Disclaimer: I do not own LotR, only the OCs. Woohoo… -.-
Sorry 'bout any grammar and/or spelling mistakes.
Well, definitely had time to type this up… more time than I knew what to do with actually. ..:sighs:.. It was actually good during school (..:gasps:..), then alright when I got home, and then… blah when I got to my father's… Oh well, at least you guys get this, right? I just hope you all enjoy it, let me know what ya think. And you're all in for a treat. n.n
Bound
Chapter Nine: Reasons
Legolas' eye widened in horror and shock; at the helplessness of it all. He couldn't move. His mouth had gone dry.
Tanol had raised the dagger above the immobile elf.
He could feel Adanel's gaze boring into him, encouraging Tanol to finish this last act, this last act that would bring overwhelming joy to the black-haired man and would also end these killings.
Tanol gripped the hilt tightly and plunged it downward at the elf's abdomen and into the flesh.
However, it was not Legolas' skin that the dagger caught this time. It was someone that neither Tanol nor Adanel had ever seen.
A stranger.
Legolas had squeezed his eyes shut, anticipating the deep bite of the dagger. When none came he opened his eyes and gasped in surprise. His mouth refused to push past the words he wished to speak.
He couldn't have felt anymore relieved at that point. Before him was a man with dark brown hair, grey eyes and facial hair; despite him obviously being human, Legolas knew he was in good hands. His prayer had been answered: he had been given his best friend.
"Legolas, mellon-nin, are you alright?" the human asked in Elvish, a frown marring his handsome features.
Said human hissed in pain as he pulled the dagger out of his arm. He had had no time to unsheathe his sword to block, for when he came onto the scene the dagger was already being thrust downward.
"Estel," Legolas finally managed to whisper. "But… how…?"
"I shall explain later," Estel said with an angry look in his stormy eyes.
Legolas knew the anger seen clearly in his friend's eyes was not directed at him but at the ones who had harmed him and held him captive. How much did Estel know?
The two friends' conversation had been in Elvish and Tanol and Adanel exchanged confused glances.
A human who spoke fluently in Elvish? What was going on?
Both were unsure of what to expect when the newcomer suddenly appeared and they still had no idea.
The lord of the village finally broke through his surprised and confused stupor. He had to finish this, and quickly. The stones' magic didn't last forever.
"Tanol, finish this," he barked at the human.
The man knew not to disappoint his leader and picked up the second dagger (the other being in Estel's grasp).
Estel quickly reacted, grabbing a hold of the human's wrist. "How dare you do this to my friend," he ground out between clenched teeth. They were both surprised to see that he had an accent with the common tongue. So he was raised by elves…?
Tanol tried to break free in hopes of a distraction. He used his left hand to unsheathe the sword that he always had at his waist; one on each side, just in case.
Estel saw this move and jumped back, narrowly missing the sharp blades as it was swung at an arc towards him.
He had to engage the brown-eyed human in battle before he could do anything to Legolas. He new the elf couldn't move he just didn't know why that was. It worried him greatly, for this put his friend in a very vulnerable position. Legolas was still bleeding, too, and could do nothing to stop it.
He had to end this quickly. He had a disadvantage with the wound to his left arm and he noticed his opponent could use either arm just as well as the other.
No matter, he would not lose, this was for Legolas.
Estel sidestepped to the right to dodge the blade aimed for his side. He thrust his sword forward and missed by mere inches. This human was no novice at battles, much to Estel's dismay. He had hoped to end this quickly.
Legolas' relief turned to fear as he watched Estel fight against his captor and he could do nothing to help.
He clenched his eyes shut, trying to force his body to move, to obey his commands.
The elf heard a stifled cry of pain and snapped his eyes open to see what had happened.
To his horror the two were out of his range of vision; above him by the sound of the swords clashing.
The sound. That meant that Estel was still fighting, so he was alright. He didn't know how injured he had been, though.
This was driving him insane! He needed to be able to move!
Estel had to ignore the pain as he continued his fight with Tanol; the villager had scored a slash against his leg.
He jumped out of the way of Tanol's sword and as soon as he hit the ground, he ducked, swinging his sword upward.
The move caused even greater pain to shoot through his leg, but it was worth it, for his blade had hit its mark. Unfortunately, the cut wasn't deep as the brown-eyed man had managed to avoid it for the most part. However, even with it being shallow, it had been his chest that Estel's blade had tasted. The blood loss should slow him down, and his movements should be hindered since moving his arms would tug painfully at the newly acquired wound.
Legolas couldn't focus on trying to make sense of the sounds of the fight any longer, for, suddenly, there was someone next to him.
The blonde's eyes were wide with surprise and panic.
It was Adanel who was next to him, dagger in hand. The ebony-haired man looked strained, a sheen of sweat covering his forehead, face scrunched up in concentration.
So much for him not being able to enter this area!! Legolas thought wryly, at a loss as to what he could do.
"Why are you doing this? What will it accomplish?" he questioned, hoping to distract the human. He figured that, if he could get him to focus on something else, then whatever spell the leader was using would break and he would be able to move again.
However, Adanel merely looked at the blonde elf as if that was supposed to explain everything.
"What? I do not understand," he said. To add to his panic (which he was trying incredibly hard to push back) he was starting to become really dizzy and lightheaded from blood loss. He feared he would soon lose consciousness; then he would be completely helpless.
To his utter shock an arrow was suddenly in the man's side.
Adanel immediately lost his balance and fell forward, right onto the suffering elf, causing his agony to increase as it jerked his body.
Through the haze of pain he saw two familiar faces.
"Ellun, Aelin?" he whispered uncertainly.
"Aye, 'tis us. Sorry we are late," the husband said softly.
"Your friend is a lot quicker than us," a female voice added with a sad smile.
"Estel!" Legolas shouted, sitting up quickly, wanting to see his friend.
However, he instantly fell back with a cry of pain that he couldn't prevent.
"Worry not, he is fine. He's dealing with Tanol at the moment," Aelin stated quietly. Tanol had once been a close friend of hers and Ellun's; it was sad to see him go.
Estel had won their fight and the only way to do that had been to kill the big man. He hadn't made it out unscathed, of course.
The dark haired human had to catch his breath before he could go anywhere. He was lying on the ground; Tanol's lifeless body had been pushed off of him and was now next to him.
Estel had been knocked to the ground, unable to catch his balance due to the earlier wound dealt to his leg and his sword had dropped from his hand, rendering him weaponless.
Tanol had aimed for his heart, but before the blade could strike, Estel grabbed his dagger from his belt and quickly slit his opponent's throat, blood spraying down onto him. He had been extremely lucky, getting out of the fight with minor wounds.
At the moment Ellun was trying to treat the injuries, but Estel now fought to get up. He needed to go to Legolas. It had taken him a month to find his friend and he would not wait any longer.
Suddenly, Adanel, who had been silent in his pain, launched himself onto Legolas, latching his hands tightly around the elf's neck.
Estel pushed Ellun aside forcefully and ran to Legolas' side, picking up his sword on the way.
Aelin had been violently pushed away and was getting up to get Adanel off of Legolas when Estel got there before her.
The human pried Adanel off of his friend and roughly pushed him to the ground, making sure to put pressure on the leader's side, where the arrow still was.
The younger human was fuming, unable to believe Adanel would attempt such a thing with everyone around him. It took all of his self-control to prevent him from killing the filthy human right then and there.
Legolas was gasping loudly, trying to regain the breath he had lost. The coughs did nothing to help the pain as it shook his entire body.
He groaned in between the coughs, making him even more lightheaded.
"Legolas," someone shouted next to him, but through his daze he could not place the voice with a face. "Legolas, stay with me, mellon-nin!" Estel shouted, trying to keep the elf awake. Ellun was now keeping an eye on Adanel.
The injured elf closed his eyes against the dizziness and pain. He could feel unconsciousness pulling him down and he let it.
Estel's fear grew as Legolas' body relaxed, his breathing evening slightly, but still labored.
"Legolas! Legolas!" he continued to yell, hoping to get the elf to wake up.
"Estel?" Ellun asked softly. He wasn't sure of the elf's condition since he couldn't see from his position. Was Legolas alright or what? "Is he…" he trailed off, unable to finish the question.
"Nay," Estel choked out, "he's alive, but I need to treat his wounds."
Aelin and Ellun let out a breath of relief. Looking back over at Adanel, he found the leader unconscious as well. That was one problem down.
Estel looked at Adanel out of the corner of his eyes. "Do with him what you will, I trust your judgment," he told the couple. He was furious at this so-called leader, but he was the leader of their village. They had been suffering under his rule for years; it was their choice as to what happened to him.
Estel had been extremely lucky when entering this village, for he had quickly run into these two humans; after asking if they had seen a blonde elf they had described his location in urgency. He had wondered why it had been said in such haste, but he soon had found out when he came across this scene.
"Is your home close?" the grey-eyed man asked the couple. At their nods he asked, "Could I bring him there? He needs to be treated."
"Of course," Aelin quickly agreed with a smile.
"Hannon le," Estel slipped, he was so used to being around elves.
Ellun and Aelin's recent dealing with Legolas allowed them to know what the newcomer had meant.
Ellun held up his hand as Estel opened his mouth to amend his wording. "We know," he said. "We have been taking care of Legolas."
The younger human closed his mouth slightly taken aback, though he supposed it really wasn't that surprising, they had immediately known of who he meant when he had first questioned them about Legolas.
Before they left for the couple's cabin, Estel first took out some bandages from a pouch on his belt. He wrapped the elf's wounds tightly, trying to stop the flow of blood as much as possible. He only had a few herbs with him and he used the only bandages he had with him, giving some to Ellun to use on Adanel, as much as he hated the idea. He hadn't expected to need any at all.
When Estel had first set out from Imladris, he planned on being gone for not even a day. He had gone out to meet Legolas in the forest not far from his home, wanting to surprise the elf since they hadn't seen each other in at least a year.
However, it had turned out to be much longer than a day when Legolas hadn't shown up, for he had gone to look for him. Now he had finally found his friend… in a not so pleasant situation, but… he was alive!
After he had wrapped the wounds, they went on their way to the couple's home.
Once at the cabin Estel gently laid Legolas down on the bed as directed and then looked through the healing supplies that Ellun and Aelin had.
Grabbing the herbs that would work best for the elf, he began to treat Legolas' injuries.
During his treatment he noticed his skin looked raw around his friend's wrists and ankles and the only thing keeping him composed was the fact that Legolas needed his attention.
"I'm sorry, mellon-nin, I should have been there," Estel whispered, brushing a blonde strand behind the elf's ear.
Aelin came back about an hour after Estel had finished treating Legolas. They had gone to talk to the other villagers about Adanel. At the moment some of the villagers were watching the lord; Ellun was with them as well.
"How is he?" the woman asked softly, walking up next to the dark-haired man.
Estel sighed wearily. "He shall be alright," he answered sadly, feeling horrible for his friend's condition.
Aelin smiled, glad to hear the great news.
They sat down in chairs that Aelin had pulled up next to the bed earlier.
Neither spoke for minutes so when Aelin suddenly said something, Estel startled since he had been deep in thought. "I'm sorry," she said guiltily, "we tried to hide him. We really did."
Estel turned to the red-head; looking directly at her eyes he said, "I do not blame you; it is not yours to carry, nor is it Ellun's."
Aelin stared into stormy orbs to see if there was any deceit hidden. She found none and nodded in appreciation. "Thank you." She didn't think the man knew just how much that truly meant to her.
"Can you tell me what was going on and what they were doing with Legolas?" the young man questioned. This had been bothering him ever since he had come across the sacrificial scene.
Aelin nodded, knowing it was over; she also knew that nothing would happen to her now if she told.
"Four years ago, to the day," she began, "raiders came to our village and destroyed everything. Many were killed, Lord Adanel's wife and son included; before his very eyes.
He was devastated and desperately tried to revive them. He wants nothing more than for his family to be returned to him," she paused, unsure of what to say from there.
"So he… sacrificed others for his own selfish desires?" he asked in disbelief. However, he asked himself what he would do if any of his family died; what about Legolas? He couldn't stand the thought, but he was sure he wouldn't kill others to bring them back, to attempt to bring them back.
Aelin nodded sadly. "In the hopes of bringing them back. His son was only five years old."
"Still, how could he do that?"
The woman shook her head. She didn't understand either, especially since it had caused so much trouble for the village.
"Why Legolas?" Estel questioned after a moment.
Aelin sighed heavily. "He seems to think that all strangers who come here are sacrifices sent to him. Legolas was even better than usual because Lord Adanel could do the ritual on the day his wife and son died. I do not know where he got these ideas from; he always locked himself up in a room."
Estel had to admit: he was kind of curious himself, if only for the reason that he wanted to find out who had filled Adanel's mind with such thoughts. He could have gotten them from books by the sounds of it, though, being locked up in a room…
He sighed again, feeling terrible for his best friend. He always seemed to have the worst luck. There was one more question that was on his mind, however. "How did Legolas get here in the first place? You said he has been staying with you, why?"
Looking at the blonde elf before them, Aelin quietly said, "He had been captured and tortured by orcs, I believe. I found him outside of a cave while taking a break from my usual chores. We took care of him so he could recover. I do not think he was completely healed when he was taken by Tanol."
Estel stared wide-eyed in shock. He had been captured by orcs! No wonder he hadn't been there to meet him! He should have looked harder for him, should have stopped the orcs, done something!
He turned his saddened gaze over to Legolas. "I'm sorry," he said again, in Elvish, tears threatening to fall. "I'm so sorry."
There. Ya happy now? You have Estel. n.n Nah, I was missin' him too. It was weird not having him in the fic for so long… Hope you guys liked this chapter, though. Don't forget to let me know, alright? And, I know, having Estel show up at the last second to save Legolas was predictable, but… what do you expect? It's Estel. He's just crazy that way... XD
Well, I hope you guys enjoyed; if not please don't be harsh, haven't had the most exciting day… ..:sighs:..
Ja ne