Thank you for your lovely reviews! They are what keep me writing and if you like what you read please continue to tell me. I apologize for all the grammatical errors. Grammar has never been my strong point and I don't think it ever will be, so bear with me! Thank you again! ShyPixie

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"We're not going no further till we've had a breather!" a panting, gravelly voice grumbled loudly.
Lizzy rolled onto her back with a muffled groan. Lifting her head, she opened her eyes to a narrow slit, let out another, louder moan and dramatically fell back. Her nightmares usually didn't drag on this long, but then the common, everyday nightmare usually didn't hurt this much either. Her shoulders throbbed with agony and she couldn't feel her arms anymore from hours of being tightly bound behind her back. Breathing had become especially difficult as her stomach and chest felt horribly bruised from the beating her front had taken.
Deep night had fallen while she'd been unconscious and Lizzy shivered in from the chill in the air. The head orc had rudely dumped her on the ground and stalked away, calling orders to his fellow monsters as he went.
"Get a fire going!" he roared. As they scurried away, following his commands, she heard whispering not far from her head.
"Who is she?"
"How should I know, Pippin?! I've never seen her before thats for sure!"
Swiveling her head around, Lizzy stared at the small forms lying to the left of her. Two pairs of large eyes gazed at her curiously. There was enough light from the moon to see the blood trickling down from a cut on one of the figures childlike brow.
Remembered details flooded her instantly.
"They must be hobbits," she thought. The hazy information slowly became clearer in her mind. Merry and Pippin. They had been captured by the orcs after Boromir had been killed.
If she was correct, that would mean Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli were hot on their trail and soldiers from Rohan would be charging in soon. Relief flooded her at the thought of the rescue party. Her pain would soon be over. A thought crossed her mind, "Why hadn't she remembered this sooner?" Lizzy had seen all three Lord of the Rings movies before and had enjoyed them immensely. Brushing the stray thought aside, she concentrated on the hobbits.
"Mmmmf!"
"She's trying to say something!" Pippin whispered.
"Mmmmf mmuph!"
Pippin spoke a little louder, "What did you say?"
Merry muttered, "You idiot! She has a gag in her mouth she isn't going to be able to answer!"
"Maybe we should take it off?" Pippin murmured.
Lizzy nodded frantically.
"Didn't you hear the Uruk-Hai? She's a witch! She might cast a spell on us!"
Lizzy rolled her eyes.
The conversation was abruptly cut short as a fight broke out between the creatures.
"I'm starving! We ain't had nothing but maggoty bread for three stinking days!" One orc (or was it Uruk) snarled.
"Yeah! Why can't we have some meat?" Questioned yet another. He cast a dark, greedy look toward the hobbits. "What about them?- they're fresh!"
The leader stepped between them, "They are not for eating!" The two hobbits squeezed closer together and were casting frightened glances around.
Lizzy wasn't worried. In fact, if her mouth had been free she might have started to whistle.
And thats when the boys of Rohan made their grand entrance. They charged in swinging their swords and letting arrows fly. Body parts went this way, blood spurted that way and Lizzy watched in amusement feeling a kind of surreal sensation as if she was watching and old, favorite film. That is until an arrow landed dangerously close to her.
"Watch it!" She grunted, the words unintelligible, and rolling over she caught the wide, terrified eyes of the frozen hobbits.
They stared at her with indecision written all over their faces. "Go!" She silently willed them, trying to communicate with her eyes. She knew that they had to get into Fangorn Forest and meet the ents or the story would be dramatically altered. Turning around, they crawled toward the trees, casting guilty looks behind them. After she saw that they had safely disappeared behind the gigantic branches she turned to face the battle once more. The warriors from Rohan had made quick work of the exhausted Uruk-Hai and had jumped off their horses to pile the carcasses together to be burned. One soldier reached her side, leaned down to pick her up (probably thinking her one of the monsters and who could blame him? She most likely closely resembled one by now) but jumped back, yelling for his captain.
A tall man with wide shoulders sauntered over sporting shaggy blonde hair and a beard. Even by the light of the torch she couldn't tell the color of his eyes only seeing twin pools of darkness.
"What is it Finran?" The man asked irritably, clearly a good fight before bed wasn't his cup of tea.
"Captain Eomer, " Ah, now she remembered, Captain of Rohan, Eowyn's brother, "look its a woman!"
"Obviously, Finran," drawled the handsome captain, looking down at her with narrowed eyes, "but what is she doing here?- and with company such as this?" he swept his hand out to indicate the dead Uruk-Hai.
"I . . . I don't know, Captain, " the poor soldier stuttered.
"Well, maybe you should ask her?"
"Of course, sir! Right away!" Reaching down, Finran fumbled with Lizzy's bindings and, in his nervousness, yanked a little harder on the gag than was required. When the ropes were finally removed, Lizzy hoarsely muttered, "I was expecting to be rescued not strangled, thanks!" Eomer raised a bow at her gratitude. Ignoring him, she rubbed at the raw wounds on her wrists and winced in pain as feeling slowly returned to her arms.
"You don't happen to have any water do you?" Lizzy questioned, her dry throat protesting with every syllable.
Wordlessly, Eomer strode over to his horse and removed a large container made of animal skins sewed together. Walking back he offered it to her. Grimacing, she thought of the poor animals who had died for the canteen and then of the cold bottles of water in her fridge. Muttering, she drank deeply anyway.
"Thanks," she murmured and handed it back.
Eomer took it and without looking, tossed it in the general direction of his horse. Crouching down beside her, so that they were eye level, he quietly asked, "Who are you?"
"Lizzy McMillian, pleased to meet you. Not that my name would mean anything to you." Thinking how strange this all was she almost giggled. Lord, she must be getting delirious.
"Lizzy McMillian, what a strange name. What were you doing with the Uruk-Hai?"
"I honestly don't have a clue. I ran into them, they called me a witch, and now that I think about it that was quite rude, wasn't it? The beasts! They said something about a prophesy, and before I knew it I ended up here with you. Isn't that nice?" Another giggle almost escaped.
He was looking at her strangely now and Lizzy had almost reached up to check for horns before she caught herself. Well, her story was a bit . . . out of the norm and she was pretty sure she fit the description of a witch right now so she could almost understand his stare.
"When you decide to tell me the truth, let me know. Until then . . ." he grabbed Lizzy's hand and attempted to pull her to her feet. Clutching her aching stomach with one arm she yelped and tried to swat him away as dizziness swept over her in a great tidal wave. She almost bowled over in pain and would have fallen to her knees if Eomer hadn't reacted quickly. Pushing aside her hand, which was still trying to batt him away, he swept an arm under her knees and across her shoulders, picking her up as easily as some men might pick up a beer. Swiftly striding over to his horse he gently deposited her in the saddle ignoring all her protests and swooped down to pick up the container of water. Swinging his leg up, he mounted the horse behind her and arranged Lizzy so that her cheek was comfortably cushioned on his chest. Still feeling dizzy she was unable to manage more than a few weak complaints before he nudged his horse forward shouting back to his men, "We ride north!"
They trotted away and were quickly swallowed up by the shadows dancing around the sick glow of the fire, it's flames greedily licking at the smoking flesh.