To The End Of Her Days - A Fanfiction Sequel to The Lord of the Rings

Chapter 14 - Taken

The next thing Arwen knew, she was riding on the back of an orc, her hands bound around his neck. She felt blood coming from a wound on the left side of her face. She was surrounded by hundreds of orcs fleeing the battle. Their heavy footsteps on the open plain were as thunderous as the greatest of storms. They turned the thin layer of snow on the ground into icy mud as they ran. They ran so fast, it intensified her pain and she moaned loudly.

"Shut-up, you dunghill rat!" shouted the orc that bore her, jerking her backwards, "or I'm gonna make you wish you had!"

Fearing what would happen if she moaned again, she tried to distract herself by remembering the events of the battle. She remembered shooting at the orcs with bow and arrow from the city's inmost wall and killing many by sword once they got into the city. She knew Eldarion was with her. She also remembered running through the city in panic, being hunted by a Warg, and being captured, but not much else.

The pain was getting worse, and when she remembered the events of the battle, the pain from the wounds of Warg also returned. When she could no longer tolerate the throbbing, she moaned again. The orc jerked her again, but this made the pain worse and she yelled out a shout from the pain. This angered the orc and he asked for a halt. Once they had all finally halted, the others complained.

"Why are we stopping? This is totally uncalled for!"

"He woke up and won't quit his whining!" The orc complained, "I don't want to carry the maggot anymore!"

The orc threw her to the ground, and she landed face down in the snowy mud. She tried to sit up, but she was too weak to move.

"Then how are we going to get them to him?" asked another, "This one's in no condition to walk! He'll slow us down!"

"Then why don't we make 'His Majesty' carry the little runt!" the first orc insisted, using the title in mockery. "Get him over here!"

Eldarion stumbled forward, wounded from the battle himself and weary from being forced to run at the same pace as all the orcs for days with little rest. Eldarion's eyes widened when he saw Arwen, wounded and writhing in pain, trying to avoid crying in front of them so she would not give away her disguise. They cut Eldarion's bounds and shoved him to the ground next to her. He crawled over to her, helped her climb onto his back, and pulled her bound hands around his neck. The orcs laughed at them as he struggled to stand up.

"Don't fall behind, 'your highness!' Everybody, move out!"

The orcs began to run once again. When the orcs were concentrating on running, Eldarion whispered, "It's alright, Arwen. I'm here now."

She was still overwhelmed, but at least she knew she was safe in Eldarion's arms. She buried her face into the back of his neck until she calmed herself down. When she finally calmed down, Eldarion explained what happened to them.

"They sent a Warg after you and he tracked you to the roof of a house, where he wounded your back. They finally captured you, and they took me when I tried to stop them. Gondor did win the battle, but there was great panic within the city when the orcs fled. I could see people on the city's wall in a state of panic watching their retreat. Now, it has been two days since we left the White City. We will probably be in Mordor in about five days, but we will probably have further to travel once we pass the Black Gate."

"Have you learned anything about their plans?"

"I have heard them talk about taking us to 'him,' but I do not know who 'he' is. I've also heard them refer to the name Ashtakh as a different person entirely. That name sounds orkish to me. I'm guessing Ashtakh is the orc commander, and 'he' is in one in charge. It is possible 'he' is the human traitor Belethor suspected, but I'm not certain."