An Arrow or Two || Legolas/LotR

TEN

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Chapter Ten. The Four Hunters.

And so we ran. 

We had to leave behind our grief, our loneliness and our defeat. We ran, and as we ran, I lost track of time. With each footstep I grew more worried about Merry and Pippin. The weight of Boromir's death still lingered at the back of my mind. Gandalf. Boromir. My heart felt heavy, but I had to keep picking my feet up and keep running. The four of us had been pursuing the Uruks for three days, by both day and night, and we still could not slow down. 

We all felt the same pain and the same grief. The battle at Amon Hen had ended in such bitter defeat, yet we all ran with hope. All I could think about was the two Hobbits, and the thought of the two of them kept me focused on the hunt for the Uruk-Hai. I was so focused I felt as if I could smell the Uruks.

The sun seared down on us as we carried onward across endless rolling miles of barren land, with dunes filled with rocks and dry grass. Ahead of me, Aragorn raced up a hill, and I turned to check on the other two. Legolas had hung back slightly so he could keep a watchful eye on Gimli, who was struggling the most out of the four of us. Dwarves were fearsome warriors, delicate and masterful craftsmen, and were wondrous in many things...but cross-country running did not appear to be one of their biggest strengths.

I made it up to the top of the steep incline, where Aragorn had dropped down onto a rock. His eyes were closed, his ear flat against the stone. He was listening for their footsteps. Uruk-Hai were not light on their feet. A group of Uruks running created the same low rumble as a furious thundercloud in a storm.

"Their pace has quickened. They must have caught our scent." Aragorn whispered, getting back up to his feet. He immediately began running over the side of the rocky hill without a second thought, shouting back to the rest of us, "Hurry!"

Legolas came running up faster behind me. He paused briefly, looking behind him, "Come on, Gimli!" He shouted back down the hill to the dwarf, who had lulled for a moment. Gimli was huffing and puffing as he staggered up the hill. He leaned on his axe as if it was a walking stick.

"Three days and nights pursuit, no food, no rest, and no sign of our quarry but what bare rock can tell." He growled, raspy, as he staggered forward.

"The Uruks are speeding up!" I called down to him, "They know we are following them! We must hurry!" 

He grumbled up at me as he steadily quickened his pace. I rolled my eyes and carried on after Legolas. Gimli would catch up, even if it took a while. Dwarves were, after all, extremely stubborn. And of course we would not leave him behind.

We continued running over grass, rock and hill. There was a constant worry that we would lose the Uruk-Hai, but Aragorn was as persistent as ever. Legolas ran ahead of us, agile and light on his feet, looking into the horizon. It was clearly my turn to look after the straggling dwarf.

Gimli kept falling behind at random intervals, slowing us down a fraction, but we were making good progress even so. When Gimli set his mind to it he could run at our furious pace, even with his heavy axes and helm. Usually always behind Aragorn, Legolas and myself, but never out of sight. Occasionally I threw him some Lembas to eat on the go, to ensure his body could cope with the extreme stress we were putting on it. We were all tired, but the hope burned in our chests and made us run as if we were anew and fresh.

The pursuit of the Uruks took us over valleys and streams, past mountains and eroded rock. Our surroundings were beautiful and green, the sky huge and blue, as we drew closer to the borders of Rohan. But we had no time to look about us; we were driven forward, and forward was where we had to remain fully focused. We could not, and would not, look behind.