Chapter Thirty Four

Aragorn had been keeping an occasional eye on what lay ahead of him, as he rode through the forest. He only had to keep clear of low-lying braches that could knock him from his stallion’s back. To counter any possible mishap, he rode low over the neck of the horse, who would take care of avoiding any obstacles or dips on the ground. Taking note of the branches that were in his path with each glance forward, Aragorn was much more concerned with what lay behind him.

The trolls didn’t seem to be gaining any ground on him, but they weren’t losing any, either. That last thought surprised Aragorn. Then he remembered that the trolls, as big as they were, called these surrounding forests home and thus were capable of moving through them fairly quickly - too quickly for his liking.

The shouts of pursuit, almost sounding like a frenzy, continued unabated. It was all too clear what the creatures had in mind if they caught up with their prey, not that the ranger ever had any delusions about that.

Suddenly, Aragorn sat upright, almost getting smacked square across the forehead. He managed to duck just in time, feeling the leaves grab at his hair, as he went under the sturdy branch. He didn’t spare the time to think about the headache that near miss would have caused.

What had startled him was the fact that he was sure he had heard his name, his elven name, coming to him through the trees. The man dismissed the idea that someone in this forest could be calling out the name Estel. Then it struck him that it had to be Legolas! It couldn't be anyone else. The man had to smile, because that meant the elf was not only alive but nearby, as well.

Hard on the heels of the joy that had immediately flooded his heart, Aragorn realized there had been a desperate tone in the call. Legolas was not yelling out a happy greeting. It was a warning! Did the elf see the trolls behind him and was trying to make the ranger aware of them? Or was there something Legolas knew that he did not? Either one could easily be true.

It only took a few more long strides of his horse before Aragorn saw exactly what the warning had been for. He saw a number of trolls seemingly milling about ahead of him. Oddly enough, they didn’t appear to have seen him yet. Legolas must be in a tree, and perhaps the trolls thought he was just yelling at them.

The elf, though cautious when caution was required, did tend to become defiant at times. Of course, these creatures wouldn’t know that. Who were these trolls anyway? Aragorn wondered with a puzzled frown on his face.

Even though he only had a brief glimpse of them, he could still tell that they looked different from all the others he and Legolas had seen so far. He didn’t have time to pin down the details, but he knew there was something not quite the same as those of the two groups behind him.

The ranger had only a few seconds to decide what he was going to do. Legolas was evidently safe in the tree, for the moment at any rate, but if the trolls were around him, it was doubtful his safety was going to last long.

The beasts behind him were coming fast, but they were still out of sight. Therefore, it seemed these creatures in front of him were the immediate problem that Aragorn was going to have to deal with.

He would lead the trolls away from Legolas, giving the elf time to escape. The decision was easy, made more from instinct than careful consideration. Even if he had given it more deliberation, he would have come to the same conclusion. Aragorn would do whatever he could to save his friend.

Meanwhile, being on horseback gave Aragorn the advantage. If all went well, he could send Legolas’s horse back to get him. Once they were both mounted, freedom couldn’t be far behind.

It sounded like a good plan. However, the ranger knew very well that plans, no matter how well thought out, often went awry. Look what had happened when all he and Legolas had wanted to do originally was cross troll territory and reach Rivendell.

Aragorn thought back to the message they had received from his father, Lord Elrond, asking for their help. Bandits had been spotted around several of the human villages nearest to the elven haven. Elrond had wanted Aragorn and Legolas to help the twins and other Rivendell warriors to find their hideout and clean it out.

“I’m sorry, ada. We will be quite late. I trust you all can handle the bandits without us.” That would have been humorous enough to bring a laugh, if things hadn’t gotten so serious for the two friends.

In truth, he had no doubt that the Rivendell elves could indeed handle the bandits or whatever else came their way. Why then had Lord Elrond requested their presence? He would have to ask when he and Legolas finally reached Rivendell, something he was fiercely determined to do.

These thoughts were quickly banished as Aragorn continued to head straight toward the new group of trolls. It broke his heart to hear Legolas shouting for him to go back, thinking the ranger was unknowingly riding into danger. He tried to shout back that he saw the trolls in front of him and would lead them away, but the creatures had now seen him and were yelling far louder than he ever could. Even with Legolas’s keen hearing, he didn’t think the elf would hear him. All he could do now was ride away and hope all the trolls would follow him.

As Aragorn continued his mad dash away from the trolls around Legolas, this time heading in a new direction, he whispered, “Stay safe, Legolas, until I can find you again.”

*~*~*~*

Legolas was shouting as loudly as he could for Aragorn to turn back. He hadn’t yet seen the trolls behind the man, only those around the tree he was in, but they were enough.

His heart sank when he saw that the trolls below him had now seen the ranger coming and were starting to shout at him.

A quick wave of Aragorn’s hand in his direction told the elf that his friend knew he was there. ‘He is leading them away from me.’ Legolas was stunned, though he quickly realized that such a move by the man shouldn’t really be a surprise.

If only the trolls around him weren’t so close, he could call his horse to him, then drop down onto the stallion’s back and follow Aragorn away. But the trolls were between him and the animal. He would never deliberately turn the horse into the horrid creatures, though he knew the faithful stallion would come if called, trolls or no trolls.

It was with mixed feelings that Legolas watched Aragorn and the two horses move deeper into the forest. They would most likely be safe, but they were also his only hope of freedom. There was no contest as to which was more important, but it was still a despairing feeling watching them disappear from sight.

Just as Legolas was beginning to fear might happen, the trolls below his tree split up. Most went after the man and the horses, but a few remained. They had one quarry treed, and they were not going to let him get away, no matter how many other potential prey ran past them.

It was then that Legolas saw the trolls that had been chasing Aragorn come into view. They hadn’t seen the man turn away into a new direction, but they did see the rover trolls heading off, so they began to follow them.

Neither Tack nor Sump paid any attention to the trolls that stayed behind. There was a full-blown chase going on, and they each intended on being the ultimate winner.

Legolas stood on the oak branch and was still staring long after the howling horde of creatures had gone so far into the forest that even he could no longer hear them.

Legolas sighed. “Do not come back for me, Estel,” the elf whispered. It was a futile hope, and he knew it. The ranger would no more leave him behind than he would leave the ranger. Legolas just hoped his friend wouldn’t take too many risks trying to come back and rescue him.

When Legolas finally drew his attention away from Aragorn, he looked down and saw that four trolls had stayed behind. The elf shook his head. At this point, even one would probably be too much for him. He sat down on the branch, not sure what to do next. The troll he had killed, the flight after it and the climb up the tree had taken the last of his strength.

The four trolls, seeing that the only thing left for them was the creature in the tree, began to hit the tree with their shoulders.

Their efforts sent vibrations upward toward the elf. He was not worried that they could topple the old oak, who was far too sturdy for anything short of an ax. However, Legolas did feel bad that the tree had to endure the vicious blows.

One of the trolls then tried to climb the tree. Each branch he grabbed was unable to bear his great weight. They were cruelly ripped loose from the trunk and then thrown down to the ground by the frustrated beast.

Soon there were no branches left for even the tallest of the trolls to grab onto.

Legolas stared at the gaping holes and twisted splinters that dotted the tree’s lower trunk. The light beige color stood out in stark contrast to the much darker bark. They were comparable to wounds in the flesh of an elf or mortal, and it was upsetting for the wood-elf to see.

“I am sorry, my friend,” Legolas lamented, “that I have brought these brutes to cause you pain.” He had no idea whether the tree heard him, or in its current unresponsive condition, if it could even feel what had just been done to it, but his guilt made him feel the need to apologize nonetheless.

Two of the other trolls began to grab the branches from the ground and throw them up into the tree, hoping to dislodge the being that was looking down on them.

It didn’t take more than a few times of either being hit by a branch falling back down or having to jump out of the way, for the fourth creature to realize that what the others were doing was not getting the job done.

“Stop throwin’ them stupid branches’,” the fourth troll said in exasperation. “You ain’t gittin’ close to him. Yer just gonna hurt one of us.”

“Well, you was tryin’ to climb up there,” one of the others pointed out. “That weren’t too smart, neither.”

The object of his ridicule backhanded him across the face. “Shut up!” he bellowed.

Legolas couldn’t help but be amused by the utter idiocy of these creatures. Since they couldn’t reach him, and he had no intention of going anywhere anytime soon, he hoped they would get so frustrated that they would give up and take off after the other trolls.

He grimaced, since he realized he was wishing that more trolls would chase Aragorn, but there were so many already on the ranger’s trail, that four more would hardly tip the balance of power in any way. Besides, if he could get free, he felt sure he would be able to help. Just how that might happen, he had no idea, but he tried to hang onto hope That thought made him smile. Hope.

“Stay safe, Estel, until I can find you again.”

TBC