This story is based on the characters of the movie/book Lord of the Rings. They belong to JRR Tolkien and whoever else has substantial claims on them. They aren't mine, but the story is mine. All mine…and Songbird's…for better or for worse anyway. All disclaimers apply. No copyright infringement is intended. Also, we take no responsibility for bouts of insanity, heart attacks, or any other infliction that is supposedly caused by this story…
The fighters spent the remainder of the day telling tales and trying to top one another. At this point, Riadoc was way ahead. Not knowing much about Halflings before, some were not sure they ever wanted to meet another. More and more joined in, and when Breg came to check on his possessions, he was surprised to see them this happy. Just by the mood in the room, he decided they were all healed enough to fight tomorrow.
As food was brought in, he made the announcement they were all dreading. "Eat and sleep well, the fights will start early in the morning." He left and locked the door behind him.
******
When Breg had left, the room was in complete silence. Kaolith, who was still sitting next to Aragorn, resting slightly against his side, looked up at him, and saw him returning the look. "Don't worry, mellon nin, I will be fine. I can hold my own in a fight, you taught me well." The timbre of her voice betrayed her attempt at confidence, and she looked down again.
"Kaolith, I wish you weren't stuck in this with us, but please, be careful tomorrow. I don't want to be the one to tell Selinde if..." he trailed off when he saw the look in her eyes. "What is it?"
"Something's wrong, I don't know, but something just doesn't feel right. It's weird, I can't explain it. My stomach hurts, but not really, and I feel all cold."
Legolas, sitting on the other side of her automatically checked her forehead, and was relieved to find no fever. He looked over his head at the elder Ranger, and a knowing glance was shared between them; they had both felt this before, but were not about to worry the child.
"I am sure everything is fine, little one. Get some rest, we will have a long day tomorrow." Legolas hoped to convince her, at least until they could find out what was wrong.
*********
Elladan and Elrohir had followed the tracks for about an hour when they came upon a dead end. The tracks were suddenly near impossible to find in the dark of night, and even their strong eyes could not distinguish new tracks from old when they had returned to the street. Obviously, someone had realized that dragging a body behind them was a good way to be followed and had remedied the situation.
"'Ro, it's getting late, and we can not find these tracks. I think we need to go and make some plans with Estel and Legolas and try to find Selinde at first light." The look in the elder twin's eyes showed his brother that he knew the pain that they would cause entering the arena as only a pair and not a trio.
It was with dread that they snuck into the arena. They could only hope that Kaolith was asleep and would stay that way, while they were inside.
They once again unlocked and entered through the squeaky door. Once they were inside, they were not surprised to see Legolas, Fildan and Gileon prepared for trouble. They relaxed when they saw who it was. Unfortunately, Kaolith woke at this moment.
She looked at Legolas, and then she glanced at the twins. She knew instantly something was wrong.
"Where's Selinde," she wanted to scream, but managed to remain quiet.
Aragorn had also woken. "Be calm, Kaolith." He put his hand on her shoulder. "Give them a chance to explain."
The twins looked at each other, begging the other to tell Kaolith. The both sighed. They took turns explaining what they had been doing and came to the part of the inn. "When we went in," Elrohir started. "She was gone." Elladan finished for him. "We followed the tracks of someone being dragged, and then we lost the trail."
They all looked at Kaolith, waiting for her reaction. She just sat there and said nothing at all. This scared them even more. Gileon was also quiet.
"Wait," Legolas said. "You mentioned someone following you. Can you describe this person?"
When they had described the man, Aragorn gasped. "Breg!" He exclaimed. "It has to be Breg, Legolas. What would he want with Selinde?" None of them wanted to think.
Kaolith's eyes were wide, and yet, as she looked up at both Aragorn and Legolas, they could see a glint of very dangerous anger in her eyes as well as worry. "Breg? The one that keeps coming in here?" she unconsciously rubbed her split lip. "If he's done anything to her, I'll kill him." The bluntness in her statement was a cause for concern to all who were intent on this conversation.
"That could get you, her, and the rest of us killed, little one. Remember, there is no way that we should know about this." Aragorn squeezed the Ranger's shoulder tightly, willing some of his strength into her, hoping that she remembered that her rash decisions ended up getting people hurt.
In response, she only gulped and sighed. "I know, but..." she trailed off, no words necessary to convey the helplessness she felt. "That's what I felt before, isn't it?"
Legolas sighed, coming to stand beside his friends, "it probably was, Kaolith, but there is nothing we can do about it now, we will find her, and she will be okay. For now, we need to figure a way to bring down these fights."
Nodding, the twins joined the group, and, along with Fildan and Riadoc, began to make plans of escape and vengeance.
**************
Selinde had struggled valiantly against her captors, but to no avail. They had eventually clocked her upside the head, and that was the first thing she noticed when she awoke several hours later.
She had been stripped of all her weapons, and was tied up in a very small room. She closed her eyes, and tried to take in her surroundings through her other senses. She opened her eyes in surprise. She was in the arena. She was confused as to why she had been brought here.
She did not have long to wait for answers, for the door soon opened, revealing the man who had followed them earlier.
"What do you want with me," she snarled at the human. She was struggling to not lose control of her body, but could feel the uncontrollable shaking that came from being too near some humans.
"I want answers pretty one." Breg walked over to the she-Elf and trailed his fingers down her jaw. "You are quite beautiful." Selinde's shaking only got worse.
"I w-w-will tell you n-n-nothing. I know n-n-nothing." She cursed herself for losing control.
"We will see about that," he smiled. He called for his guards. They entered the room and helped hold the Elf while Breg poured a foul tasting liquid down her throat. "I came across this drug just the other day. I was looking for someone to test it on." Breg continued to let his fingers roam on the Elf. "They tell me, that while you are on this drug, you will have choice but to tell me the truth."
Selinde shook in fear as Breg left the room once again. He would be back when the drug has had the chance to take effect.
***************
"The only way we are going to get out of this is with the help of all the slaves. How can we make this happen?" They all thought, but none had any ideas.
"Legolas," Aragorn asked. "Do you still have that bar and piece of leather."
"Yes," he said as he presented the items. Strider also pulled his out. "We need to find anything else we can use as weapons."
When they came back together after scouring the room, they still only had the two straps and bars, as well as a few chains that had been carelessly left in a corner. "This is not enough to overtake the entire arena; there must be something else we can use." Aragorn was disgusted at the lack of tools that they had found. It seemed that Breg and the other slavers had done well in escape-proofing the rooms.
At that moment, they heard the door open, and rushed to hide the twins and the weapons. Breg walked in with a purpose, and before anyone could react, had grabbed Kaolith and dragged her out the door, being kicked in the shins the whole way.
"Where are you taking me? Let me go. Leave me alone." She was indeed afraid of where the man was taking her, hoping beyond hope that he would not hurt her. Although she only thought of physical injuries, she never imagined what Breg was leading her towards.
They turned a corner and she was dragged into a smaller room. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw a she-Elf tied to a chair, in a position that Kaolith had never hoped to see anyone in. "Who is this, and why are you showing her to me?" Kaolith hoped that the man was only trying to connect the two, and would not give away that she knew the Elf in the chair. Inside, however, her instincts were screaming for her to lash out and beat the man senseless.
Breg had missed the hitched breath, and had only heard the calm indifference in the child's voice. "We found her snooping around the arena. You don't know who she is, do you?"
"I have no idea who this is." The words cut like a knife in her own heart, and she could only hope that Selinde was unconscious, and did not hear them.
Breg was astonished that he had figured wrongly, and without another word, dragged the child back to her friends. Both humans missed the pain-filled eyes that watched them leave.
When Breg had left her in the common room once more, Kaolith collapsed into Aragorn's arms. "Whenever we get out of here, I really am going to kill him." She looked up and noticed that the twins had made their escape after the close encounter.
Aragorn and Legolas questioned the child. "He did not hurt you did he? Where did he take you? Are you sure you are alright?"
Kaolith would normally have laughed at their concern, but the anger would not leave. "Yes, I am fine, and no, he did not hurt me," Kaolith stumbled at this point and her voice became a whisper. "I found Selinde."
"Kaolith?" Legolas asked. The anger in the young one was growing by the minute. "Where was she? Was she okay?"
She did not answer his questions. "I will kill him for what he has done," was all she would say.
"Kaolith?" Aragorn was a little more persistent. "Where is she?"
"She is here, in the arena. He thought I knew her. I denied it. He brought me back."
"Continue," Aragorn pleaded. "What did you see?"
Kaolith rubbed at her eyes, trying to erase the vision of her friend. "I should have helped her!" She was now becoming agitated. "I should have killed him right there. I should not have left her like that." With these last words, Kaolith dropped to the floor. "She swore she would never leave me, and I left her there. What kind of friend am I?"
"You are the best friend she could ever ask for." Legolas tried to comfort the young human. "For once you thought before acting. Had you admitted to knowing her, you could be sharing in .....," Legolas stopped, for Kaolith had started to shake.
"Mellon nin," Aragorn spoke. "What did you see? We need to know so we can help her."
"I don't know if you can." Kaolith whispered saddened. "I don't know if she can be brought back." Kaolith looked up into the eyes of her friends. "I think…I think she might have been raped."
Gileon was the first to be hit by the young human's words, and he turned a very pale white, "Oh Elbereth no, not again. Please, no." Kaolith turned to the Bethunian Elf, tears staining her cheeks, and nodded. She watched as he turned to the nearest wall and punched it, leaving bloodstains in its wake.
Aragorn held the trembling child more tightly, feeling the anger radiate from her, and praying to Illuvitar that he never angered her so as to make her like this. He knew that her every thought was bent on her helplessness, her actions and words, and how she was going to make the human pay. He could only hope that she didn't get herself killed.
He looked up, chin resting on her head, as she turned back into his embrace, and saw the determination in all of the slaves' eyes. Breg would pay for the treachery he had caused, and they would all see to it. The child had done what he and Legolas could not; she had bonded them to a single purpose.
"We need to get some sleep, dawn is only a few hours away," was all that Legolas offered, not knowing exactly what to say to make the situation any better. The knowledge that Elladan and Elrohir had escaped Breg's clutches once again and were off searching for weapons gave him the little hope he needed to take charge once again.
As Kaolith lay down to sleep, she once again fingered the knife she had lifted off of Breg. She hoped that no one would discover she had it. And as she fell into slumber, she dreamt of what she would do to Breg, with his own knife.
Elladan and Elrohir slipped in once again about two hours before dawn. They brought with them many items that could be used as weapons. Clubs, knives and pipes among them. They had borrowed these items from many an unsuspecting person. They just hoped that the other slaves would join them.
Aragorn took his brothers aside, after distributing the weapons. Kaolith had not woken, and Strider didn't want her too. He briefly told his brothers what had happened and what Kaolith had said about Selinde. He was not surprised at the rage and the guilt that passed through their eyes.
Aragorn grabbed them both into his arms. "Let us get through this first, then we can assign blame if need be. I know it is hard, but we can do nothing for her if our plan does not work."
Elladan and Elrohir nodded and let themselves out again. They went to look for this room and easily found it. It was heavily guarded, and they would not be able to attempt a rescue until their other plan had been put into action.
As dawn arose two hours later, Breg's slaves were ready for the fight of their lives.
Uhh, don't kill us? Hehe…Hey, Songbird?
"Yeah?"
"I think running, hiding, and booby trapping our hiding spot would be a good thing to do right now."
"Uhh, me too." Starts formatting chapter 37 as they run….
"SOOOORRRRRRRRYYYY!!!!"
To the Reviewers:
Elendil – Points at above chapter* That's what in Varda we did to her…don't kill us…please?? Hehe…did ya see that one coming? I sure didn't…How far we can push you? Hmm, I hope a bit farther, or we may lose a reviewer…{insert angelic look} I think it's too late…now, how will Selinde react? Kao? Hmmm……………..
xsilicax – LMAO Cathy, how to respond to that exactly…it's not THAT much worse? Is it??? Hehehe…tole ya so…glad you liked the Aragorn/Kao interaction…I don't think any would have minded being in her position, 'cuz remember, Legolas is there too…we didn't harm the twins…thought that might be too much for one segment, hunh?…glad ya liked it…now, as for this chapter…and the next one…
goblz – So after all that, are you sure you wanted that chapter??? Hehe…sorry? Hehehe…the next one will be out soon? Maybe? Hehe…it is Easter and all, so…glad you liked the Kao/Aragorn scene too, we liked writing it…I think…yeah…and technically, they are both in trouble, but what would it be if Kao was and Selinde wasn't?…
Karine – Are ya sure you were looking forward to…this? Heh…me thinks it was good that we had that comic relief in the last chapter, but maybe we needed it in this one too? Hmm…oops…so, glad you liked it, and hope we didn't overload you with this one…