Rules are made to be broken.
Legolas and Aragorn both knew they were fighting a losing battle.
Whenever one orc was felled, another two immediately appeared to take its place.
What neither friends noticed was that the orcs were trying to drive them apart so as to be able to attack them from behind.
During a lull in his own battling, Legolas turned to say something to Aragorn, only he wasn't there! Looking wildly around, his eyes fell on Aragorn, who was desperately battling with two rather large orcs and was unaware that a third was going to attack him from behind.
As if in slow motion, Legolas saw the axe collide with the side of his friend's head. Aragorn stumbled to his knees under the impact and the orcs immediately jumped on him, binding him tightly.
Legolas stood frozen to the spot, unable to move or help his friend.
The orcs, taking advantage of his momentary lapse in concentration, swiftly swept his feet from under him and slammed his to the ground.
Trying not to give into to the darkness that threatened to engulf him as his head hit the ground, Legolas looked over to where he had last seen Aragorn and saw that the boy too had been thrown to the ground and that he looked as though he was also about to be taken by the same darkness.
Legolas knew that he mustn't give in to it, but it was becoming increasingly more and more difficult.
Looking up again he tried to call out to his friend, tried to offer him some words of encouragement, but the orcs, seeing what he was about to do, quickly gagged him. But it made no difference to Aragorn as, moments before, he had sunk into oblivion and Legolas now graciously joined him.
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Almost before the sun had risen Elladan and Elrohir set out towards the ruins in search of their little brother.
It took them several hours to find the way he had gone, because the tracks had been obscured by those of the recent hunting party and as he was one horseback, they were incredibly hard to identify.
But once found, they were easy to follow, for elves have exceptional tracking skills.
Both elves could clearly see that Aragorn had travelled in complete darkness because the tracks wandered widely from the path and frequently left it completely.
The sun had climbed high in the sky before they drew near the ruins, and as the approach, each became more worried.
Even if Legolas had not yet arrived, Aragorn should still be moving around, making camp, but as far as they could hear, nothing was moving apart from the trees.
As if on cue, a horse burst through the bushes right in front of them.
Both elves immediately recognised it as Legolas' stallion, but where was its rider?
The horse was clearly distressed and, while Elrohir comforted it, Elladan continued towards the clearing.
What he found there did nothing to settle his fear.
There was Legolas' pack and cloak, but the clearing was empty. Also, there was no sign of Aragorn anywhere around the clearing.
Turning quickly, Elladan found his twin behind him, leading the stallion and also staring at the deserted camp.
"Where are they?" asked Elrohir
As if in answer to the question, there came a sudden noise of a distressed horse from across the clearing.
Quickly the twins made towards the noise and what they found made their blood run cold.
There in front of them was Aragorn's camp, but it was in complete disarray.
The contents of his pack was all over the ground, which itself looked as if a herd of stags at stampeded across it.
"What in Valar happened here?" asked Elrohir quietly.
Comprehension slowly dawned on Elladan as he spotted dark stains on the grass near the centre of the clearing. Dark stains that looked horribly like blood and that could only mean one thing.
"They were attacked."
The twins walked slowly into the clearing, searching for any clue that might show them who or what attacked the two friends, or show which way they had been taken.
Elrohir was the first to spot this.
Across the clearing he found that the tracks all turned in one direction, towards the mountains.
Quickly he called to his twins and showed him the tracks.
"We have to follow them."
Without a word Elrohir mounted the stallion, which he still held and Elladan grabbed Aragorn's abandoned horse and nudged into a canter as his brother raced off already following the tracks, hoping that they weren't too late.
*********************************************************************
I'm so sorry for the delay, I've been away and had loads of revision for exams. But these will be over soon. Thank you for your reviews and please keep them coming, or I'll think you're not interested and won't post the next chapter.
Legolas and Aragorn both knew they were fighting a losing battle.
Whenever one orc was felled, another two immediately appeared to take its place.
What neither friends noticed was that the orcs were trying to drive them apart so as to be able to attack them from behind.
During a lull in his own battling, Legolas turned to say something to Aragorn, only he wasn't there! Looking wildly around, his eyes fell on Aragorn, who was desperately battling with two rather large orcs and was unaware that a third was going to attack him from behind.
As if in slow motion, Legolas saw the axe collide with the side of his friend's head. Aragorn stumbled to his knees under the impact and the orcs immediately jumped on him, binding him tightly.
Legolas stood frozen to the spot, unable to move or help his friend.
The orcs, taking advantage of his momentary lapse in concentration, swiftly swept his feet from under him and slammed his to the ground.
Trying not to give into to the darkness that threatened to engulf him as his head hit the ground, Legolas looked over to where he had last seen Aragorn and saw that the boy too had been thrown to the ground and that he looked as though he was also about to be taken by the same darkness.
Legolas knew that he mustn't give in to it, but it was becoming increasingly more and more difficult.
Looking up again he tried to call out to his friend, tried to offer him some words of encouragement, but the orcs, seeing what he was about to do, quickly gagged him. But it made no difference to Aragorn as, moments before, he had sunk into oblivion and Legolas now graciously joined him.
*********************************************************************
Almost before the sun had risen Elladan and Elrohir set out towards the ruins in search of their little brother.
It took them several hours to find the way he had gone, because the tracks had been obscured by those of the recent hunting party and as he was one horseback, they were incredibly hard to identify.
But once found, they were easy to follow, for elves have exceptional tracking skills.
Both elves could clearly see that Aragorn had travelled in complete darkness because the tracks wandered widely from the path and frequently left it completely.
The sun had climbed high in the sky before they drew near the ruins, and as the approach, each became more worried.
Even if Legolas had not yet arrived, Aragorn should still be moving around, making camp, but as far as they could hear, nothing was moving apart from the trees.
As if on cue, a horse burst through the bushes right in front of them.
Both elves immediately recognised it as Legolas' stallion, but where was its rider?
The horse was clearly distressed and, while Elrohir comforted it, Elladan continued towards the clearing.
What he found there did nothing to settle his fear.
There was Legolas' pack and cloak, but the clearing was empty. Also, there was no sign of Aragorn anywhere around the clearing.
Turning quickly, Elladan found his twin behind him, leading the stallion and also staring at the deserted camp.
"Where are they?" asked Elrohir
As if in answer to the question, there came a sudden noise of a distressed horse from across the clearing.
Quickly the twins made towards the noise and what they found made their blood run cold.
There in front of them was Aragorn's camp, but it was in complete disarray.
The contents of his pack was all over the ground, which itself looked as if a herd of stags at stampeded across it.
"What in Valar happened here?" asked Elrohir quietly.
Comprehension slowly dawned on Elladan as he spotted dark stains on the grass near the centre of the clearing. Dark stains that looked horribly like blood and that could only mean one thing.
"They were attacked."
The twins walked slowly into the clearing, searching for any clue that might show them who or what attacked the two friends, or show which way they had been taken.
Elrohir was the first to spot this.
Across the clearing he found that the tracks all turned in one direction, towards the mountains.
Quickly he called to his twins and showed him the tracks.
"We have to follow them."
Without a word Elrohir mounted the stallion, which he still held and Elladan grabbed Aragorn's abandoned horse and nudged into a canter as his brother raced off already following the tracks, hoping that they weren't too late.
*********************************************************************
I'm so sorry for the delay, I've been away and had loads of revision for exams. But these will be over soon. Thank you for your reviews and please keep them coming, or I'll think you're not interested and won't post the next chapter.