Paths That Lead Home (LotR F.F.)

Chapter 17: The Fallen Lothlórien Leaf

Abby's POV:

I stood in a dark room made entirely of marble. A black coffin laid before me.

"Child of Light," came a voice. "Welcome to my chamber." No one else stood in the room. I could only guess that the voice was coming from the coffin.

Um. Nope. Excuse me while I jumped on the Nope-train to Nopeville.

The scariest part? I couldn't tell the gender of the voice. It sounded feminine and masculine at the same time.

"Who are you?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"I think you know who I am."

I hesitated. "Darkness." A dark laugh filled the room. "What do you want with me?"

"Everything," the voice cooed. "You and Miss Catherine are beginning to prove yourselves as dangerous adversaries. Keep it up and I will intervene and have you killed, Child of Light."

"But we haven't done anything!" I protested.

"Wrong!" The voice snarled. "You just had to send yourself to Middle-Earth. I had plans for Sauron and his little puppet but you and Miss Catherine's arrival are messing with my plans."

"Is that why you brought me here? To threaten me?" I tried to sound tough, but I think I was failing.

"Yes. Because if you intervene again, I will begin destroying the people you care for. Starting with that witch friend of yours, Cathy, and your Fellowship friends."

I jerked awake and immediately fell onto the ground. When I looked up, the gruesome faces of orcs looked down at me. I then noticed it was dark. How long was I out?

"What should we do with her?" snarled an orc.

"Make her walk."

"Keep her unconscious and carry her."

"Eat her."

That were some of the popular ones. Thankfully, the one of them eating me was ruled out (apparently, Saruman wants me alive). Sadly, they made me walk. They tied my hands together and one of the orcs held an end to the rope. As they tied me up, I noticed that an unconscious Merry and Pippin were hanging on to two orcs' backs and an unconscious Cathy still slung over another orc's shoulder.

"Let's go," one of the creatures snarled. The mass group of orcs picked up their running, with me in tow. We soon left the woods and were running on open land. Only slowing down when they drank some of their disgusting drink that made me puke the first time I tasted it and eating what looked and tasted like molded bread.

And we were like that for three, flippin' days. Yeah, you heard me, three days. There were a few times I passed out from exhaustion and woke up to find myself being carried, but that didn't last long when they found out I was awake and made me run. They made sure Cathy stayed unconscious. Apparently, they were scared that she may pull some magic tricks and send them all up in flames. They didn't make Merry or Pippin run either. They stayed strung onto the orcs' backs, and would send me worried looks.

So on the third night of running, they stopped on the edge of a forest. This forest looked much older and creepier than the one we were in a few days ago. The orc holding my rope took me on the outskirts of the camp and tied my feet together. Nearby Merry and Pippin were thrown onto the grown. Cathy was no where in sight.

"We're not going no further," gasped an orc, "until we've had a breather."

"Get a fire going!" yelled another. "Keep the she-wizard away from the others. And keep an eye on her," he added with a growl. I then saw Cathy about a few yards away. She was laying on the ground, still unconscious. Poor Cathy, when she finally wakes up, she's going to have a killer headache from all the times the orcs knock her out.