"I don't hear anything," Aragorn tried to see what had disturbed his friend.

"They are still far away," Legolas said. "But I think they are coming our way."

"What are they?" Gimli asked. He had had too much variety of evil creatures lately. Well, maybe nothing could be worse than trolls, but one never knew.

"Be quiet!" the troll carrying them grunted. "Your blabbering makes me hungry!"

This seemed like a good reason and the three friends quieted for a while. But the news was disturbing. Meeting someone or something would slow their progress to Umbar.

But what would they do when they reached Umbar? Aragorn suddenly realized the absurdity his idea of freeing Eldarion with a troll army. He could only hope his plan wouldn't get his son eaten.

"We stop to rest," the troll leader commanded. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas were dropped to the ground, their hands and feet still bound. The trolls ignored them and prepared the camp. They took out their meager food supplies. The three friends didn't want to think what would happen to them when this food was over.

Legolas sighed when he noticed that his friends were wistfully staring at the baked deer meat the trolls were eating. So much had happened to them – trolls, caves, escape, caves again, underwater tunnel, orcs, trolls again – and they hadn't eaten anything the entire time. The elf was starting to feel hunger, and he could only imagine how hard this must be for his mortal friends.

"They are approaching," Legolas whispered, hoping to take their minds off the food. "Can you hear them?"

He was surprised and worried when no one replied. A quick look told him that both of them were asleep. Legolas smiled sadly – a moment ago they were looking at the food, and now they were sleeping. They were probably very tired. He noticed that their position didn't look very comfortable, so he rose, rested his back on a tree, and pulled them until both of their heads rested in his lap.

"Sleep," he whispered and gazed at them. They had been through so much lately. The trolls had roughly bandaged the wound on Aragorn's leg, so that he wouldn't bleed to death, but he had still lost a lot of blood and looked very pale. Gimli didn't look much better. "Sleep well," the elf repeated softly. "They won't touch you. I promise."

---

They entered the forest. The thick branches were blocking the sunlight and it was hard to tell that it was daytime. Eldarion had never seen such a forest before. And the feeling that something was wrong grew even stronger.

The boy wondered if he should tell the pirates about his fears. Of course, he didn't mind at all if someone appeared and killed the Corsairs, but he doubted that the thing he had felt was save for him either. And the pirates didn't want to kill him immediately.

Finally he decided that the known evil was better than the unknown. "Dargmor," he called softly.

The Corsair turned around to face the boy, "Captain Dargmor," he emphasized.

Eldarion ignored the comment and continued. "Something is not right. There is someone ahead of us."

Dargmor raised his eyebrows. "Really? And how exactly do you know that?"

"I just feel it," the boy replied, not the sure himself how he knew it. But he had heard something. Something in the distance. And he doubted it was friendly.

One of the pirates stirred uneasily. "Of course he feels things. His mother is an elvish witch. Maybe he can do magic."

Eldarion rolled his eyes. He was tired of all this superstitions about elves. "If I could do magic I would be far away from here and you would be dead."

The pirate that spoke just eyed him suspiciously although he couldn't deny the child's logic.

"Alright, let's suppose you have superior senses," Dargmor spoke. "But how do we know that you are telling the truth?"

"I am as much interested in not getting killed as you are," the boy pointed out. "I just suggest we find another way."

"So that we don't meet your father? Do you think I am that stupid?"

Eldarion grinned at him, "Do you really want to hear an honest answer to that?" he asked innocently.

The pirate hit him in fury. "You will be quiet! If you dare speak one more time, I might change my mind about keeping you alive."

Eldarion looked down and didn't answer. He knew he shouldn't push the pirates too hard. They needed him, but Dargmor hated him a lot, and hate was not to be underestimated.

"So what should we do, my Captain?" a pirate asked. "Do we go on?"

"Yes," Dargmor nodded. "But we'll send two scouts ahead. Just to make sure the road is clear."

Eldarion smiled. So they had believed him after all. He could only hope they would realize the danger and turn back before it was too late.

---

"Time to go," one of the trolls announced. He roughly shook the sleeping prisoners, tied them on a rope once again and they set off.

They walked south for an hour, when Aragorn noticed that Legolas was looking somewhere to their left, as if trying to see something. "I heard it too," the man whispered. "What is it?"

"I don't know," the elf replied softly. "But there is someone there."

The troll leader stopped. Apparently he had noticed something as well. "There's something behind that trees. Go and check," he motioned to one of his trolls.

The rustle of leaves was heard again, and Legolas realized what was going on. Whatever creature was there, it was now trying to escape.

The troll sensed that and started running. It disappeared into the wood.

The group looked at the direction he had disappeared. For several minutes nothing happened. And then a cry of absolute horror pierced the air.

The three captives exchanged worried glances. The voice was definitely human.

They didn't have to wait long to find out what had happened. Soon the troll came back, holding a horrified man.

"Please, let me go!" the man pleaded, his black eyes locking with the troll's. The huge creature's grip on the unfortunate prisoner only tightened.

"Is he one of your 'friends'?" the troll leader turned to Aragorn. He was getting impatient and expected the promised food.

"No," Aragorn quickly replied. He didn't know who the man was, but certainly didn't want the trolls to eat him.

"But he can still serve as food," the troll replied.

The three friends closed their eyes in horror and shock. There was nothing they could do to help, and they had no desire to watch what the trolls were going to do.

---

"Back! Go back!"

Dargmor motioned to his men to stop when he noticed that one of the two scouts he had sent was running frantically towards them.

"Go back! Now!" the man screamed again. His eyes were wide in terror.

"Calm down," the Captain spoke. "What happened? And why do you come back alone? Where is Besen?"

"They got him! He's probably dead!"

"They? Who are they?" Dargmor asked, highly doubting he really wanted to hear the answer.

"The trolls! Many trolls coming our way!" the poor scout looked completely shocked. "We must go back!"

Dargmor stared at him. Trolls? This was certainly bad news. But why were the trolls coming towards Umbar?

"How could they capture Besen? Why didn't you come back immediately after you saw them?"

"We wanted to observe them," the pirate explained.

"Observe them? What is there to observe about trolls?"

"They had prisoners. A Man, an Elf, and a Dwarf."

Eldarion gasped in shock and Dargmor grinned at him. "Interesting," the Corsair spoke. "I think Mrak told me that an Elf and a Dwarf had joined Elessar. Not many elves and dwarves travel together. I bet they are the same ones. And I can guess who the man is."

The child paled and Dargmor's grin grew even wider. "Tell me," he turned to the scout, "how were the prisoners?"

"They didn't seem to be faring very well," the pirate replied. "Especially the man. He seemed to be wounded."

"You lie!" the child yelled at him.

"I don't think he is." The Captain smiled. "Your father is captured by trolls. I'm surprised he is still alive."

"We shouldn't waste time, my Lord," the scout interrupted. "We should go back immediately."

"Why? Nothing has changed – it had only gotten better. Now we know precisely where Elessar is. We just need to go and make sure he dies."

"You… mean… we go… to them?" the scout stared in disbelief.

"Exactly. We fight the trolls if needed. We know that we'll meet them, so we are prepared. And then we kill their prisoners."

"Forgive me, my Lord, but I don't see why we should do that," the pirate tried to reason. "We can just leave the trolls kill him."

"No," Dargmor said. "I trusted Mrak to kill him – he couldn't. I trusted Bogomil to kill him – he couldn't. Elessar managed to escape them both. And they are both smart men, I know it. How can I trust the trolls? They have almost no brain. I'm sure the king will find a way to escape. We can't take any chances."

Eldarion swallowed hard. So the trolls and the pirates were going to fight each other. Many would die in such a battle. And the child knew very well that the chances that both the trolls' and the pirates' prisoners would survive were very, very slim.

---

Aragorn was still thinking about the man the trolls had just eaten. Who was he? Where had he come from? To the north of this forest was South Gondor, to the southeast was Harad, and to the southwest was Umbar. Was this man a pirate? Or maybe one of the pirates' slaves trying to escape?

"Are we getting near Umbar?" one of the trolls asked impatiently.

"I don't know," Aragorn admitted. "I have never been in this forest before. But I suppose once we get out of it, we'll be in Umbar."

The troll suddenly yelled. The man looked up in surprise, wondering what he had said to anger the creature. To his shock, there was an arrow stuck in the troll's arm.

The troll that was carrying the captives dropped them down. Arrows were flying from all directions. But they could do little against the trolls' think skins.

Aragorn quickly rolled to avoid an arrow only to have a second one stuck in his shoulder. And then he realized something quite disturbing. Some of the arrows were aimed at the trolls. But most were aimed at him.

"Crawl left!" Legolas shouted to his friends. "We can hide there!" The elf suddenly stopped as he noticed a fallen pirate. His sword was lying next to the body. Legolas quickly rolled to it and managed to cut his bonds. He raised the blade triumphantly and ran to help his friends.

"Let's get out of here," he whispered as they were all free. But this was much harder then it sounded. The three friends fought for their way out of the melee of trolls and pirates.

Finally, they somehow managed to get out. Everyone was absorbed in the battle and no one noticed them.

The trio grinned at each other. They had done it. They had escaped.

"Ada!" all gazes were suddenly drawn to a small, bound figure in the middle of the battlefield.

"Eldarion!" three voices screamed at the same time. Three beings ran back. Back into battle and away from freedom.

Aragorn pushed away several pirates and ran towards the boy. A trolls stood on his way. The man picked a sword and cut through the creature's legs, but the troll responded by a fierce kick. Aragorn quickly got to his feet, but he couldn't even see where his son was anymore. The trolls and pirates were too many.

Legolas rushed towards Eldarion, nimbly climbing a troll that stood on his way. He pushed a dagger in the creature's neck and jumped down. But then something knocked him on the ground and he winced as a heavy troll foot stepped on his back. The cracking sound was especially disturbing. The elf managed to rise, trying to ignore the burning pain in his chest. It would be a wonder if he didn't have a broken rib. Legolas smiled grimly. It would be a wonder if he didn't have several broken ribs. But he had almost reached Eldarion, he couldn't stop now.

Gimli ran forward, going under a troll. His size sometimes served him quite well. Suddenly a pirate's arrow struck his back and he lost his balance. A blow on his head knocked him unconscious.

"Gimli!" Legolas screamed in alarm. Aragorn turned around and saw the dwarf's limp body. He rushed towards his little friend. He reached him and bent down, cradling the small creature in his arms. The man look around worriedly – he could see neither Legolas nor Eldarion anymore. But he had to get Gimli out of the battle immediately.

Aragorn rose and ran. His wounded leg protested being forced to carry a new weight, but he ignored it. Soon he left the battlefield.

He looked back, hoping to see any signs of his son or his friends. He wanted to go back and look for them, but he couldn't leave Gimli alone. So he held the dwarf tighter and ran on and on, getting far away from the fight.

---

The first attack was pushed back well. But the Corsairs showed no intention of leaving. The White City was still surrounded.

"I believe they are preparing a second attack, my Queen," Faramir reported. "But first they want to exhaust us. They want to cut the City from the outside world until we run out of supplies."

"We have enough supplies to last for a month," Arwen replied. "I hope we can push them away before that."

"They are many," the Captain replied. "And our people are afraid. They don't know if their King is still alive. And they are starting to despair," he noticed the pain in Arwen's eyes and immediately regretted his words. "I'm sure he will come back, my Queen." She didn't answer. "I need to leave now," he added. "I want to speak to my wife."

"Wait!" to his surprise Arwen suddenly looked up. "I don't think it's a good idea." No, it wasn't. It certainly wasn't the best time for Faramir to find out that Éowyn was fighting with the men.

"Why?" the Captain asked confused.

"Umm, well, I think she is still a little bit angry with you. She wanted to fight and you didn't let her. She asked me to tell you that she didn't want to see you right now. Maybe this could wait." She had a hard time to keep herself from blushing. Elves just couldn't lie, and she could see how unpersuasive her own words sounded. I need to talk to this girl, she though. This can't go on much longer. He will find out.

Faramir just nodded absently and left the room. Fortunately his mind was too preoccupied with other matters to notice that something was wrong.

Arwen breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. Éowyn's secret adventures were the only thing that could take her mind off of her beloved's absence.

---

Gimli slowly opened his eyes and stared at the worried face above him.

"How are you feeling, my friend?" Aragorn asked softly.

"I will be fine," the dwarf grunted.

The man chuckled. "At least you don't say 'I am fine' like certain elves."

Those words made Gimli notice that something was missing. "Where is Legolas?" he suddenly asked, his voice filled with panic.

"I don't know," Aragorn said sadly. Where is Eldarion?

"What happened?"

"I had to take you out of the battle. But now if you are feeling better, we may go and look for Eldarion and Legolas."

"I am feeling better," the dwarf quickly replied. "Let's go look for them."

A horrific sight greeted them when they reached the battlefield. Dead bodies of trolls and pirates were lying on the ground. Aragorn noticed that neither all trolls, nor all pirates were dead. He guessed that some of the pirates had escaped the fight, and the trolls had killed the rest and left. They had probably gone after the ones that escaped, and would certainly come back to see which of the dead pirates could be used as food. The though that there were both trolls and pirates wandering around was quite disturbing.

He looked at each of the dead bodies, searching for Legolas and Eldarion and desperately hoping not to find them. But where would they be if they weren't here? Were they captured again? By trolls or by pirates? He didn't know which of the two was worse.

"Aragorn, take a look at this!" Gimli called him. He ran to the dwarf and examined the large pond of blood Gimli had discovered. There was a thin trace of blood coming out of it and going into the forest, as if the wounded body has been dragged.

"I wonder if it all came from one man," the dwarf commented. "It's a lot."

Aragorn didn't answer and just stared at the blood. He had noticed something the dwarf hadn't see. He knelt and dipped the fingers of his right hand into the blood and raised them, the tips of his thumb and index finger touching.

Gimli wondered what he was doing. But then he gasped in shock as he realized that Aragorn was holding something in his fingers. Something so thin and delicate that he hadn't seen it at first.

A long, golden hair.

TBC