Chapter 25
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New Chapter, read, enjoy and review.
The eye was reduced to a small ball of light before it exploded. Aragorn and Delaina pulled away as the shockwave hit them. The earth collapsed into itself, creating a rift where the gates once stood. The remaining orcs fell into the pit.
"Frodo!" The men knights cheered, celebrated, yelled. Relieved that the one thing that was threatening the peace of Middle-Earth was now gone forever. Frodo has done it. He destroyed the Ring. This was the end. They were victorious.
And the summit of Mount Doom exploded letting out torrents of lava. It was running down the mountain side. Delaina grabbed Aragorn's arm. "No!" She breathed out.
Gandalf left shortly after with the Eagles. The men around Delaina started to search for the wounded knights and to tally up the deads. Delaina's eyes were fixed on the mountain, her thoughts naturally drifting to the two hobbits that risked their lives for all of Middle Earth. She hoped that they had escaped the mountain before it exploded, she hoped they were safe waiting for the fellowship. She hoped, that's all she could do, hoping.
When Delaina wasn't looking at the mountain, her eyes swept around her, looking at the fallen men, looking for her friends. She stepped over the fallen bodies. Watching Aragorn helping the wounded ones, Gimli and Legolas helping the wounded to walk to a safer place, Merry and Pippin were being taken care of by knights of the Rohan. The battle was over and yet, it was still chaos. It will take a long time for them to heal, to rebuild everything. Death was everywhere and yet, the soldiers and the members of the fellowship knew that it was a new beginning. A new life.
Some men rode away from the battlefield, probably to spread words of their victory. Delaina stopped walking and took a deep breath. It was finally over, the battle, Sauron's reign, the ring. It was all gone. Was it the end? Or just a new beginning? The wounded men were being moved to their campsite. The campsite were a few hours from the battlefield. She saw Pippin and Merry standing up at once and looking at the sky and she followed their gazes. The Eagles were coming back.
Three Eagles, one of them mounted by Gandalf. They drew closer and two of them rested gently two small figures on the ground. As for Gandalf, he climbed down his own ride, said a few words and they all left. Delaina ran towards them, just like the two hobbits. Knights from Rohan and Gondor gathered around their three friends. Delaina pushed through the crowd to be able to see the two hobbits.
They were unconscious, scratched and muddied. Their lips cracked as if they were dehydrated.
"What happened to his hand?" She heard Pippin asked.
"Consequence of bearing the ring for so long." Gandalf simply answered.
"We cannot linger here any longer." Aragorn said as he gathered Frodo into his arms and Eomer did the same with Sam. "They need to be taken care of. We will head for Ithilien, as soon as we can. We cannot waste any more minute."
There were fewer tents and men at the campsite. The ones that were still standing tended to those who couldn't. As for Frodo and Sam they were placed in a large tent as soon as they arrived at the camp. Aragorn didn't waste any time in seeing to their wounds. Both hobbits were still unconscious. And they will remain in this state until they reach Ithilien.
Delaina walked into her tent and at last let go of her armor. First came her vest and chainmail. Then came her padded leather undershirt and finally she was left in her tunic. It was the last time, she will ever do this. The battle was finally over, no more should come. She sat down on her bunk bed and let everything that happened this day sink in. She had no fully grasped that the Ring of Power was finally destroyed, that the hobbits survived. That they have all survived. They survived the darkness that was threatening to fall upon them.
Delaina walked in Aragorn's tent with a plate. "I know that much remains to be done but I cannot allow you to starve." She said as she placed the plate on the table.
"Thank you, my Lady." Aragorn smiled warmly at the dwarfling.
"You are welcome, my Lord." Delaina smiled back. "Don't mind me. Eat." She added as she turned towards the maps that were spread on the tables installed in Aragorn's tent.
Aragorn stepped towards her and gently grabbed her elbow. He pulled her to him. He embraced her tenderly and breathed in her smell. "Are you faring well?" He asked her softly.
"I am." She replied as softly as he. "Are you?"
He pulled back and cradled her face. "I am." Aragorn rested his lips on her forehead.
"How are Sam and Frodo?" Delaina asked him.
"I did everything I could with the supplies we have." He answered. "But they will fare better once we reached Ithilien."
"I am glad we have found them. Glad we have survived this battle." Delaina continued.
"The War was won but there is still a long way until Peace is fully restored in Middle-Earth." Aragorn continued. "Orcs and Uruks are scattered through Gondor and the rest of the Middle Earth. We still need to be rid of them."
"At least, you are not alone." Delaina declared. "All of the race of men is standing behind you." She turned around to face him. "Their hearts are hopeful for they know brighter and better days are coming."
The journey for the Field of Cormallen was not an easy task. For three days they rode hard, slowed only by the unconscious and injured soldiers who had to be dragged on stretchers. Regular breaks were also part of the journey for the bandages needed to be changed. During those days and even in the aftermath of the battle, Delaina and Aragorn haven't met once. Aragorn was constantly in talks with Gandalf and Eomer of plans to restore peace and order in Middle Earth.
Delaina didn't complain and wasn't bothered by it. She was aware of the responsibility that has befallen upon Aragorn. She wasn't alone, she's still have the rest of the fellowship to keep her company. She was talking with Pippin and Merry, visiting Frodo and Sam with them. Legolas and Gimli shared with her their plans of returning home. She wasn't alone.
"You've come a long way, my dear." Gandalf said to her once as they sat around the fire, late that night.
She looked up at him. "I have." Delaina smiled. "For so long, I lived in fear of my past. A past that I didn't fully grasp. I thought that if I keep myself away from the world, my life would be easy."
"It wasn't your own desire." Gandalf continued. "Meldamiriel wanted to shelter you from the world. Keeping you safe was her only desire." Gandalf looked at Delaina. He saw in her features both of her parents. "In the end, she knew she couldn't stop you from travelling the world."
"She used to say that she saw in my eyes the same eagerness she once had in hers." Delaina said.
"And in your heart, resides the same desire that resided once in your father's." Gandalf retorted. "You wish to see Erebor."
"Now that I know that my people has been looking for me. Waiting for my return. I see no reason to delay my visit any longer." Delaina replied.
"Just a visit?" Gandalf asked knowingly.
Delaina's eyes followed Aragorn walking through the camp. "I wish to remain at his side, in Gondor." She turned her gaze back on Gandalf. "I just don't know how things will evolve from now on."
"You and Aragorn have a bright future before you." Gandalf assured her.
They reached Ithilien safely and immediately Frodo and Sam were taken care of. Unconscious they remained. There was good hope that their bodies will mend. The Field of Cormallen offered a more peaceful landscape than the Black Gates. It wasn't a scenery of desolation and destruction. But a land of life with its green trees and its clearing. A safe haven for the small army before they go back to Minas Tirith.
Delaina stopped under a beech tree, bathing in the sun that offered her a warm comfort. She feared that Frodo and Sam would never recovered. It's been days since they left the Mordor and even though the healers said that their bodies were whole. And yet, Sam and Frodo remained unconscious.
Delaina thought long and hard about what Gandalf said. About what she wanted to do, now that the War of the Ring was over. Aragorn will be crowned King and she wished to see Erebor. What would happen to them now? She had no idea. Was there a future for both of them? Was there a place for her by Aragorn's side, whatever it may be? Could she hope to be at his side for the remaining of her days? She dared not to.
"Delaina! Delaina!" She heard two hobbits called out her name in the field running to meet her.
"Pippin? Merry?" She looked at them as they stopped in front of her. "What is the matter?"
"Frodo…" Pippin started.
"Frodo? What about Frodo?" Delaina asked panic seeping through.
"Frodo is awake." Merry finished for his cousin.
A grin split her face in two. Frodo Baggins has awoken at last. "This is great news. Come on, let's go to our friend."
Frodo Baggins was sitting up in his bed when the three companions entered the tent he was being taken care of in. Gandalf was there, talking animatedly with the hobbit. The sickly pallor that once wore by Frodo was gone. He seemed stronger and healthier. Apart from his severed finger, Frodo Baggins seemed safe and sound. But one does not walk out of Mordor without being affected by it for the rest of his days. This is another story.
"Your fellow hobbit has not awoken yet but he seems to be in better state." The healer said to the small assembly. "This one might fare better but he needs to rest still."
"There is so much to hear and to learn." Frodo protested. "I can rest later."
"Frodo, you now have all the time in the world to hear our stories." Delaina said to him. "Rest. It is well deserved."
"Delaina is right, Frodo." Gandalf agreed. "There is plenty of time for you to listen to our stories."
At noon, Sam Gamgee woke up. The two ring bearers were now awake and Delaina felt lighter to know that the two hobbits were now fully safe and sound. Trumpets and clamors rose through the Field of Cormallen.
"Long live the Halflings! Praise them with great praise!
Praise them with great praise, Frodo and Samwise!
Praise them! The Ring Bearers, praise them with great praise!"
The men cried with joy and in many tongues.
The two hobbits walked in the middle, making their way up to the three high chairs that has been set for the occasion. Aragorn was sitting on one of them, his sword across his laps. He rose as they drew closer.
"Well, if that isn't the crown of all!" Sam said. "Strider, or I'm still asleep."
"Yes, Sam, Strider." Aragorn answered. "It is a long way, is it not, from Bree, where you did not like the look of me? A long way for us all but yours has been the darkest road."
Then, Aragorn bowed his knee and took each hobbit by the hand and led them to the throne. He sat them upon them and cried:
"Praise them with great praise!"
For the first time since they parted ways on the Anduin River, the Fellowship of the Ring sat at the same table to feast to their victory. That night they shared and exchanged stories of their journeys. Sam telling them of Gollum and their uncanny partnership, Gimli telling them of Helm's Deep and the dwarves that came, Pippin telling them of the Ents and of the battle they led in Isengard. They took turns in telling their stories, mentioning all the people they met. All the places they've been to and all that has happened to them. Gimli, in particular, took great pleasure in mentioning the blossoming relationship of Aragorn and Delaina. But one evening was not enough to tell storied of all that they lived.
"The hands of the King are hands of healings, dear friends," Gandalf said as he rose. "But you went to the very brink of death ere he recalled you, putting forth all his power, and sent you into the sweet forgetfulness of sleep. And though you have indeed slept long and blessedly, still it is now time to sleep again."
The fellowship bade goodnight to the hobbits, not only Sam and Frodo, but also Merry and Pippin. Legolas left to walk in the woods while Gandalf and Gimli left together to smoke before going to bed. Delaina and Aragorn was left in each other's company.
They moved quietly through the trees to the river and there they sat together.
"Our quest has finally reached its end." Delaina said as they stared at the moonlit river. "Your future is already set in front of you, Your Majesty." She turned her gaze to him. "I hope there is room for me in your future."
"I would not have it any other way." Aragorn assured her. "I wish to have you by my side."
"It seems that we wish for the same thing." Delaina retorted. "I just hope that I will be a good leader and a good Queen for your people."
"You fought by their side during this war. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed. The people knows what you have done for them." Aragorn reminded her. "They already see you as their leader."
"That may be." Delaina nodded. "But I was not cut to be Queen."
"You were born one." Aragorn told her. "Delaina, Daughter of the Daring One. Princess under the Mountain."
"Still, I have not the slightest idea on how to rule a Kingdom." Delaina chuckled. "I have lived my life as nothing but a wanderer."
"And I as a Ranger." Aragorn reminded her.
"Alright. We both lived in exile, with no stable home." Delaina and Aragorn both laughed quietly. "Even though you more King than I will ever be a Queen. But I may of some help, if you let me."
"Will you be ready to put away your sword to stand beside me?" Aragorn asked her.
"I love the idea of a life where I do not need to worry about the next battle." Delaina said. "A peaceful life."
They sealed this promise of a peaceful life with a soft and gentle kiss.