All Shall Fade

Chapter 19

Without a Paddle

“Alice? Wake up Alice.”

“Hm…? Go ‘way…” I yawned, swatting at Legolas as he tried to shake me awake.

“Get up or I’ll have Gimli sit on you.”

I rolled over and cracked open one eye, “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Oh I would.” His confident smile was enough to make me sit up, grimacing as my stiff shoulder protested.

“Alright, I’m coming.” I rubbed my eyes, blinking in the dim light. The sun hadn’t risen yet. I frowned, remembering the events of last night. Looking back it seemed almost too surreal to be real, and I considered whether I had been dreaming or not as I clambered out of bed and started pulling on my coat.

“Dress warmly,” Legolas advised me, “We won’t be walking today.”

“What do you mean?” I asked as I belted my swords to my waist.

“You’ll see.” He smiled knowingly as I rolled my eyes and shouldered my pack.

“Damn mysterious elf…” I grumbled as he walked out into the forest. I shook my head and glanced around at the rest of the Fellowship as they prepared to leave, before following Legolas outside.

Once the Fellowship had assembled, we were met by several elves and were led through the forest until we reached a small inlet, fed by a river. We lined up in front of it, facing the trees as the Lord Celeborn appeared in front of us, flanked by several other elves. They proceeded to fasten pale green cloaks around our necks, each held in place by an emerald green broach, shaped like the large leaves that grew on the trees of Lothlórien.

“Never before have we clad strangers in the garb of our own people. May these cloaks shield you from unfriendly eyes.” He spoke in the same calm tone he had used the previous night, as if he had no cause to hurry, but then again, he was an elf – they never had to hurry anywhere. It must be a pleasant existence. I bowed my head respectfully as he backed away and the Lady Galadriel stepped forward, gesturing to several of the elves who stood behind her, and they passed her several objects, one of which was a long, elegant bow which she handed to Legolas.

“My gift to you, Legolas, is a bow of the Galadhrim, worthy of the skill of our woodland kin.” She smiled as he took it, his eyes alight with wonder as he curiously pulled back the string – he reminded me of a kid on Christmas morning with a brand new bike. Galadriel then moved on to Merry and Pippin, handing them a small sheathed object each. “These are the daggers of Noldorin. They have already seen service in war.” She said as they unsheathed them, “Do not fear, young Peregrin Took. You will find your courage.” She comforted him before looking to Sam and handing him a neatly coiled length of rope, “And for you, Samwise Gamgee, Elven rope made of hithlain.” I smiled, remembering that Sam always seemed to be muttering about the rope he forgot to pack back in Rivendell.

“Thank you, my lady.” He nodded, “Have you run out of those nice shiny daggers?” She only smiled before stepping before me and I smiled nervously as she motioned for me to hold out my wrist. I timidly did so as she spoke. “You remember what I told you last night?” She asked and I nodded as she slipped something cold onto my wrist, “This will help hold you to this world,” She murmured as I looked down, my eyes widening as I saw the shimmering bracelet that extended from my wrist to a short distance up my forearm. Its intricate design consisted of the metal appearing to be coiled like rope, and each coil was marked with elvish words and ruins. “It is not a permanent solution; it will only slow the process. You must still do what we spoke of.” She warned me and I nodded.

“Thank you.” I whispered as she moved on to Gimli. I glanced down at my wrist, thinking about what she had said, and wondering why she had chosen to be so cryptic around the other members of the Fellowship, when last night we had spoken freely. I was grateful for her gift. It meant I had more time to work out what she had meant by ‘anchoring’ myself to this world and the consequences if I don’t. I looked up, finding that the short gift-giving ceremony seemed to be over, as Legolas and the Hobbits had turned and were making their way towards the water’s edge, where three small boats were moored. I saw that Elves were filling them with packages as Merry and Pippin climbed into one and Legolas and I started helping with the ‘packing’. Legolas opened one bundle and smiled as he took out something.

“Lembas! Elvish waybread.” He smiled, taking a bite of the pale wafer, “One small bite is enough to fill the stomach of a grown man.” He tossed the package into a boat and walked off to gather more supplies.

“How many did you eat?” I heard Merry ask Pippin quietly behind my back.

“Four.” Pippin mumbled sheepishly, and I had to hold back my laughter, but when he burped I couldn’t help but let out a small giggle. As the other members of the Fellowship assembled around the boats, Boromir took charge of the one with Merry and Pippin, and I helped Sam and Frodo into Aragorn’s boat before jumping in with Legolas and Gimli.

“Do I get a paddle?” I asked, pushing the boat away from the moorings and settling down between the elf and the dwarf.

“Your shoulder is still in a delicate condition, so I’m afraid not.” Legolas murmured as I scowled.

“It’s practically healed.” I muttered.

“No it hasn’t.” He smiled as I crossed my legs.

“I have taken my worst wound at this parting,” Gimli sighed in front of me, “Having looked my last upon that which is fairest. Henceforth I will call nothing fair unless it be her gift to me.” I smiled, wondering what Galadriel had given him.

“Am I not worthy of your compliments?” I asked, pretending to be hurt as I sniffed dramatically.

“Well, I… Um…” Gimli stuttered with clear embarrassment.

“What was her gift?” Legolas asked, rescuing him from my jokes.

“I asked her for one hair from her golden head. She gave me three.” The dwarf murmured quietly and I smiled. For someone who up until last night had referred to Galadriel as an elf-witch, he seemed to be pretty infatuated.

I yawned and curled my knees up to my chest, trying not to rock to boat – which wasn’t easy considering there was a significant weight unbalance. I sat back a little and out of the corner of my eye spotted Galadriel standing on the riverbank as Legolas paddled us out of the inlet. She raised her hand as a gesture of farewell, and I smiled, nodding my head a little. I figured waving back would look a little lame. As I turned back to the river, I heard her voice echo in my head.

“Something is coming, and it will shake the Fellowship to its roots.”

I frowned at the mysterious warning, and somehow, I had a feeling that it would be the last time I heard her voice.

*

Several days in the boats passed, with Legolas rarely letting me paddle. He claimed that it would unbalance the boat, whereas I whined at him for babying me. I had noticed that he seemed distracted though, he kept glancing at the Western shore of the river, which confused me – I’d thought the Eastern shore was closest to Mordor, so shouldn’t we be worrying about that? Despite his obvious anxiety, we always camped on the Western shore. Aragorn continuously insisted that we would only cross once we had reached the end of the river. One evening after we beached the boats on a pebble beach, I went off into the forest to gather firewood.

“Don’t go too far.” Legolas murmured, sweeping his gaze over the trees.

“It’s ok; I can handle the rabid squirrels.” I tried to smile comfortingly, patting the swords that hung at my waist as he nodded warily and I set off. It was already pretty dark, but I made sure to keep close to the shore so I wouldn’t get lost. Once I had gathered a satisfactory armload of deadwood, I began to make my way back to camp, staying under the trees just in case I spotted any more wood. As I came within range of our camp, I frowned as I heard raised voices.

“Minas Tirith is the safer road. You know that.” It was Boromir, and I stopped what I was doing so I could hear a little better, “From there we can regroup. Strike out from Mordor from a place of strength.” He was talking about our route. I took a step closer, peering around a tree and I saw both him and Aragorn on the beach. It technically wasn’t eavesdropping if they were talking that loudly…

“There is no strength in Gondor that can avail us.” Aragorn argued, keeping a passively calm tone. Almost deceptively calm.

“You were quick enough to trust the elves! Have you so little faith in your people?” Boromir’s volume rose as his temper seemed to flare. “Yes, there is weakness. There is frailty. But there is courage also, and honour to be among Men. But you will not see that.” I could hear in his voice how desperately he wanted Aragorn to see from his point of view, but he only began to walk away as I tried to understand his objections to Boromir’s argument. Suddenly, Boromir grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “You are afraid! All your life you have hidden in the shadows.” He growled, “Scared of who you are, of what you are.” He roughly shook Aragorn every few seconds, which was when I stepped in.

“Hey! Break it up you two!” I cried, dropping my firewood between them as I stepped out of the trees. I firmly placed one hand on each man’s chest and physically pushed them apart. “Pointless bickering isn’t going to solve anything!” Aragorn pushed against me and leant towards Boromir.

“I will not lead the Ring within a hundred leagues of your city.” He hissed coldly, resulting in me smacking him across the back of the head.

“Play nice!” I scolded him as they both scowled at each other. You could have cut the tension with a knife, and both men’s sword hands were twitching ever so slightly. “Honestly, how is this productive?” I sighed in aggravation, pushing them both back and resulting in my shoulder giving a slight twinge of pain. I gritted my teeth and turned to Aragorn, “Right, you go start a fire.” I gestured to the firewood at my feet before turning to face Boromir, “And you go look for more wood.”

“There is enough here.” He argued, and I hit him across the head.

“I don’t care, quit bitching and go find more.” I growled as he turned, “And if I hear you two fighting again I swear I’ll kill you both!” I ran my hands through my hair as they both marched off.

“That was impressive.” I jumped as Legolas appeared at my side and I took a step backwards so I could lean against a massive boulder, my fingers still knotted in my hair.

“Men are going to be the death of me.” I groaned as he laughed quietly, “I don’t see what you find so funny.”

“You.” He smiled as I glared at him.

“Thanks.”

“Any time.” 
I sighed and glanced around the camp, seeing the Hobbits and Gimli sitting on the beach whilst Aragorn started the fire, and nearby in the forest I could hear Boromir rummaging around. “I don’t get it; everything seems to be falling apart, ever since Gandalf…” I trailed off, unable to actually say the word. “I just feel like our time is running out.”

“I can feel something too.” The elf murmured, “There’s something coming. Not now, but soon.” He reassured me as I turned in alarm.

“What?” I breathed.

“I don’t know, but the Fellowship will be shaken to its roots.” He murmured ominously, walking away as his words echoed in my mind. ‘Shaken to its roots…’ Galadriel had said that too… What could it possibly mean? My hand nervously crept to my neck, my fingers twisting around the thin chain of Arwen’s pendant and as I touched the cold jewel, a feeling of calm spread over me. There was no need to worry, not yet. My nervous hunches were probably just paranoia. No matter what happens, we’ll pull through. It’ll be alright in the end.

With that thought in mind I let my tense shoulders droop and went to find myself a place to sleep. I laid out my bedroll after clearing away the larger stones from the area and lay down.

“Do you want anything to eat Alice?” Sam asked as I pulled my blanket around myself.

“No thanks, I’m not hungry.” I sighed, rolling over and closing my eyes. I’d just been sitting in the boat all day, so I’d done nothing to burn up any energy. “G’night guys.” I yawned, nestling down amongst my blankets and slowly drifting off to sleep.

I opened my eyes and sat up, frowning as I found myself sitting in the middle of a suburban street. That was my first clue that told me I was dreaming, my second was the fact that the sky was red, only broken up by the large dark clouds. I climbed to my feet curiously looking around. The houses were broken down, windows smashed in and a few were boarded up, wooden planks were nailed across doors and sandbags were scattered across the dead, burned gardens. I wrinkled my nose as I picked up the smell of smoke. This place looked like a war-zone.

“Alice!” I span around as someone called my name and then smiled widely.

“Toby!” I cried happily as I saw my friend running up the street towards me, but it took me a moment to process the look of utter horror on his face as he reached me and roughly grabbed my arms.

“What are you doing here?” He yelled as I looked him up and down. He looked terrible, he was bruised, his clothes were tattered and bloodstained and that wild look of fear still hadn’t left his eyes. “You have to get out of here! It’s not safe!”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, pulling away from him, “What’s happened?”

“You have to run Alice!” He shouted, before stepping away and running down the street.

“Toby?” I called after him as his ragged figure disappeared. I frowned in confusion, spinning around as I heard something else, but it was a sound much less pleasant than the sound of my friend’s voice. As I slowly turned, my eyes widened in fear as I saw the army of Orcs advancing upon me, down the modern street. As a reflex, I reached for my swords, and my heart began to hammer as I realised that they weren’t there.

“Looking for something?” Legolas appeared at my side, fitting an arrow into his bow as a confident smile crossed his face.

“What are you-?” I spluttered, confused by the collision of the two worlds as I felt someone else tap my shoulder on my other side. I turned to see Boromir smiling at me as he drew his sword and positioned his shield on his arm.

“You should run Alice.” He murmured, gently pushing me back.

“No!” I cried, “I’m sick of being protected and rescued! What the hell is going on here?”

“It’s alright Alice,” Aragorn’s voice reached my ears before he walked in front of me, “Remember, I promised I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.” The army marched closer, and I saw leading them a tall, helmeted figure, all in black except for a glowing gold ring on his finger. It was Sauron, but if he had the Ring…

“This can’t be happening!” I cried, stepping back and bumping into someone.

“Go on lass.” Gimli urged me as I spotted him and behind him stood the Hobbits. Meanwhile, the army got ever closer.

“We don’t stand a chance! If you want me to get out of here then you guys are coming too!” I screamed, grabbing Legolas’s arm to try and pull him back. “This is suicide!”

I blinked, and suddenly I was standing further back, seeing the Fellowship standing far away from me, preparing for battle. It happened in one of those surreal movements that can only happen in a dream. “Stop it!” I yelled, tears gathering in my eyes. I couldn’t understand what was happening as the Fellowship launched themselves into battle. “No!” I yelped as they were overpowered, and I watched as one by one they dropped like flies. I ran towards them, forcing my legs to work, but they wouldn’t go fast enough. “Boromir!” I shrieked as he fell with several black arrows protruding from his chest, and my legs crumpled beneath me. “No!” I wailed helplessly, burying my head in my hands, trying to make it all go away, and in a great whooshing of wind, it did.

I gasped as I sat up abruptly, my skin slick with a cold sweat and my breathing ragged. I swallowed hard, trying to calm myself as I glanced around at the sleeping forms of the Fellowship, all resting peacefully. I breathed a sigh of relief as I ran a hand through my tangled hair.

“Just a dream…” I whispered, pushing away my blankets and standing.

“Alice?” I jumped as I heard Boromir’s voice and I turned to see him sitting by the boats. He must have been keeping watch. “Did I wake you?”

“No,” I shook my head, glancing up at the dark sky, “I had a nightmare.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” I smiled at his concern but shook my head again.

“I think I need to figure out what it was about before I can tell anyone.” I smiled weakly as I walked towards him, “You can go to sleep; I’ll take the next watch. I don’t think I’d be able to get back to sleep.”

“I’m not tired.” He protested as I wrapped my arms around myself.

“Suit yourself.” I sighed, turning and walking towards the large boulder that sat on the river bank. It must have been a good four or five metres tall, which suited me just fine. I climbed it carefully, making sure not to strain my shoulder before reaching the top and sitting cross-legged as I looked out at the river. A few minutes later, I heard Boromir climb up behind me, and I smiled as he sat by my side.

“I apologise for my behaviour earlier.” He murmured, “It was wrong of me to become angry.”

“It’s alright,” I shrugged, “I guess Aragorn sort of aggravated you a little anyway.”

“I don’t understand why he will not go to Gondor.” He sighed, clenching his fists, “The Fellowship could be protected there.”

“I know,” I nodded, “But he seems set on our route.”

“I wish I could make him see that there is safety in Gondor.” He said as I glanced up.

“What route did Gandalf want to take?” I asked.

“East, the route Aragorn is taking.”

“Well, that’s the path I’ll feel safest on. I’d trust Gandalf’s judgement above anyone else’s.” I mumbled, watching the moon’s reflection ripple on the water. “Besides, Legolas doesn’t seem to trust the Western side of the river. I’ll just feel altogether better once we’re walking again.”

“I can understand that.” Boromir sighed, with a hint of sadness in his voice.

“Will you show me Gondor someday?” I asked, trying to keep his spirits up, “I want to see the cities you keep talking about.”

“Of course.” He smiled, “When the quest is over I will show you the whole realm.” He became more animated as he spoke of his homeland, “And I will introduce you to Faramir, my brother.”

“I didn’t know you had a brother.” I smiled, tucking as strand of my hair behind my ear.

“Yes, we both lead Gondor’s defences against Mordor. Before I left for Rivendell we recaptured the city of Osgiliath,” He smiled fondly, “I think you would have liked it before it was taken. It was beautiful.”

“What happened?” I asked, frowning.

“It was captured by the forces of Mordor. Faramir was defending it at the time but my father had given him too few men. Of course when it was taken he laid the blame upon Faramir.” He scowled angrily as I laid a hand on his arm.

“But you got it back, so he must have been happy about that.” I tried to reassure him as he sighed.

“He only held me in his favour. My brother was cast aside by my father’s blatant favouritism, because I will one day be Steward.” He cast his gaze downwards to the river.

“I’d like to meet your brother, and see Osgiliath, and the rest of Gondor.” I smiled comfortingly, “And don’t worry about Aragorn; I’m sure he’ll come around eventually.” I patted his shoulder, “Lord only knows when though, I wish he wouldn’t be so quiet and hard to understand.” I shook my head and turned to Boromir. “At least I know where I stand with you.” I smiled, playfully nudging his side as he smiled, before I leant my head on his shoulder, feeling infinitely better after the shock of my dream.

We stayed there, on top of the rock, keeping watch until the sun rose and we cleared our camp and jumped back into the boats, pushing them out into the river for another day’s travelling.