The Road Goes Ever On

"No! Aragorn yelled, running to where Boromir lay. The captain of Gondor was pale and bloodied, lying on his back and taking deep shuddering breaths of air. Aragorn knelt next to him and Boromir grabbed his shoulder.

"They took the little ones," he gasped, trembling with the effort it took to speak.

"Be still," Aragorn whispered.

"Frodo! Where is Frodo?"

"I let Frodo go."

"Then you did what I could not," Boromir admitted. "I tried to take the Ring from him."

"The Ring is beyond our reach now," Aragorn assured him, placing a hand on the side of Boromir's white face.

"Forgive me. I did not see it. I have failed you all," the captain said weakly.

"No, Boromir, you fought bravely! You have kept your honor." Aragorn reached out a hand and tried to pull the shafts from Boromir.

"Leave it," the captain commanded. "It is over. The world of Men will fall, and all will come to darkness... and my city to ruin."

"I do not know what strength is in my blood," Aragorn swore, taking Boromir's head in both his hands and forcing the soldier to look at him. "But I swear to you I will not let the White City fall... nor our people fail!"

"Our people?" Boromir asked softly. "Our people..." He reached for his sword, and Aragorn placed its hilt in his hand and helps him to clasp it to his chest.

"I would have followed you my Brother... my Captain... my King!" Boromir said. His breath shuddered in his chest and his eyes fixed. Aragorn touched his hand to Boromir's forehead, then bent down to touch his lips to the captain's still face in a sign of respect.

"Be at peace, son of Gondor," he told him. Legolas and Gimli arrived, and they looked on sadly as Aragorn shut Boromir's eyes. The ranger stood and looked down at the Gondorian's still body.

"They will look for his coming from the White Tower. But he will not return," Aragorn said sorrowfully. He turned and saw Legolas and Gimli standing there. "Where is Falenor?" Legolas turned and looked behind him, as though expecting to see the drover there.

"I've not seen him since..." the Elf began, then he turned and faced Aragorn, horror in his eyes. "The river... he ran in the direction the Uruk-hai were coming!"

"We must find him!" Aragorn said. He remembered the harsh words he had spoken to the drover and prayed that those were not his last to him.

"Falenor!" Aragorn shouted, running back toward the river.

"Falenor!" Legolas repeated, calling through the trees. Gimli trotted after them, occasionally calling for the peredhel. They searched all the woods between where Boromir lay and the camp, but they saw no sign of the drover.

"No!" Aragorn yelled, kicking out at the firewood Merry had collected. He could not bear to lose two members of the Fellowship on one day.

"Elessar, u'dambeth lle," (Elessar, this isn't your fault) Legolas said, placing a hand on Aragorn's shoulder.

"I accused him, Legolas!" Aragorn said through gritted teeth. "I accused someone who never gave me any reason to doubt him!" Sudden realization struck the ranger. "That horse-call! That was him! We ignored him calling for help."

"We didn't know," Gimli told him, patting his hip. "We knew that Boromir was in trouble, and so we went to help him." Aragorn shook his head and turned away from their comforting.

"I should never have let him go off alone," he said. "Especially after I spoke to him in anger." There was a rustling of leaves and the sound of dry twigs cracking beneath boots. Aragorn whirled around, hand on the hilt of his sword. Gimli turned to, raising his axe with a cry as Legolas fitted an arrow to his bow.

"I'll take that as an apology," Falenor said, looking at Aragorn. The drover let out a huff of air as Gimli threw himself upon him and hugged him tightly around the knees. Falenor had a cut on his face, running across his cheek, but otherwise he looked unharmed.

"Never do that again!" Legolas told the peredhel with a relieved smile. Falenor smiled crookedly at him and then swept his blue eyes over the forest.

"Where's Boromir?" he asked. "Where are Merry and Pippin?"

They laid Boromir's body in one of the boats. Falenor placed the captain's shield at his head as Aragorn curled Boromir's stiff fingers over the hilt of his sword.

"Why didn't you ask about Frodo and Sam?" he asked the drover suddenly. Falenor did not look up, but merely adjusted the broken halves of the Horn of Gondor where they lay next to their master.

"I let them go," he told Aragorn softly. The ranger put a hand on Falenor's shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze.

"So did I," he said softly. Falenor looked up at him, and Aragorn saw some of the hurt and confusion at the hobbits' parting still lingering in the peredhel's eyes. Together they pushed the boat carrying Boromir into the river.

Legolas, Aragorn, Gimli, and Falenor watched as the boat slipped out of sight over the Falls of Rauros. After a while Legolas began to shove a boat into the water.

"Hurry!" he urged them. "Frodo and Sam have reached the eastern shore." Aragorn stood still and said nothing. Legolas looked inquiringly at Falenor, but the drover averted his gaze uncomfortably.

"You mean not to follow them?" the Elf asked, his eyebrows knit with confusion.

"Frodo's fate is no longer in our hands," Aragorn told him softly.

"Then it has all been in vain!" Gimli said, shaking his head sorrowfully. "The Fellowship has failed." Aragorn stepped forward and put a hand on Legolas's and Gimli's shoulders.

"Not if we hold true to each other," he told them. "We will not abandon Merry and Pippin to torment and death. Not while we have strength left." Aragorn looked over his shoulder to where Falenor stood. Gimli place a hand on Aragorn's arm and nodded slightly.

"Leave all that can be spared behind," Aragorn announced, standing back and clapping Falenor on the shoulder. "We travel light. Let us hunt some Orc!" Gimli looked at Legolas and grinned.

"Yes!" the dwarf laughed, getting a better grip on his axe. Legolas smiled slightly and ran after Aragorn. Gimli followed them and Falenor started to, but turned and looked back through the trees to the north.

"Namarie, braig mellon," (Goodbye, fierce friend) he said softly.