Dire Needs: Chapter Ten
Author's Note: Wow. I think it's been five years since I've updated this fic? I'm so disappointed in myself. I hate it when fics get abandoned, and here I am doing the exact same thing. And this fic was doing pretty well too. I am sooooo sorry.
I know the last chapter ended in a cliffhangar. Unfortunately this one does too. I'm pretty sure it wasn't how this chapter originally ended, but I really want to post something, anything. I haven't written fics in many years, or at least I haven't completed a fic in ages. I think my muse went through a phase where she just didn't feel like writing. But I've recently posted a new fic (not LOTR) that I'm determined to finish, and there's a chance that my muse will want to work on this fic as well. Granted, I completely forget all the plans I had for this fic, but I will do everything possible to complete this fic.
I'm sorry to all my loyal reviewers.
For all other notes: See previous chapters.
Chapter Ten: Travelling
Elrond saw the immediate threat, but was caught by surprise and neither him nor the others were able to react in time.
They didn't need to, though. As the orcs raised their swords they let out a howl of pain and fell to the ground, dead. Elrond and the others could clearly see the arrows sticking out of their backs. They looked up. In the distance, they could see Legolas and Harathiel, bows raised.
"So Saruman is behind this?" Aragorn asked, shocked.
Legolas and Harathiel had just finished explaining what they were told by the evil beings in the lake.
"And they want the pendant?" Elrond said.
Legolas nodded. Elrond reached into his travelling bag and pulled out a velvet cloth. He unwrapped it and there was the pendant, still glowing an eerie blue. "What exactly do they want with it?"
"They didn't tell us," Harathiel replied. "But Lord Elrond, we cannot give it to them. It must be very important to them or else they wouldn't make us get it."
"But why can't they get it themselves?" Haldir asked. "And for that matter, why did they give it to you only to have it returned in the first place?"
Aragorn shook his head. "That is indeed a mystery. I think they wanted us to find out about the pendant, but why..."
Elladan looked up. "It's rather late. I suggest we try to get some sleep and continue in the morning." The others agreed with him.
Elrond and Legolas stood guard, while the others slept. Harathiel had a hard time resting; her thoughts were on her father and the fate of Mirkwood. But finally she fell into a light sleep.
It was dawn when they started travelling again. The large group walked wearily through the mountains, their weapons ready. Now Aragorn knew why the others were tense. It felt like someone, or something, was following them. He couldn't see how anything could, though. They were walking through a clear path with steep cliffs that went very high up. If anyone else was on the path they would either see them or hear them.
Unless it wasn't on the path...
Aragorn looked up. The sky was clear blue with a few grey clouds. He thought he saw a faint shadow on them, but when he looked up again it was gone. But he still felt like someone was just behind them...
In mid-afternoon they stopped for a quick rest and a late lunch. Legolas and Harathiel didn't want them to stop, but they finally relented. Within minutes, however, they were keen on going on. So after a ten minute break (Legolas spent most of it trying to convince them they only needed five minutes, even though those minutes were already up) they continued.
It continued like this all this day, and the next. They were more than half-way through the mountains, and it was getting more and more dangerous. Landslides were occuring every now and then, and at night they could hear the howling of wargs and other creatures.
It was night. They beings were settled around a fire, eating some lembas they brought on their journey. The air was cold, but the only person who felt the chill was Aragorn. The silence was suddenly interupted by a howl of a warg not too far form the camp. The group tensed.
Another howl pierced through the night. It was followed by another, and another. A whole pack of fierce wargs was close by, and they were ready to strike. The gang hastily drew their weapons and stayed close to the fire.
Legolas saw the first one, its eyes glittering maliciously. It let out a growl as it sighted Legolas. It was slightly bigger than the others, and the other wargs knew that their leader wanted that elf. They slowly circled the camp.
Legolas walked closer to the fire. He knew wargs were afraid of fire, so he grabbed a large branch from the fire, its end in flames. The warg growled and kept eyeing Legolas, but didn't advance.
Aragorn, Elrond and Harathiel were circled by several wargs. Their weapons were drawn. Harathiel had her sword poised, ready to attack at the first sign of movement from the creatures. They were too close for her bow.
Haldir, Elladan and Elrohir were also surrounded by some wargs. The elves seemed relatively calm.
No one was moving; it was just a showdown of bravery and skill.
The warg leader never strayed from Legolas. It's teeth bared, it hunched back as if waiting for the opportune moment to pounce.
And that moment soon came.
A flash of light suddenly appeared from the middle of the camp. It was a bright, white light that was pulsating. It hovered for a moment, and then swept down on Haldir, Elladan and Elrohir. Before they had a chance to do anything, they were gone.
Legolas, Harathiel, Elrond and Aragorn, and even the wargs, looked around confused, wondering what happened.
Then the warg struck.
He bounded at Legolas, who had momentarily forgotten his foe. The warg jumped on him, pushing him to the ground. The warg stayed on Legolas' chest, hindering his movement. The branch was knocked from his hands and landed a few feet away.
Legolas looked up into the warg's face. The warg was glaring down at him, it's jaws wide open. It growled in Legolas' face, showing off it's fangs. Then, the warg drew back and bit Legolas in the shoulder.
Legolas let out a yell as a searing pain traveled from his shoulder to his entire arm. He felt the warg's teeth in his flesh, and it was very painful and gross.
The warg let go and got off of Legolas, who struggled to sit up. The fell beast was circling him, playing with his mind. It lunged again, scratching Legolas' chest. He gasped and clutched his chest.
Harathiel dodged another warg and slit it's throat. She looked at Aragorn and Elrond, who were slaughtering the creatures one after the other. Several of them were quite dead, others were injured and a few ran off from the intense fight.
Aragorn looked up as he heard a yell from the other side of the camp. Stricken, he saw a warg biting into Legolas, then backing off and lunging at him again, wounding his chest. Without thinking he ran and launched himself on top of it.
TBC (I hope)