Legolas reclined in his armchair, wincing as a spark of pain ran down his leg. His eyes scrunched shut as he tried to focus on the sound of the fire crackling in front of him. Slowly the warmth seeped into his skin. His mind shifted from ignoring the pain to worrying about Nerina. It had been four days since she was taken, They had searched the village ten times over but there was no trace left of the attacker. He was afraid every avenue had been exhausted his mind reeled trying to think of the next course of action.
Aragorn entered the room he could sense the restlessness in Legolas. They had gone through this many times before. That uneasy feeling always lingered with them while they waited for news of Frodo and Sam on their journey.
He sat down in the chair next to Legolas. the ice in his whiskey clinked against his glass he sipped it slowly letting the scent fill his nostrils as his eyes bore into the fire. A weary silence hung over the room, but Aragorn's presence was a small source of comfort. They sat like this for a while as the heat fought through the weariness. Legolas let out a small sigh.
"Have you found anything?"
Aragorn hesitated. "No. not yet but in the morning we start searching the surrounding ten-mile radius starting at the base of the Nimrais,"
"Thank you, Aragorn." Legolas said somberly his lips pursed as he was deep in thought trying to pull any source of memory of the attack.
Eldarion, entered the study without a word. Quietly he storde over to his father and Legolas.
"My, Lords." he said as he bowed slightly.
"My son, what news do you bring?" Aragon asked.
Eldarion produced an arrow of orcish make.
"We found this a three days ride from the village at the base of the Nimrais. A pack of orcs was slaughtered. One of them had their heart ripped out. What creature is strong enough to be hunting a pack of orcs?"
"I do not know. Search the surrounding areas tomorrow Eldarion and see if anything turn up. Was there no sign of Nerina?"
"No, but I will not cease looking for your daughter my lord.
"I appreciate your help Eldarion, thank you," Legolas said as he picked up the arrow looking it over.
"Eldarion see to it that your men or well rested, leave us be."
"Yes, father."
With that the Prince of Gondor exited, thoughts of the elven princess still dancing in his mind. This was not how this was supposed to go. Long had he chased after her for her beauty was unlike any other even that of his own mother. He relished the thought of something happening to her but he revealed the idea of being hailed as a hero. There would be no way she could refuse him.
"Aragorn these orcs have to be coming down from Gundabad, we need to find out why and where they are going. They could have information about Nerina's whereabouts. They need to be stopped. If they're the ones destroying villages then they may have taken her." Legolas said somberly
"I know, but investigating Gundabad is dangerous, let us continue our search and if we do not prevail that will be our next course of action. We need to consider the possibility of this being a work of darkness."
"You don't mean Sauron? he can't come back. Everything of his was destroyed, the ring, he was sent into The Void. There is no possible way he could have returned."
"Yes, but how can we be sure of that? And what of the creature that ripped the heart out of these orcs. No man can do that Legolas. I'm just saying Sauron was here for thousands of years. It's possible that one ring did not wipe out all the evil that was done. I've sent word to Gimli in the Glittering Caves at Helms Deep. He should be here within the next two days. We can meet then and discuss how we plan to handle this." Aragorn stroked his beard and sat back in his chair.
"This is not how it should be Aragorn."
"Agreed." he said reclining back in his chair. In the back of his mind, he had an uneasy feeling of what was to come.