Chapter 11

THE BATTLE.

Arwen woke up, startled from the loud yells and all the movement taking place outside the tent. She searched for Aragorn besides her but he was sitting near the entrance, glancing outside the tent.

"What is going on?"

Aragorn turned around to face her and smiled. "Good morning my love."

"What is all that noise? The sun is not even completely out yet."

"Well, it seems that they are up for an early start today. At least Legolas is."

She came closer to him and seated by his side, contemplating the now very alive camp. Legolas was yelling at the soldiers, kicking them out of their slumber.

"Wake up stinky, lazy beasts! The orcs are waiting for us. Get everything ready!"

Aragorn couldn't believe his violent words and actions. "What could have ever possessed him to make him behave like this?"  But Arwen couldn't answer his question, she wished she could.

"What are we going to do Aragorn?"

"I don't know; I guess we will be going to the battle as well. I just hope he won't come here kicking us out of the tent." At this point Arwen could believe anything coming out of him.

But time passed and he didn't come to look for them. Arwen started to consider that he wasn't coming at all; after last night's events she doubted he would want to see her. Then the voice of a royal guard came from outside the tent.

"Your majesties, the General wishes to see you, at once"

They came out of the tent and followed the guard to the center of the camp. The majority of the soldiers were already gone, and Legolas had just finished strapping on his armor. It was a complete, heavy armor. It had a silver dragon exquisitely crafted on the right breastplate, and the shoulder plates were covered with strange symbols; his hands were also covered with spiky gauntlets, and very few parts of his body were left uncovered. A red cloak was strapped to his shoulders, he wore red war paint on his face. A great sword was attached on his back, and a powerful axe to one side of his waist.

When they arrived to his side, he began talking to them, a tone of authority to his voice.

"Good, you are already dressed and ready. You have to come with us, it wouldn't be safe to stay here." Arwen was surprised by his attitude; it was like nothing had ever happened between them. He was strangely calm and leveled now. His voice was cold and monotone; like if he was talking to strangers, polite and distant. It surprised Aragorn too, especially after the tantrum he had witnessed earlier.

"You will have to ride together in my horse. All of your horses died last night from the cold and we can't spare any of ours, we don't have many left."

"All our horses died?"

"Yes, all of them. They were not used to low temperatures, and besides they were tired from the journey. Oh, and by the way, five of your guards died too. They were already injured and the cold finished the job."

"Where is the rest of the royal guard?"

"They marched to the battlefield earlier. And so shall we, it's getting late"

"And what are you going to ride? You are not going to walk with all that gear strapped to your body"

Legolas held the horse while they mounted and replied "Of course not, it would take me forever to get there. I am going to run"

And with that he took off, trotting down the forest; dragging with him the poor royal guard who could barely keep up with him. Soon enough all the remaining soldiers of the camp were trotting behind them, and Aragorn had to spur Antares in order to reach them.

"Well, isn't that a bit of a show off"?

Soon enough they passed the marching soldiers and caught up with the running elf. Surprisingly enough the armor he was wearing made little noise as he ran. He looked like he was running on a grassy field with nothing but a light robe on. The guard been dragged with him looked miserable, the poor thing was already out of breath.

They advanced deeply into the gloomy forest. The sun didn't showed its face during all that morning, but it seemed to them as if the sun never shone there, not now, and not for a long time. The wind rocked the leafless trees, making them shriek as they touched each other, adding yet more to the already frightening surroundings.

About 30 minutes later they arrived to the top of a hill, from there the terrain extended downwards to a little treeless valley. The valley was surrounded on three sides by steep hills. There was a hill in front, were they stood at the moment. Then another hill on the right, and on the left. At the back of the valley a plain extended to the far southern territories, and they could already see the orc army approaching to them.

Legolas's army already stood lined up and ready. In the middle of the hill stood the infantry, a little bit closer to the top and behind them was the cavalry. And on the very top of the hill were the archers, bows in hand. They headed towards one side and stopped near a few rocks, on a perfect spot to witness the complete battle, which was going to take place on the valley. All the royal guards were already there, Legolas never intended them to fight, so they were told to stay there and protect the King. A few of Legolas's men were there too, and strangely enough they were holding an enormous bison (hairy buffalo). The beast was covered with an armor, its head and torso were covered with iron plaques, and it was saddled. Aragorn was very curious about the creature, having never seen one before.

"What is that beast for?"

"You will see, all in due time." Legolas then turned his attention to the approaching army. After a few glances he turned around and talked to his men.

"I think we are getting more than what we bargained for; there are at least 5000 enemies coming. Probably more hordes joined them on their way here. But not to worry, we will crush them anyway; we will just have more fun than we expected."

Aragorn couldn't believe his ears, and much less when he heard the entire army cheering at his words. He mentally counted the army, Legolas said he had 1500 men, but he saw less than that; and there were 5000 well-armed orcs coming to fight them, they were doomed.

But Legolas just kept his cocky expression and continued motivating the soldiers. Now with a loud voice.

"They have gathered everything they had left for this battle, they mean to finish this today. They are putting everything on the line to try to completely eliminate us. But what they don't know is that we intend to do the same. We WILL finish this war today. We will slaughter each and every enemy we have left. WE WILL WIN! We don't have other choice; we must risk everything we have to end this for good. I am willing to die today; I will give my life for you. Will you give your lives for me? ARE YOU WILLING TO DIE TODAY?"

"YEEESSSS!!!!!"

Oblivious to all the cheering and yelling taking place in the lines, Arwen, still on the horse was concentrated on the now very close enemy army. It was the more terrifying thing she had ever witnessed. Thousands of orcs and other infamous creatures, brandishing all kinds of weapons and horrid armors; growling and screaming at them. She looked at Aragorn with a grimace of fear, and from the look in his eyes she could tell he was terrified too. There was no way they could win such battle.

A loud shout came from the infantry down the hill,

"They are charging!"

The frontal group of orcs was charging towards them, running at amazing speed. Closing the gap between them and the bottom of the hill. Legolas got closer to the archers and focused on the approaching horde.

"They are close to the mark now. Archers, ignite!"

At once all the archers bowed down and set the tips of their arrows on fire. 

"Aim!"

All the strings were pulled and the bows aimed up to the sky, muscles tense and ready for the release order. A few minutes passed and the horde got closer and closer, but Legolas stood still, a hand raised to the air holding on the soldiers.

Aragorn was bewildered. "Why aren't they doing something? They are going to run over us! And I don't think arrows are going to stop them"

At last, Legolas clenched his fist and shouted the order.

"RELEASE!"

Hundreds of arrows soared thru the dark skies before falling over the orcs like a blazing rain, and their world was set on fire. A wall of wild flames arose in front and around them; their cries and moans of pain were muffled by the roaring sound of the consuming fire. Legolas watched all this with a satisfaction smirk crossing his features; they fell in the trap. His officials calculated the conditions of the battlefield, and the direction of the approaching army since days ago; so the day before the battle Legolas ordered some soldiers to spread tar over a certain part of the field that was perfect for arrow reach. The plan worked perfectly, hundreds of enemies were killed or disabled with this single maneuver.

But the flames died down soon enough, and the orc army wasn't going to be impressed by this trick, another large group launched to attack, quickly closing the gap between the armies.

The archers knew their work was finished there, so immediately after that first maneuver they ran down the hill to join the infantry; their strength was going to be needed. The order was quickly given, there was no time left to loose.

"Infantry ready!"

"CHARGE!"
The infantry was almost completely composed by southern men, dressed in their heavy armors and carrying swords, axes, javelins and square shields, they quickly ran down the hill and charged at the upcoming horde. Yelling, growling and swinging their weapons in the air, both groups collapsed against each other, provoking a thunderous noise as metal hit metal.

"Your men are greatly outnumbered Legolas. Do you think they stand a chance?"

Legolas didn't even noticed when Aragorn came closer to where he was, and now he didn't seem to care about his question. He was completely absorbed by the battle taking place. His men were holding on well enough, but there was another horde charging to the battlefield, it was time for the next step of the plan.

 "Send the horses"

A young soldier heard his order and immediately shouted the order to the men down the hill.

"CAVALRY, CHARGE!"

Mostly the men who once called themselves rangers, for they were still the best riders, formed the cavalry. They spurred their horses and the ground rumbled under the hoofs as they raced down the hill. Soon enough they joined the infantry, wreaking havoc among the orc hordes; running over and slaughtering everything on their reach.

When the rest of the orc army saw all this they united as one and quickly headed towards the battlefield; they noted that the entire resistance army was now in fierce battle and they intended to go and finish them all.

Aragorn prevented Legolas . "The rest of the hordes are coming, they are all entering battle now. I don't think your men stand a chance against such force". And yet again Legolas ignored him. He lifted up a flag and waved it, while looking at the other side of the hill. It was then that Aragorn noted that there was another bison there, and a man was already mounted on it. Then Legolas got up on his bison and started talking to the soldiers close by.

"Get my helmet and the lance, it is time to finish this battle"

The soldiers handed him a mithril helmet wich he immediately put on; then they gave him a wooden lance, heavy, long and with a metallic tip shaped like a bear claw. They helped him to strap the lance to his right arm with leather bands, securing it tightly. Legolas hung a ram horn on his neck and spurred the massive beast to start walking. He regarded Aragorn and said these words.

"King of Gondor! This could be the last of my heroic deeds, I salute you and beg you to remember that the destiny of your country and the entire middle earth was forged here, in this battlefield, with the blood of many brave men. If I die today I ask you to honor these men, don't disdain them because of their ways. And don't forget about me, I gave up everything I had for the love and respect I once felt for you."

"Legolas! What new folly are you going to do?"

But Legolas was already gone; he had motioned to the side of the hill, while glancing at the other beast rider on the opposite side. Then they looked at each other and nodded. In an instant they were both running down the sides of the hill, heading to the top of the side hills, sideways to the battle field, then Legolas started blowing the ram horn, the deep sound unleashed another sound, an even deeper rumble that came from the forests behind the hills. It seemed like the sound of crushing waters, like the mighty roar of an enraged river. Both Legolas and the other rider stopped at once, then they turned around and faced the battlefield down the hills. The rumble became louder and after a few seconds the reason was evident. Dozens of buffalos appeared from the forest behind Legolas and his fellow rider, they were all rode by southern men who also brandished lances. Both groups soon joined Legolas and the other rider at each hill to be lead in their mad race downhill towards the flanks of the orc army. 50 buffalos composed both groups with their respective riders. Legolas leaded the one on the right of the battlefield, and the other rider leaded the one on the left.

The riders positioned the beasts in horizontal lines, side by side, separated by just inches from one another and lifted the lances, ready to strike.

Now everything was clear for Aragorn, they truly intended to crush the enemy. But the maneuver seemed far too dangerous; the riders would most likely be killed at the moment of impact. Then he saw Legolas leading the stampede, in the front line were it was most dangerous; and he prayed silently. "Please don't let him die, not like this, not now"

Legolas leaned to the front on the beast and tensed his whole body, preparing himself for impact. The buffalos had reached tremendous speed as they ran down the hills, now they were about to hit the hordes. Closer, even closer. He could now see the blurry but horrid faces of his enemies; he greeted his teeth and let out a long, fierce yell before his beast collapsed against the enemy lines.

"DIE!!!!!!"

The sound of the impact was overwhelming, the buffalos reached deeply into both flanks of the hordes, running over and trampling hundreds of orc soldiers. Then, most of them collapsed to the ground, while still carrying their riders. Legolas held tightly from his buffalo while piercing enemies with his lance. He made it to the center of the battlefield where his beast fell dead, carrying him to the ground. He landed on a pile of death orcs with a loud thud and evaluated his situation. He was lying on the ground, with a dead buffalo crushing his legs; dozens of orcs were around him, and none of his men could help him; all the buffalo riders were death. He was alone.

He tried sitting up and freeing his legs, but a blinding pain in his shoulder and chest sent him back to the ground, crying in pain. He was severely injured.

The broken lance was still strapped to his arm, limiting his movements, he reached to a dagger on his boot and cut the leather bands, freeing his arm; but then he found out that he could barely move it.

"DAMN!"

A few orcs started to get closer to him; their intentions clear in their movements. He had lost the sword in the impact, so with his good arm he reached for the axe still strapped on his hip and raised it towards the approaching enemies. He wasn't going to be an easy kill.

Back on top of the hill, Aragorn was shocked; he had lost sight of Legolas for a long time now and he desperately looked for him among the fallen bodies. Nothing. He then turned to Arwen, but she was too frantically seeking him with her keen sight. Her face contorted with worry.

"I can't see him! Where is he?"

"All the riders are unequivocally dead, nothing could survive such impact. But maybe he did, I saw him cutting thru the lines, deep into the orc army, but then he disappeared."

"Damn fool! If he survived he is too deep into the enemy lines, his soldiers can't help him there"

It was then that Aragorn realized that despite everything the plan succeeded, the orc army was dramatically reduced by this maneuver; the remaining hordes were now easily slain by the still strong infantry and cavalry; they were winning. Some of the orcs in the rearward were already fleeing back to south.

Aragorn looked up to Arwen and motioned her off the horse.

"I am going to get him, he can't be death, and I won't accept it."

Arwen got off the horse and looked at him while he mounted. "Do you think it is safe?"

"Don't worry, his plan succeeded, they are winning."

"Please, be careful"

He raced down the hill, towards the battlefield and started shouting to the rangers in the cavalry.

"Your General is somewhere in the back of the battlefield, alone. Are you going to let him die like that? I know I won't! I am going to find him and I beg you to join me. An old man like me won't do much alone."

A group of ten riders quickly motioned to his side and joined him as he drew out Narsil and started advancing to the back, determination shinning in his eyes. They cut deep into the horde, but they were still far away from where Legolas was supposed to be.

Legolas blocked a deathly blow, then another and another. It was becoming hard for him to breathe but he held on. He swung his axe once more, severing a leg. And then again, piercing thru a breastplate. More and more orcs got closer complicating his situation. One of them could even kick his injured side, sending sharp waves of pain all over his body. He cried out and with the last of his strength, and a loud cry of pain he pushed the buffalo off his legs and stood up, at least his legs were alright. He panted, trying to catch up his breath and then a smirk crossed his lips.

"Come here you damn beasts, let's see if you are so brave now"

But the orcs kept coming, and the pain was draining all the energy out of his body. He realized that he was bleeding profusely from somewhere in his thorax, his armor and legs wee damp with his own blood. The axe was becoming too heavy for his one arm. His strikes became weaker and slower, his vision blurry; but he kept on fighting. It was getting even harder to breathe; he now drew quick, sharp and painful pants. He was suffocating, he felt as if his lungs were about to explode.

While still painfully dodging and striking back to his enemies, he began to think for himself.

"Well, I guess this is it. I won't be able to hold on for long. I wonder if they will aloud me into the halls of Mandos after all the things I've done."

Then his mind reached out and called for Arwen.

"Lady Undomiel, I leave this world now. I thank you for the many joys you gave me. And I beg you to forgive me for all the pain I caused you in this past days. I beg you not to cry for me, for I am not worthy of your tears."

Arwen was shocked by his words, her mind reached out to him, and responded.

"Legolas! Don't say such words, you are piercing an already broken heart. How will I continue to live without you? Come back to me my love, please don't leave me like this."

"You must know now that I love you Arwen, I've always loved you"

his voice was getting weaker.

"LEGOLAS! Please don't die, I love you too"

"No my lady, your heart and life belongs to another; I accepted this truth a long time ago. This is the destiny I took for myself since the day I fell in love with you, and I fulfill it today, for I will die now without knowing how is like to be loved."

"I am sorry Arwen. Farewell my love"

And with those words he broke the contact with her. She fell to the ground crying in agony, covering her face with her hands.

"Why? Legolas! WHY?

…………………………………………………………………………….

I have to say that this was the hardest chapter for me so far. I apologize if it didn't make any sense, or if it was too confusing. Also I tell you not to panic, this thing is far from over.

Again thank you for reviewing, I haven't been getting many lately, so if you like it please review, I just wished some more people could read it, but I guess it doesn't have what it takes to be a big hit, besides maybe is too long and too hard to follow.

Anyway, I thank the people who has reviewed, Layfield, Ammunett, Jastaelf, Saige, Princess of Mirkwood-Mrs Arwe, Goddess Morrigan, tsunami and Elfheart 996. Dear thanks for your comments.

Elwe Singollo.