Disclaimer- I own nothing!!!
Unski- no you haven't- but it's nice to see you back! I don't know what i'm going to do to be honest. I might kill her...I might not...probbably not though- after all that would just spoil everything wouldn't it.
uhhh. . . . I have no name- Hi- thanks as always- your reviews are most appreciated as usual- oh and when this all over I'll get them a puppy- I promise
Tarawilyaiel Greenleaf- Well- at least you've taken the time to read them. Really? Seriously? I made you do that? If thats true then I'm...honoured. Thanks
Jesusluver- Thanks
SofiaB- Thanks- no- he couldn't stay mad at him forever. Yup- she's pregnant
The Elven Sister In Laws- Hi Petra- No i'm not going to tell you the plot- that would be stupid- you're just going to wait and see
TourniquetALA- I'm not tellin you. Do I really?- thanks
Juno Magic- Hi- oh well done on finishing 'only a game'- that was you wasn't it? I absolutely loved it! thanks- i don't know what i'm gonna do to her now
leggylover4ever- lol- thanks
The rain was beating down upon her, suffocating her. She could feel the life of the grass beneath her feet begin to come to life once again but it was killing her.
The water stung her torn back. The sores and cuts that she had sustained whilst being whipped had opened once again, making sure that she would get no rest when they stopped that night.
Since speaking with her husband the previous night she had finally allowed her brain to take over and she had left her emotions behind.
She walked between three orcs, Eleni still by her side. If what she had overheard was correct, then they would be reaching their destination sometime that day.
There was nothing left for her to do but protect her daughter until Legolas and Haldir arrived. She would not survive this; she had resigned herself to that particular fact after speaking with Legolas. In truth she did not wish to die, she almost laughed at the irony of everything.
She had once killed herself, but she had not died. At a time when she had wanted nothing but death to claim her, she had lived, and now, when she had everything including her happiness, she was going to die.
The rope that bound her hands was pulled roughly, making her stumble and fall to her knees.
"Look at her, pathetic"
Without warning a large orc kicked her brutally in the side, breaking one of her ribs.
Eleni stood, a murderous look upon her face and her hands on her hips as she had seen her mother do,
"Don't you kick my nana, it's not nice!"
Thalia's eyes widened as she caught the glances that passed between the orcs. Without thinking she grabbed her daughter and cradled her protectively to her chest. Her pain was forgotten and all she could think about was Eleni's safety.
The orcs around her grinned, their yellow and black teeth showing, their bodies tense and ready to pounce at any moment.
Growls and snarls echoed in her ears as they closed in around them.
Eleni whimpered; the little girl was on the verge of hysterics. She had only meant to scare them away but instead she was going to get her nana hurt, she had never been so sorry in all of her forty years, not even the time when she had broken a very special box that her mother had kept her jewellery in.
The box had in fact been the jewellery box that Thalia had found in the bottom of her rucksack nearly sixty years ago.
Thalia's eyes narrowed dangerously and with some difficultly she rose to her feet. As she did so she quickly studied each orcs position and trying to find a way out of the situation before her daughter was injured or killed.
"You will not touch her"
Thalia's fingers dug into the palm of her hand as her body shifted towards the largest orc who was leering at them.
A hand fell on her back and without waning she spun round and kicked out at whoever it was.
The orc growled at her, unaffected by her abuse and reached out to grab her neck.
Thalia panicked momentarily, her hands gripping his large fingers as they squeezed the life out of her slowly.
She was vaguely aware of the sound of laughing and jeering however the sound of her daughter's screams broke her.
With a newfound strength she raised her leg and stamped down on the orcs foot. It did not harm him but it was enough of a distraction.
She spun round and kicked out at him, catching his knee. The orc howled in pain but continued his advance.
A strangled cry came from her throat as the edge of a blade ran over her torso leaving behind a trail of blood.
With renewed fury Thalia turned to meet the orc, her eyes were blazing and her mouth was set in a firm line and without hesitaion she dived for the sword as she had been taught all those years ago.
Her fingers clasped the hilt of the crude weapon and she raised it above her head before spinning and brought it down into the creature's chest. The almost sickening crunch of armour and bone resounded in her ears and her eyes saw only the thick viscous liquid that spilled out of the creature and onto her hand.
The rain seemed to stop and to her it seemed as if she was trapped within a bubble. An icy cold feeling enveloped her body and she began to tremble.
Time seemed to speed up and she watched with cold eyes as the creature grunted and fell to the floor at her feet.
"Nana! Nana!"
Eleni's voice pierced the silence that resounded in her ears and she looked up in time to see her daughter being hoisted over the shoulder of an orc before she herself was shoved hard to the ground.
Her ears became blocked and the only thing that she could hear was the steady thump, thump, thump of her heartbeat in her chest.
She didn't feel the rough kicks that rained over her body, or the burn of the ropes as her wrists were tied, and she didn't hear the pitiful screams of her daughter as she felt the sting of a whip against her young flesh.
The scene was grotesque. It resembled what some what call and outrage, and what most would call horrifying.
Thalia lay on the ground, unmoving and barely conscious, her mind drifting between dreams and reality.
While Eleni stood, her small hands tied in front of her. Her mouth open in whimpers and screams as a thin twig came down upon her back. Streams of blood ran down the pale flesh, stinging and crying in their own right at the sorrow of such of a small creature and so much pain.
The cold wind seemed to bite into everything maliciously. Forcing the very last remnants of hope from Thalia's mind.
Her husband was not coming, and she was going to die.
Even Lord Olanis, who watched from his seat in the highest tower of his fortress, thought that the orcs were barbaric.
It was not his orders that had driven them to this. But they were servants of the dark, they had a will and a brutal need for blood and it had been a cruel thing to tell them not the lay a hand on his captives.
For they were indeed his now. He had two of Mirkwood's most prized possessions, two of Thranduil's prized possessions. And they were now his to do as he pleased.
The stiff leather of his finely polished black boots tapped lightly on the floor as he paced the large room. His dark eyes swept over the objects that were scattered around the room, the black marble shimmering in the light of the fire.
A heat was building within him, along with a pleasant agitation.
His prey was coming to him; he could feel the thumping of her heart and the pulse of her blood. He could smell her fear and he revelled in it.
And the girl, her fear was so sweet. His mouth watered at the sound of her whimpers and his eyes gleamed with glee as he heard her screams.
A gracious host he would not be. He would make them scream and writhe in agony.
His plans were falling into place and he gasped with appreciation as he watched his orcs drag the two females into the courtyard of his fortress.
His fortress was tall, but not large. It's winding corridors were a labyrinth of hallways and dead ends that were enough to confuse those who walked its floors most often.
Under the earth lay the fortresses most guarded rooms. There were some, which were merely for his...amusement, and there were some that housed his greatest weapons and secrets.
Bottles of some of Middle-Earth's most deadly poisons. Poisons which could kill any elf, man or beast with a mere drop.
The balance of power had shifted and once again evil had the regained the power that had been lost to them for far too long.
In the beginning he had only wanted justice for his banishment. He had done nothing wrong.
The realm of Thranduil had been great indeed. Its people were content and it's lands free.
Olanis and Thranduil had once been the closest of friends. In fact, never in history had their been such a partnership of equals.
Thranduil had been the face of the glory and Olanis the thinker, the planner. The pair had carefully orchestrated some of Mirkwood's finest hours.
But then...circumstances had changed. In one fell swoop his family had been torn from within his grasp; with no hesitation and no questions asked.
Arguments had broken out amongst Mirkwood's elves when an attack from the north had taken them by surprise and hundreds of elves had been slaughtered.
Anger had risen and blame had been placed. But it was not placed on the king; it was placed on his advisors, but more so on Lord Olanis. It was he, who in the eyes of the people had allowed Mirkwood to fall.
For the sake of peace King Thranduil had publicly humiliated his chief advisor when his people had demanded it.
And so, forsaking their friendship, King Thranduil had publicly dismissed him from his court and banished him from his kingdom.
Lord Olanis had watched with a heavy heart as his wife wept and his children screamed. But he could not go and comfort them, nor could he take them with him. For that would mean that they too would suffer at the wrath of Mirkwood's people.
As he left he caught the azure gaze of his wife and he had to watch as another comforted her. But it had been the look on his daughter's young face that had torn his heart.
Her gaze was full of disbelief and shock. She had been so young and so naïve and never would she have though that he father would be taken away from her so cruelly.
From Mirkwood he had journeyed to the lands of Angmar, through it had not been intentional.
In Angmar he had found his place among the dead. The dead showed him the way. Their cold hands caressing his skin and polluting his mind. Turning his friends into his enemies and his enemies into his friends. His thoughts were twisted and desperate as they suffocated him.
The air teemed with malicious intent and vicious noise that besieged him and crushed him.
Leaving him but a carcass of hate and impious intent.
It happened by chance that he journeyed from that wretched place and stumbled upon an old wizard who would later live to regret his decision.
Thinking him poor and lost, the wizard took the elf under his wing and taught him all he knew.
And over time the elf could weave his own spells and play his own games. And as this happened his feelings of anger and pain lingered and gathered. Making his need for revenge fester and grow until it became a vicious need. His eyes; once green with life, the eyes that once mirrored the soul of a loving husband and father, were now black and lifeless. Only anger remained. And his heart, once warm and tender was now closed and spiteful of all that lived.
And so he lived in solitude and pain for over a century, and he had finally given up when he caught word of that which he had been waiting for, for so long and he could not ignore it.
News had spread that Thranduil's son had taken a wife and had had children.
Thranduil loved his son more than anything. And the only way to ensure that was to take away what something that they both loved and cherished, something that would be beneficial to himself.
With Mirkwood's future queen at his command he would soon command the elves of the forest. And then. He would have the throne, his glory would be restored...and Thranduil would be dead.
A grin slid across his cold lip as he heard the shouts of the two females as they were dragged into the room.
They knew nothing of the trials that were to come.