All Shall Fade (LOTR-Wattys 2014)

All Shall Fade - Chapter 17 - Safe Haven

All shall fade

Cahpter seven

Safe Haven

We walked on, leaving the mines behind us as we made our way over the last of the mountains. Time passed, but I didn’t register it. I was vaguely aware that it was late afternoon, meaning we had spent longer than I had thought in the mines. It didn’t matter much to me though; I’d slipped into a state of disconnected numbness, both physically and emotionally. I no longer noticed the aching pain in my shoulder and muscles, and mentally I seemed to have just shut down. I mindlessly put one foot after the other, not caring about where I was going or who I was following. I just felt hollow and emotionless. Anything could happen now and it probably wouldn’t faze me. Occasionally, we would jog to cover more ground, using small bursts of speed in an attempt to distance ourselves from the mines. I would glance up occasionally, although I tried not to. Every time I looked to the front of the group it would remind me with a painful stab that Gandalf was gone. Never again would I look up and see his pointed hat bobbing along as he lead us onwards, and the thought of that was almost enough to make me break down again. That was why I pushed it away, bottling up all my thoughts and emotions in an attempt to pull myself through the crushing grief. When I did look ahead though, I could see a large forest growing closer with each step we took, and soon we were off the mountains, running across the small area of grassland as we made for the cover of the forest, and minutes later I found myself walking under the shade of the trees. As I reduced my pace, I allowed myself to glance around, taking in the woods. Leaves swirled downwards through the air around me as I wrapped my arms around myself, being careful not to nudge my shoulder. Something was definitely wrong with it, I had suspected as much since Moria, but I hadn’t had time to examine it.

“Stay close, young hobbits.” I heard Gimli whisper behind me, “They say that a great sorceress lives in these woods, an elf-witch of terrible power. All those who look upon her fall under her spell… And are never seen again. ” I glanced back; his words making me feel uneasy as I walked on. Witches now? The parade of supernatural weirdness just gets longer and longer… “Well, here's one dwarf she won't ensnare so easily!” Gimli muttered defensively, “I have the eyes of a hawk, and the ears of a fox!”

Suddenly, in a movement faster than I could see and quieter than a whisper, I found myself surrounded by arrows inches from my face. I was wrong when I had thought nothing would faze me, as I stepped back in alarm, and then shuffled forward as I found another arrowhead poking my back. I glanced around for help, but found my companions faced with a similar situation, although Legolas had already drawn his bow. I fearfully looked up, expecting to meet the eyes of an Orc, but instead found myself face-to-face with several blonde male elves and once again I found myself proved correct – all the men here are ridiculously good looking.

“The dwarf breathes so loud we could have shot him in the dark.” An elf stepped forward, staring intently at Gimli and I felt myself shrink back a little under his intimidating stare. “You will come with me.” He stated, turning and walking away. He was flanked by two other elves, whilst the rest of his bow-wielding posse focused on making us walk after him. I stumbled as an arrow was pressed against my injured shoulder and I quickened my pace so I could walk alongside Legolas, who had relaxed a little. I couldn’t follow his lead though, my heart pounded in my ears and my breathing became ragged and panicky as I followed him through the strange forest. As we moved deeper into it and the cover of trees became thicker, the daylight was blocked out and the areas we walked through were illuminated by small glowing lights nestled in trees. Suddenly, Legolas abruptly stopped in front of me and I looked up to see a rope ladder being lowered from a tree.

“What’s going on?” I whispered, glancing at him as I waited to be reassured. “Are these guys going to hurt us?” My gaze flicked towards the apparent leader of the elves as he gracefully climbed the ladder, followed by a few more before Aragorn began climbing.