Against all Odds {Middle-Earth fanfic}

Chapter Twenty

Deeper into the forest, Thea was becoming weary. Nikandros wasn't exactly light and she was starting to feel it. Finally, she collapsed out of sheer exhaustion. As gently as she could, Thea laid Nikandros on his stomach and laid down beside him.

Nikandros' eyes fluttered open. For a moment he was totally confused where he was, but then he remembered. Last he remembered he was chained up, and Ulric was about to unchain him. Then he had blacked out. He looked around and spotted Thea lying on the ground.

"Thea?" He asked quietly.

Thea sat up quickly, too quickly, and groaned. She stopped though when she saw Nikandros, "Hey...how are you feeling?"

"Not too hot. You?" He asked.

"Glad to be free." She sent him a small smile.

"So what's the plan?"

"Go back home?" Thea suggested.

Nikandros frowned, "And face the master?" He asked.

"I'm sure he'll understand..."

Nikandros raised an eyebrow, "He will understand that we failed and that we can't be relied upon. Which," he added, "isn't true, but..." He trailed off.

"If it's not true then I'm sure he will believe us!" She insisted. Thea wanted desperately to just be home. Maybe it wasn't much of a home, but it was all she knew.

"Well then, we can go back." Nikandros relented to Thea's wishes, although he was not certain that he wanted to go back.

Thea nodded and grabbed Nikandros' arms, preparing to lift him.

"Hey!" Nikandros protested, "I'm not that weak! I can stand up, for goodness sake."

Thea frowned, "Have you seen yourself? You are in no shape to walk."

"Sheesh, I can walk by myself, mother hen." Nikandros teased, and slowly stood up.

Thea forcefully, yet carefully leaned down and clamped Nikandros' legs together, hoisting him over her shoulder with a grunt. "Don't be a smart aleck, doofus."

Nikandros rolled off of Thea's shoulder and landed on the ground with a heavy grunt. He stood up immediately and started walking.

Thea sighed exaggeratedly and placed her hands on her hips, "Seriously? Fine!" She shouted. "Be stubborn! See if I care..." She grumbled. Nikandros chuckled to himself and kept walking. "Nik..." She whined.

"Thea," he said in a serious voice, "What did I say about whining?"

"Just..." She huffed, "shut up!" She looked away from him and hurried past, continuing into the forest.

"Thea," Nikandros called after her, "I was just playing!" He started to run after her, then groaned slightly as his ribs ached.

"Oh sure..." She said exasperatedly. She didn't slow and kept going at her fast pace.

"Thea." He leaned on his knees to catch his breath and recover from his pain, "please wait."

Thea slowed and turned around. Her face grew concerned, "Yikes...I'm such a dunce! Sorry, do you need to rest?"

"I just need a minute." Nikandros assured.

"Okay." She watched around the forest, cautiously.

Suddenly, a twig snapped.

Ulric slowed his pace to a walk when he was farther in the forest. He sighed, "This was not a good idea." He decided, not for the first time. Ulric trudged along dejectedly. Voices carried across to him. He perked his ears and crept closer. As soon as he could see the people, he halted. His eyes widened as he realized it was the assassins. He frowned, and shifted his weight to the other foot. A loud snap sounded.