Disclaimer: The Lord of the Rings is property of Tolkien and there are many references throughout to Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. I only own what you do not recognize. The character Chinky is not meant to cause offence and is named after a real horse whose name has been shortened from a Fiat Cinquecento (Chinky – Chento).
Authors Note: This chapter has now been corrected as the very attentive Krystyna Jeynkins picked up my typing error!
Chapter 31: Without a rein"Will you bear this name?" Amy said as she stroked the noble head.
"I will bear this name, for as long as I bear you." Moridin said as he nudged her shoulder affectionately.
~*~
"Amy." Théoden said as he brought Snowmane over to her. "We must make haste. We need to reach Isengard before the fall of night."
Amy watched as Moridin walked over to Snowmane to check him out. "Sorry my Lord. Yes we must move, but I will not leave my friend's body here." She said as her eyes clouded with tears as she looked upon the body of Chinky. "You there." She eventually said to two young looking Rohirrim. "Take her back to Helm's Deep. Lay her at the base of the scree slope; do not bury her until I arrive back."
The two guards looked at her then their king then back again, unsure what to do. Théoden answered their gazes.
"What are you waiting for? Make a litter and get on with it!"
This command made them spring into action. With help of a few other guards they pulled broken branches that had been left by the moving forest and formed a rough but strong litter. They slung it between their two warhorses, and used thick twin to secure it to their saddles. Once everything was tied in place they mounted their horses, and sat as still as statues.
Amy shut her eyes briefly as she levitated the broken mare and placed her on the litter. Once the horse was in the right place she released the power and fell into sorrow, one for releasing something so addictively sweet and another for her friend that was no more.
The two war horses, strong of neck and wither, started stamping and shying under the extra weight of the horse they would have to carry. Their riders were at a loss of what to do, as they struggled to keep their strong mounts under control.
Amy was about to despair. The riders were obviously skilled in riding yet they couldn't control their horses. Just as the horses looked like they were going to throw their riders off, Moridin leapt in front of them and reared up, towering over the other horses. Once he landed the warhorses stood stock still, their eyes and ears quivering in fear of the king before them.
"You will bear my mother with all the speed your carthorses can manage, and not a stride slower. Ride them to death if need be it, they are not worthy of much else." Moridin said before stamping his hoof to set his point.
The riders didn't need telling twice, as soon as the black horse moved they booted their horses into a gallop back towards the Deep.
~*~
Legolas looked upon the scene worriedly, the horse was strong, and had no fear of what befell his mother. The name Amy had chosen would do him well, as nothing less would be suitable for the beast before him.
"Amy are you ready? We must go."
Amy looked away from Moridin quickly and looked to the blonde elf; she smiled as she saw his worried expression. "Yes we must make haste, yet I fear it may be hard. For riding without a saddle I am used to, yet never have I ridden without a rein, save battling of course."
Legolas smiled at her fondly. 'Her new horse has the power to destroy her, yet she worries about reins?' He thought to himself. Shaking his head he pulled her into a light kiss before mounting Arod. "Come, you will be fine, what is the worst that could happen?"
"I could end up in a crumpled heap on the floor!" Amy said sarcastically before walking towards the large horse.
See riding with reins was a problem, yet it wasn't what was worrying her the most. She was short for an elf, very short, only just reaching five foot four, and Moridin she had now assessed was well over seventeen hands, this meant that she could barely see over his back. The first thing that struck her was simple. 'How the hell do I mount something that I can't see over the top of?'
Moridin turned his head to face her and nudged her shoulder. "You are very short for a human or an elf – though you claim you are neither. I see your discomfort about my size; I promise you I will not throw you off, if you promise never to mar my mouth with the harshness of a bit."
Reaching up she lay a hand on his withers. "That I will hold you to. Though I am not short!" She said as it has just sunk in that she was called short.
Moridin breathed out sharply though his nose as Amy awkwardly clambered onto his back. "As you say, as you say!"
Amy smiled down at the horse below her; he had the same sarcastic sense of humour as Chinky did. She frowned again as she realised she was sitting very tensely. Unlike Chinky who – despite refusing to admit it – was a bit on the podgy side, Moridin on the other hand was incredibly lean, every time he twitched beneath her she could feel his muscles move, to a much greater extent than Chinky's.
Sighing she looked at the Théoden. "We ride for Isengard!" She called before urging Moridin to walk on.
The rest of the riders set off at a fast trot away from the sight of the battle. Gandalf and Legolas held behind a bit with Amy. Gandalf looked at Amy and smiled broadly. "He is definitely Chinky's son."
"I know, they have the same sarcastic sense of humour!" Amy said getting used to the feel of the horse beneath her.
"Shadowfax also grieves Chinky's death," Gandalf said.
"I forgot she was his daughter. Tell me did Chinky come into the world the same way Moridin did?" Amy asked the wizard. She found that she now looked down on both Legolas and the wizard, because Moridin stood a good hand, two hands above them both.
"For that I do not know. I do not know everything about this world; Radagast was the one to ask about the animal beings." Gandalf said reluctantly.
~*~
Moridin walked silently along, listening to the conversation going on above him. It felt odd to have someone atop him, yet it almost felt right. He had all the knowledge his mother had given him, and he believed that he knew probably more about Amy than she wished. He knew of the great love between her and the blonde elf to their side, yet his name he did not know. Recalling in his memory of all the blonde haired elves his mother had ever encountered he narrowed it down to three names: Elf boy, Legolas and Haldir, yet he had a suspicion that Legolas and Elf boy were the same person.
"I will share the knowledge of my birth to you."
Amy looked down suddenly. "Please tell, for I am greatly interested."
"I will share the secrets of the Mearas if you tell me the blonde's name."
Amy looked over at Legolas and smiled, the indignant look on his face said it all. He apparently objected to being referred to as 'the blonde'.
"My name is Legolas Greenleaf, my father is King of Greenwood the Great, or in today's time it is often known as Mirkwood." Legolas said.
"Mirkwood. My mother knew of that place. No matter, if you are to be a King then you are welcome to bed my master." Moridin said.
Amy was mortified! Her face went bright red as she looked at the ground, which had suddenly grown quite interesting. Did this creature have no shame? No tact! Bedding Legolas was the last thing on her mind! Heck she just wanted to get through this war alive! Sneaking a glance to her right she looked at Gandalf who appeared to be chuckling lightly, Legolas on the other hand was a brilliant pink, originally she had thought it impossible for an elf to blush, but no, Legolas had just proved her wrong!
"If you don't mind Moridin, I am more worried about getting though this year alive than bedding Legolas at the moment." Amy said trying not to sound resentful.
"Arod seems to think differently. Anyway as I was saying, birth among the Mearas is a ceremonious thing. As you probably know Mearas mate for life, and so if their mate dies they will very rarely mate again, unless they have been with their mate a very short time. So in this case Snowmane will probably mate again, as he didn't have time to bond with my mother. So because we mate rarely, we very rarely give birth. In a normal situation a Mearas foal will be born like any other foal, you know, all fluff and nothing else. But due to Mearas being used for warhorses this wasn't always appropriate, I mean imagine a mare was pregnant and died in battle, not only will two valuable Mearas be lost, but its rider will have no mount. This happened with you. So as a back up, if a mare has a mate when she is killed. The child will spring from the mare just like I did. The only difference being between this birthing and natural birthing is that in this birthing the child can be ridden instantly, allowing the rider to mount and get away from trouble. Understand? So my mother was born as a natural foal. Although this type of birthing has not happened in hundreds of years I do not think, which would explain the riders confusion." Moridin said.
"I understand a lot more now, and I thank you for explaining it to me. There is a lot I wish to know about your breed, and I feel that you will be the one to inform me." Amy said smoothing the stallion's mane.
"That is no problem; I will let you finish your conversation now."
~*~
Amy looked over to Gandalf to see if he had registered everything. "I now know what many a horse lord would have given their lives to know. I feel honoured that your horse shares his breeds' secrets." Gandalf said.
"I am both in awe of his size and power, yet he is not yet gained Chinky's subtlety." Legolas said lightly leaning over and touching Amy's leg.
"I know you meaning!" Amy said flushing red.
"Come we must catch up with the column they are far ahead of us." Gandalf said.
"Before we go much faster, Gandalf what do you do with your hands, as I have nothing to hold, and so no where to put my hands!" Amy said exasperatedly.
Her question was answered with a laugh from both Legolas and Gandalf. Shaking her head she looked nervously down at Moridin, "you think we could catch up with the others?"
"My legs are built for running, and my muscles are strong. I will bear you and show you my speed."
And before Amy could say anything else the large horse cantered on. His pace was slow at first, not speeding up until he felt she was secure. After he felt she would not fall, he screamed in joy and stretched his legs, galloping powerfully towards their destination. All Amy could do was sit and gasp in shock at the speed of the beast.
~*~
The riders at the front of the column had understood Amy's need to get used to the new horse, yet they needed to get to Isengard with all haste. Soon the three riders behind them had been lost from sight. Théoden was about to call a halt and wait for them, when thunder sounded.
The king looked up to the sky expecting to see great grey clouds covering the heavens as before, yet after the battle the sky had cleared, and now a cloud was not to be seen. The rest of the riders were getting agitated now as the ground started rumbling beneath them, and the thundering continued.
"Haldir!" Théoden said to the blonde elf by his side. "What do your elf eyes see?"
"I see dust, yet fear not, I see Amy and she is coming at us with speed. Moridin is carrying her with all haste."
"Yes, I see her too; my eyes can register her expression. There is bliss on her face; the speed at which that horse can move is incredible." Aragorn said sitting high on Brego's back.
Théoden looked on in awe as Amy came galloping towards them, each of Moridin's strides carrying her closer towards them. Just as he thought she wouldn't stop, the almighty horse screamed and then skidded to a halt sending a cloud of smoke up around them.
"Anyone up for a race?" Amy asked with a broad grin on her face.
Some of the riders looked like they were going to agree but then after witnessing the speed of the Mearas they thought better of it. As the great horse hadn't even broken a sweat, and his flanks had not heaved in exhaustion.
~*~
They were half way back to the rest of the group before Amy had even taken her first breath. The power she felt on Moridin was addictive. Almost as addictive as her own power. When Moridin had skidded to a halt she almost cried out in disappointment that her fun had stopped. Yet she refrained herself and casually offered to race anyone.
After waiting for Legolas and Gandalf to catch up, they went on their way – at a slightly slower canter. Amy rode at the front of the column with Théoden and Aragorn. She noticed the sidelong looks Moridin was getting, and apparently he noticed it two, as his step was high and his neck arched. No one noticed the silent tears streaming down the face of his rider.
