Chapter Six: The Crossing of the Anduin
By Ellwyn J
The waters of the Anduin where they merged with the Entwash were tranquil. But under the smooth, flawless surface, there were sharp outcroppings of rocks and small but treacherous maelstroms that pulled at anything in the water with a terrible force. Legolas had seldom seen the regions this far south from his forest home, and he sat, kneeling next to the water for quite some time. He gazed into the water deeply, as if he were trying to penetrate its smooth surface to see what really was hidden beneath, to no avail. Finally he straightened and turned around to look at the disconcerted girl standing nearby with the black horse.
"It looks easy to cross," Ellwyn input timidly, "and shallow enough to ford through."
The elf nodded and looked back at the dark water. "It does. But looks can be deceiving. I cannot see where exactly, but I think the bottom drops off out there," he pointed to the midsection of the wide river, "and I do not know how deep it will get."
Ellwyn looked at the great river with much uneasiness. "If we have to swim, then we will," she replied after a moment's pause, "I spent my life in a city on the water."
"I doubt that you will have any trouble," he admitted quietly, "but I too rarely have had to swim across such a wide expanse of water. And then there is Phaere…"
"She can swim when she has to. I can lead her across," Ellwyn said confidently.
Legolas nodded. "Nothing will come of us standing here debating whether to cross…we may as well go now," he said with a sigh. He slung his bow and quiver off and walked over to Phaere to tie them to her harness. Then he began unbuttoning his green and brown tunic. Ellwyn watched him quietly, wide-eyed.
"What are you doing?" she managed to ask finally.
He raised his eyes to meet her stare. "What do you mean? If we have to swim against the currents, our clothes will only hinder us. And it is still cold…dry clothes will do us good when we reach the other side." He saw the girl redden, feeling quite foolish at asking such an obvious question, and smiled to himself. "Avo gosto," he said reassuringly, "ú -tirithon na le ae ú-anírag."
Ellwyn looked at him in frustration. "You know I do not understand your words," she bit out at him.
He laughed. "I just told you not to worry; I will not look at you if you do not wish it so."
She blushed even more and muttered a quiet, "oh," then watched speechlessly as he slid the tunic off his shoulders to reveal his lean shoulders and well built chest. Then he removed his light boots and slung them over Phaere's back and, in doing so, caught Ellwyn gazing at him. She hastily averted her eyes and he grinned at her, causing her to flush scarlet. He continued looking at her, and Ellwyn found herself wondering why he had not begun to swim across yet. Then she realized he was waiting for her so they could cross together to help each other and Phaere. She wanted to slap herself for standing there so stupidly.
Ellwyn reached up and undid the silver clasp shaped like a leaf that held part of her hair back in the Elven fashion. Legolas watched all her dark ebony hair fall to her shoulders before she pulled it all up, twisted it atop her head, and used the clasp to hold it there. Then she removed her cloak and slid her bow off her shoulders just as he had done, hooking them onto the horse's harness. She took off her black gloves and boots and undid the ties that attached her sleeves to her tunic so that her arms were laid bare against the biting cold air.
She turned to face Legolas, who was still watching her. "I thought you said you would not look," she said with a hint of playfulness.
It was his turn to blush, but she saw a smile flitting across his lips, and he walked over to stand behind her. He kissed her shoulder and entwined his fingers in hers. Ellwyn shrugged him off. "We have a river to cross," she said.
Legolas nodded, showing only the smallest trace of his hurt at being shrugged off. Ellwyn took Phaere's harness and led her into the water until she was standing knee deep. Legolas followed on the other side of the horse.
When they were standing in the water up to their waists, he saw her beginning to lose her balance and reached out to steady her, putting an arm around her waist. He could fee her shivering in the icy water and squeezed her hand reassuringly. "We must get across quickly unless we are to freeze," he said. Ellwyn replied by immersing herself completely in the water, crying out softly with pain as she did so. The water stabbed at her like millions of knives. She began to swim out quickly, leading the hesitant horse to the deepest areas of the river. Legolas followed as best he could, finding that the bottom of the river had long since dropped away.
They were more than halfway across when Phaere began to thrash, fighting the current that had caught her and was pulling her under. Ellwyn turned and held onto the horse's harness while Legolas vainly tried to push Phaere to safe waters. The horse kicked out with her forelegs suddenly, and Legolas heard a cry on the other side of Phaere. The horse was out of the undercurrent now and was already nearing the bank. He searched with his eyes desperately where Ellwyn had been last, but the water there was calm again, and he was swiftly being carried to the other side by the fast flowing water. He fought hard against the current and sharply drew in a breath before diving headfirst under water, his heart pounding.
The water was dark, and Legolas could see almost nothing but shadows, even with his keen Elven eyes. He reached around wildly, hoping desperately to find the unconscious girl. His lungs were beginning to ache for air, and he felt his vision clouding. Legolas felt completely helpless. He tried to shout out her name by reflex, but only a burst of bubbles issued from his mouth. His lungs screamed at him, and just as he was about to kick back to the surface against his will, his fingers brushed against something soft. He looked down to see Ellwyn, floating in the water near him, her eyes fluttering as if she was trying to say something. Legolas quickly pulled her to him and kicked upwards with all his might.
Legolas finally reached the shore, dragging himself with the last of his strength onto the sandy bank. He choked on the sharp air that eased the pain of his lungs. Phaere was standing a few feet away, eyeing her master curiously, who was lying on the sand next to the elf, unconscious. Legolas bent over her and listened for her breathing, finding none. Without hesitating, he closed his mouth over hers and breathed into her lifeless body.
The girl abruptly began to choke. Ellwyn rolled over to her hands and knees and coughed violently, purging her body of mouthfuls of water. Exhausted, she collapsed on the sand once more and lay there, gasping.
"Mellen, eg mae?" he asked. She raised her eyes with much difficulty to look at him questioningly. "My dear, are you well?" he translated softly, beckoning the horse to come. He took Ellwyn's cloak from the horse and carefully draped it over her shivering body.
She tried to smile, although it came out to be more of a grimace, and managed to choke out, "Vea mae vea harthui aen, mellen. As well as I can be."
He grinned warmly and helped her sit up, then reached up to take the rest of their clothes from Phaere's pack. He dried himself off and dressed quickly, then tied the sleeves of Ellwyn's tunic back on and helped her into her boots. Her hair had fallen out when Phaere had kicked her and now it was hanging about her face in wet strands. Legolas used her cloak to rub her hair thoroughly. She reached up with shivering fingers for the clasp that was not there.
"It was lost in the river," he replied, seeing her distress. She nodded, biting down on her lip. It had been the last remembrance she had of her old life, the silver leaf that her father gave her, telling her it had been her mother's. Ellwyn shoved her memories into the back of her head, reminding herself that this was no time to be lamenting over the past. She felt her strength returning and stood with some effort. Legolas draped the cloak over her shoulders and fastened it with her silver brooch for her, then raised her chin with his hand and gazed steadfastly into her eyes.
"I thought I had lost you in the river as well," he said, his voice trembling. Suddenly Legolas embraced her tightly, pressing his face against her still wet hair.
Ellwyn felt warmth spread through her as he held her, and she felt herself relaxing slightly. But something nagged in the back of her mind. She saw the fear and sudden need in his eyes, and couldn't help but think how he would react when her destiny was suddenly revealed to him at the unfinished tower of Cirith Ungol. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted their journey to last forever, just to be with Legolas and forget everything. She let him hold her for a moment longer, then pulled herself away from his desperate embrace.
"We must reach Minas Morgul," she reminded him gently, "before the tower is completed, or my father will disappear into the black lands once more."
Legolas shook himself out of his reverie and looked into her dark determined eyes. "Yes," he replied, although he did not want to be reminded of the journey ahead of them.
Ellwyn sighed and stroked her horse's nose. "Don't ever do that again," she whispered to her, and it seemed to Legolas that Phaere cast her eyes down in guilt. The half Elven girl smiled and climbed onto the horse's back. Legolas followed.
* * * * *
They were traveling through the grasslands of the Nindalf now, and the air was dry and crisp. The day drew to an end as the sun dipped below the horizon. Ellwyn looked out at the dark, jagged mountains to the east and shivered. Those mountains, the Ephel Duath, loomed formidably to remind her constantly that she was nearing the end of her journey, and of her life, if she were to succeed in finding her father. There were still many leagues across the plains and the lands of North Ithilien to the dark tower that was being built, but she was closer now than she had ever dreamed to be.
Legolas felt her trembling and held her closer, nestling his face in her dark hair, which now hung loosely about her shoulders. "Man raeg, mellen?" he whispered, then said, "What is wrong?"
Before she could reply, a shrill cry echoed from behind a hill. They both froze and Phaere began to paw the ground restlessly. Legolas scanned the horizon carefully, shielding his eyes from the bright sun's light. His keen ears picked up the sound of many feet trampling the grass, and he slid off the horse. He reached back to take an arrow and notched his bow.
A line of dark, bent figures suddenly appeared on the horizon. Legolas stood ready, and Ellwyn sat motionless. The figures approached. "Yrch," the elf bit out with disgust. He took aim as the Orcs, spotting the rider and elf, ran towards them with ferocious cries that pierced the still air. Ellwyn shuddered at their filthy gray faces and the horrible sounds they made. But she could discern a few of the horrible sounds and realized what one of them was saying. A larger one halted the band of Orcs, which consisted of about twenty of the creatures. It spoke in its ugly tongue and pointed to Ellwyn. She felt a shiver run down her spine.
Then she noticed Legolas was tensing his arm and was about to let the arrow fly. She quickly put a hand on his shoulder to stop him, and he looked up at her, bewildered.
"They will kill us!" he said fiercely.
"No," she replied with finality, and turned Phaere to face the leader of the Orcs.
It spoke and she caught a few words, piecing them together. Their leader had known of the approach of two riders upon one horse from the northwest, and had sent them to receive the intruders. Obviously it had been the work of the black bird they had seen earlier. Then the Orc muttered in its horrible language of jargon that they had been told to bring the riders straight to the tower, where their master could confront the two.
All this while, Legolas stood, fighting back the urge to kill them. They were at such a close range and the Orcs had grouped around them, surrounding them from all sides. Legolas felt a mounting fear and stared at Ellwyn as if trying to understand what was in her mind.
Then the Orc was silent, and Ellwyn spoke into the frigid air. What Legolas heard was the language of the Orcs, coming from the mouth of the girl he loved. He wanted to shut out the hated sounds but could only stare in fear and great astonishment at Ellwyn. Legolas bit down hard on his lower lip and drew in a shaky breath. Finally, she stopped speaking and the Orc standing in front of her motioned to several of the Orcs standing nearby. Ellwyn dismounted.
She handed them her weapons and they quickly wrenched her arms painfully behind her back and bound her wrists together with a rough rope. Legolas opened his mouth in protest but was silenced at a fierce look from Ellwyn. With much effort, he slung his bow and quiver on the ground and let the Orcs bind him roughly. Then the Orcs pushed the two of them briskly and they began to march, across the gray plains, towards the break in the Ephel Duath where the building of the dark tower was almost completed.
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All names, places, or plot/history affiliated with LOTR are entitled to J.R.R. Tolkien. The rest is from my imagination. If there are any errors in the history/land/names of anything related to Tolkien's works, please inform me.
