to love someone else

Chapter 32: travelling

Soon they joined the people and were all out on the open road, headed for the valley of Helm's Deep. They moved slowly; there were more people than horses so they shared and took turns riding them. 

For a long time the mood was dreary. The gloom had settled into their hearts and rooted itself in. The people were afraid, and that was a bigger drawback than most would think. Should something happen, panic was the last thing they needed. Luckily, after a while, Gimli managed to lighten up the mood. They knew what was coming, they knew they were exposed out on the open road in the mean time, and yet they let his jokes entertain us for a while. No harm in it - they were not dead yet. ''It's true you don't see many dwarf women,'' he spoke, ''And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, they are often mistaken for dwarf men!''

''It's the beards,'' Aragorn teased, and Éowyn and Aerin both burst into laughter. ''And this in turn has given rise to the belief that there are no dwarf women,'' he continued, ''And the dwarves just spring out of holes in the ground! Which is, of course, ridiculous. Whoa!'' He fell off his horse. ''It's all right! It's all right. Nobody panic. That was deliberate. It was deliberate.''

They did not stop to eat and rest before afternoon, when they decided to make camp. Aerin helped the women in serving everyone food. The children were very hungry. Èowyn made some stew for Aragorn, and Aerin tasted it. It was horrible, but she made it with so much love she had not the heart to tell her. She walked with her to give it to Aragorn; Aerin saw him grimace when he tasted it, and she had to keep herself from laughing out loud. He did not have the heart to reject that bowl of stew either. ''Are you hungry?'' Aragorn asked Aerin when Èowyn had turned around and left. ''No!'' Aerin said, laughing at his disappointed face. ''Just spill it when she isn't looking,'' she whispered to him before she left.

Aerin kept herself entertained by entertaining the children during the meals. She didn't know if it helped them or her more. They needed the cheer, and though some were too little to know what was happening, they could still sense the dread. They traveled by night as well, and they welcomed dawn on their feet. The morning brought no danger either - yet - so Legolas and Aerin went ahead to scout, right behind Háma and Gamling. All seemed well at first. It was around noon, when our horses started growing restless. Legolas ran ahead by himself, trying to see as far ahead as he could.

''What is it?'' Aerin asked, but Legolas didn't respond. ''Háma?''

''I'm not sure.''

Just then, it appeared before Aerin's eyes - a warg stood in not so far a distance, on top of a cliff to our left, and an Orc was riding it. Before her mind even collected the information, the warg ran at great speed and had already jumped on Háma, killing him and his horse. Aerin didn't realise he was dead at all, not yet. She all but threw herself off her horse, but Legolas had already shot the warg through its neck, and it fell dead. The Orc charged towards Gamling and Legolas shot him too, but only hit his shoulder. Aerin got to him quickly, from the back, but before she could cut him down, he yelled out and she knew why. ''A scout!'' shouted Legolas, confirming my thoughts. The King, Aragorn, and most of the Rohirrim rushed to us quicky at Legolas's alarm. ''What is it? What do you see?!'' asked King Théoden in panic. ''Wargs!'' Aerin shouted from down below. ''We are under attack!'' announced Aragorn. It alarmed the people, as she expected it would - the women and children started screaming.

''All riders to the head of the column!'' the King ordered. Aerin ran to mount the first stallion she could reach and calm a bit.

Legolas was still standing on a small hill ahead, carefully watching the moving pack ahead. He started shooting them down before they even came into their sight. Aerin looked back onto the people - they had taken another route and were being led by Èowyn. Our eyes met, and she knew what she meant with what was in her eyes, but all she could do was nod slightly before moving ahead. ''Follow me! Argh!'' exclaimed the King and we followed, riding into battle. Aerin swallowed and breathed deeply, getting ready to clash against beasts.