Oh I'm so sorry to do this to all of you!  This chapter is short because I'm going to put them up smaller now.

Oh well, its still five pages long.

Again, I say *THANKYOU!* to Sirrah, (yes, our little Sirrah, who really *ought* to die for something she wrote today, but, alas, it is illeagel for me to kill her so…) for BETA READING!!!  Woo Hoo!!

Chapter 13: In which our hero's are *still* separated, Kat is randomly put in command, and doesn't like it, and Sirrah sends all the fires of Hell at something.

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Kat woke up.  Slowly, painfully.

"Erg."

She cracked an eye open.  Hair tickled her face, her first thought was that it was her own, but when she had finally forced her eyes open enough to actually see, she could tell that it was blonde hair, not brown.

"What the hell?" she asked, voice cracking.  The hair, and the tickling, pulled back.  It was a woman.

Kat groaned. "Again I say, what the hell?"

The lady gave her an odd look.  Kat began to sit up, but was forced down by the lady, who looked worried.  She decided not to fight it.

"Ok, I guess it's a good idea…"

And lay back again.  She found happily that someone had slipped a pillow type thing under her head.

"MiLady, are you prone to these episodes?"  she said.

Kat made a face.

"Hardly.  It's all Anne's fault."  She knew this for sure now, it was only Anne that could annoy her so greatly.

"Can you walk?"

"Erm…" Kat sat up, her head spun.  She decided to stand up, and suddenly was awake.  She grinned, whisking her hair back from her face.  She felt a bit better, and for some reason, was not suffering from her 'episode'.  The lady was still looking oddly at her. 

"Milady, we must move futher back into the caves, the orcs are breaking through."

"Aw Hell." Kat said, and then turned around. 

Boom!

"Oh Shit!!"

~^~

For a long while after Gimli returned, all was quiet, as quiet as it could be in a siege anyway.  The rain still pounded, and the urk hai still milled around in the distance.  Suddenly, there was a yell, and Sirrah turned around.  Black shapes streamed through the drain pipe at bottom of the wall.  Sirrah swore.

"Shit shit shit shit…" she continued as she turned and fled down to the drain pipe to help with the orcs now pouring into the deep.  Drawing her sword, she muttered a quick prayer and dove into the fray. 

"Should this be my time, then it shall be.  But somehow, I think I'll be left to suffer."

One of the men heard it and wondered what the man that had passed him had meant.  Then he heard old Gambling and ran to the help of his guardsman. 

The helmingas swept into the deep, and the orcs scattered,so fierce and sudden was the attack.  The man followed, the adrenilan of battle kicking in.  Soon, all of the orcs were killed, driven out, or to the caves, where the guardians took them down.  He looked around after the battle, meaning to find the man that had passed him in the fray.  He did find him, kneeling in front of one of the men, he seemed quite intent, and it seemed to the man that he was a comrade, fallen in the battle.  The man then shook his head and looked up. 

"Hey!  Can you give me a hand?"

The man started, it must be a boy, he thought, or a young man, the voice was deeply musical, too musical for a man of too many summers.

"Is he hurt?"

The boy nodded.

"He is, just come here, I've healed him enough to travel, but be careful."

As the man came closer, the boy lifted up his helm to look closer at his charge.  He nearly choked.  It was a woman!  He stood staring at her for a moment before she noticed.

"Oops."  She sighed. "it's the whole girl thing isn't it?" he didn't answer.  She shook her head. "stop gawking and get this poor guy somewhere where they can do something with him."

The man shook himself and bent to retrieve him.

"But…"

The girl shook her head and put the helm back on.

"Should you and I both survive, find me and I'll show you why I'm here." She said, then rested a hand on the man in his arms, a boy really.  "Now this small one somewhere safe, if there is such a place.  I've done as much as I dare." And she turned and ran back to the wall.

~^~

Sirrah shook her head.  My mistake, she thought, I shouldn't have taken off the helm.  She sighed, wishing again that Kat was there, she couldn't do much healing without tiring, and she didn't dare tire herself.  Climbimg up beside Aragorn and Éomer she listened to their talk of dawn and hope.  She sighed, then gasped.

"Oh my god…" she said.

Aragorn turned to her.

"Is anything wrong, Lady?"

Sirrah nodded slowly.

"There probably is, Kat just woke up."

Sirrah stood up, streaching her arms.

"Why is that bad?"

Sirrah looked down.

"That isn't bad, it's the fact that it means she's probably going to be needed soon, if Anne's behind all of this."

This proved truer than any would have liked, for as the men pondered this, the was a crash and flash of flame and smoke.

"Oh god!" cried Sirrah, "I am going to wring Sauraman's sorry neck for teaching the world that trick!"

"The Fire of Orthanc has been lit beneath our feet as we talked!  Elendil!  Elendil!"

Aragorn shouted madly as he leapt down again.  Sirrah moved to follow suit, but then saw the ladders that were being rasied.  For a moment, she was torn between the ladders and the deep, but choose the ladders soon enough.  Soon, they began dropping again, though Sirrah had to alter the spell.  They had learned their lesson, and the ladders were now better placed so that simply letting the clasp go suddenly did not send them over.  When Sirrah had figured this out, she altered the spell to burst as it hit, pushing the ladders juist enough to send them off balance and dawn again.  This presented another problem, for the first one to burst as it hit, also sent a bit of it's flame towards one of the men on the wall, and only a quick duck saved him.  Sirrah swore.

"Men of the wall!  Move away from the ladders!"

she cried with as much voice as she had left.  Since she was the one wieling the liquid fire, the men quickly complied, moving to fight with the orcs that had not fallen with the ladders.  Sirrah was kept busy with the ladders, for once one fell, another was raised in it place.  Whether it was the same ladder or just another she was never sure.

                There was a yell, and Sirrah looked up, a rain of arrows was coming her way…her way…Ignoring the ladders for a moment, she threw a shield up, making sure that it was as conserving as she could make it, then continued to with the ladders.  The Arrows kept coming, to no avail.  Sirrah shield held as she knocked ladders down, one by one.  Someone shouted at the men to flee, and they complied.  Sirrah saw her chance.  The wall was made of stone, and these ladders were of wood…wood plus fire, equaled more fire.  She took a deep breath…

                And sent all of the fires of hell at the ladders, now that there were none of her own in the way.    They all caught and flared up, even in the rain, the magic fire ate all it could as Sirrah raced across the wall to find somewhere to rest.  She came on Legolas, bow trained downwards.  Sirrah chanced a look down, and gaped.  Aragorn stood on the stairwell, defending himself from more orcs than she could count.  Legolas took aim and shoot, bringing down the foremost one.  Sirrah realized that he had more arrows.

"Shit…" she said, and looked around.  The answer lay next to her, with a lone boy trying to push It into the stairwell.  It was a boulder, large and grey, with a boy of about fourteen trying to push it into the stairwell.  Sirrah ran and helped him shove it down.  It went willingly, as soon as Sirrah and the boy had convinced it through shoving.  Landing with a sickening thud, it crushed a few orcs, and blocked the way for the rest. 

"Aragorn!  Sirrah!  Come, all that can have come safe into the culvert!"

They both nodded and ran for it, Sirrah dragging the boy along behind her.  They ran in, and shut the door hard behind them.  Aragorn leaned against it.

"Things go ill my friends.' He said, wiping his forehead with a shirtsleeve. 

"Ill enough," said Legolas, "but not yet hopeless, while you are still with us, where is Gimli?"

"I do not know," answered Aragorn, "I saw him fighting on the ground beside the wall, but the battle swept us apart."

"Alas!" cried Legolas, "That is evil news!"

"He is stout and strong, let us hope that he escaped into the caves for awhile.  Such a refuge would be to the liking of a dwarf."

"Oh shit!  The battle has moved to the caves?"

Aragorn nodded, wondering why this was important, Legolas first remembered.

"Is that not where Lady Kat was, when you last spoke?"

Sirrah nodded, tight lipped.

"Do not fear Lady Sirrah, she is as strong as you, and never will any man question your strength after this battle."

Sirrah sighed.

"Should we both survive."

"Do not speak of it!"

Sirrah nodded.

"To true, no need to jinx it."

But she still walked away with a grim face.

~^~

Kat was up, and feeling better, but felt that that wouldn't last long if they stayed here.  She turned as many men began to stream in.  She clapped her hands, not daring to put her fingers to her lips for fear of what was on them.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!  This is not a drill!  The men are going to be fighting in here in a few minutes, so remove yourselves to the back of the caves.  Do not fear!  We will protect you!" as the women began to shriek and cry, Kat hit here head.  "No no!  Don't yell, just make your way without turning into an angry mob into the back of the caves, or stand here and fight if you have any skill at all!" She sighed.  "Oh, I am really not cut out for disasters like this."  She muttered, then thinking that she had been trained for distasters like terrorism and stuff…and this was no terrorism.  "Makes me almost miss it." She said to herself, then took it back.  At least the orcs felt no pain, and asked for no mecy when dying.  Humans often did, if she had them pegged right.

One or two women stood forward, the rest began to gather their children and hurry back towards the back of the caves.  Kat peeked through the door, and found a multitude of men out side.  They were still in the large parts of the caves, the part where Kat had been put was only about four feet wide at the entrance, and the six further in.  orcs wouldn't come here until the end, and Kat didn't mean for that to happen.  She looked at the two women that had stepped up.

"Are you sure you want to do this?  You have no armor."

One of the women crossed her arms.
"They've probably killed my husband out there, and your asking me if I want to fight?"

Kat nodded.

"Very well, I'll go out there and find you some weapons, but I don't dare let you go into full battle.  You stay and guard the door, lest a few sneak in."

The women nodded, seeming to accept this, though the one that was outspoken fixed her with an odd look.

"But you have no armor Milady!"

Kat shook her head.

"I do, its just under my shirt.  Its probably why that dratted man brought me down in the first place…"

The women nodded.  Kat looked at them one last time, and sighed.

"Well, I'll be right back."

And she tried the door.  It, of course, was still locked.

"Hell…oh…wait a sec…um…." She cast around in her mind for the spell from Harry potter which opened doors, remembering that she finished most spells with Finite Incantum, so this might work…

"Alohamora!"

The lock clicked, and Kat nodded approvingly.

"Kick ass." And she slipped out the door.  Turning around, she trine to recall the words that she had used in Moria to lock the door.  They came slowly, and she muttered them before she whispered them commandingly.  She was disappointed to have to revert back to chanting, but she had no idea how she had done it magically, she had no time to get the 'feel' for it.  So she settled for the words again.

'Door! Open for no bird, man or beast

Be it from north south west or east

Crack you foundation before you creak

Be it monster strong or mouse so meek!'

Many men where milling around outside, readying themselves for a last battle.  They turned when Kat stepped out, and she put a had up.

"Men of Helms deep!" she cried, and thought sardonically that she had been giving a lot of speeches, considering she was in the middle of a siege.  The men turned to her, and she grew self conscious for a moment, then took a deep breath. "Do not lose hope, for Dawn comes!  If this is our last fight, than so be it, but should we fall, than let us bring some uruk-hai into the afterlife with us!"

A yell went up, and when it quieted, there was a grumble that came from the back of the group.

"That's a voice I haven't heard for a day…and by Durin's beard I am glad to hear it!"

Kat grinned, and began to make her way towards the front of the company.  She wasn't looking down though, and nearly tripped over the one she was looking for.

"Gimli!  Goodness am I glad to see a familiar face!"

Gimli grinned up at her.

"As am I, we had wondered where you had gone."

Kat's face darkened as they walked to the front of the company.

"Do not ask me that as of yet, for we have much to do before we can share our tales."

Gimli nodded.

"Then let us begin, so that the tales may be shared in full sooner rather than later."

Kat glanced backwards.

"So.  Who's in charge?"

None raised their hands.  All stepped back.  Kat's face fell.

"You have *got* to be kidding me."

One of the men stepped up.

"We are farm folk milady.  There are none amongst us who can command."

Kat looked at Gimli.

"Gimli, you should know something about fighting in a cave, what should we do?"

Gimli cast his eyes to the ground, and Kat could tell that he was thinking.  He looked up at her finally, and nodded.

"First we need to find all who are in these caves.  If my understanding is correct, this is not the only door that needs to be guarded."

Kat nodded, trying to remember what she would have done in a capture the flag game…except this time the stakes were a bit higher than the simple merciless teasing that happened in her neighborhood if one lost a capture the falg game.

"I need two men or boys, skilled in hunting and tracking, and of walking through forests without being noted by their game."  She said quietly, though all heard. 

Three stepped up, a boy of fourteen or so, a man of thirty and a teen that was just older than Kat herself.  Kat quailed at the sight of them, afraid to command them to go to their death.  She took a deep breath, then another, and another.

"Right.  One of you go to the right, and one to the left, if you find any, send them here."

Gimli tapped her arm.

"Éomer was with me when we first entered the caves.  Perhaps he is still about."

Kat nodded.

"If you find Éomer …tell him that a dragon asks his orders." She smirked as she said this, and Gimli grinned fiercely.  The three nodded, and set off.  Kat sighed.

"Where are the orcs?  I would think that they would be with you when you came."

Gimli shook his head.

"They were, but the fell back when we entered.  It seemed that they were gathering for a greater attack."

Kat sat down and sighed.

"Great." She said sarcastically. "Well, it gives us more time."

Gimli nodded and leaned on his axe.

 Kat sighed again, and looked around some more.

"All right boys…and men, and…oh whatever…"  the men looked around at each other, confused as Kat was as she rubbed her head.  Suddenly, she looked up.  "Crap.  Any one got some extra weapons?"

There were a few daggers put forth, but no swords.  Kat wasn't surprised.  She took all of the donations and went to the door, knocking on it.  There was an answering shout, and Kat suddenly remembered the spell.  Putting her hand to the door, she whispered the ending words, and poked her head through.  The women started at her, looking slightly intimidated.  Kat didn't know why, but shrugged it off and handed them the weapons.

"Well.  Here you are.  Guard the door, should they come through, if all fails, lead them through the hidden entrances to the mountains, if you have any amoung you that know where they are…"

The women nodded and Kat closed the door, letting out a heavy breath.

"I really hope that the battle never comes down to them." She murmured as she hurridly whispered the locking spell again.  As she finished, there was a scuffle, and Kat ran to the front, only to realize that it was a combination of her spys coming back and jumpity farmers.  The men bowed quickly, and Kat shook her head to clear it, reassuring to herself that she had actually just had someone bow to her like a captin does to a genral.

"Um…well?"

The boy her age smiled.  Goddamnit, she thought, he's hot, and he'll probably die, damn it all to hell.  She sighed and tuned in as he happily gave her the news.

"We have found Éomer , and he says to gather to him, so that the horseman and the dragon may fight together!"

Kat shook her head.  They were far too humorus for their situation.  Then she smiled.  What else could they do? 

"Well then," said Gimli, "What are we watiting for?!"

Kat smiled down at him.

"Indeed, I should wonder.  Lead on!"

The three spies turned guides turned and lead them to the right, where the cave they were in grew larger until it joined another, another turn and they were in the midst of a large group of men, all milling around.  Kat was confused for a moment, but then focused her eyes to compensate for the higher light and more people. 

"Well Gimli.  It looks as If we'll be retiring our command."

"Good! is all I'll say for that!"

Kat nodded.

"I'm with you there, master dwarf.  I'm with you there."

~^~