Wow! You guys are so generous with your reviews! Thank you. And I'm so glad to know that every one of you have returned from your summer vacation in one piece!! LOL!!!
Okay. This next chapter has a little connection to 'Trauma'. Only a little bit, so don't get mad and tell me I didn't warn you!
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"Get the hobbit!" A Uruk Hai growled to his comrades. "Get The Ring!!!"
As the beasts proceeded to chase after Frodo, Legolas knew he must do something to prevent them from capturing the hobbit. He needed to provide a diversion to distract them from the Ring bearer. Fast.
Before he could stop himself and think about the risk he was putting himself into, Legolas bent suddenly to pick up an imaginary item from the ground, very aware that the Uruk Hais were staring at his every move. The elf straightened up and raised his closed fist. "Looking for this?"
Everything went still for a few moments, and then they cried out, "Get him! Get the elf!! He got the ring!!"
Greatly surprised that his ploy actually worked and wondering about their obvious stupidity, Legolas took some time to react. They were nearly upon him when he finally came out of his stupor and swiftly took off.
Shooting until all his arrows were spent, Legolas kept on running, leading them further away from Frodo. He hoped that the hobbit managed to escape and would not stumble upon more orcs or Uruk Hais.
Now armed only with his twin blades, Legolas brandished them about madly, trying to evade their charges and make his own deadly attacks. But they were too many. Inevitably, Legolas finally found himself knocked onto his back. He had lost his blades somewhere in the scuffle.
The elf grunted as they roughly held him down and pummeled him with their fists. Legolas was no match to their combined strength so he could do nothing about it except waiting for the merciless beatings to end. He began to feel his warm blood smearing all over his face.
"Where's the ring?!" they kept screaming at him, but Legolas kept his silence. I'm not talking, you slimy monsters!
"WHERE IS THE RING?!!!" One of them twisted his hand in Legolas's hair and yanked the elf's head upward. "Start talking or we will cut your throat!!"
"If you cut my throat, how am I going to tell you where the ring is?" Legolas bravely replied through gritted teeth.
The Uruk Hai went berserk. He smacked the elf's face with all his might and roared, "Strip him! Search him for The Ring! He must be hiding it somewhere!"
Legolas' eyes widened in horror as they roughly yanked at his clothes. Valar, no! Not again! PLEASE NOT AGAIN!!! Legolas was screaming inside. He tried to slap at their roaming hands but they tightened their grip on him, pressing him firmly against the ground as they continued their search.
Lying there totally vulnerable and helpless, Legolas bit his lips and kept his eyes tightly shut as he bore down the humiliation. I didn't ask for this! Ai Elbereth, I didn't ask for this!!!
The Uruk Hais around him growled again in anger when they still couldn't find what they were looking for. "Answer me, elf! We know you've hid The Ring! Now tell us where it is or we'll dig out your eyes!!!"
Legolas stared in full terror when a dagger was placed just an inch from his right eye. He'd rather die than to be blind forever! "I…I've swallowed it," he said the first thought that came to his mind.
"You what?!!!" They glowered down at him.
Then the one holding the dagger smiled deviously. "That makes our job easier, I believe. Hold him down!" He moved the blade downward towards Legolas's belly. "Let's cut him open."
Legolas had realized his mistake the moment the words left his mouth. That was brilliant, you idiot! You just put yourself up for slaughter! Legolas scolded himself.
He watched warily as the blade dug into the bare skin of his stomach, drawing more blood from his already battered body. Grimacing, Legolas tried to ignore the pain as he valiantly struggled for release.
That's when a loud roar of fury hit his eardrums. "RELEASE HIM, YOU BASTARDS!!"
Through his blurry vision, Legolas saw Gimli came swinging with his axe. Behind the dwarf, his face thunderous and grim, Aragorn was brandishing his sword like a man possessed.
The beasts scattered away and started to defend themselves from the vicious attacks. Finally freed, Legolas curled himself into a ball, pressing his palm over the cut to staunch the bleeding. He scooted backwards to huddle against the base of a tree, watching at the continuing battle warily.
Aragorn and Gimli kept a protective barrier in front of the trembling elf, swinging their weapons at any orcs or Uruk Hais that dared to come closer. The ranger deftly took off his cloak and draped it over his friend's naked form. Legolas immediately clutched at the fabric, his eyes wild but downcast.
It only took Aragorn and Gimli about less than ten minutes to defeat the adversaries. When the battle was over, dead bodies littered the ground at their feet. The rest of them that still breathed fled away in haste.
Then everything was eerily quiet.
Aragorn turned to Legolas. His heart constricted when he saw the way the elf rocked himself gently, the man's cloak wrapped tightly around his shaking form. Aragorn knelt down beside the miserable looking creature. "Did they…harm you?" he gently asked, concerned.
Legolas shook his head, fully understood what the ranger was truly asking. He was not looking straight at Aragorn, though; so ashamed he was of his current pitiful state.
Gimli silently came near with Legolas' clothes that he had just retrieved from the ground. The dwarf gave them to Aragorn before he walked away to collect the used arrows to fill up his friend's empty quiver. Among the dead bodies, Gimli also found Legolas' twin blades and the bow that was given to him by Lady Galadriel. Strong as it was, the bow was not damage during the dreadful skirmish.
"Legolas?" Aragorn touched his friend's shoulder. The ranger gulped as the elf flinched slightly. He already knew what was going through Legolas' mind; the memory of that horrible tragedy of his past was back to haunt him.
Aragorn kept his voice firm even though his heart bled to see his friend like this. "Are you badly hurt?"
Legolas shook his head again, and spoke in that soft voice, "They cut me, but it's not too deep."
The ranger tilted Legolas' chin and stared at the bloodied bruises on the elf's fair face. "We'll get these clean up when we get back to the river. But I'll bind that wound first. Are you able to dress yourself?"
Legolas nodded weakly. He took his leggings from Aragorn's hand and began to pull it on. The man averted his eyes discreetly, rummaging through his pack for some bandages.
A while later, Legolas leaned his back against the tree as Aragorn tended to the still bleeding cut on his abdomen. Wrapping the bandage over the injury, the man asked, "What really happened? Did you find Frodo?"
When he got no answer, Aragorn looked up. The glaze look in Legolas' eyes terrified him. "Legolas? Are you still with me?"
The elf snapped back to the present. His mind had been wandering off too far into painful recollections. "Forgive me, Estel. I didn't catch what you said just now."
Aragorn smiled sadly, tying the final knot on the bandage. "I understand, my brother. Now, tell me, where's Frodo?"
"I did see him a while ago. Boromir had been harassing him, demanding for the ring," Legolas answered. With Aragorn's help, he began to pull on his tunics. "I told Frodo to run and tried to reason with Boromir, then the orcs came. You haven't seen the hobbit running your way?"
"No. When the three of you didn't return, Gimli and I decided to look for you. We left the other hobbits with the boats," said Aragorn. He stared at Legolas thoughtfully. "Why were they so focused on you?"
"I told them I have The Ring," Legolas said, a little chagrin. Aragorn's eyes widened.
"I told them I swallowed The Ring," Legolas added, grinning sheepishly, almost like his old self.
The ranger started to laugh. "You didn't!" He looked down at the direction of Legolas's abdomen. "No wonder they tried to cut you open."
Legolas sighed. "I know. That was terribly foolish of me."
"But I guess your plan worked. You distracted their attention away from the Ring Bearer." Aragorn shook his head in wonder, exchanging amazed look with Gimli who had just returned and listened to the whole conversation. "That took guts."
"Believe me, guts had nothing to do with it. What I did was simply stupid. A spur of the moment idea, but stupid nonetheless." Legolas stood up, still visibly shaken. He took his weapons from Gimli. "Let's go find the hobbits…and Boromir."
As he walked ahead, his friends looked on worriedly.
Gimli turned to Aragorn and mouthed, "Will he be all right?"
The ranger could only shake his head in reply.
TBC…Err…death threat for me anyone?