"NO!"

      Tileng's gaze immediately locked with Aragorn's as the Ranger rushed straight toward the hangman's platform. With a sneer on his lips, the guard leapt from the wooden structure, blocking Aragorn's path to Legolas.

      However, Tileng had not counted on the Ranger's skill with bow and arrow. Too late he saw the notched arrow fly from the string, yet it was not aimed at him. Looking over his shoulder, the guard paled to see the projectile whistle through the air and snap the rope about Legolas' neck in two.

      The Elven Prince collapsed onto the ground, coughing and trying to get air into his burning lungs. His throat was on fire however, and the mere effort of drawing breath pained him. The Elf's entire world had turned black in mere seconds and he had thought unconsciousness would claim him quickly.

      How wrong he had been.

      With hands bound before him, Legolas struggled to sit up, to look around for some form of weapon that could release him, yet spots danced before his eyes and he had to remain motionless to keep himself from passing out. The noose was still tight around his neck, and without his hands to undo the rope, his air supply was little at best. The knot was too far behind him and no matter how much the archer tugged at the rope, it refused to give. He needed his hands loose and he needed them soon.

      Legolas tried to call out to Estel, to try and get some sense of his bearings. Everything was fuzzy and dark and the prince could sense nothing about him. Yet his call came out as hardly a sound, as the archer leaned his head against the wooden pillar that had held the noose.

      "Legolas!"

      The Elf heard Aragorn's voice, it sounded so close. However, his mind was almost completely focused on drawing breath. He needed to get the noose off his neck and fast.

      As soon as Aragorn's arrow had left his bow, guards from all about town converged on the main square. Rivendell's warriors were not hard pressed however, for they were seasoned fighters and had little problems dealing with a local regiment of guards. They kept the men away from Legolas and Aragorn, which was all they cared about.

      Elladan and Elrohir were busy with some of Mirial's more persistent lackeys. Dodging and spinning, the twins were a formidable team. The guards they fought were the house' personal warriors, and Tileng's own men.

      Vani however, was busy tacking down her sister. She had seen Mirial standing atop her balcony, watching the proceedings in the square below. As soon as the Elves attacked however, the young woman had fled into the house.

      "She will go to the study..." Vani whispered to herself, knowing full well that there were many weapons on display within that room.

      Long moments passed as the woman rushed through the halls of her great house. This was crucial, she knew. If she did not find her sister, if Mirial got away, then the woman would have a whole new mess of problems to deal with in the near future.

      A sound to her left alerted Vani to the presence of another in the long hall. She ceased her run, holding her bow close to her body. Without a sword, she would be at a disadvantage in such a confined space.

      The sound came again, this time from behind her. Vani spun, bringing her bow up to act as a shield to the attacker she knew would be there. She was not prepared for the biting pain in her side as a sword was thrust forward.

      Vani blinked, looking up and locking eyes with Mirial. The shock of the blow delayed her reaction and, as the elder woman cried out in pain, her sibling pulled the blade from her side.

      "You are dead to me." Mirial snapped, lowering her sword.

      The other woman collapsed onto the ground, leaning back against the hallway's rough wall.

      "You aided that thing!" her sister cried, "You helped him and brought ruin to me! To my house! You deserve nothing but death!"
      Vani smiled sluggishly, "It was never your house."

      Anger flared through the younger sister and she struck out against the wounded woman. Mirial's fist impacted with the side of Vani's head, driving the elder sibling completely to the ground and into the oblivion of unconsciousness.

      Mirial stepped over her sister's limp form, "You risked your life for that Elf and that Ranger... Now, die for them."

      With that, the once powerful ruler of Ered Gorgoroth fled the city.

      "Legolas!" Aragorn shouted as he blocked a swing from Tileng's broadsword.

      The Ranger was hard pressed against his opponent. Aragorn was not a typical twenty year old human, for he looked years younger than he truly was. Though he was a man, he appeared hardly any older than a boy of sixteen or seventeen. Elrond had once told him that his body would age slower than that of normal men. He had explained that, at some point, Aragorn's aging process would slow down, giving him the longevity of the Numenoreans. Now however, the Ranger thought that this gift was more of a curse than a blessing.

      With his lean frame, Aragorn found it increasingly difficult to match blows with the enemy before him. It was not that the young man was tiring, not at it. It was the simple fact that his attacks had far less power behind them, making blocking Tileng's more mighty swings quite the challenge.

      He needed Legolas, and he needed the Elf now.

      "Legolas!" The Ranger shouted again, hoping to draw his friend from his stupor.

      It was then that Aragorn noticed that his friend had no way of freeing his hands, let alone escape the tightened grasp of the noose. The man jumped away from Tileng for an instant, just long enough to draw a small dagger from his boot and throw it towards the Elven Prince.

      With a twang, the weapon lodged itself in the side of the pillar that the archer rested against.

      Legolas heard the sound and he faintly saw the dagger's approach. After it embedded itself in the wood near his head, the prince hurriedly grasped the handle. Sawing back and forth, as swiftly as his bound hands would allow, Legolas managed to part his wrists.

      The world started to blur before him as the Elf struggled to free his neck from the noose. He could not breathe, could not think clearly, and was on the verge of panic. Spots began to form in the outer corners of his vision and a burning pain had settled itself within his chest. Legolas tried to cry out, to call for help from someone nearby, but he was nearly paralyzed with pain and fear. The realization that he could do nothing but die in such a suffering manner, caused the Elf to almost give up hope... almost.

      Then, the rope snapped in two.

      Legolas fell onto his hands, gasping and greedily gulping in as much air as he could. His vision darkened for a moment, but the prince shook his head, willing himself to remain conscious.

      "Legolas!"

      Aragorn's voice reached his ears yet again and the Elf looked up. His eyes went wide as he saw the Ranger fall.

      From the flat of his back, Aragorn was helpless. His sword had been knocked away and now Tileng stood over him, his own blade's tip not an inch from the young man's throat.

      "I promised to make it painful." Tileng sneered as he tauntingly moved his sword back and forth just under the Rangers chin.

      Aragorn dared not move, nor breathe as he felt the air near his throat move with the sword's motion.

      "No one can save you this time, Ranger."

      The sickening sound of a blade entering flesh assaulted Aragorn's ears. He watched Tileng's face crumple in pain and immediately kicked the man's legs out from under him.

      Standing, the Ranger's eyes locked with the blue ones of Legolas. The prince lay on his side, his head pillowed under one arm, drawing in deep ragged breaths. Aragorn noticed that a dagger protruded from Tileng's left shoulder. The Ranger's dagger, and the same one he had tossed to his friend just moments before.

      "Estel!"

      Turning, the human saw both of his brother's running towards him. Elladan put a hand on the Ranger's shoulder.

      "Are you hurt?" he asked with worry.
      Aragorn shook his head, "Nay, but Legolas, he..."
      "Sidh, gwador nin. Lea vi maer cem." Elladan replied, nodding toward the hangman's platform. ~[Peace, my broter. He is in good hands.]~

      Elrohir was kneeling next to Legolas, his hands gently looking over the burning marks on the blond Elf's neck and wrists. There were other injuries that the younger twin saw, but those would have to wait.

      "Can you breathe?" the Rivendell Elf asked.

      Legolas nodded weakly, but he did not move to sit or stand.

      "Can you speak?"

      Opening his mouth, the prince tried to say yes but only a strangled whisper left him. He closed his eyes in pain before feeling the twin's hand rest gently on his shoulder.

      "Sidh, Laegolas. Pana mae, mellon nin. Pana mae." Elrohir said with a soft smile. ~[Peace, Legolas. All is well, my friend. All is well.]~

      Aragorn was at the archer's side in moments. He knelt, picking up the blond Elf's hand in his own.

      "Legolas?"

      The prince opened his eyes and a smile graced his lips. How he wished he could convey his thanks, but it hurt to breathe and talking was something that, at the moment, he could not do.

      Looking at his brother's in shock, Aragorn shook his head, "I do not understand. What?..."
      "It would hurt you to speak, Estel, if you had nearly been hung." Elrohir replied, "But come, let us be gone from this horrid place."

      Aragorn nodded, helping his brothers to get Legolas on his own two feet. The prince was unsteady, but he could walk.

      Legolas' eyes looked to his friend's, a question of how twinkling in his gaze.

      "Vani and I found my brothers. We returned to rescue you." the man replied, as he supported the blond Elf.

      They walked down the platform's steps and it was then that Aragorn noticed something amiss.

      Tileng was gone and a bloody knife lay on the ground in his place.

      Reaching down, the Ranger took the dagger in his own hand, "I hope he leaves for good."
      "What about the other woman? Mirial?" Elladan asked.

      Legolas' eyes widened and he grabbed Aragorn by the arm. He opened his mouth to speak, but could not yet form the words nor force them from his lips. Shaking his head in fury, the prince dropped to the dirt and, with a finger, wrote two words.

Iasa Vani?

~[Where is Vani?]~