All Shall Fade (LOTR-Wattys 2014)

All Shall Fade - Chapter 14 - Pure and Simple (LOTR)

All Shall Fade

Chapter 14

Pure and Simple

I had been right, a storm was coming. It hit without warning as we climbed higher up Caradhras, and suddenly I was surrounded by a whirling blizzard. My lips were frozen and my eyelashes were clumped with snow, despite the fact that I was tightly wrapped in my cloak. I also found myself wishing I had brought gloves as I felt frost nip at my fingertips. If I lost a limb up here someone was going to pay…

We pressed on though, even as the path became narrower and the snow deepened. After a while Aragorn and Boromir had to carry the Hobbits so we wouldn’t loose them in the snow drifts – I was having trouble with making sure that I didn’t loose myself. Legolas didn’t seem to be having much trouble though; he practically danced across the top of the snow, appearing only slightly miffed that his hair was getting blown about.

“God damn elf…” I grumbled as he passed me, towering over me due to the fact that I was waist-deep in snow and he was well above it.

“I heard that.” He smiled as the wind battered the hood of my cloak. I scowled up at him and wrapped my arms around myself as he ran ahead to the edge of the cliff we were currently struggling along. On our other side was a massive wall of rock, and above that, the peak of the mountain.

“Be careful!” I called after him, but my words were snatched away by the vicious wind, just as snow was blasted into my face. It stung so badly that I was sure I ought to be bleeding, but I just ducked my head and followed Gimli who walked in front of me. At least I wasn’t as short as him; he was having a fair bit more trouble than I was. I glanced up suddenly, thinking that I had heard a strange voice, but it was probably just the wind.

“There is a fell voice on the air!” Legolas cried out and I frowned. So I had heard something? How could there be someone else up here?

“It’s Saruman!” Gandalf yelled, just as I heard a loud cracking sound and a rumble. I glanced up and my eyes widened in alarm as I saw the massive boulders rolling towards us. I didn’t have time to scream, I just closed my eyes and defensively put my arms over my head as I waited for the impact. Something hit me, but it definitely wasn’t a boulder and I opened my eyes to find myself pinned between the rock wall and Aragorn’s shoulder as he held Frodo and Sam against him and the last of the small avalanche passed. He fired me a look that clearly said ‘Be more careful’ before releasing me.

“He's trying to bring down the mountain! Gandalf, we must turn back!” He shouted over the roaring wind to the wizard who shook his head.

“No!” He cried, I glanced over at Gandalf in concern as he stood at the edge of the cliff, shouting out strange words in Elvish which echoed off the surrounding mountains. He was answered by another echo as I turned to Aragorn in alarm, waiting for him to give me some explanation. How could someone bring down a mountain? What was going on?

Suddenly, a ferocious bolt of blinding white lightning struck the peak of the mountain, and I heard the deafening roar of the oncoming avalanche before it arrived. I barely had time to step back as I saw Legolas pull Gandalf back from the edge, and then the roar got louder and louder and then… Silence. No wind, nothing. Just a very cold, dark silence.

It took me a moment to get my frazzled brain around the fact that I was buried in snow, and once I had processed and established this, I then allowed myself to very rationally begin panicking. I tried to move but I couldn’t, my arms were trapped, hanging in limbo in the snow. I was stuck, pure and simple.

Ok, plan one - escape on my own - has failed, plan two – get help – in process. I opened my mouth to scream, but snow flooded it and gave me a brainfreeze. Oh great, on top of the fact that I’m going to suffocate down here, I now have frigging brainfreeze. Understandably, I was not pleased about this as I tried to inhale and got a nostril full of snow for my trouble. Can you drown in snow? Well… I was about to find out if I kept going like this. I tried to move my head and succeeded in shifting some snow, and then I felt wind tugging at the tip of my hood. I was close to the surface! I could now hear things, they were muffed, but I could definitely hear shouts.