Disclaimer: I own nothing Tolkien created.
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Sold Into Ruin
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Chapter 53 ~ Bet You'll Win
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Aragorn walked over to a guard who looked particularly wound up by what was happening. He tapped the man on the shoulder. The guard turned and looked at Aragorn. His hand immediately went to his sword but Aragorn held up his hands in surrender. The man watched him suspiciously for a moment before relaxing and putting his weapon away.
"What do you want?" the guard grumbled, returning his attention to the match. Legolas was finding it even more difficult now. Jadan had managed to push him to the ground once more and this time Legolas couldn't pull himself up.
"Want to bet on who'll win?" Aragorn offered, having to speak loudly above the sound of the shouting guards.
"Not with you, slave."
"Oh, come on. Legolas is bound to win against that idiot traitor." Aragorn knew this was the thing that would set the guard off and he was correct.
"What did you say?" the guard growled.
"Nothing. Just that you people are so weak. Getting beaten by a slave."
Aragorn had to duck quickly to get out of the way of the guard's fist. Instead of hitting him though, the guard accidentally punched the guard next to him and instantly regretted it. The struck guard looked over at the man and hit him back without a moment's hesitation. Within seconds a fight was breaking out in the guard side of the audience. Aragorn had already gotten well out of the way before the fight properly started and was now making his way around the ring back to Jasmine and Arron.
Meanwhile, Legolas and Jadan were still sparring in the ring and unfortunately Jadan had the upper hand. The man was once more knocking Legolas to the ground, realising it was an effective way of dealing with the Elf. While Legolas was on the ground, his back bleeding heavily again, Jadan ran out of the ring and snatched up the knife he himself had taken from the Elf at the start of the match. Before the Elf could do anything, Jadan was back next to him and had him properly pinned down again.
At that moment, they were interrupted by the loud fighting going on in the guard's side. Jadan stopped what he was doing but made sure Legolas remained out of action. He saw Aragorn walking back towards Jasmine and Arron and silently thanked the man. Aragorn, however, hadn't seen the knife and it didn't take long for Jadan to remember that he was holding it. He went to stab Legolas but the Elf raised his arms just in time to block the blow. Then Aragorn noticed what was happening and rushed into the ring to help his friend.
Jadan grabbed Legolas' arm and pushed it down. The Elf couldn't do anything about it now. Jadan raised the knife, ready to stab Legolas.
Just as the knife was about to come down, something slammed into Jadan, knocking him off Legolas. It took only a second for Legolas to realise it was Aragorn. Within seconds, Jadan was pinned to the ground and could do nothing. That didn't stop him trying though. Aragorn, knowing the man wouldn't stay still, punched him in the face several times until he stopped struggling.
Kallon was far too busy shouting at his people to stop fighting to notice what was happening in the ring.
When he was sure Jadan wasn't going anywhere, Aragorn got up, retrieved the knife and walked over to Legolas. He knelt down next to his friend, helping him painfully sit up.
"Are you alright?" he asked. He got nothing but an annoyed look. "Sorry. Stupid question."
Legolas looked over at the fighting crowd of guards. "Is that the best you can do?" Legolas said, nodding to the battle going on around him.
Aragorn shrugged. "Worked, didn't it?" he grinned.
Finally, Kallon got his people under control although there was still a lot of shouting and cursing going on amongst the guards. He spun to face the ring where Aragorn was helping a battered Legolas to his feet and Jadan was lying helpless on the ground. He strode into the ring, kicking Jadan violently as he walked past him. Coming up to Legolas and Aragorn, Kallon just stared at them. Neither side said anything.
After a few moments of this, Kallon just smiled and nodded then finally walked away from them.
"Take everyone back to the building," Kallon ordered one of his guards as he walked past.
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Aragorn helped an injured Legolas as they walked back to their building. They kept well out of the way of the guards, knowing that right then Legolas wasn't their favourite person and was currently an easy target. He killed one of them. It only complicated things further for the two friends. They managed to avoid them all, shrinking back to their normal haunt on the stone benches.
It wasn't long before Jasmine, closely followed by a still-scared Arron, joined them. Jasmine didn't say anything but just stared down at Legolas, who was being looked over by Aragorn. Horror was creasing her face. Thankfully, Legolas' injuries weren't too severe although Aragorn was concerned about the state of his back.
"It wasn't your fault," Legolas said when he noticed how guilty Jasmine looked.
"I…I am so, so sorry," she whispered, tears spilling down her cheeks.
"Don't be. You didn't do anything wrong," he repeated more firmly this time. It wasn't as convincing as he would have liked as at that moment Aragorn was examining his back, which was still extremely painful.
"But I…"
"Legolas is right, Jasmine. This isn't your fault," Aragorn reiterated, looking around at the woman. "Here, sit down." He stood and led her to the seat next to Legolas, covering her with a blanket. Arron quickly joined her, looking nervously at Legolas, who smiled at him reassuringly. He weakly smiled back before leaning against Jasmine, his face buried comfortably in her dress.
Legolas stood up and repositioned himself on the floor. The building had settled down fairly quickly, people were still chattering about what had happened though. Death always attracted a lot of attention and there had been plenty of it that night. Legolas even heard his name mentioned a few times. At least he had made a lasting impression on the other prisoners. Granted, it came at a high price. Now every guard would want a piece of him. And Aragorn, which was even worse.
"How are you really feeling?" Aragorn whispered once things had calmed down even more.
Legolas looked briefly to Jasmine before whispering back, "Like a herd of Oliphaunts stampeded over my back."
"Some of your wounds have reopened but you don't appear to have done too much damage, not that I can see anyway. Elves are pretty resilient, right?" Aragorn didn't know whether this was meant to be reassuring but he said it anyway. Legolas merely nodded, looking up with complete trust at his friend. He had always relied on Aragorn in such matters. He was a future King of Gondor, a position which also held the prophecy that the King would have the magical healing hands of the Elves. However, Aragorn's skill was more down to Elrond's excellent teachings than any magic. Either way, Legolas knew that Aragorn knew what he was doing.
"Kallon was playing with us," Legolas mused so quietly Aragorn could barely hear him.
"Let him play. It doesn't matter, we won't be here much longer."
"The longer we stay here the more I doubt we will ever escape. The Master…"
"The Master can't predict the future, nor does he have any real control over us. Not outside the Dark Room anyway," Aragorn replied, wanting to instantly quell the scepticism in his friend's voice.
"No control? Estel, he is the reason we are here. Obviously he has some influence other than that he has already shown us." For a moment there was an uncomfortable silence. Unfortunately, what Legolas said was true. They only knew what the Master had told them about himself. There was no telling what was true and what was a lie. They could be dealing with anything. "He did seem a little…"
"Odd," Aragorn finished when Legolas couldn't find the word.
"Sort of like he wasn't telling us everything. I have no doubt that a great deal of what he told us was true but there was something…I can't explain it. Whatever this is about it's not what the Master claims." Aragorn nodded thoughtfully. Legolas had a valid point.
"We should get some rest. I have a feeling Kallon isn't going to be too happy with us tomorrow."
Settling down for another night in their prison, Legolas and Aragorn slept more peacefully than they would have expected.
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"Keep going," Thranduil yelled at his troops. They had rested once before and King Thranduil didn't want to waste any more time. Unfortunately, his people were not of the same mind but luckily the King's orders were nearly always obeyed so they had little choice but to keep going. Thranduil's worry for his son had intensified when they had rested earlier and had continued to rise the further they went. However, as if guided by some invisible force, Thranduil went on. He didn't know where he was going but he just somehow knew that this was the right direction. He could only assume it was the Man – the Master – showing him the way. A frightening thought but he didn't care so long as he got to his son soon.
"Hang on, Legolas. I'm coming," he whispered to himself.
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Elrond, the twins and the guards were racing onwards. Every now and then they were guided by minute clues along the way. Although they didn't know where exactly they were going, they trusted that they would find their missing family member sooner or later. Elrond just hoped it would be sooner. He just knew Aragorn was in trouble and the thought made his heart pound in fear.
He had been uncertain when he had first adopted Aragorn, not knowing whether he could accept him as a true son but what he was feeling now was exactly how he would feel if it were Elladan, Elrohir or Arwen were in trouble. Aragorn was a very real part of the Peredhel family. To lose him would tear them apart. So they rode onwards.
To Be Continued…
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