Lizz: We're back! Didja miss us?
Kate: We know you did, so we'll just get to the important stuff.
Lizz: We apologize for the length of time it took to get this chapter up. A certain short co-authoress of this fanfic had a case of writers block *glare @Kate*.
Kate: *pouts* Humph. In reference to the question posed by Lestats Savage Garden, I am a fan of both the book and movie Frodo as well as Elijah Wood *grin*
Lizz: And I think Orlando Bloom needs to grow out his hair and dye it blonde. Legolas rules. And even though everyone knows this already, we don't own anything Lord of the Rings.
Kate: Now onto Chapter 4 - finally!
Chapter 4 -
It was to her great surprise that upon her return Andtauriel found her new friend Reowyn asleep between two of the strangers. Perhaps she was their captive, but she didn't seem to be tied. Andtauriel quietly dropped down from the tree branch she had been sitting on and made her way slowly towards the dark-haired elf girl. When she was quite sure her friend was in no danger of being kidnapped, she moved on and began to inspect the strangers as they slept.
The man, elf, and dwarf held no interest for her as soon as she was sure they concealed nothing out of the ordinary. She had little concern for them to begin with - her interest lay in the hobbits.
A soft sound caught her attention and she looked up - a man was awake, apparently on guard, but he was sitting, his back towards her. Andtauriel ignored him. He would never hear her. Even if he turned, he would never see her. The shadows did much to hide her.
She crept close to the four small, sleeping figures. How long had it been since she had seen a hobbit? Years and years. . . before she had even known of the Shadow-wood. She suppressed a sigh. How she missed the sight of the Shire, of the gentle land to the North. A thought struck her - perhaps she knew one of these hobbits. She hadn't yet been able to closely look at their faces. But it had been so long since she visited the Shire. It was doubtful she would be able to tell. Still, she crept foreword and peered at the face of the nearest one. He was a young hobbit, and she didn't recognize him. She moved onto the next and was greeted with a similar sight. The third hobbit seemed more troubled than the first two. His sleeping face was contorted into a slight frown. Andtauriel wondered what could make him so concerned. But she didn't know him. She moved onto the fourth and gently lifted the corner of cloak which covered his face. Her touch was so light he didn't even stir. Andtauriel studied him closely.
He was fairer of face than hobbits are apt to be. Andtauriel wasn't sure if she had seen him before or not - if she had, it would be difficult to tell. The last time she saw a hobbit was when she was a child. She gazed at the hobbit's face, at his closed eyes, and wondered of the color beneath the lids. As she watched him, his face contorted slightly - his dreams were troubled. Something was concealed about him. Andtauriel found herself reaching foreword, curious as to what he could carry that yet eluded her senses and gently brushed a strand of curly hair off his forehead. She rested her fingers lightly on his forehead, and he relaxed.
"May your dreams be peaceful," she murmured, a small smile forming on her lips.
A sudden sound of fear made her raise her head - one of the hobbits was awake! Andtauriel leapt back and drew her sword out of it's sheath. A blinding flash issued from the blade and in an instant she had disappeared and woken up the entire Fellowship.
Sam rubbed his eyes and hurried towards Frodo. Boromir, who had been on guard, leapt towards the hobbits, his sword drawn. Sam leaned foreword and frantically began to shake Frodo, who groaned and rolled over, much to Sam's relief.
"What is it, Sam? Stop that now, I'm awake!" he protested.
"Something was crouching over you, Mr. Frodo! I woke up and saw it sitting right as close to you as I am now a-staring at you, then it saw me and there was a bright light and it disappeared!" Sam blurted out.
"Did you see what it was, Sam?" Aragorn asked, coming up behind the distressed hobbit.
"No sir, it was too dark for me to get a good look. But when it saw me it just disappeared in a flash of light!" Sam said.
"Are you hurt, Frodo?" Aragorn asked.
"Not at all." Frodo replied, touching his forehead. "You didn't see anything of it, Sam?"
"No, nothing. Just a dark shape and a bright light." Sam said, shaking his head. Boromir continued to stare off the path, looking for any signs of life, and slowly sheathed his sword. He shook his head.
"How anything came so close to the Ringbearer is beyond me. I heard nothing - I saw nothing."
"Perhaps it was Andtauriel." came the soft voice of the elf lady, Reowyn. "She moves very quietly, and she has in her possession a sword of great power, which would account for the light Sam saw. She is mistrustful of travelers in the forest."
"How do you know this Andtauriel?" Aragorn asked her. "Who is she? What interest would she have in Frodo?"
"Andtauriel saved my life, and I hers, not long ago. I'm not quite sure who she is, but she seems to protect the forest, or something in it. She was probably curious as to who you were and why you were here." Reowyn replied.
"How do we know this Andtauriel is worthy of trust?" Boromir asked. "Perhaps she is in line with the Dark Lord and wants to return the One Ring to his possession. Why does she not reveal herself?" he glared suspiciously at Reowyn, as if adding that he suspected her to be in line with Sauron as well.
"I trust Andtauriel with my life." Reowyn said. "I doubt she even knows the hobbit carries the Ring. And by no means is she in legion with the Dark Lord!" she continued, her voice rising heatedly as she defended her friend. Legolas placed a hand on her shoulder.
"This Andtauriel sounds remarkably like the Shadow maiden of lore. Do you know anything else of her?" he said. Reowyn paused.
"No," she said at last. "I know very little else of her. I don't even know what she is. She is a strange looking creature. But regardless, I trust her." she glared at Boromir as if daring him to challenge her further. Boromir did not return her gaze, and turned his head to the side as if watching for a misshapen figure to appear on the path. But none came.
Frodo remained silent. Just before his abrupt awakening, he had been having an unpleasant dream that he was under the lidless eye again, with Sauron watching his every move as the Ring slowly spiraled into the flames of the eye. He had been about to cry out when a strange feeling of calm overtook him. A spot on his forehead tingled. The Ring fell back into his hand, and the eye disappeared, replaced with the green fields of the Shire, and a tall (by Hobbit-reckoning) figure standing atop a green hill when Sam had awoken him. And still his forehead was tingling slightly.
Above the Fellowship, Andtauriel cursed herself. She had become careless and allowed her guard to slip. Why had the fourth hobbit caught her attention so?
She crept nimbly along the tree branch she was perched on and settled down near the trunk to sleep. The group would move, perhaps, but she would be able to track them. It was all the same to her wherever they went. And she wanted to find out more about that hobbit - and whatever it was he had in his possession.
The woods were brighter the next morning when the Fellowship started down the path again. Reowyn continued to follow them, and Frodo still had the feeling he was being watched. Boromir was rather dismayed that Reowyn would not leave the Fellowship, but secretly Frodo was glad for her company. She seemed to at least know a bit about the woods. Aragorn, Ranger though he was, had not ever traveled through the Shadow-wood and had a very limited knowledge of it.
Eventually the wide path split into two and the Fellowship was brought to a halt. Aragorn consulted Reowyn as to which path to take, but the Elf lady had no answers.
One path sloped towards the river, while the other forked slightly to the left. Each path was like in all aspects but Reowyn insisted only one would safely lead the Fellowship out.
For an hour they puzzled over which path was right before Aragorn decided the right path would be the best one to take. Reowyn reluctantly followed him, and the Fellowship was on their way.
Andtauriel woke suddenly to discover the group of newcomers gone and the sun high. She leapt down from her tree branch and began to run down the path, wondering how she could have slept for so long. The trail left by the newcomers was faint, but it didn't matter. There was only one path through the forest up to a point, and to venture off it would be suicide. Besides, there was nothing that traveled through this forest that escaped her eye.
Andtauriel continued down the path and arrived at the fork in the road half an hour after the Fellowship. Here the trail was fresh, and Andtauriel had no trouble picking out the trail left by the newcomers to her wood. It did not take long for her to find which path they had chosen to go down. She looked down the roads and found that her fears were founded - they had chosen the right hand path.
"Oh no. Oh oh no." she moaned, and took off after them at a run.
The path through the wood became steadily darker. Once more, Frodo felt as though he was being watched, but not by the same being who had followed the Fellowship for the past day. Every so often he caught glimpses of red eyes staring at him through the foliage, only to disappear and be replaced with ones even more sinister. Boromir had drawn his sword and Legolas had set an arrow in his bow. Every so often a plaintive wail in the distance would shatter the quiet. At length the silence was broken by Legolas.
"I do not like the look of this path." he said, gazing about.
"I like not so much the look of this place as the sound. It sets my teeth on edge." Gimli said gruffly, his hand straying to the axe at his belt. The wailing was growing louder, and closer.
"I fear I have chosen the wrong way." Aragorn said, gazing back down the steadily darkening path.
"We must go back," Reowyn insisted. "If I can find Andtauriel, I'm sure she could -"
"This Andtauriel is certainly a shy lady. Why does she not show her face when her so called "friend" is in danger?" Boromir asked of the elf lady, casting a suspicious gaze at her. "Perhaps she doesn't even exist. And perhaps. . ."
"This is no time for blaming, Boromir." Aragorn said as Reowyn steadily grew angrier. Boromir opened his mouth to retaliate, but he was silenced by a gesture from Legolas.
"Something is coming." he said, his eyes growing wide. The sky suddenly seemed to grow darker as a fear gripped Frodos heart. The ground suddenly seemed to shake beneath his feet. It was closely followed by another deep boom, and another, each growing steadily louder. Instantly his mind flew to the Balrog - of it's heavy footfalls and it's dark shadow in the Mines of Moria. Far away the tops of the great trees began to shake in the distance, growing closer. As suddenly as it had begun, the loud footfalls stopped. Terror was apparent on Aragorns face
"We must turn back. Run!" he shouted suddenly, and turned to flee down the path as the bushes around them suddenly shook violently. Boromir drew his sword, but Legolas pushed him down the path.
"You cannot compete with this! Run, fool!" he cried, and took off. As Boromir turned to follow the retreating Fellowship, a great brown creature like a starved troll flung a long hand down the path and snatched at the corner of his elven cloak. With a great tear Boromir ripped the cloak off the forest-troll's claws and ran down the path after the Fellowship. He wasn't quick enough. With a great swipe of it's long arms, it knocked Boromir off the path and into a great tree.
It seemed to Frodo that the very trees were reaching up to slow his progress, forcing their roots through the path to grab his ankles. Several times he nearly fell. In time it appeared that the trees were reaching out with their branches, pushing him back towards the monster that wailed for his blood. A vine lashed out of nowhere and coiled around his neck. He tore at it but it stopped him short, and Pippin ran into him. The two hobbits fell over. Pippin struggled off of Frodo and reached out a hand to help him, but the forest troll swiped him aside as it had Boromir with a single stroke. Frodo struggled to get to his feet but a strong hand seized him roughly and jagged claws bit his skin. He thought he was about to be thrown like Boromir and Pippin, but the creature began to drag him towards it with it's long arms. Abruptly the bow of Legolas sang and the forest toll dropped Frodo and screamed, shaking it's hand in an attempt to remove the arrow buried between it's thick fingers. Frodo began to scramble away as the elf's arrows flew, but to the surprise of the remaining members of the Fellowship, the carefully crafted arrows bounced off the hard skin of the forest troll. One or two found their way into a soft spot, but for the most part the arrows went un-noticed. Reowyn and Aragorn drew their swords and ran foreword as the creature reached out to grab Frodo again. As Reowyn swung her sword at the hand reaching towards Frodo, the forest troll snapped a vine hanging from a nearby tree and swung it at the lady elf. Her sword flew from her hands and the creature thrust her back and into Aragorn. Reowyn lay un-moving as Aragorn pushed her aside. Sam and Merry ran back, their swords in their hands, but before they were able to reach Frodo the trees seemed to come alive, and reached out to coil vines around the hobbits' necks and hold them fast to the ground with roots that broke through the beaten soil of the path. The axe of Gimli swung, and the bow of Legolas sang and vines and roots were severed, but in a great movement of a long, snakelike branch Gimli's axe was torn from his hand and Legolas' bow was lost. He grabbed his long knife and began to slice at the vines twining their way around his limbs. Frodo tried to stand and draw his own sword, but a great root pulled him down. The forest troll reached to him for the last time, it's eyes blazing. Frodo felt the Ring, straining on it's chain - the creature wanted the Ring! Frodo reached up the pull the chain back, as the great clawed hand drew ever closer. . .
Andtauriel could hear the screams, the bloodthirsty wails, the cries for help, and as she ran after the Fellowship she could only hope she would be early enough to save them. Reowyn - her only friend in years - would be lost if she didn't hurry. And then there was the matter of that hobbit. . . but why was he on her mind?
Her thoughts were cut short as a vine whipped from a nearby tree and coiled around her wrist, as a root grabbed her ankle. She frowned - she had let herself become careless again. She reached down with her good hand to the sheath on her belt and pulled out her sword. It flashed, and the vines making their way towards her faltered and pulled back, away from the light. The roots released her ankle and she continued, sword in hand. As she ran, the dark and twisted trees shrank and leaned their branches far from her sword. Andtauriel leapt surprisingly high for her small stature over a fallen tree in the path and beheld the Fellowship - her eyes straying from the hobbits and dwarf trapped by the trees to Reowyn, unconscious as ivy crept over her body, to the forest-troll, reaching to the dark haired hobbit. Andtauriel rushed foreword, her sword blazing, and with a single stroke sliced away the ivy binding her friend to the ground before running on, the trees recoiling from the light of her sword, to jump through the air and land between the hobbit and the troll.
"Return to the shadows!" she cried, her sword blazing like white fire. The creature faltered and let out a scream and covered it's eyes. Andtauriel thrust her sword towards it.
"Be gone! Heed my command!" she called. "You shall harm nothing!"
The creature roared in pain at the light and with a final lunge jumped at the small swordswoman. Andtauriel pulled her shining blade back and with a thrust drove it deep into the forest troll's armored hide. A blinding flash erupted and the creature let out a piercing scream. Abruptly the light faded, and the forest troll fell.
Kate: We know you did, so we'll just get to the important stuff.
Lizz: We apologize for the length of time it took to get this chapter up. A certain short co-authoress of this fanfic had a case of writers block *glare @Kate*.
Kate: *pouts* Humph. In reference to the question posed by Lestats Savage Garden, I am a fan of both the book and movie Frodo as well as Elijah Wood *grin*
Lizz: And I think Orlando Bloom needs to grow out his hair and dye it blonde. Legolas rules. And even though everyone knows this already, we don't own anything Lord of the Rings.
Kate: Now onto Chapter 4 - finally!
Chapter 4 -
It was to her great surprise that upon her return Andtauriel found her new friend Reowyn asleep between two of the strangers. Perhaps she was their captive, but she didn't seem to be tied. Andtauriel quietly dropped down from the tree branch she had been sitting on and made her way slowly towards the dark-haired elf girl. When she was quite sure her friend was in no danger of being kidnapped, she moved on and began to inspect the strangers as they slept.
The man, elf, and dwarf held no interest for her as soon as she was sure they concealed nothing out of the ordinary. She had little concern for them to begin with - her interest lay in the hobbits.
A soft sound caught her attention and she looked up - a man was awake, apparently on guard, but he was sitting, his back towards her. Andtauriel ignored him. He would never hear her. Even if he turned, he would never see her. The shadows did much to hide her.
She crept close to the four small, sleeping figures. How long had it been since she had seen a hobbit? Years and years. . . before she had even known of the Shadow-wood. She suppressed a sigh. How she missed the sight of the Shire, of the gentle land to the North. A thought struck her - perhaps she knew one of these hobbits. She hadn't yet been able to closely look at their faces. But it had been so long since she visited the Shire. It was doubtful she would be able to tell. Still, she crept foreword and peered at the face of the nearest one. He was a young hobbit, and she didn't recognize him. She moved onto the next and was greeted with a similar sight. The third hobbit seemed more troubled than the first two. His sleeping face was contorted into a slight frown. Andtauriel wondered what could make him so concerned. But she didn't know him. She moved onto the fourth and gently lifted the corner of cloak which covered his face. Her touch was so light he didn't even stir. Andtauriel studied him closely.
He was fairer of face than hobbits are apt to be. Andtauriel wasn't sure if she had seen him before or not - if she had, it would be difficult to tell. The last time she saw a hobbit was when she was a child. She gazed at the hobbit's face, at his closed eyes, and wondered of the color beneath the lids. As she watched him, his face contorted slightly - his dreams were troubled. Something was concealed about him. Andtauriel found herself reaching foreword, curious as to what he could carry that yet eluded her senses and gently brushed a strand of curly hair off his forehead. She rested her fingers lightly on his forehead, and he relaxed.
"May your dreams be peaceful," she murmured, a small smile forming on her lips.
A sudden sound of fear made her raise her head - one of the hobbits was awake! Andtauriel leapt back and drew her sword out of it's sheath. A blinding flash issued from the blade and in an instant she had disappeared and woken up the entire Fellowship.
Sam rubbed his eyes and hurried towards Frodo. Boromir, who had been on guard, leapt towards the hobbits, his sword drawn. Sam leaned foreword and frantically began to shake Frodo, who groaned and rolled over, much to Sam's relief.
"What is it, Sam? Stop that now, I'm awake!" he protested.
"Something was crouching over you, Mr. Frodo! I woke up and saw it sitting right as close to you as I am now a-staring at you, then it saw me and there was a bright light and it disappeared!" Sam blurted out.
"Did you see what it was, Sam?" Aragorn asked, coming up behind the distressed hobbit.
"No sir, it was too dark for me to get a good look. But when it saw me it just disappeared in a flash of light!" Sam said.
"Are you hurt, Frodo?" Aragorn asked.
"Not at all." Frodo replied, touching his forehead. "You didn't see anything of it, Sam?"
"No, nothing. Just a dark shape and a bright light." Sam said, shaking his head. Boromir continued to stare off the path, looking for any signs of life, and slowly sheathed his sword. He shook his head.
"How anything came so close to the Ringbearer is beyond me. I heard nothing - I saw nothing."
"Perhaps it was Andtauriel." came the soft voice of the elf lady, Reowyn. "She moves very quietly, and she has in her possession a sword of great power, which would account for the light Sam saw. She is mistrustful of travelers in the forest."
"How do you know this Andtauriel?" Aragorn asked her. "Who is she? What interest would she have in Frodo?"
"Andtauriel saved my life, and I hers, not long ago. I'm not quite sure who she is, but she seems to protect the forest, or something in it. She was probably curious as to who you were and why you were here." Reowyn replied.
"How do we know this Andtauriel is worthy of trust?" Boromir asked. "Perhaps she is in line with the Dark Lord and wants to return the One Ring to his possession. Why does she not reveal herself?" he glared suspiciously at Reowyn, as if adding that he suspected her to be in line with Sauron as well.
"I trust Andtauriel with my life." Reowyn said. "I doubt she even knows the hobbit carries the Ring. And by no means is she in legion with the Dark Lord!" she continued, her voice rising heatedly as she defended her friend. Legolas placed a hand on her shoulder.
"This Andtauriel sounds remarkably like the Shadow maiden of lore. Do you know anything else of her?" he said. Reowyn paused.
"No," she said at last. "I know very little else of her. I don't even know what she is. She is a strange looking creature. But regardless, I trust her." she glared at Boromir as if daring him to challenge her further. Boromir did not return her gaze, and turned his head to the side as if watching for a misshapen figure to appear on the path. But none came.
Frodo remained silent. Just before his abrupt awakening, he had been having an unpleasant dream that he was under the lidless eye again, with Sauron watching his every move as the Ring slowly spiraled into the flames of the eye. He had been about to cry out when a strange feeling of calm overtook him. A spot on his forehead tingled. The Ring fell back into his hand, and the eye disappeared, replaced with the green fields of the Shire, and a tall (by Hobbit-reckoning) figure standing atop a green hill when Sam had awoken him. And still his forehead was tingling slightly.
Above the Fellowship, Andtauriel cursed herself. She had become careless and allowed her guard to slip. Why had the fourth hobbit caught her attention so?
She crept nimbly along the tree branch she was perched on and settled down near the trunk to sleep. The group would move, perhaps, but she would be able to track them. It was all the same to her wherever they went. And she wanted to find out more about that hobbit - and whatever it was he had in his possession.
The woods were brighter the next morning when the Fellowship started down the path again. Reowyn continued to follow them, and Frodo still had the feeling he was being watched. Boromir was rather dismayed that Reowyn would not leave the Fellowship, but secretly Frodo was glad for her company. She seemed to at least know a bit about the woods. Aragorn, Ranger though he was, had not ever traveled through the Shadow-wood and had a very limited knowledge of it.
Eventually the wide path split into two and the Fellowship was brought to a halt. Aragorn consulted Reowyn as to which path to take, but the Elf lady had no answers.
One path sloped towards the river, while the other forked slightly to the left. Each path was like in all aspects but Reowyn insisted only one would safely lead the Fellowship out.
For an hour they puzzled over which path was right before Aragorn decided the right path would be the best one to take. Reowyn reluctantly followed him, and the Fellowship was on their way.
Andtauriel woke suddenly to discover the group of newcomers gone and the sun high. She leapt down from her tree branch and began to run down the path, wondering how she could have slept for so long. The trail left by the newcomers was faint, but it didn't matter. There was only one path through the forest up to a point, and to venture off it would be suicide. Besides, there was nothing that traveled through this forest that escaped her eye.
Andtauriel continued down the path and arrived at the fork in the road half an hour after the Fellowship. Here the trail was fresh, and Andtauriel had no trouble picking out the trail left by the newcomers to her wood. It did not take long for her to find which path they had chosen to go down. She looked down the roads and found that her fears were founded - they had chosen the right hand path.
"Oh no. Oh oh no." she moaned, and took off after them at a run.
The path through the wood became steadily darker. Once more, Frodo felt as though he was being watched, but not by the same being who had followed the Fellowship for the past day. Every so often he caught glimpses of red eyes staring at him through the foliage, only to disappear and be replaced with ones even more sinister. Boromir had drawn his sword and Legolas had set an arrow in his bow. Every so often a plaintive wail in the distance would shatter the quiet. At length the silence was broken by Legolas.
"I do not like the look of this path." he said, gazing about.
"I like not so much the look of this place as the sound. It sets my teeth on edge." Gimli said gruffly, his hand straying to the axe at his belt. The wailing was growing louder, and closer.
"I fear I have chosen the wrong way." Aragorn said, gazing back down the steadily darkening path.
"We must go back," Reowyn insisted. "If I can find Andtauriel, I'm sure she could -"
"This Andtauriel is certainly a shy lady. Why does she not show her face when her so called "friend" is in danger?" Boromir asked of the elf lady, casting a suspicious gaze at her. "Perhaps she doesn't even exist. And perhaps. . ."
"This is no time for blaming, Boromir." Aragorn said as Reowyn steadily grew angrier. Boromir opened his mouth to retaliate, but he was silenced by a gesture from Legolas.
"Something is coming." he said, his eyes growing wide. The sky suddenly seemed to grow darker as a fear gripped Frodos heart. The ground suddenly seemed to shake beneath his feet. It was closely followed by another deep boom, and another, each growing steadily louder. Instantly his mind flew to the Balrog - of it's heavy footfalls and it's dark shadow in the Mines of Moria. Far away the tops of the great trees began to shake in the distance, growing closer. As suddenly as it had begun, the loud footfalls stopped. Terror was apparent on Aragorns face
"We must turn back. Run!" he shouted suddenly, and turned to flee down the path as the bushes around them suddenly shook violently. Boromir drew his sword, but Legolas pushed him down the path.
"You cannot compete with this! Run, fool!" he cried, and took off. As Boromir turned to follow the retreating Fellowship, a great brown creature like a starved troll flung a long hand down the path and snatched at the corner of his elven cloak. With a great tear Boromir ripped the cloak off the forest-troll's claws and ran down the path after the Fellowship. He wasn't quick enough. With a great swipe of it's long arms, it knocked Boromir off the path and into a great tree.
It seemed to Frodo that the very trees were reaching up to slow his progress, forcing their roots through the path to grab his ankles. Several times he nearly fell. In time it appeared that the trees were reaching out with their branches, pushing him back towards the monster that wailed for his blood. A vine lashed out of nowhere and coiled around his neck. He tore at it but it stopped him short, and Pippin ran into him. The two hobbits fell over. Pippin struggled off of Frodo and reached out a hand to help him, but the forest troll swiped him aside as it had Boromir with a single stroke. Frodo struggled to get to his feet but a strong hand seized him roughly and jagged claws bit his skin. He thought he was about to be thrown like Boromir and Pippin, but the creature began to drag him towards it with it's long arms. Abruptly the bow of Legolas sang and the forest toll dropped Frodo and screamed, shaking it's hand in an attempt to remove the arrow buried between it's thick fingers. Frodo began to scramble away as the elf's arrows flew, but to the surprise of the remaining members of the Fellowship, the carefully crafted arrows bounced off the hard skin of the forest troll. One or two found their way into a soft spot, but for the most part the arrows went un-noticed. Reowyn and Aragorn drew their swords and ran foreword as the creature reached out to grab Frodo again. As Reowyn swung her sword at the hand reaching towards Frodo, the forest troll snapped a vine hanging from a nearby tree and swung it at the lady elf. Her sword flew from her hands and the creature thrust her back and into Aragorn. Reowyn lay un-moving as Aragorn pushed her aside. Sam and Merry ran back, their swords in their hands, but before they were able to reach Frodo the trees seemed to come alive, and reached out to coil vines around the hobbits' necks and hold them fast to the ground with roots that broke through the beaten soil of the path. The axe of Gimli swung, and the bow of Legolas sang and vines and roots were severed, but in a great movement of a long, snakelike branch Gimli's axe was torn from his hand and Legolas' bow was lost. He grabbed his long knife and began to slice at the vines twining their way around his limbs. Frodo tried to stand and draw his own sword, but a great root pulled him down. The forest troll reached to him for the last time, it's eyes blazing. Frodo felt the Ring, straining on it's chain - the creature wanted the Ring! Frodo reached up the pull the chain back, as the great clawed hand drew ever closer. . .
Andtauriel could hear the screams, the bloodthirsty wails, the cries for help, and as she ran after the Fellowship she could only hope she would be early enough to save them. Reowyn - her only friend in years - would be lost if she didn't hurry. And then there was the matter of that hobbit. . . but why was he on her mind?
Her thoughts were cut short as a vine whipped from a nearby tree and coiled around her wrist, as a root grabbed her ankle. She frowned - she had let herself become careless again. She reached down with her good hand to the sheath on her belt and pulled out her sword. It flashed, and the vines making their way towards her faltered and pulled back, away from the light. The roots released her ankle and she continued, sword in hand. As she ran, the dark and twisted trees shrank and leaned their branches far from her sword. Andtauriel leapt surprisingly high for her small stature over a fallen tree in the path and beheld the Fellowship - her eyes straying from the hobbits and dwarf trapped by the trees to Reowyn, unconscious as ivy crept over her body, to the forest-troll, reaching to the dark haired hobbit. Andtauriel rushed foreword, her sword blazing, and with a single stroke sliced away the ivy binding her friend to the ground before running on, the trees recoiling from the light of her sword, to jump through the air and land between the hobbit and the troll.
"Return to the shadows!" she cried, her sword blazing like white fire. The creature faltered and let out a scream and covered it's eyes. Andtauriel thrust her sword towards it.
"Be gone! Heed my command!" she called. "You shall harm nothing!"
The creature roared in pain at the light and with a final lunge jumped at the small swordswoman. Andtauriel pulled her shining blade back and with a thrust drove it deep into the forest troll's armored hide. A blinding flash erupted and the creature let out a piercing scream. Abruptly the light faded, and the forest troll fell.