The Lost Hope

Chapter ILII

Thranduil's pov

The cave I woke up in was dark and errie. It was hardly lit, only by a few torches lit with blue light. The stone that made the walls is a lighter gray than I expected.

I was tied up to a pair of roots by chains. The wood was exposed, and dried out. Despite my struggles though, none of them broke. I start to feel a dull pain in my shoulder, reminding me of the events leading to this.

I rushed to the battle and fought until an orc knocked me out, but I also remember a human's face.

Could that have been the wizard?

I hear footsteps down the corridor, and I look to the direction. A handful of orcs aproach me, mocking me in their orcish language. I likely could've understand it, but my brain was still very hazy.

They continue however, and I make no attempts to move. I knew it would be pointless. I was weakened by something, and these chains were beyond my power to break. I couldn't do anything but wait for the inevitable.

It was a while longer before another orc passed by. This one was wearing a different uniform than the last, and stopped in front of me. He held a large axe in his hand, and looked at me with hatred in his eyes.

"You filthy elves always ruin things." He spits in orcish, which I was able to understand.

I move my head up slightly to look at the orc. His whole body tenses with anger, which uneases me. He then lifts his axe and points it right at me. He smiles as he lets the tip of the axe pierce my shoulder that was injured earlier. I wince at the pain, trying hard to keep it hidden. I must've failed because the orc's laugh soon followed.

"You feel pain, like you put us all though." The orc says. "You take everything from us, and now it is our turn."

He pushes the tip of the axe deeper into my shoulder, and I gasp this time. I haven't felt this type of pain in years, and it certainly didn't feel pleasant.

"That's enough."

The pressure stops as both of us look to the newcomer. He is human, dressed in a black cloak with a dark hat. He holds a staff with swirls going up the shaft and leading to the red gem that sat at the top. He is older, with a black beard and black hair. He has red eyes that were serious, and daunting.

He is the wizard that has been helping the orcs all this time, and he is the human I saw earlier.

"We don't need to kill him yet, and I gave you an order." The wizard says to the orc, receiving a growl in response. The wizard lifts his staff and yells something as he thrusts it to the orc. The orc goes flying back, and I could hear bones breaking from the impact on the stone wall behind. The orc cries out before dying from the impact. It surprised me slightly that he died, but I figured there was something else in that spell that killed it. The orc then falls to the ground as the wizard lowers his staff.

The wizard looks at me, shaking his head. "These wretched orcs never listen to me."

"Are you the one helping the orcs take over Mirkwood?" I ask, knowing full well that the question is stupid.

The wizard masks the emotion he felt, reminding me that most wizards don't show their emotions, unless they are angry. I was just relieved that he wasn't obviously angry.

"Yes." The wizard answers in a monotone voice. "I am sick of the way things in Middle Earth has been run lately. The humans, the dwarfs, and mostly..." He turns away from me. "...The elves."

"Why would you care if you don't live in any of the towns?" I ask. "You only live with the orcs."

The wizard pauses, before turning back and quickly shimmers to face me. His staff is between us, and I feel magical pressure push harshly to me. I am pushed back, like a strong wind blowing me back and not letting up. The chains held me still though, so my legs and arms got the blunt of it. The wound in my shoulder opens slightly more, making me cry out in pain. It is worse than the initial pain. When I stop my scream, the wizard smiles.

"They aren't under my control, and they all oppose me, but not for long."

He releases the power, allowing me to fall back to my initial position. The jerk hurt my shoulder again, making my urge to kill the wizard even stronger.

"You won't have to worry about that though." He turns to walk down the hall. "You will be executed in a few hours as a declaration of war." He laughs, leaving me in the hall alone.

My pain is starting to make me dizzy, and I am losing a lot of blood from my wound. I try to stay conscious, thinking of any way to escape. Unfortunately, I have no way. I knew now that the chains are sturdy enough to survive a severe magic spell, so I couldn't pull them hard enough to brake them. Besides, if I did free myself, I still don't know how to get out of the orc base.

I sigh, giving up for the moment. My best bet would be the time they release me and take me to the execution site. That would be the only time I could get free.

I reflect on the past few weeks, feeling sadness for the outcome of everything. I had treated Legolas and Tauriel harshly after everything that happened.

"Please be safe, both of you." I whisper as I pass out.