All Shall Fade (LOTR-Wattys 2014)

All Shall Fade - Chapter 21 - Far Away

All Shall Fade

Chapter 21

Far Away

I was disorientated, and feeling nauseous. I put that down to the continuous up and down movement I was experiencing, like I was being shaken. That was one thing to get my head around; the next thing that hit me was the smell. Salty sweat, rusty blood, and just a general putrid foulness. I wanted to wrinkle my nose in an attempt to block it out, but it was like I was having an out of body experience. Simply thinking was enough of a chore for now. Well, that was before the pain hit. Everything hurt, my muscles ached, my head throbbed and for some reason my wrists were burning. I attempted to push past this to recall what had lead to me being in whatever situation I was in now. It was a struggle, but finally I remembered a single image. Boromir, kneeling on the ground in a forest, with three black arrows protruding from his chest. It was like an image from a half-remembered nightmare, but I knew, deep down, that it was real. And with that image came others, Frodo, Merry and Pippin, those Orc-like creatures. A battle, Boromir’s horn, and the creature that had wounded him. I refused to believe that he was gone. Not until I had solid proof would I accept it. Even so, I couldn’t shake my sense of failure. I hadn’t been able to protect him, but when I though back to the battle, all I could see were opportunities I could have taken which would have saved him. And Merry and Pippin, I’d totally neglected them, I’d become distracted and had failed to protect them, when I was the one who had lead them into the forest in the first place. What had happened to the others? Had Frodo escaped? Did Sam find him? What about the others? Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn? Had they met the creatures too? What if something had happened to them? I felt like a stone had been dropped into the pit of my stomach at that thought. I couldn’t loose anyone else.

But on another note, what the hell had happened to me? I was alive; I had noticed that, but why? Why hadn’t I been killed? I’d let my guard down and discarded my weapons. I had been a sitting duck. So what had happened and where was I now? I slowly forced myself to open my eyes, and then I quickly closed them as the blinding sunlight prompted an instant headache. I then cracked them open again, allowing them to adjust to the light as I took in several things.

I was being carried on the back of one of the creatures as it ran alongside the rest of the army. That explained the up and down movement, and the smell. My wrists were bound around its neck, which explained the burning pain. I glanced around, but none seemed to have realised that I had woken up. So I had been captured. Why?

I didn’t take much time to ponder this thought as I subtly shifted my wrists, examining my bonds. They had been clumsily tied, and would be easy enough to slip out of. I tried to move as little as possible as I wriggled my wrists free, so the rough ropes were now only loosely looped around my hands. I had to physically hang on to the creature’s neck, so I could time my escape; unfortunately, I had misjudged my own ability to hold myself up. After supporting my bodyweight for goodness knows how long, my arms were weak, and once I no longer had the ropes to hold me up, I dropped like a stone.

I landed heavily on my side and immediately rolled as far back as I could, but felt my body get kicked as the creatures running behind me stumbled over me. I scrambled up as they began to realise that I was escaping, so I ran. I only got a few feet away before my legs gave out and I was grabbed by another creature.

“Get off me!” I yelled, struggling against him and managing to land a punch on his jaw before I was pushed to the ground. I curled my knees to my chest defensively as I scooted backwards, trying to put as much distance as possible between myself and my captors.