Nothing is easy, nothing is impossible

Azrael dodged a spear, grabbed it and with the sword broke the wood making the other end useless. The gladiator panicked once the weapon was lost and it was not difficult to cut his throat as soon as an opening was found.

For the Romans, the final clash between the two best gladiators of two schools was the most interesting part of the show, for Azrael it was even too short.

Tired of the exults in the face of the death of a poor innocent, he returned to the dungeons ignoring everything and everyone.

He had never shown respect or consideration for the one who called himself his master, nor for his "admirers" and this had provided him with an excellent reputation since he was considered heartless.

A soulless murderer who fed on those of his victims, so wicked that even death itself had rejected him ....... Picturesque! Humans had a lively imagination there was nothing else to say!

“Excellent travail! Ce salaud avait une excellente réputation que vous avez réussi à détruire en moins d'une minute! Les dieux vous favorisent!"(Great job! That bastard had an excellent reputation that you managed to destroy in less than a minute! The gods favor you!) said Atticus once he was back in the basement of the amphitheater.

"Je ne crois pas en tes dieux!"(I don't believe in your gods!) he cut the elf short.

"Et moi dans le vôtre. Peut-être que quand je serai libre, je changerai d'avis ou je pourrai vous convaincre du contraire!"(And me in yours. Maybe when I am free I will change my mind or I will be able to convince you otherwise!) the son replied.

Azrael sighed. It was enough for Atticus to see a gladiator once released to be convinced that Roman law would be respected and he would be freed.

If a gladiator proved worthy, he was awarded the rudis, a wooden sword with all his victories engraved on it and he could call himself a free man.

Arrived in the evening they were loaded again on the cart to return to the villa.

But freedom is not an object you can give and take back!

It is true happiness .......... if for your joy you need the permission of others, you are a poor fool.

This his son would learn at his own expense. He was a man now. He had to make his experiences and live with it.

Towards evening, once those bloody games were over, they were crammed into the cart again to return to the villa.

Looking around out of mere habit, Azrael noticed the two girls getting on the carriage with their mistress.

The stubbornest stopped, before entering, to watch the beautiful sunset and when she turned to follow the mistress and her friend, their eyes met.

The elf was appalled by the force he saw shining through those little green eyes, also thinking of the life that the girl was now leading ...... she found herself smiling when, the mistress, with little, indeed, absent feminine grace , he pulled her in with one arm, reproaching her slowness.



*



Azrael had never been more happy to return to his cell than that evening.

The downside of this new arrangement was that humans were asking too much from him!

In addition to the final clash, he had been forced to measure himself in numerous "one against all" clashes.

An absurd idea from the organizer of the games to show the people how dangerous it was ... he understood it by hearing him reap compliments and phrases of admiration for his person.

He was sure that not all his elves would survive such a test and instead of pride he felt a freezing fury gripping his bowels!

The fact is that at the end of the day he was exhausted and happy to have endured so long. In the hope that the owner would leave him quiet, without chaining him in front of the invited guests in honor of his victory, as he often did ...... he sat on the bed remembering the good moments of his long life.

Hopes were in vain.

The cell door was opened and to her surprise Hanna was thrown in like a sack of potatoes. She managed to cushion her fall with her forearms, but that didn't mean she didn't take a big hit.

It was so fast and unexpected that Azrael sat on the bed staring at her.

She stood up, trembling and looked at him in a way she could not decipher.

Without saying anything he lay down on the bed and took off the light tunic he was wearing.

Azrael jumped up and stepped back in confusion, understanding the girl's intentions even though she was not convinced at all.

"Que veux-tu?" (What do you want?) Asked shocked "I don't understand your language!" She started looking offended by his reaction "But I'm here to satisfy your needs!" She said lowering her eyes as she tried to hide the tears.

Azrael sat on the bed next to her scaring her to death, but gently reached out, raising her chin "I won't rap you!" He said firmly, ignoring the shock on her face when she heard him speak his language.

"You ...." Hanna fell silent when he put his index finger on her lips "Nobody has to know!" He whispered smiling.

The girl felt light as a feather. That elf had never stopped surprising her and now he was aware that he would never stop doing it!

He had shown her a great deal of confidence by revealing that secret and had shown himself noble by respecting her and her body.

A question formed in her head, but fearing that the guards would hear, she tried to express herself with her eyes saying only one word "Atticus...?" The elf nodded understanding the question.

Hanna had time to see his eyes go back before he passed out on her.

She was unable to suppress a cry of surprise and at the beginning he feared the worst, but when the elf remained motionless he understood. He wasn't pretending and he wasn't attacking her!

Even if it was only the bust that was pressed against her, she struggled a lot to get it off.

It was really heavy! Not fat, heavy! Better specify it, even if only in his head!

As a precaution he checked the vital signs but Azrael was alive.

Since the elf was placed transversely to the bed, he decided to arrange it better. He straddled his torso and grabbed his shoulders and sat him down.

Embracing him, he turned him and dragged for a few centimeters before falling with him and on him ... on the bed.

At least his head was now resting on the pillow. It was less difficult to move the legs and, slightly, the pelvis. From the stands she had witnessed the fight and was not surprised to see how exhausted the elf was.

After placing the blanket on him, he lay down beside him trying to ignore the warmth she felt rising on his cheeks.

If she stayed, she would have prevented the master's servant from trying to seduce her again even if she felt guilty about leaving Sara alone!



*



Azrael woke up to see the sun go through a crack in the wood.

He sat up and winced when he realized the human who was sleeping next to him.

The memories of the previous evening came back in a flash and wondered if he had hurt her by collapsing on her.

The girl moved, confirming to the elf that he would dispel his doubts in a short time.

After a yawn Hannah rubbed her face and turned her head taking a hit when she noticed that the elf was awake and staring at her.

"I didn't rap you!" She screamed as he sat up, before mentally giving herself an idiot. But what kind of good morning is it? No, the right question was: what kind of statement, no ..... which woman would have ever said such a thing to a ... male!?

The elf, to his surprise, laughed.

"You passed out!" Azrael became terribly serious. Perfect! Had a magical touch in bringing bad mood! She could call it a talent!

"Are you feeling well?" she asked trying to repair that disastrous start to the day.

He nodded "Did I hurt you?" He asked in a too loud voice. "Shhh ...... no! No! In fact, at the beginning I thought you were dead! " She confessed.

The elf laughed again and Hanna believed she had witnessed two miracles in rapid succession.

In the movie he didn't seem to have much fun, much less so cheerful!

"The guards are not there and the others are still sleeping. They completely closed the door” he said, pointing to the bars covered with wood that prevented him from seeing outside “Nobody can hear us!" he said.

"Perfect! Let's go inside then!" Hanna said getting up from the bed and, with a jump, landing on the cold floor. She washed her face with the water that was inside a wooden tub.

"Why did you decide to talk to me?" She asked curiously as she dried herself with a filthy rag "To calm down!" He replied sitting on the bed but crossing his legs.

“Not just for that! I saw the looks you give me...." "... and I heard you and your friend whispering information behind me that only I thought I knew among the Romans!" The elf replied.

"I preferred you unconscious!" She said furiously.

"How do you know the lands I come from? And the words of Elrond?” Azrael asked anxiously.

"The One will be found, and then the war will return, and it will be the end of this Era. And I fear it will end in a second darkness, unless some fortuitous event causes what my eyes are unable to see." The girl repeated as if it had been a trivial

“If I tell you the truth ........ I don't think you will believe me!" She said skeptically. "Try me!" He said even more curious.

Hanna sighed. It was so worth the risk!

“Me and my friend Sara .... we are not from this world! ... that is we are! Wait up!" she stopped trying to explain things as clearly as possible. Not that it was easy since they were all tangled up in his mind too.

“In our world, the Romans ..... died .... died ........ three thousand years ago ...... little less! Ah, I'm not good at math! For me it is as if I had found myself in the past! In our world we are much more evolved! We have built inventions that allow us not to use the horse and to travel the same considerable distances, means that allow us to fly ...... here we are in the stone age! I mean ... they still use the carriage! " She could seem crazy, she was sure of it!

“How did you end up in chains? Do you have a family?” It seemed that the elf was very curious and that he was believing it. For the moment!

“No personal questions thanks! And for the first ..... I don't know! Bad luck? Sara and I were walking in the woods when we fell down a steep descent full of leaves, weeds and roots. When we woke up the Romans had surrounded us ..... before kidnapping us! I don't remember much of the trip since we stayed in wooden crates as if we were objects. It lasted a long time and when they sold us we met you!" finished telling the girl.

"If you come from another era, how do you know my race?" Azrael asked realizing he wasn't lying.

He could read it in his face. That mixture of emotions that he had experienced retracing his past were not fake ....

“Now comes the interesting part ..... in my world elves don't exist! And apparently they don't even know them here since they treat you like a novelty! Barahir said that your first master never revealed how he did it, nor where he caught you!” The girl revealed by terrorizing the elf.

Wouldn't he come home again? Was he trapped forever in an unknown world like Hannah and Sandra?

“For us, you are only legends! A writer invented your world and told us about it through his fantastic stories ... even if, apparently, you are not exactly a fantasy!" Hanna corrected herself, trying not to laugh. "A little tact is required!"her conscience told her.

Realizing that perhaps he could no longer go home did not have to be easy!

"I know who you are! But I never told anyone to avoid trouble and any revenge on your part!" Hanna admitted.

“Thank you!" The elf said after a long moment of silence "Do you think I am in a world different from mine?" To that question the girl answered shaking her head with a lost expression and a "I don't know, what do you expect me to say?" Not very elegant.

"For the trust shown in me, I allow you to give me your name, but please never call me by my real name!" Azrael said after careful consideration.

"Thranduil is a beautiful name but at the moment too strange!" She whispered sitting down next to him "Then you too can give me ... of you! Enough of this you! I'm a slave, damn it!" Said the girl.

Then, unexpectedly, Hanna hugged him whispering a thank you full of sincere gratitude.

When she was done he saw her blush as she regretted making such a gesture.

“I trust you, I know you are a noble elf!" She tried to reassure him even if she was very ashamed of the embrace. Maybe she had sensed his surprise.

"If you trust me, why were you afraid I might rape you?" Azrael asked.

“I have no idea what you went through! I know that those of your race can become evil and knowing that they tortured you and did who knows what ..... I was afraid you were no longer that noble elf!" She replied anxiously.

“And I don't intend to become one! I resisted in the hope of seeing my son again!" Azrael said feeling a close to the heart knowing that maybe it would never happen.

“So is that why you didn't die?" Hanna asked in amazement.

He gave her a dark look "I know that elves can die from pain! ... is that true?" The curious human asked

"Yes!" The elf replied "And now ...." "You can't die right now!" The girl said standing up "I'm going to visit Middle-earth and get to know the Prince about whom I have heard a myriad of stories!" He concluded by crossing his arms over his chest.

"Do you want to escape?" Azrael asked surprised "You don't? Didn't you want to see your son again? " She replied.

He smiled "So be it!" He answered standing up when he heard the main gate open.

Another tiring day was about to begin.



*



"You are a crazy, insensitive, careless, first-rate idiot!" Sara hissed once her friend had confessed what had happened at the first light of dawn.

"On three of these adjectives I fully agree, but what insensitive is it to?" Hanna asked that she had a lot of fun when she managed to infuriate Sara.

She who boasted of having an extraordinary temperament and patience!

“Insensitive to him! You hit him in the face that he will never see the only family he has again!" Sara explained disheartened.

He didn't know Thranduil, but he admired the elves, and the impetus combined with the simple fact that his friend was all too direct in saying things, would have destroyed every possibility of knowing him better!

“What are you still doing here?" The voice of the mistress made the girls take the biggest fear of their lives. Ok, maybe it was better to live it in full before you could say such a thing!

"I ask forgiveness, but we don't remember the way to go to the cellars!" Sara said bowing her head in submission.

It was true that they had been in that villa for some time now, but their sense of orientation combined with the size of that place predicted only trouble!

"You are really useless! My husband is an imbecile, only that explains how he could have bought two slaves as clumsy as you two!" The mistress yelled, slapping Sara loudly.

Then he looked at them as if he wanted to incinerate them instantly "Follow me! We await guests and unfortunately I will have to keep you until the next auction!" She said before hurrying to a large room. Sara tried to push back the tears by starting to take deep breaths.

“Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent!"The girl thought back to the words that her father had said to her, long ago, when she returned home desperate because of some bullies who had thrown eggs at her.

Once in the great hall they didn't have to wait long before the guest was greeted with laughter, welcome phrases and a huge banquet.

“Luck has blushed everyone since you managed to get that wild beast! The benevolence of the gods will be even greater if you manage to tame it!" The guest said as he watched Hanna too insistently.

“Your wishes will soon be fulfilled! That elf has remained in chains and in the darkness for many years, it doesn't surprise me that he made a pact with the devil just to end such torture! I bought it because I was sure I could do it!” Barahir said with his usual arrogance.

"Have you found out how you can be obeyed?" Asked the astonished guest.

Azrael has always been released into the arena and allowed himself to be killed if anyone tries to do the same.

He did not obey anyone, so none of his opponents had ever survived!

“I just gave him what every man wants!" Barahir answered looking at Hanna.

The wife made a disgusted face, but as soon as she realized who the husband was looking at, she burst like a firecracker "How could you! They are my property! Now that you've ruined them, you'll need to get more!" she yelled, jerkily getting up from his chair and spilling an entire carafe of wine.

“Don't be outraged! You should consider yourself lucky to have the bitch of the angel of death as your personal slave!" Her husband replied with equal ferocity.

Those two were identical! Too bad they didn't get along! The more the days passed, the more Sara wanted to know their story!

“He is not a man, remember him my friend!" Said the guest who seemed to be perfectly accustomed to the quarrels of the two.

"Then I'll try to increase the substance!" Barahir said to Sara "Tonight you will go to him too!" And the girl tried to appear terrified even if inside she rejoiced enthusiastically.

"This is what I hope to do with the humble gifts I brought you!" The guest said attracting the attention of all those present and his guard, who lowered his head and then left the room.

"You have a talent my friend! How do you manage to make your interlocutors hang from your lips?" The master asked curiously.

"After today you will call me brother!" The other said, pointing with one hand to the returning guard, accompanied by other soldiers and two prisoners.

Hanna and Sara were too upset to show their surprise and shock, screaming or doing anything else besides standing still like marble statues ..... staring at the two elves in front of them!



*



Do you know the expression "Losing ten years in ten seconds?" Well.

Because Hanna and Sara fully experienced it in an instant!

Or rather, ten seconds!

Those two elves looked younger than they already knew! As much as it seemed! They could have been even older!

“I found them in a mine! The gods made me find them. Their previous owners tried to hide the pointed ears and long hair, peculiar characteristics of their race!" Said the guest.

“Put them in a cell! I'll take care of it later!" Barahir ordered his guards.

"Bring my slaves too!" His wife added “I wish to have maximum privacy in showing the gratitude that is due to a dear brother!" She said, thus responding to her husband's confused gaze.

They were fortunate not to come anywhere near the place where the gladiators were training. The girls feared some hysterical reaction from Azrael! Even if it was there! They had kidnapped other elves!

When the cell door was closed and the guards had gone far enough, Sara went wild "It's crazy to say the least! The gods in whom the Romans believe take us for a ride! This is an absurd coincidence!" she began to say walking through the small cell like a hurricane.

"Simmer down!" Hanna tried, however, obtaining the opposite effect.

“He won't be happy to see you at all! And not because you have pointy ears but because the damned Romans had the brilliant idea of enslaving you! Wait! ...... but why aren't you gladiators?"

"The problems of life!" Hanna mocked her “From what I know the elves know how to fight! It's part of basic education!” Sara continued, ignoring her outright.

"Do you now know Elven culture and traditions better than they do?" Speechless Hanna asked.

Although the two elves were the most confused and shocked! All the humans encountered so far had been curious and terrified of them.

They knew nothing of their people and believed that they were unable to speak and understand the current language!

But these humans were the exception! They seemed to be at ease and seemed to be worried about their safety!

“Lasta lalaithamin!”(You make me laugh!) Said the elf with brown hair.

"Amin feuya ten’ lle!"(Disgust me!) Said the blond. Sara looked at them with a huge smile that lit her face "What a crazy cool!" she said adoringly. It was the first time he had heard of Elvish!

Sindar, if she wanted to be fussy! ...... yes, she wanted!

"Now he passes out!" Hanna ventured “No! Heaven, it would be embarrassing!” Sara said in a whole new tone of voice, placing a palm of her hand on her right cheek, pretending to be scandalized, as if her friend had screamed the worst blasphemy ever heard!

Sara sat on the ground in front of the two elves and turned to the blond one "What's your name?"

"Auta miqula orqu!"(But go kiss an ogre!) He replied.

“Even if I don't understand the elf, I don't think he complimented you!" Hanna said she was more amused than scared.

“My name is Sara, while this funny guy is Hanna! We know you speak our language and if elven manners are not just a legend, please answer me!" The offended brunette said for not having understood an accident but sure that her friend was right!

"Dinah!"(Be quiet!) said the blond.

"Apparently, elves are as stubborn as dwarves!" observed Hanna making a wrong comparison at the least opportune moment.

"Man pedich?"(What did you say?) Said the blond.

Both of them jumped up terrifying the two girls who backed away until they were on the opposite side of the cell. But it didn't help much since the room was definitely tiny!

“Mine was a finding! Arguing would be the wisest choice!" tried to save Hanna. Why did he have to give voice to every thought?

Noises preceded the passage of numerous gladiators. It was time for lunch. It happened just in time to save them.

As soon as Azrael appeared, he stared at them in surprise. A bowl of rice in his hand.

“Mae govannen Aran Thranduil! Amin naa tualle!”(Well found King Thranduil! I am at your services) said the blond.

"Mankoi naa lle sinome?"(Why are you here?) Asked the other.

Azrael's bowl slipped from his grasp and landed on the ground. Rice was spread everywhere going against all physical laws. That is, its speed was not such as to create a disaster!

The radius should have been much narrower. This was all that Sara managed to think in an attempt to hope not to be really where she actually was!

"What a waste!" observed Hanna more interested in food than anything else.

For the record: thanks to the sweet and caring owner, they hadn't had lunch yet!

"Mankoi naa llie sinome?" (Why are you here?) Asked Azrael still shocked.

“It's really cool, but could you speak an understandable language? It's even worse than when others whisper secrets in their ears!" Hanna said annoyed.

The blond elf snapped furiously towards the human, but the imperious voice of his lord made him arrest "Daro!"(Stop!) Said Azrael.

"What happens?" A very confused Atticus asked to find two other elves in front of him "Hanna, Sara, are you all right?" He asked even more bewildered to see them behind bars.

"Yes thanks!" The brunette replied “Really? But what if they want to kill us?" The other denied it.

"But since Azrael saved us, I would say that things are better than they would be ......." "..... for the moment! His friendship won't save us forever!" Hanna screamed, furious that Sara would always contradict her.

“But I'm talking about now!" Her friend said angry that she could never have the last word.

"Friendship?" The brown elf asked, not understanding why his lord had defended two silly mortals.

The conversation was interrupted by the guards who forced the two gladiators to retrace their steps.

"Can we start over?" Sara asked, turning to the two elves who were no longer looking at them so badly.

They nodded.

“Nice to meet you, I am Sara!" said One “And I’m Hanna!" The other added.

The two elves bowed before two and both kissed each other ....... really risking making Sara pass out ....." My name is Narwain while my partner is called Galdor!" Said the blond elf.

Notes:

The story flows slower than I had imagined!
I hope you don't mind this!
Aside from a few words, I will try not to be too vulgar, I promise!
How do you think it will continue? Please let me know why I have run out of ideas for the moment!
I said it at the beginning! It was a flash idea! I just hope others will follow because I don't like the thought of leaving a story incomplete!
See you soon,
X-98