Out of Place

Chapter9

Aragorn felt their arrival. He knew when they had made it to Bree. The minacious aura was a dead give-away to their presence and he wished they could shut it off. He sighed, he supposed he should be grateful that they had that aura, after all it gave him a warning and a chance to prepare.

He had been feeling quite uncomfortable for the past hour or so, feeling as if something or someone was staring at him.

He pushed himself up against the wall, peeking out the window, looking for the doom he knew was out there. Thankfully the Hobbits were none the wiser about the terrible creatures and were still sleeping soundlessly. He was relieved that he had convinced the four to not return to their rooms and instead stay in his. They didn't trust easily especially Samwise Gamgee but he supposed that that was a good thing.

He narrowed his eyes when he spotted the dark figures, they were just outside the village but were approaching quickly. Just as they were getting closer to the gates that led into Bree, a cloaked figure appeared in front of them, blocking their path into the village.

The ranger's eyes widened at the sight of the figure, its dark cloak was billowing around them and although they were a long distance from him he could feel the strength radiating off them as if they were standing in front of him. He watched, unsure of how to react, as the cloaked figure seemed to teleport behind one of the Nazgul and punch it in the back. The dark rider fell of its steed and it's horrible screech of pain rang through the night.

One of the other Nazgul charged at the figure who grabbed an odd looking knife and threw it at the incoming dark knight. The Nazgul managed to dodge the thrown weapon and was about to slay the figure when-

'What in the world!-' Aragorn was no longer trying to keep himself hidden from view as he stood, eyes wide, staring at the place where the figure had once been. He knew that the figure had seemingly teleported earlier but he thought that he had been imagining things. Besides, the last time the figure had done -whatever they did- they had left behind a slight after-image.

The cloaked figure reappeared where the knife they had thrown earlier had landed. They threw all three of the knives in their right hand at the Nazgul who was looking at the place they had previously been in with confusion. The knives didn't do much damage to the ominous creature as its armour shielded it from the sharp projectiles.

The cloaked figure picked up the knife they had thrown earlier and before the ranger could blink the three knives in their left hand were gone. The knife they had picked up only moments before was now the only weapon they had on hand, at least to Aragorn's eyes it was.

The cloaked figure leaped into the air, far higher than any creature Aragorn knew could go. They threw the knife towards the Nazgul who had raised it's sword in hopes of impaling the figure when they landed. Instead the cloaked- whatever it was- disappeared again. The figure reappeared over by the knife they had thrown and they grabbed the weapon and tucked it away. The figure then closed their fist before punching the Nazgul square in the face.

Aragorn had never seen anyone fight in such a way, yes most fought with weapons and such but the way the figure fought made them look almost like they were dancing.

'Maybe they're an elf?' He frowned, elves were talented weapon makers so perhaps they had crafted the odd knives the figure wielded. Elves were also graceful warriors but he had never once seen nor heard of them being able to teleport as the figure had done.

The cloaked creature turned round to face the two remaining dark riders whose horses took a hesitant step back. The mysterious figure took out another one of their peculiar looking knives and jumped back before throwing it at the wraiths.

Aragorn frowned, confused when the figure seemed to miss the dark riders on purpose. His mind raced, puzzled by the creatures actions. They had to have some reason behind missing on purpose and that was exactly what had happened because he knew from the way the figure had expertly thrown the weapons before that they were trained in wielding the sharp knives. So what was the reason behind their actions?

His mind blanked when the knife blew up, the impact causing the Nazguls to fall off their horses and tumble to the ground. He saw the Nazgul the figure had first struck get up from where they had been on the ground and approach the creature. He watched as the dark knight raised it's sword, preparing to lacerate the cloaked creature.

As the dark rider brought it's blade down on the creature, a cloud of smoke appeared. Aragorn's eyes zoomed in on the cloud of smoke, desperately trying to figure out what was going on. The smoke cleared up to reveal no sign of the creature. The Nazgul's sword was lodged in the ground, Aragorn's grey orbs searched wildly for the cloaked figure and he briefly wondered if it had all been some sort of illusion. What were the chances of someone actually possessing the abilities to teleport?

Just as the Ranger was thinking this the cloaked creature reappeared several feet above the Nazgul who was pulling it's sword out the ground. The creature's dark cloak billowed around them as their hands and arms moved rapidly. Aragorn wasn't sure what the hooded creature was doing with it's limbs but a moment later their arms and hands stopped moving and a bright, burning fireball was shot at the Nazgul who had turned around just in time to get a face full of fire. It screeched in agony as it clawed at its shadowed face. The ranger barely resisted clamping his hands over his ears as the howls of the dark creature resonated loudly throughout the village.

The Nazguls hurriedly mounted their steeds before galloping away. The ranger blinked in surprise before turning back to the peculiar creature who disappeared in a flash.

Slowly, with his mind still trying to comprehend what had just happened, Aragorn sat down in his seat by the window. The man wasn't sure what had happened but he knew that there was some sort of creature who had superhuman abilities. He was still trying to wrap his mind around what had occurred but he was sure he still wouldn't understand it fully even if the creature explained everything to him in full detail.

Aragorn decided that he would tell Gandalf about everything when they arrived in Rivendell.

A/N: I-err yeah, thank you all for being so understanding about me not being able to post last week. I hope this update makes up for it?

Sorry for any mistakes!

Hope you enjoyed!