Orcs had begun to break through the main doors to the inner keep- and all Theoden could do was curse their names, which he did. Freely.
'How long do you need?' Aragorn asked, interrupting the king's continuous stream of words.
A sudden hope rose up in his heart as he replied, 'As long as you can give me.' And set off to gather together wood to prepare a barricade. Aragorn looked around him, seeing the bright orange hair of the only dwarf present in the battle.
'Gimli!' He called, grabbing the man by the shoulder and hauling him towards a side entrance, careful not to alert the Uruks to its presence.
Like water on rocks. He thought as he saw the beasts trying to force their way through the door, much as water does when it hits a dam.
The only question was; how were they to get over there? For a moment, he regretted bringing Gimli, of all people, who would not be able to jump the distance necessary to reach the thin stone bridge. But it was only for a moment. They'd find away, they always did.
'Toss me.'
The words were so low that Aragorn could not be sure he'd heard right. It must have been his imagination, reaching for the only possible way he would be able to get the dwarf across. 'What?' He asked, just to be sure.
Gimli sighed, irritated that he would have to repeat the words. 'I cannot jump the distance! You'll have to toss me!'
Aragorn nodded and, eager to get the king the time he needed, reached down and took hold of the dwarf by the waist, gathering up the strength he'd need to lift his burly body and propel it over the gap.
'Oh, er,' Gimli interrupted, shoving one large hand into Aragorn's face. The man looked at his friend with exasperation. 'Don't tell the elf.' He said pleadingly.
Aragorn sighed. 'Not a word.' He promised, though he doubted they would be able to keep it from Legolas for long. Once again, he prepared himself to take the weight of the dwarf into his aching arms. They'd been fighting for so long…
Gimli was across, and Aragorn took only a moment to unsheathe his sword before following his companion over the space. He landed and almost collapsed, taking more weight than was wise onto his injured leg. Ignoring the pain, he threw himself into the battle, praying that Theoden would bar up the door quickly. They wouldn't last here for long.
An armor-platted fist rammed into his side and he only just managed not to double over in agony. Taking his sword in a firmer grip, he swung it around and chopped of yet another orc head, but it was too late, the punch had broken a rib or two.
'Get out of there.' Came the voice of Theoden, King from the now re-enforced door.
How on earth did he expect him to do that?
Legolas watched from the wall of the inner-keep in horror as catapults bearing large ladders laden with Uruks shot up into the air, pulling the devices up after them. The first two made sickening clicks as they impacted with the top of the wall.
The third was slightly behind the others. Ignoring the pain that shot through his arm every time he drew his bow, he took aim and fired.
Even as the arrow sliced through the supporting rope and began to tumble back to the earth, the elf caught sight of his two friends trapped on the outside of the keep, standing before the boarded-doors of the fortress. Putting his elven reflexes to use, Legolas hurried over and grabbed the rope that he had only just disconnected from the ladder.
'Aragorn!' He called over to them, tying one end of the thread to a large stone and tossing it out to his friend. He couldn't help but notice the hunched way in which the ranger was moving, as if he was unable to stand up straight. It wasn't until Estel had entrusted both his weight and that of the dwarf to the rope that Legolas realized with panic that he couldn't pull them up. His shoulder burned with a thousand little needles that shot back and forth through his arm.
'What the hell do you think you're doing?' Rumil asked, taking hold of the tail end of the rope and helping his friend to pull the two soldiers to safety. Moments later, Orophin joined them as well and, together, the three elves managed to get the two men up and over the wall.
Where all five of them tumbled in an ungraceful heap, Legolas and Aragorn wincing in pain as their various injuries were put under the strain of cushioning Gimli's landing.
'Get off of me you foolish dwarf!' Legolas shot playfully at his friend, trying to conceal the true amount of pain the fall had put him in.
'What he said!' Aragorn added, turning a pain-filled grimace into a teasing smile.
'That's it.' Gimli said once they'd all clamored to their feet. 'Both of you are going to get those 'minor' injuries taken care of, and I mean now!' the dwarf bent down to pick up his axe, but only lifted it a centimeter off the ground before his face went paler than Legolas' and he dropped it.
'Seems you will be joining us, Master Dwarf.' Legolas said, but he didn't sound pleased. He had hopped that at least one of them would have gone through the battle unsacred.
'Why I- no I- oh, all right.' Gimli stuttered. 'But I won't enjoy it.'
'We don't expect you to.' Aragorn said solemnly. Orophin and Rumil looked at each other, then at Gimli. 'We trust you can handle them for here?' They asked.
'Oh, have either of you seen Haldir?' Orophin added.
'Yes, he's been severely injured.' Legolas informed them. 'They're taking care of him now, and I do believe that he'll make it.'
'He'd better.' Rumil commented, but he looked worried. 'Come, we are needed.' he said, turning back to his brother.
Getting back into the inner keep turned out to be far more difficult than one would expect. By the time the three actually did manage, they were in far worse shape than before.
'I think we may have been better off staying out there.' Aragorn commented as they neared the rooms that had been set up as a makeshift hospital.
'I'll say.' Gimli added. What had at first been a mere broken wrist was now a broken arm, a bruised shoulder, a dislocated elbow and a fractured knee cap. Not that he knew any of this, he just knew that he hurt. 'It's for reasons like this that I don't fight with my left hand alone.'
Legolas was silent, all his energy focused on holding back the pain. The same shoulder that had only hours ago been pierced by an arrow now hung useless at his side, blood trickling down from where an Orcken spear had sliced across the upper half of his arm, leaving a gash two-centimeters deep. His only consolation was that he knew he would live.
And he would be forced back out into the slaughter were men and children alike fought and died, washed away like stones in the current of orcs.
Theoden watched the level of carnage grow, being utterly helpless to stop it. Helm's deep had fallen. Only a miracle would be able to save them now.
He had thought that the coming of the elves would be enough to save them, but that had been a foolish dream. Aragorn had been right. This army did not come to destroy Rohan, it had come to annihilate those that called it home, and that was something that no amount of hard work could undo.
They had lost. The world of men would fall.