Summary: What happened to the four Wraiths that were not immediately chasing Frodo in the Fellowship of the Ring? Set before the Council of Elrond, for the characters that you did not see...
Four Wraiths Behind You:
Days and Nights Persuit:
"Alive without breath, cold as death"
Gollum; The Hobbit.
Beta'd and overviewed by Amunet, thank you!
Legolas shut his eyes tightly and waited for the pain to subside but it did not pass. It became difficult to hold the wound being restrained; Legolas didn't want to fall unconscious again.
He glared up at his captor with a mixture of resent and reverence. The Ringwraith seemed to give up in frustration and abandoned its prisoner in pursuit of other evil deeds.
Legolas leant his head back against the cold stone wall behind him and breathed heavily. Don't give up now he thought wearily not now… not now…
He slipped into darkness and away from agony.
"Estel…? Aragorn…? Aragorn!!"
The ranger awoke with a start, groping carelessly for his blade.
"It is I!" the voice berated and Aragorn fully opened his eyes.
"Elladan?"
"It is almost dawn, you said you were to leave early?"
"I did…" he mumbled in reply wishing he hadn't, and went on mumbling for several minutes more to which Elladan understood nothing. "I'm ready,"
"First we must eat."
The two met Elrohir in their father's library, where he has several maps arranged around bowls of bread, fruit and other various items. Elrohir explained before Aragorn had time to ask.
"You must ride to Eriador soon, things go ill on Arda… Mirkwood was attacked."
"What? When?"
Aragorn couldn't believe it, he had been there-
"Not three days ago,"
"What happened?"
"We do not know, but the South of the forest burns. Dol Guldur is no longer emptied…"
"You are sure?"
His brothers explained that patrols watched the barren wastelands of Mordor, and no armies had come forth. "The attack came from within."
Aragorn was pensive. "The Northern Kingdom remains untouched?"
"That is our hope. You know why they attacked…"
Aragorn nodded gravely. There could only be one answer. "Gollum."
"This was not your fault," Elladan assured his brother, fixing him with a sincere gaze. Aragorn said nothing.
"Get up!"
Legolas opened his eyes; this unnerved him being the third time in as many days. He looked up and observed not a Ringwraith but two bent and disagreeable looking Goblins. Elves are not very fond of Goblins, nor in fact Orcs and the same can be said in return. Goblins take great pride in paining their prisoners, and to Elves they are particularly cruel.
"He said get up!" the other shouted looking down at the Elf. "Maybe it's too weak," he laughed pulling the Elf to his feet. Legolas pulled away.
"Amin feuya ten'lle!" he spat.
The Goblins of course understood nothing; these were particularly ill spoken Orcs of the mountains, but they perceived their captives insult even so and struck at him with their scrawny hands. Legolas stumbled backwards into the wall longing to stay awake. He did, long enough for many things to happen; none of which comforted him.
The Goblins marched the prisoner into yet another room, down three passageways and four flights of stone steps. There was little need for torchlight here, they had already decided the Elf would not be staying much longer.
Legolas' shoulder still pained him but it had at least ceased to bleed some time ago. He forgot the Goblins for the time; they who in turn had not troubled him but kept watch by the door. In all his thoughts he never though it odd, until at last the master of the tower returned, and Legolas realised they only hadn't killed him because they were waiting.
"Time runs short Aragorn."
Lord Elrond, father to the princes of Imladris and in every way to Aragorn of the North, handed to the ranger his sword, and with it, a small dagger.
"Take the East-West Road past the Last Bridge, be swift."
Aragorn nodded to his family.
"Namarie,"
"Namarie Ada, my brothers,"
"We ride with you, at least until the Bridge."
Aragorn nodded and smiled.
The Ringwraith swept into the room, and it seemed to Legolas that even the Goblins trembled in his presence. Behind him came three more of his servants, the last, dead. Five arrows stuck out from its chest. The living Orcs dropped him to the ground.
"You did this," the Ringwraith hissed.
Legolas shook his head. "No," he said. He remembered everything that happened when he arrived at the scene, there had been no one left to kill.
"Then one of your kind did."
Legolas made to move but the Goblins were ready and help him back so he pinned to the hard wall. "Do you think it wise to come between the Nazgul and our plans?"
Legolas said nothing.
"If not you, then let all Elves suffer as a warning; do not stand to hinder the Dark Tower."
"Amin delotha lle!" Legolas cursed, after being pushed to his knees by the two Goblins. The Ringwraith turned to the larger Orcs to issue a final warning; "Kill them all… Let him die last," when outside in the blow forest came a deafening shriek. Legolas tried to cover his ears again from the noise. The Wraiths attention quickly turned in the direction of the call and it answered with a similar cry before making a swift exit, the Orcs following. Legolas was given a hard kick to the arm as the last Goblin left, as he was once again left alone.
In a blind panic, Legolas shuffled to the door and pulled himself upright, shouting, "I do not know where he is! The creature fled!" Kicking the door hard in uncharacteristic frustration Legolas looked around the room quickly and wide eyed with worry. They were going to kill everyone he ever knew. The Elf with his keen hearing could hear the sound of more shrieking and jeering and looked to the source.
High above him, barely noticeable and not nearly large enough to let much light in was a stone arched window, looking up to the sky. 'I must be higher than the trees,' Legolas thought, 'for there are no branches to be seen,' or so he thought, as the sun was allowed to filter in. Slowly the light brightened, and Legolas was soon blinded in sunlight. A breeze blew through the open space as the sun began to fade and say became evening, bringing whispers on the wind that Legolas could only barely hear,
Silver flow the stream from Celos to Enui, In the greenfields of Lebennin, Tall grows the grass there in the wind from the sea, The white lilies sway and the golden bells are shaken or mallos and elfrin, In the green fields of Lebennin, In the wind from the sea!
And so it went on. Legolas didn't understand the meaning of the words or why they gave him comfort, but they filled him with a new hope that he forgot his despair and began to climb. His progress was at first slow at best, and trying to hold onto the rock with his hands bound was no easy task, even more one so nimble as an Elf. Legolas tried, and tried again, and kept on climbing until at last there was nothing left but to reach up and grasp the windows ledge. Sitting inside the stone wall between prison and escape, Legolas gasped for breath and smiled to himself. If only the sight below was as hopeful.
The trodden and burnt grass beneath Dol Guldur was alive with movement, the scurrying or Orcs and Goblins, and the burning of torches. The moved North towards Mirkwood about one hundred strong. The evening had come down swiftly on the forest, and mist was settling in. Legolas hoped for his kingdoms sake that the Elves were as watchful this night as his heart warned him to be.
Legolas leant out of the window and looked down. 'It isn't so far,' he thought meekly, looking down at the trees below. They were not so far and the Elf was confident that he could make it down at least that far unscathed. The Orcs were interrupted briefly, with the arrival of four black riders. Legolas watched them closely, ducking back into the window. One was definitely his captor, the others must have been present for much of the time. Mounted on black horses they galloped into the forest, but to Legolas' surprise, they did not head North, but West.
'Where are they going?'
A/N: I am so sorry this chapter has taken so long to arrive! Thanks to everyone who reviewed! You're comments really cheer me up! And of course thankyou to the silent readers! I know you're there ;)
Amunet- Thanks as always for giving this the once over! Glad you liked it!
Legilmalith - Thankyou! I'm sorry for the wait, but I do appreciate your review and question! I don't know, many are silent, I hope :)
Tychen - I'm getting close to writing that part, it could be interesting, I'll have to see where it goes!
Ancalimawen - Heh don't fall off! I do like updating, I just wish I was better at it!
Estel_Mi_Olor - Thanks! I'm still keeping updated with yours!