where tears fall: ARGHH! I am so sorry that it has taken so long for me to update! well, here is the next chapter. Lots of action...I think...
The men were everywhere, surrounding and closing in fast, evil smiles plastered on their faces and weapons held out ready for attack.
Aragorn's eyes lit up and instinctively reached for his sword at his side, but cursed as he realized he had no weapon. The man glanced at the elf he was supporting.
The blond seemed surprisingly calm and serene despite the predicament they were in.
Dater stepped closer to Aragorn, shakily bringing out his sword and readied it for the oncoming attack. His breath was panicked and wild, sharply contrasting Legolas's calm appearance. He seemed more like a frightened rabbit cornered by a pack of wolves than a warrior. This did nothing to calm Aragorn's nerves.
They were trapped with no defense; the odds seemed pretty slim, but he had been taught to never give up, so he would fight till the end if he had to. Even if the end meant death.
Aragorn glanced to the elf king who's face seemed to be turning an unusual shade of shade of red, eyes focused solely on Sadir.
Thranduil brought out his sword and gave one quick glance to his son and his son's "friends". He didn't trust the humans, but in his current predicament, he had no choice but to. His eyes traveled back to Sadir's, icy blue locking on them.
The king was not known for his outstanding patience. As soon as he had found out that the human had captured his son, all the patience he would have had quickly dried up.
Sadir stepped forward, eyes full of glee like a child who had just received a new toy. He met the eyes of Thranduil and his smile broadened. Sadir's dark appearance coupled with the mist blowing softly across the clearing would have spilled fear into the hearts of even the most brave elf, but where fear would have been, Thranduil felt only rage.
Sadir sensed this. His dark eyes saw the anger in the elf and knew how to incise him more.
"Kill the humans and the elfling, but save Thranduil for me." he said, eye's gleaming at the king.
The statement did just what Sadir had intended.
Thranduil's eyes widened and whipped his head around to see Legolas's pale form become hard as his eyes frantically over viewing the approaching men. Legolas wouldn't be able to defend himself against five men in his condition, certainly not twenty.
The elf king turned back around and was met by a line of grinning men brandishing their weapons. Rage immediately built up in the experienced elf and he plunged forward, sword swinging in graceful yet swift motions, designed to quickly kill the target. The men were surprised as were not prepared for the sudden onslaught the king gave.
There was no stopping Thranduil.
Aragorn grasped Legolas quickly, pulling him behind as a man lunged at him, swinging wildly at the two. He gasped as the sudden movement sent his ribs ringing with pain.
Aragorn dodged another attack, the blade barely missing his head by a hair, and elbowed the man harshly in the stomach. He was running on pure adrenaline as he grabbed the discarded sword of the now unconscious man and held it skillfully in front of him.
Aragorn wrung the handle of the sword, beads of sweat trailing down his face, as another man sprung forward. There was a loud clash of metal to metal as the two swords met and were pulled apart. Aragorn had barely enough time to collect himself as another man swiped at him this time barely catching his arm.
A stip of crimson blood slowly spread over the arm of his tunic as Aragorn jabbed in with his blade to catch the man in his stomach. The man quickly dodged it and attacked again, just as another man came up swinging wildly.
Aragorn felt a thundering in his chest as he jumped out of the way of the first attacker just to barely miss the blade of the second one. He acted quickly, bringing down the hilt of his sword on the first attacker, before he was able to strike again and driving his blade into the mid section of the second man, completely taking him by surprise.
The man became limp as Aragorn pulled the sword out of his stomach erecting a sickening sound.
The adrenaline that had been driving Aragorn for so long was now waning, as the weakness that had been haunting him finally caught up, weighing down his limbs and straining his breath.
He glanced back a moment to late just to see a blade coming straight for his head. The blade seemed to move agonizingly slow; taunting Aragorn that he could not deflect the attack. He urged his tired limbs to move, as the sword moved closer.
His thundering heart and labored breathing seemed to stop as time seemed to stop.
He knew that he couldn't block the oncoming attack and braced himself for the touch of cold steel against his skin, slicing into him.
But suddenly at the last second, a sword appeared out of seemingly nowhere and blocked the attack with a loud clash of steel. Legolas swiftly jumped in front of the confused man and in one quick motion ran his sword through Aragorn's attacker.
A wide-eyed Strider immediately went to the aid of the pale elf, supporting him with one arm while over viewing the men tightly closing in around them.
Legolas's breathing was hitched as he turned his blue eyes on Aragorn, offering a weak smile.
Despite the danger surrounding them, Aragorn could not help but let a weak smile pull at his lips. The elf had saved his life again. Just as he had saved the elf before.
It was becoming a very disturbing routine...
Legolas took in a deep breath, trying to steady his shaking limbs. The attempt to save his friend had cost him more energy then the elf could afford.
He glanced up at Strider, blue eyes searching for any sign that the man would have a plan to escape the approaching humans. But, unfortunately, Strider looked as weak and out of ideas as Legolas.
"You don't know what you're doing!" the weak and desperate voice of Dater called out, as he joined his two companions in the middle of a growing circle.
He held out his blood-stained sword, backing up slowly to where Legolas and Aragorn were.
His eyes danced from man to man, wild and dangerous.
"He's deceived you all! You fools! Can't you see!" he called out again, poining his blade to each of the men.
Aragron and Legolas watched as the men slowed their advance and looked to each other, discerning the validity of Dater's statement. They seemed hesitant to advance as Dater continued.
"Sadir was responsible for the destruction of the village! He has deceived us!" Dater yelled, desperation clear in his voice.
A low murmur erupted between the men as they stopped their advance completely.
Dater stood trembling and still on guard, but the smallest prick of hope shone in his frightened eyes.
---
Thranduil pulled his blade from yet another human and searched the crowd for his son. He was not hard to find as he was in the center of a growing circle of men.
"Legolas!" Thranduil called out, as the disheveled king ran forward to meet up with his son.
"Hold!" the voice of Sadir ran out like chilling ice, causing Thranduil to stop suddenly as his eyes widened in fear. He visibly paled at the sight before him.
Only a few feet away from Legolas stood Sadir, holding a bow directed precariously at the prince's head.
"Hold or I will kill him." Sadir said smoothly, taking a step forward to press the arrow head under Legolas's chin.
The prince seemed relatively unfazed, staring at Sadir rebelliously.
Aragorn supported Legolas strongly and fixed a steely gaze at Sadir.
"Step back human." Sadir ground out to Aragorn, pressing the arrow harder against Legolas's soft skin.
Aragorn's gaze intensified as he gently squeezed Legolas's arm and took a slow step back, not once breaking his stare at the man.
Sadir smiled as his eyes flickered from the prince to the king.
"What do you want with us?" Legolas asked hoarsely, blue eyes strong and steady, betraying his weak condition.
Sadir laughed and nodded to the gruff-looking men behind the elf. The men stepped up and roughly grabbed a hold of Aragorn, Legolas, and Dater purposely shoving them onto their knees in front of Sadir. Aragorn braced himself as he kicked sharply in his bruised ribs, stealing his breath in a wave of blind pain.
Legolas watched Aargorn try to roll up in pain as anger grew steadily with in him. He glanced to his other companion.
Dater remained still, eyes wide like a frightened deer, trying to remain as invisible as possible.
Legolas pulled weakly at the men holding him down.
That was a mistake...
The next thing he knew was an excruciating pain erupting in his back where, presumably a man had kicked him.
He ground his teeth against the pain as a man kicked him in his back again, where his arrow wound had been. He felt warm blood roll softly down his back where the wound had been reopened.
Legolas looked up to glare at Sadir, but instead caught the sight of the sorrowful eyes of his father. Thranduil stood, standing completely still and proud, structure high and royal as a king should be. But Legolas could see his eyes filled with pain and sorrow from seeing his only son in such a state of pain.
It broke the blond-haired elf's heart.
Sadir walked up and kneeled in front of the three beings starring Legolas straight in eyes as if challenging him to strike.
"If your father would have cooperated in the first place, none of this would have happened." he whispered just loud enough for the ear's of an elf to hear.
Legolas did not change his stare, instead intensified it to the limit his tired body could handle.
"A while back I offered him a trade agreement, but he refused, so I was forced to take...an "alternative" method to get what I required." Sadir said smoothly while reaching out to trace the edges of Legolas's bloodied face with his finger.
"Don't touch him!" Thranduil cried out as he lunged forward , but was swiftly jabbed in the stomach by one of men holding him back. The king went down sputtering for a breath as Legolas attempted to stand, but was held down by the men behind him.
Legolas turned, eyes filled with rage, to Sadir.
"Do not hurt him!" he commanded, wavering voice and his present position giving him nothing to support his words.
Sadir stood up immediately drawing his sword and placing it across Legolas's neck.
"Enough games. Thranduil give me it or I will kill your son." he said coldly, staring at a torn Thranduil.
Aragorn tensed as again a blade was put his new friend's neck. He attempted a weak struggle and gained only another painful shove by the man holding him down.
An swift wind blew soundlessly through the clearing, snaking though the men and two elves.
Thranduil remained still, mind churning and torn between what was best for Mirkwood and his son.
"Now Thranduil!" Sadir yelled, patience run dry, as he pushed the blade up under the neck of Legolas, causing a small rivulet of blood to flow down.
Thranduil closed his eyes and hesitantly reached into his tunic, slowly bringing out a small vile filled with a churning dark liquid.
He opened his sorrowful eyes and held out the vile in his hand. Sadir's eyes widened at the sight of the small vile. Legolas could sense the yearning in the man for what ever the liquid was.
"Let Legolas go." Thranduil commanded, his voice rough and stern. He no longer held the presence of royalty. The king's blond hair was strewn about his face in a disheveled manner and his deep green tunic was spotted with blood as was part of his face.
His posture was unsure and hesitant.
"Give me the vile first and then I will let your son go." Sadir said, eyes dark. The man nodded to the men holding back Thranduil and they gruffly took a step back.
Thranduil walked slowly up to Sadir, summing up his best glare for a man. But Sadir remained unfazed, eyes completely fixed on the object in the king's hand.
Thranduil stepped in front of Sadir, giving one quick glance to Legolas as he handed the vile to Sadir.
The dark-haired man grasped the vile tightly, taking in the color an weight of the liquid held with in. He seemed transfixed for a moment, forgetting everything that surrounded him, solely focused on the vile he held. Then the trance broke and his eyes flickered up to Thranduil, back to the vile an then to Dater.
Dater shrunk under the stare of Sadir and took a long gulp.
"Well, Thranduil, let us see if you wish to live." he said slickly and stepped up to Dater, holding the vile tightly in his hand.
Dater stared up at Sadir and was roughly hauled to his feet. Sadir grabbed Dater's face with his hand, forcing his mouth open.
"You should have not betrayed me." Sadir whispered eerily.
Dater sputtered and tried to pull away but was only able to gain a punch in the stomach. Sadir held his face tightly and put a small drop of the dark liquid on his tongue and let go of his face roughly.
Dater coughed and looked fearfully up to Sadir, eyes wide and questioning.
"What did you do to me?" he asked, shaking slightly.
Sadir just smiled and pulled out his sword again.
"You need not be afriad. I have given you a gift." he said and stepped up to Dater, eyes shinning, sending chills down Dater's spine.
"Wh..What gift?" Dater stumbled out.
Sadir smiled again and kneeled down in front of Dater, facing him, black eyes boring into the man's soul.
"Immortality."he said slickly and in one swift motion jabbed his blade though Dater's stomach.
where tears fall: so what do you think? The plot thickens... dun dun dun...
well thanks for reading and please review if you have any advice!
