Disclaimer: All facts and characters related to Tolkien's works are his.

These Burdens we Carry

Chapter II – Troubles on the Snow

The wind blew harshly into Legolas' face making him squint and narrow his eyes to slits. He was getting heartily sick of it. He walked lightly atop the snow all the while keeping his eyes peeled for any signs of danger in the large field of whiteness that stretched before him.

 His current fear was that he would drop unsuspectingly into a depression in the ground. The chances of getting out of that tight spot were very slim. No one knew where he was. He was all alone in the cold menacing mountains. He tried to push all thoughts of despair away from his mind and desperately tried to focus on something to keep his thoughts away from dark things.

His mind wandered to the things he could hear. He listened to his breathing and watched a small cloud of icy breath escape from his mouth every time he exhaled. He heard the tapping of his bow softly against his back and the last two arrows hitting the side of  his quiver…

He walked automatically forward for ages surrounded by nothing but blankness, finally stopping to rest behind a large rock that protruded from the ground. He brought his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. The weather was frightfully cold- even for an elf. He soon wondered into a light sleep, exhausted by the day's walking and the emotional battle of blocking out grief from his companions death as well as desperation from his dire situation.

His senses prickled, warning him of danger and he awoke with a start.  He could hear the melancholic howl of a warg in the air. His body tensed, going as taught as a bowstring and his hands fled to his knifes.

He stayed that way for some time, prepared for any sudden attacks, but the howls soon ebbed away and Legolas slowly let his guard down again allowing himself to fall back into a troubled sleep…

The dirty blade of an orc cut through the air and then swung viciously downwards. A soft stifled cry of pain was heard followed by the sound of something choking. Blood dripped from between the ugly fingers of the cruel creature born from dark things.

It flashed its rotten teeth in a ghastly smile, its eyes lighting up with glee. The rest of them licked their lips lustfully, their gaze fixated on their latest victim. The orc gripped his gnarled fingers around the neck of the elf squeezing tightly. The once fair creature's bruised face was scrunched up in pain and his hands flew up in a vain attempt to free himself. His mouth was open in a silent scream and his eyes, so glazed with pain, were wide open in horror. He struggled futilely for several minutes before going limp, just as it seemed that life was going to flee his being, the grip was gone and he fell hard to the ground. He lay there fighting to take in air and a few tears of pain leaked out from the corners of his eyes.

The orcs continued to torment him, pushing him to the brink of death and then pulling him back… 

~*

Legolas awoke suddenly and after breathing deeply and reassuring himself that it was just a dream, walked out of the protection of the boulder only to find himself staring straight into the ugly face of a warg.

The warg snarled and bared its teeth, salvia dripping from its mouth.

It had been separated from the rest of the pack and in this frigid weather it had been unable to get much sustenance. Now, the sight and smell of the elf before him drove it mad. It was ravenous. It pounced at the elf, its sharp teeth aiming for the throat.

Legolas whipped out his knifes and shifted out of the path of the warg at the last minute. A long cut now ran from the warg's eye to the base of its jaw. Ruby red blood gushed out the gristly wound and dripped slowly to the ground.

Images so vivid in his memory were instantly recalled and his stomach churned. He fought to keep his concentration but that small moment of distraction was enough for the animal. It shot at him another time, eager for fresh meat.

Its fangs bit deeply into Legolas' shoulder tearing flesh and muscle. Legolas gasped with the pain but kept his cool and stabbed his knife into the warg's underside. He twisted it and the animal let loose a pitiful howl. It fell to its side, its life force gushing from the fatal wound.

Legolas staggered away from the dying animal clutching his shoulder tightly. When he removed his hand, it was stained red and blood trickled down the length of his arm. He felt strangely ill…

~*~

Legolas shaded his eyes against the dazzling white snow and pulled his hood further over his head. He shivered uncontrollably now. The injury he had acquired from the warg was not fatal; however, he had already been injured from a near brush with the orcs that pursued him. His wounds were slowly weakening him and he had began to stumble more with every step.

His eyelids kept trying to slip shut and he struggled to force them open. Often, his eyes would go unfocussed and his mind would think of dark things, before he shook his head to pull himself back to the present.

His fingers felt stiff as he clutched the edges of his clock closer around him. He couldn't feel his feet. The numbing cold was slowly seeping into his body and a deep feeling of lethargy was creeping over him.

He hardly realized that he had stopped moving. His vision darkened and he collapsed onto the ground senseless as the cruel wind continued to blow around him, enveloping him in its icy embrace…

~*

Aragorn sensed his horse's distress and tried to soothe her with calm words. He worried about the cause of the horse's behavior. As they moved ahead, she moved slower and slower, dragging her hooves into the ground until finally she halted and refused to move. Her rider dismounted and attempted to look around to see what the matter was, but he was unable to see clearly in the blowing snow. Cautiously, Aragorn, took a few halting stops forward. His leg hit an obstacle and he looked downwards, his eyes widening in horror as he discovered who it was.

TBC…

I'm sorry for taking so terribly long to update… I wrote a couple of versions of chpt 2 and then decided to cut and paste bits and pieces of it to form one chapter…. Aniwaez, hope you ppl liked it. It's my longest chapter yet! 1000 over words …. My average is 800.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR REVIEWING!