Hawk Eyes and Eagle Wings (3)

"Twenty-eight, twenty-nine...thirty! Ready or not, here I come!"

Faramir took his eyes off of the trunk and began searching for his Rohirric friend. He smiled to himself as he looked down and scanned the forest floor. Despite her claim as a hiding champion, her inexperience at doing so in a forest was obvious. His trained eyes caught the twigs and grass brushed away and swept by the hem of her dress. He followed her trail on quick and nimble feet, confident that he was on the right path.

Suddenly a high-pitched shriek pierced the air.

"Eowyn!" he gasped.

Faramir gripped his bow tighter and charged through the forest. Something else found her before he did.


The goblin couldn't believe his luck. His day had started with a lousy morning, which included an order to scout for Rohirric patrols under daylight. The next thing he knew, he stumbled upon a delightful little snack. Unfortunately, her hair-raising scream stunned him for a moment.

Eowyn didn't waste a second and she dashed away from her hiding place. She scrambled over the rocks and ran through the forest like there was no tomorrow.

"Faramir! Faramir, help!" she cried at the top of her lungs.

The goblin cursed and took off after her. He continued to unleash a stream of foul language as he squinted at the damned sunlight. Eowyn felt relief flooding her body as she sighted Faramir a few feet away. The boy already had an arrow notched. He aimed at the goblin as he ran. He fired and the arrow struck the goblin's eye. The ugly creature reeled back and shrieked.

Faramir grabbed Eowyn's hand. "Come on, we have to go!"

The children took off the other way. Faramir's mind raced with panic. Why didn't he foresee this? He should've kept an eye out for danger. He should've known that Orcs could lurk in forests even under the sun, no matter how much they despised it.

Faramir dared to glance over his shoulder. To his horror, more Orcs and goblins accompanied their injured comrade. Some carried bows and arrows.

"Duck and cover!" he shouted to Eowyn.

He released her hand as arrows flew over their heads. Eowyn threw herself behind a tree as an arrow zipped past her cheek. She panted and gasped for air. She put a hand to her burning chest and fought to steady herself.

'Faramir...where's Faramir?'

Eowyn's eyes darted around desperately. To her relief, he happened to hide behind a tree just across from her. Then her heart nearly stopped. Faramir's face was one of surprise and pain. His wide eyes stared off and shallow breaths escaped his lips. An arrow protruded from his right calf. Blood flowed steadily down his leg.

"Oi, where did those little rats run off to?"

"No idea, but I think I hit one of 'em with my arrer."

"Search and sniff 'em out!"

Faramir met Eowyn's gaze. Both shared overwhelming fear in their eyes. But, Faramir reasoned, Eowyn had a better chance of escape. She had to. All of Rohan could fall into disaster if they received news of her capture. Or worse...

Faramir didn't want to think about it. He heard the Orcs stalking closer, and Eowyn was too paralyzed to move. His mind raced for a plan. Then, out of impulse rather than thought, the boy tore himself from his hiding place. He winced as pain lanced from his injured leg. He nearly fell over to one side and stumbled over the grass.

"Hey, there goes one!"

"Let's get 'im, boys!"

There was no way his limping run could outmatch the Orcs. But in the art of distraction, time was precious. He could at least grant Eowyn a few seconds to run off while the Orcs followed him.

Faramir gasped in fear as claws grabbed him from behind. A large and fearsome Orc seized the boy and crushed him to his chest.

"Gotcha, you little roach!" the Orc cackled.

Faramir twisted his head to see Eowyn still huddled at the tree. Some Orcs already sighted her and were closing in like a pack of frenzied sharks.

"What are you doing?" he shouted. "Get out of here now! Run for your life!"

In a flash of white, Eowyn darted away and ran as fast as her little legs could carry her. But she wasn't fast enough. She screamed as two Orcs seized and swept her off her feet.

The Orc holding Faramir smirked with savage satisfaction. "Good, got both of 'em. Let's head back."

Faramir had his bow snatched away before he could fight back. Eowyn put up a brave but futile struggle against the Orc that had her. It only took a few violent shakes to subdue her into defeat. The Orc and goblin mob trudged back to where they had come: a shady area of trees yet to be touched by daylight. Gloomy shadows loomed all around them, and they made Eowyn uncomfortable. What she feared most were the foul creatures, and the fate that awaited her and Faramir.

The Orcs arrived at a small quarry where the rest of their kind made camp. Faramir made a very quick and rough count: at least twenty of them. Eowyn's eyes widened and she recoiled. Never had she seen so many beings of filth and terror gathered in one place. It was a living nightmare.

The Orc leading the patrol flung Faramir to the ground. The one carrying Eowyn did likewise. The children huddled back to back as the Orcs surrounded them with fiendish interest. Some were still in the middle of eating; half-eaten meat fell from their slack jaws as they examined the children. Some were licking their yellow teeth and their eyes gleamed hungrily. Eowyn blinked many times, as if still refusing to believe this was reality. Fear was evident in Faramir's eyes, though the boy held his gaze steadily to figure out what was going on.

One Orc extended a skewer that hovered a hairlength away from Eowyn's face. "Oi, these two look like a fit bunch to chew on."

Suddenly a deep and savage growl sounded. "Out of my way! Let me through, damn you!"

A horrendously large and fearsome Orc pushed his way to the center. He loomed over Faramir and Eowyn like a hulk, ugly shadow. The number of body scars, the size of his armor, and the amount of grisly trophies that adorned it, clearly told them that he was the Orcs' leader.

"Well, well...what do we have here? Two little maggots all by themselves in the woods."

The rest of the Orcs and goblins sniggered fitfully. Faramir and Eowyn only huddled closer together. She turned to grip his arm. He felt the dampness of her shaking, clammy hands.

The Orc leader pointed at Eowyn. "You with the dress. Something tells me that you're someone important. What is your name, girl?"

"I won't tell!" she retorted. Then she mentally slapped herself. What madness drove her to blurt such a thing? The Orcs may as well run her through for her nerve. But they didn't. The Orc leader instead seized Faramir by the collar. His leer revealed filthy black teeth.

"Does this boy mean anything to you?"

Faramir dangled a few inches off the ground, his eyes clenched shut from the pain of his wound and the intensity of the Orc's grip. Eowyn didn't know what to say or do. She was frozen in fear, in both action and tongue.

"So you remain silent. I guess we can have fun with him."

The Orc leader gripped the arrow at Faramir's leg and made a cruel twist. Faramir let out an anguished cry and the Orcs cackled in amusement. He gritted his teeth and thrashed as the Orc twisted the arrow a few more times. The blood running down Faramir's thigh and the agony on his face was more than Eowyn can bear. She shut her eyes and whimpered.

The Orc leader made a sadistic laugh, which sounded more like a disgusting cough. "We will cook him nice and slow, so he can watch his own guts curdle over the fire!"

Then an Orc with a horribly disfigured face swaggered up to the leader, his teeth bared and one eye wide with livid rage. Though shorter than the leader, he was no less burly and fearsome.

"You idiot! What do you think you're doing?"

The leader snorted. "Playing with our food before eating it. What else?"

The one-eyed Orc grabbed Faramir's tunic and jabbed a dirty claw at the boy's chest. "Do ye not recognize the White Tree when ye see it, Grishnakh? This boy hails from Gondor! Only noble ones wear the White Tree."

"So?"

"So would you rather value him as ransom over meat? Think long and hard, or your answer will lose you your best warrior."

The Orcs growled amongst themselves, their eyes darting between Grishnakh and the opposing speaker.

Grishnakh narrowed his eyes. "Know your place, Gothmog. Watch your tongue or I will hack it off."

The Orc leader lifted Faramir higher so that they met at eye level. He stared with distaste. "Hmmph, looks too skinny for my taste. We'll keep him alive, then." He dropped Faramir and the boy crumpled to the grass. Eowyn rushed over. She wrapped an arm around him. She looked up to Gothmog with as much dignity she had left.

"You guessed right. The boy is Faramir, son of the Steward of Gondor. And I am Eowyn, niece to the King of Rohan and daughter of the house of Eorl."

Grishnakh smirked. "Niece to the King and son of a Steward, eh? I smell a nice ransom cooking."

Gothmog spoke up again. "Perhaps it's time for youto know your place. We're under direct orders from our superiors at Mordor. We can't just do whatever we please. Besides, you wouldn't know what to do with the brats if they were made of gold."

Grishnakh scowled. "What's your solution, then? Let's hear it."

Gothmog cast his eye over Faramir and Eowyn, who shuddered under his sinister gaze. He didn't say anything for a few seconds. Then he broke the silence ominously: "The Lieutenant of Barud-dur. Take them to him. He'll know what to do."

The mob of Orcs erupted into exclamations of disbelief and uneasiness. Eowyn had no idea who this Lieutenant of Barud-dur was. But if it was something that unsettled even the Orcs, she had good reason to fret as well.

Faramir had heard of countless horror stories surrounding Barud-dur, the great dark tower that housed Sauron himself. Dread roiled in his gut like a cold storm.

Grishnakh raised his voice so the entire mob could hear. "Listen up, ye maggots! We have noble brats in our hands, so we're keeping 'em alive. I want no Orc messin' with these two. They are notfor eating."

The Orcs seemed to grumble in dismay, but they complied.

"Give the boy some Orc-medicine." Grishnakh said. "As soon as he's patched up we're hightailing it!"

A skinny and gangly Orc shuffled over to the children with a flask. He tossed it at Eowyn's direction and she barely caught it. She helped Faramir to prop himself against a tree.

"We have to remove this arrow before anything else," he managed to say with a wince.

"I have to pull it out?"

"You can do it. I know you can."

Eowyn bit her lip and she nodded nervously. Faramir bit into his cloak as she gripped the arrow tight.

"Ready?" she asked. "One, two...three!"

Faramir made a muffled cry and his knuckles went white as she removed the arrow with a firm yank. Thankfully the wound stopped bleeding; only dried blood ran down his leg. Eowyn popped open the flask and poured some liquid over the wound. Faramir hissed between his teeth and he squeezed his eyes shut. "It burns."

Eowyn pressed the cloak over his leg and held it there firmly. "I'm sorry. This is all we can do." She lowered her head in shame. "And...I'm also sorry for failing to run away. It was so brave of you to put your life on the line for me. I'm such a fool."

"Don't be," he replied gently. "None of this is your fault."

Suddenly the Orc that had grabbed Faramir earlier seized the boy again. This time he had Faramir by his pack.

"What do ye have in here?"

The Orc tore the pack off of Faramir's shoulders and shook the contents out. Bundled herbs, dried meat, bread, small bowls, a dagger and the two books spilled onto the forest floor. The Orc snatched up the little knife and stuffed it into his grimy tunic.

"I'll take that! Just like how I stole your little bow."

Next he grabbed the books and opened them. He leafed through the pages awkwardly and angrily.

"What is this rubbish?" he growled. "Damn parchments. They're only good for fire fodder."

The Orc turned and made as it to toss the books into a nearby fire. At this, Faramir snapped. To Eowyn's surprise, he leapt forward and tackled the Orc from behind. The Orc only swayed in his spot, and he whacked the boy on the head. Faramir wouldn't give up.

"You throw those books into the fire, then I'll join them!"

"Faramir!" Eowyn cried. "Don't be so rash!"

But the boy stood his ground between the fire and the Orc. His eyes blazed with a grey, stormy wrath unlike anything Eowyn has ever seen from him. Even the Orc was stunned for a moment.

"Remember your leader's orders. You can't lay a claw on me. My death will lead to yours."

The Orc finally spat at the ground. "Fine. Take your books. And the rest of your measly pack for that matter. It's all useless junk."

With that the Orc stalked away. Eowyn expelled a shaky sigh of relief when Faramir gathered his belongings and joined her.

"Y-you idiot!" she sputtered. "All of that fuss over some books. You could have been killed by that…that awful creature!" She lowered her yell to a hushed whisper when she said the last two words. She didn't want the Orc to come back after hearing that.

Faramir managed a weak, sheepish chuckle. "Forgive me, Eowyn. I honestly don't know what came over me."

"You're lucky this time," she said with a huff. "Watch what you say."

"You're one to talk."

Eowyn suppressed a smile and elbowed her friend in the ribs. She couldn't believe that even in such a dire situation like this, they still joked around. Suddenly a rough arm seized her by the stomach. She let out a horrified cry as she was swung over an Orc's shoulder. Faramir too was grabbed and hoisted in the same fashion.

"Wait a minute!" she exclaimed. "Faramir hasn't finished recovering-"

"Shut up, girl! Scouts have spotted a Rohirric patrol heading this way. We have to move!"

Eowyn looked at Faramir. Though his face was still weak and pale, his grey eyes held adamant strength and determination. He gave her a small smile. "Whatever happens, we'll be fine. We will survive."

Eowyn could only nod back. He was right. She had to be strong...for Faramir, for herself and for her people. The band of Orcs stalked off, carrying with them the son of the Steward and a young maiden of Rohan.