Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my own characters.
A/N: Hey guys! I'm so sorry it's taken forever for me to get up this chapter but my life has been slightly chaotic lately and I'm going through a bit of a rough patch, not everything is all too great I must admit. But fear not it is Saturday and I've just got back a really good mark for my anthropology exam so this will be celebrated by two updates in a row. Not much to say about this chapter, it's pretty straight forward so I hope you like it! Enjoy!
Twenty-One
Into Battle!
XXXXXXX
Everyone was excited to see Maggie and Elrond's new born son. In the middle of all the darkness and despair that was the war; it was nice to have a little glimmer of hope. When Maggie woke up in the morning she still couldn't quite comprehend it. She was a mother and Elrond was the father of their son. It seemed almost too good to be true but in a sense it also felt like this was always meant to be. Caspian was fast asleep in the basket that acted as his temporary cradle and he seemed to be quite content with things as they were and Maggie just sat on the side of her bed, watching her son sleep with a smile on her face. Not long afterwards, Lord Elrond walked into the tent and sat beside her, kissing her on the forehead.
"I will be ready to depart when you are." he told her.
Maggie turned around to her future husband with a confused look on her face. "Depart? What do you mean depart?"
"Back to Rivendell of course; this has always been the plan." Elrond told her, he'd have thought it was obvious but apparently Maggie didn't seem to agree. "Caspian cannot stay here."
Maggie knew Elrond was right, she wasn't going to let their son stay in harm's way especially if Sauron were to find out. However, she also knew where Elrond was headed with this conversation. "No he can't; but I can't leave."
"Maggie, melemin, would you for once just lay aside your stubbornness and pride and listen to reason? By the Valar, you have just given birth to our child, our son and he needs his mother to be alive."
"This isn't the first time I've seen or been in battle and you know that. I've seen people die without being able to help and by leaving for Rivendell it also means I'm leaving behind Laura, Frodo and Sam. I can't have that on my conscience." The elf-lord frowned disapprovingly and Maggie put his arms around Elrond. "Elrond, believe me I want to give Caspian a chance at a better future as much as you do but how can I do that if I don't stay and fight. My part in this isn't over yet and it would drive me insane to not know what'll happen to my friends, to my cousin, if I go. We've been through so much together, I can't leave. Not yet."
Curse her blasted stubbornness, thought Elrond as he gave an annoyed sighed.
"What would you have me do then?" he asked
"Take Caspian back with you to Rivendell, he'll be safe there."
"I cannot believe I am agreeing to this. I must have lost my mind when I fell in love with you." Maggie grinned at this and they both shared a long, deep and passionate kiss because neither of them knew exactly how long it would take before they would see each other again. She wasn't going to lie though, parting with Caspian wasn't going to be easy but she was doing it for the sake of his own good.
XXXXXXX
Felix was absolutely shattered. He'd had next to no sleep after helping Maggie and Eowyn with the labour and after that there had just been no point in going to sleep. They had a long day ahead of them and Felix wasn't going to lie, he was just as terrified as everyone else was even though nobody would admit it out loud. He closed his eyes and was just about to drift when he caught a glimpse of Eowyn walking in. Deciding he would pretend to be asleep Felix lied still and when Eowyn walked up to him, before she knew it, he grabbed hold of her and pulled her down next to him.
"That is not a very nice move!" said Eowyn in between her laughter and attempt to sound serious.
"Well I have a few different ones up my sleeve." Felix put his arms around Eowyn and pulled her in for a kiss that started as something soft and then became more passionate until they finally broke it off, realising they had leave soon. Felix stroke a strand of hair out of Eowyn's face and just looked at her for a while. How was it possible for the two of them to have found each other in the middle of all this? He thought it nearly too good to be true.
"You're not going to tell anyone are you?" Eowyn asked
Felix shook his head. "Of course not; take Merry with you. It's the only way he'll have a chance to fight."
Eowyn nodded and leaned in to kiss Felix again. "I have to go." she got off the bed and left just as quickly as she'd come in. Felix sighed heavily, got up and then walked out the tent only to find Eomer standing right outside.
"Do you think I do not see what's going on between you and my sister?" Eomer asked with a serious tone in his voice.
Here we go, Felix thought. Actually, he had been expecting that a whole lot sooner. "Look I really don't want to get on your bad side Eomer, I like you, I see you as my friend. I get that you're protective of your sister, I have a sister I would be too, but Eowyn is a grown woman and I would never hurt her." he told him
"I know you wouldn't." Eomer put a hand on Felix's shoulder. "I trust you, I am glad my sister has found an honourable man to be with. But if you ever do hurt her, believe me, friend or not, I would kill you."
"Well then, I'm glad we understand each other now I have to go find Maggie."
XXXXXXX
Théoden was unimpressed. He showed this by standing with his arms crossed and looked at Maggie in such a manner that she had no idea what to expect from him. Maggie and Felix were stood in the Théoden's tent after saying goodbye to Caspian and Elrond. It had been the toughest thing she'd ever done but this was her choice and she knew she had to do it. The king of Rohan opened his mouth and was undoubtedly about to protest but Maggie cut him off before he had a chance to do so.
"Yes I am staying, yes I am fighting with you and no, with all due respect my lord I do not care about what you're going to say because those are my friends out there, our friends and I will be god damned if I'm going to abandon them now." she told him
Théoden looked at Maggie with a raised eyebrow as if he didn't know what to say for a few seconds
"So be it then but we are leaving now." Théoden finally said as they left the tent.
"I'll tell you what Maggie, Riley is going to absolutely kill you when he finds out."
XXXXXXX
"Okay Riley, breathe. Remember the old saying about facing your fears." As far as claustrophobic places were concerned, the cave they were in was far worse than Moria had ever been and Riley tried to remember to breathe. He wasn't going to let his own fear get the better of him because they needed to do this, they needed more allies or else they would have no chance at all to defeat Sauron and Riley wouldn't have that on his conscience. Riley wasn't sure what he expected to see when they walked in through the path but it was practically some sort of underground abandoned city.
"The dead are following," said Legolas as he glanced around wearily. All of them, even Aragorn, were a little on edge. "They have been summoned."
"Yeah? Is that a good or a bad thing because I've gotta tell you 'Las, I'm not entirely convinced." Suddenly, beneath their feet some kind of fog seemed to be surrounding them and Riley could swear it was taking the shape of hands trying to grasp at them.
"Who enters my domain?" the voice was threatening and haunting but Riley couldn't see who it belonged to until suddenly the same of someone who once could have been a king appeared. Ghosts huh, Riley thought, that's something new.
"One who will have your allegiance." Aragorn demanded
"The dead do not suffer the living to pass." said the king
"You will suffer me!" They appeared from out of nowhere, just like the king had and before Riley knew it they were surrounded by countless of ghosts and the king continued laugh, obviously with no intention of helping them at all as he walked towards them.
"Simple, why can these things never be simple?" Riley asked as he was beginning to feel that this would take a lot of time.
"What would be the fun in that my friend?" Aragorn replied
Legolas fired an arrow which obviously did nothing except go straight through the king. "They way is shut, it was made by those who are dead and the dead keep it. Now you must die."
"I summon you to fulfil your oath." Aragorn told him
"None but the king of Gondor can summon me." At this remark, Aragorn revealed his sword and the king looked at Aragorn as though he had seen a ghost.
"That line was broken!"
"It has been remade! Fight for us and regain your honour. What say you? What say you!"
XXXXXXX
Nat had been sat on the stairs outside the great hall, rolling her thumbs restlessly waiting for some kind of news or for something to happen. She hated the fact that Denethor had sent Faramir and those men out to battle without any consideration or thought process at all and she hated his selfishness and arrogance. She was snapped out of her own thoughts when she heard footsteps marching up towards her and the gates opening wide with Denethor hurrying out.
"Pippin! What's happening?" Nat asked
And then they both saw that the men were carrying an unconscious Faramir with them and the two friends looked at each other in horror. Denethor was mumbling to himself in despair but Pippin and Nat both hurried up to Faramir and when Pippin listened to his heart, the young Took could tell that Faramir was very much alive.
"Nat, he's alive. He's alive!"
"I knew that first aid course would come in handy at some point." said Nat as she sat in front of Faramir but Denethor grasped her and threw her aside.
"Nat!" Pippin called
Annoyed, Nat got back up onto her feet. "I could help save him if you would let me!" she told the Steward.
"I do not need some foolish, arrogant little girl to tell me how to best take care of my son!" Denethor hissed "He is dead! Just like Boromir! Now move out of my sight or I will have you thrown into the dungeons regardless of what your wizard friend may say." Denethor strayed further away until he suddenly stopped and looked down at the army that stood below them, awaiting orders.
"ABANDON YOUR POSTS!" Denethor shouted at the top of his lungs and Nat couldn't believe what she was hearing
"He's completely off his bloody rocket." she said. Denethor was never able to go on because before he knew it, Gandalf had knocked him unconscious with his staff.
"Prepare for battle!" the wizard order
"Okay," Nat said to Pippin "Now that was cool."
XXXXXXX
As Riley watched the mercenary ships sail into shore he couldn't help but to think it was interesting that Middle-Earth was so large. Obviously he'd known that there were mercenaries and other lands it was more the fact that Tolkien hadn't really spent as much time describing them as he had the Middle-Earth that Riley knew. The four companions stood and waited for the ships to come in and
"You will not enter Gondor." Aragorn told them calmly. The mercenaries just laughed mockingly at them until Legolas fired an arrow, which then immediately killed one of the sailors.
"Prepare to be boarded!" Gimli shouted
"Boarded?" said one of the mercenaries "By you and whose army?!"
"Famous last words mate," said Riley with a grin as a green fog appeared in front of them in the shape of their friends from within the mountain.
To be continued…..
Had this been in real life, Maggie would have undoubtedly left with Elrond BUT as this is a fanfics she has to stay because her part in the story isn't done and because she's one of the main characters I don't want to cut her off just like that. And I have a lot of things planned for which she's needed. But fear not, there will be a new chapter soon. In the meanwhile, please review!