CHAPTER SEVEN
INTERLUDE: SOLVING A PUZZLE
Legolas stirred in his sleep. His dreams were pleasant, and that fact disturbed him. They should not have been pleasant. He tossed and turned.
'Lothlórien—roof of gold—pillars of silver—once upon a time I was glad of heart.' A fleeting memory of rainbows, golden flowers and the clean waters of the Nimrodel passed through his mind and he awakened, a chill causing his senses to return and his body to jerk itself out of slumber. He sat up quickly and looked around for Aragorn.
His gaze fell upon the Man lying approximately ten yards away from him on the ground next to the dregs of the fire. It had begun to rain and the overcast sky made it look like it was still night-time.
On hands and knees, Legolas crawled to Aragorn's side. "Aragorn!" he cried in a harsh whisper. "Are you awake?" He noticed that his friend was clad in only his breeches. His shirt, belt, weapons, boots and cloak had been removed. Legolas was dressed the same—a quick check told him so—all had been stripped away except for his leggings. He bent over Aragorn and shook the young Man, rolling him over onto his back, and checked him for injuries. He could find none. After examining himself, Legolas realized that he, also, was unscathed.
'Where is everyone?' he thought. He tested his memory. Halbarad and Vëandur had run off—he suspected they would go back to the Ranger encampment for help and then return. He and Aragorn must try to stay alive and unharmed until Halbarad and the other Rangers came back to assist them.
But where were all of the strange people who had captured Aragorn and himself, and why had they left them alone in the middle of a field with all of their possessions gone?
"Aragorn, are you awake enough to think properly?" asked Legolas, pulling the man into a sitting position. "How does your head feel?"
Aragorn groaned and pushed his tangled hair back with a shaking hand. "Head…hurts," he grunted.
"I am sure it does, but try to pull yourself together," said Legolas. "We need to think about what we must do."
"Have we any water?" asked the Man, his voice hoarse.
Legolas sighed and climbed to the top of the surrounding hill. "I can see a pond not far off," he said. "Wait here. I will go and get some." He walked over to the remnants of the bonfire and picked up a charred but bowl-shaped piece of wood.
"Where would I go, my friend, if I wanted to leave?" asked Aragorn with a derisive snort.
Legolas threw him a look intended to chastise and walked down the hill to the pond that he had seen a couple of hundred paces to the south.
After bringing water back for Aragorn, and the young Man had refreshed himself somewhat, Legolas gazed upon him with a thoughtful stare.
"What is it?" asked the Man. "I feel uncomfortable enough without your unblinking gaze unnerving me."
Legolas gave him a wry smile and looked away. He stood and looked all about the surrounding lands.
"Where do you think our attackers have gone?" asked Aragorn. He sat back on his heels and poured the remainder of the water in the wooden vessel over his head and let it drip to the ground. He massaged his scalp with his hands and tried to smooth his hair back from his forehead before he looked up at his friend, the Elf.
"Most likely they are chasing Halbarad and Vëandur, who will undoubtedly lead them to the rest of the Rangers," replied Legolas.
"Then the Rangers will kill them," said Aragorn. "And come back here for us."
"I do not wish to wait here," said Legolas, "but we have no guarantee that they will be returning. Anything could happen."
"What do you propose we do?" asked Aragorn. "We could wait here, but we are unarmed, we have no food, and without our weapons we cannot kill to eat."
"We will have to return to the Ranger camp," said Legolas, "in the direction from which we came, in hope that the Rangers will overtake us. It will be difficult because we have no clothes other than our trousers, and are unshod as well as unarmed. But if you want to do it, I am willing."
Aragorn groaned and rose unsteadily to his feet. He shook his legs and stretched his back. "Let us waste no more time," he said. "We may as well be off now as soon as ever."
The two friends made their way to the stand of trees where the horses had been tied, hoping that Halbarad and Vëandur had left theirs behind, but the grove was empty of life.
"Halbarad would have left us our mounts," said Legolas. "Our attackers must have taken them. We shall have to journey on foot."
They made their way slowly southward. The walk was slow and difficult without their boots. It was particularly painful for Aragorn, but Legolas, being light of foot and tough of skin, had no problem traversing the rough terrain although his delicate appearance belied it.
"What sort of beings captured us?" asked Aragorn.
"They were not Orcs," Legolas replied, his brow furrowed. "But they were not Elf or Mortal Men either. They looked to be something in-between, although I did not get a clear look at any of them. I think they must have knocked me unconscious after I hit you, for I awoke with difficulty. However, I can detect no injury upon myself. I do not know how they did it."
"Have you ever seen anything of their like in the past?" asked Aragorn.
"No," replied the Elf, "but I have been recollecting some old tales that my father told me when I was young. Do you know where we are?"
"We are in the Ettenmoors, are we not?" asked the Man.
"Yes, and we are near the old realm of the Witch-king of Angmar," said Legolas.
"The Witch-king?" asked Aragorn. "He has been gone for almost one thousand years. What would he have to do with this?"
"He was defeated and driven out of these lands by the Lords Elrond and Glorfindel. It was long ago. But old tales tell of some strange creatures that emerged from his dungeons after his stronghold was opened up and his lands laid waste."
"Were these creatures not Orcs in the process of being created?" asked Aragorn. "I thought they were all put to death compassionately by Lords Elrond and Glorfindel."
"Some were not," said Legolas. "And they escaped into the Wilds. They were never seen again. But there have always been rumors of their existence. The wise lords and lore masters such as Elrond, Glorfindel and Erestor told my Adar long ago that the Witch-king was attempting to create life such as the abominations that had been done by Morgoth and ended up being Orcs and other creatures. The Witch-king apparently took unfortunate mortals from the surrounding mountains and used them in terrible ways."
The Elf stopped speaking and gave a shudder. "And now, the reason that we and the Rangers have come here is because of the so-called recent 'Orc' activity. Do you know what I think, Aragorn?"
"What is that?" asked the young Man.
"I think that it is these creatures that were misused and given some type of unnatural life that have come down out of the mountains, or from wherever they have been hiding for one thousand years. I believe there are bands of them about and they are trying to reunite."
"And you think that we have met some of these creatures?" asked Aragorn. "And that they may have felt threatened by us and that is why they have not killed us? They attacked us out of a sense of self-preservation?"
"I would not go so far as to say that," said Legolas. "We really do not know anything about them."
"But they may be innocent and not as threatening as are the Orcs," said Aragorn. "They may be merely trying to find each other so that they can form their own society. Even if it is a strange one, complete with—ritual sacrifice, as we saw." The Man was not able to control a shudder as he spoke these words.
Legolas stopped walking and pulled Aragorn around to face him. "Aragorn," he said solemnly. "Please do not let your imagination overtake your reason. You are far too sympathetic. We cannot think that these people are harmless and their intentions are not to harm us. We know not who they really are."
A chill wind blew suddenly from over the mountains and enveloped the two friends in its cold embrace. Grey clouds appeared over the jagged peaks and darkened the sky. The light grew dim. Shivering uncontrollably, they embraced briefly to give each other what warmth and strength they could. Legolas gave Aragorn a reassuring pat on the back and spoke with all the bravado he could muster.
"Let us continue walking. There is nothing else we can do."
The two pressed on, trudging through the treacherous roughness of the ground beneath their feet. The sun set slowly, the sky becoming gradually dark, but still they continued. Legolas' night vision guided them further southward.
Suddenly he stopped walking and grasped Aragorn's arm. "See there!" he cried, placing his hand on the Man's head and turning it in the direction he wanted him to look.
Aragorn blinked and when he saw it he whispered, "What is that?"
"I hope it is Halbarad and the Rangers," said Legolas, staring at a procession of twinkling lights far off in the distance and moving slowly toward them.
7
