Authors notes: - Thank you for the reviews, I had some lovely comments and they are so appreciated so a great big thank you to Beling, Deana, nimeme and Arayelle Lynn . This chapter is slightly longer to make up for the delays and some short chapters. I would like to thank everyone who continues to read this story and has shown me a lot of support. Any comments on this chapter or the story as a whole are very welcome. So without further ado the next chapter...

OOOO

Aeolian gasped in pain as he was dropped heavily on the ground by the orc that had been carrying him. He curled into a foetal position as the orc kicked him hard in the ribs. After a few minutes of beating the orc gave up and joined its companions around the fire. Aeolian bit his lip to prevent the pained groan that threatened to escape as he uncurled himself and leaned on a tree for support.

"Are you well?" A voice to his left asked. Aeolian turned to see Aragorn looking at him with concern. Next to him, bound tightly, were a dazed but awake Gimli and Eomer. Thranduil and Gandalf were both still unconscious.

"Do you men specialise in asking stupid questions?" Aeolian snapped irritably.

"Yes there are tests and everything." Aragorn replied, letting the words wash over him, taking no offence.

Aeolian sighed. "I am sorry. To answer your question I will live...well until they deem they no longer wish me to draw breath." Aeolian smiled.

"Do all elves have such dark humours?" Gimli demanded.

"Not all elves but the vast majority of wood elves do. When you fight a battle with darkness every day of your lives you need a little humour now and then."

"Legolas seemed to have more than his fair share." Gimli muttered and quickly shut up as an orc glared at him, waving his sword threateningly.

"No talking stunted one." It growled. Gimli spluttered and would have insulted the orc in return when Aragorn's elbow rammed into his ribs and any protest emerged as a groan and squeak. Aragorn instead was on the end of the dwarfs death glare.

Another groan focused all their attention on the elven king as Thranduil began to stir. Slowly the elf began to blink and attempt to lift his head.

"Father?" Aeolian whispered. Thranduil groaned again and his head resumed its position on his chest as consciousness fled.

"I hate this forest!" Eomer whispered and closed his eyes, resting his head against the tree with a weary expression.

Aeolian sighed and ducked his head tears welling up.

"This forest used to be so beautiful..." Aeolian started wistfully and suddenly halted as a couple of orcs entered the clearing carrying a stag that was thrashing and screaming in agony. Aeolian flinched as the orcs began to eat the creature raw.

"It will be again young prince." Gandalf's voice stated and those who were alert turned to see the wizard indeed awake, looking very alert for someone with his injuries.

"I am sure it will be Mithrandir but whether any of us will be alive to see it is another matter."

"Quiet scum!" one of the orcs snarled. "Or I'll cut out your tongues."

"Then how will you make us talk?" Eomer muttered.

"We don't need all of you so do you want to be the one we play with?" the orc questioned moving closer to the man. Eomer, still dazed and weak, watched him with no more than a passing interest before closing his eyes.

"Answer the question." The orc snarled. Eomer's head rolled to the side.

Aragorn realising that the situation was about to turn very ugly spoke up. "He's injured. He knows not what he is saying."

The orc grinned, an expression that looked more like a sneer than anything resembling a happy emotion. It leaned in close to Aragorn.

"All the more reason to end his pitiful existence." The orc watched the expression of disgust appear across Aragorn's face.

"I wouldn't be too upset because soon we will be asking for volunteers to 'play' with us. If we get none then you will have to choose."

Aragorn glared at the creature. Annoyed at his defiance the orc hit the man across the face. With a laugh it returned to the fire. Aragorn shook his head slightly to try and stop the ringing. A metallic taste flooded his mouth and his tongue tentatively sought out the source, his lower lip had split and it stung.

Eomer began to laugh, quietly at first but it quickly progressed into hysterical cries. Tears streamed down his face and he gasped for breath between bouts of laughter.

"Eomer!" Aragorn snapped as the laughter drew the orcs attention.

"He is hysterical." Gandalf said calmly.

"Great!" Gimli grumbled. "We are all going to die and our last few minutes will be spent with a hysterical horse lord."

One of the orcs stepped up and brought the hilt of his sword down on the man's head. The cries stopped suddenly and Eomer slumped forward, only stopped from falling completely by the ropes securing him to the tree.

"Silence them all." The orc commanded of the others.

OOO

"Stupid, small – brained, foolish..." Azian's tirade about his brother continued as he stumbled through the passage determined to find the way out. He had woken up a short time ago with a splitting headache and very much alone. Deciding that an attempt to find Legolas would prove fruitless as he had no idea where he had gone and a search would only result in him getting hopelessly lost, he had tried to find the exit. What he would do upon finding it was another matter. He was exhausted and in terrible pain. His vision was blurred and he could barely keep standing for more than a few minutes.

Turning down another passage that he was sure led to the outer world he instead found it was a dead end.

"Curse my family for putting these passages in place." He shouted in frustration and slumped against the wall. Suddenly he had a feeling of weightlessness and then of falling. The wall had disappeared or moved and he was falling backwards down some kind of chute. With cries of pain and in some cases fear he tumbled over and over until a hard surface stopped his momentum. With a choke and a splutter he lay still trying to block out the pain.

"Azian? What by the Valor are you doing here?" a surprised voice announced.

"Oh please say tell me I have travelled to the west and this is all a bad dream." Azian muttered.

"I hope that does not imply that you wish not to see me young prince." The voice teased and he felt someone kneel down next to him. Turning his head he saw a battered and bleeding Lord Elrond smiling at him.

"Lord Elrond what are you doing here?" he asked as he crawled into a sitting position.

"I believe that I asked the question of you first."

Azian sighed. "It is a long story involving Legolas and salvation. Needless to say things have not gone to plan. Legolas is wondering around in the passages trying to find an ancient relic. Eomer, Aragorn, Aeolian, Gimli, Mithrandir and my father have been taken prisoner and by the earth shaking I felt earlier I gather our situation has got a lot worse. That is the past few hours summed up for you."

"That is indeed ill news and yes something has been awoken that I wish had not. What is this about Legolas and salvation?"

Azian proceeded to tell the story of Legolas's claims to a frowning Elrond.

"What is it with your family and discovering things that should remain hidden and are very very dangerous?!"

"You've heard of it?" Azian asked eager for any more knowledge of what his brother was searching for and what possible trouble he could be in.

"Only a select few know of its existence myself included. The fact that Legolas knows of its existence is a mystery but not a surprise. That elf has an unmatched curiosity and the word forbidden only means he tries harder." Elrond smiled slightly.

"What does this relic do?" Azian questioned.

"Its an ancient magic granted to the wood elves when the rings of power were given to the other elf kingdoms. Unfortunately it was granted by a wizard that turned to the dark lord and moved to reside in Dol Guldur. The relic was designed to be used by the royal family of Mirkwood in times of need."

"But...?" Azian prompted looking very apprehensive.

"The wizard as I have said turned to Sauron. His aim for the relic was to destroy Mirkwood's royal family, he launched the attack that killed your mother and he had hoped that your father would use the relic to save Mirkwood. Luckily your advisor attempted to use it first and was killed."

"How was it intended to destroy the royal family?" Azian questioned.

"The elf that activated the relic would be granted the power of magic to rival a wizard. It would overwhelm him and eventually kill him as the power became more and more uncontrollable."

Azian flinched. "We have to find him and warn him...." Azian paused and then his eyes widened in shock.

"What is it?" Elrond asked concerned.

"No..." Azian whispered. "He knew it was going to kill him. He said if the relic killed him then he would welcome it. Damn him!" Azian cried and he struggled to pull himself to his feet. He looked around frantically for the place where he had come out, but he could not find it.

"Calm down Azian there is nothing we can do for him. We would only succeed in getting lost in there. If it was as you say the relic may have been calling for him, guiding him. We must move on."

"NO!" Azian cried. "I will not leave him behind to die."

Elrond grabbed the elf and forced him to stand still. "There is nothing you can do. Listen to me. Nothing! Our aim now is to find your father and the others. We need to reunite and fight. If you loose faith now then you are no use to anyone, not Legolas, not me and not your father. We cannot let them defeat us!"

Azian looked torn and he yanked his arms out of Elrond's grip.

"When this is over I am never going to listen to you again!" he exclaimed angrily.

OOO

The cave was cold; no fires had been lit for fear of bringing creatures of the dark down upon them. The survivors of the attacks had been grouping in the caves since it had been determined that the citadel had been overrun.

Feren was a lieutenant in the army of Gondor and had been made the unofficial leader for the Gondorian soldiers. As far as he knew he was the highest ranked soldier that had made it to the caves. It seemed that the higher ranks had been decimated and it worried him greatly. No one had seen their king since he had led the Nazgul away from the caves. No other leader had been seen since the attacks began.

With a deep sigh he rubbed his eyes tiredly as he made his way towards the two sentries that guarded the main entranceway.

"Bad!" he called out and waited for the correct reply, if none came quickly then he would assume that the sentries were dead and enemies were in the cave. There was no real plan as to what would happen if that occurred except for run and very fast.

"Day!" A voice called back. He smiled slightly at the password, what an understatement!

Feren approached the two sentries. They knelt in a little alcove, keeping their voices down to make sure that no one knew of their presence.

"How many more have appeared in the last hour?" Feren asked.

"Three. One of ours and two of Rohan. They weren't seriously wounded although I fear Eustace may have scared a few years off their life by jumping out of the shadows, challenging them." Aran said glaring at the younger man.

"What?" Eustace snapped angrily. "They could have been the enemy."

"If you used your bloody eyesight you could see they were not orcs, wargs or flippin' Nazgul!" Aran snapped back.

Feren sighed. "Both of you be quiet! Eustace you are right to be vigilant but Aran is correct. Leaping out on them will not aid their undoubtedly fragile nerves but also if they are the enemy you are just one person and its not in your best interests in regards to safety. I will be sending someone up to replace you in a few minutes. When the sun goes down there will be a meeting in the main cave as to what we should do next."

"Next?" Aran said bitterly. "We should leave this cursed place forever and not look back!"

"And leave the elves to their fate? To be tortured and mutilated into the black creatures? I could not let a whole race perish because I was afraid of remaining." Feren stated.

"I could." Eustace snapped. "There have done nothing for us!"

Feren shook his head slightly, how had our youth become so ignorant of the past and the affairs of Middle Earth? He was not an old man but was in the latter years of his thirty summers and yet he was well aware what the elves had done for them. The prince of Mirkwood had especially done a lot for the peoples of Rohan and Gondor.

"You speak foolishly if we let Mirkwood fall then the darkness will spread. Gondor, Rohan, the glittering caves...nothing will be safe and it will fall. We will make our stand here and darkness will fail."

"What can we do? We have barely two hundred men and dwarfs, all of which are exhausted and wounded some seriously. We have no leaders and no plan. We do not know this land so how can we be expected to save it? You speak as our leaders too blinded in their friendships with each other to know when something has been lost. They will waste out lives to save something that cannot be saved!" Aran spoke passionately.

There conversation was interrupted by the sound of running feet. A figure burst through the entrance to the cave breathing heavily. Feren leaned forward to try and see the figure clearly.

"State your identity!" Eustace yelled making both Aran and Feren jump and the figure whirl around in fear.

"Bloody idiot!" Aran muttered as he hefted his sword higher preparing to go after the figure if it tried to make a run for it.

"Who's there?" the figure demanded frantically. Feren rolled his eyes, this approach needed to be worked on. He moved out of the alcove and into the main passage.

"My name is Feren of Gondor. Who are you?" he asked keeping his hands in sight, being run through by a frightened soldier would just make his crap day even better.

The man seemed to sigh in relief.

"Hathlan...oh thank you." The man stuttered stumbling towards Feren.

"Hathlan? I thought you dead" Feren said. The man had been with his patrol when it was attacked, he had seen no one else alive, although it was pretty chaotic.

"Horrible...thank you...thank you!" the man cried.

"Be quiet!" Aran hissed but the man paid him no heed and fell headlong into Feren's arms. The lieutenant could see the man was severely wounded perhaps with a mortal wound as it was bleeding so heavily.

"It is coming!" he said as he clutched Feren's tunic. Feren looked over the man whose eyes looked half – crazed in fear and exhaustion.

"What? You were followed?" Aran demanded. Feren held up his hand to silence him.

"Hathlan what is coming?"

"Sauron!" Hathlan suddenly stiffened and then his body went limp. The fear not leaving his eyes in death. Feren shivered. The air had suddenly got colder.

OOO