It was almost morning at Helm's Deep. The Uruk-hai were taking control over the fortress almost completely. All they needed to do was breaking in the Keep to invade the inside. They brought their battering ram and tried to smash open the castle's door.
From inside the castle, the soldiers were sealing the door tight with timbers and benches. Théoden looked away in shame, as he felt like hope was lost.
"The fortress is taken," he announced, "It is over."
"You said this fortress would never fall while your men defend it!" Aragorn countered, when he and Legolas fetched more benches to bar the door, "They still defend it! They have died defending it! Right now one of my friends is still outside this castle with the enemies! I know she still believes we will win this!"
Inside the caves, the women and children could hear the enemies hammering the castle's gate, their very last defense. They all cried in horror, realizing that death may be upon them.
"Is there no other way for the women and children to get out of the caves?" Aragorn asked, "Is there no other way?"
"...There is one passage, it leads to the mountains," Háma said, "But they will not get far, the Uruk-hai are too many."
"Send word for the women and children to make for the mountain pass! And barricade the entrance!" Aragorn urged.
"So much death..." Théoden said hopelessly, "What can men do against such reckless hate...?"
On the outside, Arianna was standing a mere inch from the Golden Wings. Those Wings still worked their way seducing her heart. Her left hand slowly raised up, ready to accept the gift.
"Come, come to us," Elanor whispered.
The gleaming Golden light completely blinded Arianna's eyes, and her heart was almost blackened. A small part of her heart began to question,
Is this really what I want...?
"...Ride out with me," Aragorn murmured, "Ride out and meet them...!"
Théoden whirled around to see that Aragorn hadn't lose hope yet. If the man of Gondor still didn't give up, why should he? "For death and glory..."
"For Rohan. For your people," Aragorn said as he walked closer to the King.
"The sun is rising," Gimli announced.
Aragorn looked to the window to see the sunlight passed through. Gandalf's words echoed in his mind.
"Look to my coming at first light on the fifth day. At dawn, look to the east."
"...Yes," Theoden whispered with new determination, "The horn of Helm Hammerhand shall sound in the Deep, one last time!"
"Yes!" Gimli exclaimed, as he brandished his axe and made a run toward the stairs to the upper castle.
The Uruks were about to break the door. At the same time, the men inside already regained their fighting spirits.
"Let this be the hour when we draw swords together," Théoden declared as he tapped Aragorn's shoulder, "Fell deeds awake. Now for wrath...now for ruin and a red dawn!"
At that moment Gimli blowed the horn atop the castle. The sound of the horn boomed all over the castle like a roar of lions. The Uruks finally penetrated the door with the battering ram. But they were greeted by the sight Théoden and all of the men on their horses and fully armoured.
"FORTH ÉORLINGAS!" the King declared as he brandished his sword.
Arianna's hand was just few centimetres from the Wings. However, she heard the sound of the horn and snapped back to her mind. She stopped her hand, and curled it in fist. The Elf-maiden shut her eyes to shield them from the golden light, and she shook her head.
"Why do you hesitate, my Lady?" Ezio asked.
"The path of freedom is upon you," Elanor added.
"...I do not wish to care about the colour of our Wings, or the fact that the Wings make us different from any other Elf kin," Arianna spoke, "But, there is one man who views my Wings in different way..."
"Your Wings are beautiful. You should put these into view more often."
Arianna's smile was back as she remembered Legolas' words.
"...And I do not want to make him sad."
After that, she gripped her sword and slashed the Golden Wings with full power. The Wings shattered into golden dust and disappeared with the wind.
"If I happened to be born with those Wings, I would never be able to meet my precious friends!" declared Arianna.
Suddenly the three of them heard massive sound of horses trample. They turned around to see Théoden and the others were riding their horses out of the castle, running over every Uruk in their way. Arianna smiled and took a breath of determination as she saw that.
"I know you will hold," she murmured with proudness on her tone.
"So, you refuse?" Elanor asked, "You will walk toward the path of death and suffering."
"It is much better than to live in world ruled by Sauron! No happiness or freedom shall be found in a world covered with darkness and evil! Elanor, Ezio, you two should know better!" Arianna confronted the twins, "Listen, Sky Elves are lost cause, that's why we must not let it happen again! We cannot let the race of Men suffers the same fate like us! We might be allies of Sauron once, but we are still Elves! Are we not the part of this world?!"
Elanor and Ezio exchanged glance to each other.
"I already said we will not listen to you," Elanor said, "Maybe you're right. If the Ring is destroyed, Lord Sauron will vanish, I know that's what you want. But from all of us, you will be the only one to survive. We will die along with Lord Sauron."
"To be honest, we care less about siding with evil or good. We are doing this merely because we want to live," Ezio continued, "Because, who want to die in such way? Why do we have to accept the doom that is not supposed to be ours?"
Arianna widened her eyes in horror after hearing that. The determination she got a second ago was reduced to half, replaced by sorrowful feeling. If Sauron died, Elanor and Ezio too would die. The Elf-maiden was willing to sacrifice herself if needed. But sacrificing others against their will was something else. Nobody deserved to die that way.
The horse riders continued to race to outside the Deeping Wall, slaying all Uruks they could get into. They managed to clear the causeway and made the dead Uruks piling on top of each other. Aragorn turned his eyes to the east side.
And there was Gandalf, riding on top Shadowfax.
"Gandalf...!"
"Théoden King stands alone," Gandalf said.
Éomer was behind the Wizard, "Not alone," Éomer declared, "ROHIRRIM!"
Upon hearing his call, all of Rohirrim riders came forward and lined behind Éomer, ready for the fight.
"TO THE KING!"
Gandalf and the Rohirrim riders immediately stormed their way from the cliff to the Uruk-hai. The Uruk-hai took defensive position and pointing their spears to the men. But the sun rose higher, eventually blinding all the Uruk who faced the east. With mighty roar, Gandalf and the Rohirrim attacked the Uruks with full power.
"Elanor, that does not sound too good," Ezio said as he heard the battle roar from far away.
"I know, the Uruk-hai are losing," Elanor said, "But if we manage to kill their women and children, we can rob the victory for our own."
"I will never let you get to the caves!" Arianna declared.
The twins formed an emergency plan. They couldn't stay together if they wanted to get the job done. Elanor quickly fired one black arrow toward Arianna, sending her crashing to the wall with the explosion.
"Ezio, you go! The refugees must be located at the back of the fortress!" Elanor urged, "I will handle her!"
"Yes sis!" Ezio nodded.
Arianna just got on her feet when Ezio soared to the now empty castle. She immediately made an attempt to pursue him, but Elanor quickly gripped on her and flung her back to the ground.
"Please stay here, then I shall do no more harm to you. You can enjoy the view when Ezio makes his fireworks in there," Elanor asked 'politely', "You said there is one man who views your Wings in different way? Could it be that Wood Elf from Mirkwood? After I finish with you, I shall pay him a visit."
"NO!" Arianna cried out.
The Sky Elf Lady sprinted forward again, only to be caught by Elanor's death grip. But this time, Arianna also gripped Elanor's waist tightly, and both Elf maidens engaged in wrestle fight for a while. Finally, Arianna flapped her Wings, flew straight to a wall and slammed Elanor forcefully to it. Elanor was eventually knocked unconscious. Having taking care of her, Arianna flew as fast as she could to catch the twin brother.
It took mere seconds for Ezio to fly over the high castle to the back where the caves were connected. As he checked his weaponry, he realized that he only had three black arrows left. Huffing in annoyance, Ezio drew one of them, and aimed it to the caves, ready to burn whoever inside there to crisp.
But then, Arianna launched herself from above straight to him. The collision made Ezio misfired the arrow, and it exploded in the mid-air.
The explosion of the arrow eventually was noticed by Legolas who was busy fighting alongside the Rohirrim.
"Arianna...!" he murmured.
Legolas knew that Arianna was still in the fortress with the enemies. The Elf Prince quickened his attacks, as he wanted to get it over soon. He really wanted to go back to the Keep and to make sure that Arianna was alright.
Both of Arianna and Ezio rolled to opposite direction and quickly stood back on their feet.
"What have you done to Elanor?!" Ezio demanded.
"She's fine, I can assure you. So, don't harm the women and children!" Arianna requested as she stood protectively in front of the caves entrance.
Ezio had no intention to listen to Arianna, so he immediately charged toward the Lady. Both Arianna and Ezio soon engaged in close-combat, and Ezio proved to have muscles in his body despite his lean appearance. Arianna was having trouble countering his sheer power. Finally, Ezio grabbed Arianna's Wings and threw her to the wall, ripping off some White feathers in process.
"Do not get in my way!" Ezio hissed before he retrieved his bow from the ground, "You just made me waste a precious arrow!"
Having her feathers ripped was so agonizing, Arianna tried her best not to scream in pain. Unfazed, she made her Wings disappeared before standing up once again. She charged toward Ezio once more to prevent him firing his remaining black arrow. But the young man managed to overpower her with his strength. Pretty soon, Ezio had Arianna pinned down under him, and he aimed his explosive arrow to her neck.
"If you want to die so bad, I will be so happy to blow your head to piece first!" he threatened.
Ezio was no doubt serious. Arianna's survival instinct immediately kicked in. She quickly grabbed Ezio's left Wing and swung him to the side before he could release his arrow. Ezio tried desperately to free himself, but Arianna got a power of nowhere to grip his Wing so tightly. With survival instinct still in play, Arianna pinned Ezio down by sitting on his back. She reached out for her hidden dagger, and stabbed Ezio's back repeatedly, ripping his left Wing in the process. Ezio let out a scream of agony as his lungs and ribcage were being torn apart.
Before Arianna could go any further, Elanor came and slammed her away from Ezio with her body.
"NO!" Elanor cried out in horror when she saw her twin brother lying on the ground gravely wounded.
Arianna rolled on the ground and by then her sense came back. She slowly looked up to see Elanor was holding Ezio's body in her arms, and crying in pure sorrow.
"No, Ezio! Don't die on me!" the female twin screamed in despair, "You are the only one I have left! Please, don't die!"
"Elanor...I love you... but you have to let me go..." Ezio rasped while he coughed up blood.
"No, NO!"
Arianna watched them with shock and horror filled her heart. She looked at her hands covered in blood. Her bloody dagger lied so close to her feet. There were several Golden feathers got tangled on her clothes, also covered in blood. Arianna painfully recollected the moment from just minutes ago. Ezio's excruciating scream echoed in her mind.
What had she done?
"My beloved sister...you have to live...for me..." the twin brother gasped as his life was fading, "Kill her...you have to...! Before she kills you too..."
Ezio's body went limp as he gasped out his last breath. Elanor screamed even louder, she hugged her brother's body tightly as if she didn't want to let go. Her sorrowful scream made Arianna realized of what she had done. And she couldn't believe that she actually had done it. After crying loudly on Ezio's death, Elanor's sadness was immediately replaced with anger. She spun around and looked at Arianna with vengeful glare.
"YOU KILLED MY BROTHER!"
Having her only family died on her, Elanor turned from graceful Elf-maiden into a mindless beast going on rampage. She attacked Arianna with thirst of revenge, and pounded her into oblivion. Elanor attacked her with series of punches and kicks, giving no chance for Arianna to defend herself. The army Captain grabbed her hair and hit her head against the wall repeatedly. The extreme pounding eventually made Arianna slumped to the ground, gravely injured. She obviously was still alive, so Elanor decided to end it by strangling her neck.
"Lord Fawnhir should have killed you long time ago!" Elanor cried in pure rage, "NOW YOU HAVE TO DIE!"
Arianna's air supply was being denied. She was about to lose consciousness, when Legolas came dashing and shot an arrow. The arrow pierced Elanor's hand, forcing her to release Arianna. Seeing the Elf Prince was coming fast, Elanor quickly jumped off Arianna's body and took few steps back. Legolas stood protectively in front of the fallen Sky Elf, while pointing his arrow to Elanor. He didn't miss Ezio's dead body lying on the ground, and he could immediately deduce what had happened.
"Come any closer and this arrow will be in your head!" Legolas hissed murderously.
Although seconds ago Elanor was exploding with rage, Legolas' vengeful aura prompted her to think twice. Elanor didn't fear death anymore, as she already lost Ezio, her brother. But, her mind told her that she couldn't die before she got her revenge. Hissing in frustration, Elanor spread her Wings, hauled Ezio's body and quickly soared to the sky.
Legolas immediately crouched down and was shocked to see how terribly injured Arianna was. Her head, nose, and mouth were bleeding heavily. Her entire body was covered with bruises and blood. She was barely conscious, but Legolas noticed something worse. Arianna's eyes were filled with terror. It seemed as her spirit already left her body.
"It's alright, Arianna..." Legolas whispered in soothing manner.
He wrapped his arm tightly around Arianna body and pressed her head to his chest, trying to provide comfort and protection.
"You are going to be alright. I am here now. I will not let anybody or anything to harm you, I swear in the name of Valar," Legolas promised.
Despite the Prince of Mirkwood's effort, the shock and the extent of her injuries eventually made Arianna collapsed on his arms.
The battle of Helm's Deep was over with the victory owned by the Men. The dead soldiers were lost cause. The survivors of the battle were being tended by the women in the infirmary. Théoden was personally being aided by Éowyn. Aragorn was sitting beside Arianna's bed, tending over her injuries with Legolas watched in worry. The young lady was bleeding heavily, to the point the bed sheet was stained.
"How is she?" Legolas asked with concern on his face.
"This is a vicious beating. Wait for another second, she would not make it," Aragorn said while he wiped the blood off Arianna's head.
"Will she wake up?" Legolas asked again.
"I do not know, Legolas..." Aragorn gravely replied, "With this kind of injury, it is actually a miracle that she is still alive."
Gandalf came by and crouched on the side of the bed. He brushed his hand gently to the Sky Elf's head, and let out a sad sigh.
"The external wound is the fastest to heal," the White Wizard said, "The broken wings need more delicate way to repair. Her soul obviously cannot do it by itself."
Review please :3