Disclaimer: If you want them you can't have them. They are mine. (Strike that just kidding. They are not mine.)

Review Responses:

ZELINIA: So complicated is my orc. Read manveri mirkiel's review from the last chapter. She is beginning to understand him all too well. You know that's scary. I still like the rasputin reference.

Invisigoth3: Ugluk passed ticked a long time ago.

manveri mirkiel: I give you permission to skip school tomorrow, but I'll deny it if you tell anybody. Camp, that's something I never got to do as a kid. My parents thought it was a stupid idea. Always wanted to go though. I hope you enjoy. And I promise I won't send out a search party.

Oh pippin, manveri will be away this weekend. You want to play?

New York super fudge chunk. Slide over and share girl.

Oh my you understand Ugluk way to well. Either that or you are reading my mind again.

Yes I looked everywhere for that darn ring. I even took the washing machine apart. Knowing my luck I threw it in the trash. And my husband is only romantic when it comes to one aspect of our marriage and since this is not an R rated fic, I won't say any more. I am feeling much better now. Just a little bug. One kid is a lot better and the other is on the way, so we will survive. But thanks for the cheers.

You'll have to read more to find out about Van. That's all I'm saying.

Well I've never rubbed salt into a wound but I did find out that salt water will make rub burns, or chafing heal faster, and it takes the fire out. But it's not just regular salt water. I found sea salt water works the best. I used to live in Florida. We went to the beach about three times a month. I never thought of trying salt on a cut before. I bet you build up quite a tolerance for pain that way.

I like tying my fictions together by bringing up unresolved matters from the past. Makes people think.

Yes Ugluk is beginning to read his sister well. Too well. And no I did not forget Manveri. She is very much a big part of the next chapter.

You can beg all you want but this is a roller coaster ride you can't get off of. Emotions from one end of the spectrum to the other.

Slayer3: Whatever manveri mirkiel says ignore her. More ice cream. She's taunting me. Not fair. Oh, chocolate chip cookie dough, my fav. Have I ever told you how much I love you?

Karone Evertree: Man I wish I could remember what exams were like. Too long ago. But any who where did I put those wargs? I couldn't help the title, it just sounded so hilarious. I had to.

Lintered: You know you guys are free to try some of my torture techniques on pesky teachers if you want. I won't tell a soul.

Larien: Yeah I missed my elf torture. Now I need some human torture. Must have my fix. The mental torture was fun but he isn't hurting enough. What you think? My ring was cracked on the underside where the bands were joined together. I figure it must have broke completely off while I wasn't paying attention doing some kind of housework. My greatest fear is that it ended up in the trash. I'll never get it back if that's the case.

ashlyns: I like begging. Here you go.

Author's Note: Sorry this chapter took so long. I've been having trouble concentrating, but I finally got back into the swing of it today. Warning: Definite cliffhanger.

A Brother's Rage

"Manveri, help him please." Atavus nodded towards Legolas. She could see the shocked look in the woman's eyes.

"He never made me watch before." She whispered. "It's harder than being tortured yourself."

"I know. Believe me I know." Atavus closed her eyes as all the memories of watching her friends being tortured came back to her. "Please Veri. He needs help." She pleaded.

Manveri snapped out of the daze she was in. She crossed to where the elf was strapped to the table.

"Veri can you remove the straps? Estel is a healer. He can help Legolas." Atavus suggested.

She turned her face towards Atavus. "Ugluk would not like that." She said shaking her head. "He didn't even give me the keys to your manacles this time.

"Veri please. I know him too well. He expects it." Atavus assured her. "It isn't like they can escape. The outer door will be locked, and they aren't going to leave me anyway."

"Okay." Veri agreed reluctantly removing the straps holding Aragorn, who was by Legolas' side immediately. "I'll get the supplies you'll need."

Atavus hated the look she saw in Manveri's eyes. The woman was worried about Van, but had no way of knowing how to find him. And now she was helping people she really did not trust.

Aragorn removed the straps holding his friend and then checked the wounds. "I know how much it hurts Legolas, but truthfully the salt may be a good thing. I've heard of those who use it to heal wounds."

Legolas spoke for the first time since the torture had begun. "That's barbaric Estel."

"I know, but it works. Atavus are you all right?" He wished he could go to check on her but was still too worried about Legolas to leave his side.

"Never been better." She smiled at him.

"What kind of games are you playing with him?" He didn't understand the bantering he heard between the woman and orc.

"The only one that is keeping us alive. I have to keep Ugluk just slightly off balance to reduce the amount of damage he does. He gets just angry enough with me to strike me and then storms off in a huff. He does it almost every time. As long as he feels he's in control he continues his torture methods. But when I anger him enough he feels out of control and then storms off." She explained the pattern she was establishing with her brother.

"I'm beginning to wonder just how much the orc is actually in control. It sounds to me like he's doing exactly as you want him to. But how do you know him well enough to understand his inner workings?" Aragorn asked holding a cloth over one of Legolas' wounds that was bleeding more heavily than the rest.

"Because he thinks like me." She said ironically.

"You've got to be joking." Legolas said staring at her.

"No I'm not. I am the same. I am in complete control until I start losing my temper. If it goes too far then I walk away to regroup. He does the same." She didn't tell them that she was planning on goading him so far that he'd make a mistake. She knew that her plan could end up in their favor or with her dead. Either way she was keeping the idea to herself.

But her friends were more perceptive than she had hoped. "And what happens if he doesn't walk away one of these times?" Legolas asked.

"Well maybe he'll make a mistake." She suggested.

"Or maybe he'll kill you." Aragorn suggested angrily that she was placing her self in that kind of danger on the off chance that the orc might make a mistake.

"It's all I got for now Estel. If you have a better idea I'd love to hear it." She suggested.

At that moment Legolas sat up very alert. "The orcs are coming back."

Atavus strained her ears. She could hear many footsteps approaching. "There are at least ten." She whispered. She could see her friends tense. The odds were against them. She scanned the room they were in, but saw nothing that could be used as a weapon. Aragorn and Legolas' weapons had been removed from the room before. "You can't fight them."

"We can try." Legolas said shakily standing and moving over in front of where she was manacled to the wall placing himself between her and the door. Aragorn joined him. Though it touched her that they would want to protect her, she wanted to kick them both for being so foolish.

As the orcs entered the room they did not move. The orcs stood on one side of the room facing the friends, not rushing them yet. Ugluk entered the room taking in the sight before him. "What do the two of you think you can do against all of us? Do you think you are protecting her? You're not. You're just killing yourselves."

"I can't think of anything better to die for. She may be your sister by blood, but she's ours in the heart." Aragorn taunted. He could see the angry look that passed over the orcs face.

"So be it. Subdue them." The orc ordered.

The orcs rushed the two friends following their orders, making sure not to kill the two. Aragorn and Legolas had no such qualms about hurting the orcs. They had knocked five of them unconscious before the remaining five simple overpowered them. They were taken back to the stone tables and strapped down again.

Ugluk sent the other orcs from the room. "Is she worth all this?" He asked standing next to Aragorn.

"If you weren't such a cold hearted monster you'd already know the answer to that, beast." Aragorn said struggling against the straps that held him. He was so close that if his hands were free he could reach up and strangle the orc.

Ugluk grabbed Aragorn's hair holding his head still. He drew within mere inches of Aragorn's face. "You let me know if you still feel the same after I'm done with you." He whispered pulling up on the hair and slamming his head back to the stone.

Aragorn spit in the orcs face. "Why don't you take these straps off and we'll settle this once and for all?"

Ugluk wiped the spit from his face. "Now that would spoil all my fun." He smiled then drove his fist into Aragorn's stomach.

"Figures." Aragorn gasped as he got his breath back.

"Stop Ugluk. What good is this doing you? You are sure to know by now that I won't tell you what you need to know." Atavus yelled out hoping to pull his attention from her friends.

"I'm doing this for the pure pleasure of it, dear Sister." The orc turned to face her, and she could see in his eyes that he was no longer trying to get information. He was just punishing. He had snapped, but he hadn't made a mistake yet.

She had gotten what she planned but it wasn't working out as she had wished. "Isn't it more fun to play with me though?" She taunted, willing to try anything to increase their odds of survival.

"That's not going to work Sis. He has this coming." He grinned evilly and turned back to Aragorn hitting him hard in the chest.

"You are a coward then." She said just loud enough for him to hear. He heard her and stopped punching the human. He did not turn around yet. "I can't believe I've been comparing you to one of us." She said as if she was speaking to herself.

"A freak like you." He snorted.

"Yes like me. You're intelligent aren't you? Most orcs are not. Considering the fact that I wounded you enough to kill you but you still live, I've wondered if your healing ability is advanced like my own. Other than looks you are more like a throwback than an orc." She said the words as an accusation wanting to flare his temper at her even more.

He swung around and strode to where she was hanging. "Don't you ever say something like that to me." He said roughly grabbing her chin and squeezing.

"If the words fit." She said with a smirk crossing her face.

"Don't you understand the position you and your friends are in girl?" He yelled and then back handed her. "Let me show you something." He quickly removed the manacles from her hands and then drug her forward slamming her against the stone slab Legolas was strapped to. She could see that he was having a hard time remaining conscious.

"Let her go." Legolas said struggling against the straps and his bodies' own weakness.

"Look at him Atavus." Ugluk said forcing her to lean over the table close to her friends face. "He is going to die." The orc growled shaking her roughly.

Then he drug her around to the other table. She was trying to fight back but he was much stronger than her, and his rage was fueling his strength. He forced her to lean over Aragorn as he had with Legolas. "And he is going to die."

He pulled her up spinning around and throwing her the few feet to the wall. She hit hard knocking the breath from her. "And you are going to die." He did not give her time to recover as he descended on her punching her in the ribs. She had never seen such rage before. Normally she could hold her own in a fistfight, but it seemed as if her own blows did not affect him whatsoever.

He shoved her to the floor and then viciously started kicking her. She could hear the angry shouts coming from her fiends, but what she heard the most was the words that Ugluk uttered over and over again as he beat her. "We are all going to die. We are all going to die." She couldn't be sure, but she thought to herself that even though he could have been speaking of those in the room it seemed more likely that he was speaking of his race in general. Because they were going to die. And there would be no little orcs to replace them. Why she knew that's what he meant she wasn't sure. But she was sure of his meaning.

She began to lose consciousness and welcomed the relief from the pain, but she heard an unexpected voice, that brought her back to reality. It was the small high voice of a child.

"Stop, please stop. You're going to kill her." She turned her face to the voice and saw Van standing in the doorway. "Please don't kill her." She could see the tears streaming down his face.

Ugluk stopped kicking her and turned to face his son. She could see that he didn't know what to say to the boy.

Van ran to where she was huddled into herself on the floor. He wrapped his arms around her placing himself between her and his father. He turned to the orc defiantly. "If you kill her you have to kill me too."

"No Van." She tried to pull him away from his father, but the boy would not budge.

He tilted his chin up staring directly at his father. "It doesn't matter to me to die Father. But I will never be like you. I hate what you are. And I hate you."