Thank you guys so much! I've never had so many reviews for one chapter before. I hope you find this on as interesting as the first one :)

Chapter Two

Aragorn brandished the torch at the eyes, which moved back all together as if a giant force had pushed them back. The green eyes narrowed slightly as their owners let out earsplitting cries, urging their steeds to move forward against their will. The wargs would not heed their rider's commands as their gray eyes eyed the flickering flame the man held in his hand.

Not a creature moved a muscle, standing there under the overhang, precariously close to the edge of the trail. One wrong step and they could fall into a rocky abyss bordered by the towering snow capped mountains. Time seemed to stop under the overhang. No snow blew in, but Aragorn became more and more worried as the seconds went by, for a change in the wind would cause his flame to perish, and there would be no hope of escape.

Gathering his remaining wits, he stooped slowly, keeping his eyes on his attackers, and dropped his sword on the ground. He extended his arm toward the fire, its now free hand groping for the topmost piece of wood. He grasped the warm branch and took a deep breath. He flung the branch at the wargs, grabbed his sword from the snow and began to back away from his dying fire.

The warg let out howls of fury as their tails and fur caught on fire. The orcs riding the flaming creatures were illuminated by the flames. Aragorn was shocked to see how few orcs there were standing in a short line in rows of three, but what shocked him more was the appearance of these orcs. The orcs were not anything but the ones he had battled with on the outskirts of Rivendell. These orcs had green leathery skin like a troll's, a mane of wispy black hair that fell past their dangerously pointy ears. Their luminous green eyes were so big that they gave Aragorn the impression that they had been popped out of their very sockets. They had chains running from their nostrils to their neck, and when they let out battle cries, bright yellow fangs shone in the drooling dark mouths.

The wargs whose fur was aflame were too shocked to do anything about it. After a few seconds, their senses kicked in and they began to shake their bodies, causing their riders to fall of their backs. The wargs stomped furiously and rolled in the snow, trying to put out the flames, unintentionally grounding their riders, who were screaming relentlessly for mercy, into the bitter cold snow.

Aragorn seized his chance in the midst of the chaos and turned around and began to run as fast as his unsteady legs could take him through the snow. He was tripping over the snow, and his torch flickered closer and closer to being extinguished as he waved his sword and torch around, trying to retain his balance.

He had not gotten far before he stopped abruptly. In front of him stood another pack of wargs and orcs. Fire had been set in their hearts when they heard their fellow warriors' cries of anguish and pain. As they caught sight of the man, the wargs began to advance and all the hope of escape fled from Aragorn's body and mind. His quivering hand dug the torch into the ground and he stood behind it, as if it were a shield. He prepared himself for what he was sure going to be his last fight on this Earth, nervously turning his sword in his trembling hand.

He was flattened against the wall of the mountain as the wargs advanced, followed by the orcs that had slid off their backs to fight. Aragorn brought his sword to his left shoulder and brought it clean through the foremost warg's thick neck. He then stuck his blade into the next warg's chest. The whole host stopped in their tracks as the heavy bodies and head fell with a muffled thud to the floor, dying the snow dark red with blood.

The wargs gave off a drawn-out, spine shivering growl in unison, which mingled with the orcs' ear-splitting shrieks. They advanced again, this time much faster than the time before. Aragorn was swinging his sword wildly, cleaving off head after head of both warg and orc. But with every head the dropped off each body, Aragorn would only find three more orcs close in on him. His sword dripped with blood and gore, and he had to constantly readjust his grip on the hilt to make sure it didn't slip out of his hands, which nearly happened more than once. He couldn't wipe any off his sword, for fear of having his head cleaved off by those damned orcs.

Aragorn had never fought a battle for so long a time. He was weary beyond words and he felt that if it continued, there would be no point in having won the battle, for he thought it would only be a matter of time before he fell into the ground and froze to death. That was just about to happen when suddenly, an orc emitted a cry.

The orcs stopped in their tracks, they lowered their weapons, and split into two halves, allowing what appeared to be their leader to pass. He was larger and more hideous than all the others. His hair was tied tightly in a high ponytail near the top of his head. His armor was silver instead of the black like the rest of them, and as he passed by, each and every orc's disgusting features turned into a mass of fright and hate.

"We bring him back with us. He could prove useful." With those two short sentences, he swept back into the crowd and disappeared. Two pairs of rough hands immediately grabbed hold of his arms, their scabby oily flesh brushing against his own. It sent his stomach close to tipping out all of the few remaining contents that it held. He struggled wildly in the arms of his captors, and felt the shattering of bones as an armor covered fist punched his chest. He felt himself being hoisted into the air by strong hands that squeezed the air out of his lungs and slung onto someone's shoulder, before blacking out.

TBC…

Notes to my beautiful wonderful reviewers:

Soledad: thank you so much for your review. That was one of the main reasons why I wrote it. (I wondered why he had journeyed through Moria once before)
grumpy: I thank you for your review as well. I'm glad you liked my first chapter, and I hope this one was just as good :)
K-rock: haha, don't worry, I'll keep her out of the picture :). Though, as I was telling my friend, she may be mentioned. I recommend that you read 'Diary of a Father'  by TrinityTheSheDevil, which has Arwen in it, but it isn't mush. It's actually very humorous. I know what you mean, though. Everything with Arwen in it turns out as some kind of ugly romance story. LOL.
Cherz: LOL. I am truly touched, Cheryl, that you actually made an effort ;). I'm just joking. Don't look at me like that!
Amnras: Your review was wonderful! It really encouraged me to continue posting. I'm horrible at writing long chapters, but I'll try. Thank you sooo much.
Dimathiel: Thank you Jia, you are most kind :) 'where the warg howls, there also the orc prowls' is actually from The Ring Goes South.
Eruanne: I quite agree. That's why I deleted them. Words of encouragement. Thank you. And there was no sarcasm in that.

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