A/N: Last chapter! Wow! Sorry for the long wait! Well, go on! READ!
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"Val! Valkyrie! Look!"
"Shh... Let her rest Pippin."
"But the statues!"
"I think right now she need the rest."
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Valkyrie shivered. When had it gotten so cold? And why was it so dark?
"Hello?" She called out into the darkness. "Boromir? Legolas?... Aragorn?!"
"They cannot hear you." A voice! At last! A familiar voice... "Lady Galadriel?" Suddenly a light shone in the darkness. It was the Lady of the Light. This must be a vision.
"Yes my child, it is I, and I have come to warn you of of an evil stirring amongst the Fellowship." Valkyrie looked up, startled. "Evil? What evil?" There was a pause before Galadriel spoke.
"You now carry a child. The child of a man whose heart now belongs to you... But the Ring is treacherous. Even now it turns his heart toward evil. Be on your gaurd, for the the father of your child my soon be lost to the power of the One Ring."
Valkyrie felt her legs give out in complete and utter shock. Not only was she carrying Boromir's child, but her dream -no her nightmare- was coming true! "He will take the Ring, then?" The Lady bowed her head solemnly. "He will try. But I must warn you: Tell no one about the child, lest the Dark Lord and his servants use the knowledge against you and the Fellowship. Trust in your heart and in the blood of your ancestors. Namaarie."
And while Valkyrie was still contemplating what she had been told, the vision began to fade.
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Boromir and Merry had been sent out to gather firewood, and Valkyrie had gone along with them. She talked from time to time, but she seemed distant, as she contemplated what Galadriel had told her.
Aftre a while, once Merry had gone back to the group, Boromir paused and looked at her. "Is something the matter?" Valkyrie looked up quickly, looking startled for a moment, then shook her head. "No... Everything's fine..." She said, but she knew he didn't believe her. "Something troubles you, I see it in your eyes." He said, moving to block her path as she tried to walk away.
She looked up into his pale green eyes and for a moment, she wanted nothing more than to tell him everything. She wanted to tell him about their child... to warn him about the power of the Ring.
Instead, she heard herself begin to accuse him.
"You don't believe in this quest do you?" She said suddenly. The look on his face was as if she had struck him. "Why... How could you think that?" But instead of stopping she went on. She didn't know why, but she knew she had to say something.
"The Ring is evil, I see how it corrupts you day by day! You would take it for yourself, if only to gain favor in you father's eyes, you said so only less than a days journey past!" Boromir shook his head. "But I could use it for good!"
"You can't control it! Even now it controls you!" She said, pleading with him, but he only began to grow angry. "Stop it! Stop this now!" Still she pressed on. "You have to fight it or Isildur's Bane will destroy!" "Silence! Why do you say these things?!" She paused a moment, then spoke more softly. "You're father is a fool for wanting it's power, he's mad! Can't you see—"But her sentence was cut short by the sting of his blow as he slapped her across the face hard enough to throw her off balance. She looked up at him fearfully, raising a hand to her cheek, already blackening with a nasty bruise and oozing blood from a small cut. "I... I'm sorry... I..." She began tentatively, trembling with fright, but he cut her off again. "Hold your tongue, girl! I do not want your apologies or pitiful excuses! My father is a good man, and we want only a way to protect our people! Or perhaps pride and loyalty are concepts foreign to the elves." He said vehemently. "Boromir..." He turned away from her. "Save it. I'm through protecting you.... And I'm through with loving you." He said, and bending down to pick up the dropped firewood, he left her there, weeping for all that was lost.
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There was a sickening sound as her arrow embedded itself in the head of the Uruk-Hai, splattering her with yet another shower of foul-smelling, tar-like blood.
The creatures had come out of nowhere, attacking by the hundreds, like a swarm of insects. The wave of enemies seemed never ending, and Valkyrie decided it best to conserve her arrows, drawing her sword and charging into the fray.
The clang of steel, the zip of arrows, and the swing of Gimli's axe echoed all around, seeming to block out all other sound... but one sound got through.
"The Horn of Gondor!" cried Legolas, and even as Aragorn charged down the hill to aid his companion, she felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, and began to charge after him. 'Ai Valar, don't let us be too late!' But even as she thought it, the cries of the horn stopped, and she increased her pace, cutting a trail of bodies to her lover.
The cries of the hobbits reached her ears as she creasted the hill, but the sight that reached her eyes tore a sob from her own chest. Merry and Pippin, were being carried away like rag dolls by the Uruks, while their leader stood before a wounded Boromir, three black arrows protruding from his chest, and the killing blow threatening to be delivered.
She charged blindely down the hill, tears making tracks through the blood and dirt of her face as she ran. She barely rgistered his actions as Aragorn tackled the Uruk-Hai, sending the arrow on a crooked course in her direction. She cried in pain as the arrow caught her arm, falling the rest of the way down the hill, but looking over at her wounded lover pushed her on, as she broke off the shaft and scrambled to his side, moving him to lay against a fallen log.
"Hang on Boromir... you'll be okay... just hang on..." She said softly, running a trembling hand through his sweat and blood matted hair. "Valkyrie... forgive me..." But she shushed him with a chaste kiss to his lips, another small sob tearing from her as she tasted the blood their. 'I'm too late... I couldn't save him!' She thought, and lay her head on his shoulder, gently, sobbing as she listened to his fading heart beat.
Aragorn ran from the fallen Uruk leader, falling to his knees in front of the reunited couple, with fear in his eyes, and as Boromir gripped the ranger's shoulder, the same fear was reflected in his voice. "They took the little ones!"
"Ease down..." Aragorn said softly, exchanging a tearful glance with Valkyrie, both of the knowing it was hopeless. "Frodo... where is Frodo?!" Aragorn looked back to his wounded friend. "I let Frodo go." "The you did what I could not... Forgive me... I did not see... I failed you all!" But Aragorn shook his head. "No... no... you fought bravely... you have your honor."
Aragorn reached to remove the arrows, but he knew as well as any there was no way of saving him now. "Leave it!" Boromir cried. "The world of men will fall, and all will come to darkness... and my city to ruin!" But the quarter-elf stopped him. "No! It shall not happen... Aragorn..." She said, looking at the other man with questioning eyes.
Strider nodded. "I do not know what strength is left in my veins, but I swear to you I will not let the white city fall... Nor our people fail." Boromir looked up with surprise and hope. "Our people?" Aragorn nodded. "Our people... then perhaps I may be at peace..." he said softly, but Valkyrie let out another heart wrenched sob. "No! You can't leave me!" She said, clutching his hand to her chest, then slowly resting it on her belly, lowering her voice to a tear choked wisper. "You can't leave... us."
Tears began to fall down his cheeks as Boromir realized what she meant, and he kissed her hand gently. "I wish I didn't have to... But know... know that I loved you... I never meant to hurt you..." She nodded, now shaking and sobbing so hard, she couldn't fine words to speak, and she looked away quickly. Boromir looked back to Aragorn.
"Take care of her." And Strider nodded. "I would have followed you to the end... my brother... my captain... my king." He said, and then breathed his last with a smile on his face. Aragorn gently closed his eyes and kissed his forehead. "Be at peace... Son of Gondor." Then he embraced Valkyrie, and they cried, sharing tears for their fallen comrade, while Legolas and Gimli looked on in silence.
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Valkyrie continued to watch the waterfall, long after the boat carrying her lover's body had disappeared. She only distantly heard the conversation of her three companions, as she adjusted the verbrances around her wrists... Boromir's, that Aragorn had given to her.
"We will not abandon Merry and Pippin to torment and death." That she heard, and she turned to see them all standing together. Aragorn motioned her over. "Will you be going back to Lorien?" He said. He didn't know if she would choose to go back home, now that she had lost her strongest tie to the Fellowship. But she looked them all in the eyes, and then back to Aragorn. "I don't abandon friends." She said, a smile creeping over her face as Legolas placed a hand on her shoulder, completing the circle. Aragorn nodded, slipping his dagger into its sheath. "We travel light. Let's hunt some orc!" He said, and as he ran off into the forrest, the other three were left exchanging glances.
Legolas' expression gave way to a beaming smile and Gimli gave an exultant "YES!" But Valkyrie just laughed and ran off after them, and it struck her that it was the first time she had laughed in a long time, but she still had a knowing ache in her chest, and the feeling that something evil was approaching.