Sauron's Daughter (A lord of the rings / Aragorn story)

Into Daylight

~ Raina POV ~

The words echoed around the room.  Everything went silent. Aragorn and I had our full attention on the wizard.

The balrog hesitated before taking another step onto the bridge. It raised it's whip to strike Gandalf before the bridge crumbled beneath it and the balrog fell down into the dark.

Gandalf sighed, relieved. He had used the last of his strength to defeat the demon. It reminded me of when he told me about the meeting. He had the same tiredness in his eyes, the same weary posture.

A flamed whip snaked itself around Gandalf's ankles. He crashed into the bridge and would have fallen if not for him holding on to the ledge.

I ran to him but somebody held me back. Somebody was screaming Gandalf's name. I didn't know or care who it was. My only thoughts were that Gandalf was in trouble and I needed to save him.

Gandalf looked at all of us. He made eye contact with me.

"Don't let him control you." Gandalf said through my mind.

"Fly, you fools!"

He let go of the ledge.

Everything went into slow motion. My old friend, my saviour, my Gandalf, was gone. He was just gone. How could this be? I'd spent majority of my life at his side. He rescued me from Baradur! How could he just be GONE? He's never coming back. I'll never see him again.

I did not notice the arrows that were aimed at us. I looked around in a daze to see everyone leaving apart from myself and Aragorn.

"Aragorn, Raina!" Boromir called.

He sounded far away and muffled. I couldn't and wouldn't respond. This wasn't happening. I vaguely remember someone pulling me away and I let them, still looking at the spot where Gandalf had fallen.

The sharp light hurt my eyes as we stepped into the outside world once more. Gandalf would never see the daylight again. And in turn, I would never see Gandalf.

I didn't have the strength to stand up anymore so I fell to my knees. I could see the others around me. It's like they weren't even there. This wasn't real. It couldn't be.

"Raina?" I looked up at the face blankly. Concern etched his features. "Raina?" He asked again, looking at my tunic. I looked down at it and lifted it up slightly.

"No..." Was all I could whisper before everything went black.

~ Aragorn POV ~

Raina had dropped to her knees when I pulled her out of the mines. She looked confused and lost, like she wasn't really with us. She was paler than before and had streaks down her face from where she had been crying.

"Raina?" I asked. She looked back at me through glazed eyes of unshed tears. "Raina?" I asked again, more concerned. She looked down at her tunic before whispering:

"No..."

And then she passed out.

I checked her pulse. She was dead again. I panicked before realising she couldn't die.

"I'll carry her." Offered Legolas.

"It's okay I'll-"

"No. You wont be able to without exhausting yourself, Aragorn." Legolas reasoned. "I am an elf, I'm stronger than you. She is like a sister to me. She will not come to harm. You have my word." He said seriously.

"Hannon lle, Legolas." (Thank you legolas.) 

He gave me a small smile before lifting her up into her arms. I looked into my friends eyes. He looked confused. Alas, many elves were not used to death.

I swore to Gandalf to protect the fellowship and that's exactly what I intended to do. With a new lease of determination, I rounded the others up. We needed to go.