Note: Hi everyone. So sorry it took me so long to update. I haven't been very well recently (as anyone who follows my blog will know Web address on my profile page) I have been finding it very difficult to concentrate and my mind hasn't been in the right place to write Nariel. I am hoping to get back to my normal posting rate soon but my health has been very unpredictable recently. Also please Read&Review- Grimreaper_PT

Nariel the Red

Chapter 52: On the Edge of Fangorn

The smell was overwhelming, the scent of burning flesh. Far worse than the usual stench of the foul creatures, was the smell when their corpses were burnt. With that smell in the air Nariel couldn't sense anything else. Looking around all they could see were the burning piles of corpses and the smoke billowing towards the sky. There were no signs of the hobbits. "Mortals die" she thought but it gave her no comfort. They shouldn't be dead, they couldn't.

She was brought out of her thoughts by Aragorn's scream of frustration as he kicked a helmet on the ground. They all watched as he fell to his knees, each of them knowing how he felt. They felt useless. They had failed. Suddenly Aragorn leant forward and filled them all with hope again. "A hobbit lay here, and another. They crawled. Their hands were bound. Their bonds were cut. They ran over here. They were followed. The tracks lead away from the battle... and into the forest."

As one they all looked towards the trees. Fangorn. One of the oldest forests left on Arda, and they all knew what that meant. The trees were wild, and fearful. Gimli was the first to voice his thoughts. "Fangorn! What madness drove them in there?"

Soon they were looking for a place to camp, away from the burning corpses. It was getting late and none of them wanted to track through the trees in the dark. Even Legolas was wary. He did not fear the forest, but that didn't mean he wanted to walk around amongst the trees in the dark, especially with Nariel so heavily pregnant. They made camp near the tree-line away from the fire and set a watch.

Nariel snapped awake. She could still smell the Uruk's on the edge of her senses but there was something else. Something familiar but faint. She turned to her right to see Legolas was awake as well, he pointed across to a figure on the other side of their camp fire. He nudged the others awake and they watched as the old man approached slowly. Suddenly their horses sprinted away and when they looked back the man was gone. "Who was that?" Gimli asked gripping his axe tightly. "Nariel?" she shook her head, the scent had been so faint. "Saruman, I think it was Saruman" As Legolas re-laid her thoughts Nariel looked towards the trees, she had caught something else.