Sue: you're right – under normal circumstances he wouldn't beg the orcs because he knows it won't do him any good. So can you imagine what terror he must be in to give it a try anyways?

Disclaimer: I don't own them, just wish that I did… sigh. They belong to the wonderful professor named J.R.R Tolkien…

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Chapter 3

Legolas was concerned. Darkness and a sense of foreboding had crept in his heart when he heard the howling of wargs. Orcs were sure to be near. He looked up, startled, when he heard a screech. It sounded like something was injured.

Estel!

He turned his horse towards where he had heard the sound and urged it on. Aragorn was in trouble! He was only ten minutes in his ride when he heard a terrible scream, soon followed by another. There was no mistaking it – that had been the agonized voice of his friend!

Legolas halted his horse. Orcs had captured Estel, there was no doubt about this. He had to be silent and see how many there were; it would do neither him nor Estel any good if he went in blind and they both ended up dead because of his foolishness.

He silently went further, urging his horse to following them from a safe distance. It was some time later when he entered a clearing of sorts. He recognized Estel's horse – dead, a black feathered arrow piercing its chest. Near the animal lay Estel's pack and Legolas picked it up as he started reading the signs. He saw the prints of many orcs and some of wargs. They had left about half an hour before he had arrived. Legolas followed the signs and stumbled upon some new ones. It seemed that at this point the orcs had been carrying No, dragging something with them. There also was blood in the clearing: Estel's.

Angered by the orcs, Legolas swiftly followed the trail. It dead ended when it lead to a rock plateau high up the waterfall. The elf stayed for a moment in the safety of the forest, listening for any sounds. He heard it, far away – the orcs! They had changed course completely, leading away from the waterfall and heading back the way they had come from. Legolas frowned. Why were they walking in circles?

Confused, Legolas searched the ground with his eyes, hoping for any sign that could tell him where his young friend was. His eyes found what they were looking for when he saw blood on the ground.

All right, so you passed here. But where are you now, my friend?

He searched the ground for any more signs, but there were none. He walked a little further ahead, nearer the waterfall when his eyes stumbled upon it. There was a hole in the ground! Quickly, he hurried to the hole and looked inside. At the edge of his vision he noticed something lying that did not fit into the scenery, but he did not care for what it was at the moment.

He was both relieved and concerned at the same time. He had found his friend, but there was water filling up the cave. It was already up to the human's neck!

Legolas went inside the cave and examined his friend more closely. He was bleeding from a gash on the side of his face. He was staring ahead, shivering in the freezing water, not seeming to notice the arrival of his friend. His lips were moving soundlessly.

"Estel?" Legolas said softly.

For a while, there was no reaction, so Legolas repeated his query. Estel slowly looked up, his eyes glassy, not really seeing the elf before him.

"How are you doing, my friend?" He asked.

When there was no answer, Legolas gently felt Estel's body for broken bones or other wounds. He turned grim when he felt the man's broken ribs and he moved further down. Estel's arms were held prisoner by shackles around the stalactite he was sitting against. Now the elf moved on to the man's legs. Estel breathed in sharply at even the slightest touch and started fighting his bonds.

Legolas whispered soothingly to him in elvish until his friend calmed somewhat, stroking the hair out of the young one's eyes. He closed his eyes for a second, dismayed and horrified by the state of Estel's legs; they had been cruelly broken.

But now his friend needed to get out of this cave – immediately! The water was rising fast! Yet how to get the shackles off? Legolas suddenly remembered the thing that had been lying outside. Envisioning it in his mind, he recognized them as metal keys. He turned around and started climbing his way out of the cave, his mind set on retrieving the keys to try them out, when Estel shouted at him, sounding hysteric.

 "Don't leave me! Please… Legolas, don't leave me…" Estel's voice became a whisper. "… like they did." Legolas turned around, catching the whisper. His heart was breaking for his friend, but he needed the keys.

"Estel, I'll be right back. I need the keys to get you out of here."

The ranger was shaking his head slowly the entire time. He started to breathe faster and faster – not seeming to get the air he needed and, concerned, Legolas returned to his side. He touched his friend's cheek, it felt cold. "Estel? Breathe deeply, slowly, come on. Breathe in for me…"

Estel did not seem to hear him, but he calmed down some when he felt the touch of his friend. His glazed eyes met those of the elf and he whispered in a small voice: "Don't leave me."

Legolas stroked his cheek. "I won't." Legolas thought deeply on what to do. Suddenly, he had it. He took the smallest of his elven knives and went behind his friend. He started picking the lock on one of the shackles. Legolas had not done this many times and Estel started to struggle, trying to get free from the shackles, but only injuring himself further. Legolas started murmuring soothingly in elvish, calming his friend down ere he cut him with the sharp knife. After a couple of minutes, it was free – and none too soon. The water had reached the top of Estel's lips and it seemed that the human was having difficulties breathing again, staring unseeing ahead of him, as if remembering something.

"It's a good thing that you taught me some human tricks, Estel. They certainly come in handy." He said to bring the ranger's mind to other thoughts. He carefully took Estel in his arms and laid him over one shoulder, careful of his injured ribs. Estel gave a soft cry and then went limp in the elf's grip – he had lost consciousness. Thankful that his friend wouldn't feel the oncoming pain the jostling certainly would bring, he climbed out of the cave with his precious charge.

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TBC