A/N I actually haven't reached either of the goals I set for reviews yet, but since those that did review were so eager to hear more of this particular story and since I'm in a writing kind of mood today, I'll get started on this chapter anyway.

Prisoner of War

Chapter seven:

Search Without Rescue

Aragorn pressed his body against the wall, all his limbs spread out so he could as flat against the structure as possible. Silently, he waited for a small group of orcs to pass, doubtless going to relieve the guards defending the outer perimeter of the fortress. When he heard them finally passed, Aragorn resisted the temptation to sigh in relief, knowing they would hear him in the echoes of the stone hallway.

The former ranger had been maneuvering about the tunnels of the cave for hours now, and still had not discovered his friend's location, nor any information as to who might be leading the reunified orcs. By this time, Aragorn was beginning to fear that there may have been multiple strongholds formed already and this new enemy was stronger than any of them had anticipated. Thoughts of turning back and telling his people there was nothing to be found here and to deep searching for another hole the creatures could have stashed themselves away in when he caught a whiff of something.

Blood. Aragorn had fought to many battles to not recognize the smell. It was the same coppery sent that haunted his dreams still in spite of the fragile peace that had settled over the land. It reeked from behind the door a few feet away. Legolas.

With the silence of a panther in pursuit of its prey, Aragorn approached the door, ever mindful of sounds from within. Hearing none, the man reached for the door handle, giving it an exploratory pull. He was surprised to find the door unlocked and he felt doubts as to this being the room that held his friend. Unless of course Legolas is so far gone he can no longer be a threat to them. Aragorn didn't allow the thought to linger on the image of his friend, beaten and broken in this sunless abyss.

With the caution one can only gain through the experience of having been too reckless too many times, Aragorn slid through the door, opening it only a crack. What he saw both relieved and horrified him, for, while he did not find his friend's fading body, his eyes widened in horror at the recognition of this particular room's purpose.

It was a chamber built solely to inflict pain, purely to torture innocent souls into a degradation of their once proud selves. Aragorn realized, with revolting clarity that his friend was not unfamiliar with this place and his blood boiled at the thought of it. No longer able to stand the sight of elvish blood coating the many foul mechanisms, Aragorn turned to leave and continue his search when the sound of soft, panicked breathing caught his attention.

Where is that coming from? Aragorn wondered, his eyes searching the room where he knew the sound to be from. It was then that a tiny glint of light off of metal was caught in his exceptional vision. Slowly, Aragorn moved to investigate, reasoning that if any who would wish him harm were present, they could have killed him many times over by now.

As he moved toward where he had seen the glint, Aragorn had a strange feeling of foreboding take over him even though the man wasn't even certain as to what he looked for. Suddenly, the feel of the earth under his feet change into metal and the king's attention was drawn downward. He gasped as his gaze fell upon a square of heavy mesh covering a crudely dug hole in the ground, but it was what he saw under the metal that caused the man's breath to catch.

A blonde head was just visible through the tiny spaces between the thick metal wires as well as the very tips of pointed ears. "Legolas," Aragorn whispered, shocked to find the elf in such a place.

The soft voice startled the prince from the light sleep he had managed to fall into, having been taken to the level of exhaustion in his fear. "Who's there?" he asked, his voice quavering in a way that made Aragorn want to weep so much fear was in it.

"Legolas," Aragorn said again, this time addressing the elf. "It's me, Estel."

"Estel?" Legolas said, his voice filled with a childish hope.

"Yes, it's me, Mellon nin," Aragorn reassured the distraught elven prince. "Oh, Legolas. What have they done to you?" he asked, seeing the streaks of blood in Legolas's hair.

Legolas, however, was not listening. The only thing going through his mind at that moment was that his friend would come. Estel had come. Suddenly, Legolas's acute hearing, which had been made more so without the use of his eyes these past few days, caught the sound of shuffling feet approaching his room. "Estel," he said urgently. "You must go now, I hear orcs coming down the corridor and if you are to have any chance of rescuing me, you must leave now before the get too close!"

Aragorn, though unable to hear what his friend heard, trusted that Legolas's words were true, and quickly scrambled to his feet. But before he left he asked, "Who?"

Knowing who the who was Aragorn spoke of, Legolas answered. "Voldaril."

Aragorn nodded, and, with a hushed, "Farewell," he left having gained the information he needed, though it shocked and enraged him. For, while he had never enjoyed the elven advisor's company, he would have never thought that a member of his friend's kin that had lived so long in shadow would be capable of such atrocities.

The man made his way out of the fortress with a great deal more ease than when he got in as he was no longer searching every corridor and room for signs of that which he searched for, and he was out within an hour.

Meanwhile, Legolas felt calm for the first time since he had been dumped in his hole. True, he was starving, both from lack of food and lack of living things, but he had hope now, and that was more filling to him than any maggoty bread the orcs could have given him. It had been just in time too, for he had come to the edge of his sanity and his tolerance. If Aragorn had not shown up when he did…it was to horrible to think of. But everything would be alright now, because now Estel had found him.

A/N Okay peeps, there's your long awaited chapter. I know, it's not that long, but I didn't want to stick Thranduil in this chapter. I wanted him to wait until Aragorn had spoken to Legolas and was out of the hole.

I will, however, continue with Thranduil and Voldaril in the next chapter so stay tuned.

You know the secret to getting me to update, REVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEWREVIEW AND REVIEW!

Peace,

Hobbit Killer