The Last Othellan

The Horse Lords

"Saruman has poisoned the mind of the king and claimed lordship over these lands. My company are those loyal to Rohan, and for that we are banished", the leader revealed heavily. "The white wizard is cunning. He walks here and there they say as an old man hooded and cloaked, and everywhere his spies slip past our nets"

The leader glanced conspiratorially at Legolas and I balled my fists angrily. Aragorn took my arm in warning, giving me a glare, and spoke. 

"We are no spies" he said "We track a party of uruk hai west across the plains. They've taken two of our friends' captive".

"The uruks are destroyed, we slaughtered them during the night" replied the leader harshly. My stomach clenched, as heavy as iron.

"But there were two hobbits, did you see two hobbits with them?" Asked Gimli desperately.

"They would be small" Added Aragorn in a voice of forced calm "only children to your eyes"

"We left none alive. We piled the carcasses and burned them" answered the leader grimly.

We turned to watch smoke billowing high into the sky behind us. Bile rose in my throat. I blinked and looked away. Merry and Pippin, so brave, so young. They needn't have even come on this journey.

"Dead?" whispered Gimli. Slowly, the rider nodded.

"I am sorry"

I was numb, as I had been at Gandalf's death. We stood in a horrified silence for a moment which seemed like eternity, when a whistle brought me back to the present.

"Hasufel! Arod!" called the rider. Two horses trotted out of the crowd and Legolas and Aragorn took their reins. One, Legolas', was pure white, while the other was chestnut.

"May these horses bare you to better fortune than their former masters. Farewell. Look for your friends, but do not trust to hope. It has forsaken these lands." Said the leader. He jammed his helmet back on and mounted his horse.

"We ride north!" He called to his company at large. Hooves thundered around us once again as the riders galloped past us, leaving us alone.

Gimli stared nervously at the horses he was sandwiched between. By the look of it, he was no more at home on a horse than Sam Gamgee was in a boat.

"We must ride" Aragorn spoke quietly. I started automatically towards Legolas and Arod, but the elf had already spoken up lightly. I tried my best not to feel disappointed.

"Ride behind me, Gimli my friend, and you need not be troubled by the horse" Legolas smiled. He heaved Gimli up behind him and, with the two sat as comfortably as could be managed, Aragorn mounted Hasufel and pulled me up.

Legolas bolted off first, Gimli's knuckles whitening around his belt loops with the effort of staying on, and I grabbed Aragorn around the waist as he urged Hasufel forwards.

"I never thought he would cast you aside for a dwarf" Aragorn joked, the grin evident on his face even from behind.

"Oh shut up" I answered, to renewed chuckles from the man in front.

The putrid smell of burning bodies got more pronounced as we rode up to the mound of half-scorched carcasses. We leapt off our horses and, with a moment's hesitation, I started towards the charred mass and circled it, looking out for any sign of our friends.

The pile was full of burned leather, bone and half-melted grey flesh. Here and there a sword, axe or scimitar could be seen, the hilt melted away to leave only a sharp, tarnished blade. However, there was no sign of a hobbit among the desolation. This proved nothing. The pile was huge. Merry and Pippin could be sandwiched in the middle of the foul burnt creatures. The thought made my throat burn and I swallowed, taking a quiet breath to collect my thoughts. 

I hoped against hope that there would be some, tiny, desperate sign of their escape but there was none. I came back around the pile to see Gimli unearth a small leather object and tears burned at my eyes.

"It's one of their wee belts" murmured Gimli, holding it up as evidence. I fought back the tears desperately, and stared without seeing at the leather pouch that once contained a dagger.

"Hiro hyn hÎdh ab 'waneth" Legolas muttered, his head lowered and his eyes downcast. (May they find peace after death.)

Aragorn kicked out at an orc helmet with a scream and fell to his knees. I watched the path of the helmet as it tumbled through the grass, blinked and looked down at the floor.

"We failed them" Gimli lamented.

Aragorn moved over slightly to two dents in the grass. "A hobbit lay here, and the other" He said sadly, gazing down at the only signs we now had left of our friends. However, there were some other flattened areas of grass, just past the little indents where they must have lain.

I started forward and traced the flat areas with my hand. Aragorn's eyes followed my action, and he moved to them too.

"They crawled" He muttered incredulously. Aragorn started to follow the tracks, while Legolas, Gimli and I followed him.

"Their hands were bound" continued Aragorn "Their bonds were cut" He held up a small length of frayed rope and my eyes widened.

Aragorn straightened fully now and jogged, with us following behind, up the trail. "The tracks lead away from the battle" He stated excitedly. We broke into a run, but stopped short as we met an imposing barrier.

"Into Fangorn forest"

"Fangorn. What madness drove them in there?" questioned Gimli

"Of all the places they could have run to" I muttered, rolling my eyes.

I looked resignedly into the woods for a second, then started to move cautiously forward, looking around in interest at the gloaming darkness of Fangorn. When I had gone a few steps, I looked behind at Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, who hadn't moved an inch.

"You're not going to find Merry and Pippin by standing there gawking." I said determinedly, raising my eyebrows. Half amused and half exasperated, my friends followed my steps.