Warning: Cliffs Ahead.
Chapter Twenty-Nine: A Face from the Past
A whirl of muddled voices broke through Legolas' mind as he struggled to regain consciousness. Two beings were arguing, men by the sound of them. They did not know he could hear them, so he tried to remain still. He managed to hover just between unconsciousness and waking, carefully listening but giving no sign.
His head was throbbing on the edge of awareness, and he couldn't quite remember why he felt this way.
Then one of the men shouted something, and he heard a younger voice cry out.
Estel.
With a start Legolas opened his eyes, groaning involuntarily as awareness brought pain through his head, and memory of the events of the past few hours.
He and Estel had simply been riding, and now they were captured.
Rough hands grabbed his arms and pulled him to a sitting position. He found himself staring into the glaring eyes of a rough-looking man. Dirty, dark blond hair was pulled back from his face to reveal cruel brown eyes and a scar that ran from his ear to his jaw.
"Walk," the man growled, jerking Legolas to his feet.
The elf almost collapsed, barely managing to regain his balance by leaning forward with his hands on his knees. He closed his eyes, waiting for a slight rush of dizziness to pass.
The man prodded his back. "Walk," he sneered again.
"Give him a moment," another man broke in. Legolas glanced over to see him kneeling beside Estel, half-heartedly wrapping a bandage around the wound in the young man's leg.
"We don't have a moment," the blond replied. "We're already late."
"Only because you hit the elf," the other man groused. "Get up, Boy."
Legolas bit back a hasty retort, grinding his teeth as Estel was forced to his feet. The young man's face paled, and he grabbed at a nearby tree for support.
"Get him walking," the blond man ordered, grabbing Legolas by the arm to propel him forward.
"Wait," the elf broke away from his captor's grip. "Let me help him."
"You?" the man sneered, crossing his arms over his chest.
Legolas refused to rise to the bait. "I will not go without him, and it will be faster if I help him."
The blond man, who seemed to be the leader of this band, considered this for a moment. "If I think you're trying to escape," he said dangerously, grabbing Legolas by the arm again and roughly cutting through the rope that bound his wrists, "I won't aim for his leg."
The elf's eyes narrowed, but he did not reply. He stumbled a bit as his captor shoved him toward Estel, fighting down the urge to whirl about and pin the man with an angry glare.
He cared not for his own safety, but would not do anything to endanger Estel.
"Estel?"
"I'm all right," the young human gasped, rubbing his wrists as one of their captors freed him. "Your head?"
"Do not worry about me," Legolas replied quietly, pulling Estel's arm over his shoulder and supporting him on his injured side. "Your leg?"
Estel grimaced, hesitantly taking a step. Legolas was still a bit taller than the young human, so it was a little awkward for the elf to help him along. "It's nothing," he whispered through clinched teeth. "Do you know who they are?"
Legolas sighed. "No," he admitted. "But, I wonder..."
The young human seemed to pick up on his friend's train of thought. "The man who was following you before?"
"Aye, man or elf," Legolas shook his head, glancing up with a slight glare at the blond-haired man who was leading the procession. "I do not know who was following me...but this is far too coincidental to be unrelated."
"Elf?" Estel asked, a touch of curiosity in his voice. "You think it was an elf?"
"I do not know," Legolas sighed again. "I could not see...were he not on horseback he could have even been an orc."
That comment had the desired effect, it seemed, for Estel snorted in laughter. The young human was then silent for a few more moments, apparently concentrating on walking.
"You should escape," he whispered.
Startled, Legolas could only glance at his friend. "No."
"You could...they're after you, not me. I could create a distraction, and you could run. They're only men, you could outrun them."
"I will not leave you here."
"But you have to, you have to go get help."
"Estel," Legolas gritted his teeth, glaring again at their captor as the blond man turned around to glance at his prisoners. "They will kill you if I leave."
The young man was quiet for a moment. "But will they kill us both if you stay?"
"I do not know," the elf admitted. "But if we stay together there is a chance we could both be rescued."
"How, Legolas?" Estel asked. The elf could practically see the frustration in his friend's eyes. "We did not tell my father where we were going. No one will even know anything is wrong until tonight."
"The horses," Legolas explained. "When they return without us, your father will know something went wrong. He will send someone after us, even if only to ensure we are not walking home."
Estel snorted again. "I do not believe he would think that," he muttered. "No, when the horses return he'll immediately know that something is wrong and send as many warriors as he can spare on our trail."
Legolas smiled. "How is your leg?" he asked, glancing down in concern at the bloodied bandage that had been hastily applied.
The young human winced, wavering a bit. "I-I think it should heal," he whispered, his voice a bit shaky. Legolas knew Estel had been training with Lord Elrond's healers, so he trusted his friend's judgement.
"You should leave," Estel muttered again, glancing at the cloaked figures around them. None but the blond-haired man had thrown their hoods back, and the two friends were still at a loss as to whether their captors were all men or if there were elves among them.
"I will not do that, Estel," Legolas replied.
"But you can escape."
Legolas glared over at his friend, more out of determination than any anger. "No, Estel, I-"
The blond man suddenly whirled around, stopping the party. "You," he jabbed a finger at one of the cloaked men. "Help the boy."
Legolas knew Estel was seething at being called a boy, but the young man quickly restrained his temper.
"And you," the blond man grabbed Legolas by the arm, yanking him forward as the cloaked man stepped up to help Estel. "You will walk with me. No more talking between the two of you."
He shoved Legolas ahead of him, keeping one hand on his shoulder.
"Your name, Elf?"
Legolas glared over his shoulder at the man. "You do not know it?"
"We were only told you were a prince," the man replied.
This brought an earlier conversation to Legolas' mind. "And who is your master? What does he want with me?"
The man glowered at the elf. "That is his business, not ours. All that matters to us is the payment he promised us."
"You are bandits, then?"
"Hardly," the man snorted. "I suppose you haven't noticed, Elf, but the harvest has not been plentiful this year. Then again, your kind have never troubled themselves with the 'lesser' folk."
"What of the elves of Rivendell?" Legolas asked. "Lord Elrond has always been willing to help those in need."
In reply, the man shoved him again, nearly sending him stumbling. "Do you really think we want hand-outs from a filthy elf like him?" he sneered.
Legolas was about to reply, but the man shoved him again, ruthlessly. He stumbled, barely catching his balance. The man started to shove him once more, but Legolas whirled about and caught his captor's wrist, twisting it up and behind the man. He caught Estel's wide-eyed expression, and gritted his teeth.
Chances were he'd just made a mistake, but he hoped the man realized how easy it would have been for the elf to kill him barehanded.
Two of the cloaked figures rushed forward and pulled Legolas away, one of them cuffing the back of his head in an attempt to daze him.
The blond man rubbed his shoulder, glaring at the elf. "Release him," he snarled, stalking over to grab Legolas by the collar of his tunic. "Try that again and I'll make sure you suffer a long, painful death, Elf."
"Should I try that again it would be to kill you," Legolas retorted, his voice dangerously quiet.
The man's eyes narrowed. "Keep moving!" he shouted to the company, again pushing Legolas in front of him.
"Shouldn't you bind him, Carmian?"
The blond man whirled to face the man who had spoken. "Idiot," he sneered, "he cannot escape. And should he try..." Carmian leveled a dark glare at the elf. "I look forward to the consequences."
Legolas returned the man's glare evenly. Inwardly, he was smiling. It seemed he had succeeded in distracting the leader enough that the men forgot, for a few moments, to cover their tracks.
He could only hope they had left signs enough for the search party Lord Elrond was sure to send.
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"Here," Carmian pushed Legolas aside to flip back the rough curtain that covered the cave's entrance. "The master's waiting inside."
Legolas stared past the man's arm for a moment. They had been marching for several hours, stopping just enough for one of the men to re-bandage Estel's leg and keep him moving. They had passed through the forest to more rocky terrain, into an area Legolas knew to be riddled with caves.
It had also been said to be riddled with trolls, but he sincerely hoped that was just a rumor.
"Get inside," the blond man growled, pushing Legolas into the cave. The rest of the cloaked men, including the one supporting Estel, filed in behind him.
It was dark in the cave, lit only by a bonfire toward the front. Legolas strained to see into the depths of the cave, and saw a solitary figure.
"You are late," the being grumbled, standing up and striding toward the mouth of the cave. He was hooded and cloaked, like many of the men, and Legolas could not see past the hood to discern the being's identity.
"We had a bit of trouble with this one," Carmian replied, jerking Legolas forward by the arm. "This is the master, Elf. He's the one who wants you."
Legolas pulled his arm away, glaring defiantly at the cloaked figure. "Who are you?" he demanded.
Without warning, the master backhanded the prince. He nodded to the men in the caves entrance, and a few of them came forward to propel Legolas toward the back of the cave.
The elf struggled, but in the end he was all-but thrown against the wall toward the back. His elbow stung where it had struck the rock, but he glared coldly up at his captors. He could see the master conversing with Carmian near the mouth of the cave, and after a moment the blond man nodded toward Estel.
The cloaked men dragged the young human forward, ignoring his injured leg. Estel bit back a cry of pain as he was roughly shoved down beside Legolas, and the elf put an arm around his friend as though to protect him from their captors. He could feel the young man trembling ever-so-slightly, though whether from fear or pain he did not know.
"What do you want with us?" Legolas demanded, glaring up at the master as he stalked over.
The master gave a low laugh. "You will soon see, Prince."
Legolas started. "That voice..." he murmured, his brow furrowing. He recognized the voice, but did not know from where.
Estel suddenly cried out as someone grabbed his injured leg, tearing off the hastily-wrapped bandage to clean the wound with a rag.
"Leave him alone!" Legolas cried, lunging forward to push the offending being away, only to be shoved roughly back against the wall. "Who are you?"
Their captor backhanded the prince again, leaving a stinging mark on his face. "No questions," he growled. "But so you understand..."
The hooded being shoved back his hood, revealing dark hair and the features of an elf. Legolas felt Estel straighten in surprise, but could barely see anything else past his own shock.
"It cannot be..." he whispered.
Light blue eyes glinting malevolently, a slow smile spread across Thilator's face. "Greetings, Prince Legolas."
Reviews? Flames? Tar and Feathers?
Dum! Dum! DUM! (just needed some suspenseful music, you know)
By the way...there will FINALLY be some answers in the next chapter.
Okay, I have a question. I've been trying to build enough of an extra thread for a potential sequel. There will still be the resolution of the original plot in this story (i.e. the whole Thilator-Amarthwen connection), but I think I've spun just enough in to give a little room for a little more to the story. I just wanted to ask, would you prefer that as a sequel (it would be short, between ten and fifteen chapters), or as a fourth part to this story? I could do either way, really, but I just wanted to know if anyone had an opinion/preference one way or the other. Really, I'm going back and forth on this, so any input would be appreciated.