Author's note: Hey, I'm still here! I still haven't been kidnapped by either Boromir, Legolas, or Haldir. Although I wish I had been. My home was turned into a hotel briefly from all the people staying here. And then I was sick for about a week and didn't feel like doing anything. Nasty stuff.
Anyway, any Haldir fans will be excited after this chapter since he makes a small appearance at the end. Hope you enjoy!
Rhovanion's Child by Shelly
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Thankfully their journey to Mirkwood was taken without any danger, but once entering the forest one always had to be on their guard for there were many dangers hidden in its depths. And even more so because of the presence of Dol Goldur to the south.
Legolas spoke with his father and Rhiannon did as she had planned and visited her father's grave, once again taking comfort in doing something so simple as speaking with him even though he wasn't here. It helped to reaffirm her belief in herself, but she had to wonder what her place in this world would be since Aragorn had been established as the rightful heir to Gondor. Then she reminded herself that it was selfish of her to be thinking on such matters when there was a more serious problem to attend to.
She finally departed from Mirkwood with a renewed sense of purpose, and Legolas decided to continue his journey with her a little further. During the first leg, she had been quiet and reserved, quite unlike how he knew her to be. This time they found much to enjoy even though they kept their purpose in mind, and they spent many nights remembering moments from their past together.
They traveled south and Legolas expressed the wish that they visit Lorien for any news of strange activities, a wish that she heartily agreed with since she wanted to see Haldir once again. These were the days she missed, being able to travel familiar lands and see the faces of friends again.
As they neared the borders of Lorien, Legolas picked up on a strange set of tracks, which he guessed to be that of the wolves that prowled the area. From then on they kept their senses open to any sign of them, and then one day they were set upon by a pack of them.
She thought it was rare for wolves to attack, but as they got a better look she realized that these were wargs they were dealing with. Being larger than wolves, they sought only to kill those who dared cross their path, and she was alarmed that they were this close to the Misty Mountains.
Their horses shied away from them nervously once they picked up their scent and were reined in by their riders. The wargs numbered six and both Legolas and Rhiannon strung their bows and nocked an arrow, earning warning growls from their enemy. At a glance, they both released their arrows which hit their targets dead on, killing two of them instantly. The four remaining wargs jumped into action as they did the same, Legolas choosing to fight with his arrows for now as Rhiannon drew her sword and tried to draw some of them from him by attacking them with swiping attacks.
Her plan worked and three took pursuit after her, the elf taking the one down that had decided to take him on. Two more he took down with his arrows, but the last one he had a little difficulty focusing on since it wheeled and lunged at Rhiannon, snapping at her heels in an attempt to drag her off her horse. He only hoped that she could handle it.
Rhiannon tried to keep herself moving to try and keep the warg off her heels, but this one was fast and kept up with her easily, going so far as to show its strength as it ignored the stabs she scored into its thick hide. And being so near to her, she knew that Legolas would be unable to help her, nor did she want him to since she didn't want him hurt.
Suddenly she saw a great furred and clawed paw coming for her, and she leaned back to avoid it, but never thought to think of what would happen next. Its claws dug themselves into her leg, tearing through her skin, and she screamed in pain as its weight drug her off her horse and onto the ground. The back of her head connected with something hard, sending stars dancing in front of her eyes, and then she felt something massive slam against the left side of her face. Pain exploded along her cheek and she felt something warm running down her neck.
Then she knew nothing as darkness enveloped her in its warm embrace, dragging her under as she surrendered to it.
Legolas watched in horror as the warg knocked her from her horse, and he quickly spurred his own into action, his only thought was that of helping her and praying that she would still be alive when he got there. When he finally got a good aim on it, he fired his arrow, but was shocked to see it still moving as it faced him next with a menacing growl. He fired still more arrows into it, and still it came for him, trying out the same attack it had used on Rhiannon.
This time Legolas got his feet underneath him on his horse, grieved to hear his mount's shriek of pain as the warg's claws sunk into its hide. He leaped off as the warg pulled the horse to the ground, landing nimbly on his feet and drawing another arrow as it faced him down. He waited until the moment when it planned to strike, and when it did he fired another arrow straight into its eye and into the thing's brain, the ground beneath him shuddering when it collapsed.
He ran over to Rhiannon and fell to his knees by her side; the only thing he could see was blood as it covered her left leg and face. Her leg he couldn't tell anything about, but her face bore the marks of three long slashes and a fourth one that was smaller. Her leg he set to working on as he bound it with some cloth strips he had packed for such a need, hoping to at least stop the bleeding.
Then he felt the hairs on the back of his neck tingle, and he looked up to see another gathering of wargs approaching, perhaps drawn here by the smell of blood. This group was larger, and the odds clearly against him, but he stood and drew another arrow from his quiver. Fixing it to the bow, he sighted the nearest one down and almost fired.
But then it seemed that the wargs were being attacked from another direction as he heard the whistle of arrows cutting through the air, and he quickly added his own to try and get them back for what was done to Rhiannon. His anger had settled deep inside him like a cold lump, knowing that he had failed in his promise to Aragorn to protect her. His arrows flew like bolts of lightning and struck them down just as swiftly until there were no more left.
Looking towards the trees, he saw a small group emerging and heading his way, and he smiled as he saw they were elves from Lorien. He turned his attention back to Rhiannon's leg, pleased to see that the bandages had at least stopped the bleeding. Soon the elves arrived, and he was pleased to see that it was Haldir and his brothers Rumil and Orophin.
Haldir's eyes widened upon seeing her bloodied form and quickly knelt down by her side while his brothers kept watch in case other wargs decided to attack. He turned her face towards him, his eyes closing when he saw the mess that had been made of her face. "We must bring her quickly to the Lady," he said.
Legolas bowed his head towards him in greeting. "I thank you for your help," he offered.
"We have been watching the movements of these foul creatures for some time now," the elven scout replied. "Come, there's no time to waste."
******************
See, I told you he was going to make an appearance. Will she pull through her injuries? One thing's for sure, if she does then she'll look different as a result of the attack. What will Boromir think of her?
Thanks for reading!
Anyway, any Haldir fans will be excited after this chapter since he makes a small appearance at the end. Hope you enjoy!
Rhovanion's Child by Shelly
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Thankfully their journey to Mirkwood was taken without any danger, but once entering the forest one always had to be on their guard for there were many dangers hidden in its depths. And even more so because of the presence of Dol Goldur to the south.
Legolas spoke with his father and Rhiannon did as she had planned and visited her father's grave, once again taking comfort in doing something so simple as speaking with him even though he wasn't here. It helped to reaffirm her belief in herself, but she had to wonder what her place in this world would be since Aragorn had been established as the rightful heir to Gondor. Then she reminded herself that it was selfish of her to be thinking on such matters when there was a more serious problem to attend to.
She finally departed from Mirkwood with a renewed sense of purpose, and Legolas decided to continue his journey with her a little further. During the first leg, she had been quiet and reserved, quite unlike how he knew her to be. This time they found much to enjoy even though they kept their purpose in mind, and they spent many nights remembering moments from their past together.
They traveled south and Legolas expressed the wish that they visit Lorien for any news of strange activities, a wish that she heartily agreed with since she wanted to see Haldir once again. These were the days she missed, being able to travel familiar lands and see the faces of friends again.
As they neared the borders of Lorien, Legolas picked up on a strange set of tracks, which he guessed to be that of the wolves that prowled the area. From then on they kept their senses open to any sign of them, and then one day they were set upon by a pack of them.
She thought it was rare for wolves to attack, but as they got a better look she realized that these were wargs they were dealing with. Being larger than wolves, they sought only to kill those who dared cross their path, and she was alarmed that they were this close to the Misty Mountains.
Their horses shied away from them nervously once they picked up their scent and were reined in by their riders. The wargs numbered six and both Legolas and Rhiannon strung their bows and nocked an arrow, earning warning growls from their enemy. At a glance, they both released their arrows which hit their targets dead on, killing two of them instantly. The four remaining wargs jumped into action as they did the same, Legolas choosing to fight with his arrows for now as Rhiannon drew her sword and tried to draw some of them from him by attacking them with swiping attacks.
Her plan worked and three took pursuit after her, the elf taking the one down that had decided to take him on. Two more he took down with his arrows, but the last one he had a little difficulty focusing on since it wheeled and lunged at Rhiannon, snapping at her heels in an attempt to drag her off her horse. He only hoped that she could handle it.
Rhiannon tried to keep herself moving to try and keep the warg off her heels, but this one was fast and kept up with her easily, going so far as to show its strength as it ignored the stabs she scored into its thick hide. And being so near to her, she knew that Legolas would be unable to help her, nor did she want him to since she didn't want him hurt.
Suddenly she saw a great furred and clawed paw coming for her, and she leaned back to avoid it, but never thought to think of what would happen next. Its claws dug themselves into her leg, tearing through her skin, and she screamed in pain as its weight drug her off her horse and onto the ground. The back of her head connected with something hard, sending stars dancing in front of her eyes, and then she felt something massive slam against the left side of her face. Pain exploded along her cheek and she felt something warm running down her neck.
Then she knew nothing as darkness enveloped her in its warm embrace, dragging her under as she surrendered to it.
Legolas watched in horror as the warg knocked her from her horse, and he quickly spurred his own into action, his only thought was that of helping her and praying that she would still be alive when he got there. When he finally got a good aim on it, he fired his arrow, but was shocked to see it still moving as it faced him next with a menacing growl. He fired still more arrows into it, and still it came for him, trying out the same attack it had used on Rhiannon.
This time Legolas got his feet underneath him on his horse, grieved to hear his mount's shriek of pain as the warg's claws sunk into its hide. He leaped off as the warg pulled the horse to the ground, landing nimbly on his feet and drawing another arrow as it faced him down. He waited until the moment when it planned to strike, and when it did he fired another arrow straight into its eye and into the thing's brain, the ground beneath him shuddering when it collapsed.
He ran over to Rhiannon and fell to his knees by her side; the only thing he could see was blood as it covered her left leg and face. Her leg he couldn't tell anything about, but her face bore the marks of three long slashes and a fourth one that was smaller. Her leg he set to working on as he bound it with some cloth strips he had packed for such a need, hoping to at least stop the bleeding.
Then he felt the hairs on the back of his neck tingle, and he looked up to see another gathering of wargs approaching, perhaps drawn here by the smell of blood. This group was larger, and the odds clearly against him, but he stood and drew another arrow from his quiver. Fixing it to the bow, he sighted the nearest one down and almost fired.
But then it seemed that the wargs were being attacked from another direction as he heard the whistle of arrows cutting through the air, and he quickly added his own to try and get them back for what was done to Rhiannon. His anger had settled deep inside him like a cold lump, knowing that he had failed in his promise to Aragorn to protect her. His arrows flew like bolts of lightning and struck them down just as swiftly until there were no more left.
Looking towards the trees, he saw a small group emerging and heading his way, and he smiled as he saw they were elves from Lorien. He turned his attention back to Rhiannon's leg, pleased to see that the bandages had at least stopped the bleeding. Soon the elves arrived, and he was pleased to see that it was Haldir and his brothers Rumil and Orophin.
Haldir's eyes widened upon seeing her bloodied form and quickly knelt down by her side while his brothers kept watch in case other wargs decided to attack. He turned her face towards him, his eyes closing when he saw the mess that had been made of her face. "We must bring her quickly to the Lady," he said.
Legolas bowed his head towards him in greeting. "I thank you for your help," he offered.
"We have been watching the movements of these foul creatures for some time now," the elven scout replied. "Come, there's no time to waste."
******************
See, I told you he was going to make an appearance. Will she pull through her injuries? One thing's for sure, if she does then she'll look different as a result of the attack. What will Boromir think of her?
Thanks for reading!