Disclaimer: LOTR and all related characters were created by J.R.R. Tolkien. No money is being made off this fic.
Spoilers: None in this chapter that I can think of.

Chapter 6

Thranduil sat with his back against the bars of the wooden cage. The bars hurt his back, but Thranduil was tired of lying down and was unable to sit up himself. He brought his knees up to his chest and with a shudder, dropped his head down on them.

Though he did not understand what the men has said, he knew they were taking Elrond away to kill him. Why they didn't take him as well, he couldn't figure out, but he knew it could not be good.

He had tried to escape when the men had left with Elrond. He had pushed and pulled desperately on the wooden bars but the attempt came to naught. All he had done was exhausted himself, irritated his injury, and blistered his hands. He pressed a hand against his injured shoulder and winced with he felt moisture. Pulling down his bloodstained tunic, he saw that the wound was bleeding again.

With a sigh, he made his way over to the tray of bandages that were still sitting outside the cage. Slowly and carefully, Thranduil removed the soiled bandages and began trying to bandage the wound himself. As he worked, the sound of a restless crowd reached his ears. He stopped and listened for a while, but could not understand what was being said and so continued to dress his shoulder. The end result was sloppy, but functional.

Thranduil pulled up his tunic and then started in surprise as the flap of the tent flew open. The prince was doubly surprised to see Leoryn enter the tent.

The human boy had a huge grin on his face and spoke excitedly. Though Thranduil could not understand him, he realized that, somehow, he had been saved when Leoryn opened the gate to the cage and motioned him to come out.

And what of Elrond? he wondered. Has he been saved as well? Did Father and King Gil-galad come?

With a deep sigh of relief, Thranduil crawled out of the small cage and pulled himself to his feet, using the cage for support. He took a couple of unsteady steps forward when his legs decided to give out on him.

But before he hit the ground, he felt Leoryn catch him. Leoryn said something, a soft smile on his face, as he wrapped his arm securely around Thranduil's waist. Though Thranduil could not understand the words, he understood through the boy's eyes.

"Come," they said. "I will help you."

--

"Well met, Elrond," said Gil-galad with a smile as he dismounted his horse. "This is quite an interesting situation to find you in." He motioned to the crowd that was currently chasing down and apprehending Gur's thugs.

"It is a long story," Elrond replied.

Oropher was not so pleasant. "Where is Thranduil?" he demanded, grabbing Elrond's shoulders. "Where is my son?"

"He will be here soon, I believe," Elrond replied, trying to pull out of Oropher's grasp. "They are bringing him as we speak."

"Is he well?" Oropher pressed.

Elrond hesitated momentarily, but saw no reason to lie, as Oropher would find out soon enough. "He is injured," Elrond admitted. "But he will be well," he added quickly before Oropher could speak.

"Injured? How? Who harmed my son?" Oropher asked quickly.

"Peace, Oropher," said Gil-galad calmly. "Elrond said Thranduil will be fine." He placed a calming hand on Oropher's shoulder. Oropher sighed and released Elrond, taking a step away.

"Forgive my behavior, Lord Elrond," Oropher said, regaining his composure.

Elrond smiled. "I understand you are only worried about your son. But he will be well with a little time and plenty of rest."

Gil-galad then stepped up and clapped Elrond on his shoulder. "It is good to see you well, Elrond," he said.

"It is good to see you to," Elrond replied with a smile.

Elrond scanned the camp, finding that the people who were not still busy dealing with Gur's men were now huddled into a group and staring openly at the Elves. There was a mix of awe and fear in their faces. He noticed one man cautiously approaching them and trying his best not to stare at them. His eyes were fixed on Rhaenyc.

Rhaenyc spoke of the wrath of the Elves, Elrond though somewhat amused. Perhaps they think we will punish them.

It occurred then to Elrond that he had yet to introduce Rhaenyc and Laredith to the others, but that thought was pushed a side when he caught sight of a familiar golden head.

"Here comes Thranduil now," Elrond said, motioning to where the prince was walking between the tents toward them leaning rather heavily on Leoryn.

Elrond smiled as Oropher calmly began walking toward his son, though he obviously wished to run to him.

"Sir," he suddenly heard a man say to Rhaenyc behind him. "Gur has escaped."

--

Gur was fuming as he sat in the small tent, watching as the people who once feared and followed him hunted down his men. He had outsmarted them, for the time being. In the confusion, he had managed to dodge into a tent. Nobody would think he would hide within the camp, thinking he would try to flee into the forest for his life. But he was now effectively trapped. He could not hope to escape to the woods with most of the camp looking for him. So he had to wait and bide his time until a chance to escape arose.

He cursed bitterly when he realized that that chance would most likely never come. They would find him eventually, but he would not go down without a fight.

If they mean to kill me, he vowed. I will take as many of them with me as possible.

He clenched his knife in his hand, prepared to kill the first person who stuck their head in the tent, then risked a look outside. He felt a surge of fury at the sight of the nephew of Rhaenyc and the fair-haired Elf slowly walking down the row of tents.

A new thought suddenly came to Gur and a new plan formed in his mind. He was as good as dead, or so he thought. But instead of killing many people at random, he would now make a precision strike. He would probably only have time for a couple of blows before the others were upon him, but that was all he needed to get his revenge.

--

Elrond frowned and turned back to Rhaenyc when he heard the man's report that Gur had escaped.

"Who is Gur?" Gil-galad asked, drawing Elrond's attention.

"An evil man," Elrond replied. He turned back to where Thranduil and Leoryn were making their way to the center of the camp. Thranduil had now noticed Oropher and was walking as fast as he could, a bright smile on his face. "He is the one who injured Thranduil." Elrond continued.

Elrond felt a chill go through him. Something was wrong, he could feel it, but he couldn't put his finger on it. The dark feeling became clear when Elrond saw some movement from a tent Leoryn and Thranduil had just passed. Elrond called out a warning, but it was already too late.

Gur was upon the two young ones. With one hand, he roughly grabbed Thranduil's injured shoulder, pulling him back and with the other, he drove a knife deep into the prince's side. Gur roughly pulled the knife out and pushed Thranduil forward; the prince dropped to the ground.

Elrond heard several cries of alarm, but didn't bother to place them as he rushed forward as Gur turned on Leoryn. He was vaguely aware of something flying past him and by the time he reached Thranduil, Gur laid dead, Oropher's arrow lodged in his neck.

--

Oropher hadn't even realized he had fired the arrow until he saw the man fall. All he knew was that the man had dared to touch his son. He actions were automatic, driven by the instinct of a father protecting his child.

Then, forgetting all noble etiquette and self-control, Oropher raced to his son.

--

Thranduil was not really aware of what was happening around him as he lay limply on the ground, clutching his side. It did not hurt that much, Thranduil noticed, at least, not after the sharp pain of the stab had faded. He just felt very tired. Unconsciousness beckoned him and seemed very appealing. But there was a part of his mind that warned him away from the darkness. It was very insistent and Thranduil felt he should listen to it, but it was getting very hard to do so.

He suddenly became away of frantic voices around him. Some part of his mind identified one as Elrond, but he could not understand what the older Elf was saying. He stopped trying to make out the words, deciding Elrond was speaking in the human's strange language.

Thranduil then felt somebody starting to move him. He tried to resist, but found that he did not have the strength. He felt a sharp pain shoot through his body as he was rolled onto his back and let out a soft moan.

"Forgive me, Thranduil," he heard Elrond say. "I did not wish to hurt you further."

Forcing his eyes open, Thranduil found himself staring at the blue morning sky. He felt someone tugging at his tunic and then let out a gasp as something was pressed against his side. He heard Elrond mutter another quick apology, but the pressure did not decrease.

Suddenly, he saw a familiar face come into his line of sight.

"Father?"

Thranduil felt his father's hand gently cup his face and saw a small smile appear on his face. But was surprised to see tears in his eyes. He had never seen his father cry.

"Yes, my son," his father replied, his voice catching slightly. "I am here."

*********************

Author's note:

1. HA! I bet you thought that they were all safe. Goodness, no! That would be much too easy ^_^.