~*Haha, yes NicholeRenee224, Éomer has been introduced! I feel like all of you guys can read my mind or something... ;) Anyway, here's the next chapter!

"Victory! We have victory!"

Ela had eventually found her way to Aragorn, who let her up onto his horse, and continued to kill as many Orcs as possible. When it was evident that the people of Rohan would not cede to loss, the remaining Uruk-Hai ran from Helm's Deep and into Fangorn Forest. The Rohirrim, ever proud, went to chase after them.

Ela saw Gandalf, the White instead of the Grey, smile and laugh, which caused her to smile as well. She couldn't believe he was alive. When she turned to look at Aragorn behind her, however, the expression on his face was as solemn as the grave.

"What is wrong, Aragorn?"

He was startled, but recovered quickly as he lifted the corners of his mouth. "Nothing. Pay no mind to me."

She doubted his words, but did as he said, turning her attention to the horse riders once more and nudged their horse to join their ranks.

Éomer rode across the front of the company to put them to a halt, shouting, "Stay out of the forest! Keep away from the trees!"

Elarinya watched the man for a moment, wondering what his position was in this company, but then turned her gaze to the retreating Uruks. They all watched the enemy army go into the forest…And saw the trees moving and making noises. Everyone looked on in awe and fear.

After a moment, when it was clear all the Orcs had been killed, the Rohirrim let out a cry of complete joy, raising their shields and swords, coming down from their horses, patting each other on the back, giving hugs, and so on. Ela herself gently jumped down from Brego to go and stand by Shadowfax's side.

The Lord of all horses turned to look at her for a moment, then decided to ignore her, while the wizard looked down to see who had approached him.

"Elarinya."

"Hello Gandalf," she said, looking up, her smile showing on her entire face.

He dismounted Shadowfax and she immediately went into his arms, as the others headed back to the Keep, including Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli.

"You've been through much this night," he said as soon as she was in his arms.

Ela smiled. "I have, but I am alright now. Mother calmed me down."

"Ah," he said, pulling her at arm's length to look into her eyes. "Melira always did find a way to be comforting, wherever she was," he explained with a wink.

She grinned.

"Come. We should be heading back."

With an arm around the other, they walked towards the fortress, Gandalf telling her what had happened to him since Moria.

"Alright, the battle was won, tell me what happened," Elarinya said with folded arms.

She found Legolas and Gimli discussing their kill count outside the Deeping Wall, and smirked, wondering if she should tell them hers. She decided it against it of course, not wanting to spill their fun.

The elf and the dwarf exchanged glances, causing Gimli to sputter and trudge away. She watched him go for a while before turning her eyes back to her friend with a pointed look.

"Aah," Legolas hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Don't avoid me meldir," Ela said softly.

He sighed. "Fine, but you've already lost so much..."

Her eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

So he told her everything that happened after they left Lothlórien in the boats.

Legolas could see the pain growing in her eyes as he spoke, and when he was done, she quickly looked away, over the vast field of destruction and death. He waited for her to say something.

"I reminded him he was a good man the night you all slept," she began, still gazing at the fight's end result, "I told him to take heart and be brave, to fight against the darkness all of you were facing, because it wasn't just him who felt that way. I said to resist...

"Seems as though my words were in vain."

He shook his head. "You meant well," he offered, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"But not well enough," she said, burying herself into his embrace.

They stayed this way for a long while, just enjoying each other's company like they hadn't done in a very long time.

After her moment with Legolas, Elarinya went to find Aragorn inside the Keep's walls.

She witnessed him being embraced by a fair-haired woman.

"Éowyn," the ranger introduced, "This is Elarinya, marchwarden of Lothlórien. Ela, this is Éowyn, the king's niece and Shieldmaiden of Rohan."

"My Lady," the half-elf said as she bowed her head, and Aragorn left them with a smile.

"You were in the company of the elves?" Éowyn asked curiously.

"Yes," Ela answered, "I couldn't let my brother and my friends go to battle without me."

"Is it common for elf women to go to war?" Éowyn questioned again.

"No," the elf answered hesitantly, unsure of why the woman would ask such a thing, "But if a time ever called for it, they would be ready to fight.

"Excuse me, my Lady," she said, bowing once more, "But I must tend to my kin."

"Oh, of course," the White Lady replied.

And with that Elarinya went to find the rest of her company.

"Raniver?"

"Yes captain?"

"You know not call me that," Ela said softly. "I have not earned that title."

"Amongst our people, here, you have," he replied.

Ela looked at him sadly. "Yes, I suppose I have."

Shaking off the feeling, she continued, "How are the rest?"

"Some are wounded, a few are worse for wear, but otherwise well," he answered.

She nodded, about to say something, when he interrupted.

"You are one of the worse for wear ones," Raniver said, motioning to the bandage he had put on her earlier, now bloodied.

"I know," she sighed, "I fear my strength isn't as good as it should be either."

A short quiet descended on the two.

"Get everyone ready to leave this place," Ela said. "We should not linger any longer."

Raniver bowed and went on his way to spread the word.

"Going already?"

~*Who could it be? ;)

So, I just wanted to explain, when Elarinya says "Mother calmed me down" (via the "my morning star" italics in the previous chapter) and Gandalf mentions Melira (who is Ela's birth mother), I wrote that in because in my mind, Melira is still with and around Ela all the time, sometimes more apparent than other times...It's kinda weird and random but I like it.

On another note, after thinking about it for a few months now and discussing it with someone in private messaging, I realize that Legolas and Gimli's kill counts are a little unrealistic...Or maybe it's just that my concept of sword play is unrealistic.

Here's what is bothering me: if you think about it, does it make sense for a 12-ish hour battle would only result in around 40 kills for the elf and dwarf each? I don't think either side took breaks while fighting, so they were only able to kill about 3 Orcs in an hour's time? Since I'm following the movie version, it is hard to comprehend, isn't it? I guess I'll just have to deal with it, but in my head, the main characters would have killed at least 100 or more of the enemy each (taking into consideration how skilled they were, how many of the enemy there was, and how many of Rohan's people were killed in the process [initially 300 vs 10,000 remember?]). I'm crazy nit-picky about these things, so yeah :D If someone could clarify this for me, even a little bit, I would appreciate it immensely.