Shadow of Light (Uruk-Hai x She-Elf)

Zagalskri

Ghash had expected Aragorn to say something regarding the 'incident', if you could call it that. But he said nothing, and Ghash trained the men as usual. The man, Erengår, continued to glare at Ghash, but he was a little less challenging. He was a half-decent warrior, and while all the men were improving marginally, Erengår gave cause for Ghash to put a little more effort in his attacks. Aside from simply teaching the men of swordplay, Ghash knew the men would need to be exposed to more if they were going to survive a battle. 

This would, of course, be risky, but he took the precaution of speaking directly to Háma as they approached the training yard. "I must train the men. They shall be intimidated today, do not fear, they shall be in no danger." he said as they reached the door. Háma was a little surprised as Ghash had never really spoken to him much. Háma nodded, despite his feeling of suspicion and nervousness. Ghash walked out, was unbound, and took a blade as he did any other day, and yet Háma kept his hand on the hilt of his blade. 

Ghash looked over the casually talking men, mulling over which one he wanted to spar with. He supposed Erengår made sense, he was a more capable fighter, and it might help if the others watched first. "You, forward." he said, motioning him over. The man followed casually. The others muttered and chuckled to themselves as they looked on. Ghash stretched and cracked his neck, more than anything, letting Erengår relax and focus on other things. 

Erengår laughed as he spoke with the men, while Ghash caught Háma's gaze. After a moment, Háma realized what the look meant. He hesitantly nodded, and that was all Ghash needed. Grasping the blade tightly, he instantly swung round, releasing a deafening battle roar, making every man jump, and Erengår step back. Without missing a beat, Ghash dashed towards Erengår, bringing his blade heavily down. Erengår intended to parry, but in his panic all he managed to do was jump out of the way, nearly falling to the ground as he did.

He tried to gather himself, but Ghash pursued him, swinging his blade. Erengår narrowly managed to dodge, till another calculated swing came down and he had to parry, locking swords with the snarling Uruk Hai. Ghash pressed his sword against him, pushing him to the ground. Erengår, thinking quickly, gave a harsh shove against him, kicking him back a step, breaking the crossed swords. He jumped up to his feet, adrenaline pounding through him, his heart racing. 

Erengår had expected a moment to rest as he would circle his opponent, each waiting for the other to attack, but Ghash gave him no such reprieve, pressing his attack. He parried the blade but was panicking as he raced to parry what felt like dozens of sequential strikes. Blocking his blade, Ghash suddenly reached forward, grabbing him by the cuirass, and throwing him to the dirt with a roar. Erengår's blade skidded across the soil. He tried to reach for it, but not before Ghash swung his blade down across his neck, stopping a mere inch from the man's throat, and there he froze.

Ghash stared down at the stunned, panting man. Ghash's breath was heavy, but he didn't seem tired, if anything, he seemed tense, itching to keep going. "This is what you shall face. Next time remember that an Uruk Hai shall always take the first swing, he does not fear pain, so he shall not hesitate." Said Ghash at last, but Erengår didn't move, his eyes wide, and his chest heaving. Ghash finally moved his blade from the man's throat, and reached down, grasping his hand and pulling him to his feet. "You did well." Said Ghash. Erengår didn't feel as if he'd done well, but this statement helped it all sink in and brought him back to the present.

The men all stared in silent astonishment. They hadn't seen that coming, and now they were realizing what a real fight with an Uruk Hai would be like. Háma knew what fighting an Uruk was like, but it was the speed, boldness, and organized fighting that took him by surprise. He'd half considered stopping or killing the Uruk in a moment of panic at the beginning of the fight, but he knew that the creature was right, they needed this, and he had given fair warning. So, moving his hand from his blade, he crossed his arms and watched the creature silently. Ghash leaned casually on his blade, looking disinterestedly to the men. "Well then, who is next?"

"Alright, so if we keep this way, we can cross through my old forest along the way, that'll be a few days though." Said Elayin as they walked. She figured they were probably far enough that they could simply walk the rest of the way, and give Dani some time to rest. "Then it's planes the whole way."

"And this is bad?" asked Dani.

"Not ideal, but we'll live. Hopefully." she said, muttering the last part quietly to herself. "I just hope we reach Rivendell in good time."

"I wish we had a horse..." muttered Dani.

"Me too!" agreed Elayin with a laugh. "I'll admit, I've never walked to Rivendell. It's farther than I've ever been before." she mused. "I considered crossing the mountains, which would have been a great deal quicker, but I've never crossed a mountain, and it would likely have been too dangerous. So weeks on foot it is. Though this path does take us closer to Isengard..."

"Isengard!?" exclaimed Dani.

"Don't worry, we won't be that close, the closest we'll be is... Not that close!" She assured her Lady in waiting.

"Is this really a wise journey?" asked Dani. No, not really, thought Elayin. 

"It'll make sense in time, Dani, trust me." she said.

"My lady, can't you tell me why this is so essential?" she asked.

"Not now, just trust me." Elayin replied. She wished there was a better option, but she had to do something. She really wished she could have crossed the mountains, but Ghash had mocked her ability to do that before she was carrying, or at least before she knew she was carrying. Regardless she needed to do something, and this was as close to a plan as she could make. Well, she'd gone too far to start reconsidering anything. They would simply have to keep going. It was ridiculous. All this because... Nevermind, they were getting closer, just a little further.