Chapter 22

Rohan and Gondor

Aliya woke up and looked around. She was still on Arod with Legolas.

Pipp and Merry have swapped spots along with Frodo and Sam.

They were still in the plains but Aliya could see a huge hill in the distance.

"Good morning. You woke up at the perfect time." Legolas said.

"What do you mean?" Aliya asked.

"We're approaching Rohan." Legolas said as he pointed at the hill in the distance.

As they got closer Aliya could see a wall boarding the hill. She could also see houses lined up on the hill and on the very top of the hill was a huge house.

As they rode closer guards opened the gates for them to enter.

They rode down a dirt path towards the largest house. Once they got there they dismounted their horses and headed in.

Aliya looked around the room they had entered. It was a large room. Torch light danced across the walls. Straight across from then sat a man in a throne. Aliya assumed him to be the king.

"Gandalf. You arrived quickly." The king said, standing up.

"Yes. Is the army ready?" Gandalf asked.

"Yes. They will be with you shortly. We will wait for them on the outside of the wall." The kings said standing up.

Just then a girl with long wavy blonde hair walked into the room. She was holding a sword and was in a battle uniform.

"I'm coming with you Uncle." She said as she approached the king.

"No I told you for the last time you are to stay." The king said strictly.

"I am going and you can't stop me." The girl continued.

"Eyowyn-" the king started but she had already headed outside.

"It's no use. She's too stubborn." The king said grimly.

They all turned and headed outside. They walked down the dirt path back to the horses.

"Do you think you are able to ride on your own yet?" Legolas asked, looking at Aliya.

"I don't really know. I think I can but I definitely don't think I'm ready to be alone." Aliya said.

"You can ride with me." Sam said willingly.

"What about Frodo?" Asked Aliya.

"He's riding with Aragorn." Sam said.

"Alright. I'll ride with you." Aliya said to Sam.

"Gimli you can ride with me." Legolas said, turning to Gimli.

Just as they got outside the gates they stopped as they saw two horses approaching.

They came to a halt when they reached the group.

"Elrohir? Elladan? What are you doing here?" Aragorn asked in a shocked tone.

"We came to fight with you all of course." Elrohir said.

Aragorn smiled then said, "Well that's very nice but what did your-"

"Father say. Yeah yeah we know. And for the thousandth time we-left-a-note!" Elladan said.

"Do you think he will see the note?" Legolas asked.

"Yeah." Elladan said.

Just then guards on horses started flooding out of the gates joined by Eyowyn.

Aliya and Sam mounted the pony. Sam was seated in front of Aliya but she was the one with the reigns.

Legolas and Gimli mounted Arod and Aragorn and Frodo mounted Brego.

Once everyone was ready they started off towards Gondor.

Aliya rode up towards Legolas.

"Who's Elrohir and Elladan's father?" She asked.

"Lord Elrond. They live at Rivendell, a small elven city." Legolas said.

"Speaking of Arwen, how is she?" Aragorn asked.

"We were never speaking of- oh whatever." Legolas said as he rolled his eyes.

"She's doing ok I guess. Adar wanted to send her to the undying lands but she came back. So her fate depends on whether or not the ring gets destroyed. No pressure Frodo." Elrohir said.

"Who's Arwen?" Aliya asked Legolas.

"Elrohir and Elladans sister. Aragorn loves her. I'm guessing Aragorn's the reason she came back." Legolas said, smirking.

The group traveled for several days until they came upon a stone city that was built into a mountain.

"Welcome to Gondor." Aragorn said happily.

Aliya looked at the city in awe until something else caught her attention. She looked to the right and saw a long dark mountain that stretched across a good length of the land. The sky on the other side was black and cloudy and every now and then there were red flashes of light that would cross the sky.

Boromir rode up to Aliya noticing what she was looking at.

"That is Mordor." He said grimly.

Aliya felt a lump in her throat.

"Are we going to war?" She asked Boromir.

"Yes. Once we get an army of Gondor soldiers we will go to war while Frodo and Sam leave to destroy the ring." Boromir said, sighing.

"Where are we going to war exactly?" Aliya asked, nervous she knew the answer.

"We will be going to war at the black gate of Mordor." Boromir said.

Aliya felt her face get pale. She wasn't ready to go to war. More importantly she didn't want to go to war but who does?

They rode up to Gondor and waited outside the gates for the army. As they waited Sam dismounting the pony and Frodo dismounted the horse. Aliya got off the pony so then Frodo and Sam could take it to Mordor. Aliya walked over to Sam and hugged him then she walked over to Frodo and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Stay safe. You can do this. We all believe in you Frodo. You may be small but you are mighty." Aliya said to him.

Then she bent down and gave him a hug. She then turned to Sam one last time.

"Take care of him." She said.

Sam nodded then they both mounted the pony and started off.

Aliya watched as they left. She worried for the hobbits. She hoped they made it out alive. She had become good friends with the hobbits and she would hate to lose one. She watched as they disappeared towards the shadow of Mordor. A single tear slid down her face at the thought of them not returning.

Aliya felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and saw Aragorn. Aliya quickly wiped her eyes.

"You need to have faith in them." Aragorn said smiling.

Aliya gave a small smile. She remembered when she said the same thing to Aragorn but for Pipp and Merry.

Aliya sighed. "I do have faith in them. I'm just… I'm just worried they get killed during the akk of destroying the ring." She said quietly.

"Don't worry. All we can do now is believe in them." Aragorn said.

Aliya nodded. She heard a whinny from Brego and saw Gimli trying to mount him.

"Gimli? What are you doing?" Aragorn asked, watching Gimli.

"Mounting this beast obviously." Gimli said as he struggled to get on Brego.

At hearing Gimli call him a beast Brego bucked his back legs and reared up. Gimli went flying and landed not far from Brego.

Aragorn and Aliya walked over to Gimli and helped him up.

"Why were you trying to mount Brego? Aren't you supposed to be riding with Legolas on Arod." Aragorn questioned Gimli.

"Yes but-" Aragorn cut Gimli off.

"Haven't you taken the hint that Brego doesn't really like you?" Aragorn asked.

"Yes but-" Aragorn cut him off again.

"And didn't you prefer to ride with Legolas?" Asked Aragorn.

"Yes but! I felt as if the lass should get to ride with Legolas." Gimli said. "Speaking of how this could be the last time she ever gets to see him speaking of the war and all." He whispered.

Aliya wished she hadn't heard that. It was no help to her nerves at all.

Aragorn seemed to understand what Gimli was saying because he mounted Brego and helped Gimli on behind him.

Aliya walked over to Arod and Legolas helped her on.

Not long after she got situated on Arod the Gondor army started flooding out of the gates.

Everyone was about to leave when they stopped to the sound of a horn.

Everyone looked to see what direction it had come from and they saw a decent sized army of Lothlorien elves. Haldir was in the front with Rúmil and Orophin on either side of him.

Once the Lothlorien elves joined them they started off towards the Black Gates of Mordor.

The closer they got to Mordor the darker it got. Aliya was beyond nervous. She had millions of questions but not enough time to ask them.

"Do you think we will have a chance of winning the war now?" Pipp asked quietly.

Everyone exchanged grim looks.

"Chances are… no. We will be greatly outnumbered." Aragorn said.

"Then why are we going to war?" Merry asked.

"To create a diversion. So when Sauron sees us he will empty out Mordor and send his whole entire army at us. We are hoping we will also have his attention on us so then Frodo and Sam could have an easier time destroying the ring." Gandalf said.

"Legolas? One out of ten, what's the chance we will survive this?" Aliya asked nervously.

Legolas sighed before saying, "Zero or one. The people who survive this, if anyone, will be very lucky and will have a tale to tell to their families."

Just then everything got dark and they stopped. Everyone dismounted their horses and set them free.

Aliya looked straight ahead and to her horror she saw a giant black gate looming over them and in the distance she saw a huge tower and at the top was an eye. It was looking down at them giving off an orange glow where they all stood.

Aliya stood close to Legolas. She wished she was one of the horses. She wasn't ready to die. Not yet.

Everyone was deadly silent as if they were afraid to speak as they all stood there waiting.

Aliya exchanged one last look with Legolas before they heard a low rumbling and the black gates slowly started to open.

Translation

Adar=Father