Part 15

Aragorn wearily returned with Haldir and the others. Willow glanced up when she heard the door open and she rushed to his side.

Aragorn held Willow in a tight embrace. He inhaled the scent that was hers alone and let her nearness calm his racing heart.

Willow pulled back just enough so that she could look into his tired face. "Everything okay?"

Aragorn nodded and stepped back from the embrace but kept his arm around her waist. "I have much to tell everyone."

The others gathered around the long table and Aragorn sat with Willow by his side. He kept his hand in hers for he couldn't seem to stop touching her. Just her touch seemed to calm him.

Aragorn took a deep breath and said, "I have looked into the stone of Orthanc."

Legolas, Gimli and the Hobbits all began talking at once. Gandalf stood to the side and didn't join in the loud discussions. Willow just sat quietly since she had no idea what the stone was but she could tell it wasn't a good thing that he looked into it if Gimli's face was any indication. He seemed to be turning a bright red.

"I think your luck has just run out, Aragorn. Even Gandalf feared that encounter." Gimli yelled pointing to Gandalf.

"The stone is mine to do as I wish, Gimli." Aragorn said harshly, and then took a calming breath. "I am no longer in hiding, did I not declare myself at the gates of Edoras?" He paused before continuing,  "I showed myself to him."

Willow interrupted, "Him who? Why is everyone so concerned about this stone?"

"Sauron." Gimli grumbled. "He showed himself to Sauron."

Willow's heart stopped and then plunged down into her stomach. Would she lose him just when she found him? Did the Hellmouth curse on love follow her through the portal?

Aragorn saw the worried expression on her face and gave her hand a squeeze to let her know it would be all right.

"I didn't speak to him and in the end I wrenched the stone to my will. He did not like knowing the heir to Isildur with the sword Elendil still walks this Earth."

"That's putting it mildly." Gimli said. "He'll be after you now. He'll make haste and bring the battle sooner."

Aragorn gave a half smile, "And in his haste he will make mistakes. We will take the fight to him."

Willow finally broke her silence, "Aragorn is right. It is easier to fight an enemy on the offensive than it is to defend. We got very lucky at Helm's Deep and we may not be so lucky in the next battle. But, if we are the aggressor Sauron must fight on our terms."

Gandalf came to stand by the others and laid a hand on Aragorn's shoulder. "What did the stone show you?"

"A great darkness will come to Gondor from the South and this will draw away from the defense of Minas Tirith. If it is not met, the city will fall."

"Then let the city fall." Gimli said. "How can help reach it in time?"

"That is why I sent Theoden to continue on his way. With as many people as he has we wouldn't have made the journey in time. But if we take the Paths of the Dead we will be at the coastlands before it is too late."

"What exactly are the Paths of the Dead?" Willow asked.

"There was a group of people led by the King of the Mountain that took an oath to fight Sauron but they didn't fulfill it. At Erech there is a black stone were they made their oath. When they didn't fight Isildur cursed them that they would never rest until they fought again. It is said that they went into secret places in the mountains until they slowly dwindled. The path into the mountains is the Paths of the Dead. We'll leave at first light."

~~~~

The sun barely lit the sky when the new fellowship left for Gondor. The somber group passed by a line of ancient stones and dark trees all around.
 
Willow mumbled to herself, "Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh my!" She just hoped her trip through the haunted forest turns out better than the Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man's trip.
 
As they traveled on the horses began to get skittish and Merry and Pippin were having a hard time controlling their mounts. As they turned a bend there was a large stone monolith. The horses all stopped and refused to go further.
 
Aragorn dismounted and grabbed the reins of his horse. The horse shied but Aragorn walked him around the monolith. Willow followed next with the others following her. When they walked far enough away from the stone they mounted their horses and continued on their journey.
 
Soon they came to a meadow and at the end of the meadow was a wall of sheer rock and in the wall there was the Dark Door. Above the door there were symbols and figures carved into the rock. Willow closed her eyes and felt a shudder go up her spine.
 
"There is fear here." Gandalf said. "And evil."
 
Gimli shivered, "It makes my blood run cold. Can you feel it?"
 
Willow nodded, "It's very powerful."
 
"No horses will go in there." Halbarad said.
 
"We must make them." Aragorn replied, "If we make through this darkness there are many miles we must travel before we reach the coastline."
 
Aragorn led the way through the door. With much prodding and pleading the other's horses followed his. The mountain was dark, so dark that they could barely see in front of them. Gandalf lit his staff; Willow and the others lit some torches that they brought. The path was rough and uneven so for safety, they walked their mounts. As they walked through the darkness nothing jumped out at them but there seemed to be whispering in the dark. Whether there really was or it was their overactive imagination Willow didn't really want to find out.
 
Aragorn stopped and looked around the wide cavern. "Let us pass and then come. I summon you to the Stone of Erech!"
 
There was silence and Aragorn's words echoed throughout the cavern. Suddenly a cool wind blew and the torches went out. Gandalf's staff was the only light. The torches refused to light, even when Willow summoned the element of fire.
 
With Gandalf leading the group continued on ever slower. There was a light ahead and it steadily grew. The company passed through another gateway and there was light enough to travel on horseback. Legolas looked back at Gimli as he heard him approach. Gimli saw Legolas' expression and with trepidation turned to see what he was looking at. 
 
At the back of the line was Elladan. Legolas said, "The dead are following. I see men, horses and pale banners like misty clouds. The dead are following."
 
Elladan replied, "Yes, the dead ride behind. They have been summoned."
 
The riders came to a ravine and passed through it. As they came out the other side there saw the sky and a nearby stream.
 
"Where are we?" Willow asked.
 
"Men call it Blackroot."
 
Aragorn called over his shoulder. "Come we must reach the stone before this day is over." He kneed his horse into a gallop across the meadow.
 
After what seemed like hours they came to a black stone. It was perfectly round and about six feet tall with half of it buried in the ground.
 
Willow thought it looked like a meteor.
 
Elrohir gave Aragorn a silver horn. Aragorn took it with a smile, dismounted and stood next to the stone. He winked at Willow before blowing the horn. 
 
The night seemed to come alive with the echoing ghostly blasts of horns answering Aragorn's. Yet there was no movement in the shadows.
 
Aragorn yelled into the night, "Oathbreakers, why have you come?"
 
There was a whisper in the wind, "To fulfill our oath and to have peace." 
 

"The time is now. For we travel to Pelargir and you will join us and when the battle is over I shall consider the oath fulfilled. I am Elessar, Isildur's heir of Gondor."