Chapter 11: Ice Veiled Mountain

Quinn couldn't move.

She was completely buried in the snow, curled in a partial fetal position, and she wasn't really sure which way was up. She couldn't move her limbs more than an inch, and even that small motion caused an excruciating pain to shoot through her body.

She'd probably been unconscious long enough to literally get frozen. And if she was buried, the others wouldn't be able to find her—if they were even still alive.

No. The others were fine. They had to be. In fact, they were probably more fine than her, and she could definitely use some help digging herself out of this snow.

Quinn forced her jaw open, and let out a groan as pain shot through the lower half of her face, worse than any cavity she'd ever gotten in her old life. She could almost hear her old dentist saying, This is what happens when you don't floss.

She stretched and moved her jaw until she had a good range of motion with it, and blinked a few times for good measure. Now she could see the grayish layer of snow spread over her face, and hopefully call for help.

"Okay." Quinn winced. Her face was sore, but at least she could move it. "Uh, is anyone else out there?"

Maybe the others had been buried in the snow, or the fall from the cliff had—

She cut the rest of that thought off. With everything that was at stake, their Fellowship wasn't going to get taken out by a fucking avalanche. She'd get the rest of her body moving and dig them out one by one if she had to.

She decided to start with her right arm. That way, she'd be able to draw her sword and possibly use it to signal the others. She tried flexing her fingers, and hissed through her teeth.

"Ah, motherfucking shit. Come on, you stupid fucking fingers." She raised her voice. "If anyone wants to come dig me out—!"

Slowly, she was able to get some more motion in her fingers, and clenched her right hand into a fist. Okay. On to the elbow.

"Stupid fucking wizard thinks he can drop a fucking snowstorm on us…See how he likes it when I Batista Bomb him off his own fucking tower." Something took hold of her foot, and she paused. "Hey! Who's grabbing my foot?"

"It's me," Aragorn said, his voice slightly muffled by the snow.

He took hold of her ankle and pulled her out of the snowdrift. The motion was enough to straighten out her right leg, and she clenched her jaw as pain shot from her toes to her hip. She blinked against the bright white light.

Aragorn was kneeling at her side, and Boromir, Sam, and Frodo were standing nearby.

"Hey, guys," she said, her voice shaking slightly. "Thank god you found me. Thought I was gonna be stuck in there."

Boromir stepped forward with a frown. "What's wrong? Can you not move?"

"Uh, no. I think I'm actually frozen."

The four of them stared at her.

"Like in the movie Frozen," Quinn added, mostly to fill the awkward silence.

"How are you still alive?" Boromir asked, sounding slightly horrified.

"Well, I'm not." Quinn glanced around at the others. By now, she was sure everyone knew something was up with her, but only Frodo knew the full truth about her situation. "I'm kinda dead. It's a long story. But the point is, I'm frozen stiff right now, and I'd really like to get moving again."

Frodo stepped forward and knelt down next to Aragorn. "Perhaps we could light a fire. Would that help thaw you out?"

"Sounds like a good start," she said. She was starting to wish they could just skip to the active volcano part of the quest.

Aragorn took some wood from his pack and started fashioning a torch. "Let's make this quick. We need to get moving."

"So you really are a Wraith Knight," Boromir said.

"Uh…sure? I mean, I feel like the word 'wraith' has some baggage to it, and I'm not really a knight either." She let out a sigh of relief as Aragorn held the now lit torch close to her arm. "Oh, god, that feels so much better. Get my joints first."

Frodo moved to her other side and held her left hand in between both of his. "Does this help?"

"A little. Thanks, man." She gave him a small smile. He and Sam were both shivering, but she appreciated him trying to share what little warmth he had. "By the way, where are the others?" She tried to lift her head to look around, but her neck was still frozen.

"We couldn't find them," Boromir said. "They must have been buried in the snow."

"What?" Quinn tried to sit up, and failed. Aragorn had finished with her right arm, and she rolled her shoulder with a wince. "What do you mean, they were buried in the snow?"

"We don't know what happened to them," Aragorn said. "The avalanche carried us far from the path we were on. They may have been swept off to another part of the mountain."

"Shit." Quinn propped herself up on one elbow and tried to get some feeling back into her torso. Toven was out there, and so were Merry, Pippin, Gimli, Legolas, Gandalf… "How the hell are we gonna find them?"

"We need to find the pass again," Aragorn said. "Let's head west, try and make it to that ridge over there." He pointed to the crest of rock, which was nearly invisible among the swirling white snow.

Quinn was finally able to bend her left leg, and pushed herself to her feet with a grunt. She was definitely going to be sore for a while, but at least she could move. "Okay. Let's go."

Aragorn extinguished the torch in the snow and held her back as Boromir, Sam, and Frodo moved ahead. "We need to turn back and make it off this mountain."

She frowned at him. "Well, yeah, but we're gonna look for the others, right?"

He glanced at the retreating backs of the hobbits. "We need to get Frodo and Sam to safety. They won't last much longer up here."

"Are you kidding me? With their hobbit body fat?" At Aragorn's unimpressed look, she spread her hands. "We can't just leave the rest of them up here."

Aragorn stepped closer. "We came on this journey to protect Frodo, at risk to our own lives. We have to make sure he survives this."

Quinn looked away. If it came down to it, could she choose between her promise to protect Frodo and looking for Toven?

Maybe if she'd listened to Belekur and taken out Saruman, none of this would have happened.

She sighed and brushed a layer of snow from her face. "Let's just try and find the pass first."

Aragorn held her gaze for a moment longer, then nodded, and the two of them went to catch up with the others.

Toven shut his eyes and waited for his head to stop spinning. He didn't know if he'd blacked out, or how long it had been since the avalanche had carried them off the cliff. His body was encased in snow, and he couldn't stop shivering.

"Fuck." He shifted, trying to clear a space for himself, and winced as some snow fell onto his face. Well, at least he knew which way was up.

His body felt bruised, but it didn't seem anything was broken, so he braced a hand against the wall of snow above him. It was hard, and tightly packed, but he felt a slight give as he pushed harder.

There wasn't much room to maneuver, but he kept scraping and pushing, hoping the snow would become less dense, and that he wasn't too deeply buried. His breaths were coming faster, and strange patterns spiraled through the snow above him.

I'm running out of air.

Toven grit his teeth and shoved his shoulder upwards, trying to break through the snow. It lifted slightly, but settled back down a second later.

"Come on." Trying to keep his breathing slow and even, he dug his fist through the snow, pushing as far upwards as he could.

Someone grabbed his hand, and he gasped as he was pulled the rest of the way out of the snow. He stumbled and braced his hands on his knees, gulping in the frigid air. He didn't think he'd ever be so glad to feel the freezing wind.

"Are you all right?" Legolas asked, helping to steady him.

"Well, I'm alive." Toven pushed a few strands of hair from his face and looked around. They were standing in the middle of a snow-covered slope, and the sky above them was dark and clouded. "Where is everyone else?"

"I was only able to find one other. Come." Legolas started up the slope, his footsteps light and quick.

"Don't let me slow you down," Toven muttered, trudging after him.

At the top of the incline was a rocky overhang, which had been covered in snow on one side to make a small cave of sorts. Toven ducked inside and squatted down. Legolas was waiting for him next to Merry, who was sitting with his knees drawn up to his chest.

Merry turned to Legolas with a frown. "Is that all?"

"Good to see you too," Toven said, settling down on the cold stone.

"Sorry." Merry looked back and forth between the two of them. "I mean, you didn't find anyone else? Not Pippin, or…or Frodo and Sam?"

Legolas shook his head. "The snow was silent, as far as I could tell. Perhaps they were swept off somewhere else."

Toven suddenly felt sick. He'd been able to dig himself out, but what if the others hadn't been so lucky? How were they supposed to search this whole mountain for their lost friends?

And Quinn…she wasn't good with the cold. It wouldn't kill her, but it would be enough to leave her trapped.

"I found a tunnel while I was looking around," Legolas said, bringing him back to the present. "Perhaps it will lead us back to the pass."

"I suppose we don't have another choice," Merry said, pushing himself to his feet.

They emerged from the small shelter, and Toven winced as a biting wind swept across the slope. He wanted badly to stop and rest, and preferably light another fire, but they needed to get moving if they wanted to find the others. If they were still alive, they didn't have much time left.

"It's not far," Legolas said, and started leading them south.

"I hope he doesn't leave us behind," Merry said lowly as the elf moved easily over the snow.

Toven glanced at him. The snow was up to his knees, but for a hobbit it was closer to waist height. "Just walk behind me. I'll try and clear a path."

They forged on. Toven's muscles were already sore from the past two days of trudging through snow, and exhaustion was beginning to slow him down. Legolas remained ahead, but he never strayed out of sight, stopping to wait whenever they lagged too far behind.

Toven's foot caught a hard-packed bit of snow, and he stumbled. He managed to catch himself with a curse, and straightened up.

"Are you all right?" Merry asked from behind him.

"I'm fine." He sighed. "I'll be glad when we're off this mountain. I just wish we had some warmer weather to greet us at the bottom."

"Are there any villages around where we could stop?"

Toven turned away so Merry couldn't see his smile. "No, there are no villages. Our best luck with finding a roof over our heads would probably be turning back to Rivendell."

"That's a shame. I wouldn't mind a nice tavern, a pint of ale and a fire to warm my toes…"

He closed his eyes, indulging in the image for a brief moment. "I wouldn't mind that either. I would kill for a hot spring."

"What is that?"

"Naturally heated pools. They have some in Erebor." He turned around to look at Merry. "Imagine a bathtub, big enough to fit twenty dwarves, filled with hot water."

"That does sound nice." Merry wrapped his cloak around him. "Though I think I'll pass on the twenty dwarves."

Toven snorted a laugh and turned back around. He'd been young when he'd left Erebor, so most of his memories were mere images, snatches of sound and smells, but all of it left a fondness in his heart. He meant to go back someday, and hopefully he would get the chance after this was all over.

Legolas was waiting for them near the cliff face, by a small opening in the snow. "Through here," he said, and ducked into the opening.

Toven followed him through, and his eyes widened as he looked around. The tunnel wasn't made of stone or snow, but ice. The walls shone a glistening blue, and he reached out to feel the smooth surface.

Then he cursed as his foot slipped and he nearly lost his balance.

"Careful," he said, righting himself. "The floor's slippery."

"I can see that," Merry said, moving farther into the tunnel.

Legolas, of course, was walking ahead with no trouble. Toven suppressed a grumble and moved on. At least they were out of the wind for now.

The ice walls took on a rippling shape, as though they'd been frozen mid-current. A few icicles hung from the ceiling. Toven could see bits of rock suspended in a particularly clear section of the ice.

"Does that look like a fish to you?" Merry pointed to a dark shape deeper in the ice that did, indeed, look like a fish.

Toven wiped away a layer of frost to try and get a better look. "How does a fish end up frozen at the top of a mountain?"

"That sounds like one of the riddles Bilbo used to tell."

He shrugged and kept walking. "Legolas, do you know if this tunnel leads somewhere? Because—"

Merry grabbed his wrist. "Did you see that?"

"What?"

"There was something moving in the ice!"

Toven looked at him, then at the wall he was staring at, then back at him. "Are you playing a trick on me?"

"No! I saw something move, there." He pointed to the section of clear ice.

Legolas walked towards them, his bow at the ready. "What did you see?"

"I-I don't know. I only caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye." Merry half-glared at both of them, as though daring them to disagree.

Toven frowned at the ice for a moment longer. "It was probably just a trick of the light. Let's keep going."

"I can feel the air moving up ahead," Legolas said. "We must be getting close to the exit."

They continued on without any further issue, though Toven found his eyes darting to either wall, searching for a hint of movement. This mountain had already tried to kill them multiple times, and with Saruman's influence at hand, he didn't think it was quite done with them yet.

They emerged from the tunnel onto another snowy slope. The landscape still looked unfamiliar.

"Any idea where we should go next?" Toven asked, moving a little ways down the slope. "I don't recognize this place."

"Look out!" Merry cried.

He turned to the left. Something was moving towards them at a great speed, sending up a wave of snow with its movement. Toven didn't even have time to draw his sword before it was upon them. Something solid slammed into his chest, sending him flying backwards. He hit the ground and rolled to a stop.

"What the hell…" Spitting out a chunk of snow, Toven looked up. A rapidly growing ball of ice was forming right above him. "Oh, shit."

He rolled away just before the ice slammed down with enough force to send up a spray of snow. It lifted up and moved above him again.

An arrow pierced the ice, causing it to shatter. Toven scrambled away as shards of ice fell around him. He pushed himself to his feet and drew his sword.

Great. Now the snow's attacking us.

Legolas nocked another arrow in his bow, scanning the slope. Merry had moved closer to him, his own small sword drawn.

A spire of white erupted from the ground, a vortex of snow swirling around it. Toven took several steps back as the snow beneath his feet began to slide towards it.

Legolas fired another arrow into the column, but the wind simply redirected it, and it spun away down the slope. The vortex began to expand, and Toven moved farther back.

That thing is going to swallow us whole. He'd never seen anything like this before, but he'd heard tales of restless spirits wandering the lands north of the East Road. Perhaps this was something similar.

Quinn had rambled a lot about monsters, both real and imaginary, and something she'd said came back to him now: They always have a weak point. It's probably going to be an eye or some kind of glowy spot, but if you hit it a bunch of times with your sword, it'll probably die.

Well, it wasn't as if they had anything else to go on. Toven kept his sword up and scanned the vortex. At the center of the snowy spire was a faint glow. If they were able to reach that, maybe they would be able to beat this thing.

He jogged up the slope and reached Legolas. "We need to hit this thing in its heart." He pointed. "Where the light is coming from."

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Legolas had another arrow nocked, and was scanning the vortex as if searching for an opening.

The winds were still expanding, and were nearly upon them. Toven's eyes fell upon the column of white.

"The center looks solid enough." He tightened his grip on his sword. "I'll see if I can break it apart."

Legolas turned to him, his blond hair whipped by the wind. "You can't go in there."

"Well, shout if you have a better idea," Toven said, and leapt forward.

Merry shouted something at him, but it was snatched away by the howling winds. They immediately shoved him to the side, and Toven braced one hand against the ground as he fell. Snow slashed at his exposed skin.

With a growl, he pushed himself up, digging his boots into the snow, and began fighting his way towards the center. The wind pushed at him and tore at his clothing, and the whirling ice stung, but he stayed low and crept forward.

The white column was nearly within reach. The wind was strong here, whirling around him with such force that he could hardly move. Toven shut his eyes against the stinging snow, raised his sword, and let a gust of wind carry the force of his strike.

The blade passed clean through the column of ice, which began to crumble. The winds began to die down, and Toven let out a sigh of relief—he hadn't even realized that he'd been holding his breath.

He stepped back, his cheeks stinging. "Did that do it?"

The crumbled pile of ice and snow began to rise again, the glow within pulsating brightly.

"Of course not." Toven raised his sword again.

"Toven, get down!" Merry shouted.

He dropped into a crouch, and turned in time to see Merry hurl a lit torch right into the center of the ice. The flame glowed orange for a split second, illuminating the mass of snow, and then the pile collapsed. A shriek sounded, swiftly carried away by the wind, and a shadow darted from the mass and disappeared down the slope.

Toven brought his boot down on the pile of snow, crushing and spreading it until he was sure it wouldn't rise again.

"The shadow is gone," Legolas said, joining him. "Whatever that was, I don't think it will attack us again."

"Let's hope not." Toven turned to Merry, who was walking towards them. "You have incredible aim, you know that?"

He smiled. "Perhaps it was just a lucky shot."

"Are you injured?" Legolas asked.

"A little sore from when that thing first hit me." Toven rubbed his side with a wince. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, he was starting to feel it. "I'm just about ready to get off this damn mountain."

"Agreed. Let's try the path over there." Legolas pointed with his bow, and began leading the way down the slope. Toven and Merry exchanged a weary glance, and began trudging after him.

"The pass is close. We should be able to reach it in another hour."

Quinn finished helping Frodo to the top of the ridge and turned to see what Aragorn was talking about. Sure enough, she could see a section of the pass that they'd traversed earlier. All that lay between them and the pass was a large, bowl-shaped indent in between the two ridges.

She turned to the hobbits. "You two okay? Do you need to stop and rest?"

"I think I can keep going," Sam said. He turned to the other. "How about you, Mister Frodo?"

"I'm all right for now," Frodo said, giving him a small smile.

Quinn let them go in front of her as Aragorn and Boromir led the way down the ridge. The two hobbits had always been tight, pretty much ever since she'd known Frodo, and part of her was glad that they'd ended up together after the avalanche. They both seemed a little more assured when the other was around.

They reached the bottom of the ridge and continued across the flat stretch of snow. The drifts were shallower here, reaching only halfway up her shins. Quinn looked up at the gray, shifting clouds with a frown. The weather seemed to have calmed down a little, but she wasn't ready to let her guard down. Maybe Saruman thought he'd killed them with that avalanche, but how had he known where they were in the first place?

She wasn't sure what Plan B was once they managed to get off the mountain, but the Gap of Rohan still seemed to be an option. It would definitely make their lives easier if they could take Saruman out on the way.

Maybe she'd ask Boromir about it, since that was closer to his home territory. She looked up at where he was walking ahead, and her eyes fell to the shield on his back.

"Hey, Boromir," she said. "You ever use that thing for shield surfing?"

He glanced back at her. "What?"

"Your shield." She pointed. "It's the perfect shape and size for shield surfing."

He blinked. "I don't know what that is."

"Maybe I'll show you sometime." Quinn smiled, but Boromir only turned around and kept walking.

Out of all the members of their Fellowship, Boromir was the only one she'd never met before, and it was clear he still didn't know what to make of her. She shrugged. She'd get him to crack eventually.

"Are you talking about sledding?" Frodo asked, falling into step beside her.

"It's a similar concept. But with shield surfing, you wanna try and stand up the whole time."

"We used to go sledding in the winter back home," Sam said. He gazed up at the mountain peak looming above them. "Those hills seem rather small, now."

"Oh, yeah, I bet you could get some wicked speed on some of these slopes." She grinned. "Once I went shield surfing in the Blue Mountains, and—"

Something cracked beneath her feet.

Quinn looked down. "…The hell?" She brushed some snow aside with her boot. Underneath was a layer of ice, which now had a few cracks running through it. "Hey, there's ice down here."

The others stopped and turned towards her.

"Quinn," Aragorn said. "Stay where you are. Frodo, Sam, move away from there. Slowly."

Quinn looked around and realized this whole area was unusually flat, and looking more bowl-shaped by the minute.

They'd stumbled onto a frozen lake.

"What do we do now?" Sam asked, turning to Aragorn.

She looked down at the ice again. Shit. If she fell in, that was probably going to be it for her.

"Spread out, and move slowly," Aragorn said. "We need to make it to the other side."

The authority in his voice was enough to shake her out of her panic. Quinn straightened and watched the others slowly back away from her. Gingerly, she took a step forward. She placed her weight on her other foot with a wince. The ice cracked again.

She looked up. The others were making their way to the other side, but Aragorn had stayed behind, and was beckoning to her.

Quinn took another shuffling step. Her hands were starting to shake. "Hey, promise me something?"

"What is it?"

"If I fall in, you better not jump in after me."

"You're not going to fall in. Just keep moving."

It was slow, painful progress across the ice. Quinn froze every time she heard even the slightest crack, though most of it seemed to be just the top layer shifting beneath her weight. Aragorn stayed a little ways ahead, encouraging her to keep moving every time she stopped.

They were nearly at the opposite bank, only a ten-foot stretch of ice between them and the others, when a loud splintering noise made them all tense up. Her stomach filling with dread, Quinn looked down, but the ice beneath her feet was intact. She looked over at Aragorn, who was staring at the spiderweb of cracks beneath his boots.

"Oh, shit." Quinn started towards him, but Aragorn held out a hand.

"Stop! Don't come any closer."

"Dude, that's bad. You're gonna fall in."

"You'll make it worse if you come this way." He gestured to the others with his chin. "Make for the bank."

"Fuck." Reluctantly, Quinn continued inching her way to the other side. She reached the edge without any problems, then turned back to Aragorn.

"We have to help him," Frodo said, watching the Ranger with wide eyes.

Sam was digging through his pack. After a moment, he pulled out a length of rope. "We can use this!"

"Here. Give it to me." Boromir took the rope, coiled it up, and tossed one end to Aragorn.

Aragorn caught the rope, and Quinn took hold of the other end, along with Boromir.

"You're almost there," she said. "You fall in, we'll yoink you right back out."

"We're going to what?" Boromir asked.

"Pull, genius." Quinn turned to Aragorn. "You ready?"

Aragorn had wrapped the rope around one hand a couple times. He took a step forward, and the ice beneath his feet shattered.

Quinn and Boromir yanked on the rope, pulling him out of the water and across the ice. He slid the remaining few feet to the bank and came to a halt in the snow.

"Holy shit, dude." Quinn pulled him to his feet. "That was close. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Aragorn said, rolling his shoulder with a wince. His boots were wet, but the rest of him looked fine. "Let's keep moving."

They turned and began climbing up the ridge. They were out of danger for now, but Quinn still felt slightly on edge. She reached the top of the incline and spread her hands.

"Anything else wanna fuck with us today?"

"Don't say that," Sam said, brushing some snow from his trousers with a scowl. "Our luck's rotten enough as is."

"It may have just taken a turn for the better." Frodo put a hand on Sam's shoulder and pointed. "Look!"

From here, they could see the path, and coming down one end were Toven, Legolas and Merry.

"Oh, thank god." Quinn let out a relieved laugh. She scooped up a snowball and hurled it in their direction.

The snow landed a few feet away from them, and all three immediately went for their weapons.

"Geez, I wonder what has them so jumpy." She started climbing down the slope and went to join her friends.

It wasn't long after their two groups reunited that Gandalf, Gimli, and Pippin came down the path, the latter holding the reins of their pony. Toven was relieved to see that everyone had survived, and doubly eager to leave this mountain behind for good.

Quinn slung an arm around his shoulders. "I still can't believe you guys got to fight a snow monster."

Toven glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "I'm sorry you missed out on the privilege of nearly being crushed to death by a ball of ice."

"Well, it was probably more exciting than almost getting dunked in a frozen lake." She released him and turned to get a better look at his face. "You're a little scratched up."

"I'm so cold I can barely feel it." He shrugged. "I'm fine."

Quinn opened her mouth to respond, but he shushed her as the others began discussing what to do next.

"We have to get off this mountain," Boromir said, arms crossed. "We can still make for the Gap of Rohan and take the West Road to my city."

Aragorn shook his head. "The Gap of Rohan takes us too close to Isengard. That way will be even more dangerous than this one."

Gimli inserted himself between the two men and pounded the handle of his axe into the snow. "If we cannot pass over the mountain, let us go under it! Let us go through the Mines of Moria."

Toven frowned. That was rapidly becoming their only option. Aragorn had dismissed that route earlier because they didn't know what was waiting for them there. But they knew with greater certainty that the Pass of Caradhras and the Gap of Rohan would lead to their deaths.

Everyone turned to Gandalf, who had remained silent, his gray robe and hat flecked with snow. He lifted his gaze and surveyed them all with stormy eyes. "Let the Ring-bearer decide."

And everyone shifted their gaze to Frodo. He looked at them with wide eyes, then turned to Sam, and some unspoken conversation passed between them.

It didn't seem fair to Toven, to place that decision on someone who had never even left the Shire before now. In a way, this was Frodo's mission, but that didn't mean he had to be burdened with the hard choices along with everything else.

"Frodo?" Gandalf prompted.

After another moment of deliberation, Frodo straightened and said, "We will go through the mines."

"So be it," Gandalf said lowly.

"Well, that sounds ominous," Quinn muttered as they began making their way down the path.

"I don't have a good feeling about this," Toven said. "But maybe they'll lose our trail when we pass through."

"Hey, I can think of a bright side to all of this."

He glanced at her. "What's that?"

She smirked. "It doesn't snow underground."

Toven laughed at that, and they went to catch up with the others.

Some of the stuff in this chapter was inspired by a DND campaign I'm running. My party just got out of a sequence in the snowy mountains after being separated by an avalanche, and I was like "hmm that's a pretty good plot point" so here it is. But yeah, this chapter was pretty fun to write, and I hope you enjoyed it!