Battle of the Pelennor Fields

Author note: No mûmakil was harmed in the making of this chapter. / Rogercat

~X~X~X~X~X~X

The passing of his uncle was painful, and Éomer wanted to grieve, but the fighting was still ongoing. So with a strained voice, Éomer said to them:

Mourn not overmuch! Mighty was the fallen,

meet was his ending. When his mound is raised,

women then shall weep. War now calls us!

Yet he himself wept bitterly as he spoke.

"Let his knights remain here," he said, "and bear his body in honour from the field, lest the battle ride over it! Yea, and all these other of the king's men that lie here."

And he looked at the slain, recalling their names. Then suddenly he beheld his sister Éowyn as she lay, and he knew her. He stood a moment as a man who is pierced in the midst of a cry by an arrow through the heart; and then his face went deathly white; and a cold fury rose in him, so that all speech failed him for a while. A fey mood took him.

"Éowyn, Éowyn!" he cried at last, "Éowyn, how come you here? What madness or devilry is this? Death, death, death! Death take us all!"

Then without taking counsel or waiting for the approach of the men of the City, he spurred headlong back to the front of the great host, and blew a horn, and cried aloud for the onset. Over the field rang his clear voice calling:

"Death! Ride, ride to ruin and the world's ending!"

And with that the host began to move. But the Rohirrim sang no more. Death they cried with one voice loud and terrible, and gathering speed like a great tide their battle swept about their fallen king and passed, roaring away southwards.

And still Meriadoc the hobbit stood there blinking through his tears and no one spoke to him, indeed none seemed to heed him. He brushed away the tears, and stooped to pick up the green shield that Éowyn had given him; and he slung it at his back. Then he looked for his sword that he had let fall; for even as he struck his blow his arm was numbed, and now he could only use his left hand. And behold! there lay his weapon, but the blade was smoking like a dry branch that has been thrust in a fire; and as he watched it, it writhed and withered and was consumed.

So passed the sword of the Barrow-downs, work of Westernesse. But glad would he have been to know its fate who wrought it slowly long ago in the North-kingdom when the Dunedain were young, and chief among their foes was the dread realm of Angmar and its sorcerer king. No other blade, not though mightier hands had wielded it, would have dealt that foe a wound so bitter, cleaving the undead flesh, breaking the spell that knit his unseen sinews to his will.

Men now raised the former King of Rohan, and laying cloaks upon spear-truncheons they made shift to bear him away towards the City; and others lifted Éowyn gently up and bore her after him. But the men of king Théodred's household, those who had protected his father, they could not yet bring from the field; for seven of the king's knights had fallen there, and Deorwine their chief was among them. So they laid them apart from their foes and the fell beast and set spears about them. And afterwards when all was over men returned and made a fire there and burned the carcase of the beast; but for Snowmane they dug a grave and set up a stone upon which was carved in the tongues of Gondor and the Mark:

Faithful servant yet master's bane

Lightfoot's foal, swift Snowmane.

Green and long grew the grass on Snowmane's Howe, but ever black and bare was the ground where the beast was burned.

Now slowly and sadly Merry walked beside the bearers, and he gave no more heed to the battle. He was weary and full of pain, and his limbs trembled as with a chill. A great rain came out of the Sea, and it seemed that all things wept for Théoden and Éowyn, quenching the fires in the City with grey tears. It was through a mist that presently he saw the van of the men of Gondor approaching. Imrahil, Prince of Dol Amroth, rode up and drew rein before them.

"What burden do you bear, Men of Rohan?" he cried.

"Théoden King," they answered, "He is dead. But Marshal Éomer now rides in the battle: he with the white crest in the wind."

Then the prince went from his horse, and knelt by the bier in honour of the old king and his great onset; and he wept. And rising he looked then on Éowyn and was amazed.

"Surely, here is a woman?" he asked in alarm, "Have even the women of the Rohirrim come to war in our need despite Queen Elia trying to protect the female half of her people?"

"Nay! One only," they answered, "The Lady Éowyn is she, sister of Éomer; and we knew naught of her riding until this hour, and greatly we rue it."

"Faramir's lady of the heart, and the sister-in-law of his own daughter!" Imrahil realized painfully, fearing how his younger sister-son would react at learning that Éowyn had been lost in battle. Then the prince seeing her beauty, though her face was pale and cold, touched her hand as he bent to look more closely on her.

"Men of Rohan!" he cried, "Are there no leeches among you? She is hurt to the death maybe, but I deem that she yet lives."

And he held the bright-burnished vambrace that was upon his arm before her cold tips, and behold! a little mist was laid on it, hardly to be seen.

"Haste now is needed," he said, and he sent one soldier riding back swiftly to the City to bring aid. But he, bowing low to the fallen, bade them farewell, and mounting rode away into battle.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

And now the fighting waxed furious on the fields of the Pelennor; and the din of arms rose upon high, with the crying of men and the neighing of horses. Horns were blown and trumpets were braying, and the mûmakil were bellowing as they were goaded to war. Under the south walls of the City the footmen of Gondor now drove against the legions of Morgul that were still gathered there in strength. But the horsemen rode eastward to the succour of Éomer: Hurin the Tall Warden of the Keys, and the Lord of Lossarnach, and Hirluin of the Green Hills, and Prince Imrahil the fair with his knights all about him.

Not too soon came their aid to the Rohirrim; for fortune had turned against Éomer, and his fury had betrayed him. The great wrath of his onset had utterly overthrown the front of his enemies, and great wedges of his Riders had passed clear through the ranks of the Southrons, discomfiting their horsemen and riding their footmen to ruin. But wherever the mûmakil came there the horses would not go, but blenched and swerved away; and the great monsters were unfought, and stood like towers of defence, and the Haradrim rallied about them. And if the Rohirrim at their onset were thrice outnumbered by the Haradrim alone, soon their case became worse; for new strength came now streaming to the field out of Osgiliath. There they had been mustered for the sack of the City and the rape of Gondor, waiting on the call of their Captain. He now was destroyed; but Gothmog the lieutenant of Morgul had flung them into the fray; Easterlings with axes, and Variags of Khand. Southrons in scarlet, and out of Far Harad black men like half-trolls with white eyes and red tongues. Some now hastened up behind the Rohirrim, others held westward to hold off the forces of Gondor and prevent their joining with Rohan.

"Curse all the hells of both worlds! Did the South bring so many men that Suleiman was left with only the undesirable ones left?!" Oberyn muttered, driving his own war chariot around, mindful of the great speed and sharp turns that could pose a danger to the drivers as well.

"Padre! Padre!" Tyene called from somewhere in the chaos, "Look towards the river!"

"I can not take away my focus right now, sweet belladonna!"

It was even as the day thus began to turn against Gondor and their hope wavered that a new cry went up in the City, it being then midmorning, and a great wind blowing, and the rain flying north, and the sun shining. In that clear air watchmen on the walls saw afar a new sight of fear, and their last hope left them.

"The Corsairs of Umbar!" men shouted, "The Corsairs of Umbar! Look! The Corsairs of Umbar are coming! So Belfalas is taken, and the Ethir, and Lebennin is gone. The Corsairs are upon us! It is the last stroke of doom!"

For Anduin, from the bend at the Harlond, so flowed that from the City men could look down it lengthwise for some leagues, and the far-sighted could see any ships that approached. And looking thither they cried in dismay; for black against the glittering stream they beheld a fleet borne up on the wind: dromunds, and ships of great draught with many oars, but instead of black sails which the Corsairs would use and which the people of Gondor had learned to fear, there was orange and white sails bellying in the breeze.

"BY THE VALAR, HAVE YOU LOST YOUR EYE-SIGHT ALONG WITH COURAGE?! TAKE A PROPER LOOK AT THE COLORS OF THE SAILS!" Boromir yelled among all the chaos to make the men stop and actually look again, as Arash simply jumped off the wall and used an earth tunnel to travel below all the fighting men, horses and orcs.

Wanting to join the battle as soon as possible, the men aboard the ships used larger-than-usual gang-planks to connect the ships, and to swiftly get on shore in huge numbers.

"To the spears of Dorne!"

"Give them a taste of the fear and death they have brought to others!" Suleiman called to his own men, getting ready to mount a war horse. As the first men went towards the nearest enemies, Arash popped his upper body out of a hole, to give quit information about how things was:

"You arrived just in time, the Rohirrim and our riders could use some help even with the soldiers of Gondor trying to get out of the city. The Witch-King is slain, but there are other dangers remaining…hey, watch where you are going, Robert Baratheon!"

Still, it was nice to see the Westerosi King take action so quickly, riding on a borrowed war horse and swinging his massive war hammer around himself, sending the orcs fleeing in fear for this new foe. He was a born warrior, and there would not be long before he reminded everyone of why he had the Demon of the Trident as a nickname.

"Robert!"

Sending a last glare to Shireen and Rhea as a warning to not leave the ship where Brienne was standing with them and Eric, Stannis led a second troop of soldiers with Davos beside him.

"Oi, children! Do any of you have wind power? Those flying lizards are being troublesome, and there are fires in the first level of this city that need to be put out with water," Arash asked, just as one of the still "alive" Nazgûl swooped down in the distance. No one was surprised as Argella summoned up a new strength in the winds before aiming those at the Ringwraiths and their fell beasts, and Lyonel grabbed Aemon to put out the fires in Minas Tirith together with their water and ice powers, Lemore joining them just to ensure that the two princes were not hurt.

"Time to show that we ladies can fight too!" Elinor commented in a way that was all Robert when spotting the mûmakil and how the Dornish and Rohirrim faced trouble against the large animals, long vines beginning to form a ball of plants around her.

"ELINOR, NO!"

Too late, she had already rolled off the gang-plank in her improvised plant protection.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Éomer had also spotted the sails that were not in the use of the Corsairs of Umbar, and wonder took him, and a great joy; and he cast his sword up in the sunlight and sang as he caught it. And all eyes followed his gaze, and behold! upon the second foremost ship a great standard broke, and the wind displayed it as she turned towards the Harlond. There flowered a White Tree, and that was for Gondor; but Seven Stars were about it, and a high crown above it, the signs of Elendil that no lord had borne for years beyond count. And the stars flamed in the sunlight, for they were wrought of gems by Arwen daughter of Elrond; and the crown was bright in the morning, for it was wrought of mithril and gold.

Thus came Aragorn son of Arathorn, Elessar, Isildur's heir, out of the Paths of the Dead, borne upon a wind from the Sea to the kingdom of Gondor; and the mirth of the Rohirrim was a torrent of laughter and a flashing of swords, and the joy and wonder of the City was a music of trumpets and a ringing of bells. But the hosts of Mordor were seized with bewilderment, and a great wizardry it seemed to them that their own ships should be filled with their foes; and a black dread fell on them, knowing that the tides of fate had turned against them and their doom was at hand.

East rode the knights of Dol Amroth driving the enemy before them: troll-men and Variags and orcs that hated the sunlight. South strode eomer and men fled before his face, and they were caught between the hammer and the anvil. For now men leaped from the ships to the quays of the Harlond and swept north like a storm. There came Legolas, and Gimli wielding his axe, and Halbarad with the standard, and Elladan and Elrohir with stars on their brow, and the dour-handed Dunedain, Rangers of the North, leading a great valour of the folk of Lebennin and Lamedon and the fiefs of the South. But before all went Aragorn with the Flame of the West, Anduril like a new fire kindled, Narsil re-forged as deadly as of old: and upon his brow was the Star of Elendil.

And so at length Éomer and Aragorn met in the midst of the battle, and they leaned on their swords and looked on one another and were glad.

"Thus we meet again, though all the hosts of Mordor lay between us," said Aragorn, "Did I not say so at the Hornburg?"

"So you spoke," answered Éomer, "but hope oft deceives, and I knew not then that you were a man foresighted. Yet twice blessed is help unlooked for, and never was a meeting of friends more joyful."

And they clasped hand in hand.

"Nor indeed more timely," said Éomer,'You come none too soon, my friend. Much loss and sorrow has befallen us."

"Then let us avenge it, ere we speak of it!" said Aragorn, and they rode back to battle together.

Hard fighting and long labour they had still; for the Southrons were bold men and grim, and fierce in despair; and the Easterlings were strong and war-hardened and asked for no quarter. And so in this place and that, by burned homestead or barn, upon hillock or mound, under wall or on field, still they gathered and rallied and fought until the day wore away.

Showing creative use of her plant ball as it rolled forwards, Elinor knocked over quite a few enemies in her path, as well sending off long vines to protect the warriors around her. Yet as she stopped, one mûmakil was coming right towards her.

"Planning to flatten me below those big feets, huh? Think again!"

Showing off her love for dancing by taking a few steps, Elinor summoned some really long vines almost the same thickness as a ancient tree truck up into the air around her, before grabbing hold of at least three mûmakil nearby around their legs and bodies and trying to keep them unmoving by using the vines like puppet strings from the ground.

"What sort of woman-hating dunderheads to men in the distant past came up with the NONSENSE that traditional femininity means being passive and helpless?! Or that we women are not helpful at all in battle?!"

As a way to show off how she proved herself to be a true-born daughter of Robert Baratheon, a stray vine caught a troll and with a rather forceful jerk of her own body slightly backwards, sent it flying into one mûmakil, the force making the animal fall over and causing quite a few archers to fall out of the tower onto its back in the same movement.

"The Tyrells are NOT getting their hands on this princess in a marriage, for sure, she will only be used to increase harvests in the Reach and worthless stuff like growing exotic flowers in the gardens of Highgarden, all to show off Margaery Tyrell as the new Crown Princess and future Queen to Lyonel. If Quentyn feels that she is better suited for either Trysane or Mahaad, I will ensure that she will find a purpose in Dorne," Oberyn told himself in awe over what Elinor just had done. If Doran had seen this, he would agree with what the princess could do.

"Why is a CHILD here in the middle of battle?!"

More than one of the Rohirrim and Dornish soldiers, understandably, got alarmed at spotting Elinor standing there, without any sort of protection against weapons if an enemy would come close. Tirward was one of the men to quickly make a ring around the princess, covering her but not blocking her from using her control over plants if needed.

"Obara! Aim for the next mûmakil there!"

Apparently, the arrival of Elinor had alarmed the handlers of the mûmakil, as she trapped more and more of them with her vines, chaining both legs and heads with the massive tusks, preventing them from moving. Her powers were not something they had expected, or even imagined as a threat.

"Aim for their heads!"

That was a logical command, since everyone knew that a hit to the head could mean death in many ways. An arrow through the eye, a strike which went into the brain.

"You come here, young miss!" Tirwald said, dragging Elinor up in front of him so she would be away from danger.

"Lord Éomer!"

Leading the attacks, Éomer tossed a spear towards one mûmakil, but he did show some creativity by specifically targeting the Haradrim who was driving the mûmakil; not only would this confuse the creature, but it would deprive the others of a commander. Indeed, his spear got the intended target, and as the driver was falling down, his body got caught in the ear of the mûmakil. With the dead man's weight and harness pulling on the mûmakil's ear like that, this led to painfully forcing it to the side and crashing into another, bringing them both down.

"Watch out!"

With all the mûmakil held in place by Elinor though the long vines, it was little trouble for the Dornish soldiers to use scorpion bolts to bring down the giant animals and attack the archers who now had lost their main way of defence.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

In fact, seeing the banner with the white crescent moon, the symbol for the Imperial family of Rhûn, seemed to confuse quite a lot of the foot soldiers among the Southrons, not to mention, alarming the commanders who had been far away from Rhûn when House Martell helped Suleiman to make the coup that had installed him as the new Sulan without having to kill his father and half-brothers. The vast distance of travel had not allowed them to learn that there was now a new sultan, one which they did not know and who they had not sworn their loyalty to.

"The sultan…?"

"No way! The imperial family has not been in charge of their own armies since the Shadow of the East returned…!?"

But they had no time to talk. For now Suleiman showed that thanks to being raised outside the golden cage that was the imperial palace, he had all the weapon training as a warrior which his father and half-brothers had been denied as prisoners of Khamûl.

"I want the commanders caught alive, if possible! Try to have the common soldiers yield and surrender!"

With the Sultan of Rhûn leading those troops against those who had followed Sauron, it was almost a literal symbol of how Suleiman aimed to bring a new era for his homeland, one in which they would not follow the Dark Lord anymore.

Then the Sun went at last behind Mindolluin and filled all the sky with a great burning, so that the hills and the mountains were dyed as with blood; fire glowed in the River, and the grass of the Pelennor lay red in the nightfall. And in that hour the great Battle of the field of Gondor was over; and not one living foe was left within the circuit of the Rammas. All were slain save those who fled to die, or to drown in the red foam of the River. Few ever came eastward to Morgul or Mordor; and to the land of the Haradrim came only a tale from far off: a rumour of the wrath and terror of Gondor.

"Victory! Victory for Gondor! Victory for Rohan! Victory for Dorne!"

Aragorn and Éomer and Imrahil rode back towards the Gate of the City, and they were now weary beyond joy or sorrow. These three were unscathed, for such was their fortune and the skill and might of their arms, and few indeed had dared to abide them or look on their faces in the hour of their wrath. But many others were hurt or maimed or dead upon the field. The axes hewed Forlong as he fought alone and unhorsed; and both Duilin of Morthond and his brother were trampled to death when they assailed the mumakil, leading their bowmen close to shoot at the eyes of the monsters. Neither Hirluin the fair would return to Pinnath Gelin, nor Grimbold to Grimslade, nor Halbarad to the Northlands, dour-handed Ranger. No few had fallen in all the armies, renowned or nameless, captain or soldier; for it was a great battle and the full count of it no tale has told. So long afterward a maker in Rohan said in his song of the Mounds of Mundburg:

We heard of the horns in the hills ringing,

the swords shining in the South-kingdom.

Steeds went striding to the Stoningland

as wind in the morning. War was kindled.

There Théoden fell, Thengling mighty,

to his golden halls and green pastures

in the Northern fields never returning,

high lord of the host. Harding and Guthlaf

Dunhere and Deorwine, doughty Grimbold,

Herefara and Herubrand, Horn and Fastred,

fought and fell there in a far country:

in the Mounds of Mundburg under mould they lie

with their league-fellows, lords of Gondor.

Neither Hirluin the Fair to the hills by the sea,

nor Forlong the old to the flowering vales

ever, to Arnach, to his own country

returned in triumph; nor the tall bowmen,

Derufin and Duilin, to their dark waters,

meres of Morthond under mountain-shadows.

Death in the morning and at day's ending

lords took and lowly. Long now they sleep

under grass in Gondor by the Great River.

Grey now as tears, gleaming silver,

red then it rolled, roaring water:

foam dyed with blood flamed at sunset;

as beacons mountains burned at evening;

red fell the dew in Rammas Echor.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Author note: This is more or less why I made Elinor have control over plants, proving herself very useful in fighting the mûmakil. Not to mention that Elinor also is showing that flowers may be pretty to look at, but not all of them are harmless. It is meant as her, a classical feminine girl, giving a big "fuck you!" to the parts of ASOIAF and GOT fandom that is insisting on that tomboys or violent "action" girls are the more interesting characters

Yes, a small shout-out to Karl Urban as Éomer in the movies. Him using only a spear to take down two mûmakil was cool!