Estateillio

Ambush

• Their journey down the mountain was quicker than the journey up and so they reached their old camping site just before sunset, having travelled in silence mostly to digest their newest failure.

• It was dangerous to reuse the place, but they had no better option and the hobbits were still very cold from being buried in the snow, so they had kindled a small fire and set up watch and there was nothing else they could do.

• (Estateillio had bemoaned their lack of (decent) shields. They could have luged down the mountain and then travelled on for two or three hours, warming through the activity and finding a safer spot to rest. But the only one who even had a shield with him was Boromir and it was in the wrong shape, round and flat rather than long and curved like the shields of the Lindon elves during the second age had been after they had invented luging and it had become a useful strategy in the war, when dispatching orcs that tried to cross the mountains.)

• "You were wrong", Boromir quietly stated, when the others had finally fallen asleep and the elf and the man were left alone to their watch, "You said that Caradhras would be kind, that he would not try and harm us." It was not accusatory, no, but it was a question and the elleth answered honestly:

• "I made an assumption based on previous experiences and those were kindness. I did not expect Saruman to be able to stir Caradhras and invoke his wrath. Rarely the mountains wake in this late age and even if they do, they choose to be spectators more often than to get involved. So forgive me if I did not expect Caradhras to not let us pass."

• "Kill us, more likely", the man grumbled and Estateillio laughed quietly and assured him: "If he had wanted us dead, we would be, we would never have made it down again."

• "Then we should be glad", he agreed and they lapsed into silence. Time passed by and around midnight, Boromir woke Gimli, who had volunteered for second watch, and went to sleep, and Estateillio stayed awake, restless and worrying and though the night passed by without incident, she urged the others to hurry in the morning, eager to get going again.

• And they walked south, hugging the mountains and staying close to the little shelter the shrubbery and rocks offered.

• And the hours turned into days and the east wind brought warnings of danger and war and the smell of blood and decay and Estateillio felt exposed on the open lands and anticipation settled beneath her skin and she turned grim and brooding and vigilant and her mood made the fellowship wary and they talked little and made no fires in the evenings.

• It was the third night, they were camped on a small hill surrounded by a few wimpy and young trees that had somehow managed to grow in those barren lands and dawn was fast approaching.

• And suddenly the wind picked up, coming from the east with the strength of a gale and bringing with him the stink of orcs and the sound of grunts and the quiet clink of metal, and Estateillio reared from her light elven sleep and startled Aragorn and Gimli, who were on watch, as she jumped to her feet and drew one of her swords and then turned her attention to the threat.

• The orcs were still far away, their scent subtle and barely there, almost unnoticeable without senses honed by years of blindness, and even then she might have missed it had the wind not decided to help them.

• And she cast out her mind and found the pack and she assessed their numbers and the direction they were moving and the things she found worried her and so she withdrew again into her body and she found that Aragorn had already woken the others, for he knew what would make her act thusly from years of fighting side by side with the elleth.

• And so she spoke: "There is a pack of orcs coming directly at us. 17, all have wargs. At their current speed they should arrive here in an hour or two. The touch of Saruman is upon them, no doubt did he send them here to intercept us."

• "This is not an ideal spot to defend ourselves, but not the worst either", the ranger mused, weighing their options, "And outrun them we cannot do either, the wargs would catch us."

• "I suppose staying here would be an option", Estateillio agreed, "But it is dangerous. It is easier if I go and dispatch them, while you travel on and try to get as much distance as possible. Moria is only a few hours away, I will meet you there."

• "I don't think it's a good idea to split up", Boromir interjected, "17 orcs with wargs might not seem many, but they are a danger still." "Normally I would agree with you, Boromir, but not in this case. Estateillio has proven often enough that she is more than capable", Aragorn disagreed.

• Meanwhile, said elleth had started fastening the buckles of her sword straps and her quiver, having already made her decision, and she said: "It's just a group of orcs, noting special, not even a troll or anything even remotely dangerous like a dragon or a balrog. I'll be fine and meet you at the gates of Khazad-Dûm. Stay safe and move quickly."

• And then she took off, leaving the fellowship on the hill, and with elven grace and speed she ran across the barren lands, and she made no sound and left no mark and because she was travelling upwind the orcs could not smell her as she approached.

• And she took them by surprise as she leapt at them from behind a boulder and as the orcs finally realised that they were attacked, the first had already found their end on silvery blades that gleamed red in the first light of the day and the ground was soaked in the black blood of orcs and wargs and the wind sang in glee.

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Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoyed.
Sorry that it took me so long to update, but I started my internship and its f*cking exhausting. I hope I can update more regularly again, though I cannot promise anything.
Anyways, hope you are doing fine.
AT
P.S.: The ambush is, at least somewhat, book-canon.