𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐬 ➵︎ [ 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘧 ]

52| The second gold knife

Aragorn nodded slowly.

"Then we won't stop until we work out how."

He paused. "Are you okay, especially after talking to...her?"

Legolas drew in a breath. "I will be, when we get her back."

"Well we can start by going inside," Gimli shivered, gesturing towards the darkening clouds gathering in the sky. "It looks like the weather has taken a turn for the worse."

The sound of the wind howled outside as the three of them re-entered through one of the side doors.

They walked down the hallway, passing the indiscriminate doors that flanked the corridor.

Something caught Legolas' eyes. He stopped in his tracks, his brows furrowing. A slight shiver ran down his spine, and he had been alive for far too long to dismiss his own instincts.

"Wait." He called out.

The others stopped, glancing back at him with confusion

"What is it?" Gimli asked.

Legolas narrowed his eyes, scanning up and down the hallway until his eyes fell upon the door to the dungeons. It was a large heavy-looking door made of sturdy oak, reinforced with strong iron bars, all to keep those imprisoned inside.

Except...it was open.

"Something's wrong. That door's not supposed to be unlocked."

"It could be nothing." Gimli proposed.

"Something tells me otherwise. Come on."

Aragorn and Gimli glanced at each other, before following Legolas down the short flight of stairs, their hands resting over their weapons as they neared the bottom.

Their pace quickened when they saw the second set of doors was also open.

When they reached the bottom, Legolas felt his stomach lurch at what he saw.

A horrified Dwarvish utterance fell from Gimli's lips.

Before them, in a pool of his own crimson blood, lay the lifeless bodies of a guard. Immediately, Aragorn knelt down next to the guard to tend to him, but it was too late. The man was long gone. Legolas widened his eyes, before rushing to the cell where Daeriel had been kept.

There, before him lay the second guard. His body was slumped motionlessly against the metal bars of the cell, a trickle of blood oozing from his lips. But the most visceral part was the way his neck was broken, his head twisted in such a brutal and unnatural way. A nameless feeling of horror engulfed him at the sight before him.

She was nowhere to be seen.

With his heart quickening its pace in his chest, Legolas quickly returned to the other two.

"She's gone. Somehow, she must have convinced the guards to free her."

"Well she can't have gone far," Aragorn said as he assessed the extent of the guard's wounds, "these men haven't been dead long."

"We must find her fast then."

Hastily, Legolas turned, running towards the exit of the dungeons, the other two following behind as they raced up the stairs.

"I'll raise the alarm," Gimli huffed as they ran.

As they reached the top of the stairs, Legolas grabbed Aragorn, stopping him.

"You cover the Northern wing, I'll take the South."

Aragorn nodded. "What shall I do if I find her?"

Legolas was quiet for a brief moment as the options ran through his mind.