ShoutOuts ~
GreviousPridakArbiter: Thank you so much! Now, I have to ask: what does your username mean? It sounds pretty rad, if I do say so myself.
Lily Noir: Wow, thank you! That is such a huge compliment, coming from you. I've seen your reviews on other stories by LOTR fan-writers, so I kind of see your passion for these stories. I'm really happy you like the way this story is taking shape, it means a lot to me!
LucyXHeartifiliaXFan: Thank you! I hear a lot from people about their difficulties with fight scenes, but I promise it's super easy the more you do it. I think the real difficult part of writing would be romance scenes haha.
Random Person 94: Please don't take my telling you to wait for your questions to be answered as an insult, I love your questions! It shows me you're already ten steps ahead of the game, which I absolutely adore! You always make me feel like I'm doing something right with your reviews. Anyways, Théoden was a major punk in this movie, I wasn't that big of a fan (which you can quite obviously tell). Gandalf is coming back! And he and Madi's reunion is going to be an interesting one… which is all I'm going to say about it! Hope you enjoy the chapter!
DragonOwl: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it! And beserk/blood-wrath/killing-spree-overdrive I think is the only way to explain it. When Madi goes hard, everyone needs to watch out. She definitely needed some type of injury to hold her back, I don't like her getting through things so easily. I feel like that makes her seem like the 'perfect' warrior when she's far from it. I mean, she's good, but no one's that good, if that makes sense. I was really pleased with the semi-resolution between Madi and Théoden, it turned out better and more fulfilling (for me, anyway) than I expected.
~ THEMESONGS ~
20 Dollar Nosebleed ~ Fall Out Boy
Whispers in the Dark ~ Mumford and Sons
.M.I.W.
37. Now for Wrath, Now for Ruin
The morning sun had finally broken over the horizon as the horses were led out from the stables and into the throne room.
"That one's mine," I said, pushing through the crowd as my stallion, Hadrian, whinnied and bickered at the stewards trying to restrain him.
He didn't settle when he saw me, which I figured would be the case. The horse tried to rear up, and halted when I reached out for his halter and dragged him down until all four hooves met the stone ground. The stewards tried to help settle the fidgety creature, but I waved them off. I yanked the horse closer to me, satisfied when Hadrian relented and bumped his velvety nose into my chest. I reached up with my free hand and stroked the side of his face.
The Uruk-hai hammering their way into the Keep created low, thrumming vibrations that shot through the foundations of Helm's Deep. It unsettled my horse, kept him jittery and anxious. My heart beat with each blow I heard the Uruk-hai make on the front gates, slower and steadier than I remembered it ever being. I felt alive but surprisingly grounded.
I hoisted myself up on the horse's back, slipping the toes of my boots through the stirrups of his saddle. I grasped the reins in one hand, and guided him toward Aragorn who was also already perched on his horse's back.
"Can you fight?" He asked as I stilled Hadrian.
I reached back with my free hand, jerking Sandalphon out of its hilt. It gave off a dim glow as I flipped it through the air, then let it rest at my and Hadrian's side. "Of course I can," I said.
That was when Théoden finally mounted his horse, the snow white one I had seen only a day or so before (I couldn't remember, it felt so long ago). Now it was clad in its royal armor, the king sitting atop him also decorated in such a fashion.
"Let this be the hour when we draw swords together!" Théoden exclaimed.
"This will be the most difficult battle I will ever fight, I think," Haldir admitted as he and his mount, a streamline black monster of a horse, came toward us. "My kin have died for these men, and they have never fought harder. I find myself without regret entering what is sure to be our final stand."
I found Legolas through the crowd, the elf steering his horse to stand next to mine and Aragorn and Haldir's. His blue eyes were somber and steady. If one of us died today, I would regret not being able to kiss him one more time.
"No regrets," I agreed.
"Fell deeds awake," Théoden continued to growl as the rest of his men readied for battle. "Now for wrath, now for ruin! Now for a red dawn!"
Right on cue, a deep bellowing drowned out the vibrations of the Uruk-hai's pummeling and swept through Helm's Deep. Hadrian brayed and reared up on his hind legs, not out of fear, but out of an instinct seeded within him that was much more powerful than any order I could have given him. His true power had been unleashed with the blow of that horn.
"FORTH EORLINGAS!" Théoden roared, and he and his horse bolted out of the throne room.
I kicked Hadrian's sides with the heels of my boots. "Go!" I commanded, and the horse needed no more invitation. He raced out, all muscle and legs and ferocity as we fell in with the rest of the company and into the sunlight of a new day.
It was quickly darkened by the black armor of the Uruk-hai as they swarmed the Keep. Hadrian and I fought against the massive current of them all – with me slashing across faces and stabbing into necks and my horse trampling any foe down in his wake. We raced down the narrow downward sloping hills, barreling over and cutting through every Uruk we could get ourselves on. Sandalphon shined brightly against any darkness, like our own personal star, guiding us onward without fail.
I followed Aragorn and Théoden through the front entrance of the Keep and down the causeway. I couldn't believe how much ground we'd even gained until we were outside of those tall, oppressive walls.
I successfully killed a third Uruk or so when I finally noticed the rest of the army grow somewhat still, looking toward the mountains on my left. I hacked another one aside, and followed their gazes, finding a man cloaked in white riding a magnificent white horse.
"ROHIRRIM!" Another man's voice shot across the Deep, his voice rich and loud like a lion.
Another rider joined the man on the hill, but he was adorned in golden armor, looking as fierce and bright as the sun. Standing in the lowest, grimiest parts of battle, I couldn't help but look to them in awe. Then it became pure astonishment as more riders moved behind the two – hundreds of them, thousands of them! The Rohirrim!
"Eomer!" I heard Théoden exclaim.
At the sound of the knight's name, the others charged down the steep hill, causing the battlefield to echo with the sounds of a thousand hoofbeats and brays of horses all rushing into battle. All for the safekeeping of Rohan. All for King Théoden. Surely, he knew what his people would do for him now.
I snapped my heels into Hadrian's sides, and the horse reared up with a stubborn bray. He charged into the battle, and I swung and killed with new vigor. The light of a new day spread fully over the horizon, blinding and true and hopeful. We were going to make it.
I didn't know how much time had passed, minutes had long since lapsed into hours. But I began to realize it was becoming harder and harder for me to find another Uruk to kill. Every time I lifted my sword, there were two new soldiers surging out into the battlefield. Hadrian was growing restless as more allies swarmed my vision than enemies.
"VICTORY!" Théoden cried. "WE HAVE VICTORY!"
I charged after a pack of four or so Uruk-hai trying to scramble away with the rest of their retreating army. I swung my sword, taking out two and Hadrian trampling over another one. I chased them as far away from the Keep as possible, screaming and cursing and waving my sword as I personally ushered them out, along with a group of three mounted knights who had flanked my sides once they realized what I was doing. I only knew because I could hear the hoofbeats of their horses following mine.
One Uruk wasn't quick enough, and Hadrian ran it down to the ground like the beast it was. He clubbed the Uruk with one of his hooves, tripping the monster up. It rolled across the grass of the plains, giving out a startled shriek when it rolled on its back and saw me standing over it. It cried out again when I stomped the heel of my boot hard into the center of its chest.
"You will deliver a message," I ordered it, my voice low and gravely, seraph blades glinting in the morning light. I twisted my foot harder into its ribs. "You are to go to Isengard and go right up to Saruman himself. You will tell him I'm coming after himnext. It won't matter how fast he runs or where he thinks he can hide, he will die. It would also be wise of him to inform Sauron that the Verdantia is in Middle Earth, and she is royally pissed."
I stepped off of the creature, turning my back on it to stow my blades and tend to Hadrian. I heard it scramble up and run after whatever was left of its army. I walked over to my horse, finding he had wandered a few feet away and taken to munching on some grass. I grabbed his reins and looked back. A black horde, the last of Saruman's cronies, disappeared over the next hill and out of my sight.
When I finally looked up at the small band of followers I gained chasing the Uruk-hai out of the Deep, I found a ragtag group of soldiers staring back at me, including the golden knight I saw up on the hill. I swung myself up onto Hadrian's back. The horse tottered a little, trying to shake me off, but to no avail, and I guided him onward toward the Keep, my gaze solely focused on the golden knight.
"I don't think we've ever been formally introduced," I informed him as Hadrian passed him and his horse. "My name is Madison Verdantia. And you are?"
"Eomer," the man told me, his voice gruff, as if he were surprised. "Nephew of King Théoden."
"Pleasure," I replied with a curt nod, and kicked up Hadrian's pace to a steady canter, hoping it was fast enough to hide the fact my heart was racing and my face must have been turning red, but still slow enough that I looked like an unfazed badass.
.M.I.W.
I deposited Hadrian in a paddock with the knights' mounts. Stewards had been stationed there to mend whatever wounds the animals may have acquired during battle. Hadrian had accumulated a couple of scratches here and there, but nothing serious, I was assured. The stewards promised me he would be in good hands, and I should make my way to the infirmary to get my shoulder looked at.
Instead, I wandered the Keep, observing the aftermath of battle. Men and elves already started piling up the bodies of the dead – human, elf, and Uruk-hai alike – across the city. Some had already been set on fire, thick plumes of smoke curling into the sky and polluting the clear dawn. Cold winds whipped through the city, chilling me to the bone and forcing the smoke into my lungs. I stepped over rubble and avoided puddles as best I could, but it didn't stop mud from coating my boots and splattering all over my gear.
I found Gimli through the mess of people, sitting on the corpse of an Uruk, using his axe embedded in the creature's skull like an armrest, smoking from his pipe. I was drawn to his smoke like a moth to a flame, breathing it in, the heady scent much sharper and more refreshing than the death around me.
"Good morning," I greeted the dwarf as I stepped over the body of another Uruk. Gimli gave me a nod and a grunt of return, which made me smile. We would never be morning people.
We watched the remaining soldiers scramble through the wreckage, searching for the wounded and dying, collecting corpses and piling them around us. I shuffled closer to Gimli to stay out of the way, wondering if I should help, then deciding it would be useless. I was spent, my hands were shaking, my shoulder throbbed, and I felt about ready to collapse.
The chunk of hair I'd miraculously somehow kept out of my face during the fight fell out of place and I sighed. I reached back and pulled the tie keeping my braid back loose, and shook out the hairstyle. I flipped my hair forward, running my grimy hands through the tangled locks, and slung my hair back, letting it go frizzy and free.
That's when I noticed Gimli flat out staring at me – studying, really – puffing on his pipe.
I straightened up. "Yes?" I asked, pushing my hair over one shoulder so it looked parted to one side.
"You remind me of the stories my father used to tell me when I was just a wee lad. They were about his own adventures. In them he mentioned traveling with a young woman who called herself a hunter. He said her fighting skill was unparalleled – she fought with the grace of an elf but killed with the ruthlessness of an Orc. She was called zander."
"Zander?" I asked, cocking my head to the side. Like a nickname for Alexander? That sounded a little too modern for Middle Earth.
"'Twas not her name," Gimli stated from around his pipe. "It's a Dwarvish word. It means foolhardy, reckless… rogue."
Rogue, my thoughts echoed. My eyebrows slowly rose in recognition at the word, and the weight Gimli put on it.
The dwarf's gaze was cutting, cruel. I found myself floundering even though there was no reason for me to in the first place. He looked at me like I knew something he didn't, even though that definitely wasn't the case.
"What else did he say about her?" I asked.
Gimli went back to smoking his pipe with a dismissive shrug. "That she was fierce, and arrogant, and she wielded two blades forged from starlight."
My head rang like I'd been concussed by that cave troll in Moria, my chest hurt like my ribs were crushing under the weight of that Uruk's foot, my lungs burnt like I was drowning underwater with that kraken-beast. All at once, and so much worse.
I was brought back to the time I spent in Brooklyn, in the dungeon of an Institute forged by angelic power. I faced a vampire and a wizard centuries old, greeting me like I was an old friend. According to them, I had been an old friend who had come back to them after a century-long absence.
And now it was happening again. According to Gimli and Gimli's father, I had gone to Middle Earth before, but I didn't understand how or why. Well, maybe I knew how I did it, but I definitely didn't know why.
Blood pounded in my ears, and it was deafening. It drowned out every other sound.
I'd been betrayed again, by yet another wizard.
I needed to know why.
.M.I.W.
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. This certainly is a plot twist, isn't it?
But we've formally met Eomer! Yay!
And we won our battle! Another yay!
And now, a word from our sponsors (a.k.a. the jobs that give me money to pay the electric/wifi).