Ch. 12 It will come to me eventually
Hiryuu looked back and saw the Dark Riders behind her. She groaned to herself and then turned her gaze to the cloudy sky. 'Why me?' She thought.
Grabbing the hilt of her sword, she quickly drew it, somehow managing to turn herself around the horse without making Frodo fall off. Said Hobbit was currently gripping the horses' mane very tightly.
"Asfaloth, I'm trusting you to lead us to Imladris safely! Now hurry, please!" Said Hiryuu as she fearfully saw the Riders gallop closer.
As if sensing his riders distress, Asfaloth began to run even faster. He was now running only slightly faster than a regular horses' top speed. Yet still, the Riders were still catching up.
After several more minutes of intense galloping on the horses' part, the Nazgûl were finally within reach of the white horse. Unfortunately, this also meant that they were within reach of a rather sharp sword. And vice-versa.
Just as Hiryuu thrust her sword at the nearest, the Nazgûl also drew his sword and countered it.
'Kuso! That ain't fair!' Though Hiryuu as she drew her sword back and prepared to parry the return thrust. Casting a quick glance behind her, she saw that she was only a few minutes away from the Ford, and safety. She looked back to her opponents just in time to block another thrust.
Behind her, Frodo moaned in pain. 'Damn it! We won't make it! We need to go faster. Guess I have no choice but to go with Plan B.'
After giving one final thrust, strong enough to force the Rider back, she quickly sheathed her sword.
"Asfaloth, I'm trusting you to make it across the Ford with your Rider. Don't stop for anything!" Ordered the girl in Elvish. Then she grabbed onto one of the stronger branches above her and swiftly swinging on top of it, blatantly ignoring Frodos' weak cry of surprise. But she didn't stay on long before she jumped onto the ground, her eyes clouded over.
Immediately she was surrounded by a white nimbus cloud, and as soon as the Riders' horse came close, it went wild with a fear so deep that it overrode any and all fear it had of the Nazgûl.
When Hiryuu finally lifted her eyes, the Nazgûl saw that the normally calm grey eyes had been replaced by a pupil-less, fiery red colour that almost put the Great Eye itself to shame. At the sight of the eyes, the horse started bucking at it's rider, who was kicking it furiously, trying to regain control. Soon, the other eight horses that had been behind did the same thing once they got closer.
Hiryuu to smirked herself as her canines had started to elongate, her back hunched over and her joints reversed direction. All the while one of her charms around her neck, the shield charm, that had been hidden under her shirt began to glow.
With Frodo
Frodo watched weakly as Hiryuu fought off the Riders as best she could, He tried to understand what Hiryuu was saying to the horse they were riding, but she was talking to fast for him to understand. That, and his thoughts had been very muddled as of late and he was have a hard enough time trying to understand what everyone was saying in Common, never mind Elvish!
Just as he thought that, she jumped off the horse! Frodo cried out weakly on shock. He tried to see what she was doing, but he quickly lost sight of her. But he soon heard the terrified screams of horses mixed in with the screeching of the Nazgûl.
After that, he lost all sense of time, where every second seemed to last a century or longer, until finally he was overcome by the darkness that had been creeping up on him slowly. The last things he remembered before he fell into a dreamless slumber was a loud roar, hauntingly familiar to the one the Gandalfs' Dragon firework had created. Then, he knew no more.
With the other guys
As Sam, Merry, and Pippin slowly followed their guide Strider and the newcomer Glorfindel, they all had the same thought running through their head. 'How were Frodo and Hiryuu doing? Were they dead, alive, wounded, safe, in immediate danger or something else entirely?' It had been several hours since they had run off ahead.
Just as Merry was about to open his mouth how long it was to the Ford, when they heard a defining roar. Immediately Merry and Pippin hugged each other fearfully.
"Wh-what was that?" Asked Merry, eyes wide with fear.
"Hopefully nothing bad." Said Sam.
Meanwhile, Strider and Glorfindel looked up ahead. They looked at each other, and with a silent signal; Glorfindel ran ahead, heading towards where they were hearing loud clangs and roars.
"Where's he going?" Asked Sam.
"You'll find out when we get there. Now let us hurry. If we are fast enough, we should reach the Ford by dusk tonight. Now lets go!" Said Strider, just before he went off at a loping run. He was quickly followed by the now re-energized Hobbits.
At Dusk
Finally, after several hours of running (or jogging in Striders case) they finally reached the Ford, and with it; safety.
Of course, that did not mean that the first sight they saw of the Ford was a pretty one. There was blood everywhere, as well as five horses carcasses. It might be wise to mention that most of it was NOT Hiryuu's' but the horses of the Nazgûl. There were horse parts everywhere, it looked as if the pieces had been ripped off.
Merry, Pippin and Sam took one look at all the carnage, they all turned around and barfed. That's how bloody it was. Strider just looked at the mess with a thinned lips. It was only when they came back that they noticed that there were also large foot-prints scattered everywhere. A single one of them was larger than two hobbit feet put together. As Pippin found out when accidentally stepped in one.
Gulping quietly and hoping that he wouldn't come face-to-face with whatever made that print any time soon, he followed his fellow Hobbits and Strider as they crossed the knee-high (at least to Strider) river.
Once on the other side, they saw a difference between both sides of the river. While the West side of the riverbank was full of blood and large, scary footprints scattered everywhere as well as pieces of the black horses everywhere, the east side only had a single set of the large prints, heading towards a nearby thicket of trees. There was also a trail of blood beside the prints.
"Strider, what made those prints?" Asked Merry. Just then, they heard a low rumbling from deep inside the thicket.
"You should stay here. While you are safe from harm in Rivendell, there are some secrets here that should not yet be known. It would be wise for you to stay here, you need not fear an attack by the Nazgûl, for after this, I doubt they will be in a hurry to come anywhere near Rivendell until they gather their strength." With that, he pushed aside a bush from his path and headed deeper into the thicket.
Now, as we all know there are two kinds of people in the world. The wise, and the not-so-wise. Under the category of wise we have many different races; Elves, Wizards, Dark lords (you can't become an Evil overlord if your not smarter than a rock, after all), some of their chief servants, a few humans, Ents and so on so forth, and maybe a Hobbit or two. Under the category of the not-so-wise we have all the rest. Now, in which category do Merry and Pippin fall under? Yep, you guessed it. So, ignoring the words of someone far wiser; they followed Strider, not wanting to be left alone, Sam followed them.
On their quiet Hobbit-feet, they crept up to where they heard the low rumble. They then crouched down, so as to be less visible. Just as they were about to move aside the last bush that blocked their view, they were blinded by a bright light. The Hobbits, scared out of their minds, fled back to the river and awaited Strider.
He came a few minutes later. Told them to follow him and headed back the way he came. They reached Rivendell later on that night, since it was late and they were almost asleep on their feet, they were quickly ushered into bedrooms and out into bed without complaint.
Fin of Ch. 12-
Gin; I am once again sorry for the delay, but I have been so busy, you wouldn't believe it. I've written several essays to practise for my English MEQ exam, working on my history, studying for every subject, doing fundraising for my end of year trip next week! So I worn you, do not expect me to update anytime soon, because my Sec. 5 exams take priority over everything.
Hiryuu; She really is sorry, and hopes you'll accept her humble apology. She is also very sorry if you find this chapter a little mixed up in the whole time-frame thing, she's still working on that part of writing, but she wanted to get it up ASAP. Also, they fact that she keeps on losing her computer due to electricity problems and losing several paragraphs of writing several times has put her in a slightly off mood.
Elladan; She would also like to take the time to mention that she doesn't own LOTR, only Hiryuu is her own make.
Hiryuu; Hey, where did you come from? I haven't seen you in a while! Where's your twin?
Elrohir is sneaking up behind Hiryuu-
Elladan; Oh, he's around, somewhere.
A/N; The author would like to take the time to thank the following reviewers; DarkAngelOfDreams and PrincessofRain. Once again, I thank you.
Also, please note that I have changed my e-mail address, so if you want to send an e-mail directly to me, please look on my bio for my new one! Thank you for reading!