Part 4

Eowyn had been pacing up and down for what seemed like hours, watching Master Eldacar’s assistants tinker with the ship’s mooring ropes, when—without warning—a blast of wind swirled through the clearing, lifting her off her feet and throwing her onto her back.

She landed with a thud, her body breathless, her mind crystal clear and filled with only one thought. “Legolas!” she croaked.

Above her, The Shieldmaiden was lifting off her timber supports, pulling her ropes as taut as bowstrings.

Eowyn willed her arms and legs to move.

“Adkin, Bandan,” cried Master Eldacar, swinging himself over the gunwale and onto the ladder with an agility that surprised her, “double the ropes; Marloth, put that—”

Another huge gust ripped him from the steps, and dumped him somewhere on the ground.

But Eowyn’s attention was fixed upon the ship. One by one, The Shieldmaiden’s ropes were snapping, piercing the wind’s roar with a series of deafening cracks as, like a living thing, she struggled to break her bonds—

And then she was free, smashing her way up through the carantaurs, leaving nothing behind her but a trail of broken boughs and a blizzard of red leaves.

“Legolas,” wailed Eowyn. “Oh gods, Legolas! LEGOLAS, COME BACK!”