Chapter 3

"'Take a horse' you say, 'no' I say, 'the weather has been great lately' I say, what a great idea, thank you dear brothers for insisting," Estel growled sarcastically, glaring at the sky.

It had hardly stopped raining since he left home, he was saturated and feeling a slight fever starting to burn in him. He let out a cough and wrapped his cloak tighter around him. Why was the weather out to get him?

A loud piercing screech echoed toward him.

He could see throngs of Orcs teeming from the trees around him. "Why do the Valar hate me?" he muttered drawing his sword, he knew he was fighting a loosing battle, but he would not go out without a fight.

Then the Nazgûl appeared.

'Why am I alive?' was the only thing ringing through his mind, the only thing apart from the excruciating pain.

"Hello little Human, how are we today?" the chilling voice of the Witchking purred softly, receiving a moan for an answer. "Good, I thought the Orcs had killed you. But you look so much better now." He jerked Estel's head up. Hard. Causing another groan to escape swollen bloody lips. Grey eye lids fluttered open to meet with an empty black cowl, before he was shoved back, body slamming against the wall.

"Come now boy not so confident now are we?" the Nazgûl sneered bringing out a malicious looking whip.

"Please..." come a broken whisper from a throat screamed hoarse.

"Please what?"

"Don't...no...more...saes...lau..." was the whimpered reply.

"You will die here you know," he stated matter-of-factly, his fingers running over the lashes of the whip, "no one knows where you are to save you, you are all alone."

"Lau...mellon...saes...tua..."

"No one can hear you, no one can help you. You are all alone." The soft voice purred in a hypnotic voice.

"Alone...all...alone..." he murmured.

"Yes. All alone. No one loves you. No one cares. They would rather see you rot here and die painfully than let you go home." He continued, enjoying weakening his young captive's already fragile mental state.

"NO...Ada...saes..." such strong will to break.

"Estel, Estel, look at me ion nîn," the Witchking penetrated the Human's mental defences, taking the guise of his captive's father, "look at me," he ordered sharply.

Estel looked up to see his father watching him; his normally compassionate gaze was replaced by a hard, cold glare. "Ada...saes...help..."

"I will help you no longer Estel." He spoke sharply, "it if your fault, you got caught; now you must live with the consequences."

"Saes..." something was wrong, his father would never say things like that.

"How pathetic. Look how you beg for mercy. Was that how I brought you up? A worthless Human who could not take pain? I see now that I was too soft in your upbringing." A hard blow sent the man crashing across the cell floor. "I will not come for you Estel. You are alone. I do not love you." with that the image " his body began to shake as he painfully curled in on himself and started sobbing. Surely his father thought more of him than that. But was that not him just, saying he was unloved? The confusion whirled in his mind.

The Witchking was pleased with the effect that had on his captive, perhaps he was not as strong willed as he first believed.