Chapter 3

„He woke up my lord."

The black dressed man stood in front a huge man with dark eyes and black hair.

"I'll take care tomorrow." He said with his dark voice.

"Sent more guards to them. We don't know which power the boy has."

"Are you kidding? Did you remember the situation we caught him and the other boy? HE did nothing! I fought many times with arrows in the arm or in my shoulder."

"Yes but I don't want to underestimate him. Do what I told you to do or do you want to revolt against me?"

"No, no …. I just thought…"

"Stop thinking. It's enough when I do."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A man came and knelt down on the side of Elladan.

"Time to wake up." He said cruelly.

Elladan opened his eyes and saw… nothing. What did I expect? ´ He said to himself in his mind. The man took off Ellandan's bandage and he had to blink so that his eyes got used to see anything after the long time of darkness. He saw that they were in a small hole and torches on the walls spent the light.

We must be somewhere under ground but what is above us? Are we still in Lorien? ´ at the other side was a way which led deeper in the ground. HE noticed some shadows passing the way. Elladan supposed that it was a complete hole system. He looked over to Megildar. He had a wound on the head but it didn't look like a very deep one. Also Megildar's bandage was taken off.

The man was also dressed in black clothes like the one's Elladan had seen coming out the forest.

He gave him and Megildar a piece of bread and a cup of water. They had to eat with bandaged hands and Megildar wasn't able to do that. He dropped his bread many times and to watch how clumsy he tried to pick it up was very funny.

When Megildar dropped his cup in the end Elladan couldn't control his laugher. It wasn't very loud so that the other couldn't hear it but he expected that they were observed. Megildar gave him a that's-not-funny glare and Elladan stopped reluctant to smirk. After they finished eating the man bound their eyes again. Elladan wished that they wouldn't do this so he would have the chance to look around and perhaps to find a way out. But so he saw nothing again and there was just the hope that the others would miss him early and try to find him.

He damned that this stranger took so much poison on him. He had made little traces so that his brother would be able to follow him because he was sure that Elrohir would search him if anything bad happened but they lead them just to the place they were captured. Now he didn't know if they had any clue to find Megildar and him. So he had no other choice to listen. His bandages were very strong and cut the skin of his hands.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After a while he lost his feeling for time again. He felt in strange dreams. He was alone and had to fight with black men but he couldn't move. He just stood there and the others hurt him over and over again and somewhere far away he heard the mad laugh of Megildar.

Suddenly he heard that many persons came. Two of them set up Elladan and held him tight. Ellandan's bandage was taken off and a black dressed man came in. He distinguished from the other. He was quite taller and he looked more evil.

He stopped some space in front of Elladan and eyed him. At last he looked in his eyes and a shudder ran down Ellandan's spine but he held his look.

There was something indescribable in his eyes. Elladan couldn't say if it was pure hatred or something else.

'What do you want?' Elladan asked and defended against the strong grip with an arm movement what resulted in a stronger grip.

'The day of reckoning is coming. I don't expect that you know anything about me and I don't think that Elrond told you anything and I want to remain you in this knowledge but perhaps I'll tell you why you stay here another time. I expect that you think that we don't want to kill you and your friend but I warn you against doing something that gives my men a reason to do it and I promise they will do it. For now I want you alive but your father should go through hell like I had to do. He should be told how it is to lose a child.'

He gave the others a sign that they can bandage Elladan again. The last thing Elladan saw was that the man turned around and left.

Some minutes later when everything was quiet again Megildar said 'What does he mean? What do they want? Why did they just speak with you and ignore me?'

'They just wanted me' Elladan said. 'He wants something from my father and I don't know what. They just waited to get the chance to kidnap me. It was just accident that you were with me. Like I see you can be happy to live. Actually they don't need you. So pay attention to be quiet and don't get on their nerves even if it is hard for you. I don't want that they'll kill you.' At the same moment he said this he regretted it.

'You mean that you don't want that they kill me? I always thought that this is your greatest dream?'

'I didn't mean it like that. I don't want to disappoint Elrond- got it! He thought that I can take you safe to Lorien.'

A person came and knelt down at Ellandan's side. Elladan flinched instinctive backwards to the wall but he couldn't move much.

'Don't move!' said the man beside him. 'I just want to check your shoulder.'

Elladan felt that the person changed the bandage and dropped a stinging liquid on the wound.

Elladan groaned inwardly but he didn't want to show any weakness. He knew this feeling because Elrond gave him a similar medicine when he was hurt from the battles with orcs but he was not poisoned seriously and he wasn't eager to find out.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the afternoon one of Haldir's elves came and picked up Elrohir.

'Could you recover' he asked gently.

'Well…not really. The forest gave a sort of safety and peace but the thought about Elladan made me restless.' Elrohir answered.

'In the team that will come with us on the search for him are the best elves we have. They know everything about the forest of Lorien.' The elf tried to reassure Elrohir.

When they met Haldir Elrohir saw a group of about twenty elves. They all were armed with bows and swords. Elrohir took his bow and a sword given by Haldir with him. He hoped that he wouldn't have to use it but he was prepared to do.

'When I give you the sign you'll separate.' Haldir said to the elves.

'We already divided groups. You come with me.' He said to Elrohir.

They went back to the way Elladan had taken and at a treeless area Haldir gave the sign. Groups of two or three went in different directions.

Elrohir and Haldir went to the other side of the area. They were just few kilometre from the frontier of Lorien. Suddenly Elrohir stopped and stared to the ground. Haldir watched Elrohir and saw that he knelt down and examined a blade of grass.

'Do you think the grass will tell you if Elladan was here!' Haldir said and frowned.

Flashback

Elladan and Elrohir went through a dense forest. They were armed with their bows ready to shoot if something would move. Slowly they moved on without making any noises.

'I'm must win' Elladan thought. 'I don't want to wear this stupid pink cap for one month. I look like an idiot with it.'

Elrohir was very strained. He listened to every sound and tried to move especially quiet this time. Suddenly he saw that something was on a tree not far from them. Elrohir reacted very fast and shot an arrow. A person fell down to earth.

'Not bad' Elladan comment on the shot but he just thought 'shit- I've seen him too late.'

'Thank you 'Elrohir grinned.

They ran to the place the person hit the ground.

'Are you alright?' Elrohir asked the elf who was already on his feeds again.

'Yes, it's all ok.' The elf answered and pulled the arrow out of his mithril shirt. Elrond paid much for some of this shirts just that his sons could train with real weapons without hurting someone.

'That was a point for Elrohir:' the elf said and jumped up on the tree again and disappeared.

They went on and the forest seemed to come closer and closer. Elladan suddenly stopped.

'What happened' Elrohir whispered.

'Do you see that tree over there? I saw the same one hour ago. I think we went in a circle.

'Are you sure?'

'Well… when you want to challenge my sense of recognize things I already saw before we can spend some more hours to traipse through this forest. Anyway I don't want to be here as long as we must stay here. What do you think?'

'Well, you're right. I mean I always want to improve my strength and train to kill orcs but I wasn't planning to stay here for night. I've already planned a new trick for Glorfindel, what do you think?'

Elladan just smirked.

'And what do you expect to do now?' Elrohir asked forcing his mind to concentrate on the training again. 'When we make traces to find the way they perhaps would make them somewhere too to confuse us.'

'Then we must make them as small as this' Elladan knelt and made a little knot in a blade of grass.

'No one would pay attention to it if he wouldn't search for it.' He said and grinned at Elrohir.

'Perfect'

End Flashback

'Come here and have a look at these blade of grass' Elrohir told Haldir.

He knelt down at the side of Elrohir and watched the blade of grass Elrohir showed him.

'Well…there is a knot in it. Do you mean Elladan made knots in the grass to sign the way?'

'Yeah. We've done survival training. The forest was like a labyrinth and so we made those traces to orient us.'

'Great. Then we must tell the others what they have to looking for.-Well… it's better when I do: You wait here. I'm faster when I'm alone. You don't know this forest. What ever will happen you wait here. Elrond cuts my head off.' Haldir said urgent.

Elrohir nodded and Haldir hurried away. Then he continued to search another trace.

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After a short time Haldir came back again. He looked around and searched for Elrohir.

'Damn it. Where is he? I should have taken him with me. Elrond is going to kill me if I would tell him that his other son vanished too.' He said to himself.

'Haldir! I'm here.' Elrohir called out of the high grass.

Haldir breathed out relieved and went over to Elrohir.

'Did you find something else?'

'Yeah. I've found some other knots. It leads to the forest.'

'Then let's go.' Haldir said in hope that Elladan took another way and was already in Lorien while they searched him here.

Elrohir nodded and they went on, slowly looking on the ground and searching for traces. When they were about fifty metres in front of the forest Haldir saw a place were the grass was pressed down. Here the grass was shorter again and the place was barely to recognize. He thought that there had stood maybe two persons but it must happened four or five days before. He knelt down and Elrohir was quite fast at his side.

'See!' Elrohir said with suffocated voice.

'It's blood, isn't it?'

He was right. On few blades of grass was blood. Haldir took one of it and checked it up. There was no doubt.

'It's the blood of an elf.'

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