Disclaimer- The last time I checked, I didn't own LotR… And I highly doubt that it's changed by then…
A/N- All right… this is a long chappy! I think that it's the longest that I've ever written:) I also put more detail and description in the story, Could you tell me if it's better?
A/N#2- Elf torture is in this chapter! It's at the end, so I'm just warning you now…
Chapter 10- Is Today the Day I Die?
Ascarlún flew until his strong wings were sore. "Ascarlún, land here before you fall from the sky." Haldir tightened his grip on Ascarlún's feathery wings, preparing himself for a very uneasy landing. Ascarlún's back legs touched the green grass first, followed by his forelegs. Once safely on the hard ground, Ascarlún collapsed, not having the strength to even stand erect anymore. "We'll not travel anymore until you recover your strength." Haldir dismounted with some difficulty and lay lazily down on the soft, green grass in the midday sun. He sighed; completely content that no one would find them. He rolled on his side and lay his head on Ascarlún's soft, velvety fur. He slowly slipped into sleep, comforted by Ascarlún's presence. Ascarlún lay his head down next to the Elf's and also fell into deep sleep.
There the two lay, completely content and fast asleep. But their peaceful slumber was about to become a horrid, pain filled nightmare once again. Bounty hunters patrolling the area stumbled upon the two sleeping forms. "Halt, men." The leader whispered harshly, "There's an Elf over there and it's got a nice steed." The leader silently advanced towards Haldir. "Stay back, men. I don't want to wake it." He stealthily advanced again without his company behind him.
Now standing some feet from Haldir's peaceful form, the man jumped on him, forcefully pinning him to the ground.
Ascarlún awoke and was about to attack, but before he could even inflict any damage on the man, ropes and chains were swung around his strong neck, forcefully pulling him back.
The leader of the group forced Haldir to his feet with some effort. "Now, where did this one come from?" The man pulled Haldir's leggings down and looked upon the now scarring brand. "Nadhor's stables, huh?" He pulled Haldir's gray leggings back up. "Well, you're going right back there again." He pulled the Elf's hands behind his back and bound them together with sturdy cord. "Take the steed along too. It looks like it came from the same place."
He began to lead the long way back to Nadhor's place, but Ascarlún fought back against the men. He thrashed madly, until the men lost their grip on the restraints.
Ascarlún ran towards Haldir, but Haldir hurriedly spoke, "No, Ascar, leave. I don't want you to get caught again." Ascarlún whined sadly before running past the Marchwarden. He took to the skies, not knowing where to go next. Distraught by the situation, he left Haldir and flew in the direction of Mirkwood, his home.
"Great, now the steed's gone." The leader groaned heavily, but then turning to Haldir, he coldly said, "But I will still get paid for returning you." He looked at Haldir's sorrow-filled expression and grinned, happy that the Elf was distraught and broken. Turning to his small company of bounty hunters, he addressed them, "Come, we will make it there by nightfall.
Roughly handling his new captive, the bounty hunters were able to get him back to Nadhor, the stable owner.
"We caught it running free and decided to bring it back to its rightful place." The leader shoved Haldir next to his master. "Now, since I did bring it back to you…" He greedily held out his right hand.
Haldir's master ungratefully shoved a coin in the man's hand. "Here's your pay." He harshly said, not wanting to give up even one of his many coins that he'd hoarded over the years.
The bounty hunter cursed under his breath before leaving Nadhor and his slave.
"Slave, what became of my steed?" Nadhor had just then noticed that Ascarlún wasn't present.
"He escaped, master." Haldir choked on the last word.
"Escaped? Well, I guess that you now have twice the work to do." Nadhor took Haldir to the same tree that he was branded on. "But first, we need to make sure that you will never escape again." He forced Haldir against the rough tree and bound him to it with worn cord, much like before. But this time he didn't fetch the branding iron, rather he unsheathed his knife and fingered it. "Repeat: 'I will never escape here again, lest I want to die by hanging.'"
Haldir choked back the tears that threatened to drop. "I will never escape here again," He took a shaky breath; "lest I want to die by hanging…" Haldir spoke in such a way, that the last part was barely audible.
"Good." The man pulled Haldir's leggings down to his knees once again. He cut into Haldir's flesh, retracing the scarring brand with his knife. He savored the pain that he was inflicting upon the Marchwarden.
Upon finishing, he deeply engraved the 'N' in the middle of the brand. Then he withdrew his knife and wiped the shimmering blood on the back of Haldir's tunic. But before he sheathed the fine knife, he cut the cord that bound Haldir's wrists together. Afterwards, he sheathed the fine, silver knife and drew Haldir's leggings back up to their original place.
.oOo.
Estel lie awake in his cold, stone cell in Sarnik. He was to be beheaded later that day, but plans changed, and so he got an extra five days to suffer with his grave, bleeding wounds. He sighed heavily, knowing that these would be his few last days in Middle-Earth.
Things had been a lot quieter without Tirnen, but Estel missed that. Now things were too quiet and lonely. He missed the young Elf's smiling face and shining green eyes. Now that they had a Man for a guard, Estel's treatment was a lot worse. With Tirnen, Estel got food and water whenever he needed, but with the new guard, he only got it whenever it was brought to him, usually about only once a day, twice if he was lucky. Tirnen always slipped a blanket in-between the bars on a cold night to keep him warm, but now, he got nothing, not even a scrap of cloth. Whenever Estel's wounds pained him, Tirnen would always be there to give as much comfort as he could; it was usually talking with him that took his mind off the pain. But now Tirnen and Legolas were both gone. Gone forever. He would never see either of them again in his mortal life.
Estel sat up when he heard his cell door open, for he no longer had the grave wound in his arm that discouraged any movement, but instead it was now a white scar that ran from his shoulder to his hand. The new prisoner was an Elf, but not just any Elf, an Elf that Estel knew from before his imprisonment. "Arwen!" He cried, getting up and running to his beloved wife. "Arwen…" He took her into an embrace, "why are you here?"
"Estel, you know that I had to come and search for you when you were declared missing." She wept into Estel's stout shoulder, relieved that she was finally reunited with him.
"You shouldn't have come for me. You should've stayed in Gondor where it is safe." Estel embraced her tighter, hoping beyond hope that he would never have to leave her again.
"I couldn't just stay there… not with you gone…" She pressed her head against Estel's cheek.
The Man and Elf stood embracing each other for a long time, until Estel broke the embrace. "Arwen, I want you to know that whatever happens to me, I will always love and cherish you forever." He kissed her, hoping that he wouldn't have to reveal his fate to her just yet.
"Estel… I love you more than I love the stars themselves." Arwen whispered, lovingly, "There's nothing too grave that could separate our love, not even death."
Estel sighed, "Arwen, they're going to kill me in five days." He closed his eyes to fight back the tears.
"Then they will kill both of us." Arwen caressed Estel's face. "Because we are a whole, and if they take a half, then the other half will fall and shatter." She kissed his dry lips.
Estel took her back into an embrace and there they stood, confident that no one would break their love for one another.
.oOo.
Galion awoke to a soft tapping at his bedroom door. "Galion…" A melodic voice accompanied the tapping, "Galion, are you awake?" Galion sighed, not wanting to get out of the soft feather bed. He slowly got out of his comfortable position and walked up to the wooden door. Upon opening it, he saw Isabel's slender form standing with her hands behind her back. "Yes, Isabel?" Galion yawned, "Is there something that you need?"
"I wanted to give you this." She smiled softly, "And I couldn't just wait until morning to give it to you." She brought her hands out in front of her, revealing a small, engraved wooden box. "Here, Galion." She handed him the box with a slight smile. "I thought you'd might like this."
Galion took the box and opened it. A smile spread across his lips whilst he held the emerald elf-stone up. "A beryl… thank you." He enclosed the jewel back in its velvet-lined box. "But why did you give this to me? A beryl would sell for a great price in the open market…"
She shook her head slightly, "I know, but it looked Elvish, and I wanted to make you happy." She gave Galion a small kiss on his cheek before bidding him good night.
Galion smiled slightly before retiring back to his comfortable bed nestled his cozy room. He set the wooden box on the stone and swiftly fell asleep under the soft quilt.
Morning awoke the sleeping birds outside Galion's window. Their joyous singing awoke the sleeping Elf. Galion got out of bed and stretched, feeling quite refreshed and ready to start his day. He picked the box up once more and looked at the precious stone again. He sighed whilst he put the gem back in its fine container. Carefully, he set the wooden box back on the floor next to his bed and looked at it a last time before leaving his bedroom to meet Isabel.
Isabel was in the kitchen, eating a ripe, red apple. The sun's golden rays spilt in the kitchen, caressing her fair skin. When she noticed Galion walk into the room, she stood up from her silver chair. "Good morning, Galion." She greeted him; "Did you sleep well?" She got out a glass and filled it with clean water from a silver pitcher.
Galion nodded his thanks when the clean, clear water was handed to him. "Yes, thank you. The bed is very soft."
Isabel smiled and said, "After you eat, I'd like for you to bake a cake. Some friends of mine will be stopping over later on." She kissed him on the cheek and whispered, "Thank you."
Once she left, Galion sighed; She's so beautiful… he thought, lost in a daydream. Her curly, raven-black hair, divine figure, and her celestial blue eyes… He sighed again, waking himself from the trance. She's kind, caring, and lovely… Galion could feel himself falling in love for her.
.oOo.
Legolas and Tirnen finished eating, and Tirnen spoke to Legolas, "Legolas," He began, "How are we ever going to escape in our condition?"
Legolas shook his head. "I don't know…" He coughed violently, spitting blood on the ground afterwards.
"Would you like some water?" Tirnen held up a leather flask that was discarded on the floor. "It has an unpleasant taste, but other than that, it's clean."
Legolas took a draught and forced himself to swallow the unpleasant water. "Thanks, Tirnen."
Tirnen nodded and set the flask back down on the stone floor. "We'd better make sure that the man is gone." Tirnen rethought what he had just said, "Actually, stay here. I'll go and see if he's gone."
Legolas looked sadly upon his friend. "Good luck, and please don't get caught." He watched as Tirnen silently left the room.
Tirnen backed up against the wall and peered over a corner. Good. No one's there. He thought as he rounded the corner, keeping his back against the stone wall as he silently crept along.
He explored the house as silently and stealthily as he could, making sure that he didn't make even one false step. But just then, footfalls were heard. Adrenaline rushed through Tirnen's veins as he quickly ran away from the source of the sound.
Turning corner after corner, he thought that he lost the man, but he was wrong. He ran right into the owner of the house, his and Legolas' master.
The man seized Tirnen by his leather tunic and backhanded him across his face, leaving an ugly brown bruise contrasting greatly with his fair skin. "Trying to escape?" He raged, "Well, I have ways of dealing with the likes of you!" He dragged the panic-filled, writhering Elf down along the stone cold corridor.
Once inside a small room, the man locked Tirnen and himself inside. The room was, again, made of stone, and it had torches lighting it, much like all the other rooms. But this room was also a lot different than all of the others. This room has switches, whips, knives, daggers, and swords hanging up or propped against the wall. Most of them were of very fine quality, Tirnen guessed that the man had forged them himself. The room also had dried blood splattered upon its walls, some of it was still drying, indicating that someone else was in here not too long ago.
"This, if you couldn't tell, is the torture room. This is where I take my slaves if they misbehave." The man pulled Tirnen to some blood stained shackles hanging from the wall. He forcefully pushed the Elf's chest against the wall and took the shackles and cuffed them on Tirnen's wrists high above his head. Tirnen started to shake with fear; now wishing that he was never even put in Middle-Earth.
The man chose one of his finest silver swords and a long switch. Walking back to Tirnen, he unsheathed the sword and grinned. "'Tis a shame to lose such a fine slave." Tirnen shut his eyes, preparing himself for the worst.
The man was going to enjoy this. He always enjoyed inflicting pain unto others. First, he tore Tirnen's brown leather tunic off by cutting it with his sword. Then, when Tirnen's golden brown shirt showed, he decided to use the switch first to tear at the shirt and break the Elf's skin.
Quickly, he snapped the switch upon Tirnen's back repeatedly. The man had obviously used the switch many times to discipline his slaves, for he now did it with great skill so that the most pain was inflicted. Tirnen's fair skin blackened and bruised with every hit. His shirt was torn and tattered by the time the man put the switch back against the wall. Tirnen still faced the wall, trembling, and the back of his shirt was now stained with crimson red blood.
The man returned back to Tirnen with a whip in his hand. He thought that the sword wasn't going to do a well enough job, so he put it back in its original place on the wall.
Tirnen took a long shaky breath whilst he looked back over his shoulder. The torch that lit Tirnen's side of the room shed enough golden-red light for Tirnen to see that the man carried a whip in his hand. But the whip wasn't like any other whips that he had ever seen before. The whip that he carried had many leather thongs, and at the end of each thong, there was either a piece of broken glass or a bit of barbed wire.
"You'll get the enjoyment of suffering more with this whip than any sword." The man grinned menacingly, "You see, this whip has many pieces of broken glass and bits of sharp barbed wire. And they'll take a chunk of skin, latch onto it, and pull it off. Very painful…" He laughed coldly. "Where as a sword would just make a clean cut across the flesh!"
Tirnen took another shaky breath to calm himself down as much as he could. He turned his head back to face the wall again and closed his eyes. Hoping that it would all end soon.
The man approached Tirnen's shaking body and raised the whip above his head. He lashed it against Tirnen's skin and pulled it back, causing Tirnen to cry a heart-clenching cry of pain when a large portion of his back was ripped off. Again, the man slashed the whip against Tirnen's bleeding back, ignoring the cries of pain that escaped the Elf's lips.
Another lash from the whip was the last one that Tirnen felt before falling unconscious from the pain. His body fell limp in the shackles and blood dripped profusely onto the stone floor below. The man took out a key and uncuffed the shackles from Tirnen's wrists, letting his body fall into the pool of blood on the ground below. The man kicked Tirnen hard in the ribs to make sure that he wasn't feigning. Tirnen's body didn't even recoil from the harsh kick.
Once sure that the Elf was unconscious, he dragged him out of the torture room and back into the room that Legolas still resided in. "See this, Elf? This is what happens to slaves who try and escape!" He dropped Tirnen's body on the floor and left, feeling quite pleased with himself.
Tbc…
A/N- I love REALLY long reviews! They make me really happy:D
Responds to Reviews-
Elanna- Yes, he got free for awhile, but now he's back in slavery:(Galadriel sailed off to Valinor with Celeborn.
Kestrel of Valinor- hehe, yes little Galion is having a wonderful time with Isabel!
Jedi Gollum- Whoo! Long review! I love them:D Haha! Haldir's dirt! Oh… you made me feel bad for making him feel like dirt:(
Horsiegurl- Thank you!
faeriekittie306 animelover- Yes, Galion is getting some nice treatment!
Troubles8806- Thanks so much for the suggestion! And the long review! But anyway, the suggestion really helped me out, I figured that I was getting pretty lazy with the details:P So I took a bit more time and thought it out a little more. I also hope that this chappy has answered your questions:D