Athëa - Queen of the Savages

The Power of Affection

Aragorn and Athëa plummeted down the column, that held up the broken stairs. They had been falling at least ten meters, when Athëa took out one of her daggers and forced it into a big slit in the column. They fell a few meters further, until the slit ended and the two companions came to a sudden halt.

Athëa screamed in pain, as her arm was torn from out the socket in her shoulder. But she kept her grip, while breathing heavily, still holding onto the man clinging to her waist. Thundering steps was heard from above.

She looked up to find that the balrog had made it's way to the edge of the stairs and was now looking down at them. She turned her attention back to Aragorn.

"Ready to repeat the success?", she said as she looked at another slit in the column next to them.

Though she tried to comically ridicule the urgent situation they now found themselves in, it was obvious to the man that she was in great pain. Aragorn looked down. The fall to the stairs underneath was still too far for them to jump just yet.

He took another dagger from Athëa's belt and slammed it into the slit.

"Here's to bad ideas", he said with a comforting smile on his face as he let Athëa release the grip on her dagger.

*****

Far down the stone corridors, the remainder of the fellowship had made their way to another great hall.

The vast opening would have left the fellowship in awe, had they not been running from the great beast. The ceiling reached higher than the eye could see and the eternal darkness made it impossible to see how wide the hall would be. 

At the other side of the hall a bottomless chasm emerged in the stone floor. But beyond it they could see the light of day though an opening in the wall, which meant that they were not far from salvation.

"Hurry!", Gandalf ordered. "Cross the bridge!"

They ran to the small bridge crossing the chasm in the mountain floor. Legolas stopped in front of it, guiding the rest of the fellowship through.

"Don't you dare do the thing, that is so apparent on your mind, Laddie", Gimli said suspiciously, as he stopped next to the ellon.

Legolas looked at his short friend for a moment only to turn and run back from where they came.

"Stop your foolishness, young Legolas!", Gandalf ordered angrily as he blocked Legolas of.

"You won't be running to their aid, you will be running to your death!", he continued, pushing Legolas towards the bridge.

But Legolas was determined and easily escaped the wizards grip on him, resuming his quest to save his friends. Gandalf was surprised by the otherwise rational ellon's erratic nature, as he let his emotions blur his common sense.

"Don't you understand that we need you, my friend", Gandalf said with warmth in his voice.

This made Legolas stop. He stood still for a moment, with his back still turned to the others, assessing his options. His heart was aching, pleading for him to run to Athëa's aid. If not to save her life, then just to hold her one last time. But in the end he found reason in Gandalf words, and he turned around to rejoin the others.

The ground started shaking beneath them as they once again could hear the roar of the Balrog in the distance.

Legolas reluctantly started crossing the bridge walking backwards, looking towards the sound in the dark. As they once again heard the fiery devil's roar through the corridors, Legolas held his breath. The Balrog gaining in on them, could only mean one thing. That Athëa and Aragorn was no longer holding it back. That they had lost their lives to it.