Aragorn led them further east away from the Misty Mountains. He wished that he could have them head for Rivendell, the elves would notice the orcs in their lands and come to rescue them.

But Aragorn was still too weak to travel through those mountains on foot. His only hope was to keep these orcs thinking that he was doing what they wanted while trying to come up with an escape plan.

Aragorn was at the front of the group surrounded by a few orcs. The leader was walking a few feet behind him, keeping an iron grip on Legolas' arm as they walked.

Aragorn knew that the leader wasn't taking any chances with his prisoner. The other orcs were constantly eyeing Legolas, they wouldn't wait for much longer, they wanted the elf.

Their leader assured them that they would all get a chance at him, but Aragorn knew that the leader had no intention of "sharing" his prize.

For the moment Legolas was safe, but the moment the leader called Aragorn's bluff it would be over for his friend.

I'm not going to let you be killed Legolas. Not this way, and not at the hands of these monsters.

Aragorn had sworn to keep Legolas safe and that was what he was going to do. He still couldn't believe that Legolas had known his identity for all these years.

I didn't tell him because I was trying to protect him. Yet here he is in danger because of me and he'd already known the truth.
Aragorn nearly laughed at the irony.

The sun was beginning to set behind the mountains and Aragorn was exausted. He hadn't been given a chance to recover from his injuries and his strength was failing him.

"I need to rest."
He called out to the leader.
The orcs ceased walking except for the leader who stalked over to Aragorn with Legolas in tow.

"What's the matter human? Are you not feeling well?"
Aragorn kept a straight face as he looked the orc in the eye.
"If your orcs hadn't tortured me then I could go longer. I am injured, sore, and tired. If I do not rest I will die and you will not get what you seek."

The orcs looked expectantly at their leader, hoping that he would punish the human for speaking that way to him, but to their disapointment he only laughed.

"Very well, we will camp here for the night. But we're leaving at dawn so get all the rest you can."

The leader walked off while shouting orders to his orcs. Legolas managed to catch Aragorn's eye as he passed him and whispered, "Remember our promise."

Aragorn nodded and watched as his friend was dragged over to the other side of the orc camp. There were only five orcs near Aragorn, watching him to make sure that he didn't try to escape.

Aragorn clenched his fists and glared in the leader's direction.
He hadn't bothered to tie him up or even leave him with a large number of orcs.

He assumed that Aragorn wouldn't leave without the elf or do anything to get him killed and he was right.

Aragorn settled himself onto the ground and tried to get comfortable. He knew that Legolas was expecting Aragorn to keep his promise and he had every intention of doing so.

The only problem though was that Aragorn was coming up with pleanty of reasons to stay.

For one thing his injuries would prevent him from running very far, if he tried to get past the few orcs that guarded him he would only be caught again.

He had to bide his time and wait for the right opportunity to get both himself and Legolas out of there.

An orc stomped over to them and tossed what looked like a waterskin over to one of the orcs.

The orc who caught it walked over to Aragorn and nudged him with his foot.

"Get up human. You were complaning about your injuries so we're going to give you some medicine."

Aragorn took one look at the skin and knew that whatever was in there was not something he wanted in his body.

Unfortunately he had no say in the matter as two orcs grabbed his shoulders and held him firmly in place.

The orc holding the skin forced his mouth open and forced the "medince" down his throat.

Aragorn's throat burned as he swallowed the firey liquid. He gasped in pain as it spread throughout his body.

The orcs laughed as he writhed in pain on the ground. They eventually grew bored of watching him and moved away, although they still kept an eye on him.

Aragorn forced himself to lie still as he waited for the pain to subside. Even though the draught had tasted terrible and had caused him pain he was glad to feel strength returning his weakened body.

I just have to keep leading them on this goose chase until I can get my strength back. Then I can try to free Legolas.

Aragorn glanced over at the opposite side of the camp, hoping to catch sight of Legolas.
Unfortunately all he saw was the leader shouting at several orcs.

Aragorn didn't even want to think about what that orc would do to Legolas while they were camped here.

There was no comfort in the fact that his friend was safe from physical torture because Aragorn knew perfectly well that any torture the leader had planned for Legolas would affect his mind.

He had seen the fear in Legolas' eyes everytime the leader looked his way. Legolas was afraid of the orc and the leader would use his fear to torment him with.

Stay strong Legolas.
Aragorn pleaded.
It will not be for much longer, please hold on until I can get you to safety.

»»»»

Legolas watched the orcs in silence as they moved about their camp. Yelling and fighting with one another as the sun finally set and darkness claimed the sky.

Legolas searched for Aragorn but couldn't see him from where he sat on the ground. His hands were still bound behind him but his legs remained free.

The leader knew that Legolas wouldn't try to run away and he was right. Legolas hung his head as shame and despair began to well up inside of him.

He had lied to Aragorn when he'd made that promise to him. He wouldn't try to escape, even if he was untied and escorted out of the camp and given a three day head start to outrun the orcs.

The reason why was simple, but also heartwrenching for the elf. Not only was it because they had Aragorn, but because no matter what happened, whether he remained a prisoner or escaped, he would die.

Legolas closed his eyes as the memory of what the orcs had done to him that first night played out in his mind.

The orcs twisted his arms painfully behind his back. He struggled to break free as he was forced onto his knees.

Legolas ceased struggling as the leader approached him. Smiling that sick, twisted grin of his.

He was holding a small vial in his hand, it was filled with a dark green liquid and Legolas eyed it warily.

The leader ordered the orcs to force his mouth open.
Legolas resented having their filthy hands in his mouth as they held it open.

The leader opened the vial and knelt down in front of Legolas, his head was tilted back and the green substance was poured into his mouth.

The orcs forced Legolas to keep his mouth closed and kept his head tilted back until the last of it was swallowed.

The orcs then tied Legolas' hands behind his back while the leader continued to smirk at the elf.

"Do you know what that was elf? That poison will slowly kill you in a matter of days. You'll start feeling it's effects very soon."

Legolas hid his emotions from the orc. Not knowing that it would be the last time that he would be able to hide them so easily.

The leader chuckled as he stood to his feet. He towered over the kneeling elf who glared at him through cold narrowed eyes.

"You will die soon elf."
The leader growled.
"And before you do I will make sure that you know what true fear is."

Legolas opened his eyes as the memory faded. When the leader had said it he'd paid it no mind, he hadn't believed him.

But all through that night the orc had tormented him by showing Legolas that he was completely and utterly helpless.

All the things the leader did to him, things that were not even painful, served as painful reminders that the elf was completely at his mercy.

Legolas hadn't expected this kind of torture to have any kind of effect on him but it did.

He was afraid of the orc, of what he would do to him, and how he would do it.
Legolas knew that the orcs wanted his blood. What scared him was how they would get it.

His mind was constantly imagining what would happen once the orcs had lost their patience and every image caused Legolas to tremble in fear.

No matter what happened from then on his fate was sealed. He would either die from the poison inside of him, or be torn apart by orcs.

If he were ever to die Legolas would have prefered a quick, painless death in battle. Not a slow, painful one.

It seems as though the choice has been taken from me.

Legolas was about to try and fall asleep but that was taken away from him as well when the leader began making his way towards him.

Legolas tried not to tremble as hr approached but couldn't help himself. This was the kind of monster that had been in his nightmares as a elfling, something that he should no longer fear.

But he did fear it, and in that moment Legolas wished that he was already dead.

"Are you feeling that poison yet elf? It should start beginning its job very soon."

Legolas wouldn't admit it but he could feel the poison at work in his body. It wasn't painful, only uncomfortable.

Of course that will change soon.

The leader knelt down on one knee so that he could be eye level with Legolas. The elf immediately turned his head away, only to have it grabbed by the leader and forced to face him.

"You shouldn't have come for your friend. You could have saved yourself from all this trouble."

Legolas forced his emotions to the back of his mind as he met the leader's gaze.

"You could have lived forever in peace, without having to worry about all this pain and suffering that awaits you, but instead you chose to throw it all away for the sake of a human."

The orc studied him curiously as he tilted his head to the side.
"I wonder why..."
Legolas squeezed his eyes shut as the orc traced down the left side of Legolas' face with his claw and continued down to his neck.

Legolas wanted to get away from him, to leap onto his feet and run as fast as he could, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

He couldn't leave Aragorn.

"Why did you come to save him?"
The leader asked removing his claw from Legolas' neck.
"You must've had a reason to considering you knew that you would be outnumbered and how cruel orcs can be to elves."

The orc drew the same dagger he had used yesterday and held it against the elf's neck.
"So tell me, why does the human matter so much to you?"

Legolas refused to reply as the cold steel bit into his skin. The less the orc knew about him the better.

Seeing that he wasn't going to get an answer the orc shrugged and removed the dagger.

"Alright, have it your way."
Legolas clenched his teeth together and hissed as the orc slowly ran the blade across his chest.

Once he had finished Legolas looked down and inspected the thin line of scarlet. It wasn't as deep as he thought it would be and could tell that it would heal quickly on its own.

Whether it had been intentional on the leader's part was unknown. The orc was now standing up again smirking down at Legolas.

"Enjoy your peace while you can elf. After tomorow you won't ever have it again."

The leader stalked off leaving Legolas in confusion as he tried to decypher his ominous words.

As Legolas laid himself down on the grass to try and get some rest he struggled to fight off the nightmares that flooded his mind.

Nightmares showing everyone he loved being torn apart before his very eyes, screaming for him to help them, and not being able to do anything but watch.