I rode with Aragorn and Gimli with Legolas as we made our way to where the smoke was forming, a pile of dead orcs there, and their bodies blackened and withered. I knelt down on the ground, my hands resting on them, trying to find any tracks other than that of horses and booted orc feet, picking up arrows that were stuck in the ground and refilling my quiver as I went.

Gimli rummaged through the burning carcasses with his ax as Aragorn stood, looking at the ground and Legolas searched the plains around us. I found nothing of interest but where the Hobbits had lay.

"Oh no..." Gimli's voice whispered and I turned to see him pull something out of the pile. He held it up and I could see the sheath of a dagger on a piece of leather that he held. "It's one of their wee belts."

"Hiro hyn hdh ab 'wanath." (May they find peace after death) Legolas began his chant and prayer to the Valar, bidding them onto the next life peacefully. I shut him out, trying not to listen to the words.

With a cry of rage and disappointment, Aragorn kicked a helm and dropped to his knees beside me.

"We failed them." Gimli said quietly and Legolas put his hand to his heart as he finished his chant. I closed my eyes. There was a long pause as we all stood there, staring sullenly at the pile of carcasses in front of us that we were sure our little friends were in.

"A Hobbit lay here." Aragorn said. I nodded and pointed.

"And the other." I said. Aragorn's brow wrinkled as he moved forward.

"They crawled...their hands were bound..." we came across a fallen ax and two pieces of rope, covered in dead leaves and weed...

"And they cut their bonds!" I said. Aragorn and I exchanged glances. My hopes were rising every moment though I knew it was dangerous.

"They ran over here..." footprints littered the ground, "...and were followed."

Aragorn began walking away from the carcasses burning, bending low to the ground with every step. The other three of us followed slowly. I could see them in my mind's eye vaguely.

They lay on the ground, frightened, grieved at the loss of the man that saved them and the orcs around them, probably fighting amongst each other about whether or not to just kill and eat them instead of bringing them to Saruman.

The Horse Lords attacked, their swords clanging and their spears and arrows flying. The two Hobbits found a bit of hope at last as the orcs were diverted and crawled, finally cutting their bonds on an ax and helping each other run.

"The tracks lead away from the battle!" Aragorn cried and we followed him...

"And into Fangorn Forest." I finished, looking into the straight wall of trees, mangled, twisted and old, the ground before us turning from dry and a wheat brown to the deep green of moss and leaves. My eyes widened.

"Fangorn..." Gimli whispered, "What madness drove them in there?"

"The madness of a being running for his life." I responded and looked up at the trees. Legolas and I exchanged glances...

And we entered Fangorn Forest.

The forest was a strange place, green moss covering the trees that made even I feel young. No parts of the ground were level but covered in roots from the trees of all sizes and shapes around us. Gimli walked over to a tree and ran his fingers over the leaves, putting them to his mouth. I wrinkled my nose at the sight as he spit it out.

"Orc blood." He growled and held his ax closer. I kept my hand on the hilt of my sword. Nimbly we ran through the forest, jumping over the fallen branches and streams everywhere, looking for any sign of the little Hobbits. I stopped to look around but froze when Legolas put his hand on my arm and pointed to the ground where Aragorn knelt.

"These are strange tracks." He murmured quietly and I knelt down beside him as he picked up a handful of soil that was disturbed. The tracks were as big as an entire Hobbit and was dug deeper in some places than others, as if a tangle of roots had been dug with here.

"The air is so close in here." Gimli said.

"Not so different than your mountain dwellings, eh Gimli?" I asked snidely.

"This forest is old..." Legolas said, his eyes wide, "...very old. Full of memory... and anger..." Strange, creaking sounds rang out around us and I pulled my dagger out of my boot, looking around warily. "The trees are speaking to each other!" Legolas said and I looked back.

"Gimli!" I said when I saw his stance. He was turning around in a spot, his ax up in defense, "Lower your ax!" Gimli, his eyes wide, put down his ax, his hands up.

Legolas turned away from us, walking forward, "Aragorn, Rhasslairiel, nad no ennas." (Something's out there). I followed right behind him, sensing the same thing.

Legolas and I stopped beneath a tree only feet from where we had been standing before. Aragorn stood at my shoulder, his eyes wary.

"Man cenich?" (What do you see?) he asked.

"The White Wizard approaches..." Everyone, our eyes wary and wide, grabbed our weapons.

"Do not let him speak... he'll put a spell on us." Legolas pulled the arrow back on his bow, Aragorn pulled his sword from his hilt, I pulled the knives from my belt, and Gimli drew his ax closer. "We must be quick." Aragorn whispered.

Suddenly, as quick as sight we turned, greeted by a bright light surrounding a figure that we could not see... and we were defeated.