PASSING SHADOWS|| BOOK II

VIII

• "What were we thinking?
Back at the beginning
The beginning of the end" •

Waking up was the hardest part. I kept drifting in and out of consciousness, the pain too unbearable.

"Merry, Pippin!" I groaned, even though I knew they were not near me. I couldn't really remember at the moment, but I knew they weren't there.

I couldn't see properly, but I could hear. Metal, birds, trees. I could smell too, and an indistinguishable stench seemed to grow as I neared whatever it was I was going too. I blinked, trying to force myself upwards, but I couldn't summarise the strength I was being pulled along inside a wooden cart. But I couldn't see my captors, though I could hear them. Their heavy breaths and quiet murmurs. With nothing else to do - I let sleep carry me away, though to be honest I didn't dream of anything.

Eventually, I was woken up by a rough bump as our carriage passed over some dip. I surmised it could not have been more than mid-morning, and I was lying in something golden. hay. Well, at least they had had the decency to think about my comfortability. Or maybe it was just a disguise because when I was lying down, I couldn't see past the sides of the carriage, and I'm pretty sure no one else could see in.

The sky darkened for a moment as we passed under a low stone bridge. The walkway was a creamish colour, made of stone and dust, but it sectoned off into different paths which led to different places. Without evening needing to look around, I knew where we were immediately. and it sent a shiver down my spine.

"What was that?!"

I quickly dropped, pretending to be asleep as we came to a stop in front of two orcs.

"Where are the Shire-rats?" I heard one of them ask. One of my captors replied gruffly that they were lost. It must have been an Uruk-hai. No orc had a voice as deep as that.

"The master isn't going to be happy about that." I heard it reply.

After about thirty seconds of silence, the carriage continued onward. The sun was high and bright, and I could feel its warmth cascading over me as I pretended to be unconscious as we reached the Tower of Orthanc. I couldn't run if I tried. They'd all see and hear me. As we neared Orthanc, I heard more noises and shouts and clammers, but I couldn't turn around to see where they were. I knew they were all orcs. Maybe Uruks. I shivered, remembering what was underground. A cesspool of orcs and Uruks and treacherous blades and weapons being formed. We rounded the corners towards the Tower of Orthanc and stopped. I lay as still as I could, eyes shut tight, as a short snivelling orc made its way towards me. I could feel its breath and hear its scoff
"Take her inside!"

I was hauled upwards, two tight arms gripping, digging into my skin.
"Hey!" I cried as I almost fell onto the floor."Get your hands off me."

"Oof!" Inside and upstairs I was thrown onto the floor of a new room. The was made of a black cracked marble, making the floor look like broken ice. There were two single lamps lighting the doorway- their covers looked like they might have been made by Elves. There were candelabras decked around the room, but they were unlit. The wax on top looked like it had never been used for. There were a few windows, but still little light got into this chamber from what I could tell.

I heard Saruman's booming voice before I saw him. I was still on the floor, trying to recover from when they had thrown me onto it.
"So nice to finally make your acquaintance, Lady Raina." His tone seemed so polite, even though I know venom laced every word."I must say I was getting rather impatient once I hadn't heard from my orc spy within a fortnight."

He moved closer towards me, his staff making a tapping noise on the ground.
"Get up." He commanded, taking up a walk around me. I made sure to look away from him, head held downwards.