Thank you for all your support, here's the next installment - enjoy!!

J & E xxxx

Chapter Twenty One – Fight or Flight

It had been five days since they had arrived at Rivendell, and the girls were now saying their farewells to their new friends. Obviously, they knew that they would be seeing all of them again soon; however the Elven Sanctuary had become their first proper home since they had arrived in Middle Earth, and they had grown fond of it.

They were setting off in a much better state than they had arrived. The girls were now well rested and fed. They had been having baths, which pleased them a lot. They had also been given some fresh clothes, which they were wearing – a white dress for Jenna, and a dark green one for Estriel, they both also wore a dark green cloak to keep out the chill. They did realise that these were not entirely practical, but they still had their own clothes which they could change into, and they liked the idea of arriving at Mirkwood and making a good impression. The horses had been carefully looked after, and looked a lot healthier, and they also had renewed food supplies.

The biggest change, however, was the addition of Elrohir to the group. It had been decided that he would accompany them to Mirkwood, which Estriel was secretly ecstatic about. (Secretly meaning that Jenna knew exactly what she was thinking and everyone else had a pretty good idea.)

At first, Aragorn and Elrohir were each going to have their own horse, which meant that Estriel would be riding solo. However, upon learning that the journey to Mirkwood was a difficult one, she expressed her wish to not ride alone. So, as they waved goodbye to Elrond, Arwen and Elladan, Elrohir was seated behind her on Meg.

"So," said Jenna, breaking the silence of the first five minutes of their journey. "Are we there yet...?"

Estriel laughed, and the men looked slightly confused.

"Jenna, it is a good four weeks before we reach Mirkwood," said Aragorn. "We have only just left Rivendell."

"Never mind," said Jenna, "It was just a joke! I don't know why you people don't get sarcasm. You're missing out, you know..."

And so it carried on. Only Jenna and Estriel's voices were heard for a good part of the first day, their banter punctuated by short comments from Aragorn, agreements from Elrohir, and the odd "Precioussss" from Gollum, who was tied onto the back of Aragorn's horse. Darayne was mostly silent.

As the sun began to creep down behind the mountains, they set up camp. They found an ideal place, sheltered from the wind and any rain which may have come. They assigned watches, and Estriel was first.

Shortly after she had begun, and could hear the soft snores of the men, Jenna joined her. She sat next to her friend, covered in her sleeping bag, and drew her knees up to her chest.

"Es..." she began worriedly. "My spider senses are tingling..."

Estriel turned to her.

"What do you mean?"

"I've got this feeling in the pit of my stomach, like something's gonna happen soon, and...and it's not going to be good."

"To be honest," said Estriel. "I've been feeling the same thing. I didn't really want to say anything in case it was just, y'know, something I'd eaten, or..."

"Having a dark and handsome elf sitting behind you on a horse?"

"Well, yes...but I've been feeling, like queasy, or nervous...like, that feeling you get before you have an exam..."

"And you haven't revised..."

"And you've forgotten your pencil case..."

"And then you realise you're naked!"

Estriel gave her a look.

"Maybe it's just me who's had that dream, then..." said Jenna. "But, exactly. Do you think that maybe the angels have instilled us with, like, an alarm system? So we know when trouble's coming?"

"Jen, right now, anything's possible..."

That was what worried her.

The next morning was dull, but mild and the pinkish colour in the sky alerted Jenna to the weather which was to come.

"How do you know this, Lady Jenna?" enquired Elrohir. Elves, having an affinity with nature generally had a good sense for the climate, but a young human girl?

"Oh, it's just a saying," she replied, suddenly feeling shy about her observations. "Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in the morning, sailor's warning...And, y'know, what with there being a red sky and it being morning..."

"Interesting. What is a 'sailor'?" he asked, curious.

"That's a whole other story," said Jenna, looking up into the sky.

About three hours later, Jenna's prediction came true. As they began to ascend the Misty Mountains, it began to pour. Luckily, however, it remained mild.

"These are definitely not ideal conditions to travel in," said Estriel, putting the hood of her cloak up to shield her face from the heavy rain.

"It is true, if this downpour continues we may begin to journey in the wrong direction," said Elrohir.

They were travelling along for some days when on a particularly dark day something rather scary happened.

They were attacked by orcs.

Twenty five orcs, to be precise.

It happened very quickly, but to put it in slow motion it happened something like this:

The orcs ran at them from behind a large mass of rocks where they were hiding. Elrohir was the first to react. He drew his bow and yelled a warning at Aragorn and Darayne. They drew their swords and began to fight.

However, you do not have to be exceedingly intelligent to work out that twenty five against three are not great odds. Although they were capable, the added worry of protecting the two girls detracted the men from their fighting, and they had been caught off guard.

About two minutes into the fight, one orc aimed at Estriel's heart. And missed. Instead, he cut into her shoulder, and she cried out in pain. Elrohir looked down at her – just long enough for him himself to be hit. However, he skilfully veered Meg away from the orcs, and laid Estriel on the ground.

Meanwhile, Aragorn was having problems of his own. He was fighting capably – and had managed to kill three already, but was beginning to notice the interest that they were showing in Gollum. He rode as fast as he could, and then turned away, leaving them confused. For about five seconds.

What Aragorn did not realise, that where he was riding to was exactly where Estriel was lying, injured, and Elrohir was fighting off five orcs. So as he stopped there, the ten orcs that were following him stopped there too.

Elrohir froze in shock as he saw three orcs jump towards the now unconscious Estriel, grins on their faces. She was in trouble.