Chapter 32

Help En Route

June 5

Near Rohan's Southeastern Border

When his eyes opened he realized that his vision was blurry. He tried blinking quickly to clear the hazy image, to small effect, and along with the following headache he was able to ascertain that he was on his side and that jagged rocks were in his direct line of vision.

Gimli groaned as he slowly remembered how he had gotten to this position. Corsairs, rocks, a hard kick to the ribs which had gouged him with his own chain mail…there was something else. Aragorn and Legolas!

Where were his friends now? Gimli realized to his deep chagrin that he had found them in the woods of Lorien only to lose them again, and now he had no idea which way they had gone. If they had taken this path he wasn't sure how difficult they would be to track, and he couldn’t begin to guess how far they had traveled from here.

The dwarf lay on his side, unable to move just yet and uncertain what he would do once he could stand; he might be able to find which way his friends had been taken, but even if he did find them, how would he take on all those Corsairs single handedly?

"Don't borrow trouble, dwarf," Gimli grumped through a dry throat. "You’re not even positive you can get off the ground yet." Somehow Gimli found this comment amusing and at the same time a challenge. He had just made up his mind to stand, however, when he heard the distinct sound of rocks crunching beneath footfalls. Dropping quickly to the ground again Gimli could not help his mounting fear. He was in no condition to fight and had no weapons to do so anyway — if the corsairs had come back to finish him there was little he could do about it. What a rotten way to die.

As the sounds drew closer he realized that the footfalls were horses' and that surprised him — he hadn't remembered seeing many animals among the corsairs and if these were a few ruffians who decided to stave off boredom by returning to kill the fallen dwarf, he doubted they would have been given horses.

At last he heard a loud crunch as one of the riders dismounted, followed by soft, cautious footsteps approaching him. Cautious?

Gimli tried to roll over, deciding that he'd prefer to face his fate rather than lie defenseless, and, with one final push, he managed to flip onto his back and face his attacker.

It was difficult to say which of the two beings was more surprised, or which made the discovery first as words came at the very same time.

"Gimli!"

"Elladan!"

The elf dropped quickly to the dwarf's side helping him to sit up. Gimli felt his head swim at the movement but was relieved beyond words to be found so unexpectedly by friends.

"What in the name of Ilúvatar are you doing here?" Elladan exclaimed, his eyes taking in the many injuries the dwarf had sustained.

Gimli looked past Elladan to the two other riders who had also dismounted; he recognized Elrohir, as he had expected, and another fellow by the name of Eression whom he did not know very well.

"A long story that can wait," Gimli replied, trying to stand with the aid of Elrohir who had reached his brother and the dwarf. "Right now we must hurry — Aragorn and Legolas have been taken by Corsairs and I've no idea which way they have gone."

"What? When? H-how long Gimli?" Elladan and Elrohir's voices overlapped at the news. To discover that their brother was not only a fair distance from Minas Tirith, but also taken captive, was hard to take in.

"We were surrounded, they are a great number, we weren't even given a chance. Not long ago now, they can't have gotten very far, but I'm still a bit disoriented myself." Gimli replied to each question in turn, shutting his eyes briefly against his pounding headache.

"Yes, of course." Elladan nodded, watching the dwarf carefully. "You are right, we must make haste."

The twins helped Gimli to the horses and Elrohir pulled the dwarf up onto his saddle before turning to look at Eression. The man was already back in his saddle and his eyes were dark with concern. So it had been Aragorn and Legolas who had passed through Rohan. What had they been doing in Rohan? That seemed to be the question on the twins minds as well but they weren't about to press Gimli at the moment.

"They had been taking us straight down this path." Gimli pointed down the road ahead of them. "It is a fair guess that it leads close to their camp, but I'm afraid it's the only lead I have." Elladan nodded and led the others up the path, his speed suddenly twice what it had been.

"What happened Gimli?" Elrohir asked after a moment of silent riding.

"Like I say it is a long story and one Aragorn will probably tell better than I, but suffice it to say that there was need for him and Legolas to travel to Lorien for the sake of the Queen. Never mind for now how I came upon them, but on our way back we were set upon by Corsairs. Their greater numbers forced our surrender, galling though it was to give up our arms, but on the way to their camp they decided they didn't need me any more. When they ended their sport, I think they thought I was dead or would die soon."

Elrohir's eyes flashed at that, he had no love for Corsairs and this level of cruelty pulled at his heart; he feared where his brother and the prince had been taken and why.

The path went on for quite some time. It had been overrun with vines and foliage and it was clear this overgrowth had been trampled very recently; the Corsairs had obviously not tried to hide their passing.

The road was just beginning to thin out when Elladan came to an abrupt halt, causing the other two riders to stop just behind him. The elf quickly dismounted and dropped down behind the foliage that shrouded the edges of the path they had been following.

Eression followed, waiting until Elrohir and Gimli were beside him before moving the horses back from the path.

"They are up ahead," Elladan whispered. "I did not see many but there are sentries posted."

"You saw them?" Elrohir whispered.

"Only for a moment, they are careless," Elladan returned quietly. "I do not believe they saw us, they are taking refuge by that rock wall. I assume the rest of their number are inside the cave." He gestured towards the opening in the rock that only their elven eyes could see at this distance.

"If that is not where they are, we take a great risk of being trapped in there." Gimli could not see the entrance, but he had gotten used to taking elves word for it. "Though if they are down there, we may be trapped anyway — that many Corsairs in a closed space…"

"We'll have to count on the element of surprise,” Eression whispered from where he crouched just behind Gimli. "If you could guess a number, Master Gimli?"

"Perhaps a hundred, at a guess." Gimli shook his head. "Sixty at least, but there were others out of sight amongst the trees, and I am not convinced that was their entire legion anyway. We may have to take them slowly rather than risk an open attack."

Elladan turned on his heel, keeping perfect balance despite his position, and faced Gimli. "Not we, my friend, you should stay here. You are in no condition to fight and we have no axes among us."

Gimli glared at the elf and quickly moved his hand from the tree he had been using as support. "I am just as fit as I'll ever be and I can fight with more than an axe if there is need."

"You may be able to fight with more than an axe," Eression spoke up gently, “But you are hardly fit and we would not wish to explain to Legolas and the King that we let their trusted companion fight to his death so injured."

Elladan nodded, surprised to find himself agreeing with anything Eression said. "I promise you, Gimli, we will find Estel and Legolas and rescue them if we can. Wait here and regain your strength, you will likely need it for the retreat."

Gimli let out a breath and shook his head. "I don't know if you three are at all ready for what lies in there. They are well armed and dangerous and even Legolas admitted that a fight could not be won against them with so few."

"If at all possible we will avoid as much fighting as we can," Elrohir replied. "But we cannot leave them here."

Gimli was silent for a long time before nodding at last. "Then off with you, lads, the last thing I want to do is delay you longer. If you are so intent on going to your doom without aid then I am, as you say, hardly fit to stop you."

Elladan smiled slightly before clapping the dwarf on the shoulder firmly. "It will be well Gimli, just stay out of sight."

Gimli nodded again and watched as the two elves and the human moved from the brush towards the rock outcropping. Once they were out of his sight Gimli leaned against the tree once more. They were right of course. Maybe with a burst of adrenaline he could hold out for a while, but he was more drained than he realized, he'd been running for days, shot in the leg, and badly injured by Corsairs. Yet he couldn't help thinking that even if the three could get into the enemies’ lair, they would hardly have such ease in escaping it.

The dwarf let out a breath, shifting his weight against the tree. Likely they would come dashing out in retreat, and what could he do for them then? He hardly had an army at his back ready to fight off the Corsairs while his friends escaped.

Then suddenly it came to him, and he was furious with himself for not thinking of it before the others had gone: something Legolas had seen from the tree earlier that day. A good possibility since the mayor knew perfectly well who he would be saving and he would act quickly.

Gimli gripped the bark of the tree and hauled himself to his feet, wincing as weight fell on his injured legs, but already starting to move across the path and towards east with a strange, new-found energy. Kopairin was only a short distance away and it was the only place in the middle of nowhere he could ever find an army.

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Aragorn slowly turned his eyes to meet those of his enemy. Vardnauth's face was mostly impassive, but there was an undeniable image of anticipation behind his dark eyes. He wanted to cause Aragorn pain above all else, but there was something stirring in Aragorn that warned him of some other desire, a desire for something more than physical pain. His heart was the target here, his very soul, and Aragorn was not sure he could take that now.

Vardnauth slipped his fingers against Aragorn's temple and pressed his cold hands against the human's head for a moment. His palms were damp and clammy.

"So much feeling dwelling behind those walls, Strider. Are you afraid of what I will find?"

"I do not fear you." Aragorn's voice was soft and deceptively calm.

"That was not what I asked." Vardnauth's smile was the last thing Aragorn saw before his he felt a pain in his head.

The feeling was not unlike being shoved bodily backwards into a wall, except that Aragorn knew he had not physically moved. He suddenly found himself in different, if very familiar, world and someone was speaking.

"Estel, I know this is hard, but you know you will always be my son regardless of what you must become."

With the soft spoken words came a flood of feelings, disbelief, fear, dread, uncertainty and denial.

Aragorn remembered this moment, painful and fresh as though it were yesterday.

"Do you want some time alone?"

Yes.

"No."

The reply sounded as though it had come from his own lips, but Aragorn was sure he had not spoken.

"Ask me anything you want to know Estel — anything about your heritage, about Gondor, about your parents."

Aragorn felt the rush of denial and fear well up inside him, and somehow it was stronger than he remembered it being, somehow it burned at him and cut at his heart.

"Not good enough, Strider." A voice so low and cold that it startled the human suddenly broke into the scene. "Not painful enough."

With another jolt Aragorn felt a blur of pain and realized he was no longer speaking to Elrond but standing in a dark room, the only light a pale beam filtering through the window. Someone else was speaking this time and not only the voice but the words were yet again terribly familiar.

"It seems I have disappointed everyone else, what have I done to you?"

Aragorn felt a new set of emotions flood his heart: pain, worry, guilt, despair and even a sense of betrayal.

"You didn't tell me!"

Aragorn heard the words leave his own lips, familiar, though the sound was echoing all around him.

"You didn't tell me this would happen! You didn't tell me that even if we found the truth, you would still suffer for helping me!"

The cold voice broke in again pressing into the feelings. "Oh how this hurt…poor little Legolas so trusting in his human friend. What a pathetic waste."

Aragorn heard his actual breath hitch and the sound brought him to reality for a moment. He saw that instead of Legolas, Vardnauth was staring at him, grinning cruelly.

"But that didn't hurt as much as this, did it?" Vardnauth's teeth clenched suddenly and Aragorn felt himself thrown back again.

"Because I cannot do what my heart tells me is right... I cannot act as your father Legolas, because you have taken that out of my hands, so I must act as your king."

Aragorn knew the words, and they were hard and blisteringly cold.

"Legolas Greenleaf, you are hereby banished from the realm of Mirkwood... forever."

The pang that touched his heart then was so unbelievably painful, it brought the whole scene into sharper focus. Aragorn could see Legolas, hunched over on the floor, supporting himself under the pretense of his usually stoic nature. He heard Thranduil like a foreign voice pounding in his ears, he wanted it to stop speaking… he wanted to hit something… he wanted to stop this from happening.

"It hurt, didn't Strider? So painful that you could not help him, and what could you do? Don't remember? No pity from anyone and you were the guilty one, everyone knew it."

"Silence human! Have you not done enough?"

Aragorn flinched at the words as they echoed in his mind.

Straining against the image, he tried to look away, but it was as though the image froze with him still in it and he could neither move nor escape.

The king gripped his hands into fists and clenched his teeth against the throbbing pain driving through him like a knife. It was clear to him now how Vardnauth killed his victims. He knew the paths of their mind and learned the paths of their hearts and he slid along them, looking for weak points. With delicate fingers he played upon the pains and fears of the past and magnified them, pressing and pressing until life itself seemed unbearable.

Yet even knowing this Aragorn also knew that Vardnauth was taking his attack slowly, he was not choosing the most painful memories. There were others far worse and it would only be a matter of time before they too were brought to bear on his hurting heart.

Vardnauth pulled away for a moment, leaving Aragorn breathing hard. His vision was blurry but he could see Vardnauth clearly. He glanced at Legolas and saw the elf's concern.

Legolas could not know exactly what Vardnauth was doing to his friend, but he did know that if it was anything like that flash of pain and memory he had been given it would be nothing short of devastating before long. He had realized early on that the memory Aragorn had been made to relieve was the elf's own exile and the prince also knew the far darker secrets that could be found…perhaps Vardnauth already knew they were there.

The dark elf was smiling slightly again, his hoarse voice was increasingly guttural as he brought his strange power back to bear on Aragorn.

"You are strong then, but don't you see how that it only makes me push harder and strike faster? You may well decide not to test the limits of my abilities."

Aragorn turned his blue eyes up to Vardnauth and though there was no mirth in them, the evil elf could sense the mocking in their silver depths.

"Foolish Strider." Vardnauth moved his hands again to Aragorn's temples. "Very foolish."

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The guards never even heard them coming. Rangers lived long and fought both quiet and stealthy, elves barely disturbed the air with their passing, and the distracted Corsairs were far too busy joking about the day's catch to realize their danger before it was too late.

Eression dropped down from the outcropping where he had killed the one sentry who was supposed to cover with fire from above if they were attacked, and even he had been too busy talking to his fellows.

"Their guard was weak," Eression noted.

"Yes and likely their master does not know it." Elrohir nodded as he moved towards the entrance. "What are our tactics, El?"

Elladan looked at Eression, then quickly turned his gaze to Elrohir. With a slight smile he moved up to the other elf. "There are three of us and Valar knows how many of them, gwador-nin; we have no tactics that will aid us here. Whoever finds a chance to break through and find Aragorn and Legolas, do so."

Elrohir nodded then turned to look at Eression, and the man gave one short nod before moving past both brothers into the cave opening.

"I understand. Let us be off, then." The words echoed dully from the passage as the man disappeared into the dark. The twins exchanged a final glance before plunging in after their human companion.

With only a few moments of surprise on their side, the three companions did markedly well. The instant the cave widened out into the lair of corsairs, the three split off in different directions running as far into the cave as they dared before striking the first blows.

At first the corsairs could not believe what they were seeing, but once realization sunk in all hell broke loose.

Weapons were drawn from the shadows themselves and many more than a hundred corsairs rose to meet the attackers, their gathering sloppy and still suffering from surprise, but deadly enough.

Elladan caught sight of Elrohir for a moment before his twin was buried under the press of bodies and clash of weapons once more.

Added to the surprise of their attack the three had one more advantage that worked to their increasing gain: the corsairs seemed to have trouble knowing the enemy. There were so few of the attackers and they had come upon them so suddenly that in the dimness the Rohirrim-clad corsairs began to battle one another, considering everyone a threat.

Eression was thrown from a fight altogether when one corsair fell upon the one he had been fighting. The Dunádan drew up against the wall and took in a shaky breath. He was not fit for battle at all; rangers possessed a considerable measure of the endurance of elves, but he had had little to eat or drink, he had traveled almost forty days straight, and now there was little energy left to fight.

He saw the twins working in deadly circles near the back of the chamber where the cave broke off into flooded passages. Eression himself was pressed against a wall near yet another dark passage-way that angled off the room. He was distracted for a moment as two fighting corsairs drew close to him, and as they assumed each had threatened the other, he took advantage of their confusion and slew both in moments.

He looked up again, this time to witness several concentrated attacks being leveled at the twins whose glow made them stand out more than the Eression among the men. They had been backed further into the cavern and had started to wade through the water. Eression considered going to help them, when abruptly both elves turned as though of one mind and raced as fast as they were able through the water, up onto dry ground, and fled back through the passages. Many of the corsairs gave chase, leaving behind only the dead, the wounded, and the few skirmishes still being fought amongst the corsairs themselves.

Eression realized he had no time to waste considering his options. Turning quickly up the passage behind him, he was forced to turn back briefly as a hand caught onto his ankle. He whirled to see a bloody Corsair trying to lift his weapon. Eression kicked the man back into the fray before running once more up the passage, hoping that he or the twins would find the prisoners soon.

Authors’ Notice: We apologize for the irregularity here! We are leaving tomorrow to go to the beach for a week and amidst the flurry of packing we ran out of time to properly respond to all your wonderful feedback on chapter 31 and post chapter 32. Not at all optimal! So instead we decided to go ahead and post chapter 32 and wait to respond to your feedback until we return. Thank you for your continued patience!

Important Credit Note:  Several of Aragorn's memories featured here, and in coming chapters, are borrowed from Cassia and Siobhan's incredible fanfiction series 'The Mellon Chronicles'.  We have read and loved their stories almost since they first started writing them, and thus to us they are practically cannon.  If you would like to read the original stories behind these lines, we heartily recommend you follow this link: http://aragorn-legolas.5u.com/intro2.html