Meeting Hope

By: Eressie

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Chapter five

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When Estel came to, the first thing he noticed was that his hands and feet was bound. He frowned, and opened his eyes. He blinked a few times, disoriented of where he was and what had happened. He lay facing a stone wall, his face almost touching it. He lifted his head from the dirty ground, wanting to look around, but winced as he did so. He had a throbbing headache, no doubt caused from when the troll had thrown him into a tree. He closed his eyes again and lay back down, but as soon as he did so he felt a small nudge at his ankle.

"Are you all right, Estel?" he heard Legolas worried whisper.

The young man opened his eyes again and tried to look to where Legolas voice came from. He saw Legolas sitting by his feet, leaning back against the wall of stone. His hands and feet were tied and attached to a chain that in turn was stuck under a boulder in front of him. He looked pale and had a gash by his hairline that had bled quite a bit; dried blood from the wound covered the side of his face. It had stopped bleeding, but with all the dried blood, it looked quite serious.

Estel's chest tightened. "I should be asking you that." he whispered back with a concerned look on his face.

Legolas shook his head. "I'm fine. It probably looks worse than it is, head wounds tend to bleed unnecessary much."

Estel bit his lip, not sure if he believed the elf. But after a minute or so he figured he would get no more answers about his friend's health. He took a deep breath and with some effort he managed to get up so that he sat beside Legolas. He grimaced as his headache made itself more known and throbbed in the same beat as his heart. After a moment, when his body got used to him sitting up. He looked around finally. They sat in a cave; and that was pretty much the only information he could get of where he was. Although, were the cave was exactly he did not know. It was damp and shaded in the cave. Estel looked towards the entrance. It looked like early morning, the sun was just about to rise. They were alone, or so he thought until he looked down on the other side of Legolas. There on the ground lay his brother, and he widened his eyes.

"Dan?" he whispered uncertain; his voice trembling.

Legolas shook his head. "Elrohir." he corrected. "And he is still unconscious I'm afraid."

Estel felt scared and he tried to swallow the burning lump he felt in his throat. "D-Do you think he is okay?"

"He don't look injured." Legolas said reassuring and looked down on the dark haired elf beside him. "He's just out cold. As you were just now, I am glad you're awake." he said and gave the boy beside him a small smile. "How's your head?"

"It hurts a bit and I am a little dizzy." he answered and leaned forward so he could see Elrohir better, and when he did so he found someone missing. "W…where's Elladan?" he asked and looked around again, searching for his lost brother.

Legolas swallowed and looked down. "I don't know." he answered sullenly. "I woke up not long before you did, and all I know is that there are only we three here."

Estel's breathing quickened and started to feel panic. "Where's here then? Where are the trolls? And why do you seem so calm?"

"Shh Estel, lower your voice." Legolas said and looked at the entrance. "I don't know where the trolls are exactly, but I can hear them. They are not far away."

Estel's panic grew stronger. "They are going to eat us, aren't they?! Valar, maybe they've eaten Elladan already!" he tried to get free from the ropes that bound him, but they would not give in. He noticed a chain was attached to the ropes around his wrists, and it rattled loudly in the cave. Tied up just like Legolas; his chain was stuck under a boulder as well, resulting in him getting nowhere.

Legolas got himself closer to Estel so they sat shoulder to shoulder. "Shh, Estel, it's going to be okay."

Estel shook his head, tears in his eyes. "No. It's not." he said, his voice trembling. "We're going to get eaten by trolls. A-and Elladan… and E-Elladan… he…."

"He is not dead." Legolas said firmly.

"How can you be so sure?" Estel asked almost angrily.

"Look at me." Legolas said and as Estel did so, the elf's heart almost broke in seeing Estel so distraught. "Elladan is fine. We would have felt if he wasn't, we would have felt if he was…" Legolas stopped, he did not dare to say the word. "Listen to me, Estel, we will get free and get home; all four of us, safe and sound." he said and tried to reassure Estel as much as himself. He paused before giving the boy a comforting smile. "I have hope."

Estel smiled a little. "You have hope? Is that a pun?"

Legolas winked and smiled, causing Estel's smile to grow. The quick silence was interrupted by a soft moan and both Estel and Legolas directed their attention towards the dark haired elf still lying on the ground.

"Roh!" Estel exclaimed; relieved that his brother finally showed signs of awakening.

"Estel?" Elrohir asked and tried to look towards the voice. He squinted his eyes as he spotted the two of them. "'Las?" he coughed. "Are you two all right?"

"We're fine, Roh." Legolas said softly.

Elrohir glared at Legolas the best he could lying down. He pushed himself up in a seated position against the wall, just like the other two sat. He ignored Legolas recently spoken words and looked at Estel instead.

"Are you two all right?" he asked again. Causing Legolas to scoff and look away from the twin.

"We really are fine!" Legolas complained.

"Mhmm, yes of course." Elrohir said casually. "Estel?"

Estel gave a small nod. "We are as well as expected I suppose." he shrugged a little. "I got a headache and feeling a bit nauseous." he confessed. "Legolas looks rather unharmed except the wound on his forehead, as you can see, but it has stopped bleeding and he tells me he is fine."

Elrohir nodded. "In other words he is gravely injured and about to pass out at any moment."

Legolas rolled his eyes. "Roh, now is not the time for jokes."

Elrohir raised an eyebrow. "Who's joking, 'Las? Your life is at stake."

Legolas glared at the other twin and opened his mouth to reply but got interrupted by Estel. "Roh…" the boy asked carefully. "Do you know where Elladan is?"

Elrohir's smirk towards Legolas disappeared and he quickly became serious. "We got separated…" he frowned in thought. "I am not sure… the last thing I remember was that we were fighting the trolls on the ground and we had just managed to kill one of them. We tried to get them away from you two so they would not accidently stomp you to death! As we retreated backwards away from you, they managed to get Elladan and I more and more apart." he shook his head. "For such huge creatures they sure move fast! Or maybe it was only I who thought so because they were so many…"

Estel swallowed. "And then what happened?"

"I was fighting three of them and Elladan had to face the other two." he said. "I thought I was a skilled warrior, but when you are fighting three huge beast at once on your own; you feel nothing but. It was challenging and in the end they managed to knock me out. And… I-... I did not see what happened to Dan... but I heard him." he swallowed the hurting lump he felt in his throat.

Estel nodded. "I… I heard him as well." he said quietly. "Before I passed out."

Elrohir frowned. "He's fine." he said and nodded stubbornly to himself, not wanting to think differently.

After a few minutes of silence, Legolas frowned and opened his mouth. "Odd…" he said.

"What is?" Elrohir asked.

"The sun has risen… but there are no signs of the trolls." he said looking at the entrance. "Why are they not hiding away?"

Elrohir frowned. "All of them can not possible fit in this small cave but… surely they must be hiding somewhere; away from the sun."

"Then why can I hear them out there, stomping around?" Legolas asked uncertainty. "It does not sound like they're hiding."

Elrohir shook his head. "They can't be! If they were; they should be stones by now!" Elrohir exclaimed. "But still… I too, can hear them." he said with a frown.

Legolas bit his lip in thought. "I heard once… from Mithrandir that there were trolls bred by Sauron that could withstand the sun."

Elrohir's eyes widened. "The Olog-hai."

Legolas nodded. "Maybe that's what they are…?"

"But I heard that they kept themselves in the mountains of Mordor."

"Yes…" Legolas nodded. "But maybe… these are from Angmar."

Estel frowned. "What's Olog-hai? I never heard of them."

"Haven't Erestor taught you everything about every creature on Arda by now?" Elrohir asked and gave the young man a small smile. "He does love to talk."

Estel shrugged with a smile. He understood that the elves tried to keep their conversation light so that he would not feel so uneasy, but it was difficult not to feel anxious in a situation like this. "Must have dosed off on a few lessons."

Legolas nodded in agreement. "Understandable."

Elrohir rolled his eyes. "The Olog-hai are trolls that can survive in daylight, Estel. They are supposed to be smarter than normal trolls, intelligent even. But not quite as big as the usual trolls…"

"But these ones are huge," Estel said, "and as for the intelligent part, not so much."

Elrohir frowned. "Maybe some Olag-hai bred with normal mountain trolls and got a mix of them both?"

"Normal looking trolls that can withstand the sun but not as dumb as normal trolls, yet not as smart as the Olag-hai?" Legolas wondered.

"Ye quite right, elfie!" a loud voice interrupted their conversation. "Ye not so dumb yerself!"

Four trolls stood by the entrance now, everyone showed signs of the battle with wounds all over. All looked rather pleased with themselves, with having captured them. All except one that is, the smallest one glared at the elves and human.

"We should eat 'em now!" he growled. "Or at least kill 'em!"

"We kill 'em when we eat 'em, Bart!" Dave snarled.

"They killed Jerry, they did! My poor, fat brother!" Bart yelled. "And Carl! The elves should die as well!"

The mute one, Dumby, stood beside him and nodded.

"They are gonna die, Bart." Dave answered. "But later. I like my meat fresh!"

Brock shrugged. "I like me some maggots in me meat sometimes, it adds a nice kick to it." he grunted. "I like how they tickle on the tongue!"

Estel felt ill at Brock's words. He glanced at his brother and friend. They did not look afraid, but why was he scared then? How could they stay so still and focused? Estel was shaking and sweating. He did not mean to. He wanted to be as strong and unafraid as his brothers but… somehow he could not. He never had to face danger like this. Never have he been so close to death before. He wondered how many times in the past Legolas and the twins had been in such situations to be so fearless and courageous now.

The largest troll roared all of the sudden, interrupting Estel's thoughts.

"All of this talk about food, have made me hungry!" Dave gritted his teeth and drool dripped down his chin. "The human is mine!"

Estel pressed himself against the wall and he felt Legolas leaning over him, but how could he protect him, bound as he was and no weapons! Elrohir was just as helpless as Legolas but they were still determined to protect the young man with all their might.

"You will not touch him!" Elrohir screamed as Dave came closer.

The large troll laughed loudly. "What will ye do about it, nasty elf!"

Bart came in after Dave. Dumby tried to get in as well but the cave was not big enough for more than two trolls so he stayed at the entrance with Brock. "And what made ye think ye won't have the same fate as him?" Bart growled. "I will enjoy you! I will enjoy the sounds of ye screams when I tear the flesh of ye bones!"

As Dave came close to them he roared as loud as he could and lashed out for an attack. But just as he was about to swing his giant hand towards Estel's head; they heard a deep rumble. The trolls paused, but since they have spent most of their days in caves they recognized the sound rather fast.

"Cave in!" Bart shouted and ran for the exit as big boulders fell down and hit the cave floor. Legolas pressed his body as close as he could to Estel as the human screamed in fear. He kept his eyes open and looked eyes with Elrohir for a quick second. His eyes held the same fear he felt. They were going to die! Elrohir threw himself at Legolas and Estel. He had so much he wanted to say to them but it all went so fast! He watched as Dave turned his large body around very clumsy and tried to run to the exit as well but he did not manage even one step before the whole cave came crashing down upon the troll and his captives. Elrohir heard his companions scream, or maybe it was him, and then it all turned black.

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Hello, it's been a while! Do do you like it? Tell me what you think? And the next chapter will be posted soon :)
/Eressie