Here we are again! We've passed the 20 chapter mark, and I'm proud to say that I'll be ready to update again soon I think. I've had some time over the last several days to actually sit down and write, so I hope you're enjoying reading this story as much as I'm enjoying writing it. Anyway, we'll start moving on. I know I left off at kind of an odd place last chapter, but hopefully this will make up for it. You'll get to see some battles against Wraiths and see Gondor as it begins to calm and prepare to face the black gates for the sake of middle earth.
Shout outs!
A friend (MELLON-NIN! :O) (thanks for saying that. I love all of the LOTR and the Hobbit and the stories do go together so I should really shove that in there don't you think?), Guest (Thanks for saying you like it. I'm glad it flows well even though it takes forever for updates xD I like this story, and I'm glad you like my writing. I've been practicing. It was just a weird story I had the idea for.), Guest (I think that's Portuguese and I think you said you loved it. XD Google translate is the only available resource I have to check that word. Anyway, glad you liked it.), BlackMix17 (it's okay you can know what happens now!), and Ciel Tombe (I'm glad you liked it and I could make your week. I've got some more time and some more inspiration for this story now, so I should have some done soon. Sorry for the long wait and I fixed the typos. Thanks for pointing them out! You can always check for typos if you want. Never bothers me. I don't always catch them so an extra pair of eyes is welcome!)
Also to the 49 reviews so far, the 55 followers and 39 favorites!
Thanks for your continued support, though I say this like every time.
Anyway, I'll let you guys actually read the chapter now.
The elf's blades struck one of the Nazgul, surprising him, and a light seemed to pour from his shoulder, a darkness very foul. It burned the elf's hand, but he gritted his teeth and pulled his blades back out. The uninjured Wraith managed to strike at the elf's leg, but Arod side stepped so most of the blade missed, though the wound still stung. The horse backed away a little, and the two Wraiths looked at the elf Wraith. There seemed to be silence all around them. No one moved in the circle surrounding them, waiting as they again sized each other up.
The blade of the Nazgul inspired fear and darkness, and the elf felt this threatening to overwhelm him. But his face remained as impassive as ever, forever calm and peaceful, though alert and willing full of rage as well. It was a very controlled face, and the men marveled at how he could face such creatures on the battlefield without so much as batting an eye. Again, the Wraiths advanced, but more slowly this time. Their blades had no effect on the creature that was already part Wraith. If they wanted to kill him, they would have to actually aim to kill him.
Legolas' wraith like eyes were keenly aware of every movement the terrible creatures made, both the two here on the ground and the six wheeling overhead in the sky. Arod could tell that the elf was very nervous and it made the white charger angry. He pawed the ground and snorted aggressively, barely held in check by the elf's command. He stamped the ground and glared at the Wraiths. Even they paused to see so much loyalty in the beast. Where had it come from? It seemed so odd for him to willingly carry a creature like Legolas. But he was deeply fond of the elf. The horse's anger seemed to give a little courage to the elf, because he lifted his chin a little higher and called for the horse to go forward once again into the battle.
Legolas heard Eomer call out a warning to his blind friend, but the elf ignored him and raised his blades again. This time, the elf ignored his fear. He could hear it pulsing through his head, but the fear of all of the others made him more determined than ever to prevail. He suddenly felt the same bravery that had run through his bloodline for years, that which had come from his father, and his father's father. That which had made the elves of Mirkwood strong through even the reign of Sauron and his orcs in their forest. It was the same strength that had let him survive the Balrog of Moria. It was this strength that he felt now.
But more than that, the elf felt bitterly angry. He wasn't going to let them win. He couldn't. They had won so much against him as it was. He didn't want to let them win now. He had to prove to them and himself that they couldn't control him anymore. He had to destroy them. His thought of falling suddenly was erased from his mind. What was the point? He had to win. Even if he died in the end, he had to defeat them now, just to prove to himself that he was strong. His victory meant so much to so many people, but none more than to the elf himself.
The elf's rage surprised the Wraiths as well as the men and orcs, because it was so sudden and fierce. He didn't pause in his attack. He defended when he needed to, but he was now on the offensive. He was going to destroy them. He knew that he could never really kill them. They would return to haunt the earth, but he could beat them badly enough that it took many years before then. Besides, if Sauron was defeated then their power would dissipate until they were nothing more than ill mentioned specters, and ones that even men could drive away. That was his goal now, and with that fixed firmly in his mind, he launched attack after attack.
He parried a blow meant for his hip and just as deftly sank his own into the chest of the offending Wraith, forcing it to scream in agony and back away like a wounded animal. The other tried to stab his exposed chest through the left side, but the elf had expected this and blocked the blow. Arod, encouraged on by the rage of his rider landed a solid blow to the Wraith that sent it flying back. The circle broke a moment as the Wraith stood to warily return to the battle. Legolas found that he could see fear twisted onto the faces of the two Wraiths now as they fought him. They had orders to kill him, but they could see that would be much harder than they thought.
Some of the faces of the dead army watched in both awe and fear as the elf continued to battle the two Wraiths. The fair elf's face was suddenly full of rage, a controlled and elegant rage, but a terrible one all the same. Now the men could see why elves were often feared so, because even blind, the elf's wrath was terrible and broke over the Wraiths with a ferocity none of them had ever seen, not even against Grima. But suddenly, battling for his life and everyone else's the elf's fury had emerged, and there was no escape for the unfortunate Wraiths.
On and on they danced in their dance of death, circling, lunging, pulling back. Blades flashed and blood was spilled from the elf. But the elf that was part wraith refused to fall to these two. The Wraiths soon realized how hopeless this battle was, and even the Wraiths overhead, safe from the wrath of the elf, were beginning to shriek in their Wraith language nervously to one another, terrified of finding themselves at the mercy of the elf. The orcs pulled back in terror, looking at the enemies they were surrounded by and the ferocity of the elf.
Soon Legolas found an opening. The terrified Wraith had found that he had lowered his blade just slightly, indecision wracking it. The creature could not be blamed of course. It had never been faced with such power, such light! It burned him. The elf took his blade and thrust it through the face of the Wraith. The darkness that burst out of the creature's face burned his arm badly, but he snarled and withstood it, twisting the blade. The creature shrieked and began to cry, then as the elf pulled the blade out it imploded upon itself. The elf snarled and turned to the other, which put up more of a fight. It managed to cut the elf across the breast shallowly, but painfully, before the elf managed to thrust the blade into its face. It soon was destroyed, and silence fell.
The elf put away his blades, sparing a glance for his injured arms. That had done a number on him. He was hurt fairly badly, but he was deeply satisfied. He'd saved them all! He'd proven to everyone that he could overcome such darkness. There was no need for him to be so defeated by his darkness any longer.
The elf looked up suddenly as the Wraiths shrieked overhead. But this time there was pure terror in their voices. They were less powerful than their king, and they were far more timid. Upon seeing the elf defeat two of their own their will was broken. They shrieked and turned their great winged steeds back towards Mordor. Upon seeing the Wraiths fleeing, the men began to cheer, and the ghosts of the undead army disappeared. Terrified, the orcs tried to turn and run, but were set upon by the men of Rohan. Legolas winced a little and looked at his arms. To the visible eye the wounds were bad as well, looking like dark burns covered his skin, besides the fact that he was bleeding.
Eomer instantly came over to the elf, reaching up and grabbing his shoulders as if to steady him. He looked at his friend with even more awe and than he had before. But he could see that the elf was in a great deal of pain as well, and he was worried greatly.
"We should get you to Minas Terith," Eomer said. "The rest can be handled out here. Defeating two Ring Wraiths! Your deeds will be known to the people of Rohan and Gondor for years to come! But you are injured now, and I would wish that you would survive and you would not be made a matyr for our people."
"I am fine," the elf replied.
"You are not," the man insisted. "Do not argue with me. I will drag you there myself if I must."
"I will go," the elf at last relented.
Satisfied, Eomer turned and brought his charger to a light trot, carefully watching for danger. But most of the orcs were fleeing, and the troops of Oliphants were slowly dwindling. There was little to do on the battlefield now for such a brave and injured elf. The man called softly, and understanding that his master was injured, Arod followed closely. He would do anything for that elf.
Slowly they wound their way through the bodies and battles towards the front gates. They weren't sure how they were going to get inside of Minas Terith with the gates closed, but it seemed that they would win for now, and Eomer desperately wanted to make sure that the elf would be alright. They moved on, until suddenly both horses stopped in their tracks and looked around. The elf paused and raised his eyes, but then they heard it. It was the cry of agony of a woman. And that sound was familiar. The elf was sure that it was...
"Eowyn," Eomer cried in horror.
He spurred his steed on, running it hard across the ground. His only thought was of terror for the woman. Legolas instantly cried for Arod to follow, and the white horse leaped off after the brown one. They ran on for a while, until they stopped, and Eomer could on stare in horror at the scene he had witnessed.
Theoden the king lay dying, his fine white horse dead and broken on top of him. The king of the Ring Wraiths, the witch king of agmar, was standing with his huge mace, ready to rain blows down on the woman. She stood and pulled out a sword, desperate to protect her uncle. The Nazgul's steed lay with its head lopped off, still twitching pitifully. The elf could see as the Wraith raised his mace again, swinging it. The woman ducked under it.
"No man can kill me," the Wraith hissed.
Merry popped up from behind the creature and stabbed him in the back, taking the Wraith by surprise. The hobbit quickly ripped out his blade and cried in agony, holding his arm and collapsing. He could understand now the pain that Legolas felt, the same pain that he faced whenever the darkness threatened to consume him! And to feel this all the time! The Wraith fell to his knees in agony, and Eowyn ripped off her helm, revealing that she was not a man at all.
"I am no man," she said.
She shoved her blade hilt deep into the creature's face. No blade appeared from the other side of his head. Instead, his head and the darkness within it seemed to swallow the blade whole. She too twisted the blade, and then quickly dropped it, falling back and holding onto her injured wrist. She watched as the Wraith imploded, and then crawled to her uncle. She began to speak to him, tears flowing freely down her face. She tried to call to the dying king, but he was soon dead.
Eomer seemed to be shaken out of his spell suddenly, and spurred his horse forward. Legolas followed at a much slower pace, listening sadly as the two lamented their uncle. But Eomer was instantly terrified for his friends and his sister. They had all been injured by the Wraiths. He was unsure what he could even do at this point, but he knew he had to do something. However Legolas could see that his worry lay greater with his family, and silently took his leave.
He told Arod to continue their previous route towards the city, and then let the horse wander as it saw fit. He really couldn't guide the horse anyway. He too was sad at the passing of Theoden, but he knew that he had been a good king and done his best to give his all for his people. There could be no greater honor for him. He wished him luck finding his way to the halls of his fathers, and then quietly sent a single prayer to the valor.
"May he find peace in death," he prayed.
The elf looked up though he couldn't really see. He saw that the army of the dead had gathered all together, and he told Arod to go towards the mass. Soon the white horse had pulled up, and Aragorn and Gimli greeted the elf both fondly and relieved. The king of the dead however, growled a little and stepped forward.
"Release us," he said.
"Bad idea," the dwarf said. "Very handy in a tight spot, these lads."
"You gave us your word," the king cried, enraged. Aragorn nodded.
"I hold your oath fulfilled," the would be king said. "Go now, and be at peace."
With a sigh of great relief, the king closed his eyes, and the army faded away into oblivion, the only proof that they had been in that fight at all was the fact that there were no enemy soldiers at all. They had all been killed, and Gondor stood the victor. Gimli sighed a little, obviously unhappy, but then he turned to his elf friend. He saw his trembling and burned arms and gasped instantly, making Aragorn look as well.
"What happened?" the dwarf gasped.
"I will tell you later," the elf said tiredly. Neither of them pressed the matter anymore. It seemed that the elf was very tired.
The gates of Gondor were suddenly thrust open, and the men of Gondor ran out to greet the men of Rohan with open arms and glad hearts. They had survived! They had really survived! The elf's keen ears could pick out the sound of a person in battle and know a friend from his enemy, but the roar of the crowd was too loud, and his mind was too confused by the mass of people and he was hurt more than he had let on. The elf felt his strength leave him at last and he fell from Arod's back.
Luckily Aragorn had been watching and when he saw his friend fall he leaped forward and caught him, calling for someone to help him with the elf. Legolas noticed too that Aragorn covered his eyes again, as if to shield him from the darkness of Mordor. Legolas however wasn't frightened of it anymore. He had conquered his own fear of the darkness within himself and drove away the Ring Wraiths. He felt weak, and for the first time in a long time he wondered if he would die. And yet the thought didn't bring him any anxiety. It was just as he had told Merry. He fought for the light. Even if he died today then at least he would have stood for the light and shown them all that as his people believed, even if the darkness won but small victories, it would never prevail.
The elf soon slipped in unconsciousness. His friends worried over him, but they were just as amazed as everyone else to hear just how Legolas had gotten those wounds in the battle. But more than ever they were impressed by the elf's bravery and loyalty, and they were determined now more than ever to not lose the elf to the darkness that had constantly threatened him for as long as many had known him.
Aaaaaaaaaand more cliff hangers. XD Don't worry. Of course Legolas doesn't die. But he wasn't exactly going to come out of that battle unscathed. I'm still planning on writing the second story. It won't follow the orginal story line that well, obviously, because it would have ended by then. But we will involve dead characters in the story again, and we'll get to see some more epicness from our favorite elf. Should be fun right? I hope you're looking forward to it as much as I am. I planning on making this story a little bit longer. Obviously we've just about gotten to the home stretch. I'll have a little after the final battle as well dealing with the Fellowship, their promises to each other, and some touching reunions. YAY!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and are ready to keep reading on! I'm planning on at least starting the work on another chapter today! Sorry for the long wait, but I hope this chapter was at least somewhat worth it.