Chapter 17: The Tales that really mattered.

(In the city of Osgiliath, Luan leads the reinforcements through the ruins. Behind her Lincoln, Clyde and Lola are hurried along. All around them, soldiers in Gondorian armor run to set up defenses, while archers fire at enemy across the shore and stones launched by catapults batter the walls and splashes in the river.)

(Luan and her followers hurry to avoid the barrage. The head under an archway. As Luan makes her way to the front, Maggie comes up with another group after getting the report from the forces.)

Maggie: Luan! Orcs have taken the eastern shore. Their numbers are too great. By nightfall, we'll be outnumbered.

(Amid the followers, Lincoln suddenly feels the ring get heavier. He starts to grunt with effort.)

Clyde: Linc? You ok, bud?

Lincoln: (nervous) The Ring's calling to him, Clyde. His eye is almost on me.

(The Ring calling to it's master gets louder. Clyde's words are muffled.)

Clyde: Hold on, Lincoln. You're gonna be all right.

(Clyde continues to speak, but his words are lost and unheard. Then it fades and the sounds of shouting and battle is heard once more. Luan gestures for Maggie to take the hobbits.)

Luan: Take these clowns to my father. (the hobbits are pushed over) Tell him Luan sends a mighty gift. A weapon that will change our fortunes in this war.

(Luan turns to leave as Maggie starts to take the hobbits and Lola away. Clyde resists.)

Clyde: (upset) Do you want to know what happened to Lori?...

(Luan stops to face him.)

Clyde:…Do you want to know why your sister died? She tried to take the Ring from Lincoln after swearing an oath to protect him! She tried to kill him! The ring drove your sister mad!

(Luan doesn't speak. She seems shocked at the news.)

Gondorian: (off screen) Watch out!

(A large rock comes soaring through the air above them. It hits a tower and smashes it to pieces. Everyone looks up at this, except Lincoln. He's gone silent, his eyes have a blank, hard look at them.)

Clyde: (notices) Linc?

Lincoln: They're here. They've come.

(At that exact moment, a blood-chilling shriek cuts through the air. All around , soldiers and Luan's guys start looking on edge. Luan looks to the sky.)

Luan: Nazgûl!

(The shriek is heard again as a fell beast appears flying over the city, with familiar black hooded form of a Ringwraith perched in the saddle. The Ringwraith flies over the city, looking from beneath it's hood for any sign of the Ring, calling to it. Gondorians and Luan's guys start to scurry for cover. Luan grabs hold of Lincoln and drags him over to a low, covered archway. Benny and another guy follow with Clyde and Lola.)

Luan: (thrown him inside) Stay here. Keep out of sight.

(Luan throws Clyde and Lola in after him.)

Luan: (to her guys) Take cover!

(Luan ducks under cover as the Nazgûl flies over her.)

...(Over at Helms Deep, the Uruk-hai have all but taken the stronghold. Several groups cheer, while others raise banners with the White hand of Lucy. Several holding the battering ram, work to smash open the door were Hector and the others had retreated.)

(Inside, Rohirrim barricade the door with timbers and benches. Hector stands apart, while Mr. Nakamura bandages his arm, looking defeated.)

Hector: (giving up) The fortress is taken. It is over.

(Luna is among those barricading the door. She runs over to grab a bench while the others continue. Leni helps her.)

Luna: Bogus! You said this fortress would never fall while your men defend it. Guess what!? They're still defending it. They have died defending it.

(The Uruks slam the battering ram against the door. The sound echoes down in the caves, where the woman and children are hiding.)

Frida: (nervous) Did you hear that?! They're breaking in! Dios mio!

(Frida falls over and faints. All around people star to panic. Carl hugs Ronnie Anne.)

Myrtle: They're past door!

(People continue to hold each other in terror as the Uruks continue to hammer the door.)

Luna: Is there no other way those women and children can get out of the caves?

(Both Hector and Mr. Nakamura remain silent. Leni grabs a bench and spills several plates sitting there.)

Leni: Oops, hope those weren't the good plates.

Luna: (to Mr. Nakamura, insistent) Dude, is there no other way!?

Mr. Nakamura: Well, there is one passage. Leads into the mountains. But it's no use, they won't get far before the Uruks catch up. Their too many.

(The sounds of the door being rammed again is heard, along with the splintering of wood. Rohirrim throw them see against the door as it starts to give way.

Luna: (to Mr. Nakamura) Bro, you go and tell the women and children to head for the mountain pass, and barricade the door. (mutters) That'll buy them some time.

(Luna gives him a shove , but he doesn't move. Hector looks despondent still.)

Hector: So much death. What can Men do against such reckless hate?

(Luna resists the urge to slap him. She turns away to think, as the door rattles on it's hinges. In a minute she turns back.)

Luna: Ride out with me. Ride out and take them head on, shown them Rohan ain't going down without putting up one last fight.

Hector: For death and glory.

Luna: For Rohan. For your people.

Lynn: (sudden) The sun's rising.

(Luna looks over at the window. As she watches the light from the rising sun get brighter. She realizes it's been five days since they left Rohan. She hears Mr. Grouse's voice in her head.)

Mr. Grouse: Look to my coming at first light on the fifth day. At dawn…look to the east.

(As the voice fades Luna starts to feel hope again. She looks back at Hector as he thinks about her words.)

Hector: Yes. Yes. (to everyone) The horn of Helm Hammerhand…shall sound in the Deep…one last time.

Lynn: (excited) Ah yeah! Now that's a King!

(Lynn runs off as the door cracked down the middle, forcing the Rohirrim away. Everyone starts to prepare for a final stand.)

Hector: (to Luna) Let this be the hour when we draw swords together.

(Dramatic orchestra music is heard as Lynn runs up a narrow staircase to where a large war horn is set up. Hector, Luna, Leni, Mr. Nakamura and several others mount on their horses as the door continues to break.)

Hector: Fell deeds, awake. Now for wrath… (Luna draws her sword) now for ruin and a red dawn.

(Hector puts his helm on as Lynn starts blowing on the war horn. The deep, powerful blast echoes through the fortress. The Uruks deliver one final blow on the door, completely breaking through. They swarm in.)

Hector: Forth Eorlingas!

(Everyone on horses draw their weapons and plunge into the tide, hacking and slashing. They head down the stairs and gallop towards the causeway. Lynn blows on the war horn again. Hector, Luna, Leni and everyone else breaks through the Uruks and charge down the causeway. Uruks are either cut down or simply knocked off by the horses. They plunge into the horde of Uruks.)

(Luna slashes and stabs at the seemingly endless Uruk-hai. As they fight, she looks up at the top of very high incline and sees a white horse with a familiar white clad figure, rearing up.)

Luna: (quiet)Grouse.

(Mr. Grouse stares down at the army of Uruks. Everyone else stops fighting as they start to notice him as well.)

Mr. Grouse: King Hector stands alone.

(Bobby comes into view and rides up beside him.)

Bobby: Not alone. (draws his sword) Rohirrim!

(The rest of Bobby's Rohirrim ride up in view behind them. Below, the Uruks start to get upset.)

Uruk: Dang it! And just when I was starting to have fun!

(On his horse, Hector smiles.)

Hector: Bobby.

Bobby: To the king! Ok guys, time to make an entrance!

(Bobby, Grouse and the Rohirrim charge down the incline. The Uruks abandon the others and turn towards the reinforcements. They come to a stop at the base and lower their pikes.)

Uruk #2: Come at me!

(The Rohirrim continue to charge. Just as they close in, the sun fully comes out over the rise, blinding the Uruks. They are momentarily distracted, lowering their guard. Grouse, Bobby and the Rohirrim slam into them. In seconds the two armies merge. The Rohirrim slash with their swords and axes, while Grouse wails on them with his staff. Bobby lashes out with his sword, no Uruk can stand against them. They are either hacked, stabbed, slashed or skewered on spears.)

..

(At Isengard, the Orcs scurry around, caught off guard by the attacking Ents. Skippy rips off a section of the broken wall and hurls it crushing several orcs as it rolls along the ground. More Ents swarm in. Orcs are either hit with rock and boulders, kicked or simply stepped on. The Ents are furious for the destruction of their trees. They pull down archery towers, crushing any orcs that dare stand in their way.)

(One Ent uses a Orc to smack his fellows aside.)

Orc #1: Ow!

Orc #2: Oof!

Orc #3: The pain!

Orc bludgeon: (irate) Hey! It hurts me too, ya know!?

(More orcs lasso another Ent and pull him to the ground. Others jump on him and start hitting him with Axes. Lana lifts up a huge boulder and hurls it, so it knocks the Orcs off. The Ent gets back up and rejoins the fight.)

Rusty: Ha! Take that!

Zach: Yes!

(The hobbits are perched on top of Lana, throwing small rocks. Each one is a hit and drops or after or. Lana sees an Orc by her foot and quickly steps on him.)

Lana: Respect Nature!

(At the balcony outside the Palantir room, Lucy hurries on to the balcony. She is shocked to Ents everywhere around her tower. The Ents continue to destroy all she had built and kill any and all orcs they see. Zach throws a rock at an Uruk that just climbed out of a pit. He is hit and falls back down.)

Lana: A hit. A fine hit.

Rusty: Hobbits have very good aim.

(Rusty throws a rock and drops another orc. Ents continues to inflict massive casualties on the orcs, and pull down structures. Orcs fire flaming arrows at an Ent, setting him ablaze. Lucy continues watches with an unamused expression as Ents throw boulders and pieces of towers at Isengard, but they don't do anything. All around orcs are stomped and kicked and crushed.)

(Up the ravine where the Orcs had blocked the river with their dam, an Ent pulls against the supports.)

Lana: Break the Dam! Release the river!

(The Ent gives a final tug and the supports snap. The dam begins to break with water rushing out. The Ents lumber out of reach of the water. They throw any orcs they hold into the rapids. Orcs attempt to escape, but are too slow and are swept away, or whatever they are standing on crumbles under the force of the tide. The water rushes down the ravine towards Isengard.)

(Lucy looks over and sees the rapids rushing towards Isengard, and her eyes widen enough to briefly be seen through her hair before vanishing again.)

Lucy: Dang it.

(The river cascades over the final shallow cliff and begins to pool throughout the battlefield.)

(On Lana's shoulders, Rusty and Zach see the tide.)

Rusty: (anxious) Zach! Hold on!

(The orcs completely forget about the Ents. All they care about is escaping the flood. They flee while the Ents merely stand their ground and brace themselves.)

Lana: (to Rusty and Zach) Hold on, little guys!

(The water crashes into the Ents. They manage to remain steady as the water continues to flood all around them. The Ent that got set on fire hurries to put himself out.)

Ent: Ah! Put me out! Put me out!

(He manages to douse the flames. All around Ents hold their ground while the orcs rush to escape. They are unsuccessful. All over, water floods into the pits, destroying towers and bridges, drowning orcs and putting out the forges for good.)

(At Osgiliath, Lincoln's eyes are blank and expressionless. As if possessed, he walks out of cover from the archway.)

Clyde: (bewildered) What are you doing?

(Lincoln doesn't respond. He walks past soldiers and rangers alike, to focused on the Nazgûl to notice him.)

Clyde: Where are you going!?

(Lincoln continues up a staircase, coming to a stop at a walkway overlooking the entire city. In the distance Mt. Doom's light can be seen. The Ring whispering in his ears the entire time.)

(The Nazgûl comes into view before him, hovering. Hooded face staring Lincoln down.)

(Mechanically Lincoln holds up the Ring on it's chain. Luan looks over from where she stands. The Nazgûl hovers closer to Lincoln, the fell beast readies it's talons to grab him. Lincoln moves to put the Ring on. Below Clyde hurries up the stairs to stop him.)

(Lincoln closes his eyes , the rings almost on his finger. Clyde suddenly grabs him and starts pulling him back. The two lose their balance and tumble down the stairs. The Fell beasts talons close on thin air. At that moment, Luan fires an arrow. It soars through the air and strikes the fell beast in the chest. The fell beast roars in agony and starts to ascend.)

Ringwraith: (bratty kids voice) Oh no! Dumpling!

(Lincoln and Clyde topple all the way down the steps, grunting in pain. When they land, Lincoln has a crazed look in his eyes. He rolls over on top of Clyde, Sting drawn and aimed at his throat.)

Clyde: Linc! It's me. It's Clyde. Don't you recognize me?

(Lincoln breaths deeply for a moment, as his eyes clear. He becomes horrified as he realized he was about to kill his best friend. He scrambles backwards against the archway. Sting falls from his hand. He looks like he's had enough.)

Lincoln: (despairing) I can't do this, Clyde.

Clyde: (sympathetic) I know. Its all wrong. We're just two hobbits in way over our heads. (voice cracks) By rights, we shouldn't even be here. But we are.

(Clyde leans against the archway. He looks out across the city and sees the flashes from the mountain of fire. )

Clyde: (remembering) It's just like in the great stories, Linc. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you afraid to hear the end…because how could the ending be happy?

(The scene cuts through several scenes with Clyde's voice continuing to speak.)

(At Helms Deep, the arrival of Mr. Grouse and Bobby and his Rohirrim had turned the tide on the Uruks. They Uruks were in full retreat as Luna, Bobby, Hector, Grouse and everyone else cut down the slower moving ones.)

Clyde: (narrating) How could the world go back to the way it was…when so much bad's happened?

Hector: Victory! We have Victory!

(As everyone keeps fighting, Luna looks out across the distance.)

Clyde: (narrating) But in the end, it's only a passing thing…this shadow. Even darkness must pass.

(At Isengard, the last of the Orcs are swept up in the flooding waters.)

Clyde: A new day will come.

(On Lana's shoulders, Rusty and Zach stare as the water covers almost ever sign of the Orcs labors, as the Ents remain unmoving in the flood waters. On the balcony, Lucy looks somewhat nervously over the carnage before backing away inside.)

Clyde: And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stuck with that meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. (thinks for a second) But you see, Linc, I do understand. I know now.

(back at Osgiliath)

Clyde: The folks in those stories…had all kinds of chances to turn back, only they didn't. They kept going…because they were holding on to something.

Lincoln: And what are we holding on to, Clyde?

(Clyde comes over and helps Lincoln to his feet. He looks him in the eyes.)

Clyde: That there's still some good in this world, Lincoln. And it's worth fighting for.

(Both hobbits and Lola remain silent what Clyde said sinks into each of them. Behind them, Luan stands looking at them with a thoughtful expression. She then comes forward , alerting them to her presence. Maggie comes up beside her, While Benny comes in behind the hobbits.)

(Luan kneels down to Lincoln's height. After a second, she puts her hand on his shoulder.)

Luan: I think at last we understand one another, Lincoln Loudins.

(The hobbits and everyone seem surprised.)

Clyde: Wait, what happened? Your just letting us go?

Luan: Yeah, I know it's kinda unexpected, but to be honest my character, only held you guys until this part because the director felt you needed another obstacle in your quest, otherwise you'd spend the whole third Retelling, just walking. Which you kinda do anyway, so I don't know. (turns to the reader) Sorry if this scenes confusing.

Lincoln: (in his head) Makes about as much sense as everything else in these stories.

Maggie: (to Luan) You know the laws of our country, the laws of your father.

Benny: Yeah, you let them go, your life will be forfeit.

(Luan stands up, looking thoughtful again. Everyone waits for to come to her decision.)

Luan: Then I "Ring" it's forfeit.

(She laughs as everyone just looks surprised. Whether it's from her decision or her joke is up to you.)

Luan: Get it!? (sees everyone looking confused) Oh, what do you want. I haven't told a joke in a while , I'm rusty.

(She then gets serious.)

Luan: (final) But seriously…release them.

We're at the endgame for Two Towers. Just New hope, Bobby left only to return in the nick of time to turn the tide in favor of the good guys. Lana, Rusty, Zach and the Ents have taken control of Isengard. And Luan's had her change of heart and decided to let the hobbits continue their quest.

Also to everyone who just reads these, I tend to update faster when I get reviews.

Also a big shout out to Matthiamore, who correctly guessed from the Start Luan would be Faramir. Well done.