Chance Encounter

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Chapter 6: Captured

His head throbbed and his side ached. His mouth was dry. Balian thought that he had felt better after the siege of Jerusalem. He was lying on a hard cold stone floor. Slowly, he opened his eyes. They were in a dimly lit cave somewhere in the mountains. Frodo lay beside him. The hobbit was curled up in a ball against the cold. The coarse rope cut into Balian's flesh. Painfully, he inched towards the Ringbearer.

"Frodo," he whispered. "Frodo, are you alright?"

Tentatively, the hobbit turned to face Balian. His eyes were frightened but the small creature's mouth was set in a grim and determined line. "Orcs," he said flatly.

Balian frowned in confusion. What were orcs? Frodo jerked his head in the direction of some black shapes huddled around a fire. Balian could make out dark leathery faces in the orange glow. They were a ragged bunch, always snarling at each other. Many of them were maimed. Most of these things were missing parts of their bodies.

"What do they want?" asked Balian quietly so that the orcs would not hear.

"They're servants of the Dark Lord," said Frodo. "I've only ever heard about them from Gandalf, Bilbo and the elves in Rivendell, but it's easy enough to recognize them. They're cruel things that enjoy others' pain."

Balian did not know much about the creatures of this strange place but he understood enough from Frodo's short explanation.

"Frodo," he said "we must not let them find it. If they decide to question us, I'll say that you're the village idiot and I'll try to draw their attention to me. You have to escape, without me if you must. If they find it, the whole world will fall."

Balian stared long and hard at Frodo, hoping that the little hobbit understood.

"What about you?" asked Frodo. "I can't just watch them hurt you and do nothing!"

"Then don't watch."

"Curse this snow!" growled Gimli. If it wasn't for it then we would never have lost the lads."

The Fellowship was slowly making their way downhill on a safer path than the one that Balian and Frodo took. After the loss of their companions, all of them were sombre. No one felt the desire to do anything except find the missing Ringbearer and his protector. Even Pippin had lost his appetite. Legolas often went ahead of the others to scout and to look for any sign of their missing companions. Never in the long time that he had known the elf had Aragorn seen Legolas so impatient.

At last, they were at the place where Frodo and Balian had fallen. The snow had covered many signs but Aragorn could make out a set of tracks. Much to their relief, there were no bodies to be found.

"So Balian made his way along the bottom of the cliff," said Aragorn, analysing what he saw. "We can safely assume that he was looking for shelter. He was wounded. There are signs of blood under the snow and he was favouring one side. His tracks are deep so he must have been carrying Frodo."

"That is good," said Gandalf. "We know that both of them survived and Balian was well enough to walk while carrying Frodo."

"But if Balian was carrying Frodo, doesn't it mean that Frodo was too hurt to walk?" asked Merry anxiously.

"Or Mr. Frodo just hadn't woken up yet and Mr. Balian didn't want to stay here," pointed out Sam optimistically.

"Now all we have to do is follow the tracks and find them!" said Pippin happily.

"Balian," said Frodo quietly "the orcs are approaching."

The black creatures were getting up from their places and stretching. Their eyes were fixed on the dark corner where the prisoners were being kept. Balian could sense their bloodlust and he swiftly prayed for the strength to endure what was to come.

"Be without fear in the face of your enemies," he whispered, both to Frodo and to himself. "Have courage."

The orcs advanced upon them. The largest one, obviously the leader, sneered down at the captives. Instinctively, Balian put himself between the monster and Frodo. He had sworn to safeguard the helpless.

"Well, well," said the orc. "What've we here? A man and a midget? What's yer business in the mountains.

"I was on my way home," said Balian in a calm voice, infuriating the orc.

"And 'im?" demanded the beast, pointing a finger at Frodo. "What's he doin'?"

"The village idiot? He travels with me."

"Villagers eh?" sneered the orc. He put his face close to the blacksmith's and Balian could smell the foul odour of rotting flesh on the monster's breath.

"I don't believe you," hissed the orc. "Your weapons are far too fine for you to be just villagers." He grabbed Balian's collar and hoisted him to his feet. The blacksmith gasped in pain as the rough treatment aggravated his wound. A glint of metal caught the orc's eye. It was the ring that Sibylla had bought on the day she met Balian. She had given it to him as a lover's token. He wore it on a chain around his neck.

"What's this?" cackled the orc. "A pretty ring? Do you still claim to be a villager?"

"I'm the blacksmith," said Balian truthfully. The orc did not believe him

"You will tell me the truth eventually, whether you want to or not," he snarled, throwing Balian to the other orcs.

The Fellowship stood around the churned up patch of snow. "There was a struggle," said Aragorn, voicing everyone's thoughts. "Orcs, I think."

"This is awful!" moaned Pippin. "They're dead!"

"Not necessarily," said Legolas quietly. "Orcs like to have some sport with their prisoners before killing them. We've found elves still alive after having been captured by orcs months before."

"We must find Frodo before the Orcs kill him and take the Ring," said Boromir urgently.

"Surely Mr. Balian will protect him," said Sam. The rotund gardener was horrified that his master could be suffering this very moment while they were talking.

"Balian will do whatever he can," said Legolas "but if he…well, there will be no one between Frodo and the orcs."

Everyone was silent for a while as they contemplated the worst outcome. Finally, Aragorn spoke. "Legolas, Boromir and I will look for the orcs' lair," he said. Gimli was about to protest when Aragorn turned to him.

"I know you want to come, Gimli," said the ranger "but you cannot keep up with the rest of us. Anyway, someone needs to stay behind to keep Gandalf and the hobbits safe."

The wizard raised an eyebrow in amusement but said nothing. This was Aragorn's way of placating the irritated dwarf. They could not afford anymore long arguments.

"Come on, Pip," said Merry. "We'll go find some wood to start a fire. I'm sure that the Big Folk will want hot drinks and food when they come back with Frodo and Balian."

A/N: This chapter is sort of short but this is the best place to stop. Trust me; I know what I'm doing ;) Apologies to all the Boromir fans out there; I know the Boromir in the book is probably not such a jerk but someone needs to be a jerk and he just seemed like the most likely person in the Fellowship to be obnoxious. Anyway, thanks to all my reviewers.