With Hope and Without Hope

Chapter 38: Travel

Dwarves had never shared the wonder Elves held for the stars that adorned the sky, but to this dwarf, on this morning, they were truly magical. Having dragged himself through the dome that covered the vent, Gimli now lay on his back on the rocky ground and stared at the pale sky, the stars dim in the pre-dawn. He breathed deeply the clean cool air and smiled languidly.

Soon enough, however, his smile faded as he thought of Legolas. The elf would have reveled in these first drops of new air. Despite his oath to return, Gimli felt his betrayal of Legolas deeply.

In time, Gimli forced his body to sit up. Bushes and brambles dotted the field around them, and the distant air was hazy as if from fire. In the grey light, he could barely distinguish the forest beyond the walls of Isengard, and even the hobbit beside him was hardly more than a shadow.

"We did it! I knew we could do it. We made it, Gimli!" Having lain in similar fashion on the ground, Merry now sat up and grinned at him.

Gimli had yet to be overcome with the joy of freedom. He weakly returned the hobbit's smile, reluctant to break his mood but unable to share his delight. "Good for you, lad. I only hope when we return, we are not too late."

The comment quieted Merry, and he paused to lay a hand on Gimli's shoulder. "I hate to leave Isengard without them as well. But we would never have gotten them out with us. We'd have all ended up dead—or worse."

Gimli nodded and forced himself to look to the coming day. "We must still get beyond the wall. Sitting here will only get us returned below."

"Yes, good plan. I think we ought to head for that gateway. It is still dark enough that we needn't worry about being seen, as long as we move in silence. I hope you're good at being hobbit-quiet, Gimli. Follow me."

Despite their fatigue, they made their way through the confines of Isengard without a sound. As Merry and Gimli neared the large portal leading out of their prison, Gimli saw a wide black streak cut into the ground, leading to the gate. The line was formed by the steps of many boots that had made their way out of Isengard. It seemed most of the orcs had left the tower, but there remained sentries to avoid.

They needed to watch the patrol upon the wall for only a short time before they discovered that the orcs focused nearly all their attention outward, clearly more concerned for trespassers attempting to enter Isengard than for anyone leaving.

Timing their approach to when the sentries' attention lay beyond the wall, they neared the wall in bursts of movement towards the next vent or tree stump that could shield them while an orc peered over the barren field. It took longer than Gimli expected, but dawn had yet to arrive by the time they reached the gates. Fortunately, the two found that the last orc to leave had not shut the door behind him, and escaping the last yards of Isengard proved as simple as walking through the streets of Dale.

With the sun cresting the horizon, leaving the gates was more difficult than gaining them, for now they could be easily sighted. But the sentries were orcs, and so not the most vigilant of sentinels. Their escape merely required careful timing and a close watch on all the sentries upon the wall.

Before the sun had fully risen they found themselves amid fields of long grass where hiding was much easier. Finding a small knoll that blocked their view of the tower rising black against the brightening sky, they took a moment to rest in the Wizard's Vale.

"I must say, I had hardly dared to hope this plan would work. We are truly out of Isengard!" Gimli shook his bewildered head.

"That we are," Merry said, as he stood once more. "As much as it looks like the orcs have begun their march to Edoras, someone may still be at home, even Saruman, with a few orcs left behind for company. If they haven't yet discovered we're gone, they will soon enough, and the hunt will start. We want to be long gone by then. No rest for the weary."