IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: I'm going to start revamping earlier chapters, after a read-through showed me how many stupid errors there are. Everything from misspellings to Aditi's name changing- gross. If I could turn off notifications while doing this, I would. I'm not sure if the better way to go would be to get it all done fast, or to space it out so that no one's inbox is flooded. Let me know what you think? If anyone is still reading? (I don't blame anyone who got fed up with my mistakes and quit.) Anyways, onward.
Chapter 44: Leningrad
They were all going to be slaughtered, everyone had concluded within ten minutes of putting their heads together. But did they have a chance at keeping the civilians safe until Eomer arrived? That was the question that caused the most argument, beyond even how they could hold out so long.
Aragorn, King Theoden, and Lord Erkenbrand were almost entirely fatalistic about their chances. As was Legolas, but he was almost always a damp blanket so Boromir ignored him. His own heart was troubled by the severe odds they faced, even if all the reports had drastically overestimated their enemy.
Queen Elizabeth's spirit was something to be admired, though. She had acknowledged that they were all likely to die, then said, "And we'll take as many of them with us as we can." Her hand rested on the head of her axe and smoothed her fingers over the blunt top of the blade as if to take comfort in it.
It was only when an unknown horn called that Aragorn became animated, exchanging startled looks with Legolas.
"Are the enemy here already?" Lord Erkenbrand asked, disturbed at the lack of warning.
"That was no orc horn," Legolas refuted, a slow smile growing on his face. He and Aragorn then raced down the hall and out the door, leaving everyone else to follow in their wake.
A company of identically cloaked people strode up the narrow cobbled street to the steps of the castle, armor gleaming and arms glittering under the faint starlight. At their head approached a face Boromir remembered well, the marchwarden of Lothlorien who had taken such relish in blindfolding Gimli.
"How is this possible?" Theoden asked in wonder.
"I bring word from Lady Galadriel of Lorien," Haldir answered with a half-smile, "An alliance once existed between Elves and Men. Long ago we fought, and died, together. We have come to honor that allegiance."
"Haldir!" Aragorn exclaimed and seized the cold elf in a sudden embrace, "You are most welcome!"
Though the marchwarden was startled, he returned the gesture briefly.
There was a sudden, massive noise of hundreds of feet taking the same steps at the same time as the whole group of elves turned at once to face the steps.
With a smile at Aragorn, then Legolas, Haldir said to the lords staring at him from the doors, "We are proud to fight alongside Men once more."
King Theoden visibly couldn't believe it. Not only elves to help defend his keep, but from the very place his people spoke of with such fear? "Many thanks to you and your Lady for your assistance," he replied politely, "I am Theoden, King of Rohan."
Haldir introduced himself as he clasped the king's wrist in greeting. With a nod of acknowledgement he met Lord Erkenbrand, then came face to face with Boromir. "Ah, Lord Boromir. I am glad that you yet live," the elf told him strangely, "Not all foretellings of evil things are true, it seems."
Warily Boromir nodded. "I am most grateful to be alive," he agreed.
The elf's eyes darted about the crowd before returning to Boromir. "Did your wife fall instead?" he asked softly.
Taken aback, Boromir shook his head. "She is alive and resting," he said, washed over by a wave of gratitude that he had chosen a wife strong enough to deal with him even if he was out of his mind, "Did the Lady say that one of us would die?"
There was something like relief in Haldir's eyes as he closed them for a short moment. "She saw the choice Lady Cassandra had before her: her life, or yours," he explained, then shook his head, "That a third way was found… It is not often that the Lady's visions are wrong or defied." His gaze searched Boromir's eyes for an answer.
Elves can sometimes see what is in the eyes and hearts of Men, and the topic made it impossible for Boromir to keep his gaze anyway. "Cass would be the person to speak to, if the choice was really hers," he murmured, "Please excuse me." Head down, he returned to the great hall.
As he approached the maps at the head of the table, he changed his mind. This would only take a moment, he assured himself as he passed through the doorway and down the stairs at the end.
One, two, three doors and then Boromir decided not to knock- he didn't necessarily want to wake Cass from sleep she dearly needed. He slipped in the door and at first frowned at a second body in the bed. Then he saw the long, bright red hair trailing from the side of the bed and with a quiet sigh, realized that it was only Electra. He had to make this quick and quiet, then.
As if on a hunt he stole across the room, leaving the door just open enough to give him a little light to see by. At Cass's side of the bed he crouched down and just… looked at her. Haldir's words had reminded him just how easily things could have gone wrong; seeing her alive and well seemed like a wild dream.
Sensing his presence, Cass's eyes squinted open. "Mm?"
"It's alright. Go back to sleep," Boromir assured her. He pressed his lips to her cheek and left quickly so that she could rest in peace.
Once the door was closed he let out a sudden, hard sigh and let his shoulders slump. He hadn't been able to kill her and now he wasn't able to save her.
"We're fucked, aren't we?"
Tense, Boromir's neck snapped to the side.
It was the tan skinned man called Guerra. He pulled his odd fabric helmet off to rub his short-cropped black hair before replacing it with a sigh.
"Crudely said, but you aren't wrong," Boromir confirmed. It made his chest go a little tighter.
Guerra shook his head and pulled a small rectangular package from a pocket. He opened it, put one of the little paper tubes between his lips, and used a small blue device to light it with a mere flick of his thumb. "Want one?" he offered, "Since I probably won't live long enough to smoke them all." He smirked but the expression was dark.
"No, thank you," Boromir refused; his mother had hated the smell of pipe weed and in her memory, he had never smoked after one curious (dreadful) puff as a young lad.
With a shrug, Guerra put his implements away. "I shouldn't have those, but they're good for trading. And I'm not the only one with things that shouldn't be here," he said carefully.
Boromir couldn't help it; he went a bit stiff. "Indeed," he acknowledged.
"Did she tell you about them?" Guerra questioned and took a deep breath off his rolled pipe weed.
"Almost every story she's told me about your home has been about them," Boromir scoffed, remembering his immature jealousy and wondering.
"Including after her big silver star moment?" Guerra asked, probing.
After? "Why would afterward be important? She healed enough to return to duty," Boromir asked, frowning at the man.
"Ah. I can't say I blame her, but you should probably know," Guerra told him sympathetically, "I wasn't there, so I'm not the person to say what happened. When they get up, ask one of the guys about Blind and Frozen." With that he brushed his rolled weed out on the wall, put it away, and retired to his loaned room.
For a moment, Boromir stared thoughtfully at the door. Then he shook his head and ascended the stairs. The past could wait; he was needed to plan the defense so that they all might have a future.
I was woken by a set of loud knocks on the door. "The enemy is here!" Gimli shouted, laughing like he was having the time of his life. He repeated his wake up call several times down the hall, impossible to sleep through even if I wanted to.
I didn't. My heart rate skyrocketed and I rolled out of bed immediately. "Wakey-wakey, enemies to break-y!" I sang annoyingly at Electra.
I felt her (reluctantly) sit up. "They could've taken a little longer," she grumbled.
By feel I pulled my boots on and made a mental note to do some deodorizing once this battle was over. "Hear hear," I agreed, still sleepy despite how very aware I was. Hypervigilance comes in handy sometimes.
A cloak would give enemies something to grab, so I left my wonderful cloak from Lothlorien here where it would (hopefully) be safe. My trusty leather trench coat worked just fine.
Another set of knocks on the door. "Van der Zee, we need our weapons! You can powder your nose later!" Martin called.
I gave a huff and folded my arms.
"I'm naked!" Electra shouted crossly.
"No she's not!" I reported and opened the door myself.
Sure enough, Electra was fully clothed and sitting on the bed with the air of an offended woman.
"Don't mind my sister, she's never been happy to wake up," I told the guys and welcomed them in to grab their choice of weapons. Of course they chose regulation weapons, but Murphy also took a slightly rusty AK-47 to sling across his back.
Electra took one of the rifles and attached a scope, while I chose an AK-74 and tucked my new pistol into a pocket. With my glasses I'm a decent shot, but I'm no specialist like my baby sister. "How many do you want?" I asked, hand in the bag of grenades.
"Mmm… Three," Electra decided.
I handed them to her and since I would be closer to the front lines, I stuffed my pockets with grenades and ammo.
"Are we warming up?" Murphy asked expectantly.
York frowned as he put his weaponry into place. "This is a bit of a heavy situation for it, don't you think?" he asked in return.
Making faces, Murphy and then Martin nodded.
For once I felt like I was on the outside of the situation. "Y'all report to Aunt Libby, I need to go find that husband of mine," I said awkwardly and almost fled from the room.
Boromir was easy to spot with his shield on his back as he chivvied the last of the Rohirrim soldiers into place. "You three, fill that gap!" he ordered a few old men with white beards while pointing at a spot on the wall.
Gripping their weapons, they jogged away.
"Who am I reporting to?" I called once I was close enough.
Conflicted, he was quiet for a long moment.
I raised an eyebrow expectantly.
"No matter that I would rather you stay in the caves where it's safe, I remember the promise you made all those years ago," Boromir said, "We'll fight together." He tried to smile but it didn't work.
Time was running out for us, so I really didn't care that we were in public and pulled him down for a kiss. Warm and rather messy and desperate. We both knew that this may be our last kiss so we made it count. I smiled into his lips and stroked his bearded cheeks, held his jaw for a few seconds when we had to separate. "I'm so glad I married you," I whispered.
"You would be safer if you hadn't. Yet I can't bring myself to be anything but glad of it also," Boromir replied and stroked my cheek with a leather glove. His expression was tender but so very sad.
"You know me- I'm only happy when I'm in jeopardy," I told him, half truth and half joke, "See you in Mandos, love." I then kissed his cheek and reluctantly tore myself away; if I waited much longer, I wouldn't have the strength.
Instead I followed the noise of my aunt's bellowing to the gatehouse. Despite the volume she managed to reach, it was almost matched by the intimidating clank of nine thousand marching feet headed our way.
Before anything I hurried up the stairs to where Aunt Libby barked orders and encouragement to the men around her. She looked good in Rohirrim plate armor decorated with beautiful celtic knots and a helmet that almost disguised her. Only her red-and-grey hair flowing in a tail down her back and her voice told me I was approaching the right person. "Steady, men! Steady! You are fighting for the very existence of Rohan!" she told them sternly, "You are strong and reinforcements are coming! We just need to hold out long enough for Lord Eomer to arrive!"
I tapped her shoulder and she turned to face me with an expectant expression. It melted into something grim when she saw it was only me. "Do you need something?" she asked,
"Where am I stationed?" I had to almost shout over the noise of the oncoming horde.
"You go on the wall over the culvert!" Aunt Libby ordered, jabbing a finger in that direction, "I got some people to block it up but we'll need a warning if the enemy tries something with it!"
Excellent. "Yes, ma'am!" I replied with a big, loopy smile and a salute.
She scoffed and opened her arms for a hug, something I was grateful for. I didn't want to see Mandos again without my family knowing how special they are to me.
Aunt Libby's eyes were a bit shiny when she released me, turning to greet the rest of us Americans. "Hello everyone, who's a designated marksman or better?" she asked them.
Electra, Mackey, York, and Murphy raised their hands.
"Mackey and Murphy, you snipe from the castle with Andy," Aunt Libby ordered, "York, you stay here. Electra, you're on the wall but close to the gatehouse." She pointed in the direction she wanted each of them to go, getting solemn, tense agreements.
Then she turned to the Guerra and Martin, asking, "Do either of you know how to use a sword?"
With expressions of, "Duh," they both shook their heads.
"A pity. I hope you're good with those k-bars you've got, because these things have swords," Aunt Libby replied stridently, "The two of you stay with Cass and follow whatever orders she gives." She then turned to me and asked, "These are the same things we fought before the weddings, right?"
I scrunched my face up and made an, "Eehh," sound. "Pretty much, but now they're a lot stronger and nastier," I answered, "If they're what we fought at Parth Galen."
Aunt Libby gave me a look that demanded answers- later. "Right. Well good luck keeping these two alive, they're going on the wall with you," she said briskly, "Iodocus will help, he's with Haldir right now."
My eyebrows flew up. "Haldir? The elf, Haldir?" I demanded.
"You seem to have made a splash with the elves; the Lady of Lothlorien sent soldiers and their commander was asking about you." Aunt Libby gave me a brief smirk. Then she looked over the parapet and all humor disappeared when she shouted, "Now move! Everyone to their place! Go! Go! Go!" She clapped her hands several times to hurry us.
When I took a peek over the edge, I grimaced at the sight. Armored foes as far as I could see, nearly filling the basin in front of the wall with long spears ready to skewer us all. Suddenly Parth Galen didn't seem so bad.
Waving for Martin and Guerra to follow me, I ran down the stairs to the wall. About half the people I passed were tall with the same type of cloak and armor, who I quickly realized were the elves. Their bows and full quivers raised my spirits, remembering the amazing archery contest that Legolas had tied in, and I hoped that they were as good with the long swords they all carried.
It began to rain and I wondered distractedly how much worse it would get.
"Cass!"
A familiar voice made me skid to a stop, yelping as I wheeled for balance. My eyes went wide when I recognized Stithulf standing with his countrymen, bow at the ready. "Where are Dezzie and the kids?" I asked even as I clapped his shoulder.
"In the caves," he replied grimly. His grip tightened on his bow.
Shit. I just had to ask, didn't I? "I'll see you around!" I told him and continued toward the culvert.
Luckily my friends and husband were near the culvert where I was assigned. We only had time to exchange looks (me and Gimli grinning, the rest properly solemn) before our attention was taken by a sudden rhythmic stomping.
The enemy made a racket, slamming their feet and spears into the ground, banging swords on shields, roaring like the monsters they were. Admittedly it was quite intimidating. Knowing that they were all here to slaughter us, then probably eat us, and they were very enthusiastic about it, was chilling.
My heart, already racing, sped up until I could hear my pulse almost as loud as the uruks.
For some reason the display just… stopped. Like someone had shouted, "Cut!" It took a moment of scanning the front line to see what had happened; an uruk fell onto its face with an arrow in its neck.
With a roar, suddenly the enemy swept toward us like a tsunami of steel.
"Fire at the ladders!" I shouted to Martin and Guerra.
"Roger!" Guerra shouted back
We all began to take down the uruks clinging to the ladders as they were hoisted up, well aware that we needed to avoid friendly fire at all costs. Some rungs were damaged and one ladder was even too splintered to use, which was helpful, but we couldn't cover the whole wall with the few guns we had. We filled in the gaps left in the elves' firing pattern.
Meanwhile Gimli was having a field day. Standing on the wall between two ladders, he was swinging his axe to kill each uruk as they climbed up. They didn't seem to realize they were climbing dutifully to their deaths or they didn't care. The result was the same.
A hail of arrows vaulted over our heads from the keep, the closest thing to artillery support we had. It mowed down quite a few uruks for no real loss so I was very grateful for them.
Shouts from the gatehouse caught my attention and I swore as I saw the uruks running up the ramp in a chaotic rabble. Electra began to take care of that, so I checked an uruk that looked ready to jump up onto the wall between us.
Movement below caught my attention and I squinted through my wet glasses to see what was happening. Alarmed, I realized that the rubble was being dug out of the culvert and began to cover that. They wouldn't be able to get through the grating and clear our side, but no movement of theirs was to be trusted.
Fast movement caught the corner of my eye and automatically I pulled my AK-74 up to aim at it. My finger left the trigger when I realized it was only Electra. "What are you doing here?" I questioned loudly and began to protect the culvert again.
"There's movement near the back! Something large is being transported closer!" Electra answered, "Orders?"
"Are there any tracers?" I replied.
"Six!" Thankfully she had the presence of mind to toss a grenade down into the crowd, which thinned our section rather nicely.
"Fire one or two!" I advised.
The promised rounds were loaded and squinting through her scope, Electra fired one. Then a few seconds later, a second. "You remember those bombs in video games with the spikes?" she described.
"Like naval mines?" I asked in return and shot an uruk sneaking up on Haldir.
"I don't know what a naval mine looks like!" Electra reminded me.
I huffed impatiently. "Well send a bullet down range!" I ordered.
The magazine was loaded again and Electra aimed carefully.
I shot a couple more uruks that had gotten onto the wall on her other side.
Electra fired and I don't know what I expected, but mere seconds later there was an explosion enormous enough to make the wall shake like it was made of a child's blocks. So quickly I could barely distinguish them, two more terrible explosions rocked the valley. Briefly I was blinded by the hot white, then horribly smoky explosion and had to catch my balance on the parapet. "What the fucking fuck was that!" I screamed, facing my sister with painfully wide eyes.
"Gunpowder?! They have goddamned gunpowder?!" Electra shrieked.
"They're not supposed to have that!" I bellowed back.
Of everyone Martin and Gurra recovered first, still very used to explosions. Then Electra and I got back to killing everything that came near the culvert, Gimli stood back up on his section between the ladders, and gradually everyone else regained their composure. Understandably the elves took longest with their extreme senses but within a few minutes, while the uruks were still figuring out what happened, they got back to shooting. Or getting started with their swords.
When I looked over the parapet, I had to give a wild laugh. There were still a few thousand uruks out there, but Saruman's own weapon had sent over half of his army to oblivion. Pieces of uruk rained down on their compatriots as the already uncoordinated efforts turned to an unthinking frenzy.
"I remember them being better trained than this!" I shouted to Electra as I refilled my magazine, grimacing when I realized I needed to conserve my ammo better.
"I shot their commander right in the beginning!" Electra shouted back before she booked it to her original station, tripping or pushing an occasional uruk as she went.
A bit madly I cackled and continued shooting.
When Guerra said that they had only grabbed ammo samples, he wasn't kidding. Just a couple of hours passed firing on manual and already I was counting out my remaining bullets. Damn, I thought as I reloaded.
One good shot took out the uruk at the top of a ladder, who miraculously hit the next uruk on the way down and caused a domino effect. Boromir took the opportunity to throw the ladder back down.
I was running out of bullets, but my pockets were still stuffed with grenades. Because sometimes battle drives one a bit mad, I started bellowing out, "Rah-rah-rah-BOOM, dee-yay!" on repeat, throwing a grenade down a ladder with each "BOOM!" and helping whoever was nearby to toss said ladder back down.
It helped lift my spirits and that's the part that mattered. Guerra shouting, "She's fucking crazy!" and Martin replying, laughing, "Yes we are!" only made me giggle.
Some of the ladders we got rid of were put back up and had to be dealt with again. Others were so damaged by gunfire, grenades, and fires from burning arrows that they broke under the uruks' weight. The bottom few feet of some ladders had been blown off, leaving them too short to be useful. One huge ladder full of uruks headed for the gatehouse wobbled in midair before it fell back into the crowd.
The situation wasn't nearly as bad as it could be, especially with the elves in the keep continuing to fire overhead. The storm that had enveloped the ravine even died down to mist. I almost felt optimistic about our chances of holding out until dawn.
But numbers do matter and as time passed, they began to weigh on us. Those ladders we hadn't been able to toss down were climbed, uruk archers covering them, and they began to cut down good but tiring people. The elves in the keep were summoned to the wall somewhere near two in the morning to replace our losses.
If I had the capacity, I would have retched at the feeling of dead bodies underfoot. So many had died that they covered the ground, too many to walk around or over; if I didn't step on a foe's body, then I stepped on a friend's. Corpses and parts of them squished underfoot and made everyone slip as we fought for our lives. Blood and water pooled and dripped, red and black and clear alike.
Eventually a beast confronted me and when I pulled the trigger, I got only a barely audible click. "Fuck," I muttered and threw the large gun at it. While it was distracted with that, I got in close enough to take it out with a hammer hit to the head.
I heard one of Theoden's men shout something to Aragorn, but was too distracted to bother. An uruk nearly got behind me, stabbed by Guerra before it could cause me any grief.
"CASS!" I heard Aunt Libby bellow even over the din of the battle, "RETREAT TO THE KEEP!"
"ROGER!" I screamed back, then turned to face the men and shout the same thing at them.
On my way to the castle I noticed that Haldir was in some trouble and paused briefly to break the uruk's shoulder as it prepared to strike him. "To the keep!" I shouted at him and began to pull his paralyzed ass down the parapet.
We didn't so much kill the enemies that got in our way as push them over the edge on one side or the other. There simply wasn't time to duel them all.
The closer we got, the more obvious it became that the gate was in trouble. The uruks had finally brought out a ram and I could hear the wood splintering. Several died when Martin fired a short burst but those were replaced as fast as they could fall.
Glancing out at the valley wasn't helpful at all. There were significantly fewer enemies than we started with but too many left for comfort. Throughout the night I had longed for light but didn't like the view it gave at all.
With a pat to Electra's shoulder I led the men past her and up the stairs that accessed the gatehouse. Only there did I release Haldir in order to do a head count and find everyone there- except Boromir, Aragorn, and Gimli.
Boromir's voice echoed from below, giving orders to brace the gates. He was fine.
"Where's Aragorn!" I yelled to Legolas, who fired arrows down at the uruks on the ramp.
"Down there!" he replied, tilting his head toward the mass of uruks.
Risking a look, I saw that Aragorn and Gimli were holding the gate- from the outside. And doing quite well really, but that was hardly sustainable. I groaned and smacked my own face.
In the corner there was a rope and I hurried to throw a length over the edge of the parapet. "Help me!" I called to Martin, since Guerra was covering the gate.
Behind me Martin grabbed the rope, and someone else behind him, just in time for a sudden weight to jerk us forward a few inches. At that point Legolas put his bow away for a moment; considering how light he was, his strength was staggering as he gripped the rope right in front of me. It was enough to pull both Aragorn and Gimli over the edge.
We weren't given enough time to even catch our breaths. One minute the gates were holding and the next, Gamling was relaying orders to, "Fall back! Fall back!"
The gates burst open within seconds of the defenders abandoning them.
"Fall back!" Aunt Libby relayed as she ran, gesturing to be followed.
All the running that I've been doing came in handy. With an extra burst of speed I caught up to her, making it in the castle doors before the uruks could even get close.
The doors were closed just seconds later.
Anyone left outside was doomed with the heavy noise of wood slamming against wood.
Again I did a head count and this time my stomach dropped. So few of us were left of an already meager force; perhaps two dozen people scrambled to barricade the doors. There was Boromir and the rest of the Fellowship frantically working to secure the entry with York and Guerra. Electra, Aunt Libby, and Iodocus brought them benches and other heavy things to help block the doors. Haldir wrapped his forearm tightly in cloth with a grimace. Andy, Mackey, and Murphy ran down the stairs to join us, still clutching their guns.
"It is over. The fortress taken," King Theoden sighed, clearly overwhelmed.
"You said that this fortress would never fall while men defend it! They still defend it! They have died defending it!" Aragorn shouted at him, angry and terrified and so, so desperate.
Aunt Libby leaned on the table near where King Theoden did. "The civilians are still downstairs," she reminded him, "We need to do something to give them a chance."
"Is there no other way for the women and children to get out of the caves?" Aragorn demanded.
Wearily, King Theoden's shoulders dropped and he closed his eyes for a moment.
"Is there no other way?" Aragorn and I demanded at the same time.
Reluctantly, Gamling spoke up. "There is one passage. It leads into the mountains," he said, "But they will not get far. The uruk-hai are too many!" His eyes were wild as he realized just how trapped we all were.
Damn. I let out a displeased little huff.
"Send word for the women and children to make for the mountain pass," Boromir instructed, "And barricade the entrance!" He put a hand through his hair, newly aware of just how fucked we all were.
"I'll do that," Andy said, grimacing.
Considering this might be the last time, I walked over and leaned my head on Boromir's shoulder. When he looked down at me, eyes full of conflicted despair, I gave him a tight smile. My hand grasped his tightly around his sword.
"So much death," King Theoden murmured, taking everyone's attention, "What can men do against such reckless hate?"
There was a long pause. "What would you want Theodred to remember you for?" Aunt Libby asked. Was she thinking of Stevie?
There was a small spark of life at the name of his son.
"Ride out with me," Aragorn said suddenly, "Ride out and meet them."
I couldn't help giving my friend a look of disbelieving resignment. The man was determined to get killed before he could become a king, I was convinced now.
But that seemed to flare the spark in King Theoden's eyes into an inferno. "For death and glory," he said breathlessly.
"For Rohan," Aragorn reminded him, "For your people."
"The sun is rising," Gimli observed solemnly.
Wait, that meant… Hope sprang up that I hadn't expected. If Gandalf hadn't been delayed again, he would get here very soon with Eomer and Matt.
I traded startled looks with Boromir.
"Yes. Yes! The Horn of Helm Hammerhand shall sound in the Deep one last time!" King Theoden announced.
Gimli took that as his cue, cackling as he ran off into the fortress.
While the horses were getting arranged, I took the opportunity to pull Boromir down for a kiss. "Are you riding, then?" I asked expectantly.
He nodded, hopeful and doubtful at once. "I must," he said, leaning his forehead down against mine, "Will you accompany the women and children?"
I chuckled. "I'm going down to update Andy and Mackey, then I'm guarding the doors to give them time to run for it," I stated matter of factly.
"Just like you," Boromir said wistfully.
"Just like you," I parroted teasingly, "Do your best to not die, will you?" What does one even say in these circumstances, when hope and despair are so intertwined?
"I can try," Boromir replied and with another press of our lips, went to help saddle the horses.
How many times will we kiss thinking it's likely the last time? I was getting rather tired of it.
That left me to join the knot of Americans plus Iodocus and Haldir in a corner of the hall. "Sorry I'm late, what's up?" I asked.
Aunt Libby gave me a slightly cross look before asking, "Andy and Mackey are going to have to go with the civilians, but otherwise who's going where?"
"I'll follow the short guy," Murphy said, obviously referring to Gimli.
"I'll go with him," Guerra added, using his thumb to point to Murphy.
"Our choices are down to the caves, out on the horses, or dealing with some horn," Electra summarized, then proclaimed, "I'll go up." She nodded with self-satisfaction.
"Up?" Murphy questioned, squinting at her.
She gave him a look like he was dumb. "We're backed up against a mountain, so I'll find a good perch up above to snipe from," she explained simply.
"Bless that the rain's stopped," I added, nodding sagely.
"Erm, you're sure you can make it?" York asked politely.
"She's a van der Zee. Of course she can climb," I answered primly, giving him a look of offense.
He raised his hands in surrender. "You said that Aragorn guy is a VIP, so I'll see if I can watch his back," he volunteered.
"Have you ever ridden a horse before?" I wondered.
"Twice," York said defensively.
I traded a look with Aunt Libby and we both shrugged. Better than nothing, we both seemed to think. "I'll look out for your husband for you," she teased, though her heart wasn't in it.
"Speaking of husbands, where's Stithulf?" I asked, though I didn't really want the answer.
No one seemed to have words.
My stomach dropped with realization. "I think I'll head downstairs and block up the entrance to the caves as long as I can. Anybody else?" I asked, raising a brow at the group in general.
Martin nodded and smirked. "Somehow I always knew I'd die side-by-side with you, van der Zee," he stated, almost amused at his likely fate.
I winked at him.
"I shall protect women and children," Iodocus said solemnly.
"Though my heart desires to die under the sky, the people of Rohan are worth the sacrifice," Haldir said, determined, "I will defend the caves."
There weren't enough horses for everyone left so an additional four men were assigned to guard the caves with us. For a few seconds I felt the edge of a panic attack creep up on me, but swallowed it down. "Who here's a good shot?" I asked the Rohirrim men.
Two of the four were decent, one was an expert, and the last sheepishly admitted to being near-sighted. I could work with that, I thought as I formulated a plan.
"Orders?" Martin asked me with all seriousness.
It felt so damn weird for people to look to me for instructions. That was Aragorn and York's thing. "Haldir, is your arm totally out?" I asked.
He flexed his injured forearm. "Nay, it is merely painful," he denied, "What do you need?"
"Martin and you who's very good with a bow, you stay in back and shoot any enemies that try shooting us," I ordered, "Haldir, you switch between your bow and sword depending on what's needed, and the rest of us turn them into sashimi with melee weapons. We hold out as long as we can." I looked each man in the eyes, making sure they understood that we weren't fighting for ourselves anymore.
There wasn't a single bit of hope in any of them. Good.
"Martin and I are going to make sure everyone's in the caves that needs to be and then we'll set up a little surprise for wherever manages to kill us. When you're ready, join us," I instructed the men of Middle Earth before waving for my old teammate to come with me.
On the other side of the passage to the caves, the twins had been whispering furiously. When they heard me approach they broke off their argument, glaring at each other.
I raised an eyebrow; when was the last time they had a fight? "What's the problem, princess?" I asked them both, half mockingly as I smiled.
"She wants to guard the caves," Andy ground out, lips pursed.
"Absolutely not," I immediately agreed, but it was fear that spiked through me as I grabbed Mackey's shoulder, "Sis, Andy's gonna need you. I've got enough people to hold the doors long enough for y'all to get a good head-start but you need to go now, both of you."
"Go where?" Mackey snapped.
"There's an exit on the west side of the mountains. I was going to suggest we go to Tharbad if we can," Andy answered with equal attitude. She crossed her arms under her voluminous chest.
"If they managed to fight off the thousand or so uruks that went their way," Mackey pointed out.
I rolled my eyes and grabbed them both to shake them. "There isn't time right now, you can argue about your destination on the way there," I ordered, "Mackey, you are going with Andy, Eowyn, Dezzie, and the kids into those damn caves if I have to carry you in myself."
Quite reasonably Mackey sneered several inches down at me. Maybe I was exaggerating but she got the message, snapping, "Fine. Tharbad, it is."
I nodded very seriously.
There was a tap on my shoulder and when I turned my head, it was Legolas. "Hm?" I raised an eyebrow at him.
He handed me my halberd. "This isn't a weapon to allow uruks to have," he said softly.
"Thanks," I told him and took the lovely weapon, "Good luck."
He smiled wanly before he returned to Aragorn's side, preparing Arod to ride out.
It almost physically hurt to hand my halberd to Mackey. "It's elf-made," I said, watching her take in the exquisite craftsmanship, "It'll never rust or go dull. Take care of it."
She gave me an odd look. "If you love it so much, why are you giving it to me?" she questioned.
"Because there isn't space to use it in that corridor," I said bluntly, "If by some miracle we survive, I want it back though." I gave her a stern look and waggled my finger at her.
She chuckled, almost with humor. "Of course. There's probably some kind of anti-theft spell on it anyways," she joked. Or at least I hoped she was joking.
I opened my arms and both of the twins walked into them, squeezing me so hard it hurt. My half-rib poked me uncomfortably. That wasn't why there were tears in my eyes, though. "Ow," I mumbled.
We all laughed, the sound watery.
"Go, and barricade the entrance behind you," I urged them once I was released from their death grip.
Andy practically hauled her twin behind her down the stairs, both waving on their way down. They couldn't have seen it but I returned the gesture until they were out of sight.
Only then did I let out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding. That my twin sisters and Dezzie were going to be safe was a real comfort and it felt like a burden had dropped from my shoulders. It was just Aunt Libby, Electra, and me left to die.
Just to be sure of no indignities, I took a quick trip to the toilet before counting up the bit of weaponry I had left: a dagger in each boot, one on my belt, my hair shank, a pistol, my hammer, and the few grenades I hadn't already thrown.
Staring down at the grenades in my hands, I remembered all those years ago when I decided to always carry an extra. Just in case of capture. Nodding to myself, I put one in the pocket of my overcoat and took the other three to where Martin and York leaned on the stone wall. "I need a hand and some cord," I told them.
Ever prepared, York pulled a small reel of thin metal wire from his bag. "Does the hand have to be attached?" he asked.
"Not to the cord," I answered, "I'm just not tall enough to reach where I need to put these babies." I wiggled a grenade at them.
"Nice backup plan," York said approvingly.
"Sir York!" one of the grooms called, holding the pinto horse I had ridden earlier, "Your steed is ready."
"Sir, huh?" I teased.
He grinned. "Apparently so. See you in Valhalla, guys," he replied and with a clap to Martin's and my shoulders joined the party preparing to ride out.
"Time for us to move," Martin suggested.
"Time to head down!" I barked at Haldir and my knot of Rohirrim, waving them in the direction of the stairs.
They filed down quickly, Haldir with a last few words to Legolas and Aragorn.
With a ridiculous manic grin I waved at the remains of the Fellowship. "See ya in hell!" I shouted at them while they climbed into saddles, then I sped down the stairs.
The caves were down the stairs, around the corner, and then down some more stairs. A very defensible position, I thought approvingly. Whoever first made this place was brilliant. There was just enough room for three people to move abreast but only two if they were swinging weapons.
"What help do you need?" Martin asked.
"I can't reach up into the corners," I said, pointing at them.
Together we were able to rig an adequate trap, finishing right as our assigned men and elf joined us. "Right. So we're all probably going to die brutally and painfully in this corridor," I told them, "The last person alive pulls this cord." I pointed at the bit of metal thread that gleamed in the torchlight. "It'll set off these grenades and bring the ceiling down. Everyone understand?"
They did, adjusting their weapons and clothing grimly.
"Roger," Martin confirmed and reloaded his rifle. Since he sucked with a sword, he was going to help provide covering fire.
I smiled up at him. Somehow it was comforting, knowing that if I died here it would be beside one of my best friends.
He returned the gesture, bright and not at all joking or sarcastic for once.
King Theoden's voice rang out but the words were indistinguishable from here.
My heart began to thud faster.
Horses' hooves clattered loudly and the noise of several war cries echoed down the halls from the main chamber. Barely, I heard the roars of uruk-hai.
I took my hammer from my belt and gave it a little whirl.
It was only a minute or so before the enemy appeared, rushing like a torrent of black water around the corner and down the hall at us. They roared and snarled and waved their weapons overhead, trying to intimidate us.
Nice try, I thought.
With wordless cries of our own, Iodocus and I rushed toward them.
And so the beginning of the end arrived for us.