to love someone else

Chapter 19: attacked

''Get ready,'' Aragorn told Aerin, and she could only give him a nod in response. She knew there were only two of them. And she knew Orcs never attack in couples. Aerin took another deep breath. Aerin turned around, and what she saw made the very air get stuck in her throat and refuse to leave. A troop of Uruk-hai was advancing towards them. They weren't even charging fully; it was a walk of confidence they made toward them. Her breathing hitched dramatically. It was all about buying Frodo time so he could safely reach the boats. If they were to stomp over the two of them like ants, they'd reach Frodo in no time. And they could not let that happen at any cost. Blood thumped against her skull in anticipation, Aerin could almost hear it. 

 There was no telling if they'd succeed. What Aerin was sure of, however, was that the troop before them was just a small piece of the entire army scattered throughout the woods. Though it seemed like eternity to Aerin, and for a while everything was in slow motion, it took only a few moments for them to attack. Three of the Uruks made a strike at her at once, and she managed to kill them all, one after the other. It was barely a few moments more before Aerin felt a strong blow against her back, and she almost fell. She remained on her feet and reacted quickly, killing the creature who somehow appeared behind her. They weren't giving her a moment to catch her breath; just as she killed two, another pair of Uruks would strike at her. 

Aragorn and Aerin fought back to back together. Their armour was heavy and thick, and at an obvious advantage compared to theirs. The neck was their target, the critical spot, but Aerin wasn't always in the position to reach it. These Uruks were far better trained than all the Orcs she had fought before, and Goblins weren't even worth mentioning in comparison. They were unreasonably skilled warriors, something Aerin never expected from such mindless savage creatures.

After a few more parried blows and barely a kill, she realised they were going to surround them completely if they didn't do something. And that would have been the end of them all. Slowly but surely they moved back as they fought, doing everything they could to keep them from encircling them. Before Aerin and Aragorn knew it, their troop grew stronger and they had to run back, no longer able to defend themselves. They ran towards the ancient ruin behind them and climbed the stairs fast, while behind them the troop of Uruks pushed each other to follow up after them.

There was no more running; they stood there and fought. Aerin followed Aragorn's lead no matter what, and they fought fast, so many of the creatures fell off the ruins, as heavy and clumsy as they were. One of the Uruks gave Aerin a close call; she blocked an ugly-looking sword right in front of her face. She knew he was stronger than her, but Aerin pushed back as hard as she could. Her strength seemed to have restored itself somehow, it was as if her mind didn't allow her body to grow weary. Aerin did not feel the tiredness, everything was a haze. When you're fighting for your own survival, you don't really feel a thing. Aerin simply fought, like it was the most natural thing, the only thing in life to do, even. 

She slashed and cut and she felt dark Uruk blood dripping down her face, and she did not stop for a second until she heard a ''Find the halflings!!'' The command was repeated again and again and they started splitting up, running faster. ''Over my dead body,'' Aerin muttered to herself, and it was an encouragement to stop the panic from rising within her, to stay in that calm of the void. Pulling her sword out of another Uruk body, she saw that Legolas and Gimli had come, and Aerin smiled wide amidst all that madness. It was another parried blow, before she jumped to the ground too. ''Aragorn, we should go!'' Aerin shouted. They had to follow up after Frodo and secure his path, they could not longer when the Uruk-hai had already split out and rushed after him. ''Aragorn, go!'' shouted Legolas reassuringly, before he shot an Uruk right in front of Aragorn. ''Keep them from following,'' Aerin said, before she ran after Aragorn.

Aerin could see that Aragorn didn't manage to go far, Uruks kept on attacking and he was stuck there, not far from the hilltop, defending himself, unable to move any more forward. Aerin jumped in wanting to help him; she stabbed one of the beasts in the back, but Aragorn protested as soon as he saw her. ''No! Go after Frodo!!'' he insisted. ''Quickly!!''

Aerin hated to leave him, but she knew he was right. She made herself move, before her feet broke into a run, and she fought her way through the ambush she left Aragorn to. Aerin ran, and she ran, but there was seemingly no danger around her. Nothing changed for too long a while. There were only the woods, trees looking much the same no matter how far Aerin ran. She followed the tracks, and those of the Uruks were so scattered there was no way of telling where they had all gone. They were everywhere. But the hobbit tracks were quite clear. So she followed, swiftly, until she reached an old stone bridge. And there at a small distance, she found Merry and Pippin. ''You two! What are you doing out in the open?! Hide!!''

Just as her words reached their ears, Uruk-Hai appeared from the bushes and behind the trees and for a fleeting moment Aerin wondered if she had led them to the hobbits.They charged towards them, but they merely stepped back in shock and fear. Aerin knew she could not make a run for it this time, not fast enough. She reached for her bow and nocked an arrow to it. She aimed clumsily and released it fast at the Uruk closest to them. The arrow pierced its shoulder and the Uruk staggered in pain but did not falter. She cursed and nocked another swiftly.

This time Aerin shot one in the neck, and it fell before it could put its hands on Pippin. The good things was that Aerin seemed to have snatched their attention off the halflings. But now on her.