Chapter 2
Black Riders
Sam ducks his head as a branch rushes towards him, his body bouncing up and down as the black steed races through the forest. He leans against the horse with the black shape behind him riding silently. Fear grips the hobbit as the rider whispers, "One ring to rule them all." Four riders come out of the bushes to join him in a group as he says, "One ring to find them." Four more riders join from the other side. "One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them."
"In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie," the riders respond in unison. Sam clings to the horse's mane, his palms sweaty, not daring to move lest they do something to him. His mind races wildly as his darkest dreams become reality, blackness taking over him.
The riders vanish and Sam finds himself in a vast and empty, black space. Before him an eye expands and glows with bright fury, the eye of Sauron. The ring appears, spinning in a slow circle, as fiery letters appear on it, seemingly floating in the air. Sam gazes at it, his feet cemented to the ground as the dreadful malice of the eye falls upon him. The eye whispers something in the black tongue, yet Sam somehow knows what he utters. "Three ring for the Elven kings under the sky, seven for the dwarf lords in their halls of stone, nine for mortal men, doomed to die, one for the dark lord on his dark throne, in the land of Mordor, where the shadows lie. One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them; one ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them, in the land of Mordor, where the shadows lie." Both the eye and the ring disappear and Sam sees Legolas, Merry, and Pippin riding a horse and an arrow striking the animal's leg. He sees them fighting orcs and wargs, but then the scene changes yet again, to Frodo, lying in a corner with wraiths bending over him, taunting him, inflicting minor wounds on the hobbit with small knives.
"Mr. Frodo?" Sam calls, wondering if this had taken place on Weathertop not too long ago, yet it is not the same.
Legolas yanks his knives out a warg's body and drives it into another orc. Merry and Pippin have done quite well, considering their size and have slain a few of the foul beings. Merry hews at another slicing its throat, when a warg charges from behind. Legolas shoots it with an arrow and turns to see an orc near him and grabbing an arrow unintentionally, thrusts it in the creature, but does not injure it much. It swings the scimitar at Legolas, who ducks, swiftly pulling out his blades and putting the bow away. He slashes the orc's side, black blood gushing out of the wound.
The orc howls in rage and swings his weapon, clashing against the elf's long knife. Legolas shoves the blade into orc's shoulder as a warg races behind the elf, leaping onto him from behind. Legolas drops one of the knives as the heavy claws dig into his shoulder, knocking him off his feet and lands on his face, thankfully, in the dirt and leaves. He turns round, plunging the knife into the warg's dark heart, but as he turns back to the orc, a blade slices deeply into his shoulder. He wrenches away from the orc; its eyes widen, and it falls forward, a small blade protruding from its back. Behind it is Peregrin Took, looking quite frightened, and he extends his little hand to injured elf-who had fallen to one knee. Legolas takes it and the adrenaline rush helps him keep fighting. A warg, bereft of its rider, races at the three with full speed. Legolas pulls them aside, and catching the beast's fur, gracefully swings himself on the wild creature. He bends down as it madly leaps back and forth, and whispers something elvish into its ear.
The warg ceases struggling and stops as Legolas helps the hobbits on it; then darts away from the advancing orcs and other wargs. "Where are we going?" Merry yells over the howling wind and the screaming of pursuing orcs.
"We must find a way to take a short cut. I know the direction where the rider who took Sam is going," Legolas responds.
"I hope we arrive there on time," Pippin adds, "These arrows are too close for me. I like the Shire!"
Legolas smiles, "You will like it even more if what took him is who I speculate it to be."
"Is it really the black rider or more than one?" Merry asks.
"We will have to find out soon, but unless it is necessary, do not speak while I am riding," Legolas instructs the cousins.
"What about this: look out for the tree!" Pippin shouts. Legolas redirects the warg, a few inches shy of hitting it.
"Thank you, Pippin," Legolas says, chuckling. The little bits of laughter shape themselves into a quiet groan from the warg leaping over a fallen tree. He winces from the pain in his shoulder as Merry holds him tightly to keep from falling. "Have we lost them yet?"
Pippin twists his head, brushing against Merry's curly hair and responds, "Not quite; we may need to take a short cut now!" Just as the last word leaves his mouth, Legolas makes the warg turn, darting past a clump of trees.