Chapter 4

So I decided that LotR doesn't exist on earth, removing the awkward fan meets character situation I was about to run into. Just accept my fiction and it will be better for you.

Also, this one is going to be much longer than the others, because i found a way to type on my phone and get it to my computer more easily, so I've been working on it since Monday, whenever I got bored in class.

All of Kyle's anxiety about death had risen to a point. It had been more than a day since Halbarad and Halithir had rescued them. Though it didn't seem to be the type of rescue he imagined. The men seemed to be leading them south, but he had no map, and without that, no concept of travel or distance. And he found trusting these close lipped men dressed in dark colors hard, even if they had saved them.

Were they going to a city? A forest fort? A castle? Would they have doctors? Halithir had wrapped Rosaria's shoulder and given Spencer some water. Both of them looked like they might live, but Kyle realized that this was their new reality. There might be death. There would be darkness.

Like tonight. There were clouds in the sky, which meant that the moonlight did not reach the travelers, who had stopped right before the sun went down. Although how the rangers could tell when the sun was setting without seeing it was definitely unnerving.

Halbarad did not like stopping in the hours before complete darkness. There were many beasts and creatures that woke from their slumber to hunt.

Although they were within a days journey of reaching Rivendell, he dared not push the weary teens on through the night, out of fear that they would injure themselves further.

And it gave the young Dunadan time to think. He had never seen or heard of people who spoke like these, or dressed like them. Their names sounded vaguely similar to those of the Rohirrim he had heard, but these adolescents were unique amongst all those of Middle earth. Lord Elrond would know, probably.

They definitely were in need of healing. The one Rosaria, with her collarbone, was lucky to be alive. Despite his reassurances, Kyle could not believe that she would make it. The boy had no hope. Of course he had been reassuring in a gruff ranger way, not in one that actually comforted, but one that should be trusted because it was true.

And he saw the smallest boy, whatever his odd name was, constantly staring off into space. He said nothing, and did little more than walk. The only other girl, Tessa, treated him as a brother, but when he asked, she told him that none of them had ever met before, that they lived thousands of miles apart, and had all appeared in the woods after passing out.

The dark skinned boy he had fought with, Ian, was the opposite of Spencer. When they had rested for a moment about midday, Ian started to wander off, heading for a cave he saw in the distance. Only after Kyle had been sent after him did the lanky boy realize that no one was following him.

Halbarad's pensive look broke when he heard the sound of feet coming from the west. He looked to his brother who heard it too. He quickly thought it was either elves, or it was the party of goblins. They may have doubled back, meaning their small group was in danger of an ambush.

"I will go, you stay and protect them," Halbarad said, gesturing towards the ragged group.

Halithir shook his head, "No, brother, I am a better scout. Your sword will do more good here."

There was truth to both, but Halbarad accepted his brothers skill with stealth and the bow exceeded his own, and his sword may be better for defending their little party.

"Be very careful." He said as his brother prepared his bow and quiver. "The goblins may have-"

"Yes. I thought of that. Now hide yourselves." And with that he disappeared into the twilight.

Halbarad positioned the boys beneath a thick bush. Tessa had hidden herself, and if Halbarad himself could not find her, he doubted a bunch a of dimwitted goblins could.

Tessa was sitting on a log when the two rangers sprang into action. She was standing up he she lost her footing and tumbled down behind the log and down a hill.

She stood up and brushed herself off, feeling totally exposed. He had said goblins. Were there really goblins?

She peered around the side of a bush and as she was turning back a strong, smooth hand put itself over her mouth and another pinned her arms against her chest.

"Shhhhh," a boy's voice said. It had the same inflections as Halbarad and Halithir, but sounded younger, and gentler. And although the hands were gentle, Tessa could not move a muscle against them.

"Don't struggle, please, I'm not going to hurt you." He said as he turned her around while keeping his hold on her. She saw a boy about her age with long wavy black hair, but it was too dark to see much else. "I am Aragorn, what's your name?"

He took his hand from her mouth, but held her arms still. She just stared at him, as if she was supposed to trust him because of his name.

"Please, don't be frightened, I am here to help you"

Tessa still just stared. He was mildly attractive, she thought in the back part of her brain, just way too handsy. The part of her brain in control of her mouth and body continued in default 'oh no, someone grabbed me' mode.

"Come on now, there are goblins coming. You cannot stay in this frozen state!" He said in an intense whisper. "Hide!" And he dashed towards the east.

She turned around and saw a cluster of movement on a hillside.

"Hey, " she whispered softly. "Hey, you." How could she have forgotten his name. He just said it.

"There's something over there," she whispered again. "Please," she called softly. "Please come back"

She could see them now. Creatures about five feet high, wearing some furry skins. They had curved jagged blades made with rusty metal. She ran off in the same direction as the boy and prayed they hadn't seen her.

Meanwhile Halithir was searching for the goblins. He had found the tracks and was now following them, but he hasn't yet noticed that they were leading back to his brother and the children. At the rate he was going, it was unlikely he would ever.

Halbarad could hear the goblins come through the far side of the camp. He charged the first attacker, giving up the coveted element of surprise, and ended him without a sound.

The next goblin that came through was more prepared and parried a bit against the skilled ranger, but he too was brought down.

Ian saw that more goblins were coming in from the other side of the clearing, and called for Halbarad to look out. However, this drew the second group of goblins attention to the three boys beneath the log.

Kyle looked at Ian with a little bit of frustration, and grabbed the tall boy back beneath the log. He shoved Spencer behind Ian and climbed out to defend them.

Halbarad would have been more impressed if he had a weapon.

The first goblin that looked at him was fairly confused, mainly because it had been sent to kill rangers, not that he minded killing anything he could, but this teenager was wearing the strangest clothing.

Kyle consciously took advantage of the creature's surprise and charged the couple yards separating them, with the goal of taking its weapon. The goblin quickly recovered when it clicked that he was being attacked, but not in time to defend himself. Kyle grabbed the wrist of the sword hand and swung his elbow beneath the opposite rib cage with all his force. His opponent fell backwards, but Kyle held onto that wrist until he had grabbed the sword, and blocking all thoughts, plunged it through the goblins chest.

Then two more goblins engaged him, testing his limits of speed and focus. One held a spear and the other had a sword, slightly longer than the one Kyle had stolen. Their combined strength was more than enough to knock the boy back towards the ground. As he hit the ground, the sword bounced from his hand. Ian scrambled to help him, but the heavy branches impeded his movement.

As the goblin with the sword swung the final blow, a longsword came in from the left and parried it, pushing the creature intent on death away from the helpless boy.

And as Kyle looked up, he saw another boy, about his age, but taller, holding a sword almost as long as his leg. He was driving back the two goblins with quick swings of his sword.

"Kyle!" Tessa gasped as she ran in behind the boy and saw Kyle lying on the ground.

"I'm fine," he said, and rose to his feet. He retrieved the short sword he had taken from the goblin and looked around the trees. Halbarad was finishing off the last goblin and the boy had dispatched the goblin with the spear, leaving only one unchallenged creature. As he stepped towards it, a large arrow flew through its chest, centimeters from its heart.

Halithir walked out from a cluster of trees a ways off and waved at the surprised boy. Halbarad was wiping the rest of the dark goblin blood from his blade.

"Nice shot, Halithir," complemented the boy.

Halbarad turned his stern gaze on him, and with a mixture of humility and authority, spoke. "My young lord Aragorn, you should not be here."

Tessa, with all her goodwill, stood up for him in an instant. "Hey!" she said. "If he hadn't come, I would be dead and Kyle definitely would and you probably would have too!" she glared at him with a loyal defiance.

"Calm yourself, Tessa," Halithir said soothingly. "I do not believe you quite understand the situation at hand."

"Indeed," agreed Halbarad, more aggressively. Aragorn smiled, enjoying the moment until that aggression was aimed back its target.

"Aragorn is the chieftain of the Dunadain," continued Halithir. "He is our king, though he is little more than a child. His life is much more important than that of mine or my brothers. Besides that, he has not yet been fully trained. He had a greater chance of being killed than saving any of us."

Tessa almost argued further, but as she looked at Aragorn, he added, "But don't get the wrong idea of Halbarad and Halithir. They have barely five years of manhood between them."

"Look," said Kyle, with his constantly impatient tone of voice. "I know we've just been attacked by, well, um, well, by goblins. But Rosaria is not doing any better with you standing here talking. And I don't think we should wait until morning to get to wherever it is, Imladris, or whatever."

"One of you is injured?" Aragorn asked.

"Yes," answered Halbarad. "Her collar was broken when, well, I don't know how, you will have to ask her, but Kyle is right. We must make haste."

And with that command, the party regrouped, reoriented and headed on a path towards Rivendell, also called Imladrias in the elven tongue.

So, I kept my promise. Took some work getting it edited and posted, but I really enjoyed writing this one. Let me know what you think. So, I probably will update sunday night, but this may be the craziest week my entire existence, so it may be Monday morning at like two ;) and I royally lost my laptop charging cord. Just in case you guys care about that. Which you probably don't. I have been busy falling in love with a hot european ballroom dancer in my french class. But you definitely don't care about that.

See you next week :)