Chapter 6
Aufstand's sword came down swiftly falling point first into the soil, inches away from Legolas' already bloody face.
A wave of blood sprayed his torso and her screeches deafened him. She stood above him screaming and waving her bloody wrist stump which oozed not bright red blood but thick black instead. Cursed by all the innocent lives she had taken.
Ashamed, blinded by her tears of pain and horror she fled blindly over the land, disappearing into the darkness.
Legolas stared at the small knife in his hand coated in the thick dull coloured liquid. It had happened so quickly he had to paused to work out what he had done. She had toppled him over and just as she was about to strike him with her sword he saw something glitter in the corner of his eye. He snatched it up hurriedly and swept to across his vision not expecting the outcome. The small throwing knife she had thrown was remarkably strong and extremely sharp. He threw it aside and nudged her sword hand aside and urged himself to move again.
Crawling with exhaustion and sick with what may met him Legolas crawled to Gimli's still side and gently touched his face and dapping the wound upon his scalp. The blood was still warm as was his cheek and with a relieved sigh Legolas saw his small but tough chest rise and fall with steady breath.
Utterly spent he laid his head upon his friend's steady heartbeat and slept.
***
The mass from of elves and men rested the night in the open, under the overcast sky which covered the moon and stars that would normally shine down upon them.
Many of the men could not find sleep though the bodies were tired from their march for there were not enough horses for everyone.
Around the burning campfire Merry and Pippin spoke in quite tones.
"I wonder what they are making of this back at home?" Pippin whispered.
Merry shrugged nothing Pippin had said had taken his troubled mind of where they were heading. The most he had earned was a simple 'yes' or 'no'.
"They wouldn't understand it. They don't know about Sauron and the Ring apart from myths and stories, they will believe what I did at the beginning - that Frodo beat them and the Ring was gone." Pippin sighed, "I wish that had happened and everything was back to normal"
"Normal?" a new deeper voice echoed. "You have not known normal, none of us have" Faramir sat beside them both, warming his hands.
"Gandalf explained the Ring had been in Bilbo's keeping for seventy years and before that with the creature Gollum and centuries ago in the hands of Isildur and before him Sauron himself. Neither us have known a 'normal' life where the world was rid of the Ring. It had remained hidden and silent far centuries but never destroyed." He said half turning to the hobbits. "The world has never experienced proper peace."
"It's about time it does!" Pippin stood drawing his sword. Blankly Merry looked at him, and then returned his gaze to the flickering fire.
"Well said, my hobbit friend." Faramir smiled; "Save your energy and determination for the battle" he said placing a firm hand on Pippin's sword arm forcing the blade downwards. "Hold onto your hope"
"It is not a question of hope and courage, is it?" Merry asked suddenly.
The smile faded from Faramir's lips and he stared at Merry.
"We don't have the numbers to defeat Sauron, do we? We will be massacred"
Several nearby men stopped talking and stared, a deadly hush fell about the camp.
"Has your experience taught you nothing, master Merry?" Faramir asked sternly.
"Every battle you have fought in we were grossly outnumbered but who were the victors? Who won the battle of Minas Tirith? Who walked away from Mordor alive?" As he spoke Faramir seemed to grow in power. "We did. Though it was not easy and we lost many lives we won. Do not think for one moment that this battle will be easy, Merry. It does not matter that we may be outnumbered, what matters is how we fight. If we fight with courage and with tactics anything is possible." Merry turned his gaze back the fire, feeling defeated and ashamed of his words, but Faramir had not yet finished.
"I am sure King Elessar and his friends told you of the battle in Helm's Deep?"
Pippin nodded silently.
"Three hundred Men against ten thousand Uruk-hai – who had the victory then?"
Babble and mild cheering broke about on the camp and Merry's face began to change colour.
Pippin elbowed him "Why did you have to say such a thing?"
Merry snapped his head round sharply, "Because it is true. Everything eight years ago was helped by fortune: Gandalf, Aragorn, Frodo – where are they now? There is no hope."
"No hope, Master Meriadoc?" another new voice echoed him.
They looked up and saw Elrond was standing over them; the fire lit the strange glint in his eyes.
"Why do you think Aragorn's elven name is Estel if he does not bring hope to those who need it?" he asked. "Though he maybe missing or captured he will not let us down. If it is the lack of strength in arms that worries you or the courage of the men and elves here, then cease to worry." He raised his voice slightly and turned around the camp, nearly every pair of eyes where watching him. "When I walked into Minas Tirith yesterday morn I did not say the number I gave was the total of warriors you would receive. More aid is coming."
***
Within the land or Mordor, in the dark tower of Barad-dûr Lord Sauron dressed on full battle armour turned away from the window slit he had been gazing out of. Below him the mass of orcs were moving and several scuffles were breaking out as the horde restlessly moved, but it was not that that he turned away from. In the distance and out if sight a servant dehorned him. It did not matter now, for his trust in her was failing by the day. He knew that her and her sister hid the One Ring from him, yet he let them, knowing full well that they would pay for it later. He was furious at first knowing they were denying him the chance to reclaim the Ring earlier, but they did prove to be useful allies. With their inside knowledge the realms of elves were broken and destroyed. All that opposed were the leaderless number of men and a handful of others.
Aufstand and the two wonders on the boarder were no threat to him, instead he turned his gaze to the movement in the west. The mass army that was heading towards him.
"Let them come"
The sea of orcs below would greet them with sword, shield, tooth and claw.
***
Elrond's confused message was the subject of talk between the ranks in the morning whilst the company prepared themselves to break camp.
Again Pippin was talking but his words were falling upon Merry's deaf ears. His troubled mind still could not be distracted.
"I wonder who he was talking about? I mean their aren't anymore elves, unless he has managed to call them back from across the sea" Pippin rattled on, "Maybe there are more men that will come! Or maybe – hey Merry what do you think? Will other hobbits come do you think? Merry?"
Merry wasn't listening, he was staring at his plate his mind miles away.
"Fine then!" Pippin sulked, and then he spied the food still left on Merry's plate. "Can I –?"
Merry still didn't respond and quicker then the blink of an eye Pippin had snatched away the remains of Merry's food.
Sitting away from Pippin's constant chatter Éomer was reflecting on the outcome of the battle. He could see his sister's tearful face as she stood in front of his gaze at Edoras. The image flickered and he saw her again, donned in battle gear standing upon the battlements of Helm's Deep with her people. He had sent her there to the Rohan stronghold. Edoras is exposed and he feared they would become under attack while he was gone. She was a Shield Maiden of Rohan, a fighter, a survivor. If anyone could fill the place of her uncle she could. She had his courage, his bravery, his hope and optimism. She would rule Rohan well should something happen to him. His wife Lothíriel, daughter of Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth would mourn should he fall in battle but he was confident she would not become weighed down by grief and would be able to move on and settle again.
He looked over to the crowd of elves to his left. They were changed people, but like he they were fighting for the same cause. He watched one women being comforted by another and Éomer felt a wash of pity for her as she sobbed onto the other shoulder. How many lives had they lost? How many family members had they buried?
Not only was the threat of Sauron very really but it destroyed homes, crops and ripped apart lives.
It had to stop.
***
Erbschaft marched at the head of the Mirkwood company keeping a steady quick march eastwards. Several rows behind him his wife Nymane marched with their brothers and sisters in arms. It was hard for them to place their son into the care of another, but somewhere deep down they knew it was the right thing to do. They wanted to fight not just of King and country but for freedom and for the chance for his son to grow up in a peaceful world, not ruled by dangers and shadows. It was a very powerful drive, many other parents had fallen into also, picking up weapons while kissing their children and families goodbye. The truth behind the destruction of their home and of Lothlórien had come out and the elves were in ranged by it. Driving them to fight, forcing them to take a role in bidding for freedom and release. The possibility of his brother lying dead within Mordor betrayed by one he believed he could trust infuriated Erbschaft but he would not allow himself to boil into a rage quite yet.
That would fuel his fight.
***
The sound of clashing metal upon metal awoke Sam from his slumber. Disorientated he gazed around himself searching for the source of the sound but only found four grim walls stare back at him. The noise of clashing metal came again and Sam sat up straight, his eyes wide. Had the battle already started? The final battle? Was aid coming?
He groped around his small, windowless cell desperate to hear more but found himself to be disheartened when he could hear the chatter of orcs speaking roughly in Black Speech.
The battle had not yet come, and aid had not found them.
Slumping down again Sam felt the pain of helplessness creep over him again and threatened to spill tears. He was lost, afraid, beaten and depressed, all hope and desire to live was gone.
"Hold onto hope Samwise"
Sam's eyes darted around the cell. Something just spoke to him, at least he thought it did. Maybe he was hearing things in his broken state.
"Help is coming"
There it was again. Sam sat up and gazed around himself again. The noise of fighting orcs had passed away and silence stretched out. Nothing moved in the corridor beyond his cell door. Yet the air was full of excitement.
"You will see the Shire again Samwise Gamgee"
That voice sounded strangely familiar, it spoke softly to him, and how did it know him?
Was it Frodo talking to him from beyond the Sea?
He heard the same voice laugh softly, "No I am not Frodo, my dear hobbit. Though I am sure he is thinking about you"
Something clicked into place and Sam wanted to leap up and shout, but he was still puzzled by how this was possible.
"Gandalf, is that you?" he asked in a quite whisper as not to attract attention.
Again the voice chuckled lightly, "Yes it is I, Sam."
Sam was overjoyed. "Gandalf! Oh Gandalf I feared something had happened to you!" he whispered excitedly.
"I am well enough Sam considering where we are"
"Aragorn, where is he? At least I believe I saw him"
"Aragorn is here, you did see him. I have spoken to him also, he is not fairing too badly"
Sam frowned, "How did he get here? Wasn't he supposed to be in Gondor?"
"News reached him of Aufstand and he recalled the family connection between her and her Cassione. He left Minas Tirith to look for us, but he ran into trouble before he could find us"
Sam nodded then suddenly realised neither Aragorn or Gandalf could see him. "How is it you can talk to me? They destroyed your staff"
"There are a few powers I still do without it"
Sam recalled something Gandalf had already said to him, "You said help was coming – who is it?"
"Ah! Not all of our company perished by Aufstand's hand two are still alive and are heading this way"
Sam's eyes lit up, "Who are they?"
Gandalf laughed softy again, "Surely you can guess?"
"It's Legolas and Gimli, isn't?"
"Indeed it is."
"Where are they, how long will it be until they arrive here?" Sam asked felling hope for the first time.
"Have patients Sam. They are still some way off yet and with obstacles still between them and us. Do not count all your eggs yet, my friend. We will just have to wait and see"
Sam nodded again and leant back against the wall of his cell, happier then he had ever felt in a long time.
"There is a great amount of activity in Gondor, what it means I cannot tell. Something is about to happen. Something big, the earth is trembling with anger"
***
Sluggishly Gimli stirred, his head was throbbing horribly. Like a suddenly lit light he remembered what had happened before he was overcome by blackness. They were fighting Aufstand and – and Legolas!
He opened his eyes and instantly felt the additional weight upon his chest. He raised his head and gazed at the blonde head upon his chest.
He knew instantly who it was because Aufstand had brown hair not blonde. Again Legolas had beaten the enemy single handed while Gimli lay obvious to it only meters away. How did he do it?
Cautiously Gimli felt his scalp where Aufstand's sword had hit him. Nausea threatened to black him out again and he hastily lowered his hand and made a mental note not to touch it again. He was surprised to see there was no blood upon his fingers when he bought them to his eyes.
Legolas stood up quickly, one blade in hand starring around himself.
Gimli felt like laughing, but this was not the place or time to do so. The area was empty – where was Aufstand? And was Legolas resting, as if he was asleep? This was no place to sleep!
"Where is she?" Gimli asked.
Legolas lowered his blade and offered a hand to Gimli. The dwarf took it and Legolas pulled him to his feet and caught him as he began to wobble, his head throbbing madly.
"She fled, I doubt she will be back" Legolas said brushing dust off himself.
"What do you mean 'she fled'? What did you do?"
The corner of Legolas' lips twitched and he steeped around Gimli. The dwarf's eyes fell down onto Aufstand's sword still standing point fist in the ground and her pale severed hand nearby.
"You – how – I?" Gimli gapped and then turned back to Legolas who was sharpening Ruzlina's sword with a throwing knife.
"That does not matter now" he said, "She was just one the many obstacles that stand between us and Barad-dûr where Sam, Gandalf and Aragorn are"
"How can you be sure that is where they are?"
Again the corners of Legolas' mouth twitched. "While I was sleeping Gandalf spoke to me"
"He spoke to you?" Gimli frowned, "But they broke his staff"
"There are still some things he can do without it. He told me he, Sam and Aragorn are alive and held prisoners in the Dark Tower"
"But?" Gimli prompted him, he was sure there was a catch.
"Between us and them stand an orc army too large to count and inside the tower itself stands Sauron with the ruling Ring firmly around his finger"
"Ah" Gimli stated, "A large problem"
"However something is moving in the west. Gandalf believes something is about to happen, something big and powerful. He says the earth is trembling with it"
Gimli picked up the nearest stone and listened to it.
"He is right. War is coming"
"There is no way of going back now, we can only go forwards." Legolas watched the dwarf drop the stone back down and it broke upon another.
"Many dangers the two of us have faced and somehow we live through them." Gimli said seriously, "Though the odds are stacked against us, let's trust in Gandalf's words. For he has never let us astray"
***
At the rear of the company Blaen a Rohirrim rider looked over his shoulder and his mouth dropped open. A mass of movement was following them.
"Tell the King" he urged the other rider beside him. As the other rider speed away Blaen watched the mass travel across the plains towards them. It was difficult to estimate their speed or distance but at the rate they were going they would only catch the company should they rest for the night and the other continued to tail them night long.
Éomer joined him at the rear of the company and he watched the mass with mixed opinions.
"What are they?" asked Merry, sharing Éomer's saddle.
"Blaen get closer see if you can identify them" The King ordered.
The solider inclined his head and rode away.
***
Bravely Blaen rode away from the company at face the party which were tracking them. Nudging with his heels his horse broke into a speedily gallop and the plains raced below them.
The party in front of him were becoming clearer with each stride there were a large number of them. Several hundred of them he guessed. He squinted at them and pulled up the reins of his horse with slight fear. These were not men or elves, nor were they hobbits – they were dwarves! Were these the aid Elrond mentioned? Since when had the dwarves and elves patched up their differences?
The disagreement between elves and dwarves were common knowledge, the two races never stopped bickered even to this day. But why then are these short, bearded creatures tailing the company?
The leader spotted him and began to shout and raved, his axe dancing between his fingers, others behind him were loading their hands with throwing axes.
Not wishing to anger them any further Blaen turned away and headed back to report his unusual find.
***
Blaen began to explain his find while his horse blew hard from its hurried flee.
"There are dwarves My Lord" he said.
"Dwarves?" Éomer echoed, slightly bewildered. "How many?"
"Some hundred, sir"
"What did they do when they saw you?" Éomer asked.
"They became violent and gave chase"
Someone chuckled lightly beside them the Rohirrim solider and King turned upon their horses.
Elrond slipped in between them and stared at the dwarves in front of him.
"Dwarves are headstrong creatures and will kill anything if you cannot give them a good reason why they shouldn't. But do not fear them; they are here by my doing. Glóin has bought with him quite a number I see.
"Glóin?" Merry quizzed, "Isn't he Gimli's father?"
"That is correct; you met him in Rivendell when we held the council of the Ring eight years ago. He also journeyed with Bilbo to Mirkwood and to the Lonely Mountain" Elrond shifted his gaze to Merry who seemed to have brightened up slightly.
"Yet his age does not affect him?" Éomer said darkly.
"Dwarves can live for along time. It does not stop them when the prospect of war is at hand"
"This is rest of the aid you were speaking of, Master Elrond?" Blaen asked.
"Indeed it is, unless there are more Glóin did not tell me about"
The company rested the night allowing the dwarves how had been travelling night and day to catch them.
Elrond, Thranduil, Faramir and Éomer went into council with Glóin and a handful of dwarves.
The old dwarf listened hard to the stories the men and elves gave him and he added his own upon them.
"The mountain came alive with voices no one has ever heard before. Not even the Elders of the dwarf lords ever recorded the mountain actually speaking." The old dwarf said. "It spoke in an ancient tone I have never heard before. Though I could not understand much of its speech its tone and anger everyone could feel. The rocks are angry and fearful of Sauron, even more now that he has a physical form and has taken back the One Ring." The dwarf shook his head; his grey beard was thinning with age. "Never did I image this would come from Bilbo's Ring. If I knew Ring was the One Ring I would have stopped him and…" he voice trailed away.
"If any of us knew we would have acted, my friend" Elrond said softly. "But were all fooled until it was too late"
"Now my son is caught up in all this madness and evil. Do we have any idea of their whereabouts?" Glóin asked.
Elrond shook his head "We know nothing of the company that Gimli and Legolas were part of. But the likelihood of them still being alive is fading by every hour" he said sadly turning from Glóin to Thranduil. "For Aufstand to steal the Ring from the Ringbearer I fear she had killed more then just the once to take it"
Glóin turned his face upwards, tears glittered in his eyes. On his other side Thranduil looked shaken at this news also.
Elrond comforted them softly, "Nothing has been confirmed. They may yet still be alive somewhere in Mordor. Your sons are as stubborn as one another and will battle until the very end. If they still alive I'll bet they are doing all they can to help us."
Reviewers
Deana: Excellent you say? Well I don't know about that but I do try! If I think its rubbish it doesn't stay, that is why sometimes it takes a long time to post anything up because I am not happy with it. The same thing goes with a handful of other stories I am trying to write at the same time, they are not up to scratch so they are not getting much attention at the moment. I remember saying to someone "I'll have the re-written end of Decisions of a King done soon I promise" – If only! That one has been giving me bighead aches every since. Every time I plan something out for it the while story seems to take on another light or grows stupidly long… Oh well, something will happen one day…
Emma: I am sorry to hear that you do not agree with my story. I am aware it is rather far fetched with the Ring still existing, Sauron being alive and whole etc. But you must remember this is only fiction! I know it sounds rather sad and depressing at the moment but things are going to get better to for the characters, and yes it will have a happy ending, all I have to do is finish it!
Alida-Fruit:: Yeah, my regular reviewer has come back to me! Seriously thanks for the review I don't really mind what size it is as it is the thought that matters! I have actually had fun writing most of this chapter, i.e. the men's reactions to the elves and such – and yes I know the ending battle in the previous chapter was rather good, and not very fair that I left it like I did. Things like that tended to happen on a whim and normally they turn out alright! But not when you are turning to juggle everything around it all. I just hope this chapter was up to your expectations, and yes you did read correctly there will be a happy ending – I promise! Though you properly cannot see it at the moment, nor will you when the ending comes…. Thanks for reviewing, look forward to hearing from you again.
Authors note: At the moment I am spending a lot of time away from home so therefore the writing is not being done. So consequently I haven't got a clue when the next chapter will be produced and posted but spending some time on a ferry nearly everyday may allow me to put pen to paper.
Thank you for your kind words and to my silent readers, too.
Rosie