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Legolas studied the map intently, with Aragorn
standing near and
looking over his shoulder. "I think we are nearly there," the elf
concluded, rolling the scroll up once more. "It should be a little to
the-"
"Legolas," Aragorn stiffened. "There's something
over there, through
the trees," he hissed in his friend's ear.
Legolas froze and his hand went immediately over his
shoulder for his
bow. A moment later he saw it too, a dark shape hidden by the trees.
Made incredibly wary by their many misadventures to
this point, the two
friends split up and crept towards the unknown shape. As they got
closer it took on the distinctive form of an orc, lurking behind the
trees, as still as stone... but something wasn't right... Aragorn
paused, squinting at it and trying to figure out what in the name of
reason it was doing.
Legolas, across the glade, suddenly rose to his feet
and laughed. The
orc did not move. Aragorn rose, confused and not sure what exactly they
were seeing, but knowing that Legolas would not behave that way if
there were danger... he hoped.
Moving closer Aragorn saw that what they had seen
was in fact a very
detailed and realistically carved life-sized statue of an orc, but the
depiction of the foul beast seemed to be caught in a mockingly comical
moment of terror for it was permanently frozen in ungainly flight.
Once he could see it for what it was, Aragorn
couldn't help laughing
either. "What in the name of reason is this? Who would make such a
thing?" he chuckled as he and Legolas circled the base of it.
"The Drúedain if I am not mistaken," Legolas
let his fingers
drift over the ancient statue. "They were neither human, dwarf nor elf,
but a kind all their own. Hatred between their people and the orcs was
fierce. They crafted statues such as these to protect their lands and
territories, for whatever they put into them the orcs feared and would
not wantonly pass while their owners were alive. Some of their work was
said to hold magic, although we are now far from what was once their
most accustomed territory."
"I've never heard of them," Aragorn shook his head,
then eyed his
friend. "Or are you just making this up again?"
Legolas shot his friend an amused glance. "Nay,
Estel, the
Drúedain were very real. They lived before my time though, in
the days of my father and Lord Elrond, when the world was younger. It
seems they have all but vanished now, yet some of their work still
remains it seems."
Moving on once more the friends came to a long,
rough plain
crisscrossed with deep, jagged rifts that let down into steaming
fissures that randomly released brief hisses of hot vapor up into the
air.
"Pleasant sort of place," Aragorn muttered as they
picked their way
along and Legolas had to agree with him.
Ahead in the distance and growing nearer they could
see what looked
like the ruin of a vast structure. Neither of them had to ask if the
other thought that was their goal. Out here in the middle of nowhere...
what else could it be?
When they finally reached it they walked slowly
around the exterior
perimeter as far as they could.
It had once been a magnificent building, but what
was left of it was
slowly giving in to gravity and age. The roof had crumbled into its
vast interior and its proud beams lay at odd angles on the remnants of
the stone walls. The air was still and the field seemed smothered in an
ancient quietness that robed the area.
Legolas walked lightly through the sparse grasses,
running his fingers
casually over what used to be ornate runes and pictograms carved into
the stone itself.
"I have never heard of this place." He whispered
quietly and yet his
soft voice was easily carried to the ranger who was peeking into the
interior of the building. "Even the style of the architecture is
strange to me."
Aragorn disappeared from sight, stepping cautiously
down into the
sunken floor of the main hall. His boots sounded hollowly on the
cracked marble flooring, the tiles had bent and warped beyond their
limits as the building resettled. Here and there light streamed down
from above illuminating the darkened recesses of the chamber, from
cracks and crevices, unseen holes high up above. Dust filtered down,
sparkling in the light.
"Aragorn?" Legolas quickly stepped to the sunken
entrance and glanced
about the interior, easily spotting the man as he cleared debris from a
broken, dilapidated stone table that somehow still stood in the middle
of the chamber.
"Legolas, over here." Aragorn called out quietly,
unwilling to disturb
the heavy silence. "Bring the map." A notch in the failing structure
above lighted the table well enough to read the almost illegible
writing.
The elf quietly padded up next to the human and
retrieved the scroll,
laying it out across the top of the stone. The writing was still
puzzling but it matched the runes on the exterior of the building.
Aragorn leaned down and scrutinized the lay of the
land on the parched
paper. "This has got to be it." He traced his fingers down the edge of
the Misty Mountains, tapping the building that was indicated, pressed
up against the roots of the hills.
"But where in here?" Legolas glanced around them
cautiously, his bow in
hand. He was not thrilled to be inside the crumbling structure.
"Well," Aragorn turned and walked to a corner of the
room, pulling a
piece of fabric from under a pile of rocks, "Why don't we go explore!"
He grabbed a stick from a heap of debris and wrapped the fabric around
it. Crouching on the floor he removed a small flint rock and struck the
blade of his elven hunting knife quickly against it. Sparks jumped from
the edge of the weapon igniting the old fabric and setting it ablaze.
Smiling to himself the ranger glanced at the back of the chamber. Two
passages led off in opposite directions and the human headed towards
the darkened hallway to their right.
"Strider!" Legolas called after the human. He knew
the man did not have
a clue as to where he was going and he was not eager to follow him into
the unknown darkness.
"Come on, Legolas, it's here somewhere," the
ranger's voice floated
softly back to the elf.
With a deep sigh the prince jogged after the human.
It would be just
like the man to pick the wrong corridor and then need help getting out
of whatever mess he stumbled into. Legolas descended into the
passageway after his friend. The light from Aragorn's torch could
barely be seen as the human rounded a corner and moved down a set of
steep stairs hewn from the mountain itself.
Legolas' eyes easily pierced the unnatural gloom as
he followed his
friend. He touched the man's shoulder lightly when he caught up with
him. Strider glanced quickly over his shoulder. "Does that map say
anything about where in this
place the seeing stone might be?"
"If it does, I cannot read it." Legolas paused at
the bottom of the
steps, another sigh escaping his lips.
"What?" Aragorn looked back from the passageway he
had entered.
"It's just that... it's another cave," Legolas
muttered, his eyes huge in the dim light.
Aragorn walked back to the elf and grabbed his
elbow, starting the
prince walking. "It's not a cave," he tried to reassure Legolas.
The elf glared at the human incredulously, easily
moving out of his
friend's grip and pushing the man slightly away from him. "Really?
You're carrying a torch. We are descending, it is dark, it is dank and
it
smells. It's a cave."
"It's a passageway," Aragorn corrected as he moved
cautiously forward.
"In a cave," Legolas growled quietly.
"No, it's a hallway in a collapsed building," the
ranger retorted
absently as he brushed thick cobwebs from their path, stepping through
the hole he had made in the silvery curtain.
"That's better?" Legolas asked sarcastically. He
shuddered slightly as
he stepped past the tatters of the thick web, remembering the last time
they were forced to deal with spiders.
"Legolas!" Aragorn was trying his best to ignore the
elf. His curiosity
had gotten the best of him and he was eager to find the palantir. He
had never seen one himself and he was thoroughly enjoying the hunt.
"It's a cave, I don't care what you say, it's a
cave," Legolas muttered
decidedly.
Aragorn stopped mid-step. "It's a dead end." He held
up the torch he
carried, lighting the back of the tunnel. A slab-stone door stood
closed in their pathway. Unused torches in wall-mounted brackets lined
the last ten feet of the walkway and he began to set them on fire with
the one he held so they could better see.
The ranger moved to the back of the corridor once
more and stepped up
to the door, passing his torch across the front of the huge stone slab.
"There is writing around the door." His fingers
traced the odd patterns
on the edge of the rock entrance. "Wait, look at this!" Aragorn set his
torch in an unused holder and peered at what seemed to be a handle
inset into the wall to the right of the door. The handle looked to be
nothing more than a metal bar held crosswise on a circle of stone. The
whole mechanism was recessed into the stone. There were writings above
and below the square that the handle was set into. "Legolas, take a
look
at this."
But the elf hadn't heard him.
Legolas eyed the floor of the passageway
suspiciously. The last ten
feet of the corridor appeared to be stone tiles carved into the rock
itself. Each one was set at an odd, irregular angle to the one next to
it. When Aragorn had walked across them, his footsteps had rung oddly,
almost sounding as though they were hollow. The elf crouched down near
the ground and pressed his fingers into what appeared to be a very deep
crack that ran the length of the hall, ending about a half a foot from
the track the stone door was set in.
Pressing his ear to the ground, Legolas rapped his
knuckles lightly
against the stone. It sounded thick enough, but there was a gnawing
unease in the back of his mind. He glanced at the writings on the door,
his eyes landing lastly on Aragorn.
"What the heck?" Aragorn muttered. He reached into
the alcove, grasped
the handle and turned it right. Nothing happened. Quickly he reversed
the motion, pushing it left and it gave way easily, sliding beneath his
weight.
"Aragorn! NO!" Legolas jumped to his feet and rushed
forward.
"Look, its turning!" Aragorn glanced at his friend.
The smile on his
face faded as a loud, harsh sound assaulted their ears. He tried to
pull his hand away from the nitch in the rock but two metal grates
slammed together, trapping his wrist and pinning his arm in place. He
cried out, startled by the trap as it sprung. In the middle of the
grates, where they met, each had a semi-circle carved out of it. When
they slammed shut the halves had created a perfect circle around
Aragorn's wrist that he could not escape from.
"Legolas." The human pulled desperately at his arm,
twisting and
jerking against the newly formed bonds, trying to free himself. "Help
me. Get me out of here. I'm stuck."
A deep rumble in the earth beneath them caused both
human and elf to
stop. Legolas glanced back down the passage they had come from as a
keening howl pierced the eerie half gloom.
"Orcs!" Legolas whipped his bow off his back and
notched it, moving to
stand in the middle of the hall, blocking Aragorn from their advance.
The prince wondered where they had come from, for he had seen no signs
thus far that this structure was an orc haunt.
The screeching calls of the evil beasts set the
human on edge. He was
vulnerable, pinned as he was, and Legolas would need help. Who knew how
many there were? Frantically he wrestled with his caught hand, trying
everything to get the bars to release him. Blood from the injuries he
was inflicting on himself glinted dully in the firelight.
He turned with his back to the wall, his pinned arm
across his chest as
he clumsily drew his sword.
The odd grating rumble grew as the wave of orc
bodies flooded the hall
with darkness. They rushed headlong towards the elf and he in turn
felled each one. Still they pressed in and he retreated slowly,
diminishing their numbers even as they were replaced.
The ground shook under his feet and Legolas was
thrown off balance.
Aragorn stumbled, turning back to the rock face and shoving his sword
in its scabbard once more as he braced himself against the wall.
Legolas fell forward, catching himself on one hand.
The ground moved
beneath him, the centuries-old dirt and sand that littered the floor
rushed towards his fingers and fell through the crack beneath his
supporting hand. In alarm he realized that the floor of the passage was
splitting apart, somehow retracting into the walls on either side.
The slight inattention was not lost on his enemy and
the elf found
himself shoved to the ground by the bulk of an orc. He twisted
underneath the foul beast and thrust the arrow in his hand through his
attacker's heart, throwing the creature off of him even as more rushed
in.
Leaping to his feet he unsheathed his elven blades
and swung them in a
wide arc, cleaving through the breastplate of another assailant.
Spinning in a tight circle he plunged the blade into another orc's
throat, and the creature fell with a strangled cry.
Aragorn watched in horror as the ground beneath his
friend tore in half
and disappeared. The elf staggered to the left as the floor slid out
from under him. He turned away from the attacking horde that still
rushed forward, oblivious to their impending doom, and leapt for the
small ledge near the stone door next to Aragorn.
The ranger reached out with his free left hand and
grabbed the elf's
tunic, holding his friend against the rock face as the ground beneath
them rolled and bucked. The front wave of advancing orcs fell into the
ever widening shaft. The sounds of their bodies reaching the bottom of
the deep, gaping pit was never heard.
With a loud click the floor pressed seamlessly into
the rock walls and
the rumbling stopped. Aragorn glanced over his shoulder at the horde of
orcs on the other side of the chasm. It was obvious there was no way
the creatures could bridge the gap and they had no wish to fall into
what seemed like a bottomless gorge. They slowly melted back into the
surrounding darkness of the hallway and disappeared the way they had
come.
Aragorn and Legolas were balanced on a ledge that
was barely six inches
deep. For the elf it wasn't a difficult thing to do, but the human was
finding it hard to maintain his footing. His fear got the better of him
as he looked down into the inky blackness of the gorge that fell away
behind him and he desperately struggled against his bonds.
Legolas looked up from the chasm and noted his
friend's distress. He
easily stepped next to the ranger and tried to quiet him.
"Aragorn, be still. We'll get you out of there." He
touched the man on
the back trying to get the ranger's attention.
"I have to get out. They'll be back." He pulled
fiercely against the
metal prison. His heart was in his throat. He was trapped in the dark
with orcs not far away... seeing them rush down the hallway at them
like that... it had brought back memories of Moria all over again and
all he knew was that he had to get free, now!
Legolas noted the blood on the sides of the grating.
He needed to stop
the man's frantic attempts. Carefully, he stepped around the ranger,
straddling his friend and pressing the man forward, pinning him against
the rock face, giving Aragorn a few moments' sense of security.
"Estel." He placed his face next to the human's,
resting his hands on
the ranger's back. "Listen to me, you are only hurting yourself
further. Relax, calm down now." The softly spoken elven words had the
right effect and the human slumped forward. Resting his head against
the stone wall, Aragorn nodded.
Legolas reached around the man and touched the
grating, prying at it to
see if it could be released. Aragorn didn't move or speak while he
tried to open the metal doors.
"I have a thought." Legolas placed his hand gently
on the man's back
once more. "Can you still reach the handle?"
"Yes." Aragorn answered quietly. "Just."
"Try to turn it back the opposite way and see if it
will move."
Aragorn did as he was told, twisting his wrist
painfully inside the
metal prison until the handle reset with an odd thunk. The grating
released and separated, sliding back into the walls of the small alcove.
Aragorn quickly pulled his hand out and stepped
slightly aside from the niche. Legolas lightly walked around the ranger
and took the man's
wounded hand in his own, looking it over and quickly pulling a length
of cloth from the human's knapsack to wrap the wounds with.
"It does not feel broken." Legolas massaged the
man's wrist for a
moment before Strider wrapped his own fingers around his hand and more
forcefully felt for broken bones.
"No, I think you are right." He glanced over at the
elf. "Thank you
Legolas."
With the handle reset, the floor began to slide back
into place,
rumbling and growling as the ancient, long-unused gears in the trap
worked
slowly. With the loud ring of stone against stone the ground sealed
itself back together.
Legolas unslung his bow and stepped forward onto the
resealed tiles,
his eyes searching the darkness of the passageway ahead of him for any
signs of the orcs that had fled it moments ago.
Aragorn stepped behind him. Testing his weight on
the ground, he
bounced slightly to see if the floor would give way beneath them.
Legolas noted the movement and turned towards his
friend, a slight grin
on his face. "What are you doing?"
"Making sure it stays," Aragorn whispered back.
"And if it doesn't?"
"That's not funny." He glanced back down the hall
listening intently.
"Lets just get out of here before they return, shall we? I don't think
we'll be able to get into that room from this way. Maybe there is
another entrance." The ranger smiled at his friend and gingerly stepped
around the elf, his sword drawn. He grabbed the last torch on the wall
on their way out and silently walked back the way they had come,
Legolas trailing him with his bow drawn.
They reached the top of the steps with no trace of
the orcs that had
attacked them. Aragorn looked back at Legolas, a frown on his face,
"Why do you think the orcs didn't return?" he asked over his shoulder.
There was not the time for the elf to answer as
Aragorn was pulled from
the passageway and drug into the main chamber of the ancient ruins, the
pommel of a sword impacting with the back of his head and driving him
to the stone floor.
Legolas was caught totally by surprise. He heard
Aragorn cry out and
stepped forward only to have several sets of hands pull him from the
darkened hallway and drag him into the dimly lighted inner chamber. The
beam of a crossbow caught him alongside the head and he stumbled off
balance, dropping to one knee. A vicious kick to his stomach dropped
the elf to the stone floor and a booted foot flipped him over onto his
back and pressed down heavily against his chest before he could respond.
When he struggled against his attacker the bolt of a
crossbow was
shoved into his face and he heard a gruff voice growl, "Lay still or
I'll put one through that head of yours. Understand me?"
Legolas glared at the man that held him pinned to
the floor. He angrily
shook the hair out of his eyes and stilled his movements. It was then
that he heard the shuffling, grunting noises of the orcs and he shifted
slightly, readjusting his vision to stare in horror at the evil horde
of creatures that stood to the side of the main chamber, watching
intently but passively, as he and Aragorn were subdued. Now he knew why
they had had no more trouble from the foul beasts. He angrily glared
back up into the face of Vaeric.
A soft groan caught the elf's attention and he
watched as Aragorn was
roughly jerked upright, his arms pinned behind him by another of
Paxcyn's men. His captor pulled a blade from his boot and held it
tightly against Aragorn's throat, thoroughly enjoying himself.
Booted footsteps rang against the stone and the orcs
shifted uneasily
as Paxcyn stepped down into the hall and approached Legolas' supine
form.
"Where is the map?" He was tired of chasing these
two, tired of losing
them and tired of having to report to an employer continually unhappy
with him. He hated the orcs and had done everything he could to
dissuade Saruman from sending them out in the first place, but they had
shown up and now he had to work with them. In the end he supposed they
served his purpose, but he would be glad when this job was over. With a
sigh he glanced at the ranger and his man that held him captive, "Don't
make me repeat myself."
At Paxcyn's slight nod Aragorn was forced roughly to
the ground, bent
over his knees, his hands tied tightly at the small of his back. The
man guarding him raised his sword ready to smash the pommel of it
against the human's head again if the elf would not comply.
"I have it," Legolas spit the words at Paxcyn,
unwilling to allow his
friend to be injured any further.
"Good." Paxcyn stepped back a pace and motioned
Vaeric off of the elf.
"Bind him and make him show you where it is."
Legolas had no desire to be bound by these men. By
whatever foul orders
they were working with orcs and seeking a palantir, he was in no way
going to allow them to take him captive. He began to wonder if they
were more than just treasure hunters looking for a rich prize... the
presence of the orcs seemed to bear that out. Sweeping his legs out he
caught Vaeric and brought the man crashing to the ground.
Quickly springing up, the elf slipped a blade from
its sheath on his
back and knelt over the human, pressing the edge of his weapon against
the man's throat, using the slight moment of surprise he had been given.
"Let the ranger go," he growled at the man who held
Aragorn down.
Paxcyn sighed, rolling his eyes and shaking his
head. He walked to the
large stone table and leaned against it, placing his crossbow carefully
on the top of it before bending down to look eye level at the elf.
"Listen. I don't care if you kill him." He glanced
at the man guarding
Aragorn, "I'll just have Dryxyn kill your friend and then I'll give you
to the orcs after I get the
map out of you." The man stood up and
glanced at the foul creatures behind him before turning back to glance
at Legolas. "Really, they won't care what shape you're in when I'm
through with you. But I think you know that, don't you?"
Paxcyn leaned back against the table and crossed his
arms over his
chest, watching the elf with idle disinterest.
"Don't do it, Legolas, they can't be allowed to have
it," Aragorn called
out in elvish, struggling against his captor. The man standing over him
brought the pommel of his sword down against the ranger's skull,
splitting open the freshly healed cut he had taken from Paxcyn's
stirrup earlier.
Aragorn went limp beneath the heavy blow, slumping
sideways before his
aggressor grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled his head up. The
ranger's eyes were half-lidded, stunned by the painful stroke. He
breathed raggedly and blood flowed easily from the head wound. He had
been struck thus a few too many times recently and it was taking its
toll.
"Be still, Estel. Even if they have the map they
will not get the
stone," Legolas replied in the grey tongue, hiding their conversation.
"I grow tired of waiting," Paxcyn spoke quietly as
he watched the two
friends.
Legolas glanced quickly at the man. "If you allow
your men to injure
the ranger further, I will kill this one," he pressed the blade down
harder against Vaeric's throat for emphasis, "destroy the map, and I
couldn't care less if there is anything left of me to let the orcs play
with. Do you understand me?" He glared at Paxcyn once more.
Paxcyn glanced at the black creatures behind him. He
hated this sort of
stuff. No money was worth working with orcs or elves. Both were simply
impossible. It was supposed to have been a simple job. Inwardly he
cursed Rigo. If only that drunken idiot hadn't run from them, no one
else would have been involved. True, he honestly didn't care what
happened to the ranger or his elf friend, but he could tell by the fair
being's gaze that he wasn't kidding about destroying the map and
killing Vaeric. Saruman had been very adamant about the retrieval of
the map and he was afraid they would have little chance of retrieving
the palantir without it.
"Fine. Dryxyn, back off." Paxcyn motioned his man
away from the ranger
who slowly slid onto his side, trying to bite back the bile that rose
in his throat. The last hit to his head had made him nauseous but he
was not willing to stop fighting.
"Legolas..." Aragorn started to protest but stopped
when the elf looked at him - he had a plan, the man could see it in the
deep blue
eyes that watched him, begging him to trust him.
Legolas held the ranger's gaze as he set his elven
blade on the ground
and moved away from Vaeric.
Vaeric stood slowly to his feet, his face contorted
in rage. When the
elf looked to Paxcyn and inclined his head slightly in surrender, the
angry man lashed out, punching Legolas in the side of the head and
causing the prince to stumble and fall back to the ground.
Legolas wrapped his fingers around the handle of his
discarded elven
knife, but Paxcyn jumped forward, stepping on the flat of the blade
effectively pinning the weapon to the floor.
"Ah ah." He glared at the elf, raising one eyebrow,
"There'll be none
of that."
Turning his attention to Vaeric he shoved the man
hard, causing him to
stumble back towards the entrance to the main chamber. "Damn it all,
Vaeric. I ought to just let the elf kill you for sport. Now go on, get
out of here. Help set up the camp outside."
Paxcyn turned back to Legolas and motioned him up,
drawing his sword
and indicating what he wanted with the tip of his blade.
"Now give us the map."
Legolas nodded and reached over his head to his
quiver.
"Hold on there," Paxcyn stopped the elf, pressing
the point of the
sword against the buckle on Legolas' chest that held his quiver in
place
on his back. "Unbuckle it, take it off and hand it to me."
Aragorn moved slowly, the motion drawing Legolas'
attention, as he
painfully sat up and watched what was going on. He blinked blearily in
the half-light.
Legolas easily slipped the quiver off his back and
handed it to Paxcyn.
The man pulled the map out quickly and glanced over the yellowed paper,
making sure it was the real thing.
"Now sit down," he instructed. Legolas complied,
seating himself next
to Aragorn.
Dryxyn walked over to the seated elf and crouched in
front of him,
quickly tying the elf's hands together with a length of rope. He pulled
the knots tightly and jumped to his feet well out of the nimble being's
reach.
"Why don't you just kill them both and we'll be rid
of them?" Dryxyn
asked his chief.
Paxcyn turned a sneer on the smaller man, "Well,
Dryx, if it's true what
them orcs say about this place being full of traps, I figure they'll
make good bait. Better than getting ourselves dead for that stone when
we have someone else that's expendable."
Soft snickers came from the far side of the room
where the orcs still
gathered.
"You think that's funny?" Paxcyn called out to the
creatures. "When
they're dead, you're next. So get this and hear it good. I'm leaving
them in your guard tonight. You so much as look at them wrong and I'll
put a bolt in you." He sheathed his sword and retrieved his strung
crossbow. "And I don't care what your master says. I'll slay the whole
horde of you if do anything to them or if they get away from you
tonight. You understand me?" He glared at the creatures that shifted
and dropped their gaze, uneasy in his presence.
"We understand," one of them spoke up from the front
of the group.
"Good." Paxcyn turned back to his two prisoners and
leaned down close.
"Don't think for a moment I won't feed your carcasses to those
pit-spawned monsters. You stay put, I might find you useful and prolong
your life."
With that threat made, Paxcyn left the main chamber
followed by his
men. The orcs watched them go and slowly spilled into the room,
rounding the table and glaring at the two captives.
"Behave," the one who had spoken moments ago growled
at them.
"Why do we have to take orders from that human
slug?!" one of his
subordinates protested, looking at the prisoners with hungry eyes.
"Cause if you don't it'll be your head on the block
and not his if
Master hears about it!" the first one growled back. "So we take orders.
For now." The creature laughed darkly and turned his evil gaze on the
captives.
Legolas stared the dark creature down before turning
to Aragorn. He
grabbed the man's overcoat in his bound hands and pulled them both
back to rest against the thick stone cylinder that held the table aloft.
Aragorn rested his head slowly back against the
stone and closed his
eyes. "This was a really good idea."
Legolas knelt next to him and pressed the human's
head forward. The
ranger pulled his knees up to his chest and laid his head on them with
a small sigh, his hands still bound painfully behind him.
Gently Legolas pushed the man's hair away from the
newly opened wound,
trying to get a better look at the cut.
"It doesn't look bad."
"It feels bad."
"I bet it does." Legolas pressed his fingers under
the human's chin,
forcing Aragorn to lift his head and gaze into the elf's blue eyes. "I
don't think you have a concussion this time. Why don't you rest?"
"Right." Aragorn glanced around the room to where
the orcs were
settling in, making small fires in groups of two or three from the
debris that littered the chamber. "I don't think so."
"Aragorn, you need your strength. I think tomorrow
may be difficult if
what Paxcyn says is true about this building being set with traps."
Legolas glanced out and let his eyes rest on the nearest fire, the jump
and weave of the flame a hypnotic distraction to their predicament.
"I'll wake you and you can take watch while I rest later."
With a nod the ranger laid his head back against the
stone and closed
his eyes, trying to relax. It was difficult with his hands tied
painfully behind him and the soft sounds of the orcs were a constant
reminder of the situation they found themselves in. A few moments
later, he felt Legolas' fingers wrap in the sleeve of his overcoat,
pulling him slowly closer until his head rested on the elf's shoulder.
"Now sleep," Legolas whispered softly in the grey
tongue. Aragorn
simply nodded against his friend and allowed himself to finally relax.
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