Disclaimer: I own Ariana, her armour and that's about it.
Chapter 11
Ariana POV
I dashed down the streets through the keep and made my way out onto the wall, tears falling down my cheeks. The pain in my chest began to dim for the first time since I had seen Aragorn fall; I had almost lost the one man who meant everything to me. I leant my palms on the wall and let my head drop down to rest on my chest. "Rian, you are not well are you?" I turned to find Boromir stood next to me, looking out over the valley in front of us. I shook my head, "It's about Aragorn isn't it? He means more to you than you let on." I nodded slightly, but turned to him and uncloaked my voice.
"Boromir, you cannot tell him that. Please, he is so much better off without me. Please, just leave it be and let him do as he wishes. We have more to worry about now than my heart." I pleaded with him and he nodded, "What have you seen Rian?" I turned back to the wall. "Isengard has been unleashed. The entire army of ten thousand Uruks is heading towards us. Théoden has decided that any male able to wield a sword will do so. It is suicide; we do not have the numbers. And the numbers that we do have lack the training, we need Eómer and his riders, I just hope Gandalf can find them." I sighed and hearing footsteps cloaked my voice.
We both turned to find Legolas stood next to us, face clenched in anger. "This is folly. We will die. Aragorn is determined to fight and die in this hole in the ground." He growled out and I sighed, "Legolas, he would not be Aragorn if he did not try and fight for the future of men. We must hold on to hope that we will not fail, that somehow we will win. Come let us prepare. They will be here soon after nightfall." I said turning to walk back to the room we had been given to store I things.
I knocked and hearing no answer walked inside and dug through my pack to find my armour hidden at the bottom. I strode into the small privy that was linked to the room and removed my worn tunic, leaving the soft under vest and placed my dragon leather armour over the top, sealing it shut with magic along my side. I pulled on the matching leggings and tucked them into my boots. I watched as the fading light caught the shimmering silver threads that were weaved through it in the pattern of vines.
The vines wrapped around my torso and up to the collar. I let my finger follow the pattern slightly, the pattern represented my mother's branch of magic, she was gifted with the healing arts and could make anything grow. I smiled sadly and pulled my cloak back over my shoulders. I threw my tunic and leggings back in my bag and strapped my sword belt to my waist. As I finished braiding my hair, I heard a horn and I tugged o my cloak, flipping my hood up as I ran out to look down on the courtyard and grinned. Below me were at least three hundred Elven archers, we finally had a chance.
I watched as people were directed to where they were needed, however I could feel that many were unsure and lacked the confidence that we needed. I sighed; many also lacked the skills we needed. I saw that many of the elves stood apart from the men, unwilling to trust those that had brought this about the first time the ring had been present. This will be difficult, I thought as I turned to stand with the others.