Fall From Grace
For Sarah, who's been loaning me her Legolas for this bit of fun. :)
Chapter 3
It had only taken several hours for Gimli, Aragorn and now, Tadrien, to prepare and leave Amon Thranduil and begin tracking the Orcs through the forests of Mirkwood.
Hours, unfortunately, had rapidly turned to days with no clues as to where the army was headed, and likewise with no signs of where Legolas had been taken.
Tadrien frowned as he bent down beside Aragorn to examine the latest trail they had been following. "Would they truly drag Legolas and the others with them? Surely if they had, we would have found some evidence of that by now! This is getting us nowhere!"
Gimli snorted, "expected this to be easy, Elf?" He, too, had been suffering from ever thinning patience and he and Tadrien, it seemed, had spent more time bickering than not. "Perhaps we ought to send you out as bait!"
"Enough!" Aragorn cried sharply, rising from where he had been examining the ground. "There is no evidence Legolas, nor any of the other missing elves, are still with the Orcs." He raised a silencing hand as Tadrien opened his mouth to speak. "However. There is no evidence of where they have been taken, and this is the only trail we have to follow. We shall merely have to trust it to lead us to the right place. These Orcs shall return to their place of origin eventually."
Tadrien's eyes were alit with excitement and he spoke quickly once Aragorn had finished. "As much as I do not care to admit it, the Dwarf may have stumbled upon an excellent idea! If I make myself an easy target and allow the Orcs to take me prisoner, with the two of you watching, you shall have your trail straight to Legolas and the others!"
"Fool!" Gimli cried. "And what is to say that you shall not be slain where you stand?!"
"They've not slain any others, have they?" The Elf countered. "This is our best- nay, our only chance! For who knows when we shall reach our destination otherwise?" He turned to the Man beside them. "What say you, Aragorn?"
"I say it is a rash and foolish plan," he replied, coldly, elicting a smile from Gimli. He paused, though, for a moment, and continued, "though it seems to be our one chance."
It was Tadrien's turn to smile. "Tonight, then. Since Orcs only move under cover of darkness."
****
The manacles that had held Legolas upside down had been long since released, and the Elf was now curled on the dirt floor of his small cell. Blood and dirt matted long locks of fine blonde hair into impossible tangles, and streaked previously ivory skin that was now covered with hideous blue and purple bruises.
He had tried several times to sing, to distract himself from his suffering, from the suffocating darkness that threatened to overwhelm him. Broken bones, however, caused pain to shoot through him every time he tried, though, which convinced him it likely wasn't worth the effort.
Instead, he let songs, poems and stories he thought he had forgotten run through his mind. Anything that would even for a few fleeting moments let him escape his current predicament. It always returned, though. The startling knowledge that he was still there. Time had lost all meaning, in between violent beatings, losses of consciousness and worst of all, the hours after agonizing hours of laying sprawled in the dirt, surrounded by darkess, too badly hurt to so much as to consider moving. He no longer could tell if he had been there for days, weeks, or even months.
The wooden door slammed open and there stood the same dark hooded figure that had first greeted him strode towards his prone form. His pale hand, with long wrinkled fingers and long nails reached down and grabbed Legolas by the hair, yanking his head upwards, and causing him to whimper as sharp pain and cold laced through his body.
For the first time, he had managed a glimpse of the visage under the hood. The long face, like the hand, was nearly as white as snow. He had a cruel hooked nose, and frightening dark eyes, sunken deeply into his whithered features.
"You..." he snarled, revealing pointed yellow teeth. "Resist... No use... Give in... Weeks have passed... No one will... help you..."
"Who are you?" The Elf demanded. "What do you want from me?"
Pale lips twisted into an evil smile. "All you need... to know... me as is... Master..." He shook his captive viciously and with surprising strength, making him yelp repeatedly.
"Never!" He cried.
The cloaked man made a disgusted sound and flung him across the cell and delivered a vicious kick to already broken ribs, elicting a howl of pain from Legolas. "You are just as difficult as the rest of your foolish kind! And you shall be no more difficult to break!"
He raised a hand towards the prone form and chanted in a language he couldn't idenitify. The Elf realized what was happening, though, when a moment later searing agony shot through every fibre of his body.
"Give in...!" He shouted over his victim's screams. "It shall stop... if you do...!" He scowled at the lack of response and allowed the spell to fade. "Stupid... boy," he hissed. "You shall... fall yet..." Another kick and another cry of pain and Legolas was left alone for the time being.
For Sarah, who's been loaning me her Legolas for this bit of fun. :)
Chapter 3
It had only taken several hours for Gimli, Aragorn and now, Tadrien, to prepare and leave Amon Thranduil and begin tracking the Orcs through the forests of Mirkwood.
Hours, unfortunately, had rapidly turned to days with no clues as to where the army was headed, and likewise with no signs of where Legolas had been taken.
Tadrien frowned as he bent down beside Aragorn to examine the latest trail they had been following. "Would they truly drag Legolas and the others with them? Surely if they had, we would have found some evidence of that by now! This is getting us nowhere!"
Gimli snorted, "expected this to be easy, Elf?" He, too, had been suffering from ever thinning patience and he and Tadrien, it seemed, had spent more time bickering than not. "Perhaps we ought to send you out as bait!"
"Enough!" Aragorn cried sharply, rising from where he had been examining the ground. "There is no evidence Legolas, nor any of the other missing elves, are still with the Orcs." He raised a silencing hand as Tadrien opened his mouth to speak. "However. There is no evidence of where they have been taken, and this is the only trail we have to follow. We shall merely have to trust it to lead us to the right place. These Orcs shall return to their place of origin eventually."
Tadrien's eyes were alit with excitement and he spoke quickly once Aragorn had finished. "As much as I do not care to admit it, the Dwarf may have stumbled upon an excellent idea! If I make myself an easy target and allow the Orcs to take me prisoner, with the two of you watching, you shall have your trail straight to Legolas and the others!"
"Fool!" Gimli cried. "And what is to say that you shall not be slain where you stand?!"
"They've not slain any others, have they?" The Elf countered. "This is our best- nay, our only chance! For who knows when we shall reach our destination otherwise?" He turned to the Man beside them. "What say you, Aragorn?"
"I say it is a rash and foolish plan," he replied, coldly, elicting a smile from Gimli. He paused, though, for a moment, and continued, "though it seems to be our one chance."
It was Tadrien's turn to smile. "Tonight, then. Since Orcs only move under cover of darkness."
****
The manacles that had held Legolas upside down had been long since released, and the Elf was now curled on the dirt floor of his small cell. Blood and dirt matted long locks of fine blonde hair into impossible tangles, and streaked previously ivory skin that was now covered with hideous blue and purple bruises.
He had tried several times to sing, to distract himself from his suffering, from the suffocating darkness that threatened to overwhelm him. Broken bones, however, caused pain to shoot through him every time he tried, though, which convinced him it likely wasn't worth the effort.
Instead, he let songs, poems and stories he thought he had forgotten run through his mind. Anything that would even for a few fleeting moments let him escape his current predicament. It always returned, though. The startling knowledge that he was still there. Time had lost all meaning, in between violent beatings, losses of consciousness and worst of all, the hours after agonizing hours of laying sprawled in the dirt, surrounded by darkess, too badly hurt to so much as to consider moving. He no longer could tell if he had been there for days, weeks, or even months.
The wooden door slammed open and there stood the same dark hooded figure that had first greeted him strode towards his prone form. His pale hand, with long wrinkled fingers and long nails reached down and grabbed Legolas by the hair, yanking his head upwards, and causing him to whimper as sharp pain and cold laced through his body.
For the first time, he had managed a glimpse of the visage under the hood. The long face, like the hand, was nearly as white as snow. He had a cruel hooked nose, and frightening dark eyes, sunken deeply into his whithered features.
"You..." he snarled, revealing pointed yellow teeth. "Resist... No use... Give in... Weeks have passed... No one will... help you..."
"Who are you?" The Elf demanded. "What do you want from me?"
Pale lips twisted into an evil smile. "All you need... to know... me as is... Master..." He shook his captive viciously and with surprising strength, making him yelp repeatedly.
"Never!" He cried.
The cloaked man made a disgusted sound and flung him across the cell and delivered a vicious kick to already broken ribs, elicting a howl of pain from Legolas. "You are just as difficult as the rest of your foolish kind! And you shall be no more difficult to break!"
He raised a hand towards the prone form and chanted in a language he couldn't idenitify. The Elf realized what was happening, though, when a moment later searing agony shot through every fibre of his body.
"Give in...!" He shouted over his victim's screams. "It shall stop... if you do...!" He scowled at the lack of response and allowed the spell to fade. "Stupid... boy," he hissed. "You shall... fall yet..." Another kick and another cry of pain and Legolas was left alone for the time being.