Chapter Five: Through the Mountains
*That night as they stopped,
everyone fell asleep. Gandalf, who had been on watch, drifted in between a
state of sleep and awareness. The rest of the company slept fitfully as usual.
And as they slept, a drop fell to the dusty earth. And another. And still
another. Finally large, hard pellets of rain fell in torrents upon the small
company. Gandalf, who had finally woken at the feel of the rain, rushed to
alert the others. They scrambled for their supplies and looked for any shelter
possible.
“There,
higher on the mountain!” Gimli’s trained eye spotted a large cavern
off the ground.
“What
of the horses?” Legolas yelled.
“Leave
them here! They’re tied to the trees and can’t bolt, they’ll
be fine!” Aragon called back. The company began to scale the vertical
cliff to get to the opening. Aragon and Gandalf had been the first to begin
climbing. Gimli joined them quickly as well. Just as Legolas was about to start
up the rock wall, he heard of a problem.
“We
can climb trees, but we don’t know how to climb the rock!” Frodo
yelled to Serein over the booming thunder of the storm. Serein looked at the
cliff. Quickly calculating, she nodded to herself. It was possible.
“Very
well then. I can carry one of you on my back as I go up. I will come back for
the other.”
“That
won’t be necessary, I can take one.” Legolas offered.
“Fine
then. Frodo, come on.” She agreed quickly.
“Sam,
on my back!” Legolas commanded. Then the two elves hoisted themselves up
the stone wall and towards the cave. Legolas reached the top first, and after
Sam had climbed off of his back, he reached down and with Gimli’s help,
pulled Frodo up off Serein’s back as she reached the mouth of the cave.
Legolas reached down to help her in, but she refused.
“Our
packs are still down there! I’ll be right back!” She called. Nimbly
slipping back down, she made a run for the packs she had abandon earlier to
help the halflings. She stood at the bottom of the cave and tossed them up,
letting the people inside of the cave catch them.
“Come
on Serein, that’s everything!” Sam called.
“Right!”
And she began to climb again. But the rock had become slippery. One wrong foot
placing, and the wall began to give way under her light weight. Slipping and
knocking the wind out of herself, she grabbed on. If she let go, she would fall
and most likely break her neck. Where then, would her kingdom be? No leader and
no protection would leave them vulnerable. She could not fail, for them, for
her people, she could not fail.
Her cloak by now was water logged,
and weighed her down a great deal. Still, she managed to, with sheer force of
will and strength, regain her footing and scale the wall. As she reached the
top, two strong arms reached down and carefully lifted her in the rest of the
way. She clung to the figure, not caring who it was at the moment, only happy
to be alive.
Soon her racing heart beat stilled,
and she had regained her lost breath. She calmly lay her head against the man
who had so graciously helped her in her time of need. Opening her tired eyes
she took in the sight of green and brown, Legolas’ signature tunic. He
had been the one to pull her into safety. Not having the energy to be able to
look up as of yet, she merely murmured to him.
“Thank you, Legolas.”
“You’re welcome
Serein.” He slightly pushed her back to examine her. “No bruises,
broken bones, or scrapes. Amazing.” He smirked.
“You’re a
character.” She replied sarcastically.
“Do you know you’ll
catch your death of cold if you continue to wear those clothes with that
cloak?”
“Now, I highly doubt
that.” She smirked. The company had chosen to believe she was a human,
and seemed content with the thought. She certainly wasn’t going to tell
them any different unless they asked.
“Believe what you will, Lady.
But the others have changed. Perhaps so should you?”
“I have a better idea. I
should not.” He frowned.
“Why not?”
“You all changed while I was
fetching the packs. You are all men. I am a woman. That should sufficiently
explain my reasoning why not. I will be quite content once I remove this
cloak.” Serein smirked as Legolas’ face paled and then flushed at
her suggestion.
“Of course, Lady.”
“Are you two going to sit
there all night? Or would you like to at least get warm by the fire?”
Aragon yelled to them.
“Coming!” Legolas
yelled back. “Come, I will show you where we have taken refuge.”
“Very well.” She sighed
and stood to follow him.
“Serein! Are you
alright?” Frodo asked concerned as the two entered the larger cave the
rest of the company had holed up in.
“Rest assured, short ones, I
am in perfect health.” She smiled at them.
“Good! Frodo was worried for
a moment there! But I told him not to worry!” Sam exclaimed.
“Did you?” Serein
asked, amused at the antics.
“Yes. We thought you almost
became a pancake when you fell!” Frodo laughed. Serein could hold it in
no longer. Such antics these two had. She let a true smile crack, then she
grinned widely and giggled with them.
“Is she different to
you?” Gimli leaned over and whispered into Gandalf’s ear, which
proved to be slightly challenging for the height impaired dwarf.
“She seems to have lightened
considerably.” Gandalf smiled at Gimli’s sense of humor. The dwarf
was right though. Maybe they had been too harsh with Serein, just as she had
not given them a chance.
“Well, now that we are
trapped in this cave until the rain gives way, what do you say to sleep?”
Aragon suggested. He was tired, and knew that if he was tired, then the others
must be as well.
“Yes.” Other chorused.
“Sleep then. I will take the
watch.” Serein spoke, back to her cooler, more monotonous voice. But it
was too late. Her cold image had been shattered, and the others let it brush
over them, knowing she was merely hiding her true self. They nodded in thanks
to her and each drifted off to sleep.
Serein sat near the entrance to the
larger cave so she was able to keep a view of the mouth of the cave in her
sight. She missed the warmth the fire had given her, but knew she had more
important things to think of than being warm. She was responsible for so much
life. Here it was Frodo and Sam, and their new friends. Back home her duty was
to her people, though she had not held the duty for so long, she still felt
obligated to it. A footstep on the cave floor brought her back to her senses.
Whipping around, she found Legolas making his way toward her.
“You are supposed to be
asleep.” She informed him.
“Supposed to be. But I am an
elf, I do not need sleep as humans. In fact, I cannot sleep right now
anyway.” He replied.
“Oh? And why not?”
“My dreams are unsettling.
And you looked lonely.” He watched her stiffen. But his vision was
overcome with a flashback of her smiling and laughing contentedly while
speaking to the hobbits earlier. He shook his head to clear the murky, unwanted
vision and refocused back upon her.
“I am not lonely, merely
board.” She covered. “Why do you insist upon giving me your
company?”
“You look as if you need a
friend.”
“Friend? I will be leaving
you shortly after we get off this mountain range. I will, in all probability,
never see or hear of you again. A friendship between us would be a foolish
waste of time. Besides, there are other more pressing matters weighing upon our
minds. We should concentrate upon them instead of upon each other.”
“I disagree. Even if we never
meet again. which I am sure will not be the case, having a friend even for a
little while can be a nice release before thinking upon our important
issues.”
“Well then, I am afraid our
friendship will merely be one-sided.” She ended the conversation
abruptly. “The rain has stopped. Awaken the others, it is time for us to
continue on our way.”
The company traveled for only
another day before they reached the bottom of the mountains. It was late that
night when they decided to stop and sleep, and early the next morning when
Serein awoke. She packed away her things and grabbed an apple. Not stopping to
look back, she began her march away from the company.
“Leaving us are you?”
She turned on her heel to find Gandalf the Gray staring intently at her.
“I have done my duty to Frodo
and Sam. Now I must fulfill the quest I originally came to complete.”
“No good-byes?”
“Good-byes are hard on all.
It would be…”
“Horrible for you to leave
without saying them!” Frodo interrupted her. While she and Gandalf had
spoken, the others had awoken.
“I am sorry short one.”
She said quietly.
“Are you really leaving
then?” Sam asked.
“I am. I have my own journey
to complete, as you have yours. Be careful around this place, short ones. Orcs
are more numerous here than anywhere, and they will stop at nothing to get to
you, it seems. But you are in good hands. Gandalf, Aragon, Gimli, Legolas, you
are now obligated to watch the short ones. Keep them out of trouble.” She
nodded to each of them. Them she turned around and left, once again, not
looking back.
“Well. I’m going to miss
her.” Sam sniffed.
“As am I Sam, as am I.”
>>>)(<<<
Serein
came upon an unholy sight as she looked behind her. The mountains that she had
just crossed were now covered in a thick black mist. Saruman was working up a
storm. That could only mean one thing. He was preparing an attack. Well. If she
hurried, she could get to his tower before he had the chance to destroy more of
Middle-Earth.*