Chapter 2: The journey commences
"Huh?!" I woke with someone shaking me. "Dawn already?" The young man who had woke me up nodded and placed my new clothes and weapon on the end of my bed.
"The king has requested you to dress and join him for breakfast before you leave." I nodded and began to dress. The clothes were very different from my normal style but were surprisingly comfortable. I decided it would be best to leave my breastplate, shield and sword in my room to avoid any slight disasters (I can quite clumsy and I don't think the king or his men would like to lose any body parts!).
When I arrived in the hall for breakfast Legosis, Arazeize, Giblet and the king were already finishing off there rather peculiar breakfast.
"Ah Chris" the king greeted me, "Good Morning. Sit down and eat. You're going to need your strength today."
Now 'need your strength' was a strange thing to hear as I am usually quite lazy and do nothing but I don't think I'm going to get much of 'nothing' done for a while.
I sat down and ate as quickly but as well-mannered as I could. Not much was said until I had finished. It was Giblet who spoke first.
"Aragorn what do you expect us to do?"
"Giblet son of Gimli, I wish for you to destroy this gem," He held the gem so everyone could see before continuing; "There is no place for this on this planet. It should never have been created and it will be destroyed. You four will travel to the only place where this can be eliminated which is Oxenstoke. There the people have a very powerful blade, stronger even than mine. There is only one of these blades and you must explain to the lord there that you are on a mission set by King Elessar of Gondor and he will let you into a secret hiding place for the blade. Arazeize will be the only one to touch it. He must smash the gem into a million pieces. One stroke should be enough. The blade should then be locked away and never spoken of to anyone. It is strictly secret and that is how it will stay. You should think yourselves lucky that I'm even trusting you will this but I have every ounce of confidence that you will succeed. Is all of that clear?"
A chorus of agreement sealed the deal and we were given horses to ride on.
I'd ridden horses before so I had a vague idea how to steer and control but playstaion is so much easier. My horse was called Filomere. She was a large, but not too large, black horse that, according to Aragorn, was very easy to control as she did not need much steering because she was trained to follow a lead horse, Karazome, Arazeize's horse.
"Chris we must give you an elvish name," The thing I had been waiting for, a cool new identity. "You can be Legaramir of Lothlórien. You must use no other identity." Legaramir, I gotta remember that.
We set off at a canter as the sun rose on the horizon. I dared to look behind me as the city disappeared into the distance. I was clinging tightly to the reigns of Filomere as well as a little of her mane just to be sure I didn't topple to the ground, bad start if I did wouldn't it?
"We cannot travel the whole way without a little help. An army of orcs and uruk-hai will soon find us." Arazeize said sternly turning to face us.
"Aragorn said he would send help at our call and my father will too" Legosis informed the confused me.
We had been riding for almost seven hours before we stopped again. Arazeize turned to face us with a serious look on his face.
"We are drawing closer to an army of evil" My heart pounded with sudden fear. "I must get a message to Gondor" He put his lips together and whistled a peculiar tune.
Suddenly a black dot in the sky appeared. It was flying towards us. A large eagle perched on the edge of a rock and Arazeize spoke to it.
"We need backup. Tell my father to send his best men as soon as possible." The eagle took off and flew in the direction of Gondor.
"How long will it take for the army to arrive?" I asked as I shook will fear and cold.
"They will be here by dawn." He looked towards a setting sun. "We will rest until tomorrow."
We dismounted and unpacked the horses of our sleeping and eating equipment. We could only eat cold food because a fire would attract enemies.
We huddled together in blankets to keep warm. I was first to fall to sleep. I fell into a strange dream about dragons and trolls, hoping I would never have to meet one.
(The Dream)
I was trapped, there was no way out, my escape was blocked with a large troll. It must have been at least 16 feet tall and was brandishing a club in my direction.
Fear flooded through me and my knees began to buckle with terror.
Behind the troll was a fire-breathing dragon that would burn me to a crisp and slice me to pieces if I tried to escape.
The troll swung his club at me with all its might.
It was going to hit me in the mush if I didn't move.
I tried to move but was too late!
THUD!!!
I woke with a start. Sweat was dripping down my face and I was breathing hard.
I looked around at the others. They seemed peacefully sleeping, except Legosis but elves don't really sleep do they?
I read in a book before I arrived in the world, that elves don't need to sleep like we do and they don't close their eyes, they just rest.
After a small argument with my inner self over elves and sleeping I steadily drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
The following morning I was woken by Giblet. I ate my very small breakfast and packed up Filomere.
"The army is here" Arazeize said as an owl fluttered down onto his shoulder.
I turned around to see an army of men riding towards us. Each man was fully clad in armour and carried the finest swords Gondor could offer.
"We attack in one hour." Arazeize commanded the soldiers who dismounted and rested so they would have strength in one hour's time.
The only protection I would have was a small breastplate, a sword and the help of Giblet who had promised to fight close by in case I needed help.
I can't fight; I can't even hold the sword right. Maybe I should use this hour to practise. Maybe Giblet will help.
"Huh?!" I woke with someone shaking me. "Dawn already?" The young man who had woke me up nodded and placed my new clothes and weapon on the end of my bed.
"The king has requested you to dress and join him for breakfast before you leave." I nodded and began to dress. The clothes were very different from my normal style but were surprisingly comfortable. I decided it would be best to leave my breastplate, shield and sword in my room to avoid any slight disasters (I can quite clumsy and I don't think the king or his men would like to lose any body parts!).
When I arrived in the hall for breakfast Legosis, Arazeize, Giblet and the king were already finishing off there rather peculiar breakfast.
"Ah Chris" the king greeted me, "Good Morning. Sit down and eat. You're going to need your strength today."
Now 'need your strength' was a strange thing to hear as I am usually quite lazy and do nothing but I don't think I'm going to get much of 'nothing' done for a while.
I sat down and ate as quickly but as well-mannered as I could. Not much was said until I had finished. It was Giblet who spoke first.
"Aragorn what do you expect us to do?"
"Giblet son of Gimli, I wish for you to destroy this gem," He held the gem so everyone could see before continuing; "There is no place for this on this planet. It should never have been created and it will be destroyed. You four will travel to the only place where this can be eliminated which is Oxenstoke. There the people have a very powerful blade, stronger even than mine. There is only one of these blades and you must explain to the lord there that you are on a mission set by King Elessar of Gondor and he will let you into a secret hiding place for the blade. Arazeize will be the only one to touch it. He must smash the gem into a million pieces. One stroke should be enough. The blade should then be locked away and never spoken of to anyone. It is strictly secret and that is how it will stay. You should think yourselves lucky that I'm even trusting you will this but I have every ounce of confidence that you will succeed. Is all of that clear?"
A chorus of agreement sealed the deal and we were given horses to ride on.
I'd ridden horses before so I had a vague idea how to steer and control but playstaion is so much easier. My horse was called Filomere. She was a large, but not too large, black horse that, according to Aragorn, was very easy to control as she did not need much steering because she was trained to follow a lead horse, Karazome, Arazeize's horse.
"Chris we must give you an elvish name," The thing I had been waiting for, a cool new identity. "You can be Legaramir of Lothlórien. You must use no other identity." Legaramir, I gotta remember that.
We set off at a canter as the sun rose on the horizon. I dared to look behind me as the city disappeared into the distance. I was clinging tightly to the reigns of Filomere as well as a little of her mane just to be sure I didn't topple to the ground, bad start if I did wouldn't it?
"We cannot travel the whole way without a little help. An army of orcs and uruk-hai will soon find us." Arazeize said sternly turning to face us.
"Aragorn said he would send help at our call and my father will too" Legosis informed the confused me.
We had been riding for almost seven hours before we stopped again. Arazeize turned to face us with a serious look on his face.
"We are drawing closer to an army of evil" My heart pounded with sudden fear. "I must get a message to Gondor" He put his lips together and whistled a peculiar tune.
Suddenly a black dot in the sky appeared. It was flying towards us. A large eagle perched on the edge of a rock and Arazeize spoke to it.
"We need backup. Tell my father to send his best men as soon as possible." The eagle took off and flew in the direction of Gondor.
"How long will it take for the army to arrive?" I asked as I shook will fear and cold.
"They will be here by dawn." He looked towards a setting sun. "We will rest until tomorrow."
We dismounted and unpacked the horses of our sleeping and eating equipment. We could only eat cold food because a fire would attract enemies.
We huddled together in blankets to keep warm. I was first to fall to sleep. I fell into a strange dream about dragons and trolls, hoping I would never have to meet one.
(The Dream)
I was trapped, there was no way out, my escape was blocked with a large troll. It must have been at least 16 feet tall and was brandishing a club in my direction.
Fear flooded through me and my knees began to buckle with terror.
Behind the troll was a fire-breathing dragon that would burn me to a crisp and slice me to pieces if I tried to escape.
The troll swung his club at me with all its might.
It was going to hit me in the mush if I didn't move.
I tried to move but was too late!
THUD!!!
I woke with a start. Sweat was dripping down my face and I was breathing hard.
I looked around at the others. They seemed peacefully sleeping, except Legosis but elves don't really sleep do they?
I read in a book before I arrived in the world, that elves don't need to sleep like we do and they don't close their eyes, they just rest.
After a small argument with my inner self over elves and sleeping I steadily drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
The following morning I was woken by Giblet. I ate my very small breakfast and packed up Filomere.
"The army is here" Arazeize said as an owl fluttered down onto his shoulder.
I turned around to see an army of men riding towards us. Each man was fully clad in armour and carried the finest swords Gondor could offer.
"We attack in one hour." Arazeize commanded the soldiers who dismounted and rested so they would have strength in one hour's time.
The only protection I would have was a small breastplate, a sword and the help of Giblet who had promised to fight close by in case I needed help.
I can't fight; I can't even hold the sword right. Maybe I should use this hour to practise. Maybe Giblet will help.