Into the Labyrinth

Author: Amorous

*Chapter 6: Discoveries*

"Aragorn, we must review all we know of this so far before proceeding." Legolas, though he had to almost yell for his friend to hear him, was not worried of anyone from the street overhearing. The raucous emanating from the The Sleeping Demon made sure of that.

Aragorn nodded but did not take his eyes from the window into which he was peeking. "Alright, then. Those two boys are attempting to go undercover into a dangerous situation, and they are going tonight."

"Yes."

"The name of the place they are going is The Labyrinth, and the people in charge sound as though they have many men working for them and do not have a problem with eliminating anyone in their way."

"It sounds that way."

"There seems to be some people who are working to move against those leading The Labyrinth. I believe they mentioned their contact, but I do not remember the name." From lack of response, the young man knew that Legolas did not remember either.

Aragorn shifted his crouching position as his back began to twinge. He felt the Elf move beside him as he tried to see into the window, poking his head up beside Aragorn's. The two young men were at the bar. The dark-haired one, who was called Rovion, was speaking to the bartender. The two friends at the window could see their lips moving but could not tell what was being said. Then, the bartender slipped what looked like a piece of paper into Rovion's hand and bustled away quickly. Rovion turned around, sliding the hand into his pocket and casually chatting with his friend with the longer, brown hair named Kenan. They remained their for several minutes before making for the door.

Aragorn and Legolas slid down into the shadow under the window and sat to wait for the young men to exit. They heard the door creak open and loud noise spilled into the night before the door was slammed shut again. Footsteps came their way and they heard soft voices.

"One wrong move from here on in, and we could blow this whole thing. So be careful about what you say."

"Yeah, I got it. Believe me, the last thing I want to do is get anyone caught."

The steps passed by them, and then stopped. Branches were moved around as the two pushed their way into the trees by the side of the pub, not 10 feet from Aragorn and Legolas' position. The friends sat there silently and watched as Rovion and Kenan walked through the trees in front of them, and then passed out of sight.

After a minute or so, Legolas suddenly got up and stole into the woods without a sound. Aragorn quickly followed, ducking low under branches. Soon, he broke through the trees and found Legolas and himself standing on a small, cleared path.

"Whoever made this doesn't want it to be found." Aragorn commented in a whisper, looking at the thick trees that blocked the path from the road. "Let's see where this goes."

Legolas looked unsure. "I do not think we should pursue this any further. Not tonight. We should wait until tomorrow, and tell the others what we've seen so far. We already have a huge lead." Legolas replied, his already soft voice lowered into a whisper.

"They're going there right now, Legolas! We can't turn back, not now." The man looked at his friend for another moment, then turned down the path that lead into the woods.

"Yes, we can, and we should!" Legolas whispered harshly, grabbing his friend's arm. "Aragorn, if anything happens to us, the others will have no idea where we went or what we saw. We are on the complete opposite side of town from them and even if we left now, it would take another hour just to get back. I don't like the feeling around this place. We must leave."

"No, I won't give up on this lead." Aragorn hissed back. "They could lead us straight to the place, and when do you think we'll get another break like that? I'm not going to do anything besides find out where it's located. You can start back now if you'd like, but I'm going to follow them a little further."

"I will not leave you here."

"Then you'll have to come with me."

Legolas stared at his friend for a moment and, seeing that he was not going to back down, slowly nodded his head. "Very well, but once we see where this path leads, we head straight back."

"Good, that's fine." Aragorn said, nodding.

He started down the path, keeping low to the ground, and Legolas crept quietly behind him. The path kept going far after past The Sleeping Demon, and although the noise did lessen, it would still be considered loud.

The light from the moon filtered through the trees in some places and, looking behind him, Aragorn saw that Legolas' skin began to shimmer faintly. Legolas gazed back and smiled a bit, knowing that if he'd not been wearing the dark hat the glow would have been brighter. He reached up to tuck in a stray bit of flaxen hair that had begun to slip out.

As they followed the path, both began to acquire a feeling of unease, as though they were not alone. Aragorn noticed that Legolas was following a bit more closely than before, and he was glad of it. The farther they crept, the more uncomfortable he felt. Glancing always from side to side, he saw smaller paths beginning to break off, but they kept to the main trail and stayed low to the ground.

Eventually, they slowed down as they saw a faint light through the trees ahead and to their left. Inching forward, they saw that a large building stood in the woods with an area that was cleared out in front lit by several torches. About ten men stood outside, all dressed alike in dark green tunics. Their belts were decorated with long swords, daggers, and rope and a golden sash crossed each of their chests. Half of these men were standing at various posts at the edge of the clearing looking into the woods, while the other five were standing at the door around two figures. One of the men at the door shifted and Legolas and Aragorn caught a glimpse of Rovion and Kenan inside the loose circle.

Two green-shirted men suddenly broke off from the group and pulled open two large, sliding double doors and led Rovion and Kenan inside. The doors slowly slid shut again. Looking up, Legolas saw a small and simple sign hanging above the sliding doors that read The Labyrinth. He glanced at Aragorn and then nodded toward the path. When they we a safe distance away, they stopped and crouched down by the side of the trail.

"That must be it." Aragorn whispered excitedly, swiping a lock of dark hair out of his face.

Legolas nodded once in quick agreement, his blue eyes darting through the trees around them. "We should leave quickly. I don't think those were the only guards they had posted."

"There are more?" Aragorn's eager face became serious and he too began to search the forest with uneasy eyes.

"I fear it is so. I can hear others treading similar paths. But they are not stationary, as were the others."

"Those trails we saw leading off of this one," Aragorn said with realization. "They must have a whole network of patrols."

The Elf nodded and with unspoken agreement, he started down the path in the direction of the road, keeping low to the ground. This time they traveled more slowly, and kept their eyes always trained on the forest on either side of them. Occasionally, Aragorn would hear distant footsteps to the right or left, but none came close enough to require them to leave the path.

When they came in sight of the trail's end, Legolas suddenly but silently spun in his crouch to face Aragorn, concern etched on his fair features. The young man looked over the Elf's head and saw that a guard stood with his arms crossed directly in front of the trees that led back out to the road. Another was walking purposefully their way. Aragorn glanced around them frantically, and then quickly backpedaled down another path and stepped behind a few bushes, Legolas on his heels. The guard turned the corner and Legolas quickly pulled his shimmering hands inside his sleeves and covered his head. They did not need worry about breathing too loud, for they were once more next to the clamor of the Sleeping Demon. They crouched there unmoving and the guard passed them by without a glance.

Legolas raised his head again and gave Aragorn a look that clearly said 'I knew we should have left when we could.' Aragorn gave a small sigh.

"Let us try another way." He said and started down this new trail. They found that this path did not lead to the road, but circled around and they ended up where they'd started. They tried another and another. But the ones that did lead to the road were guarded and all others seemed to lead nowhere. Now Aragorn was getting worried.

"We did not see any guards on the way down, why are they suddenly springing up everywhere?" He hissed after they barely avoided being detected by yet another man.

"Perhaps they detected something and were put on heightened alert. Let us stay here and perhaps we can wait it out." Legolas replied and they backed farther into the trees.

Aragorn gave a small snort. "The others must be beside themselves."

**

"Where are they?" Elladan strode across the room to the window and looked out. Then he marched back to sit on his bed. "And you can't make any excuse this time, Elrohir. They've been gone over four hours."

"I know. They should have returned long ago." Elrohir replied, concern evident in his soft voice.

"It is possible they stopped to check on the horses." Isorfinduil offered hopefully.

"For two hours?" Elladan shot back sharply.

"I said it is possible." Isorfinduil returned darkly. "You spent long enough when you did."

Elladan spun around and piercd the younger Elf with a hard glare. "Don't you dare-"

"Now is not the time for one of your foolish banter-sessions!" Elrohir cut in briskly. He looked back and forth between the two. "We wait another half-hour. If they have not returned by then, then we will look around in the local bars."

"We've already waited long enough, Elrohir. We should go now."

"Can you ever just take a direction without rivaling it with your own?" Isorfindiul muttered.

"Can you ever keep your mouth shut in matters that don't concern you?" Elladan said calmly.

"You think this does not concern me?" Isorfinduil replied, his voice raising a bit. "Legolas is my Prince and my close friend. This concerns me just as much as it does you."

Elladan didn't reply right away, so Isorfinduil kept speaking. But he now directed his attention toward the slightly more quiet brother. "Elrohir, I know Legolas well. He would not be gone this long without checking in if at all possible. Either something happened and he cannot get back, or…well, I suppose I'm just saying even if he came upon a big lead in the investigation, he would not go off without conferring with us first."

Elrohir looked at the light-haired Elf with an interesting look on his face. "Ah, but Estel would."

An air of thoughtfulness settled in the room as the three Elves quietly pondered this statement.

Finally, Elrohir sighed and stood up. "Perhaps we should begin to look around now."

Elladan nodded rapidly and immediately donned his overcoat again, making for the door and adjusting his hat. Isorfinduil stood as well and picked up his dark blue scarf. He laid it flat on his forehead and then gathered the rest at the back of his skull, tying it in a knot and letting the ends loose to mingle with his long light-brown hair. Elrohir lifted his gleaming sword off the bed and slid it into its scabbard with a metallic ring. And without a word, they went out and locked the door behind them, leaving the room in darkness.

**

And there's chapter 6…I hope you all liked it. Any questions that anyone has, or suggestions, please feel free to ask or let me know. I need to know what people think! J

Next chapter will be very exciting…those of you looking for some action for Aragorn and Legolas will be happy! I know I will…

Hey, Anime Soccer Lobos (Ahem…do you have a nickname?), you're right, ff.net doesn't seem to like to post your reviews! But I got the other half in the email, so…have no fear. Thanks so much, I love to hear what you think! You came up with some pretty good ideas there….hmm….I'll have to keep those in mind.

And thanks Roz, for your review as well! I hope you continue to enjoy it!

That's it for now. Next chapter will be up probably sometime next week. Please review and let me know if you like it!! J Until next time…

Amorous