Chapter Nine

By the time the little valley was no longer bending in a curve, Legolas and Aragorn found themselves heading straight for the mountains.  There were two sighs of relief when the view of the snow-covered peaks opened up before them. 

It seemed that nothing good happened that wasn‘t tempered with something not so good.  In this case, safety was tantalizingly within sight, but the ground was leveling out, as they neared the mountains, which meant they would soon be visible to the approaching snake.

The snow high up on the summits glowed a ghostly white in the moonlight.  The dark granite  below and the star-studded sky above was a scene that would normally have brought the two friends to a standstill so they could stare at the beauty before them.  Now, however, making haste was all that was on their minds.  Even the elf spared no time to admire this awe-inspiring piece of Nature.

“We might just make it,” Aragorn remarked somewhat breathlessly. Legolas hadn’t mentioned the snake being any closer, so the ranger’s hope was rising, along with the ground beneath him.

Before they could reach the enticing protection of the rocks, the valley reached the level of the slopes.  The smooth, grass-covered ground formed an upward grade, which ended at the foot of the huge granite boulders that had broken loose over time and fallen from high above.

“I wonder how high we’ll have to go to get away from that blasted snake.”  The ranger couldn’t keep a hint of anger and frustration from his voice.

Legolas shrugged. “Very high, I am thinking.”

The man looked at his friend and almost scoffed. “Come on, Legolas. Surely, that thing will not try to climb up the side of a mountain!”

“Do not underestimate the creature, Estel. Look how far from its home it has already come.  And what it did to the forest to try and catch us,” he added sadly.

“It’s used to the warmth of those tunnels. I don’t think it will like the cold air that it will find up there.” Aragorn waved his hand toward the peaks, as he and Legolas trotted in the direction the man was indicating.

“We shall see,” was the elf’s only comment, but his tone was full of doubt that he believed his friend was right.

It had escaped the group of forms, though not unscathed. It had been beaten and battered, causing instant pain, followed by deeper, residual aches It still felt. Several scales had been dislodged and in one place, blood was still oozing out. More than once, It had been forced to close It’s eyes to avoid them being injured. Even the tip of one of It’s fangs had been broken off.  Never in It’s long life had It been through such an ordeal.

When It had finally gotten free of the numerous forms onto the wavy ground, It stopped. The silvery glow from high above did not reveal to It where the prey had gone. It’s heat-seeking abilities were not giving It any information, either. Only It’s flicking tongue told It in which direction the beings had fled.

Each time It reached the top of a hill, It sought the prey’s scent, and each time It hissed in anger, unable to find that scent.

Then, all of a sudden, the odor It was after was detected, as it rode on the night wind, faint but definitely there. The beings were ahead.

It continued to move in the same direction, over one rise after another. With each hilltop that It attained, the scent became stronger, and It’s speed increased. Yet, the illusive beings remained just ahead of It.

So concentrated on finding It’s prey was It that It didn’t notice the mountains until the huge head raised upward, as It again used It‘s tongue to examine the air.  It found itself staring at something else It had never seen before. What It  now observed was so much larger than the forms It had just left behind. Was this as malevolent as  they had been?  Would this thing attempt to devour It should It venture too close?

It’s tongue flicked in and out, trying to discern exactly what the huge formation in front of It might be.

The structure came up out of the ground like the tower above It’s tunnels, but this was so much larger and smelled so much different. It was also motionless.  Was it asleep?  Dare It risk waking it?

All thoughts of trying to identify this structure left It’s mind, as It spotted the two beings, moving up toward the towering edifice.

The intensity of the chase suddenly went up tenfold.

Reaching the boulders was an immense relief for the two friends.  However, there was no thought of relaxing, because they knew their work was far from over.  As Legolas had pointed out earlier, the snake could not be underestimated, and thinking they were now safe and could let their guard slacken even a little would be doing just that.

They began to climb. 

There was no path to follow.  The boulders were strewn about in such a haphazard manner that Legolas and Aragorn had to go around, up and over and in some cases, shimmy between the huge rocks.  They were also moving in and out of the moonlight, which created black shadows  everywhere that the silver glow did not fall directly on.  They were forced to make very cautious steps in those areas.

“Does this seem familiar to you?” the ranger asked just before his foot slipped, and he let out a curse that would have curled the hair of Lord Elrond, if he had heard such a word coming from his carefully raised foster son.

“Estel, are you all right?” Legolas asked with concern, not sure what might have  happened.

“Fine,” the man replied between clenched teeth.  It was his sore leg that had taken the brunt of the misstep but no damage had been done.

“Troll country.  Along the river.”

Aragorn frowned.  “What?”

“You asked if this seemed familiar.  Did you not wish me to answer your inquiry?”

Now remembering that he had even asked the question, Aragorn nodded.  “Big rocks everywhere.”

“At least we were on relatively level ground then,” the elf offered.

“True.  But we were being pursued then, too.  I think I am getting tired of being chased by whatever creature decides wants to eat us,” he grumbled.

“Then I suggest you quit wanting to go where there are things that wish to do that to us,” Legolas stated dryly.

Aragorn stopped and turned to look back at his friend.  “And just how was I supposed to know there was a giant snake under that tower?”

“Because, dear ranger, you wanted to go there.”  Since it wasn’t as if he had nothing whatsoever to do with the mishaps that often befell them, it was a declaration that Aragorn found hard to deny.  Just the same, he was about to fling a scathing retort at the elf, when a loud hiss stopped him.

Legolas looked behind him.  He closed his eyes and shook his head.  The snake had reached the rocks and was not finding it hard to move over them, since its body was large enough to simply slide across the tops of the massive boulders.  Even the sharp edges of some of the boulders were not able to penetrate the scales of the serpent’s underbelly.

Looking beyond the elf and seeing the same thing his friend saw, Aragorn groaned.  “That is not fair.  That thing just slides over the boulders while we have to struggle for every step.”

“Then move it, human,” Legolas commanded urgently, reaching out and literally pushing the ranger forward.  “We have to find a place to get into that is too small for the snake to reach us.”

Aragorn didn’t bother answering.  He started scrambling up the rocks that blocked his way to finding such a sanctuary.

It only took a couple of minutes for the snake to catch up to the two friends.  At one point, the creature raised its head, towering over them.  Its yellow eyes seemed to glow in the moonlight, while its fangs shimmered menacingly.

It’s head, fangs leading, jerked forward and  downward, opening It’s lethal jaws wider just as the light colored one dropped down between two boulders.

It’s reaction to the pain, having hit it’s broken right fang on the top of the boulder, behind which the elf and the ranger crouched, was almost like a shriek.

Ignoring the pain from the failed strike, It tried again, this time being careful to pull back just before It’s fang took another hit.

The second shriek that erupted from It demonstrated the fury It felt at once again missing It’s target. 

It tried a new strategy.  Instead of lunging down toward the prey in an all-out attempt to grab the beings, It arched It’s neck and angled It’s head so that It could push It’s mouth down between the rocks and grab what It wanted more than anything It had wanted in a very long time.

It preferred live food, but if It couldn’t bite the beings, It would crush them first and then maneuver them out without resistance.  Either way, they would be consumed with relish.

It felt that victory was within It’s grasp at last.

There was no time to make an escape.  Realizing, almost too late, what the snake was attempting, Legolas shoved Aragorn out of the way and then dove on top of the ranger.  It was no surprise when Legolas felt  something hit his back with a painful force before he felt the pressure ease up.

Aragorn had known from long experience traveling with Legolas that the push that had landed him flat on his stomach was the elf getting him out of the way of something bad headed his way.  Before he could utter a word, the archer landed on top of him.

He had quickly turned his head enough to look over his right shoulder, and, despite the dark shadows down between the rocks, the man had seen the snake’s head coming down toward his friend.

Then he had felt a hard push from above.  It hurt, so he knew how painful it must have been for Legolas. 

“Are you all right?” Aragorn managed to ask in a wheezing rasp, his panic that Legolas was injured allowing him to force air from his lungs enough to form words.

His only answer was to feel Legolas lift off of him, grab his arm and yank him upward with a wrenching jerk.

“Move it!” the elf yelled.  “Now!”  The order was accompanied by a shove in the back.

Recognizing the desperate urgency in that voice, Aragorn got his feet under him and began to scramble into the only space that was open to him - straight ahead.

Legolas had been forced to let go of his friend’s arm, but he was right behind the ranger.

Since the elf could see much better in the darkness than he could, Aragorn wanted the elf to lead the way, but there was no room and no time to make the switch.  Haste was the name of the game right now, so the man did his best not to trip up and  cause both of them to fall.

The snake was moving above and only a little behind them, poking its head down between the rocks whenever there was a gap big enough for it to do so.  More than once the serpent’s nose scraped against Legolas’s back.  Had it been able to open its mouth in the confined space, there was little doubt that the elf would have been severely, if not fatally, bitten.

“Where is the cave?” Aragorn asked.

“What cave?”  Legolas was confused, since Aragorn had never mentioned being in these mountains before.  He certainly had never mentioned a cave!

“We always find a cave when we’re in need of one,” the ranger replied with the utmost logic and more than a little confidence.  “Well, we’re sure in need of one now.  So, where is it?”  His confidence had slipped a little by the time he asked that question.

Aragorn was expecting a smart remark from the elf behind him.  But, there was no reaction from his friend.

When the man turned around, ready to question the elf’s silence, there was also no Legolas.

TBC