For Death and Glory
Falenor fidgeted slightly, the chain mail Aragorn had forced upon him clinked slightly. He had put it on over his shirt and under his jerkin, but he still felt naked. He had had to discard his back and side sheaths because there was no way to reach the knives under the mail. He was now four blades short. Instead he had a long broadsword he could only raise with two hands.
The peredhel had taken his place at the very end of the Elven archers. Eothain trembled slightly beside him. Lightning flashed, lighting up the valley below. A massive army of Uruk-hai had filled it. Falenor placed an arm around Eothain's shoulders and gave him a comforting squeeze. A few drops fell, spattering against the stone wall.
"Rain. Of course!" Falenor snorted. The enemy approached, carrying torches and long spears.
"A Eruchin, u-dano i faelas a hyn an uben tanatha le faelas!" Aragorn shouted, pacing up and down before the Elves.
"What did he say?" Eothain asked. Falenor raised his voice as he translated, making sure every Man near him heard.
"Show the no mercy! For you shall receive none!" he called. Suddenly, at some hidden signal, the Uruk-hai stopped. The rain began pouring down in earnest now, drenching them.
"What's happening?" A boy asked. He couldn't have been any older than Eothain, and he had also attached himself to Falenor.
In answer, the Uruks began to pound their spears against the ground, creating a steady drumming sound accompanied by their roars. Falenor's fingers clenched around the sword.
Suddenly an arrow shot through the air and hit an uruk. Everything went silent as the beast moaned and fells onto his face.
"Dartho!" (Hold!) Aragorn yelled, but it was too late. The Uruks roared in anger and ran forward. Beside Falenor, the Elves notched their arrows to their longbows and aimed.
"Leithio i philinnn!" (Fire the arrows!) Aragorn shouted. The Elves released their bowstrings and the first line of Uruks fell.
"Fire!" Gamling shouted from where he stood with the king nearby. At his command the Men fired their arrows, bringing down considerably fewer than the Elves had.
"Tangado a chadad!" (Keep firing!) Aragorn shouted, raising his sword. But the Uruks shot a volley of arrows back. The little boy next to Eothain gasped softly as he fell, having caught an arrow in his neck.
"Are you all right?" Falenor asked, stooping to peer at the little boy. As he did, an arrow aimed at him fell into the court below. The drover felt the boy's wrist for a pulse, then dropped his hand. "Dead," he whispered to himself. "Keep your head down, Eothain!"
"Pendraid!" Aragorn shouted.
"Ladders!" Falenor repeated for the Men. The Uruk-hai were hoisting the ladders up and climbing their rungs.
"Stay behind me!" The drover shouted, pushing Eothain out of the way as two giant hooks clattered against the wall and the uruks began to scale the wall.
Falenor slew the first uruk more by luck than skill. He lunged forward with his sword and knocked it from the ladder. The uruk fell, screaming. But the lunge with the heavy sword had unbalanced Falenor and he stumbled.
"Yah!" Eothain shouted, stabbing an uruk that had climbed up the ladder. Falenor dispatched the wounded beast, but more Uruk-hai swarmed over the walls. Falenor tried to protect Eothain, but occasionally the boy had to fight. He never had to give more than a few blows before the drover turned and killed his opponent.
"Tobale im!" (Cover me!) Falenor told the Elves beside him. They shifted their bows and shot down Uruks that were trying to climb the ladder. "Eothain! Help me!" Falenor had dropped his sword and he was pushing the rusty iron hooks of the ladder. The metal grated against the wall, leaving long gashes in the stone. Eothain rushed to him and pushed with all his might.
With a final heave they dislodged the ladder and sent it crashing onto the host of Uruk-hai below.
"Dodge!" Falenor shouted and Eothain leapt to the side. A giant spear cut through the air where he had been standing. Falenor panted for a moment, his eyes scanning the fight.
"Aragorn! The ramp!" He shouted. The ranger turned and saw a group of uruks advancing up the causeway, covered by shields.
"Northway! Nauthannen!" (The causeway!) Aragorn shouted. The Elves shifted their bows and picked off the uruks from the side of the formation, and these tumbled from the bridge.
Suddenly there was a mighty rumble and the wall beneath the Elves' feet exploded. Falenor snatched Eothain out of the way as he ran from the blast. The peredhel looked back and saw that a large part of the wall had been torn asunder and uruks were pouring into the hole.
"Brace the gates!" Theoden ordered. Falenor had run almost directly in front of the king as he fled the explosion.
An uruk, having fought its way along the wall, was charging on the king's unprotected back. The guards were looking down at the wall in shock, and did not notice the threat to their king.
With a yell, Falenor threw himself between Theoden and the attacking uruk. He blocked the beast's thrust with his broadsword and tried to push his opponent's iron blade up and over. He was clumsy, unused to the sword in his hand, and he did not manage to clear the next swipe of the uruk. Its iron blade sliced Falenor's forehead, creating a gash there.
Blood flowed into the drover's eyes, blocking his vision. He feebly parried the next attack, but soon he could barely see his opponent.
"Hiyah!" Gamling shouted, spearing the uruk and sending it tumbling off the wall. "Falenor, are you all right?" The peredhel blinked, trying to wipe the blood from his eyes with his shirt sleeve.
"Look after Eothain," he told the guard, and with that he ran down the stairs into the thick of the battle.
Aragorn shook his head, clearing the fuzz of unconsciousness from his mind. He was lying on the ground where he had fallen from the wall in the explosion. Rocks lay all around, and a pool of water splashed nearby as Uruks ran through it.
The ranger stood and stared as the uruks ran toward him. Behind him stood the Elves in reformed ranks as they waited for his command. Gimli stood alone, fighting off the tide of the beasts.
"Gimli!" Aragorn shouted to him. "Prepare to charge!" The dwarf continued to hack away with his axe, but an uruk knocked him aside and Gimli fell into the pool.
"Hado i philinn!" (Hurl the arrows!) Aragorn shouted. The Elves released a volley and then unsheathed their swords. "Herio!" (Charge!) Aragorn ran forward, leading the Elves into the enemy. Legolas joined him, slashing at the uruks with his two long Elven knives.
"Aragorn!" came Theoden's voice. The ranger looked up and saw the king standing on top of the wall. "Pull back to the gate!"
"Am Marad!" (To the keep!) Aragorn order the Elves around him. "Nan barad! Haldir! Nan barad!" (Pull back! Haldir! Pull back!) The Elf captain nodded at him and began to retreat, calling the others to follow. Legolas and another Elf grabbed Gimli and began to drag him away.
"What are you doing?" The dwarf shouted, waving his arms to get back in the fight. "Stop it!"
Aragorn turned and saw an uruk raise its sword and strike Haldir's unprotected back.
"Haldir!" he shouted as the Elf stumbled in pain. The uruk struck him again and Haldir fell to his knees. Aragorn fought madly, struggling to reach the Elf captain. He knelt beside Haldir, but the Elf's head lolled back. He was dead.
Aragorn laid Haldir down gently as more Uruk-hai charged toward him. The ranger retreated, swearing to recover Haldir's body later. He fought his way to the gate an arrived to see Theoden staggering away, clutching is wounded arm.
"Hold them!" The king yelled.
"How long do you need?" Aragorn asked, already rushing off to a side door, dragging Gimli along.
"As long as you can give me!"
Aragorn slipped out the side door with Gimli and edged his way along the wall. He glanced around the corner and saw the Uruks attacking the gate, ramming it with their bodies now that their battering ram was gone.
"Come on. We can take 'em!" Gimli whispered enthusiastically.
"It's a long way," Aragorn told him. Gimli glanced around Aragorn and eyed the gap.
"Toss me," he said gruffly.
"What?" Aragorn asked.
"I cannot jump the distance so you have to toss me," the dwarf said. Aragorn nodded and leaned down to pick up Gimli, but the dwarf stopped him. "Eh... Don't tell the Elf."
"Not a word," the ranger assured him, then he threw Gimli across the gap. When the dwarf landed, brandishing his axe, Aragorn jumped after him. Together they fought the advancing troops, taking advantage of the narrow space that forced the enemy to come four at a time.
Yellow-fletched arrows rained down upon the uruks. Legolas was shooting down the Uruk-hai from above the gates.
"Gimli! Aragorn!" Theoden called finally as the last hole in the gate was being sealed. "Get out of there!"
"Aragorn!" The ranger looked up and saw Legolas throw him a rope. Aragorn grabbed it and seized Gimli around the waist. The Elf began to haul them up, hand over hand. The Uruk-hai threw themselves at the doors, trying to break them down, but the Men on the other side had succeeded in bracing them.
As Legolas grabbed Aragorn's hand and pulled him over the wall, Gamling began sounding the retreat. The three of them turned and ran along the battlements, headed for the keep. Men and Elves were scattered on the stone walkways, dead or dying. When Aragorn was almost to the steps of the keep he spied a familiar mop of tangled black hair.
"Falenor!" Aragorn shouted. The drover was slumped against the wall, a long spear had torn its way through the chain mail and pierced Falenor's side. The shaft emerged, bloodied, on the other side. Aragorn knelt down and turned the peredhel over, wincing at the long gash that ran along Falenor's forehead.
The drover groaned slightly as he was moved.
"He's alive!" Legolas shouted. Aragorn grabbed Falenor and pulled the young man onto his shoulders. The peredhel was surprisingly light, barely heavier than an Elf. Aragorn turned and carried Falenor into the keep. As he, Legolas, and Gimli ran into the hall the doors slammed shut behind them.
Aragorn placed Falenor on the floor as the Men barricaded the doors.
"Falenor! Stay with me," he begged. Aragorn broke off the shaft of the spear where it entered and exited Falenor's body, but he dared not remove the piece still embedded in the young man's side.
"Aragorn?" Falenor asked, his breath coming in ragged heaves. "My flute..." Aragorn looked at Legolas and nodded. The Elf sped away to find Falenor's coat.
"Is he going to die?" Eothain asked. The young boy had emerged from the battle, miraculously unhurt.
"Aragorn... I'm sorry," Falenor gasped. His blue eyes were wide and unseeing, despite the blood that trickled around them.
"No, I am sorry," the ranger said, grasping Falenor's hand in his own. "I should have listened. I should not have forced a sword upon you." The peredhel gave no reply, his breath hitching in his lungs. A small trickle of blood flowed from his mouth. Aragorn wiped this away and tried to clean Falenor's face with his sleeve.
"Aragorn!" Legolas said, crouching down beside him. He held out a small vial of purple liquid. "It was in the pocket with his flute." Aragorn took the little glass bottle and peeled off the wax seal. Uncorking it he dripped three drops of the purple nectar into Falenor's mouth.
"Four more!" Legolas urged. Aragorn paused, lifting the bottle slightly.
"We might need this for others," he said softly.
"Aragorn, it will only work on a peredhel," Legolas told him. The ranger hesitated, but allowed four more drops to fall on the drover's tongue.
Falenor's breathing slowed, but he was still pale and wane. Outside the uruks were trying to break down the door of the keep.
"The fortress is taken," Theoden told them. "It is over." Aragorn felt a surge of anger, thinking of Haldir and looking down at Falenor.
"You said this fortress would never fall while your men defend it!" Aragorn shouted, standing up. "They still defend it. They have died defending it!" The door shook under the Uruk-hai's assault.
"Is there no other way for the women and children to get out of the caves?" Aragorn asked, but Theoden did not respond. "Is there no other way?"
"There is one passage," Gamling started hesitantly. "It leads into the mountains. But they will not get far. The Uruk-hai are too many." Aragorn grabbed Gamling by the shoulder.
"Send word for the women and children to make for the mountain pass," he ordered. "And barricade the entrance!"
"What about him?" Gamling asked. Falenor now lay so still that he could have been dead, save for the gentle rise and fall of his chest.
"Do not move him," Aragorn said.
"So much death," Theoden finally spoke, his voice tired. "What can men do against such reckless hate?"
"Ride out with me," Aragorn said after a pause. "Ride out and meet them." Theoden turned and faced Aragorn, some fire springing up in his eyes.
"For death and glory?" the king asked hopefully.
"For Rohan," Aragorn corrected him. "For your people."
"The sun is rising," Gimli commented, nodding towards a window. Aragorn glanced up as the bright light filtered through the narrow slit.
"Look to my coming at first light on the fifth day. At dawn, look to the East." Gandalf's words echoed in Aragorn's mind.
"Yes. Yes! The horn of Helm Hammerhand shall sound in the deep, one last time," Theoden shouted.
"Yes!" Gimli yelled as he ran to the spiral staircase that led to the horn.
"Let this be the hour when we draw swords together," Theoden told Aragorn. The ranger looked over his shoulder at Falenor once last time, and he hesitated at the thought of leaving him defenseless.
Horses were brought for them all and someone gave Aragorn Hasufel's reins.
"Fell deeds awake," Theoden announced as the mounted their horses and drew their weapons. "Now for wrath. Now for ruin. And the red dawn!" As the king pulled on his helmet a deep horn thrummed from above. The two Men holding the doors jumped back as the wood splinted and gave in.
"Forth Eorlings!" Theoden shouted, holding his sword aloft. The king charged, Aragorn, Legolas, and the Rohirrim close behind. As they ran the horses trampled the Uruk-hai under their hooves.
They fought down the causeway and into the heart of the Uruk army. Aragorn paused in his fighting as a bright light rose over a hill. Shadowfax reared, sparkling in the sunlight, Gandalf on the mearas's back.
"Gandalf," Aragorn breathed. Theoden turned to follow Aragorn's gaze and the king grinned as Eomer joined Gandalf. The captain raised his spear and a vast host of Rohirrim flocked into view.
"Eomer!" Theoden shouted as the Rohirrim poured down the steep hill. The Uruk-hai regrouped and pointed their spears at the charging horses, but Gandalf raised his staff and a ray of the sun blinded them.
The Rohirrim cut deep into the Uruk army, who turned and fled from Helm's Deep, vanishing into a line of trees. Aragorn frowned, for he could not remember the forest that now filled the valley.
"Stay out of the forest!" Eomer shouted. "Keep away from the trees!" The Rohirrim pulled their mounts to a stop, watching as the last uruk ran into the trees. Suddenly the forest began to groan and sway. Horrible shrieks and wails emerged from between the leafy boughs.