I know you all 'love' that cliffie! Ha! Ha!
WARNING : This chapter is NOT for the fainted hearts! I repeat, NOT FOR THE FAINTED HEARTS!! If you hate torture fic, DON'T READ!!!
Aragorn could not believe it. More orcs?! He pulled viciously at his sword, which he had stabbed through an orc's abdomen. Where did they come from?
The orcs were coming at him from every direction now. It was impossible for him to deflect all their blows but Aragorn would not give up. He swung and hit, jumped and kicked. His movements became more frantic as the orcs increased in strength.
Aragorn went stumbling face down to the ground when they knocked him from behind, losing his sword somewhere in the whole confusion. He quickly twisted onto his back and prepared to pummel the orc's face with bare hands. But even before his fists made contact, an arrow came from out of nowhere and stuck itself into the ugly face leering above him. More arrows kept coming, now hitting the other orcs surrounding him.
Without even looking, Aragorn knew that his friend had come to the rescue. Kicking the orc in the groin to get it off him, the man jumped to his feet and grabbed an abandoned sword and started swinging again. He found himself back to back with the elf prince not long after. "Fancy meeting you here," he wheezed. "Didn't I tell you to stay away?!!"
"What? And let you have all the fun?!!!" Legolas responded, brandishing his twin blades in a blur of movements now that his arrows were already spent. The two friends fought side by side desperately, guarding each other's back all the while. The orcs were getting angrier when they couldn't get through the two warriors' strong defense. Still, the orcs had the advantage in numbers.
Then the inevitable happened. One moment he was stabbing his sword through an orc's heart, the next Aragorn tumbled back onto the ground as intense pain sliced through his thigh. He looked down to see the wide slash made by the enemy's sword, bleeding openly.
"Estel!" Legolas stood tall over his fallen friend, keeping the orcs at bay. But the creatures were too many and the agile and nimble elf did not have the power to defeat them all. Through his bleary eyes, Aragorn watched in horror as the orcs started to jumped the elf prince simultaneously.
Then his vision went dark…
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It was not a good way to wake up, but wake up he did. Aragorn found himself in the cabin; chained to a beam above his head, his arms stretched to their limits bearing his weight. And the orcs were flogging him, laughing wildly in their crazy mirth.
When they saw his eyes fluttered open, the orcs stopped the whipping. One of them came closer and roughly grabbed his chin. "Awake, eh? Who are you?"
Aragorn gritted his teeth against the unbearable pain. "What does it matter to you?"
They burst up laughing and hollering. The orc that had asked the question went ballistic, though. He slammed his fist into Aragorn's belly, making the human bend forward as the breath whooshed out of him. He hung there, gasping and groaning.
"Who are you?!! Answer me!!!!"
"I'm called Strider…" Aragorn finally muttered, using one of his many pseudonyms.
"Strider? What kind of a man are you? You killed many of our friends!"
Aragorn grinned stupidly. "I'm your worst nightmare."
The orc lost it. He growled and punched Aragorn on his jaw, again and again. Aragorn didn't care. He welcomed the pain. This was what I'd been asking for, wasn't it? Then his ears perked up when he caught them talking about 'the elf'.
"The elf. Where is he? What have you done to him?" Aragorn whipped his head about, searching for his friend, but he saw no sign of Legolas. "Where's the elf?!!!"
The orc grabbed his chin again. "Shut up, human! He fares no better than you! Think about your own fate while they have fun with him!!"
At that same time, a shrill scream came from behind a closed door of a room at the back of the cabin. Aragorn felt the blood drain off his face. "Legolas!!"
The orc slapped the human repeatedly. "I told you to shut up!"
But the scream came again, louder and longer. Aragorn went crazy with fear for his friend's safety. "Legolas!!!!" He kept calling while the angry orc kept hitting him. Then everything faded to black once more…
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Aragorn lost track of time. When he came to, he found himself still dangling by the chain in the middle of the cabin. It was dark and he was all alone, but he could hear the orcs moving about outside. There was no sound coming from the back room, though.
"Legolas?" he called out. No answer. From the way Legolas screamed a while ago, the orcs might be torturing him terribly. Aragorn was quite surprised that the orcs didn't kill them both, then and there. He believed they were keeping him and Legolas alive for their own pleasure; toying and playing blood games with their prisoners.
Immediately Aragorn was filled with deep remorse. His friend would not be harmed like this if not because of him. Valar! What have I done?
He tried to stay awake but the pain was too much. His whole body throbbed and the welts were stinging. His head was pounding terribly. To his absolute dismay, Aragorn slipped back into unconsciousness…
*****************
Legolas was still wide awake. He could hear Aragorn calling for him but he could not answer. When he had started screaming at the orcs, cursing and swearing at them in his elven tongue, they put a gag in his mouth to shut him up.
He was lying on the cold floor, shaking horribly. His arms were bound behind his back, the coarse rope biting into his already bloodied flesh and cutting the blood circulation. He was numb all over. Still, he could feel the intense agony all over his body that he whimpered from it. The orcs had brutally beaten him before they whipped the skin off his naked flesh.
Then his worst nightmare returned. Legolas would never forget the way they hollered and jeered at him as the vile creatures mobbed him. He managed not to cry out, stoically waited for the invasion to stop. But he failed to swallow his scream when they used a wooden stick on him. They stabbed him repeatedly, delighted to hear his keening wails at last. But when the prince turned into a cursing and hissing wildcat in their grasp, they gagged him and beat him up…oddly, leaving the beautiful face untouched. When they left him, Legolas had glared at their retreating backs; his silver eyes gleamed with fury, promising retribution.
But now, he felt himself slowly fading…like the blood that came flowing out and pooled under him…
TBC…
OK. Send your death threats now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!