Into battle we send the young

PG-13

Action/Adventure/Drama

Summary: Háleth, Son of Háma is only a boy, yet he is thrust into battle with Men and Elves against the Uruks Hai. How does this affect him? Read on and see. Starts right before the elves come.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my character who makes a guest appearance.

*&^&*

There he stands, a fourteen-year-old boy, scared and cold, standing amongst the other soldiers. Boys his own age, standing guard, next to weathered old men. He hefts the heavy sword up as it slips from his sweaty grasp. A horn sounds and Háleth watched the rows of Elven soldiers marching smartly up. He saw the exchange between Haldir and Aragorn.

The Elves turned about sharply and stood at ease. Háleth watched them closely, looking for fear in any of their faces. The fair-faced elves were emotionless. Before he knew it, Háleth was being ushered into the front line at the Deeping Wall. He could hear a far of beating, like drums and the sound of marching. His heart sped up and he could feel fear prickling at the back of his neck, he turned his head slightly to see that an elf stood next to him. He was tall, slender and fair-haired. The elf was unusual in the fact that he kept his hair short, unlike the rest of his kind. He noticed Háleth staring and turned to the boy.

"Something interesting you?" the Elf asked.

"N-no sir. Nothing at all sir. Sorry sir." The startled boy replied.

The Elf smiled warmly.

"Don't worry about it. I get lots of looks like that."

Háleth smiled weakly and turned back to the front.

"Are you worried about the battle?" the Elf asked.

"Yes. I've never. It's." Háleth stuttered, trying to explain.

"First battle, huh. Don't worry yourself. I'll look out for you." the cloaked Elf said.

Someone's voice came from behind them. It was another elf. A female.

"Celedir! Where've you been?" the frustrated looking elf asked angrily.

Celedir winced and gave Háleth a pained look before turning to the fuming woman.

"I went with Uncle Haldir. Keep your pants on!" replied Celedir huffily.

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not wearing any!" growled the she-elf, motioning to the long dress she was wearing.

"Ah. Well, it's not my fault Ada wants you to stay with Eowyn and the humans."

"It is and you know it. Who's this?" she asked, pointing at Háleth.

"Háleth." Said the human boy.

"Well Háleth, I'm Celedir and this battle axe here is my sister Calathryien."

Calathryien glared daggers at Celedir and almost spat venom.

"Háleth, you make sure he doesn't get into any trouble. I have to nag him later and I can't do that if he's dead. Luck in battle. And don't you dare go and get yourself killed Celedir-Eltirion Greenleaf." She growled before leaving in a huff.

Celedir winced and turned his attentions back to the wall.

"So. What happens now?" Háleth asked nervously.

"Well, you see those lights out there?" Celedir replied.

"Yeah."

"When they get close enough our archers will start firing at them."

"And what if the Uruk Hai get up here?"

"Well, that's when we use the swords an' give 'em hell!" Celedir said brightly.

Háleth blinked, frowned, then spoke.

"You're a very unusual Elf. Did you know that?" Háleth said smoothly.

"So I've been told."

*&^&*

And so they waited. The lights of the Uruk Hai's torches came closer and closer until they could make out the vague twisted faces of the beasts. Háleth could hear the guttural grunting and growling the Uruks made as they banged their deadly spears on the ground.

They were working themselves into a murderous frenzy as Aragorn warned the men on the wall to look for no mercy. Háleth felt the ball of fear in his stomach growing bigger with every passing second. He looked to the Elf beside him and saw the Celedir was afraid too. The Elf's hands tightened on the handle of his sword till his knuckles were white. Háleth heard him mumbling some sort of Elven prayer to himself.

All of the sudden, a single arrow whistled down into the hordes of Uruks, one fell and the battle began. Arrows whizzed past Háleth's ears, almost but not quite hitting him. The Uruk Hai began racing toward the Deeping Wall, huge ladders were hoisted and leaned on the stone wall of Helms Deep.

Sooner than he would have liked, Háleth found himself confronted with one of the fell creatures. It's breath stank and it seemed to be covered in some kind of placental goo. As if it had just crawled from the primordial ooze from which we all crawled from. It roared at Háleth and moved to cut down the young human, but before it could strike, it found itself impaled on it's own spear. It fell and Celedir stood behind it, grinning insanely at Háleth.

"That one almost had you! Hop to it lad!" Celedir said encouragingly.

Háleth nodded and turned to join the fight. Confronted with another Uruk, he gathered his strength to run it through with the heavy blade he had been issued with. He closed his eyes, let out an angry scream and ran at the beast. When he next opened his eyes, he saw that the beast lay dying amongst the bodies of Elves, Men, and Uruks alike.

Háleth looked down at his bloody hands and knew at once he could do this. He could fight and live through this battle.

Through the bloodlust, one could see that Háleth was no longer a little boy, scared and shivering, cowering in a corner. The young human fought valiantly, all thought of innocence forgotten with but one thought in his helmeted head.

I will survive this

.
*&^&*

Well? R/R. If you've nothing good to say, go and stick your head in a bucket. I haven't seen any Háleth fics out there, so I thought I'd write
one.