Chapter 7: Moving Out

A dark shadow glided soundlessly across the forest, being careful to keep out of sight. This wasn't just any shadow extending from a dark figure. No, it was a dark figure itself. A dark shadow that cast a shadow upon others, freezing them, leaving them paralyzed for life. Superior to other shadows, it had the power to paralyze its victims permanently. Those who were paralyzed would be forced to live a very short life, since they would be unable to do anything on their own. It also traveled faster and reacted quicker, while the others floated rather than flew.

The trees turned cold as the shadow brushed past them. Though they weren't considered alive by all, they could feel the fear that the shadow brought upon them. It spread throughout their bodies, all the way from their roots to their leaves.

The shadow loved to spread fear. Especially to those elves and other forest inhabitants. It was familiar with the ways of the elves, making it easy to travel through forests, unseen, just as they did.

As it thought about elves, it remembered the revenge it had sworn to a certain elfling. It was the elfling that had destroyed all the other shadows, leaving it alone with nothing to use. It hadn't been able to attack her yet - it was still too risky. The elfling had already encountered shadows, and she could tell when they were nearby. That was why the shadow had chosen to start with the other elf, instead.

Knowing that even though the older elf was far better at fighting, it still had an advantage over him. It could easily sneak up on him and use its paralyzing power to freeze him until he died. Then, it would move on to the next companion, the dwarf.

The shadow had never paralyzed a dwarf before, due to the fact that it preferred to stay within the forest. But this was too good a chance to miss. After all, everything had to start with a first try in order to proceed.

It glided among the trees, thinking about what lay beyond the forest. It knew that there were much more people somewhere out there, waiting to be paralyzed. It had heard of large cities near the forest filled with hundreds of inhabitants. They would make a perfect place to spread fear and cold among the people living there. Those people would have no idea of the evil that was coming their way. And when it did strike, they would have to remain paralyzed for the rest of their shortened lives.

If it had a mouth, the shadow would be smirking at the idea. This was a great way to spread fear, just for the fun of it. The more people it got to, the better.

However, this plan also came with a price, and if it went wrong, it would prove to be a high one. The shadow had always stayed away from largely populated areas for a reason - it did not want to be seen. Having to adapt to large cities meant that it would be harder to stay unseen. And if the news of its arrival was spread, its plan was ruined.

Yet, the thought of spreading fear was so joyous to the shadow that it could not resist the temptation. It had to make up its 'mind' soon, despite the negatives of its choice.

The shadow zoomed through the forest in the direction of the cities, making its choice. It was time to move out.

Kelsie awoke to the searing pain in her back. Groggily, she tried to sit up, but the pain didn't get any better. She slowly pushed herself away from the tree she was leaning against. Then, she let out the breath she had been holding as the pain in her back receded.

Though her back still ached a bit, she was glad to find that the gash across her throat was healing fast. The bleeding had completely stopped, and the wound itself was no more than a faint red mark. Must be because of my natural elven healing ability, she concluded. She tossed the cobweb bandage aside and slowly stood up.

She wasn't sure if time had gone by a bit too fast or a bit too slow. The sun was beginning to disappear over the trees, and night was falling. The sky was painted with a dazzling sunset, and a tiny sliver of the moon could be seen. Seven o' clock, by the looks of it.

She looked over at where Gimli lay, sleeping next to a paralyzed Legolas. Even though they seemed peaceful, the situation was starting to get her panicked. What if they never found a cure for the paralyzed? Kelsie thought of Treebeard, whom she had promised to revisit. Of course she couldn't fail him. Neither could she fail Legolas. She looked at the paralyzed elf, wishing he could be in a better state. If only she could do something to undo this cold curse...

Suddenly, she saw something dark flash from between the trees. Narrowing her eyes, she pulled out her sword. There was a chance that it could be a shadow. In fact, it was a very big chance. This frightened her plenty. She remembered what the shadows had done to Legolas and Treebeard. If there were shadows roaming anywhere near them, then the were sure to bring further harm. Kelsie remembered the warning she had gotten before the night she had discovered the shadows. After that, she had only regretted her actions.

But in this case, it was the shadows that were lurking around, not her. They had to be stopped before they could paralyze anyone else. Maybe she would have better luck this time, since she already knew how to deal with them. Perphaps she might just save the day this time. She silently crept over to investigate.

Kelsie edged towards the trees, trying to stay away as far as possible from the bodies of the dead spiders. The horrid smell of their rotting bodies filled the air, disrupting the mood of the peaceful-looking sunset. She wondered what Treebeard or any of the Ents would say if they found a pile of large dead spiders in their forest. It wasn't going to be pleasant, she knew.

When she had neared the trees, she stopped to see if the shadow would come again. She could see no further sign of danger so far. Sensing that something was strange, she ran forward, her eyes darting from side to side.

She ran between the two trees she had seen the shadow between, holding her sword above her head. A cool breeze rustled the leaves overhead as she passed by. Kelsie looked around for the shadow to come back, but so far, there was nothing. She stayed there for a few more minutes, fully alert. When nothing happened, she started to get nervous. The shadow could be anywhere right now, doing anything, and she had no power to stop it. It could be hiding unpredictably in the trees, ready to strike.

The silence that was covering the forest made Kelsie dreadfully nervous. Shadows were mysterious, she knew, and the silence only added more eeriness to it. "Who's there?" she called out in a semi-loud voice. As she suspected, there was no response. Still, being able to hear a voice in such a situation, even if it was her own, made her feel a lot more relaxed.

After several more minutes of waiting, she decided it was getting useless. "That shadow was probably too cowardly to come back," she said to herself. "No point of waiting here." She walked back to the camp at a normal pace, seemingly relaxed.

Without warning, she whipped around, clutching her sword out in front of her, as though she had expected the enemy to be right behind her. Her sudden movement would have scared the mind out of anyone - if they had a mind - but unfortunately, there was nothing behind her. She sighed. No big surprise, I guess. Maybe the shadow had completely left.

Disappointed that she couldn't prevent the shadow from performing more of its evil tricks, she ran back to the camp. It was only when she had Gimli and Legolas in her sight that she sheathed her sword and relaxed. Great. The shadows on the run again and I haven't been training to be a police. How am I ever supposed to track it down?

She sat leaning against the tree for a while pondering what she could do to be useful. Shadow-tracking was definitely out of question at this time. Her gaze fell on the spiders, and she wondered if there were more of them lurking in the forest. Frowning, she shook her head. The spiders would have to wait until the shadows had been taken care of. Spiders were a constant, well-known enemy - but shadows were the new threat.

If I can't catch that shadow right now, I could at least help those who had been paralyzed, she thought, looking at Legolas. She crawled over to where they lay and thought about what she could do to help.

Okay. He's paralyzed and so far, we have found no known cure for him. Even if we did, we probably won't have much chance of success depending on our current location. So, what we need most is a suitable location, with the right supplies and the people who might know what to do. Now let's say I somehow manage to think of a nice cure. I still wouldn't be sure if it is safe, and I don't think Gimli would approve, either, since he knows I'm an unexperienced elfling. This means that the only way to undo this cold spell would be to find a city with good information and trusty people I could rely on!

Kelsie thought this idea over several times before she actually approved of it. Seeing that they were currently in a helpless state, she had to find a better place and some more experienced people for help. It was the only good choice she had at this point. Although, she wasn't completely sure if traveling to a nearby city would be easy. Either way, she had to take risks if Legolas was to live.

She quickly recalled all the information about the geography of Middle-Earth she had read. She hadn't really paid as much attention to the locations of the civilizations as she now wished she had, since social studies had never been her favorite subject at school. However, she had to try her best to find the closest large city, despite her limited knowledge of the geography.

Closing her eyes, Kelsie used her artistic talent to create a map from the knowledge she had. She started with the forest of Fangorn, then spread outwards towards other civilizations, such as Rivendell, Mirkwood, Lorien, Rohan, and Gondor. She also tried to include some of the mountains and ecoregions in her mind map.

After a seemingly long period of extreme thinking and picturing, Kelsie finally opened her eyes. She took a moment to rest her mind, since all that calculating had taken a lot of brainpower. Then, when she had gotten some of her energy back, she retraced the route to her destination.

Rohan was not very far away, she knew. It lay at the south of Fangorn forest, closest to their location. If they traveled quickly enough on foot, it should take less than a day to get there. A day usually seemed like a lot to her, but now she counted herself lucky for not having to take any longer than a day. If she were even luckier, they could possibly run in to a group of riders from Rohan and take much less time to travel on horse. She rehearsed this plan over in her head a few more times before she confirmed it. She just hoped that Gimli would approve of it.

Something reminded her that she should stop wasting time doing nothing. She looked over at Gimli, who was still sleeping soundly. She hated having to wake him up, but she knew that this was a must. "Hey! Gimli! Wake up!" she called. Gimli stirred a little, but didn't wake up.

Kelsie tried again. "You'd better wake up now, 'cause the shadows are coming!"

Gimli groaned and rolled over to block out the shouting, but he still didn't wake up. Kelsie was forced to try a third time. "Legolas has been double paralyzed! You going to help him or not?" she yelled in his ear, poking him with a random twig she found.

Gimli finally opened his eyes and muttered something in dwarvish. Kelsie silently growled at herself for being horrible at waking people up.

"What do you mean by waking me up at this time? It's barely even morning!" he complained, clearly not in the best mood.

Kelsie hoped he wouldn't overreact to the truth. "Er...Actually, the night has barely started."

Gimli looked at the sky. She was right - the stars were only beginning to show. Confused, he tried to remember when he had fallen asleep. Kelsie could easily tell what he was thinking. "You probably fell asleep after me."

"And when did you fall asleep?"

"After the fight with the spiders."

His memory came back to him as he recalled the fight with the spiders and how they found Legolas lying paralyzed, at the risk of being eaten. Gimli furrowed his brow as he looked at the heap of dead spiders. "Yes, I definitely remembered that very well."

Kelsie decided not to respond to that, even though she knew how well he could remember things. Instead, she decided to explain her plan to him. "So, while you were asleep, I came up with a plan to save our friend here."

The dwarf's eyes lit up with hope. "So there is a way to unparalyze him."

"Yes, and if you are willing to listen, there will be a chance that we set him free from this cold spell."

"Yes, yes, go on," said Gimli, half-impatiently.

So Kelsie explained her plan, making sure to include all details that may be useful to them. She carefully stated how she thought Rohan might be a good choice for them to visit next, since it was the closest.

However, she did leave out the part about her second encounter with the shadow. It actually wasn't much of an encounter, but she still decided to completely leave it out. The news of more shadow spotting would only make them more panicked, even if it was only for a second. Just the slightest mistake could lead up to lots of trouble, and she wasn't going to risk it.

Thankfully, Gimli didn't react too rashly. He actually thought it over before giving his opinion. "If that's the best choice we've got, then I'll agree to it."

Kelsie shrugged. "It's the quickest one. Rohan is the nearest city to here. I didn't choose Mirkwood, because you probably won't be welcome there."

Gimli growled at the memory of Mirkwood. Many years ago, his father, Gloin, had been captured while trying to pass through with several other dwarves and a hobbit. This memory was not a good one, though he was less tense now than he was before his friendship with Legolas.

"Alright then what are we waiting for? Let's just go on to that city,and get him rid of that shadow," he said with full impatience.

"Just what I've been trying to tell you," Kelsie responded plainly. She had gotten quite used to the manner the dwarf spoke in.

Gimli grabbed Legolas and put him across him shoulders with ease. Kelsie couldn't help but ask. "How do you do that?"

Gimli walked forward in the direction of Rohan, making Kelsie automatically follow him. "Dwarves have great strength, in case you haven't noticed. Besides, he's actually very light, like all elves."

Kelsie stiffened up a little. She made a mental note reminding her never to get him angry. He could easily pick her up and throw her who-knows-how-far. She just hoped that he would still trust her, even if her plan went terribly wrong. Yet, even as she followed him to Rohan, she felt a flicker of hope. Perhaps her plan will work. She'll just have to cross her fingers when the time came. Despite the fact that they weren't as lucky as she thought.

They had no idea about the trouble they were getting themselves into.