It was a long march to Mordor, but once her eyes rested upon the darkness of the Black Gate, she knew it had only been the beginning. Standing taller than any gate she'd ever seen, the gate to Mordor oozed an unwelcome and broken feeling. Just gazing upon it made what little color she had left drain from her face. Her lips itched to whimper while her body tingled to run away. She didn't want to be here, yet she was.
But she was here for a good reason. Either she would fail and Middle Earth would fall into ruin, the battle for retribution claiming her life and all the lives of her loved ones. Or she would emerge victorious, and all of Middle Earth would return to normal, and she would have her revenge on the man behind her homelands ruin. Either way, it would be over soon.
"I can feel him watching." Vanya whispered from where she rested upon Arod.
Inside her stomach turned. The flame inside her burned black, encasing her completely and making her resolve crumble. Just behind the fire she could feel the bright red flames of The Eye watching her every move. He was inside her mind, now, and it pissed her off more than it probably should've.
"Vanya... you're shaking." Legolas commented, but she didn't respond.
She found the fire inside her growing hotter and hotter, hard to hold behind the boundaries of her consciousness She was close to her breaking point now. She could feel the warm hands of her lover on her hips, his soft lips pressing against the back of her neck in encouragement He could feel her anxiety as well, and it unsettled him a bit.
"Breathe, my love..." Legolas whispered against her ear.
Now they were approaching the gate. Their greeting party consisted of quiet a few important people; Gandalf, Eomer, Aragorn, Gimli, Haldir, Eraithwen, Vanya, Legolas, Merry and Pippin. Vanya's eyes were locked on the crevice in the black gate, knowing good and well soon enough it would open.
"Let the Lord of the Black Land come forth!" Aragorn called to the gate. "Let justice be done upon him!"
Eraithwen took in an unsteady breath as the silence grew. She reached back, grabbing Haldir's hand in desperation and feeling his strong chest against her back. She knew no matter what came out of that gate, he'd be with her.
Slowly the gate creaked open, the sound seeming to echo off the endless mountains of Middle Earth. Vanya watched with weary eyes as that crevice opened up, fog spilling from the confines of Mordor as well as a lonely horseman, someone she knew she shouldn't take lightly.
The Mouth of Sauron, the dark lords own personal messager, was anything but appealing. His mocking smile was covered in grime and plaque, the rest of his face covered by his large helmet. He smiled at them and it seemed that was all his terrible mouth could do besides lie.
"My master, Sauron the Great, bids thee welcome." He said with a dirty smile. "Is there any in this rout with authority to treat with me?"
Eraithwen recoiled with disgust but dared not to speak. She would most definitely get them in trouble if she did.
"We do not come to treat with Sauron." Gandalf exclaimed mockingly. "Faithless and accursed. Tell your master this. The armies of Mordor must disband. He is to depart these lands, never to return."
Vanya felt her fire roaring up in hatred at the mocking laugh the hideous creature made at those words.
"Ah-ha. Old graybeard?" He then acted as if he had quickly remembered something. "I have a token I was bidden to show thee."
From his cloak, the traitorous creature pulled out a coat of mithril chain mail only big enough to fit a child, or rather, a Hobbit. Vanya could feel Frodo's aura radiating from the object. She swallowed hard, knowing what this "token" could possibly mean...
Legolas gripped her tight, and she knew he was worried by the bubbling of emotion in her stomach. She could hardly control it anymore, she was only hanging on by a thread as it was.
Gandalf caught the Elvish chain mail as the creature threw it to him, gazing on it with some form of uncertainty.
"Frodo!" Pippin whimpered.
"Silence." Gandalf tried weakly, knowing even himself that he was afraid the Hobbit had not made the journey.
"No!" Merry called.
"Silence!" Gandalf said more justly.
The Mouth of Sauron feigned despair, tilting his wretched head in worry.
"The halfling was dear to thee, I see." He groveled. "Know that he suffered greatly at the hands of his host."
Eraithwen looked over to where Legolas was holding onto Vanya weakly. She sensed something was wrong. Legolas looked broken, unsure of whether or not his friend was still alive. And Vanya looked as if she was holding back from bursting at the seams. She wondered for a moment if she should be worried...
"Who would've known that someone so small could suffer so much pain..." The creature said calmly. "And he did, Gandalf, he did."
Eraithwen watched as Aragorn rode his horse calmly forward, as if he was parting to have a cup of tea with the monsterous being.
"And who is this?" The thing asked. "Isildurs heir? It takes more to make a king than a broken Elvish blade."
Eraithwen snarled just as Aragorn drew his supposedly broken blade and chopped the Mouth of Saurons' head clean off.
"Guess that concludes negotiations." Haldir muttered to Eraithwen.
"I do not believe it." Aragorn told them. "I will not."
The gates to Mordor then opened, thousands of ork warriors pouring through in formation.
"Fall back..." Aragorn called. "Fall back!"
And with that they rode back to join ranks with what little of an army they had left.
Vanya turned her head back to Legolas, her eyes meeting his. He knew then, something was wrong.
"Can you fight?" He whispered to her.
"I can." She told him. "But, just a fair warning, I may lose control, and if I do, you might have to kill me."
"Lose control?" Legolas tilted his head. "Kill you? I promise you, my lady, none of those things are on our list of things to do today. I'll be right here."
She just shook her head, too busy to argue.
"Hold your ground!" Aragorn called to the men as they wavered in uncertainly. "Hold your ground."
Eraithwen looked at all their frightened faces, knowing that in her heart she was just as afraid. She wasn't sure what would come of this day, but she knew she was going to fight until she couldn't fight anymore. She would protect her friends, no matter what.
"Sons of Gondor! Of Rohan!" Aragorn called over the ranks. "My brothers! I see in your eyes, the same fear that would take the heart of me! A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day. An hour of woes, and shattered shields when the age of men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good earth! I bid you stand! Men of the west!"
At that the armies drew their swords, raising them up and preparing for battle. The others did the same, Eraithwen drawing her sword and looking back at Haldir. And though their eyes dripped fear they nodded to each other, clanking swords as if they were in a pub, and smiling.
Vanya's clouded eyes watched as Aragorn turned to the enemy. She reached her pendant as well as her sword. She knew she would need a lot of strength to get through this, and she was going to have to draw it from inside her. She could feel her fathers spirit wrapping his arms around her and lifting her up. She knew she could do this, she knew she would be victorious.
Soon their tiny circle of warriors was surrounded by thousands upon thousands of blood thirsty orks. Eraithwen and Haldir looked around with those grins on their faces, ready for battle. Vanya sneered at them, while Legolas remained expressionless. To their side, Gimli took a deep breath, holding on tightly to his beloved axe.
"Never thought I'd die fighting side by side with a bunch of elves." Gimli told them then.
Eraithwen snorted.
"What about side by side by with friends?" Legolas asked, placing his hand on Gimli's shoulder.
Vanya smiled softly despite the war raging inside her.
"Aye." Gimli said, looking at each of them and nodding with a tear in his eye. "I can do that."
Eraithwen grasped his shoulder tightly, squeezing it with care before turning her attention back to the surrounding enemies.
Vanya looked over to the eye hovering over the Black Gate. She felt her world fade and she was falling into nothingness again. He whispered sweet possibilities of power and glory, but she shut off her mind to him, pulling herself back to reality and grasping Legolas' arm tightly. She winced as he forced his way back in, flashing her images of Legolas lying faded among the rubble in a battlefield full of dead mens carcasses. She could see the lifelessness in his brilliant eyes, the even paler complexion of his skin. Her heart cracked at the image and her resolve was broken.
When she opened her eyes the battle had already begun. Around her people were being slaughtered one by one, yet somehow Legolas, Eraithwen and the others had managed to protect her unmoving form as of yet.
Her eyes glowed a brilliant red as they lifted to find the skies being invaded by the countless flying beasts usually rode by ringwraiths. She hissed, to herself, drawing Legolas' attention. He felt his amulet begin to glow as she took a step forward.
Without even her incantation, both Red and Gold dragons flew from the sky, biting all the winged creatures in half before frying them to a crisp.
"Vanya..." Legolas reached for her, but she caught him first.
He was taken aback as she grabbed his arm and the power from inside her radiated through him. He pulled back, knowing this is what happened when she lost control.
"Pandora!" He called.
She was there in an instant, stomping any ork that got in her way. Behind her Dagda did the same, roaring and defending the red dragon as she conversed with Legolas.
"Do you know what to do when she's like this?" Legolas asked her.
Pandora nodded her large head, gazing into the eyes of Vanya before the queen fell limp.
Legolas cut down two orks before Pandora's words caught him.
I must take her to the skies, up there she will be able to fight safely. She told him.
Legolas nodded, throwing an unconscious Vanya onto the back of her dragon before turning to Gimli.
"I have a favor." Legolas said before grabbing Gimli and tossing him onto the back of Dagda.
"What did I tell you about tossing a dwarf, you pointy-eared-" Gimli started, but wasn't able to finish since Legolas had climbed up and now Dagda was flying up into the air.
From above the battle looked so much more gruesome. The orks outnumbered them by far, but that wasn't what Legolas was looking for.
"What are we doing up here?!" Gimli demanded. "The battle's down there!"
"We need to find Aragorn!" Legolas told him.
Just as he said it Legolas found the King, falling to the brute strength of a troll.
"No!" Legolas called, Dagda quickly diving into action as he flew top speed to where the troll now had Aragorn pinned to the ground under his abnormally large foot.
Before he even had the chance, Eraithwen was there, chopping off the trolls sword arm in just enough time for Dagda to pummel him under his sharp claws.
Legolas and Gimli jumped off the dragon then, running towards Aragorn and helping him to his feet.
"Where is Vanya?" Eraithwen demanded, Haldir just behind her wondering the same thing.
Legolas looked to the sky and was about to explain before a terrible screech sounded through the valley. With one look Eraithwen could tell the Eye of Sauron was crumbling before their very eyes, and the Black Army was going down with it. The orks and trolls ran for their very eyes at the sight of their defeated master.
The towers of Mordor crashed down and Mount Doom roared in fury. Above the dragons flew down to the ground, Legolas relieved to see Vanya leaping easily off of Pandora to his side. Tears pooled in the eyes of the elves, for they knew what this meant...
They had won. Frodo had destroyed the ring and now Sauron was gone for good. All of their worries and fears had been for nothing. They rose victorious and yelled and screamed in happiness.
Gimli and Eraithwen jumped in circles around each other like children while Haldir watched with a smile on his face. Vanya enveloped Aragorn in a hug, smiling before turning back to Legolas.
"He did it! Frodo did it!" She said, jumping into his arms and kissing his cheek roughly as all of Mordor fell crashing into the ground, taking a good number of orks with it.
However their spirits grew dim when the top blew off Mount Doom and lava rained down. Vanya's heart crumbled for even as the debris slaughtered the remaining Nazgul as they tried desperately to escape, it had engulfed Frodo and Sam with it...
"No..." Vanya whispered, tears in her eyes. "Frodo...Sam... No!"
She screamed, tears beginning to pour down her face as she clung to Legolas. "It's not fair... It's not fair..."
"It can't be!" Eraithwen called as the lava trickled down the sides of Mount Doom. "They could still be alive!"
"How could they survive that, lassie?" Gimli said sadly, his voice choked up with tears.
"Vanya, reach for them." Eraithwen said, grabbing the arm of her friend. "Or Haldir... Someone, I don't care! I'm not skilled in such things... But you just... we have to try."
Haldir reached for her hand, calming her down even as he looked over to Mount Doom, eying every crevice as he reached for any sign of life. Vanya, however, was quicker.
"Breath. I hear someone drawing breath." Vanya called, and that was all it took.
Soon Legolas, Vanya and Eraithwen were all on their dragons, flying full speed towards the erupting volcano.
"There!" Eraithwen called, pointing to the two specks of flesh lying on the rock beneath them, just avoiding the lava.
Aries and Dagda dove, each picking up an unconscious Hobbit and gliding back to safety.