Fate
By Ladybug


Disclaimer:  I own no one, but Anya and Cantehoon is a village of my own making.  All other characters belong to Tolkien, thank God, for he didn't see the need to kill off Haldir.  ;-)


Rated R


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


Chapter 5


The devastation and destruction up on the upper wall was horrendous.  Never had she seen so much blood and violence.  Not even the destruction of her village could compare to the total devastation of what lay before her.


Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled unchecked down her cheeks.  The healer in her rebelled against what she saw.  Men, boys - mere children - lay strewn about.  Elves, who just hours before had marched regally into Helms Deep to offer their assistance lay dead.  Orcs, the spawn of Saruman, also lay dead amongst the others.  Anya considered it an abomination to have such creatures lie beside those of honor.


She started when she felt hands come to rest on her shoulders, the gentle bump of a warm body behind her.  "Over there," came Aragorn's voice, his hand lifting to point in the direction where he'd left Haldir.


Anya closed her eyes, her breath frozen in her lungs.  Did she really want to see this?  Did she really want the last memory of her love to be in death?  Haldir… her heart cried out in pain.  Why did you leave me?


Suddenly, there was a pulse, so faded and weak, she nearly did not feel its beat within her soul.  Her eyes flew open and they landed on a sight that made her knees buckle.  Haldir, her beloved, lay across the body of a dead orc.  Under the glaring reality of the morning sun, she could see the dark stain of his blood across his stomach.  The beautiful, handsome face that she had known for such a heartbreakingly short time was tilted to one side and smudged with dirt and blood.  A low whimper of denial ripped past her throat sounding like that of a wounded animal.


Aragorn moved swiftly to keep her from sinking to the ground in a heap.  He swung her up in his strong arms, cursing himself silently for allowing her to talk him into doing this.  "I was a fool to allow this," he spoke softly and started to turn around and take her back down.


Again she felt a pulse within her, a heartbeat.  It stuttered then pulsed again.  "Haldir…" she whispered his name.  He was alive!  "No!  Put me down," she exclaimed suddenly, urgency tingeing her voice.  "Put me down, he is alive, he is alive!"


She began to struggle against Aragorn, forcing him to set her on her feet or risk dropping her.  "Anya," he called to her as he tried to reach for her, but she broke away from his grasp and ran to where Haldir lay.


Dropping to her knees beside him, her hands fluttered, hovering over him in a brief moment of panicked indecision then once more the healer kicked in, pushing aside the distraught, terrified woman.  Her hand immediately dropped to his neck, her fingers pressing in to find his pulse.  At first she felt nothing and panic nearly seized her again, and then she felt it… weak and thready.


"He's alive," the words barely made it past her tight throat.  She turned as Aragorn rushed up to kneel beside her.  She could barely bring him into focus through the tears that flooded her eyes.  "He's alive!"


For the second time in days, Aragorn wore an expression of stunned shock.  First Gandalf was believed to be dead.  With his own eyes, he had witnessed the great wizard fall to his death in the hellmouth of Moria, but then he had turned up in the forest of Fangorn very much alive.  Haldir had died in his arms.  He was sure of it, but yet now, here he was alive, albeit barely, but still alive.


"If I had known…" his voice trailed off as the memory of how he'd been forced to abandon his friend when more orcs had attacked.  He shook his head as if to clear away the painful memory.  "I would never have left him here had I known he still breathed."


Anya placed her hand on top of his drawing his attention to her.  "Of course not, Aragorn.  But we cannot think on that now.  We must get him below, and quickly.

Aragorn nodded and rose to his feet quickly.  "I will get some help."  He spun away and ran back towards the stairs to get help.


Anya turned back to Haldir and quickly began assessing the worst wounds.  If what she had seen in her dream had truly been a vision, then she knew he had received a very bad wound to the back.  She needed to stop the bleeding or all hope was lost.


Grabbing at the material of his cloak, she tore off a large piece and pressed it against the wound in his stomach.  She would have to worry about the wound to his back once help arrived, for she knew she couldn't turn him over herself without possibly causing more damage.


"Hang on, my love," she whispered softly as she reached out with her free hand to stroke his hair away from his face. 

You must keep fighting.  You must live for me.  Her heart whispered the words to him, hoping they would reach him wherever he was and encourage him to keep fighting.


Moments later she heard the sound of running feet as Aragorn returned with several of the elves that had survived the battle.  She leaned over and pressed a kiss to his forehead then rose up as Aragorn gave quick orders to gently lift Haldir up and carry him below.