The Flames of Mordor
Summary
The fellowship are sat around the campfire sharing stories, Gimli is telling a tale of his ancestors something about an enchanted stone.
"Alright, someone else can have a turn. Me and Boromir have told a tale or two now others must take a turn. How about you elf?" He says looking at me I do not reply straight away but simply stare into the fire.
Could I tell the others a story I certainly am not short of tales but I could not do it I shake my head
"No" I say my eyes still fixed on the flames
"Come now you are an elf, surely you have some tale you can tell us?" It is Boromir's voice now. Again I shake my head, all I want to do is head into the nearby woods and get away from everything but I can't.
I let the night wash over me. I can sense all, not just by the campfire with the others but I can hear movements of animals in the forest grass swaying in the wind. I can smell the fire and the others and the trees and the wind. I purposefully keep my gaze on the fire so all I can see is the is telling a tale of the shire I listen to but I'm not really focused on what Pippin is saying. My thoughts have wandered elsewhere.
Hours pass all the others have told a tale and I know they will ask me again
"Well master elf, I hope you enjoyed our stories. Now will you tell one of your own." it was Gimli and his words were not a question.
"Come it is your turn" it was Aragorn's voice then the voices of the hobbits encouraging me
"No" the word is short and sharp but definite. I stand and disappear into the trees.
The forest is quiet and still. Peaceful. I swing myself up onto a branch letting the anxiety of the previous events fall away slowly. I calm down matching my breathing to the natural rhythm of the forest. I close my eyes and concentrate on the woods around me. I hear everything and let it wash over me. The comforting forest smells fill the air. I run my fingers over the rough bark of the tree.
"Legolas?" it's Aragorn his voice jolting me back to reality
"Yes?" I call in answer, not moving from where I'm sitting in the tree. Aragorn however climbs up into the tree beside me
"Something is wrong Legolas" it wasn't a question "you've been really quiet your worrying me mellon nin (my friend)" I don't reply I don't know what I would say even if I were going to answer. "Legolas?"
"I am fine Aragorn."
"something is wrong Legolas please I only want to help" the man's voice sounds more desperate now more worried.
"trust me Estel I am fine" I reply
"If you were fine you wouldn't isolate yourself from the rest of us." there is now a hint of anger in his voice "Legolas if this fellowship is to succeed you need to be able to talk to your fellow comrades"
I do not reply.
"Legolas please this is getting a bit ridiculous you were talking to everyone fine in Rivendell why not now." I can hear the frustration and anger in my friend's voice "Legolas you have to speak. Talk to me mellon nin I need to know what's troubling you"
"There is nothing troubling me" I say more sharply than I meant to
"Do not say that I know you. You would only say that if there was something wrong"
"There is nothing wrong Estel"
"If there's nothing wrong come back to camp"
"Fine." I swing myself down from the tree and head back toward the others Aragorn follows
Laughter breaks me from my thoughts
"The elf returns" it is Gimli "we were just recounting Bilbo's journey and the company had just reached mirkwood perhaps you could enlighten us on some more details of your kingdom at the time"
"I'm afraid I cannot for I was not in mirkwood when the dwarves came"
"Where were you then?" I do not reply at first
"I realise that on the journey so far I've not been the most talkative nor have I told you my reason for coming…but I will tell you now" they're all looking at me expectantly there's no getting out of it. "About 80 years ago me and my mother were in southern mirkwood on some sort of patrol type thing I can't really remember. When we were taken by orcs…"
"Where did they take you?" Pippin asks
"They took us to… to Mordor" I say trying and failing to hide the slight tremor in my voice "we were held captive and tortured for 50 years… my mother died during our imprisonment" I take a deep breath before beginning my story.
"Two orcs walked into the cell, I glared at them when they entered one of them caught my eye and laughed
'Looks like one of them at least has some spirit left in him" he said to his comrade before turning to me "your lucky princeling as you seem to have some fight left we'll keep you alive for the meantime' he laughed again and I hissed in anger
'Lucky princeling still has fight left or he'll meet the same fate as the queen' sneered his companion fear jolt through me I knew what was going to happen I'd seen it done before me and my mother were the last ones left the only survivors I'd seen other prisoners who had stopped retorting to what the orcs said stopped 'entertaining' them. All those prisoners were burned alive in a huge fire in the centre of the cell where the other prisoners could see all too clearly.
I looked at my mother curled in the corner asleep blissfully unaware of what was about to happen they'd wake her of course, for some reason I was more afraid now then I had ever been before even when we first arrived.
The orcs now walked over to my mother. There was nothing I could do to stop them being chained to the wall. They woke my mother up, she looked around for a moment in confusion and fear then an orc spoke
'You no longer entertain us you have grown weak and boring so we have come to the decision to burn you' they had confirmed my fears I looked at my mother who gave an encouraging smile even as she was dragged away to her death
'Stay strong my Greenleaf, you are all your father and your people have left' she whispered and then they carried her away to be burned."
The others all stare at me as if waiting for more, I pause to think about how to put the next bit into words. I've never explained it to anyone in much detail. It has always been too painful but today I will try.
"The next morning the fire was set up. I was so scared I knew what was coming but I didn't want to believe it. Hours passed then the doors at the back of the room opened and orcs came in dragging my mother with them. She was tied to a post and left as more orcs lit the fire." I stop trying to hold back tears the memory still seems as fresh as if it had been yesterday
"You alright lad?" it was Gimli
"I'm fine" I say I take a deep shuddering breath and continue "she was burned in the same way many had been before. I can still hear their screams" I shudder at the memory "the day after I realised I was the only one left the only one still fighting
In those next days all I knew was pain not physical pain but grief and despair. It was finally dawning on me that I might not get out alive but I was determined not to fall to the same fate as my fellow prisoners for their sake and mine. I spent my days trying to work out a way to get out of Mordor. I focused my strength on not giving in to grief and annoying the orcs as much as I could to avoid being burnt. I worried that if I continued to bounce back from all their torment they would kill me anyway.
Years passed and I was beginning to give up hope".
"Did you escape?" Pippins eager voice piped up
"As a matter of fact I did though it wasn't easy One night about five years on from my mothers death I worked out how to get out"
"How?"
" I was close to fading and I don't really remember much about how I escaped"
"Did you travel all the way to Mirkwood on your own?" Pippin asks
"No I managed to get out of Mordor but no further than that"
"That's still pretty impressive to do that and not get recaptured" Aragorn says
"I guess it was"
"How did you get away?" Pippin asks his curiosity getting the better of him
"I was found by Arwen who had been sent to look for me and my mother. We had been missing for around fifty years, anyway Arwen found me and she took me back to Rivendell. I stayed there for a few months then headed to Mirkwood."
"Is that the end?" asks Boromir
"Yes it's a bit abrupt but nothing else of interest really happens"
"It was a good story and no doubt a hard one to tell" Aragorn says
"So basically you're coming on the quest for revenge?" says the dwarf I resist the urge to glare at him
"I just do not want others to face the same terror that I did and also I have faced the evil of Mordor first hand so I wish to help destroy him"
"Revenge" the dwarf mutters and I choose to ignore him after all it is partly true.
Aragorn comes to sit beside me by the fire
"Turns out there was something wrong after all" he says with a smile
"Yeah maybe there was" I look up at the stars "I'll try to be more honest with you from now on I promise" Aragorn smiles
"That would be good"