Chapter 12
Gimli woke from his sleep, and looked around him dizzily. When he saw the orcs around him, he was suddenly wide-awake. He looked around for some of the others from the group, but couldn't see them. Suddenly, one of the orcs stood up and walked to him, followed by a cat-like demon. The cat-like demon glared at him. Its eyes seemed to be on fire, and its body was made from what seemed like fog. Of course, you could see its legs and body and all that, but it just didn't seem solid.
"Awake already? Some victims of the Corsar's poison sleep for months. And you only slept a few days. Strange…strange…" the orc said, watching Gimli.
"If you're here to treat me like a thing, then you'd better watch your head," Gimli said.
"Oh, so now you are threatening me? Would you like my Corsar here to give you another bite…perhaps a bigger one?" The orc patted the cat-like demon.
"Ughar, get over here! The messenger has come!" another orc shouted.
"I'll deal with you later," Ughar said, and walked away, the Corsar at his heels.
"The messenger has informed me of something extremely bad…" the orc began.
"And what would that be?" Ughar growled.
"Well, it seems that the…uh…the Conwilen, that we sent after the dwarf's company, has been…destroyed…and only a strong one, with the gift, can even sense a Conwilen as strong as that one was…and…" The orc didn't even have time to finish before Ughar drew out his sword and cut off his head. He marched quickly back to Gimli, eyes glowing with anger.
"Who is the Konlor?" he shouted, sword at Gimli's throat.
"Konlor? We have no one in our company called by that name," Gimli said.
"AHK! I know you are lying, you fool! Tell me! Who is the Konlor? It can be only Cesen, Olorein, Morthain, or Lekondor. If you don't tell, you will be joining my reporter."
"I tell you, I have no clue who or what Konlor is! I am a dwarf, I usually don't study much, or is your blockheadness not been able to see that yet!"
Ughar screamed with rage. He gave a cry, and the Corsar jumped, sinking its teeth into Gimli's arm. Gimli felt himself get drowsy right away, and soon lost consciousness.
Legolas watched the stars. They were, once again, stopped. The horses needed their sleep, and they were now resting peacefully. The moon was bright that night, and the stars were many. The night was dark, but not so dark that Legolas couldn't see the horses, about twenty feet away, standing tied to a tree. And he saw Ethrin still sitting by herself, as usual, and not talking. She had taken a paper, a quill, and ink out of her pack. She was now writing, or drawing something. Legolas was curious, and wanted to go see what she was doing, but didn't want to bother her.
"Now I know how she feels, without anybody to talk to," he muttered to himself. But he decided to chance it, and walked up to Ethrin.
Ethrin was drawing a forest. There were trees and a stream. The stream was small, and the trees were large. Seeing the picture reminded Legolas of Mirkwood Forest, and he just watched her draw, never making a sound. She drew the scene almost perfectly. The actual skill, the drawing, was very good, but it wasn't perfect. What drew Legolas to the picture was the feeling in it. The picture seemed to have life. The stream seemed to be moving, and he could just hear the wind rustling the leaves of the trees.
"Where is this?" he asked. Ethrin wasn't surprised this time; in fact, it seemed that she had known he was there the whole time, and perhaps she did.
"This is a scene from the forest really near the human village, that I used to live in," she replied.
"Its…beautiful."
"It is not my best work. I just drew it, because, I miss…the human mother who took care of me. Sometimes I hate being an elf, hate being immortal, because I see ones that I love die."
Ethrin sighed. But all of the memories weren't good, and remembering the good also brought the bad. Why couldn't the world be perfect? Why couldn't all things live in harmony with each other? Why can't men try to learn about those they knew none of, instead of fearing them?
Legolas heard the sigh, and took Ethrin's hand. Her hand was surprisingly cold, and he held it tighter. Her hand was small, and he could easily wrap his fingers around them. He held her hand while she sat there silently, taking in the feeling of the world around her. Her heart thumped at his touch, her mind raced at his words. She felt, once again, tears racing to her eyes as she thought about the human world she had lived in, and tried to remember her world before. She kept the tears in her eyes, and didn't let them fall.
"We should probably get going. Gimli can't wait, remember?" Ethrin said. Legolas nodded, and then helped her up. They untied the horses, mounted, and rode on. Orc tracks became clearer and clearer, along with some other tracks that they could not recognize. But they saw that there was a smooth spot over the tracks, as if something, or someone, had been dragged upon the ground. They saw that these tracks were old, probably at least a day or two old. They would have to ride, without stopping, for approximately twelve hours, before they could catch up. But they had horses, and the orcs had to walk. They would be able to catch up.
"Legolas, when we reach the orcs, I'll try to distract them, and since it seems all evil wants me, they would most likely follow me. They would leave few to guard Gimli, and you can probably fend them off. Get Gimli, and start riding in zigzags. Retrace your steps, cross streams, ride in streams, do anything to try to lose them," Ethrin told Legolas.
"And you? What would you be doing?" asked Legolas.
"I'll just keep them chasing. Starlight is the fastest horse ever, he can outrun all those orcs, but I'll ride slower so they will at least keep to the chase for awhile."
"But why don't I try to distract them, and you get Gimli? Wouldn't they want the prince of Mirkwood just as much as they want an elf maiden?"
"No, they want me, I've figured out at least that. I had been pursued from Mordor, Arlena tells me that's what that place is called, all the way to Mirkwood. And they still followed me to Rivendell, and now there is still evil following me. They will chase me longer, making your escape easier."
Legolas couldn't argue. Everything she had pointed out was true, and he couldn't think of anything to prove her wrong. So he just nodded and rode on, following the tracks. The sky grew dark, and the moon came up again. The soft thumps of the horse's hooves seemed to be in rhythm with everything around them. Then he saw something in the distance. He looked at Ethrin questioningly.
"Orcs," she whispered, and told Starlight to step lighter. As did Legolas to Whiteshadow. Soon, the sound of the hooves couldn't even be heard, even with elven ears. They needed to surprise the orcs, and then the orcs will be in chaos, making it harder for them to assign orcs to chase Ethrin or stand guard.
They rode on silently, drawing nearer and nearer to the figures. The number of orcs seemed to grow as they drew nearer and nearer to the orc camp.
Aragorn, Arlena, and Laphaela set off again. They were extra cautious now, after knowing that there are demons still lurking around. They watched each other cautiously, fearing that the other would be another Conwilen. And without Ethrin there, they knew that they had much to fear.
"Without Lortil, how will we defend ourselves?" Laphaela asked.
"None has attacked yet. Perhaps all the demons are after her, now that she's gone. Don't worry, we will pull through," Arlena said.
"We have gotten attacked many times, now. Keep silent, and we could pass by without any more notice," Aragorn said. Laphaela nodded, and then kept all her unanswered questions to herself. She respected Aragorn's decisions, for he is wise. His decisions were always the best, for the best. They pushed on, not looking back, not looking around them, but focused straight forward, leading the horses.
Demons came running at them. Then suddenly, the leader gave another howl, and all the demons retreated. They went back along with the rest of the herd, and were soon out of sight. Glorfindel sighed. It had been close, but they had lived, even though he couldn't figure out why the demons just left. He decided to just be grateful that he and his two companions left were alive.
They mounted their horses, and rode after the demons. This time, when they passed the evil, the evil didn't look at them. They were soon passed them, and kept on riding. By nightfall, they were far away from the horde, and were drawing nearer and nearer to the pass.
*Konlors, Ughar, Conwilens, and Corsars and made up by me. Please don't use them in your fan fictions or stories. Thank you!
*PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE…or in elvish, seas! SEAS SEAS SEAS, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! J