In the Ruins//Legolas

Chapter 26; The Forging of the Ring

Nothing could have prepared Durion for the amount of pain he would be in for the next few days. At least he thought it was days, but who knows, time blends together in captivity. The Uruks left his hands and legs alone for obvious reasons, but other than the psychological torture he endured, his back took most of the array of wounds. The Orcs loved their whips, rusty nails woven into the rope in a way so they would be sticking out. The Uruks took their time perfecting the technique so that every whip against his back would take a chunk of elven flesh with it. But Durion could tell that the White Wizard was losing his patience. Especially with how frequent his visits to the cells became. He was in a rush. Just the thought of something not going Saruman's way was encouragement enough for Durion. At least until the wizard had him dragged from his cell towards the room with the Palantír. Bad feeling settled in his stomach.

"Last chance, elf, forge me what I want." His deep voice was steady, despite holding back obvious anger.

"Dream on." Spat Durion. Saruman nodded, as if expecting such an answer, and wrapped his long, bony fingers around Durion's right wrist. His touch burned and sizzled against Durion's skin. The elf whined and then gritted his teeth because of the pain. But he was more unsettled by the direction Saruman was pulling his hand. "W-what are you doing?!"

"You are proving you are no use to me, but perhaps my Lord Sauron will find some information in that head of yours." Saruman gritted out and Durion felt panic settle over him. If that happened, Sauron would know that the hobbits are probably around Mordor's borders by now, and that Frodo and Sam are alone, vulnerable. He needed to stall. He needed time. He needed Legolas to fucking sleep so he would realize what happened to him!

"Wait. Wait!" Durion struggled against the wizard's hold. "I'll do it! I'll forge the bloody ring!" Saruman turned back at him and smiled.

"There. That wasn't so hard, was it?" Durion responded in the only way he thought of.

"I hope you choke on bread."

From there, Durion was dragged off to a new 'cell'. It was more like a miniature forge within the tower. As he looked around, he found that there was pretty much anything a blacksmith or a jeweler might need. There was just one small detail that lingered in Durion's mind as he walked around and took note of each piece of equipment and material. He had absolutely no idea how a ring of power was made. But, considering Saruman hadn't just made one himself, neither had the wizard, which gave Durion some wiggle room. After noticing that there were many metals with which he could make the ring from, he figured out the way to reason his stalling.

"What do you mean you need mithril?" Angrily asked Saruman.

"It's all about balance, you see. Two of the elven rings are made from gold and one from mithril. It's a Ring of Power, the material can't be just anything." Shrugged Durion, putting on his best innocent facade. Saruman could do nothing but huff in irritation.

"Fine, but you better have the gem cut and polished when I return with it." Watching the wizard stomp off was one of the most entertaining sights Durion has seen in a while. The elf moved over to the table with the various gems. He saw that most of them were already pre-cut, but simply polishing one would take too little time. He dug through the box of emeralds, opals, aquamarines and garnets, searching the bottom for any really rough stones that would take the most time to prepare for setting. It was quite a large stone, gray and dirty at first glance. One would think it fell in the box by accident. Durion picked it up and examined it. He turned it in his palm to one side, then another. He almost threw it away when his eyes caught a flash of blue so familiar his heart sped up at the sight of it. For a moment, he thought Legolas found him, and that it was the brilliant blue of his eyes that shone in his peripheral vision. But no, it was the stone. Labradorite. Its beauty mesmerized the elf, a stupid smile spreading on his face. With his beloved in mind, he got to work.