Tolkien Fan Fiction
| 53 |
| The Lay of Strider |
Written for B2MEM 2015 in response to a prompt posted by MyBlueRose. |
I was a Ranger, and to Bree was I newly come. No one there knew where I was from. Of my parts they could make no sum. I was a cipher to which no answer could be put. I’d no horse, had come on foot. Of evil Men was I in pursuit. They did not like me. To them I represented great danger. No time had they for the stranger who’d come to Bree in the guise of a Ranger. They sensed me a puzzle, for I would answer not their questions. They gave me conflicting directions and most uncomfortable suggestions. I found the Men I sought in the bar room at the Pony. One tossed o’erhead a single stone he had stolen last night from Estelconi. Ah, but they knew me, knew they truly must distract me. One threw a knife hoping t’would impact me whilst the others merely sought to trap me. They sought to flee me. In the bar they sowed confusion, and with a confederate’s collusion they tried to fool me with illusion. They slipped out of the inn, and in a storage shed lay hidden. But still I came on them unbidden; ’twas their bodies’ stink undid them! One still thought to flee, and like a coney he raced all through town! But afoot I chased him, and he found that in the end I still ran him down. A young girl squealed with glee, and said, “He’s caught them like a spider! I’ve never seen such a strider!” Had I ridden I’d now be “Rider.” |