DISCLAIMER: Lord of the Rings isn't mine. Gwen, Maedron, and Skeet are mine though, so no touchy!!!
* A couple of parts of this story are from TTT extended version, so no, I cannot take credit for the nervous system thing, darn it!
A bench scraped across the stone floor as Gwen attempted to drag it to the door. She winced and kept tugging, trying to ignore her sore limbs. When the bench reached the door, what few men were left propped it up to barricade the entrance. Gwen turned to get another, nearly running into Legolas in the process.
" Oops! Sorry," she said as she walked over and began to pull on a table. It was a bit more difficult than the bench, being quite a bit larger and heavier. She braced her legs against the ground and pulled. The table moved slightly. Gwen closed her eyes and applied all her strength to pulling it. So much strength in fact, that when Maedron got on the other side to help her push, the sudden forward movement on the table caused her to fall backwards!
" Aye!" she yelled as she fell on her behind. Maedron walked around to help her up, trying not to laugh at the sight of her sitting on the floor, rubbing her behind.
" Did you think that I really needed to add another injury to my list? How am I supposed to ride my horse now?" she said, scowling up at him.
" You will just have to stand in the saddle," he responded, pulling her up.
" That's easy for you to say. You have never seen my horse," she said darkly. Walking around to the other side of the table, she began to push. He pulled on the side she had been previously on. This caused Gwen to nearly fall forwards. She caught herself, but not before she banged her knee on the ground.
" Okay, you push, and I'll pull," she said as she stood up, favoring her knee. They did so and managed to get the table to the door without further event. Gwen rushed over to Aragorn.
" Aragorn, that door isn't going to hold for much longer. Those orcs are going to bring the battering ram in," she said in alarm. Aragorn nodded, knowing that the situation was near hopeless.
" What use is it? The Keep has fallen," despaired the King.
" Is there another way to get the women and children out of the caves?" asked Aragorn. The Kings helper looked at him.
" Is there no other way?" Aragorn asked, this time more forcefully. The man nodded.
" There is one pass. It leads out and into the mountains. But they will not get far, the Uruk are too many," he replied.
" At least they will have some chance of escape," said Gwen.
" Get he women and children into the mountains, and barricade the entrance!" commanded Aragorn.
" So much death! What can man do against such reckless hate?" lamented the King. Aragorn looked at him.
" Ride out with me," he said softly.
" For what? Death and glory?" asked the King.
" For Rohan," answered Aragorn.
" The sun is rising," remarked Gimli. Gwen looked to the window and sure enough, gentle rays of light were creeping in. Their warmth caressed her face.
" Gandalf," whispered Aragorn. Gwen knew then that something was about to happen. She looked at Aragorn.
" Yes! We will meet them head on! The Horn will sound in the Hornburg one last time!" Theoden said with raw determination. Gwen smiled and ran with the others to get the horses. She reached Skeet and grabbed his reins.
" Come!" she commanded him, " And no biting!" Skeet followed her out. She swung herself up onto him and rode up behind Legolas. Maedron situated himself next to her. The King drew his sword. Gwen pulled her's out and readied it in her hand. The orcs were battering away at the door. Gwen's heart pounded against her chest. The door crashed inwards and orcs began flooding in.
" CHARGE!!" yelled Theoden. The riders kicked their horses into a gallop and ran at the orcs. Gwen swung her sword in a glittering arc and took off an orc's head. She continued hacking from side to side, making a way for her horse. The company burst into the open air. Gwen's senses came alive in the morning air. Fresh energy flowed through her body as the sun thawed her limbs.
" YAGH!" she cried as she stabbed at an orc. Gwen followed Legolas out the doors and onto the ramp leading out of the Keep. Orcs fell away like water as the riders spurred their horses onward. Gwen caught her breath. There were so many orcs left over from the battle! She continued fighting, wreaking havoc amongst the orcs around her. Maedron loomed up on her left. He was on a huge coal black horse. She watched in horror as an orc ran up and, with a quick thrust of its sword, it slew the animal. Maedron managed to leap off the fallen beast before he was trapped underneath it.
" Maedron! Hold on!" yelled Gwen as she maneuvered Skeet in his direction. He stood, fighting off the orcs that were coming at him. I have got to get him off the ground, Gwen thought earnestly. She gave Skeet a mighty kick to move him forward. The horse leapt towards him. Gwen pulled him up sharply next to the elf.
" Come on!" she yelled, holding her hand down to him. He grasped it and she helped him up on Skeet, who was not very pleased by the turn of events.
" Hold on, he isn't going to be very happy!" she told Maedron. He locked his arms around her waist. Gwen was right. Skeet didn't like what was going on. He made it known by rearing up off the ground. Gwen and Maedron clung to his back. When the horse's front hooves hit the ground again, Gwen began to speak softly in elvish to him, which calmed him down. She then jerked on the reins to steer him towards Aragorn. Maedron sat behind her, taking out orcs as they went. Gwen felt his sword whistle very close to her ear.
" Would you please try to refrain from cutting off my head?!" she yelled in annoyance. Her anger vanished as she looked up onto the ridge. There, in all his shining glory, was Gandalf on Shadowfax.
" Gandalf!" Gwen shrieked. Maedron looked over her shoulder.
" Mithrandir!" he said in astonishment. Another man came up along side Gandalf.
" That looks like Eomer!" Gwen yelled as she swung her sword at an orc. She was right. Gandalf began to charge down the hill with Eomer. Two thousand men followed. It was amazing. All the orcs ran to face the new men. The horses slid down the slope. Just before they reached the bottom, the sun appeared over the ridge, blinding the orcs. Gandalf and Eomer's men attacked the orcs full force. Gwen was so happy that tears were streaming out of her eyes. She gave Skeet another hefty kick at began to kill orcs at an almost manic rate. The orcs were soon running with the riders in hot pursuit. Up ahead, Gwen saw that the orcs were fleeing into a forest. She pulled Skeet up sharply.
" We are going to let them escape?" asked Maedron incredulously, the light of battle in his eyes.
" That forest was not here when we arrived. Something tells me we should not enter," she responded, looking back at him. Eomer rode along the front of the line.
" Stay away from the trees!" he shouted.
" See? I was right," said Gwen. The riders watched the orcs disappear into the forest. Shrieking and whistling sounds permeated the air. Gwen watched with wide eyes as the treetops began to bend inward and the entire forest began to move and shake.
" What is happening?" she asked Legolas.
" The trees are killing the orcs," he replied, his eyes as wide as her's.
" Hmm, killer trees. That's something you don't see everyday," she commented, her eyebrow arched.
" No, it isn't," said Maedron.
The company rode back to the Keep. Dead orcs were piled up everywhere. Gwen was walking from where she had tied Skeet with the other horses. She saw Legolas walk up to Gimli, who was sitting on an orc carcass.
" Final count, forty - two," he said, running his hands along his bow.
" Forty – two? That's not bad for a pointy-eared elf princling. I myself am sitting pretty on forty – three," Gimli gloated. Legolas pulled out an arrow and shot the orc that Gimli was sitting on. Gimli looked at the arrow.
" Forty – three," said Legolas.
But he was already dead," said Gimli.
" He was twitching," replied Legolas.
" He was twitching? That's because he's got my axe embedded in his nervous system!" exclaimed Gimli as he shook his axe handle that was sticking out of the orc's head, causing the orc's legs to flop about. Gwen laughed as she joined them.
" Forty – three, eh, Gimli? That's not bad for a midget dwarf," she said coolly.
" How many did you kill?" asked Gimli in indignation.
" Oh, I don't know, I lost count after forty – five," she replied nonchalantly as she turned and walked away. She could here Gimli spluttering in indignation behind her. She smiled to herself, then jumped when loud laughter rang out from behind her. She turned to see Maedron smiling at her.
" It's not very nice to go sneaking up on people like that!" she scolded as she put a self-conscious hand to her face. Wait, why do I care so much about how I look all the sudden, she thought, irritated with herself.
" You seemed to do a very good job riding your horse," he said, referring to her fall back in the Keep. She swatted at him.
" You shouldn't tease people who saved your life! and it was your fault that I fell!" Gwen laughed.
" Saved my life?! I would have gotten along quite well if you hadn't pulled me up onto your crazy horse!" he said in indignation. Gwen rolled her eyes.
" Then I guess the next time you fall off your horse, I'll just leave you there," she said.
" On second thought, you did spare me a very long walk back to the Keep, so thank you," Maedron said. Gwen gave him another swat.
" You are BAD!" she laughed. He laughed with her, his gray eyes shining. A sharp pain in her side cut off her laughter. She clutched it with a grimace.
" I should probably go and find Eowyn and have her patch me up," she said.
" No need to go finding me, I am right here. I figured that with your wound record, I would be needed," said Eowyn as she walked up to Gwen and gave her a hug.
" Oh, just the woman I was looking for!" Gwen said happily as she walked off with Eowyn. Maedron watched her go, then walked over to Legolas and Gimli.
Gandalf and Aragorn had been watching Gwen and Maedron from a distance. Aragorn looked at Gandalf, who had had a smile on his face while he had been watching the two.
" I am not even going to ask," said Aragorn.
" You are getting wiser everyday," remarked Gandalf. Aragorn laughed and walked off to find some food.
And I am going to end this chapter right there because I have no idea how to proceed with it. No more chapters will be posted until I see Return of the King in (counts on fingers) six days (!). So just sit tight and chill! : ) And REVIEW!!!!
I got two lovely reviews just two days ago : ).
Elmo's hammer: that is THE coolest review I have gotten so far! I just about fell off my computer chair reading it! Thank you so much!
Pandagrrl: your review was also THE coolest review I have ever gotten! I am gonna miss you after class is over! Which is, like, next week! I am gonna miss everybody! Even Morgan! ; ). Thanks so much!!