- - CALINA - -
She wasn't sure how long she'd been unconscious, but upon returning to the waking world she immediately realized three things: she was bound and slung most uncomfortably onto someone's back, her shoulder was in agonizing pain, and the stench of the brute that carried her was enough to make her eyes water.
'Take the woman and the Half-lings…' Calina reminisced as a chill rocketed through her. She peeled her eyes open and craned her aching neck to the side, catching a better view of the far less than ideal situation she found herself in. She was being hauled along by the band of Uruk-hai and orcs that had ambushed them at the river. How far they had traveled she couldn't even begin to guess.
"Calina!"
Though feverish, she turned her head towards the voice, "Pippin?" She called back. She saw him strapped to the back of another Uruk-hai nearby. "How long have I been out?" She asked.
"Three days."
She groaned in both pain and dismay, "Where's Merry?"
"Behind us a ways. What do you suppose–"
"No talking!" The Uruk-hai carrying Pippin barked. He jostled the Half-ling aggressively to emphasize his point.
"Ah!" Pippin cried out as his head was knocked around.
"Be careful you jerk!" Calina shouted.
"So the bitch has finally awoken." Her captor chided. He adjusted her just a gruffly, "Shut up and do as you're told."
Calina clenched her teeth in pain, 'I'm in no position to argue with them. I'm too weak to fight, and if I struggle, who knows what they'll do to us.' Her mind fogged over as she tried to feign off the continual throb that emanated from her shoulder and the daze from her fever. There was truly nothing they could do given the current state of things. So, much to her dismay, she let herself go slack in her captor's grip as they continued to haul them along.
.
Day eventually gave way to night and at long last, the Uruk-hai and orcs came to a stop. The ones that had been carrying Merry, Pippin, and Calina tossed the three of them onto the ground in a heap, leaving them to their own devices for the moment. By some miracle, Calina didn't land on her bad shoulder when they dropped her onto the ground.
"Are you alright?" Merry asked her, a small streak of blood dried to one temple.
"I won't lie, I'm not doing great." Upon seeing her flush expression, the Half-lings shared a worried glance.
Pippin's mouth fell into a thin line, "They took out the arrow, but they're patch job was, well, horrible."
She groaned and let her head flop onto the grass. 'Great. There's no way it's not infected.'
Merry spoke, "What do you suppose they're going to do to us?"
"Most likely take us to Saruman. They probably think one of you has the Ring, and me…" She paused, "I'm honestly not sure what he wants with me." It wasn't a complete lie, but it wasn't the full truth either. 'I hate to not be completely honest with them, but now is definitely not the time to bring up my new memories.'
"Hopefully the others will catch up soon." Pippin added.
"They're tracking us?" Newfound hope welled up within her at the news.
Pippin nodded, "I heard the Uruk-hai say they caught their scent earlier this morning. That's probably why we haven't stopped until now."
The three of them glanced at their captors. From nearby, the orcs started to chop at the trees, clearly set on starting a fire. But as they did, low groans and rumbles began to emanate from the aged forest.
The trio looked at one another. "What's making that noise?" Pippin asked, eyes wide.
Merry rolled over, lifting his head, "It's the trees."
"What on earth are you talking about?" Calina asked incredulously.
Merry turned onto his stomach, "Pippin, you remember the Old Forest? On the borders of Buckland? Folks used to say that there was something in the water that made the trees grow tall, and come alive."
"Alive?" Pippin mimicked.
"Trees that could whisper, talk to each other. Even move." Merry explained, unable to withhold the spark of wonder that broke out across his face.
A nearby comment caused their conversation to come to an abrupt halt. "What about them! They're fresh!" One of the orcs said, looking over to them hungrily.
The commanding Uruk-hai stood between them, "They are not for eating!"
Another orc tried to convince him otherwise, "What about their legs? They don't need those. Ohh, they look tasty!"
"Get back scum! The prisoners go to Saruman alive and unspoiled. They have something. An Elvish weapon. The master wants it for war. " The commander ordered.
"What about the woman? What could he want her for? She is a pretty little thing." A third orc licked his lips. Another orc walked forward, his intent clear across his grotesque face as he strode towards them.
Without a word, the commander swiftly cut off the orc's head and shouted, "Looks like meat's back on the menu, boys!" The trio was once again forgotten as the Uruk-hai and orcs piled onto the freshly dead orc, viciously devouring him.
"Let's go!" Calina urged, the three of them quickly beginning to crawl away while their enemy was distracted.
They hadn't gone far when Calina suddenly felt someone grab onto her ankles, "Get back here bitch!" Her head snapped around; it was the orc who had shown a particular interest in her from before. To their terror, he rose to his feet and hovered above her, blade in hand. He lifted his arm to strike, but suddenly froze in place, eyes now wide. It was then they all saw a spear head protruding from the orc's stomach. He toppled over dead as the scene around them burst into chaos.
The thundering of hooves and the shouts of men suddenly erupted through the night. From all around them, riders adored in metal armor brandishing spears began to rapidly dispatch the band of Uruk-hai and orcs around them.
"Come on!" Merry declared.
The three of them began to crawl towards the dark forest as bodies continued to drop around them. Merry suddenly insisted they, "Over here!" He gestured to a discarded ax that lay beside him. Pippin and Calina quickly moved towards him as Merry worked to cut his bonds. They fell away swiftly enough, and he quickly undid the ropes at his feet while Pippin began to slice away at the bonds at his wrists.
To their dismay, they were noticed. "Get back here!" An orc yelled, dodging between horses to get over to them. Merry and Pippin drew their blades and they dropped into a defensive stance. The orc came at them with a jagged black knife. Between the two of them, the Half-lings managed to hold him off until Calina was free. Though her body protested, she got to her feet and drew her sword, joining the Hobbits in the fight.
"Good job!" She said as they brought the orc down together. Fortunately, no one else seemed to notice them and they sheathed their weapons and began to make a break for the forest. A horse suddenly crashed into them and the trio was thrown apart and the horse continued to stomp between them.
Calina had been hurled straight onto her back and let out an anguished cry as she landed. For an instant, she lay unmoving, hot blood beginning to pool from her shoulder. 'This is bad.' She strained to find Merry and Pippin, but to her horror she could not find them.
She pushed through the pain and rose, panting. 'I need to find them!' She thought frantically, mind spinning. From in between the chaos, she saw the dark shadow of the woods and began to stumble her way through the ever moving crowd towards it, hoping she would run into the Half-lings when she arrived at the skirt of the forest.
Without warning, there was an aggressive tug on her hair and she slammed to a halt. Calina cried out and reached back at whomever it was that had grabbed her. "You're coming with me." She recognized the voice of the commanding Uruk-hai. His grip on her hair tightened and she was forcibly pulled along.
She managed to twist herself around and began to claw at him, "Let me go!" She yelled, digging her nails into his wrists. His grip only tightened and he jerked her head up to meet his beady eyes. She then felt a cool pressure against her neck.
He snarled down at her, his pointed teeth set in a furious scowl, "Test me again and–" He suddenly let out a gurgling sound before coughing up blood and dying where he stood, a spear having been thrust through his gut. His grip on her slackened and his dagger fell away from her jugular.
To her dismay, he did not relinquish her entirely. With his hand still embedded in her hair, she fell to the ground with him. Again, she was slammed down and her body screamed in protest, this time being crushed by his massive body as he landed on her. Calina struggled to push his body off, but he was dead weight and in her current state, moving him seemed like an impossible task. She let out a yell as she shoved his body away just enough so she could pull herself out from under him. She rolled over onto all fours panting, her hair in shambles with blood splattered all across her front. She stood on shaking legs, her gaze locked on the forest as she began to head towards it once again.
She had to fight her way through, which slowed her progress. At having been so continually stalled, a deeper sense of fear began to settle within her. 'I hope they are alright.' She then swung at another orc, slicing him across the chest. For an instant, the area around her was clear and she took a few quick breaths.
In her moment's pause, she found herself abruptly surrounded by two men on horseback. "What is a woman doing here?" One of them asked from atop his chestnut mount. They circled her as they continued to dispatch the enemy that had again begun to settle in around them again.
Calina growled blearily, 'I'm tired of being held up!' She made a move to sprint between the horses that twirled around her, but before she could make the sprint, the other man grabbed her and hauled her up onto his horse. "Let me go!" She yelled, fully intent on throwing herself from the animal. "Please!" She gasped between pained breaths, "I need to find my friends! Two Hobbits! We–"
She was cut off when her retainer shoved his spear into the gut of yet another orc. As he attacked, his other hand pressed down hard on her back. Though he did not directly touch her wound, the sudden pressure made her cry out in agony.
Upon retracting the spear, the man glanced down at her, "You are injured?" He asked.
"Yes." She answered without thinking, the corners of her vision starting to grow spotty as the pain and fever gripped her with a vigor.
"Fasthelm! I'm taking the woman back!" He yelled to his companion.
"Yes sir!"
"No, please!" She begged, the threat of unconsciousness trickling closer. "I need to find my friends!"
But he had already begun to urge his horse towards the edge of the fighting, "Hobbits, you say?"
"Yes! They'd only be children in your eyes."
"Then there is no hope for them." The bluntness of his proclamation sent a knife through her heart. However, before she had time to comprehend his words any further, her vision darkened completely and everything went dark, for her fever, injury and exhaustion had consumed her entirely.
.
When she first came too, she found herself lying down, and a fire crackled nearby while crickets chirped around her. There was also the murmur of other voices, but they were a ways off. There was a shuffle of fabric to her right and someone sniffed loudly.
"Where am I?" She asked raspily, head lolling.
"The Riddermark, among the Riders of Rohan." A man spoke. It was whomever sat beside her. He shifted in place, coming closer. "Move carefully. I only just finished tending your wound.
Calina adjusted her right shoulder and an aching throb sprang to life. Although still unwaning, it wasn't nearly as painful as before. She peeled her eyes open, turning her head towards the voice. Her vision was still distorted, and she had to blink hard a number of times before the scene manifested before her.
Night was still thick around them and the man's brown eyes were illuminated by the campfire and she could see him smile between his peppered beard. His wrists were on his knees and a modest brown wooden box sat beside him. "Welcome back."
"You are a field medic." She concluded, making a careful effort to sit up.
He swiftly moved over to her, holding onto her good arm and assisting her as she rose to sit. "Careful now. Don't want to disturb the bandages."
He helped her shift tentatively around until she had her feet folded beside her. Carefully, he let go, and Calina pressed her left hand against the ground to steady herself in his absence. She had started panting at the mild exertion, but remained upright nonetheless.
From her seated position, she noticed her right arm was in a basic sling. "Whomever first tended your wound did a horrible job." The medic began, tossing another log onto the fire.
"We can thank the Uruk-hai for that." She said candidly.
The flames ate away at the wood loudly, and sent sparks up into the air. He turned away and watched them float upwards idly away, "Well, now it should heal well enough so long as you do not overexert yourself. Your fever, however, may take some time to subside. The wound was, and still is, quite infected."
"I can imagine." She murmured, staring into the flames. It was then she noticed another man standing across from them on the other side of the campfire. He was tall, strongly built and his blond hair dipped just past his shoulders with a short cut beard. Though he was no longer wearing his helmet, she recognized him.
"You're the one who pulled me from the fight." She said, straightening.
"Indeed. Now," he strode over and crouched down before her, "who are you? And what were you doing among the Uruk-hai?"
In her feverish state, she couldn't find it within herself to dance around the subject, "I am Calina, daughter of Denethor, Steward of Gondor. My friends and I were separated from our company and had been captured by the Uruks. We were trying to escape when you found me."
His eyes narrowed suspiciously, "Calina of Gondor? The Shadow Walker?" She nodded. The man was silent for a moment. The fire crackled loudly behind him. He then rose, his gaze still doubtful as he looked down at her. "Frumgar, keep watch over her." He then began to stride away into the darkness towards another campfire.
"Wait!" She called, expression deep with worry. "My friends. Did anyone find them?"
His gaze remained hard as he looked back at her. "We left none alive."
Though something split in her chest, she called out after him again, her desperation apparent, "Please! I need to see for myself. We had tried to run into the forest, and I at least want to see if they made it that far."
"Why do you hold onto hope?"
"There is always hope."
He eyed her curiously and spoke after a moment's pause, "We leave at dawn."
She sighed in relief, "Thank you."
He continued to stare at her for an instant before turning and heading off towards the other campfires.
For a moment Frumgar said nothing. He then reached over and handed her a piece of bread. "Here. You need to regain your strength." She took the food from him and ate it silently, staring into the flickering flames again.
"It is not often that Éomer takes orders from others." Frumgar commented while looking up at the stars.
She swallowed, saying nothing. The bread was stale. When she finished off the last of it she sighed, gazing up at the deep darkness of the night sky above along with him. 'I suppose I should rest for now.' Calina then made a move to lay back down and Frumgar assisted her as she did. "Thank you." She said as she carefully came to rest on her side so as to avoid putting any unneeded pressure on her wound. She continued to stare vacantly into the fire, lost to her thoughts. After a short while, her fever claimed her to sleep once more.
.
There was a gentle nudge to her good shoulder. "Éomer is coming." Frumgar said, waking her from her slumber. The sky was now a vivid blood red as sunrise began to approach. Though her fever persisted, Calina managed to rise to a seated position and with Frumgar's help, she was able to stand.
Éomer approached, once again riding the same great horse as he had from the night before. Though still wearing his armor, he was lacking his helmet this time. "Come. You will ride with me." Though she internally protested, she knew given her current state riding alone was out of the question. Not that he'd let her to begin with, both of them silently knowing she'd bolt at the first chance she'd get. Calina then walked over to him and with Frumgar's assistance, she got seated in front of Éomer on the horse. He then turned their mount and began to trot off.
As they went, Calina saw the remainder of the men hovering around their campfires a little ways off. The grassland behind them looked like a sea of wisps of fire from the light cast by the early morning sun. Éomer then picked up the pace. Though the jostling from their journey was quick to make her shoulder ache, she said nothing and grit her teeth as they carried on.
They had not traveled five minutes before they came upon what remained of the previous night's battle. The smoke and stink of the burning corpses caused her eyes to water. Éomer walked the horse up to the smoldering pile of bodies. Calina brought her arm up to her nose, hoping to banish the putrid smell of burning flesh from her nose. "The forest, please." She asked, eyes breaking from the mass of carcases and over her shoulder at him.
Without a word, Éomer motioned the horse towards Fangorn. Even in the early morning light, the woods had an eerie air about it. She could only begin to guess how old the forest was, and the gloom beyond its border sent a feeling of foreboding through her.
Something on the ground glistened against the early morning sun. Calina looked down to see her sword pressed into the earth a few paces away. "Wait! My sword." She exclaimed, pointing down to the weapon.
Éomer dismounted and swiftly returned the blade to her. It took a moment for her to return it to its sheath due to her sling, but eventually she managed it. Again, he did all of this and watched her without speaking. He then deftly returned to the saddle and they pressed on.
They were perhaps paces from the edge of the forest when Éomer brought the horse to a stop. The trees stood tall above them, casting a looming shadow at their feet. The horse snorted and scuffed at the ground, making its unease apparent.
Calina's sharp eyes scanned the ground, looking for any sign of the Half-lings. "There!" She pointed nearby, finding two sets of Hobbit footprints pressed into the earth. Her heart soared when she realized they were leading away from the battleground. Her eyes followed after them and swiftly saw that they disappeared into the darkness of the woods.
"They went into the forest. I need to go after them." She declared.
It was here Éomer let out a gruff snort. "And how do you intend to find them?"
"Their tracks are fresh enough. Let me off the horse." She made a move to dismount, but he quickly pinned her back down.
"You are in no state to be doing such a thing." He argued. It was at this comment that she began to struggle against him. However, it was brief, for her fever was quick to snatch away what little energy she had, and she was almost immediately locked in Éomer's hold. This left her breathing heavily and her face deepend to a heavy flush. Her world began to spin. She leaned back into his chest to keep from wobbling in the saddle. From behind her, Éomer's expression turned stern. "Foolish woman." He reprimanded, turning the horse around and beginning to head away from the forest.
'I need to get away from these Riders.' She thought hazily. 'But I couldn't shadow jump even if I wanted to.' The treeless grassland mocked her. 'And I'm not sure I'd even be able to manage it.' Her thoughts promptly began to jumble. It didn't take long after before she slipped into a feverish daze entirely and everything fell into darkness once again.