Chapter 4 - Only Just Begun
"Revenge?"

When Legolas woke, he opened his eyes. Nothing greeted him. Absolute nothingness. That was when he realized a piece of cloth was tied over his eyes. The events of that morning rushed him, and a pain seared the back of his head. His hands were bound behind his back, and his ankles tied. He leaned his shoulder against a cold wall of stone. A cave, he guessed.

Lianna's whimpers reached Legolas's ears and his heart immediately ached. Just after that feeling, though, an intense fury coursed his veins.

He attempted to push the blindfold from his eyes by rubbing against the cave wall, but felt a large Elven shoe contact his side, not so softly. He held back the yelp that threatened to burst from him; he'd not give their captor the satisfaction.

"Don't think you can escape, my prince. I have your lovely fiancé right here with me, too. You try anything, and she will be dead, I promise you that."

"What do you want with us?" He asked angrily, only to be answered with another swift kick to the side.

"STOP!" Lianna shouted, from somewhere across the cave. Legolas heard their captor take a few long strides to her. What he did to her was unknown to him, only that it must've been terrible, for a long yowl of pain came from her sweet voice. He then heard the Elf's gruff voice say,

"Stop, my dear? No, no, we've only just begun." Then, a sick cackle was heard, and resounded on the walls of the cave.

Legolas thought he could take no more of this. His love was being hurt, and he was powerless to stop it. 'How could I have run off without my weapons?' He silently chided himself. 'None of this would ever have happened.'

They did not eat that day. Though they smelled something being cooked over the fire the Elf had made in the middle of the cave. Not long after, the blaze died down a bit, and the captives heard the Elf muttering something.

"Yes, darling. Don't worry sweetie, I'll make them pay. I loved you. You may not have known, but I loved you. I loved your mother, too. What happened wasn't my fault. I tried to tell you it wasn't. But you wouldn't listen…you just…wouldn't…listen."

The Elf sobbed out the last few words and wept quietly for a few minutes until he regained his composure and continued angrily,

"It was not my fault!" His voice lowered, "Don't worry. I'll make it up to you. I'll finish what you started, my baby girl. I was so proud of you for what you did…for what you tried to do. I'll finish it, don't you worry…I'll finish it…but not yet."

The Elf looked from Lianna to Legolas, on opposite sides of the cave. The malevolence in his eyes was disturbing. It was a good thing Lianna couldn't see it, she'd have broken down. She was already scared out of her wits.

Why couldn't everyone just leave them alone? Why couldn't she live a peaceful and happy life? Her questions were answered. The Elf spoke to them.

"You know, you brought this on yourselves. If you hadn't been so selfish. If you had thought about Kat's feelings instead of just your own."

Lianna and Legolas perked up. 'Did he just say Kat? As in Katarina?' They both thought.

The Elf continued, directing his speech toward Legolas, "I didn't even know about you until a few days before you two disappeared. She was ashamed of me. She didn't want you to meet me." He stopped and laughed. It was a sad laugh, reminiscent, and a little insane.

"She said, 'Please Belegorn, don't be mad at me, but I'm getting married.' That's just how she told me. Never called me Ada." Belegorn seemed to be speaking more to himself than to the others in the cave.

He mumbled a bit more about Katarina's childhood, but his captives were too weary to try to listen. Suddenly, his voice rose, and both Elves jumped.

"She had a chance at a happiness I could never give her. And then YOU had to ruin it!" He pointed his finger at Lianna, and though she could not see it, she could feel his malice directed at her. "Ú-beleg hy (cowardly dogs) running away, tail between your legs." Belegorn spat near the fire to emphasize his disgust with them.

"You deserve no better than dogs." Belegorn sent a swift kick to Lianna's body. She yelped in surprise and pain. Legolas growled from across the cave, and Belegorn turned to him.

"What will you do, almighty Prince?" He laughed again, differently this time. Sickening and maniacal. "The great warrior Prince rendered helpless by a single Elf!"

He strode quickly to Legolas and lifted him to his feet in sudden movement. He was not on his feet long, however. Belegorn balled a giant fist and knocked Legolas in the stomach a few times, then once in the face that sent him flying against the cave wall, then crumpling to the floor. He spit blood from his mouth and gasped for air. Belegorn laughed, merrily it seemed.

Having had his fill of violence and torture for the evening, Belegorn nestled himself in a corner and slept lightly, being sure to keep wary of his prisoners. Before long, though, Belegorn drifted into a deeper sleep. One plagued with evil dreams. Evil memories, rather, of the day everything fell apart, as it was bound to do.

Dream

Belegorn sat at his kitchen table, drinking the tea his wife, Esgalwen had just set there for him. She had been trying to persuade him to let Katarina become a maid in the palace.

"She is but 15, Esgalwen. She is much too young to be taking on those responsibilities." Belegorn said harshly.

Esgalwen attempted reasoning with him on her daughter's behalf, "Katarina is a very responsible elleth. She wants this so badly."

"I am her father, and I do not want her exposed to those snooty royals."

"Belegorn, do not scorn the Lords and Ladies of our city!" Esgalwen gasped.

Belegorn's face reddened, and he stood with his mug of tea, only to throw it to the floor. It crashed into a million pieces, and Esgalwen yipped in surprise.

"Do not order me, elleth! I am the ellon in this household; what I say will be done! And I will speak as I please!" He pointed a menacing finger at his wife's face as she cowered near the wall.

But as he turned away, Esgalwen decided that she had put up with his behavior too long. He had been bitter and spiteful since their daughter's birth; since he had to share his wife's attention with another.

"You may be the ellon of this household, but you would not know it if you were gone. I hold this place together. You need me, and I'd treat your elleth better if I were you, if you hope to keep her." Esgalwen felt better for standing up for herself, but immediately regretted her words, as Belegorn spun around to her, anger apparent in his eyes. She shrank back to the wall again, frightened.

He did not speak, he could find no words to relay his anger. He simply yanked his wife from the corner by her wrists. From the force of his pull, she was sent crashing into the table, and knocked it on its side. Esgalwen was shocked at his behavior. He had never hurt her physically before.

For the first time in their marriage, Esgalwen was really terrified of him. She had been disappointed, angry, and unsatisfied with their relationship, but never really scared like this.

Belegorn straddled her stomach, letting his full weight sit upon her fragile chest. He then wrapped his strong hands around her small, porcelain neck and held tightly. Esgalwen's eyes widened, and filled with fearful tears.

"Belegorn!" She managed to choke out, before her esophagus was completely crushed.

"Never disrespect me again, elleth! I am the head of this house, you will do as I say and respect me!" He yelled into her white face as he squeezed and shook her by her delicate neck.

In all of ten seconds, it was done. Esgalwen's eyes glazed over, and her body went limp. Her hands dropped from Belegorn's, and he felt her chest underneath him cease its struggle for air.

Belegorn's anger slowly faded into disbelief. His knuckles, white from the strain of their task, uncurled themselves from the small elleth's neck.

"What have I done?" He whispered to himself. "Esgalwen? Mellamin? Please!" Belegorn brushed the hair from his wife's pale face. He stroked her cheek as his pleas became louder, "Please, please!" He kept saying, as he gently shook her shoulders. Eventually, he gave up, and realized she was gone. He had killed her. Killed the elleth he loved.

As he took her in his arms and wept, gently rocking back and forth, he called her name and professed his love and sorrow for his actions.

At the door of her room, which opened up into the kitchen, a small elfling sat crouched, watching the display. She had wrapped her arms around her knees, and tiny, warm tears drizzled down her face. But she did not break into sobs, she was amazed.

Her father had taken her mother's life. She would never be the same. Over time, she learned to laugh again, but the pain would always be there. The deep seeded emptiness; the anger. She hated her father for it, but desperately wanted him to love her, still.

For she never had her father's love. Instead of hanging on to the one thing he had left, the one part of his wife he had left, Belegorn pushed Katarina away. She was the reason for their fight that evening. In his mind, she was the reason his wife was dead.

End Dream

The only good thing to come out of Legolas's punishment was that his blindfold was knocked from his eyes. And when he could bring himself to open his eyes, he saw Belegorn, obviously sleeping in the corner, twitching and mumbling every now and then, and Lianna across the low fire from him.

Something had to be done, he knew as soon as he saw her. She had shrank back as far into the corner as physics would allow, and blood ran from a cut on her forehead and the corner of her mouth. Her pretty hair was ratted and mussed. Her fair face still stained with tears.

Legolas carefully and quietly scooted past Belegorn's feet, stopping briefly to cut his bonds on one of Belegorn's stray arrows that lay near his bow. When he reached Lianna's side, she curled tighter into herself. But when he touched her cheek, ever so softly, she breathed a sigh of relief. She opened her mouth to speak, but he placed a finger on her lips, silencing her.

He removed her blindfold and the ropes around her wrists and ankles. She rubbed her eyes, and blinked a few times before his figure in front of her came into focus. Lianna then threw her arms around him and kissed him wherever her lips could reach his skin.

When he finally calmed her and unwound her arms from him, he took her hand and started leading her from the cave, keeping an eye on Belegorn's sleeping form.

They came to the mouth, and looked out into the night. Neither had any idea where they were. Legolas was making up his mind on which way to go when he heard the looming voice from behind him.

"And just where do you think you're going?"

Lianna and Legolas whirled quickly around to see Belegorn standing by the fire, holding a small dagger out to them.

"Run." Legolas whispered to Lianna. She looked to him, confused if she had really just heard what she thought she had. "Run!" He said, louder this time. Lianna hesitated, and Belegorn took a step forward.

His movement knocked her from her shock, and she sprinted away, oblivious to her direction, off into the night.

Belegorn moved to chase her, and was quite disgruntled to find Legolas blocking his path. With a growl, Belegorn swung his heavy arms and knocked Legolas to the wall of the cave. But, not to be put off, Legolas quickly jumped back up and knocked the dagger from the Elf's hand with a kick.

By this time, Lianna was quite a ways away. The sounds of a struggle echoing in the cave made her stop her frenzied running. She turned toward the cave and saw faint shadows dancing on the dim, gray cave walls. There was a fight. Lianna could not just leave him like that. She knew she could help him defeat their captor.

So, she headed back to the cave. Legolas may be angry at her for returning from safety, but what else could she do? If he was killed, Belegorn would come after her. She'd wander around with no idea of her location, until she was either killed by an orc or other equally foul creature, or until Belegorn captured her and tortured her to death.

She crouched near the mouth of the cave, peering in to see Belegorn standing over Legolas's downcast form. Legolas swung a leg quickly under his captor's feet, sending the large Elf crashing to the floor with a thud. Legolas jumped up and reached for Belegorn's sword.

But the Elf was too quick, and had sliced at Legolas before he realized Belegorn was not as misconstrued as he previously thought. The sword cut into Legolas's tunic, and a line of blood seeped out. Belegorn kicked Legolas in the midsection while he was still shocked at his injury, sending the slender Elf pounding into the cave wall, and crumpling into a heap to the floor.

Seeing this, Lianna became enraged. Without thinking her plan through to the end, she leapt forward, kicking the Elf once in the large stomach, and knocking his sword from his hand. Belegorn was taken aback by his new opponent's fury, and took a moment to gather his wits and stand on his feet. By this time, Lianna had gathered his sword and positioned herself for battle.

She recalled all her lessons with Legolas over the years for this moment. This was what they were training for, though they hadn't known it. Belegorn saw the slender elleth crouched for action, holding his bulky war sword, and had to laugh. It was quite comical.

The fire in her eyes was fanned by his laughter, and she curled her lip in anger. "Come, lhygion (son of snakes), fight me!" Belegorn's smile quickly left his face. His humor replaced with wrath once again.

Though he had no weapon, he was confident he could overtake this small elleth. And it was that confidence that led to his downfall.

Belegorn circled around her, and she mimicked his movement, staying across the cave from him until her chance came to strike. But Belegorn was too hasty, and he struck first. He sent a heedless punch her way, only to be blocked by the razor-sharp edge of her sword. He yelped in pain and held his bleeding arm to his body. Lianna smiled a deadly smile, and Belegorn snarled at her.

He spun around and dipped low to the ground, sending a leg toward her feet to knock her down. She jumped over it, though, and struck out before he could come out of his spin. Her sword pierced the shoulder opposite his already hurt arm.

Frustrated, Belegorn let out a maniacal battle cry and charged at her. Lianna dodged him, so as not to become cornered. Despite Belegorn's size, he was quite nimble. He faked Lianna, pretending to charge her to the right, drawing her attention to that side. He then charged her from the left, and succeeded in taking a strong hold of her wrist in which the sword was held.

She gasped in pain at his grip, and her hold on the sword loosened, and it clanged to the cave floor. Belegorn smiled at her, and pushed her away so he could scoop up his sword. He spun around, only to be greeted by a flaming stick shoved in his face.

His vision was temporarily blinded, and he shouted, dropping his sword to bring both his hands to his eyes, and falling to his knees.

Lianna jumped on the chance, and nailed him over the head with the heavy stick. He fell onto his back, seemingly unconscious. Lianna dropped her stick and dove for his sword. She stood over him and held the weapon high above her head, pointing down, intending to drive it through his heart and end all this madness.

But, as she drew the sword up, she looked at the Elf under her. And she saw him as he was centuries ago; a young, merry Elf full of life and love. She knew she should kill him now, she knew she should eliminate the threat. But she couldn't, not like this. It seemed somewhat cowardly; there was no honor in a victory like this. With a sigh of disgust at her softness, she let the sword fall to her side, and hung her head in shame.

A half a second before it happened, she sensed it, but had no time to react. Belegorn's hand clasped around her ankle, and pulled her leg from under her. She fell onto her back, and Belegorn's form rose up to stand above her. He reached his greedy hands down to her neck, blood lust glinting in his fevered eyes.

As his body came toward her, Lianna was in a panic. She was between his feet and he bent down to her. Her hand touched something cold on the floor. It was the sword that lay next to her. She picked it up quickly and rested the bottom of the hilt on the floor, pointing up to greet Belegorn's midsection as he impaled himself upon it.

Belegorn saw her point the sword up to him, but he was already on his way down to her. His weight drew his body down the length of the sword, until he stopped upon the hilt, their faces much too near for Lianna's liking. Belegorn's face was aghast with shock and pain. His mouth gaped, and a drop of blood strung from his lip onto Lianna's face. His pupils turned misty, and he finally went limp.

The stench of death filled the air, and Lianna felt as if she couldn't breathe. That may have had something to do with all of Belegorn's weight on top of her.

Lianna gasped for air, and pushed his body off her. She immediately drew a shaky hand to her face to wipe the sticky blood from her cheek.

She then stood, and looked upon her fallen enemy. She killed another Elf. A wave of disgust swept over her, but it was immediately followed by a rush of relief. It was over. She put an end to the misery, the pain, the madness, for everyone forever. She and Legolas could live in peace.

'Oh, Legolas!' Lianna thought, as she remembered him.

She crouched next to his still form and took his face in her hands.

"Mellamin? Legolas? I did it. It's over, please wake up." Lianna cooed, stroking his blonde locks. He stirred under her ministrations, and before he was even fully awake, Lianna pulled him into a tight embrace.

Legolas's voice was muffled by Lianna's hair that he spoke through.

"Where is he?"

"He is gone. I killed him."

Legolas pulled away in disbelief, and looked upon her face. She looked somewhat wiser. Her eyes held an understanding that only the most difficult of conditions can bring.

He felt pity for her, and the things she'd gone through because of him. But he also felt proud of her, for how strong she was for doing those things, and how much stronger she'd become because of it. Amidst this, a sudden thought came to his mind. So different from the rest, it made him smile.

"I thought I told you to run."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Esgalwen - meaning 'hiding maiden'

-Belegorn - meaning 'mighty tree'

A/N that was a long-ass chapter. It explained some of Katarina's problems.

Michelleb102 - thanks for your enthusiasm. Lol. I look forward to your reviews!
LunarianPrincess, TPfan333, and Vampire Feuer

And that Belegorn…wow. He seems pretty crazy, right? Yeah, he was messed up from the start. I don't know what happened to him in his childhood, but he had some issues. And, great father he was, he passed them on to his daughter.

I know Elves are usually very tall, slender, and beautiful, but not this one. He was a little on the large side to begin with, and went into depression after his wife's murder. All those years his face and body were ravaged by draining emotions such as guilt, anger, and bitterness. That explains his un-Elvish characteristic ugliness, I think.

Belegorn hated his daughter for causing his wife's death, but after Katarina's own death, he had a major shift of emotions. He felt guilty for shutting her out all those years, and wanted to do something for her. Killing the Elves who caused her pain. Yeah, that'll do it. That's a great way to make her happy. Murder. -rolls eyes-

Review!

-Austin B.
-Hugs-