delayed a bit in coming, but Gwaihir's aid made up for time lost and we're here now." He levelled the man with an open stare.
Drelent flinched under the searching gaze, he felt as if the old timer could see right through him and he quickly dropped his eyes, covering his discomfort by gently kicking Gyn over to make room for the other. "Please sit. Join us, there is plenty of mead left and the night is still young."
"I thank you for your most generous offer," Gandalf smiled and cast his gaze at the ring of men, taking them each in quickly, "But I dare say we should set up a bit away from you. Gwaihir's presence tends to make the horses uneasy." The wizard motioned towards the line of beasts picketed close to the remnants of a rock wall within the light of the campfire. The animals pranced and shifted anxiously, pulling at their tethers.
"I see. You are correct." Drelent's smiled slipped slightly as his plans were disrupted once more. "Well if you should need anything throughout the night, let us know."
"Thank you we will." Aragorn placed his arm around Legolas' shoulder and turned the elf away following the wizard and the huge eagle back out onto the broken plains, near the edge of the meadow, where the fissures in the earth were not so deep.
Gwaihir joined the three beings as they searched out bramble from the shrubbery that dotted the landscape and scavenged the edges of the forests for bits and pieces of wood to make a fire with.
Gandalf struck the pile of wood with his staff and flames leapt from the interior of the small mound, sparking and leaping into the sky. They had set up camp in a shallowed-out bowl on the edge of the meadow. Two flat low rocks bracketed the campfire and Gandalf eased himself down onto the top of one of them, laying his staff across his bent knees.
Legolas slowly seated himself on the ground in front of the other and leaned wearily back against the cool stone.
"Here, let me see to that." Aragorn knelt by the elf and gently brushed away the stray strands of blonde hair that had become dried into the blood that still caked across the elf's brow.
"Aragorn don't fuss with it." Legolas tried to push the human away but he did ache and he felt dirty and tired, neither of which was a feeling he appreciated; in the end, he gave up, rolling his eyes to glare at Gandalf as the wizard chuckled at the two of them.
"Let him have his way Legolas." The older man lit his long pipe and pulled a breath deep into his lungs savouring the sweet flavour. The bowl of the pipe lit hot red as the oxygen was drawn through it, lighting his smiling eyes with its faint glow. "You look like the wargs took you out to play with."
"Thank you Mithrandir." The elf muttered and winced as Aragorn checked out his battered knees. The gouges that the rough stones had scraped away there were more painful than his pride wanted to admit.
"Gandalf," Aragorn looked up at the wizard, "would you have water and bandages with you? Ours were taken and I could not find my pack. He has taken only scratches but some are deep and I would not see them become infected."
"And your new friends gave you none?" The old man stood slowly and walked back near the great eagle that had bedded down behind him, its head tucked back against its wing, its dark black eyes watching.
"Behind the rock Gandalf." The eagle answered the wizards searching gaze, his voice a soft deep trill.
"Ah yes, thank you, dear friend." Gandalf retrieved his bag and produced the items Aragorn had requested, handing him a small sack of various herbs, should he desire to use them.
Legolas was watching the camp of the men, thinking over Gandalf's question. "No they did not," he answered quietly some moments later.
Aragorn and Gandalf both stopped and glanced at the elf when he spoke up.
"They did not give us water or bandages. In fact, they only offered us meat and mead." He clarified his answer, his eyes had not left the far camp and he was frowning. "I do not trust them."
"And well you should not." Gandalf looked in the direction the elf was gazing and his face darkened. "They are not as they seem unless I completely miss my mark."
"That's what Legolas said." Aragorn quietly spoke as he walked back to the elf's side and dropped down next to him, spreading out the things he would need to clean his friend up.
Legolas focused on Aragorn, he smiled as his friend poured water into a small bowl and gently began to clean away the blood and the dirt that stained the elf's knees; it reminded the prince of being tended when he was a child, which was probably the last time he had scraped knees like this. It really was nothing to fuss about, but he had learned a long time ago that Aragorn would have his way about this or there would be no peace until he did. The map slipped from its hiding place against the ranger's breast and Legolas reached out, snagging it with his long fingers.
"Give the map to Mithrandir. It will be safer that way." He held the paper out to his friend.
"Good idea!" Aragorn took the folded packet and walked back around the fire.
"Map?" Gandalf looked back at the two friends, his bushy white eyebrow arching as he questioned them, "Ah yes, your father told me something of it. It is why we made haste to find you. Now tell me, how is it you came to have it in your possession?"
"Well, we ran into a man in...," Aragorn started to explain.
"No he ran into us." Legolas corrected him with a smile.
"Actually," Aragorn stopped, turning to stare down at his friend, "he ran into *you*! I knew it was mistake to take you into Adirolf."
Gandalf interrupted them both with a choked laugh, "You took the prince into Adirolf?"
Aragorn nodded innocently.
"Have you not a wit about you! You are bolder I thought," the wizard shook his head.
"Or more naïve." Gwaihir added chuckling as he watched the young ranger, his eyes lighted by the fire's glow looked red in the dim light.
"We needed supplies." Aragorn tried to defend himself.
"He wanted a blanket." Legolas laughed.
"I am not going through this again!" Aragorn looked between the elf and the wizard. Gandalf was barely containing his laughter and Legolas had lost his constraint long ago. The smile on the elf's face banished the frown that decorated the human's and he simply shook his head and looked around the camp.
"Yes, well I am going to be needing another one too it seems."
At that confession even Gwaihir started laughing, "Come young human, you can sleep under my wing tonight, it will stave off the chill." The great eagle turned towards them and lifted his wing slightly.
"Oh go ahead and have your fun." Aragorn teased them, turning back to his friend he jabbed his finger at the seated elf, "I am never taking you there again! This whole thing is all your fault."
"My fault!"
"Oh give us the map and stop your nonsense." Gandalf laughed extending his hand towards the ranger.
Laughing as well, the human placed the paper in the wizard's upturned palm and stepped behind him, glancing over his shoulder as Gandalf smoothed the paper open on his lap.
"Can you read it Mithrandir?" Legolas sat up a bit taller trying to see over the bright fire.
Gandalf did not answer right away, his brow furrowed as scanned the weathered document, "Where did you say you got this?" His voice was low and held a bit of awe as his fingers brushed the silvery words that lit up brilliantly in the moon's soft glow. Quietly he spoke a few of the sentences out loud, the language as beautiful and poetic as it was artistic.
Gwaihir loosed a soft trill and moved forward gazing at the sheet over the wizard's shoulder. He spoke softly in words that neither Aragorn nor Legolas recognized. The two younger beings glanced at each other in confusion.
"Where?" Gwaihir glanced at Legolas and questioned once more.
The elf quickly recounted their trip into the town of Adirolf and the subsequent deaths of the original map bearers. He told them how they had discovered the map a few days later and had fled to Moria after barely escaping Paxcyn and his men. Aragorn noted with a secretive smile that elf did not speak of the way they had left the dwarf's dwelling.
"We were followed by flocks of crebain Mithrandir. They seemed to find us every step of the way after we left Moria's walls." Legolas glanced at Aragorn before turning back to watch as Drelent and his men settled in for the night.
Gandalf nodded, listening intently, "Crebain you say? That is ill news." He too glanced back towards the others, his eyes finally resting on the collapsing hulk of the ruins.
"Can you read the words?" Aragorn asked the question again.
"Yes." Gandalf murmured his eyes dropping back down to the map once more, "Yes I can."
The human leaned over and pointed to one word, "That one I know." He smiled as Gandalf looked at him incredulously, "It's Maiar. What it means I know not. But my father told me that was what it was."
"Your father?" Gandalf looked at the man perplexed, thinking for a moment before his face brightened, "Ah yes! Your father does have some of the ancient manuscripts, doesn't he? I had forgotten that." He replied cryptically as he gazed back at the building behind them. "Rescued a few, if am not mistaken."
Aragorn shrugged slightly, when the wizard said no more and began to read the shimmering text. The human moved back around the fire and reseated himself next to Legolas gently bandaging the elf's head wound and wrapping his knees in soft cloth for the night.
The soft sounds of the night drifted into the camp. The fire popping and spitting from time to time as it hit pockets of sap, broke the stillness.
Finally, Aragorn spoke again. He moved a bit away from Legolas stretching out on the ground between the elf and the wizard. "Gandalf," the ranger glanced over at the older man seated on the rock, "What is this place?"
"This place?" The wizard indicated the darkened building behind them, "Well, what have you heard?"
"Paxcyn said it was a place of knowledge and wisdom." Legolas answered softly.
Gwaihir edged forward and settled down, the rustling of his downy feathers quieting as they listened to the old tale. He tucked his head back along his wing, his bright eyes ever watchful in the dark. "Well Paxcyn was correct, this used to be a great repository of wisdom and knowledge. People like myself and the firstborns," Gandalf smiled at Legolas, "used to frequent it eons ago, in was what you would call the second age I believe. All those who sought wisdom and wanting to study what was long lost came to these halls and those who lived within them to learn. Much of the structure itself was built by the Drúedain and contains a kind of deadly skill that has been lost from the world since their disappearance."
The stars twinkled brightly in the heavens and Aragorn relaxed on the ground turning over onto his back, his pack bunched up under his head for a makeshift pillow. He traced the patterns of the bright pinpoints of light with his eyes as he listened to Gandalf's deep melodious voice. It felt safe somehow to be so near the wizard and he found himself finally calming down.
"Anyway," the wizard continued, smiling slightly to himself as he watched his companions begin to relax. "There was an earthquake at the end of the second age unlike anything that has happened before or since." Aragorn tipped his head around and met the older man's eyes at the mention of the natural disaster, his own experiences with one tumbling through his mind.
"The ground was ripped here and all was torn asunder." He waved his hand around the open plains, "This all used to be forests but when the earth shook, the ground split. That's why there are all those fissures out in the plains in front of this place. They never healed. The plants died off and the building was broken by the quake. The fumes, from the vents that pierced the earth, drove the people away."
"This building was deemed unable to save and so they only shored it up long enough to removed most of the artifacts and the libraries to safer locations." He glanced at the ruined hulk remembering it from its day of glory and smiled sadly.
"Obviously not everything though." Aragorn spoke up quietly. The tale of the ancient ruins captivated him.
"No, not all." Gandalf turned his attention to the young human who was watching him. "Some things were left. Some because they were too dangerous to move and some because the time was not right for them to be revealed yet and so they have waited for that day. Like a few other things we know of." He smiled and winked at the ranger, knowing that the young man had heard that same sentiment used to describe his own heritage.
"Of course that time has never quite come, though it is now near," the old wizard continued cryptically, "And in time the caretakers died and they never passed on the information of the items still contained in its depths as they were warned not to." Gandalf reverently fingered the yellowed paper in his lap, pulling a deep breath of sweet smoke into his lungs as he chewed on the end of his pipe, lost in thought. "As often happens, things that should have been remembered were forgotten, even to the wise. This map is the last link to prove the existence of this place which even the wise had almost forgotten."
Legolas gasped slightly as the information triggered his thoughts and Aragorn glanced up at the fair being as the elf looked back at the hall in awe, "This is Eowioriand?! But I was told it was only myth. The knowledge of this place and its people have fallen from existence."
"What did you call it?" Aragorn turned to his friend.
"It is known as Urithral, in the common tongue, Hidden City. Or Lost Knowledge in the words of my people." Legolas turned to his friend, "I have heard stories of Eowioriand, many were the wonders housed here." Huge blue eyes locked onto the ranger's in amazement, "And so then the stories of old *are* true. The treasures themselves are guarded by an ancient power. That is what I felt today when we were in the passageway, that was what upset the orcs."
Gandalf gazed hard at the elf. "You say you felt it?" His brow was furrowed at the mention of this new information.
"Yes, like an evil shadow in my mind. A dark dread that I could not shake." Legolas glanced back at the building that had only moments ago been bathed in the glory of the elder days but now a shadow crept over it and the elf shuddered. Turning back to Gandalf he all but whispered, "Do you know what lies there?"
Gwaihir shifted slightly his huge black eye turning to gaze on Gandalf. The wizard caught the simple gesture and answered simply, "Such things are best not discussed under the cover of night."
"Thank you." Aragorn muttered sarcastically around a yawn, "I really don't want to know. I would like to be able to sleep tonight."
Gandalf laughed lightly, pulling deeply on his pipe and blowing out a perfect smoke ring, "And well you shall young human. Tomorrow we will go back and retrieve the palantir and leave this place to its guardian."
"Well whatever it is, it lives in the left-hand passage and the floor in the right-hand passage is not at all what you think it is!" Aragorn grabbed the edge of his overcoat which he used for a blanket and rolled over onto his side facing the fire, glancing at Legolas with a lopsided smile, "We already tried to get in that way. The handle just makes the floor drop out underneath you."
Legolas looked over at Gandalf and nodded emphatically.
"Ah, is that so?" The old wizard smiled at the two younger beings. "Well tomorrow we'll give it another try and see if I just can't do something about that."
Aragorn laughed lightly, "As you wish Gandalf, as you wish." His eyes were heavy and it was becoming hard to keep them open.
A warm hand touched his shoulder and he closed his eyes, "Sleep now. Tomorrow you'll see." With a slight smile the ranger fell quickly asleep.
Gandalf glanced from the young human to his elven companion. The prince was watching the exterior of the building uneasily.
"Legolas, take your ease." He whispered quietly, his soft voice easily carrying across the fire to the anxious elf. "Gwaihir will stand watch. Besides, what lives there would not dare to step outside its dwelling place, we are safe here." He smiled as the elf turned back towards him, the stars reflected in the huge blue eyes. "It will be alright."
Legolas nodded slowly and settled to the ground with his back to the large rock he had only moments ago been sitting on. Hugging his bow tightly to his chest the elf allowed himself to rest and within moments Gandalf could tell that his half-lidded gaze was merely deep slumber.
The wizard turned serious eyes on the eagle, "Be vigilant my friend."
"I would not dare to turn our backs on the enemy this night." Gwaihir spoke quietly, "There is more amiss here than meets the eye." The eagle looked towards the camp of the men a few yards away, "They are not who they present themselves to be."
Gandalf followed his gaze. "They smell wrong." The great eagle answered the unspoken question. The old wizard simply nodded and looked back to the darkened shell of the building before him. It would be wise to retrieve what they came for and leave quickly; Eowioriand was a place best left forgotten if Middle Earth would only let it remain so.
