Chapter 14:
The Rohan people were walking around the lakes. A few rode horses at the front, Valéa among them. Gimli rode on a horse led by Eowyn just in front of her. Valéa was listening to their conversation in amusement.
"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 was saying.
Eowyn smiled and looked back at Aragorn, riding his horse beside Valéa. Aragorn mouthed "It's the beards." He gestured to an imaginary beard on his chin. Eowyn grinned and looked back to Gimli as the dwarf continued.
"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." Eowyn and Gimli laughed, and Valéa found herself silently joining in. "Which is, of course, ridiculous." Gimli threw his hands up and the horse suddenly galloped off, startled by the sudden movement, throwing Gimli to the ground.
Eowyn smiled, and then quickly ran to help him.
"You okay there, Gimli?" Valéa called mockingly to him as he writhed on the ground.
"It's all right." He called back. "Nobody panic. That was deliberate. It was deliberate."
Theoden moved to ride side by side with Valéa and Aragorn, and the three of them were grinning widely. Eowyn glanced back at Aragorn, laughing. He laughed back, and his laugh morphed into a gentle smile.
Theoden sighed remorsefully. "I haven't seen my niece smile for a long time. 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."
"Do not speak like that, hîr vuin," Valéa said seriously. "Eowyn looks up to you as a daughter looks up to a father. She loves you dearly."
Theoden glanced at her, before frowning. "What does 'Ada' mean?" He asked. Valéa started at the sudden question.
She glanced at him. "It means father. Why?"
Theoden's eyes widened. "I overheard you talking to Gandalf in the stables, and was wondering why you addressed him as such." He glanced at the elleth again. "I was unaware Gandalf had any children."
Valéa smiled wistfully. "So was I, until not too long ago."
...
Several hours later, Valéa heard panicked, raised voices. She frowned, unable to make out what they were saying as she sat atop Sofie, who seemed calm.
Aragorn suddenly came running from the brow of the hill, the look in his eyes rather frantic.
Theoden rode up to him. "What is it? What do you see?"
Aragorn spoke while running to his horse. "Warg! We're under attack!"
The people of Rohan began to panic, and a few of them screamed. "Get them out of here!" Valéa all but shrieked.
Theoden shouted calmly over the noise of his people. "All riders to the head of the column."
Gimli, meanwhile, was trying to get on Arod. "Come on. Get me up here. I'm a rider. Come on!"
Theoden approached Eowyn. "You must lead the people to Helm's Deep, and make haste."
Eowyn frowned. "I can fight."
"No! You must do this for me." Theoden ordered. Eowyn looked at him for a moment, then turned reluctantly away. Theoden then faced Valéa. "Come if you feel up to it, Lady Valéa." He then spoke to the rest of his horsemen. "Follow me!"
Theoden cantered off. Aragorn and Valéa followed immediately. Poor Gimli was still trying to get his horse to move forwards. "Forward. I mean, charge forward." He commanded in a wavering voice.
Valéa caught sight of Legolas firing arrows from a long distance at the wargs as she neared the peak of the hill. He saw the horses coming up behind him. Quickly he turned, and grabbed the strapping round Arod, swiftly swinging himself up into the saddle.
"Show off," Valéa muttered under her breath.
The wargs and riders clashed and a fierce battled commenced. As Legolas rode through the wargs, firing arrows, Gimli slid from the horse. He picked up his axe and faced an orc as Valéa and Sofie galloped past.
Valéa hacked at any orcs or wargs that neared her, her blades flashing on either side of her body. She quickly dismounted Sofie and began fighting from the ground. She twirled and swung, metal hitting flesh with each stroke, spraying thick, black blood over her freshly washed clothes. She growled in frustration as an orc yanked one of her blades out of her hand. Valéa used her now empty hand to punch his thigh, and while the orc cried out at the pain, pushed her long knife deep into his chest. She pulled it out with a sharp tug, before retrieving her other blade. Valéa saw Gimli under two dead wargs and an orc, trying to push them off him.
Using some sort of foreign knowledge, Valéa lifted her hand and let a solid, black shadow escape her body and move towards the dwarf. As if using physical strength, the shadow pushed the animals off the dwarf enough for him to get out from underneath them.
Gimli nodded to her and grunted in thanks. Valéa retracted her power and then looked around. The battle was over. Ultimately, they had won, but not without losses.
Theoden was looking around at the field of dead men and orcs. Legolas was walking around, looking lost. "Aragorn!" He shouted.
Cold dread settled in the pit of Valéa's stomach at the sound of his call.
"Aragorn?" Gimli echoed.
Theoden scanned the field. Legolas walked towards the cliff top, Valéa following closely behind. He paused to examine something on the ground, and they both heard an orc laughing. It was a hitched sort of laugh. The orc was clearly dying.
Gimli raised his axe. "Tell me what happened and I will ease your passing."
"He's... dead. He took a little tumble off the cliff." The orc choked out.
Legolas knelt down and grabbed the orc by the armour. "You lie." He snarled.
The orc died before he could say anything else. Legolas looked down at the creature's hands and found the Evenstar in them, Aragorn's silver necklace. He looked worried, and ran to the edge of the cliff after Valéa, where Theoden was already standing looking over the edge. Valéa peered down to see a fast flowing river below, and no sign of any bodies. Gimli joined them, disbelief on his face. Boromir stood beside Legolas a second or so later.
Theoden turned to Gamling, one of his lead soldiers, and said, "Get the wounded on horses. The wolves of lsengard will return. Leave the dead."
Valéa stared at him in horror, as did Legolas. Theoden placed a hand on the ellon's shoulder, but spoke to them all.
"Come."
The King walked away, leaving Legolas - who was still grasping the Evenstar - Valéa, Boromir and Gimli, staring into the river.
Valéa fought back a sob. It was Gandalf all over again, instead this time it was the brother of her heart. Aragorn could not be gone, could not be... dead.
But she knew the evidence did not lie - there was no sign of him. Legolas wrapped his arms around her shoulders and gently pulled her away from the cliff. Valéa walked numbly over to where Sofie was waiting for her, not noticing how she leant her head against Legolas' shoulder, how she tightly grasped his free hand in her own, clammy one. Therefore, she didn't notice when Legolas did nothing to pull away. He only helped her onto her horse before mounting Arod, with Gimli behind him, and the four of them made their way towards Helm's Deep in a mournful, heavy silence.
Woohoo! New chapter! Hopefully, you all like it. Sorry if there are any errors; I do look over these chapters, but it's still possible to miss some things. Thanks to all my wonderful followers etc, you're really inspiring me to keep writing this. Love you all! And, to show my appreciation, I've added two chapters :)