Chapter Thirteen

Aragorn blinked to make certain what he thought he saw was really there.  He realized, though,  that from this distance, he couldn’t be sure.  Knowing that time was running out, the ranger had no choice but to go for it.

He carefully picked Legolas up and began making his way upward.  It didn’t take him more than a few steps to realize that, since he was climbing rather than moving laterally, he wasn’t going to be able to pull Legolas along the way he had been doing.  It would simply be too awkward and take much too long.  So, with a sigh, he turned Legolas around to face him, lowered himself into a crouch and then gently dropped the elf over his shoulder. 

Legolas may not be able to feel the pressure that was being exerted on his wounds, but Aragorn did, though his feelings were purely sympathetic in nature.  “Forgive me, mellon nin,” he whispered.  “But it must be done this way.”

Once his friend was adjusted into the most secure position that could be managed, Aragorn rose and started again.  This time, he was able to attain the speed he was hoping for.

The fact that the boulders were spaced farther apart and were now barely half his height with many even shorter, allowed him to move relatively freely, but it also meant he and Legolas were exposed.  Glancing behind himself, the ranger saw the snake.  Under normal circumstances, it would have been fascinating to watch the huge creature make it’s way over the huge boulders.  Not now.

Aragorn turned his head  and looked back up the slope.  It was going to be a race to see what would happen first, whether he and Legolas were going to reach the goal the ranger was aiming for or the snake was going to reach them.  In the ranger’s mind, there could be only one winner, and that was the pair of them.

As It got closer, and Its’ sight became somewhat sharper, It noticed that there was something different about the prey being.

It seemed bigger, not taller, but it appeared to have more substance to it.  And, there was something light colored hanging down behind it.  It’s rudimentary memory didn’t recall anything like that before.  Was this perhaps something else that lived in this world of rock?

The mystery was fleeting in It’s mind.  Even if this was a new prey, it was still prey and would be worth at least a quick inspection, especially since nothing else was in sight.

It was gaining on the prey, as It moved over the now-shorter rocks.  As a matter of instinct, It extended It’s tongue and flicked it up and down, testing the air for the scent of this ‘new’ prey, looking for a way to identify it.

It was surprised to find that the scent that It detected smelled like both the prey beings It had been pursuing from the beginning.  It was confused.  How could one being have the smell of two different ones?
It increased It’s pace, so It could soon find out.

The dark area was indeed an opening, which could only be a cave, and was set into the base of the depression’s rock wall.  How deep the cave was or how much protection it would offer, Aragorn had no idea.

The opening was not a large one and certainly did not allow him to walk into it, even if he had not been carrying Legolas.

A quick glance back showed the ranger that the snake was fast approaching.  Getting safely inside before the creature arrived was still going to be a very close call.

The main problem was that the cave entrance was several feet up, and the slope of the rock below it was a steep one.

Aragorn hurried to the base and sought a way to climb up, but there were no real ‘steps’, either in the form of handholds or boulders that he could use to get up to the cave.  Thinking fast, as he had been trained to do, he realized that there was only one chance.

With clenched teeth, Aragorn reached into his belt pouch and pulled out what appeared to be a thin and somewhat fragile looking cord, but was, in reality, a sturdy elven rope.  He had used it many times, but none was more important than this one.

With nimble and practiced finger movements, the ranger fashioned a loop in one end, all the while forcing himself not to look back at the snake.  He couldn’t afford to be distracted even the tiniest bit, nor could he afford to rush what he was doing to the point that his fingers began fumbling in their efforts.  His pounding heart told him that the serpent was getting ever closer. 

What he had spotted as his one chance to save them was a small protrusion of rock above the cave entrance.  He knew he would likely have only one opportunity to connect on the toss.  If he missed it, time would run out.

The lasso flew upward and neatly encircled the piece of rock.  Pulling on the rope to make it taught enough to hold his and Legolas’s weight, Aragorn grabbed hold and, hand over hand, began to pull them up.

It was only a few feet, but the strain made progress seem like a snail’s pace.  Time also seemed to have slowed down, making it seem to the man as if Ilúvatar’s Song would end long before he reached his goal of a safe place to hide.

By the time the ranger was able to pull himself and the elf up high enough for him to place his right foot on the bottom edge of the cave entrance, he could hear the snake’s scales scraping over the rocks.

He and Legolas were now even with the dark hole but there was no time to maneuver them inside.  Placing both feet on the bottom edge of the entrance, Aragorn bent his knees close to his body and then pushed out as hard as he could.  He swung out and then, when he reached the apex of his swing and started moving back toward the opening, Aragorn straightened his legs and aimed them into the cave. 

Once he had cleared the entrance, he let go of the rope, so it wouldn’t pull them to a stop and possibly back out again.

While in the air,   Aragorn twisted around, putting him face down and bringing Legolas’s head and upper body to the top.

The ‘cave’ turned out to be a lot smaller than expected.  That fact hit Aragorn when he literally hit the rear wall with his outstretched legs.  The jolt was a strong one, running all the way up his body. Had Legolas’s legs not been pinned under Aragorn, the elf would have gone flying head first into the back wall of solid rock.  It might well have killed him outright.

Aragorn rolled over as far as he could and gently eased Legolas off of him, though he was able to reach back enough to make sure the elf‘s head remained on the man’s leg rather than rolling off and hitting the rocky floor. 

They were facing in two different directions, but there was little room in which to turn Legolas around.  He might have been able to wiggle himself around, but he didn’t get the chance.

Suddenly, the whole cave shook.  It shocked  Aragorn, who frowned in confusion.  It made no sense that he and Legolas’s weight, hitting the floor of the little cave, would make the whole place shake like that, especially several seconds later.

It wasn’t until he lifted his head and turned it back to look toward the  entrance that he saw the giant, yellow eye of the snake staring back at him.  He jerked in startled fright, then relaxed - a little.  So, it had been the snake hitting the outside of the cave with its head that was the cause of the vibration. 

After it became clear that the serpent could not get to them, Aragorn gave a nervous laugh.  “We made it, mellon nin, with a whole two seconds to spare.”

He waited half a beat before remembering that Legolas was not going to  answer him.  How he wished he could hear even the sarcastic, acid-tongued retort the elf was famous for giving him in situations like these.  How he wished he could anything from the elven prince.

Before Aragorn could lament further, something wet slapped him in the face.  The ranger saw that the offensive object was the creature’s long, black, forked and decidedly slimy tongue.

The ranger tried squirming deeper into the cave, but there was no room to do more than bend his knees to gain a few inches of precious space. 

The serpent’s tongue came into the cave once more, and again it slapped the ranger’s face.  The feel of it evoked visions of the snake wrapping the gross thing around his head and dragging him out of the cave and straight into the huge mouth.  Aragorn shuddered and then reached over and drew Legolas’s legs in as far as he could to keep that horrific scenario from playing out with his friend.

As he watched, the eye pulled away and then disappeared from sight.  As tempting as it was to want to look out and see where the creature had gone, Aragorn knew that doing so, should the snake be too near, would defeat everything he had done to find shelter from it.

Just as suddenly, the eye returned along with another blow to the rock wall from the serpent’s head.  Luckily, even this huge creature couldn’t bring enough force to bear on the solid rock to do more than cause the small vibrations Aragorn had felt earlier.  Otherwise, the man was afraid he and Legolas would have been shaken until they were dislodged and fell out of the little sanctuary.  Even knowing this wasn’t possible, the situation was still a scary one.

This time, when the snake’s head turned forward and the mouth opened, Aragorn was ready.  As the leathery tongue came in again, the ranger, who had maneuvered around and pulled out the knife he carried in his belt,  stabbed it.  He used so much force, backed by such fierce determination, that the blade was driven all the way through to the rocky floor, pinning the tongue there.

The combination of roar and hiss that the snake emitted sent shivers down Aragorn’s spine.  It was the same bone-chilling sound that he and Legolas had heard in the forest when the creature had been attacked by the trees.  Here, in the confined space of the little shelter, it was deafening.

The snake pulled back, causing even more damage as the knife blade ripped through its tongue, leaving a gaping wound from the middle all the way out one side, giving it the appearance of being forked in two places.

Aragorn stared, as the snake’s head could be seen thrashing up and down and side to side, flecks of blood spraying out and running down its lower jaw.  There was also a trail of blood from the spot where the knife had stabbed the tongue and leading out and over the edge of the cave entrance.

When the snake’s head vanished from sight again, Aragorn did not move forward to peer out and see where the creature had gone this time, either.  Soft hissing, sounding like the equivalent of moaning, told him the snake had not gone nearly far enough to risk a look.

With the huge reptile, hopefully, out of the way for a while, Aragorn decided to turn his attention to Legolas. 

The elf had not so much as moved a muscle nor uttered a sound, since the man had found him.  Not a good sign.  Not a good sign, at all.

TBC