Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

Review Responses:

dragon shadows: Cool a new reviewer. I'm glad you like it. Here's more.

Slayer3: Orlando Bloom could save us all from our misery, but I don't think there is enough of him to go around, alas. I will be patient for your update. (At least until I'm tired of being patient and then I'll cry like a baby and you'll have to update to stop me.)

Larien: Poor Elladan is under a lot of stress, which you will see why in the next chapter. Yes two horses and five riders do not work too well.

Lintered: When a horse becomes lame they suffer some kind of injury to there legs. Can be caused by injury, stress, or strain. Usually it takes a long time for a horse to heal from this kind of injury. During the time period of the old west cowboys would most often shoot lame horses. But I can't see elves doing that to a horse.

ashlyns: That's okay. You have to take time off sometimes. I'm not to worried about losing reviewers. Most of you are still here. And I think this story is going to end up being pretty good. I've got so many ideas for it. The plot bunnies have been working triple time on me lately.

Author's Note: Some mild violence in this one. Don't worry the good torture stuff is still ahead.

The Ambush

They came just before dawn. Atavus was on watch and that feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach had been increasing all night long. She heard the first sound and alerted the twins. Neither of them had managed to sleep. They each took up places surrounding the other two sleeping figures.

One moment it was quiet, and then the next the clearing seemed to fill with men dressed in furs and leather, coming out of every crevice in the mountainside.

"At least they're not orcs." Elrohir said meeting the first of the attackers head on.

"Yes wonderful. They fight better than orcs." Elladan commented sarcastically.

The commotion had woken Veri and Van. Veri pushed Van behind a large boulder and then drew her own sword. "Why didn't you wake me?" She asked slicing through the first man that came her way.

Atavus backed up to where Veri was defending Van. "Sorry, I was busy." She watched as the twins sliced through several of the attackers ahead of them, only to be replaced by a dozen more. She looked back to the crevice Van was hiding in and saw that it was actually a very narrow path leading off to the east. That gave her an idea. "Veri I want you to take Van away from here. Take this path. It is to narrow for the men to follow."

"I'm not leaving you." Veri said shocked.

"Yes you are. Van is too small to fight, and there are too many of them for us to defeat. Take Van, and keep heading east. You will eventually come out of the mountains. Find the forest on the other side. Ask Lady Galadriel to send help. Her mirror should give her some idea where to find us." Atavus knew she was asking Veri to go against everything she believed. But for Van's sake she must. "Please do it for Van."

Veri looked to the twins who were being slowly backed up by the large men that were attacking them. Then she turned into the crevice and pushed Van along in front of her. The crevice was nearly too small for her frame but she pushed on scratching her skin on the sharp rocks jutting from the walls. Atavus watched as they left praying to the Valar that they would make it. Then she turned back to the fight behind her. If they were going to take her it would not be without a fight.

She watched helplessly as Elrohir was the first to fall as he took a blow to the back of the head from a large wooden club.

"Take them alive." She heard one of the large bearded men call out.

"That will be much harder than you can imagine." She whispered swinging her own sword through the next man that came at her. She tried to move towards the man who had called out. He was fighting Elladan along with four other men. She watched as they overwhelmed him with sheer numbers forcing him to the ground. She was almost to them when she felt the sharp blow to the back of her head, and then all went black.

Her head was pounding, was her first thought as she started to come to. Then the memories of what had happened came to her and her eyes shot open looking around wildly for the twins. They were a few feet away bound by both the hands and feet as she was. Both of their eyes were closed. She looked around realizing they were still in the clearing. She could see that their attackers were trying in vane to fit one of their own in the crevice Veri and Van had left by. None of them were small enough. That brought a small smile to her lips. At least they were safe for the moment. Then she looked back to the twins realizing that Elladan's eyes had opened. "Are you all right?" She whispered.

"Yes. But I'm not sure about Ro. He hasn't come to yet." Elladan whispered back.

"I'm fine, but can you not talk so loud." Elrohir said opening his eyes.

"Were whispering Ro." Elladan said smiling at the frown his brother was giving him.

"Still too loud. My head feels like it'll split open at any moment." He came back.

"Mine too." Atavus said wincing as she rolled back towards their captors. "I wonder what they want us for."

Just then the man who had ordered them to be kept alive noticed that his prisoners were awake. He walked over next to them staring down with malice in his eyes. "I'm not sure if you three are worth what you have cost me."

"I'm sure were not. Why don't you let us go?" Elladan suggested.

"Nice try, but the people who are paying me wouldn't like that." The large man smiled an evil smile.

"And who might that be?" Elrohir asked.

"No one you'd know. Just a collector of rare objects." He said bending over them staring at Atavus.

"We are not objects." Atavus leered up at the man.

"Maybe not. But you are rare, now that the elves are leaving middle-earth." He smiled down at her. "But you don't look like no elf I've ever seen." He said pushing her hair back to check her ears. "They are pointed. Are you sure you're an elf woman?" He said pinching the tip of her ear.

She pulled her head to the side not wanting him to touch her. That cost her a backhanded slap to the face. "Your probably not a pure blood. That will make you worth less than them, but I'll take you along just the same."

Atavus felt her anger rising even further. "Sorry to disappoint you but I'm not worth much, since I'm not even an elf." She snarled.

"If you're not an elf then what are you?" He said curiously.

"I'm an orc." That statement brought a chuckle to the large man who stood and went to see how his men were progressing.

"Atavus what are you doing?" Elladan asked.

"Just getting angry. Right now I wish I were an orc. I'd bite his nose off." She fumed. She could see the disgusted look on Elladan's face following her statement.

"All right maybe not." She said staring daggers into the man she wanted so much to kill at that moment.

"I'm assuming Veri and Van are in that crevice?" Elrohir asked.

"I'm hoping they are far away from here by now. That is not a crevice. It's a path. But none of them are small enough to fit in it." Atavus explained.

"That's reassuring. I just hope they don't run into more trouble, or get lost." Elladan stated.

Atavus agreed in her head. She hated the idea of the two traveling alone threw the mountains, but at least they weren't being held captive. At least she hoped not.

"Okay Van we have to climb up out of this crevice. It's becoming too small for me to make it. I'll give you a boost up." Veri said bending and cupping her hands together so he could climb easier.

He easily sprung up and out of the crevice landing safely above. Veri climbed the walls and was standing beside him in no time.

"Atavus said we needed to keep going east. Over there is the pass we were traveling. We probably better stay away from it; stay along these paths a little higher up. What do you think?" Veri asked the small boy.

"I want to go back for Ata and the twins." Van said frowning.

"We can't Van. There are too many bad men. We have to get help in Lorien." Veri tried to explain.

"I don't want to go to Lorien. I want to fight." He said crossing his arms stubbornly scowling at her.

"Listen Van, this was Ata's plan. And Ata is much smarter at this stuff than you and me. Isn't she?" Veri did not have time to argue with him, but she could not risk him running off on her.

"Yes. But…" Van started, but stopped talking as if he didn't know what to say.

"But what Van?"

"I'm afraid for them. Especially Ata. I have a bad feeling." Van admitted, not understanding his own perceptive nature.

But Manveri did understand. She understood all too well. "We will hurry. Let's run. It is very important that we bring back help for them. We are their only hope Van."

Putting it that way changed Van's mind immediately. "Let's go." He sprinted off towards the east not bothering to see if Veri was following.

"How does he know the right way to go?" She whispered to herself, and then took off after him. It didn't take her long to decide that Van was in much better physical shape than she was, but even as she became winded she followed not stopping.