BEGINNING OF PART II

Amara had been running well into the night, her ears focused on the sound of the Uruks footsteps. She was drawing closer.

The elf dwarf pulled out her axe, cursing the fact that she didn't have her sword with her. She turned the corner to be met with the backs of the Uruk hai. Merry and Pippin were tied over the shoulders of two large Uruks, unconscious.

Amara cut into an Uruk closest her. His cry echoed into the night, catching the attention of the rest of the pack. They all turned on her and attacked.

Amara held her own, throwing daggers and embedding her axe into the heads and chests of the Uruks around her. She was holding her own until one sliced across her back. She let out a gasp of pain and turned, cutting down the one behind it. Then another cut across her arm.

She dropped her axe as another one stabbed her shoulder. She screamed as they began to attack her with out mercy.

Then they suddenly stopped and backed away. Amara laid on her back, gasping for breath. An Uruk, the leader she assumed, walked up to her. She grasped at the ground around her, trying to lay her fingers on a weapon. The Uruk stepped on her hand and knelt down, his sour breath blowing into her face.

He pulled out a small jagged dagger and placed it on her jaw. Amara stopped struggling and looked at the dagger.

"Elf and dwarf...a bigger disgrace than the race of Orcs." He grunted. He twisted his wrist and the knife sliced across her jawline, stopping at her right ear. She let out a cry of pain and the Uruk laughed, lifting the knife away from her face before stabbing it through her ear, cutting off it's elven point. She gasped, feeling the warm blood run down her ear and neck.

"Get her up!" Another Uruk grabbed her, tossing her over her shoulder. Her eyes slipped closed and she fell unconscious.

****

Aragorn ran ahead of Legolas and Gimli, his eyes scanning the trial that the pack had left. But he came to a sudden halt when he saw it.

Dead Uruks, maybe 15, lay scattered in front of him. Legolas stopped next to him, with Gimli huffing behind.

"Amara." The elf stated. Aragorn nodded, but didn't share the same hope that Legolas did.

"But where is she? The pack is more than 15." Legolas stepped forward, scanning the corpses for her. Something glinted in the sunlight, catching Aragorn's attention.

He stooped down and picked up an axe. Gimli let out a gasp.

"That's hers."

"Are you sure?" Aragorn pressed, turning to the dwarf.

"I'd know that axe anywhere." He confirmed.

"Aragorn." Legolas strained voice caught the attention of the man and dwarf. They looked to see the elf standing stiffly over a clear patch. Aragorn rushed over to his side to see it soaked in blood.

But it wasn't the brownish black blood of an Uruk. This blood was scarlet, staining the grass a vibrant color.

"That's not Orc blood..." Legolas whispered.

"You don't think." Gimli's voice trailed off.

"Let us not lose all hope. Her body isn't here. And to me that means she's still alive. We have to keep moving. This couldn't have happened long ago. We're getting closer." Aragorn declared and took off. Legolas sprinted after and after a groan, Gimli followed.

****

"Merry! Amara!" The quiet voice of Pippin stirred Amara from her uneasy sleep. Her eyes slipped open and she raised her head. After blinking a few times, Amara's vision cleared and she saw the worried look of Pippin.

The elf dwarf opened her mouth by no words came out, just a groan of pain as she slumped back down. Out if the corner of her eye, she saw Pippin remove his Lothlörien pin from his cloak and spit it onto the ground. Then she greeted darkness again.

She woke again to being thrown on the ground, but didn't make any effort to move.

"Amara." Two voices called out. Her eyes opened to see Merry and Pippin above her. She immediately saw the blood on Merry's face and she shot up.

"What did they do to you?" She asked, inspecting the gash.

"To me? What happened to you?" Merry responded.

"Nothing. Don't worry about me." She said.

Around them, the Uruks chopped at trees and milled around to set up a camp. The forset seemed to groan in pain as the Uruks chopped away at them. Pippin's head shot up.

"What's making that noise?" He asked.

"It's the trees." Merry murmured.

"What?"

"You remember the Old Forest, on the borders of Buckland? Folk used to say there was something in the water that made the trees grow tall......and come alive."

"Alive?"

"Trees that could whisper......talk to each other......even move." Merry explained.

"Ents." Amara nodded, "the tree people. They are a very tricky race to talk to." Suddenly a commotion broke out among the Orcs.

"I'm starving. We ain't had nothing but maggoty bread for three stinking days!" One of them exclaimed, throughing his meal down.

"They are not for eating." The leader commanded.

"What about their legs? They don't need those."

Merry and Pippin look astonished and glance at their legs
"They look tasty." He walks towards the hobbits but his thrown back by the leader

"Get back, scum! The prisoners go to Saruman. Alive and unspoiled." He spat.

"Alive?" He moves towards the hobbits again. "Why alive? Do they give good sport?" Amara placed herself in front of the hobbits.

"They have something. An Elvish weapon. The master wants it for the war."

"They think we have the Ring." Pippin whispered.

"Ssh! As soon as they find out you don't, you're dead." Amara whispered back.

Another Uruk grabbed Amara by her hair and yanked her to her feet. She hissed in pain.

"What about this one? Saruman said nothing about hybrids." He hissed in her ear. She struggled out if his grip and fell backwards as the Uruks surrounded her.

"Amara!" Pippin shouted, but she couldn't see them through the sea of Uruk hai.

"Go! Get out if here!" She shouted. The Uruk yanked her up again, holding her hair tightly and pressing a knife against her back.

"What are you wating for? Slice her open!" One of them spat. Amara felt the tip of the knife break through her skin, when a battle cry was heard. The Uruks looked around in fear as men on horses suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

The knife in her back jerked upward as the Uruk holding it was stabbed in the back. His hand gripped herhair as he fell and the knife cut through Amara's hair. She stumbled forward, falling to her knees. Spotting an axe on the ground, she cut through her bounds quickly.

Once free, her hand went to her hair, finding it short and uneven. She stood up and looked around at the sudden battle, spotting Merry and Pippin running into the forest.

A man stopped his horse in front of her and looked at her surprised.

"Milady, what do such beasts need with you?" He asked.

"A hearty meal, sir. And a sport to play." Amara replied bitterly. The man's eyes suddenly widened and pain pierced Amara's back. She let out a cry and turned to face her attacker. The man rode behind the Uruk and stabbed through him with a spear.

Amara sent him a look of thanks when the Uruk suddenly grabbed hold of her and pulled her close, the spear head piercing through her stomach. Her mouth gaped open in a scream, her gaze frozen on the horrified man's face.

Her and the Uruk fell and she was stuck staring at the night sky as she gasped for breath. The man appeared above her, brushing her hair away from her face.

"Get me some help!" He shouted. The battle died down around them. The man disappeared for a moment before coming back with a clean rag, pressing it to her wound.

"Stay with me, Milady." He whispered as her eyes slipped closed. "No, come on. Stay awake." He said. Her eyes came open again.

"What is your name?" He asked.

"Give me yours, and I shall give you mine." The man chuckled.

"I am Eomer."

"Amara." She choked out, tasting blood on her lips. She grasped Eomer's hand.

"Thank you for staying...in my final moments." She whispered, coughing out blood before falling still, her eyes closing.

"Be at peace." He murmured and then she was gone.