The Shadow Walker

40. New Adventure

My mouth went dry. "N-no...It's just me. Eda."

Legolas stilled, then slowly pulled his fingers out of mine. "Why am I not fully dressed?" he asked, his voice cold and distant. He moved to push himself up, then he sucked in a breath and sank back into my lap.

Aragorn placed a gentle hand on Legolas's shoulder. "Legolas, my friend. You were injured, saving Eda from a cave-in. I...I thought you had fallen." His voice was barely a whisper at the last sentence. He cleared his throat, then added, "I still need to bandage the cuts."

Legolas gave a groan, which ended in a sigh. "Help me up."

I took hold on his arm, and Aragorn and I pulled Legolas into a sitting position. I admit, my gaze wandered. The toned muscles in his chest, in his stomach—not to mention his shoulders and biceps—well, they were distracting. And mouthwatering.

As Aragorn began to wrap a bandage around Legolas's torso, the ellon's brow furrowed in pain, but his luminous eyes found mine, locking me into his glare.

I tore my gaze away, tears filling my eyes. His expression said it all. I wasn't worth saving. I wasn't worth the pain he was experiencing, or the drain on the rest of the company. I should have shielded him.

A shriek tore through the silence.

Gandalf raised his staff, brightening the illumination to fill the cave. Samwise lay on the floor, mouth open as he gaped at something he'd apparently stumbled over.

An armored skeleton.

"What?" Gimli exclaimed, looking around, wild-eyed. Skeletons littered the floor, wearing both Dwarvish armor and that of goblins'. "No!"

"We cannot go through Moria," Boromir said in a low, determined voice. "This place is a tomb."

"What would you have us do, then?" Legolas snapped under his breath.

"Dig our way out," Boromir retorted, his voice equally venomous. "Make for the Gap of Rohan, as we'd planned at the beginning."

"And face that monster again?" I said, scoffing. "I think not."

Legolas shot me a look that made it very clear he didn't need me defending him. If I could've shrunk to the size of a lizard and crawled under a rock, I would have.

"Eda is correct," Gandalf said. "Even if we could dig our way out, the Watcher in Water is still alive. No—we have but one choice, and that is through the long dark of Moria."

My gaze wandered to one of the Dwarvish skeletons. Two goblin arrows protruded from his chainmail, and his jaw was locked open in an eternal scream. Whatever had killed him and his companions was still here. Unless, by some twist of luck, they had died as well.

I'd learned a long time ago, to always trust in my luck. Because it was consistently the worst possible.

"It is a three-day journey to the other side, in the best of conditions," Gandalf said. "Conditions being what they are, we had best get started."

Aragorn began helping Legolas back into his tunic. Quietly, the ellon said, "You should leave me behind."

A shocked and sobering silence fell over the company. Finally, Gimli spoke. "Ye are a brave laddie, and true to the company. Yer sacrifice shall be remembered."

My hands clenched. Gimli couldn't be serious! Or Legolas, for that matter! "I'll carry him, if I have to," I said. My voice wasn't as strong or sure as I would've liked, but the attention shifted to me. Unfortunately.