Chapter Sixteen

Allaura finally turned away from the window and crossed the soft carpet, her long black dress floating silently about her feet. She stopped and stood beside the bed. Allaura stared down at the elf lying across the plush coverlet.

Her mind was a little calmer now than it had been a few moments earlier, but she had still not figured out what she was going to do. It did not sit well with her that there wasn’t really anything she could do until Legolas woke up, and she saw what condition he was in. Allaura was not one to waste too much time pondering a situation until all the facts were known.

The woman sighed. This elf was so beautiful. She again wondered why she hadn’t tried to take an elf long before this. Just looking upon his fair features, his flawless skin, his golden hair and his delicately pointed ears gave her a tingle she couldn’t deny.

If only he could be won over, so that she didn’t have to battle his obvious obsession with the blue stone. Knowing full well how powerful the stone was, she didn’t want to think about the fact she may not win such a battle. A thought then occurred to her. Did the elf want the stone, or did the stone want the elf?

So consuming were these musings that it took Allaura a moment to realize that the elf’s eyes had opened, though they seemed a bit unfocused. She waited almost breathlessly while he blinked them clear and looked about him. She was anxious to know if he remembered anything about what had happened.

Legolas’s eyes took in the ornate nature of the room. It didn’t take long for total recall to be reflected in their blue-gray depths. He continued to turn his head slowly, and when Allaura came into his line of sight, he frowned.

Allaura misread the reason for the frown. For a moment, she thought perhaps he was confused as to who she was. ‘He must not remember,’ she thought. That idea was soon shattered.

"Where is it?" Legolas asked in a slightly husky yet clearly demanding tone, as his frown deepened and he sat up.

The sudden thought that the frown and the elf’s beautiful features did not go together flashed through Allaura’s mind. Such a perfect face should always be smiling. The woman realized that she had never seen him smile. Perhaps that could be changed.

For the present, the elf’s frown was still firmly in place. He wanted an answer, and he wanted it now. "Where is it?" This time his voice bordered on a growl.

"Where is what?" she asked, feigning ignorance.

"You know of what I speak. Where is the necklace?" Legolas leveled his intense gaze directly into Allaura’s eyes.

"It is..." she hesitated, wondering how much she should say. She didn’t want him to become violent, if she lied and told him it was not here. The woman hated to admit it, but she might not be able to control him. Without the necklace on her, she had no more power than any ordinary mortal woman. Of course, wearing the necklace in front of him was even more dangerous. "It is locked away," she finally replied. It sounded lame, even to her.

"Give me the key," Legolas demanded.

This elf was not going to be dissuaded easily, but Allaura was going to try.

"You do not need the necklace. It is but a trifle that caught your eye for a brief moment." Changing the subject completely, she said, "You never told me if you wanted a room like this while you are here." Fully aware that the elf would mention his friend, she quickly added, "I may even be able to find a room for the ranger."

"You must think me addled. I will not be distracted." Legolas was not even aware he had completely ignored the reference to Aragorn. He stood up and reached out for Allaura.

She tried to move out of the way, but the elf was too quick. He grabbed her by both arms and held her, unmindful of how tight his grip was. "Where is the key?"

"I do not have it. I...."

"Liar. I know you would never trust anyone else with it." Legolas shook Allaura to emphasize his words. He didn’t care when Allaura winced at the sharp movement, as her head jerked back and forth. "Give me the key. Now!"

Allaura swallowed hard to hide her momentary fear. There would be no chance of putting the elf off, so in a resigned tone, she said, "If you release me, I will bring you the necklace."

The elf emitted a harsh laugh that was anything but humorous. "I am not naive enough to trust you. You will grab it for yourself and use it against me, as you have already tried to do. Give me the key."

*~*~*~*

Aragorn pressed himself as hard against the wall as he could but still several chunks of stone grazed his arms and back. No serious damage was done, but the scrapes that resulted, even through his clothes, were painful nonetheless. He expected, at any moment, to have a big rock land squarely on his head, easily crushing his skull. He was fortunate that that didn’t happen.

Yet it wasn’t the loss of his own life that Aragorn thought about, as he waited for the falling rocks to settle. It was the fact that if he died, Legolas would also be lost. He couldn’t let that happen, though right then, he had no idea how he could possibly prevent it.

Aragorn suddenly became aware that the ceiling had finally stopped falling and in place of all the noise the rocks made, his ears were now being assaulted by very loud roaring.

Cautiously, the man turned around and lowered his arms. He had no idea what would greet his eyes. First he saw a large pile of rocks in the center of the floor. He couldn’t help but take a deep breath of relief. The majority of the chunks of stone that had missed him would have been quite capable of killing him, just as he had feared.

He looked up and saw that a large part of the ceiling had come down, but it was the object occupying the space created that got the ranger’s immediate and undivided attention. There, extending down several feet below the level of the ruined ceiling, was a large clawed foot.

With an accompanying roar, the foot was jerked upward and disappeared from view. This move was quickly followed by what was surely a curse spoken in a language that was unknown to the man watching from below.

Aragorn stared, not sure he had seen what he thought he had seen. Maybe a rock had hit him on the head, and he was hallucinating. No, he knew what he had seen was real. It was Treco, or rather Treco‘s foot. The dragon was indeed the one above him and had been the one to stomp a hole in the ceiling, which, of course, would be the floor to his own vault.

"Treco!" the ranger yelled. Receiving no answer, he yelled even louder, "Tree-co!"

Above, the red dragon heard his name. He had just been about to roar again, but stopped and listened. He heard it again.

The huge creature, who had stepped back when he extracted his foot, looked around his prison. Seeing no one that could have spoken, he frowned. The double doors were still tightly closed.

The dragon then looked down at the hole in the floor. The voice must have come from there. He could tell at a glance it would be a tight fit to get his head into the open space his tantrum had caused, so he was careful when he lowered it until he could see into the room below him. All he saw was a pile of rocks in the center of the much smaller room.

Not immediately seeing anyone, Treco asked, "Who is there?"

"It’s me, Aragorn."

"Who?"

"Aragorn." The man repeated his name and stepped closer to the dragon’s head. "The ranger who repaired your wing. Remember?"

So, the human was here. Maybe that was why he and the elf hadn’t shown up when they were supposed to meet him. Perhaps they had also been captured by that witch, Allaura.

Treco’s anger rose. If this Aragorn and the elf had met him like they said they would, he wouldn’t be in this situation. The fact he would have flown over this valley on the way home, even if they had met him, didn’t occur to him and wouldn’t have appeased him, in any case. It was much easier to blame them than fault anything he himself had done.

Treco looked all around what to him was a tiny room but saw only the human. "Where is the elf? Is he not here, too?"

Aragorn almost flinched at the reminder that Legolas was not with him. He took a deep breath, so he could answer with a steady voice. "The lady of the house has him." The tone of the word ‘lady’ was unmistakably sarcastic. "Do you know her?"

The dragon snorted, sending a puff of smoke rolling toward the ranger, who couldn’t help taking a step back. "Unfortunately, I do know that witch. She is the one who used some kind of magic to capture me."

Aragorn was sure that would be a tale worth hearing, but right now he didn’t want to spare the time. "We need to get free, so I can find Legolas, and we can leave this awful place."

Nodding, the dragon said, "What do you propose?"

Aragorn thought hard on that question. Having a fire-breathing dragon at your disposal, one that was willing to help you, had to be an advantage. It didn’t matter that his help would only come because he wanted the same thing you did. Help was help.

Thinking further, Aragorn wondered why Treco hadn’t freed himself already? The man didn’t like having to ask that question, because he was pretty sure he wouldn’t like the answer.

"I don’t like talking to a disembodied head. Can you pull me up there?"

Treco’s head soon disappeared and his foot came back down through the hole. "Grab on."

Not wanting to slip on any loose rocks, it took a moment for Aragorn to climb up to the top of the pile. Once there, he reached up. No sooner had he wrapped his hands tightly around the largest toe on the dragon’s foot than he found himself flying up through the ceiling.

Treco gently set the man down on the floor in front of him.

The whole maneuver hadn’t taken but a few seconds, but Aragorn was glad when he feet touched the stone floor. "Thank you," he managed to say in a voice much calmer than he believed would be possible.

The ranger looked around him and let out a whistle. The room he now stood in was huge. He laughed. Why should that surprise him? After all, it held a very large dragon. Had such a room been built for another dragon? It couldn’t have been built for Treco, since he had only been here a short while, and this chamber had no doubt taken a long time to hewn out of the solid rock. It may have been used for some other purpose in times past. Aragorn’s curiosity was piqued, but again, he couldn’t take the time to try and learn the answer. Maybe later.

When he saw the iron doors at the far end of the room, a smile crept across his face. "Those doors are metal like the ones below." He turned his head and looked up at Treco. "Can you use your fire to melt them?" There was pure hope in his eyes.

The dragon stared down at the human somewhat miffed. "Do you think I have not thought to try that? Do you not see the scorch marks on the walls to each side of those doors? They are protected with magic of some sort. My flame has no effect on them."

Aragorn’s face fell. He should have known. If the dragon could have destroyed the doors, he would have done so when he first arrived and been long gone by now.

An idea struck the dragon. "I could lean down into your room and melt the doors there. I am sure there is no magic protecting them, since a mere human could do nothing to destroy them. You could then come up here and open my doors from the outside."

The ranger was shaking his head even before Treco finished speaking. "No I can’t."

"Why not?"

"There are three other doors in the passageway on the level of my room. They can only be opened with keys carried by the guards, so I can’t open them." The man sighed heavily. "You, of course, cannot get down the small passage to reach the other doors to melt them."

"So, I can melt those doors but cannot reach them. You can reach them but cannot open them." Treco puffed out more smoke in total frustration. "We are together but we cannot help each other or ourselves."

He shook his massive head in imitation of Aragorn’s movement a moment ago. "We must do something. I do not intend on spending the rest of my exceedingly long life in this stone coffin." The dragon looked as if he was about to stamp his foot.

"Let me think," said Aragorn. "There has to be a way." Without another word, the ranger sat down cross-legged on the stone floor, holding his head in his hands, as his mind sorted through the situation.

The vault below was ruined, and as soon as the guards arrived with Aragorn’s food, they would see the mess and the fact that he was gone, and...

Aragorn jumped up and snapped his fingers. "I have it!"

TBC