A/N : Hello, everyone! Yes, you all miss me, I know. LOL! Don't worry, guys. I never forget to continue this story. Truthfully, it has not been such a great year for me, what with my granny's death, and all. Then, to make matters worse, I got infected by dengue fever!

Right after I returned from Penang, I knew something was wrong with me but I ignored the signs. But when the symptoms were too bad to ignore, my family rushed me off to the hospital and there I stayed for almost a week. (I was very lucky I could still celebrate my 30th birthday at home on that October, 1st!). Trust me, you don't want to have dengue fever. It's terrrrrrrible! The entire time I stayed in the hospital, I was put on five (or was it six?) I.V bottles and took tons of antibiotics and meds. Yuck!

If you ever saw a mosquito with black & white stripes on its legs, just kill it! Don't keep it as a pet because it is Aedes mosquito, the culprit that spread the fever which killed about 10 people here in Malaysia this year alone. So, please be aware. Take me for example. I almost became a statistic. He! He!

Anyway, I'm fine now. Luckily, my brain is still intact and my plot-bunnies are immune to the fever. They are active as ever. So, without further ado, here's the next chapter.

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Sheer pain and exhaustion had caused Legolas to lose consciousness as he was dragged to the great house. When he came to, he was momentarily dazed to find himself lying sprawl on a polished marble floor instead of the damp, filthy ground in the dungeon.

Oh, right. My stupid diversion. It actually works, the elf thought with a wry grin after he slowly recalled everything. Unsteadily, he pushed himself upright so that he could sit, throwing disgusted looks at the guardsmen who stood sentinel over him.

With these bozos out of his way, now it's up to Darion to make his escape. As for what becomes of me, let's see what happens next.

He didn't need to wait for too long. Movrak appeared almost immediately, striding so fast into the common hall he was almost running. Based on his face expression, the merchant was obviously not in the best of moods.

Legolas braced himself for the explosion. He was not to be disappointed.

"You lying spiteful creature!" Movrak yelled. In his outrage, the man took off one of his leather sandals and used it to slap the elf's face viciously.

The blow caused Legolas to be thrown to one side. He lay there for a moment, stunned into immobility.

"I do not have a son and you know it!" Fuming, Movrak glared down at the prisoner. "Why did you spread such lies to my men?"

Groggily, Legolas lifted his head. "Err…I did what?"

Narrowing his gaze into a slit, Movrak replied through gritted teeth, "You told my men you knew something about my 'son'."

"Did I?" Legolas blinked in bewilderment. He scratched his head, as if deeply puzzled. "I really told them that?"

Movrak's gaze grew narrower. "Yes, you definitely did. My men said so."

To the man's utter chagrin, the elf broke into a chuckling fit.

"Now what is so damn funny!" Movrak shouted, his fist clenched tightly around his sandal, ready to swing it again. "Stop laughing, do you hear me!"

"You? A father?" Legolas dissolved into giggles. "Ai, this is hilarious! Imagine you having a son. It would be like asking a gelding if he had fathered a foal! Ha ha ha!"

As the elf continued to laugh hysterically, Movrak exchanged horrified looks with the guardsmen. "Did you hit him overly hard on the head or something?"

Warily eyeing their prisoner, the red-haired guard inched closer until he stood next to his master. "We did nothing that could mar his sanity, my lord, if that's what you mean. We hit him mostly in the stomach, to give him as much pain as possible to make him talk."

"But did he talk?"

"He…uh…" In great discomfort, Red had to clear his throat before continuing, "We…we still do not know who he is."

Movrak's head guardsman slightly recoiled from the look of pure displeasure the merchant was sending him. So he quickly added, "He refused to speak with anyone except you, my lord. I think only you can get some real answers from him."

"But that is your job! Why should I hire you if I have to do all the work?" Movrak shot back.

The guard's face flushed with embarrassment and anger. He detested to be yelled at in front of his colleagues. Reining in his temper, Red forced himself to speak slowly and patiently as if to a recalcitrant child. "You are right, my lord. It's my job to make him talk. But he has been very stubborn. Nothing we did was able to break him."

He shook his head, from exasperation as well as admiration. "My lord, this is no ordinary elf. From the look of him, he is no stranger to pain and torture. Why, he is not even scared!"

Frowning, Movrak stared down at the elf, who was still choking with mirth.

"Disgusting creature," he grumbled, wrinkling his nose at Legolas' way. "I don't care if he is the king of the elves himself. I want to know what brought him here. Make him talk, or you will find yourself unemployed by morning."

"But, my lord, we've tried the entire night…"

"Keep trying, you fool!" Movrak snapped. "Do anything to make him spill out his guts and do it fast. He is here for a reason and I want to know what it is. Something tells me that he is already one step ahead of us, and it truly grates on my nerves that we have no idea how or when that happened!"

"You want to know what happened? I can tell you what happened," Legolas suddenly spoke, grinning lopsidedly back at them. "In fact, I can tell you what will happen next."

Sobering, his smile vanishing, the elf then added, "You will die before the next sundown, Movrak, by my hands or others'. Mark my words."

As they all gaped at him, Legolas unexpectedly sprang to his feet and lunged at the merchant. With a shriek, Movrak put up his arms in defense, but the elf simply rammed into him and knocked the man down.

In a blink of an eye, Legolas had an arm locked around Movrak's neck. He pulled the man upright, holding him as a shield against the armed guardsmen. They had instantly surrounded him, aiming loaded crossbows at his head.

"H…hold…your f…f…fire…" Gurgling sound was coming from Movrak's throat as he struggled to speak, his face turning almost purple from lack of air. In desperation for release, his fists flailed about to knock the elf in the face. That only caused Legolas to tighten his grip even more.

"Release him!" Red shouted, raising his sword as if about to cleave the elf in two, but could not do so because the merchant was in his way.

Legolas grimly ignored him. Squeezing harder, he made a move to give Movrak's neck a vicious twist when someone came from behind him and slammed a cudgel against his injured calf, right on top of the wound where the arrowhead was still deeply buried.

Howling in anguish, Legolas arms instantly dropped away. He collapsed to the floor, holding his badly abused leg and whimpering over it. Movrak quickly scrambled off to safety, making way for the guardsmen to put the elf back under restrain.

"That's it! I've had enough of this," the merchant's voice was a little raspy as he spoke. He slapped at the hands that tried to assist him to rise and glared at the elf, now being held down by four men.

"If no one else would make him talk, then I will." Rubbing at his sore throat, Movrak looked around and pointed at one of the guards. "You! Go and get me a pail of water and some lye soap!"

The guard froze for a second before rushing away to do as he was told. Turning back to the other guards, Movrak ordered, "Keep him still. Don't let him move even a muscle or I shall have all your heads on a platter!"

Legolas grunted in pain as the men tightened their grip on him. He was lying flat on his back, with two guards pinning his arms over his head while two more were sitting on his legs. Defeated, he ceased struggling and shut his eyes, trying to gather his inner strength. Movrak was heard cursing and ranting in the background, causing the subdued elf to smile slightly.

That was when his keen senses caught a very familiar presence. And it was coming strong and fast.

Keldarion.

Legolas' eyes flew open. He gazed frantically about and found his brother leaping from rafter to rafter, high above the men's head. The brothers' gazes met, and Legolas could discern the cold fury blazing in Keldarion' blue eyes. Gripping his unsheathed long blade, the elder elf looked about ready to leap off his perch!

"NO, KEL! STAY UP THERE! I CAN HANDLE THIS!" Legolas hastily shouted in his own tongue before Keldarion could jump to his rescue.

The humans were baffled. They glanced questioningly at each other, murmuring among themselves as the elf yelled some more, "GO FIND DARION IN THE PRISON! HE IS TO ESACAPE ANY MINUTE NOW. FIND THE BOY, KEL! DON'T MIND ME. I WILL SURVIVE THIS. LEAVE NOW AND GET DARION OUT OF HERE!"

"What is he saying? Who is he speaking to?" Movrak demanded to know, looking a bit perturbed.

"He likes to talk to himself, my lord. Must be losing his mind or something." This came from Red, who watched the elf warily with mixed reactions.

Legolas let the men talked and puzzled around him. He didn't dare look straight at his brother, afraid that the men would notice another intruder in their midst. No response came from the rafters, but he was relieved to know that Keldarion heeded his advice by staying invisible.

When Legolas risked a brief glance up, he found his elder brother's penetrating glare cutting through him. No one needed to tell him that Keldarion was angry with him the most. That made the younger elf winced, knowing that even if he survived these humans, he still had his greatly incensed brother to deal with.

Contrite, Legolas closed his eyes and tried to erase his brother's disapproval frown from his mind. The next time he looked back, Keldarion had silently vanished.

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"Stupid pigheaded brat! Demented fool of a creature! That annoying troublesome princeling! I will wring his bloody neck when I get my hands on him, I swear I will!"

Mad and fuming, Keldarion couldn't stop cursing his brother as he swiftly made his way out of Movrak's big house. Still muttering expletives under his breath, he slipped out through the window he had used earlier and proceeded onto the rooftop. Above him, the sky was lightening, a sure sign that it was already dawn. Knowing that he had wasted several unproductive hours doing absolutely nothing only added fuel to his wrath.

"I'll kill him!" The elf hissed through gritted teeth, his fist clenched tight around the pommel of his sheathed sword as he gracefully leaped onto the parapet. "I'll flay his hide. I'll tie him to a tree, upside down, and let the ants eat him! And then I'll…I'll…"

He released a heavy sigh of exasperation. "Bloody son of a warg! I feel like kicking that stupid brat in the face!"

"Whose face are you talking about?"

Keldarion yelped at the sudden voice. He whirled around, his fist instinctively upraised. "Gallard, you stupid big bird! Where the heck did you come from?"

Gallard's grin was replaced by a grimace. "That sounds insulting, you know, calling me a big bird. I'm an eagle."

"Oh, shut up, draq. Your pride is the least of my worries." Keldarion dropped his fist. "I repeat, where did you come from? Didn't I tell you to stay back and watch the prison?"

"I watched it, all right. That's why I changed form and come here to find you." Gallard was filled with excitement as he explained. "Something interesting is happening there!"

"What do you mean?"

"The slaves have just escaped!"

For a moment, Keldarion went stock still. His eyes widened with amazement as he softly said, "So, Legolas spoke the truth."

"Huh?" Gallard blinked uncomprehendingly.

After he beckoned the draq to follow, Keldarion started running along the rampart towards the prison. He could already hear the commotion coming from that direction. The patrolling guardsmen might have noticed the escaping slaves and were trying to make some arrest.

"That foolish brother of mine told me just now that Darion is escaping, and we have to grab the boy and get him out of this keep," Keldarion said.

"You mean, all this is actually Legolas' plan?" Gallard sounded impressed. "That's brilliant of him."

The elf shot a glare over his shoulder at his companion. "Brilliant? If you had seen him just now, you won't call this brilliant! It's downright lunacy!"

"How is Legolas, anyway? I saw them dragging him into the house but I got no opportunity to warn you."

Keldarion did not reply. He continued to walk on, as if he had not heard Gallard asking him. But the draq was so like Legolas, who could be so persistent that he would push and prod until he got the information he desired, no matter who got mad at him while doing so. And that was exactly what Gallard did.

"Well? How is your brother? Is he all right?"

Keldarion grounded his teeth, still not answering.

"He is not dead?"

"No, he is not dead but he is not far from it!" The elf snapped, pausing in mid stride. Glowering at his friend, he added, "Movrak and his men are torturing him to make him talk."

Gallard's eyes went huge with disbelief. "And you left him there?"

"He gave me no choice!"

"But surely you can…"

"Surely, I cannot!" Keldarion ran a hand down his face. He felt so tired already, but their rescue mission had not even started. Quickly, he explained everything he had witnessed in Movrak's common hall to the still dumbfounded draq.

"Look, I am angry at Legolas for even suggesting this, but I had to admit that he is right," the elf said next. "Aragorn's son must come first. If we want to get the boy safely away, we have to do it now, while the chaos down there can still provide us some cover."

"What about Legolas?"

Keldarion went quiet for a while, and then he resumed walking.

"Kel? You are not going to leave your brother there, aren't you?"

"We will return for him," Keldarion responded, looking even grimmer than ever. "Movrak won't kill him, not before the man gets some answers. Legolas will try to remain alive as he waits for us."

Gallard quicken his pace to catch up with the elf. "You have a plan in mind?"

"I'm working on it, right as we speak. But we need to find Eldarion first."

"Kel?"

"What now, Gallard?"

"You had better make sure that your next plan actually works. Because, so far, you back-up plans totally sucks!"

TBC…