Eliza's Adventure (Aragorn Love Story)

- 3 -

I traveled fast and hard but I was still several days from Bree. I have traveled on my own in the past but there was something about this journey that put me on edge. There was evil in the air and it frightened me. I just wanted to get to Bree as quickly as possible.

I slowed my horse to a trot since I could tell he was getting tired. Suddenly, I heard twigs snap behind me. I whipped my head around but couldn't see anything. I kept going, telling myself I was just paranoid. After a couple more minutes, I heard more rustling. Knowing I didn't just imagine it I fingered my bow, looking around me wildly.

Then, an arrow whizzed by my head. I ducked and swiftly notched an arrow trying to locate where the attack was coming from. Turning around, I saw four orcs appear from behind the trees. I shot and hit one but soon two more had appeared. As I shot more arrows, one orc struck my horse with a rock. Spooked, he reared up and I tumbled off as my horse bolted away. I called after it but it was no use.

I watched cautiously as the six orcs tried to corner me against a tree but I jumped and unsheathed my sword, swinging and killing two. I ducked and parried, dodged and rolled and swung. There were only two left to defeat. While I was focused on one, the other slashed at my cheek and I was caught off balance, falling and hitting my head on a rock. I grimaced as I felt sticky blood running down my face. But I quickly stood back up, killing the other two orcs.

I stood there for a second trying to catch my breath when I heard several loud growls from a couple miles away. An orc pack wasn't far behind me. I started running, wishing I still had my horse. I was out of breath and bleeding but I couldn't stop so I just kept going. I lost track of how long I had been running but chanced a look over my shoulder.

As I was running and looking behind me, I suddenly collided with something firm and was knocked off my feet. I let out a surprised yell as I landed on my back. I winced as my head was bashed around yet again and I blinked my eyes to get the blurriness and dizziness to fade.

Finally, I could see clearly what I had run into, or who I had run into. I stared up at the tall man with dark, wavy hair and kind blue eyes. Instead of thinking about how attractive he was, I busied myself with getting up and brushing myself off. I listened hard for more noise of the orc pack behind me, but I must've lost them. I hoped I did, at least.

"Who are you?" The man asked me. I met his eyes again, glancing past him to see four smaller men approaching with confused looks as they eyed me.

"Hobbits?" was the first thing that came out of my mouth as I peered around the man in front of me.

He stepped carefully to block the hobbits from my view. "Who are you?" he asked this time more sternly, as he looked me up and down, his frown deepening as he noticed the blood covering the left side of my face.

Realizing that this man seemed to be protecting the hobbits, I said, "My name's Eliza. I was sent to Bree to meet up with a hobbit and the wizard, Gandalf."

The man visibly relaxed. "I was asked by Gandalf to retrieve the hobbits and escort them to Rivendell."

"Rivendell? Gandalf didn't mention Rivendell to me. Who are you?" I questioned the man.

"Around here, I go by Strider. Gandalf was held up. He didn't give me any more information. He also didn't mention you to me. How do I know you are here on his terms?"

I sighed frustrated. "Yeah, well, the only information I got was 'meet me in Bree' and 'a hobbit has something.' Like that clears so much up. You weren't mentioned to me either so..." I shrugged at the man and walked around him, facing the hobbits. "I'm Eliza as I'm sure you all heard. I am a good friend of Gandalf's and I suppose I will now be accompanying you to Rivendell. What are your names?"

They were silent for a moment, then the bigger one approached me with a smile. "Samwise Gamgee, miss. Pleasure to meet you."

"Good to meet you too, Samwise." I gave him a smile back. Then Pippin introduced himself, then Merry, and finally Frodo. I turned back to Strider who was watching me with a furrowed brow. "So, to Rivendell?" I asked.

"I do not know if I can trust you." He stated.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "Okay, you're obviously stronger and more heavily armed than I am, your self esteem must be really low if you think I'm that big of a threat to you."

My sarcastic remark caused a small smile to flit across the man's face. "Fine. But if you are going to join us, I feel obliged to do something about your head wound. The hobbits could use a break for a while, anyway."

I had honestly forgotten about my head injury, but now that he mentioned it, the throbbing and stinging came back. I nodded as the hobbits sat down, munching on some apples. Strider disappeared for a couple minutes but returned with some healing herbs, a cloth, and some bandages. We both sat down and he wet the cloth with some water, carefully bringing it to my head and wiping at the blood.

"How did this happen?" he asked.

"I was traveling to Bree when several orcs appeared and attacked me. My horse took off and I killed them all but my head hit a rock at one point." I summed up.

Strider hummed in acknowledgement as he carefully stuck a bandage on the cut. Then, he stood and held out his hand. I grabbed it and allowed him to haul me up. I swayed a little, feeling suddenly dizzy. Strider's hands moved to my shoulders to steady me and I finally opened my eyes, staring into his blue ones.

"Are you okay?" he asked. I nodded and thanked him. He then turned to the hobbits, getting them up. "We head to Rivendell."