As they rode towards Edoras, Merry did not speak for a long time. He had no energy nor felt like it. The clouds never left the sky and it was becoming cool and windy. The weather conditions were making it worse on Merry. He felt the cold and darkness slowly creep back into his heart, mind, and body. His eyes grew dull again and filled with pain and they looked haunted.
"The road goes ever on and on..." he tried to sing when night had long fallen and the full moon was the only light they had and it was fleeting. However, Merry could not continue or he had forgotten. It was hard to say which.
Merry closed his eyes and dozed fitfully. His skin broke into a clammy sweat, but not from any night terror. He had no dreams, no thoughts, no anything, but pain when he was in this state.
Pippin pushed Fairmane onward. The hobbit ignored both his and the pony's fatigue. They had to get to Edoras as fast as the wind blows. Twisting around, he looked at his wife who had long since fallen asleep, her head resting on her husband's shoulder. The hobbit smiled at the thought of this, but the smile faded instantly as he glanced in his cousin's direction. He looked paler than ever, veins creeping all across his face, arms, legs and neck.
Peregrin pulled back so that he could ride beside his cousin. "Merry? Merry, are you all right," He asked in a fearful whisper. Pippin's memories suddenly rushed back to the time of Frodo's wound. Frodo had begun to shriek, and he went cold as Mt. Caradhras, Pippin recollected. Merry is just as cold now as Frodo ever was and he looked worse then Frodo had. Things had taken a disastrous turn for the worse.
Merry's eyes flared open. The whites of his eyes were all that could be seen. His eyes then closed as fast as they had opened and his head drooped to his chest. Slowly, he began to slide sideways, and off the horse. He landed on his side in a heap. A hiss came from his lips but he made no other sound.
Pippin leapt down from Fairmane as Merry fell. It startled Di, who let go just in time or she would have fallen off the pony just as Merry had. "Wh-what's going on, Pippin?" she asked frantically. When she saw the fallen hobbit, a shrill sound came from her lips.
Stella woke instantly when she heard a small shriek from Diamond. Turning around on her mount, she saw Pippin and Diamond off the ponies, and on the ground next to Merry. Stella leapt off Greyhelm and rushed to her husband's side and took up his hand. "Help him, Pippin! Do something," she cried out in fear.
Pippin looked in the direction of Edoras and gulped. It was still a half-mile away. Merry, you can't do this to us now. If you do, there is no way I can save you! We're too far, too far, Pippin thought as heavy rain began to fall.
"Pippin," Stella screamed," Help him, please. What is happening to him?"
Diamond checked the wound beneath the bandages while Stella asked questions. She cringed. The cut was dark and the veins were nearly black. "He's not going to last long. What do we do now," Di asked as tears streamed down her face.
Pippin stood rigid for a moment as he stared unblinkingly at Merry. Tears began to run down his face, and he fell slowly to his knees.
Merry suddenly shrieked with pain. It was a sound that did not seem it could come from such a frail body and it lasted for a good five minutes. When it was over, Merry seemed to slump into himself. His breathing was raspy and spontaneous and retching.
With each breath, his body trembled. Each passing moment, he grew cooler and paler. His skin had turned and slightly translucent. His eyes fluttered a few times, but don't open. His mouth opened in a silent scream of anguish and fear.
All around him he saw the wraiths, their forms long, skinny, and menacing. They called to him and reached out. Merry, in the twilight world, sat on the ground, hunkered in a small ball, trying to stay away from the unholy beings. The hobbit was terrified. He knew that they would win soon, but not yet. In him there was still a will to fight.
Pippin took Merry gently by the shoulders and shook him. He cried out, "No, Merry! I am not goin' to lose ye now! I won't let you!" Pippin was trembling from a mix of fear and anger. He hastily set Merry atop Bram. Time was running short. Merry couldn't last long, and there was no time to do much else except get to Edoras.
