Fallen Leafs, Part XI
by Areli

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"We shall sneak out." Aragorn said. "Pretend that we are carrying him to his death. If any question us, simply say that we are off to dispose of the traitor."  

"It is odd that your idea makes sense to me." Gimli said.  

Legolas' breathing grew more laboured. Aragorn went to his side.  

"Legolas...do you still have the ring?" he asked softly. Legolas nodded faintly. 

"Why did they not simply take it from him I wonder..." Aragorn thought out loud. "Come, we must flee then. Take your things." he said suddenly noticing Gimli.  

 

They stole away into the night and hid among the crevices of the rocks. Goblins forever passed them by yet none seemed to question why the Man carried a sack over his shoulder and a small figure cloaked in black trailed behind.  

Aragorn stared up at the wall that blocked them from leaving. It surrounded the fortress.  

"What will we do?" Gimli questioned. "If we scale it, the goblins will surely kill us."  

"Bow..." he heard Legolas say. Aragorn laid him down against the wall and uncovered him. Legolas' was gasping for breath at this point. "My...bow...swords..." he muttered.  

"They have his weapons." Aragorn stated.  

"Well obviously. We cannot simply go back and get them. He shall have to live without them."  

Aragorn nodded and looked into Legolas sadly. 

"I am sorry my friend but we cannot get them for you." Legolas' head lowered. Whether it was from fatigue or sorrow, they could not be sure.  

Aragorn covered him once more and slung him over his shoulder. 

"And where are the two companions going off to?" They heard a voice ask from behind them. Saruman.  

"We are going to dispose of these goods." Aragorn said. "They are of no use to us now."  

"And what goods might they be?" Saruman questioned.  

"Elven goods from Lothlorien. I cannot stand the sight of them any longer."  

"Hm..." Saruman murmered. He stroked his beard for a moment in thought. "Very well...but you will have to be escorted." 

"As you command my master." Aragorn said, bowing. Gimli bowed as well.  

 

Three Uruk-Hai's followed closely behind them.  

"Have you really become traitors?" one orc asked them.  

"A dwarf is not a traitor." Gimli huffed. "I simply chose the better side."  

The orcs laughed. "Indeed you did!" one cried.  

Aragorn did not stop walking until they reached the borders of Rohan.  

"That is far enough for you to dispose of them." an orc told Aragorn.  

Gimli looked at Aragorn for a brief moment. Aragorn flashed the "now" signal.  

Gimli suddenly spun around, his axe in hand, and attacked.  

The orcs, surprised, simply recoiled instead of deflected. One laid dead within seconds. 

Aragorn gently laid Legolas down in the fields and drew his sword. 

In a matter of minutes all three orcs laid dead. Aragorn wiped his blade in the fields and put it back in it's holder. 

"That was not so hard." He said with a slight grin.  

 

"Ahhh!" Legolas suddenly cried sharply. They turned around and found that Legolas was twitching horribly.  

Aragorn removed the sack and wondered what it was from.  

"Perhaps the ring is calling to him again." Gimli wondered. 

"Legolas...calm yourself..." Aragorn soothed. For a moment, Legolas' eyes simply glazed over and he did not see them.  

His body finally laid still yet his breathing became shallow.  

"He will not live long." Aragorn said sadly. "We must do something."  

"Yet what?"  

"There are no suitable herbs here for me to be able to use." Aragorn said, frustrated. "Nothing except open fields. He cannot survive like this!"  

"I know this. And yet what can we do? We are days away from anything."  

"Perhaps I could be of assitance." said a new voice. They turned around, weapons ready, and found a man concealed in a grey cloak. The voice sounded so familiar.  

"Who are you?" Gimli ordered. The man did not answer yet instead went to Legolas' side.  

After chanting a few words, Legolas' wounds simply faded away. He breathed fully again as his eyes suddenly adjusted.  

He uttered one word. 

"Mithrandir..." 

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