Chapter?
***The Keep, Helms Deep****
Orian was shaking. She was drenched with rain, and elvish blood was mixed with Uruk on her armor. Her arms burned and she couldn't feel her legs because they were so tired. She glanced around, and saw Aragorn standing next to the Rohan King.
"It is over." The king said.
She came foreward, trying to keep the Uruks from breaking through the great door.
Legolas tipped a table over, and braced the door with it. He didn't notice Orian beside him, because her helmet was still on, concealing her features.
"Ride out with me." Aragorn said to the King of Rohan.
"For death and glorey." The king said solemnly.
"For Rohan." Aragorn replied. "For your people."
Orian retreated from the door, following the others. A horses's reins were forced into her hands, and she gratefully leaped to the Rohan saddle.
"Fell deeds awake." The king said. "Now for wrath, now for ruin, and the red dawn!" He sounded the charge.
Orian drew her elvish sword as the Uruks finally broke through the door. They spurred their horses forward, and Orian came also as they crashed through the unsuspecting enemy.
Dawn met them. Gray and faint as an ill child it lightened the skies.
She plowed through the Uruks with merely the greatness of her steed. Then as they rode into the thick of them she slashed with her sword, decapitating many and slashing the helmets and faces of the horrible beasts.
Suddenly, there was a great horses's cry and Orian looked up to where the sun was rising. Standing on the hill overlooking Helms Deep, was the white rider. The horse reared, and suddenly beside the white rider was another of the Rohans. Orian watched as a great company came forward. Rohan's riders had returned.
With that, they charged. Coming down the steep hill, the Rohaninium rode with the rising sun to their backs. They came swooping down on the Uruk- Hai, the rider leading them forwards. Crashing on the enemy, they fell the Uruks one after another.
As the rising sun touched Orian's pale face she knew that they had been saved. The elves and men had been able to hold off the hoards of Isengaard, and Helms Deep would remain in the hands of the Rohans.
"Victory!" The Rohan king yelled. "We have victory!"
Orian looked around, spotting several other elves battling the remaining Uruk-Hai. "Vellaneth!" She cried, raising her elvish sword high in the air. *Victory.*
The other elves looked at her, their faces although tired and pale, brightened. "Vellaneth!" They cried, watching the Uruks flee. They rose their bows and swords. "Vellaneth!"
She smiled, her aching body taking in the warmth of the sun. "Vellaneth." She breathed
****Later *******
Orian walked slowly through the mounds of the dead. She had been sent out by one of Haldir's lieutenants with the rest of the able-body elves to look for the wounded. Walking along the gray wall, she stumbled up the bloody stairs. Passing hundreds of dead Uruks as she went, Orian could already smell their bodies beginning to decompose.
She finally got to the top of the wall, and stood in the bright sunlight. Reaching up, Orian removed her helmet, letting her dark hair fall freely down her shoulders. Looking out over the wall she saw...death. Crushed elves closest to the walls from falling, and downed Uruks who looked as if the would still scream if she kept staring at them. Orian glanced up at the dawn, letting the purity of the sun wash her mind of the image. She glanced down, sighing. It was then that she spotted the bit of crimson. "Haldir?" Her heart-beat started to quicken. Only a piece of the cloth showed. Getting down on her knees she pushed away several stinking Uruk bodies. Silently she pled to the Valar that her fears were not true.
However, as she rolled the elf over onto his back, her hopes were only in vein. Orian's heart tightened in her chest, and hot tears swelled to her eyes. Desperately, she tore off her gloves, and felt at Haldir's neck for a beat of life, or the feel of warmth. There was none. Orian took in a sharp breath, sitting back in the grime and dirt on the wall. "Haldir?" She looked down into his unseeing gray eyes. "Don't be gone." Her voice broke, and she reached down, brushing away a stray bit of his long blonde hair from his face. "Haldir?"
It couldn't be real. It just couldn't. Haldir could never die. Small sobs started deep in Orian's chest, and grew so that they took everything in her. She laid a trembling hand on his now-stained golden armor. A million memories came to her then. Laughing in the Golden Wood, blushing because she had missed the target entirely when she had first shot her bow, and the times when she was still mourning for her brother and he had put a comforting arm around her shoulders. Tears streamed down her pale cheeks and fell on Haldir's face, where they were lost in his golden hair. She remembered when he had laughed, but here he would never laugh again.
Orian looked up into the sky, which was turning a deep blue. "Aa' i'sul nora lanne'lle." Her voice was shaky, but it was still able to carry the low tune of the song. *May the wind fill your sails* The song went, deep but vibrant in her chest. "Aa' menle nauva calen ar' ta hwesta e' ale'quenle." Tears streamed down Orian's face, and she closed her eyes, feeling the touch the sun on her skin. *May thy paths be green and the breeze on thy back.* "Tenna' ento lye omenta." Orian's voice shook once again, and she could only barely go on. *Until next we meet.*
The song carried over the waste of Helms Deep. Echoing off the gray stone it sang of the sorrow to the lost. Many of the Rohans heard it, and they stood silent as the mournful farewell came in on the breeze.
***Several Miles Away***
Legolas pulled up hard on Lazaro's reins.
Gimli cursed. "What ya be doing laddie!" He asked, angrily. "Do you want me to fall off this blasted horse again!"
"Be silent!" Legolas whispered, then turned to Helms Deep. "Don't you hear it?"
Gimli paused, then sighed. "I don't have the pointy ears of an Elf, you twit! Of course I don't hear it." After a moment of Legolas's quiet listening to what seemed to Gimli to be nothing, the curious dwarf asked, "What do you hear?"
"It's a song." Legolas said after a moment. "Such a sad song. Like nothing I've heard in many years." But that wasn't all, the voice, however being only a whisper in the breeze, was incredibly familiar. Once again he reached up and pressed the veil of life which Orian had given him against his chest, the crystal cooling his skin.
***Helm's Deep***
Orian opened her eyes. "Tenna' ento lye omenta." *Until next we meet.* At that, her voice broke, and the song ended, bringing on a deathly silence to the great stones of Helms Deep.
She reached up, not bothering to wipe the tears from her eyes, and undid her blue cape. She took Haldir's hands and placed them on his chest, and kissed him on the forehead. "Goodbye." She whispered. "My old friend." Taking her cape she laid it over his body, and sat there. "We will meet again, on the white shores."
She stayed there for a moment, until from off to her side there was a slight movement.
"My Lady?" Came a whisper from the rubble. "Lady Orian?"
Orian got to her feet, and came over to where several Uruk bodies lay in amongst a pile of smaller stones from the explosion of the wall. However, she also spotted a glint of elvish armor beneath it. "Hold on." She said, quickly pulling away the Uruk's dead bodies and then the large stones. "I'll get you out."
In a moment she had pulled out an elf, who looked younger than she was. Taking off his helmet she could see through the dirt and Uruk blood that it was Gerron.
Her protector looked up. "My Lady." He said softly, his blue eyes trying to adjust. "Have we defeated them?"
Orian laughed shakily. She remembered the warrior who was supposed to take her to Middle-Earth's shores, and who instead told her of Haldir's company. "We have smote their ruin on the mountainside." She answered.
Gerron took in a shallow breath.
"Are you hurt?" Orian asked. "Can you walk?"
Gerron nodded weakly. "I think I can. I think."
Orian helped him to his feet where he swayed, blinking in the sunlight. "It's not over, is it." He asked.
"No." Orian answered, putting his arm over her shoulder, holding him up. "The battle of Helms deep has come to an end, but the battle for Middle- Earth has just begun."
Together they walked away from the great walls of Helms Deep, where neither would ever return. For Gerron it would be the last of his battles. He was wounded badly, and would return to Rivendale to receive treatment and Orian would accompany him. But Orian knew she would return to battle. It wasn't over. There was still a duty to do, and so she was going to do it.
To Be Continued
(A.N. I'm putting them all on at once. So keep going. But I would appreciate a review!)
***The Keep, Helms Deep****
Orian was shaking. She was drenched with rain, and elvish blood was mixed with Uruk on her armor. Her arms burned and she couldn't feel her legs because they were so tired. She glanced around, and saw Aragorn standing next to the Rohan King.
"It is over." The king said.
She came foreward, trying to keep the Uruks from breaking through the great door.
Legolas tipped a table over, and braced the door with it. He didn't notice Orian beside him, because her helmet was still on, concealing her features.
"Ride out with me." Aragorn said to the King of Rohan.
"For death and glorey." The king said solemnly.
"For Rohan." Aragorn replied. "For your people."
Orian retreated from the door, following the others. A horses's reins were forced into her hands, and she gratefully leaped to the Rohan saddle.
"Fell deeds awake." The king said. "Now for wrath, now for ruin, and the red dawn!" He sounded the charge.
Orian drew her elvish sword as the Uruks finally broke through the door. They spurred their horses forward, and Orian came also as they crashed through the unsuspecting enemy.
Dawn met them. Gray and faint as an ill child it lightened the skies.
She plowed through the Uruks with merely the greatness of her steed. Then as they rode into the thick of them she slashed with her sword, decapitating many and slashing the helmets and faces of the horrible beasts.
Suddenly, there was a great horses's cry and Orian looked up to where the sun was rising. Standing on the hill overlooking Helms Deep, was the white rider. The horse reared, and suddenly beside the white rider was another of the Rohans. Orian watched as a great company came forward. Rohan's riders had returned.
With that, they charged. Coming down the steep hill, the Rohaninium rode with the rising sun to their backs. They came swooping down on the Uruk- Hai, the rider leading them forwards. Crashing on the enemy, they fell the Uruks one after another.
As the rising sun touched Orian's pale face she knew that they had been saved. The elves and men had been able to hold off the hoards of Isengaard, and Helms Deep would remain in the hands of the Rohans.
"Victory!" The Rohan king yelled. "We have victory!"
Orian looked around, spotting several other elves battling the remaining Uruk-Hai. "Vellaneth!" She cried, raising her elvish sword high in the air. *Victory.*
The other elves looked at her, their faces although tired and pale, brightened. "Vellaneth!" They cried, watching the Uruks flee. They rose their bows and swords. "Vellaneth!"
She smiled, her aching body taking in the warmth of the sun. "Vellaneth." She breathed
****Later *******
Orian walked slowly through the mounds of the dead. She had been sent out by one of Haldir's lieutenants with the rest of the able-body elves to look for the wounded. Walking along the gray wall, she stumbled up the bloody stairs. Passing hundreds of dead Uruks as she went, Orian could already smell their bodies beginning to decompose.
She finally got to the top of the wall, and stood in the bright sunlight. Reaching up, Orian removed her helmet, letting her dark hair fall freely down her shoulders. Looking out over the wall she saw...death. Crushed elves closest to the walls from falling, and downed Uruks who looked as if the would still scream if she kept staring at them. Orian glanced up at the dawn, letting the purity of the sun wash her mind of the image. She glanced down, sighing. It was then that she spotted the bit of crimson. "Haldir?" Her heart-beat started to quicken. Only a piece of the cloth showed. Getting down on her knees she pushed away several stinking Uruk bodies. Silently she pled to the Valar that her fears were not true.
However, as she rolled the elf over onto his back, her hopes were only in vein. Orian's heart tightened in her chest, and hot tears swelled to her eyes. Desperately, she tore off her gloves, and felt at Haldir's neck for a beat of life, or the feel of warmth. There was none. Orian took in a sharp breath, sitting back in the grime and dirt on the wall. "Haldir?" She looked down into his unseeing gray eyes. "Don't be gone." Her voice broke, and she reached down, brushing away a stray bit of his long blonde hair from his face. "Haldir?"
It couldn't be real. It just couldn't. Haldir could never die. Small sobs started deep in Orian's chest, and grew so that they took everything in her. She laid a trembling hand on his now-stained golden armor. A million memories came to her then. Laughing in the Golden Wood, blushing because she had missed the target entirely when she had first shot her bow, and the times when she was still mourning for her brother and he had put a comforting arm around her shoulders. Tears streamed down her pale cheeks and fell on Haldir's face, where they were lost in his golden hair. She remembered when he had laughed, but here he would never laugh again.
Orian looked up into the sky, which was turning a deep blue. "Aa' i'sul nora lanne'lle." Her voice was shaky, but it was still able to carry the low tune of the song. *May the wind fill your sails* The song went, deep but vibrant in her chest. "Aa' menle nauva calen ar' ta hwesta e' ale'quenle." Tears streamed down Orian's face, and she closed her eyes, feeling the touch the sun on her skin. *May thy paths be green and the breeze on thy back.* "Tenna' ento lye omenta." Orian's voice shook once again, and she could only barely go on. *Until next we meet.*
The song carried over the waste of Helms Deep. Echoing off the gray stone it sang of the sorrow to the lost. Many of the Rohans heard it, and they stood silent as the mournful farewell came in on the breeze.
***Several Miles Away***
Legolas pulled up hard on Lazaro's reins.
Gimli cursed. "What ya be doing laddie!" He asked, angrily. "Do you want me to fall off this blasted horse again!"
"Be silent!" Legolas whispered, then turned to Helms Deep. "Don't you hear it?"
Gimli paused, then sighed. "I don't have the pointy ears of an Elf, you twit! Of course I don't hear it." After a moment of Legolas's quiet listening to what seemed to Gimli to be nothing, the curious dwarf asked, "What do you hear?"
"It's a song." Legolas said after a moment. "Such a sad song. Like nothing I've heard in many years." But that wasn't all, the voice, however being only a whisper in the breeze, was incredibly familiar. Once again he reached up and pressed the veil of life which Orian had given him against his chest, the crystal cooling his skin.
***Helm's Deep***
Orian opened her eyes. "Tenna' ento lye omenta." *Until next we meet.* At that, her voice broke, and the song ended, bringing on a deathly silence to the great stones of Helms Deep.
She reached up, not bothering to wipe the tears from her eyes, and undid her blue cape. She took Haldir's hands and placed them on his chest, and kissed him on the forehead. "Goodbye." She whispered. "My old friend." Taking her cape she laid it over his body, and sat there. "We will meet again, on the white shores."
She stayed there for a moment, until from off to her side there was a slight movement.
"My Lady?" Came a whisper from the rubble. "Lady Orian?"
Orian got to her feet, and came over to where several Uruk bodies lay in amongst a pile of smaller stones from the explosion of the wall. However, she also spotted a glint of elvish armor beneath it. "Hold on." She said, quickly pulling away the Uruk's dead bodies and then the large stones. "I'll get you out."
In a moment she had pulled out an elf, who looked younger than she was. Taking off his helmet she could see through the dirt and Uruk blood that it was Gerron.
Her protector looked up. "My Lady." He said softly, his blue eyes trying to adjust. "Have we defeated them?"
Orian laughed shakily. She remembered the warrior who was supposed to take her to Middle-Earth's shores, and who instead told her of Haldir's company. "We have smote their ruin on the mountainside." She answered.
Gerron took in a shallow breath.
"Are you hurt?" Orian asked. "Can you walk?"
Gerron nodded weakly. "I think I can. I think."
Orian helped him to his feet where he swayed, blinking in the sunlight. "It's not over, is it." He asked.
"No." Orian answered, putting his arm over her shoulder, holding him up. "The battle of Helms deep has come to an end, but the battle for Middle- Earth has just begun."
Together they walked away from the great walls of Helms Deep, where neither would ever return. For Gerron it would be the last of his battles. He was wounded badly, and would return to Rivendale to receive treatment and Orian would accompany him. But Orian knew she would return to battle. It wasn't over. There was still a duty to do, and so she was going to do it.
To Be Continued
(A.N. I'm putting them all on at once. So keep going. But I would appreciate a review!)