River of Stars

Chapter Thirteen

They set out the next morning as usual. After breakfast they packed their boats, the same pairings as before, with Strider, Sam, and Abis in one, Boromir, Merry and Pippin sharing another, and the rest in the third.
There was an undeniable tension between Strider and Boromir, but no one mentioned it. They had obviously had a fight, and Boromir especially seemed to still be angry.
Presently, they were rowing by two tall statues, some easy hundred feet above their heads. Abis heard Strider whispering to Frodo behind him.
"Frodo," he said. "The Aragonath. Long have I desired to look upon the kings of old, my kin."
The statues were in fact beautiful. They rose with the high stone cliffs on either side of the great river, robes draping off of them, and hands outstretched as if warding something off, offering protection to all who passed.
Eventually, long past the statues, the river widened into a lake. The three boats of the Fellowship pulled up onto the shore, much sandier here, and they all got out.
"We cross the lake at nightfall," Strider instructed. "There we hide the boats, and continue on foot. We approach Mordor from the North."
"Oh, yes? Just a simple matter of finding our way through Emyn Muil, an impassible labyrinth of razor-sharp rocks? And after that, it gets even better!" Gimli objected, his voice heavy with sarcasm and disdain. "Festering, stinking marshlands, far as the eye can see."
Abis looked at Strider. Gimli had a point. Strider made the road sound easy, as if it would only be open grassy hills to run across, but it was anything but.
"That is our road," he said simply. "I suggest you take some rest and recover your strength, Master Dwarf."
"Recover my-" Gimli spluttered. He stomped his foot and went back to his things.
Abis approached Strider cautiously, still unsure of their route. Surely there had to be a safer way to go about this, or at the least some way they could prepare. The hobbits had barely made it to Rivendell, and they had lost Gandalf in the mountains.
Legolas seemed to have similar objections, running up to Strider himself.
"We should leave now," he hissed. Strider merely shook his head.
"No. Orcs patrol the eastern shore. We must wait for the cover of darkness."
It was here Abis butted into the conversation, standing now just a little more down the shore than Strider and Legolas.
"What is to say they have not seen us here, or will not come when they do?" He asked.
"It is not the eastern shore that worries me," Legolas said. "A shadow and a threat has been growing in my mind. Something draws near. I can feel it."
The three of them looked to the trees, but of course saw nothing. Still the warning set an uneasy feeling over them.
"Where's Frodo?" Merry asked suddenly.
Strider startled away from Legolas, and their conversation was quickly abandoned. They looked around the camp, all of them searching for the young hobbit. But Abis saw one other person missing, his belongings abandoned near the roots of a tree.
"Where is Boromir?"

Abis and Strider left the others, all of them separating to search for Frodo and Boromir.
"They could be in danger," Abis said. He lifted his shield again as Strider caught up with him, done with checking his own side. "You have seen what the ring has done to him before."
"I know. That is why we must find them, as quickly as possible."
Both of them stopped dead in their tracks as a loud scream broke the quiet but frantic air of the woods.
"FRODO!" It was Boromir's voice, some ways in the other direction. "FRODO I'M SORRY!"
Abis looked to Strider and the two shared a nod before racing in that direction.
After not much searching they found the young hobbit. He was obviously shaken, lying on the ground gasping at the top of a tall hill by some ruins.
"Frodo?" Strider asked.
"It has taken Boromir," he whimpered. Abis knelt by his side, pulling him up to sit.
"Where is the ring?" Strider nearly shouted. The tone was one Abis knew, but not well, and not welcomed.
"Stay away!" Frodo yelled, jumping to his feet and running off.
Strider chased after him, but the two didn't get far.
"Frodo!" Strider said again, this time gentler. "I swore to protect you."
Abis came behind him, pulling the Ranger back from the hobbit just enough to stop his advance. Frodo looked at them in horror, tears gathering in his eyes.
"Can you protect me from yourselves?" He demanded, his voice nearly breaking as he pressed against a crumbling pillar.
He looked down and slowly opened his little palm. In it the ring lay, and again he looked to Abis and Strider.
"Would you destroy it?" The question, barely more than a whisper, was obviously for Strider. Abis hung back as the older Ranger walked forward again.
His hand hovered above the ring, and for one horrifying moment Abis thought that maybe he would take it. But then he knelt, slowly and in reverence. He closed Frodo's hands with his own, looking up at the little hobbit that had been given such a great burden to bear.
"I would have gone with you to the end," he said softly. "Into the very fires of Mordor."
He released Frodo's hands, backing away just slightly.
"I know." Frodo whispered. Then he looked to Abis.
Abis lowered his head to the Ring-bearer. He had never thought that he may leave the hobbits' side.
"I would still go with you, if I ever thought I may protect you, or if you asked for me. My shield is still yours, if you want it."
Frodo shook his head, smiling at him then turning back to Strider.
"I have to do this part alone, don't I?" Strider nodded. "Look after the others, especially Sam. He will not understand."
Strider lowered his head sadly, then suddenly stood as he seemed to notice something. He drew his sword, motioning for Abis to ready for battle.
"Go, Frodo," he commanded.
Abis looked at his friend in confusion, but lifted his shield and came to stand at his side. Frodo, too, seemed confused, then reached for the sword at his belt.
As he drew the elvish blade, the metal glowed a blinding white, which cast a blue tint at its edges.
He looked to Strider desperately, his terror evident.
"Run. Run!" Strider yelled. Frodo turned and ran, and as Strider turned himself Abis followed.
Before them stood an army of Orcs, but still Strider stood steady, raising his sword as his eyes met those of the head Orcs'.
"Warn the others," he hissed to Abis, not turning his head as the Orcs rushed at them.
"I am not leaving you," Abis said. He could not leave his mentor, his friend, here alone.
"You will be back," he insisted. "The others will not be far."
Abis did not get a second chance to argue. Strider ran into the ranks of Orcs, cutting down the ones in front easily.
And so Abis ran. He ran for the camp, to warn the others. And he could only hope that Strider would make it back.