All Shall Fade (LOTR-Wattys 2014)

All Shall Fade - Chapter 22 - Changing Perspectives

All Shall Fade

Chapter 22

Changing Perspectives

***Aragorn’s Point of View***

Wind whipped past my face as I spurred my recently acquired chestnut horse onwards, my eyes remained fixed on the column of black smoke that twisted its way up into the sky ahead of me. My thoughts were elsewhere, remembering the last words that Boromir had spoken to me before he died.

“They took them, Alice and the little ones!”

At first I’d been angry at Alice when he’d told me, but after all, I’d told her to stay with the Hobbits, and that is what she had done. It was his other words that bothered me more.

“You have to find her, she pretends she doesn’t need protecting but she does.”

Alice was the most difficult person I had ever met. No matter what I did, I couldn’t understand her. On rare occasions she would open up, reveal something that would make her vulnerable, but then she would hide away again. And her constant defiance was baffling; I could not help but wonder what she really thought of me. Her constantly shifting moods were enough to drive me insane, and the fact that this made me think about her more than I should was infuriating.

But none of this mattered, after four days pursuing the party of Uruk-Hai that had captured Merry, Pippin and Alice; Legolas, Gimli and I had entered Rohan and encountered Eómer’s company of Rohirrim. His claim that they had slaughtered every member of the party had almost left us without hope. I refused to give up though, until I saw proof with my own eyes I would not believe that they had been killed. As we rode over a small grassy hill, the boarder of Fangorn Forest came into view, and I caught a glimpse of the burning mound, the source of the black smoke. Eómer had told us that they had burned all the carcases. I could only hope that they had not destroyed all traces of our friends.

“Noro lim Hasufel.” I urged my horse on in Elvish as I cast a glance at Legolas and Gimli astride the white horse that galloped beside me. The elf’s face was solemn as he looked ahead, his keen eyes picking out details that I couldn’t see, as the dwarf sat immersed in his thoughts. Over the past few days a clear bond had formed between them, bridging the gap between the two races that had been rivals for so long. At least something good had come of the broken Fellowship. We were scattered, Frodo and Sam had gone on to Mordor, Alice, Merry and Pippin had been taken, and Gandalf and Boromir had both fallen. I could only hope that no more would fall, and that this attempt to reunite the members would not be in vain.

As we drew closer to the forest I could smell the stench of burning flesh that hung in the air. I drew Hasufel to a halt and dismounted, grimacing slightly at the sight of an Uruk’s head impaled on a spear that stood nearby. Behind me, Legolas and Gimli dismounted and Gimli immediately began sifting through the mound of blackened corpses with his axe. I looked on, praying that I wouldn’t catch a glimpse of red hair, or anything to do with our companions amongst the smouldering bodies of their captors. I looked up as Gimli gasped quietly, holding something up.

“It’s one of their wee belts.” He choked as I recognised the charred remains of the leather belt Pippin had received in Lothlórien.

“Hiro îth ab 'wanath.” Legolas murmured a quiet prayer for our fallen comrades as my body shook with anger and sorrow, neither of which I could suppress as I turned with a yell, kicking a steel Uruk-Hai helmet away from the pile with enough force to make my foot throb in protest. I was grateful for the pain though, it distracted me from the pain in my heart. I sank to my knees as behind me Gimli sniffed loudly.