Not All Who Wander Are Lost (A Lord of the Rings fanfiction)

Chapter 5- Into the Shadow

Chapter 5- Into the Shadow

As much as I hated running from something I knew I could face, I listened to Gandalf and ran. The Fellowship followed the Wizard toward a new dark tunnel- Boromir had a torch now, though I don't have a clue where he managed to find it and took the lead while Gandalf made sure we all entered safely. My legs burned and my lungs were labored: I hadn't run to this extent in years.

Suddenly Boromir yelled, he was standing on the edge of a cliff, waving his arms around and trying to regain his balance. Legolas bolted forward and grabbed the Gondorian before he could plummet to his death. It took me a moment to realize that the ground Boromir had been standing on had given way and he surely would've died had Legolas not gotten a hold on him.

We all froze there for a moment, trying to figure out what to do as the old Wizard hobbled down the stairs. "Gandalf!" Aragorn turned to help the old man but he pushed my brother away.

"Lead them on, Aragorn!" he gestured to the Bridge on the other side of the trench. "Do as I say!" Gandalf demanded when Aragorn hesitated. "Swords are of no more use here!"

Aragorn nodded, "Hurry!" he yelled to us, leading us down a steep set of winding stairs.

Merry and Pippin were right behind my brother, followed by Legolas, myself, Boromir, Gimli, Frodo, Sam and Gandalf. But we were all running so quickly, we ended up passing each other and nearly running on one another's heels. Liquid fire engulfed the bottom of the trench, that was evident the further down the stairs we ran. But suddenly, Boromir, who had taken the lead, came to a stop and we realized that a large chunk of the stairwell had colaspsed into the firey waters below.

Before Pippin or I could ask, "What now?" Legolas leapt across, regaining his balance and looking up at the rest of with a faint smile.

A silent sigh of relief escaped my mouth when I saw that he was safe. He was safe- we were not. A moment late another low growl echoed throughout the cavern and a fair part of the celicing rained down around us.

"Gandalf! Rayel!" Legolas called, gesturing for us to jump down.

"Go!" I ordered Mithrandir, before he could object.

The old Wizard hopped and landed on the ledge, where Legolas immediately balanced Gandalf. He turned to me, opening his arms and calling for me to hurry. But then we were under a new form of attack: the orcs had found us.

Arrows whizzed by, missing us by mere centimeters and causing my adrenaline to rush even more. We were all going to die.

"Make haste, Rayel!" Boromir urged me, as the rumbling and arrows came closer.

Without a moment's hesitance, I jumped. And the moment my feet left the ledge I screamed, fortunately, Legolas caught me and whispered: "It's okay, I've got you." He pushed me toward Gandalf and quickly drew his bow, returning the fired shots and backing down the stairs to make room for our friends.

"Merry! Pippin!" Boromir exclaimed, seizing the small Hobbits and leaping across the way with them. As Boromir's feet left the crumbling staircase, the rest cracked and gave way, leaving Gimli, Aragorn, Frodo and Sam behind.

"No!" I screamed.

Legolas was returning fire as fast as he could, but the orc archers were inceasing their accuracy quickly. Boromir sent the two Hobbits down to me as he readied himself to receive Sam. My brother literally threw the poor Halfling down to Boromir who just barely managed to catch him.

Aragorn turned to Gimli but he merely hel up in hand. "Nobody tosses a dwarf," he objected as he jumped with everything he had- only to come up short.