Don't Say We Have Come Now to the End

We continued walking, Frodo now leading Bill was at the end of our line of travelers with me right beside him leading Aerith; Merry, Pippin, Ayleth and Alys leading Rosalie and Elizabeth were a little ways ahead of us; Sam and Ellyn leading her horse, Alice were closer to the front, right behind Strider who continued to lead the way. It was still raining on us but not as hard, and the wind did not whip at our faces as strongly as it had done mere hours before. Within minutes we had stumbled into the Midgewater Moors that slowed our pace; Midges soon swarming us and biting at us.

"What do they eat when they can't get Hobbit?" Sam questioned, swatting a Midge away from his face, evoking quiet laughter out of Ayleth. We continued our trek on through the marshes, carefully leading the horses through the murky waters, trying to keep to the islands of grass hillocks so that it would be easier for the horses and the Hobbits to walk. Pippin soon stumbles and falls face first into the dirty, mud riddled water before being helped up by Alys.

Night quickly falls upon us and we decide to rest for the night in a place where there was a rather large island of grass. Strider decides to go off to find some food to eat, while Ayleth and Ellyn go off to explore and make sure that no evil surrounded us. This left the Hobbits with Alys and myself. The Hobbits quickly settled down, glad to get off of their feet.

"Here, Frodo, Sam, you two come and lay on Aerith and Rosalie. They'll keep you warm tonight." I said as I encouraged the Hobbits to relax against Aerith's and Rosalie's sides.

"Merry, Pippin you two can rest against Elizabeth and Alice. It'll be a cold night tonight and they'll keep you warm." Alys as well encouraging the Hobbits towards Elizabeth's and Alice's sides.

Soon after they had settled up against the horses, Ellyn and Ayleth came back, reporting that nothing was around us for miles, and surprisingly they had found some wood for us to start a small fire with. Not long after we had started the fire that Strider returns with a deer, where he found it we do not know but the Hobbits are happy enough to have some good, decent food finally after a long day of endless traveling. Soon after the deer was prepared and cooked and we all had our share of food, the Hobbits fell asleep, uncomfortable, but asleep none the less; Ayleth and Alys soon retiring to bed as well. The moon was full and high in the sky, moonlight shining down on the sleeping bodies of the four Hobbits and our two companions. Looking up at the moon, the moonlight shone down upon my face, giving me an eery, but beautiful glow, illuminating my blue eyes even more underneath my hood; completely unaware of the steady blue gaze upon my face.

"Tinúviel elvanui, Elleth alfirin ethelhael O hon ring finnil fuinui A renc gelebrin thiliol. (Tinúviel the elven-fair, Immortal maiden elven-wise, About him cast her night-dark hair, And arms like silver glimmering.)" Sang Strider quietly, his smoking pipe sat just on the tips of his lips as he sat watch upon a nearby rock looking off into the distant fog, Ellyn and I sat near him listening to the song of the Lady of Lúthien and her mortal husband, Beren.

"Who is she? This woman you sing of?" Frodo asked, sitting up for his makeshift bed that he had laid down beside Aerith's side, slightly startling the three us.

"Tis the Lady of Lúthien. The Elf Maiden who gave her love to Beren... a mortal." Strider replied, sadness dripping from his whispered words.

"What happened to her?" Inquired Frodo, who seemed quite interested.

"She died." Ellyn replied this time, sadness shone in the tears of her brown eyes as she spoke of her parents; her words coated in thick sadness.

"Get some sleep, Frodo." I whispered, turning from my grieving friend and looking down at Frodo; after watching him lay back down I turned around and heard the quiet sighs of both Strider and Ellyn. I found my gaze soon rested upon Strider's face, as he stared up at the moon, sadness pooling in his blue eyes. An emotion stirred in my heart, one that I had not felt since the last time I traveled with him or spent much time with him.

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We left the marshes far behind us the next day and traveled far over the next couple of days; traveling over hills, through rain and sun, though little sun there was during the days of traveling, before we soon arrived at the top of a hill where ruins of an old temple could be seen on a hill not far from us.

"This was once the great watch tower of Amon Sûl. We shall rest here tonight." Strider informed us, turning around slightly so that we could hear him more, the slight breeze blowing his longer hair about.

We soon reached the watch tower, the Hobbits and Strider walked up the stairs and rested on an open space just below the summit of ruins and from it you could see far; Alys, Ayleth, Ellyn and I stayed behind to let the horses roam free, to graze the sweet and lush green grass that surrounded the old watch tower before following our companions up the stairs. The Hobbits had thrown themselves to the ground, glad to be off of their feet while Strider stood by the edge of the overhang, looking out across the hills, near and far. Walking over to him, Strider glanced at me out of the corner of his eye before turning around, kneeling down and unraveling four swords which he proceeded to give to the Hobbits.

"These are for you. Keep them close, I'm going to have a look around. Stay here." Strider informed as he turned to start walking back down the stairs.

"Ellyn, Alys and I will go with you, Strider. Thea, you can stay here and watch over the Hobbits." Ayleth said as she, Alys and Ellyn followed Strider down the watchtower stairs.

"Stay safe!" Alys called over her shoulder.

Turning around I stared down at the Hobbits, my hood still covering most of my face.

"Come, stand here in front of me, little Hobbits. Hold out your swords, I will teach you some skills with the blade. We shall start with a simple blocking technique. What you do is when an enemy raises his sword above his head, preparing to swing it down upon you, raise your sword horizontally above your head and bend your knees. When your enemy's weapon swings down at you it will hit your sword, your knees will bend due to the force of the impact between your blade and his and you will not be harmed. Merry, let’s see."

I taught the Hobbits four moves and for beginners they learned quite quickly. I left the Hobbits on the overhang to go and sit at the bottom of the stairs so that I could still see for a great distance yet make sure that no enemy could sneak up on me or sneak past me. I must have dosed off because when I awoke to the sound of raised voices coming from the stairs above me the clouds had completely covered the sky and darkness was all around. The bright moonlight shone through a hole in the clouds that were being pushed by a slight wind and fog now danced above the ground. Rushing up the stairs I heard Frodo exclaim quite panicky, "What are you doing!?"

"Tomatoes, sausages, nice crispy bacon." Replied Merry, quite calmly as he sat around a small fire in-between Sam and Pippin.

"Saved some for you, Mr. Frodo, and you as well Lady Thea." Sam said, offering a dish of food towards the two of us.

"Put it out you fools. Put it out!" I exclaimed as I rushed over and stomped out the little fire, Frodo soon joining in to help me.

"Well that's nice. That's nice! Ash on my tomatoes!" Exclaimed an irritated Pippin. The screeches of Wraiths soon silenced us all as we ran towards the cliff to see where they were. Five Nazgûl were approaching the tower from below, black figures who seemed to glide through the fog that covered the green grass below us. Drawing my long sword, I turned to the Hobbits and commanded, "Go! Up the stairs and to the middle of the ruins! Go!"

The Hobbits quickly drew their swords as well and ran up the stairs towards the summit of the old tower. Still standing by the cliff and staring down at the Nazgûl, I turned my head making sure that all the Hobbits got up the stairs before I quickly followed them and ushered them to the back of the ruins, as far from the entrance as they could go.

"Stay there, all of you. Sam you stand in front of them and just to my left; Merry, Pippin stay in front of Frodo at all times. Do your best to protect him everyone." I commanded the Hobbits. Noticing some of the dead trees surrounding the top of the ruins an idea came to mind. "Sam, grab a branch from the dead tree beside you, wrap some moss from the ground around the thinnest part of the branch and light it with your flint. Merry, grab another branch and do the same. Hold these two torches tightly and if a Wraith sneaks by me, swing the torch at it, they fear fire in the darkest nights."

"Milady! Look!" Cried Frodo as he pointed between two pillars; turning I saw the five Wraiths appear, stepping forth from the shadows and quickly drew my second long sword in my left hand. Each step the Wraiths took their metal boots clanged loudly against the old, cold stone floor of the watch tower; their swords made metallic sounds as they drew them from their waist sides. Quickly advancing towards us they pointed their swords in and at our small group, forming a defensive stand, forcing us farther away from our only exit from the summit of the watch tower.

Sam waved his arm from side to side keeping two of the Nazgûl from getting close to him as I started to fight with the other two Wraiths, completely leaving one Nazgûl free to do whatever it wanted. I swung my sword in my right hand high above my head and swung downwards towards one of the Wraiths closest to me with the speed and gracefulness that only an Elf could posses, as I parried an attack with my left hand from the Wraith beside it. Spinning in a circle I lunged out at both Wraiths managing to slice through their robes, but no damage was done to the Wraiths themselves. Concentrating solely on the two Wraiths in front of me, Sam had trouble fending off three of the Nazgûl by himself, so Merry stepped forward with his torch and helped out his friend. The help did not last long though, as Merry's torch was sliced from his hands and soon Merry was brushed aside, leaving only Sam and Pippin to defend Frodo.

"Lady Thea!" Sam called to me.

Taking a quick glance towards the Hobbits I noticed their predicament and rolled underneath the swords of both Wraiths before running over and helping Sam out. I threw one of my daggers into one of the Wraiths shoulders, evoking an ear piercing shriek from it, before quickly attacking three of the Nazgûl with both of my swords. Slowly, I fought back the Nazgûl. First blocking an attack from the Wraith on my left, before I spun around, sliding my sword through the air and slicing through the robes of the Nazgûl, evoking only shrieks of anger from them. The Wraith in front of me dived forward with his sword aiming at my stomach, only allowing me to parry with my blade sideways, before pushing his blade backwards, and lunging forward with the sword in my right hand, narrowly missing the creatures arm. I fought them back, but I was tiring and the three of them were backing me further and further away from the Hobbits. While I was busy fighting off the Wraiths, Merry had gotten back up and joined Sam and Pippin in protecting Frodo once again.

Sam soon stepped forward and fought briefly with one of the advancing Wraiths before he was pushed aside and hit his head against one of the fallen stones, falling unconscious. Pride soon swelled up inside of me at the bravery that Sam had just shown by fighting one of the Nazgûl; anger, however, quickly surpassed my pride when I noticed Sam laying unconscious on the ground. Merry and Pippin slid together and did their best to fend off the advancing Wraiths, the moonlight hitting their blades and reflecting onto the broken stones around them. They did not last long either and were soon pushed aside. This left Frodo all alone; frightened, he backed up tripping on the broken branch that was once held by Merry and falling onto the cold hard stones. He reaches for his breast pocket, groping for the Ring, hearing its whispers in the Black Speech. Looking at the Ring, the moon shines upon it and is reflected in his brilliant blue eyes. One of the Wraiths turns his head, feeling the presence of the Ring, and quickly advances towards him.

Noticing this I quickly threw one of my long swords between the shoulders of two of the three Wraiths that I am still fighting against, hitting the Wraith right in the back; quickly reaching behind me and grabbing one of my fighting knives out of the holster upon my back I blocked an attack from the Nazgûl in front of me. Enraged, the Black Rider pulls out my sword, tosses it angrily to the ground, then turns quickly and throws a much shorter sword at me, passing between the shoulders of the same Riders and hitting me square in my right shoulder, just below my collarbone. Holding in a cry of pain I continue to fight off the three Nazgûl with my long sword and fighting knife, although much less aggressively, going into a defensive tactic, as I tried to keep most of my energy to fight off the pain of my wound.

"Strider! Alys! Hurry!" I cried, hoping that my friends were close enough to hear my pleas of help and to hear the metallic ringing of sword on sword.

Terrified, Frodo puts on the Ring, hoping to hide from the Nazgûl and the Witch King, disappearing from anyone's site. I do not know what happens next, for I was much too concentrated on saving my life and fighting off the Wraiths, but the next thing that I hear is the agonized screaming of Frodo over the clashing of sword upon sword, and then the battle cries of Strider, Ellyn, Ayleth and Alys as they jumped into the ruins and quickly came to the aid of the Hobbits and myself.

"Frodo!" Cries Sam after returning to consciousness, running over to his injured friend; Merry and Pippin quickly following behind him.

"Thea!" Alys calls, slipping through the Nazgûl and one of the old statues beside me and helping me fight off the three Wraiths. Strider and Ayleth fought off the remaining two and setting alight one of the Nazgûl, while Ellyn rushed towards the Hobbits, trying to calm down all four of them. When the Wraiths were gone Strider ran over to Frodo after hearing Sam calling to him, while Ayleth came to Alys and me.

"Thea, are you OK?" Questioned Alys, watching as I pulled the blade from my shoulder, holding in a cry of pain.

"Yes, I am fine. Just a stab wound." I answered, wincing as the poisoned blade rubbed against my broken skin. "Frodo needs taking care of first."

"Thea, that's not just a stab wound." Alys says, concern dripping from her words as she closely inspects the now discarded blade. "You were stabbed by a Morgul blade."

"*sigh* This is not good. This is the last thing that we needed right now." Ayleth commented as she started to realize how much weaker I was already starting to look, sweat droplets starting to form along my brow and run down the sides of my face.

"We do not have time for this though. Frodo is our biggest concern right now. When he is done and tended to, that's when we will start to worry about me." I said before turning and making my way slowly towards Frodo.

"Still as stubborn as ever. We will worry about you when you drop to the ground out of sheer weakness." Alys muttered before turning and following after me with Ayleth trailing behind her.

Finally reaching Frodo, Strider picks up the blade that stabbed him, examining it before it turned to dust and blew away in the cool breeze.

"He's been stabbed by a Morgul blade. This is beyond my skill to heal. He needs Elvish medicine." He said, glancing towards Ellyn, Ayleth, Alys and I, hope flickering in his sea blue eyes hoping that we might be able to help, but we all shake our heads unable to help Frodo. Sighing, Strider picks up Frodo and gently throws him over his shoulder before turning around and rushing down the stairs and over the hills towards Trollshaw Forest nearby.

"Come Sam, Merry, Pippin. Quickly now! Grab your things and run!" Ellyn ushered the Hobbits down the stairs and towards their bags before ushering them down the rest of the stairs and running beside them, following Strider into the woods; Alys, Ayleth and I not far behind them, whistling to the horses as we ran and meeting up with them at the border of the woods. The screeches of the Nazgûl could be heard behind us quickening our speed as we weaved between the trees, moonlight breaking through the canopy of leaves above our hooded heads and dappling the forest floor with shadows of the dancing leaves in the light breeze on the moss and leaf covered ground.

"Hurry!" Strider yelled behind him, turning to make sure we were all there.

"We're six days from Rivendell! He'll never make it!" Sam called, his words laced in fear for his dear friend as he pulled Bill along behind him, the clattering of the pots and pans in Sam's pack could be heard over the heaves of breath of everyone as we ran through the trees.

"Do not think like that Samwise! You do not know the strength of your friend. He may make it." Ellyn chastised from her spot just behind Sam as she pulled Alice along behind her. Faintly, we could hear Frodo mumbling from where he rested, slung over Strider's shoulder, sweat danced upon his forehead as his body fought the poison from the blade.
"Hold on Frodo, hold on." Strider mumbled to himself, hoping that the small Hobbit slung over his shoulder would be alright.

"Please Frodo, hold on. You are needed for much greater things then what you have done so far. Do not give up." Alys and I mumbled, wishing Frodo not to give up and to keep holding on.

"Gandalf!" Frodo suddenly called out feverishly before falling unconscious, no doubt from shock and weakness as his little body was having troubles coping with the evil power of the Ring and now the poison from his wound.