Ok, it's taken me little bit, but this chapter was really and I mean really difficult to write, not to mention my professors suddenly decided to bombard me with work. But I'm going to be making a few changes, one including put this story back down at PG-13. After discussing it with several people I've come to the decision that while the violence at the end of chapter 17 was unexpected, it was in no way graphic. With that in mind I will now place a waring on that chapter as well as this one. Please note that I do not wish to offend or disturb anyone and I hope that everyone enjoys the final chapters of Two Paths.

Warning: I think I'll rate this as Inventive Torture. Oh and it kind consumes the chapter. So proceed at your own risk.

Also I do not own anything as I am a college studentm, so please see chapter one for the disclaimer.

Ceasing to exist

Consciousness found Strider sitting in mud, his feet and arms bound tightly and his neck chained to a tree; no matter what he tried he couldn't free himself. In fact he could hardly move for the metal chain that tied him to the tree was short and dug deeply in his neck each time he tried to move. He was grateful, though, that when he had passed out he had fallen against the tree, not forwards which would had finished what they started.

He let out a sigh of boredom, hissing sharply at the pain it caused in his chest; he was sure they had broken a rib in their beatings. Gently, he massaged the sore spot until it faded; he could still feel it, but it wasn't as bad. Experimentally, he moved his arms and legs; they too ached, cut and bruised from their fists, but he could live with the pain. Truth be told, it was his face his was concerned about for that had seemed to take the brunt of the beating. He shuddered slightly as he remembered seeing the fist coming towards him.

He shut his eyes, hoping to prevent the fist from striking, but it didn't help. He felt the solid knuckles hit his nose, breaking it instantly. Blood began drip down from his nose, forming a puddle on his upper lip for a second before dripping over his open mouth onto his bottom lip. He barely felt the drop as he tried to overcome the pain.

The fist came again, hitting him squarely in his mouth, splitting his bottom lip and spilling his blood once again. Inwardly he winced at the pain from the continued blows to his face and chest, but he refused to show any outward emotion; something inside him told him that it was best not to; that it would make them stop. But his captors had different ideas and apparently didn't mind waiting for their prisoner to show some sign of pain and thus it was only when the heel of a boot collided with Strider's shoulder that they were satisfied.

Strider cried out as the edge of the boot divided his collarbone in two, sending a wave of pain through his sword arm. As he reached to grasp his arm he found he couldn't for he hadn't realized that his hands were still tightly bound. But even if his hands had been free, he would have had no time to try to ease the pain as his captors continued to beat him. Some time after that, he couldn't quite remember when or whether it had been a hit that knocked him out or that the sheer pain had become greater than he could handle and he had simply passed out, but the last thing he saw before being engulfed in blackness was a booted foot coming towards his face. Whether it had impacted or not he didn't know and he feared that he might never.

But that was the least of his concerns right now for his captors were nowhere nearby. If he weren't bound, now would be the perfect time to escape, he mused. Though escape was on his mind, he was more curious about who his captors were and how they knew about the location of the camp. His first instinct was to place blame on one of the men, but he knew none of them would ever do such thing for they were bound by their oaths, never to forsake the bonds of the brotherhood else they forfeit their lives.

'Awake I see,' a familiar voice interrupted his thoughts. 'Did you enjoy your session with my men?' the voice was laced with cynicism. Strider looked up, realizing for the first time that he was able to see through only one eye. With his one good eye, he saw the blurry image of a figure, clothed entirely in gray robes. Despite the problems with his vision, Strider could tell that it was the same person as before.

'What do you want?' he asked, choosing the diplomatic side rather than giving a retort that he knew would only earn him more pain or perhaps another session with this creature's minions.

'You, young Aragorn,' the voice placed a peculiar emphasis on Strider's true identity, 'are not in a position to ask questions.'

'Who are you,' Strider allowed his impatience and arrogance get in his way. His persistence earned him a sharp slap on his cheek. He felt the calloused hand scrap across his cheek which had been made sensitive to the touch from the pain that emanated from a deep cut and a large bruise that was continuing to expand as if it were no bruise at all. Out of the corner of his eye he could see that it was already inching towards his mouth and for a moment allowed himself to be concerned with what would happen when it reached it, but he was drawn back to the cloaked man before him, who despite the sudden movement to slap him, still remained completely cloaked in the gray robes, from head to foot.

'I told you, you are not in a position to ask questions,' Strider was reminded once again. He let out a sigh, wondering if he weren't allowed to ask a question, what was it that he was expected to do.

'You are expected to answer the questions I pose,' Strider was taken aback when his unspoken thoughts were answered and immediately questions filled his mind. Who was this... this, he searched for a word.

'Man,' the cloaked figure provided the answer. 'I am without a doubt a man, but likely not the one you would wish to see.'

Who was this man, Strider continued his thoughts. What evil did he possess that allowed him to read thoughts?

'Good thinking Aragorn, but do not concern yourself with such thoughts. The reasons for this, as you call it, strange ability is beyond your feeble mind; you will never be able to comprehend what I have gone through to come to this point.'

'Why do you want me?' Strider asked aloud, figuring that either way the question would come out, but in his haste he had forgotten what had happened last time and this time the slap was much harder, making his partially numb cheek sting as the pain ripple outwards from the epicenter of the impact.

'Foolish child!' the man chided. 'Do you wish for pain? Do you delight in it?'

Strider gave no answer, for he was still trying to deal with the pain that seemed to magnify as it spread out. In his mind, his thoughts were swirling about, trying to cope with the pain while attempting to explain the reason for the immense pain.

'Funny, how a simple slap can create such pain,' the man gloated as Strider closed his eyes and tried to curl into a ball. 'It's the intensity of the first strike that determines the final magnitude of the pain. And it's the magnitude that determines how far it will spread.'

Strider began to feel the pain less, dissipating much slower than it had come on. He attempted to move his jaw and his neck, but found that the nerves seemed to be on fire, burning with an intensity he had never imagined each time a muscle so much as twitched. This is not good, he thought to himself.

'It lingers, does it not,' the man took joy in Strider's discovery of the aftereffects. 'No, I'm sorry, I can't explain what it is, for that too is beyond your comprehension,' he gave Strider a glare. 'Yes, I'm sorry, but have chosen your allies poorly. Now tell me the name of the river that guards the House of Lord Elrond.'

Strider remained silent, he knew that he could never share that information and surely if this man could read his thoughts he would know that same.

'Yes I am more than aware that you will not tell me; I was merely giving you the opportunity to prove me wrong.'

'If you read my thoughts, then how I could I even prove you wrong?' Strider retorted.

'Very perception, young Aragorn,' the man praised Strider. 'However your arrogance has gained you nothing for I will still find the answer I seek and then you will cease to exist.' Strider expected an evil laugh to follow to the man's sinister words, but nothing followed except silence. As silence surrounded them, the man began to raise his arms, his hands edging ever closer to Strider's head. The ranger watched, wondering what was happening as the man seemed to be preparing to grasp his head, but stopped just a few inches from his ears.

Amidst the darkness that engulfed the man's head, Strider caught a flash of light; the man gave a menacing smile before he closed his eyes, mentally forcing the energy contained within him to flow through his arms to his fingertips. In less than a second, Strider was engulfed in pain, he could feel as the pain started on the outside, flowing rapidly to the inner portion of his brain. His body arced in pain and he pulled against the chain around his neck; its sharp metal biting into his skin and cutting off his airway, threatening to crush his windpipe. He closed his eyes, tightening his face and tried to beg for mercy against the pain, but he found himself unable to speak.

Beneath the cloak, the man's tense body loosened and the energy that coursed through his arms faded. Though the source of the pain had ceased, Strider still felt as though every nerve in his body were being set on fire. After what seemed like hours, but Strider knew to be no more than a few minutes the level of pain decreased to a bearable point and he relaxed against the tree, the chain that bound his neck going slack. He was heaving, trying desperately to get his breath; his lack of breath was only partially a result of the intense pain, but also because of the chain for it had very nearly caused him to black out due to lack of breath.

'S...s...,' Strider found himself stumbling over his words. 'Satis...fied?' he managed to get out, choppy though it was, but his captor was not satisfied for he had been unable to retrieve the information he desired. Once again he raised his hands, getting them into the same position as before. Strider wished that he had been given more time, but before he was able to finish the thought the pain returned, this time with a greater intensity and it lasted for several minutes longer. Strider once again arched his body against the pain, pulling against the tree and forcing the band around his neck to dig into his skin once again. Blood began to seep out of the thin cuts made by the band, staining the metal as Strider's choking reached a new intensity.

At the height of the pain, Strider felt his brain being picked apart and then as suddenly as the pain began, it stopped; he felt nothing, not even the tree as he slumped against it. His whole body seemed limp as he forced his unwilling eyes to look upon the man before him.

'I thank you for your cooperation,' beneath the cloak came the sinister voice, 'my friend.' As the man turned, his words reverberated in Strider's semi-conscious mind and he suddenly realized who had captured him.

As the haze began to engulf his mind and block out surrounding noises, he heard a faint shout and the clash of swords. He tried to force his head up, but it wouldn't cooperate, not though because he was tired; there was something more, something had happened to him; something had made him cease to exist.

Boy, I think I would have gladly traded places with Strider on this chapter, then he would have had the challenge of writing it.

Reviewer's Responses:

Poppa Jon- No, danger is the name of the game and yes it will haunt him, but in more ways than you can imagine. He's about to become a very disturbed and troubled young man.

Viggomaniac-thanks for your input, I appreciated it. And wow, I didn't even read that much into it, and honestly I didn't expect very many people to, but thanks I've got a lot to work with I guess. Yeah, my writing in the beginning was realy horrible, I'm going to go back and edit the whole story once it's done. Thanks, when I started this story I didn't expect it to be very much and I certainly didn't expect it to get sixty reviews, but thanks for adding it; it made my day.

Strider's Girl- hour and a half! Wow that's a long time, I didn't think it'd take that long, but then it is close to seventy pages so I guess I can see. I was hoping for it to be different and yes I like to tease my readers with the chapter titles- they're the most exciting part, after writing the story that it.

lindahoyland-calm? I don't know the definition of that word, but you'll have to wait a little longer to find the indentity of his captor. Stick around though, it'll be coming out soon enough.

grumpy-questions and more questions, none of which I'm afraid I can answer and I feel the same way about Yestin, he really was a good man.

Silabrithil-thanks for reading and paying close enough attention to catch my mistakes. I'm fully aware that there are grammatical mistakes, spell checker has told me that on numeorus occasions, however as a writer I allow myself to mess with grammar a bit. For the sake of the story and its continuity I take a literary liscense which permits me to forsake some of the rules of English grammar. Also when the story is complete, I had fully intended to go back and do a major edit, very simliar to what I do with each chapter. I do edit every chapter, but no one is perfect and there's no way I can catch every single grammar mistake. Also, I have read the books and I'm aware of what Strider actually did, but I did state at the beginning of all this that this was AU meaning alternate universe. The story is acutally based on a single line in FOTR, the movie, where Elrond says, in reference to Aragorn, 'He has chosen exile.' I don't mean this explanation to seem harsh or like I'm upset. I appreciate you taking the time to read my story and give me a review and I hope you continue to read and give me feedback.

Amy Earls- I'm glad you let me know about the last chapter, I wasn't aware that it seemed violent and as I've stated before, I never like to make any of my readers feel uncomfortable or disturbed. However in place of a rating change I will be sure to add a warning to each chapter with excessive violence.

Well, thanks everyone for reading and reviewing. I hope you have enjoyed this chapter.