Angel From Another World

Chapter 17: Find The Hobbits!

We take a little while sorting out our things. Moving around our packs and tying them to the saddles of both the horses and the wolves. I opted to stay on the wolves as Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli decided to ride the horses. We begin our ride towards the burning carcasses. After a few minutes, I get impatient and fly off towards the burning bodies. I scan the whole area looking desperately for our small friends. The others turn up soon after I land. I kneel on the ground. What little hope I had left is put out. My wings rest at my sides slumped against the ground in grief. I feel a soft hand on my back. I don't bother looking up. I already know who it is.

"I am sorry." Legolas's honey-sweet voice says. He sounds so broken. I hear Gimli start to search through the burning pile.

"It's one of their wee belts." I hear him say. He's also clearly upset. I stand up and hug Legolas tightly, crying into his shoulder. I look up as I hear Aragorn scream as he kicks a helmet away from the area.

"Hiro hyn hîdh ab wanath." (May they find peace in death.) I hear Legolas speak quietly. I bury my face back into the crook of his neck and cry more, clinging to the Elf's clothes. Legolas begins to hush me, rubbing small circles on my back. My cloak had come off when I was flying so my back was exposed by the backless, leather corset I was wearing.

"We failed them." Gimli says sadly. I turn to see Aragorn looking at the ground.

"A hobbit lay here, and the other." He says moving something. Aragorn starts moving along the ground. Seemingly having found a path. "They crawled." I followed him, instantly knowing his mind. He was tracking their movements, reforging the events of the battle in his mind.

"Their hands were bound." He says seeing scuff marks across the ground. I follow his movements, closely followed by Legolas and Gimli. "Their bonds were cut." Aragorn states, holding up a piece of torn rope. Suddenly he jumps up. "They ran over here...and were followed." He says seeing the small tracks and the larger ones behind them. "The tracks lead away from the battle! Into...Fangorn Forest." He says in hope but stops when he sees the trees.

"Fangorn? What madness drove them in there?" Gimli asks in shock. I walk forwards.

"I don't think that they were all that worried about where or what they were going into. I think they just wanted to try and get somewhere far away from those demons." I say gesturing to the burning bodies. Legolas comes up next to me.

"Then we will follow them." He says wrapping my cloak around my shoulders and fixing the brooch. I smile at him.

"Thanks." I say quietly and kiss his cheek unexpectedly.

"Any time." Legolas says as a huge grin graces his face. We begin our trek through the forest. Legolas was riding Shadowpaw with me. Maybe I shouldn't have kissed him? He's not let me go ever since. Gimli had decided to go on foot, saying that he wanted to let Stonepelt regain his strength. Stopping next to a tree he swipes his finger over a leaf covered in a thick black liquid. He touches it to his tongue immediately spiting it out.

"Ugh! Orc blood!" He says in disgust. I laugh.

"Honestly Gimli, you're such a child. Didn't Gloin teach you to not put strange substances in your mouth?" I say still laughing.

"You don't know my father!" He says rudely.

"Don't forget, I was part of Thorin's Company all those years ago, and I was rather close to your Father. Why do you think I came to Erebor so often?" I say smiling. Legolas's grip on me tightens.

"You didn't...like him, did you?" He asks teasingly but with a hint of worry in his voice.

"As a friend and a brother yes. But nothing more." I reassure him. Legolas doesn't loosen his grip; he only nuzzles his face into my neck. I chuckle. "You're adorable, you know that don't your sunshine?" I say teasing him. Legolas blushes.

"Shut up." he says playfully. I burst out laughing.

"Honestly I don't know why you two don't just tell each other you like each other. It's the most obvious thing in the world." Aragorn speaks from upfront. I blush a deep red, as does Legolas.

"If I did tell Legolas that I liked him, it wouldn't be in front of either you or Gimli. It would be in private so that it would be special." I say smiling. Legolas's grip got tighter on me still. "Leggy, too tight." I say loosening his grip.

"S... sorry...I...I... Sorry." He says stumbling over his words. I giggle at his flustered self. Maybe he's surprised over what I said?