@Gwyn : Your wish will be granted!
@bunny luver : No. It's not the killer that was multi talented. It was the author's way of being nice to the villain characters!
@tbiris : I agree with you. The brat deserves it!
@Nikki1 : Will Leggy ever learn? I don't think so!
@Kayo : Ace Ventura movie? LOL! The part when he was surrounded by those animals ala Snow White was my favorite scene! He! He!
@Fire Breathing Ferret : You are eating sherbert while you are sick? Do you have a death wish or what?
@Karina : I don't think the 'pointy-eared elvish princeling' will ever get the message that he is not invincible! Just wait, precious! We will serve you more, yes we will…
@ElizabethBlack4 : Thank you. Yes. I really like my T's.
@Volcanic Plug : Err…Maeglin? Well…you'll see, you'll see. I'm still on medical leave, mate. And I'm surely not fit to be in your detention class. Sorry.
@Brazgirl : I'm glad you like those lines!
@MysticalWoodElf : I've told you time and time again; put on your seatbelt!
@Szhismine : I'm sorry to tell you that the paramedics are all actors, or rather, extras from the tv series ER. They won't even know what they were doing. Good luck, mellon!
@feanen : Thank you for the award! Look everyone! I'm the Most Frequent Cliffie Producer!
@Aranel of Mirkwood : Are you getting a flu or something? You sound like a soaking wet generator!
@Young Storyteller : I so love the extended TTT! It's even better than FOTR! And yes, I like it when they put lots of Faramir and Boromir in this! And did you see ROTK preview? Leggy look so mesmerizing with his hood on! It reminds me a lot of that scene in the tavern in 'Touch Of A Healer'!
@ElvenEyes : Sundiata? Hmmm, the name sounds familiar. Sure. If I see Sundiata I'll tell you!
@Alkvingiel : Give me the pics! Give me the pics!
@Hobbit Hugger : Yay! Another avid fan of my cliffies! Yay!
@mystic23 : Yay! One more avid fan of my cliffies! Double yay!!
@Manders1953 : Actually, I only fainted in cyberspace. No harm done. I'll think about loading more than one chapter per day. How does half a chapter sounds like? LOL! They also blocked some of my favorites sites in my office too! Grr!! And I can only log in into ffnet from home. About the site made by Fizzyness, I think she wouldn't mind if you leave her your message. She owns and designs that wonderful site.
@layla146 : Great Orlie's stuff on disc 4?!! Really! Okay. I'm off to see it!
Thank you for all the reviews! I'm sorry that I can't reply to them all, but I'll try the best I can. ^_^
And now, the next chapter.
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"Where in Arda is that stubborn fool?" Keldarion grumbled as he stood at the wide porch of the palace. His eyes were fixed towards the woods where he had seen Legolas vanished into more than two hours ago.
"Your highness?" Commander Linden arrived at the prince's side. The elder elf saw the worried expression on Keldarion's face and instantly knew that it had everything to do with the youngest prince of Mirkwood.
"Legolas has not returned!" Keldarion blurted and began to pace. "I'm going to kill him! Stupid insolent brat!"
Linden raised his eyebrows. I've thought so.
"How many guards are following him?" Keldarion suddenly rounded on the commander, his blue eyes glinting dangerously.
"I had appointed four, your highness, just like you told me to," Linden explained. "But your brother looked at me as if I'd grown horns before he dismissed two of them. Felagund and Daerion are keeping him company."
Keldarion paused. "Felagund and Daerion? But they are only novices!"
Linden sighed. "I know, your highness. But Prince Legolas had insisted, as he knows that those two cannot match his riding skill. All the better for him to escape their watch, I gather."
The prince rolled his eyes in exasperation before crying out, "He had better return unscathed because I'm going to trash him good for worrying me like this!"
"He will return safely, your highness," Linden assured the prince before he added under his breath, "I hope."
*************************
The moment he regained his consciousness, Legolas knew that he couldn't move.
He was lying flat on his back, spread eagled and bound hand and foot to a huge slate. Blinking in confusion, he turned his head left and right but saw no one was about. The dim glow from a lone torch hanging on the wall told him that he was in some kind of a cave. The ceiling was high above his head. He could also see hundreds of tiny red glares coming from the pitch darkness there.
Bats? he thought in chagrin when he realized that he was staring at the eyes of the flying mammals. Wonderful. Just what I need on top of everything else. Nice going, you conceited fool! You truly bought it this time! He was still cursing himself for his stupidity, which had led him to be easily caught, when a small sound from his left alerted Legolas of someone approaching.
"Well, well, well. The little prince awakes," sounded the unfamiliar voice.
Legolas stared as the other person finally came into view. The stranger was also an elf but his face looked quite disfigured. A long scar ran horizontally across the stiff countenance, never to heal as it should have. And he was missing one ear.
"Who…who are you?" Legolas asked uncertainly. He was more shocked than frightened in seeing his captor's marred face.
The other elf laughed. "Surely you have not forgotten me? Remember the closet, little elf? How about the stream incident? Does any of it ring a bell?"
Legolas' eyes widened as recognition set in. "Dior!" he growled angrily, struggling against his bonds. But the strong ropes won't give. They tightened around his wrists and ankles instead, nearly cutting his blood circulation.
"Yes, dear cousin," Dior sneered. "We meet again."
*****************************
Night had fallen, but Legolas and his guardians still had not returned. Keldarion and Thranduil were beside themselves with worry. The warriors had been summoned and left for the woods to search for the missing prince. So far, no recent news had come forth after the long hours of their disappearance.
Thranduil sat slumped in his throne in the receiving hall, holding his chin in deep thought. "You were right, Kel."
"What do you mean, father?" Keldarion turned away from the window to look at the king.
"You should have locked your brother in his room. We would always know where he is that way," Thranduil replied, smiling ruefully.
"I wish it would be that easy," the prince said, shaking his head. "I wonder what scrape he has gotten into this time?" Keldarion's face paled then. "Valar! I just hope the killer didn't get him!"
Before Thranduil could reply to that, Commander Linden walked in, his face grim and his eyes were glinting furiously. "My lord, your highness." Linden took a deep breath before continuing, "They have found Prince Legolas' two guardians."
Keldarion and Thranduil were silent for a full moment they both blurted at the same time, "Where is Legolas? Is he all right?"
"Call them in!" Thranduil ordered next, jumping out of his seat.
Linden gulped. Here comes the hardest part, he thought a little nervously. "That's impossible, my lord. They are dead."
Keldarion's eyes bulged. "Legolas is dead?"
"No! That's not what I mean!" Linden frantically shook his head when he saw the look of extreme horror on the two royalties' faces. "Prince Legolas is still missing, but the guards have just come across the dead bodies of Felagund and Daerion strung up on a tree in the woods. Of Prince Legolas, there was no sign of him, nor the horses. I'm sorry."
Still stricken, Thranduil asked in a slightly trembling voice, "What happened to those two guards?"
"We are quite unsure of what really happened except to tell you that both of them had been eviscerated," said Linden, shuddering at the gruesome sight that had met him in the courtyard just now. Some of the guards that had brought home the bodies looked so sick they almost threw up their stomach content, so terrible the condition of the dead bodies were.
"Eviscerated?" Thranduil and Keldarion looked at each other in dismay. Both of them were having the same thought; What becomes of Legolas now if he is indeed in the hands of the demented killer?
***************************
"What had happened to you?" Legolas asked curiously, staring at the void where Dior's left ear should have been.
Dior's face changed abruptly. His hand snaked up and smacked Legolas across his face. "Such insolence coming from you!" Dior cried out in fury. "You did this to me, you stupid prick!"
Legolas ran his tongue against the metallic taste of his own blood. Dior's powerful blow had split his lips. "Why do you keep blaming me for your cursed luck or whatever it is you went through?!"
Dior grabbed a fist of Legolas' golden tresses and painfully twisted it. "If not for you, your mother would still be alive, my father would never had left Mirkwood, I would never had lost Luthwen to that bastard and my life would never have become such a living hell! Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Grimacing in pain, Legolas wondered at Dior's words. He saw the wild glint in Dior's eyes and couldn't help feeling terribly scared. Valar! He is insane!
"You…you've killed her…and Laiél. You also killed their daughter…" Legolas said through gritted teeth.
"Yes, indeed. What an easy feat to do when your victims were drugged. No struggles, no hassle, just complete submission," Dior said almost gleefully. "Oh, and that little girl. Did you like my work, little Legolas? I was sending a message to you, did you know that?"
Legolas glared at his cousin, his silver eyes flashing bright with burning anger. "I know."
Dior chuckled. "Of course you do. It surely is not fun to be locked in a closet, now is it?"
"What do you want, Dior?!" Legolas yelled. "Why do you come back?"
Dior released Legolas' hair and retreated back into the shadows. He went to the cave wall where he had put his belongings. "Why, for vengeance of course!" Dior exclaimed as he lifted the mechanical dart bow that had shot Legolas earlier off his pack and started to search the leather satchel. "Revenge is sweet, they say. And I want to know if it really tastes that way."
"What happened to your father? Where is he?" Legolas asked. He couldn't see his cousin but he could hear him rummaging around for something.
"My father is dead!" Dior fumed, coming to Legolas' side once again in a flash. "They killed him!"
Legolas was stunned. Sadness filled his heart then for the loss of an uncle he barely knew. "What happened, Dior? Who killed him?"
Dior rolled his eyes, as if bored, but he explained anyway. "After your kind father banished us both from the realm, my father was so…ashamed of me that he took me far away from here." At this, Dior paused and chuckled. "Ashamed. What a joke! We rode far into the land of the Harads. On the way, we were attacked by a clan of rebels. My father was killed and I was left for dead."
"Is that how you get your…decorations?" Legolas asked, slightly cynical.
Dior struck the prince again before grabbing his throat. "Like I said, you've caused this! Before they had left me there for the vultures, they had fun with me! Disfiguring me was not enough so they had tortured me all day! They even took one of my ears as a souvenir! They left scars on me but they all had healed except for this one on my face!" He whipped out a blade and placed it against Legolas' smooth cheek. "Want to know how it feels like?"
TBC…
Erk! Cliffie again! Don't kill me please!