It seemed Shimalya had barely closed her eyes when she was gently shaken awake by the dwarf.
"Come, lady. Open your eyes if you want to eat before we continue."
She forced her eyes open to find the sun was just rising. Gimli handed her an apple and went to help Legolas, who was loading the horses again. She sat up and munched on the apple, watching as the odd pair broke camp, putting out the remainder of their fire and scattering the ashes. Finally, Legolas helped her back onto her horse, then climbed onto his own, lifting Gimli to sit behind him.
They rode slowly for most of the day. Gimli sang songs of the dwarfs, and with a little prodding, Legolas too sang, though his songs were in Elvish, and neither Shimalya nor Gimli understood them. Nonetheless, they were beautiful and soothing on the long ride.
As the sun rose to its highest point in the sky, the riders allowed their horses to rest and graze, before mounting them again to ride until nightfall. However, Legolas soon silenced Gimli's song with an upraised hand, commanding silence. His gaze fell just beyond the trees to where smoke filled the air.
"A village is burning."
"They may need our help!" Shimalya cried.
Before the words were out of her mouth, she had kicked her heels into her horse and raced off in the direction of the smoke. Gimli's grip tightened on Legolas' waist as the elf followed behind her, shouting for her to stop. The distance between them closed quickly, and Legolas grabbed the horse's bridle and slowed it until it stopped.
"You're not going in there," he told her. "It's too dangerous."
"Dangerous? That is a village, which means there are women and children in danger. They need help!"
The clashing of swords drew their attention back to where the smoke emanated from.
"Gimli and I will go. You stay in the trees."
"The trees? What good will two do?"
"More than two and a wounded woman," he told her, his eyes flashing now. "You will stay in the trees, away form the danger." His grip on her horse's bridle tightened. He would not let go until she agreed. Reluctantly, she did so. Legolas pointed toward the trees, telling her where he would find her, but before she left them, Gimli held out the dagger he has wrestled from her grip the night she awoke in their presence.
"For your protection, Lady," he told her before bouncing off behind Legolas toward the carnage.
Shimalya rode to the trees, hiding herself in the foliage as she had been told, watching with eager eyes as her companions rode into the fray. She lost sight of them as they entered the village.
Time passed slowly. Shimalya watched with keen eyes, hoping to catch a glance of her escort, but could see no one resembling the tall elf. She thought she glanced the dwarf, but found his height too much for her short companion. Unsure how long she had been hiding, she crept closer to the edge of the trees for a better look. The sounds had died down, though the noise of the battle still reached her ears.
She returned to her horse, but hid behind a tree upon seeing a man investigating her animal. He was looking through her supplies. When he pulled at the bridle to lead the horse away, she stepped, moving the leaves of a shrub as she did so to catch his attention. He spun, sword in hand.
"Oh, please sir, not my horse!" she cried, then cowered into the shrub upon spotting his weapon.
"A woman!" he cried, visibly astonished. "What are you doing here?"
"Please, sir, I lost my escort. The noises from the village frightened me, and I hid." Having fully captured his attention, she cowered lower, sliding her hand into her boot.
"You're alone?" he asked, excited by the idea.
"Yes, and injured, as you can see." She hid her face and feigned a sob. The sound of his sword sliding back into its scabbard reached her ears and she heard him step closer.
"You say you lost your escort?"
"Yes, an elf and a dwarf."
The man laughed.
"An elf and a dwarf, you say? They're both dead in the village, but I think I can be of some comfort to you." He gripped the shoulder of her injured arm harshly, and she could feel the bones pushing against each other. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she spun, planting her knife beneath his ribcage, up toward his heart. He grunted and fell back, pulling her on top of him. She struggled against his grip, but loosened herself when death finally gripped him, then relieved him of his sword. Finally, she mounted her horse and sped toward the village to find Legolas and Gimli.
She rode swiftly through the village, finding many of the homes burning. Women, children, and old men rushed to quench the flames as she rode through amid the bodies strewn throughout the street. Near the end of the long main street, she found the remains of the battle, no more than a handful of men survived, but the battle continued. In the midst of it, she spotted the white-blonde hair of Legolas.
Gripping the horse with her thigh muscles, she swung the sword with her good arm, dispatching the first of his two attackers. She swung her mount around in time to see him do away with the second, and as she rode by him, he grabbed at the saddle and pulled himself up behind her. He reached around her and, pulling on her horse's rein, turned the horse sharply to the left toward Gimli. Without a word, he jumped from his perch, tumbling over an attacker and doing away with him as he and Gimli fought back to back against the enemy. Shimalya continued riding through the fighting, helping where she could.
The splint broke in the fray and the bandages that secured her arm to her body had loosened greatly, causing her arm to slide out and dangle at her side. When at last the fighting was over, her arm was paining her immensely to the point that it was unbearable. She was slumped over the neck of her horse when her traveling companions reached her and pulled her from the horse. Legolas lifted her into his arms and carried her back toward the village in the hopes of finding a healer.
Shimalya was taken from his arms and taken into the building, which housed the wounded. Legolas and Gimli followed after and stayed within sight of her at all times until an elderly woman announced that she was mended, but needed to rest. They looked in on her often during the several days they spent in the village. Each time, she tried to leave the infirmary area, but was called back to her bed by the elderly woman who declared she needed more rest until she would be ready to travel. Her companions agreed, and it was nearly a week before she was allowed to leave.
At last, on the final morning of her stay, Legolas came to retrieve her so they could finish their journey. After being made to swear he would not allow her to aggravate her arm any more, he took her from the custody of the elderly woman.
With her arm rebandaged and splinted and placed in a sling, Legolas helped Shimalya onto the remaining horse, as his had been sorely injured in the fray and had to be put down. Before the sun had fully risen, they continued their path to Gondor.
"That was a foolish thing to do," Legolas told her as he walked alongside the horse with Gimli at his side. "You could have been killed."
"I was in no more danger than you were."
"No. Neither I nor Gimli went into that fight injured. And we are both long experienced in battle. You had no place-"
"No place? Do you think it was only in luck that I slew my attacker in the woods? Or that I can fight with a sword from horseback? Since you did not see it in the field, I will show you my experience in battle as soon as my arm is healed!"
"Legolas, let her be," Gimli told him, drawing a look of shock from the elf. "I saw her myself, and if she is not a trained warrior, I'll eat my beard and never lift my axe again."
They continued along in silence, until they came upon a village just within the border of Gondor. They rented two rooms in an inn at the crossroads and supped in the tavern below. Throughout dinner, Legolas said very little, and it wasn't until Shimalya retired to bed that Gimli addressed it.
"What ails you?" he asked over his pint of beer.
"It is nothing," came the answer.
"A year of experiencing your moods tells me otherwise. I ask again, what ails you?"
"There's more to her than she's telling us."
Gimli laughed boisterously a his answer.
"She's a woman, Legolas. I don't know what your elf women are like, but for most of us, they hold secrets we will ever learn."
"No, there's something else."
"It's called allure, Friend Elf." He lifted his tankard to drink and glanced at his friend over the top. He was looking deeper into the tavern, but didn't seem to be focused on anything. "You're drawn to her, aren't you?" he asked, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.
The way in which these words startled the elf was all the answer he needed. His eyes for just a moment, revealed the truth before being masked again.
"Ridiculous."
"It's nothing to be ashamed of," Gimli went on. "She seems to be beautiful by human standards. A little too tall and thin for my taste, but then she's not exactly a waif." He went on as Legolas said nothing. "She could probably pass for an elf with those gray eyes of hers. And those reflexes! In all this time, I've never before seen a blade strike you."
Legolas rose and dropped a few coins on the table.
"Good night, Gimli."
"Good night, Legolas. Tell Shimalya the same when you see her in your dreams!" He laughed heartily as the elf walked away.
In truth, the dwarf was glad to see that Legolas was drawn to such a creature. True, she was no elf, and that alone would probably stop him from revealing his feelings for her, but then, elves always were a bit snobbish in their affairs, in his opinion. Still, there were few who could match Legolas, even among men. Yes, this woman might well be good for him.
!!