The Wrong One

By Nefhiriel

A/N: Wahoo! Such wonderful feedback – thank you all so much! (I know I keep saying that over and over, but I mean it every single time I say it : )

"Never explain--True friends don't need it and your enemies won't believe you anyway."

-Author Unknown

Chapter 13: Past Breaking Point

In amazement, Legolas watched as two elves, swords drawn, emerged from the trees at his right. Even as he rolled his eyes, he began to run down the slanting ridge. He would have known the two black-haired Noldor anywhere, if not by their faces, certainly by the futile insanity of their mission.

Legolas came to level ground and ran out to join the twins, just as they were approaching the first circle of fires.

"Legolas?" Elrohir risked a glance back to look at Legolas. "How did you get here?"

"What on earth are you two doing?" Legolas ignored the question and asked one of his own.

"Getting Estel." Elladan said evenly.

"All you're going to get is a lot of trouble!" Legolas whispered fiercely, at the same time drawing out his white knives.

They approached the first circle of fires. The occupants of the camp were still oblivious to their presence, either being asleep or having their attention on the prisoner. Even two of the sentries' attention had been somewhat diverted by the excitement in the middle of the camp. They passed the first and then the second circle before their existence was noticed.

Panicked men groped for their weapons and clumsily jumped to their feet.

Picking out one man who still stood in shock, mouth gaping in a particularly stupid expression, Legolas twirled his knives and smiled menacingly. The man saw the smiling eleven warrior and nearly ran, but at the last minute gulped and shakily managed to raise his sword. After a few lumbering swings on the man's part, Legolas gracefully ducked and knocked him on the head, rendering him immediately unconscious.

Elrohir found himself fighting with a man who was perhaps less cowardly, but by no means a better swordsman. The man slashed at him quickly and without any precision, using a broadsword much heavier and more awkward than his hand-and-a-half, elven-forged blade. The only disadvantage Elrohir was presented with was that he was trying to defeat the man without killing him. His opponent had no such scruples. For the most part Elrohir contented himself with easily dodging the disorganized hacking of his enemy, all the while looking for an opening. Finally he got his chance. Raising his sword, the man swung it horizontally at his head. Elrohir ducked and lunged in one swift movement, wounding the man in his left arm. With a yelp the man lowered his sword. Elrohir took advantage of the small reprieve to land a blow to the side of his head.

Elladan was having a hard time finding a soul brave enough to encounter him and his blazing eyes. He had just found one brave enough (or possibly merely stupid enough) when a clear, bold voice rang out above the clashing of weapons.

Acharndil had been watching calmly as the three elves fearlessly downed one man after man. He noted, with a smile, the chivalry that led them to spare all the lives of his men. Now he drew his dagger and walked over to the struggling ranger, nonchalantly placing his dagger to his throat.

"It would appear your brothers have fallen for my bait." Acharndil mocked his helplessness, "And I even got a little more than I at first anticipated. That wood-elf is certainly loyal. I half didn't expect him to come this far—for a mere human."

Filled with confidence from the knowledge of the inevitable response his actions would earn, he let his voice carry above the conflict.

"Surrender now, or the ranger dies!"

Three pairs of elven eyes were immediately riveted on Acharndil and the resistant Aragorn, who was even now struggling so hard that the knife was biting into his neck.

"I warn you," Acharndil continued, "wait one more minute and I will not hesitate to cut his throat!" he had all their attention. "Now hand over your weapons!"

Not wavering from doing what was required to save Aragorn's life, they relinquished their arms to the sneering men who, now the fighting was over, hurried to the forefront. More men, emboldened by the elves' compliance, tied their hands behind their backs and maneuvered them over to Acharndil.

"Just look what they'll do for you, ranger. You must be extremely proud of your admirable and devoted brothers and elven friend. They are extremely loyal, if somewhat predictable."

Aragorn listened dejectedly as Elladan, Elrohir, and Legolas were dragged toward him.

"Very proud." he said without a hint of the sarcasm his captor had used.

Very proud, but not a little exasperated. He added to himself.

Acharndil released the dagger and smiled congenially as he walked back and forth in front of his three new prisoners. He grinned especially wide and stopped when he came to the twins.

"How kind of you to join us."

"Who are you? What do you want?" Elladan spoke up boldly.

"I want revenge." Acharndil replied simply, as if it was a matter of course.

"Revenge for what? We don't even know you!" Elrohir protested.

"Don't you, sons of Elrond?"

Elladan and Elrohir stared blankly.

"Oh come my Lords! Elves are suppose to have amazing memories. Turn your minds back thirty years ago. Surely you remember a ten-year-old boy whose family you killed? No? You don't remember such trivial things? Or maybe there are just too many similar situations for you to keep track of one small incident?"

"We murdered no one!" Elladan exclaimed indignantly.

"You persuaded this boy's father to go on a 'necessary' hunt to kill wargs. You said there was an overabundance and they were becoming a problem to the surrounding villages." remembrance began to dawn in the eyes of the Noldor elves. Acharndil saw this and smiled contemptuously. "No one in our village had ever had any such 'problems', but you were insistent. They were a danger, a hazard that had to be stamped out before they multiplied. So my father, good man that he was, volunteered as one of the ten men that went. He never returned. A few hours later word was brought that he was dead: overwhelmed by a pack of wargs."

"We are all sorry for your loss, but you can not blame his death on Elladan and Elrohir!" Legolas spoke up. "They only hunted the wargs to protect your villages, and your father volunteered because he wanted to protect you."

"As I said before, there was no need for him to go. None of us had ever had a problem before. And if you had not been stirring them up, there would never have been a problem. His death was needless, as was the death of my mother and brother." Acharndil's voice was growing steadily louder and more bitter. "My mother was a good woman. She tried, I know she tried, but she loved him so much. Six months she held on, I think it was only to care for us, all the while I could see her grief eating away at her. Finally she just couldn't go on." he laughed bitterly, "People always say that there is no such thing as 'dying of a broken-heart', at least not for humans. They're wrong. There is such a thing, I know. And my younger brother, he was never very healthy. Always getting sick and never fully recovering. No mother, no father—so how long do you think he lasted? He was so sweet, Hadron was..." for the first time his voice became soft and he looked down at the ground. "He was always tagging along behind me, trusting me to protect him until the very end." he looked up and the bitterness had returned. "My father died because of you, my mother died because of you and Hadron died because you! I lost my entire family in less than a year—all because of you."

"Neither of them is responsible." Aragorn went on, despite Acharndil's withering glare. "It is the wargs, and the evil creatures who bred the foul beasts, that are responsible."

"Please," Elrohir's quiet voice pleaded, "take your revenge if you must, but let Legolas and Estel go. They have nothing to do with this."

"Ha!" Acharndil snorted, "Do you actually think I would have any mercy left for you after what you've done?" he turned his back on them.

He'd had enough. What he needed was time to think things through. Now that he had them, he had to figure out what was the best way to exact his revenge. What was the worst possible thing he could do to make them pay?

"Dagron." he called his second-in-command over to him, "Have the men take the prisoners over there and tie them more securely." he motioned over to some trees near the center of the camp.

"We're not to take them to the cave, chief?"

"No. I want them in sight and ten men guarding them at all times."

Acharndil sighed contentedly as he watched Dagron and his men tie the captives to trees. Death was too good for them. There had to be another way...

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Moranuen and Dolenil sat in uncomfortable silence. An hour had passed, bringing with it not a sign of Legolas, Elladan, or Elrohir.

"I'm not waiting any longer." Moranuen broke the silence. "They should have been back by now."

Dolenil's answer was to pick up his pack. He too had had enough waiting.

They followed the river until they came to the same prints that their friend had found. The only difference was that now there was the almost undecipherable imprints of three pairs of elven boots.

"Sweet Eru, no!" Moranuen groaned.

Dolenil, who had been slightly behind, came up beside him.

"What's happened?"

"I'll tell you what's happened! Those two irresponsible, reckless, thick-skulled dimwits found the trail and left to follow it without so much as calling back to us! And Legolas is no better. It looks like he found the trail first and did the same thing as the twins. You would think you could expect more from two elf-lords and a prince."

"What are they expecting to do when they find Acharndil? He probably has a number of men with him."

"Oh, knowing them, they plan on single-handedly subduing all of them, whether there be one or one-hundred."

Moranuen stopped his rant when he noticed the completely expressionless face of his companion. Retaining his dead-pan expression, Dolenil knelt by the prints. Both their eyes followed the tracks off into the woods.

"They have a good start on us." Moranuen sighed. "So what shall we do now?"

"Following is all that we can do."

An hour later they were deep in the woods. Hardly a word had been spoken and Moranuen was starting to feel decidedly uncomfortable. His nerves were on edge from worrying about his friends, and the Silvan elf's complete silence, along with his immobile face, proved absolutely alarming. He wondered if it was normal for the elf to be so stern, or if he "loosened up" a little when at home in his own woods. Somehow he doubted it. Every once in awhile he would glance at Dolenil, only to find the same unalterable elf. All elves have good posture, but Dolenil's stance was so stiff he was sure he could easily have kept a book balanced on his head for the entire trip.

Dolenil crouched next to the trail and then straitened. Moranuen noted bemusedly that his fitted, green clothes hardly creased during all his movements. When he stood up there wasn't a wrinkle or a speck of dirt to be seen. Naturally, Moranuen posessed the cleanliness native to all elves, but really after all the trekking through underbrush they'd been doing... Even for an elf, Dolenil had an uncanny ability to appear absolutly unruffled.

Moranuen was just beginning to hypothesize on how Dolenil managed to keep his hair in such abselutely perfect order even with the branches catching at it, when the object of his scrutiny motioned him to stop.

"Their foot prints split off from the Acharndil's and lead off over this way."

Moranuen looked at the tracks and nodded.

"Listen, can you hear it?"

They followed the sounds to the same ridge that recently their friends had found. Below them was the camp, and a scene that made them both take a sharp intake of breath.

After he'd finished processing the fact the his three friends had gotten themselves caught, Moranuen hung his head and sighed.

"It would seem we are too late." Dolenil spoke what they were both thinking.

Neither of them could tear their eyes away from sight of their friends.

"I suppose we should go back and get help."

Dolenil nodded gravely, finally pulling his gaze away from Legolas. There was nothing either of them would have liked more than to go down and rescue the others, but they both knew that attitude was precisely what had gotten them into their predicament. Still, they hated to count the hours it would take them to get all the way to Rivendell and back.

To Be Continued...

Reviewer responses:

jacquelinestel: Dufusi! Ha! Great word – I love it! LOL, I never really thought much about what the plural of dufus was (I wonder if many have?). Have you ever watched DOC on PAX? Sorry for getting off-track, but all this talk of making new words keeps reminding me of Tippy (on of the characters). Everyone calls her new words 'Tippyisms'. Well, I'm enjoying all these... Jacquelisms : ) Anyhow... I'm glad you liked the chapter, thanks!

elvingirl3737: Yeah, I know, this chapter almost made me cry too! I just can't begin to imagine how hard it must have been for Legolas to leave Aragorn in such horrible circumstances. Can only end in tears...that's a very good way of defining the way most of the twins little escapades usually end up : ) As you can see, those words are already proving prophetic. Thanks for reviewing!

HarryEstel: Yup...mad Elrond...not good...not good at all... LOL. So glad you think this is going to be good – I certainly hope it is! Thanks!

polingly: I love doing crisis/humor...or rather I can't really help myself from mixing in the humor with the crisis : ) I'm glad you liked the part with Elrond. Writing Elrond is so... daunting. He's just so... so wise, and old, and... I don't know... capable, that even trying to "get inside his head" is very intimidating. Oh, yes, I've been to Mammoth cave once. (shudders) I hate it when they turn off the lights. I feel slightly claustrophobic from time to time, but thankfully it's nothing seriously hampering : ) Well, before you leave I'll just have to talk to you as much as I can – until I'm sick and tired of you! LOL, Like that will ever happen. More likely you'll get tired of me first : ) Hannon le, gwathel-nín!

Mornflower: Yep, they sure did get themselves into trouble (how on earth did you guess? Do you have foresight or something?). LOL. Legolas left his boots in the cave?!?! He failed to mention that...ARG! I just can't quit quoting PotC! Sorry...as I was saying...The thought of Legolas doing all of this without his boots on is, well, it's amusing, to say the least : ) Thanks!

zeetus: Hi! Welcome to my little corner of the web : ) Well, I'm certainly glad you enjoyed the story so far. I hope I'll be able to keep you alive through college – I'll do my best ; ) Ooo...yet ANOTHER Aragorn-angst fan! YES! You've definitely come to the right place if you're looking for more of that : ) Oh, I sympathize with you...even some of the worst LotR fanfics can be engrossingly interesting in comparison with THOSE books... (makes face) Well, thank you so much for the kind review!

elitenschwein: It's so fun exploring Legolas' psyche : ) Oh, you're getting 'the look' from siblings? I know how that is. But sometimes it definitely can't be helped – you get a funny picture in your head, and then you just can't get it out! (sighs) Yes, it was very hard to tear Aragorn and Legolas apart, especially after so many chapters of trying to get them together. They finally meet, and then I just have to separate them again! Aww, a tiny little Nazgûl horse...how cute (aren't I pathetic?). LOL. I'm glad you're looking forward to the rest of my little saga (I just hope it doesn't grow tedious : b) I know, sanity is never hard to get rid of! Well, the Peredhil part of you can cheer for Aragorn, and the Nazgûl part of you can cheer for Acharndil : ) Thank you so much for reviewing!

Naesse: Yep, Elladan's thought pattern in this kind of situation is highly predictable – even the villains are starting to figure that out : ) I'm glad I've succeeded in making you feel sorry for Aragorn and Legolas. Thanks for reviewing!

Tinorial Peredhil: You can't imagine how relieved I am to know that you're enjoying my strange, ironic sense of humor : ) Throughout my story I kept TRYING to be serious (if only occasionally), but met with very minimal success. Especially when I try writing thought for Aragorn and Legolas...I just keep goofing off : b But I'm glad you like it : ) Yes, Legolas (and Elladan, Elrohir and Aragorn, for that matter) seems to be habitually in trouble – sometimes you have to wonder if he's maybe enjoying himself just a bit too much, don't you? LOL. I'm glad you liked that wry bit of humor by Elrond. Yahoo! SUCCESS! I almost made you CRY! And I'm successfully doing CLIFFIES! (Imbecamiel shakes her head and pats Nefhiriel on the shoulder) "There, there, muinthel-nín..." (Imbecamiel turns to Tinorial and winks while still patting a ranting Nefhiriel on the shoulder) "Simple minds, simple pleasures. Don't worry, she does this all the time." LOL. Yes, it only takes a little bit to get me excited a lot : ) Anyways...Thank you for going through the chapter in such detail, and telling me what you liked – it helps a lot!

Star-Stallion: Oh yes, I feel immensely sorry Legolas in the previous chapter... Poor elf, all that work for nothing : b Well, at least he DID get to see his friend. I'm so glad you liked the chapter, and that you thought it was well written. Hehehe, I think I fit especially well into the eccentric category (I've got more than my fair share of artist's-blood : ). Thank you so much for the review!

Anorwen06: Competing with the Mellon Chronicles...The Mellon Chronicles... Hmm, sound familiar... Oh, you mean those stories that are infamous for evil cliffies? LOL. Wow, a comparison of my pitiful little scribblings to their amazing, epic, novel-length stories?! Of course I got inspired to write cliffies from Cassia and Sio – where else would I ever come up with such a cruel idea? (just blame it all on the famous authors...) But at least it makes you still want to keep reading : ) Anything that works...Oh yes, and the crack... I'm glad that that part turned out to be so popular! I really, really, had fun writing it. SURGERY?! Ack! Now there's a scary word. I'm happy to hear, though, that your doctor found out what was the matter! It can be even more scary not to know what's the matter. Guess what? I'm actually writing this when I'm supposed to, too! A record! But you're right, it's not likely to happen again... RL : b Oh, BTW 'Soli Deo Gloria' stands for 'all to the glory of God', doesn't it? That is so neat! Thank you for the review! (I hope typing it up didn't hurt your wrist too much)

Lady Leeanne: No, I WON'T forgive you! Not EVER! How could you DO this to me?! The cruelty! The intentional MALICIOUS CRUELTY! I can't BELIEVE you'd actually leave me for THREE chapters! How DARE you call yourself MELLON-NIN?! LOL. J/K, I know how RL can be... I love to hear from you, WHENEVER you get the time! But um...you can let go of my ankles now... makes it kind of hard to move, y'know... : ) I love getting reviews from you because...well...it's kind of like getting a review from myself...we "express ourselves" so similarly : ) I tend to be a little bit dramatic myself...(naww – you guessed?) Oh, I'm glad you liked "Legolas meets the crack" – it was a LOT of fun to write. Yep, and Ada's on the way! YAHOO! (grins sheepishly at latest outburst) You're just lucky I didn't write this entire thing in caps ; ) Thanks for the review, mellon-nín!

The next chapter, called "A Perfect Revenge", will be up Friday or Saturday.

Please review!

- Nefhiriel

Vice President an Co-founder of the SNWCG & member of the F.F.F.F.F