Chapter Three

The next day was a repeat of the day before, and the day after that showed no signs of being any different. Other than the fact that Legolas and Aragorn were finally given water and fed, meager though it was, the days seemed to melt one into another.

The terrain they traveled was rocky. Though not true mountains, it was close enough, with stone soaring over their heads on the right and falling away into a tree-covered abyss on their left. There wasn’t much to see to tell them where they were being led, other than that they were heading northwest. Neither elf nor ranger had been this way before.

Legolas and Aragorn spent their time trying to figure out a way to get themselves free of the Easterlings, who were obviously just as determined to keep their prize captives firmly in tow. For now, the men, extremely careful with their security, were winning the battle of wills.

A very irked human ranger grumbled, as he and Legolas were pulled to their feet shortly after dawn of the third morning to begin another day of what was to the captives, mindless travel. He glared at the guards, who once again made sure the captives’ bonds were secure before allowing them to move away from the two trees where they had been tied. “Why won’t any of you tell us where we’re going?”

“Now,” one of them grinned, “where would be the fun in that?”

“Fun? Is that what this is? You were all bored, so you decided to have a little fun, and we were it?” Aragorn’s face was getting red, even though he knew that was hardly the true reason. Slyly he thought that maybe he could coax one of the guards into making a slip of the tongue and telling them something useful.

“There’s a little more to it than that,” the other guard confirmed, making one last pull on the rope around Legolas’s wrists to make sure it was good and tight.

This guy didn’t trust elves, having heard too many stores about their enhanced abilities and fearing that this one might do something to make his bonds magically drop off. Common sense should have told him, if that was possible, Legolas would have done it long before now. Common sense evidently wasn’t this man’s strong suit. “But who says we can’t have a little fun along the way,” he blithely concluded.

The company of humans and elf started off once again. The sky above them was clear, and the rising sun was spreading its golden light over the land. However, visible through the gap in the rocks and the trees, ominous dark clouds were beginning to gather, and the outcome of that gathering did not bode well for the travelers.

“It’s going to rain,” Aragorn said loudly, making sure that everyone heard him.

Hobert, walking right in front of him, laughed. He turned and looked the ranger in the eye. “Don’t tell me the two of you are afraid of getting yourself a little wet.”

“From the look of those clouds, getting ‘a little wet’ won’t be the only problem we have.” The ranger knew that a violent storm was approaching, and that meant dangerous lightning.

As if to reinforce what Aragorn had just said, lightning flashed several times in the midst of the gathering gloom, momentarily turning the black clouds to glowing silver and gray. Thunder rumbled a moment later, rolling across the sky toward them.

None of the Easterlings seemed to care that the weather was about to become threatening. The group marched on until the dark clouds settled overhead, having moved downward until they were almost close enough to touch.

Aragorn looked back over his shoulder and sighed as the sun and the blue sky retreated under the storm’s advance. He had been through enough of these storms to know they were all about to be inundated.

In less than five minutes, the clouds released their load and everyone was drenched to the bone in seconds.

Grath turned back and pointed to Hobert and another man. “Tie ropes to those two and keep a good hold on them. I don’t want this rain to give them any ideas that they can get away from us.” He laughed harshly, as if the thought was an absurd one.

Each man did exactly as Grath instructed. Neither one wanted to have to face their leader and explain how the captives got away. They knew from experience that a mere scolding was not going to be their only punishment.

Aragorn, looking very frustrated as the ropes were tied to their existing bonds, turned to Legolas. “He read my mind,” the man grumbled.

Despite the fact that Legolas was no less frustrated, he couldn’t hold back a smile. “I think Grath has had experience transporting prisoners before he crossed our path.”

The ranger waited until the guards had moved ahead and then glanced sideways at his elven friend. “Are you giving up?”

“Not I,” the elf replied. “Extra precautions or not this rain is our best chance to get away.”

The two were speaking quietly to each other, using the sound of the driving rain to mask what they were saying.

No one else appeared to hear or care that the elf and the ranger were talking to each other. It was probably due to supreme confidence.

Legolas heard one of the men up ahead tell Grath that there was a cave large enough to hold all of them not too far up the trail.

Grath didn’t seem to be worried about finding shelter. However, thunder that shook the ground and a flash of lightning close enough to sizzle the air seemed to make his mind up. He nodded. Tough these men may be, but Grath realized that they were no match for the storm that was breaking over them.

The neutral expression on Aragorn’s face told Legolas that the man had not heard the comment about the cave. “Our chance is just ahead,” he whispered.

Aragorn had no idea what Legolas was referring to, but he trusted the elf implicitly, so he subtly tensed his body in preparation for whatever chance to escape presented itself.

When Legolas spotted the darkened area amid the grayness of the rain, he raised his hands up to waist level and wrapped his fingers around the rope that Hobert, about five feet ahead of him, was holding.

Watching every move the elf made, Aragorn did the same. He knew that no matter what was about to happen, getting the ropes away from the two guards that held them was the first step.

A small tree, no more than four feet high, proved to be the catalyst that the captives needed to make their move.

As the two guards with the ropes rounded the far side of the little tree, Legolas, followed instantly by Aragorn, jerked on the lead ropes as hard as they could.

Both guards were pulled off of their feet. They slid into the tree with a painful thump. The tree’s small but strong branches slapped at the men and kept them down, struggling to gain their footing.

Legolas sent the little tree a heartfelt thank you for its aid in thwarting the guards attempts to rise. The elf smiled, as the tree sent its reply of pleasure to be able to aid one of the silvan Firstborn, who it had never seen before but knew instantly.

Legolas and Aragorn wasted no time in turning to each other and using their fingers to undo the other’s long lead rope. When they were free, they took off running back down the trail. It was a bit awkward to maneuver with their hands still bound, but there was no time to deal with those right then.

“Up,” Legolas said, as he leapt easily onto a rock that stood a good three feet above him.

There was no way the human could copy the elf and leap up that rock. Instead, he grabbed a handhold and began to scramble up beside Legolas. He felt a bit proud of himself for making it to the top of the rock without having to have Legolas help him. It was hardly the time to indulge in pride, but the ranger grabbed his triumphs when and where he could, so he just grinned at his friend.

Legolas rolled his eyes and then turned quickly and began to climb more rocks, Aragorn right behind him. Between the two of them, they made it to a flat area about fifteen feet above the level of the cave.

It was then that the angry shouts of the Easterlings below could be heard. Grath was the main voice that carried up to the two friends.

Legolas had hoped the men would think that he and Aragorn had run back down the trail and start after them. He was right.

Through the curtain of gray rain, falling now almost as solid as a waterfall, Legolas and Aragorn saw the dark shaped of their previous captors running back the way they had come. Both let out a sigh of relief, though both knew they were a long way from being completely free.

“What I wouldn’t give for a red dragon right about now,” the ranger muttered.

Legolas laughed. “You are not going to give up on the idea of being rescued by Treco, are you?”

“Why should I? He owes us.”

“I doubt he sees it that way. Beside, what dragon in their right mind would be out flying in this storm?” Legolas raised an eyebrow to emphasize his question.

Aragorn shrugged. "Maybe they think flying through storms is a logical thing to do."

“Whoever said dragons do anything logical?” Legolas asked. He just shook his head, as he peered over the rocky ledge in front of them. “I think those men have all left. It is time we did the same.”

The elf did not stand up but crawled as best he could on hands and knees until he reached several bushes that would screen him and the ranger from anyone who happened to be looking up from below. It was doubtful that anyone could have seen them, but it paid to be cautious, especially since their freedom might depend on it.

They untied each other, flinging off their bonds but putting them in their pockets to keep from leaving a sign of their passing behind.

*~*~*~*

As Legolas and Aragorn continued to climb, the Easterlings continued backtracking.

Suddenly Grath stopped short and stared down at the ground.

“What is it?” a man named Donnis asked.

Grath pointed to the muddy trail. “Look. All of the tracks are headed back toward the cave. Those two didn’t come back this way.”

He was still not quite ready to abandon where they now were, so he told his men to spread out and make sure that no tracks were to be found on the edges of the trail, indicating that elf and ranger had moved off the main trail to throw off any search for them.

Grath did not know that elves did not leave footprints, even in the mud. All he cared about was finding some evidence that someone had traveled back down this trail.

Nothing was found.

“Right. They didn’t come this way.”

“Where could they have gone?” Donnis asked. He wasn’t a stupid man, but he was a young one with limited experience.

Grath glared at the younger man, but did not want to waste time trying to explain. “They had to have climbed up above the cave. Come on.”

When they reached the area where Legolas and Aragorn had started up the rocks, Grath stopped and frowned, as he surveyed the ground.

Even the inexperienced Donnis realized that there was only one set of prints. “They’ve split up,” he observed.

Looking around, Grath scratched his head. If the rain had wiped out one set of prints, it surely would have wiped out the other. What he saw was faint, but for someone used to tracking, he could see them plain enough. What he couldn’t see was even a hint of more tracks. It made so sense unless the elf and the ranger had indeed split up. Somehow he didn’t think that was the case, or if it was, it wasn’t a permanent split.

One thing he did know is that no one could follow tracks he couldn’t see, so the man began to climb the rocks after the only prints he was sure of.

The rain made climbing hard for the big man, but he managed to get up the slippery rocks.

His men were having a great deal less luck, but there was no thought that they wouldn’t try.

Slipping and sliding, the Easterlings finally made it up to the level where Legolas and Aragorn had stopped and untied themselves a few moments before.

No one was there. Neither were there any tracks, even the faint ones seen below.

*~*~*~*

Having seen Grath start to make his way up, Legolas and Aragorn had moved silently away, working their way along the higher trail they had found.

“I sure wish those Easterlings had left us our cloaks,” the ranger grumbled. “This rain is making it hard to see and even speak without fear of drowning.”

“At least ii is just as hard on them,” Legolas pointed out, trying to give his friend some comfort. “And the rain isn’t all that cold.”

“Speak for yourself,” Aragorn said, as he shivered.

Laughing lightly, Legolas slipped around a large rock and began to climb once again up the slippery face of a twenty foot cliff. He tried to keep the tall trees on the near side of the trial between him and whoever might be looking upward. He couldn’t count on the rain alone to serve as an effective screen.

Reaching the top, Legolas swung himself up onto the flat surface he found there. He lay down and turned to hang over the edge in an effort to help Aragorn make the last few feet. The man was not there.

Legolas couldn’t hold back a rising panic, as he searched the rocky cliff face for his friend. His keen sight pierced the curtain of rain, afraid that he would see the ranger’s broken body lying on the rocky trail, but he saw no one anywhere below him. He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. Where could Aragorn be?

Fearing to call out the ranger’s name, Legolas swung himself back over the cliff edge and began to climb back down.

“Where are you going?” came a very familiar voice above the elf.

Legolas looked up, blinking to clear the water from his eyes, which he quickly locked onto those of Aragorn, whose head was all that was visible.

Exhaling a deep sigh of relief, Legolas made his way back up and over, rolling next to the ranger. In the steadiest voice he could manage, Legolas said, “I thought you had fallen.”

“Why would you think that?” Aragorn immediately regretted the attempt at mock indignation. He saw the worry that was just now fading from the elf’s bright blue-gray eyes. “I found an easier way for me a few yards farther over and came up that way. I’m sorry I worried you, Legolas.”

“As long as you are safe.”

“Well neither of us will be, if we don’t get moving. I heard Grath and the others farther to the right. I think they are coming up here, as well.”

That’s all the two needed. They backed away from the edge of the cliff, stood and began to run, making their way into a small grove of trees fifty yards off to their left.

A quick glance from both at their surroundings showed that there was no avoiding the open ground they would have to cross to get there.

TBC