It is much easier going down a mountain than going up it. Elle, Fannor, and Aegon picked their way down the mountainside, having reached the top of the first ridge earlier that morning. Elle had figured right: they were making much better time without Legolas' overcautiousness even though they still led their horses beside them. Elle pulled her hood tighter around her head. The wind constantly threatened to whip her cloak right off her shivering body. Rosie kept slightly ahead of Elle, blocking some of the wind. The lost girl was increasingly grateful. She would make sure to clear an extra-large patch of snow from the grass tonight.

Aegon led the three travelers with Fannor coming up the rear. Elle could barely think, it was frigid. She kept her eyes focused on Aegon, his green cloak flapping in the wind. He had tried to insist she keep wearing his cloak in addition to her own, but she wasn't about to let that happen.

"It's a good thing Legolas isn't here," Elle thought. "He'd force me to wear his cloak and freeze." Elle's heart caught. "Probably still safer to freeze than head to Mount Volcano of Doom and Death," Elle's mind filled-in the emotion her heart felt. She sighed, her breath creating a cloud in front of her bluish lips.

"Woah!" Elle heard Aegon's voice rise over the wind and saw his hand shoot up in a way that told her to halt. She stopped dead and bent her knees. Rosie took an extra step to more effectively cover the girl. Fannor came up quickly to Elle's right.

"What do you see?" Fannor whispered over the wind in Sindarin. Somehow, Aegon heard and pointed to the northeast. Elle's eyes followed his finger, but she saw nothing through the snow.

"What? I don't see anything!" Elle yelled over the wind.

"Shhhh!" Fannor pulled Elle lower to the snow. "Orcs are near."

"Orcs? Like the monster people from the stories?" Elle remembered a book about a war from the past. It was about a beautiful elven man who was captured and tortured by vile monsters. She shivered. Elle had assumed orcs were either fiction or long gone.

"Aegon says we must move quickly. Mount Rochiril and follow quickly. I shall be right behind you," Fannor spoke quickly and irritably. Elle hadn't heard anything from Aegon, but Rosie knelt on queue and Elle hopped on. Looking forward, Aegon was already atop his horse and moving quickly to the south east. Elle guessed they were going to attempt to out speed the orcs to get to the Mirkwood side of the range before the orcs reached their longitude.

"Why don't we just turn around and hide in the mountains?" Elle called back to Fannor, him being the closest of the two.

"They may have already smelt us!"

Smelt? Elle couldn't believe they might have smelled them from so far away in a near-blizzard. Elle turned back around as Rosie increased her speed to keep closer to Aegon, the better fighter. Elle noted how easily Rosie seemed to make coherent decisions in bad straights. She was duly impressed by this ancient horse.

The three sped down the snow-covered mountainside. Elle could see another ridge two or three miles away. Rosie was guiding them without Elle inserting her own input in the matter, so Elle decided to crane her neck in an attempt to spot the orcs Aegon saw. Still she saw nothing.

Suddenly, a loud horn blew in the distance, almost lost in the wind. Rosie picked up speed without missing a beat. Elle's heart started to race as fast as Rosie's hooves. Elle turned around in an attempt to judge the situation by Fannor's facial expression. It took her eyes a moment to find his pale face through the falling snow. Outlook not good.

"Keep your eyes on Aegon, Lady Mannon! Do not fall!" Fannor yelled angrily. Right. Elle needed to face forward and concentrate. She shifted around and wrapped Rosie's reigns around her hands. Snow quickly blew into her eyes, forcing her to shut them tight to clear the moisture. Legolas' face flashed across her vision, against the black.

"No, not now," Elle thought. "I can't think about him now. I need to focus. I promised the king I'd come back alive." Elle reopened her eyes and looked to her left. Yes, she could see them now: a black swarm against the distant snow. They weren't as distant as she'd like them to be. Elle swallowed hard and spoke aloud this time, just loud enough for her to hear and no one else. "I'm not going to die here. Legolas, Thranduil, Nauethae, Arwen, Aegon, Fannor, Mason…. MOM, I'm not going to die here. I won't."

Rosie veered to the right, heading farther south. Elle looked ahead to see Aegon only a hose-length ahead now. Rosie really was a wonder to behold. Either way, the orcs were getting progressively closer. They were going to catch up. No way were they going to outrun them. Aegon noticed this, too.

"Elle! Take Rochiril and speed on! We will do what we can for you!" Aegon called behind and slid left to allow Elle and Rosie to pass.

"NO! No way!" Elle screamed. She can't leave them. Rosie sped up to an amazing speed, regardless. "NO!" Elle pulled hard on the reigns, but Rosie did not seem to notice or care. They were passing Aegon now. Elle twisted in her seat to see Fannor come up beside Aegon and both head directly east to ensure they would meet the orcs before she.

"No! Please, stop Rosie. Stop!" Elle was crying now, shouting at the elven steed. Rosie did not comply. They were moving at an insane speed now. Elle watched as Fannor and Aegon came within a mile of the orc swarm. Shortly, they were within half a mile of each other. Elle watched both head into a pass, blocked by a ridge which shoved its way between her and her friends and the horde of monsters.

"No…" Elle's voice was small, drowned immediately by the unrelenting wind. She looked down at Rosie. Anger crept up within her heart. Elle slouched over in her saddle, attempting to stifle ill will towards the creature who likely was saving her life. The girl and horse rode silently and swiftly for what felt like eons. Elle was lost in her mind, but not thinking about anything in particular. Her heart still thumped too quickly in her chest, but she couldn't handle thinking about the two friends she probably would never see again. She would have to tell Thranduil.

BVVVVVVROOOOOOOOOOOON

Another horn rode the wind. This one was directly ahead of Elle. It couldn't be the same group of orc. It must be a different one, Elle realized with a panic. Her sword rattled against her leg and her bow felt heavy on her back, but she knew she wasn't anywhere near competent enough to use them on horseback. "Oh, God." Elle began to let panic consume her.

Rosie, on the other hand, immediately adapted to the situation and swerved northeast. Elle didn't notice the slight change in direction or the ever-quickening pace of the horse. The two practically flew across the snow and began climbing the new ridge diagonally. Elle clutched the reigns tightly and wanted nothing more than to sink into a hole.

Pain. White hot pain broke through the ever-present chill. Elle' shoulder was on fire. The shivering girl looked down to see a dirty, misshapen arrow stuck through her shoulder, just above her collarbone. "No. Rosie! They're here!" The words barely left her mouth before they were nearly on top of them. Six orcs riding what looked like huge, rabid wolves leaped from behind a snow-covered hill Elle hadn't noticed. Rosie neighed and switched directions, attempting to keep them away. Elle saw a blur cut through the diagonally-falling snow. An arrow pierced Rosie's back thigh. Silvery-red blood poured down the horse's leg, slowing her a beat.

Elle's body moved on its own. Without thinking, Elle's squeezed her thighs as hard as she could and let go of the reigns. She twisted in her saddle and grabbed the dark, dirty shaft of the arrow. Ignoring the one in her own shoulder, Elle pulled quickly to free the horse of the arrow. Blood continued to rush out, but Rosie no longer slowed. The momentary loss in pace was enough. A heavy hand fell onto the girl's shoulder, above the red stain on her green cloak. Elle screamed.

Rosie twisted around to bring Elle away from the foe, but the girl's hands were still apart from the reigns. Elle was lifted from the saddle and Rosie twisted from underneath. The leather-clad giant threw Elle hard onto the back of the wolf-creature. The heavy hand held her against the mud-matted fur. Elle saw Rosie stop and face them.

"NO! Leave Rosie! Go! You can't die for me too! Get back to Mirkwood! Go ho-" a blow to the head silenced her. As her vision failed her, she saw the brown blur of her friend hesitate, turn, and flee.

"Thank god," Elle murmured as she lost consciousness.

Legolas sat on a boulder, looking out over a slimy lake. He waited with the others for an answer to a dwarven riddle. They intended to enter the mines of Moria. Legolas did not like this decision to go under the mountains, but that is not what worried him the most.

A great unease had settled in the elf's mind, infesting him with worry. The worry was not for him or the Company. Elle was the one who troubled his thoughts. Something was wrong. Legolas rubbed an ache from his shoulder.

He hoped he was simply imagining things.