Part IV: Time to Take a Stand
While Ariel and Rachel struggle to defend Helm's Deep and aid the citizens of Rohan, Elizabeth has her own personal battles to deal with. The girls learn more about themselves, each other, and the people that they become closer to every day.
Ariel and Rachel were mostly quiet on their horses: Arroch, a delicate roan, and Roheryn, a sturdy bay, as they rode along with the people of Rohan. Their minds were both elsewhere, although they were listening to the humorous conversation going on between Gimli and Eowyn.
"It's true- you don't see many Dwarf women. And, in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance that they're often mistaken for Dwarf men!" Gimli said boisterously. Eowyn smiled and looked back at Aragorn, who gave her a pleasant smile. Rachel noticed their exchange, and stiffened slightly.
"It's the beards," Aragorn mouthed, miming an imaginary beard on his chin. Eowyn grinned at him and turned back to Gimli, who was riding the horse she was leading.
"This, in turn, has given rise to the belief that there are no Dwarf women... and that dwarves just spring out of holes in the ground!" He started to chuckle, and she laughed along with him. "Which is, of course, ridiculous," Gimli continued, throwing his hands up. The gesture spooked his horse, and it bolted for a few steps, knocking the Dwarf off of its back. Eowyn giggled, smiling, and ran to help him up. "It's all right; nobody panic," Gimli insisted. He looked like a turtle turned over on its shell. "That was deliberate- it was deliberate!"
Theoden, who was riding alongside Aragorn, chuckled with him. "I haven't seen my niece smile for a long time," he said after a moment. "She was a girl when they brought her father back dead: cut down by Orcs. She watched her mother succumb to grief. Then she was left alone, to tend her king in growing fear. Doomed to wait upon an old man who should have loved her as a father." Aragorn watched Eowyn with curiosity as she smiled, golden hair blown by the wind.
The people stopped for a break. Eowyn made her way through them with a pot of stew, offering it to everyone. Gimli politely refused, so she made a beeline for Aragorn, who was sitting alone.
Aragorn had just finished cleaning his sword and was about to go talk to Rachel when Eowyn appeared before him. "I made some stew," she said, holding out a bowl. "It isn't much, but it's hot."
"Thank you." Aragorn shifted around some spoonfuls of something that didn't look very appetizing and then tried it anyway. He was unable to hide his grimace. "It's good."
"Really?" Eowyn looked immensely relieved. She turned and started walking away. Aragorn took the opportunity to pour a good bit of the bowl's contents into the grass behind him.
Eowyn turned back suddenly, and he had to jerk the bowl back into place, wincing as the hot stew ran down his leg. "My uncle told me a strange thing," she said, oblivious to the fact that he had been discarding her stew. "He said that you rode to war with Thengel, my grandfather- but he must be mistaken."
"King Theoden has a good memory," Aragorn said, nodding. "He was only a small child at the time."
"Then you must be at least sixty," Eowyn said, awed. Aragorn looked a bit embarrassed, but shook his head. "Seventy? But you cannot be eighty!"
"Eighty-seven," he said, glancing at the ground.
"You are one of the Dunedain," she realized. "A descendant of Numenor, blessed with long life. It was said that your race had passed into legend."
"There are few of us left," Aragorn told her, his gaze wandering towards where Rachel was sitting. "The Northern Kingdom was destroyed long ago."
"I'm sorry," Eowyn said. "Please, eat." Completely cornered, Aragorn reluctantly continued sipping at the 'stew' while she watched him.
Legolas was on his way to the head of the group, to scout ahead, when he thought of something. He went over to Ariel, who was eating a small meal with Rachel.
"Take my other bow," he said, holding it out to her. Since Galadriel had given him a bow of the Galadhrim, he had just been carrying around his other one without using it. "It is in good condition, and it has served me well for a long time. I wish for you to use it."
Ariel was really honored. She bit her lip and accepted the bow. "Thank you… Um, thank you very much. I'll take good care of it."
"I know you will," Legolas said, giving her a faint smile.
After the brief rest, the whole big group moved on. Hama and Gamling rode ahead, to see if the coast was clear. Above them, standing on a hillock, Legolas glanced around, feeling uneasy.
The horsemen suddenly paused, a feeling of dread creeping through their stomachs. Their horses felt it, too, and pawed the ground, snorting restlessly.
"What is it? Hama?" Gamling asked.
"I'm not sure," Hama answered.
They surveyed the area. Everything seemed to be fine- but then a Warg and its rider jumped down on Hama from above, killing him almost instantly. His screams carried over the rocks to everyone else, and the orc went after Gamling. Legolas raced towards them, killing the Warg with an arrow and then slicing the orc dead with his twin knives before it could kill the other man.
"A scout!" Legolas yelled to Aragorn, who had just appeared over the ridge. Aragorn ran back to the others to warn them.
"What is it? What do you see?" Theoden demanded.
"Warg! We're under attack," he shouted, racing to his horse, Hasufel, and jumping astride him quickly. The citizens of Rohan began to panic, running about and screaming.
"All riders to the head of the column," Theoden ordered.
"Come on, get me up here; I'm a rider," Gimli insisted as two men helped him get onto his horse. "Come on!"
Ariel and Rachel glanced at each other, and then nodded- they didn't need to say anything to communicate what they had already decided. They rode forward to join the men who were rallying behind Theoden. Ariel grabbed an extra quiver of arrows from one of the supply horses and strapped it onto her back. Rachel still had Aragorn's spare sword, and her clubs as well.
Eowyn ran up to Theoden, who gave her orders right away. "You must lead the people to Helm's Deep; and make haste."
"I can fight," Eowyn insisted. "Those two girls are staying to help, and they are children compared to me."
"No! You must do this for me. I cannot make them leave the battle against their will," Theoden said, although he would have liked to. He believed that the battlefield was hardly a place for women. "And the people need to follow someone they can trust."
Eowyn stared at him defiantly before running off to help the villagers. "Follow me!" Theoden cried, charging forward with the horsemen.
"Forward. I mean, charge forward," Gimli said, having a little trouble with his steed. At last, it followed the others. "That's it- go on!"
"Make for the lower ground!" Eowyn called to the frightened women and children. "Stay together!"
Meanwhile, Legolas was on foot, firing continuous arrows at the Warg-riders. As the horsemen thundered towards the orcs, he darted back and swung one-handed up onto his horse, landing perfectly behind Gimli.
The Wargs and riders clashed, and a bloody battle commenced. Gimli slid off of the saddle as Legolas rode on through the fray, and taunted a lone Warg who was feeding on a dead man.
"Bring your pretty face to my axe," Gimli growled. The wolf creature ran towards him, and just as it pounced, Legolas cantered past, killing it with a single arrow. Gimli stared after him, offended. "That one counts as mine!" He turned to find another Warg right behind him, and hewed it down with an axe stroke. It fell heavily on top of him, and Gimli grunted at its weight. "Stinking creature."
Ariel rode along the outskirts of the battle, firing well-aimed arrows at Wargs and Orcs alike. She managed to take down two who were both plaguing Gamling, and then she almost got whacked in the head by a passing orc's sword. She somehow stayed on her horse and fired an arrow, nailing the orc in the neck.
The Warg it had been riding snarled at her, but Rachel rode past and hacked at it with her sword, knocking it dead to the ground. "Bad Wolf," she quipped, earning a grin from Ariel. Then Rachel pulled out a club with her left hand and lobbed it at an orc, impaling its head with the club's ivory spikes. She made a mental note to retrieve it later, and rode on, using her sword despite her extremely sore muscles from practicing swordplay with Aragorn.
Gimli was still trying in vain to lift the heavy Warg off of himself. An orc crawled over the Warg, sneering, and Gimli reached up, swiftly snapping its neck. Right when it also fell onto him, dead, yet another Warg crawled atop them, baring its teeth at Gimli. "Ooohhohhh…" Gimli muttered.
Aragorn spotted his dilemma and rode by, grabbing a spear and jabbing it into the Warg. It fell on top of the ever-growing pile of dead enemies that were on Gimli, and the dwarf groaned loudly at the additional weight.
Keeping an eye on Theoden, Aragorn continued to fight, until a Warg barreled straight into him, and he tumbled off of his horse. He jumped to his feet and grabbed the saddle of another Warg that was running past with a rider on its back.
Aragorn pulled himself onto the Warg behind the orc, who twisted in the saddle to fight him as the Warg rampaged on. He lost his seat, but held on to the saddle as he got dragged along and stabbed the orc, who fell off. Aragorn let go of the saddle, but his hand was caught in the matted fur and twisted straps. The Warg was so focused on trying to get Aragorn off of him that it didn't slow down, and it tumbled off the edge of a cliff, taking Aragorn with him.
Finally freed, Gimli killed one of the last Wargs while Theoden surveyed the dead men and horses, among Orcs and Wargs, strewn about the battlefield. The girls went over to Gimli, scratched up and bruised, but otherwise okay. Legolas walked around, searching for Aragorn. "Aragorn!"
"Aragorn?" Gimli called as well. Ariel and Rachel glanced at each other knowingly, then walked away, to help Gamling look for survivors and to find Rachel's second club.
Theoden continued to scan the field while Legolas walked towards the edge of the cliff. The elf paused to examine the Warg tracks on the ground, and stood up suddenly, upon hearing the grating sound of an orc's guttural dying laughter.
Gimli trotted over to the orc and raised his axe. "Tell me what happened and I will ease your passing."
"He's... dead," the orc hacked out, grinning. "He took a little tumble off the cliff."
Legolas knelt down and grabbed him roughly by the shoulders. "You lie!" The orc died laughing, and Legolas looked down at its hands, pulling out a small piece of pink ribbon. He had seen Aragorn occasionally take the ribbon out of a pocket and study it carefully, as if he needed its reassurance. Worried, Legolas ran to the edge of the cliff to join Theoden, who was already standing there. Below them was a river full of fast currents, and no sign of any bodies.
Gimli and Gamling joined them, and Gamling turned to Theoden, awaiting orders.
"Get the wounded on horses," the king commanded. "The wolves of Isengard will return. Leave the dead."
Legolas gave him a look of disbelief. Theoden simply placed a hand on his shoulder before turning away. "Come." He walked away, leaving Legolas, still holding the ribbon, and Gimli. Both just stood there, staring numbly into the river.