Aragorn stood up and began to hurry forward. He was beginning to worry slightly.
"Their pace is quickening. They must have picked up our scent. Hurry before we lose them!" Aragorn called to Legolas and Gimli.
"Come Gimli!" Legolas called back to the dwarf.
Legolas had noticed the effects that he was feeling and showing just the other day had disappeared. He was happy for he knew they had a long run ahead of them. But there was still the fear in the back of his mind that it would come back at any time.
He faintly heard Gimli complaining behind him about getting no rest after their long trek so far.
Aragorn glanced back at Legolas as they hurried after the Uruk-hai. He had noticed the slight change in the elf since they had left Lothlorien. First, it was the unnatural anger the elf was showing towards his sister in Lothlorien that had suddenly disappeared. Now it seemed like the elf was slightly withdrawn from him and Gimli.
'He improved after leaving Lothlorien but now it seems like he's hiding something. Almost as if something's wrong but he doesn't want to talk about it,' Aragorn thought to himself. 'I wonder what he has to hide? Especially from me? He knows he can tell me anything.'
They hurried across the land, hoping to catch up the hobbits.
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Aragorn knelt down and picked something up from the ground.
"Not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall," he said as Legolas stopped just ahead of him.
"They may yet be alive," Legolas said as he looked at the brooch.
"We can only hope," Aragorn replied as he looked over the elf.
He narrowed his eyes as they began to run again. He saw now that Legolas was acting like his normal self again. He was slightly confused with this.
'Why is it earlier that it seemed like he was hiding something?' he asked himself as he heard Legolas and Gimli talking. 'I know he was! Maybe he suspects something and is now trying to hide it. I wonder?'
They soon came to open ground and stopped.
"Rohan. Home of the Horselords. There's some evil at work here. Sets it will against us. Whatever it is, we have to find the hobbits before anything happens to them," Aragorn told his companions.
"I will find which direction they are heading in," Legolas replied before he hurried down the hill.
Gimli and Aragorn watched him head down until he stopped.
"Legolas, what do you see?" Aragorn called down to him.
Legolas looked to see where the Uruk-hai were heading but he couldn't see them. He found that the sun was somehow blinding him, obscuring his sight from pretty well everything before him, not just the Uruk-hai. He blinked his eyes few times, hoping to finally see again but to no avail. Aragorn noticed this hesitation of Legolas' and began to worry slightly. He couldn't tell if Gimli noticed this or not. He looked to see that Gimli had narrowed his eyes when Legolas didn't immediately answer the question.
"Legolas?" Aragorn called out again. "What is the matter?"
Legolas blinked again, shaking his head and his vision cleared. He was wondering what would cause such a thing. He was an elf after all!
"Nothing is wrong Aragorn but the Uruks are heading northeast! They're taking the hobbits to Isengard!" he told them.
"Sarumon," he whispered to himself.
Aragorn was not really surprised with this. He only hoped they could catch up with them in time.
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They were running across the landscape when they began to hear the sound of horse's hooves. Aragorn motioned with his hand to a nearby rock. The three of them hid behind it and they saw many horses run by. After they had all gone by, Aragorn stepped out from behind the rock.
"Riders of Rohan, what news from the Mark?" Aragorn called out to them.
This caused all of them to turn back around. They surrounded the three and one rider pushed his way through.
"What brings a man, an elf and a dwarf into the Riddermark? Speak quickly!" the man told them.
Aragorn glanced between Legolas and Gimli, seeing what they had to say or do. Gimli was calmly standing there, his axe standing before him and his hands holding it upright. Legolas, on the other hand, appeared as if he was going to jump out of his skin. Aragorn noticed that Legolas almost seemed uptight about something. He was wondering how Legolas was going to react to this development.
"If you tell me your name, Horsemaster, then I will tell you mine," the dwarf told him.
Eomer walked up to the dwarf and towered over him.
"If would cut off your head, dwarf, if it were only a little higher off the ground," started Eomer.
It was at that moment that Legolas reached for his bow and an arrow, aiming it at Eomer. The man showed some surprise at this as Legolas began to open his mouth. Aragorn quickly took notice of the situation, seeing the obvious anger in Legolas' eyes. He placed a hand on the elf's bow and lowered it.
"I am Aragorn, son af Arathorn. This is Gimli, son of Gloin and Legolas of the Woodland Realm. We are friends of Rohan and of Theoden, your king," Aragorn quickly interjected.
"The king can no longer tell friend from foe. Not even his own kin. Sarumon has poisoned the mind of the king and claimed lordship over this land. The white wizard is cunning. His spies slip by us all the time, out of our reach. He always manages to do so," Eomer explained to them.
"We are no spies," Aragorn told him. "We are not enemies of your people, you must understand this. We can help you if you'd let us."
"Then why are you here if you are not spies? Your company is rather strange, Aragorn so of Arathorn. I don't see too many men who are friends with other races such as elves and dwarves," Eomer replied.
"We don't mean you any harm. We are following a group of Uruk-hai across the plains. They had taken two of our friends captive," Aragorn explained.
Eomer shook his head as he glanced between them.
"We slaughtered them during the night," he replied, continuing to shake his head.
"Did you see two hobbits with them?" Gimli had to interject.
"They are small, only as children to your eyes," Aragorn confirmed.
"We left none alive," Eomer told them, shaking his head. "We piled the carcasses and burned them."
He called out two names and two horses walked up to the group. Eomer then climbed onto his horse before facing them.
"Let them help you as they did their former masters," Eomer told them. "Look for your friends but do not trust a hope. There is much to watch out for. There are strange things at work here. More strange than what we can comprehend and more by what we can't see by the naked eye."
Aragorn watched them leave. Legolas and Gimli both appeared sad. Aragorn shifted his gaze slightly to look over at his elven companion. He narrowed his eyes for the elf nearly had his eyes completely closed, almost as if he were being blinded by something and trying to hide it.
'What is wrong with you Legolas?' Aragorn had to wonder.
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The three soon headed towards the burning pile and climbed off the horses. They looked over the scene and their hopes began to drop even further.
"Could they possibly survived this?" Gimli asked out loud.
It sounded like he was talking to no one in particular when he said it but Aragorn wasn't paying attention as the dwarf headed over to the pile. Gimli sifted through the ashes only to come across one of the belts that one of the hobbits were wearing.
"Look at this," he told him.
Aragorn then kicked a nearby orc helmet and screamed out as he fell to his knees. Legolas was quietly speaking in Elvish. Aragorn glanced over at him, noting this behavior. He noticed that the elf had returned back to his normal self.
'For as long as I can remember, he felt sorrow in his heart over the supposed loss of his sister. Now he's feeling something else. What is it?' he thought to himself. 'Well, I'll worry about it later.'
He looked to his other side to see an indent in the ground.
"A hobbit lay here," he started.
That caught the elf and dwarf's attention. They followed him as he began to recreate to them what had happened and they soon stood before Fangorn Forest.
"Well, there's only one way to find them now," sighed Aragorn.
"Let's go," Legolas agreed before they headed into the mysterious forest.
The elf was almost happy to heading into someplace dark. Legolas didn't understand it but the lack of light in the forest was very comforting to him.
'Why is it like this now? I used to hate the dark, especially after the incident with the wolves and my trips to the home of the gargoyles. I wish I knew what was happening to me. I have noticed many changes to me since Moria. I wish I knew what they meant. I can't tell Aragorn or Gimli anything. They wouldn't understand,' he thought to himself.
He glanced over at his companions, who were currently paying no attention to him. He put on a sad look.
'I just hope that neither of them noticed anything. I would hate trying to explain since even I don't know,' he thought. 'I can't possibly tell them about what I saw on my arm.'
He lifted his arm and stared at it for a moment before following the others.
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They hurried onwards, in the direction the hobbits went before they slowed down.
"This forest is old. Very old," Legolas quietly said.
"I can hardly imagine what would go on in here. I suppose you've never seen anything like this before Elf. The things we've seen lately," Gimli muttered.
"You can never imagine what I have seen Gimli. I have seen things that would haunt your dreams," Legolas told him as he stepped up to him.
"You mean you've seen something more terrifying than two gargoyles being together in the same group?" Gimli had to ask, his eyebrows shooting up.
Legolas didn't answer the question. He was almost afraid to tell the dwarf about anything he had seen.
"Legolas?" Gimli said. "Tell me."
"I'd rather not talk about it," Legolas quietly replied before he moved on.
Aragorn looked over at Gimli and simply shrugged his shoulders, even though he already knew the truth. The truth in being the elf had already seen four gargoyles, even though one was not a true one.
"Well, we should go find Merry and Pippin," Aragorn interjected as he began to walk again.
Gimli followed him as Legolas watched them. He sighed as he shook his head.
'I don't know if I should tell you Gimli. I really don't want to but I feel he should know about what I've already seen. If we should happen to come across the gargoyles again, he should know what he's dealing with,' Legolas thought to himself.
He began to follow the dwarf and man as they hurried onwards. As he followed them, he found that his senses were beginning to tell him of something approaching.
'What is happening here? My senses are becoming more sharper that what they usually are. It's as if I can sense something coming before it actually gets here. I can almost see better in this dimmer light,' he thought to himself. 'My senses are sharp enough because I am an elf. What is happening to me?'
He placed a hand on his forehead and his two companions noticed this actiion. He partially closed his eyes and stared at the ground.
"Legolas, what is the matter?" Aragorn asked him with some worry in his voice.
Legolas' eyes opened and immediately looked up and around the area. Gimli and Aragorn watched Legolas as he stared into the forest.
"It's him," Legolas quietly said.
"Who is it?" Gimli wondered. "Whoever it is, let me at them."
"It's the white wizard. He's approaching," was all Legolas said beforelifting his bow and arrow.
Aragorn grabbed the hilt of his sword. Gimli was more than prepared for what was coming. They turned around to face the wizard only to have their weapons knocked out of their hands.
"You have come in here, searching for two young hobbits," the wizard stated.
"Yes, we do. What have you done to them? Where are they?" Aragorn demanded to know as he stepped forward.
"They are safe. They came across someone they did not expect," the wizard replied. "Is that of any comfort?"
"Who are you? Show yourself!" Aragorn yelled at him.
The light obscuring his face dimmed, revealing Gandalf.
"It cannot be," gasped Aragorn.
"I am greatly sorry. I had mistook you for Sarumon," Legolas apologized as he knelt down onto one knee.
"I am Sarumon. Rather Sarumon as he should have been. Do not trouble yourself over such things. Some things are unintentional," Gandalf replied.
"But you fell," gasped Aragorn.
Gandalf explained to them what had happened to him versus the Balrog and what had happened afterwards.
"Gandalf," Aragorn simply said.
"Gandalf? Yes, that is what you used to call me. Gandalf the was my name. I am Gandalf the , I am here. My job in Middle-Earth is not finished. I have come back to help you at the turn of the tide," Gandalf replied. "There are some things in this world that are beyond comprehension. Some things are not meant to happen but they do."
While he was talking, he glanced over at Legolas, who seemed deep in thought about something. A neutral expression crossed Gandalf's face.
'Something is amiss here. Something has changed within this group,' he thought to himself. 'Something evil is at work here but what kind of evil?'
TBC...