Author's Note: I'm aliiiiive! God, I feel happy and terrible at the same time. Terrible because I left you guys so long without an update, happy because I've finished my exams, I'm done with school and I will most likely have more time to write this story and complete it! Personally, I find this chapter to be too short for my liking, but I have plans to make the chapter after next quite a long one. Full of romance, some character death, etc, etc. You know, the good stuff. I also think my writing is getting a little sloppy, and for that I apologise. But I think the battle could've been written better. That's my opinion though :).

Also, I want to say here, I wanted to really focus on the fear factor in the battle, especially with Rae. I mean, personally, if I were to go into battle with the odds not in my favour, I wouldn't exactly be grinning and happy and "Oh, yeah, no sweat! We'll be fine!" So, all in all, I really wanted to show a side of Rae that wasn't confident about the battle.

Well, excuse any mistakes that I may have missed. :) Wow, thank you to everyone who had reviewed, put alerts on the story, etc, etc. You are the best! I love you all!

Thank you;

Laytonloverdog
XantheXV
quidditchandsonicscrewdrivers
Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967
Luli Cullen
Spirited Mare
The February Rose
Lady of Sign
Eliza Russell
DarkAngel620
BarronsBaubles
SighingWinter
Hopefeather
Ashes2Dust18
MysticLight - I think we must be on the same brain wavelength or something, haha, because I had initially had the idea of Dreyne being killed.. but I changed my mind :)!
HoneyGee08
fallen-87
Bluebird Hale
odagiriryu

You guys are seriously the best. I love you all! Enjoy :D!

Thirty-Five: The Battle of the Pelennor Fields

They stood side by side as the ships approached, four pairs of eyes fixed on the river.

There were butterflies in Amelia's stomach, but she knew they had the upper hand. After all, it wasn't everyday that one could say they had an Army of the Undead waiting for Aragorn's orders. She brushed a strand of her hair out of her eyes, a real, genuine smile on her face. They were going to reach Minas Tirith in time and they were going to win.

She had no doubts about that.

But she just wished that the ships would hurry the hell up. Amelia wanted to get to the battle and find her sister, check that she was alright-

She felt her heart drop to her stomach, her blood turned to ice in her veins. Rae. God, she hoped she was alright. She couldn't bear the thought of appearing at the battlefield to find her sister dead. She cast a glance to Legolas, but he was staring straight ahead, jaw clenched. She opened her mouth to speak but turned away again, unsure. Amelia knew that if she could hardly find the words to reassure herself, how could she reassure another?

Another five minutes passed before the ships came within shouting distance of them and, as Amelia watched Aragorn unsheathe his sword, she allowed a knowing smirk to appear on her face. She knew how they looked to the Corsairs, knew how stupid they probably seemed, taking on all these ships when there was just the four of them. Her smirk turned into a broad grin.

Oh, weren't they going to be in for a surprise.

"You may go no further," called Aragorn, his voice loud and authoritative. There was movement on the ship as the Boson stood, making his way to the side of the ship to look at them. As Amelia had suspected, he seemed amused by their little group.

Aragorn spoke again, louder, "You will not enter Gondor."

The Boson sneered at them. "Who are you to deny us passage?"

Aragorn lifted his head higher but remained relaxed. His order to Legolas was not harsh or unreasonable, nor violent in any way. He was simply calm.

"Legolas, fire a warning shot past the Boson's ear."

Immediately, Legolas pulled an arrow, taking aim. He prepared to release and Amelia kept her nonchalant attitude, mimicking her mentor's calm and relaxed demeanour. She knew how amazing Legolas' aim was and knew that this task would not be a problem for him.

"Mind your aim," she heard Gimli mutter. Legolas released his arrow and Amelia gasped as it struck a man behind the Boson. She heard Gimli's murmured exclamation, saw Legolas glare at the Dwarf. She looked at Aragorn, holding her breath.

"That's it, right, we warned you," shouted Gimli, trying to remedy the situation. "Prepare to be boarded!"

There was laughter on the ship as they passed them by. Amelia grinned again.

"Boarded?" Repeated the Boson, "By you and whose army?"

The Army of the Dead revealed themselves, charging onto the ships and terrifying the screaming men aboard. Amelia forced herself to remain still as the ghosts charged past her but she couldn't stop the shudder that ran down her spine.

Why did ghosts have to be so cold?

Fear began to really take hold of Rae as they began their charge.

All around her, horns sounded and the soldiers yelled. Her eyes drifted across to Merry and Éowyn, still riding beside her, and her stomach churned. She bit her lip, lifted her bow and released an arrow. A nearby soldier, seeing her making a move, released an arrow as well. She found him, sent him a small, forced smile, then gasped as he was shot off his horse. She looked behind her, eyes wide, but Dreyne continued into a gallop. Rae faced forward again, patting Dreyne's neck reassuringly hoping it convinced the mare more than it convinced herself.

She pulled arrow after arrow until slinging the bow back into the quiver and unsheathing Kalina and Mori. Gritting her teeth together, she tried to ignore her surroundings - more specifically, the soldiers who were being killed by the enemy arrows. She spun her twin blades in her hands once, twice, preparing herself mentally and physically as they approached the line of orcs. She took great pleasure in seeing some of them become frightened. Many had completely abandoned the line, fleeing as the Rohirrim charged.

It's as if they think a few arrows would stop us, Rae thought, amused.

She wasted no time in beheading the two orcs nearest to her, promptly moving on to the next ones while wondering if she stood the slightest chance of getting through this alive.

Amelia was impatient, longing to get to battle.

Her hands were clenched in front of her and she was leaning against the railing of the ship, nails digging painfully into the palms of her hands. She was restless, cursing everything alive and some things dead, wanting the ships to move faster, simply so she could arrive in Minas Tirith. Her sisters face plagued her thoughts and she worried. What if she got to Minas Tirith and couldn't find her? What if she got to Minas Tirith and Rae was-

Amelia shook her head - it didn't bear to think about.

The ghosts took up the majority of the ship, the pale green light of their ethereal forms annoying her to no end. She knew herself that she was being ridiculous, being angry at the ghosts for simply being that colour, but she couldn't help it. Everything - and she really meant everything - was getting on her nerves. She ached to be able to dive into battle, to find her sister, to protect her. She would never admit it to anyone but she hated that she was not there with her now.

A sigh escaped her lips and she ran her hands down her face. Why did everything have to be so difficult?

"You are troubled?"

The voice was scratchy and she jumped, edging away from it. The Army of the Undead, despite their promise to help them, still unnerved her, in more ways than one. She expected the ghost to be one who simply cared - HA! - and was, needless to say, surprised to see the King of the Dead before her. She raised an eyebrow.

"Worried," she corrected. "My sister is fighting in this battle. And-"

She stopped herself from saying too much. She'd been worrying so much for Rae, praying that Rae would be alright, but what about Éomer?

"Your sister?" questioned the King of the Dead. He looked sceptical at the idea of women fighting. Amelia nodded, silent.

There was a silence between them, during which Amelia hesitantly glanced over at him. He was staring ahead, his sword still clutched in his right hand. She was glad he was on her side. She swallowed the lump in her throat.

"How did you know that I was…?" She stopped herself from finishing the sentence, leaving it open for him to finish himself. He turned to her, amused, and gave her a smile - a very creepy smile, rotten.

"How did I know that you were supposed to dead?"

Amelia grimaced and nodded.

The King chuckled, a low sound that seemed to echo in her head. When he spoke, Amelia felt like she was suffocating.

Rae didn't even think about Legolas and Gimli's competition as she fought her way through the orcs. It didn't seem important to her anymore. She was trying to locate Merry and Éowyn again but failing miserably. Eventually, she decided it best to focus on herself, on her own survival. Besides, Merry, Éowyn and Éomer could take care of themselves.

Orcs seemed to be coming at her from every direction with intent to kill and she found herself getting more and more tired with every orc she struck down. Time seemed to be passing her so slowly, yet she was exhausted. There were cuts all over her legs already, bruises on her arms and she was sure that a good few inches of her braid had been sliced off. She'd had no time at all to mourn for her lost hair, instead focussing on avenging it.

Rae was only vaguely aware of the fact that the orcs were retreating as Dreyne galloped through their numbers. The mare's mane was covered in orc blood, as was most of Rae's clothes. The hilts of Kalina and Mori were splattered with the vile stuff, the blade's dripping whenever she caught a break (which wasn't often).

She allowed a brief, relieved smile when it became clear that the orc forces were overwhelmed, if even a little. They were succeeding in pushing them back, the order to drive them to the river spreading through the men like wildfire. They charged, the orcs fleeing in fear, the men cheering.

Yet Rae couldn't help but feel that it was all too easy. The odds were not in their favour, at all, so why had they won so soon? Why had the battle not lasted as long as she thought it would?

She glanced upwards, a confused frown on her face, before it was wiped completely off and a new, raw fear replaced it. If she'd thought things were bad before, that was nothing compared to what was happening now. There were creatures coming towards them and Rae felt like breaking down right there. These things - she didn't even know what they were called - were massive. How in the world could they defeat these things? They were like elephants, only much, much bigger, and Rae found her eyes drawn to their massive feet. If she and Dreyne made one wrong move, they could wind up underneath them.

Splat.

Squish.

Gone.

Rae looked about her, seeing the faces staring back at her, terror in their eyes. She swallowed, all of a sudden too aware of how terrified she was. These men were looking for hope where there was none. She hated to be so pessimistic, so doubtful, but as she looked at their new threat, now charging at them, she couldn't stop herself. The blood had drained from her face, her hands were shaking. All around her the line was re-forming and Dreyne was following suit, ready to run again.

Hands shaking, Rae sheathed Kalina and Mori, immediately reaching for her bow and nocking an arrow. She looked for Merry and Éowyn, almost subconsciously, but could find them nowhere. She aimed but her mind was in a blur; where did she shoot? The head? The legs? She considered shouting to a surrounding soldier but as she opened she mouth, Dreyne darted forward and Rae gave a surprised shriek.

She was running out of time.

The ground shook as they charged for the second time but Rae couldn't decide whether it was the horses or the new threat that was coming at them. She released the arrow but lost track of it as it flew away from her. Rae wasted no time in placing the bow back in the quiver, instead taking out her blades. She found it impossible to concentrate and aim, so decided it better to go with the 'hands on' approach.

As they got closer and closer, Rae felt her panic build, her chest rose and fell rapidly. She swallowed, her palms sweaty, and vaguely worried that she would drop one of her blades. In response this this dreadful thought, her grip tightened on the hilts.

Deep breaths.

Ducking just for good measure, Rae swung at the nearest leg but knew as soon as she and Dreyne emerged from underneath the creature that it had had little or no effect. Rae groaned as the orcs began their attack again, meeting them in battle fiercely. She decided, as cowardly as it seemed, to keep away from the creatures.

She ushered Dreyne to the aid of a nearby soldier, with the intent to ask him just what the giant elephants were. She leapt as gracefully as she could from Dreyne's back, diving into the battle with her teeth gritted and her hair flying.

"Hey," she called to the soldier, panting and gasping. "What are those things?"

"Mûmakil," he grunted back before disappearing into the battle.

Rae allowed herself a glance back at the Mûmakil. Just how many were there? From what she could see, two were going down and another was well on its way. She managed to spot Éowyn and she smiled in relief, instantly feeling that she should try to make her way to her. Rae wasted no time at all in sprinting to Dreyne, pulling herself onto the mare's back and urging her in the direction of the blonde woman.

Rae continued to fight her way through, determined to reach Éowyn and stay near here at all costs. She found that all seemed to be going well for them (as well as it could be) but her thoughts took a turn towards Amelia and Legolas. They'd yet to arrive at the battle with what help they were going to receive. She missed them both, wished they could be with her, but did not allow herself to linger on the thought. There were more important things to worry about.

She spied Éowyn again as Dreyne neared her but her friend's eyes were drawn to something else, something far, far worse than what they could've imagined. Rae's fear returned ten-fold, her eyes wide and her stomach churning.

A shriek pierced the air, echoing throughout the battlefield and Rae paused to stare, mouth open in shock. The beast wasn't nearly as big as the Mûmakil, nor was it small yet it was still able to take Théoden and his horse in its mouth and toss them aside as if they weighed nothing at all. She heard Éowyn make a distressed sound but Rae could hardly make herself do anything.

It was all happening so fast.

The Witch-King had arrived.