Disclaimer, Notes and Acknowledgements: Please refer to Chapter 1

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Chapter 8 – The Duel

Aragorn was stunned. No one knew him by his elven name, except for his family members and those who knew him in Rivendell and Mirkwood. So who was this man that stood before him? He searched his memory, trying to figure out whom the person could be… a man who knew him by Estel. All of a sudden, a name flashed across his mind. Baran. But Baran was dead! His son! Could it be his son? Thad? But Thad had disappeared after his father’s death, presumably gone to live with his father’s cousin in a distant town.

“Estel? Strider?!” Legolas nudged the ranger on the arm when the human failed to respond to his call. “Do you know him?”

Aragorn shuddered violently at the memory of Baran and his son. So many bad memories that he thought he had forgotten came crashing back at full force. He staggered backwards, squeezing his eyes shut tightly and trying to ward off the sounds of the belt making contact with his skin.

“No…” A strangled cry escaped his lips as the world before his eyes tilted dangerously, and if not for Legolas’ strong grip on his arms, he would have keeled over.

The elf was shocked at Aragorn’s reaction to the stranger. He caught the young man as he staggered into him, almost knocking him over in the process. Legolas shook the ranger hard, trying to bring him out of whatever memory he was trapped in.

“Strider!” The sharp voice pierced into his befuddled mind, and Aragorn blinked hard in attempt to clear his head. Steadying himself, the ranger pushed back the various emotions that were rolling through him and took several steps towards the man. He needed to confront the boy, now man, who had instilled the meaning of pain, hurt and despair in his life at such a young age. The moon crept out slowly from behind the clouds, as if sensing Aragorn’s need for light, and the illumination it cast on Thad gave him a ghostly look.

Legolas watched in utter confusion, not knowing what had just transpired. Aragorn had never mentioned Thad to him, and he never knew that his friend was a victim of abuse when he was only a child. The elf finally shook himself out of his reverie and in a few strides caught up to Aragorn, but the man held out his hand to stop him from going any further.

“What do you want, Thad? And where are my brothers?” the man demanded harshly as he continued his advance towards the older man.

“What do I want?” Thad laughed bitterly. “I want you to feel the pain of losing someone you love.”

When Thad set up the trap, he did not care who the rescuers were as long as they were from the house of Elrond. He was hoping for Erestor or Elrond himself, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was making them hurt… the way they hurt him. They would pay for what they had done. But he couldn’t believe his luck when the human showed up at his doorstep. What a pleasant surprise! And he came with a pretty elf friend. The elf would fall nicely into his plans.

Reaching down behind the wall of the house, Thad hauled Elrohir to his feet and dragged the elf out into the open where Aragorn and Legolas could see him. Elrohir did not struggle. He was too exhausted to fight anymore, especially when the poison in his body had leached away whatever remaining strength he had left. His legs could no longer support his weight, and if it weren’t for Thad holding him upright, he would have crumpled onto the ground in a boneless heap. A wad of cloth was stuck in his mouth to prevent him from speaking, and his hands were bound tightly behind his back. Even though Aragorn and Legolas were expecting Elladan and Elrohir to be held by Thad, they still could not suppress a surprise gasp when Elrohir was so rudely dragged out of the house.

Rage flared through the ranger as he saw the condition his brother was in and the way Thad treated him. At the same time, fear raced through his mind, as he did not detect any visible injuries on Elrohir. That would mean that the one injured was most probably Elladan, and the fact that Thad did not use Elladan as a hostage worried him tremendously. Maybe he was to badly hurt -- or worse, dead.

Thad hooked his left arm around Elrohir’s neck and placed the elf in front of him, using him as a shield. His right hand reached into his tunic and pulled out a small dagger. Its three-inch blade glittered dangerously in the moonlight.

“What do you want, Thad?!” Aragorn shouted the question once again at the crazed man. Fear gripped at his heart as if it were trying to tear the organ right out of his chest.

The man just laughed menacingly and took a few more steps away from his hideout. Aragorn and Legolas backed away from him, trying to keep a safe distance between them.

“I want you to kill your pretty elf friend!” Thad spat out dryly.

Aragorn’s jaw dropped at the man’s words. He would never bring himself to hurt his best friend, let alone kill him.

“No!” Aragorn protested angrily at the insane demand. “You’re crazy!” he shouted at his childhood tormentor, but that only served to excite the man further.

Thad tightened his arm around Elrohir’s neck and brought the dagger up to the elf’s neck, pressing it against his pale skin. “Fight the elf… or I will kill this one.” To stress his point, the man drew the tip of the dagger across the soft flesh on Elrohir’s neck leaving a trail of crimson in its wake. “Do you want me to demonstrate what other things this dagger can do?”

“Stop it!” Legolas cried out, his voice strained with unleashed rage. Twirling around to face Aragorn, the elf prince drew his hunting knife and un-strapped his quiver, letting the object slip soundlessly to the ground. “Fight me, Estel!” the wood elf ground out through clenched teeth.

“I-I can’t!” Aragorn stammered, his face pale and clammy. Cold sweat broke out on his face, and his breath came in sharp rasps as his heart thumped maddeningly against his ribcage.

“You have to!” Legolas maneuvered closer to the ranger and whispered lightly in his ear. “Do it like our practice. Stall him.” Stepping back quickly, the elf raised his weapon before him. “Do it for your brothers,” he said aloud.

Aragorn unsheathed his sword in slow motion, his hand gripping the hilt so hard that his knuckles turned white from the tension. He knew that Legolas would not allow him to lose the fight for the sake of his brothers, and he feared for his friend’s safety. However, if they could come up with a plan during the fight, perhaps they would be able to subdue Thad and rescue Elladan and Elrohir. Swirling his sword in his hand, he positioned the weapon in front of him.

The two friends stared at each other for the longest time before Legolas eventually made the first move. He knew that Aragorn could not bring himself to initiate the fight, but he also sensed that Thad was growing impatient. If they did not do what he demanded, he had no doubt that the man would do serious damage to his hostage. With a soft cry of warning, Legolas charged his friend, slashing out with his knife.

Aragorn snapped out of his stupor at the voice of the elf and brought his own sword up to block the blow, deflecting Legolas’ knife with ease. The clashing sound of the weapons shattered the silence of the night. The ranger whirled around on his heels, his sword sweeping out in a perfect arc at the elf, but the nimble being dodged the sharp blade expertly, spinning smoothly out of harm’s way. A split second later, the elf mounted his own attack on the human, his movements perfectly timed so as to give Aragorn enough time to counter them.

Both friends executed their moves carefully, neither too fast, to avoid accidentally hurting each other, nor too slow, to avoid rousing Thad’s suspicion. But regardless of their performance, the man saw right through their game. He had known that Aragorn would never hurt his friend. He had only asked them to fight to set the next step of his plan in motion. Gripping the dagger tightly in his hand, Thad moved away from the house dragging Elrohir with him and made his way silently behind the elf. Studying each of their movements carefully, he found a pattern to their fighting style. Something needed to be done to make this game more interesting. Raising the dagger, he hurled the small weapon at the elf.

TBC…

Author’s Note: If you have not read “Never Tell”, this chapter might seem a little confusing especially regarding Thad’s identity and what had happened in Aragorn’s childhood. But I’ll explain it in later chapters so please bear with me. :)