Another one! This time Legolas needs to be rescued. Wonder if Estel will be as successful...
Chapter 3 - Rescue the Elf
"Stop, I said! Don't you want to save your master, too?!"
And just like that, Bethron halted her hurrying gallop and came to a stand in the middle of the path. It was dark around them except for some fireflies and the sudden silence made Estel swallow. The horse shook its head and waited, trying to look at him on her back.
What was he thinking? The thought of these men alone made him shiver. Wasn't it better to just return back home and let his brothers take care of this? They could free the elf and judge for the men's punishment for what they did.
But…this was his mess. He got himself into this by being stupid and naïve and trusting strangers. Crawling back to his brothers and father to beg for their help seemed so childish to do. Especially after the stranger he could actually trust sacrificed himself to get him out of the whole situation. That wasn't fair. He should never have been put in that position for coming to help him in the first place.
He had screamed to the Valar for help and they had provided. And now he was supposed to let another stay in this situation because he was scared to solve it himself?
"We have to help him. Who knows what they're doing with him. And then we can go to Imladris together. What do you say?"
The horse neighed, then slowly turned around and walked back into the direction they came from. This time slower, quieter. Yes, that was good. He had to be honest with himself that direct confrontation was a bad idea here.
He would sneak in, get the elf out, and turn right back around.
When they got back to the clearing, Estel's stomach was telling him this was a bad idea. He could be home in his bed right now, being fussed over by his brothers and father.
But no! He could still have that, as soon as everyone was back to safety, not just him!
So, taking a deep breath, he dismounted the elven horse as quietly as he could, and snuck up between the bushes, careful this time not to step on anything. The adrenaline and the thrill were making him more cautious and he succeeded to not alert the men in the clearing this time.
Hiding behind a bush, he scooped out the situation.
The fire was still going, it was lower now though. The men were waving around their beers and laughing, two of them held up ivory blades that were certainly not there before and Estel concluded that they had rid the elf of his weapons and were now admiring them. One bandit had the elf's bow, too, grinning and holding it near the fire threateningly.
The elf was tied to a tree, just like Estel had been, but with tons more rope, as if the men were suspicious of his superior strength and the trick he pulled with freeing Estel from his bonds.
The elf obviously tried not to react to the jabs directed his way but one could see him struggling with his bonds. Estel knew that many elves valued their weapons dearly, they were often ancient, passed down or just very well suited for them.
"He really didn't have anything on him except the weapons?" the leader asked by the fire.
"Nope, Boss. Just those." The one with the bow in hand answered.
"Probably kept the rest on his horse." Another suggested. The leader shook his head.
"No, the horse wasn't packed either. He must have come from close by. Probably a Rivendell elf, too." He let his subordinate hand him one of the ivory blades and studied it intently. Then his head shot up and he yelled:
"Hey, elf boy, where you from?"
The elf just narrowed his eyes and adjusted his seating, as if uncomfortable. Estel briefly wondered if he had been hurt by them before being bound, but he saw no blood. One of the men closest to him suddenly hit him in the face with the back of his hand, prompting a gasp from Estel he suppressed by hitting his hands over his own mouth.
The elf however had heard this and despite his head almost not moving or reacting from the hit except shooting the man a deadly glare, immediately reacted to Estel's gasp, his blue eyes shooting in his direction and spotting him. His eyes widened, but the men didn't notice except thinking it was the reaction to the slap they gave him as the elf quickly looked away again.
"My boss asked you a question, weasel. You better answer him!" the man yelled and raised his hand for another slap. A quick glance in Estel's direction told the boy his behavior would have been different, had he not known the human boy to be there.
"Mirkwood." He snarled, as if answering clearly displeased him, as did calling it thus.
Oh. Oooh! He was one of the elves traveling from Greenwood the Great to visit Elrond that his brothers had told him about! Estel remembered hoping that the people around the fire were those elves but no, he was instead rescued from these thugs by one of them.
A wood elf…this was a wood elf! This explained so many things, for example how he got from one tree to another so quickly, how clearly the trees spoke to him, his weird accent (probably silvan) and maybe even how he was able to free Estel without even touching him. Had the tree done it for him? He had heard from his brothers that wood elves were more akin to communicate with trees and plants in general but never that they directly manipulated their behavior like this.
The men's reaction was very different from Estel's. In contrast to his inner excitement, they drew back from him a little, eyes wide and clearly stunned.
"Mirkwood? But that's way off, behind the mountains even. Right, boss?"
"Isn't that the cursed forest nobody ever comes out of again?"
"They have elves there?"
"Silence!" the boss finally interrupted. He got up from his place by the warm fire and stalked over to the elf, crouching in front of him and holding a blade to his neck. Estel felt his pulse rise, heart pumping in his ears. No, please don't, he thought.
"What's your standing there, elf?" he asked, suspiciously eyeing clothing and weapons he wore, pointing to the one he held.
"These are some fine blades. So? What is it?"
Again, the elf stared. He seemed unaffected by the blade to his throat and glared the man down with a frosty snarl. Estel could see how the boss almost recoiled while his men indeed took a step back. The elf may be tied up, but he still terrified them. Especially with those eyes screaming at them, making them feel small and insignificant.
"Just one of the guards." He spat. Had Estel known him longer than this he would have been able to spot the clear lie as soon as it came from his lips.
"Guards? Of what?", the leader followed up with another question, clearly curious now. Maybe he thought the elves were hiding some kind of treasure in that forest.
"Like I'd tell you that, human. It is no concern of yours." Immediately, the leader raised the blade in his hand and cut right across the elves cheek, leaving a bleeding wound. Estel flinched and closed his eyes, afraid of what was to come. He couldn't move, couldn't do anything from here. He had barely had any weapon training and confrontation would only get both of them killed. When were these men planning on sleeping? Did he have to watch the elf get tortured for information all night?
But the elf barely reacted, only glaring again. Then, he huffed, and then he laughed as if honestly amused.
"HA! You're amusing. I've been tortured by orcs who just wanted to make me squirm for fun. You really think I will betray my king by telling you anything?" his gaze was drilling into their minds and Estel could see that they wondered if he knew what they thought.
"HA yourself" grinned the Leader. The elf had told him what he wanted and he felt smart figuring it out, too. Estel could see that the elf had intended for this to happen.
"So you have a king. Fine, I'll assume you work for him then. What's his name? So I know where to address my letter to." He pointed at the paper one of his men was holding, already some writing on it with the top part missing. The elf sighed, seemingly defeated and closed his eyes as if to gather his bearings again before he answered. He even gave the blade with his blood on it a concerned glance.
"His name is Thranduil Oropherion, king of the Woodland Realm." The leader grinned and waved to his man to write it down. Then he pointed the blade again.
"And yours? So he believes us." Again, seemingly defeated, the elf took a deep breath.
"Tithen las."
At this, Estel frowned. Little leaf? That seemed like an odd choice of words as a name. But the leader just nodded, grinning, and finally got up.
"See, that wasn't so hard. Now we can sleep for a few hours and tomorrow your dear old king gets the ransom notice. We'll have to move tho, bet that brat has alerted the other elves by now. So don't sleep too long, you keep watch!" he pointed to the scribe and the guy just nodded and sat himself with his back to a tree, watching, while the others began to lie down near the fire.
Damn, a guard! He should have thought of this. His heartbeat increased even further as he saw the guard clearly not falling asleep as well.
A few minutes passed and again, there was silence except for a few of the bandits snoring and the fire slowly lowering in intensity. When all of them were asleep, the elf finally gazed over to Estel, looking him directly in the eyes, lifting an eyebrow.
"Go!" he mouthed.
Estel shook his head.
The elf glared. Then he closed his eyes and leaned back his head against the tree, whispering something Estel couldn't hear.
Slowly and quietly, the boy moved around the bush he was sitting in and snuck up behind the elf. When he was close enough, he heard him whisper.
"Why are you not in Imladris? Do I have to scold my horse for disobeying me? Were my instructions not clear?" he asked, shaking his head. Estel pouted.
"I asked it to stop and turn around so no, it's not her fault. You helped me, now I help you!" he demanded and saw the elf close his eyes in concentration. He sighed, then glanced over to the guard.
"Okay, fine. Let's get out of here. Do you have a knife? Something to cut the ropes?" he asked and Estel felt himself blush, hoping in the darkness it wasn't as noticeable.
Of course he hadn't.
"Can't you do the trick you did last time?" he asked. The elf shook his head.
"That was one rope and I pre-cut it so the tree could help me at the right time." The elf explained. Estel nodded, looking down at his feet in shame. He should have figured it wasn't some obscure magic trick, he was out of the age where he believed in those, right?
"Alright, I have one hidden in my boot. Let me distract the guard and you get it as quick as possible, okay?" he suggested. Estel nodded, thrilled that he was actually able to help without much risk.
How was he going to distract the guard though? He was looking directly in the direction of the captured elf, Estel hidden behind the thick tree he was bound to.
A rustle a few bushes down drew his attention. The guard frowned, got up and went to investigate. Another rustle further away made him disappear into the forest.
"Now!" the elf whispered and Estel sprang forward as quietly and quickly as he could, kneeling at the other's boots. He opened the leather straps holding it in place and indeed, there was a little throwing knife inside. Without another word he went to the ropes and cut open the ones wrapped around the elves chest.
"Try not to hurt the tree. She's been worried for a while." The elf warned quietly and Estel nodded, carefully only cutting the rope. It took longer than he wanted it to, the very small knife only working through the rope at a slow pace.
Two more to go…, he thought.
"Hey!" a voice sounded from the edge of the clearing. The elf stiffened. He had heard the guard approach but didn't want to make Estel worry by warning him.
"Just keep going. It's alright." He assured the boy. But Estel felt his hands shaking even more now and this only increased when the other bandits woke too, diving for their weapons.
"The brat came back! He probably brought more elves, you search the forest, you get them!" the leader yelled.
No, no! He wasn't done yet!
With a jolt, the elf suddenly yanked on the rope that was already half cut and it did snap. Then he twisted his wrist in his direction and Estel obediently gave him the knife, which he took to cut the last bit of rope around his wrist - not without cutting himself in his haste. He did not wince at the pain though, clearly having other priorities - like getting out of that clearing.
"Run!" he yelled and Estel's legs acted on autopilot, scrambling away from the attacking men and in the direction where he had left the horse.
Well that didn't go AS smoothly, did it. Please tell me what you think! :*
