Chapter 17

Kidnapped

The three frantic elves first searched the entire Inn from attic to basement, after which they began searching the town. First, as a group they searched from one business to the other, from one house to the other and later, when they finally met with Haleth the three told him what had happened.

"Well, maybe the young man just wandered off somewhere. You did say he was delirious from a fever didn't you?"

Elladan grabbed one of Legolas's arms and Elrohir grabbed the other for the little human's words had pushed the blonde elf way beyond mad and it had taken the combined strengths of both twins to keep their friend from pounding the human face first into the dusty street of his own little town.

"That human is my friend and the brother of my heart. His boots are still sitting beside his bed. Estel would not have wandered off, delirious or not, without first putting on his boots. Someone has taken him and if I find out that you are in any way connected with his disappearance, well, you cannot begin to ..." He never finished his sentence but tore his arms away from the twins and walked angrily away.

With Elrohir standing nearby in silent support, Elladan glared at the human, who paled noticeably as the elf then gently brushed dust from the human's shoulder. Without another word being said, Elladan, followed closely by his twin, turned and went after the extremely worried and furious Mirkwood Prince.

8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

He felt nauseous, his head felt like it was going to either explode or implode, and his whole body ached worse than it had ever ached in his entire life. And just to make matters worse, his eyes were refusing to obey him and open themselves, no matter the degree of effort he put into the act. It was when he caught the pungent odor of smoke that his eyes finally tried to do what they were told and reluctantly opened.

He looked around the unfamiliar room in confusion, not understanding why his room at the Inn suddenly looked so different to him. It took his groggy mind a few more seconds to realize that he was not in his room at the Inn nor was he in a bed for he could feel a hard, wood floor at the back of his head and against his back.

He coughed uncontrollably as smoke from the fires outside entered his already irritated lungs and tears ran down his cheeks from his burning eyes. Then, in an effort that took most of the rest of his strength, he turned over and managed to get himself to his knees then crawled inch by inch towards the window, stopping everry now and again to rest. Finally, when the window was above his head, he reached out a trembling hand and grasped the sill and began pulling himself upwards.

When he finally got the chance to look outside, Aragorn was shocked by what he saw. Everywhere there were houses on fire, flames greedily eating at the old dry wood, snapping and crackling as it did so, while the wind carried sparks from one building to the next lighting more and more fires as it went along.

"This is it." The sick Ranger mumbled. "I've got to go help them."

He was in the process of trying to stand when he felt a hand grab the collar of his tunic and drag him backwards, away from the window. The person who had grabbed his collar, turned him around swiftly, but before Aragorn could focus his fuzzy vision on whoever it was, the shadowy figure backhanded him across the face, spinning him around in a complete circle until he landed, face first on the floor.

He shook his head, trying desperately to clear his vision and had almost succeeded when he felt his body being lifted in the air as someone kicked him so violently that it not only lifted his body but also flipped him completely over like a pancake. His mouth opened and closed in a frantic attempt to draw air into his lungs.

He was kicked again and this time his assailant connected with his hip, paralyzing his leg as nerves were pinched and bruised. Then he was grabbed by the front of his tunic and thrown up against the wall where the back of his head hit the wall with a sickening "crack." He could feel a slow, warm tickle going down the back of his neck and knew that his head had been cut open and judging by the fact that there now seemed to be two of everything in the room, he guessed that he had also suffered a concussion. Then there was no time left for thought as he was kicked, punched and slapped without pause or thought, cutting flesh, breaking ribs and bruising both flesh and bone. Someone was throwing a major temper tantrum and they were using his body as the object of their anger.

He lost track of how many times he had been hit as all he could seem to focus on were two things. The first thing was that his body felt like it was on fire, and the second thing was that he was wishing that he would lose consciousness so he would not have to feel this person touch him again. Then the blows stopped and even though his eyes were threatening to swell shut, making it hard for him to see, he could still hear somebody close by, breathing heavily.

"Its all your fault." The voice was deep and gravely, and its owner obviously stark raving mad - but then that was only his opinion.

"I have not done anything to you." He was surprised that his own voice worked at all but then maybe it was because his throat was the one place on his body that had not been punched, slapped or kicked.

The shadowy figure picked him up with both hands on his tunic and held him close to his face. Aragorn could feel the man's hot, rancid breath on his face but was unable to get his blurry vision to focus well enough to see who it was that held him.

"You and your stinking plague. You had to bring it here - didn't you!"

The last words were screamed in his face, the other spitting in the wounded man's face in his fury, right before he again resumed beating the man he felt was responsible for the carnage around him. And even after the ranger fell into unconsciousness, the insane being continued to beat him without thought or reason - right up until the door behind the two flew open.

8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

The twins and Legolas had not given up their search for the sick man, even after the fire had started, going from abandoned house to abandoned house, looking for any evidence that a sick person had sought shelter in one of the many buildings. Elrohir was the first one to smell the smoke.

"Do either of you smell smoke?"

Elladan and Legolas paused, and sniffed the air, clearly smelling the wood smoke from multiple fires as a stiff breeze wafted it toward them. Then the three elves saw as a house begin to burn followed by another house then another until several houses were burning, the fire complicated by a wind that now rose and began to carry sparks from building to building.

"This fire was set."

"I agree with you Legolas, and I fear our help, even if we now offered it, would be unwanted and unneeded. I truly believe that these people were dead long before we arrived, for the plague took the hearts and souls of the people in this town many long years ago. But as for us, we are running out of time to find Estel, so it is my suggestion that we split up so we can search a larger area at one time. Elrohir, go north, Legolas, south and I will take the rest. If any of us gets into trouble, do not be stubborn - yell for help. Now go, both of you!"

All three elves sprinted off into different directions, using every elvish sense they had to try and find their missing human friend and brother. Humans bursting out of the burning houses, bodies ablaze and running about in a panic, screaming until they collapsed and died occasionally hampered their search efforts. It would have been extremely difficult to hear the young Ranger even if he had called for help.

Even as they searched, the three were thinking about the carnage around them. Perhaps the plague had started out looking and sounding like the common cold but judging by the number of people coming out of the boarded up houses and evidently mentally impaired, it was easy to assume that the plague had evolved into something much more incidious - such as insanity. There were definitely things for them to think about although, now was not the time, for their brother and friend was still missing.

Not having success in their singular searches, but still unwilling to give up in their efforts, the three elves rejoined each other and this time resumed their search as a unit. More and more houses were now bursting into flame until not many were still standing untouched. Everywhere, people were running and screaming, some on fire, others not, some of those on fire grabbing on to those not burning until the flames consumed both. It was a horrific experience for the elves and none of them would soon forget this night.

Then when Elrohir felt eyes on him he looked around, trying to find out who was looking at him so intently that he could physically feel their gaze. He spun around, trying to see but only saw those who were dead or dying. Then he felt his twin nudge him in the ribs with his elbow and when he looked at his brother, Elladan nodded his head toward a position somewhat behind them and to their left.

It was the little girl with the big brown eyes and curly hair who had brought them the medicine for Aragorn. She was just standing in the midst of the smoke and carnage, unafraid and apparently unaffected as well. As soon as she was certain that she had their attention, she raised her hand and pointed some distance away at one of the few houses still not affected by the fire. When the little girl began to run towards the house, the three elves, sensing the urgency of the moment, quickly followed.

Their young guide led them to a large two story building at the far end of town that looked like it could well have been one of the older homes in Naur. Like the others, all possible entrances and exits in the home had been boarded up, except for the front door and one of the upstairs bedroom windows which looked like they had been recently reopened. The three elves again looked at the little girl who again pointed at the house.

They were about to enter the house to search for Aragorn when a large branch from a tree in the front yard, weakened by the fire, snapped off and fell through one of the boarded up windows of the house. The dry wood inside the house quickly caught fire and began to spread.

Elrohir felt a tug on the sleeve of his tunic and looking down, he saw that the young human girl was standing beside him, looking him in the eye while pointing at the one window in the whole house that was not engulfed in flames. He felt as if his heart was going to stop, for as he looked at the window, he caught a brief glimpse of Aragorn, being held and beaten by someone he could not quite make out.

Quickly he began to sprint towards the house but when Elladan and Legolas tried to follow, they suddenly found their way blocked by a number of humans as they tried to flee the inferno. By the time the two got clear of the human blockade and got to the house, Elrohir had already disappeared inside.

Though the whole lower floor was now engulfed in flames, there was still one hope left, there was still a room on the second floor that was not burning. Hopefully, Elrohir would be able to find Aragorn and together the two could come through that window.

Thus began the longest five minutes of their lives.

TBC
COMING NEXT: Sacrifice of Love - Finally reaching the last room, Elrohir first felt the door for heat and finding none, kicked it open with his foot. He was not, however, prepared for the sight that met his eyes.

grumpy(): Thank you for the review. Hope you like what happens in this one. The little girl will be explained chapter after next. So you lived in Bermuda? Is Bermuda a pretty nice place?