A Half Elf's Love

Skin and Blood

(Elladan POV)

I woke up in a cell. My head was throbbing, and I had no shirt. Manacles were placed on my wrists and ankles. I had no weapons on me and my hair was cut. I was too groggy to fight against the chains, and the cell door opened. A hideous orc stood in the opening with a whip in hand.

"'Ello scum. The Eye wants to see yer. It's yer lucky day." The Eye? I tried to think, but it was all fuzzy. The last thing I could remember was holding Delia in my arms on the riverbank. The orc grabbed me by my scalp, dragging me along the halls of some pace carved from back stone. I was hurled in front of a throne. I could feel blood along my head. A voice as smooth as silk graced my ears. Despite the fact it was smooth, it felt evil. Pure evil.

"Hello son of Elrond...I never thought that I would see the product of your father...but fate seems to have other plans, would you agree?" I looked up, wincing. A man was sitting on the throne. He had long white hair. His smile showed sharp teeth. He looked like an elf, but he was twisted. "A shame you hardly bear resemblance to your mother. Now she, was a beauty. I would have laid my hands on her, but I did not have enough power. You however, despite not being as attractive, are very useful to me. You can see the future." Sauron. This could not be possible. I was in Sauron's grasp. A rage ran through me.

"You will never win!" He smiled viciously, rising from his throne. I tried to scamper away, run, anything, but the chains made it impossible.

"I beg to differ." He growled and licked his lips, grabbing my throat. "I will find a way to win, and you are going to help me, because you can see what is supposed to be." It suddenly clicked. He thought I was Deliadis. He thought he had the right elf. I could never let him know. He could never know. Not if I wanted to see Delia again.

"Let. Me. Go." He squeezed my throat tighter, laughing like a mad man. I coughed as he held me hostage.

"Oh dear...struggling to breathe? Such a shame." He threw me to the ground and I coughed, curling into a ball. "Take him back to his cell. He will talk. He will have to eventually. His visions will get the better of him, and he will spill something useful." The orc grabbed my chains, dragging me through the long hall. "Actually, let him taste the whip. Fifty lashes should be satisfactory." I trembled a little, my whole body tensing. This was going to be the death of me. I was dragged down several flights of stairs before I was thrown into a room with all sorts of horrible devices. It reeked of blood. I nearly vomited at the stench. The orc grabbed a whip from the wall. His steps were heavy as he walked towards me. I heard him raise the whip. It cracked against my back. I arched my back, left out a grunt. The orc hit again, in the same spot. I felt the skin of my back splitting open. I let out a whine, tears running down my face. The orc spoke.

"Count 'em out, or I'll start over. What number is this one?" He whipped my back. I let out a pained shout.

"Three!" The orc laughed. I watched as another one walked in. It was bigger, stronger. The orc that had been with me left, and the new one took the whip. It raised the whip, bringing it down on my back. The air was knocked out of me, but I still had enough breath to scream. The tears ran hot along my cheeks. I kept screaming, the skin on my back breaking and bleeding. My blood rolled along my body, and it dripped along my face, collecting at my chin and dripping onto the stones. When the orc was done, it took me, dragging me up to the cell. It threw me against the wall, and I let out a cry as my bare skin hit the jagged rock. It was horrible. I heard footsteps. The voice of silk spoke again. Sauron was back for more.

"Did you like that little elf? Or are you simply too injured to fight back?" Tears continued to run down my face. "I can make it stop if you just tell me what it is you know." I shook my head and he laughed. He laughed at my pain. Was this how my mother felt? Tortured and broken? Tears continued to slip down my face as the minutes passed. Sauron continued to stand outside the cell, laughing at me. I just wanted to hold my sunshine. To see her sweet face and eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes that never truly left my mind. I needed Delia. I needed to tell her I was alive, that I was not dead. I had no way to tell her. No way to escape. I was trapped. Absolutely trapped. The tears formed a puddle in the cell. It was a testament to my pain. Sauron eventually grew bored of me and left. I kept sobbing, my back throbbing and my heart aching. I just wanted my sunshine. I just wanted Deliadis.