Thank you to everyone who reviewed! It means a-lot to me! throws invisible cookies into crowd They were expensive to make, but you guys are really worth it! Just... good luck finding them...
I guess I have to give a big thank you to Enya - the singer - I was listening to one of her songs and I just got really emotional and started writing again (not this chapter, but you know...). So, props to Enya for her song 'Adiemus' (which I do not own!). It has a kinda' African feel to it - but it really got my adrenaline pumping and my muse dancing. :o) You can listen to it on Windows Media Player (search under Enya) if you have it.
Disclaimer: See Prologue.
Chapter 32
Nightmares in Rohan
"I love you, hervess nin," Legolas said to her, reaching across the gap between their horses, and gripping her hand gently in his. He smiled at her with adoration, and kissed the palm of her hand before letting it go. (my wife)
Arodwen grinned back at Legolas, a blush dusting her pale cheeks as his lips brushed across her hand.
"We are near to home, meleth." He brought his horse closer to hers so that their legs brushed against each other with each step the horses took.
She gave him an odd look, but nodded. "Though I must say I do not like living so close to spiders..."
He laughed, earning a strange gaze from some of the soldiers that made up the entourage that accompanied them.
His laugh had hardly died from his lips when a sudden hail of arrows burst forth from the trees, felling many.
Arodwen cried out in pain, looking down in shock to see two black feathered arrows jutting forth from her body.
"Arodwen!"
She was falling; falling to the ground while her blood poured forth and the orcs sprang from the trees, closing in...
Arodwen awoke with a start, breathing hard and trembling from the nightmare. Ever since she had seen the visions in the mirror, it was almost all she could think about.
She suddenly realized that she had not awoken up of her own accord...
An uruk was leering down at her; his face grotesque with bluish-grey skin and uneven sharp yellow teeth.
She screamed in fear at the sight of the hideous creature so close to her, and made to pull away, but found that her hands and feet were tightly bound with crude thick ropes that had rubbed away some skin around her wrists; making them bleed.
The uruk roared in laughter, provoking more uruks into glee. "Looks like sheez fin'ly up boyz!"
"Put 'er with the shire rats! We'll deal with 'er lat'r!" shouted a loud, gruff voice, with a hint of authority in it.
Arodwen was jerked roughly up and onto the shoulder of a strong uruk. She didn't fight back; knowing it was useless. She also needed to see the hobbits, and figure out a way to escape with them. She couldn't do that if she was in agony or unconscious.
Many, many uruks grinned evilly and sneered at her as she was dragged past. There were at least fifty; maybe more. She came to the conclusion (to her utter dismay) that she was stripped of her weapons as well. 'Smarter than they look' she thought sardonically, grimacing as the uruk's crude armor cut into her soft flesh as she was jostled.
The next thing she knew, she had landed hard upon the ground; her head colliding roughly with the solid earth and causing tears to blind her vision from the agony of the wound. "Bastard!" she shouted at the uruk, which only earned her a swift kick in the gut.
The uruk grabbed her by the throat, pulling her up to his eye-level. "Shut yer' mouth she-elf! Your lucky ta' still be livin'! We on'y needs the halflings - your breaths 'r numbr'd." it growled, and threw her from him with more force than was necessary.
Arodwen dimly registered through her new wave of pain two familiar voices calling her name...
"Arodwen!...Arodwen...!"
"Pippin?" she asked, trying to roll over, but finding her ribs were far too tender for the action.
"No no! Don't you be movin'!" whispered another voice, this one she recognized as Merry's, as he scolded her.
The sound of rustling dry grass reached her ears, and she felt two small hands gently roll her onto her back.
With a groan of pain, she opened her eyes to focus upon the hobbits, who were peering down at her with worry.
Merry had gash above his brow that looked on the verge of infection. Pippin, however, looked quite unharmed, albeit a little pale.
"How did - ?" she began, but Merry finished her unanswered question.
"The uruks captured us when Boromir f-fell..." the hobbit said softly, his head slightly bowed in grief.
Arodwen's eyes widened, and began to brim with unwanted tears as reality came crashing down on her her with indescribable force... Nothing had changed... Boromir had still died; and the hobbits had still ended up as captives...
But what of the others? Were Gimli, Aragorn, and Legolas still alive? Would they still come for them?
"You did not know?" Pippin asked quietly, reading the look on her face.
"No..." she whispered, "I had hoped... that since, Boromir was fighting with me... he wouldn't meet any uruks."
"He fought with you?" Merry nearly exclaimed. "Only with words though, right? He didn't actually--" but he was cut short as Arodwen shook her head slowly in answer.
She didn't tell them of all that had transpired between Boromir and herself. For, why belittle a man when it was not by his will that his actions were carried out?
"Strider'll find us. He can track anything." Pippin said encouragingly, though seeing no effect on Arodwen. "And," he tried, "Legolas won't leave you..."
Arodwen's head jerked up at the hobbit's words, her eyes still filled with grief. But Pippin had reminded her of the one thing that kept her holding on through the day, no matter how awful it was. She was about to return the grin, when she heard a hissing laugh come from an orc that had been listening in.
Arodwen twitched her head around in it's direction, her hazel eyes narrowing in warning and anger. "What could an orc as disgusting as you find funny? I was unaware that orcs felt any emotions other than anger and hate."
The orc in question, covered in armor that would not stand any blows, walked closer to the captives with its scrimtar in hand. It leered down at them all, slit-pupil eyes glaring. "You still think tha' you is gonna' be sav'd?" The orc laughed derisively, it's black and broken teeth bared. "You is the on'y ones alive! We kill'd da' rest! Tha' ranger, da' dwarf, and your half-wit elf!" It laughed again to see Arodwen struggle to get at him, her eyes glowing with unrestrained anger and hate.
"You lie!" She spat, ignoring the hands of Merry and Pippin that attempted to calm her.
"Ya' think tha' Saruman didn' know 'bout this 'Fellowship'? He knew 'bout each 'n ev'ry one 'o 'ya. And I promise, their bodies 'r lyin' dead a' Amon Hen, bein' clean'd out by the birds."
"You lie!" Arodwen screamed louder at him. "They are not dead! They will come for us! And when they do, not one of you bastards will be left alive!"
Her answer was a sharp blow to the head from the hilt of theorc's scrimitar.
"Why have you stopped?" Legolas called back to Aragorn, wondering why the resilient ranger had suddenly slackened his pace till he was standing.
"Legolas," Aragorn breathed harshly, "night has fallen at it's darkest - I can no longer see the trail if we continue. We may miss a turn or sign." Gimli finally caught up to them, panting and heaving as he planted his axe hilt in the ground and leaned on it for support. "We must make a decision. If we go on in the darkness, we may miss the trail. And if we do indeed catch them in the morn', we will be too weak to fight at our best. Or, we can rest this night, and star afresh at the first rays of 'morrow."
"But then we risk them getting further ahead. I do not think they will rest this night now that they know we are tracking them." Legolas said earnestly, his bright blue eyes shining with anxiousness, and hidden fear.
"I," panted Gimli, "agree, with... Aragorn..."
Legolas stared at them both in obvious dismay and awe at their decisions. He looked to Aragorn in pleading. "Aragorn, we will never catch them if we stop tonight."
"Lad, we won't catch them if we go on tonight." Gimli said, his gruff voice revealing not only his steadfast decision, but also his reluctance to stop tonight.
"So we will abandon three innocents, one of them female, to the horrific presence of those uruks!" Legolas exclaimed, locking eyes with Aragorn. "Arodwen could lose more than blood this night, Aragorn."
The ranger said naught, but his understanding shone clear in his gray eyes. He knew the danger in having Arodwen hold on for another night... "She is strong, Legolas. The uruks cannot break her so easily."
"You know nothing of her inner fears Aragorn!" Legolas spoke vehemently, face contorted in grief. "She will not last if they try! She will fade before sun's first light!"
Legolas let his knees hit the ground, unaware of the tears that pooled in the depths of his eyes.
Aragorn and Gimli realized that the elf had made his decision, so they began to succumb to the pull of sleep.
But before Aragorn drifted off into the dream scape, he heard Legolas speaking:
"I will not be able to forgive myself if I find her tomorrow, and she is beyond myaid..."
Yeah! Another chapter! Don't forget to review please! - It will make me very happy!
Question: Below, which of the two is the correct way to write? I am not trying to confuse anyone, I honestly am asking to learn.
"Elvnchic9 likes to get lots of reviews." he said quickly.
"Elvnchic9 likes to get lots of reviews," he said quickly.
PLEASE ANSWER IN YOUR REVIEW! You don't have to - but I would really like to know the proper way to write something like that. It will really help my language grade too (my teacher is an idiot).
