He walked down a calm forest path leading to the faint rumbling of a waterfall in the distance. Chirping from the birds filled the air, and the rustling of the leaves made everything seem almost perfect. That was until a sharp pain ran down his shoulder piercing his chest. Gasping and gripping his shoulder in surprise and instant anguish, he fell to his knees.

Immediately the sky turned red and the forest faded. Looking down at his hands he realized they were covered in blood. Elrohir looked past his hands and he felt his eyes widen as his brothers agonized face scrunched up in pain. Blood covered his brother’s torso, and at Elrohir’s feet was a small dagger covered in his twin’s blood. Elladan’s mouth moved and Elrohir bent over to listen.

“Why?” Elladan hissed between clenched teeth.

Elrohir felt his breath catch in his throat. “Why what?” He felt tears well up in his eyes.

Elladan lifted his hand slowly and gripped the front of Elrohir’s tunic, pulling him down in anger. “Why have you done this to me?”

Elrohir’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “I-I…” He shook his head not believing it. Another sharp pain ripped through him and blackness filled his vision. Everything around him faded and his eyes snapped open in startled fear. A cry of anguish fled his lips and filled the air as he anxiously tried to sit up. He was being restrained. Fully conscious now, Elrohir peered into the dark brown eyes of the slave trade leader.

A hot searing pain filled his every sense and he screamed out in agony. The leader pulled back the hot poker and sneered. “Welcome back to camp.”

Elrohir closed his eyes and he broke out in a cold sweat.

“You led us on quite the chase, I am impressed.” The leader brushed back the damp hair on Elrohir’s forehead. “Now that you and your brother are back in our company, you need to have a bit of a sedative.” He gripped Elrohir’s hair forcefully, pulling him up and tilting it back sharply. A cup was placed at his lips, and before he could protest, the cool liquid poured down his throat. Gagging and coughing, his head was released and cracked against the earth hard.

Curling up into a tight ball, Elrohir shivered uncontrollably. His lungs heaved, trying to fill them with air, and his heart started pounding hard. His ears rang, and tears of pain ran down his face. The agonizing pain that filled his stomach took over his senses, and he tried to curl up more, clutching his midsection with his arms and hands.

His mind became hazy and he frowned as the pain subsided. Everything around him became a grey hue, and he blinked quickly trying to clear his vision. Shaking his head and rolling onto his back he swallowed the vile taste in his mouth. Something wasn’t right; he knew it instantly as his body became ridged. His muscles stiffened and seemed to lock, he couldn’t move. Nothing seemed to work, even though he knew he was trying to move, he couldn’t. He felt heavy and almost light at the same time, like he was floating.

He tried to cry out in frustration and found that nothing came out of his mouth. Within the gray fog, Elrohir saw the leader bend over him, and grinned mockingly. Every inch of him wanted to jump up and erase that smirk off his face, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t. The voice of the leader was loud and deep and extremely slow, and Elrohir swallowed.

“Quite the feeling isn’t it?” The deep menacing voice mocked. “Enjoy it while it lasts, for once that is over more will come.”

Shaking his head trying to clear his hearing, and sight, Elrohir didn’t realize that even his head wasn’t moving. As his eyes moved, everything in his line of sight tripled, and seemed to move in slow motion as they separated from the original image to several. Panic filled him, as he realized that the drug affected his nerves and his mind.

Closing his eyes, Elrohir tried to block the images, and found bright lights behind his lids where there should have been only darkness. His eyes snapped open and the grey fog appeared again. Biting his lip, he heard the deep menacing laughter as the men stood watch. His mouth formed the words he wanted to cry out, but only silence filled his muddled hearing. ‘Oh Valar help me!’ He was loosing his mind. Nothing he did seemed to shake the feeling of utter helplessness. Elrohir was at the mercy of these slave traders and the clammy feeling that came over his skin, made him fear for his life.

His heart beat far too quickly, and his shallow breathing made his chest hurt as he tried to gulp in more air to fill his lungs. All he wanted to do was move. A hand yanked his head up, he had felt that. Pain was definitely a feeling where everything else seemed numb. Swallowing, Elrohir peered at the hazy face that appeared. “You will fetch me quite the price elf!” The slow deep voice sneered. His head was thrown back slamming into the earth again, sending a sharp pain through it and stars to appear in the grey fog that surrounded his vision. That had hurt, and the cry that should have been shouted into the night air was silent.

Defeated, Elrohir was devastated that they knew what he was. They didn’t know who his father was however, and he knew that Elrond would find them. The name didn’t sound right in his mind. Frowning, Elrohir tried to focus on the face of his father in his vision. The image faded and disappeared. Trying desperately to cling to reality, Elrohir found himself fading into nothing but grey and fuzzy images. Shadows came into his line of sight and he gasped as the images turned red, and black. Things jumped at him but as he tried to cringe away, they disappeared, and more images darted out at him.

Whimpering in fear, Elrohir felt his mind waver between reality and fantasy. What was real? Glancing around him with his eyes, the men were there, but so were the dark beasts that jumped at him. His breathing increased as panic took over all reason, and finally he fell into a black void filled with swirling colors.

He felt himself twitch and he jerked awake startled. Elrohir’s grey eyes opened, and he saw the forest around him clear as day. Was it a dream? Looking around, able to turn his head, he saw the men by the fire. Feeling extremely weak, he tried to roll onto his side and found that his body was stiff and sore. His muscles twitched and he groaned in frustration. A hand gripped the hair on his head lifting his head to face the leader.

“Another dose?” The leader placed the cup to his lips, and Elrohir tried to clench his lips shut. It wasn’t a dream. Panic filled him again as his lips were pried apart and the vile liquid rolled down his throat again. How long had he been out? How long had it been since the frightening images had filled his mind?

Completely helpless, Elrohir was thrown back to the earth and his body twitched and stiffened as the drug took affect again. He quickly thought of his brother. Elladan should be there, shouldn’t he? They were twins and were always together, but the face seemed to fade as the drug took over his mind again. Screaming out, Elrohir called for his brother. ‘ELLADAN!”