Next day, the pace had quickened with renewed hope as they drew nearer to Helm's Deep. Though the people of Rohan were joyed that their trek was almost finished, the thought of arriving at the great fortress caused Loralei to become apprehensive and observant, but also filled with dread knowing what awaited these people once a battle commenced. What made things even worse for Loralei was that the wind decided to shift and come from the southeast, behind them, this would give away their position and gave Loralei not even the faintest hint of what lay ahead. Loralei was so tense in the saddle, the mare beneath her pranced with anticipation, sidestepping and half passing at a trot. She was not fond of surprises, especially the war kind.
At the crest of every hill, she would let out a sigh along with some tension, finally being able to see for some distance in front of the troupe.
The company stopped briefly at a small river to rest weary feet and to let their horses drink. Loralei let the mare rest and dismounted as the mare dropped her head down to drink. Loralei took the leather reins and pulled them over the mare's head, undoing the knot in the end. She draped them back over the saddle horn and proceeded to loosen the girth slightly, just enough to keep it on. She then situated her satchel on the horse's saddlebag. The mare shook her entire body, rattling the tack and flicking her tail. Loralei held up her hands to shield her face and closed her eyes, trying to avoid being smacked by the tail or loose leathers from the saddle. She opened her eyes and brought her hands down after the mare stopped shaking.
Nearby, two guards had dismounted their horses and were chatting amongst themselves.
"We're almost to Helm's Deep," One of the guards told the other.
"Aye, we will be there soon," replied the other, "Late afternoon at the latest."
Loralei looked up to the sky and shaded her eyes with her hand. Judging by the sun, it was late morning. She dropped her arm, lowered her head, and sighed. They would have one more break before they reach the ravine. She shook her head to rid herself of those worrying thoughts that kept encroaching upon her. She turned to tend to the mare next to her. Loralei ran her hands down the mare's legs, searching for heat or swelling. She then asked the mare to lift up her legs by running her hands down the backs of the legs and squeezing the tendons with her fingers for her to pick up her feet. She wanted to check the mare's hooves and make sure there were not any stones that would cause a stone bruise. She checked each hoof and even pressed on the sole and wall of each of them to make sure she was sound. After checking the hooves, Loralei made the mare stretch her legs by manipulating them to stretch forwards and backwards.
The company began to move again and Loralei walked next to the grey mare. Though she was on the ground, she could not help but try to find hills or some other means, like Arod, to gain advantage and look out ahead of the troupe.
"Something troubles you," Legolas said to Loralei, who was intently looking forward. They had both been silent for a while after Loralei hopped up on Arod's back and stood up.
"Why do you say that?" Loralei asked him.
"Because you are using my head as a rest," He told her. Loralei quickly looked down to find she was using him as a perch. She quickly removed her hands.
"Sorry," She muttered as she crossed her arms. Her gaze snapped back to the front of the line. The light breeze came from behind them taunted her. The company crested two more hills before Loralei jumped off Arod and proceeded to walk next to the mare she originally rode.
Though this was the shortest distance the company was to travel, for Loralei, it was the longest. Step after grueling step they took, barely seeming to go anywhere, yet slowly making their way closer to Rohan's doom. Her senses were in overdrive causing every second to feel like a minute and every minute feel like an hour. She felt like she was about to go insane, every crunch of the ground under foot or hoof, every shuffle of every cloth, every snort of every horse had her jumping in her skin and turning to locate the source of the noise.
The guards finally called for the last rest. The people around her muttered cheerfully and rushed to rest their feet. They knew they would be at Helm's Deep soon and most of them wished for the break to be over soon. For Loralei, the rest was over too soon.
As the company began to head out, the hairs on the back of Loralei's neck stood up and her skin began to crawl. Something was not right, she could feel it, but everyone else seemed oblivious to the fact and marched on with excitement and renewed energy to the ravine. Loralei looked up to the sky and closed her eyes, mentally praying to herself. She dropped her head down and opened her eyes before heading forth.
Again, the march became grueling, mostly to those who wished to get to Helm's Deep and be safe, but at least one did not wish to arrive at Helm's Deep. Loralei took step after unhurried step, scanning the lands about her constantly through her lowered gaze. She still felt something was not right. She followed the people walking past her with her eyes, smiling and laughing. She looked over her shoulder and saw two grey forms not too far off on the base of the other hill across the valley. Loralei turned forward and looked down to the ground to mind her step.
After fifteen minutes of walking, Loralei stopped in her stride and looked down at the ground in confusion. She was feeling off. She did not feel right. She closed her eyes, trying to figure out what was causing her to feel so weird. She felt a tingling sensation run through her body. The tympanic membranes in her ears seemed like they were coated with a thin veil of water, making everything muffled or garbled. She began to feel slightly light headed and her eye lids became heavy. She screwed her eyes shut and put her hand to her head. She quickly shook her head back and forth to ward off these feelings. After standing there for a while, she finally was able to push the strange feelings away. She thought maybe her body was craving nutrition. She reached into one of the pouches on her belt and pulled out the lembas Legolas had given her. She unwrapped it, took a small bite before wrapping it, and placing it back into her pouch. She began to move forward again
She heard hoof beats come up from behind, almost an hour after her episode. She looked over her left shoulder to see two guards on horses trotting towards the front of the line. She followed them with her eyes up the hill until they disappeared over it. It was several minutes before her arm was jerked and the reins yanked her to the right. The mare had stumbled and tripped on a loose stone and fell to her knees. Loralei stopped and let the mare get to her feet before stroking her neck.
"You're alright," Loralei muttered to her. She ran her hand down the horse's neck to her legs to check for any damage. She saw a little bit of hair was missing from one of the horse's knees, but there was no blood so there was not anything to worry about. As she stood up to pat the horse on the neck, she swore she heard a squeal of another. She then heard a faint scream of a man. She whipped her head around to the front of the line. Another distant yell was heard. "Run," She turned to the mare before she took off at full speed towards the front of the line, darting between the people.
Just as she crested the hill she saw Aragorn turn and rush back down the hill he was on. The King came riding up to Aragorn.
"What is it? What do you see?" Theoden asked.
"Wargs! We're under attack!" Aragorn shouted to the King. Quickly, the people of Rohan began to panic and scatter every which way. Aragorn ran up to his horse as Loralei began to race down the hill. "Get them out of here!" Aragorn yelled to the guards on foot. The guards began to corral the people like frightened sheep and lead them in the proper direction.
"All riders to the head of the column!" Theoden's voice was barely heard over the panicked cries of the people. Horses began to run towards the front to aid their King. Gimli tried to haul himself up on Arod.
"Come on!" Gimli demanded. "Get me up here! I'm a rider. Come on!" A guard hoisted Gimli up a little too far and he almost fell off the other side. Loralei darted and leapt between the people as they began to flee.
"Follow me!" Theoden called out to the horsemen. Loralei was about to dash forwards when Arod's rear stopped her.
"Forward. I mean, charge forward." Gimli told the horse, however he had the reins too tight in his hands and caused the horse to back up.
"Let go of his head!" Loralei told the Dwarf. Gimli let the reins slide through his fingers slightly.
"Make for the lower ground!" Loralei heard a woman's voice, most likely Eowyn's, tell the people.
"That's it!" Gimli cheered to Arod as the horse finally started to go forward. "Go on!" Arod finally picked up a canter and headed off. Loralei missed her chance to leap atop Arod and she cursed under her breath. As she ran after the horses, she heard barking of some kind. She lengthened her strides. The last of the horses crested the hill. She ripped the bow from her back as she neared the top.
She made it to the top just before the riders and Wargs crashed into each other. It was frenzied chaos. Her eyes darted back and forth, not knowing where to go or who to help. Some of the guards on foot finally topped the hill and raced down to the battle field below. She saw Gimli fall off Arod before he bounded back to his feet and readied his axe.
Loralei's head snapped to a brown creature that made its way past the horses. She whipped out an arrow, notched it and fired at the beast's head. It hit the beast in the back. She fired one more arrow, which landed in the eye socket and burying itself in the beast's brain, killing it. She rushed down the hill, firing another arrow and killing an Orc.
At the base, she stood there with her bow and aimed at the chaos around her. She managed several good hits, instantly killing the Orcs or Wargs, others she had to take another shot to kill. She could not stay in one place for long and raced north to cut some of the Orcs and Wargs off. She had taken down three more Wargs and at least four Orcs. Her adrenaline was pumping and her heart was racing.
She paused for a moment to catch her breath. She heard a growl from behind her. She snapped her head up to see a Warg leap from the ledge above her. She ducked, but was not quick enough. She and the Warg were sent tumbling. She had used her bow to block the Warg's jaws and the momentum of the beast hitting it caused her to fall back and she rolled. She felt something snap in her hands and she let go of the bow as she rolled off her back and landed on her feet, hands, and knees. The Warg tumbled behind her, skidded to a stop; it stood up, and turned around to face her. Loralei's back was to the Warg and she looked at it over her shoulder. It held her broken bow in its jaws. It spat it out and lunged for Loralei. She gnashed her teeth and reached for her long knives under her cloak, on her back. The Warg was closer than it had appeared and opened its jaws and extended its claws at her. She was about to bring one of her knives up when a grey blur grabbed hold of the Warg's neck and slammed it to the side. The Warg's claws skimmed Loralei's left cheek and cut just enough to draw blood.
The grey blur was the scar proud Dyre. Loralei sighed in relief.
All around her the mayhem continued. She cut down several Orcs that came running at her. The Dyre continued to fend off the Wargs. Loralei leapt over a spear that was hurdled in her direction and buried itself in the ground several feet from her. She slashed at one Orc before turning and to cut down another. She shifted her weight and went to bring down her knife on another's head but was blocked. It growled at her and pushed her back. She wrinkled her nose at its rancid breath and kicked it in the stomach before bringing the second blade up and cutting it deep in the chest.
A Warg and rider came at her and slashed along the beast's side, before another Warg came from behind and slammed into her. She stumbled, trying to regain her balance, and stopped right before a small cliff. She turned to see the Warg stalking her. She twirled her knives in her hands and crouched in a defensive stance. The Warg stalked a little more before it lunged at her. She ducked and it went over her and tumbled down the cliff. It managed to grab a hold of her cloak just enough to pull her off balance and fall back, losing her footing on the scree slope.
She fell and landed on her upper back, the hard leather of her quiver digging into, and knocking the wind out of her. She winced as she weakly sat up and tried to force air into her lungs. She leaned heavily on her left arm as she tried to turn herself over to get to her feet. She grasped the knives as soon as she got fresh air into her lungs and staggered to her feet. She turned around to see the Warg stagger to its feet. It turned to her and growled. She clenched her teeth and glared at it. She held up her knives as she took up a defensive stance again. This time, when the Warg lunged, it was met with a long knife up through its jaw and into its skull. Loralei knew better than to hold onto the knife, so she dodged the Warg and let go. The Warg's body went tumbling lifelessly and skidded to a halt. Loralei let out a sigh as she rose to stand straight. She walked over and kicked the beast, making sure it was dead, before she pulled out her knife and wiped it. The clashing overhead was not ignored and she quickly scaled the steep hill and joined the fray once again.
As quickly as it had started, it had ended. Loralei only got two decent kills in after she fell, lopping off an Orcs head was one of them, while the other had met its end with her long knife plunged into its ribcage near where its heart would be. The other kills consisted of deep lacerations and dismembering body parts causing the creatures to bleed to death. She wiped her blades before placing them back in their sheaths. She sighed and tucked some of the loose and fly away strands of hair behind her ears under her hood that came undone during the skirmish.
She had grabbed a long sword from the ground and began to stab all the downed Orcs and Wargs on her way to find Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas. Several Orcs were almost dead and she stabbed them, ending their life. She slowly made her way to one last Orc. She stabbed it and it made one last dying noise before it ceased to exist. She left the sword in it and trudged to try to meet up with the three. She surveyed the damage about her as she went.
"Aragorn!" Legolas called out. He walked up a hill scouring the terrain for his friend. Loralei's head snapped up to where she heard his voice.
Gimli, too, looked about, "Aragorn?" She began to head in their direction. She had just gotten to Gimli and looked about before noticing Legolas stride up to the top of a hill and kneel down to examine something on the ground. Some kind of gurgling ticking noise caught their ears. Legolas looked to his left and Gimli and Loralei walked quickly up the hill to a dying Orc. Loralei went to rush at the Orc when Gimli put his hand up to stop her. He then trudged up to him and held out his axe, glaring down at the vile creature. "Tell me what happened and I will ease your passing." He growled. Legolas and Theoden appeared next to Gimli.
"He's," The Orc coughed, "Dead." Their eyes went wide in disbelief. "He took a little tumble off the cliff." Theoden looked out over the cliff and headed to see if it was true. Legolas knelt down and roughly grabbed the Orc.
"You lie!" He spat at him. The Orc made one last laugh before it died. Something caught Legolas' eye when he went to drop the Orc's body. Something in its hand caught his interest and he picked it up. It was what Aragorn wore around his neck. Legolas held it in his hand before looking up and to the cliff. Gimli looked up to the cliff as well. Legolas and Gimli rushed to the edge, Loralei tailing behind them. All they saw was a black rushing river with no way out but sheer cliffs. Loralei's shoulders dropped.
One of the guards came up behind King Theoden, "Get the wounded on horses. The wolves of Isengard will return. Leave the dead." Theoden told him. Legolas and Loralei looked to him in disbelief. Loralei's mouth dropped open. Theoden turned to Legolas and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come," Theoden told the trio. He walked away from them. Legolas looked from the necklace to the river and clutched the necklace in his hand.
"I don't believe it," Gimli mumbled, shaking his head. "I don't believe it." He said louder. Gimli turned and paced back and forth several steps behind Loralei and Legolas. Suddenly, Loralei began to rip off her quiver and undo buckles. "What are ye doin' lass?" Gimli asked when he turned around to see her taking off some of her weapons. Legolas watched her in confusion.
"I'm going in after him." Loralei muttered and went to take off the last buckle that held her quiver to her back. Legolas swiftly grabbed her right arm as she brought it up to take off her quiver. This stopped her and made her turn and look at him.
"Are you mad?" Legolas asked her. His attention was broken from her eyes down to her arm. He felt something warm and wet in his left hand. He could see blood oozing between his fingers. He let go and examined his hand before looking at her arm. The cut went from her arm guard to several inches up her bicep on the upper aspect of her elbow. "You're bleeding," He quietly stated. He looked back up to her face. He then noticed she was also bleeding from some scratches on her left cheek. "You need to be tended to," He told her. Loralei was about to reply when one of the guards began to shout.
"Warg!" The guard's voice rang out. "There's a Warg!" The three turned to look over their shoulders. The Dyre was being chased by guards. Loralei stooped and grabbed the gear she took off and dashed to save her family member.
"No! Wait!" Loralei darted in front of arrows, blades, and spears between the Dyre and the guards. "Please, stop! He's not a Warg!" Loralei held up her hands. The Dyre behind her did not help by growling and baring its teeth at the Men.
"Kill it! Kill it!" Some of the guards shouted.
"What are you doing?" One of the guards asked Loralei.
"Get out of the way!" Another demanded. Even the King came rushing over with his sword drawn, ready to kill the Dyre.
"Stop! He's not a Warg!" Loralei shouted out at the angry Men. "He's a Dyralupin!" The angry voices dulled slightly at her comment.
"She brought them here!" "It was her!" The guards said irritably amongst themselves. The King pushed his way to the front.
"Shadow," The King asked in disbelief. "Is this true?"
"No," Loralei told him, quickly shaking her head.
"She lies!" The guards around them began to raise their voices and press forward, forcing Loralei and the Dyre to step back away from the points.
"That's enough!" Legolas demanded. He stepped between the steel points and Loralei. He happened to drag Gimli in with him, which he seemed to want to leave and not be in the middle of. "She has done nothing of the sort!" He said sternly. Gimli tried to leave, but Legolas grabbed his shoulder to stop him from leaving. "We have all suffered losses. We do not need to take it out on others. Let us get the wounded to help." Legolas looked to the King and nodded to him.
"Let us hurry and take the injured to the Healing Hall, quickly!" Theoden turned and addressed his Men. The Men slowly put down their weapons and turned to take the injured away to the fortress. The King turned and nodded back to them after he sheathed his sword.
"What? What?" Gimli stuttered quickly. "Why did you do that?" He whispered harshly up to Legolas. "We could have been skewered!" Legolas looked at Gimli before turning to look at Loralei.
She stared back at him, under her hood and lowered gaze. They stared at each other, as if they were having a silent conversation between them, in their minds. Gimli glanced back and forth between the two several times, as if the conversation was happening aloud.
'Why did you do that?' Loralei's eyes questioned the Elf.
'You were going to be killed,' Legolas seemed to infer.
'I did not need your help,' Loralei glared back. Legolas' eyes trailed down to her wounded arm, blood now dripping from her fingertips. She followed his gaze to see her wound. They looked up to each other.
'You need to be tended to,' Legolas nodded to her arm.
Loralei scuffed out loud, "I'm fine." She turned and faced the Dyre behind her and stroked it with her good hand. She felt a small twinge go across her shoulders as she raised her arm. Legolas turned to look behind him at the commotion going on with the Rohan guards getting the wounded on horses.
"We should go," Legolas told them, still looking over his shoulder.
"I'll get Hasufel," Loralei pushed past Gimli and Legolas to retrieve the chestnut horse. Legolas and Gimli looked to each other before looking to Loralei's retreating form. The Dyre behind them shook its head and began to walk away from the small army.
There was nothing to be said between the three of them. Loralei had mounted Hasufel after finding him. Legolas obtained Arod and assisted Gimli aboard before getting on himself. The rode briskly to Helm's Deep with the company. Loralei opted to stay at the rear of the group, while Legolas and Gimli rode next to King Theoden.
While riding through the ravine, Loralei looked left and right at the cliffs that bordered it. There were ledges and shelves that dotted the sides, some holding a Dyre as the company rode past. Loralei even looked at the ground. There was a small stream, barely any vegetation, mostly bare dirt and rock. The wounded began their ascent into the fortress.
"Make way for the King!" A guard called out. People dispersed from the center of the stairs and streets to make room for the mounted Men. They rode up the winding streets to the top of the spire and dismounted.
"So few, so few of you have returned." Eowyn came rushing up to the company.
"Our people are safe. We have paid for it with many lives." Theoden replied. He handed off his horse to a guard.
"You're injured," A kind elderly lady came up to Loralei, who was loosening the tack on Hasufel, and spoke to her. Loralei turned and looked at the woman.
"Oh," Loralei was shocked. She quickly hid her arm behind her in embarrassment. "It's alright. Nothing more than a scratch." Loralei tried to avoid her.
"It will get infected; you must go to the Healing Hall." The old woman told Loralei.
"I'll get it checked," Loralei falsely assured the woman, "I promise."
Gimli walked up to Eowyn and coughed, "My lady." Eowyn was so entranced with finding Aragorn among them she did not notice the Dwarf until he spoke.
"Lord Aragorn," Eowyn asked him, looking around. "Where is he?"
"He fell," Gimli's voice cracked as he told her. She looked to him in disbelief. She turned and looked to Theoden, who just looked back at her with a blank stare. Tears filled her eyes and she took off into the fortress hall.