Author ~ Halo Son
Rating ~ R
Disclaimer ~ How many times must I say I don't own Lord of the Rings?! The characters Trelan, Raniean, Celboril and Moranuen are made up characters belonging to Cassia and Sio and they gave me permission to use them in my story, so DO NOT steal them! Also Avellana and Zorro belong to me, as well as several other made up characters.
Author's Note ~ This is the final story in the trilogy. I hope everyone likes it and thinks it is a good closing from the trilogy, I think it is.
Summary ~ The sequel to 'Darkness Haunting.' Just when things start to become calm again, Legolas, Elladan and Elrohir are thrown into the deep end when they discover Aragorn has disappeared from Rivendell. Fearing the human has gone to find the demon, Muerte, and kill him once and for all for vengeance, Legolas hurries to find him with Elladan and Elrohir close behind. But as they get closer to the shadow of the demon, could the call of vengeance become too strong for any of them to resist?
WARNING ~ This fic contains accounts of torture and violent/tesne situations. If you don't like those kind of fics, DO NOT read this story. And another thing, there is absolutely NO romance in this story, got it? Not only is this story, like the two before it, dark and angsty, but I can't write romance to save my life!
Extra Warning ~ One account of implied rape in this chapter!
The Lord Of The Rings
The Call Of Vengeance
Chapter 8-Father And Son
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Was it loneliness that brought you here
Broken and weak
Was it tiredness that made you sleep
Have you lost your will to speak
Was the earth spinning round
Were you falling through the ground
As the world came tumbling down
----Spinning ~ Zero 7
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Even his dreams were no escape from the never-ending nightmare he was experiencing in the waking world.
This was his home, but it didn't feel like it anymore and it was his fault.
All because of an argument; a stupid argument.
Aragorn let out a heavy sigh and his eyes blinked in the darkness of his chambers. Though his eyes could be seen, it was too dark to see the salty tears leaking down his face.
His mind was reeling from everything that had happened, right to the very beginning and each time he berated himself all the more.
"It was not your fault Legolas." Aragorn whispered unto the darkness. "It never was...I should not have shouted as I had. You were only trying to help. Aye, that's all you've ever tried to do for me...be a friend."
Suddenly, as sharp as an arrow to flesh, Aragorn cried out and his right hand flew on to his left shoulder, gripping it tightly as his head fell forward with a groan. The man sucked in air harshly and slowly lifted his hand from the shoulder, as if expecting to see blood stained upon his hand, but there was none.
Aragorn's eyebrows knitted together and his eyes narrowed.
'The curse." Aragorn whispered to himself. "He is...taking advantage of it once more."
Aragorn shook his head. How had it all come to this? Something so small.....turned and twisted into something so big....
The man suddenly cried out again, this time clutching his left leg, pulling it up against his chest. His eyebrows furrowed as he gritted down on his teeth, his face contorted in a deep grimice. Again, there was no blood, no mark, nothing to show that anything was wrong; the pain was there.
But Aragorn knew why. The curse.
That night....when he had been captured in the village by Muerte and taken into the trees....when he had awoken to find himself once more in an orc camp, he was given the shocking news that a curse had been placed upon him by Muerte, a horrid curse. And if any of his family and friends knew of this curse....they would understand the deeper meaning of his words previous spoken when he had taken Legolas, his elder brothers and Glorfindel to the cellar.
'If Muerte dies....then my fate is sealed, it might already be. If he dies....I will die with him.'
Muerte had placed upon Aragorn a shared curse, in which if Muerte was injured then Aragorn would feel it. He would feel Muerte's pain and yet if Aragorn was hurt, Muerte would not feel his pain. Or perhaps he did, but did not show it, Aragorn could not tell. And even worse....if Muerte was killed, Aragorn would die with him. The curse was irreversible, Muerte had it all planned.
Aragorn placed a hand on his head and felt the sting of bitter tears in his eyes and he felt despair rise in his chest. Swallowing hard, Aragorn pushed back all those thoughts and tried to regain his composed reserve. He would not think of despair now, he had to think of a way to free Imladris from the evil clutches of the demon and of the orcs.
He knew at what cost that freedom might come, but he was willing to go through with it, his heart would not have it any other way.
A knock upon the door startled Aragorn from his thoughts and he looked up. His silver eyes locked on to those of Muerte. The demon grinned as he entered, shutting the door behind him with snarled eyes.
"Ah, my dear Elmorn. The night is in full blossom, I thought you might have been asleep by now."
Aragorn did not answer the demon and turned his head away and fixed his gaze on the floor. He attempted to calm his rapidly increasing breathing, though he found it difficult with his heart thumping away in his chest.
"Nothing to say? Are you not the least bit tired?"
Muerte smirked at the fear radiating from the human and moved towards him, sitting next to the human on the bed. "Perhaps, if you wish, I can help take away the stress and fear from your shoulder." He said in an almost soft tone as he ran his clawed hand through the raven hair, brushing away some of the falling strands from the man's face as Elrond so often used to do.
Aragorn moved his head away from the touch, but kept his eyes focused on the floor and replied, "I want nothing from you!"
"Oh? Is that so?" Muerte's malicious grin grew. "Well...what would you say if I wanted something from you?"
"You have already taken from me what you wished!" Aragorn shot back, finally facing the demon with a slitted eyes. "You sought to break me, bend me to your will and I will admitt for a time it succeeded....but you did not take into consideration was the spirit of those close to me. No matter what foulness you place upon me, I will always have them by my side to help me."
Muerte's grin turned into a scowl and a feral snarl, causing Aragorn to smirk in delight at seeing the demon affected by his words and his growing spirit.
"Do to me as you wish...but in the end you *will* lose. Your fate is sealed...and your evil will fall!"
Sharp pain erupted in Aragorn's cheek from a stining blow, causing him to lose his balance and tumble to the floor. He blinked hard, trying to get his focus back into his vision, but before he could Muerte's fingers wrapped tightly into his raven hair and lifted his face from the floor so the demon could whisper into his ear.
"You will pay dearly for that Elmorn!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elrond awoke to the sound of a body hitting the floor of the cellar and he instinctively looked up. The sound of scrambling came to his ears and he raised an eyebrow, taking a quick glance around the cellar. The other elves and several humans near him appeared not to have been awoken by the sound. They were all exhausted and the humans were lost in grief for their fallen friend felled by the orcs and although had refused sleep, tiredness finally took its toll.
It was so dark in there that it was a wonder anyone would see anything in there, but among the shadows the elf lord picked out movement. As silence once more descended, Elrond next heard faint, heavy and rapid breathing. He knew who it was without having to see the face of the person in the far corner of the cellar.
"Estel?" He spoke softly so as not to wake the others.
The heavy breathing suddenly became hitched, soft sobs and Elrond slowly rose to his feet, letting himself be guided by the sorrowful noise. He quickly found the huddled form of his foster son in the far corner of the dark room. He had his knees tucked up into his chest with his arms wrapped round them, his face was buried upon his knees and his shoulder shook as quiet sobs wracked his body. Elrond knelt down in front of the human and brushed some of the damp strands from his face.
"Estel?"
Aragorn let a whimper pass through his lips as he tried to shrink away from the elf lord's touch. Elrond's eyesbrows knitted together.
"Estel, my son...look at me." Aragorn shook his head so Elrond placed his hands on the human's shoulders and held him firmly. "Aragorn...look at me now."
It was not often when Elrond refered back to Aragorn's true name and the man always seemed to respond to it and this case was no different. Slowly, Aragorn raised his head from his knees and brought his eyes up so they met with the elf lord's. Elrond sucked in a breath.
Even without the assistance of light Elrond could see that Aragorn had been badly beaten. Ugly, dark bruises were evident on the man's cheeks and there was a thin though long cut going from the top of his temple do the bottom of his chin of the right side of his face. Elrond didn't doubt the man had many more hurts across his body and raised a hand to place it upon Aragorn's face but the human turned his head away shamefully.
"Why do you turn your head from me Estel?" Elrond asked.
"I have betrayed you." Aragorn replied quietly, swallowing hard to keep his emotions under control.
"Estel..."
"I have betrayed you, my brothers, Legolas and all of Imladris. I have betrayed everyone."
"Estel, listen to me. What has passed was not of your doing."
"I started it! Had I not argued with Legolas..."
"You were not to know this would be the outcome. You cannot blame yourself for this."
"Muerte used me against you. I left Rivendell seeking vengeance and end up in his clutches once more." Aragorn let his head fall forward. "I am no better than Muerte."
Suddenly, a pair of slender hand were placed upon his cheeks and firmly lifted his head up so his eyes met those of the elf lord.
"Now, you listen to me Aragorn." He said with narrowed eyes, making sure the human was paying full attention to him. "I will not hear you speak such nonsense and I will not hear you blame yourself for things that were out of your control." The elf lord then used one hand to brush away some strands of raven hair from the man's face and let s soft smile form on his lips. "Do not turn into Elladan, I have enough trouble with him already."
At this, Aragorn let out a soft laugh, but it quickly turned sour when the man's face crunched up and tears slipped down his cheeks, making him wince slightly as they brushed across his cut.
"Estel?" Elrond moved his hand to hold Aragorn's arms.
Aragorn looked up once more, pain and a deep hurt flashing in front of his eyes behind the tears.
"Ada...I'm so sorry..."
Elrond sighed and wrapped his arms around Aragorn's shoulders and allowed the human to rest his head on his chest as he began rubbing his back and soothing him. He felt Aragorn shake under his grasp as more sobs wracked his form.
"Shhh...hush now Estel. It will be alright. I am here."
"Ada..." Aragorn whispered almost silently through his sobs as an exhausting darkness claimed him and he fell into a troubling sleep.
TBC.....
Rating ~ R
Disclaimer ~ How many times must I say I don't own Lord of the Rings?! The characters Trelan, Raniean, Celboril and Moranuen are made up characters belonging to Cassia and Sio and they gave me permission to use them in my story, so DO NOT steal them! Also Avellana and Zorro belong to me, as well as several other made up characters.
Author's Note ~ This is the final story in the trilogy. I hope everyone likes it and thinks it is a good closing from the trilogy, I think it is.
Summary ~ The sequel to 'Darkness Haunting.' Just when things start to become calm again, Legolas, Elladan and Elrohir are thrown into the deep end when they discover Aragorn has disappeared from Rivendell. Fearing the human has gone to find the demon, Muerte, and kill him once and for all for vengeance, Legolas hurries to find him with Elladan and Elrohir close behind. But as they get closer to the shadow of the demon, could the call of vengeance become too strong for any of them to resist?
WARNING ~ This fic contains accounts of torture and violent/tesne situations. If you don't like those kind of fics, DO NOT read this story. And another thing, there is absolutely NO romance in this story, got it? Not only is this story, like the two before it, dark and angsty, but I can't write romance to save my life!
Extra Warning ~ One account of implied rape in this chapter!
The Lord Of The Rings
The Call Of Vengeance
Chapter 8-Father And Son
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Was it loneliness that brought you here
Broken and weak
Was it tiredness that made you sleep
Have you lost your will to speak
Was the earth spinning round
Were you falling through the ground
As the world came tumbling down
----Spinning ~ Zero 7
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Even his dreams were no escape from the never-ending nightmare he was experiencing in the waking world.
This was his home, but it didn't feel like it anymore and it was his fault.
All because of an argument; a stupid argument.
Aragorn let out a heavy sigh and his eyes blinked in the darkness of his chambers. Though his eyes could be seen, it was too dark to see the salty tears leaking down his face.
His mind was reeling from everything that had happened, right to the very beginning and each time he berated himself all the more.
"It was not your fault Legolas." Aragorn whispered unto the darkness. "It never was...I should not have shouted as I had. You were only trying to help. Aye, that's all you've ever tried to do for me...be a friend."
Suddenly, as sharp as an arrow to flesh, Aragorn cried out and his right hand flew on to his left shoulder, gripping it tightly as his head fell forward with a groan. The man sucked in air harshly and slowly lifted his hand from the shoulder, as if expecting to see blood stained upon his hand, but there was none.
Aragorn's eyebrows knitted together and his eyes narrowed.
'The curse." Aragorn whispered to himself. "He is...taking advantage of it once more."
Aragorn shook his head. How had it all come to this? Something so small.....turned and twisted into something so big....
The man suddenly cried out again, this time clutching his left leg, pulling it up against his chest. His eyebrows furrowed as he gritted down on his teeth, his face contorted in a deep grimice. Again, there was no blood, no mark, nothing to show that anything was wrong; the pain was there.
But Aragorn knew why. The curse.
That night....when he had been captured in the village by Muerte and taken into the trees....when he had awoken to find himself once more in an orc camp, he was given the shocking news that a curse had been placed upon him by Muerte, a horrid curse. And if any of his family and friends knew of this curse....they would understand the deeper meaning of his words previous spoken when he had taken Legolas, his elder brothers and Glorfindel to the cellar.
'If Muerte dies....then my fate is sealed, it might already be. If he dies....I will die with him.'
Muerte had placed upon Aragorn a shared curse, in which if Muerte was injured then Aragorn would feel it. He would feel Muerte's pain and yet if Aragorn was hurt, Muerte would not feel his pain. Or perhaps he did, but did not show it, Aragorn could not tell. And even worse....if Muerte was killed, Aragorn would die with him. The curse was irreversible, Muerte had it all planned.
Aragorn placed a hand on his head and felt the sting of bitter tears in his eyes and he felt despair rise in his chest. Swallowing hard, Aragorn pushed back all those thoughts and tried to regain his composed reserve. He would not think of despair now, he had to think of a way to free Imladris from the evil clutches of the demon and of the orcs.
He knew at what cost that freedom might come, but he was willing to go through with it, his heart would not have it any other way.
A knock upon the door startled Aragorn from his thoughts and he looked up. His silver eyes locked on to those of Muerte. The demon grinned as he entered, shutting the door behind him with snarled eyes.
"Ah, my dear Elmorn. The night is in full blossom, I thought you might have been asleep by now."
Aragorn did not answer the demon and turned his head away and fixed his gaze on the floor. He attempted to calm his rapidly increasing breathing, though he found it difficult with his heart thumping away in his chest.
"Nothing to say? Are you not the least bit tired?"
Muerte smirked at the fear radiating from the human and moved towards him, sitting next to the human on the bed. "Perhaps, if you wish, I can help take away the stress and fear from your shoulder." He said in an almost soft tone as he ran his clawed hand through the raven hair, brushing away some of the falling strands from the man's face as Elrond so often used to do.
Aragorn moved his head away from the touch, but kept his eyes focused on the floor and replied, "I want nothing from you!"
"Oh? Is that so?" Muerte's malicious grin grew. "Well...what would you say if I wanted something from you?"
"You have already taken from me what you wished!" Aragorn shot back, finally facing the demon with a slitted eyes. "You sought to break me, bend me to your will and I will admitt for a time it succeeded....but you did not take into consideration was the spirit of those close to me. No matter what foulness you place upon me, I will always have them by my side to help me."
Muerte's grin turned into a scowl and a feral snarl, causing Aragorn to smirk in delight at seeing the demon affected by his words and his growing spirit.
"Do to me as you wish...but in the end you *will* lose. Your fate is sealed...and your evil will fall!"
Sharp pain erupted in Aragorn's cheek from a stining blow, causing him to lose his balance and tumble to the floor. He blinked hard, trying to get his focus back into his vision, but before he could Muerte's fingers wrapped tightly into his raven hair and lifted his face from the floor so the demon could whisper into his ear.
"You will pay dearly for that Elmorn!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elrond awoke to the sound of a body hitting the floor of the cellar and he instinctively looked up. The sound of scrambling came to his ears and he raised an eyebrow, taking a quick glance around the cellar. The other elves and several humans near him appeared not to have been awoken by the sound. They were all exhausted and the humans were lost in grief for their fallen friend felled by the orcs and although had refused sleep, tiredness finally took its toll.
It was so dark in there that it was a wonder anyone would see anything in there, but among the shadows the elf lord picked out movement. As silence once more descended, Elrond next heard faint, heavy and rapid breathing. He knew who it was without having to see the face of the person in the far corner of the cellar.
"Estel?" He spoke softly so as not to wake the others.
The heavy breathing suddenly became hitched, soft sobs and Elrond slowly rose to his feet, letting himself be guided by the sorrowful noise. He quickly found the huddled form of his foster son in the far corner of the dark room. He had his knees tucked up into his chest with his arms wrapped round them, his face was buried upon his knees and his shoulder shook as quiet sobs wracked his body. Elrond knelt down in front of the human and brushed some of the damp strands from his face.
"Estel?"
Aragorn let a whimper pass through his lips as he tried to shrink away from the elf lord's touch. Elrond's eyesbrows knitted together.
"Estel, my son...look at me." Aragorn shook his head so Elrond placed his hands on the human's shoulders and held him firmly. "Aragorn...look at me now."
It was not often when Elrond refered back to Aragorn's true name and the man always seemed to respond to it and this case was no different. Slowly, Aragorn raised his head from his knees and brought his eyes up so they met with the elf lord's. Elrond sucked in a breath.
Even without the assistance of light Elrond could see that Aragorn had been badly beaten. Ugly, dark bruises were evident on the man's cheeks and there was a thin though long cut going from the top of his temple do the bottom of his chin of the right side of his face. Elrond didn't doubt the man had many more hurts across his body and raised a hand to place it upon Aragorn's face but the human turned his head away shamefully.
"Why do you turn your head from me Estel?" Elrond asked.
"I have betrayed you." Aragorn replied quietly, swallowing hard to keep his emotions under control.
"Estel..."
"I have betrayed you, my brothers, Legolas and all of Imladris. I have betrayed everyone."
"Estel, listen to me. What has passed was not of your doing."
"I started it! Had I not argued with Legolas..."
"You were not to know this would be the outcome. You cannot blame yourself for this."
"Muerte used me against you. I left Rivendell seeking vengeance and end up in his clutches once more." Aragorn let his head fall forward. "I am no better than Muerte."
Suddenly, a pair of slender hand were placed upon his cheeks and firmly lifted his head up so his eyes met those of the elf lord.
"Now, you listen to me Aragorn." He said with narrowed eyes, making sure the human was paying full attention to him. "I will not hear you speak such nonsense and I will not hear you blame yourself for things that were out of your control." The elf lord then used one hand to brush away some strands of raven hair from the man's face and let s soft smile form on his lips. "Do not turn into Elladan, I have enough trouble with him already."
At this, Aragorn let out a soft laugh, but it quickly turned sour when the man's face crunched up and tears slipped down his cheeks, making him wince slightly as they brushed across his cut.
"Estel?" Elrond moved his hand to hold Aragorn's arms.
Aragorn looked up once more, pain and a deep hurt flashing in front of his eyes behind the tears.
"Ada...I'm so sorry..."
Elrond sighed and wrapped his arms around Aragorn's shoulders and allowed the human to rest his head on his chest as he began rubbing his back and soothing him. He felt Aragorn shake under his grasp as more sobs wracked his form.
"Shhh...hush now Estel. It will be alright. I am here."
"Ada..." Aragorn whispered almost silently through his sobs as an exhausting darkness claimed him and he fell into a troubling sleep.
TBC.....