Daughter of the Shapeshifter (A Lord of The Rings Fanfiction)

Chapter 13

"Hey, Era!"  I smiled as I saw Merry and Pippin sparring with Boromir while receiving instruction from Aragorn.  Both men looked at me as Merry spoke.  "Where'd you go?"  I shrugged.

"I just needed some air."  Avoiding Boromir's gaze, I turned to Aragorn.  "Training the hobbit?"  He shrugged.

"Trying to, but they don't get it at all."  Shaking his head, he was cut off by Boromir.

"You sword fight, Era?"  I swallowed hard and turned to face him with a stony gaze.

"Yes, I prefer it to archery."  He smirked a little in a way that made me want to unsheath my claws and swipe it off his face.

"Perhaps they'd do better if they saw a demonstration..."  Looking at Aragorn, I felt my stomach drop as he nodded.

"Yes, definitely!  You can shift to a hobbit, right?  Show them how to fight as a hobbit!"  Rolling my eyes, I huffed and felt myself shrink into a hobbit.

"Fine..."  Turning to Pippin, I held out my hand.  "May I?"  He nodded as he handed me the sword he was using.  Even with the surplus of strength, I could barely hold it in my form.  "Well, first of all, you need a weapon fit for your size."  When Aragorn frowned at me, I huffed.  "Even I can't hold the sword, and I'm supposed to be slightly stronger than a hobbit right now!"  When he handed me another, much smaller sword, I checked its weight.  It felt a little too light for me, so I handed it to Pippin.  "How's that feel?"  He smiled as he held it up proudly.

"Much better.  I think it feels balanced, too!"  Handing it back to me, he beamed as I turned to face Boromir.

"So, just a demonstration spar?"  He nodded.

"Only enough to show them how to use their size to their advantage."  I smirked and held up the sword.

"Very well..."  Nodding at him, I smirked.  "Ready when you are."  I knew immediately I was going to have too much fun.

He first swung at my head.  Ducking below his sword, I pretended to thrust my sword into his stomach.  As he fell over, pretending to be dead, I heard the applause from the 2 hobbits.  As soon as he was done playing dead, Boromir leaped to his feet and thrusted towards my belly.  Sidestepping, I once again pretended to thrust my blade into his stomach.  After pretending to be dead again, he attacked.  Only, this time, I deflected his blow with my blade, allowing our blades to cross a few times.  At each blow, he said something, either insulting my fighting skills or insulting me directly.

"I hope you know, Era, it's nothing personal, though.  I'm just showing them how most of their opponents may react on the battlefield."  I rolled my eyes as I whirled my blade, knocking his away from me.

"That is if they're curteous enough to chit chat before they kill you..."  Deflecting another blow, I felt his blade slip under mine and slash my wrist.  I took a shaky breath as Boromir started.

"I'm so sorry, Era!  Are you okay?"  Backing off, I closed my eyes and focused on my wound.  Feeling it close, I opened my eyes again and glared at him.

"Now, it's personal."  Shifting into a human, I smirked.  "You wanna go?  Let's show them a real fight."  With that, I lunged at him.

He deflected my first blow but got elbowed in the stomach as I ducked his blade.  We crossed blades a few times before I leaped up on some rock behind me, avoiding a blow to the stomach.  Stepping on his blade, I kicked him in the face.  As he stumbled back, I leaped down and shouted as I lunged again.  This time, Aragorn deflected the blow before I reached Boromir.

"This is a spar, Era...  Not an actual fight."  Taking a deep, shaky breath, I withdrew and looked at Boromir, who was wiping the blood from his nose.  Aragorn turned to face Boromir, shaking his head.  "I lost an actual fight with her once...  What made you think you'd win?"  Boromir shrugged and shook his head.

"I just wanted to see if her training was as good as they say."  I sneered in frustration at him, half tempted to attack his again, despite Aragorn standing between us.

"Clearly, my mother was right about humans.  They fear what they don't understand and are too arrogant for their own good."  Carefully handing Pippin the sword, I glared at the humans.  "Have fun training the hobbits."  With that, I started to walk off.  Legolas came up to me.

"Are you okay?"  When I nodded, he rolled his eyes.  "Your mother would be glad to know you didn't completely lose your temper in a situation when both she and your father would have."  I shook my head and closed my eyes.

"I hate how arrogant he is!"  Watching the hobbits try to mimic me, I couldn't help but smile.  "I'm surprised they haven't..."  Watching Boromir accidentally hit Pippin's hand, I tried not to laugh as I watched the 2 hobbits tackle him and knock him over.  "Never mind."  Legolas laughed as we headed down to break up the horse play that followed.  However, I stopped short and smelled the air.

The wind smelt bitter and revolting, half making me gag.  With a sudden gust of wind, I nearly doubled over at the scent, gasping for air.  Something very evil was coming this way...  I could sense it.

"Look there!"  I looked up, fighting the nausea that bubbled in my stomach, and saw a flock of black birds coming our way from the South Pass.  "Take cover!"  I started towards the rocks below, but I couldn't move.  The air was too intoxicating, making me feel as though I'd just consumed a poison.  A distant voice called out to me.

"Era, come on!"  Something grabbed me from behind, but my mind was too far gone to register that I should consider who it is.  Whoever it was, they dragged me to the rocks and helped me hide under some shrubs, holding me close until the flock disappeared.  As soon as they had passed, I regained control of myself and turned over to see who had helped me.

"Boromir?!?"