CHAPTER 9
Rushing forward to the fallen elf, Aragorn felt his hope fade away, replaced instead with confusion. What could have stricken down the elf lord? Kneeling at his side, Aragorn bent over the bent form besides him. Elrond was still on his knees, but he was sitting back on his heels, clutching his shoulder.
"What is it? Elrond, can you hear me, what's wrong?" Not meaning to make his voice so commanding, he winced as the elf did the same.
"I'm sorry Aragorn, but this darkness, it's inside me, eating at me. I can't seem to get past this feeling of evil." Now he began to shiver, as if cold, but his hand never left his shoulder.
Prying that hand away, Aragorn quickly went to inspect the wound, and found a gruesome sight. Instead of healing, the leaves he had placed on the wound to stop the bleeding had instead decayed, and were now a mess of both plant and elf gore. The wound was still bleeding, even if not as profusely. At seeing this, Aragorn made quick work of the rest of Elrond's tunic, and found that every other wound, slight as they might be, to be in a similar state. The elf had been bleeding to death, and he hadn't even noticed. He wasn't sure how to tell the elf, but looking into his eyes, he realized that he already knew. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"What could you have done?"
Unable to reply, he instead asked, "Are you wounded anywhere else?" The elf hesitated, then shook his head. "No, only these, and they are minor. They are not what stop me though, but rather this cold." He still trembled, and it saddened the man's heart to see such a strong hero in such a humble state.
"Come on, we have to keep moving. It'll keep you warm, and your mind distracted." He didn't rightly understand what his friend was enduring, but he tried to help as best he knew. Pulling the other up, he made sure the elf could stand, before reaching down to pick up their discarded swords.
"I still need you to find out way friend, for I am not gifted with your abilities. I take it that we're close though."
Still shivering, the other chuckled. "These abilities are more a curse as of right now, but yes, we are close. Let us keep going." And with that they set off.
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
It was only a few minuets later that they came upon a set of doors to the right. They looked to be of decayed wood, but when Aragorn tried to push them open, he found them to be as strong as steel. He had Elrond focus to see if he could hear anything inside, but he didn't so they moved on. They only had met a couple more packs of shadow creatures, and both made quick work of them, so their progress was barely slowed.
They came upon some more doors, but by their third try, neither had found luck. Then, around a corner, they heard laughter. Not pleasant laughter of the hobbits, but rather snickering of something evil. They crept their way up the corridor, the man staying close by the elf just in case he decided to kiss the floor again. They came upon a new set of doors, just as decayed and strong as the others. The only difference was in their size. They had to be at least four times as large, and as heavy.
Suddenly, the laugher stopped, and to their surprise and dismay, found the doors opening inwards to let them enter.
"Come in my friends, come in."
Wary, both man and elf, shoulder to shoulder, entered this new room. As like the corridor, there was not visible light besides the red glow. They looked around for the source of the sound, but quickly their eyes were drawn to structure in the middle of the room. Strung there, they found Legolas, neither facing them or with his back to them, but rather his side. Even from the doorway, Aragorn could hear the wheezing breathes coming from the elf, and he couldn't help but feel relieved. He was still alive.
Still unable to find the source of the voice, he and Elrond split up, Aragorn heading to go behind Legolas, and Elrond in front. Soon they had rounded the room, and found nothing of immediate danger, so both quickly returned to their friend.
"Legolas, Legolas, can you hear me. Listen to me, answer me." Elrond cast a worried glance at the man, who tried so desperately to get the prince's attention. He moved forward, to try and see how hurt his fellow elf truly was. What he saw astonished even him.
Oh, how could they have done this to you Legolas? He found his friend strung up, spread-eagled, as if in cross ties in a barn, beaten, bloody, broken. He barely could see any skin not covered in bruise or blood. Now Aragorn joined him, and they quickly tried to break the chain that held Legolas up. They seemed unbreakable. As their movements jarred the elf, Legolas slowly and painfully awoke.
They stepped back, not sure how he was going to react. Aragorn spoke first. "Legolas?"
The elf, seeing his friends, only groaned. He had hoped they wouldn't find him, that they would simply give up. Of course he knew they would die before ever doing such a thing, but it would have made things so much simpler. Licking his cracked and swollen lips, he tried to talk, but found he couldn't anymore. Frustrated, he again looked for that anger inside, and let it fuel his strength.
Elrond, seeing and understanding exactly what the elf was doing, quickly stepped forward and took the prince's chin in his hand. "Don't! You know you can't do this, we know you can't talk, so don't even try. And don't try to receive your strength from that anger Legolas; you know it will only bring you closer to this darkness inside. Yes, I can feel it, and I know you can. But just don't give up now and surrender to something so sinister. You're pure of heart and mind, Legolas, keep it that way." Looking into those beaten and hardened eyes, Elrond saw a flicker of understanding, and soon that anger seemed to ebb. But with it, so did his strength, and Legolas' body once again hung limply.
Aragorn had stood back, knowing that he had no part in what was going on between the two elves. He was stunned at the lord's words, but he busied himself with turning all around, looking for the trap which they knew they had entered. He couldn't see one, and that frustrated him as much as not being able to speak frustrated Legolas. He still couldn't feel any immediate danger, but that didn't mean a thing, since he hadn't been able to sense any of the darkness so far. He only felt great unease. He returned to Legolas and Elrond, hearing that they no longer seemed to be communicating. Right before he was going to ask what they should do, he saw both elves stiffen, but not supported as Legolas was, Elrond again began to fall.
Quickly at his side, Aragorn caught the elf and held him upright. "More shadow creatures?"
Trembling more forcefully, the elf lord replied, "No, their master."