Forbidden (book two) {Aragorn FanFic}

Lost Hope

Gimli roasted some rabbit over the fire we circled. He smacked his lips and hummed to himself while he cooked. Legolas looked around to make sure there was no one near for the hundredth time. Aragorn stared at the fire and lost himself to his thoughts.

I pointed two fingers at the fire and figures formed within the crackling flames. They danced around underneath the cooking rabbit. There was one man, one elf, a dwarf, a witch, and a hobbit. They all danced in circles or with each other.

Gimli chuckled at the sight. Legolas finally sat next to me but still turned his head and looked around.

"Rest your eyes and mind, Legolas," I said.

"I'm worried about falling behind," he replied.

"We won't," I said. "I can feel the orcs presence. Their disturbance to nature around them." Legolas let out a sigh.

I made all the figures in the fire disappear except for the witch and the man. I made the two waltz around the firewood. Then Gimli removed the cooked rabbit with a stick but he accidentally dropped it onto his other hand and he yelped. Then the rabbit went into the air and fell right in the fire place.

Gimli clutched his burned hand and growled with anger.

"We'd better get moving," suggested Aragorn. "Someone is going to smell that." Gimli groaned.

I put out the fire and when we ventured through the night, I made a small rain storm cover our scent and our tracks.

When the sun began to rise and put light on the earth, I stopped in my tracks and grabbed Aragorn's arm. I looked to the sky. "A red sun rises," I muttered. "Blood has been spilled this night." Aragorn looked to the sky as well.

A horse in the distance whinnied. We ran from the open and hid behind some rocks. Just moments later, the sound of thundering hooves grew louder. An army of men in their horses rode past us. Aragorn was the first to emerge from the rocks. "Riders of Rohan! What news from the mark?" He shouted. The riders circled around and ran back to the hill and surrounded us.

They pointed their spears at us and we raised our hands in surrender.

"What business does an Elf, a man, a Dwarf, and a woman have in the Riddermark?" A rider asked. "Speak quickly!"

"Give me your name, horse-master and I shall give you mine," replied Gimli. The rider jumped off his horse and approached us.

"I would cut off your head, Dwarf, if it stood but a little higher from the ground," the rider said.

Legolas swiftly grabbed ahead arrow and pointed it at the rider. "You would die before your stroke fell!"

Aragorn pushed the arrow down. "I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn. This is Gimli, son of Gloin, and Legolas of the Woodland Realm."

"And the woman?"

"She..."

"Rowan the Red, daughter of Gandalf the Gray and Asena the White Witch." My shoulder brushed against Aragorn as I emerged from behind him. "My father knows Theoden, your king, very well."

"Theoden no longer recognizes friend from foe. Not even his own kin." The rider removed his helmet to show his face. He was a handsome, no doubt. He  was bulky and had long blonde hair. "Saruman has poisoned the mind of the king and claimed lordship over these lands. My company are those loyal to Rohan. And for that, we are banished." He looked into my eyes. "The White Wizard is cunning. He walks here and there, they say, as an old man hooded and cloaked. And everywhere his spies slip past our nets." Aragorn moved himself between the rider and me.

"We are no spies," Aragorn said. "We track a party of Uruk-hai westward across the plain. They have taken two of our friends captive."

"The Uruks are destroyed. We slaughtered them during the night."

My eyes widened. I worried for Pippin and Merry. "They are two hobbits. Did you see two hobbits with them?!"

"They would be small. Only children to your eyes," Aragorn explained.

"We left none alive. We piled the carcasses and burned them."

I felt as if my heart dropped to my feet. I looked to Aragorn with fearful eyes. Then I looked at the ground in sorrow.

The man whistled and two horses were walked into the circle. "May these horses bear you better fortune than their former masters. Farewell." He got back onto his horse, shouted orders, and the men rode north behind him.

I turned to Aragorn. "Come. You ride with me. Gimli will ride with Legolas."

"Why can't I ride with the witch?!" Gimli grumbled.

"Because you refer to her as a witch when she has a name," Legolas hissed.

Aragorn hopped on the brown horse and I got on behind. I wrapped my arms around him and we rode up the hill with Legolas and Gimli on our tail. We rode to the pile of burned Uruk bodies. The stench was terrible.

I jumped onto the ground and walked around the pile. I listened to the wind and studied the earth beneath me. Gimli poked at the objects in the pile with his axe until he found something hobbit sized.ifs one of their wee belts," he muttered.

I covered my mouth with my palm. Aragorn kicked a metal helmet across the hill and yelled with anger before he dropped to his knees.

I turned around so that the wind would blow my hair behind me. I closed my eyes and listened to the grass brush in the breeze. I listened to the leaves in the trees.

"A hobbit laid here," Aragorn whispered. He felt the ground with his palms as he crawled to follow the tracks. "Another here. They crawled." We followed Aragorn. "They ran over here. These tracks lead away from the battle. Into Fenghorn Forest."

I looked at the trees of the dark forest and then decided to venture in. Legolas grabbed my arm and pulled me back to them. "Do you know what kind of strange things are in there?" I did not reply. "No one does, Rowan. It's dark and it's...mysterious. Those who go in don't come out and if they do somehow survive...they're not the same." I looked at the trees and the thick darkness within the forest. Then, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"That is what I sense," I finally spoke as I opened my eyes back up and turned to the others. "I can sense the magic in this forest. I can feel it as if I'm drawn to it." I turned back to the forest and walked through the trees.