A/N sorry about the late update...:( But hey, it's here! A big hug and thank you to everyone who read this story, because you guys are just amazing!
Disclaimer: not mine
Chapter Ten
By time the evening came, everything had gone astray, Elrond was having no luck with the antidote and Legolas grew ever weaker. The ill elf still had no idea who any of them where, and refused their aid whenever he was awake.
Aragorn currently stood in a dark corner, watching Elladan and Elrohir try and tend to his friend. Legolas was absolutely terrified of the human, if the man came even into his sight the prince began to panic. Therefore, for health's sake, the human stayed back.
"The prince sleeps…" Elladan called over, gesturing for the human to come to his side. Estel hesitated, taking a small step forward. "He won't know." Elladan assured, patting the side of the bed. When Aragorn still hesitated, he crossed over with an exasperated sigh and took the man's hand, dragging him forward.
This was the first time Aragorn had been close to his friend within the last few hours and the change was drastically different. Sitting down on the bed side, he gently picked up Legolas cold hand. He searched his friend's face, noting all the lines of pain and weariness; of fear and terror.
"Do you think he will ever remember?" The ranger asked, one hand coming up and brushing the back of it against his friend's cheek.
"He will, Estel, he will." Elrohir assured, unable to believe otherwise. Aragorn only sighed. His mind was coming dangerously closer to breaking the promise he had already made, that was if he could ever shake the twins. At least one of them followed him everywhere, leaving him no peace.
Legolas slept fitfully for almost an hour…things were not looking up for the young prince. His movements were growing ever weaker, terrifying them all. Aragorn sat there, never leaving his friend's side while he was able to be there, whispering endless words comfort; trying to make up for the times when he would be unable to be there for Legolas….he knew that the last Legolas would probable remember of him was their converstin that night.
When Legolas awoke, it was the soft whispers of that…that human! Jerking his body away as fast as he could, the young elf clamped his hands over his ears, trying to block out the lies.
"No…no..I will…will not…believe." He moaned, tossing his head weakly from side to side. "Don't…touch…please…"he continued, fighting against a new pair of hands. To the archer's horror he found that he could hardly move his exceedingly weak body.
"What…give…me?" he asked, thinking they had drugged him yet again.
"Hush, we given you nothing you've never had before." One of the dark haired elves bending over him told. "You need to take this though."
Legolas froze as a bottle was pressed against his lips. Poison! They are trying to poison him! Legolas thought fearfully, turning his face away. He would not let them do so.
"Legolas! Stop it!" one of the voices said, a hand coming up and pulling his face towards the bottle and poison. The prince clenched his teeth together, closing his eyes and fighting even harder to get away from them. People were shouting and yelling at him, hands trying to force him to take it.
"ESTEL, get over here….I don't care! We need your help to hold him down." A voice screamed down. Suddenly Legolas's lips were pried open against his will and a mouthful of the vile stuff of poured down his throat. Wrenching his head to the side, Legolas allowed the substance to spill from his lips and down his chin.
"Oh no you don't!" the evil human growled and another burning mouthful was poured into his mouth this time, however, it was accompanied by the man's hand clamping down over his mouth and nose. Legolas chocked, thrashing against his captors.
Finally his need for air won out and Legolas gagged the stuff down. Gasping and coughing for air, Legolas was immensely glad when they deicide to leave him be. Throwing his arm over his face, the elf knew that he was done for; he never heard the shaky and tearful apologies from the human next to him.
As the time trickled by, Legolas was once again lost concession. His face was pale and translucent, with deep lines of pain etched across his face, testifying to the amount of agony the young elf was in even while sleeping.
When night was nearly upon them, Elrond strode into the room, looking tired and weary. The amount of work the lord had poured into the antidote had showed very little results, disappointing them all. Moving over to Legolas's side, the healer took some careful calculations, muttering distractedly to his son as he did so.
"Stock up the fire and get out another blanket, his skin is like ice."
"Nothing we do keeps him warm." Elladan confessed.
"All you can do is try." Elrond comforted, knowing full well that the only thing that would really warm the prince up was the antidote. Gathering the information he needed, the lord left his sons to do the best they could.
"We've run out of blankets…" Aragorn said sorrowfully, snapping the closet door shut and glaring at it. "I'm going to have to go find some more."
"I'll come with you!" Elrohir volunteered, much to the ranger's annoyance. He glared sourly at the twin as he was dragged to the door by the elf. "We'll be right back!" the youngest twin called over his shoulder, not letting go of his human kin.
It really was just a horrible coincident, having both Aragorn and Elrohir gone from the room. It was bad luck that Legolas began to suffer another attack, even though unconsciousness. But what was most unfortunate about their current situation was that at the precise moment, a tall cloaked figure slipped through the door. Seeing how the dark haired elf struggled with his target, never noticing him, the man grinned evilly, drawing his knife and creeping closer. It was time to finish this.
Elladan swore softly under his breath, struggling with the thrashing elf as he tried to pull open the bottle.
"This will help!" the oldest twin growled, getting slightly frustrated with himself for being unable to lend his friend the aid he needed.
Elladan bent closer to Legolas face, whispering words of comfort as the attempted to calm his friend down enough to take the medicine. He was just getting ready to shout for his brothers to come help him when he froze, eyes widening. His grey eyes stared down with surprise as cold metal was pressed against his throat.
"Move back slowly, or you both die." A man hissed, holding his doubled-edged dagger so that with a swift cut, he could slit both elves throats Elladan did as he was told, his hand tightening on Legolas's shoulder as the elf spasmed painfully.
"Good," the man snarled, glancing quickly back at the closed door, knowing the others could appear any moment. Legolas, meanwhile, jerked upward, unintentally causing the knife to break through the skin.
"Stop it!" Elladan cried, lunging forward to press the elf down.
"Move back and put your hands behind your head!" the man hissed, not caring that Legolas was close to cutting his own throat.
Elladan did as he was ordered; there was nothing else he could do. The man swiftly bound the twin up, tying him to the bed and stuffing a gag into his mouth, whispering some hurried instructions. Turning to Legolas he tossed the dying elf over his shoulder before making his way towards the window and his escape. The man who his master wanted obviously needed some encouragement to come.
BYYOURSIDE
Aragorn walked swiftly down the hallway, balancing several thick blankets in his hands. Shifting them to one hand, he lowered them carefully to the ground just outside the door…Elrohir would find them. He had managed to dump the youngest twin back a little ways and was intent on leaving now that he was finally free of his brother's watchful eyes.
However, for whatever reason, he paused listening. Something was wrong inside of Legolas's room; there were sounds of someone struggling. He froze, unsure of what to do. This might be his only chance to leave, but what if Legolas needed his help now, what if… Deciding to just take a peak in, he carefully pulled the door open, glancing into the room.
"Elladan! Where's Legolas!" he shouted, willing his shocked legs to run forward as he burst into the room.. The oldest twin was thrashing violently against ropes that were wrapped around him, holding in him place, while shaking his head wildly as he tried to communicate while gagged. The bed was empty, the pure white sheets speckled with a few drops of crimson blood.
With shaking fingers Aragorn swiftly, yet carefully, cut the gag off and pulled the material away, dropping it on the ground.
"Estel, he has Legolas! He took him and there was nothing I could do! He took him to the that glade, the one not to far from here! Elladan began his voice hoarse from trying to yell through the gag. The was a small, well hidden glen not to far away.
"Who― who has Legolas?" Aragorn asked, his voice trembling with fear as his eyes widened with terror.
"The man who poisoned him! Estel― Estel WAIT! " Elladan cried suddenly, unable to free himself from his remaining bonds. Aragorn had only heard the first part, his blood was boiling with anger and he took off. He knew someone would come along and free Elladan.
Branches whipped at Aragorn's face, scratching him and trying to hold him back as he ran. The man didn't even notice, just kept on forward, his legs working tirelessly as he ran. Something loomed at of the darkness and Aragorn went sprawling. He hit the ground hard and tasted blood, but was on his feet within seconds, running even fast if that was possible.
The night was dark, and his breath frosted in the air but the human did not care about the cold that was beginning to make his face and limbs sting. All he cared about was finding Legolas, finding the elf who had become like a brother to him. The prince had never let Aragorn down, never. He had always been there for him no matter what.
But now, when it matter most, Aragorn was unable to help his dearest friend.
By the time that the ranger burst into the clearing, his legs were trembling and he panted heavily, one hand clutching at his knife. Looking around wearily he strained his eyes in the darkness, looking for some sign of the elf. There was no sign of Legolas. Aragorn growled with sudden furry, kicking a rock in his path. Falling to his knees, the human blinked back tears, desperately trying to think of somewhere else the man could have taken his friend.
Them, abruptly, the clearing was filling with harsh, white, light. Crying out, Aragorn fell back to his heels, flinging a hand over his eyes. Momentarily blinded, the man gripped his knife even tighter, blinking furiously to bring back his vision. The black spots began to fade from his vision and he jumped to his feet.
"Legolas…" he moaned helplessly, starting forward. The elf lay in a pool of light, sprawled awkwardly across the ground. His face was turned towards the man, allowing him to look into his friend's pale and drawn face….his eyes were firmly closed.
Glittering snow covered his body, as if he had been dragged through it, which was probably wasn't too far from the truth. Dried blood was spread across the prince's throat, making the ranger cringe and move forward at an even faster pace.
"I'd stay exactly where you are at if I were you." A man hissed, steeping into the light cast by the lantern in his hand, in his other was a dagger. The ranger froze, his labored breathing causing a fog of white around him as it froze. "Now drop all your weapons, or else the elf dies right here, right now."
Aragorn did as directed, freeing the knife from his boot and belt and dropping them into the snow. He held his hands up, showing the man that he was unarmed.
"There, see I am unarmed. Now give me the antidote and let me see to Legolas!" he asked angrily, his brow furrowing and hands clenching.
"Oh, I don't think so." The man drawled, kicking the wood-elf sharply in the side just because he could. The prince moaned ever so softly, his face blanching at the abuse to his tender middle.
"Stop it!" Aragorn cried, springing forward ready to end the torment. The dagger came down, landing on Legolas chest. The man was enjoying his trimpuent a little too much.
"Walk forward, very slowly." The assassin snarled. The ranger instantly started forward, slowly a fraction when the man pressed the knife a little harder against the motionless being's chest. Finally he reached Legolas side, just in reach of the man. Aragorn suppressed his strong desire to bend low and snatch his friend away. That would do none of them any good.
"Now," the man continued, placing a foot on Legolas's chest right where the knife had been moments before. Pressing down he lent his full weight on the leg, holding a length or rope. "Reach out and put your wrist together."
Aragorn closed his eyes, breathing deeply as he fought against the urge to run forward and strangle the man. Reopening them he glared daggers at the man, holding out his wrist as requested.
"What about the antidote." The ranger snarled, his voice grinding.
"Oh, it's right here." the man said causally, plucking a vile out of a inner pocket, after binding Aragorn's hands. Lying between them, Legolas gave a low groan, struggling for breath beneath the man's foot. The elf chocked, his already fought for breath being hindered by the weight on his chest.
"Let. him. up." Aragorn growled, almost ready to charge the man, hands bound or not. "I swear to the Valar that I will go with you, just let him go."
"I don't know, isn't two better than one?" the man began, meaning to tease the future king. He had every attention of either killing the elf or leaving him here. He didn't want to be burdened by the weak creature. Only this time he went too far. Aragorn had been put through too much. This was one of the few promises he had broken and he didn't want to it to be in vain. Letting out a strangled yell of frustration, Aragorn charged, hands tied before him. The knife once gain went down. Skidding to an abrupt stop, breathing hard, the ranger froze. The man once again raised the knife…and Aragorn attacked.
TBC...
Go, Aragorn go! He's our man if he can't do it nobody can!
The Phantom Dragon: I don't think he liked the souvenir…lol! He couldn't lose the twins, but now he has!
DragonElf: Some of both, but more of making them up. Legolas would do well to listen to you!
Elves are awesome: Thank you, mellon-nin!
world-classgeek: nope, not quite! Dang, that sucks, I love snow but not in April! I think you hit the nail dead on for Estel! Lol!
sarathestarkidranger: Rhavan had better watch out! Hannon le, mellon-nin! Ha, I will do that!
Crystal di Angelo: Could be? Yea, I guess in a manner it is! He keeps throwing temper tantrums. :)
Dark Elven Sorceress: Thank you very much! I should have updated sooner, I know!
ShadowHawq35: lol! Well, the angst will just have to continue on for a little while won't it?! *shares a smile* Thanks very much!
AmazingWriter123: We will all be evil together! Unfortunately, my week got very busy after that…not a good excuse! Hannon Le!
LILEVILONE96: Yup, *smiles proudly* We will all stick together, because angst is awesome and we are awesome as well! I know what you mean; the emotions in them are incredible!
robinsmum: Cookies help quite a bit! *offers you a hug* It's ok, Aragorn will save him...hopefully...and then he will get the antidote...mabye. Thanks so much!