Author's Note: Well, this actually didn't take that long for me :)! Except that it would have been up a couple of days ago if Microsoft Works hadn't destroyed everything.

-Sigh-

Well, here it is, anyhoo. Excuse mistakes, thanks for the reviews, alerts, etc.

Thank you:

odagiriryu
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Luli Cullen
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I love you all! :) Enjoy!

Thirty-Six: The Witch-King of Angmar

Time seemed to grind to a halt for Rae.

Dreyne reared, throwing her off and fleeing in fear of the creature. The elleth shouted after her, shocked, before turning to the creature again. Her eyes met Éowyn's, seeing the distress, the horror and the surprise she felt mirrored there. The blonde woman, unsurprisingly, was devastated. Rae's dark eyes fell onto the King again, trapped under the beautiful white stallion. She spared a glance at the creature - or, more importantly, the rider.

And there he was - the Witch-King. Clad in silver armour and a black cloak, holding what looked like reins. He held himself as if he had already won, as if it was clear who the victors of this battle would be. His face was shrouded, hidden behind his helmet, but Rae wondered; would she even want to see his face? This was Sauron's most deadly servant and he made her skin crawl. Yet she had no choice but to confront him, Gandalf's words ringing through her mind, echoing over and over.

"You will be the one to rid Middle Earth of Sauron's deadliest servant, the one they say no living man can kill."

The beast began to edge forward, towards where Théoden lay trapped. It bared its teeth and Rae could clearly see the King's blood, still staining them. Rae glanced at Éowyn, who was watching the whole thing with wide eyes, frozen.

"Feast on his flesh," snarled the Witch-King and Rae had to suppress a shudder. His voice was raspy, eerie. Malicious. Gandalf hadn't told her how difficult this would be!

Taking a deep breath, Rae prepared to step in between the creature and Théoden, to get it all over with.

But Éowyn had beaten her to it.

Rae could do nothing but watch as the blonde woman, a Shieldmaiden of Rohan, the most beautiful woman Rae had ever seen, stood in front of the beast, sword raised, glaring back at them. The admiration Rae felt for the woman at that moment was overwhelming. Here she was, strands of her blonde hair slowly escaping her helmet but she had no fear of being exposed. The elleth watched her, almost disbelieving, hoping she could draw some courage from her, if even a little.

"I will kill you if you touch him," Éowyn hissed, her voice sharp and deadly. Rae swallowed and decided it was time she got involved.

She leapt over to Éowyn, clutching her blades and ready to go. Éowyn sent her a small, relieved smile and Rae nodded in return before they both looked up at the Witch-King.

"Do not come between the Nazgûl and his prey," was snarled at them. Then the creature snapped at them. The two dove out of the way as it lunged at them, and Éowyn lifted her sword above her head, ready to bring it down. Rae did the same with her blades and, in almost perfect synchronisation, they brought them down. Two times in quick succession they did this, before the beast gave one last cry and it's head was completely severed from it's neck.

The beast reared and the Witch-King momentarily disappeared from sight. Rae and Éowyn were completely covered in the blood of the beast and Rae's hair, now completely loose from the braid, was splattered with it as well. The large, leather looking wings of the beast crumpled and withered around him before finally falling, landing at odd angles, and the beast moved no more. Éowyn quickly swiped an abandoned shield from the ground in front of them and Rae returned to her side, breathing heavily.

Now, the real challenge.

The Witch-King stood slowly, looking directly at them. In his hand was a large, very dangerous looking mace. It was spiked as well, which only added to Rae's unease. Éowyn's eyes never left the form of the Witch-King as Rae spun her blades in her hands, breathing slowly.

And suddenly she didn't think taking on the Witch-King was a good idea.

Amelia could hear the sounds of the battle now.

But she wasn't scared - not in the slightest. Victory, she had no doubt, was near. After all, it wasn't everyone who could say they had an Army of the Dead behind them. She glanced over at Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn, all crouched in the same manner as herself, listening to the sounds; swords on swords, splintering shields, yells of men and orcs alike.

Yet Amelia's mind was consumed with thoughts of Rae. Was she alright? Was she hurt? Was she-?

She swallowed, choosing to focus on something else. She glanced at Legolas, brow furrowed as she watched him. He was staring at a groove in the wood but his mind was elsewhere. She remembered that his hearing was better than hers and it got her thinking: would she rather be able to hear what she could now, or hear more like him?

Amelia was suddenly quite thankful she wasn't an Elf.

She sighed, biting her lip, her worry for her younger sister returning with a vengeance. She should be there, protecting her, making sure she was alright. Instead, she'd left and now anything could be happening to her. Amelia took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Who knew things were going to turn out like this?

But it did get her thinking: no matter what happened, she was going to die before Rae. Her sister had to survive through this - and a small part of Amelia knew that she would - but even then, Amelia was going to grow old and withered and Rae would still look young. Amelia would die before her, leave her alone in the world…

No, she wouldn't be alone. Subconsciously, Amelia's eyes flitted up to meet Legolas'. Rae would be with him, protected, defended. She would never admit it to Rae, but she approved of Legolas - sometimes, more than she liked. She knew she would never forgive him for what he did to Rae in Lothlórien, but Rae seemed genuinely happy with him, which was enough for her.

Legolas raised an eyebrow at her but she just shook her head and smiled. He nodded in return. Then she glared and looked away. Just because she approved didn't mean she had to like him.

They travelled in silence for a few moments more before the ship ground to a halt, at last meeting to dock. Amelia looked to Aragorn, waiting for the-

Without warning, Aragorn leapt over the side, leaving Legolas, Gimli and Amelia. She looked at them, shocked.

"I suppose that was the signal?" she asked, following them as they leapt over as well.

Now she could clearly see Minas Tirith and, had the circumstances been different, she would've marvelled at the city. Despite missing a few of its buildings and looking thoroughly worse for wear, the city was still magnificent. She smiled at orcs, noting how shocked they looked at seeing the four of them. From their point of view, the four of them had taken out the whole fleet of reinforcements, which wasn't what had happened at all.

Aragorn lifted his sword and started to walk forward, Gimli hefted his axe and Legolas pulled an arrow. Amelia unsheathed Lote en' Arvandor, her smile broadening as she did so. Her hand gripped the hilt tightly and she laughed as Gimli spoke his words of preparation.

"There's plenty for the both of us, may the best Dwarf win!"

And as the four of them dove into the battle, there was an almighty war cry from behind them as the Army of the Dead revealed themselves.

Rae swallowed, her dark eyes following every one of the Witch-King's movements. He started to swing the mace at them and the three of them began to dance. He swung it above his head and threw it at them, forcing them to dive in opposite directions to avoid being hit. Rae watched him, trying to get close but worried about the damage his weapon of choice could do.

He started to advance on her and Rae continued to step away, keeping her distance. She knew her grace and elegance had all but disappeared as she became more and more exhausted but she was also aware of the consequences of becoming distracted for even a second.

The Witch-King's deadly weapon collided with the ground, missing her body by mere millimetres and Rae, in her shock, leapt backwards, almost losing her balance. He swung again and she dodged to the side. She thought they were pretty evenly matched and allowed herself to hope that maybe - maybe - she stood a chance of winning.

It happened so quickly that even she wasn't sure what had happened.

Rae was so focussed on watching the Witch-King that she wasn't looking at her feet. She tripped over a body lying near her, her body falling to the ground harshly and the breath leaving her lungs in a rush. She turned onto her back, gazing up at the Witch-King as he towered over her, lifting his weapon, ready to end her.

Éowyn's sword met his back with a clang and her opponent turned away from her, focussing once again on her friend. Rae hurried to get back to her feet, watching as the Witch-King's deadly mace met Éowyn's shield, completely shattering it. Her sword fell from her hand as she clutched her arm to her body, falling back against Théoden's horse. Rae immediately lunged back into action, her strength failing her but her resolve hardening. As the Witch-King lifted the mace above him again, Rae threw Mori, the dark blade hurtling through the air and inserting itself in his arm.

He gave a roar of rage, pulling the blade from his arm and throwing it away from him, then turning to meet her as she charged at him. Rae lifted Kalina but was at a loss of where to attack him. He seemed to be covered head to toe in armour; where was his weak spot?

Nonetheless, she swung, hitting his other arm before trying to stab him in the stomach. He didn't seem affected at all, batting her blade away as if it was nothing and backhanding her. She still clutched Kalina in her hand as she landed on the ground, narrowly missing an abandoned orc blade. She swallowed, gasping and panting, trying to catch her breath. The Witch-King had turned from her, his gaze once again falling on Éowyn.

"No!"

The Witch-King lifted Éowyn up by the throat while Rae watched, unable to do much more. Tears brimmed in her eyes, on the verge of spilling down her cheeks, when she spotted movement behind their opponent. She frowned, watching the small body worm its way towards Éowyn.

"Fool," hissed the Witch-King, completely oblivious to the figure sneaking up behind him. "No man can kill me!"

Merry!

In his hand was the dagger he had received from Lady Galadriel. Tears of relief spilled down her cheeks as she watched him stab the Witch-King in the back of the knee. She immediately felt worry consume her as Merry gave a cry of pain, falling back and clutching his arm. But Éowyn had been released, thrown to the ground as the Witch-King fell to his knees.

Rae, shaking and panting, watched the blonde woman stand before the Witch-King, ripping her helmet off and throwing it to the ground. The elleth smiled, watching the whole exchange while wishing she could rest her aching muscles. But Éowyn was so very admirable, Rae realised, sneaking into this battle, helping her-

Of course, thought Rae. How could she have forgotten?

She had been unable to fulfil the prophecy alone, because she wasn't supposed to do it alone.

So she contented herself to leave Éowyn to finish the prophecy, her grip on Kalina loosening and her eyes drooping shut as she lay on the ground, worn out. She wanted to sleep, to dream, to forget everything that had happened.

But not before she watched Éowyn kick the Witch-King's ass.

"I am no man."

She unleashed a war cry and thrust her sword into the space in his helmet.

The last thing Rae heard was the Witch-King's cry as he folded in on himself and was no more.