Chapter Twelve:
Kayla hurried over to where Legolas was looking at the ground. Kayla looked
at what he was staring at and burst out laughing. Legolas looked at Kayla,
a blank look on his face.
"What are you laughing at? How is this funny?" He seemed genuinely confused
and this served to crack Kayla up further. She took a deep breath and tried
to explain through her chuckles.
"Well, it seems that Mithrandir places a lot of faith in Shadowfax." Kayla was breathing hard, trying to control her mirth. "Well, Shadowfax is an amazing creature. One can not help but place a great deal of faith in his abilities." Legolas could not see what was funny about the situation" "Think about it. I saw Gandalf being attacked by at least seventy Uruks. Now who, besides him, would be able to hold off that many Uruk-Hai, by himself, for at least twenty minutes? That in itself is pretty spectacular. But no, he has to upstage even that great feat, by drawing a magical map that plots their path, and sign his name next to it." Kayla pointed to the rune drawn beside the map that Gandalf used to sign his name. "And on top of all this, Gandalf has the only horse in the world that could go out, find help and bring them back to show them this map."
Legolas thought about what Kayla had said, and as the realisation of her words sunk in, a grin broke out over his face. "It does seem to be a very unlikely occurrence. And also very carefully planned." Legolas' face grew sombre as realisation set it. "He planned to be captured, or at least he knew that he would be."
"Are you saying that Gandalf is under the enemy power?" Kayla looked worried. "No. I believe Mithrandir is too strong willed to succumb as the lesser Istar have already done. I believe that he has allowed himself to be taken so he can defeat the enemy from the inside, without the rest of the Fellowship having to endanger their lives. But what I do not understand is why he would have drawn us a map. If he did not want to be followed, why map his course for us to follow?"
An anger rose up in Kayla like she had never felt before. She did not know why she was so mad, she knew it would be just the kind of thing that Gandalf would do, but she still was fuming. Hot tears welled up in her eyes, and she brusquely wiped them away. Legolas looked to Kayla in concern. "Mani naa tai? " Kayla turned, so Legolas could not see the tears spilling down her cheeks. When she spoke, her voice shook as she tried to control her anger.
"Amin dele ten' Mithrandir, Legolas. I Amin uuma merna sina delotha, cormamin lindua tai. I don't want this hate, but my heart sings with it." Kayla spoke softly, revealing information that was intensely personal. "I don't know where this hate comes from, and I don't like it. But it is there, buried deep in my soul, and I have found that every step that we take, every mile we close in on Mordor, the hate grows."
Legolas looked worried, and was going to question Kayla about her revelation, when she abruptly squatted next to the map and began to study it. He moved to join her.
"They have a day's head start, but I think that if we start off now, we will make it. It won't be easy though." Legolas spoke softly, in a soothing tone of voice, hoping to get Kayla to relax a little bit.
"Aragorn and the others will be looking for us," Kayla stated and stood slowly, stretching out her muscles. The long ride had caused some of the pains of yesterday to return, but Kayla pushed those feelings aside. *I have no time for these pains, they'll have to wait,* she thought. Kayla strode to where Shadowfax stood patiently. She began to talk to him in a low voice, and then he nodded, in a very human way, and took off galloping the way they had travelled that day. Kayla turned to Legolas, "Now the others will know where we are."
They rested and studied the map until complete darkness fell. Legolas felt uneasy about travelling in the night, but Kayla knew that if they were to catch up to Gandalf they would need the cover of darkness.
The two travellers took off into the night, pausing only to refill their water skins. They ran, Legolas in front, leading the way with his superior eyesight. Kayla was disturbed by the lack of creatures they saw on their journey. She was glad that there were no enemy attacks, but the amount of life that they didn't see along the way was unnerving. It was too quiet. Legolas also noted this, but as their objective was to find and rescue Gandalf from the Uruk-Hai, they chose to ignore it.
"Well, it seems that Mithrandir places a lot of faith in Shadowfax." Kayla was breathing hard, trying to control her mirth. "Well, Shadowfax is an amazing creature. One can not help but place a great deal of faith in his abilities." Legolas could not see what was funny about the situation" "Think about it. I saw Gandalf being attacked by at least seventy Uruks. Now who, besides him, would be able to hold off that many Uruk-Hai, by himself, for at least twenty minutes? That in itself is pretty spectacular. But no, he has to upstage even that great feat, by drawing a magical map that plots their path, and sign his name next to it." Kayla pointed to the rune drawn beside the map that Gandalf used to sign his name. "And on top of all this, Gandalf has the only horse in the world that could go out, find help and bring them back to show them this map."
Legolas thought about what Kayla had said, and as the realisation of her words sunk in, a grin broke out over his face. "It does seem to be a very unlikely occurrence. And also very carefully planned." Legolas' face grew sombre as realisation set it. "He planned to be captured, or at least he knew that he would be."
"Are you saying that Gandalf is under the enemy power?" Kayla looked worried. "No. I believe Mithrandir is too strong willed to succumb as the lesser Istar have already done. I believe that he has allowed himself to be taken so he can defeat the enemy from the inside, without the rest of the Fellowship having to endanger their lives. But what I do not understand is why he would have drawn us a map. If he did not want to be followed, why map his course for us to follow?"
An anger rose up in Kayla like she had never felt before. She did not know why she was so mad, she knew it would be just the kind of thing that Gandalf would do, but she still was fuming. Hot tears welled up in her eyes, and she brusquely wiped them away. Legolas looked to Kayla in concern. "Mani naa tai? " Kayla turned, so Legolas could not see the tears spilling down her cheeks. When she spoke, her voice shook as she tried to control her anger.
"Amin dele ten' Mithrandir, Legolas. I Amin uuma merna sina delotha, cormamin lindua tai. I don't want this hate, but my heart sings with it." Kayla spoke softly, revealing information that was intensely personal. "I don't know where this hate comes from, and I don't like it. But it is there, buried deep in my soul, and I have found that every step that we take, every mile we close in on Mordor, the hate grows."
Legolas looked worried, and was going to question Kayla about her revelation, when she abruptly squatted next to the map and began to study it. He moved to join her.
"They have a day's head start, but I think that if we start off now, we will make it. It won't be easy though." Legolas spoke softly, in a soothing tone of voice, hoping to get Kayla to relax a little bit.
"Aragorn and the others will be looking for us," Kayla stated and stood slowly, stretching out her muscles. The long ride had caused some of the pains of yesterday to return, but Kayla pushed those feelings aside. *I have no time for these pains, they'll have to wait,* she thought. Kayla strode to where Shadowfax stood patiently. She began to talk to him in a low voice, and then he nodded, in a very human way, and took off galloping the way they had travelled that day. Kayla turned to Legolas, "Now the others will know where we are."
They rested and studied the map until complete darkness fell. Legolas felt uneasy about travelling in the night, but Kayla knew that if they were to catch up to Gandalf they would need the cover of darkness.
The two travellers took off into the night, pausing only to refill their water skins. They ran, Legolas in front, leading the way with his superior eyesight. Kayla was disturbed by the lack of creatures they saw on their journey. She was glad that there were no enemy attacks, but the amount of life that they didn't see along the way was unnerving. It was too quiet. Legolas also noted this, but as their objective was to find and rescue Gandalf from the Uruk-Hai, they chose to ignore it.