Part Three ~ Shelob's Children

-2-

Eowyn was mindful of every sound as she walked cautiously through the small street leading from the shore into the main track that had brought them into town. She heard nothing and this disturbed her further for there was not even the sound of a mouse stirring or an owl hooting its call in the night. The woods beyond the village seemed comforting now and Eowyn could not deny as she removed the reins from the mouths of both steeds that she wished she were there now, taking comfort in the surround of trees. Being out in the open like this made her feel vulnerable, especially when the community of Cadras Nar felt like a tomb.

She took a deep breath, forcing the fear churning in the pit of her to a far place because she had no patience to deal with such things when she needed to be alert at this time. Having unpacked the horses and leaving all their belonging near the dock where she had last seen Arwen, Eowyn ran her hand against the smooth flank of her horse and then repeated the same comforting gesture on the steed that had borne Arwen all this way. The horses were clearly unhappy at remaining in Cadras Nar and Eowyn guessed that it would not take much to send them on their way. She was reluctant to let them go but knew they would find their way home. No doubt, the sentries on the fortress of Cair Andros would see their return on their shores and claim them.

"Safe journey," she said quietly as she slapped both animals hard on their rumps, startling them somewhat but giving them the imperative to move quickly. She had no wish to cause them harm but Eowyn did not wish them to remain in the village any longer than they should. The horses snorted their indignation at such an abrupt dismissal and immediately broke into a robust gallop down the muddy street. In a matter of minutes, she could no longer hear their thundering footsteps against the dirt.

Once they had gone, she immediately turned up the way she came, intending to join Arwen on the dock and complete their own departure from this place. She reminded herself that upon reaching Lothlorien, she must ask Lord Celeborn to send word to Gondor or Rohan in order to learn what had happened here. The folk of this village had to be somewhere yet she could not imagine any violence that could wipe all traces of them from existence.

Even Orcs left bodies behind.

She was making her way up the small lane that would take her back to the dock when Eowyn heard something moving. It was a strange sound, almost like a flapping of a bird’s wings except that it was too fast for any bird in flight. The sound originated from what appeared to be a boathouse for there were wooden ramps leading to it from the shore. At first, she had considered ignoring the noise for she suspected that there were things in the darkness here that she did not really want to discover. However, when she heard the sound again, this time laced with something she could only call desperation, Eowyn found herself unable to ignore the peril and followed it to its source.

The interior of the boathouse was bathed in darkness and upon her first few seconds into its confines, she heard the sound even more clearly. Its flapping was now accompanied by a desperate but soft chirping, like that of a bird, though extremely weak. Through the window, the glow of the crescent moon illuminated the darkness slightly, though not much and as she followed the noise to its source, Eowyn instinctively unsheathed her sword. She had not taken more than a few steps when she caught sight of a lamp. Deciding that a little more light would probably aid her foolish investigations, she liberated it from its place on a tool bench and saw that the wick was damaged and unable to reach the oil that would ignite it. Not wishing to linger any more than she had to, she made her repairs as she walked towards the noise, her weapon tucked under arm momentarily.

The bird was trapped in mid air and Eowyn wondered how this could be as she saw it in front of her, appearing suspended. At first she could not understand how this was so until the lamp finally lit and the room flooded with light. There was little more than an instant for her to register what was before her before she stumbled back, her mouth open in shock and a scream was trying to find its way out of her throat. Instead, she dropped the lamp to the floor and the room was suddenly bathed in an amber glow. The poor helpless bird that had been trapped was one of many. As Eowyn stared with eyes widening in nothing less than sheer horror, she knew at last what had befallen the people of Cadras Nar because some of them were in front of her.

Trapped on a giant spider’s web.

Their bodies were desiccated, drained of blood, it was the manner in which their murderers fed and Eowyn barely contained her revulsion as she saw corpses of men, women and children alike, suspended over her head. What they were could not even be recognized as human if not for their clothing and with horror she noticed that some of the corpses were not intact. She reached out, her fingers trembling as she saw the corpse of a child wrapped up in the silken threads of the web, hoping against hope that there was still some life left for her to save. She but only grazed her finger tips against the body and the exertion proved to much tension for it broke free of its trappings and landed heavily upon the ground. Her scream was short but heartfelt as she saw what remained of a little boy staring at her with dead eyes. It almost made her wretch with disgust if not for the fact that she made a startling realization through her fear.

She was not alone.

She almost missed its advanced for, despite its size- and it was larger than anything that could possibly be crushed underfoot - it knew how to move stealthily. She saw it from the corner of her eye, a flurry of movement that did not have the fluidity of fire and when she turned around, she found herself staring into its compound eyes. She may have been the Shield Maiden of Rohan but even she had shuddered when Frodo told his tale of meeting Shelob, the giant spiders that had been spawned of Ungoliant in the earliest days of Middle Earth. Shelob had met her end at the hands of Samwise Gangee and though Eowyn did not think that this was she, it did not lessen the danger.

Yet one of these creatures could not have taken Cadras Nar completely, without one person escaping to tell the tale. As the beast came upon her, Eowyn understood that this one creature could not have done this alone because it was not. There were more! A panic stricken thought impacted upon her senses. Arwen! She did not know! She must be warned! Unfortunately, Eowyn’s ability to do so was hindered by the fact that one of the creatures faced her now, moving in for the kill. She saw its mandibles snapping in anticipation of her blood and the fire burning behind her, having consumed the web and the poor souls trapped upon it. Eowyn produced her sword and thought quickly, for she could not spend too much time dealing with this creature when Arwen might be deadly danger.

Its legs snapped into motion and the creature rushed at her, spitting poison in her direction as it came. Eowyn jumped out of the way, thankful that there was space to keep her from falling into reach of its lethal jaws. Though it was larger than her, it moved with terrifying speed and was soon coming at her again. This time there was no way for her to avoid it and Eowyn lashed out fiercely, tearing through its darkened flesh and eliciting an unearthly howl from the creature. In retaliation it stabbed one of its spindly legs in her direction and though she tried to evade it, nothing could keep it from penetrating the flesh of her shoulder. Eowyn let out a sharp cry of pain and felt the rage bubble in her from the injury. Striking out viciously, she felt the blade sink into the spider’s crimson eye and pulled back with just as much vehemence.

A screech of agony escaped the spider and when Eowyn retrieved her blade, it was dripping with black blood. Partially blinded, the wound enraged the spider and it lunged at her, preparing to cover her with its foul body. Eowyn saw its intent and jumped herself, sliding beneath its form across the floor, coming to a halt only after it had landed in the place where she had been. She rolled onto her knees and saw it swinging around, preparing to launch itself at her again. Blood was flowing freely down her shoulder and she knew that she needed aid but more importantly, she had to reach her queen while she still could. Grunting in pain, she thought quickly for she had spent enough time evading this creature and saw that the fire was now burning in the rafters of the building. The heat stung at her skin and sweat began to run down her forehead. She saw the tall flames behind her and knew that there was one way to end this quickly.

Instead of preparing to flee, she stood her ground defiantly, challenging the beast to do its worst. For an instant, the spider was uncertain of what she intended but then pain and hunger set it forth again and it scampered across the floor in the obscene fashion of its body, preparing to devour her. Its fangs snapped in readiness of the feeding of fresh blood, having been ravenously consuming little things since the people of Cadras Nar had been exhausted. It was of a few driven from Mirkwood following the War of the One Ring and here in this small community, the feeding had been good for awhile. The tasty morsel of the warrior maiden before it would satisfy its hunger for a good while.

Eowyn saw it approaching and braced herself, ignoring the fear in her heart and reminding herself resolutely that this would only succeed if she defied her fear. The creature closed the gap between them swiftly and as Eowyn saw herself in the reflection of its uninjured eye, she thought she might falter but did not. There was an instant of clarity when the spider’s fangs opened in readiness to feed where Eowyn could almost feel its fetid breath upon her skin, where it was coming at her too fast to stop. In that one instant her mind forgot itself and her instincts took control of her and she jumped out of the way, while her would be killer continued on its path.

It realised too late what she intended and tried to stop but its bulk and speed was propelling it forward and the spider could do nothing but offer a terrified screech of vain desperation as it ran straight into the fire. The flames consumed it quickly and soon Eowyn found herself witnessing the sight of the creature burning alive and writhing in agony. Its eight legs kicking wildly as it tumbled onto its back, driving even more disgust into the pit of her until she could no longer look. Eowyn turned away when she heard the creak of the wooden banister above her burning away until it was prepared to collapse. Grabbing a piece of timber, she turned it into a torch and ran out of the structure beset with flames before it collapsed in on itself.

With her sword in one hand and her torch in the other, Eowyn left the wreckage and went to find Arwen.

************

After Eowyn had departed, Arwen had sought out the vessel that would best serve them and untied its moorings so that she could lead it to shore. The smaller canoes were not terribly heavy and she managed easily to pull it onto the shale beach in order to pack their belongings on to it. She tried not to pay attention to the anxiety she felt at being in this place and wondered when Eowyn would come for she disliked being here alone. There was too much opportunity for solitude in this village for her liking as it was and she also worried that Eowyn might be found what it was that had happened here if she were away too long.

She continued to pack their things into the boat, ensuring that the weight was well distributed for it could make their travel difficult if it were not done properly. However, she kept glancing over her shoulder because she could feel something at the edge of her consciousness, nagging at her. With all that she was enduring of late, it was perfectly understandable that she should feel so anxious about any unknown in her life. Still, there was something ominous in the air that made her wish Eowyn would hurry in her task and return for Arwen was feeling more anxiety than she would have liked to admit.

Suddenly, she heard a scream tear through the night.

Arwen stood upright immediately and knew that it was Eowyn’s voice that had cried out so. Her heart began to pound as she unsheathed her sword and ran up the beach, hoping that Eowyn would cry out again so that Arwen could find her. However, there was little need of that because she could see one of the boat houses alive with flame. The building was slowly burning and Arwen needed no second sight to know that it was where she would find Eowyn. However, as she approached the burning building, something else emerged from the darkness that immediately stopped her approach.

Spiders.

There were two of them, emerging from the houses that had been dormant. Arwen knew that they had seen her for their vile eyes turned in her direction and their legs were poised to move in correspondence to her actions. She wanted to run but Eowyn needed her aid, she could not leave! Brandishing her sword with more courage than she felt, she sought a way around them and saw none.

"Let me pass or you shall feel the sting of my blade!" She hissed as she slashed at the air before one of them, in order to show them that she made no idle threat.

The one on her left lunged and Arwen dropped to her knees, seeing the power in its attack and knowing that it would fly above her head. She raised her sword as it moved above her, its tip biting into the beast’s plump abdomen and tearing it open. Black blood spilled forth and Arwen felt some of it on her clothes and almost choked in disgust. The creature screamed in rage and its companion moved in while Arwen was distracted with the first. The Queen of Gondor saw the spindly legged creature rushing at her and let out a cry of horror because she could not escape in time. No sooner than the sound had left her voice she heard the spider squeal in agony as a thick piece of wood was slammed right into its round body.

"ARWEN, watch out!"

The piece of wood was ablaze and as the creature struggled to rid itself of the instrument upon which it was impaled, the fire spread out across its body. Arwen let out a gasp of surprise and relief when she saw Eowyn running forward, placing herself between the other wounded beast and her queen. She moved swiftly, far swifter than Arwen ever thought possible and slashed her blade in a wide arch. The remaining spider screamed in agony as Eowyn took its head. Arwen turned away as the foul creature’s head tumbled from the rest of it and rolled across the beach.

"Eowyn!" Arwen noted the blood on her shoulder. "You are hurt!"

"I am fine," Eowyn said exhausted and looked at the town to see more dark shapes emerging. "We have to go! I fear these are not alone. This village has become infested with Mirkwood’s remnants. We must be away to tell King Thranduil of what transpires here!"

Arwen could only nod for her eyes were fixed upon the other spiders that were fast approaching them. Without wasting any time, the two ladies immediately hurried to the boat, for only the waters of the Anduin could protect them now. Arwen took charge of the boat when they reached it for as bravely and fiercely as Eowyn had fought, the shield maiden of Rohan was hurt. Nevertheless she accepted Eowyn’s help for nothing could convince the determined woman to desist. They pushed the boat into the water, caring little that they were wet, not until they were far enough from the shore to board it and paddle swiftly away. Both women paddled quickly, drawing further and further away from the shore and beyond the reach of the spiders.

As they cast their gaze upon the shore, Arwen and Eowyn gasped as they saw how many spiders there were on the shore, pacing up and down the length of it in frustration, unable to reach the prey that had killed three of their own. Behind the vile creatures, the fire that Eowyn had begun had been captured by the sweep of the wind and the flames were moving to another home and appeared as if it would not be satisfied until the entire village was theirs.

"We must get you to Lothlorien," Arwen said once they were far enough away from Cadras Nar to stop their insistent paddling.

"It is nothing," Eowyn grunted as Arwen examined her wound.

"You are as stubborn as a man about such things. I would have thought that the Shield Maiden of Rohan would have better sense. Those foul creatures usually have poison in their bites, you will let me administer to your injuries. As your queen I demand it," Arwen stared at her imperiously.

Eowyn groaned and stared at her petulantly. "I think it is exceedingly unfair that you should use your royalty to force me to obey." She grumbled.

"I know," Arwen smiled. "Do I not do it well?" The elf asked with a twinkle of mischief in her eye.

Eowyn rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, "elves."

************

As the Fellowship pursued Arwen and Eowyn down the Anduin, Aragorn gazed upon his travelling companions and was struck by the familiarity of their situation. Once again, the Fellowship was embarking upon a great quest but it was not theirs to fulfil. That duty belonged to Arwen who had been left behind when they had gone to destroy the One Ring. Until now, Aragorn had not known what torture it was to remain behind while loved ones departed to face untold dangers. How had Arwen borne it when he had left Imraldis to take on the duty of leading the Ring Bearer to the fires of Mount Doom? It had always been a woman’s lot to wait behind and pray that her loved ones would be delivered to her safely. Until now, Aragorn had no idea how strong one had to be to endure such uncertainty. It was steel known only to women for he could not imagine anything worse than to leave Arwen to her fate and his very presence here was a testament to how much stronger than him she truly was.

Faramir, who was steadily paddling his boat ahead with Merry and Pippin, appeared just as anxious, though the Lord of Ithilien tried not to show his worry. His wife was a brave woman and a cunning warrior. If there was one woman who could acquit herself in any kind of peril, it was certainly Eowyn of Rohan. Yet like Aragorn, Faramir was all too aware that she would not be facing any ordinary foe and the Enemy of whom they had scant knowledge, seemed greater than anything that Eowyn had ever faced. He was afraid for her and rightly so and no matter how much he tried to tell himself that she would fare well in protecting herself and her queen, his love for her made him fear the worse. Faramir hoped that they would not be too late when Eowyn and Arwen were finally found.

Meanwhile, within his own vessel, Legolas was silent. He had been for some time now and though this was not unusual for him as far as his friends were concerned, the Prince of Mirkwood was somewhat troubled. His heightened senses were on full alert because he could feel something bordering the edge of his perception and the sensation it produced with that unknowing was ominous. As he rowed the boat in tandem with Gimli, his eyes scanned the shoreline that ran parallel with the Anduin, trying to learn what this danger was that was coming upon them. At first, he had hardly noticed it for it was the way with elves to notice all things but then as it grew darker in his mind, he started to feel anxious.

"What is it?" Gimli asked when he had paused in his rowing to sweep his gaze against the lands that flanked them.

Legolas did not answer immediately, "I do not know," he replied and that was the whole truth. He did not know, he only felt it.

Gimli knew to trust the elf’s senses for on too many occasions, his perception had saved their lives. He stiffened in tension, disliking this feeling of not knowing from whence the danger was coming. "What do you feel?" He asked quietly for there was no need to alarm everyone just yet.

"It’s closeness," Legolas answered and his words made Gimli even more wary.

"Perhaps it is the Enemy that the Queen and the Lady Ithilien have gone to face," he suggested in the hopes that the discussion would abate his anxiousness.

"No," Legolas shook his head. "It if were the Enemy, I would know it instantly. Darkness of such magnitude is not easy to miss. This is smaller but dangerous, I am certain of it."

"The foolishness of it," Gimli snorted in annoyance. "What could they be thinking? Rushing of like that to the peril of both their lives to face who knows what, without telling us. This should be a quest handled by all of us, not two noblewomen."

Legolas raised a brow at Gimli before remarking with some measure of reproach. "They are hardly two noblewomen Master Gimli, Arwen is the Evenstar, she has been alive a great deal longer than you. She has always known how to take care of herself and Eowyn has slain the Witch King of Angmar and fought with us at Pelennor. I don’t think that there are two more capable women of carrying out the task before them."

"You know that I have only the greatest respect for the fairer sex, after all Lady Galadriel holds a special place in my heart. But this quest upon which she has sent Arwen and Eowyn is ill thought. Arwen is with child and should be guarded, not traipsing about the countryside to face who knows what." Gimli retorted though with little real anger in his voice.

Legolas suspected that he could never feel anger at anything that Galadriel did because the dwarf had been infatuated with the Lady of the Wood since his first encounter with her. In truth, much of Gimli’s disposition towards the elves had altered because of that meeting and it had smoothened the way for their close friendship. He knew that Gimli’s feelings about what Arwen and Eowyn had embarked upon were mostly tempered by his affection for both. Legolas felt the same way. Arwen was like a sister to him and he loved her dearly and Eowyn was a comrade in battle as well as friend. He feared for their safety not merely for his own reasons but for that of their husbands who even now, tried to hide their extreme worry from the rest of the Fellowship.

Overhead the sun was starting to set and though Aragorn wanted to travel further, he knew that they needed to rest. They had been journeying down river for almost a day and the weariness was starting to seep into his limbs. He knew that it would not be wise to press on to the detriment of their physical state when they finally reached Arwen and Eowyn. Besides, he suspected that they might seek shelter themselves, after all Arwen was not accustomed to travelling at such an arduous pace and he knew his wife well enough to suspect that she would take care not to harm the babe by straining herself.

The Fellowship aimed their boats in the direction of land and stepped onto the Western Shore. By the time the sun had disappeared into the horizon, they were all gathered around a campfire watching the dance of flames. They feasted upon some rabbits that Legolas and Faramir had managed to snare. As usual the hobbits had a good store of food with them as well and Sam who was accustomed to taking care of his master, did the honors of cooking. The conversation around the fire as they ate was not at all lively as it had been during the celebration in the White City.