Chapter 28 - Return

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I know that this story is going to slow down, and it's all I can ask of you not to give up on it and keep reading, commenting and voting the way you are! Thanks to:

ShockerGuardian1731 EstelElfstone dobblewolf New-Identity @Chrisch00 Definitely-Lost wolf_girl969 @makingitup66 Jaya-Avendel @Leggy_Legolas LusaCamalero  MeganCarter932 jijifiji @joellamariah TheLittleFerret @DragonFire0514 JoyroxieShantel

for commenting and/or voting, supporting me, and generally being amazing readers!

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But now, anyway, let's get on with the story...

Aragorn cradled the elfling in his arms. It felt right, somehow, to be together once again. The things they had both experienced in that camp would haunt Aragorn forever, waking him in the middle of the night screaming and drenched in sweat. But for now, he pushed it to the back of his mind. He had to focus on what was right in front of him, and right now, that was an elfling who he had promised to take care of, to look after, to protect with his life if necessary.

Right now, what mattered most was Legolas.

The horrors of Thranduil's camp drifted back into his thoughts as he held the now-sleeping elfling close. He realised now the true extent of the young elf's suffering for all those years he had been kept in a cell for a crime that Thranduil had simply invented, a crime he did not commit. It had been Aragorn's first taste of torture, but it had most certainly not been Legolas'.

The way the child had shut away his emotions and refused to speak, the way he had simply been able to handle the pain spoke of year after year of suffering and silent endurance. Years of hard-won survival, survival he had been made to believe he didn't deserve showed in his slim figure, hollow cheeks, saddened eyes and scarred body. The fact that he still had scars from days he most likely didn't remember showed Aragorn all he needed to know about his continual suffering.

Hopefully, Aragorn would be able to heal those scars. Allow them to fade, leaving the mind unmarked and fully healed. And once the mind was healed, those scars would eventually fade.

These thoughts filled his mind as he and his brothers moved away from the place they had found Legolas, Estel carrying the elfling, and found a place where they could make camp and finally relax.

It was cold. He knew it was cold, and yet he couldn't feel it. He could feel the rough touch of the stone against his fingers as they brushed against the damp wall. The wall was cold, too. He knew that. And yet he couldn't feel it.

The stone was cold, and the air was cold, but he was on fire. His body burned like a thousand snakes of fire were writhing over his back, and though he pressed it unmercifully against the cold, cold wall, the burning would not fade. It was dark too, but that didn't make sense. Surely the fire on his back would give off some light. It was dark, but he could see.

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