All Shall Fade (LOTR-Wattys 2014)

All Shall Fade - Chapter 15 - Endless Nightmare

All Shall Fade

Chapter 15

Endless Nightmare

“Oh my God!” I whispered, my hands flying to my mouth, as if the shield my face as I caught sight of the skeletons. Hundreds of them, littering the floor. Dehydrated skin and rotting, putrid flesh still clinging to the brittle bones that were still clothed in rags and contorted in the grotesque positions the poor souls had died in – with all manner of weapons still protruding from them. “I think I’m going to be sick.” I choked as I felt my knees buckle and the unmistakable stench of death hit my nostrils.

“No!” Gimli wailed as I felt bile rise in my throat. I wanted to close my eyes and make it all go away, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t take my eyes off the hundreds of eyeless sockets that stared back at me.

“Boromir…” I whimpered, reaching out and gripping his upper arm, and he quickly pulled me against him, pressing my face into his shoulder so I wouldn’t have to look. I couldn’t get the images out of my mind though as I felt tears sting at my eyes. I didn’t know why I was crying. I hadn’t known those people, and therefore I shouldn’t be mourning their loss… It was the shock probably. All in all, what I’d just seen was probably the most appalling thing I’d ever seen in my life – with the sole exception of being pushed into the boy’s changing room at school once when I’d backed out on a dare – but this was probably worse.

Somewhere in the background, I heard Legolas snarl something that sounded like ‘Goblins’. I’d never heard Legolas snarl or make any violent sound before, and it only seemed to add to the unpleasantness of the situation.

“We make for the Gap of Rohan! We should never have come here!” Boromir cried, still holding me tightly, “Now, get out! Get out!” I was only too happy to oblige as he pulled me towards the door. Suddenly I heard a splashing noise and Sam, Merry and Pippin and unanimously shouted ‘Frodo!’ which caused me to pull away from Boromir as I heard Frodo’s yells. I almost screamed in alarm as I saw Frodo being dragged out the door and towards the lake by a giant tentacle.

“Get off him!” Sam yelled as he chopped it off and I stared dumbly. What the hell was going on? Suddenly, a dozen more tentacles burst from the lake outside and made for Frodo, violently pushing the other Hobbits out of the way as one wrapped around his leg and lifted him off the ground.

“Strider!” He yelled, in his panic reverting back to the name he originally knew Aragorn by.

“No!” I cried, snapping out of my stupefied trance and drawing one of the two short blades that hung from my waist. I hadn’t used them since Rivendell, and now seemed like a good time to use them again. I dashed out the door after Aragorn, who was already waist-deep in the lake and making for the tentacle that held Frodo. I went for the nearest wildly thrashing limb – I didn’t really want to think about what it could belong to – and succeeded in lodging my blade about halfway into the putrid flesh of the watery creature, before I hit what appeared to be the cartilage that supported the tentacle. I ducked as it whipped around me in anger as I removed my blade and heard Gandalf shouting behind me.

“Into the mines!” He yelled as I turned to run back, spotting Boromir pulling Frodo out of the water and Legolas fitting an arrow into his bow as Aragorn followed Boromir.

And suddenly I was seeing the whole scene from above.

“What the-?!” I cried as I was turned upside down as something caught a vice-like grip on my ankle. I screamed as the tentacle thrashed me around violently, at a speed that would easily give me whiplash and was provoking my breakfast to make a speedy exit. I tried to hack myself free with my sword but that only made the thrashing worse. “Legolas! Help!” I screamed as the movement suddenly stopped and I found myself hurtling towards the dark water below. I just about had time to draw a quick breath before I was plunged under the surface. I struggled futilely as its grip on my ankle tightened. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was annoyed that for the second time today I was on the verge of suffocating, but I pushed that thought away as I tried to pull away, but it just pushed me deeper. It was obviously trying to drown me, so I went limp. I might as well try to bluff my way out of this one.