Chapter Seven, Sweeping Darkness
The young boy, Romes, lead the men into the cave. It was cold and damp, many unidentifiable objects hung from the ceiling, like spider webs, thick and sticky. Many a time the men had to use their swords to cut their way through the cave. The ground was just as revolting as the ceiling, skulls and bones of filthy orcs, carcasses of animals littered everywhere. The air was filled with evilness, although the men had no natural ability to sense evil, it was strong enough to have them shudder.
" How in the devil can there be a place such as this?" Javas commented, slicing his way through in front of Isildur. " I have trodden through man places, this, I had not yet experienced."
" I do believe this is a first experience for all of us." Isildur said, walking through the path with disgust.
Many of the men were trying to hide their discomfort while proceeding through the dark passages. They can never be too sure if it was a safe passage, always alert if any enemy would appear. Romes, though a young lad, seems to know exactly where they were going. With amazing stealth and confidence, he lead the men through the cave with no trouble. Everyone traveled in silence, using theirs hands to gesture only when necessary. When suddenly, Romes stopped and held out his hand, signaling to stop.
" What is wrong?" Javas whispered.
Romes whispered with abhorrence, " Orcs!"
All the men raised up their swords and pressed themselves against the walls. Heart pounding, Romes joined them and held his weapon tightly. He may be young, but he was courageous, the orcs had nearly destroyed his home, his family, and now this elf that had saved his home, he was not about to let the dark forces take that away.
After a moment, sounds of the Orcs could be heard. No matter how great of a leader they had, always will they be the same. Unintelligent and dimwitted, they trotted through the cave banging and rattling with their chains and swords. Not noticing they were watched. One of the big ones stopped and sniffed.
" What is it?" One of them snarled.
" I smell man flesh."
" Man flesh to tear you down!" Romes cried. Jumping out from his hiding place and started to slash at the orcs, killing every single one he sees. The rest of the men did the same.
The men took them by surprise, so they had the upper hand. One by one the creatures feel, there were not many of them, so soon, the fight had ended.
Isildur pulled out his sword from one of the orcs. He looked around, Javas and the other men were unharmed, all panting with sweat over the sudden attack. It was Romes that caught his eye.
There he was, standing over a body of an Orc, wiping his sword with a cloth. He is so young compared to the others, barely of age, and yet he was out here fighting for his life. It should not have been something that he should experience, but he is here.
" Your family must be proud of you."
Romes turned and saw Isildur standing behind him. He bowed his head and replied, " I am only doing what I must, there is no room for praise."
Isildur chuckled, " So wise for a man so young as yourself." Romes gave a small smile, " I heard stories and legends of the First Born all my life, some bad, but mostly good. Never thought I would live to encounter one, such a valiant one at that." He faced Isildur and continued," He saved my home, he saved everything that I could have lost." Eyeing the path leading further into the cave, " For that, it is worth fighting to find him." Romes uttered these words with such determination it would be hard to not move on. Isildur felt the words melt within his heart, deep inside, he felt the same way too.
" My Lord?"
Javas walked towards the two men, " I believe we best move on, after the racket we caused, there must be a way for the enemy to find out sooner of later. The quickly we leave, the better."
Isildur nodded.
The men gathered together, once again, making the journey in silence.
Sharp pain ripped across Elrond's neck. He bit his lip, avoiding giving what Valion wanted. But the pain was so great he let out a gasp. Valion held onto his shoulders, giving him more pain, gripping it hard.
" Do you not just love the feeling of these needles, shooting poison into your body?" Valion whispered piercingly into Elrond's ears.
* Poison?
" Yes, poison, poison that enters your body and becomes part of your blood. And no cure can be made..unless.."
Aglar snarled in the background, he was having a lot of fun watching the elf being tortured. Seeing a creature so fair being distorted boiled him, giving him such excitement that other sport cannot give.
" Unless.." Valion said, slowing sliding the long needle out of Elrond's flesh, causing him to squirm beneath his touch. " Unless, " he repeated, holding Elrond's gaze, " you tell me what is it that you hold that gives you this much power."
His body was burning, Valion touched every part of his body possible, he cannot feel anything, his heart is burning, his mind is cloudy, everything around him seems oblivious to him. But the eyes of Valion was clear to him, he held onto his gaze steadily, hard and cold, he was not about to let his man bring him down.
" For the millionth time, " Elrond managed to say, trying to catch his breath, " I have no idea what you are talking about!"
Valion pushed Elrond against the wall, his hands squeezing onto his neck, taking the breath out of the elf. " You insolent fool!" He screamed. Valion angrily stabbed Elrond again with the needle that never left his hand. Elrond could not resist anymore, the taste of evil was too strong, the darkness swept him through, he can feel it ripping his soul away, a mixture of pain, distress and wrenching agony ripped through him. He screamed out with anguish.
The men suddenly halted dead in their tracks.
The silence was shattered by the heart stopping scream that intruded their steps. The scream shot through their hearts, everyone feared whom the voice belonged to. The sound of torment and pain assaulted their ears, bringing them pain.
Isildur paled. After long seconds, the voice began to die down, leaving only echoes against the walls.
Isildur let out a breath he did not know he was keeping. " By the Valar.."
" I hope that is not who I think it is." Romes whispered. His grip on the handle of his sword tightened.
" I think fate may not be kind to our friend" Isildur said drearily. Shock and fear evident in his voice.
" We got to get there fast!" Romes said quietly, restraining himself from crying out loud. The cave was dark, everything about it was evil, if he stayed longer, he feared that he would go insane.
Isildur nodded, " I agree with you, young one, but we cannot just charge in without precaution, we do not even know where he is."
" I think we should separate again." Javas spoke up. He did not like the situation, but he also wanted to save Elrond as fast as possible. He knew what wounds he already had, if he taken in more by whomever that is giving him pain, even for an elf, Elrond could fade.
" I do not thin.."
Before Isildur could say anything, Romes cut in.
" We should, " Romes continued, ignoring Isildur, " the faster we can get to him the better. And with two sets of people, we have a better chance."
Isildur was about the retort, but stopped himself. * The boy is right. He thought. * If we stay together, although already small, it is still too many people to go at once. If there were two sets of people, we do stand a better chance.
" All right, " Isildur said finally, " we will split into two teams, Javas, " he pointed at the man, " you lead one team, I lead another. But Romes, you are staying with me.'' Javas compiled the men and nodded. Romes walked to Isildur's side, hand never leaving the hilt of his sword. " All right then.." Isildur said slowly, he looked at each men, " Good luck."
There were two different tunnels in the cave, each leading to another direction. Javas took one side, Isildur took the other. Once again they found themselves with lesser company, but more danger ahead. The scream had pierced every single one of them, in their minds it would stay. Isildur treaded the path, not wanting to even imagine what pain could have caused an elf so powerful to cry out like that. Tears were welling in the man's eyes but he blinked them furiously back. Now is not the time to break down, he needed to be strong, his men needed the leader to be strong, if he were to break down now, it would be breaking the men's spirits as well. He cannot let such happen, and Elrond...Elrond needed him. He will not let the elf perish, not in this darkness.
Romes suddenly stopped his tracks again, his eyes were darting from left to right.
" What is it, Romes? We have got to move on." Isildur whispered.
Romes did not answer him immediately. He bended down to retrieve what ever that caught his eye. He turned towards Isildur and said,
" I think I just found the way." Isildur and the other men saw what Romes had in his hands. It was a pair of elven knives that Elrond was using during the battle. Blood still stained on the sharp blade, but elven inscriptions could still be seen, it was a fine pair of weapon.
" He must be near." One of the men whispered. The others nodded in agreement.
" Take the blades," Isildur ordered Romes, " you must keep it safe until we can return them to their rightful master." Romes nodded and placed them carefully in his bag.
" My Lord, I think there is an entrance way here." One of the men said as he pointed towards a really shaggy door. He was prodding around looking for anything else that might lead them to their friend. The door was rigged in many sharp directions, if it were to close on someone, that someone would be sure to suffer a painful death.
The man who found the door, named Gorian, tried the door. It easily opened; he took a step behind, keeping his sword in front in case anything flew out from the other side. When nothing happened, he took a peek.
The inside was just as dark as the cave they were in. No light, no fire, no torch of any kind to light the way. Muffles of Orcs talking could be heard.
" Arg! Gimme that bucket of water, I gots filthy elf blood all over me!" Aglar snarled at a smaller orc, who held a bucket of water.
" Why dunt you go gets some yourselfs?" the smaller orc hissed back, refusing to let Aglar have his.
" Why you filthy little monster!" Aglar yelled, slashing the orc with the whip he had in his hands, the orc shrieked sharply, causing the men outside the door to cover their ears. " Gimme that water or else I will cuts your filthy little throat!" The orc could not do anything else to spare his life but to give him his water. He mumbled hard as he stomped away. Leaving Aglar with another just as filthy as he was.
" What is this businesssss, having elf blood on you?" the other orc, Uluk, snarled.
" Filthy elf that master had captured, couldn'ts stand the whipping so it gots all over me!" Aglar complained.
Romes eyes went wide, Gorain had to stop the boy from running through the door.
" Not now." He whispered gently into his ear.
Romes did not struggle, his eyes were still wide, knowing who the blood belongs to, it tore his heart. Isildur silently cursed to himself, not being able to save Elrond from that dark clad man was enough, but now with the fact that he had indeed been tortured, was too much.
" Whats the master gots to do with that filthy animal?" Uluk asked as Aglar poured water all over himself.
" Orc knows! All I knows is," Aglar said evilly," that masters wants to break him. Break him goods.."
Uluk shrieked with delight. " Yess.torture them elves.they don'tss deserve to lives."
Gorain steadily lead the others through the door. By this time, it was to much for them to bear, they had to do something fast. The hallway was deep, and there was no light, so it was an advantage for them. And the Orcs were talking so loudly they barely heard the footsteps. Isildur and Gorain both notched their bows, and each took a target.
Aglar laughed ferociously when suddenly his companion had an arrow prodding from his head.
" Whats in orcs name!"
But before he could utter another word, he fell to the floor, the same manner his friend just had.
" Quickly, we must find Elrond!" Romes said.
Isildur replied hastily, " Yes we will, I want you two to guard the doors." He pointed at the remaining two men, " Romes and Gorain, we will go look for Elrond." Not wasting another minute, they started to check everywhere.
" This seems to be like a gigantic prison cell of some sort." Gorain said as he poked through many of the cells, noting that there were not any prisoners held.
" We have to keep looking," Romes replied, " he could be held anywhere"
" Gorian, Romes, get over here."
Gorain and Romes rushed to where Isildur was standing.
" what is it?" Romed asked.
Isildur had a needle between his fingers. The sight of it froze his heart. It was covered with blood.
Romes shuddered, " What is it?"
" I fear it is a torture instrument of some sort." Isildur answered.
" You do not mean."
" Yes, I fear whom it was used upon if that is what you are thinking." Isildur replied solemnly. He threw the needle across the room until it hit something with a small pang.
" What is it?" Romes asked again, fearing anything that he might see.
This time it was Gorain that went to check what it was.
" Chains." he said simply, just as he was about to let it go, something wet got onto his hands. He stared at his hands, horrified. " I fear it has blood on it also," he slowly turned towards the two, " and it is still wet."
Suddenly, a thud was heard in the silence, following with a deep and snarling voice. All three men froze in their place.
" Still not talking eh? Tell me, what is it that will take, for a filthy being like you to tell me, what you have in your procession that makes you so fearless, so ruthless? So stupid?" Valion hissed.
Another voice joined the silence, which gave mixed feelings towards the trio.
" It.does not matter what you do..I still.do not know..what is it that you wish!"
Valions fist came in contact with Elrond's face, causing him to cry out as he was knocked onto the floor. The coolness of the ground came in contact with his burning skin, the sensation of it was soothing, but not enough. His head was throbbing, his vision was still the same, everything seems to be a blur, and it only gets worse.
" I think you need more than what I am giving."
Elrond did not respond. He was too exhausted, mentally, and physically.
Valion bent down and came close to Elrond, so close he could almost feel the coldness of Valion's skin. " If I cannot break you down..my master will.sooner or later, you will be broken." He hissed, his fingers trailing the wounds that the needles created, " soon, it would be more than just scars on the outside."
Romes turned towards Isildur, " Master?" he mouthed. Isildur waved his hand, silencing the boy.
A figure stormed out a door that the trip had not seen. They were shadowed in the dark, the figure stormed passed them with such antipathy he did not even sense the three humans in the dark. As he past, Isildur felt sinister in the air, bringing such gloom he did not dare to breathe.
A soft moan brought the three of them back to their senses. Quickly they rushed through the door where the figure had stormed out. Another cell was behind, and what they saw, shattered their hearts.
There were shiny needles all over the floor, every single one of them covered with blood. Elrond lay on the cold floor, still as stone. Romes rushed towards him and gently took him in his arms.
" Elrond!" He called softly. He felt his wrist for a pulse, it was there, but very weak.
Elrond started to cough rapidly, his breathing became labored. He tried to open his eyes, but he could not. Blood slowly trickled down the side of his lips, his body was still burning. " Pain..so much pain.." he murmured.
Isildur could not stand what he was seeing, he bent down and wiped the blood off his friend and said very quickly, "We are here, Elrond! Do not fear, we are here!" He quickly added to Romes, "We must get him out, can you carry him?" Romes nodded without question, already lifting the elf. Gorian held the door wide as they carried the elf out.
" Get to the door where the other two men were guarding." Isildur ordered, " Hurry!"
Gorian and Romes ran as fast as they could, but when they got to the doorway, it was shut.
" What?" Gorian looked with disbelief, " where are the other two men?"
Isildur caught up with them, he was about to question why were they not going out, when a new voice was released in the air.
" Just where do you think you are going?"
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The young boy, Romes, lead the men into the cave. It was cold and damp, many unidentifiable objects hung from the ceiling, like spider webs, thick and sticky. Many a time the men had to use their swords to cut their way through the cave. The ground was just as revolting as the ceiling, skulls and bones of filthy orcs, carcasses of animals littered everywhere. The air was filled with evilness, although the men had no natural ability to sense evil, it was strong enough to have them shudder.
" How in the devil can there be a place such as this?" Javas commented, slicing his way through in front of Isildur. " I have trodden through man places, this, I had not yet experienced."
" I do believe this is a first experience for all of us." Isildur said, walking through the path with disgust.
Many of the men were trying to hide their discomfort while proceeding through the dark passages. They can never be too sure if it was a safe passage, always alert if any enemy would appear. Romes, though a young lad, seems to know exactly where they were going. With amazing stealth and confidence, he lead the men through the cave with no trouble. Everyone traveled in silence, using theirs hands to gesture only when necessary. When suddenly, Romes stopped and held out his hand, signaling to stop.
" What is wrong?" Javas whispered.
Romes whispered with abhorrence, " Orcs!"
All the men raised up their swords and pressed themselves against the walls. Heart pounding, Romes joined them and held his weapon tightly. He may be young, but he was courageous, the orcs had nearly destroyed his home, his family, and now this elf that had saved his home, he was not about to let the dark forces take that away.
After a moment, sounds of the Orcs could be heard. No matter how great of a leader they had, always will they be the same. Unintelligent and dimwitted, they trotted through the cave banging and rattling with their chains and swords. Not noticing they were watched. One of the big ones stopped and sniffed.
" What is it?" One of them snarled.
" I smell man flesh."
" Man flesh to tear you down!" Romes cried. Jumping out from his hiding place and started to slash at the orcs, killing every single one he sees. The rest of the men did the same.
The men took them by surprise, so they had the upper hand. One by one the creatures feel, there were not many of them, so soon, the fight had ended.
Isildur pulled out his sword from one of the orcs. He looked around, Javas and the other men were unharmed, all panting with sweat over the sudden attack. It was Romes that caught his eye.
There he was, standing over a body of an Orc, wiping his sword with a cloth. He is so young compared to the others, barely of age, and yet he was out here fighting for his life. It should not have been something that he should experience, but he is here.
" Your family must be proud of you."
Romes turned and saw Isildur standing behind him. He bowed his head and replied, " I am only doing what I must, there is no room for praise."
Isildur chuckled, " So wise for a man so young as yourself." Romes gave a small smile, " I heard stories and legends of the First Born all my life, some bad, but mostly good. Never thought I would live to encounter one, such a valiant one at that." He faced Isildur and continued," He saved my home, he saved everything that I could have lost." Eyeing the path leading further into the cave, " For that, it is worth fighting to find him." Romes uttered these words with such determination it would be hard to not move on. Isildur felt the words melt within his heart, deep inside, he felt the same way too.
" My Lord?"
Javas walked towards the two men, " I believe we best move on, after the racket we caused, there must be a way for the enemy to find out sooner of later. The quickly we leave, the better."
Isildur nodded.
The men gathered together, once again, making the journey in silence.
Sharp pain ripped across Elrond's neck. He bit his lip, avoiding giving what Valion wanted. But the pain was so great he let out a gasp. Valion held onto his shoulders, giving him more pain, gripping it hard.
" Do you not just love the feeling of these needles, shooting poison into your body?" Valion whispered piercingly into Elrond's ears.
* Poison?
" Yes, poison, poison that enters your body and becomes part of your blood. And no cure can be made..unless.."
Aglar snarled in the background, he was having a lot of fun watching the elf being tortured. Seeing a creature so fair being distorted boiled him, giving him such excitement that other sport cannot give.
" Unless.." Valion said, slowing sliding the long needle out of Elrond's flesh, causing him to squirm beneath his touch. " Unless, " he repeated, holding Elrond's gaze, " you tell me what is it that you hold that gives you this much power."
His body was burning, Valion touched every part of his body possible, he cannot feel anything, his heart is burning, his mind is cloudy, everything around him seems oblivious to him. But the eyes of Valion was clear to him, he held onto his gaze steadily, hard and cold, he was not about to let his man bring him down.
" For the millionth time, " Elrond managed to say, trying to catch his breath, " I have no idea what you are talking about!"
Valion pushed Elrond against the wall, his hands squeezing onto his neck, taking the breath out of the elf. " You insolent fool!" He screamed. Valion angrily stabbed Elrond again with the needle that never left his hand. Elrond could not resist anymore, the taste of evil was too strong, the darkness swept him through, he can feel it ripping his soul away, a mixture of pain, distress and wrenching agony ripped through him. He screamed out with anguish.
The men suddenly halted dead in their tracks.
The silence was shattered by the heart stopping scream that intruded their steps. The scream shot through their hearts, everyone feared whom the voice belonged to. The sound of torment and pain assaulted their ears, bringing them pain.
Isildur paled. After long seconds, the voice began to die down, leaving only echoes against the walls.
Isildur let out a breath he did not know he was keeping. " By the Valar.."
" I hope that is not who I think it is." Romes whispered. His grip on the handle of his sword tightened.
" I think fate may not be kind to our friend" Isildur said drearily. Shock and fear evident in his voice.
" We got to get there fast!" Romes said quietly, restraining himself from crying out loud. The cave was dark, everything about it was evil, if he stayed longer, he feared that he would go insane.
Isildur nodded, " I agree with you, young one, but we cannot just charge in without precaution, we do not even know where he is."
" I think we should separate again." Javas spoke up. He did not like the situation, but he also wanted to save Elrond as fast as possible. He knew what wounds he already had, if he taken in more by whomever that is giving him pain, even for an elf, Elrond could fade.
" I do not thin.."
Before Isildur could say anything, Romes cut in.
" We should, " Romes continued, ignoring Isildur, " the faster we can get to him the better. And with two sets of people, we have a better chance."
Isildur was about the retort, but stopped himself. * The boy is right. He thought. * If we stay together, although already small, it is still too many people to go at once. If there were two sets of people, we do stand a better chance.
" All right, " Isildur said finally, " we will split into two teams, Javas, " he pointed at the man, " you lead one team, I lead another. But Romes, you are staying with me.'' Javas compiled the men and nodded. Romes walked to Isildur's side, hand never leaving the hilt of his sword. " All right then.." Isildur said slowly, he looked at each men, " Good luck."
There were two different tunnels in the cave, each leading to another direction. Javas took one side, Isildur took the other. Once again they found themselves with lesser company, but more danger ahead. The scream had pierced every single one of them, in their minds it would stay. Isildur treaded the path, not wanting to even imagine what pain could have caused an elf so powerful to cry out like that. Tears were welling in the man's eyes but he blinked them furiously back. Now is not the time to break down, he needed to be strong, his men needed the leader to be strong, if he were to break down now, it would be breaking the men's spirits as well. He cannot let such happen, and Elrond...Elrond needed him. He will not let the elf perish, not in this darkness.
Romes suddenly stopped his tracks again, his eyes were darting from left to right.
" What is it, Romes? We have got to move on." Isildur whispered.
Romes did not answer him immediately. He bended down to retrieve what ever that caught his eye. He turned towards Isildur and said,
" I think I just found the way." Isildur and the other men saw what Romes had in his hands. It was a pair of elven knives that Elrond was using during the battle. Blood still stained on the sharp blade, but elven inscriptions could still be seen, it was a fine pair of weapon.
" He must be near." One of the men whispered. The others nodded in agreement.
" Take the blades," Isildur ordered Romes, " you must keep it safe until we can return them to their rightful master." Romes nodded and placed them carefully in his bag.
" My Lord, I think there is an entrance way here." One of the men said as he pointed towards a really shaggy door. He was prodding around looking for anything else that might lead them to their friend. The door was rigged in many sharp directions, if it were to close on someone, that someone would be sure to suffer a painful death.
The man who found the door, named Gorian, tried the door. It easily opened; he took a step behind, keeping his sword in front in case anything flew out from the other side. When nothing happened, he took a peek.
The inside was just as dark as the cave they were in. No light, no fire, no torch of any kind to light the way. Muffles of Orcs talking could be heard.
" Arg! Gimme that bucket of water, I gots filthy elf blood all over me!" Aglar snarled at a smaller orc, who held a bucket of water.
" Why dunt you go gets some yourselfs?" the smaller orc hissed back, refusing to let Aglar have his.
" Why you filthy little monster!" Aglar yelled, slashing the orc with the whip he had in his hands, the orc shrieked sharply, causing the men outside the door to cover their ears. " Gimme that water or else I will cuts your filthy little throat!" The orc could not do anything else to spare his life but to give him his water. He mumbled hard as he stomped away. Leaving Aglar with another just as filthy as he was.
" What is this businesssss, having elf blood on you?" the other orc, Uluk, snarled.
" Filthy elf that master had captured, couldn'ts stand the whipping so it gots all over me!" Aglar complained.
Romes eyes went wide, Gorain had to stop the boy from running through the door.
" Not now." He whispered gently into his ear.
Romes did not struggle, his eyes were still wide, knowing who the blood belongs to, it tore his heart. Isildur silently cursed to himself, not being able to save Elrond from that dark clad man was enough, but now with the fact that he had indeed been tortured, was too much.
" Whats the master gots to do with that filthy animal?" Uluk asked as Aglar poured water all over himself.
" Orc knows! All I knows is," Aglar said evilly," that masters wants to break him. Break him goods.."
Uluk shrieked with delight. " Yess.torture them elves.they don'tss deserve to lives."
Gorain steadily lead the others through the door. By this time, it was to much for them to bear, they had to do something fast. The hallway was deep, and there was no light, so it was an advantage for them. And the Orcs were talking so loudly they barely heard the footsteps. Isildur and Gorain both notched their bows, and each took a target.
Aglar laughed ferociously when suddenly his companion had an arrow prodding from his head.
" Whats in orcs name!"
But before he could utter another word, he fell to the floor, the same manner his friend just had.
" Quickly, we must find Elrond!" Romes said.
Isildur replied hastily, " Yes we will, I want you two to guard the doors." He pointed at the remaining two men, " Romes and Gorain, we will go look for Elrond." Not wasting another minute, they started to check everywhere.
" This seems to be like a gigantic prison cell of some sort." Gorain said as he poked through many of the cells, noting that there were not any prisoners held.
" We have to keep looking," Romes replied, " he could be held anywhere"
" Gorian, Romes, get over here."
Gorain and Romes rushed to where Isildur was standing.
" what is it?" Romed asked.
Isildur had a needle between his fingers. The sight of it froze his heart. It was covered with blood.
Romes shuddered, " What is it?"
" I fear it is a torture instrument of some sort." Isildur answered.
" You do not mean."
" Yes, I fear whom it was used upon if that is what you are thinking." Isildur replied solemnly. He threw the needle across the room until it hit something with a small pang.
" What is it?" Romes asked again, fearing anything that he might see.
This time it was Gorain that went to check what it was.
" Chains." he said simply, just as he was about to let it go, something wet got onto his hands. He stared at his hands, horrified. " I fear it has blood on it also," he slowly turned towards the two, " and it is still wet."
Suddenly, a thud was heard in the silence, following with a deep and snarling voice. All three men froze in their place.
" Still not talking eh? Tell me, what is it that will take, for a filthy being like you to tell me, what you have in your procession that makes you so fearless, so ruthless? So stupid?" Valion hissed.
Another voice joined the silence, which gave mixed feelings towards the trio.
" It.does not matter what you do..I still.do not know..what is it that you wish!"
Valions fist came in contact with Elrond's face, causing him to cry out as he was knocked onto the floor. The coolness of the ground came in contact with his burning skin, the sensation of it was soothing, but not enough. His head was throbbing, his vision was still the same, everything seems to be a blur, and it only gets worse.
" I think you need more than what I am giving."
Elrond did not respond. He was too exhausted, mentally, and physically.
Valion bent down and came close to Elrond, so close he could almost feel the coldness of Valion's skin. " If I cannot break you down..my master will.sooner or later, you will be broken." He hissed, his fingers trailing the wounds that the needles created, " soon, it would be more than just scars on the outside."
Romes turned towards Isildur, " Master?" he mouthed. Isildur waved his hand, silencing the boy.
A figure stormed out a door that the trip had not seen. They were shadowed in the dark, the figure stormed passed them with such antipathy he did not even sense the three humans in the dark. As he past, Isildur felt sinister in the air, bringing such gloom he did not dare to breathe.
A soft moan brought the three of them back to their senses. Quickly they rushed through the door where the figure had stormed out. Another cell was behind, and what they saw, shattered their hearts.
There were shiny needles all over the floor, every single one of them covered with blood. Elrond lay on the cold floor, still as stone. Romes rushed towards him and gently took him in his arms.
" Elrond!" He called softly. He felt his wrist for a pulse, it was there, but very weak.
Elrond started to cough rapidly, his breathing became labored. He tried to open his eyes, but he could not. Blood slowly trickled down the side of his lips, his body was still burning. " Pain..so much pain.." he murmured.
Isildur could not stand what he was seeing, he bent down and wiped the blood off his friend and said very quickly, "We are here, Elrond! Do not fear, we are here!" He quickly added to Romes, "We must get him out, can you carry him?" Romes nodded without question, already lifting the elf. Gorian held the door wide as they carried the elf out.
" Get to the door where the other two men were guarding." Isildur ordered, " Hurry!"
Gorian and Romes ran as fast as they could, but when they got to the doorway, it was shut.
" What?" Gorian looked with disbelief, " where are the other two men?"
Isildur caught up with them, he was about to question why were they not going out, when a new voice was released in the air.
" Just where do you think you are going?"
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