Part 4
The high moon had risen for many hours and the air had been as still as it had never been before. The forests of Rhudaur were soon at an end, and farther they drew from the Witch Kingdom. Soon they would clear the ford and sight Rivendell. Legolas glanced at his companion, who was peacefully asleep on his cloak. She had grown fond of that green cloth. For the first few nights he had allowed her to use it. Then, when he deemed it too worn and dirty, he gave her another cloth which she had refused. And then she learned to take the cloak from him every night.
He could have cleared Rhudaur in one mere day. He had done it plenty of times before. Legolas took pride in his stealth and speed. If he needed to travel from Mirkwood to Angmar, it usually took him no longer than three days and nights. That distance greatly exceeded that between Rhudaur and Rivendell. Yet here he was, slowly journeying for a woman who could not give him reasons.
He stood from the grass where he lay looking up at the stars peeking through the trees. The sound that came from the deeper forests was inaudible to mere men. Yet his keen senses picked up on the presence of another. Crouched to appear smaller and provide less of a target, he looked again at his lady companion then slipped into the trees. No enemy would catch the Elven prince unaware, especially not when he had a charge to protect.
Legolas heard the muted tread upon dried leaves. He stood still, his back to a large tree. His narrowed eyes scoured his surroundings and saw a shadow quickly fold into the underbrush. It was no Orc that intruded on his peaceful night. No Orc had the grace or wit to hide so well. It was either a Man or an Elf. Even then, he could not call out, for Men and Elves could be corrupted, as evidenced by the two ages of darkness of Middle-Earth stemming from the Silmarils and the Rings of Power.
With his fleet and silent feet, Legolas slipped towards the bushes. He crawled carefully over to the hunched and cloaked stranger. Then, with a quick movement, he grabbed the stranger's arms and slammed him back on the ground.
He snarled at the man under him, who possibly dared to think ill of him and Chloe.
"Dartho, mellon nin!" the stranger gasped. "Wait," he repeated.
Legolas moved carefully to see the face of this man who dared called him friend. Even without the aid of moonlight, he recognized him. "Aragorn, anann le รบ-gennin!" He stood and extended his hand to help his friend up.
Aragorn took the proffered hand and nodded. "I have not seen you for long either. You have honed your skill if even I can no longer sense you."
The Elf smirked proudly. "You are a child. You have more learning to do before you take me on."
Aragorn nodded and laughed. "The day will come, Legolas!" He sighed and the levity vanished from his eyes. "I fear that I would soon be forced to learn before my time."
"What seems to be amiss?" Legolas inquired.
"The wizard has sent me to Bree," Aragorn confided. "The time for the Ring has arrived. Even now the Nazgul are about, searching for the one who carries it."
Legolas felt the chill in the air, and knew Aragorn's words for their truth. The Nazgul were heartless, and he feared for anyone who would lay on their path. Once great kings of men, the Nazgul were now puppets, slaves to do Sauron's bidding because they were overcome with the desire for power. "We are too close to Angmar. Certainly of the Nazgul are hunting, we will be in its path."
"That's right."
Right then, they heard the familiar thunder of nine warhorses, the clanging of nine ancient battle armors. The bloodied hooves of those animals were known and feared throughout the Westernlands, as were the lack of their riders of corporeal forms.
"They tear through the forests now," Aragorn narrated, "to head to the Shire. I must go and see to the Halflings while Gandalf learns more from Saruman."
Legolas became suddenly still, as he sought to listen to the horses. He would read the direction of their travel from the noise. When he realized the path that the Nazgul would take, he grasped Aragorn's upper arm. "Make haste, my friend. Gotheno nin," he apologized, "but I must now depart."
Without further explanation, Legolas left the ranger to find his own way as he raced back to his camp.
~~
Chloe awoke to the deafening noise. She swallowed as the earth shook. She had no doubt that those were horses all running towards her. She still had nightmares of being on Legolas' mare. This was the same pounding sound, increased a thousandfold. She frantically stumbled to her feet and looked at where Legolas was last. When she found the space empty, her heart slammed in her chest.
She looked around her and found nowhere to hide. If she ran deeper into the forest, she was well in the danger of heading straight towards their path. If she stayed on the ground, she would be trampled. From the sound of it, she would not survive those heavy hooves.
She cursed the Elf who chose to abandon her now of all nights. Chloe fled from the clearing and ran towards the trees, then stopped. She had done a lot of things since she found herself in this world. She was not going to die before she experienced anything good. She must have learned something helpful after spending several days with a guy who seemed to be the epitome of oneness with nature.
Her hands were trembling as she clutched the trunk of a tree. She was able to climb it when she needed to eat. If she could just calm herself, she was sure she would be able to do it again. The blisters on hers hands still stung, so it did not really matter if she added more to them. The thundering hooves became louder and the pounding in her ears vied with them. Chloe found herself propelled up by adrenaline.
Chloe sat on a tree branch and looked down. There were nine riders in gigantic black horses. All of the nine were hooded. When one raised his hand and pointed towards the direction where she and Legolas had come from, Chloe saw the sharp pointed blades of his armor and shivered. She had thought armors were cool before, and that they showed a warrior's strength. Now she could only think of the armor as mean and hurtful. She now preferred fighters to be graceful and natural, like Legolas. The rider who seemed to be the head looked up, and Chloe gasped. She cringed so that he would not see her. Chloe saw that the hood, although it seemed to form around something physical, was actually empty.
To her relief, the riders merely displaced the pack that Legolas had left. The horses did havoc on the green cloak that she liked to sleep in though. Also, there were no longer extra fruits to eat. They had all been crushed by the animals before they fled. Chloe glanced at the fruit hanging a few feet away from her. She was up here anyway. Slowly, she inched forward to grab it. When she closed her hand around it and tried to regain her balance, Chloe slipped from the branch and fell down with a scream.
~~
Legolas burst through the clearing with only Chloe in mind. Even his quickness did not beat the Nazgul's horses. When he arrived, he saw the disaster that was the camp. Legolas rushed towards his cloak and released his breath in relief to find no blood on it. Chloe must have escaped before the Nazgul came.
He looked around and saw the crumpled form just at the edge of the forest. Legolas ran towards Chloe and touched her on the shoulder. She groaned.
"Chloe," he said softly. He waited with bated breath to see if she would respond. "Manen le?"
He had asked that before, she thought hazily. As if it were only natural, she answered in a pained whisper with her best guess, "Definitely not fine."
His hands ran over her arms, and Chloe tightly shut her eyes as she fought waves of pain and nausea. Then, he ran his hands over her legs, from her thighs down to her calves and ankles. "Hennaid Valar, no bones were broken," came his prayer of thanks. "How could I have left you alone in this malevolent wood?" he whispered, berating himself.
Chloe opened her eyes at the sound of distress in his voice. She saw the expression on his face, and understood it for what it was. Despite her screaming bones and muscles, Chloe reached up to touch his cheek. "Just like any usual well-raised boy," she said with a soft smile. "Stop blaming yourself for something that's not your fault."
The tone of her voice was chiding, and Legolas mistook it for her softly reprimanding him. He had no comeback, of course. She was correct. "Completely my fault," he admitted.
Legolas saw the tear on the blouse she was wearing. A darkening caught his eye. He pushed aside the cloth to reveal bruises already forming under the skin of her shoulder. He helped her sit up and lean back on the tree. His eyes were focused on the bare skin. The mark did not belong on such perfection. Very slowly, as if there was a benefit, Legolas leaned and placed a kiss on the hot clotting of blood on that area.
Chloe sucked in her breath when his golden head dipped so closely to her breast. When he kissed her shoulder, her lips parted. It was perhaps the most tender action he had shown her since they met. Chloe cupped his cheek and brought his face up so she could look at him. Then, she leaned forward herself and closed her lips over his when he hesitated.
Legolas's mouth fell open in surprise. Almost immediately, he reciprocated. After seeking to help her endlessly for several days, she always ended up scowling at him and sleeping with her back to him. Now, when he had egregiously erred in protecting her, she was kissing him. He pulled very carefully away and looked down into her eyes, frowning. He saw them sparkling with an emotion he could not name. There was no need to ask, for there were no answers that they could understand in words. Instead, he took one of her hands in his and placed her palm on his chest, where his heart beat. She did the same with his, only this time she put his hand on the breast that he grabbed the day they met. He furrowed his eyebrows, and she smiled in encouragement.
That was when he eagerly leaned forward to kiss her again.
The high moon had risen for many hours and the air had been as still as it had never been before. The forests of Rhudaur were soon at an end, and farther they drew from the Witch Kingdom. Soon they would clear the ford and sight Rivendell. Legolas glanced at his companion, who was peacefully asleep on his cloak. She had grown fond of that green cloth. For the first few nights he had allowed her to use it. Then, when he deemed it too worn and dirty, he gave her another cloth which she had refused. And then she learned to take the cloak from him every night.
He could have cleared Rhudaur in one mere day. He had done it plenty of times before. Legolas took pride in his stealth and speed. If he needed to travel from Mirkwood to Angmar, it usually took him no longer than three days and nights. That distance greatly exceeded that between Rhudaur and Rivendell. Yet here he was, slowly journeying for a woman who could not give him reasons.
He stood from the grass where he lay looking up at the stars peeking through the trees. The sound that came from the deeper forests was inaudible to mere men. Yet his keen senses picked up on the presence of another. Crouched to appear smaller and provide less of a target, he looked again at his lady companion then slipped into the trees. No enemy would catch the Elven prince unaware, especially not when he had a charge to protect.
Legolas heard the muted tread upon dried leaves. He stood still, his back to a large tree. His narrowed eyes scoured his surroundings and saw a shadow quickly fold into the underbrush. It was no Orc that intruded on his peaceful night. No Orc had the grace or wit to hide so well. It was either a Man or an Elf. Even then, he could not call out, for Men and Elves could be corrupted, as evidenced by the two ages of darkness of Middle-Earth stemming from the Silmarils and the Rings of Power.
With his fleet and silent feet, Legolas slipped towards the bushes. He crawled carefully over to the hunched and cloaked stranger. Then, with a quick movement, he grabbed the stranger's arms and slammed him back on the ground.
He snarled at the man under him, who possibly dared to think ill of him and Chloe.
"Dartho, mellon nin!" the stranger gasped. "Wait," he repeated.
Legolas moved carefully to see the face of this man who dared called him friend. Even without the aid of moonlight, he recognized him. "Aragorn, anann le รบ-gennin!" He stood and extended his hand to help his friend up.
Aragorn took the proffered hand and nodded. "I have not seen you for long either. You have honed your skill if even I can no longer sense you."
The Elf smirked proudly. "You are a child. You have more learning to do before you take me on."
Aragorn nodded and laughed. "The day will come, Legolas!" He sighed and the levity vanished from his eyes. "I fear that I would soon be forced to learn before my time."
"What seems to be amiss?" Legolas inquired.
"The wizard has sent me to Bree," Aragorn confided. "The time for the Ring has arrived. Even now the Nazgul are about, searching for the one who carries it."
Legolas felt the chill in the air, and knew Aragorn's words for their truth. The Nazgul were heartless, and he feared for anyone who would lay on their path. Once great kings of men, the Nazgul were now puppets, slaves to do Sauron's bidding because they were overcome with the desire for power. "We are too close to Angmar. Certainly of the Nazgul are hunting, we will be in its path."
"That's right."
Right then, they heard the familiar thunder of nine warhorses, the clanging of nine ancient battle armors. The bloodied hooves of those animals were known and feared throughout the Westernlands, as were the lack of their riders of corporeal forms.
"They tear through the forests now," Aragorn narrated, "to head to the Shire. I must go and see to the Halflings while Gandalf learns more from Saruman."
Legolas became suddenly still, as he sought to listen to the horses. He would read the direction of their travel from the noise. When he realized the path that the Nazgul would take, he grasped Aragorn's upper arm. "Make haste, my friend. Gotheno nin," he apologized, "but I must now depart."
Without further explanation, Legolas left the ranger to find his own way as he raced back to his camp.
~~
Chloe awoke to the deafening noise. She swallowed as the earth shook. She had no doubt that those were horses all running towards her. She still had nightmares of being on Legolas' mare. This was the same pounding sound, increased a thousandfold. She frantically stumbled to her feet and looked at where Legolas was last. When she found the space empty, her heart slammed in her chest.
She looked around her and found nowhere to hide. If she ran deeper into the forest, she was well in the danger of heading straight towards their path. If she stayed on the ground, she would be trampled. From the sound of it, she would not survive those heavy hooves.
She cursed the Elf who chose to abandon her now of all nights. Chloe fled from the clearing and ran towards the trees, then stopped. She had done a lot of things since she found herself in this world. She was not going to die before she experienced anything good. She must have learned something helpful after spending several days with a guy who seemed to be the epitome of oneness with nature.
Her hands were trembling as she clutched the trunk of a tree. She was able to climb it when she needed to eat. If she could just calm herself, she was sure she would be able to do it again. The blisters on hers hands still stung, so it did not really matter if she added more to them. The thundering hooves became louder and the pounding in her ears vied with them. Chloe found herself propelled up by adrenaline.
Chloe sat on a tree branch and looked down. There were nine riders in gigantic black horses. All of the nine were hooded. When one raised his hand and pointed towards the direction where she and Legolas had come from, Chloe saw the sharp pointed blades of his armor and shivered. She had thought armors were cool before, and that they showed a warrior's strength. Now she could only think of the armor as mean and hurtful. She now preferred fighters to be graceful and natural, like Legolas. The rider who seemed to be the head looked up, and Chloe gasped. She cringed so that he would not see her. Chloe saw that the hood, although it seemed to form around something physical, was actually empty.
To her relief, the riders merely displaced the pack that Legolas had left. The horses did havoc on the green cloak that she liked to sleep in though. Also, there were no longer extra fruits to eat. They had all been crushed by the animals before they fled. Chloe glanced at the fruit hanging a few feet away from her. She was up here anyway. Slowly, she inched forward to grab it. When she closed her hand around it and tried to regain her balance, Chloe slipped from the branch and fell down with a scream.
~~
Legolas burst through the clearing with only Chloe in mind. Even his quickness did not beat the Nazgul's horses. When he arrived, he saw the disaster that was the camp. Legolas rushed towards his cloak and released his breath in relief to find no blood on it. Chloe must have escaped before the Nazgul came.
He looked around and saw the crumpled form just at the edge of the forest. Legolas ran towards Chloe and touched her on the shoulder. She groaned.
"Chloe," he said softly. He waited with bated breath to see if she would respond. "Manen le?"
He had asked that before, she thought hazily. As if it were only natural, she answered in a pained whisper with her best guess, "Definitely not fine."
His hands ran over her arms, and Chloe tightly shut her eyes as she fought waves of pain and nausea. Then, he ran his hands over her legs, from her thighs down to her calves and ankles. "Hennaid Valar, no bones were broken," came his prayer of thanks. "How could I have left you alone in this malevolent wood?" he whispered, berating himself.
Chloe opened her eyes at the sound of distress in his voice. She saw the expression on his face, and understood it for what it was. Despite her screaming bones and muscles, Chloe reached up to touch his cheek. "Just like any usual well-raised boy," she said with a soft smile. "Stop blaming yourself for something that's not your fault."
The tone of her voice was chiding, and Legolas mistook it for her softly reprimanding him. He had no comeback, of course. She was correct. "Completely my fault," he admitted.
Legolas saw the tear on the blouse she was wearing. A darkening caught his eye. He pushed aside the cloth to reveal bruises already forming under the skin of her shoulder. He helped her sit up and lean back on the tree. His eyes were focused on the bare skin. The mark did not belong on such perfection. Very slowly, as if there was a benefit, Legolas leaned and placed a kiss on the hot clotting of blood on that area.
Chloe sucked in her breath when his golden head dipped so closely to her breast. When he kissed her shoulder, her lips parted. It was perhaps the most tender action he had shown her since they met. Chloe cupped his cheek and brought his face up so she could look at him. Then, she leaned forward herself and closed her lips over his when he hesitated.
Legolas's mouth fell open in surprise. Almost immediately, he reciprocated. After seeking to help her endlessly for several days, she always ended up scowling at him and sleeping with her back to him. Now, when he had egregiously erred in protecting her, she was kissing him. He pulled very carefully away and looked down into her eyes, frowning. He saw them sparkling with an emotion he could not name. There was no need to ask, for there were no answers that they could understand in words. Instead, he took one of her hands in his and placed her palm on his chest, where his heart beat. She did the same with his, only this time she put his hand on the breast that he grabbed the day they met. He furrowed his eyebrows, and she smiled in encouragement.
That was when he eagerly leaned forward to kiss her again.