Lecerne growled as he moved his stare between everyone present. Gandalf soon found he thought he heard laughing through the noises.
"You are all fools! Do you honestly think you can stop us?" the gargoyle laughed.
"Not all of you together, but I can certainly try to at least bring you down," Aragorn replied through gritted teeth.
The gargoyle began to flap his wings and flew above the crowd of Rohirrim and Gondorians. The gates opened wider to reveal the mass to orcs heading straight for them. Aragorn's eyes widened slightly as he scrambled to get back on his horse. Gimli grabbed his outstretched arm and was pulled onto the horse. The group headed back to the men waiting for them.
Elladan and Elrohir both kept an eye on the gargoyle hovering above them. Something was nagging at both of them about the newcomer now flying over their heads. Elladan kept his eyes on the one called Lecerne as they began to lead their horses back to the crowd.
"Elrohir, what's different about that gargoyle to you?" questioned Elladan.
"You mean besides his colour? Nothing at all! His attitude is everything one would expect from a gargoyle," Elrohir replied.
"Precisely what I'm saying, Elrohir. He doesn't look like any normal gargoyle that I've seen and heard about," Elladan said.
The two brothers hurried back to the men as they stood, listening to Aragorn. The man was rallying them to fight and it was slowly becoming obvious that it was working. As the massive army of Sauron surrounded them, Lecerne continued to hover above them.
The twins glanced around the area, taking notice where Gandalf, Aragorn and Gimli were situated. They knew that any one of them could die by the hands of the orcs or by the gargoyle now watching their every move.
"I can only hope that 'man' was lying when he said that Frodo was dead," Elladan muttered.
Elrohir nodded as he sneaked a glance at Aragorn, who had his sword raised and was now lowering it. The man stepped forward, as if entranced by some unknown force. He glanced back at Gandalf, who held up the mithril shirt.
"For Frodo," he said before running for the orcs.
Merry and Pippin quickly followed him towards the orcs, followed by the rest. The Elven twins looked at each other before following suit.
As Aragorn battled the orcs, all thoughts of the gargoyle quickly left his mind. So when Lecerne landed before him with a growl on his lips, Aragorn was mildly surprised.
"You've come to defeat Sauron. I will not allow it. We have too far for you to stop us now," Lecerne told him.
"You will allow it whether you like it or not. We have sworn to stop Sauron from enslaving everybody. I guess you came into this willingly," Aragorn gritted.
The gargoyle lunged for Aragorn, who managed to dodge out of the way. He immediately found that the gargoyle kept jumping at and he barely managed to keep himself out of the way until he found himself on his back with Lecerne standing only a few feet from him. The gargoyle picked him Aragorn by the collar and the man found he was a few inches from the gargoyle's face.
"It's useless! You will not win! You are so greatly outnumbered it's a wonder you managed to make it this far!" the gargoyle cried at him.
"Numbers do not mean a thing when you have hope," Aragorn told him.
"Ah, hope. It's such a fruitless venture for it can be so easily severed," Lecerne replied.
A screech caught both of their attentions and both glanced upwards to see the Nazgul heading for them from the skies. Lecerne gave an evil smile as he caught the eyes of Aragorn once again. He dropped Aragorn before jumping a few feet away. He bent down and suddenly jumped up to take flight.
"Be warned, this isn't over. I'll be back for I have some killing to do first. I want you to be the last one to look into my eyes," he said.
As Lecerne joined the Nazgul, he soon heard a familiar voice ring out above the clashing and banging all around him.
"The Eagles! The Eagles are coming!" he heard Pippin cry out.
Aragorn looked up to see the sky filling up with the giant birds, which were now attacking the Nazgul flying above them. He could see the gargoyle dodging through the masses now littering the sky. He had to wonder what was going through his friend's mind. The man only hoped that the elf would recognize him when it was all over.
"Well, I can't worry about him now. It will have to wait until this war is over," he quietly said.
He continued to battle the orcs surrounding him, barely taking notice of where any of his friends where now located.
00000
Elladan and Elrohir were fighting close together, taking out any orc that came their way but they were soon finding that they were slowly being overrun. Elrohir skewered an orc through the stomach before turning towards his brother.
"Elladan!" he cried.
"What?" Elladan retorted.
Before Elrohir could say anything, they heard screeches coming from above them. They looked up to see the Nazgul retreating from the flight, heading back into Mordor.
"Where are they going?" Elladan wondered.
"I am unsure. At least we do not have to worry about them for the moment," Elrohir said.
Elladan gave a tiny smile as he took down an a few more orcs. He glanced in the direction of Aragorn and the smile disappeared once he saw a troll lumbering over the fallen man. He began to make his way through the orcs as fast he could. Elrohir had to do a double take, not believing what his brother was attempting.
"Elladan!" he yelled out.
Elladan barely heard his brother as he made his way towards Aragorn. The man didn't even see the elf coming as he backed away from the troll.
"This is bad," Aragorn muttered.
As the troll brought down its sword, Elladan quickly grabbed his bow and fired several arrows at the giant creature. The troll retaliated from the sudden attack and Elladan quickly helped Aragorn to his feet.
"Elladan…" Aragorn started.
"I am trying to help you, what does it look like?" Elladan interrupted, fully knowing what was coming.
A loud crash unexpectedly roared through the air. The remaining people stared in the direction of the Black Gate to see everything collapsing. Aragorn and Elladan glanced at each other, their hearts elated that Frodo was still alive to see the end of the One Ring. All the orcs and trolls began to scatter and flee from the scene, leaving the remaining Gondorians and Rohirrim in a state of glee.
"We have won!" the men around Aragorn and Elladan cried out.
Aragorn searched the skies for any sign of Lecerne but could not find him. The man's mind was going into a state of frenzy at the idea that his friend might not be found. He stepped forward a few steps, never noticing someone hovering high above his sight. The gargoyle bared his teeth in anger.
"We may have lost but you will be mine!" Lecerne growled.
He drew his wings in closer to his body and began his descent to the ground. Lecerne reached out his hands, getting ready for the attack.
"Aragorn!" someone cried out.
Aragorn jerked his head from side to side before finally lifting his head skyward to find the gargoyle heading his direction. All of a sudden, Lecerne grasped his arm and cried out. He landed on the ground in a heap next to Aragorn and Elladan with an arrow sticking out of his arm. Elladan looked around the area only to find his brother standing several feet away, a bow sitting in his hands.
"Oh my," Aragorn gasped.
The gargoyle's growls were audible as he slowly climbed to his feet, showing the severity of the wound. The arrow had gone through his arm at an angle and into the side of his chest and the arrowhead was barely peeking out of his back. Both the man and the elf could see the growing amount of blood beginning to drip down the gargoyle's side.
Gandalf and Gimli hurried up to the scene, a worried look on both their faces. Lecerne took notice of the wizard and dwarf from over his shoulder and began to snicker.
"You may have won this war but you will not take me alive," the gargoyle snarled.
He flapped his wings and took to the air before anyone could catch him. Aragorn tried to reach him before he became too much out of reach but soon failed. Gandalf stepped to Aragorn's and gave him a small smile.
"We'll find him," Gandalf tried to reassure.
"But at what cost Gandalf? He turned out to be alive but he still might die before we find him," Aragorn questioned.
Gandalf didn't say anything, knowing that this was one scenario he wasn't too certain how to react.
TBC…