Disclaimer: I don't own Legolas or Lord of the Rings. Damn.
***********Chapter Eight************
Legolas watched with horror as the servants dragged out the mauled body of the little girl. The crowd still cheered. It nearly made Legolas sick to his stomach. He turned his eyes towards Eredor, but his friend refused to look at him.
It's as though he's completely changed…Legolas thought with concern.
In his thought, Legolas failed to notice the guards approaching the door, which he was sitting next to. They opened it quickly, and it gave him a start.
"You," grunted one of the guards, pointing towards the man that sat next to Legolas. The man stood up. He was different from any other person Legolas had seen before. He had dark skin, so dark in fact, it was nearly black. He had a large torso and was very tall, taller than Legolas even. Legolas wondered why he hadn't taken note in this before.
"You and you." The guard repeated, pointing to Eredor and the remaining man. He gestured over his shoulder with is thumb. "Out there."
Eredor and the other man both stood up, and the guards saw them out. Eredor glanced at Legolas one last time before turning his head. But the glance was expressionless, and Legolas could read nothing from his friend's face.
The guard turned to Legolas, and Legolas got ready to stand, expecting to be called into the ring next. But that wasn't the case.
"You." The guard said. "Stay here." The door was closed.
Legolas relaxed his muscles, but he was confused. Why call in every one but him? Hadn't Curdolin planned to test his fighting skills? What was going on?
Searching for an answer, Legolas peered through the crack in the door. Eredor faced the two other men, who were together on the opposite end of the ring.
No…Legolas thought desperately. Curdolin's not going to make him…
It dawned on Legolas. Eredor was to fight two opponents. At the same time. That's why he had been so heavily armed with a net and spear while Legolas was left only with a dagger.
Glancing over at his friend's opponents, Legolas saw that each one only carried one weapon each also. The tall, dark one had a small hand axe, capable of being thrown, and the other had a club with a cruel-looking, sharp hook on the end.
Legolas realized that his heart was beating faster than normal. Much faster. But he observed Eredor once more as he stood silently near the wall. He seemed perfectly calm, his eyes closed and arms relaxed. He didn't move. He didn't even twitch. Legolas, even with his elven eyes, could only see the tiny intake of breath his friend took.
Suddenly, a horn was blown. It's harsh sound echoed through the stone walls of the arena, then disappeared as quickly as it had come.
Eredor's eyes snapped open. His opponents on the other end of the ring growled and charged towards him, as one.
Eredor didn't move from his spot. He let them come to him.
When the dark-skinned man was within ten feet of Eredor, he stopped and hurled the hand axe with all his might.
Legolas's mind told him to close his eyes, but they remained open and he watched.
The dark man's aim wasn't very good.
The ax flew past Eredor on his right and hit the stone wall with a crunch, and some dust erupted from the impact. By then, the other man had reached Eredor. He raised his wicked weapon and then brought it down. Eredor dodged. The dark man was standing in the center of the ring, confused, wondering what to do without a weapon. The other man swung at Eredor again.
This time, instead of dodging, Eredor raised his left arm, the one that held the weighted net. It swung through the air and met with the hooked club of the other man. The metal hook at the end caught the net, and quick as lightning Eredor jerked his net back, ripping the weapon from the other man's hands. Then with his right hand, which held the spear, he thrust forward.
The tip of the spear caught the man in the gut. Legolas finally gave in to his fear and closed his eyes. He heard a cry of pain. Figuring it was over and the man was dead, Legolas opened them. Mistake.
The spear had penetrated the man's body through the other side. He was impaled. The tip of Eredor's spear protruded a good six inches from where it first appeared out of the skin of his lower back.
The man tried to cry out again, but instead of a sound a bubble of blood spurted from his mouth. Eredor's face showed no pity, no emotion of any kind. He took a mighty yank on the spear, and pulled it out of the man, followed by at spurt of blood from the wound.
The man dropped to his knees. He wasn't dead yet. So Eredor picked out the hooked club from his net and swung it, level to just under the man's chin.
He ripped the man's throat out.
Legolas turned away from the door and then became sick. He couldn't go out there and do that to people. That wasn't his friend out there. That wasn't Eredor. That was some sort of blood-thirsty monster waiting to strike again.
And Eredor did. Legolas didn't sit around to watch this time. He covered his ears with his hands and closed his eyes as tight as he could. Still his senses could tell what was going on out there; even through his hands he heard another scream, the shuffling of feet in the dirt, the cheer of the crowd, and he could smell the blood.
Legolas finally opened his eyes just in time to catch a glimpse of the servants once again dragging out bodies. Legolas found himself relieved to see that Eredor was alright, standing in the center of the ring, with only a small wound—a shallow gash across his chest. He stood there staring at the ground, so it didn't appear to bother him. He had only one weapon in his hand at this time—his spear. The net was lying near to where Legolas was being kept. Looking over towards the other side of the ring, Legolas caught a glimpse of the dark man—dead, and being dragged into a pit by servants. The hand axe he had once displayed was now buried deep inside his skull.
Drawing in a sharp breath, Legolas turned away once more. He was next. He was next to either kill or be killed in this madness. The thought made him want to be sick again.
The crowd's cheers grew.
********Personal thingy*********
AN: Hi! Sorry for the gore and blood and stuff, I hope I didn't make anybody throw up. I just want this to be as realistic as possible and the real thing is that it was gore-full and gross. Sorry! Also, for all yous who have been waiting to see what's gonna happen to Legolas when he turns up in the ring…well, you'll see in the next chapter. Promise. Thanks!!! *gives all cookies*
Faith: O! Thanks for your compliments! But actually, I didn't get the gladiator idea from "Gladiator." I kinda got it from a much older movie about gladiators called "Spartacus", which I haven't seen in years. My dad watches that old stuff so I know. I've seen "Gladiator" though! Good movie. Joaquin Phoenix is free-kee!! Don't worry, I won't kill Legolas. I mean, where would middle earth be without Legolas?? LOL. Thanks again!! *gives Faith a cookie*
XxDarkgoddessxX: Thank you soo much!! You make me feel soo special!! *forks over more cookies, fresh from the oven* About Pirates of the Caribbean…I KNOW!!! OHMIGOD THAT MOVIE IS THE BOMB!!!! Orlando is sooooo hot in it, like the temperature rose ten degrees in the theatre when he appeared on the screen.
And Johnny…Johnny, Johnny, Johnny. Let's just say that me and my nine friends all went to the movie with the soul purpose of swooning over Orlando, and we walked out totally in love with Johnny Depp. He is hilarious, I agree. I'm going to see it for a third time today!! Yay!!
SEVEN TIMES??? Wow!!! I wish I was you!!! Do you like live next to the movie theatre or something?? Wow. We should keep a tally how many time we see it!! LOL.
Thanksies for the compliments, and I hope you return!!!
Nikki: *is busy making trail of cookies to Mordor and back* LOL. Thanks for coming back again!!! You get a reward. *gives Nikki Legolas* Now, having him back in a week, cuz like it or not he does get homesick, don't feed him anything with nuts in it (he's terribly allergic) and have fun!!! He'll be good, I swear, except when you don't want him to be…
LOTRFaith: Nope. Not "Gladiator." "Spartacus." Which is a very very very old movie about a gladiator called…guess what? Spartacus!!! Boy oh boy, I'm soo smart. Be proud of me!! Legolas will have to figure out a way out someday…but I still am contemplating how!!! Yes, Thranduil must be worried. But my idea is that after the elves find the bodies of Legolas's brother Ithilion and the others, they believe he's dead so they don't go looking for him so he's basically on his own. Thanks for reviewing!!! *gives LOTRFaith a cookie* Thanks again!!