Chapter 20 Aries Would be Happy

That's a lot of Uruk-hai.

Sure, Aragorn told them it was at least ten thousand, but while she knew it was a large number, it's vastly different seeing it in person, while trapped in a fortress, with no way out…

Yeah this was going to go well.

She supposed she shouldn't be terribly worried. The Battle of the Five Armies had similar numbers, though far more spread out. And the allies had far more actual warriors. She let her eyes drift to several of the boys and old men lining the walls of the main Keep. Her eyes then moved to the lines of Elvin Warriors on the Outer Walls and the rest lining the lower fields behind them. It was a miracle they had shown up. It appears Elrond and Lady Galadriel decided to send some reinforcements. It certainly gave more hope to a rather dire situation.

Surprisingly Legolas had fallen into despair over the odds, going so far as to yell at Aragorn. Who knew Mr. Perfect had such doubts? He always seemed so calm and in control, even when the chips were down. After being part of the last large battle to grace Middle Earth she would have thought he'd be more level headed.

Granted, she sort of understood. The odds did suck. Still, she'd faced worse. At least they didn't have anyone particularly magical with them, or those giant earth worm thingies from the last time. Those were gross.

Vaguely she heard Aragorn closer to the middle calling out to the Elves not to give quarter. It took a lot not to roll her eyes. As if they would against these vile creations.

Above the sky rolled with thunder and briefly she wondered if Zeus had managed to stop in for the fun. Then the clouds opened and water poured down on them. Nice. On the one hand, she now had plenty of water to use, on the other… not the best conditions for battle.

To one side the elves all drew their bows holding perfectly still. To the other many of the men did the same. She also drew her bow, not really all that proficient at it, gods what she wouldn't give for some of Apollo's kids or even Artemis' hunters to be with them right now.

The creatures pound the butts of their spears on the ground, growling and yelling to intimidate them. They did look rather fierce. She'd bet the Are's cabin would have a blast facing these things, Hades know the god himself would be right in the thick egging them all on.

Suddenly the sound of a bow releasing reached her ear and she saw an arrow launching off striking one of the beasts right in the neck. Almost in slow motion it fell forward and silence reigned.

"Dartho," Aragorn ordered to keep the rest of them from firing.

Percia let a snort out, totally amused by the event. The Uruk-hai, not so much given their cries and screams of rage. Starting to run forward, the battle beginning.

"Leithio I philinn," Aragorn cried out.

As one they released the arrows, more following. She tried to hit her targets, one or two managing a hit. The elves were definitely doing better. Stupid superior eyesight. The men joined in and more Uruks fell to the volley, however the sheer numbers they had made it difficult to actually make a dent.

Percia dropped her bow and decided to try a different route. Pulling on her power she focus on the rain drops, sharpening them into bullet like projectiles sending them raining down on the beasts. Nearly three whole lines of the animals fell, the rain easily bypassing their armor. It took a bit out of her though, so she wouldn't be able to do that too often. The concentrated arrows and spears heading her way also dissuaded the next attempt.

It didn't take long for the Uruks to get ladders set and make their way up the walls. Percia sighed and pulled Riptide out.

"You ready for this bud?" The metal seemed to shine a bit more in the dark, as if replying in kind. "Let's do this."

At that point Percia fell into a pattern. Strike, dodge, parry, stab, spin, repose and repeat. One after another the Uruks fell to her blade, their black blood making the stones slick. The elves and men near her were adding their own kills, or their own blood as more than a few fell to the enemy. Gods she hated these beasts.

She stayed close to a group of boys, making sure to take down the enemies as quickly as possible. The few that got threw were handled well by the children. Several of the men were clearly glad she had decided to ignore all their earlier attempts to send her to the caves. Fools.

Pushing the latest body off the wall and down onto the oncoming Uruks she thought she heard counting in the wind. Turing she saw Gimli striking a Uruk each time one crested the wall and yup… he was counting. Which means Legolas was likely counting as well. Figures.

Sometime during the chaos Aragorn started making a fuss. She got to the edge and managed to see to Uruk placing a strangely shaped ball in the small sluice gate where a drain existed. They looked suspiciously like mines she'd seen in her history books back home.

Sure enough there was a Uruk running towards the mines with a lit torch.

Not good.

Aragorn was yelling at Legolas but his arrows were doing nothing. Percia growled and threw an hand out towards the small stream leading to the drain. Forced to split her concentration she sent a rush of water through the drain, using the pressure to push the mines out of the small space and flying right into the Uruk with the torch. The explosion was quite spectacular. The blast pushed into the Uruk ranks throwing many to the ground, those within close range suffering severe burns and shrapnel damage, most not getting back up. The fighting paused for a moment, the enemy clearly shocked their plan had not worked.

Her eyes caught Legolas' and she winked cheekily. He chuckled turning back to the enemy in front of him.

"That only counts as one," Gimli yelled towards her.

She rolled her eyes and struck the Uruk trying to sneak up on her. Males.

On and on it went. With the amount of Uruk Hai outside the walls it seemed to be never ended. A few of the Elves managed to switch places with those further back to give the front liners some rest. Others were pulling wounded out of the way, trying to deal with what they could.

Percia grumbled to herself as the rain stopped, thus taking one of her best weapons. She supposed she could try starting a major storm, but that would take time and concentration. Something she could not force right now. She easily ducked a swing from her latest opponent, while side stepping another running towards her. Case in point.

The men were doing okay, most of them behind the thicker walls. However, Percia heard yelling from the front gates and thought she saw Theoden making his way there. As she took the head off of another Uruk she vaguely wondered what the twins and Bilbo were up to. Surely they were having a better night?

Xxx

"So if you take us south towards Isengard we'll be able to slip past Saruman unnoticed," George explained slyly to Treebeard.

The Giant Ent didn't look too convinced so Fred joined in, sending a knowing look to his twin. "That's right. The closer we are to danger, the farther we are from harm."

"It's the last thing he'll expect." George finished.

"Mmmm. That doesn't make sense to me," the Ent mumbled in his slow pattern they twins had just started to get used to. "But then, you are very small. Perhaps you're right. South it is then." He turned slowly, despite the giant stride of his legs. "Hold on little Shirelings," he warned as he did so, giving the two a chance to hold on tighter to his upper branches. "I always like going south. Somehow it feels like going downhill."

The twins shared a grin. While the Ent council may have denied going to war, they knew if Treebeard saw firsthand what Saruman had done he'd finally act. Gandalf had mentioned the destruction his old comrade had caused to Elrond when he'd finally made it to Rivendell. Wasn't their fault they happened to overhear. Really it was only to everyone's benefit.

Xxx

Bilbo huffed in annoyance as he was being pulled along by Faramir and his men. He and Sméagol/Golem had been caught on their way to Mordor. He had tried to bargain with the men, he had begged them to leave Sméagol alone and even tried to get the other to escape, but it was no use. Sméagol was too enamored with the ring, despite his strange act he had been putting on for Bilbo. No Bilbo remembered well their time in the deep caves of the Goblin Kingdom.

While he may be far more trusting than Percia or several others he'd made acquaintance with over the years, he had come to cultivate a bit of cynicism when it came to others. So he knew Sméagol was likely planning something for him, however, he needed a guide to Mordor. And as Percia sometimes harped, beggars can't be choosers.

The whispers from the blasted ring certainly didn't help. It kept trying to tempt him to slip it on, to go invisible as he had all those years ago to escape his captors. Yet he knew it was simply the ring trying to give away his position.

"Look!" One of the soldiers cried out, pointing in the distance. "Osgiliath burns!"

Indeed it looked like a city along the edge of a river was in flames. Distantly they could hear fighting and screams.

"Mordor has come," another bemoaned.

Bilbo turned to Faramir, seeing the urgency in his eyes to save his people. He knew that was the reason he had brought Bilbo along. He, like Boromir, thought the ring would save them.

Why was it everyone who seemed descent got taken in by shiny bits of metal or rock? What was so great about such fathoms?

He stood proudly as he could, despite the ripped and dirty clothing, his worn tired appearance. He made sure to look the young man in the eyes, and oh, he was so, so young. "The Ring will not save Gondor. It only has the power to destroy. It will also do everything it can to get back to its rightful master, even call the greatest of his minions upon you." He could see the intelligence in those grey eyes. "You need to let me go."

For one moment he had hoped the boy would listen, but more loud sounds from the city caught his attention and he clearly decided to ignore Bilbo's warning.

"Hurry," he commanded, pulling Bilbo along with him.

The hobbit sighed, wondering how he would get out of this mess.

XXX

Percia could have sworn she heard Gimli's war-cries from the main entrance. One peak told her that sure enough he and Aragorn had managed to make their way to stop the approaching hoard from breaking down the gate with their battering ram. Several were sent over the edge to their deaths.

He would totally fit in with the Aries' cabin. They'd likely be counting right along with him.

Rolling her eyes Percia weaved through the Uruks, past several others, taking their opponents as she went to give them a small reprieve.

Thank the gods the Uruks had only had a small batch of those bombs. Which begged the question. Since when did Middle Earth have anything close to gunpowder? It had to be that wizard dude who changed sides. Probably dabbling in rudimentary science.

Wow, how weird is that? She might live through a time of the first guns being invented? Or more bombs and other equally scary weapons. She supposed it did not matter what world one lived in or what races lived there. War would find a way, and with it innovation to create more damage.

When she almost tripped over a dead body she realized she had let her mind wander. Again. Hey, to be fair her ADHD was working overtime right now. Sure it helped with her fighting, but it still liked to drag her thoughts from where they should be.

Can she help it that her mind brings up random topics? Like, how are they gonna ever clean this place up? Seriously, there was blood and guts everywhere. So gross.

And okay, maybe it was strange that she suddenly had a craving for Bilbo's peach pies and those awesome huckleberry scones he made, but she's been fighting for hours and she was hungry. With as many calories she was burning right now, she deserved to gorge on sweets for days!

How long had it been since they started? She supposed she could ask one of the Uruks, but they didn't seem to be much for time keeping. Plus it was hard to speak when she cut off their heads. Would it be rude to yell four and kick the damn thing?

Where was she? Right, time. It had been hours. Which actually was unusual for a fight in this time period. Fight generally last an hour maybe three tops. Then again, with the seemingly unlimited forces of the enemy and their unnatural abilities, she supposed they didn't need to stop for rest. Not like they seemed to care how many of them died.

Rallying cries sounded again towards the battlements over the gates. She saw Theoden waving his sword and taking on more Uruks. He seemed to be favoring his left side, so he likely took a hit.

The sky was growing lighter, so they had definitely fought through the night. Gods she was tired! She knew the others had to be as well. Especially the older men and the boys. She hoped most of them survived.

Just as the sun started to crest the ridge to the east, the sound of thunder filled the valley. Only it wasn't thunder. Percia sliced through the Uruk in front of her and caught a glimpse of thousands of men on horses charging down the steep mountain path, Gandalf at the lead, his staff blinding the Uruk Hai army.

Cheers echoed across the battlements as the new arrivals cut through the enemy, easily depleting their numbers.

It seemed as they no longer had the advantage the Uruks were not for staying around and the rear flanks started to retreat.

Where did that forest come from? She could have sworn it wasn't there yesterday. Great now they'd lose the stragglers in the…

Oh… never mind. Magical forest. Magical creature killing forest. Cool.

She glanced over her shoulder when she heard the distinct thud of an arrow hitting its target. The Uruk fell to her feet like a puppet with its strings cut.

"You should be more careful," Legolas chided as he appeared next to her. "Just because the cavalry has made it does not mean the danger is over."

She gave him a deadpanned look as she easily cut down the Uruk that had tried to surprise the elf. "Ditto."

It was minutes before the last Uruk was dead, and people were moving the wounded to other areas of the Keep.

Percia looked around at the carnage, sad to see so many lives lost, though far more than it could have been had that bomb worked the way the enemy wanted. Still, there was one prevailing thought in her mind.

"I am NOT cleaning this up!"