The Ranger And The Prince.

Captive.

The second my feet hit dry land, I stretched my legs and arms. Being on a small boat with two others all day wasn't exactly comfortable.

I clambered onto the shore and promptly sat myself down on the sand.

While the Hobbits lit a fire, I helped Aragorn unload his stuff from the boats. Gimli sat himself on a log and smoked his pipe while Legolas stood watch.

Both of us knew we were being followed. I didn't like the prospect either but traveling by boat wasn't the easiest, we needed to rest for a while before we set off again.

"We cross the lake at nightfall," Aragorn explained, "Hide the boats and continue on foot. We approach Mordor from the North."

"Oh, yes?" Gimli scoffed, "Just a simple matter of finding our way through Emyn Muil, an impassable labyrinth of razor sharp rocks. And after that, it gets even better! Festering, stinking marshland as far as the eye can see."

"That is our road." Aragorn stated bluntly, "I suggest you take some rest and recover your strength, Master Dwarf."

"Recover my-" he retorted, grumbling irritably.

"We should leave now," Legolas suggested.

"No, Orcs patrol the eastern shore. We must wait for the cover of darkness." Aragorn explained.

"It is not the eastern shore that worries me." He sighed, "A shadow and a threat has been growing in my mind."

"Something draws near. I can feel it," I added quietly, so as not to scare the Hobbits.

"Recover strength? Pay no need to that, young Hobbit," Gimli continued to grumble as Merry came back with some firewood.

"Where's Frodo?" Merry asked as he scanned the camp.

It was then, we came to the realisation that the Ring-Bearer had indeed slipped away from us. I had been told of how quiet and stealthy the Hobbits can be but I was amazed at how the most important member of the Fellowship had gotten past us.

Aragorn quickly grabbed his broadsword and told us all to split up and search for Frodo. I had no doubt the halfling just wanted some time to himself but I saw fear in Aragorn's eyes as he looked over at Boromir's empty bedroll.

***

We hadn't been searching long through the woods before we heard the clang of metal on metal. We heard the grunts and snarls of Orcs as well as the yelling of Aragorn.

I took up my new axe and looked over at Legolas who nocked an arrow on his bow.

"I can think of no finer way to christen this new blade, than seeing it drip with Orc blood!" I snarled, bolting off to join Aragorn.

We when found him, we was surrounded by a swarm of Orcs but these ones looked different. Orcs were usually nothing more than animals, mutilated forms of life with barbaric armour and makeshift weapons. These, however, were bigger than normal Orcs and had much better armour. These were Uruk-hai.

I didn't dwell on that too long as I ran forward and brought my axe down up the nearest one. Their armour was surprisingly sturdy so I decided not to waist my energy in crippling it. Instead, I swung at their exposed flesh, cleaving off entire limbs with a single swing.

"Aragorn go!" I heard Legolas shout over the sound of dying Uruks.

Though I was mostly focusing on my own battles, I would sometimes look over at Legolas and Gimli's fights. I nodded in approval at how Legolas was using his arrows to stab at closer Uruks before using said arrow to shoot at far away ones. It was quite impressive.