Chapter 4

“Where are they?” Pippin asked Jared, grabbing him by the shoulders encouragingly.

The boy knew he needed to tell the Ring-bearer’s kin what he knew and he did not have to struggle with his conscious. “The Ring-bearer and the King are trapped in one the damaged homes down on the 4^th living level. It was one of the ones the dwarf man was working on yesterday,” he said. “I scared the horse and the building fell with them inside. I’m sorry. My caregiver threw me out and told not to come back unless I found some money to give him. I tried to steal a horse and when it was the King’s horse, it spooked and then the whole building collapsed,” the boy confessed.

Merry was already tugging on Pippin’s cloak, heading back to get Gandalf when he had seen one of Aragorn’s guards. “Hoi!”

“Master Merry, you look upset. How may I help you?” the guard asked.

“Aragorn and Frodo were seen on the 4^th level when a building collapsed on them. We have to get them out!”

“I just came from there. Master Gimli and the Elf are down there now assessing the damage, but we did not find any evidence that they were there,” he sadly stated.

“But, the child told us he had seen them. He said he accidentally caused the building to fall,” Pippin said, tugging Jared with him.

The guard looked upon the curly blond headed child and immediately recognized him. “You were the one on the King’s horse. Why didn’t you tell me what happened then?” the gurard’s voice rising in anger.

The boy cringed behind Pippin, not an impossible task since the Perinnath had grown inches by drinking the Ent water. “You are scaring him. It took great courage to tell us what happened. His caregiver had threatened him not to come home if he did not have any coin when he returned,” Pippin said in the boy’s defense.

“I stand corrected. Please, let us hurry. The King and the Ring-bearer are in much need of help, if help is still needed,” the guard said lowly hoping that they were not too late. Air runs out quickly in a building collapse, depending on how big the space was.

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Frodo slowly woke in the dark and forgetting where he was, panic set in. He couldn’t breathe and there was a heaviness on his chest. Trying to force himself up out of the pit of darkness he was drowning in, the pressure suddenly disappeared and a faint light appeared.

“Frodo,” Aragorn breathed heavily, “Easy, you fell asleep…beneath my…cloak,” he finished, laying his hand upon the Hobbit’s chest.

Shaking the last of the cobwebs from his head, Frodo reprimanded himself for being such a scared fool in front of the King. He started to get up when dizziness assailed him and Frodo had to sit for just a minute longer.

“The air is running out…my friend. Conserve your energy…for…as long…,” Aragorn was not able to complete his sentence, the stale heavy air escaping his lungs and no fresh air to replace it.

The King closed his eyes, then reopened them. His vision was becoming blurry, the feeling of light headedness increasing. He did not know how much time he had left on this mortal plane, but he was sure Frodo had a little bit more than himself because of his size. A feeling of remorse came over him as his thoughts focused on Frodo dying alone. He then felt a hand upon his shoulder and for just a moment his vision cleared to see the Ring-bearer smile.

“Do not fear for me, Aragorn. I have been prepared for this day since I was given the task to destroy the Ring, but it will not be today ! Only when I decide there is no hope left. If there was one lesson Queen Galadriel taught me, it was that one small person could change the world and I did that, Aragorn. I did! So, you do not give up on me, Strider! That is the one lesson Sam taught me as well,” Frodo declared, getting up to his knees, then slowly to his feet. He felt in his pocket for the Star Glass and raising it into the air spoke the chosen words, lighting the darkened space.

That was the last light Aragorn saw before his lids closed and darkness surrounded him.

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Legolas still stood by that Aragorn and the Ring-bearer where buried underneath the collapsed building and he had decided to take up residence on a nearby rock when his keen elven sight caught a flash of something from the edge of the rubble. He quickly gained his feet and found the object of a Mallorean leaf broach reflecting the sun’s intense rays. As he picked it up, another bright flash caught his attention, but more from the center of the collapsed building. He closed his eyes and focused his hearing. Gimli’s metal boots walking the perimeter of the collapsed stones. Some of the men’s voices speaking of who would lead them if the King had perished. Then a scratching noise of some sort. It was inconsistent at first, then it started to take on a rhythm of its own. Scratch, scratch, scratch. Scratch, scratch, scratch. Then Gimli’s boots stopped beside him.

“What is it?” the dwarf asked.

“A noise…from within the walls,” Legolas said, opening his eyes. Flipping over the broach in his hands he added, “I also found this. I believe it belongs to Frodo.”

“Probably a rodent of some sort,” Gimli said, not so sure himself. “Do you still hear it?”

Legolas closed his eyes, cleared his mind of all else except for the one noise he did want to concentrate on, but he faltered as new sounds entered the area.

Master Dwarf!” a guard yelled as he came upon horseback carrying not only himself but what seemed like three children.

“Gimli, Gimli! Frodo and Aragorn are trapped in there!” Pippin and Merry yelled in unison.

“Please, get the horse back before more of these unstable rocks cause a landslide!” the Dwarf warned, then he added “What?”

Legolas quickly helped the three small riders dismount so that the guard could back the horse out of the danger zone, then the guard dismounted himself to help with the search.

“Aragorn and Frodo are here!” Pippin repeated.

“But, we cannot find no signs of them here, young masters, except for this,” Gimli stated handing the Mallorean broach to Pippin’s outstretched hand.

The boy came from behind Merry, looking at the piece of jewelry and admitted what he had done. “I am sorry,” he said hanging his head low, only looking at his feet.

“Legolas, where did you hear that noise?” the dwarf hurriedly asked.

The Elf quickly ran to the exact place he had heard the scratching, waiting to hear it once again.

Silence hung in the air as many breaths were held waiting for anything that would let them, or the Elf, know that their friends were indeed trapped under all that rubble.

Scr…atch.

“Here!” Legolas said, bending down closer to where the noise came from. “Aragorn?“ the Elf called out.

Within the cave, Frodo thought he had heard some muffled voices and had stopped his digging. He waited for a few moments, then some dust started falling on him when he had felt vibrations beneath him. When the voices did not continue, Frodo felt discouraged, but he promised Aragorn that he would not give up so he continued digging for as long as he was able. Then the Ring-bearer heard a more distinct voice calling for Aragorn. Taking a deep breath, Frodo returned the call.

“HE…LP!” he cried out weakly.

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Legolas had his ear to the rock and smiled.

“What is it lad? Gimli asked.

“Aragorn?” Merry asked.

“No,” he answered, “Frodo. He sounds far away, weak, but I can hear him digging. We must

hurry!”

“No offense, Master Elf, but let me get in there and assess the wall. We do not want another collapse. At least I might be able to make a hole for some air to pass through,” Gimli said as he sized up the wall of rock.

With a small branch he used for leverage, Gimli knocked out a few of the rocks to create a way for air to get in. When the dust settled, the dwarf was able to see a bright light emanating from the cavern, illuminating the still bodies of their trapped friends. “Oh, no!” the dwarf said.

“Gimli?” Pippin asked.

With some calculations, leverages, properly placed supports and lots of man labor, Gimli gave the signal to release the first leverage to propel the rocks forward which in turn worked on a pulley system and brought the wooden beams in place to prevent the ceiling from crashing down.

When the dust cleared. Gimli looked in the intended small hole.

“What do you see? Are they there?” an anxious Merry asked.

Gimli sighed, shaking his head. “Aye, they are there, but…”

“What?” Pippin interjected.

“They are not moving, lads,” he finished, trying not to think the worse, but it entered his mind a few minutes back.