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Chapter Thirty-Four

Orcs

He awoke to voices- angry snarling voices. And at once he thought perhaps it would have been better if he had not woken up at all. For with the return of his consciousness, came the return of pain. He fought back a groan for he did not want his captors to know he was awake. He opened his eyes blearily, blinking as unwanted light entered them. He was tied to a tree, well, actually his hands were bound and stretched up above his head, tied securely to a branch. There were two broken arrow shafts protruding from his side, one from his shoulder and the other from just under his ribs. His clothing, torn and bleeding, clung damply to his skin. Had it rained?

He gazed about, they were still in the forest. In what direction they had taken him, however, he couldn't be sure. He let his head fall back against the tree. Orcs, orcs in his country. How had they gotten across the border? How could they have ambushed them like this? How could they have followed them so silently?

Aragorn was probably dead, would he die out here too? Alone? In the dark? Death...he'd never really thought on it before. Mainly because it had never been an option. Now his life lay before him like an open book and he realized that he didn't want to close it, he didn't want it to end. He wanted to live, he was afraid of death. And yet he could not escape it. He was on his knees, his body aching.

Someone tugged on the rope which bound his arms and he could not prevent himself from calling out in pain. The yelling stopped as numerous yellow eyes turned to him.

"Look who's awake." One of them said, stepping forward from the ranks of the others. There were so many of them- thirty at least. All Moria Orcs, he could tell their type anywhere. The one who had stepped forward had some sort of dirtied red sash around his waist which Legolas attributed to some mark of leadership. His words were heavily accented and in his feverish mind he had some troubling interpreting the beast's words.

He stared up silently, trying to conjure up some words or feelings of anger or retaliation. Look what they had done to his friends, look what they had done to him. But he had nothing left, nothing to make him want to fight back. He had nothing left.

"You put us through a lot of trouble, son of Thranduil."

They knew who he was, and they had been looking explicitly for him. They wanted him, and he didn't understand. He didn't understand at all. The orc released him roughly, smashing his head back against the tree. Stars appeared before his eyes as the leader snarled to his fellows in his own language. Thirty pairs of yellow eyes turned upon him, and he knew whatever they had in store for him would not be pleasant.

It started off with a beating. They forced him to stand, elbowing the arrows still embedded in his side until he grunted and groaned in agony. But he could not fight back, and he knew they wanted him to. They hooted in anger, hitting him with more intensity. Eventually the shafts broke, but the arrows remained embedded in his flesh. Everything was becoming so dim- the pain meshing into one, clouding his thoughts.

A living hell.

He couldn't breathe or move as they circled his prone body, snarling and lunging, thrusting their booted feet in his stomach and sides: but he wouldn't fight back. He was too weak now, the fever had come, was tearing inside him like fire. He was kicked onto his back and found himself looking into the face of the orc leader. The orc was livid, his yellow eyes raging as they bore down into his own. "Too good to scream princey? Too cowardly to fight back? Fight elfling- why don't you fight?"

Legolas only stared at his captor, his body screaming from the beating but his lips clamped rigidly shut. He would not answer back, would not do anything. He wondered for the millionth time as the fate of Aragorn- if the orcs had killed him too. He wondered if they would go after the palace, wondered who they were working for. Wondered if they would keep him alive for ransom, wondered if they would kill hin. He thought of his father, would he ever learn of his son's death? Would his people think he had abandoned them? What of Arwen? Would her child be born fatherless? It was wrong, it was all wrong.

He was suppose to stop the ghost, find Saronedhel, and then go home. It wasn't right at all. And now his greatest friend was dead, all because of him. No- or had it been that song? Had it been the ghostly maiden wandering through the trees just before the orcs had attacked them. Yes, the ghost, the maiden had been signing the song. It was her fault. Yes, that was it.

The maiden- the ghost had killed Aragorn, had crushed the hopes of peace for his country, for his people. He swore then, that somehow, he would kill the maiden for what she had done. She would die.

The orc must have seen the anguish in his eyes, because something suddenly clicked in those yellow eyes, and he grinned. "Your friends put up a bit of a struggle before they were shot down- but the human, he was different. He fell on his knees and begged- begged for mercy...like a dog."

Legolas' eyes flashed in anger as the orc released his grip and Legolas fell back to the forest floor.

"He didn't last long. But we made it right slow for him." The orc paused and grinned again. "'e Swore before we stuck him that he had nothing to do with you. Humans. Pathetic creatures aren't th-"

The orc never had time to finish. Enraged, Legolas scrambled to his feet and lunged himself at the creature in fury. The orc, startled by the attack, fell beneath Legolas' onslaught to the floor. Legolas tore at that malicious face, screaming in anger and punching the orc until he groaned. But the others did not take long to catch on. He saw one approaching him out of the corner of his eye, but he was too slow. The orc raised a club and brought it high over its head before he flung it down and it smashed into Legolas' unprotected leg.

He couldn't react, he froze, he could hear the sharp snapping of the bones. He could feel the pain bolting through his leg and tearing his mind in two, but he couldn't breathe. He wasn't aware of how quickly he had hit the floor- nor how the orc had jumped up so quickly. He couldn't think, but he knew the punishment for his actions would be harsh and swift.

But the funny thing was, none of them ever hit him. It was getting dark... was it night already? It couldn't be. But suddenly there was a bright light, and all of the orc-swine froze. "The Lady of the Forest." The orc leader said, in a tone of voice which might have been interpreted as a sort of awe.

He tried to look up...but the knives, the daggers being thrust into him, the pain... it made him very dizzy. But he saw eyes, not yellow like the others. Blue eyes, crystal blue eyes, beacons shining out from a startlingly white face. They was glowing, the face was glowing, casting shadows on the others. Those eyes, he had seen them before...somewhere, long ago. Had it been a dream? They were angry, so very angry. The orc tried to speak again, but the face screamed. An ear-splitting horrible wrenching sound, and they all squealed in pain, trying frantically to cover their ears. But Legolas couldn't, he stared, mesmerized by those eyes as his consciousness began to fade.

"TRAITORS! MURDERS! BLOOD THIRSTY SAVAGES! DIE!" The face screamed, he could not tell whether it was male or female. "MEET THE FATE OF THOSE WHOM YOU SLAYED!"

And there was suddenly blue everywhere, a mist. Just before his world went dark, the eyes turned to him and met his, but the anger did not leave. They just stared.

Waiting.

Short chapter, sorry. I couldn't help it. Yes, the usual Legolas torture scene, had to have it and I was trying to get through it as quickly as possible. I apologize for lack of my good writing form, it couldn't be helped. Maybe it could of, but I don't have the time to fix it. The next couple of chapters I'm feeling looking forward to writing so-stay tuned!

If you see any errors, please tell me in your reviews! And Lastly, any questions you have I can answer as long as you are a member of So, all you anonymous reviewers, I encourage you to sign up! It is well worth it. :) Thanks to all who reviewed and to my beta, Kiann, for being the best at her job. And till next time...

TO BE CONTINUED...