A Second Chance

A Second Chance Part 18

It is three days before we reach the place where we are to meet the other soldiers that have been called and gathered and in that time I had neither spoken to or seen the other members of the fellowship. I had cut myself off from Legolas and, in so doing, from the rest of them too. Although Aragorn offers me a smile of encouragement when he can as if attempting to get me to talk to Legolas but I merely shake my head and turn away. I am sitting alone by a small fire when I feel the presence beside me.

"They have gone then?" I ask as I look up to see a heartbroken Eowyn slumping beside me.

"Yes, you have not gone with them," she states and I shake my head.

"They would not want me, it is... it is complicated," I murmur and for a while we sit in silence before she turns to me.

"The elf, Legolas, he loves you and yet I have barely seen you look at him this journey," and I laugh a little although it is devoid of all humour.

"That too is complicated," I start before sighing heavily as I try to fight back the tears, "I was hoping to save him... I want him to live a full and happy life and he cannot do that with me, at least I don't think so, but now I am... I fear going into battle and dying before I can tell him I am sorry," I stutter suddenly realising that I had probably made a huge mistake in letting Saruman poison my mind so easily.

"I am sorry," she says and I offer her a weak smile,

"It does not matter now, let us prepare to fight," I say quietly and she soon leaves me alone again with my thoughts.

The morning dawns far too quickly and I am barely aware of what is going on around me as we march towards battle. All too soon we are cresting the hill and gazing at the death and destruction that surrounded Gondor's great white city, as we ride into battle though I am quickly separated from the others and the same old panic and fear fills me as I look around fro their faces, it takes me a while to realise that the faces I am looking for are not here and for a moment that thought paralyses me until a sword narrowly misses my arm and I am forced to focus. I fight for what seems like hours and yet somehow stay alive, whether it is by design or dumb luck I do not know but every enemy that has approached me so far has seemed inept or not really focused on killing me. A new and startling thought hits me at this realisation, what was it Saruman had said about Sauron finding out about me and wanting to use me? Could it be that they were trying to kidnap me rather than kill me? No. I shake this thought from my head as quickly as it enters it, partly because it is too frightening to even think about and partly because it seems absurd.

"Finley," the voice is strong through the fighting and I gaze around frantically until I spot the face of Eowyn and Merry and rush towards them but as I do so a great winged beast with a hulking figure riding it, the witch king, I realise, lands before them opening it's mouth to speak and at the same time something heavy connects with the back of my head and then all I know is darkness.

When I come to, I am aware of two things, first is that I hurt, everywhere, it is as though my very nerve endings are on fire. The second thing is that I am not where I should be. I do not recognise this place, from the books or the films, it is dark and the smell is enough to turn my stomach and I spend a few minutes desperately trying not to vomit everywhere. I am lying on... stone, I think, all I know is that it is bitingly cold and hard. My wrists and ankles hurt and after trying to move I come to the realisation that I am tied, tightly, too tightly, so tightly that I can barely feel my hands and feet and am sure that my wrists and ankles must be bleeding. A quick glance up through the pounding in my temples confirms that my wrists are indeed bleeding. Panic is filling me quickly and I cannot think of a single coherent thought about how to get out of here.