Disclaimer: Read the other ones.
Hmmm....my mistakes?
well, i know some of them are right acording to my microsoft word...but it must have english or australian instead of american...or something...i dunno... but anyway, i will fix most of it when i get the time. (damm school! damm it!)
Whoo! Am i tired! THERES AN EXCLIPSE TOMORROW! oh...and
THE BABY CHICKENS HATCHED! ^_^ I need seven names. Ideas?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hours of running was talking it's toll on poor Antonia, and soon Aragorn noticed, and called for a rest in the cool hour before dawn. It was obvious Aragorn was still trying to work out where to go. The orc trail had vanished in the valley.
"Which way would they turn do you think?" Legolas asked, as he gently massaged Antonia's shoulders. "Northward to Isengard, or Fanagorn if that is their aim as you guess, or Southward to the Entwash?"
"They will not make for the river." Aragorn replyed, handing around a flask of evermead. "And unless there is much amiss in Rohan and the power of Saruman is greatly incresed; they will take the shortest way that find over the fields of the Rohirrim. Let us search northwards." He stood, and Antonia let out a long groan.
"No Aragorn...need...rest!" She threw herself foward around his legs, and looked up. "Please!"
He shook his head, and let Legolas pick her up. They went on for what seemed hours to Antonia, untill Legolas let out a cry from ahead. Aragorn, Gimli and Antonia rushed foward to him.
"We have already overtaken some of those that we were hunting. Look!"
At the bottem of the slope were huddled dark figures.
"Rocks." Antonia rolled her eyes. "I'm being slave driven for rocks."
"No, milady." Gimli answered. "Five dead orcs."
Antonia peered harder, and saw they were orcs, striped with many strokes. Two were beheaded, and she gagged. "Yuck."
"Here is another riddle!" Gimli added. "But it needs the light of day, and for that we cannot wait."
"Yet however you read it, it seems not unhopeful." Legolas nodded. "Enemies of the Orcs are likely to be out friends. Do any folk dwell in these hills?"
"I think that the enemy brought his own enemy with him." Aragorn answered. "These are nothern orcs from far away. Amrung the slain are none of the great orcs with the strange badges. There was a quarrel, I guess: it is no uncommen thing with these foul folk. Maybe there was some dispute about the road."
"Or about the captives." Gimli added. "Let us hope that they, two, did not meet their end here."
Aragorn walked around in a circle, with Legolas picking up a odd little tune as they watched.
'Ring a round a rosy, pocket full of posy...'
"There are no traces of the fight." Aragorn came back. "We should keep going."
They started off again, quicker than before, much to Antonia's discust. Further on they stopped, and Legolas and Aragorn started to stare at grass next to a river.
"Err...guys?" Antonia called, plonking down on the ground. "It's called grass."
"At last!" Aragorn exclaimed, and she got up, coming over. "Here are the tracks we seek! Up this water-channel: this is the way the orcs went after their debate."
"Grass?" Antonia grumbled as they started, but smiling. "We were looking for grass?"
The four ran quickly, with new enegry, now they knew they didnt run for nothing. At last they reached the top of the ever approching grey mountian, and a chilly breeze sent hair whipping around faces, as dawn approched. They looked back, and saw the river far away.
"We ran all that way?" Antonia grinned, and Legolas took her hand.
"We did."
The sun rose over the dark land in front of them, and as day came, the grey and dull land brightened, with greens and blues, and white mists in watervales pretting up the land. On their left, stood the blue and purple White mountians, tipped with the white snow.
Antonia smiled dreamely, and rested her head on Legola's shoulder as Aragorn started to sing. He stopped, with a proud smile on his face, led them down a ridge, that ended in a cliff.
"It is the east wall of Rohan." Aragorn had explained to Antonia, who just shuddered at the height.
"Look!" Legolas pointed upwards. "There is the eagle again!"
"No, not even with my eyes can I see him, my good Legolas." Aragorn replyed, straining his eyes. "He must be far aloft indeed. I wonder what his errand, if he is the same bird that I have seen before. But look! I can see something nearer at hand, and more urgent; there is something moving over the plains!"
"Many things." Legolas took a step foward, peering at the thing. "It is a great company on foot; but I cannot say anymore, nor see what kind of folk they may be. They are many leauges away: twelve, I guess; but the flatness of the plain is hard to measure."
Antonia zoned out at that, yawning. They started off again, following the orcs by day. The orcs pressed on with all possible speed. Every now and then, Gimli, Aragorn, Antonia or Legolas found things that had been dropped. Finally, after going through a ravine, they came across the plains of Rohan. It was like a green sea, and the river they'd followed through the ravine dissapered into cresses and water plants. The air was warmer, and was scented.
Legolas breated in deeply, smiling. "Ah! The green smell." He smiled as he watched Antonia relax beside him. "It is better than much sleep. Let us run!"
"Light feet may run swiftly here." Aragorn agreed. "More swifly than iron-shod shoes."
"Or tired feeted teenagers." Antonia groaned, as they started in single file, running at full speed. It was obvious they were on the right path, the grass had been trampled, and blackened. Soon Aragorn cried out, and made them stand away, as he ran off, looking excited. He came back, gripping something.
"Hobbit's footprints! Pippins, I think. He is smaller than the others. And look!" He held up a elven brooch, and Antonia grinned.
"It's beautiful."
"The brooch of an elven-cloack!" Gimli and Legolas cried out together.
"Not idly do the leaves of Lurien fall." Aragorn smiled. "This did not drop by chance; it was cast away as a tokion to any that might follow. I think Pippin ran from the trail for that purpose."
"Or maybe he just tried to run, and was caught, so dropped it as a last resort..." Antonia muttered, looking a little grumpy.
"Then at least he was alive." Gimli ignored her.
"Lert us hope that he did not pay too dearly for his boldness." Legolas took a sip from his flask. "Come! Let us go! The thought of those merry young folk driven like cattle burns my heart."
"Err...what he said..." Antonia raised her eyebrow, and folloed them with a groan.
As night fell, Aragorn stopped.
"About time." Antonia flopped down. "We've only rested twice."
"We've made twelve leauges since dawn Toni." Gimli nodded at her. "Good job."
"Should we rest by night, or shall we go on while our will and strength hold?"
"Unless our eneimy sleep also, they will leave us far behind if we sleep." Legolas winced as Antonia glared at him.
"Surly orcs pause on the march?" Gimli asked.
"Orcs seldom will travel under the sun, yet these have done so. Certainly they will not rest by night."
"But if we walk by night we will not beable to follow their trail." Gimli argued.
"The trail is straight, as far as my eye can see."
"Maybe I can lead you in the darkness and hold to the line. But if we strayed or they turned, then when light came there might be a long delay to find the trail again."
Antonia zoned out, falling asleep in her sitting position as they argued. Finally they agreed to rest, and Legolas pulled Antonia into his arms.
As dawn broke, Legolas stood up and watched the horizen. He turned to Aragorn, who had woken sadly.
"They are far, far away. I know in my heart that they have not rested. Only an eagle could overtake them now."
"Nonetheless we will still follow as we may." He went to wake Gimli, while Legolas attempt to wake Antonia carefully.
Antonia woke, and saw Aragorn's ear pressed to the ground. He got up, and went to speak to Legolas and Gimli. Antonia sighed, and got upm as they started the third day of their purset. Long hours past, the one thousand bottles of mead on the wall was repeated many times. The orcs were going faster as the trail went on, the ground and grass stomped more and more into the ground. Antonia finally passed out, and Legolas carried her on his back, without a arguement.
~~~~*~~~*~~~~
Antonia woke just before dawn, to Legola's amusement. He stood, looking tense, but smiled as she yawned and stood up, looking around her in confusion. He took her in his arms.
"Strange things are happening." He murrmered, and took her hair in his fingers. As he plaited it into his elvish style, she smiled.
"Like me sleeping for impossile times?" She asked, and he shook his head.
"No, that was expected sooner or later. Something else..." Legolas murrmered, his face still tense. Dawn broke, and he stood up straight.
"Awake! Awake!" He called, and Aragorn stood up groggaly. "It is a red dawn! Strange things await us by the eves of the forset! Good or evil, I do not know, but we are called! Awake!" At that Gimli got up, and almost at once they were off. Slowly they approched the downs, and reached them a hour before dawn. At their feet, the ground was dry and the turf short, but a long strip of sunken land, some ten miles wide, lay between them and the river. There was a great ring, where the turf had been beaten by trampling feet. From it the orc trail ran out again, north.
"They rested here for a while." Aragorn examinend the tracks. "But even he outward trail is already old. If they held to their pace, they would have reached the borders of Fargorn yesterday at sundown."
The sun was sinking, as they reached the end of the line of downs. They had walked many miles without rest, Gimli's back was now bent, and Antonia rested one arm around Legolas, who seemed to be better than the others. They wearly climbed a green hill, and came out at the top. It was a round hill, smooth and bare.
"Nothing can we see to guide us here." Gimli grumbled. "Well, now we must halt again, and wear the night away. It is growing cold."
Aragorn answered him. "The wind is north from the snows."
Legolas nodded. "And ere moring it will be in the east. But rest if you must."
"I must!" Antonia slumped, ungracefully.
"Three suns already hhave risen on our chase and brought no concial." Gimli grumbled, and sat next to Antonia.
The next day, they contuined along the orc trail. To Antonia surprise, Aragorn put his ear to the ground, and Legolas peered at a blur in the distance.
"Riders!" Aragorn cried, springing to his feet. "Many riders on swift steeds are coming towards us!"
"Yes." Legolas nodded. "There are one hundered and five. Yellow is their hair, and bright is their spears. Their leader is very tall."
"Smartass." Antonia grumbled. "All I can see is a blur."
"Keen are the eyes of the Elves." Aragorn smiled.
"The riders are little more than five leagues distant." Legolas took Antonia's hand.
"Five leauges or one. We cannot escape them in this bare land."
"We will wait." Aragorn sighed. "I am weary, and our hunt has failed."
Antonia watched them approch, as the men talked between them. Soon the distant beat of galloping hoofs filled the quiet room. The horsemen were riding like the wind. In pairs they started to pass by.
Aragorn stood, and called to them. "What news from the North, riders from Rohan?"
They turned, and surroundeed them. Legolas pulled Antonia behind him, glaring as a circle was formed around them, of moving horsemen. One man rode foward, wearing a helm with a white feather. He put the spear within a food of Aragorn's breast.
"Who are you and what are you doing in this land?" The rider demanded.
"I am called Strider." Aragorn answered, not flinching at the spear. "I came out of the North. I am hunting Orcs."
The rider got off his horse with ease, and gave the spear to another. He drew his sword and stood face to face with Aragorn.
"At first I thought that you yourselves were Orcs." He tooked them over. "But now I see it is not so. Indeed you know little of orcs if you hunt them in this fashion. You would have changed from hunters to prey if you had ever overtaken them. But there is something strange about you Strider." He looked at Aragorn, his clear blue eyes looking deeply into Aragorn's. "That is no name for a man that you give. And strange too is your raiment. Have you sprung out of the grass? How did ou escape our sight? Are you elvish folk?"
"No." Aragorn answered. "Only one of us is an elf, Legolas from the woodland relm in distant Mirkwood. But we have passed through Lothlurien, and the gifts and favor of the lady go with us."
"Then there is a lady in the golden woods." The rider frowned. "These are strange days!" He looked at Legolas and Gimli. "Why do you not speak silent ones?"
Gimli rose, and his dark eyes flashed. "Give me your name horse-master, and I'll give you mine and more besides."
"I am named Jomer son of Jomund, and called the third marshal of Riddermark."
"Then Jomer son of Jomund, third marsal of Riddlemark, let Gimli the dwarf Gluin's son warn you against foolish words. You speak evil of that which is fair boyond the reach of your thought, and only little wit can excuse you."
Jomer's eyes blazed, and his men closed in. "I would cut off your head, beard and all, Master dwarf if it stood but a little higher off the ground."
Legolas stiffened. "He stands not alone." His bow and arrow were up imendanly, and he glared. "You would die before your stroke fell."
Aragorn jumped in between him. "Your parden Jomer! We indend no evil to Rohan, nor to any of it's folk, neither to man nor to horse. Will you not hear our tale before you strike?"
"I will." Jormor lowered his sword. "But first tell me your name."
"First tell me who you serve." Aragorn looked at him. Antonia stepped next to Legolas, and the men stared at her. "Are you friend or foe of the Sauron, the dark lord of Mordor?"
"I serve only the lord of the mark, Thjoden King son of Thengel." Jomer answered. "If you are fleeing from him you best leave these lands. We are threatened, but we desire only to be free and to live as we have lived, keeping our own, and serving no foreign lord, good or evil. We welcomed guests kindly in those days, but in these times the unbidden stranger finds us swift and hard. Come! Who are you? Whom do you serve? At whos command do you hunt orcs in our land?"
"I serve no man." Aragorn replied. "But the servants of Sauron I pursue into whatever land they may go. The orcs we pursued took captive two of our friends." He threw back his cloak, the elven-sheath glittered as he clasped it. "Elendil!" He cried. "I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn and am called Elesser, the Elfstone, Drnadan, the heir of Isildur Elendil's son of Gondor. Here is the sword that was broken and is foreged again! Will you aid me or thwart me? Choose swifly!"
Gimli, Legolas and Antonia started at Aragorn, who looked more like a king than ever. He seemed to grow taller, making Jomer looking small and weak.
Jomer stepped back, looking awed. "These are indeed strange days. Dreams and ledgends spring to life out of the grass. Tell me lord, what brings you?"
Antonia sat down with a sigh, and took out a book. She knew this part. They would talk for ages. Time to read a Mills and Boon.
~~~~*~~~*~~~~
Antonia finally stood, as horses were brought foward.
Jomer looked at her with respect, and she guessed Aragorn had said some nice things about her. 'I'll have to thank him later...'
"Milady. This is Phion." He smiled at her as she stroked the chestnut horse's neck. "He is a good horse...but is a little sprited I am afraid."
"I can ride." Antonia smiled at the stallion. "Don't worry." She mounted, and smiled down at Gimli who had gotten up behind Legolas, and was looking a little sick already.
The riders parted, and soon they were gone. Aragorn led Gimli and Legolas, and Antonia away, towards the entwash.
Hmmm....my mistakes?
well, i know some of them are right acording to my microsoft word...but it must have english or australian instead of american...or something...i dunno... but anyway, i will fix most of it when i get the time. (damm school! damm it!)
Whoo! Am i tired! THERES AN EXCLIPSE TOMORROW! oh...and
THE BABY CHICKENS HATCHED! ^_^ I need seven names. Ideas?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hours of running was talking it's toll on poor Antonia, and soon Aragorn noticed, and called for a rest in the cool hour before dawn. It was obvious Aragorn was still trying to work out where to go. The orc trail had vanished in the valley.
"Which way would they turn do you think?" Legolas asked, as he gently massaged Antonia's shoulders. "Northward to Isengard, or Fanagorn if that is their aim as you guess, or Southward to the Entwash?"
"They will not make for the river." Aragorn replyed, handing around a flask of evermead. "And unless there is much amiss in Rohan and the power of Saruman is greatly incresed; they will take the shortest way that find over the fields of the Rohirrim. Let us search northwards." He stood, and Antonia let out a long groan.
"No Aragorn...need...rest!" She threw herself foward around his legs, and looked up. "Please!"
He shook his head, and let Legolas pick her up. They went on for what seemed hours to Antonia, untill Legolas let out a cry from ahead. Aragorn, Gimli and Antonia rushed foward to him.
"We have already overtaken some of those that we were hunting. Look!"
At the bottem of the slope were huddled dark figures.
"Rocks." Antonia rolled her eyes. "I'm being slave driven for rocks."
"No, milady." Gimli answered. "Five dead orcs."
Antonia peered harder, and saw they were orcs, striped with many strokes. Two were beheaded, and she gagged. "Yuck."
"Here is another riddle!" Gimli added. "But it needs the light of day, and for that we cannot wait."
"Yet however you read it, it seems not unhopeful." Legolas nodded. "Enemies of the Orcs are likely to be out friends. Do any folk dwell in these hills?"
"I think that the enemy brought his own enemy with him." Aragorn answered. "These are nothern orcs from far away. Amrung the slain are none of the great orcs with the strange badges. There was a quarrel, I guess: it is no uncommen thing with these foul folk. Maybe there was some dispute about the road."
"Or about the captives." Gimli added. "Let us hope that they, two, did not meet their end here."
Aragorn walked around in a circle, with Legolas picking up a odd little tune as they watched.
'Ring a round a rosy, pocket full of posy...'
"There are no traces of the fight." Aragorn came back. "We should keep going."
They started off again, quicker than before, much to Antonia's discust. Further on they stopped, and Legolas and Aragorn started to stare at grass next to a river.
"Err...guys?" Antonia called, plonking down on the ground. "It's called grass."
"At last!" Aragorn exclaimed, and she got up, coming over. "Here are the tracks we seek! Up this water-channel: this is the way the orcs went after their debate."
"Grass?" Antonia grumbled as they started, but smiling. "We were looking for grass?"
The four ran quickly, with new enegry, now they knew they didnt run for nothing. At last they reached the top of the ever approching grey mountian, and a chilly breeze sent hair whipping around faces, as dawn approched. They looked back, and saw the river far away.
"We ran all that way?" Antonia grinned, and Legolas took her hand.
"We did."
The sun rose over the dark land in front of them, and as day came, the grey and dull land brightened, with greens and blues, and white mists in watervales pretting up the land. On their left, stood the blue and purple White mountians, tipped with the white snow.
Antonia smiled dreamely, and rested her head on Legola's shoulder as Aragorn started to sing. He stopped, with a proud smile on his face, led them down a ridge, that ended in a cliff.
"It is the east wall of Rohan." Aragorn had explained to Antonia, who just shuddered at the height.
"Look!" Legolas pointed upwards. "There is the eagle again!"
"No, not even with my eyes can I see him, my good Legolas." Aragorn replyed, straining his eyes. "He must be far aloft indeed. I wonder what his errand, if he is the same bird that I have seen before. But look! I can see something nearer at hand, and more urgent; there is something moving over the plains!"
"Many things." Legolas took a step foward, peering at the thing. "It is a great company on foot; but I cannot say anymore, nor see what kind of folk they may be. They are many leauges away: twelve, I guess; but the flatness of the plain is hard to measure."
Antonia zoned out at that, yawning. They started off again, following the orcs by day. The orcs pressed on with all possible speed. Every now and then, Gimli, Aragorn, Antonia or Legolas found things that had been dropped. Finally, after going through a ravine, they came across the plains of Rohan. It was like a green sea, and the river they'd followed through the ravine dissapered into cresses and water plants. The air was warmer, and was scented.
Legolas breated in deeply, smiling. "Ah! The green smell." He smiled as he watched Antonia relax beside him. "It is better than much sleep. Let us run!"
"Light feet may run swiftly here." Aragorn agreed. "More swifly than iron-shod shoes."
"Or tired feeted teenagers." Antonia groaned, as they started in single file, running at full speed. It was obvious they were on the right path, the grass had been trampled, and blackened. Soon Aragorn cried out, and made them stand away, as he ran off, looking excited. He came back, gripping something.
"Hobbit's footprints! Pippins, I think. He is smaller than the others. And look!" He held up a elven brooch, and Antonia grinned.
"It's beautiful."
"The brooch of an elven-cloack!" Gimli and Legolas cried out together.
"Not idly do the leaves of Lurien fall." Aragorn smiled. "This did not drop by chance; it was cast away as a tokion to any that might follow. I think Pippin ran from the trail for that purpose."
"Or maybe he just tried to run, and was caught, so dropped it as a last resort..." Antonia muttered, looking a little grumpy.
"Then at least he was alive." Gimli ignored her.
"Lert us hope that he did not pay too dearly for his boldness." Legolas took a sip from his flask. "Come! Let us go! The thought of those merry young folk driven like cattle burns my heart."
"Err...what he said..." Antonia raised her eyebrow, and folloed them with a groan.
As night fell, Aragorn stopped.
"About time." Antonia flopped down. "We've only rested twice."
"We've made twelve leauges since dawn Toni." Gimli nodded at her. "Good job."
"Should we rest by night, or shall we go on while our will and strength hold?"
"Unless our eneimy sleep also, they will leave us far behind if we sleep." Legolas winced as Antonia glared at him.
"Surly orcs pause on the march?" Gimli asked.
"Orcs seldom will travel under the sun, yet these have done so. Certainly they will not rest by night."
"But if we walk by night we will not beable to follow their trail." Gimli argued.
"The trail is straight, as far as my eye can see."
"Maybe I can lead you in the darkness and hold to the line. But if we strayed or they turned, then when light came there might be a long delay to find the trail again."
Antonia zoned out, falling asleep in her sitting position as they argued. Finally they agreed to rest, and Legolas pulled Antonia into his arms.
As dawn broke, Legolas stood up and watched the horizen. He turned to Aragorn, who had woken sadly.
"They are far, far away. I know in my heart that they have not rested. Only an eagle could overtake them now."
"Nonetheless we will still follow as we may." He went to wake Gimli, while Legolas attempt to wake Antonia carefully.
Antonia woke, and saw Aragorn's ear pressed to the ground. He got up, and went to speak to Legolas and Gimli. Antonia sighed, and got upm as they started the third day of their purset. Long hours past, the one thousand bottles of mead on the wall was repeated many times. The orcs were going faster as the trail went on, the ground and grass stomped more and more into the ground. Antonia finally passed out, and Legolas carried her on his back, without a arguement.
~~~~*~~~*~~~~
Antonia woke just before dawn, to Legola's amusement. He stood, looking tense, but smiled as she yawned and stood up, looking around her in confusion. He took her in his arms.
"Strange things are happening." He murrmered, and took her hair in his fingers. As he plaited it into his elvish style, she smiled.
"Like me sleeping for impossile times?" She asked, and he shook his head.
"No, that was expected sooner or later. Something else..." Legolas murrmered, his face still tense. Dawn broke, and he stood up straight.
"Awake! Awake!" He called, and Aragorn stood up groggaly. "It is a red dawn! Strange things await us by the eves of the forset! Good or evil, I do not know, but we are called! Awake!" At that Gimli got up, and almost at once they were off. Slowly they approched the downs, and reached them a hour before dawn. At their feet, the ground was dry and the turf short, but a long strip of sunken land, some ten miles wide, lay between them and the river. There was a great ring, where the turf had been beaten by trampling feet. From it the orc trail ran out again, north.
"They rested here for a while." Aragorn examinend the tracks. "But even he outward trail is already old. If they held to their pace, they would have reached the borders of Fargorn yesterday at sundown."
The sun was sinking, as they reached the end of the line of downs. They had walked many miles without rest, Gimli's back was now bent, and Antonia rested one arm around Legolas, who seemed to be better than the others. They wearly climbed a green hill, and came out at the top. It was a round hill, smooth and bare.
"Nothing can we see to guide us here." Gimli grumbled. "Well, now we must halt again, and wear the night away. It is growing cold."
Aragorn answered him. "The wind is north from the snows."
Legolas nodded. "And ere moring it will be in the east. But rest if you must."
"I must!" Antonia slumped, ungracefully.
"Three suns already hhave risen on our chase and brought no concial." Gimli grumbled, and sat next to Antonia.
The next day, they contuined along the orc trail. To Antonia surprise, Aragorn put his ear to the ground, and Legolas peered at a blur in the distance.
"Riders!" Aragorn cried, springing to his feet. "Many riders on swift steeds are coming towards us!"
"Yes." Legolas nodded. "There are one hundered and five. Yellow is their hair, and bright is their spears. Their leader is very tall."
"Smartass." Antonia grumbled. "All I can see is a blur."
"Keen are the eyes of the Elves." Aragorn smiled.
"The riders are little more than five leagues distant." Legolas took Antonia's hand.
"Five leauges or one. We cannot escape them in this bare land."
"We will wait." Aragorn sighed. "I am weary, and our hunt has failed."
Antonia watched them approch, as the men talked between them. Soon the distant beat of galloping hoofs filled the quiet room. The horsemen were riding like the wind. In pairs they started to pass by.
Aragorn stood, and called to them. "What news from the North, riders from Rohan?"
They turned, and surroundeed them. Legolas pulled Antonia behind him, glaring as a circle was formed around them, of moving horsemen. One man rode foward, wearing a helm with a white feather. He put the spear within a food of Aragorn's breast.
"Who are you and what are you doing in this land?" The rider demanded.
"I am called Strider." Aragorn answered, not flinching at the spear. "I came out of the North. I am hunting Orcs."
The rider got off his horse with ease, and gave the spear to another. He drew his sword and stood face to face with Aragorn.
"At first I thought that you yourselves were Orcs." He tooked them over. "But now I see it is not so. Indeed you know little of orcs if you hunt them in this fashion. You would have changed from hunters to prey if you had ever overtaken them. But there is something strange about you Strider." He looked at Aragorn, his clear blue eyes looking deeply into Aragorn's. "That is no name for a man that you give. And strange too is your raiment. Have you sprung out of the grass? How did ou escape our sight? Are you elvish folk?"
"No." Aragorn answered. "Only one of us is an elf, Legolas from the woodland relm in distant Mirkwood. But we have passed through Lothlurien, and the gifts and favor of the lady go with us."
"Then there is a lady in the golden woods." The rider frowned. "These are strange days!" He looked at Legolas and Gimli. "Why do you not speak silent ones?"
Gimli rose, and his dark eyes flashed. "Give me your name horse-master, and I'll give you mine and more besides."
"I am named Jomer son of Jomund, and called the third marshal of Riddermark."
"Then Jomer son of Jomund, third marsal of Riddlemark, let Gimli the dwarf Gluin's son warn you against foolish words. You speak evil of that which is fair boyond the reach of your thought, and only little wit can excuse you."
Jomer's eyes blazed, and his men closed in. "I would cut off your head, beard and all, Master dwarf if it stood but a little higher off the ground."
Legolas stiffened. "He stands not alone." His bow and arrow were up imendanly, and he glared. "You would die before your stroke fell."
Aragorn jumped in between him. "Your parden Jomer! We indend no evil to Rohan, nor to any of it's folk, neither to man nor to horse. Will you not hear our tale before you strike?"
"I will." Jormor lowered his sword. "But first tell me your name."
"First tell me who you serve." Aragorn looked at him. Antonia stepped next to Legolas, and the men stared at her. "Are you friend or foe of the Sauron, the dark lord of Mordor?"
"I serve only the lord of the mark, Thjoden King son of Thengel." Jomer answered. "If you are fleeing from him you best leave these lands. We are threatened, but we desire only to be free and to live as we have lived, keeping our own, and serving no foreign lord, good or evil. We welcomed guests kindly in those days, but in these times the unbidden stranger finds us swift and hard. Come! Who are you? Whom do you serve? At whos command do you hunt orcs in our land?"
"I serve no man." Aragorn replied. "But the servants of Sauron I pursue into whatever land they may go. The orcs we pursued took captive two of our friends." He threw back his cloak, the elven-sheath glittered as he clasped it. "Elendil!" He cried. "I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn and am called Elesser, the Elfstone, Drnadan, the heir of Isildur Elendil's son of Gondor. Here is the sword that was broken and is foreged again! Will you aid me or thwart me? Choose swifly!"
Gimli, Legolas and Antonia started at Aragorn, who looked more like a king than ever. He seemed to grow taller, making Jomer looking small and weak.
Jomer stepped back, looking awed. "These are indeed strange days. Dreams and ledgends spring to life out of the grass. Tell me lord, what brings you?"
Antonia sat down with a sigh, and took out a book. She knew this part. They would talk for ages. Time to read a Mills and Boon.
~~~~*~~~*~~~~
Antonia finally stood, as horses were brought foward.
Jomer looked at her with respect, and she guessed Aragorn had said some nice things about her. 'I'll have to thank him later...'
"Milady. This is Phion." He smiled at her as she stroked the chestnut horse's neck. "He is a good horse...but is a little sprited I am afraid."
"I can ride." Antonia smiled at the stallion. "Don't worry." She mounted, and smiled down at Gimli who had gotten up behind Legolas, and was looking a little sick already.
The riders parted, and soon they were gone. Aragorn led Gimli and Legolas, and Antonia away, towards the entwash.