Just a warning, this is one of those chapters with a lot of different POV. I just hope you guys don't get lost :/

Chapter 21

Legolas POV

Legolas looked around the wall yet again. He had heard Aragorn and Gimli go downstairs but had not seen or heard from Elahir, Haldir or Tithen Lum. He began to worry.

After running a good length of the wall, he spotted Haldir, he was supporting someone as they tried to hurry past fighting Urak-Hai and soldiers. It was Elahir. Tithen Lum would run a little far ahead, taking down any Urak-Hai and allowing the soldier to flee the wall, as well as giving Haldir room to get by.

Legolas hurried to reach the pair, shooting down several Urak-Hai that were still attempting to climb the ladders on the way. As he got closer, he noticed Elahir's normally white tunic was stained with blood, her blood. She also had blood streaming down one side of her face and her lip was beginning to swell.

"Haldir, Elahir, we must hurry!" he said, finally reaching them and taking Elahir's weight from Haldir so he could move a little faster to keep up with Legolas. Tithen Lum continued on ahead, barrelling over another Urak-Hai that Haldir finished on his way past. Haldir headed down stairs to regroup his forces, while Legolas and Elahir went up to the defensive position above the gate.

"Tithen," Elahir called to the Lycan, who turned around and came to stand by her side. Legolas looked at Elahir with concern, who nodded once and Tithen Lum pushed her body against Elahir, supporting her against the battlements.

Legolas turned and began firing arrows down the causeway, once Elahir had her balance she too fired arrows until hers were all spent. As he fired, a glint of metal on the bank that ran adjacent to the causeway caught his eye.

Aragorn POV

Aragorn and Gimli slipped out unnoticed from a secret door on a ledge that ran adjacent to the causeway. Aragorn peeked over, seeing the large pack of Urak-Hai pummelling at the gate.

He leant back and looked down at Gimli who peeked across him. "Oh c'mon! We can take 'em!" Gimli hissed, raising his axe with excitement.

Aragorn looked at him pointedly, raising an eyebrow with his head resting against the wall of the keep. "It's a long way," he stated matter-of-factly. He remembered clearly the dwarf's reaction to the thought of being thrown across a gap in the Mines of Moria.

Gimli peeked again and then took a step back, appearing hesitant. "Toss me," he mumbled under his breath, looking away from Aragorn.

Aragorn stood up straight and looked at Gimli in disbelief. "What?"

"I cannot jump the distance!" Gimli exclaimed in frustration and then hesitated once again. "You'll have to toss me!" Aragorn nodded once and then reached to grab the dwarf. Gimli stayed Aragorn's hand suddenly. "Oh, don't tell the elf?" he whispered.

Aragorn nodded again with a knowing smile on his face. "Not a word." With that he roughly grabbed Gimli by his armour and tossed him across the gap to the causeway. Gimli landed atop several Urak-Hai and started hacking away at them with his axe immediately, while Aragorn made an almighty leap across to join him.

"Shore up the door!" Aragorn heard Theoden command his troops who started reinforcing the badly splintered gate. They began bracing the door with wood and nails. "Higher!" Theoden shouted as more troops ran through with bigger reinforced wood.

Gimli and Aragorn continued to fight off the Urak-Hai from the gate, back to back, swinging their sword and axe. He could not worry about what happened inside the gate while he was faced with so many Urak-Hai.

oOOo

Meanwhile, from on the ground outside the walls of the keep, the Urak-Hai began to fire huge hooks attached to bigger ladders that gripped onto the battlements with steel pointed stabilisers. Legolas took aim at one of the bolts of these ladders as it was being pulled up. The bolt broke, the rope recoiled and the ladder came crashing down on top of many Urak-Hai.

Theoden poked his head through a hole in the now reinforced gate. "Aragorn! Gimli! Get yourselves out of there!" he ordered, holding his shoulder where the lance had injured him.

Elahir heard the order and looked around her for some rope. One of the small boys who had been called up to serve in the battle saw her looking for one and ran a length over. She took it hastily with a nod to the child.

"Legolas!" she shouted, calling his attention, before leaning over the battlements to look upon Aragorn and Gimli. Legolas jumped atop the battlements catching the rope which she now threw to him.

"Aragorn!" he threw the rope, holding tight to the other side to pull them up by. Aragorn grabbed Gimli by the scruff of his shirt and dove for the end of the rope, swinging away from the causeway. The Urak-Hai roared angrily as he swung out of their reach.

"Tithen, help Legolas," Elahir commanded the Lycan, who immediately moved away from Elahir and grabbed the rope within her jaws, pulling back, her claws slid on the stones.

Elahir slid to the ground, holding her side where she had been injured, it hurt a little but not as bad as it had earlier, now that her adrenaline was coursing through her body. She managed to get to her feet and took one of Legolas' arrows from his quiver, and fired it at another of the large ladders that was being pulled up, causing it to fall and crush the Urak-Hai beneath it.

Once Aragorn and Gimli were secured Theoden called the retreat. "Fall back! Fall back!" Gamling relayed the order, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Retreat!" Theoden shouted ushering all his men back to the keep.

oOOo

Within the hall of the keep, Legolas, Haldir and Aragorn rushed around with the leftover troops, attempting to shore up the door. Gimli and Tithen Lum helped Elahir to find a spot on the ground. She slumped against a wall, pulling her bow and quiver off, now useless without any arrows. She winced slightly at the movement.

"The fortress is taken. It is over," Theoden said dully. Elahir looked up at the King in shock. Legolas and Aragorn flipped a table of its contents and carried it over to the door, forcing it against it in an effort to strengthen the door.

"You said this fortress would never fall while your men defend it!" Aragorn exclaimed breathlessly, as Legolas continued to look for heavy items to barricade the door. "They still defend it! They have died defending it!" Theoden stared into space, it was unnerving for Elahir to see a man like that.

"Is there no other way for the women and children to get out of the caves?" Elahir demanded from her spot on the ground. Gamling stared at the king in disbelief. "Well? Is there no other way?"

"There is one passage. It leads into the mountains. But they will not get far, the Urak-Hai are too many!" Gamling explained.

"Send word for the women and children to make for the mountain pass. And barricade the entrance!" Aragorn ordered, taking charge from Theoden who seemed to be caught up in his own morbid thoughts.

"So much death," Theoden breathed. Aragorn and Legolas stopped trying to barricade the door and turned to look at the King. "What can men do against such reckless hate?" They all looked sadly at the King.

Aragorn thought for a moment and then spoke. "Ride out with me." Theoden looked at him in surprise, as did every other person in the hall. "Ride out and meet them!" Aragorn pressed.

There was a change in Theoden's eyes. From hopelessness, to utter determination. "For death and glory!" he pronounced proudly.

"For Rohan. For your people!" Aragorn added.

Elahir started to struggle to her feet. Gimli took her arm and heaved her up as best he could before glancing at the window. "The sun is rising," he murmured. Aragorn looked up at a window, his face changed to one of calmness before his eyes began to shine anew.

"Yes." Theoden looked from the window back to the men in the hall. "Yes! The horn of Helm Hammerhand shall sound in the keep, one last time!"

I hope that wasn't too confusing :/

Krayzee