Hi!
Thank you for reading this so far, I hope you're all enjoying it!
A sort of epic-ish chapter this one, just a small action scene... :D
Enjoy!
Onwards...
Pippin cast a worried look over his shoulder. At the height he was, he stared straight into Boromir's belt buckle, the silver metal glinting in the dying sunlight. The man held his shield at his side, his sword sheathed and he breathed in quick bursts as he ushered the flailing Hobbit forwards. He craned his neck and looked down the grassy path they had been hurrying down, the river to the right hand side of him now he was standing looking backwards. The water was glossy, no ripples casting scars over its flat surface. He looked at Frodo, who was clutching his cloak around him, bunching the material around his neck, where he knew the ring was attached to the chain around his neck. Sam hurried next to him, his cousin next to him.
The path they travelled on now bordered a thick forest on their right hand side, and with the river on their left, the Hobbits felt very claustrophobic. Gandalf led them, Gimli next to him. With Boromir walking with the Hobbits, that only left Aragorn and Legolas at the rear.
Legolas had his bow out ready and set, his eyes narrowing at every slightest sound, his ears listening to everything around him. Aragorn kept glancing at him, his hand twitching by his sword in its shield, ready to be ripped out at any moment. The Elf looked back across the river, his breath hitching when he saw what was there.
There were about two rows of spiders, small, broad and hairy, lining the bank opposite them, comprising of about twenty spiders in all. All poised and ready for battle, the arachnids distended their sharp teeth, already dripping with venom.
Aragorn saw Legolas pause and turned to look as well.
'We cannot fight them in the dark.' Legolas murmured, his fingers stroking the feathers of his bow. 'It would be the death of us all.'
Aragorn nodded, before turning and running to catch Gandalf up, his stomach bubbling with the knowledge of the fight ahead.
'Gandalf, this is foolish. We cannot outrun Shelob's children; in the darkness there will be no hope for us!'
'Then what do you suggest we do?' Gandalf looked worriedly at the Hobbits, who looked at him with terror in their eyes at the sight of the spiders.
'You lead the Hobbits on, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir and I will stay behind to fight them off.'
Gandalf looked hard at Aragorn, before finally nodding. Shadows cast over the eyes of the heir of Isildur as he made his way back to his Elven friend, Gimli following close behind. Boromir stood beside them, his own sword ready. Aragorn unsheathed his sword and Gimli clutched his axe between his hands and joined Legolas at the riverside.
'There are so many' Boromir noted as the spiders filtered forwards. No one answering, knowing it to be true.
For several tense seconds, no one moved, spoke, or even seemed to breathe. The only sound was the wind in the trees and the sound of the water making its way down the crack in the earth. Then suddenly, all hell broke loose.
The newly born night air sang with the whistle of Legolas's bow as an arrow shot across the lake, hitting its target. The spider screamed, an inhuman scream that made the hair stand up on the back of Boromir's neck. While hissing and screaming, the spiders seemed unwilling to cross the water, meaning that Aragorn and Legolas kept their arrows coming, shooting down one spider after the other.
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Sam gasped and nearly tripped as a scream ripped through the forest that Gandalf had rushed them into, his head snapping back in the direction they had just come from.
'Fool! Don't look back! Keep running!' Gandalf prodded him with his 'walking stick' and Sam stumbled on, grabbing Frodo's arm in order to keep him upright; they had not stopped running since they had left the others.
He sucked in a deep, cold aired breath and carried on, feet slipping on the ground.
-x-
'This is not the fight I perceived we would be having' noted Boromir as Legolas killed another spider with his arrow, sending it reeling backwards. They had almost destroyed the spiders altogether, save a few who were edging along the river, trying to find where it narrowed enough for them to jump across.
'If this water was not here, I fear this would be a different fight' Legolas answered drily, turning to the man with narrowed eyes, before turning against just as swiftly and shooting another spider.
'Look!' Gimli turned, axe raised as two spiders escaped the throng, having found a narrow section of river. They seemed to pause, before launching their heavy bodies across the water, landing on the other side.
'Now I believe you will have your fight.' Aragorn raised his sword and stepped forwards. Two more joined the two on their side of the river and Gimli growled and raised his axe as they approached. Legolas kept shooting on the other side of the river, taking down as many as he could.
The four remaining spiders launched themselves at the four Fellowship members, their legs flailing and venom dripping onto the darkening grass beneath them. Gimli yelled and cut open the stomach of one as it was above him, the dwarf himself falling to his knees. Boromir threw his sword, cutting the legs off one before driving his small dagger through the back of it as it lay on the floor.
Aragorn yelled and drove his sword straight through his spider almost cutting it in half, before turning to see one heading straight for Legolas.
The elf, though fighting brilliantly, was so focused on the battle across the river that he did not notice his assailant crawling closer. But, as the spider approached, Legolas heard some rustling and his eye widened in shock. He whirled round, his hand going for his knife, before the spider crumpled before him, an axe buried in its back.
He looked at the dwarf, who still had his hand outstretched where he had thrown his weapon. Legolas nodded a silent thanks before turning back to the river. Seeing the spiders had either fled or been slaughtered, he turned back to his allies.
'We should rejoin the others.' Aragorn sheathed his sword and bade them to follow him, leading the way.
Boromir trudged behind him and Legolas and Gimli brought up the rear, the elf casting wary looks around him.
Gimli growled before quickening his pace. 'This doesn't change anything, elf!' he spat before moving to stand between Boromir and Aragorn.
Legolas sighed before following, wondering how long it would take for Gimli to realise that this pointless fighting was going to get someone hurt.
Or even killed.
Just a small cliffy there, with a promise of things to come!
Thanks for reading, please review!
More soon!
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