The healer (Legolas love story)

Chapter 18: Chase

"We should find the others. We should have not split." said Legolas and began to walk but the sound of a horn stopped him.

Nestarel's eyes grew wide. It was the horn of Gondor calling for help. Her heart skipped a bit and she felt nausea before a name came out of her mouth quieter than a whisper. "Boromir!" 

The three of them quickly sprinted toward the source of the sound, but it was not easy to be fast enough. They faced a group of Orcs on their way and engaged hard again. The horn of Gondor was calling again and again and each time more desperate and then they stopped completely.

Nestarel decapitated the last Orc. Her clothes were covered by Orcs blood and dirt. She dashed down the hill and toward where she had last heard the sound of the horn. She was feeling nausea and color has drained from her face. Legolas and Gimli were behind her. Why they had run away from each other at first. Why they had not stuck together when they knew something was wrong? what kind of an ill will had downed on them to cause them to act that mindlessly? Where was Aragorn? Where were the hobbits?  

The last thought hit her like a blast of energy. The innocent faces of the innocent Hobbits were in front of her face and made her run faster.

Finally, they reached a clearing between the trees and the trio stopped in their tracks. So many giant Orcs had fallen dead on the ground but that was not what had caught their attention.  "No!" whispered Nestarel and then ran toward Aragorn who had sat with hunched back beside the body of a big man. Boromir. Several dark arrows had pierced his chest and his beautiful face was pale and lifeless. Nestarel touched his face and immediately know that she was late. He was long gone.

"He fell with pride." said Aragorn. His eyes were tearful and he looked like a mess, but other than a few small wounds he looked fine.

Nestarel closed her and tears fell on her cheeks. They were too late. They had failed. She felt a strong arm circled around her waist and brought her to her feet and to a strong chest. She buried her head in Legolas's chest and cried silently while he rubbed soothing circles on her back and whispered sweet nothings in her ear.

"he said they took the halflings." said Aragorn and Nestarel felt her heart skipped a beat and any color drained from her face. She wanted to vomit from worry. She looked at Aragorn. "It's me who has failed. Was Frodo one of them?" he asked.

"what should we do now? Go after ring bearer? We could not leave Boromir like this and what about captive hobbits?" said Gimli.

"Boromir has said they took the hobbits nothing more. They can be alive. We can't let the Orcs take them." said Legolas and went to one of the Orcs' shields and took it. Upon it, they bore a strange device: a small white hand in the center of a black field. on the front of their iron helms was set an S-rune, wrought of some white metal. "They bore the mark of white hand, not the crimson eye of Brad-dur. What do you think Aragorn?" he said and tossed the shield to Aragorn trying to take their minds off of their misery and focus on what they should do. 

Aragorn took it and looked at it. "I have not seen these tokens before," said Aragorn. "What do they mean?"

"S is for Sauron," said Gimli. "That is easy to read."

"Nay!" said Legolas. "Sauron does not use the elf-runes."

"Neither does he use his right name, nor permit it to be spelt or spoken," said Aragorn. "And he does not use white. The Orcs in the service of Barad-dûr use the sign of the Red Eye." He stood for a moment in thought. 

"S is for Saruman, I guess," said Nestarel quietly and everyone looked at her. "Gandalf had warned us about his treachery."

"So they must take the hobbits to Isengard." said Legolas and Aragorn nodded in agreement.