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Chapter 15: Death

Roneinen laughed at the boy's fear and grabbed his hair, yanking him upwards.

Estel opened his eyes in pain and pulled back as the elf let go, smacking into the hard stone wall.

"What should I do first, edain?" Roneinen asked with a sinister smile. He reached gently into his pocket and pulled out a small fistful of brown leaves. "Ever seen some of these?"

Estel shook his head shakily, blinking away the tears.

"Not many have," Roneinen continued, "Since they were banned for use as punishment years ago. When my father was killed, my brother managed to buy some from an old dungeon guard who had some left. They were used in prison to make elves collapse and sometimes have breathing problems, but that's all. When we found that they are deadly to mortals, we knew the exact punishment for your kind."

Estel stared at him nervously, not quite understanding what he was being told.

Roneinen's smile widened at the boy's perplexed expression.

"You see…" he went on. "If I were to light these, the fumes would slowly kill you as I have my fun."

A choked gasp escaped Estel as he scrambled backwards. But there was no where to go. He didn't even know where he was.

He was trapped.

'As I have my fun…' what was that supposed to mean?

Roneinen held his torch to the side wall of the chamber, revealing a small ledge in the rock. He held his hand inches above it and slowly dropped the herbs, letting them fall with a rustle as he sent the boy a foreboding glare.

Then he rolled up the long cuff of his tunic neck so it covered his nose and mouth. "Wouldn't want to inhale some of this myself," he laughed, his voice muffled.

Then he tapped the end of his torch against the pile and the leaves erupted in flames with a hiss, quickly billowing with dark smoke.

"See you soon, edain…" Roneinen whispered wickedly, reaching up to the ceiling and pushing, revealing two large doors. Daylight flooded the room, revealing it as an abandoned cellar. The elf skillfully leapt up and pulled himself outside, slamming the doors shut. A clicking noise was heard and it didn't take much thought for Estel to realize that the doors had been padlocked.

Estel crawled until his back was against the stony wall. He desperately tried to pull his arms out of the rope, tugging as hard as he could. He felt the blood from his raw wrists begin to roll down onto his palms until all of his hands were slippery, covered in crimson liquid. But he wasn't any closer to escaping, and the black smoke that had flowed up to the ceiling was now filling the area.

His breath increased and he looked around frantically…desperately. There was absolutely nowhere to go.

"Please, Valar," he prayed. "Please…" The smoke reached him and he involuntarily inhaled some, quickly making his throat sting and his lungs burn.

Estel dropped flat on the floor, shutting his eyes, whimpering. Within a few breaths of the poisoned air, he began to cough violently. He clutched his throbbing chest and curled his knees in close.

"ADA!" he screamed hoarsely. "'DAN! 'RO! HELP!" But he knew they couldn't hear him. He didn't even know where they were… Were they even looking for him? Did they have any idea what was happening?

His head began to feel like it was spinning and his lungs felt like they were being torn out. Red clouded his sight, even with his eyes closed. His screaming ceased as he slipped into an agonizing sleep of nightmares and pain.

A WEEK LATER...

The days had passed with still no signs of Estel or Roneinen. Every time a search party informed him that they had found nothing, every hour that passed…Legolas felt his hope dwindle. He had searched everywhere in Mirkwood, as had everyone else…so now he knew the horrible truth - that Estel wasn't even in Mirkwood…if he was even alive.

And where were Elladan and Elrohir? They should have arrived by now; he feared that, as usual, they had gotten into some sort of trouble.

As Tarienna steadily galloped on, his mind drifted to one of his first conversations with the boy, whom he might never see again…

Elladan and Elrohir had just left to hunt orcs spotted on borders of Rivendell. Legolas sat with a tired sigh in a large chair. He had only arrived in Imladris the day before and the weariness of his long trip still plagued him. As always, he had come across many problems along the way. Spiders…orcs…He felt sleep come over him and his vision dimmed as he slouched lower in the chair, slowly slipping into a world of dreams. Then he felt himself being watched. With an exasperated sigh, he sat up, lowering his eyes to rest upon the grey ones starring up at him over the left arm of the chair.

"Do you need something?" Legolas inquired kindly.

The boy hesitated before finally shaking his head slowly.

"May I ask then, why you are here?" Legolas continued, trying not to seem rude. He didn't mind the boy…but it was early afternoon. Did he really have no where else to be?

"'Dan and 'Ro said you were going to bring me hunting…" he whispered softly.

Legolas smirked at the boy's use of words for the short, two or three day ride they had planned. "Not hunting, Estel, just a short ride. Hunting is for orcs, which we will not be meeting."

"Oh…" the boy mumbled, staring unblinkingly up at the prince, still asking an unspoken question.

"You wish to know when we will be leaving?" Legolas guessed, a smile tugging at his mouth when the boy beamed and nodded happily, overjoyed that the elf knew what he had been too nervous to ask.

"How about next week?" Legolas offered. "Your brothers won't arrive for two, so we'll still be back before them."

"A week?" Estel whined. Realizing his impatience, he corrected himself. "I mean, that's great, thanks…" But his eyes still looked up pleadingly.

Legolas sighed. "Fine. The day after tomorrow." Then the breath was knocked out of him momentarily as, unexpectedly, the child leapt into his lap, hugging him strongly.

"Thank you so much, Legolas!" Estel exclaimed ecstatically. "It's goanna be so much fun! 'Dan and 'Ro told me you've killed thousands of orcs! I've been practicing, maybe someday I can be like you! Maybe we will see orcs, and I can watch you kill them! Can you shoot better than 'Dan and 'Ro? They say you can't, but I…"

Legolas smiled broadly as the child continued. After a few minutes, he pried the boy off of him. "Why don't you go pack?" he suggested, dearly wanting to get some rest.

"I already did!" Estel said, grinning proudly.

Legolas laughed. "Well, I haven't. Maybe you could go play with someone else for a bit, while I do?"

Estel's smiled disappeared instantly, replaced by a miserable, crestfallen expression. "But there is no one to play with me. No one else likes me. They say I'm bad 'cause I'm 'edain'. You're my first friend other than 'Dan and 'Ro." He paused. "Do you think I'm a bad edain, too?"

Legolas gently wrapped his arms around the boy and held him close. "Of course not, Estel. Never let anyone convince you of that. You are my friend, it doesn't matter if you're human."

"Friends? Really?" Estel whispered.

"Friends." Legolas repeated.

Estel paused a moment. "Best friends?" he asked tentatively.

Legolas smiled softly. He always considered Elladan and Elrohir his best friends, but…

"Yes, Estel," he said softly. "Best friends."

Legolas sighed sadly and swallowed the lump in his throat. In all honesty, how much of a chance was there of finding Estel? He could be anywhere…and Roneinen could have easily killed him by now.

'One minute or so.' He thought harshly to himself, as he did every day, guilt overwhelming him. 'If I had only gotten there a minute sooner, or watched him closer, or not have gotten hurt…Estel would be here right now. He'd be alive.'

He neared the western edge of the forest, eyes relentlessly scanning the area, running his fingers occasionally along trees to see if they knew anything.

Then, the trees began giving him an uneasy feeling. He continued on, and plants became wider apart as the forest ended, but the apprehension only came closer.

'Death' the trees whispered. Legolas shuddered at the possibility that they told of Estel's demise, hoping it was someone else…then feeing extremely guilty that he had just wished death upon someone.

Tarienna suddenly snorted and stopped walking, pawing frantically at the ground, the whites of her eyes showing.

"Shh…" Legolas soothed. "Easy, Tari, easy," he stroked her neck gently and dismounted, looking for the source of her restlessness.

Then he saw it. A crumpled form at the base of one of the few trees left in the far distance, covered by leaves, sticks, and other debris that gathered there from the wind.

The horse whinnied and nudged her master nervously, the prince now realizing what scared his mount.

They could both smell the blood.

"Stay here," he told her, trying to sound calm, though his voice still betrayed his excruciating fear.

The animal tossed its head and took a few steps backwards before stopping. She didn't like the smell of death, especially of someone she'd known.

Legolas ran a shaking hand through his hair, his breath quickening. Two possibilities ran through his mind…

'It's either Estel or one of the twins…'

Forcing himself to step forwards, he slowly walked up to where he could see the figure.

It was still unrecognizable, so he turned it over nervously with his foot, knocking off the inches of wood fragments.

His breath stopped.

A familiar body laid there…its throat cut so deep the head had almost been fully decapitated.

TBC!!!