Hey, it's me again. Thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions, i'm working on an ending. If you have anymore ideas, please don't be shy! Umm… i really don't have much more to say up here, it's just that all these authors always have notes at the beginning and i want to fit in… never mind. Tell me to shut up. Here's the story-
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The first thing Legolas saw when he awoke was darkness. Deep, impenetrable darkness. 'Which is the worst kind,' he thought to himself. Slowly, his other sense came back to him. There was a bitter, metallic taste in his mouth, one Legolas recognized from experience. He knew the taste of blood all too well. Next he began to feel the sting and ache from dozens of cuts and bruises over his body, some he noted as fresh. The drops of blood running down the side of his face told him he also had a new gash on his forehead.
It was then that he heard movement beside. Still not sure what was going on, and expecting an attack, he tensed and moved away. At least, he tried to, but any slight movement of his body caused sharp pain to reverberate through his head, which in turn caused him to groan quietly into the darkness.
A familiar hand touched his arm. "Legolas? Can you hear me?" a voice laced with fear and concern rang in his ears. He felt the hand move up to his face and wipe away some of the blood. "Legolas?"
" 'Rohir?" he said hoarsely. Why was his voice so weak? He heard a sigh of relief. Wait- how could Elrohir see through this darkness? He tried to ask, but all that came out was, ". . . Dark. . . ?"
There was a pause. Then, "Legolas, you have to open your eyes."
If he had been able to, he would have given Elrohir his best Elven glare. As it was, he did manage to open his eyes and finally survey his surroundings. He was lying on his back in an empty stone hallway, one end ending abruptly and the other making a sharp turn. Torches were hung every so often, giving off a faint glow. Elrohir was kneeling next to him, wearing a half worried, half amused expression.
"Can you sit up?" he asked. Legolas nodded and was able to without much of Elrohir's help. The older Elf checked the cut on Legolas' head again. "Do you remember what happened?"
Legolas was about to shake his head no when the memories came flooding back to him…
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\\\FLASHBACK///
Legolas sighed and dropped his head into his hands even as his body dropped onto his bed. Mek opened his mouth to say-
"Don't." Legolas cut him off.
Mek's eyes widened. "Don't what?"
"Don't say I shouldn't blame myself or that this isn't my fault. I understand that but right now that's how I feel and you telling me otherwise is not going to change anything," Legolas looked up, his eyes almost accusing and definitely defensive.
Finally, Mek shrugged. "I was just going to ask when we could go and eat some dinner."
There was a brief silence and then Legolas began to laugh. Mek joined in, proud with himself for being able to give the Prince at least a moment of happiness. It was then, of course, that Thranduil and about twelve of his personal guards burst in. 'Famous last words,' he thought to himself.
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Elrohir was about to open the door to Legolas' room when he heard angry voices inside. Immediately rushing in, he found Mek in the corner of the room surrounded by Elves Elrohir had never seen before. Legolas was standing at the foot of his bed, facing off with Thranduil.
"Legolas!" Elrohir cried. Legolas turned towards him, and in that momentary distraction Thranduil backhanded him across the face. Elrohir tried to rush forward, but he was taken aback by this outward display of violence. Up until this point, Elrohir wasn't totally sure if he could believe all that he had learned. But now, as Legolas straightened back up with a new bruise forming under his eye, Elrohir knew that he backed up Arwen's suggestion totally. 'I'd kill him with my bare hands if I could,' he said to himself. Unfortunately, several of Thranduil's personal guards got in his way.
Legolas stared at his father quietly. Suddenly drawing on all his anger, his pain, and his fear of getting Mek and Elrohir involved in this mess, Legolas did something he had never done before.
He hit back.
At first the room was utterly still. Then Thranduil spit some blood out of his mouth and growled two short words: "Take them." It was as if the gates of Mordor had opened. The guards attacked with ferocity, pain but not murder on their minds. Legolas finally fell to his knees after taken the flat of a sword to the side of his face. Another blow brought him to the floor and just before he blacked out, he saw Elrohir fall beside him.
////END OF FLASHBACK\\\\
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That brought Legolas back to the present. He studied Elrohir's face. There was a swirl of emotions in his eyes, but pain was not one of them. Elrohir shifted uncomfortably under the Prince's scrutiny.
"I'm not hurt," he answered the silent question. "I've got a bump the size of a cave troll on the back of my head, but it doesn't hurt too bad and I don't have a concussion."
Legolas nodded, relieved, before looking around again. "Where's Mek?"
"They left him in your room. I don't know how hurt he is." Elrohir stood up, wiping his hands on the front of his tunic.
"All right," Legolas stood up as well. "Then where are we?"
Elrohir looked back at him, frustration finally beginning to show. "I was hoping you'd know," he confided. "I was awake for the most part, but I've never seen this place before. They took us down close to your father's chambers and then we traveled down some flights of stairs-"
"We're still in the palace?!" Legolas turned his head a little too quickly. He closed his eyes and slowed his breath until the dizziness subsided. Then he stared back up at Elrohir incredulously. He had never seen this place before in all his life.
Elrohir nodded, uneasy from Legolas' reaction. "They took us down eight. . . no, nine flights of stairs. I counted. You have no idea where we are?"
"Elrohir," Legolas' eyes betrayed his seemingly calm voice. "I have only known there to be seven flights of stairs."
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Elrond stormed down the palace hallway, the other hurrying to catch up with him. Mirkwood Elves turned to stare or hurried out of the way as the Lord of Imladris stalked past.
"Father, what are you planning on doing?" Arwen asked, almost frightened as she caught up with Elrond.
Elrond never broke stride or concentration. "Finding my son. And stopping this so-called 'King' once and for all."
Aragorn sped up with Elladan right behind him. "But I thought you said that we couldn't-"
Elrond turned a corner abruptly, nearly causing the other to lose their balance. "That was before he intentionally harmed an Elf of another realm. My realm." Aragorn almost shivered at the hardened tone in his voice.
"Elrond, that may be true, but there are other things you haven't considered." Gandalf's voice had a soothing effect on all of them, Elrond included. The Elf Lord slowed his pace but did not stop. Gandalf continued. "If you barge in and anger Thranduil the wrong way, you are doing more harm to Legolas and Elrohir than anyone else. You must act wisely now."
Elrond let out a quiet sigh as he walked. When he spoke, his voice was calmer, "I know, Mithrandir."
They rounded the final corner to Thranduil's chambers. The King was not there, but one of his personal guards was. With no break in his stride, Elrond walked up to the guard and plowed him into the wall, forcing his arm against the guard's throat. A small dagger appeared as if out of nowhere and stopped right in between the guard's eyes. Gandalf seemed to sigh and shake his head, but kept still.
"Where are they?" Elrond asked menacingly.
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Elrohir pushed against the wall, knowing it was a useless struggle but hoping all the same. His energy finally spent, he slid into a seated position next to Legolas, panting slightly. "It's official," he said. Legolas raised an eyebrow. "The hidden trap door they used to put us in here cannot be found."
Legolas was able to keep a straight face. "Hence its name."
Elrohir would have glared, but his eternal optimism kicked in. "Then there must be some other way out." He nodded his head towards the end of the hallway. "Shall we?"
The two Elves stood up and began walking. After the first turn they came to another hallway with a fork in the pathway. "Left or right?" Legolas turned to his friend. Elrohir studied the two passageways before tentatively nodding towards the left. Legolas shrugged in response and they turned left. Soon, however, the two came to a dead end.
"What?!" Elrohir said aloud. He studied the wall while Legolas stood deep in thought. He suddenly looked up. A second later, Elrohir did as well. The same thought had just crossed both their minds.
"Does this look like a-"
"Don't say it Legolas," Elrohir groaned. They looked at each other.
"It's a maze," they said together.
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"My Lord Elrond, I don't-" the guard's breath was cut off as Elrond's arm tightened against his throat.
"Listen to me, ingrate. I don't care what your 'King' has told you to say or what he'll do to you otherwise. Right now, my son and your Prince, whom I also consider a son, are missing and I believe I am beyond logical reason at this point. If you don't tell me where they are, what do you think I'll do to you?" all the while as he talked, Elrond's voice became lower and colder and the guard's face became paler. The dagger inched closer.
"Father. . ." Arwen said softly. Elrond turned and looked into her wide eyes. Out of the sight of the guard, he gave her a quick wink before turning back angrily.
"Well?" he asked.
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Elrohir led the way into the next left turn and nearly broke his nose when it became another dead end. "I think left turns are starting to become bad luck," he told Legolas, feeling his face to make sure everything was still there.
Legolas stared at him for a moment. "Elrohir, think back on what has happened this day. You think we're 'starting' to have bad luck?"
This time Elrohir did glare. "What I can't understand," he said, deciding to change the subject, "is how your father built this thing without you or anyone else knowing."
Legolas shook his head. "Do you see how old these stones are?" he traced a finger across a brick in the wall. "I'm willing to bet this has been here much longer than my father, maybe even his father, has. Besides-"
The two elves stopped in mid-step before Legolas could finish his thought. They had just come to an open chamber, almost a large room, in the maze. There were two lone torches hanging from either side, and the only way out was directly across from them. However, in between this hall and the two Elves was a large, lean, and thankfully sleeping Warg. Parts of bone and skeletons were littered around its huge form.
"Have you ever seen a Warg that big?" Elrohir whispered to his friend, feeling the panic starting to well up in his stomach. Legolas turned to him, but the expression on his face answered him before any words came out.
"I've never seen anything that big," the Prince answered just as softly before cursing under his breath. "Just another piece of my father's sick mind, I guess."
Elrohir was about to suggest they somehow creep by the sleeping beast when the torches on the wall suddenly and frighteningly blinked out. 'As if this was planned,' the disturbed thought entered his mind. Out loud, still quietly, he gave a sigh of frustration. "Can this possibly get any worse?" he asked Legolas.
The feral growl in the darkness somewhere behind them was his answer. . .
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Was that it? My first real cliff-hanger? I hope so. Oh- my friend was reading this chapter over my shoulder and asked why Arwen and the other Elves didn't call Elrond "Ada" or "Adar" or anything else. My explanation is (to anyone else who might have possibly had this question) that all of the dialogue and conversations in this story are spoken in Elvish, so it would be overly redundant and needless to use Elvish words. I might use them in the next chapter in an inscription or something, but for the record- anything spoken is in Elvish. That's all, folks! See ya next chapter!