*** Thank you everybody for saying my English is good. I *so* wish my former English teacher from back at school could see all those reviews!!! :o) I'm like... bursting with pride now, haha!! ;o)

Now on with the story, let's see how Aragorn and Legolas are doing... ***

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Several days and nights had passed since their departure from Minas Tirith, Gondor. The traces they had found had told them that Boromir had not left alone. There were at least five men with him, if not even more. Now the question was whether these men had taken him with them against his will or whether they were hand in glove with Boromir. No matter which way it was, the company of four was on the right track. The group they were chasing after obviously tried to cover up its tracks, but they were always able to find at least a tiny hint that showed them the right direction. The only problem that occurred was that they obviously were too slow, although they hardly ever rested. It was peculiar. The other group seemed to be one step ahead all the time.

"We need to set up a camp," Legolas said to Aragorn in a low voice, "We have ridden for almost two days now, the horses will break down if we do not rest soon."

"I know, Legolas. It is not me who you need to convince," Aragorn replied and glanced at the back of Atalar who was riding in front of them, while Ghorid was behind them. The two noblemen did only feel distrust for the other one and therefore tried to ignore each other. This produced an uncomfortable atmosphere, but Aragorn was just glad that he did not have to prevent them from fighting or even killing each other anymore. The first two days of their journey they had been insulting each other all of the time, pulling their swords more than once, ready to fight until the very end. Fortunately they slowly had started to calm down, and now they were just avoiding each other.

"Go and speak to him, he will not listen to me," Legolas said. And so Aragorn did. Atalar was not fond of the idea to set up a camp, he didn't want to waste precious time, but they finally made a compromise and after two more hours, when it was dark, they stopped to rest.

While Atalar and Ghorid were busy with making sure they would not sleep exactly next to each other, Aragorn went over to Legolas who was just providing his horse with water.

"Did you notice anything?" he asked low enough so the others could not hear it.

"What are you speaking of?" Legolas asked, not taking his gaze from his horse.

"I have the feeling that we are being followed and observed."

"Yes," the elf stated calmly, caressing the neck of the white horse, "Wolves. They are following us since yesterday morning."

"Do you think they will attack us?" Aragorn asked, looking around alarmed, but the woods were silent and it was too dark to see anything.

"Maybe. They are hungry, that is the reason they are following us. They will not attack as long as we are strong opponents, but they sense that we are getting exhausted, especially our horses. They are waiting for the right moment."

Legolas looked up and met Aragorn's eyes.

"If we are lucky we will be out of the woods before their hunger is stronger than their fear," he added.

The wolves continued to follow them also the next day, and their number grew with every hour. Every now and then the members of the small company could see one or two of the huge but rather skinny gray animals vanish between the trees or move behind the bushes to their sides. But they did not dare to attack. Not yet.

The moment came during the night, when they had set up another camp. Aragorn was just keeping watch while the others were sleeping when there suddenly was a cracking coming from somewhere rather near. Something was moving in the woods, and it was coming closer. Aragorn rose on his feet and listened, holding his breath. Suddenly there were sounds and noises from all sides, all coming nearer rapidly. They were surrounded.

"To the weapons!" Aragorn yelled loudly and pulled his sword. While Legolas was wide awake and on his feet immediately, the other two needed a few seconds to realize what was happening. Before anybody could say one more word the attack began.

They were coming from everywhere, and they were a lot. It was not difficult to kill a single wolf, but this large number threatened to overpower them. They fought fast and concentrated, everyone of them on his own, slaying one animal after the other. Legolas had climbed a tree from where he could oversee the scenery and shot his arrows accurately. He saw that Aragorn did well and shifted his gaze to Ghorid who was fighting with two swords, one in each hand, and he moved both ones with pure and beautiful perfection. Legolas appreciated this stunning skill of Boromir's cousin, but there was no time to watch and admire. He was attacked by far more wolves he was able to fight back all on his own. They had gotten hold of his legs and arms, trying to get him down to the ground so they could reach his throat and face. It was only a matter of seconds until they would succeed and get through Ghorid's armor. Legolas quickly got another two arrows out of the quiver and, for no
particular reason, let his gaze wander to another spot for only a second...

He felt a sting going through his heart when he saw that several wolves were about to tear his horse to pieces, lowering their sharp teeth deep into the white, strong body of the graceful animal. He had to make a decision, and so he did. A few moments later the attacking creatures sank to the ground, dying, and Ghorid was released. When Legolas looked back to his horse, expecting it to lie ripped to death, he caught the sight of Atalar who had already gotten rid of more than half of the wolves that were harming the white horse, and now pulled one of them from its bleeding body with his bare hands and then slaughtered it to death. He also got rid of the other ones and remained next to Legolas' horse, protecting it from the hungry, approaching creatures.

They fought for a little eternity, but finally most of the pack was lying dead on the ground, and the few others that still lived withdrew back to the depths of the dark woods.

"Is anybody wounded?" Aragorn asked, wiping fresh sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

"Ghorid?" he added when nobody replied.

"It's just a scratch," the huge and sturdy warrior replied.

"Let me see," Aragorn demanded, wanting to help, but Ghorid repeated: "I told you it is only a scratch, Aragorn."

Aragorn nodded and stuck his sword back to the scabbard. It did not look like a scratch to him, but he could not force Ghorid to show it to him.

While they were speaking, Legolas jumped from the tree and ran to his horse. Blood was running down the white fur, coming from deep wounds that revealed the muscular flesh of the beautiful animal. It was injured at several parts of its body, but the worst damage was done at the flanks. Legolas got hold of the reins, trying to calm the scared horse down, speaking soft words to it and carefully touching its head. When it stood still, the soft nostrils brushed against Legolas' palm, the elf turned his head to face his companions.

"I will have to care for the wounds of my horse, it can not carry me for now," he stated.

"How long do you believe it will take for your horse to heal?" Ghorid asked.

"I cannot tell. I need to find some particular plants. And the wounds need to close, it will take some time," Legolas replied.

"Then we will all stay and wait," Aragorn decided.

"No!" Atalar blurted out, "That is a waste of time!"

"We do not have an extra horse, we need *this* one!" Aragorn exclaimed, gesturing at Legolas' horse.

"The elf can care for his horse by himself and then catch up!" Atalar yelled back.

"We will not leave him behind!"

"If we stay here for a few days we will lose the tracks!"

"I said we will not leave him behind!"

"Aragorn," Legolas interrupted the dispute, "Lord Atalar is right, I would be only a burden to our journey now. You need to find Boromir. I can very well take care of myself. Go and continue with the search, I will catch up soon."

"No... I will not leave you alone with an injured horse and a bunch of hungry wolves," Aragorn said and stepped closer to Legolas who showed a small smile, touched by Aragorn's concern.

"We will meet again in only a few days, my friend. Do not worry," Legolas said softly.

Aragorn only nodded and then said: "Very well, we will continue with our journey at dawn. But for now we need to find a new place to stay for the rest of the night, I do not feel the urge to sleep between dozens of cadavers."

They soon found an appropriate place and while the others lay down to rest, Legolas started to care for his horse. He did not need as much sleep as the human men and he had to be quick with this when he really wanted to catch up again.

"Aragorn..." he said surprised when the human man suddenly stood next to him in the darkness.

"I will help you," he said.

"You need to rest," Legolas replied.

"Your horse needs to heal quickly. We can not afford to go on without you for a long time. Your skills are important for the company," Aragorn stated and then, after a short moment of silence, added, "We need to stay together in the group, these woods are dangerous for a lonely man. And I do not wish to lose you."

Legolas nodded softly.

"I appreciate your help."

They still were cleaning the deep wounds and providing them with healing essences they had produced of plants from the woods when the other two got up to set out again.

"May your horse heal quickly, Legolas," Ghorid said after he had climbed his own horse.

"Remember, you promised to meet us in a few days again. We will be awaiting you," Aragorn said, still worry in his voice.

"Yes, I will come," Legolas replied and then watched the two men riding away.

"Farewell, elf," Atalar said without looking at Legolas when he rode past him, following the others.

"Wait...," Legolas said and grabbed the dark horse's reins to stop it, "I need to thank you from the bottom of my heart, Lord Atalar."

"What for?" he asked with an odd tone in his voice and shifted his gaze down to Legolas.

"My horse lives thanks to you. I saw you protecting it with all your strength, and for that I will always be grateful," Legolas said, bowing his head slightly to show his respect.

Atalar stared at the elf for a few seconds, his dark eyes not revealing what he felt, and then said:

"I need to depart now. Farewell, Legolas."

"Farewell," Legolas replied, being well aware of the fact that Atalar had called him by his name for the first time since they had met.

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*** Oh, I wanted to say one more thing. If anybody thinks (or hopes) there are hints of slash between Aragorn and Legolas in this story, let me tell you: You thought wrong! This is NOT going to end with an Aragorn/Legolas-coupling as I am definitely no fan of slash between those two characters. I'm just a supporter of a very, very close, true and deep (and platonic!!) friendship between them. Thanks for reading. (And reviewing!) ***