reunite ||2||

{Chapter 2- Riders of Rohan}

It was dark. So dark and cold. The shadows roamed the room and crossed over any item or entity. The walls were of thick stone, frozen to the touch.

"Little Nightingale, when will you bend?" A voice spoke from the silence. Their voice was like steel clashing, a type of sound that could make ears bleed.

"Even if Valinor were to fall, and if my mind were to break, I would never bow to you." Their voice was a sharp contrast to the other. Soft like silk, and sweet like honey, yet malicious only to the dark entity.

A shrill laughter made its way from from the darker of the two. "I will break you. And then I will break you some more. I will leave not a sliver of hope in your foolish little brain, my Nightingale. Sing your songs of safety, of warmth. It may yet be your last."
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"Run, henig*, run even when your lungs burn and your legs ache, you must run."
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"Keep breathing! That's the key! Breathe! Ho!" Gimli wheezed, the words knocking Grace out of her vision. "Are you alright, lass?" The dwarf found his friend slowing at the time and he worried quick, knowing that elves do not slow until absolutely defeated. Her eyes were partially glazed, he noticed, until he lay his large hand on her forearm. Grace startled for a second before she placed her hand on his.

"Do not worry, my friend. It was but a vision." She reassured, releasing his hand and encouraging him to follow Legolas and Aragorn. Yes, only but a vision.

"They've run as if the very whips of their masters were behind them." Legolas let out, not in anger, yet he showed a sign of annoyance. "They are dark creatures, Legolas, they need no whips to crack what is already broken." Grace replies to his standalone statement, causing Legolas to smirk. "Come now, Legolas, Grace, we have not time for silly jokes." Aragorn calls. The small group makes their way over a vast distance.

_(*)_

Legolas pauses and looks up, Grace following his gaze. "A red moon rises." Legolas speaks. Grace lays her hand on the ellon's shoulder, "Blood has been spilled this night." She shudders. Aragorn notes her silent disposition, "We will find them." And with that the group continues until the need to hide is ever present, unknown to them if it is friend or foe that gallop through the plains. Though, Aragorn steps out at the horsemen pass.

"Riders of Rohan, what news from the mark?" Aragorn called out to the men. One man signals to the others and they began to tightly circle the fellowship, slowing to a stop before pointing their spears at them. "What business do elves, a man, and a dwarf have in the Riddermark? Speak quickly!" The leader of the men speaks.

Gimli furrowed his brows, "Give me your name Horse-master, and I shall give you mine." The man hands his staff to another and unmounts his horse, Aragorn places his hand on Gimli's shoulder. "I would cut off your head, Dwarf, if it stood but a little higher from the ground." The man hisses. Legolas and Grace whip out their weapons lightning-fast. "You would die before your stroke fell!" The men point their spears closer and after a tense moment, Aragorn pushes his friend's arms down.

"I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn. This is Gimli, son of Gloin, Legolas of the Woodland realm, and Grace of Lórien. We are friends of Rohan and of Theoden, your king." He spoke calmly. "Theoden no longer recognizes friend from foe." The man removes his helmet, "Not even his own kin." The spears are withdrawn. He continues, "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 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." His words were filled with malice.

"We are not spies. We track a party of Uruk-hai westward across the plain. They've taken two of our friends captive." Aragorn assures the man. "The Uruks are destroyed. We slaughtered them during the night." "But there were two hobbits. Did you see two hobbits with them?" Gimli questioned. "They would be small, only children in your eyes." Aragorn adds, hopeful. "We left none alive. We piled the carcasses and burned them." He points to a smoking pile in the distance.

"Dead?" Gimli questions once more, to which the man nods, "I am sorry." Grace sobs silently, placing a hand over her mouth and looking down, hiding her tear-filled eyes.
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If Pippin and Merry are gone, what chance do Frodo and Sam have?

*child

Ayyy! Chapter two is up!! I said I'd publish it later this week but I wanted to make one of my readers happy with an early chapter so here it is <3

Anyways, don't be a ghost reader, leave a vote or a comment!! <3333

Love, Maxxie :)