With Hope and Without Hope

Chapter 12: Just Water

Legolas felt the collision through his entire body as the uruk dumped him on the ground in their corner of the camp. He gazed at the low eastern sun as he lay still, allowing his muscles to release the tension in his body.

The uruks were crueler each time they had their sport, keen to see what he could endure. When in the hands of Norgry and his band, Legolas was surprised at their skill in drawing blood without inflicting a fatal wound. Their commander Uglúk, however, surpassed their viciousness. He was not content with fists, whips, and knives. He had been the one to start with fire. Legolas shivered as he remembered.

Weary as he was of the treatment, thoughts of escape grew rarer. The notion of death was no comfort, though. If he were to die, he had always envisioned falling in battle. This torment was no way to end one's time in Middle-earth. But as they drew nearer to Isengard, the likelihood of avoiding that fate waned.

Legolas slowly turned his gaze to Aragorn and Gimli, who lay nearby, also bruised and battered. He thrust aside his growing fatigue, knowing what he felt was but a fraction of what they must feel. Pushed to the limit already by their race to catch the orcs, tormented no doubt much as he was, and given no food or water, he wondered how long his two mortal friends would last.

Legolas forced his body into a sitting position, shutting his eyes until the world about him stopped spinning. His body resisted the movement: bruises ached, cuts reopened, burns pulled and stung. His cuffs shifted with a heavy clunk, chafing wrists already scraped by the metal edges. He willed away his pains with deep breaths, but the throbbing of his head persisted. He had lost count of how many times his head was hit with weapons, boots, or the ground. Those injuries were no doubt the source of his nausea as well. With nothing to be done for it, he would simply have to distract himself.

Looking about the camp, the same scene greeted him as when they had first halted: vile orcs defiled the plains of Rohan, which had grown into rolling downs, and the lush trees of Fangorn Forest beckoned him just beyond them to their west. Despite Celeborn's words, he longed to explore those woods and learn the songs of such an ancient forest. Any escape they might find would likely send them beneath those branches, but without an opportunity to linger as he would. He wondered if they might be welcome.

His gaze wandered back to the camp, sliding from raucous orcs and uruks, to dirty weapons and rancid meat, to swaying grasses and the far off wood. He longed for silence, or at least enough quiet to hear the trees. Indeed, sleep called to him, but all about him were grey-skinned, gnarled, scowling beasts. The orcs marked with the badge of Saruman proudly called themselves uruk-hai, but were as prone as the others to bickering at the slightest provocation.

None relished the task of looking after them, either, and none had appeared for the duty. Legolas could not muster the concentration to assess how well they were guarded, but it made no difference, in any case.

After allowing his eyes to wander aimlessly for a time, he spied the small curly head of a hobbit. While assuring himself he truly saw it, another head popped into view. Though they were hunched over, Legolas could see the two talking animatedly. His heart eased to see them hale, but regret and guilt lingered. Their own captivity would have been worthwhile and bearable to have seen the hobbits free. Perhaps they could yet.

Merry and Pippin continued talking intensely. Merry's face, lit by the early sun, revealed some distress. Pippin's back was to him, so Legolas could see only his shaking head. Soon, glancing about at their guards, they settled down near a large rock. After a few quiet moments, followed by quieter words, the hobbits lay themselves down to rest.

Legolas's eyes remained on them as he ignored the arrival of his own guard. Only months ago, he had known little of these creatures, but after a short time, he had readily trekked across leagues in pursuit of an army of orcs in an effort to save them.