Frodo ran. Frodo ran as if the very fires of Mount Doom were behind him.
Since receiving the Ring, he had been abnormally clumsy, his limbs feeling leaden and stiff. Now he dashed across the ground like the deer of the Rivendell valley, darting through the trees like a bird through clouds. He was a hobbit and hobbits were more agile than any orc.
But these were not mere orcs; these were Uruk-hai. And even as he sprinted to the lakeside, he could hear them tearing through the woodland behind him. Hundreds of armoured feet trampled the earth and to his sensitive elven ears it sounded like the very hill was being torn asunder.
Frodo was afraid.
Ducking under boughs and flying over fallen logs, he dared not slow for even an instant. Branches tugged at his clothes and clawed at his face as he went crashing through the undergrowth but he barely felt anything over the pounding of fear as it coursed through his body. He crossed a stone bridge over a riverbed long since gone dry and came to an abrupt stop. Streaming down through the trees in front of him came the Uruk-hai of Saruman. He turned to head back over the bridge but saw more foul creatures approaching from that direction as well. He was trapped between two advancing forces.
Watching the approaching enemy, he remained frozen where he stood.
With a sound that was half battle-cry and half maniacal laughter, Rowan crashed through the bushes and plunged her long-sword into the nearest Uruk-hai followed by Gimli and Legolas, further behind.
With an elegance of which Frodo thought humans incapable, Gimli moved swiftly between the marauding Uruk-hai, ducking from enemy blows and piercing exposed flesh with pinpoint accuracy. It would have appeared almost balletic were it not for the sheer ferocity and gusto with which Gimli fought.
"Come on lad!" Gimli shouted to the startled hobbit as he cleared a path through the Uruk-hai hordes. Legolas still stood shooting arrows at the Uruk-hai not to far away from where Rowan was fighting. "AHH!" Rowan suddenly let out an ear pitching yell as she felt the orc's sword go into her side. The Fellowship looked shocked and worried as they continued to fight, there were too many orcs for them to stop and help her. Rowan slumped down on the side of a tree. The Uruk-hai walking closer towards her, maniacally laughing as Rowan grimaced in pain.
Boromir cut a swathe through the creatures, alternating between vicious kicks and swift thrusts of his sword to fell their enemies. Merry and Pippin used their small elven dagger to finish off those whom Boromir hadn't quite killed, slitting their throats or nicking the jugular. Rowan forced herself to stand up. As she did with her last push of energy she stabbed and cut off the head of the Uruk-hai- killing it immediately. Then she fell down, trying to keep her eyes open. Legolas rushed over, "Cover me, Gimli."
He then kneeled by Rowan. "Keep your eyes open.. it's going to be okay.." He whispered as Rowan looked hopelessly into his crystal eyes. "It's going.. to be okay." Rowan whispered back. The number of orcs died down however, standing on a nearby bluff, an Uruk-hai general surveyed the scene before him as he notched an arrow to his bow.