A Knife in the Dark
The Hobbits followed after Strider for days, until they finally came into a sullen hill country and headed for one of the tallest hills in the area and the ruins. Violet gaped at her surroundings. Even in all of her wildest daydreams and longing for adventure she had never pictured anything like this; and for some reason or other, she found she loved it. "This was the great watchtower of Amon Sul. We shall rest here tonight." Strider said leading the group into a decent shelter, where the Hobbits immediately set about setting up camp. The man didn't waste any time however, pulling out four blades and handing one to each of the boys. "These are for you. Keep them close. I'm going to have a look around. Stay here."
"What about us?" Violet asked gesturing to the other girls and herself.
"The boys will defend you." Strider replied nonchalantly, causing the boys to stand up taller with pride and determination at their charge.
"I don't want to depend on any boys!" Violet protested, quite offended by the very suggestion. "I'm not a weakling. I can defend myself."
"I'm sure you can, but you'll have to settle for the boys tonight; I don't have any more blades to spare." Strider explained, doing his best to hold back a smile, before turning and leaving the gang by themselves. Violet wasn't exactly pacified by this explanation and stared jealously at the blade in Merry's hand, though she tried not to.
"Come on Violet." Merry said tucking the sword away and grinning broadly at her. "Let's get settled." She nodded in agreement, and the two got to work. It wasn't long before the camp was all set up and Frodo and Jessamine had curled up in their blankets quickly falling asleep. Mina and Ebony soon followed suit, but Violet simply wasn't tired. However, she was hungry and just to prove it her stomach began to make small rumbly noises. Merry laughed, doing his best to keep his voice down so as not to disturb the sleepers. "Well I guess we know what's next on the to do list."
"Yeah, I could use a good supper about now." Pippin agreed full-heartedly with his best friend and cousin. "I'm starving!"
"What do you say Sam? Think you could whip something up? Pip and I will be happy to help." Merry offered.
"Way ahead of you." Sam replied already pulling out his cooking pots and pans. Violet eyed the food hungrily but a part of her didn't feel quite right about this decision. After all Strider wasn't here to provide protection or guidance in their current situation. He'd always been so tight about their security before and there were those dark riders out there…
"I don't know if this is such a good idea." She hedged, but the boys were quick to brush off her concerns.
"Don't worry about it Vi," Merry said gently taking her arm and pulling her to sit beside the rest of them. "It's just a little well-deserved supper. What could possibly go wrong?" Still feeling a bit uneasy, but unsure what to do about it, she allowed herself to relax and help with the meal preparations. While Violet was the one was the one who worked in the Green Dragon, it soon became quite obvious that Sam was the natural and foremost cook among the lot, and he quickly took charge. Between he and Violet, they had created one of the heartiest meals that any of them had enjoyed since starting this little adventure, though that wasn't saying much, given their circumstances (Strider wasn't very patient when it came to meal preparation, and traveling in the wild did not provide one with many familiar/viable ingredients to work with).
"My tomatoes burst." Sam complained poking disappointedly at his food. Violet struggled to hold back her smile, as she lifted a forkful of her own fare into her mouth.
"Can I have some bacon?" Pippin asked holding out his plate eagerly.
"Alright." Merry agreed scooping up the young Hobbits fifth serving, sharing an amused smirk with Vi. "Want some tomatoes Sam?"
"What are you doing?" They heard Frodo gasp in confused horror, and the four startled friends turned to see him gaping at them in distress.
"Huh?" Jessamine murmured stretching and then sitting up from her own bundle in the back corner of the shelter, sleep still heavy in her eyes.
"Tomatoes, sausages, and nice crispy bacon." Merry declared proudly showing off their 'beautiful' concoctions.
"We saved some for you and Jessamine, Mr. Frodo." Sam added reaching out for and holding up two plates full of the delectable smelling food. Frodo however, wasn't the least bit impressed.
"Put it out, you fools! Put it out!" He yelped jumping to his feet and set about doing the job himself.
"Oh, that's nice! Ash on my tomatoes!" Pippin shouted in protest, but all feelings of comfort and ease had vanished along with the fire.
"What's going on?" Mina asked groggily, looking up from her own makeshift bed.
"Mmmm… do I smell tomatoes?" Ebony asked hungrily, sitting up beside her. Before anyone could say or do anything in response, they heard a terrible shriek not too far off in the distance that turned the blood in each of their veins ice cold.
"Go!" Frodo cried grabbing Ebony's arm and pulling her quickly to her feet, even as Jessa took his own and the three raced out of the shelter. Merry and Violet were not far behind them, Sam and Pippin pausing only long enough to secure Mina between the two of them. Together the group of frightened nearly defenseless Hobbits ran up to the highest point of the hills, the boys shoving the girls to go hide behind the ancient ruins while they stood bravely side by side, swords at the ready.
"I want to help!" Violet protested, resisting Merry's efforts to shove her in her friend's direction.
"Take care of Ebony and the others and you will be." He told her, his eyes meeting hers with a steely determination. "Now go!" Reluctantly she nodded, turned and ran, though her heart remained behind.
"Back you devils!" Sam shouted bravely at the monsters raising his sword high in determined defense. The Nazgul however were not in the least intimidated, hitting his sword and throwing him aside where he landed on the hard stone and lay in a stunned huddle on the ground. Merry and Pippin shared a frightened look, before nodding in determination stepped in front of Frodo in order to act as a last barrier of protection, but they two were easily thrown aside.
Frodo now alone and seeing his pathetic defenseless state began to back up, his trembling hands dropping his sword, as he fell backward. The girls all held their breath in dread as the wraiths approached him, Jessamine's body so tense Violet was surprised she didn't snap. Suddenly Frodo reached into his pocket and drew out the tiny gold ring. This more than anything caught the attention of the Nazgul and their leader drew his dagger and walked stealthily towards him. Frodo desperately tried to crawl further away only to find himself trapped by the wall of the ancient ruin the girls were hiding behind.
The Witch King went to strike, and Jessa let out a muffled scream under Mina's sensitive hand, at the same moment Frodo put on the ring and disappeared. The Witch King appeared taken aback for the slightest moment, and then reached out as if to take an invisibly proffered gift; but he was obviously resisted. Undeterred he drew his blade back once again, prepared to strike.
"Frodo, no!" Jessamine cried, wrenching away from Mina, desperate to help out her beloved best friend, she broke free from her hiding place and darted to the place the girls had last seen him.
"Jessamine wait!" Violet called sprinting after her just as she was placing herself between Frodo and the wraiths. Vi could see the dagger already beginning to head straight toward them. "No!" She leapt knocking the younger girl out of the way, feeling the fiery bite of something colder than black ice cut deep alongside her left arm as she passed.
"Violet!" Mina, Jessa, and Ebony screamed in fear and distress.
"Aaahhhhhh!" Frodo shrieked at the same moment, the blade having followed through and obviously found its mark. He appeared only seconds later clutching at his shoulder, eyes glazed with the same pain Violet could feel raging in her own arm.
"Frodo!" Sam rushed to his side at the same moment Strider reappeared, a blazing torch in each hand which he wielded as swords against the dark creatures. Vi found she had a time focusing on hardly anything at the moment except for the biting agony in her arm. She simply gripped at the wound, while Jessamine sobbed, murmuring her apologies over and over again, as she stared back and forth between Violet and Frodo. Two of her best friends in the entire world, both in excruciating pain, all because of her, and she was powerless to help. Mina and Ebony arrived moments later, and Mina instantly recognized the agony in the other girl's eyes, and placed a comforting hand on Jessa's shoulder.
"Go on to Frodo." Mina encouraged the poor girl gently. "We'll take care of Violet, won't we Merry?"
Vi looked up to see her best friend in the entire world standing not two feet away from her, the overwhelming panic and despair in his eyes taking her aback even more than her own pain. "Yes, of course." He muttered nodding his head solemnly, though his voice had a cold edge to it. "Go on Jessa, we'll take care of things here."
The next thing she knew, she was being lifted by strong capable arms and carried over to where Strider was just kneeling beside Frodo's limp form.
"Strider! Help him, Strider!" Sam begged with the desperation they all felt.
"And Violet! Don't forget about Violet!" Merry insisted cradling her even closer to him.
"They've been stabbed by a Morgul blade. This is beyond my skill to heal. They need Elvish medicine." The solemn man murmured holding up the hilt of the shadowy cursed blade, before scooping Frodo up into his arms and darting back to the path. "Hurry!"
"We're six days from Rivendell. They'll never make it!" Sam pointed out in despair.
"They have too!" Jessamine insisted, though whether it was for his benefit or her own no one could tell. "They just have to."
"Gandalf!" Frodo yelled in his growing delirium.
"Hold on, Frodo." Strider told him voice and face filled with grim determination as he looked back and forth between the two injured hobbits, then back to the road ahead. "You too, Violet."
Her body shivered against the pain, her eyes closing against the eerie darkness around them, as she sobbed. "Merry!"
The continuing journey was almost unbearable, as the hobbits watched their beloved friends were wheezing and gasping for air, sweating profusely, and their eyes going in and out of focus as whatever evil poison or magic from the cursed blade spread through their veins. Not even the sight of what appeared to be three magnificent troll statues could cheer Ebony's heart, as she watched Mina dart back and forth between their two ill comrades, gently mopping at their faces with a handkerchief she had kept in her pocket, whispering soothing words of encouragement, and even trying to give them water, which only seemed to dribble out of their mouths. Jessamine and Sam on the other hand, had not left Frodo's side once, Jessa almost clinging to Frodo's hand as if she could simply will him back to full health. Similarly, Merry held Violet close to his chest, not allowing any of the others to take a turn, despite Pippin's and Mina's many offers.
"Look, Frodo. It's Mr. Bilbo's trolls." Sam told his dear friend, trying desperately to get a response from the nearly despondent hobbit, but it was as if Frodo hadn't even heard him. "Mr. Frodo?" He tried again, and Ebony could hear the near panic in his voice, even as Mina placed an encouraging hand on Sam's shoulder, before lifting her handkerchief away from Frodo's forehead so she could feel it with her hand.
"He's going cold." She reported, turning to look at Strider, her eyes filled with concern and downright fear, but Strider could not meet her gaze. Taking a deep breath, Ebony forced herself forward until she was at Violet's side, noticing the way her head lolled against Merry's chest. She reached out to take her friends hand, but it was limp and unresponsive to touch, and Ebony thought she could feel her very heart breaking within her chest.
"Are they going to die?" Pippin whispered, the dreaded question that was on all of their minds.
"They are passing into the shadow world." Strider corrected solemnly. "They will soon become a wraith like them."
Just then they heard yet another awful cry in the distance, causing Frodo to gasp, and Violet's body to shiver uncontrollably. "They're close." Merry pointed out, brows furrowed in stubborn determination. This was one thing that Ebony had always admired about her cousin; he did not give up easily, and she knew that he would do everything in his power to prevent either of their friends from being taken from them. Still, she didn't see how much they could do. They were powerless to stop the spread, and Rivendell was still so far away. Was there any real hope that they could ever make it in time?
Strider appeared to be contemplating this very same question, as he examined both of the ill hobbits, before seeming to come to a decision. "Sam, Jessamine, do you know Athelas plant?"
"Athelas?" Sam asked in obvious confusion.
"Kingsfoil." Strider clarified, using the plants common name, and both hobbits nodded.
"Kingsfoil? Aye that's a weed." Jessa said, obviously confused by the question and its relevance.
"It may help to slow the poison." Strider explained, before gesturing for them to follow him into the trees to search. "Hurry."
Sam immediately followed after him, eager to help, though Jessa hesitated a moment obviously reluctant to leave Frodo's side, even for a moment. Mina appeared to recognize this as well, and walked over to friend, nodding and smiling encouragingly. "Go ahead Jessa, I'll look after him while your gone. I promise." Jessa nodded in gratitude, and then darted after her cousin and Strider without a second glance.
"Good riddance." Merry muttered under his breath, causing Ebony to look up at him in surprise, shocked at the anger and resentment burning in his eyes. "Before she can make things worse."
"Merry!" Mina said, in a sharp reprimanding tone, Ebony couldn't remember ever having heard her use before. "That's enough."
"What? It's the truth!" He shot back angrily, causing Pippin to step back warily as he gazed back and forth between the arguing pair, before his eyes landed on Ebony who merely shrugged. "If she had just stayed put with the rest of you, Violet never would have been stabbed. It's all her fault."
"And if you hadn't started a fire to cook your precious dinner, none of this would have happened in the first place!" Mina spat, causing both Merry and Pippin to wince with shame, knowing she was at least partly right. "And if Frodo hadn't put out the fire, maybe we could have used it to protect ourselves." Mina continued less harshly, her eyes softening as she watched the poor grieving boy. "And if, and if. My point is Merry, there are probably a hundred million things each of us could have done differently that might have prevented this, but that's life. We can't waste it blaming others for our pain and problems. Besides, any one of us would have risked our lives to save one another. I mean, what would you have done if you were Jessa's position and Violet was the one about to be stabbed?"
Merry nodded his head in defeat, silently acknowledging that Mina was right. But part of Mina's words seemed to bounce around in Ebony's mind. She'd said that any one of them would sacrifice their life for the other, and though Ebony would like to believe that she would have the courage to do so, after what had happened earlier, she wasn't so sure. Watching the ring wraith approach Frodo, blade drawn, she had desperately wanted to help, scream, fight, anything to protect her cousin. And yet she had been frozen to her spot, desperately clinging to her friends with an ice like grip, as if her hands had suddenly developed a mind of their own. The memory shamed her more than Ebony would like to admit, especially after watching not only Jessa but Violet sacrifice themselves in such a heroic, if not fool hardy way. Where had they found the strength?
"Besides," Mina said, now looking at the nearly unconscious Violet, her voice filled with tenderness and pride. "Jessa never asked Violet to try and push her out of the way. That was Violet's own choice. Because that's what you do for the people you love."
Before any of the Hobbits could contemplate more on this, the others returned, a beautiful woman with long flowing dark hair who seemed to almost radiate light, who went straight to where Frodo was now laying on the ground. "Frodo," she said speaking in another language none of the hobbits had ever heard before.
"Who is she?" Merry asked in awe, watching the woman knelt beside Frodo, anxiously repeating his name.
"She's an elf." Sam explained in a voice near reverence.
"He's fading!" The she-elf whispered just as Strider knelt beside the two, placing the Kingsfoil into Frodo's wound, while Jessa handed Mina the rest and she proceeded to do the same with Violet. "And she's not much better."
Strider immediately lifted Frodo into his arms at this and began walking, while the she-elf followed at his side, and continued to speak. "They're not going to last. We must get them to my father. I've been looking for you for two days."
"Where are you taking him?" Jessa demanded, not bothering to hide the fear in her voice, but neither of the two paid her any attention.
"There are five wraiths behind you. Where the other four are, I do not know." The woman said, while Strider lifted Frodo onto a white horse, before turning to take Violet from Merry's reluctant arms and place her there as well. The two then proceeded to speak in Elvish, which only added to the others torture.
"What are they saying?" Pippin asked, but Mina only shook her head in helpless confusion, as she continued to watch the two's faces very carefully, as if searching for any clue as to what they might be discussing. It appeared that they were arguing about something, and while Mina was not sure exactly what it was about, she distinctly noted Strider's anxiety seem to increase.
"I do not fear them." The woman told the man firmly, and he seemed to take her in, before nodding his head in defeat and saying something in Elvish. The woman then mounted the horse behind the two hobbits, and Strider called out to her. "Arwen! Rid hard. Don't look back!"
Arwen nodded at him, murmured something in Elvish to the horse, and they sped off into the night.
"What are you doing?!" Sam demanded in utter outrage. "Those wraiths are still out there!" But as Mina continued to watch Striders face, she could tell that he was more than well aware of this, and that his heart was riding away from them into the black night.
Violet's whole body was wracked with the most agonizing pain, as the world seemed to whirl past her in a shadowy blur. She could not seem to remember the light and warmth of day, only the cold darkness that seemed to surround her now. There was one thing, however that did seem to pierce through her consciousness, registering in her foggy mind. The screeching call of the wring wraiths. Only the more time passed, the more she could swear she could understand what they were saying. Calling her and Frodo's name, telling them to give in. One seemed to pass by close to them, reaching out their hand, but they were still out of reach, and Violet shrank away at the sight.
Then she felt the splash of water against her skin, and a kind of dull roar filled her ears. Then once again, she heard the call. "Give up the halflings, she-elf!"
"If you want him, come and claim him!" A voice that almost seemed to chime like bells called out, before beginning to mutter something in a language that Violet did not understand. The roar of the water became deafening, and she was almost overwhelmed with the wraiths screams as they were swept away by the rushing current, before the sound once again faded, this time nearly completely. The next thing Violet knew she could feel herself falling through the air, before her body hit the ground with a solid thud, another figure laying close beside her.
"No! Frodo no! Frodo, Violet, don't give in! Not now!" The beautiful voice once again echoed from the world above, and Violet felt yet another small splash against her check. "What grace is given me, let it pass to them. Let them be spared. Save them." Violet let out one last gasp, willing herself to reach for the light that was being offered to her, before her mind sank into near oblivion.
Hey sorry that it's taken me so long, and if this chapter is a little rushed and well... not my best work. I've been in a bit of a writing funk lately, but I figured the only way to get out of it was to write. So here we go. Please let me know what you think. I hope you enjoy!