The Uruk-Hai

"Menna!" Pippin gasped as he saw Menna and Boromir stumble back to the camp. He and Merry were on their feet and rushing over to help guide them to the small fire they'd managed to make.

"What happened?" Merry looked them over, alarmed at the state of them, a little more stunned to see Boromir injured as well as he had been a fierce fighter with unmatchable skill with a sword.

Menna looked terrible, though, the side of her face bruised, lip split, clutching her left arm which had swollen slightly with bruises scattered along it. But for as bad as the arm looked, it was tightly gripped around her middle too. She was wheezing, looking like it was quite painful for her to just take a breath.

Boromir looked like he had been in quite the fight as well. He was limping heavily on one leg, swaying on his feet just a bit. As the man had helped hand off Menna to the Hobbits, for she had clearly taken the worst of it, there was a clear cut on the side of his wrist. The man looked like he had been in tears at one point too, his eyes red and shinning in the firelight. He waved them off as they tried to help him sit, gesturing towards Menna instead.

Gimli took one look at them and jumped to his feet, running off into the woods in the direction they'd come from with his axe in hand, snarling something in the language of the Dwarves. Menna could only guess that he thought they had encountered an enemy and been defeated, that he was rushing off to hunt down the being that attacked them himself. She let out a small, almost huffing breath as she watched him go, at least she could count Gimli as something of a friend now. While she was sure the Dwarf would have run off at a moment's notice, having seen Boromir in such a state, she had seen him look at both of them, at Boromir and then her. When his gaze landed on her, he'd grown angry in expression and launched himself over a fallen log to dash into the greenery.

He clearly felt some sort of anger at the state she was in and trusted her enough to leave the Halflings with her and an injured Boromir.

"Where's Sam?" Menna looked around, seeing only Merry and Pippin, the packs of the others were there, but Sam's was nowhere to be seen.

"Getting water," Pippin answered, "Are you alright?" he looked between the two of them.

"We will be well," Menna promised, "We merely need a rest."

"What happened?" Merry repeated, not thinking to ask if they'd found Frodo.

He and Pippin knew that the others had rushed out when they'd heard Boromir was missing as well, clearly thinking the man was a danger to Frodo for some reason. But Boromir was right there, looking weary, but no more a danger to Frodo. If anything, it looked like the two of them had encountered an entirely different danger.

Menna glanced at Boromir a moment, the man's head bowed in shame. Of all the people on this quest, Boromir had created a bond with the two Halflings who were looking at them with such deep concern. She shook her head, the others would need to know about this, Aragorn especially, Legolas as well with his Elf ears and eyes, but the Halflings…this was not her story to tell, it would be up to Frodo or Boromir to add more.

"A fight," Menna murmured, taking a slow breath as she tried to sit back a little more.

"Orcs?" Pippin whispered, tensing and looking frightened now.

"A servant of the Dark Lord," Menna spoke, "Consumed by the darkness."

"A brute with no soul or care," Boromir added, his voice trembling with the force of his regret and guilt. It was raw, the way he spoke, as though he were on the verge of breaking himself. He understood what Menna was trying to do, but he would not let her lessen the true depth of the monster he'd become by attacking Frodo and then her, "Who desired nothing more than the power the Ring could bring about. Twisted and changed from within into a true monster. Merry, Pippin, you must know that I…"

"Boromir cast it off," Menna cut in, causing Boromir, whose gaze had been so focused on his feet, to look up at her in shock, "He was very brave, he fought nobly, and the threat has, for the moment, passed."

Boromir let out a deep breath, still staring at her for her consideration. He swallowed hard, feeling the familiar wetness gathering in his eyes again. All others, Gimli, Legolas, even Aragorn, he knew, would not have hidden such a fact from the Hobbits. The others, he was sure, would have torn him apart for what he'd done, figuratively...though in Gimli's case perhaps literally as well.

And yet here was this girl, one whom he would not lie and say he'd ever been fond of, defending him. He had not been the kindest to her, he knew that. He had been snide, short, suspicious of her. He had felt annoyance, he had noticed a closeness she had developed with Aragorn, the rightful king of his people. She displayed a lack of respect for the man which set him on edge. He thought her too young, too soft, to take part in this quest. They had no need for a woman on this quest.

She had not seemed to favor him either, not speaking much to him, keeping her own suspicious eye on him. He did not think she had much care for him…yet here she was, doing her best to not tarnish his honor in front of the Hobbits.

The way she looked at him, returned his gaze, told him it was not just out of pity or something similar that she tried to hold his tongue. She was not doing this to keep the Hobbits in the dark…but because she genuinely seemed to believe that he HAD fought back and had cast off the darkness. Him sitting beside them was proof he had, but she seemed so certain that it meant he had a better chance of doing so again if ever it came to it. She seemed to understand just how hard it truly was for him to do it in the first place. He supposed it was because of the Ring. She was the only other member of the Company to have had it so close, within reach, and she understood the temptation, the call of it.

"Is there anything we can do?" Pippin asked, looking between them for any way to help them. Boromir was already hunched over, tying a scrap of his shirt around his leg.

"My pack?" Menna asked and Merry rushed to get it for her, "I should have some stores left to help with your leg, Boromir…"

"What happened to your leg?" Merry turned to Boromir in concern.

Boromir looked to Menna for that, not sure exactly how to explain it…when Menna held up a hand, a deep frown on her face.

The Hobbits looked at each other, tensing as they saw the serious look on her face, "What is it?" Pippin whispered.

Menna listened carefully to something and turned to Boromir, alarmed, "Do you hear that?"

Boromir looked around, examining the trees and trying to hear what she had, "I hear nothing…" he trailed off, realizing what she meant. He stood, ignoring the twinge of pain in his leg that raced up his spine as his hand gripped the hilt of his sword.

The woods were silent, too silent. There had been birds chirping before, the sounds of nature around them, but it had gone far too quiet and still. It was normally a sign of danger on the horizon or something unnatural lurking.

"Merry, Pippin," Boromir spoke, "Arm yourselves and prepare."

Menna quickly ducked in her pack, trusting Boromir to keep watch just for that moment, to pull her strand of leather out of her bag, slinging it over her shoulder. She hissed, flinching slightly as the movement tugged at her ribs and jostled her arm, which was still quite sore and tender from Boromir's twist earlier. She bit her lip to keep going, grabbing her knives and sliding them into the leather's slits. She hesitated, looking down at the knives that Galadriel had gifted her. They would be useful against whatever danger was coming, but she had not used them yet, she didn't know their weight, how they felt in her hand, she wasn't familiar with them. She pushed them to the bottom of her pack and stood, moving to hide her pack in the roots of a nearby tree as Merry and Pippin stomped out the fire.

"What about Sam?" Merry looked to them.

"He went to get water!" Pippin repeated, fearful, as he pointed in the direction Sam had gone.

Menna looked to Boromir, "Guard them," she called to him, before she dashed off into the woods to find Sam and, hopefully, Frodo as well. She could still hear Boromir calling after her, but he wouldn't be able to be move fast enough with his leg injured.

She may not be familiar with this part of the land, but she knew the woods and trees, she knew the signs and what to look for, she had had to hunt for her own food more than a few times. She could, hopefully, track Sam down fast enough to get him back and safe.

~8~

There was hardly time for him to think as the Uruk-Hai swarmed around Aragorn, screaming and snarling as they dashed through the trees. He had been in dire straits before, faced his fair share of bad odds…but none that he could recall that would amount to this. It was almost as though the hills were alive and bleeding these monsters of Sauron. And he knew they were not normal Orcs advancing, no, they could not be so lucky.

He had known that there were Orcs along the northern banks of the great lake they'd come to rest beside, but they were far enough away that, even with marching nonstop, they would not reach the Company this quickly. They would have had time to flee and get away to safety, to continue their journey. He knew what Orcs looked like, he knew their strength, their tactics. And these creatures were unlike that of normal Orcs.

Orcs could not stand sunlight well, they were low-legged creatures, snarling and vicious, but relatively weak in comparison. These creatures...they were taller, broader, clearly stronger, straight-legged, almost human-like in shape. There were rumors, horrendous ones, that Uruk-Hai, the stronger breed of Orc, were created by mating Orc to human. He could not say from where they came, but it was clear they were far more dangerous than a normal Orc, they were able to endure the sunlight which made them even more of a threat.

He gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, readying himself as the Uruk-Hai approached. He could see them, spread out, some clearly focused on him, while others were fully intent to go past him and into the rest of the wood behind him. He had to hope that Frodo had gotten away or gotten far enough to be safe from the creatures. All he could do was try to take down as many as he could, to draw attention to himself and give the others more time to defend themselves.

He could not lie to himself and say he was not concerned for Boromir and Menna especially. If they were hurt enough that Frodo feared for them, feared for Menna, he could not stop his mind from rushing to the thought of what state she would be in if the Uruk-Hai found her so injured. These creatures were ruthless and brutal, it would not matter to them that she was a woman, they would see her as human and attack without regard.

He did not doubt that, with the resources of Sauron, these creatures knew a Halfling held the Ring. That HAD to be the target of their attack. Menna would defend any of them. Though he knew her only a short while, he knew it was not in her to withdraw from something like this, not for her own life, not when the lives of others looked to her for protection. If she had made it to camp, where Pippin, Merry, and Sam were, he knew she would do all she could to guard them.

And he felt a fear claw at his heart at the thought. She was hurt, she had taken on Boromir and he could imagine the state it left her in. She would not be able to defend herself as well as normal, but he could not turn his back and run to camp. All that would do would be to lead the Uruk-Hai right to the others. He had to face them down, cut down as many as he could, and hope to the powers that be that the others would be safe.

He swung his sword just as the Uruk-Hai reached him, hacking through as many as he could. He blocked, parried, thrust, stabbed, swung, every move he had come to learn he used against the creatures but they were not an easy enemy to face. He managed to bring down two before he was forced back closer to the ruins. He used his surroundings as best he could, leaping onto the stones and using the new level to continue the fight, just narrowly escaping the creatures as they closed in on him. He panted and grit his teeth, willing himself to keep going, to try and get the upper hand. But it seemed like, no matter what he did or how hard he fought, how long his bravery held, the Uruk-Hai were too many.

He looked around, frantic, surrounded on all sides by the beasts, one lunging for him…

When suddenly an arrow of clearly Elvin make smashed into the creature, sending it falling from the ruins.

Aragorn looked over to see Legolas racing out of the woods, firing arrow after arrow as he ran towards where the Uruk-Hai had surrounded him. Gimli was quick to follow, rushing straight into the Uruk-Hai at the bottom as though a battering ram, swinging his axe wildly. He had never been more relieved to see his fellow comrades than he was now. And to see both Elf and Dwarf working together in such a way, it gave his heart a brief glimpse of hope for the Company. No matter their differences, they were all coming together now to face the common threat. It was different in the Mines, Gandalf had led them, he had been the one to keep them safest, now they were on their own, but they were surviving.

Aragorn thrust his sword through another beast, kicking it off the ruins when a loud noise rang out from deep in the woods, back towards where the river was.

It was a horn.

"The Horn of Gondor!" Legolas identified, turning to Aragorn in alarm.

There was only one person who had that horn...and only one reason he would use it: if he was in desperate need of help.

Aragorn quickly leapt down off the ruins, calling over to Legolas and Gimli, "Boromir!"

And Menna. It would have to mean Menna was in need of help as well. The two had left together, neither was in any state to fight. And if the Uruk-Hai had reached them, and Boromir was using the horn, they were overrun by the creatures. He did not want to give a name to the fear he felt grip him at the realization the beasts had made it to Menna and Boromir.

They tried, as best they could, to make their way back towards camp. There was no point to linger in the woods any longer. If the intent had been to try and draw the Uruk-Hai away, to not lead them to camp, it had been for nothing. For they had clearly found the camp already and those still there, the Halflings, would need more help. And so they took up their weapons, hacking and slashing their way through the beasts, desperately trying to make their way back to the camp.

They felled Uruk-Hai after Uruk-Hai, but it felt like an endless swarm.

~8~

Menna looked around frantically, trying to find any sign of Sam. She had expected, for having such large feet, that Hobbits would make clear footprints as they walked about. But it appeared she had underestimated the true loftiness of the species. There was almost no indentation in the ground to show that Sam had been in that direction. Perhaps if the ground had been wetter, a little more mud, it would be clearer. She was used to tracking deer and other animals, laying traps, sometimes even sneaking upon campsites. But Sam was quite the agile little fellow wasn't he?

She was of the mounting suspicion that Sam had not, in fact, gone to collect water but to look for Frodo himself. He was a very loyal person, hardly ever far from Frodo's side, and she had seen his utter devastation when they'd realized Frodo had gone missing. She had seen that look on the faces of others in the past, the look of feeling as though you had failed to keep someone safe that you had promised to protect. She would not put it past Sam to go looking for Frodo, especially when she, Aragorn, and Legolas had gone to search for Boromir. Sam was so protective of Frodo, it wouldn't take much to assume he feared Boromir had gone after Frodo as well.

This felt different, though, than when she had been looking for Frodo and Boromir. Before, the danger had been behind them, lurking in the dark, and she had only thought the danger ahead was Boromir. She had been right, in a way, but at that point the forest had been alive with sound, with nature. She had known what to expect, had been able to prepare herself that she might come upon the sight of Boromir attacking Frodo, just as she had.

This time, the forest was too silent, so much so that she couldn't call out to Sam for fear that she might draw the attention of the coming danger to either herself or Sam. There was almost no broken branches she could see, no footprints, no sign of Sam. She tried to listen, in the stillness, for the sounds of water, in the very slim chance that Sam HAD actually gone to get water, but even in the silence there was no sound she could make out. She was going to need to have words with Gimli about how he'd let Sam wander off when he was meant to guard the…

She gasped and spun around on her heel as a noise rang out of behind her, a horn echoing through the trees. She looked around, frantic, for one last sign of Sam, glancing back and forth between the empty wood and the direction the sound had come from. It took her one moment longer, hearing the horn sound again, before she turned and ran back the way she came, silently offering an apology to Sam, wherever he was, and praying that he would be alright.

She skid to a sudden halt when she saw something a short distance away, the most gruesome creatures she had ever had the misfortune to observe were barreling through the woods. Even from that distance she could see how horrendous they were. They were tall creatures with blackened skin and nearly glowing eyes, all misshapen, all disfigured in some way. But they were well armed, weapons at hand, and fast. She could hear their snarls as they drew nearer, could hear them crying out to 'find the Halfling.'

"Frodo…" she breathed, feeling a fear strike her. Frodo hadn't made it back to the camp before her or Boromir, he was still somewhere out in the woods and these creatures were clearly hunting him.

She shook her head and began to run once more. She could recall Boromir carrying a horn on his belt during their travels. She doubted he would be using it if it were not a dire situation. She had to hope that Frodo was safe as well, that Aragorn or Legolas, or even Gimli, had found him or Sam.

She pulled a knife from her boot and one from her belt as she prepared, two of the creatures had spotted her and were heading right for her. She grit her teeth and skid to another stop, taking careful aim with her knife. The two creatures didn't seem to have noticed the weapons in her hand, they were quite small, and they were not ducking or swerving as they ran, but moving straight for her. She waited till one was close within the range of her aim and skill and let the knife fly.

She didn't dare aim for the head, she knew it was an instinct to duck out of the way when something was thrown at the head. If it could be seen coming, it could be avoided. There was a time or two when she would stop at a tavern, some less than savory. Fights broke out, things were thrown, she had observed enough to notice who ducked and moved and when. If it was seen, the reaction was to move. But even then, it appeared to only occur when it was thrown right at the head. Most didn't flinch out of the way when an object was thrown lower, letting it bounce off the chest or leg with little care.

But this was not a goblet or a plate, it was a knife, and it struck true.

The creature, for it was not an Orc by her reckoning, fell to its knees with a roar of pain as the knife lodged itself in its chest. She hoped it had the same placement as a human with its heart, and it appeared it did for it sunk more to the ground. She held her breath as the second one actually looked over for just a moment, at the fallen member and she used that to her advantage, bringing up the second knife and throwing it as best she could.

With the creature distracted, even for just that moment, she hoped it would not turn in time to see the knife heading for it. It was still running, the chances of it changing course were small, but she still grabbed the next knife from her belt just to be safe, her eye trained on the blade as it flew.

She let out the breath when it hit the target, exactly where she hoped it would. And the second creature was felled, a knife wedged in its neck.

She had no time to congratulate herself for her aim, knowing she'd had enough time in the woods to practice her aim over the years. She knew her aim to be true when she used her knives, had spent long enough to perfect it, and in the heat of battle she had to trust her aim. She ran towards the fallen bodies, intending to grab her knives out of them, not wishing to use any more of the ones she was familiar with, when the wind was knocked out of her as something crashed into her.

She fell to her back, one of the creatures, a third she had not seen, landing on top of her with a snarl. Its teeth were sharpened into points, its breath worse than anything she could have ever imagined, as it slobbered and tried to claw at her. She struggled to keep its teeth away from her, squirming to avoid the blows its hands were trying to land. She brought her left arm up to block a snap, screaming as it sunk its teeth into her forearm.

But as it latched on, it was distracted by the taste of her and she managed to bring her other arm out, the knife still clasped in it and drove it up, right below its ear and the end of its jaw, into its skull. Its eyes widened as its mouth opened, falling limply on top of her. She closed her eyes tight, panting as she tried to keep the wetness behind her lids.

She swallowed hard and opened her eye, feeling a tear escape and trail down the side of her face, into her hairline. She grunted, gritting her teeth as she reached out and shoved the creature off her with all her might, rolling it to the side. She looked down at her arm, red and bleeding, and forced herself to make a fist, hissing at the pain of it, but relieved that it still functioned. Reaching out with her right arm she grabbed the knife from its head and wiped it off on its minimal clothing, clutching it tight as she pushed herself up. She swayed a bit from the move, the world spinning around her a moment, her ribs protesting most profoundly at having been landed on. But it stilled quickly enough and she pushed herself over to the other two creatures, yanking her knife out of the one's neck and looking to the other. She shook her head, knowing she was too worn to roll it on its side to get to her other knife, she had to abandon it.

She stood panting for just a moment, looking around to take stock of everything. She could not see any of the creatures lingering around, but that did not make her feel safe. She doubted she would until she had seen the others safe as well. She nodded to herself, taking as deep a breath as she could before she began to run back in the direction of the camp, hoping she was not too late…

~8~

Merry and Pippin huddled together in the hollow of a large tree, hiding where Boromir had instructed them, as they heard the monsters swarming around them. They were clutching their daggers close to their hearts, trying to be brave despite how they trembled. A thud nearby made them look over to see Frodo! He was hiding by the roots of another tree, but he was safe and alive!

"Frodo!" Merry hissed as quietly as he could, drawing the Hobbit's attention over to them, "Hide here, quick!"

Pippin began to gesture frantically for him to rush over, "Come on!" but Frodo just looked at them, so sadly, shaking his head with a deep regret in his eyes. Pippin frowned as he saw it, looking back and forth between Frodo and Merry, who had tensed beside him, "What's he doing?!"

Merry swallowed hard, feeling tears gather in his eyes as he understood Frodo's look, "He's leaving."

Pippin's eyes widened, "No!" he cried, trying to stand and rush to Frodo himself, to drag him back over to them, but Merry grabbed his arm to pull him back.

"Pippin!"

Boromir spun around, hearing the call, as did the Uruk-Hai who turned and began to race in that direction. He threw himself between the beasts and the Halflings, both looking terrified as they were swarmed. He desperately wanted to call for more help, but the Horn of Gondor had been cleaved in two by a blow from an Uruk-Hai only moments ago.

"Run!" he shouted to them, "Run!"

But Merry and Pippin appeared to be frozen with fear, so he swung his sword at the brutes. If he could cut down enough of them to give the Halflings a chance, they could take it and be off, be safe. He had failed to protect Frodo as he'd sworn to do, but he could still do this, he could still protect these two Halflings.

He swung his sword to the side, hearing a noise in that direction and stumbled back, a pain shooting through him. He staggered, looking down to find a thick, black arrow lodged in his chest. The world around him faded, blurring, the noise of the battle going silent. He could hear, though, Merry and Pippin's fearful shouting, could only turn his head to see other Uruk-Hai grabbing them to try and pull them away. He swung his sword feebly at them, but it was too late. He tried to grip his sword and looked back at the creature that had fired at him, if he could just defeat that one…

He stared down the Uruk-Hai as it readied another arrow on its large bow and he knew, with the state of his leg and the arrow already lodged in him he knew...this arrow would be the one that did him in. He would fight, he would push himself on, he knew, he would try until his last breath to get Pippin and Merry back, to stop a many Uruk-Hai as he could from following the ones that had taken them, but the next arrow would seal his death. And so he faced it, tensing and readying himself for the blow. It was as though his vision narrowed and all he could see was the sneering, grinning face of the creature holding the bow, its arm pulled back, ready to fire...

When it let out a loud bellow, dropping the bow and stumbling to the side...a knife, clearly of tavern make, embedded in the side of its head.

A/N: O.O A KNIFE struck the Uruk-Hai? Hmm...I know someone who is fond of knife throwing...I wonder... ;)

Menna may have thrown her knife and stopped the Uruk-Hai firing two more arrows at Boromir, but HAS she actually saved him? Just one arrow looked quite deadly in the movie and it was very near Boromir's heart... :'( I suppose we'll find out very soon...

Because there's only ONE chapter left! O.O Can you believe it? The next chapter will be the last for this story :'(

Some notes on reviews...

Menna might have saved Boromir, or she may have only saved him from the pain of more arrows, we'll have to wait and see :(