"W-What are you doing here?" Fili could barely straighten his thoughts. How did their friend end up in this predicament? Glancing around nervously he made sure there were no guards or patrolmen watching before climbing higher towards Gandalf.

"Me?" The wizard said incredulously in a hushed tone. "As pleased as I am to see you, what are you doing here? It's much too dangerous." He threaded his fingers through the wrought iron bars as his weary eyes met the dwarfs.

"I'm here to rescue a prisoner they have. Not you though, an elf. Well, of course had we known you'd been here we probably would have come to rescue you too…" After a moment he stopped speaking, realizing that he was blathering on because of the nerves. Having climbed until he was just outside the cage he crouched in the shadows, glancing around once more. "I'm going to try and get you out…."

The wizard frowned at the young dwarf, eyes darting around the fortress in search of guards. An elf? "I believe I saw the elf you speak of. They brought him in much earlier this night."

Fili set his jaw as he got to work on the lock, pulling out tools and attempting to pick it. "Was he alive? Was he ok?" If the elf had already been here for hours who knew what could have already happened to him. Maybe there wasn't time to wait for back up. "And how in the world did you get yourself in here? I thought you were all powerful?"

Gandalf shot the dwarf an irritated look at the words. "I came here because there is something evil afoot, something bigger than you, me or Thorin's mission to reclaim Erebor. A great darkness that hasn't been seen for an age has resurfaced. Yesterday an army set out from this fortress, the evil presence that defeated me with it." The wizard paused considering that options. "There are considerably fewer enemies here now than there have been since I arrived. Your elf looked to be ok when he arrived. And if we're going to rescue him now would probably be the best time."

The young dwarf listened to Gandalf speak nervously as he finally managed to pick the lock. It would have been much easier to just smash it open but the noise would probably have drawn every orc in the place. "An army…." This news made Fili very uneasy. What evil presence, where was that army going? Giving his head a shake he focused his mind at the problem at hand. The army was gone and they had an elf to save. "At least there will be fewer enemies…"

Gandalf climbed gratefully out of the cage, darting into the shadow of the stone pillar to join Fili before attempting to stretch his stiff limbs. "Ok. Now who is this elf you are so set on saving?" Really, the entire situation shocked the wizard. Not in a bad way, just in a confused way; Fili, nephew of Thorin, wanting to rescue an elf?

"His friend saved Kili from poison. Now I'm helping her save her him from being killed. She was supposed to meet me but never showed up." Fili spoke quietly. This place unnerved him. And even with Gandalf now here, being without Kili still didn't feel right.

"Ah." Gandalf wanted more of an explanation than that but understood that this was a rather time sensitive mission. It was difficult to say how much longer the fortress would be so undermanned, as well as how long the captive elf would be alive.

...

Legolas hung limp in the chains, pain wracking his body. The hours that dragged on felt like days as the orc found new ways of causing him pain. Sometime during the third hour his resolve had finally broken and despite himself ended screaming his throat raw.

So when the orc finally left him beaten and broken, the prince shuddered a breath of relief. The pain was unbearable, yet in this situation he had no choice but to bare it. Trying to keep his breathing steady and his mind calm, he did a quick assessment of how badly he was injured.

In reality he had only been at the hands of the orc commander for perhaps 5….6 hours, yet the extent of damage that had been done was staggering. His upper body was now completely bare, the remains of his tunic littering the floor at his feet. Shallow lacerations from the whip littered both his chest and his back. They had stopped bleeding a while back yet still burned with pain as if they were on fire. And then there were the burns that littered his chest neck and hands, created using red hot steel.

At some point there had been boiling water tossed at him leaving most of his skin red and raw, but what had been most painful was when it ran into the open wounds. He thought he remembered that it was at that point that he could not stay silent. There was only so much a person could take, even an elf with as strong a will as he. But just because they had broken his silence did not mean they had broken his spirit.

Legolas squeezed his eyes closed, trying to shut out the pain. Blood from an ugly laceration on his face stung his eyes which was difficult to ignore.

He stayed like this for quite some time, before eventually trying to get his feet under him and keep the weight off his arms. Every sound that echoed through the fortress made him tense in fear that it was Bolg returning to continue his fun.

A very quiet scrape of boots on stone caught his attention. Cracking his bloodshot blue eyes open he silently and fearfully stared at the staircase to his right where the sound had originated. But to his complete and utter shock it was not orcs that emerged from the passage but a man and a dwarf.

He immediately recognized the both of them; the dwarf had been part of Oakenshield's party and one of the few who had been holed up in Lake town, the man had been the prisoner he had seen caged outside.

But….why were they…here?
It had taken the tiny party of two nearly two hours of stealth and slow moving to traverse the fortress unseen, not to mention finding the dungeon. Fili had not feared repercussions of being seen by a guard of two until Gandalf explained that he could not use magic without his staff. Therefore they had decided moving in the shadows unseen was probably their best bet. Thankfully it paid off.

When Fili cautiously exited the narrow staircase leading to the dungeon, the sight that met him left him horrified and ill. Was this truly the same elf who had confronted them in the forest? He had been so noble and proud, strong and seemingly impossible to bring down. But this sad creature looked barely alive. If not for the eye trained on them, he would have assumed that he was dead.

"Wh-" Legolas started but the words failed in his raw throat. He coughed roughly before trying again. "Why are you here…." He barely sounded like himself, the words coming out in a croaking rasp.

"Don't speak." The wizard spoke softly as the two approached quickly. "We've come to rescue you."

Despite everything, Legolas couldn't help but be skeptical. Why would a dwarf want to rescue him? He was the one who had captured their party in the woods. It was his father who had held them prisoner. But he wasn't about to start asking questions, mostly because he was so exhausted, both mentally and physically. Not to mention the amount of pain he was it.

It was almost unreal for the elf when Fili started to lock pick the shackles around his ankles. But after a minute he stood and shook his head, glancing up at Gandalf with fearful eyes. "These locks are odd. They're not like the ones I'm used to."

The wizard looked to the elf and then to the dwarf with a determined expression before glancing around the room. Maybe….just maybe they keys were being kept close by. After a moment of nervous tension he spotted them tossed carelessly on a wooden table.

Moving as silently as possible he retrieved them, cringing when they jangled loudly. All three in the room held their breath as if waiting for guards to rush to the sound.

A minute passed in silence and Fili was just about to let out his breath when a rush of loud footsteps could be heard at the main staircase. Freezing again, the dwarf stared up at the wizard in fear. Gandalf paused for a moment unsure of himself. Should they hide? Fight? Run? They couldn't just leave the poor elf to a fate which was surely worse than death.

Thankfully he didn't have to make the decision when the distant sounds of loud shouts sounded outside. Whoever had been heading down the stairs stopped short and turned, rushing back up the steps and towards the sound.

Gandalf spared no time, rushing to unlock the shackles restraining the elf. Legolas watched the man move with a mix of distrust and thankfulness in his eyes. This couldn't really be happening, could it? It must be some trick….But sure enough after a moment the bite of the steel was no longer there. Wavering on his feet for a moment it was all he could do to stand. The entirety of his strength has been spent on enduring and surviving the torture he had just gone through.

To his disdain, when he did waver the dwarf was there to steady him. Any other time he would have pushed the creature away, but in this instance he said nothing. He was too injured to argue and knew deep down that he would not be able to make it if not for assistance. In fact he was beyond relieved and knew that he would be forever in the debt of these two, whoever they were.

Gandalf then spoke. "Whatever is happening outside is in our favor. The orcs attention is being drawn. It is the perfect opportunity to make our escape." The wizard wracked his brain and could think of no explanation as to the battle going on outside. But whatever it was it came at the best possible time.

Carefully, he took the elf's arm to assist him in walking. Legolas grimaced in pain for a moment before nodding to the wizard in thanks. If it would get him out of this place he would have even accepted the dwarf's help.

Just as quietly but reasonably more quickly, the now party of three stole out of the fortress using the back exit. They only came across one of two enemies who quickly rushed by them as they hid to join whatever battle that was being raged at the front door.

It wasn't long before the sound of battle and the ominous shape of Dor Guldur was far behind them.

...
AUTHORS NOTES

Ok. Ok. So I know what I'm doing now. Mostly.
Sorry for inconsistencies with timelines and such. Things are happening differently then the movie but I couldn't think of any other way to make things work so...whoops. Oh well.

A bit shorter of a chapter but it I wrote the next part it would be a LONG chapter and I wanted to get it out in time for it to be my Christmas gift to all my wonderful readers and reviewers. You're feedback really fuels me to continue writing this, so thank you to those who have reviewed!

I'm pretty prolific when it comes to getting chapters out so expect the next one in one to two days.