DISCLAIMER: still not mine. See Chapter One for full disclaimer.
A/N: Only one more chapter to go after this!
Chapter Five: Fighting For The Dawn
As Aragorn and Gimli charged toward the gate, they could hear sounds of fighting. Aragorn pushed through the soldiers to the gate and quickly assessed the situation. A few feet from splintered wooden gates, Theoden leaned heavily against the wall, his face twisted in pain and Gamling supporting him. Several dead and wounded Rohirrim had been dragged to one side while others struggled to keep the Uruk-Hai from coming through the break. Still more were bringing wood and brace poles.
"Hold them," commanded Theoden.
Aragorn sprang to the hole in the gate and hacked at the black arm of an orc trying to come through. "How long do you need?" he called back to the king.
Theoden pushed himself upright again, favoring his right arm. "As long as you can give me."
Aragorn nodded and shouted, "Gimli!"
The two of them raced off, chased by shouts for more timbers.
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The fighting atop the walls and gate house was fierce as more and more orcs topped the stairs. Huge ballista bolts with ropes attached allowed the attackers to haul massive siege ladders, covered with blood-thirsty orcs, into place. Legolas had joined the fight with the white knives---his injuries could wait.
He could see the fight on the causeway below intensifying as more orcs raced to join the fight at the gate. He could do little to help there---most of his arrows, even those scavenged from his dead brethren, were gone. Plus the orc shield wall defeated most of the missile fire from above.
He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and spun, ducking beneath a scimitar slashing toward his head as he drove one of his knives upward into the face of an attacking orc. As he turned to meet another attack, he heard a familiar sound from below. It was Gimli's battlecry. He killed the second orc and paused to risk a glance toward the causeway.
Aragorn and Gimli stood back-to-back in front of the gates, effectively blocking the causeway. They stabbed and hacked at anything coming within their field of vision, knowing it could only be foe. Even non-fatal blows often knocked an orc off the causeway, falling hundreds of feet to sure death. But Legolas could see the fight could not be won---there were simply too many. And Theoden's men surely were close to enforcing the gate.
A ballista bolt sailed over the wall, hooking securely on the crenellations to his left. Legolas swung toward it and frowned, comparing its position with the causeway. The rope on the bolt went tight as orcs below began pulling on it to heave one of the giant ladders into place. Legolas pulled bow and arrow from the quiver and rapidly walked to the wall, leaning over and sighting along the arrow as he drew back the string. Once sure of his target, he released the arrow.
The arrow sliced through the middle of the thick rope, easily parting it. As the ladder toppled back to earth, crushing thousands of orcs beneath it, Legolas grapped the rope before it could slip free and quickly pulled it up. He wrapped one end around a crenellation and knotted it tightly, then stood on the wall.
"Aragorn!" he shouted.
Aragorn looked up, his expression desperate, and Legolas dropped the rope. He then scrambled off the wall before an orc crossbow found him and braced himself against the wall, part of the rope wrapped around himself for leverage. Long moments passed before he was yanked forward by a heavy weight pulling hard on the rope. His ribs screamed in protest at this new abuse and, for a moment, the Elf's vision went black around the edges. Then he gritted his teeth and began hauling up on the rope.
Several men joined him while others held back the wave of orcs swarming up other ladders. Another ballista bolt struck a man to his left but he paid no heed to it. Small crossbow bolts flew almost straight up beyond the edge of the wall, aimed at Aragorn and Gimli as they clung to the rope. Finally Legolas was able to reach over the wall and help his friends up---first Gimli and then Aragorn.
The three of them lay there for a moment, gasping for breath. Aragorn clapped a grateful hand on Legolas' arm, too winded to speak. Then the order came to retreat. They were on their feet in an instant and followed the few men still alive to retreat across the bridges to the main keep.
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The boom of the battering ram striking the main doors boomed loudly through the keep. Theoden stood in the center of the main hall as all around him men scrambled to block the doors with any heavy furniture they could find. Many men stared at him, looking for his support and strength.
"The fortress is taken," Theoden declared. "It is over."
Aragorn and Gamling hurried past, carrying a table. "You said this fortress would never fall while your men defend it," he protested. "They still defend it. They have died defending it!"
A new sound reached his ears, distant but easily recognized. He paused as a horrible realization struck him and he lowered his voice.
"Is there no other way for the women and children to get out of the caves?" Theoden didn't answer. "Is there no other way?" he demanded.
Gamling looked at him. "There is one passage. It leads into the mountains. But they will not get far. The Uruk-Hai are too many."
"Send word for the women and children to make for the mountain pass. And barricade the entrance!" Aragorn added as Gamling hurried off.
"So much death," Theoden said. "What can men do against so much reckless hate?"
Aragorn paused, then met his gaze. "Ride out with me. Ride out and meet them."
"For death and glory."
"For Rohan. For your people."
Legolas stepped forward from where Gimli had been bandaging his ribs. To his eye, the ranger Aragorn was gone. Before him now stood the man who would be Gondor's king. "The dawn is coming," he said quietly. "The sun rises as we speak."
Aragorn looked at him, then raised his gaze to a window. Faint light, tinged red with the coming dawn, shone through. Theoden also looked and saw it.
"Yes. Yes!" Theoden's voice rang with renewed strength. "The horn of Helm Hammerhand shall sound in the deep one last time!"
"Yes!" Gimli shouted enthusiastically.
He ran to a side hall and up a winding set of steps to the huge horn permanently mounted in the keep. Men scrambled for horses and weapons as Theoden pulled on his helm and took the reins of his white stallion.
"Let this be the hour when we draw swords together," he commanded. "Fell deeds awake. Now for wrath! Now for ruin! And a red dawn!"
He swung onto his horse as the bass bellow of the horn rumbled through Helm's Deep. The doors of the keep burst open at nearly the same instant and orcs rushed inside. But the Rohirrim were ready.
"Forth Eorlingas!" shouted Theoden.
The Riders of Rohan, accompanied by Aragorn and Legolas, charged out of the keep and through the Hornburg. Uruk-Hai fell beneath their weapons or were crushed in the charge. The riders stormed out of the main gate and galloped down the causeway, battling the whole way. The rush milled to a near-halt as the orcs on the great plain surrounded them and closed for combat.
An unnaturally loud call from a horse caught attention from everyone. On a ridge to the east, a white stallion reared and pawed the air. Though it bore no tack, the old man on its back stayed seated.
"Gandalf," breathed Aragorn.
A second man, dressed in the armor of Rohan, joined the old man. Suddenly the ridge was lined with armored riders. Banners with the white horse of Rohan danced in the breeze.
"Eomer!" shouted Theoden.
Suddenly the newcomers charged down the slope at full gallop. Hundreds of Uruk-Hai pulled away from the main conflict to meet the newcomers, angling their long spears in front of them and roaring in challenge. Then the sun crested the ridge.
Temporarily blinded, the Uruk-Hai were unprepared. The riders plowed into their line, jumping clear of the unset pikes and barreling into the fight.
The fight for Helm's Deep was over.
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to be continued