Here's another chapter then. Thank you so much for your great responses so far but please keep them coming.

Chapter 7: Dying for Freedom

It was a few hours before anybody came to see Legolas again. He was hanging helplessly in the air. The pain overpowered any embarrassment that he might have felt. A guard slipped silently into the room hardly noticed at first. He had a look on his face that said he was being made to do something he didn't want to do. He slowly wound the handle on the wall down a little; just enough so that Legolas could put most of his weight on his feet, then he left again.

It was such a relief to Legolas to finally release some of weight from his burning muscles. His legs were shaky and occasionally would give way beneath him but for a while he managed to stand. As he gradually got tired his legs refused to obey him and stand any longer. More weight was applied to his shoulders and although it was almost unbearable, a gentle sleep relieved him in short bursts from the pain.

It had been two days since his last beating and Legolas was still in the room. He had watched the nights pass through a small misted window in the corner of the room. It was the first sign of the outside that Legolas had seen since the day he had gone to visit Araduial and never got there.

His muscles were throbbing, as was the rest of his body. Ho much more could he take before he broke? He would never consciously tell Gayatil where Araduial was but who know what he would do delirious with pain.

The door was thrown open, taking Legolas by surprise. He put a small amount of weight on his feet so that he could stand almost, for a few minutes. In through the door came young looking female elf. She had been pushed in through the door and landed a few steps from Legolas. In after her came two new guards that Legolas hadn't seen before. Without looking up or even acknowledging Legolas in the room they began to beat the girl on the floor. She tried to move out of the way and ran to the wall but the dragged her back and continued to hit her around her face.

Legolas watched in horror. Her face was bleeding and was full of cuts and scratches. She looked terrified. As she backed up against the wall for a second time she shot Legolas a frightened look. Her eyes were dark with fear and her face was pail beneath the blood. Legolas' heart went out to her but it wouldn't do any good.

As she was stood with her back to the wall, the guard brought out a long knife. He stood in front of her. Neither of them had spoken until now.

"I...I won't try and escape again, I promise." Her voice was pleading with them. "Please don't!"

"We know you won't do it again!" The guard's voice was plain and casual as if he did this everyday. Maybe he did.

The pleading didn't work. The girl was backed against the wall and there was no way out. Legolas heard the faint scream escape her mouth as the blade entered her stomach. She fell to the ground clutching her wound. Her face was looking at Legolas, her eyes pleading with him to help, but he knew he couldn't. She made her last gasp as she lay on floor, alone. Her eyes were open staring at him and he turned his head around so he wouldn't have to look at her. She had been killed merely for trying to escape.

Legolas realised that his hands were being untied. The guards let him down. They untied his feet and his hands and pushed him forward towards the door. Legolas stumbled and landed next to the girl, her eyes still staring. He urged himself to get up and was pushed and dragged back to his cell. Here he finally collapsed. His body couldn't take any more. He crawled to the far corner and propped himself up against the wall. He ignored the pain in his back. There were raw red rings around his wrist and feet where the ropes had been tied for so long. Legolas curled up and tried to close is eyes. This was one occasion when sleep would not relieve him. The vision of the young helpless girl lying on the floor would not escape from in front of him. He couldn't stop thinking about her. That could have been Araduial if she hadn't been lucky enough to escape. It could have been her lying there all those years ago.

cherryfaerie : Hi and welcome to the story. I don't want to be the cause of any dehydration while people are reading this story but I'm glad you were enjoying it so much. Also glad that someone agrees with me and doesn't think I'm just hurting Legolas because I like it (though it does seem kinda fun). Anyway, thanks for reviewing.

Michelle Frodo: Yay, we met Sean and Dom and nearly Elijah!!! Anyway, don't want to rub it in and make everyone jealous so we'll shut up now. I don't think there is anything called a torture agency place but if there was I'd make a cool advisor lol. Glad you're enjoying an as always please keep reviewing. Ps. You can have Elijah, Orli will always be mine broken or not.

mousegal: The torture will stop, eventually Mwahahaha. Sorry. Calm down now. Glad you like my imagination. It doesn't always work but glad it has in this case. Please keep reviewing.

~Amariel~ : Oh dear. Hope you are alright after that little hug. I'm sure Orli will help you. He's nice like that. I was very glad to see that you decided to keep posting your story. I really do enjoy reading it. Please keep it up. And please keep up with your very amusing reviews. Thank you so much.

loveofthering: That's exactly what we need. A Balrog to save Legolas. Now that would be a funny story. Hmmm... Anyway, glad you are enjoying this and it's not long now. I think only about three more chapters after this one. Please keep reviewing.

Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing. They all mean a lot to me. Please don't stop now. Little button down there is just waiting to be clicked. Go on....you know you want to.