Disclaimer: If you want to give them to me I'll take them, otherwise see chapter 1.
Review Responses:
Invisigoth3: Don't tell Legolas, but I love caves. So I'm afraid in my fics, he might get subjected to them a lot. You know I'm torn between hating Uglúk, and liking him. I think maybe he's my own evil side coming out. If I get bent out of shape in my own life I just go and make him even meaner, and crueler. Unfortunately for our three friends, I had a really bad day today, and I'm getting a cold. (Hey manveri you got any of those tissues left.)
Manveri mirkiel: I'm glad, and I promise before he is finally gone you will hate him ten times more.
Deana, Karone Evertree, and Slayer3: you all get to comfort leggy for a little bit, but don't get too attached. I need him for the rest of the story. You know I like this. You're all mad at the orc, and no one has threatened my life recently. Just remember it's all the orcs fault. I'm just the harmless orc possessed evilly morbid writer. I have no choice. The orc made me do it.
Robyn: Why yes Robyn I do like torturing Legolas. But it's only because I love him. Did I mention my new nickname was Evilly Morbid Writer? (Thank you for that manveri)
Author's Note: The title of this chapter and the partial song do not belong to me. They belong to Tim McGraw and Curb Records. I know it is meant as a love song, but I am using it in the context of the type of love that comes with friendship, and yes I did change one word in the song to make it fit that context. Hey I'm not making any money off of it, so I don't think they'll mind me changing it.
Unbroken
If I lived and breathed before you loved me, I don't recall
If I walked around at all, it was in bits and pieces
Of a jagged heart
You held me and every piece went back in place, every pain got erased
You held me up to the sunlight,
now it feels like,
No one ever left me out in the rain
Cold words still remain unspoken
And I never got lost, spent years in the dark
You're here, now my heart's unbroken
When I see your smile fill my soul again
I'm unbroken
By: Tim Mcgraw
They had stopped again, after several hours of silence, as Estel searched for clues as to which way would lead them closest to where Legolas was being held. He knew he would have to have a talk with Atavus. "Atavus, you must not do this. You are playing into that monster's hands. Don't you see it?" Estel tried to reason with her.
"Yes I see that, but what do you expect me to do?" She had a look in her eyes that spoke of utter hopelessness. Her despair would let her see no other choices.
Estel knew if it had been just him searching for Legolas he would be making the same reckless choices that she was. It seemed strange to him that he had to be the voice of reason for once. Normally that would be Legolas' place, but he had learned recently that Atavus was even more reckless than he was. That worried him. And for the first time in his life he found himself looking at things the way that Legolas would have. He knew he would have to find a way to get Legolas out of the clutches of the orc. But he would also have to find a way to keep Atavus from doing anything rash.
"First you need to have faith in our friend's ability to overcome this, and then you need to have faith in our own ability to save him. You are assuming that that creature has already won. You are giving up, and that's not the Atavus I know." He tried to bolster her courage. He needed her to be strong, so they could get through this ordeal.
"Estel the Atavus you know is safe at home in Rivendell, spending nights by the fire laughing and joking with her family and friends. The Atavus you see before you is the one who has taken years of hardship and torture, trying to always be strong. But she has taken enough. She can't watch in stony silence any more as her most precious friends are tortured because of her. She is almost broken. It will take very little for her to slip over the edge into a void where she may not come back. I'm sorry mellon-nin. I'm useless to you the way I am now. The only use I can see for myself anymore is a bargaining chip." She paused for a moment knowing he would hate the idea of her next words. She could not look him in the eye as she spoke them.
"I know Legolas means more to you than anything in this world. His life is worth more than mine. You need to use me to get him back, and then you need to forget about me. That is the only way you can win this Estel." She knew it would go against everything he believed in, but for Legolas she would have to try.
Estel looked at her in utter shock. "Are you saying you want me to trade you for Legolas, and then just leave you here with that thing, and then just forget you ever existed?"
She nodded, still not facing him.
He strode over to where she was standing, and almost roughly took her chin in his hand as he pulled her face up to look her in the eyes. "You told us once that you were not a coward, well neither am I. That is the most cowardly thing you could ever ask me to do. I will not trade one friends life for another, and it disgusts me that you could even suggest I do so." He had not meant his words to come out so harsh, but his own emotions were raw.
"Estel if Legolas dies in these tunnels, I will not be able to go on. I would rather spend a million years of torture, then to spend five seconds with the knowledge that he died because of me, and that maybe I could have prevented it." He understood the pain he saw in her eyes, and the heartache he heard in her voice. It was the same as his own feelings.
He pulled her trembling form to him, and whispered in her ear. "We will not lose him, and we will not lose each other. If you become broken we will make you anew, and you will become unbroken. I will not let you slip into that void. I will not lose either of you. We will all three leave this horrid place, and we shall all three sit by a fire in Rivendell together, and laugh, and joke, and be ourselves once again. This I promise you."
She held onto his words, praying that they be true. She pulled away from him and whispered. "Estel you truly are hope."
He could see that her courage was renewed. She would fight to the very end by his side to save their friend, and he knew they might have to do just that.
They walked on for a short time longer when they heard that same deep voice. "You are getting closer, but will there be a light at the end of the tunnel?"
Estel could hear Atavus mutter under her breath. "Shut up, pig." This brought a smile to his face.
The orc greatly enjoyed taunting the friends. "Hey throwback, I heard them call you Atavus. Is that your name now? What does it mean?" She snorted in answer.
He continued on. "Can I call you Atavus? We are going to become so close. After we get rid of your friends we can have nice long talks, and play all kinds of cool games."
She could hold her rage no more. "I've got a new game for you Uglúk. It's called 'Kill the orc.' You ready to give it a whirl?"
"No doesn't sound so good. How about this one? It's called 'Beat the Elf.' See if you can recall how it goes." With those words the orc stood and dug the toe of his boot into one of the many inflamed cuts on Legolas' stomach. They could hear the moans of pain barreling through the tunnels around them.
Atavus almost screamed, but Estel noticed something. The timing of the echoes had given away some precious information. He took her hand and placed one finger to her lips as he pointed in the direction that he was sure the sounds were coming from. He whispered to her. "I hate this, but he has to keep making noise. Keep him talking. We are almost there."
She nodded then asked the only question she was dieing to find the answer to. "Uglúk I know I asked you this once before, but your answer was quite unclear. Why do you hate my kind so much more than other races?"
The orc paused for a moment. He couldn't believe his good luck. What he had planned to tell her would send her over the edge for sure. She was afraid for a moment that he would say no more. "That my friend is a long story. Oh but you have time." He chuckled as if he had made a great joke. "First you must learn a few things about orcs, and how they live, and how they raise their young."
"Is he serious?" She asked to no one in particular.
The orc continued talking. "When a mating pair of orcs have a child, the child is raised by the mother until old enough to fulfill its purpose. The purpose of a female orc is to breed. The purpose of a male orc is to fight."
"Sounds simple." She shrugged her shoulders when Estel looked questioningly.
"The female orc who gave birth to me, also gave birth to another at the same time."
"Great twins." She said not wanting to see another orc like him ever.
"No, not twins. We were nothing alike. To tell the truth, he was like you." The orc sprung his surprise.
Atavus looked at Estel again. The orc had a throwback for a brother. But something caught her attention. "You said he was. What happened to him?"
The orc laughed evilly. "Why I killed it of course."
Atavus just closed her eyes and shook her head. "How could you kill your own brother?"
"It was rather easy actually. That orc that birthed me decided she wanted to keep it. You see we were not at Minas Morgul yet. We lived in one of the encampments in Mordor, so no real punishment was served out to her, or it for that matter. So when I became of age to join the males in training, I decided it was time to do something about it. I came back and slit its throat. She made a fool of herself. She and I were scorned, because of that thing she kept like a pet. That among other reasons is why I have vowed to kill all of you, very painfully." It said almost vaguely.
"What other reasons?" She asked.
"You will see soon enough. You are almost here."
And sure enough, as they rounded the next corner, they could see candlelight reflecting off the tunnel walls, and at the end of the tunnel was a room. That is where the light came from. "It is now or never." Estel said motioning to the arched doorway cut from the wall.
"Let's get our friend back." She whispered. They nodded to each other and walked through the archway. Atavus gasped at the scene before them. Legolas was lying on the floor with the orc kneeling behind him holding a knife to his neck. They both could see the dried blood covering his entire torso. His eyes were closed, but they could hear his labored breathing. He was in desperate need of attention.
"Let him go." Estel yelled stepping towards his fallen friend.
"No I think not. If I let him go now, I'll have to kill him." The orc answered.
"Then let's trade." Atavus suggested. She knew it wasn't what Estel wanted to do, but she could tell by the way Legolas looked that he could take little more. "You give the elf to him, and get me instead."
"Atavus, no." Estel growled.
She had to take the gamble that once Estel got Legolas to safety he would be able to save her also. "We have to Estel. It's the only way for the three of us to all stay alive." She turned to Estel, away from the orc and winked her eye. "I remember what you promised me. I will always remember. It will be as you said. We have to do this, for Legolas."
Estel had seen the wink and had understood her words. But he would have to leave her there for at least an entire day, maybe more depending on how serious Legolas' injuries were. If they were too serious he would have to continue on to Rivendell, which was another three days walk, and he was very afraid of how serious they were.
The orc stared at her wondering if it was a trap of her own. But the temptation was too much for him. "Come here girl." He motioned to Atavus. She slowly made her way to his side. He then switched his blade to her throat instead of Legolas', and then moved her to the far side of the room. "Take him, and get out. Don't come back to my tunnels again."
Atavus could not believe that he had fell for it, but she thanked the Valar that Legolas would now be safe. She was beginning to think that this orc was even more insane than most orcs. Orcs who killed just to be killing, she could understand, but orcs who killed for a real reason such as jealousy and revenge, just was unheard of.
Estel made his way to Legolas, not lowering his weapon one iota. He managed to remove the harness, and chains that held his friend, showing him how much damage his friend had taken. Atavus was right. If Legolas did not receive medical assistance soon he would not make it. He bent and shouldered the light weight of the elf, still keeping his attention on the orc. He looked to Atavus one last time. "I will keep my promise, mellon-nin. I swear it to you. " Then he backed out of the room.
He could see the words that she mouthed. "Im garo estel." She had hope and would not give in.
