Chapter 16; Flight of the Ford
Conner place his hand on Ethan's cheek, it's feels that he is growning cold, Ethan…? He's grown cold!" Conner ask strider,
"Is he going to die?" asked Blake.
"He's passing to the Shadow World," said Strider, "he'll soon become a Wraith, like them."
Strider's explanation causes more distress among the group.
After Strider made his promise…
Sounds hollered in the night!
"They're close!" Hunter exclaimed a whisper.
Strider then had a suggestion. "Conner," called Strider, "do you know the Athelas plant?"
"Athelas?" Conner asked confused.
"Kingsfoil," Strider clarified for him.
"Kingsfoil, aye," answered Conner, "it's a weed."
"It may help to slow the poison. Hurry!"
Conner and Strider then scatter around for the Kingsfoil that may help Ethan. Strider then stumbles upon the Kingsfoil plant and uses his knife to cut. Then…
…Out of nowhere…
A sword appears beneath Strider's neck…
"What's this," said a female voice, "a ranger caught off his guard."
Ethan laying in the ground, as he sees someone coming… and backs away slowly. Ethan, still passing into the Shadow World…
Spots a she-elf, coming towards him, on a horse. The She-elf then dismounts from her horse and walks slowly toward Ethan…
She was very beautiful in the Shadow World…
She had long, black hair… and wore a glowing, long-white dress.
She knelt down to the injured Hobbit, "…Ethan… Im Kira. Telin le thaed (I'm Kira. I've come to help you)…"
"Lasto beth nin, tolo dan nan galad (Hear my voice, come back to the light)," Kira instructed Ethan.
As Ethan does what Arwen instructed…
A black stain spreads across his eyes. The poison is starting to take over…
The group wondered about Kira.
"Who is she?" asked Hunter.
"Ethan!" Kira called out silently, kneeling besides Ethan.
Kira was dressed in an elf warrior outfit in reality, and her hair was tied in a ponytail. Strider was beside her as he chewed up the Kingsfoil plant… and presses it into the wound.
"She's an Elf," stated Conner.
Arwen concludes her observation of Ethan, "he's not going to last… we must get him to my father!" Strider picks up Ethan with Kira behind them.
"I've been," said Kira, "looking for you for two days…"
"Where are you taking him?" wondered Blake, but neither Strider nor Kira could hear him…
Kira continued stating, "…there are five Wraiths behind you. Where the other four are, I do not know."
Strider then mounts Ethan on the horse.
"Dartho guin berian. Rych le ad tolthathon (Stay with the hobbits. I'll send horses for you.)," said Strider in Elvish to his elf friend.
"Hon mabathon (I'm the faster rider)," countered Kira, in Elvish, "rochon ellint im (I will take him)."
"Andelu i ven (The road is too dangerous)."
The others couldn't understand their language. "What are they saying?" asked Blake…
Kira went on, "…Ethan fir. Ae athradon i hir, tur gwaith nin beriatha hon (If I can get across the river, the power of my people will protect him). I do not fear them."
Kira and Strider held their hands together in a loving, romantic touch.
"Beyest lin," said Strider. Kira smiled and mounted onto her horse.
"Kira," said Strider, "ride hard, don't look back."
Then Kira commanded her horse, "noro lim, Asfaloth! Noro lim!" The horse then rode off.
Conner was still concerned as he cried out, "what are you doing? Those Wraiths are still out there!"
While Conner was full of despair… Strider could do nothing more than fill Himself with a shred of hope…
Kira rode Ethan as fast and as hard as she could to get Ethan to Rivendell. Ethan's struggle was weakening. Kira rode into a forest as she was almost near the river. Kira thought that her rescue of Frodo would be easy. She told Strider that she was prepared to fight the Ringwraiths. She was about to get her wish…
The Ringwraiths themselves started to come up from behind her…
She looked to her side to see one of the Wraiths beside her…
Then she looked to her other side to see another Wraith beside her, through the trees…
There were just a few of them at first…
But then…
The numbers became greater as she raced out of the woods… and into a clearing meadow. Kira was still… ahead of the wraiths. Despite her head start… the wraiths were now, hot on Ethan's trail…!
Kira rode faster… and faster, as nearly all the Ringwraiths were behind her and Ethan, intending to kill them both. The chase began…!
The riders began to reach for Ethan, screeching their cries. He was nearly out of time. The Wraiths screeched more of their cries… as they were closing in on Ethan… getting closer and closer…
Kira commanded her horse again, "noro lim, Asfaloth!" Her horse, Asfaloth, went as fast as he could…
…The chase intensified each moment… as Kira raced her horse into another patch of the woods, scattering and dodging around the trees that were standing… and jumping over the downed trees around her, attempting to lose them, trying her best to keep Ethan from the Ringwraiths' reach…
Finally…
Kira and Ethan reached the river… crossed it… and stopped, at least halfway. The Wraiths, on Kira and Ethan's trail… stopped at the water's edge, not wanting to enter the river…
They screeched and screeched in great agony. Then… one of the Wraiths spoke, "give up the halfling, She-Elf!"
Kira drew her sword, "if you want him, come and claim him!" She challenged.
The Wraiths met her challenge as they drew their swords… and began to cross the river. As they did…
Kira began chanting to the water…
Nin o Chithaeglir, lasto beth daer… Rimmo nin Bruinen dan in Ulaer…!
The river started to rise as Kira continued chanting…
Nin o Chithaeglir, lasto beth daer… Rimmo nin Bruinen dan in Ulaer…!
The river continued to rise…
…And then rushed out as a flood of water that washes down the riverbed, being led by white horse-shapes! The Ringwraiths feared the rushing water and began to flee…
But the water was too fast for them to get away. The water crashed onto them… and slowly… but surely… washed the Wraiths away from Kira and Ethan.
Afterwards, Ethan was losing his battle against the poison, as his breathing grew short. She immediately dismounted off her horse and lays Ethan on the ground…
"No, Ethan! No! Ethan, don't give in, not now!"
But it seemed too late…
Ethan stopped his breathing… leaving Kira grieving tears for Ethan. She holds him softly… and passionately in her arms, communicating her thoughts to her father…
What grace is given me…
Let it pass to him…
Let him be spared…
Save him…
Ethan's world started to dissolve into light, surrounded by the chanting of the Elves…
"…Lasto beth nin," called out Sensei Kanoi, one of the Elves, "…tolo dan nan galad… "
