FYI: I do not own any of the creatures the master Tolkien created I am
merely borrowing them. Also, I may use certain lines and events found in
Peter Jackson's movies, I don't own them either.
I'd appreciate any comments or suggestions you have for me and my story.
This is my first so I need all the help I can get. Thank you!
ShyPixie
"Never again," she promised herself. Her aunt's advice had never gotten her anywhere so why did she persist in listening?! This had been the third date from hell in six months and Lizzy's Aunt Vesta hadn't lost any of her fervor.
"You'll never get married if you don't at least try to find Mr. Right. I mean he's not going to walk up to you one day and tap you on the shoulder, you know! Dip your oar in the water, live a little . . ." And on it went. "A Friend of mines son just returned from an extended business trip and he's looking for some company. Why don't you get together? Don't think of it as a date, but you never know what'll happen right? Just give him a try!" So Lizzy had. She'd fallen for her relatives sweet caring face again and regretted it again.
During her college years, Lizzy had been more active in the dating scene but as the never-ending search had proved fruitless, she'd come to a decision. If she was meant to have true love it would find her and her aunt's recent spurt of matchmaking hadn't changed her opinion whatsoever. They had all been either too young, too old, or just too desperate, and if you could say one thing about Lizzy Macmillan it was that she was no man's plaything.
The hard slap of tennis shoes on pavement echoed loudly in the early morning mist as Lizzy tried to run her frustrations into the ground. Grimacing, she could still remember the feeling of Jerry's hot, sweaty hands on her leg last night when he'd reached for her under the restraunt table. Slowly, the grimace was replaced by a grin as she could also recall the look on his face when her booted heel had 'accidentally' ground into his toes.
"Never again," she repeated again. Her aunt meant well but she couldn't go through another date like last night.
From a distance, you'd never have been able to tell Lizzy's dark thoughts. You'd probably stop and stare, waiting for the camera crew to appear trailing behind her as such perfection was only found on screen. Her designer sweat suit molded to her body and her tennis shoes gleamed with unmarred white. Dark blonde hair was pulled back from a timeless face, with high cheekbones and a pert nose. If you looked close you might have been surprised to see her light green eyes narrowed in annoyance.
She didn't need a man in her life anyway, Lizzy thought. Her slow climb up the corporate ladder required all her attention and she had no time for the constant maintenance a relationship demanded. The intruding dreams of a quiet existence with a family and dog were ruthlessly pushed back. The ever-changing paths of life had not brought her to the places she'd imagined as a child, but she liked her life . . . she did!
Muttering under her breath, she continued to follow the twisting countryside road that lead her farther and farther away from her aunt's rustic estate. Her concentration anywhere but on the dew-soaked landscape, Lizzy rounded a bend on the road. She didn't see the bit of gravel lying directly in her path. Down she went, her feet flying out from under her, her arms flailing at her sides. Groaning, she rolled over clutching her elbow. "No amount of designer clothes would have made that fall graceful, " she thought with a wince. Narrowing her eyes, she squinted at something that caught her eye a few feet from her head. Sitting up slowly, making sure nothing was broken, she reached a hand out and plucked the flower up. Lizzy had never seen this particular kind of flower before. It's pedals were a snow white, the stem short, but incredibly sturdy looking. Lifting it up to her nose, she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply.
The scent was alluring and distinctly wild. A small smile of happiness spread across her features as her mood instantly brightened. Opening her eyes, the she let out a gasp, the grin dying on her face.
Jumping to her feet, despite the squealing protests from bruised limbs, she gazed around blankly in shock. Gone was the paved road, the mist and gently rolling countryside. In it's place, jagged rocks and distant snow-capped mountains were evident.
"Where the hell am I?!" she yelled into the started silence. Turning in a complete circle she could find no answers from the silent, towering pillars of stone. She continued to stare uncomprehendingly at the scene surrounding her. This wasn't the quietly beautiful landscape she'd grown up in and she was pretty damn sure of that!
"Man, I must have taken a harder fall than I'd realized," she muttered, rubbing her bruised backside. Lizzy's mind tried, but failed, to grasp what was happening. Looking down to see what she was crushing in between her fingers, which were clenched into fists. The white flower. Amazingly, the petals didn't look damaged at all from her rough handling and the stem was as straight as ever.
"I must be dreaming," Lizzy thought. "In fact, I bet I never even woke up this morning and this is all part of a dream. Yeah, that's it. It's all just a dream!" Relieved, she let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, She wasn't crazy after all. "Well if I'm still asleep, " she mused aloud, "then I should take a look around. There must be a reason why my mind put me here."
So with that, she started walking, turning her head this way and that, trying not to miss and details, confident in her knowledge that it was all just an illusion and thats when she heard it. At first, Lizzy thought of thunder, but, looking up, noticed the clear blue sky. Where was the noise coming from? It sounded like a herd of wild horses, but she seriously doubted that.
Shielding her eyes against the glare of the sun, Lizzy squinted into the distance ahead of her. Cresting the top of the hill, what looked like a low-hanging black cloud ran towards her with alarming speed. As the cloud came steadily closer and closer she realized with a start, thats no cloud. Individual creatures swarmed together in a band wearing what looked like black armour. She couldn't call them men because even from this distance their stature and general air about them stank of something else entirely different. Something brushed against her mind, something like recognition, but as she tried to grasp the thin threads of memory they slipped though her fingers.
She didn't feel any fear, even when they were close enough that she could see the brutal looking swords strapped to their sides, in fact she didn't even think about hiding, her mind so engrossed in the theory that this was all just a dream. Half expecting the creatures to run on past her Lizzy almost jumped in surprise when they slowed down and formed a circle around her. Catching a glimpse of some of their disfigured faces, Lizzy wondered idly what they were supposed to represent. Anger? Fear? Didn't everything in a dream represent some feeling in real life?
She realized they were staring at her. Looking down, Lizzy peered at her ripped and very expensive sweat pants and the scratch on her knee that was slowly oozing blood. Her hair was mussed and she hadn't had time to put on any makeup this morning. When she realized where her thoughts were drifting she started to laugh. Had she looked at them? Their appearance was so horrible she doubted they even noticed hers. Still laughing she clutched at her aching sides. She hadn't laughed so hard in years, but then, this was a dream so she didn't think it would count.
The creatures had started to shift on their feet when she started laughing, and she heard the word "witch" being muttered around. Now she didn't look that bad did she?
Suddenly, Lizzie remembered were she'd seen these creatures. The Lord of the Rings, that movie she had watched last week. Ogs? Obs? Obics? Orics? Orcs! Thats it! Her mind grasped it. The dream must be of the movie. But if these were orcs, and she was now sure they were, shouldn't she be dead by now? They'd been quite vicious on screen and she couldn't understand why they hadn't moved. "Well, I suppose I look quite odd for this particular time period." she drawled to herself still highly amused.
They'd been talking amongst themselves for quite a bit. They I heard a low, rasping voice.
"It's just a pitiful human woman. She is no threat to us. We are all starving, and we haven't had a break for days. She would fill my belly quite nice."
"Look at her you fool!" A giant orc with blue streaks running down his face snarled. "She fits the description of the one Sauruman foretold would come. The one that has great foresight and magic. She would be able to foresee the outcome of the great battles to come. We must take her to our lord. He will know what to do with her, and I would not want to face his judgment if he found out we had killed her." Slowly, the monster approached her, sliding his weapon out and placing the tip under her chin. "Bind her hands and gag her, least she put a spell on us."
Rough hands grabbed Lizzy's wrists and twisted them painfully behind her back, course rope burning her skin as her arms were almost yanked out of their sockets. She was jerked along toward the giant, and it seemed leader, orc. She was about to open her mouth to protest that as this was a dream, it wasn't right that it should hurt so much when he stuffed a dirty piece of cloth into her mouth. Gagging from the horrible taste of it, Lizzy tried to spit it out, but before she could another long piece of course rope was tied around her mouth. The creature quickly swooped down and placed his shoulder in her gut stood up, and began running again. Her stomach collided painfully with the armour covering his body with every step. Soon she couldn't take it anymore and as she slowly faded into a realm of black mist her mind grappled with the hope that this was still all just a dream.
"Never again," she promised herself. Her aunt's advice had never gotten her anywhere so why did she persist in listening?! This had been the third date from hell in six months and Lizzy's Aunt Vesta hadn't lost any of her fervor.
"You'll never get married if you don't at least try to find Mr. Right. I mean he's not going to walk up to you one day and tap you on the shoulder, you know! Dip your oar in the water, live a little . . ." And on it went. "A Friend of mines son just returned from an extended business trip and he's looking for some company. Why don't you get together? Don't think of it as a date, but you never know what'll happen right? Just give him a try!" So Lizzy had. She'd fallen for her relatives sweet caring face again and regretted it again.
During her college years, Lizzy had been more active in the dating scene but as the never-ending search had proved fruitless, she'd come to a decision. If she was meant to have true love it would find her and her aunt's recent spurt of matchmaking hadn't changed her opinion whatsoever. They had all been either too young, too old, or just too desperate, and if you could say one thing about Lizzy Macmillan it was that she was no man's plaything.
The hard slap of tennis shoes on pavement echoed loudly in the early morning mist as Lizzy tried to run her frustrations into the ground. Grimacing, she could still remember the feeling of Jerry's hot, sweaty hands on her leg last night when he'd reached for her under the restraunt table. Slowly, the grimace was replaced by a grin as she could also recall the look on his face when her booted heel had 'accidentally' ground into his toes.
"Never again," she repeated again. Her aunt meant well but she couldn't go through another date like last night.
From a distance, you'd never have been able to tell Lizzy's dark thoughts. You'd probably stop and stare, waiting for the camera crew to appear trailing behind her as such perfection was only found on screen. Her designer sweat suit molded to her body and her tennis shoes gleamed with unmarred white. Dark blonde hair was pulled back from a timeless face, with high cheekbones and a pert nose. If you looked close you might have been surprised to see her light green eyes narrowed in annoyance.
She didn't need a man in her life anyway, Lizzy thought. Her slow climb up the corporate ladder required all her attention and she had no time for the constant maintenance a relationship demanded. The intruding dreams of a quiet existence with a family and dog were ruthlessly pushed back. The ever-changing paths of life had not brought her to the places she'd imagined as a child, but she liked her life . . . she did!
Muttering under her breath, she continued to follow the twisting countryside road that lead her farther and farther away from her aunt's rustic estate. Her concentration anywhere but on the dew-soaked landscape, Lizzy rounded a bend on the road. She didn't see the bit of gravel lying directly in her path. Down she went, her feet flying out from under her, her arms flailing at her sides. Groaning, she rolled over clutching her elbow. "No amount of designer clothes would have made that fall graceful, " she thought with a wince. Narrowing her eyes, she squinted at something that caught her eye a few feet from her head. Sitting up slowly, making sure nothing was broken, she reached a hand out and plucked the flower up. Lizzy had never seen this particular kind of flower before. It's pedals were a snow white, the stem short, but incredibly sturdy looking. Lifting it up to her nose, she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply.
The scent was alluring and distinctly wild. A small smile of happiness spread across her features as her mood instantly brightened. Opening her eyes, the she let out a gasp, the grin dying on her face.
Jumping to her feet, despite the squealing protests from bruised limbs, she gazed around blankly in shock. Gone was the paved road, the mist and gently rolling countryside. In it's place, jagged rocks and distant snow-capped mountains were evident.
"Where the hell am I?!" she yelled into the started silence. Turning in a complete circle she could find no answers from the silent, towering pillars of stone. She continued to stare uncomprehendingly at the scene surrounding her. This wasn't the quietly beautiful landscape she'd grown up in and she was pretty damn sure of that!
"Man, I must have taken a harder fall than I'd realized," she muttered, rubbing her bruised backside. Lizzy's mind tried, but failed, to grasp what was happening. Looking down to see what she was crushing in between her fingers, which were clenched into fists. The white flower. Amazingly, the petals didn't look damaged at all from her rough handling and the stem was as straight as ever.
"I must be dreaming," Lizzy thought. "In fact, I bet I never even woke up this morning and this is all part of a dream. Yeah, that's it. It's all just a dream!" Relieved, she let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, She wasn't crazy after all. "Well if I'm still asleep, " she mused aloud, "then I should take a look around. There must be a reason why my mind put me here."
So with that, she started walking, turning her head this way and that, trying not to miss and details, confident in her knowledge that it was all just an illusion and thats when she heard it. At first, Lizzy thought of thunder, but, looking up, noticed the clear blue sky. Where was the noise coming from? It sounded like a herd of wild horses, but she seriously doubted that.
Shielding her eyes against the glare of the sun, Lizzy squinted into the distance ahead of her. Cresting the top of the hill, what looked like a low-hanging black cloud ran towards her with alarming speed. As the cloud came steadily closer and closer she realized with a start, thats no cloud. Individual creatures swarmed together in a band wearing what looked like black armour. She couldn't call them men because even from this distance their stature and general air about them stank of something else entirely different. Something brushed against her mind, something like recognition, but as she tried to grasp the thin threads of memory they slipped though her fingers.
She didn't feel any fear, even when they were close enough that she could see the brutal looking swords strapped to their sides, in fact she didn't even think about hiding, her mind so engrossed in the theory that this was all just a dream. Half expecting the creatures to run on past her Lizzy almost jumped in surprise when they slowed down and formed a circle around her. Catching a glimpse of some of their disfigured faces, Lizzy wondered idly what they were supposed to represent. Anger? Fear? Didn't everything in a dream represent some feeling in real life?
She realized they were staring at her. Looking down, Lizzy peered at her ripped and very expensive sweat pants and the scratch on her knee that was slowly oozing blood. Her hair was mussed and she hadn't had time to put on any makeup this morning. When she realized where her thoughts were drifting she started to laugh. Had she looked at them? Their appearance was so horrible she doubted they even noticed hers. Still laughing she clutched at her aching sides. She hadn't laughed so hard in years, but then, this was a dream so she didn't think it would count.
The creatures had started to shift on their feet when she started laughing, and she heard the word "witch" being muttered around. Now she didn't look that bad did she?
Suddenly, Lizzie remembered were she'd seen these creatures. The Lord of the Rings, that movie she had watched last week. Ogs? Obs? Obics? Orics? Orcs! Thats it! Her mind grasped it. The dream must be of the movie. But if these were orcs, and she was now sure they were, shouldn't she be dead by now? They'd been quite vicious on screen and she couldn't understand why they hadn't moved. "Well, I suppose I look quite odd for this particular time period." she drawled to herself still highly amused.
They'd been talking amongst themselves for quite a bit. They I heard a low, rasping voice.
"It's just a pitiful human woman. She is no threat to us. We are all starving, and we haven't had a break for days. She would fill my belly quite nice."
"Look at her you fool!" A giant orc with blue streaks running down his face snarled. "She fits the description of the one Sauruman foretold would come. The one that has great foresight and magic. She would be able to foresee the outcome of the great battles to come. We must take her to our lord. He will know what to do with her, and I would not want to face his judgment if he found out we had killed her." Slowly, the monster approached her, sliding his weapon out and placing the tip under her chin. "Bind her hands and gag her, least she put a spell on us."
Rough hands grabbed Lizzy's wrists and twisted them painfully behind her back, course rope burning her skin as her arms were almost yanked out of their sockets. She was jerked along toward the giant, and it seemed leader, orc. She was about to open her mouth to protest that as this was a dream, it wasn't right that it should hurt so much when he stuffed a dirty piece of cloth into her mouth. Gagging from the horrible taste of it, Lizzy tried to spit it out, but before she could another long piece of course rope was tied around her mouth. The creature quickly swooped down and placed his shoulder in her gut stood up, and began running again. Her stomach collided painfully with the armour covering his body with every step. Soon she couldn't take it anymore and as she slowly faded into a realm of black mist her mind grappled with the hope that this was still all just a dream.