He may have been on his knees, trying to keep Legolas upright, but Aragorn's instincts were to fight here and now while they still had possession of their weapons. The man believed that once they were forced to relinquish them and were herded into the cave, their chances for escape would drop to almost nil. And being at the mercy of these beasts did not sit well with him at all.
Inwardly arguing against that line of logic, Aragorn also knew that if they made a stand here, Legolas would have to be put back on the ground and surrounded by he and his brothers in order to protect him. If any of the howlers broke past them, there was little chance Legolas could defend himself, a fact the elf would have vehemently disagreed with.
The man suspected that, if they fought these creatures, it would be a great deal different than fighting orcs. He believed these howlers were more dangerous than any orc he had ever come across.
To the ranger's right, Elladan whispered, "Estel, what do you want to do?"
To his left and behind, Elrohir added, "We will follow your lead."
Aragorn could tell by the defiant tone of their voices, slight though it was, that his brothers wanted to fight, as well. He was sure they considered these beasts no less hideous than orcs, and he knew after what those creatures had done to their mother, Celebrian, they were despised beyond any other being in Middle-earth. Still he had to weigh the options very carefully. Their lives probably depend on his decision.
The ranger looked at each of the howlers, who were all grinning at the four of them. His blood ran cold, as he surveyed the array of sharp teeth they each displayed. Now he fully understood why they carried no weapons. They didn't need to. Their teeth were weapons enough.
He thought of the bite on Legolas's shoulder, and he shivered. He had no doubt about how easy it would have been for the howler to have bitten down hard enough to rip out a huge chunk of Legolas's shoulder, bones and all. If Legolas hadn't bled to death on the spot, the devastating wound would have rendered the elf's left arm forever useless. He would have become an archer, who would never again possess the ability to shoot a bow. That would be a tragedy, and the man wasn't entirely sure that even the strength of Legolas's warrior spirit would survive it.
Before he could continue with his thoughts, a shadow fell over them. When Aragorn looked up, he saw the howler leader, whose eyes were on the same level with his own and dancing with malice.
"Pick him up and carry him," the creature commanded, its patience having finally run out. "There have been enough delays." When the human didn't move, it shouted, "Now!"
Furious, Aragorn shouted, "You are killing him."
No sooner had the words left the ranger's mouth than he reminded himself who it was he was addressing. This creature cared nothing for the needs of others. It only wanted what it wanted, and that was to kill. After all, hadn't it been the one to bite Legolas in the first place? And wasn't it leading the four of them back to the cavern to be eaten, according to Legolas?
Possessing a healer's caring nature, and despite his experience with the cruelty that existed in Arda, it was sometimes hard for Aragorn to accept that he couldn't appeal to the kindness of beings who possessed no such kindness. Legolas had told them that these creatures had no souls. They wanted to consume the flesh of the four of them and would relish doing it. He knew that if he and his brothers were to save themselves and Legolas, they would get no sympathetic help from any of these creatures.
He recognized that his first and most immediate priority was to help keep the four of them alive as long as possible while looking for a way for each of them to get off of the mountain in one piece. He watched the howlers intently and knew beyond the slightest doubt that if they tried to fight here and now, he and the three elves would most likely be torn to pieces.
It boiled down to two distinct choices. Fight out here and trust to hope that they would prevail or surrender and look for an opportunity to escape later. It came back to him that once they entered the cave, they would be unarmed, probably restrained and thus helpless to determine their own fate.
The ranger could not abide the thought that their bones would be added to those in the cavern, and no one would ever know what had happened to them. To the outside world, they would have vanished off the face of Arda, and, their families and friends would forever suffer the pain of not knowing their fate. The man shook his head at the dreadful thought, yet fully aware that if they were all killed during a fight out here on the trail, the result would be the same.
Aragorn was a bit surprised when Legolas reached up just then and gripped the man's arm. "We must fight, Estel. We cannot go back to the cave unarmed. We would never leave it alive."
Aragorn was dismayed to hear the slight slur in the elf's words. It was plain that Legolas was getting close to drifting off into oblivion again. If they chose to make a stand, how would the archer fare?
The howler leader, unable to understand the Sindarin language, glared at Aragorn, thinking that the exchange between man and elf might be an attempt to devise a plan for some kind of resistance. With a warning snarl, the howler then said, "Do not think of trying to fight us. You would not win." It pointed to Legolas. "And he will be the first to die. Now get him up or carry him. I care not which."
Elladan's and Elrohir's aims had followed the howler leader, as he advanced toward Aragorn and Legolas. Each was looking for any hostile sign that the creature would strike. If it didn't, the twins weren't going to shoot, a move that would have taken the decision of what to do out of Aragorn's hands. They would have done it only as a last resort.
The howler leader was now standing so close to the man and the three elves that the twins knew their bows would be useless against him. It was a consequence of not firing at him earlier, and they accepted that decision.
Elrohir lifted his bow and took aim at a howler on top of a rock a few feet in front of him. Elladan did the same with a howler standing across the trail from him.
The ranger made his choice. He bent down closer to Legolas and gave him a knowing look, while reaching for his sword. He snatched it up quickly and shouted, "Now!"
He heard the twang of two bowstrings. Aragorn didn't see the two targeted howlers fall, but he had no doubt they had. His brothers would not have missed, especially at such a short distance.
The man swung his sword at the leader, but the creature leaned back out of the way. "You will all die for this," it hissed.
Three howlers ran at Aragorn from the side. One fell with an arrow in its chest thanks to Elladan. The other two creatures came within a hair's breadth of reaching the ranger. Aragron got the toe of his right boot under the fallen howler and kicked its body into the second creature, knocking it backwards into a rock and spitting the back of its head on the stone. It lay unmoving.
Legolas was dizzy and close to exhaustion, but he forced himself not to give in. He couldn't allow himself to sit in the center of the circle his friends made around him and do nothing to help them. All of his weapons had been taken from him. All but one, that is. He reached down into his right boot and pulled out a small dagger. The blade was only five inches long, but in the elf's hands it was a very deadly five inches.
The blond elf, still on his knees, reached out to Aragorn's right side and managed to slice through the leg of one of the howlers, who had evidently escaped the man's immediate attention. The creature grabbed its leg above the knee and fell over backward. It howled, but the tone of this sound was far different from that of the distant, haunting tones heard from these creatures.
Aragorn managed to decapitate the third howler that had advanced on him. It was then that Aragorn had quickly looked down and saw Legolas's hand reach out and separate a howler from its lower extremity. Black blood spurted from the stump. The man noted with satisfaction that when the howler fell over, its leg just below the knee was standing straight up a few seconds before it, too, fell over. It didn't take long for the howler, who didn't have much blood to begin with, to bleed to death.
A cry of pain soon grabbed the ranger's attention. It wasn't a howler's cry. It was Elrohir, who had one of the beasts latched onto his left arm, its teeth sunk deep in the elf’s flesh. The younger twin, who had already put his bow onto his back and had drawn a knife. He flipped the blade up and shifted it in his hand from a defensive hold to an offensive one. He then rammed it into the top of the creature's head. Even dead, the howler did not let go.
Legolas, through sheer force of will, had managed to stagger to his feet. Seeing what was happening with Elrohir, the younger elf reached out and grabbed the howler's head and pulled its mouth open, releasing Elrohir's arm.
The two elves looked at each other. The dark-haired twin nodded his gratitude before they both turned their attention back to the battle.
At almost the same time, Aragorn found that a howler had slipped under the swing of his sword and bitten him on the hand, though it was a small wound by comparison to that of Legolas and his brother. He plunged his sword into its chest and turned to face another howler.
Elladan also turned. The howler he was expecting to face had instead spin around leapt onto his back and was now biting down on his neck. Luckily, the creature had not gotten a good hold, and its teeth were not deeply embedded. The elder twin reached up over his head, grabbed the howler by the throat and pulled him back over his head. He threw it down and rammed it with his sword.
When he looked up, there was another creature leaping at him from the top of a boulder. He sidestepped, and as soon as the creature hit the ground, Elladan stomped on the howler's neck, breaking it instantly.
Early in the battle, the howler leader had taken several steps back from the actual fighting. It had had complete confidence in the members of its group easily defeating these, to its way of thinking, inferior intruders on their mountain. There was good reason for this conception. No one had ever escaped their grasp. However, the leader was becoming concerned, as more and more of the howlers were falling to the well-honed fighting skills of the human and the three elves. Even the badly injured and ill golden elf was causing damage with his one lone knife.
This situation could not be allowed to continue. If it did, the howler knew it would soon find itself at the mercy of these repulsive beings. Even if it escaped, it would be alone-the only one of its kind left.
The howler focused all of its attention on the golden elf. If nothing else was accomplished, that elf was going to die and die now.
Standing back and surveying all that was happening, the leader waited for its opportunity. Both of the dark-haired elves were fully engaged with a howler each. The human was likewise dueling with a howler to his left. The leader was dismayed to see that there were not others of its kind left alive.
Waiting might allow one of the elves or the human to get free to help Legolas. So deciding that now was the best chance to act, the creature bent low and charged toward the golden-haired elf.
Legolas sensed rather than saw or heard the howler leader coming at him. He turned just in time to meet the howler's impact against his chest. The two went down in a heap and began to roll.
Twice Legolas rolled over his left shoulder. He finally came to a stop, when his back slammed into a boulder, his left shoulder under him. He clenched his teeth, fighting to stay conscious, as black spots danced across his vision. If he passed out now, he was doomed.
The image of the howler, who had landed on top of him, swam before the prince's eyes. The black creature evidently realized this, because it grinned widely and leaned down, intending to rip out the elf’s throat.
Legolas threw up his right arm. It saved his life, for the moment, at least. He felt the howler's teeth beginning to crunch down on his right wrist, which was partially protected by his regular leather vambrace.
The elf looked up and stared at his arm. He realized that only a small part of the side of his wrist had actually been bitten into. He closed his eyes, giving himself a second to give thanks. Had the howler gotten a good hold of him, it would have bitten his hand off, vambrace or no.
Realizing the same thing the elf had, the howler let go and opened its mouth as wide as it would go. It's head began to lower once gain, but the jagged teeth never connected with their target a second time.
Legolas had gathered every ounce of strength he had left in his body, and focusing intently on those teeth that were coming too close for comfort, he pushed with all his might. The howler leader's face reflected its surprise as it flew through the air and landed at Aragorn’s feet.
The man looked down but had no idea this was the leader of the howler or that it had just bitten Legolas again. He knew only that it was a deadly enemy, and thus its life had to be ended. With a vicious swing of his sword, Aragorn cut the howler across the chest.
The creature knew immediately it was dying. With the last of its breath, it looked at the human. "The golden elf will die shortly. You have all been bitten, so the rest of you will also die before long. So you have not won the victory you believe." Its eyes glittered before its head dropped to the snowy trail. The leader of the howlers was dead and along with it went the last of the cursed Drughu.
Looking around, Aragorn saw both Elladan and Elrohir standing quietly and surveying the dead howler bodies that littered the area. I didn't think we would win,' he thought, somewhat amazed.
Aragorn smiled at his brothers and then turned to find where Legolas was located. The elf was lying against a boulder. The ranger was at his side in seconds. The elf's eyes were closed and his breathing was labored. Feeling of Legolas's neck for a pulse, the man frowned to note that it was faint and rapid.
Since all of the howlers were dead, there didn't seem to be any further danger to the little group. That would give him time to tend to the wounds that they had all sustained.
Mindful of Legolas's injuries, the ranger carefully pulled him away from the boulder and laid him on his back. Not seeing any wound that seemed to be bleeding enough to warrant immediate attention, Aragorn lifted the wood elf and began walking down the trail.
"Estel, where are you going?" Elrohir asked. "Those creatures are all dead. We do not need to leave right away."
"I know," the man answered without turning around. "But I want us to get away from the snow and those hideous bodies. We can stop a little farther down and tend to our wounds there." He really wanted to keep going until they reached the valley but knew that would have to wait.
The twins looked at each other and began to follow their youngest brother and their friend past the mountain’s snowline toward the slightly warmer rocks of the lower trail.
TBC