Hey guys! As always, I am sorry for the horribly long waiting times before updates. College has kept me super busy and there is just honestly no time to write. I probably only get a paragraph or two done every couple of days. So, I know it is really slow go and I appreciate your patience.

Without any further delay, here we go.

Fog surrounded her, closing in on every side, giving Susan the feeling that someone was watching her and the men. It was an eerie feeling, she thought, believing someone was there though, logically, it was impossible because no one entered this pass. They didn't enter because it was said that no one ever came back out.

But Susan was in there, along with Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, on a mission to find recruits for a battle that they would lose if help were not found. If the battle was lost, Susan knew, it would also mean that Peter would be lost. Peter…

At the moment, she hated him.

She hated him because he went off to war without her; she hated him because he could admit to himself that he more than likely would die in this battle, unlike her self. Susan could not, would not, admit that he was going to die if they failed. The thought of her big brother dying would only weaken her in this mission.

"How are you doing back there, my queen?" Aragorn's voice called over his shoulder.

"Fine," She replied back shortly.

A moment's pause followed before he spoke again. "How are you really feeling, Susan?"

The girl smiled slightly, though she did not want to admit it at the current time, her and Aragorn had been great friends during her time in Middle Earth; he knew her, her moods, and her tones of voice quite well.

"I'm nervous for Peter and the others."

"And?" He prompted, knowing that there was more on her mind than just that.

"And this pass…it is just very scary, I guess. I feel as if we are being watched and I hear…voices, whispers in the distance. It must be my mind playing tricks or something like that."

"Yes, I feel it too, lass." Gimli added, looking around. "What kind of army would linger in such a place as this?"

"One that is cursed," Legolas's voice crept eerily into the air. He looked around before continuing. "One that is cursed. Long ago the men of the mountain swore an oath to the last king of Gondor, to come to his aid, to fight. But when the time came, when Gondor's need was dire, they fled, vanishing into the darkness of the mountain. And so Isildur cursed them, never to rest until they had fulfilled their pledge. Who shall call them from the gray twilight, the forgotten people?"

He spoke as if he were in a trance. He looked around like he was searching for the whispering voices Susan had heard before. Could he see the figures that voices belonged to? Susan was not quite sure but assumed it was a possibility; after all, it seemed as if the elves could do pretty much whatever they pleased in Middle Earth.

The elf's eyes looked around a moment more before he shook his head slightly and gazed in Susan's direction. He didn't smile nor look remotely pleased with her or the situation they were in but he nodded slightly as a reassurance that they would be all right.

But Susan did not respond to him; the queen was still angry at Legolas because he said that he would keep her from going to her brother's aid if they were to fail at recruiting troops. It was none of his business what she did after this; he could not, and would not, stop her when the time came for her to fight and he knew it.

The simple act of Susan ignoring him stung Legolas slightly but he did not act as if it did; his promise was the right thing to do in order to ensure Susan's safety in his mind.

Susan looked away from the elf and up the path a ways, though it was hard to see through the thick fog. She sighed and adjusted herself on the saddle, knowing that their journey would be a while longer.

But, to her surprise, it only lasted a moment more before Aragorn directed the horse to the left and down into a little side enclosure. Susan peeked around him to see that there was a small entrance into the mountain before them.

Aragorn dismounted then helped Susan jump down, before going over to entrance and staring at it. Susan ventured closer, as well, receiving a more intensely eerie feeling than she had when they were merely riding along the pass.

It seemed as if this placed spooked the horses, as well. Next thing the queen knew, the two steeds whined loudly, rearing up on their hind legs, before turning and running back down the path they had taken to get there.

"Brego!" Aragorn called after his horse but he was already long gone.

Susan took another daring step forward and began hearing whispers coming from within the cavern. It was pitch black, nothing was to be seen, but still the voices continued to vibrate through the queen's head. She could not make out what they were saying but it sent a chill down her spine.

As she stood there, the queen noted that there was an inscription on the wooden frame of the entrance. However, it was written in a language completely foreign to her. If Susan had to guess, she would say it was probably some ancient form of Elfish; all signs seemed to be in some for of Elvish in Middle Earth.

"What does it say?" She asked Legolas.

He came to stand beside her and study the words etched into the wood. "The way is shut." He said it slowly. "It was made by those who are dead and the dead keep it." He paused, scanning the message again. "The way is shut."

Susan took another step, only a foot or so from being inside the passage. She removed her bow from the place on her back and notched an arrow. She took yet another step and now stood within the doorway. Goosebumps rose on her arms but she held her ground; ghosts and legends would not frighten her when so many lives were at stake.

"The way seems open to me." She explained.

The queen turned around and looked down at Gimli, the farthest away from the door. He looked from the message to the queen and then back again. "I think I shall stay out here."

"Gimli!" Susan exclaimed, she could not believe that he was not going to go in. "You cannot be serious."

The dwarf fidgeted under her burning gaze. "Well, who in their right mind would go down there! If this is an undead army then why would we venture to them when they cannot be killed and we very well can!"

Susan looked back at Aragorn and gave him a slight smile. Legolas noticed the gesture and also that Aragorn returned it. It stung him in the chest again slightly, knowing that this is what he was going to have to endure for the rest of Susan's life; watching her with him and not being able to do a thing about it. His life was to be misery, as were hers and Aragorn's, but he could not say anything nor do anything to stop it because this was not his situation to change.

It was only Susan's and she had already made it very clear that she would not.

"Well, it seems as if we are not in our right minds then, does it not?" Aragorn questioned before looking over at Gimli and placing his smile on him. A second later, he walked past Susan and into the cavern.

Legolas also stepped up and walked past Susan in to the dark. The queen looked back to the dwarf and gave him one of her famous looks of disapproval.

Gimli's eyes widened, he sputtered, trying to get words out, before finally looking back at Susan. "An elf ventures underground when a dwarf dares not? I would never hear the end of it, would I?"

Susan shrugged. "I would say no considering it is very likely that Legolas will outlive you."

Gimli paused to think a moment before nodding. "Well, let's go, then. After you, lass."

Susan shook her head at him one more time, finding all of Gimli's fears quite ridiculous. After all, he had fought in many wars and seen many horrors; why was it so difficult for him to go into a cavern when dwarfs were meant to be below the ground?

Susan stepped past the threshold, into the darkness, and pulled the string of her bow back, ready to fire at whatever came her way.

Several steps in and she could make out the shapes of Aragorn and Legolas in front of her. Just then, Aragorn lit a torch, illuminating the narrow passage and revealing a stone cavern on their left. Susan stifled the need to gasp when she saw a pile, probably as high as her knees, of skulls. Human skulls.

The girl quickly looked away and continued after Aragorn as Legolas stopped to look at the heap. Grim stopped short of the space too and stared at the elf for moment. "What is it?" Gimli asked. "What do you see?"

Susan and Aragorn paused to listen to Legolas's response. The man looked at the skulls a moment longer before pushing on. "I see the shapes of men and of horses."

"Where?" The dwarf asked, looking around frantically.

Susan could not help but look for these shapes herself. Perhaps it was another gift of the elves to see those who resided between this world and the next-those within the veil. She had been right, then, to assume he could see and hear the voices when they were riding down the pass.

The elf looked around some more and wrinkled his forehead with slight worry in his face. "The dead are following." He paused, ignoring Gimli's question. "They have been summoned."

"The dead!" Gimli asked. "Summoned!" A pause as he turned, looking from place to place. "I knew that."

"Gimli, come on!" Susan called behind her to the cowardly dwarf. "Honestly, I thought dwarfs were supposed to comfortable underground. Is that not what you have been saying since Moria?"

The dwarf did not answer-but, instead, glared-before he hurried to catch up with the rest of the group. Aragorn led them deeper into cave as it opened into a larger room. He stepped into it and instantly a crunching noise sounded from below his feet. Aragorn's eyes darted down and shot right back up almost as quickly. He grabbed Susan's arm and pulled her closer to him, making sure she did not stray off of his path. "Do not look down." He warned.

Susan's heart raced at the advice he had given her. What could possibly be under their feet that she was not supposed to see? The girl stepped into the room and felt the rough, uneven floor crunch under her light steps. Her eyes wanted so badly to see what it was but instead she turned her eyes to Legolas who nodded at her with encouragement.

Crunching, crunching, crunching as she walked but still she did not give into the temptation to look down. Finally, they left the 'room' and the crunching stopped; Susan took a sigh of relief.

They passed through another narrow passageway before in ended in a cavern room that was ten times the size of they had just left. Half of the room had a floor; the other was a drop off to a bottomless pit. From her position by the entrance, Susan noticed that there was a stone flight of stairs off to their left that led to a large stone doorway carved within the mountainside.

The entire room had an eerie green glow about it that sent shivers down Susan's spine. Why would an army reside here? Why would they be driven into darkness and despair?

It was because of their fears to fight; they would rather die in this cave than fight for their people and their world.

The group ventured farther into the room and looked for the ghost army to appear. Nothing happened, however. There was nothing there to accompany them but the green glow and absolute silence.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Gimli shouted over the deafening silence. His voice echoed through the cavern and caused Susan to jump slightly at the sudden noise.

The next instant a laugh echoed through the room; it seemed evil and murderous to Susan's ears. The disembodied laugh finally stopped only to be replaced by words. "The way is shut." It echoed. "It was made by those who are dead and the dead keep it…the way is shut."

Susan looked around for the source of the sound; but, it seemed so distant and so close at the same time that she could not distinguish it's location. Her eyes turned to Legolas, who had a more serious look etched onto his face than normal. It was easy to see that this situation unnerved him and if he was worried then Susan knew that she should be too.

Just then, Aragorn spun around, facing the large doors in the mountainside. Susan did the same and was taken aback by what she saw: a ghoulish green figure, surrounded in mist, looking half living and half skeletal.

Legolas raised his bow and let loose an arrow at the ghost's forehead. It did little to no damage as it passed straight on through. With the knowledge that the man before them was completely invincible, Legolas began to inch his way over to Susan until he was standing slightly in front of her and next to Aragorn, shielding the queen from unfriendly eyes.

The next second, ghost warriors started appearing all around them, brandishing swords and knives. Though Susan knew the men were dead, she was quite certain that they still had the capability to kill them at any given moment; it was part of their curse to fight and, to fight, they must kill.

Susan felt her hand tighten on her bowstring though she knew it would do no good in this battle, just the feeling of the coarse string against her fingers gave her comfort as everything from her beloved Narnia did.

"I am Isildur's heir and I have come to see your oath fulfilled. If you fight for me I shall release you from this prison and your curse." He paused his strong voice to allow the leader of the ghost army to speak.

The ghost king was silent for a moment, taking in the new information that Aragorn had given to him, before he began to laugh. He laughed loudly, echoing through the mountain cavern yet again, followed by his army surrounding them.

Susan's bowstring tightened even more, bringing it to it's maximum stretch, and looked around in every direction for any sign of moment from them; but, they never did move. They just stood there laughing until their master stopped.

The cavern went silent and all eyes went to the ghost king. "The royal bloodline of Gondor was broken long ago." The ghost took steps toward Aragorn, taking out his sword in the process. His movement started out slow, then he gained speed, running faster than humanly possible. The ghost raised his sword, aiming to swing directly at Aragorn's head-

But the sword never made contact.

Susan saw Aragorn swiftly remove a shining, exquisite sword from below his cloak and stop the ghost's insubstantial sword in midair; the man grabbed the ghost's chin until a crack could be heard. "It has been remade."

Susan was at a loss as to what to say or think. How is it that he could touch that which had no body? Was it due to the fact that he was of the royal bloodline of Gondor? She assumed that it must be that.

"If you fight for me, fight for Gondor and for Middle Earth, I shall free you. What say you?" He shouted, stepping away from the leader and pointing his sword at the rest of the army. Susan noted that even though they were ghosts they still feared Aragorn and the great sword he possessed. "I am Isildur's heir, I can free you. What say you!"

There was no answer from any of the ghosts that were present. To Susan's eyes, it seemed as if they were not even considering it. They were not even looking at each other, just at Aragorn.

"Please," The queen pleaded under her breath.

They were their only hope; if the Army of the Dead were to reject Aragorn's proposal then Peter, Theodin, Eoywn, and all the others were dead. There was no other way to save them. They were their only hope…

"What say you!" Araogrn shouted once more as he circled them again with his sword drawn out far in front of him.

He paused in front of the ghost king and stared at him, as did Susan, Legolas, and Gimli.

The ghost king stared back a while before a smiled appeared on his face-he then began laughing again.

One by one, the ghost army started disappearing just as mysteriously as they had appeared.

"No!" Susan shouted, knowing they had rejected. "Please, help us!" She took a step towards them but was held back by Legolas; he grabbed her arm and held the girl close to his chest to keep her from going after something she could not kill but could kill her.

"Wait! I am Isildur's heir. I can free you! You have my word!" Aragorn shouted after the dematerializing beings.

And then, they were all gone.

No one left.

No one to help.

Susan breathed heavily, as if she had just run for miles, at the thought of what they meant. They were finished, done for.

Her eyes rose to look at Aragorn who's held the same degree of despair and disappointment that hers had.

Suddenly, a rumbling began under their feet, stalling their thoughts and feelings of defeat. Susan turned around to the doors and saw that small pebbles were being shaken loose from the cavern walls around the large doors. She took a step away from Legolas to get a closer look at what was happening before them. The small pebbles turned into larger ones until she saw a chuck fly out of the wall, raining skeletons down before them.

"Run!" Aragorn called as the skeletons filled the room and began to pour down into the large, dark abyss as if it were a waterfall.

Soon enough, the skeletons were crushing against Susan-they were up to her waist and almost impossible to move through without being carried away-and she held her arms up as she reattached her bow to her back. She saw Legolas and Aragorn before her and turned back to see only the top of Gimli's head behind her.

"Gimli!" She shouted, reaching back to grab him. "Take my hand!"

The dwarf did as asked and grabbed Susan's hand. She began to tug him along behind her but he was too heavy and the skeletons were pushing them too close to the edge. She was could only drag him so far before she felt her fingers give way and lose Gimli in the pile. Just when she thought that the dwarf was done for, she saw Legolas fly past her and grab him from the depths of the skulls. He held most of the dwarf above the sea of bones and grabbed Susan's hand with his free one.

The three fought their way through to a small opening that Aragorn was waiting at, out of the way of the destructive skulls. A moment later, their feet touched ground that was not rolling beneath them and where they were free of the bones. Once they were all out, Aragorn ran down the long, dark corridor until finally a small light appeared.

It grew larger and larger as they neared it, until finally Susan realized it was not just a light-it was daylight.

Seconds later, the four of them burst forth from the mountain and into the open air. They stood for a moment, looking out at the sea before them, and saw that a fleet of ships was coming into the harbor. Were they friend? Were they foe? Susan could not tell. Her eyes drifted down to Gimli who shook his head at her, indicating who these ships belonged to without needing to speak it: they were, indeed, enemies and they were quite numerous.

At the sight of the ships, Aragorn collapsed to his knees, shook his fists in the air, and screamed at the top of his lungs; it was a sign of utter defeat. Just then, the elf came up to Susan and put a gentle hand on her shoulder to comfort her. For he knew exactly what she knew and exactly what she was feeling.

"There is no hope, is there?" Susan asked Legolas in an emotionless tone. "We cannot save them."

Her blue eyes turned back to the elf that only looked down at her with grief in his eyes to answer. She nodded slightly before looking back down at the ships. Without thinking, she walked away from the elf and recovered her bow and an arrow from her back. The queen notched the arrow and began going down the hill, towards the ships. "Well, we have to do something."

She made it only five feet before Legolas descended upon her and grabbed her by the arms. "You are not going to do anything."

Susan spun to look at him, setting him with her glaring eyes. "Try and stop me. If I cannot succeed in getting the Army of the Dead then the least I can do is decrease the number of warriors who are going to try and kill my brother along with the rest of our friends."

The elf's eyes narrowed. "I promised King Peter that I would keep you away from this battle if the worse should happen."

Susan's eyes narrowed even more than Legolas'. "I did not make any such promise that I would stay away so I am going. You are not in charge of me, Legolas."

The queen tried to walk away from the elf but he gripped her shoulders tightly and would not let go. "Legolas, let go of me right this instant." She said sternly, trying to keep her temper in check.

"No, I made a promise and I intend to keep it."

"Legolas, let go of me!" The anger and defeat that she was feeling boiled over and was being taken out by the closest person to her. What Legolas needed to do was release her and just let her do what she needed to do.

"No, Susan."

She then began hitting his chest, anger and grief consumed her as she realized that there was no chance for them or for her brother and the rest of their troops. "Let go of me!" She fought, hitting him again. In response, Legolas only pulled her closer to his chest, keeping her fists tight to her and comforting her at the same time. Susan still tried to fight but she soon lost momentum, succumbing to tears as the weight of their situation sunk into her. She buried her face in Legolas's chest and cried. "We failed them. We failed them all."

The elf patted her back; there was nothing he could do or say that could make her feel better. She just cried, letting the crushing defeat take over her.

Aslan, where are you? Why won't you help us? Why won't you help Peter when you were the one who sent us here? Why did you make us come to this place when there was nothing here for us but death and despair?

The questions went on and on in her head until her sadness faded and angry returned; she was not going to let this happen to the whole of Middle Earth. It was not an option. Susan lifted her head from Legolas's chest and looked up into his blue eyes. She smiled slightly before stepping away from him and turning back to the mountain.

"I am going back in." Her words were directed at Aragorn now. The man, still on his knees, looked up at her with a confused expression on his face. "I will not take no for an answer, Aragorn…I just cannot."

Without another word, Susan stomped passed him and re-notched an arrow in her bow. The queen was willing to use force when talking to the ghost army if the need arose; if they wanted to play rough then that is what she shall do.

"Susan-" She heard Aragorn say from behind her.

The queen spun back to him and glared. "I am not asking your permission," Her eyes went to Legolas who was still standing where she had left him, his face sullen. "I am not asking for permission from either of you. Either you are coming with me or you are not. Take your pick, I shall be inside."

The girl spun back around, readying to dive right back into the cavern, when she was confronted by the eerie ghost figure that had first appeared to them within the mountain-it was the leader of the army.

The ghost looked down at her with a humorless smile on his face. "No need to reenter our home, my lady." His eyes left her to go back to Aragorn. "We fight."

Okay, so I hope you liked it! It probably isn't once of my best-since I am rushing to get the chapter out to you without wasting time editing and such-but I hope you liked it just the same. Once again, I'd like to thank you for your patience and I hope I'll be able to get another chapter out soon. Tell me what you think if you feel inspired to! Thanks for reading!