Hope ↠ LOTR

I. Burnt

It had been three days since the Fellowship of the Ring had been shattered. Legolas, Gimli, Aragorn, and Athena had not stopped moving since then, relentlessly chasing down the Uruks that had taken Merry and Pippin from them. The mortals in the group were beyond exhausted but they continued to trudge on through the pain and aching muscles, desperate to get their friends back.

They stopped for a moment and Athena took the time to catch her breath, taking a few droplets from her waterskin to relieve her dried out mouth from the constant running that they were doing. Aragorn lay a few feet in front of her, his ear pressed up against the stone to listen to the footsteps of the Uruk-hai army that were ahead of them.

"Their pace has quickened. They must have caught our scent. Hurry!" He called to them, rising from his position and taking off in the direction of the Uruks.

She followed quickly behind him, Gimli behind all of them while grumbling to himself about their journey. It was certainly not an easy feat to travel such a distance with no sleep and no substantial amount of food but now it became even tougher as they were forced to move quicker to match the pace of their enemies.

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They made their way across open plains, the wind batting at their faces each way that they turned. The group of companions found themselves in a valley coated with heavy footprints of the Uruks that they were hunting. Aragorn stopped and stooped down, picking up a leaf clasp from one of the cloaks that undoubtedly belonged to one of the Hobbits.

"Not idly do the leaves of Lórien fall," he whispered, standing up and almost hitting his shoulder against Athena who stood behind him.

"They may yet be alive," Legolas remarked when spotting the clasp in his palm.

"Less than a day ahead of us. Come," Aragorn stated before taking off running again, the two of them following after him.

"Come Gimli, we are gaining on them!"

At Legolas' words she turned around to see Gimli lying on the ground with his face in the dirt. "What are you doing on the floor? We're trying to rescue our friends, not take a daytime nap!" She called out to him and when she saw him rise to her feet she continued after the others.

"I am wasted on cross country. We Dwarves are natural sprinters. Very dangerous over short distances!"

They rounded a corner and stood atop a pile of rocks, overlooking an extensive amount of rocky terrain and open plains that went further than the ordinary eye could see.

"Rohan. Home of the Horse-lords. There is something strange at work here. Some evil gives speed to these creatures, sets its will against us," Aragorn observed.

Athena's eyes flitted across the landscape before her. It had been a long time since she had last visited Rohan with Aragorn at her side but it remained as barren as it had always done. Visually it was not her favourite place to visit, but the company had always been good.

Legolas made his way further down from them and perched himself on a rock, gazing out at the lands before him.

"Legolas? What do your Elf eyes see?" Aragorn asked him.

"The Uruks turn northeast. They're taking the Hobbits to Isengard!"

"Saruman," he whispered to himself.

They were being taken straight into the hands of one of the most powerful wizards in Middle-earth and once they reached him they would not leave Isengard alive.

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Still they continued to make their way through Rohan, hurrying after the Uruks that had their friends and still they had not taken a break from their hunt to eat or sleep, it was a miracle that they were able to keep going onwards.