Chapter Five

Legolas walked back to the rear of the cage and sat down, closing his eyes. He was not happy that he hadn’t been able to do more for Aragorn. He knew the man was hurting and had wanted to relieve that pain, as much as he would have been able to under the crude conditions. But Pickett, evidently due to his fear of Hatch, had put a stop to that.

Putting aside thoughts of something he couldn’t do anything about, Legolas glanced up to see if Pickett was watching him, but the troll was not only not paying any attention to him, he had sat down and was leaning against the bars of the middle cages, his chin down on his chest. Even trolls, it seemed, finally gave out from exhaustion.

The elven archer grinned, as he searched around for one of the small rocks on the cage’s dirt floor. He soon found what he was looking for.

Aragorn was sound asleep in his own cage, and showed no signs that he was faking, which was good, because he definitely needed the rest. Legolas hated to interrupt that rest, but it needed doing. It wasn’t going to be an easy task to wake the man, but he decided that delaying would only complicate things.

The elf quietly made his way to the side of the cage nearest his friend and dropped to his knees. He looked through the bars, lining them up so that there was a clear pathway all the way into Aragorn’s cage. He extended his right hand, which held the rock, and aiming carefully, he threw the rock. It hit the ranger squarely on the man’s forearm, but Aragorn didn’t stir.

Pursing his lips, Legolas tried again and again. Each time the rock got bigger, and the throw got harder. The target, one small area on the ranger’s arm, stayed the same. Finally, on the fifth try, Aragorn groaned.

An insistent hiss and a mysterious pain brought the ranger fully awake. He rubbed his arm and looked down, noticing the small pile of rocks on the ground beside him. Aragorn frowned, not remembering having seen them concentrated in one place like that before. Another hiss got his attention, and he looked over at the elven archer.

Quickly connecting the sore spot on his arm with the pile of rocks, he frowned at the elf. "Why are you throwing rocks at me?" he asked, after making sure Pickett wasn’t listening.

"To wake you up," came the slightly annoyed reply. "It took several tires."

"So I see." By contrast, there was amusement in the man’s voice. He normally didn’t sleep so soundly, but he was tired and hurting. "Is something wrong?" Then he thought of the elf’s wounds, which he knew hadn’t been tended to. "Are you all right?" The amusement had clearly turned to concern.

Legolas smiled, prepared to lie, as he usually did, when it came to his own injuries. "Better than all right." He held his left hand up, revealing what he held there.

Not sure what he was seeing, Aragorn leaned closer. It took a second to reassure himself that what he was seeing was actually there. Between his thumb and forefinger, Legolas was holding a key. The man instantly recognized it as the key that Pickett used to unlock their cages. His gaze moved up to stare in disbelief at the elf’s grinning face. "How?" was all he could manage to ask.

"I will explain later. Right now we need to get out of here."

A myriad of thoughts ran through the ranger’s head. The idea of soon being free took precedence, but there were other considerations, as well. He looked up and saw that the eastern sky was beginning to lighten. He didn’t know how late trolls slept or rather how early they rose, but he didn’t think he and Legolas would be able to get free, find all of their belongings, free their horses and get completely away before the trolls not only stirred but raised the alarm about the prisoners’ escape.

On the other hand, they couldn’t stay where they were. For one thing, the fact the key was missing would soon be apparent, and it didn’t take much brain power to know who would be suspected of having it. Then there was the fact that whatever the trolls, Hatch in particular, had in store for them next would likely lead to their incapacitation, if not their outright death.

By the time Aragorn had come to the inevitable conclusion that they had to make good on the one chance they were likely to get, Legolas had unlocked his door and made his way back to the side of his cage nearest Aragorn.

At first the man couldn’t figure out why the elf hadn’t just walked around Pickett and unlocked his cage. Then he realized that any troll that might be looking in their direction could easily see Legolas on the outside of the cages, and their escape would end almost before it had begun.

Legolas then threw the key to Aragorn the same way he had earlier thrown the rocks. This projectile was much more welcome.

Catching the precious piece of metal, Aragorn reached through the bars of the door and, as quietly as possible, unlocked his own padlock. When he looked up, he saw Legolas motioning for him to go around the outside of the cages in the opposite direction and hand him the key from the back. He hadn’t done it the other way around, because he wanted Aragorn free first, a fact the ranger would not have been happy with had he realized it.

Legolas was hoping that the trolls would have just the one key. If the doors were locked and the key was missing, then if worse came to worse and they were recaptured, the cages would no longer be usable. Putting them in one of the huts would hopefully be much less secure. Legolas was trusting that his line of reasoning was sound.

Once Legolas got the key from Aragorn, who was crouching behind the elf’s cage, he slipped out of his door, locked it, and the two friends ran for the woods behind them and away from the prying eyes of possible early risers.

When they were out of sight of the clearing, Legolas squatted down and pushed the key into the dirt between two large tree roots. "We must hurry," he whispered, as he gained his feet. "Dawn is almost here, and those creatures will likely be stirring soon."

Their goal now was to travel under cover of the trees until they reached the hut area, where they felt sure their confiscated weapons were located. They hadn’t worked any details out beyond that, since their original idea was to play out whatever opportunity offered itself to them. They would need to take this escape one step at a time. And time was not on their side.

With stealthy movements, honed over the years and used often, they moved through the trees like ghosts. They made their way toward the trolls’ shelters.

*~*~*~*

Several trolls emerged from their huts, yawning, stretching and scratching themselves. The movements were slow and deliberate, as if they hadn’t a care in the world. Considering their size and the fact they were the absolute rulers of their territory, they had no reason to think otherwise.

One of the creatures glanced toward the cages and saw that Pickett was sitting on the ground obviously asleep. The clearing was still in partial gloom, so he couldn’t see into the cages well enough to tell there was anything amiss. He grinned and shook his head, deciding he wouldn’t wake the sleeping troll. He, like most of them, enjoyed seeing a fellow troll get into trouble with Hatch. For one thing, it kept the leader’s attention off of them.

It took only a few more moments for Hatch to make his way out of the largest hut in the camp. After doing his own more pronounced yawning, stretching and scratching, he also looked toward the cages, though it was more of a casual glance than anything else . When he saw Pickett, his reaction was far different than the previous troll’s had been. Hatch’s anger rose in a flash, and he marched toward the unsuspecting guard.

Pickett jerked awake when a particularly vicious kick connected with his left thigh. At first, he didn’t know what had happened, just that a sharp pain was present. As he leaned over to examine his leg, he saw two very large feet next to him. His gaze moved straight up until it rested on the very angry face of Hatch.

"Git on yer feet," the leader commanded, kicking Pickett again on the same leg.

Pickett quickly to his feet and then spoke before thinking. "I was tired, so I was just restin’ my legs some," he said. He tried to ignore the pain Hatch’s kicks had inflicted. "I could still guard...." He didn’t get the chance to finish.

Hatch backhanded the smaller troll across the face. "You don’t rest while yer watchin’ prisoners." As he said the last word, he poked his finger toward the cage that should have held the golden-haired prisoner. But when the troll leader looked into the cage, all he saw was empty space. Hatch screamed in rage, "Where is he?"

Pickett turned his gaze to where Hatch’s finger still pointed. His eyes went wide. "I don’t know," he replied helplessly. His words were met with another, and much harder, backhand, this time over his ear. He winced but said nothing.

Hatch went to the cage door and jerked on it. It didn’t budge. When he looked down, he saw that the padlock was securely fastened. He rushed over and saw the same thing at the cage that should have contained the dark-haired captive. He screamed again, this time attracting other trolls, who ran over to see what had enraged their leader.

Livid, Hatch swung back to face Pickett. "How’d they git loose with the doors locked?"

His leader’s narrowed eyes and growling voice made Pickett stutter his answer. "I...I...locked ’em up just like I...I was told to." It was a feeble attempt to defend himself, but it was the truth as he knew it. His befuddled mind couldn’t understand how the two brothers could have escaped the locked cages. There were no holes to indicate that they had dug themselves out, which would have been a ridiculous notion had he been able to think it through.

Turning and facing the growing crowd, Hatch waved his arms in the air, "Find the prisoners!" he yelled. "Don’t let them two git away!"

There was no hesitation, as the other trolls began to scatter, rushing to obey the orders they had been given. Some ran across the clearing to check the other side, and some ran around behind the cages to begin looking amongst the trees.

Satisfied his orders were being obeyed, Hatch turned a furious face toward the hapless Pickett. He pointed to one of the middle cages. "Git in there and don’t come out ’til I say so."

With his head down, Pickett did as he was told. He sat down on the ground and put his head in his hands. He thought and thought but just couldn’t figure out how the two brothers had done it.

He clearly remembered getting the key out of his pocket and locking the cage of the sick brother. Then he had gone to the other cage and locked that one after the dee-formed brother entered it. He knew he had done it all right. How then had they escaped? He had heard other trolls say that there were some people out in the world who were magic. Were these brothers two of those people? Why then would they have gotten themselves caught in the first place, if they were magic? Nothing made sense to the bewildered troll.

The confusing thoughts, coupled with Hatch’s powerful slaps, had given Pickett a headache, so he just concentrated on his current miserable situation. And he didn’t like those thoughts, at all.

Meantime, Legolas and Aragorn could clearly hear the trolls shouting. "It sounds like they have discovered our absence," the elf said.

"I was hoping we’d have more time. We aren’t even halfway around the clearing yet."

The two were just barely able to see the trolls’ camp through the leaves that were constantly shifting in the early morning breeze.

Legolas looked up into the trees. The sun had risen, and he could see it reflecting off of the very top of the tree he and Aragorn were standing behind. It would take a while longer before any sunlight shone directly down on the clearing, but not long at all before the whole area would be light enough to easily see by.

Just then, both elf and ranger heard the tramping of troll feet not too far from them. The trees were close enough together so that they not only offered the two friends a measure of security but also tended to slow the huge creatures down somewhat. They couldn’t run through the forest the way Legolas and Aragorn could. The only problem was that there were quite a few trolls in the area, and the two could run into one at any time.

Realizing there was only one thing to do, Legolas pointed upward. He and Aragorn would have to take to the trees.

In less time than it took the ranger to nod his agreement, Legolas had disappeared into the overhead foliage, making Aragorn shake his head rather than nod it.

Aragorn couldn’t hope to negotiate a tree the way a wood-elf could, of course, but he was no slouch when it came to climbing. Grabbing the nearest branch, he pulled himself up, aided by Legolas’s helping hand.

Carefully, they made their way up, and by the time the first troll appeared directly under them, Legolas and Aragorn were far enough up to be out of the troll’s sight.

Several more trolls crossed below the two friends, but evidently it hadn’t occurred to any of them that the two escapees might be in a tree and not on the ground. They probably weren’t used to having their prisoners anywhere but in their cages.

Aragorn wasn’t comfortable on the branch he was standing on. He had been forced to stop short of where the much lighter Legolas had gone. However, it was the quick arrival of the trolls that made him freeze before he had found a suitable position. He was balancing on the balls of his feet with his heels touching nothing but air. Aragorn firmly gripped the branch just over his head. Looking down, the man couldn’t see the creatures moving around, but he could easily hear them.

Two branch levels above him, Legolas not only heard the huge creatures but was able to ask the tree to move its leaves just enough for him to look between them to view the ground far below. What he saw froze him.

One of the trolls had stopped directly under the tree the two friends were hiding in. The creature rested one hand on the trunk of the tree and looked around him but saw nothing.

For some reason even he probably couldn‘t have explained, the troll decided to look above him, and when he did, he found himself staring straight into the bright, unblinking eyes of the elf.

TBC