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My cliffies are pure evil, I know. But you have seen nothing yet!!!! More to come, I promise you!! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! (Laughing like a mad witch!)

"My lord, Lord Cayel is here to see you," a servant came into the king's study, wringing his hands. "He brings bad news."

Thranduil frowned. "Send him in."

When Cayel entered, Thranduil's frown deepened as he saw the look of misery on the elf's face. "Cayel? What happened?"

Without a word, Cayel gave Legolas's tunics to the king. Thranduil took it; his hands trembled involuntarily. He immediately recognized the clothes that Legolas had worn during the day. "This belongs to Legolas. What's the meaning of this? How did you get it?"

Cayel's face began to crumble in tears. "Forgive me, my lord! Prince Legolas tried to save my grandsons but he was swept away along with them!"

Thranduil jumped out of his chair, hugging his son's tunics to his chest in a hard grip. "What exactly happened?!!!"

Cayel began to relate his phony tale as he played the second scene of his act. He told the king how he'd gone looking for the missing elflings deep in the woods and had found them playing in the river. But before he could tell them to get onto the bank, a sudden powerful wave of water had come from upstream and carried the boys in its current. He said that it had been raining heavily upriver.

"I panicked! I'm not strong enough to brave the current, so I ran home as fast as I could to get help. I stumbled upon your son along the way. We ran back to the river and Prince Legolas had taken off his shirts before he jumped into the water. I waited and waited but he never returned! And so are my grandsons…"

Thranduil sat down hard on his chair, staring at Cayel who began to cry noisily. No…Not Legolas. Not again…

The king pulled himself together when he realized that he was starting to lose control. He called out for Linden and ordered for a search and rescue team to head out to the river. "And I'm coming with you."

"But my lord, you don't have to. We will find him," Linden gently told the king. But Thranduil was greatly overwhelmed with worry and he couldn't just stand away and waited. "I'm going. You can't make me stay."

So Thranduil and Cayel, along with Linden and a small troop of Mirkwood warriors rode into the night towards the river.

*****************

As they neared the river, Commander Linden began to feel extremely uneasy. He recalled Legolas telling him about a traitor in their midst. The seasoned warrior had caught the strange expression on Cayel's face several times now. Thranduil was too worried about his son's safety and he didn't notice anything unusual.

Could the traitor be Cayel? Linden thought, as he saw the odd smile playing on Cayel's lips. Are we walking into a trap?

"Halt!" Linden ordered instantly, rising up one arm. The whole troop stopped. Thranduil frowned at his commander. "What are you doing?"

"We are walking into a trap!" Linden told his king, glaring at Cayel.

"What are you talking about?" Thranduil was getting slightly annoyed for the pause in their mission.

"Listen to your commander, Thranduil," Cayel jumped in, sneering. "He spoke the truth."

The king stared at Cayel with a dark look as he began to understand. "What's the meaning of all this, Cayel? And where is my son?"

"Oh, don't worry, Thranduil. You'll see your son." Then Cayel suddenly shouted, "Now!!"

Instantly, arrows came flying from the dark, striking the Mirkwood warriors with deadly impact. Linden got hit on his shoulder and he toppled off his mount. Thranduil could only look on in horror as everyone of his escort fell to the ground and lay still. Then the armed Redwood elves appeared from every direction.

"You want to see your son, Thranduil?" Cayel taunted. "I'll take you to him."

Something hit the back of Thranduil's head…then everything went black.

*****************

When he came to, Thranduil found himself tied to a chair in an abandoned wooden cabin. The first face he saw was Cayel's, smirking back at him. "Hello there. About time you woke up."

"Why are you doing this? What have you done to my son?!!!" Thranduil cried out in anger as he struggled against the bonds.

"Your son is well, Thranduil…for now. Look to your right."

The king glanced at the corner that Cayel indicated. There, he saw the prince lying still on the floor, the black hood still covering his head. Thranduil's eyes widened. "Legolas! Legolas!!!" Glaring at Cayel, the king growled, "Release him, Cayel! You got me, you don't need him! Let him go!!"

Cayel chuckled. "I need the both of you, Thranduil. I need you both dead! Thrandulions will die tonight!" He knelt down beside the unconscious prince and roughly pulled away the black hood. As his head hit the floor, Legolas's long silky hair tumbled all over his face like spun gold, his eyes still closed.

Thranduil stared in horror. "What did you do to him?"

"Just a little drug shot that will keep him out for several more hours," Cayel replied, straightening up.

"Why are you doing this?"

"I'm taking back what's mine!"

"What? The throne?"

"The realm, Thranduil! I don't care much about the throne! I want the realm of Greenwood the Great!! It had belonged to us Silvans, the real woodland elves. Then you and your father, Oropher, arrived from the north and took it all from us just like that!!" Cayel snapped his fingers for effect, glaring at the king. "You Sindarins are so greedy! We gave you a land to settle, but what did you give us in return? You pushed us away into the mountains, calling us the blasted redwood elves!"

"We didn't push you away, Cayel. You and your uncle, your clan leader, decided to leave because the people trusted my father more to lead the newfound kingdom…"

Cayel swung his fist and hit Thranduil's face. "Kingdom? What kingdom?!!! You and your great ideas to develop the realm! You made it sound like we are primitives!!!"

Licking the blood that trickled down the corner of his lips, Thranduil stared into the mad glint of Cayel's eyes. The king didn't know whether he and his son were going to come out from this mess alive. "So, this is your way to get your revenge, Cayel?"

Cayel smiled. "Revenge and everything else. With both of you out of the way, including your highest ranking army officer, Mirkwood will be under my command."

"What made you think the Mirkwood people would listen to you?"

"Oh, Thranduil…tsk...tsk.," Cayel crooned. "An intelligent person like you got fooled by my good acting. So will they." His face grew hard. "All right. No more talking!" Turning to the Redwood warriors, Cayel cried out, "Burn the cabin down!!"

Thranduil watched with increasing horror as they brought in torches and carelessly tossed them around against the walls.  "So long, Thranduil. Hope you both enjoy the fire," Cayel said before he walked out and barred the door from outside.

Thranduil struggled again with the bonds, but the coarse rope was skillfully tied around his wrists, ankles and chest to the chair. It didn't give. "Legolas!!!!" Thranduil called out in pure desperation but his son remained unconscious. The flames began to catch, growing bigger and bigger. Thranduil then realized that his nightmares were definitely coming true.

Oh Valar, help us! Help me. Help my son…

TBC…

Altogether now, ARGHH!!!!!!! CLIFFIE!!!!!!!

NOTE : Refer to Encyclopedia Of Arda for Oropher's and Thranduil's origin – In the history of Galadriel and Celebron (in Unfinished Tales) there's a brief account of the arrival of Thranduil's father Oropher among the Silvan elves of Greenwood the Great. It's made obvious there that Oropher and his small band of Sindar merged themselves completely with the Silvan people of the Wood, leaving behind their Sindarin inheritance. That's why Oropher's grandson Legolas thinks himself as a Silvan elf, rather than one of the Sindar.

To those who like to know more, go and visit this cool site : Encyclopedia of Arda.com