What if Merry and Pippin went to Isengard (Complete)

Chapter 4: So Close: 2-24-26

At the first light, we awoke to orcs pulling us up off the ground. No breakfast I suppose, because they rapped our tied hands around their heads and kept running. What a wakeup call! Dust eventually filled the air, by all the constant running. I started coughing soon after, because of all the dirt in my lungs. Merry sneezed a couple times.

I started to focus on the land around us. There was much dirt, but lots of bright, emerald grass further out in the distance. There were also hills and small streams. I tried turning around to see how far away Fangorn was, but I only received an irritated stare from the orc behind me.

My stomach began to growl again, just like the night before. I began to visualize a huge feast the consisted of hot buttered and salted biscuits, crunchy green beans, carrots sprinkled with brown sugar, and mashed hot taters. Yum... I was probably drooling because the orc that was hauling me said something grumpily. I don't remember what.

Just up ahead the sky began to grow black in a small section. It was getting bigger as it got closer and closer to us. I couldn't tell what it was because of all the picked up dirt in the air. The Ukiah hai troop stopped abruptly and my face slammed against the back of the orcs hard helmet. He growled. The orcs then started sniffing the air I noticed.

"What is it?" I looked to Merry.

"I think they are..." Merry started.

"Hold your tongues!" snarled an orc in front of us.

The black cloud was super close now. Suddenly Ugluk announced something in orcish and pointed onward. All the orcs started to go toward the black mass in the sky. All accept three. The orcs that were carrying us threw us to the ground with pleasure eager to fight. That's what they were breed to do and they loved it. The third orc that had stayed behind said,

"Guard them!" and started running away toward the fighting up ahead.

"Why us?" The orc that had been carrying Merry argued.

"Because I said so!"

"You're not the boss!"

Suddenly all three orcs stared fighting each other! Merry and I scooched back a little, not wanting to get stabbed by accident. One of the orcs fell to the ground with a knife through its back. The last two orcs were yelling in orcish and still fighting each other. Merry and I looked into the distance to where the rest of the orc pack was still fighting. We could clearly see now that the black mass in the sky was a group of ravens. Probably returning to Erebor. I remembered Gimli informing us the boring story about those ravens in Rivendell when we first met. I wasn't listening half the time though.

Merry pointed to the dead orc and whispered, "If we could get that knife, we would be free!"

I nodded weakly; my mind was racing with all different thoughts.

The two orcs fighting were getting farther and farther away from us and the dead orc body. We decided to crawl to the orc body. We crawled closer and closer to the fallen body. Just as we got there, a raven flew above our heads and fell to the ground with a thud. The orc pack was still fighting them off. Our attention directed back to the knife. Merry got close to it and put his bound hands through the sharp blade of the knife. After seesawing it back and forth many times, it broke loose! Merry smiled happily and gestured for me to give it a go. I did the same as Merry.

Suddenly, it got quiet, almost too quiet. We saw very few black ravens flying away. I almost had my bounds cut when I was seized away from the knife by two slimy, strong hands.