Prequel to The Edge of a Knife
No lands are safe.
Nothing is safe.
The elves of Mirkwood struggle to keep their darkening lands shielded from peril.
As Legolas, the youngest son of Thranduil sets out in hopes of aiding his older brother in driving b...
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Thalion gazed solemnly at the ruins of Dol Guldur. This is where the orc's trail had led, if Legolas was inside that forsaken place he was going in.
He dismounted and began running towards it. "Thalion!" His father grabbed his arm and held him back. Thalion struggled to free himself. "Let go of me!"
Thranduil refused and narrowed his eyes at his son. "Thalion, if Legolas is in there he would be dead by now. Orcs wouldn not leave any elf alive for this long."
Thalion couldn't believe that his father was giving up on Legolas. Did he even care that there was a chance that he was alive?
"I will not leave until I have proof that he is dead." Thalion tore himself from his father's grasp and ran towards Dol Guldur.
He was aware of elves following behind, only much slower. Thalion slowed his own pace and entered the old fortress quietly and cautiously.
He held his sword in his hand and looked around for anything hostile, but there was nothing.
Thranduil had caught up with him, his own sword was drawn and he gazed around the fortress in complete silence.
Something caught Thalion's eye. He moved over to a small area and froze. He felt as if he was going to be sick.
Blood, it stained the stone ground and the walls. There was no doubt in Thalion's mind that it was Legolas'.
There is so much...
He felt his father's hand on his shoulder. Thalion turned towards him and saw that his face was pale.
Thalion searched the area, but he found no sign of the orcs, or Legolas.
Thalion's legs began to tremble, he felt like he was about to fall over. The pain from where the spider had stung him, and the shock of what had happened to Legolas was too much.
He collapsed onto the ground, his sword falling from his hand. Tears filled his eyes and he could feel a scream rising in his throat.
Legolas was gone.
Dead or suffering by the hands of orcs.
I'm sorry Legolas....
I'm so sorry....
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Legolas had no idea how long they had been traveling. He couldn't see where they were going, and he had yet to find out why they were taking him in the first place.
The orc had said that their master wanted him; but who was their master? What did he want with him?
His wounds were still sore and were healing slowly, of course being jostled and shook by a large orc was not helping.
Suddenly the movement stopped, the orc carrying Legolas threw him roughly onto the ground.
Legolas fought back a cry of pain. He needed to be strong, he couldn't show any weakness in front of these monsters.
He heard sounds that sounded a lot like wolves, then he realzied that they were wolves. Legolas was hauled to his feet by one of the orcs.
He was half dragged and half carried over to one of the orcs. The blindfold was removed from Legolas' eyes, the first thing he saw was a massive orc standing over him.
He was far bigger than the other orcs, and much more scarred, he was also missing his left eye.
"So this is the rat our master wants." The orc looked down at Legolas in disgust. "Let's get him ready to move."
The one-eyed orc grabbed Legolas and hauled him towards one of the wolves. Which Legolas soon realized was not a wolf, but a warg.
The beast growled at their approach, its eyes looking hungerly at Legolas. The orc didn't notice or care as he threw Legolas onto the beasts' back.
Legolas was on his stomach, he gagged as he got a face-full of the warg's matted fur.
He watched out of the corner of his eye as the one-eyed orc mounted the warg.
"You've got a long journey ahead of you elf." The orc sneered. "I suggest you get comfortable."
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Legolas had no idea how long they had been traveling. They would ride nonstop for several days, and then camp for one night.
Usually they left Legolas alone. They would leave him bound and ignore him until they were ready to move again.
Some nights however, they would take out their clubs and whips and beat him.
It was usually the one-eyed orc, Hirshak, who stopped them from killing him.
The warg rides were not any better. Hirshak would constantly plague him with taunts and sometimes cut him with his dagger.
It was never ending pain and misery for Legolas. The question that continued to resound in his mind, was why?
Why had this happened to him? Why had he been captured? Why did these orcs' master want him?
They rode on for days and night, finally Hirshak grabbed Legolas by his hair and pulled his head up.
"We've finally arrived rat." Hirshak snarled. Legolas took in the land in front of him. Black mountains stretched as far as his eyes could see, the air was thick with foul smoke.
That was the last thing Legolas was aware of before his world plunged into darkness.
