Anastasia and the plot are the only part of this which belongs to me. Everything else belongs to their respective owners; namely J.R.R. Tolkien.

Italics – Thoughts/Thinking

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Chapter 11: Gaping Maws and Swinging Feet

Ana

Sprinting across the ground, my muscles burned as I tried to regain my lost ground. I had spent the previous nights walking around the camp with the hobbits and man, hoping to keep them safe while they slept. During the day I would hunt or follow at a safe distance occasionally lying down to rest my tiring body. I haven't slept in a long while and I wasn't going to start now. At dusk I had to catch up with them, easily burning off the calories I had eaten earlier in the day.

The left some tracks, a scent trail and broken plants for me to follow. I imagine Strider would not leave a physical trail. He smelt of the forest, but the hobbits smelt like a grassy meadow, home cooked meals and smoke from pipes.

I need to hurry. The sun was setting, but that was not what had me worried. Earlier I came across the scent of horses, but they reeked of fear. They smelt like the horses that were in Bree the night the beds of the hobbits were destroyed. Whatever was after them in Bree was following them, or already knew where they were going.

On top of that I had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. Stay safe, I'm coming.

Frodo

On the western flank of Weathertop they found a sheltered hollow, at the bottom of which there was a bowl-shaped dell with grassy sides. There they left Sam and Pippin with the pony and their packs and luggage. The other three went on. After half an hour's plodding climb Strider reached the crown of the hill; Frodo and Merry followed, tired and breathless. The last slope had been steep and rocky.1

Anastasia

Darkness was setting in and everything was silent, except for the occasional bits of laughter which cascaded down from the hill before me. The group was just up this hill, but no animal made a noise and this time it was not because of me. Something else; some evil was near and danger was impending. I'm almost there, I must hurry!

Frodo

Sam and Merry got up and walked away from the fire. Frodo and Pippin remained seated in silence. Strider was watching the moonlight on the hill intently. All seemed quiet and still, but Frodo felt a cold dread creeping over his heart, now that Strider was no longer speaking. He huddled closer to the fire. At that moment Sam came running back from the edge of the dell.

'I don't know what it is,' he said, 'but I suddenly felt afraid. I durstn't go outside this dell for any money; I felt that something was creeping up the slope.

'Did you see anything?' asked Frodo, springing to his feet.

'No, sir. I saw nothing, but I didn't stop to look.'

'I saw something,' said Merry; 'or I thought I did – away westwards where the moonlight was falling on the flats beyond the shadow of the hill-tops, I thought there were two or three black shapes. They seemed to be moving this way.'

'Keep close to the fire, with your faces outward!' cried Strider. 'Get some of the longer sticks ready in your hands!'

Over the lip of the little dell, on the side away from the hill, they felt, rather than saw, a shadow rise, one shadow or more than one. They strained their eyes, and the shadows seemed to grow, Soon there could be no doubt: three or four tall black figures were standing there on the slope, looking down on them. So black were they that they seemed like black holes in the deep shade behind them. Frodo thought that he heard a faint hiss of venomous breath and felt a thin piercing chill. Then the shapes slowly advanced.1

Anastasia

The black, cloaked figures were advancing on the hobbits and Strider hid himself in the darkness, hoping to get an advantage on a stronger foe. The figures smelling of death emitted such a feeling of evil that the blood of my inner beast ran cold in foreboding. They reminded me of him, but as I tried to protect the others from him; I now needed to protect the hobbits from these foul creatures.

Merry and Pippin were overcome by their fear, abandoning reason and throwing themselves to the ground as I came over the edge of the hollow. Sam tried to stay close to Frodo, his heart noble, but Frodo vanished from sight; leaving the other senses to guide one to him.

As a foul creature approached where Frodo used to be I finally was close enough to help. With my body's exhaustion, my muscles burning and my blood lust dominating much of my mind, I launched myself at the creature. My claws were extended and my maw gaping wide as tackled the creature away from where I perceived Frodo to be. My jaw easily closed around it's arm, my claws securing me to it as I crushed the bone with ease. The creature shrieked its cry of pain echoing in the hills, as well as, my ears before it threw me to the ground, finally dislodging my claws and teeth.

The creature lashed back at me, swinging it's knife as I easily dodged a fatal blow. With a flaming log Strider came barreling out of the darkness, as he joined the battle to protect the frightened hobbits.

What I didn't see was the foot, but I sure felt it . . . later.

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. London: Allen & Unwin, 1954. Print.

The quotes came from the chapters called A knife in the Dark

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