Exiled-Knight: Yeah, Cal needs to defend himself from the vicious Trinity. :o) Thankies for reviewing every chapter or so! I had no idea how inspiring reviews are…
JediKnightBalthasar: Wow! Three reviews! ^_^ *jumps up and down, waving hands* Leave first bandage on… on yeah. Aargh! Where was I in all my health classes? O_O Sorry! LOL. Thanks for the advice… and reviews!
A/N: Hey, ppl! Sorry for not updating in a while. (Normally I update every day) The apocalypse known as Finals *murderous glare at backpack* has kept me busy… Also, the computer decided to balk… AAHHH! STUPID COMPUTER! *hits computer with LOTR book* DIE DIE DIE! *pant pant* Enjoy this chapter!
Chapter Five: Darkness Falls
The gates of Minas Tirith lay in ruin; smoking remains sending trails of black into the sky. Trinity and Aragorn leapt off their mounts.
The gates were in ruin, metal and stone littered everywhere. There were no human bodies strewn about the debris, showing that the defenders had fled from the gate.
Aragorn shook his head and plunged forward warily, instruction Sirius to wait for his return. The white horse immediately headed towards a patch of green grass and lowered his head to crop up grass.
The markets were devastated. Buildings were blown out and debris was strewn across the road. Bodies of the dead lay everywhere.
"They had no warning," Aragorn murmured to himself distractedly. He looked over at Legolas, who was staring off into space, a frown etched across his face.
"Legolas?" Aragorn asked in confusion.
Legolas shushed him. "Listen."
Trinity stopped short. Her body was tense and her face was screwed up into a frown. On the wind, the sound of shouting came. Hideous Orc voices and a furious stomping sound came closer and closer.
"Yrch!" (Orcs!) Legolas wailed. "Back to pillage!"
Aragorn drew his sword just in time. A small group of Orcs swarmed into the markets, presumably returning to plunder what was left of the city. They stopped, obviously surprised to see the group of people still alive. Their leader shrugged and lifted his blade into the air.
"ATTACK!" he roared.
Trinity launched herself at the Orcs, bringing five of them into a blown out building. Aragorn charged with Legolas fast on his heels, firing arrows into necks and cracks in armor.
There were too many Orcs to fit in the marketplace, so they entered in small groups-, which was a deadly mistake. As soon as a group of Orcs managed to squeeze in, the brave defenders would slay them.
Suddenly, the flow of Orcs stopped, to the weary relief of Aragorn. His Warg bites had been aching ever since the start of the battle due to the excessive activity. He was glad for a chance to rest. The rest of the battlers looked to feel the same, but they would not be able to rest for long.
Twenty huge Orcs bounded into the marketplace. They were as tall as trolls with long, muscular arms that clasped an Orc-scimitar. Their bodies were covered with brown fur and crudely made Orcish armor. Their legs slightly resembled dogs' legs and had huge, sharp-clawed paws. They had an elongated snout with rows of razor-sharp teeth and their red eyes gleamed with blood lust.
The Warg-Orc commander opened his slobbery maw and roared a single command:
"TEAR THEM TO PIECES!"
The Warg-Orcs lunged forward. Their appearance was so terrifying that the defenders backed up a few paces. The Warg-Orcs raised their weapons.
The defenders were completely outmatched. None stood a chance as the Warg-Orcs closed in, surrounding them and disarming them with single swipes of their blades.
Legolas fell, his arm shivered into pieces, his fair face a grimace of pain. The Warg-Orcs seized him and began binding his hands and legs, drawing cries of pain as his broken arm was tied tightly behind his back.
"Trinity!" Aragorn hollered. The Warg-Orcs were closing in on him. "Run-"
"Shut up!" Trinity yelled.
The last thing Aragorn saw was Trinity, disarmed, blood dripping from the gash on her chin…
"Don't move," Aragorn said through clenched teeth, desperately trying to hold a cloth to Trinity's bloody chin.
"Leave me alone, Aragorn, I'm alright," she hissed, squirming.
"I have tried that one many times," Aragorn growled, wrestling the cloth under her chin. She snarled at him.
The bleeding was clotting slowly, and her face was drawn and weary from the loss of blood. She closed her eyes and slumped over in exhaustion, Aragorn barely catching her.
"Rest now," he murmured, leaning her against his chest, feeling himself relaxing a little. Her breaths were labored and her body blazed with a fever, worrying him to some degree, yet he had nothing to help her.
"Well, have you figured out where we are?" Elladan asked Legolas casually. The elven prince shrugged.
"I do not remember much," he mused. "Those Warg-Orcs must have taken us prisoner."
"That would be a healthy guess," Elladan muttered. "Second question: How are we going to escape?"
"Escape?" Legolas asked. "Who said anything about escaping?"
"I did," Elladan raised his eyebrows.
"We need to figure out where in Middle-earth we are first!" Legolas said grumpily.
"Let me think. A dark cell?" Elladan suggested dryly.
"Are you always just annoying or are you trying to amuse me?"
Suddenly, there was a clang and a string of curses in Orcish. A door at the end of the hallway opened and a haughty looking human strode in, flanked by four Warg-Orcs.
"Well, well, well," he snickered. Trinity's eyes flew open at the sound of the familiar voice. "Look what we have here!"
Trinity launched herself out of Aragorn's arms and slammed into the bars of the cell, just inches from their captor's face.
"Dart," she hissed through clenched teeth. Dart smiled sardonically.
"Always right," he snorted, gesturing to the Warg-Orcs. They open the cell door and rushed in, seizing the prisoners.
"Bind them and bring them out," Dart ordered, waving his hand.
"I never expected to find a group of people left in the city," Dart commented, eyeing his captives. "What am I going to do with them? Hmm. Well, we seem to have caught the King of Gondor…" He stared at Aragorn out of the corner of his eye.
They were standing on a grassy hill, overlooking the Anduin. There would be no hope to escape, save jumping into the river, where you would immediately be swept into the rapids and over the Falls of Rauros in which you would probably die anyway.
Dart turned and struck Trinity hard across the cheek. Aragorn gave an involuntary shudder. "Don't-"
"What's the matter, King of Gondor?" Dart asked with mock sweetness. He backhanded Trinity again. This time Aragorn jumped as if he had been struck, tears stinging the back of his eyes.
"Alright," Dart raised his hands in mock surrender. "I'm done with her, okay?" He gave Trinity a shove over the edge of the cliff- and certain rocky death.
"NO!" Aragorn screamed. His voice echoed in the canyon, sounding twice as loud as it truly was, not able to contain the biting, deep agony that laced through him.
The tears almost spilled over, and he bit his lip hard to keep from breaking down. Legolas looked at Dart with disbelief, his mouth open with shock.
Aragorn threw himself to the edge of the cliff and looked over. She was falling fast, but at the last second she latched onto a vine with her tied hands and swung very slightly, barely missed the rocks on the riverbed.
Legolas whooped.
"What's your problem?" Aragorn yelled.
"She's free!" Legolas said.
Aragorn cursed. "She's tied!" he roared. "She'll drown!" He threw himself at the Warg-Orc holding his bound wrists and tried to throttle him.
Aragorn gave the Warg-Orc a solid kick to the head and sliced through his bonds with the fallen creature's blade. He threw the Warg-Orc off to one side and leapt off the cliff; into the water.
The cold water shocked him momentarily and he froze for a second before scrambling for the surface of the water. His head broke the surface and he was immediately sucked into the rapids.
"Trinity!" he yelled, getting a mouthful of water. He gazed frantically around until he spotted her blood-soaked hands desperately holding onto a large stone embedded in the ground. The ropes around her wrists were stretched taut around the rock.
Aragorn gulped. If she let go, both her wrists would shatter. He scrambled over to her and, picking up a sharp rock, sliced through the rope.
Trinity coughed up water, her bleary gray eyes focusing in on Aragorn, who was anxiously trying to get back to shore while securely holding her around the waist with one arm.
The current was too strong.
Aragorn cursed vehemently. Trinity cursed violently and got a disapproving look from Aragorn seconds before he slammed into a rock, almost dropping her into the water.
The pain shot through his arm and he sincerely hoped his shoulder had not broken. The rock shifted slightly.
"You're too heavy!" Trinity yelled fiercely. Aragorn gave her another look, most presumably for saying the wrong things at the wrong time.
The rock shook loose. Aragorn immediately looked forward to see if there were any more rocks in his path.
"Waterfall!" he finally screamed. Trinity looked ahead unhappily, wondering whether to be amused or terrified.
A frightened whinny rang out from the streambed. A mare, chocolate-colored with a light brown mane and tail, galloped along the shore, her massive wings flapping as if it was trying to fly but couldn't. Its piercing cry rang over the roar of the falls, its gray muzzle stretched towards its master, short by mere inches.
The mare ran harder, muscles screaming with protest. She stretched her neck as far as it would go, but still could not reach out and save her master's life. The shore abruptly stopped, forcing the mare to skid to a halt and watch Trinity and Aragorn roughly tumble over the edge.
Aragorn heard the mare screaming and shut his eyes hard, dreading the inevitable. He faintly wondered what it would be like to fly, and was thrown off the edge. He had a strange flying sensation and hit the water below hard.
The force of the blow knocked the air from his lungs and he thrashed for the surface. He burst up above the water, gasping for breath.
He shook his waterlogged hair out of his eyes and looked around for Trinity. She was nowhere to be seen. His throat tightened with distress and he let out a sad whimper.
From nearby, there was an answering whimper. He slogged over to the shore and fell to his knees in the mud.
Trinity tried weakly to drag herself out of the water, fiercely ignoring the burning pain in her wrists. Aragorn hauled her out of the water, willing the tears not to fall.
"You're a mess," he murmured to himself. Fresh blood was spilling from her mouth and wrists. "I'm- I'm sorry-"
"Not your fault," came her guttural reply.
Aragorn placed his palm on her forehead. She was cold- too cold… He was soaked to the bone and had nothing to warm her up.
Frantically, he picked her up and her body against him, trying to warm her up with his body heat.
"Don't do this to me," he begged. He sucked in a tortured breath.
He was going to lose her for good this time.
Trinity shuddered and nuzzled closer to his neck, uttering two words.
"Namarië, Ada." (Farewell, daddy.) She slid into unconsciousness.
Aragorn's heart broke. He could no longer contain the tears, and sobbed into her hair. Her breathing was so shallow…
A rough hand seized him by the shoulder, dragging him away from Trinity. "Leave the girl here," the Warg-Orc said.
Aragorn lunged at the Warg-Orc, wrapping his hands around the creature's neck. "Don't just leave her!" he yelled furiously. The Warg-Orc snarled at him, cuffing him across the face. The Warg-Orc's followers rushed up and grabbed Aragorn's arms, wrenching him off their leader.
"Just bring him," the Warg-Orc growled, backhanding the king viciously. "The master wants him."
"And knock him out," the creature growled angrily, delivering a brutal strike to Aragorn's temple. He felt his warm blood running down the side of his face, but he didn't care anymore as the darkness pulled him under. Nothing mattered anymore.
A/N: Well, just when things seem to be getting better for Trinity and Aragorn; I want to kill off my main character! *wicked grin* Is she going to live? And what's up with the winged horse?