Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Lord of the Rings besides owning a copy of the DVDs and books. So do not even think about suing me! I'll sue you first! I only claim rights to the idea of this story and my plot lines. And I own Tess. Emily, Dolly, and Kate are all being used with permission. And I borrowed the Suburban from my Aunt Debbie.

Chapter Fifteen: Battle For Helm's Deep

The rest of the trip to Helm's Deep was event less. Tess was silent the whole time which was quite a shock for Dolly for had known Tess for several years and never known her friend to be quiet without a very good reason. It just wasn't in her nature. Well if it was, Dolly never saw it.

Upon arrival in Helm's Deep, the remaining Riders of Rohan, Theoden King, and Legolas, Gimli, Dolly, and Tess were greeted by Eowyn. She was asking around and looking for Aragorn. When Dolly heard her asking about Aragorn, she figured it would be best to get Tess out of that area fast and before Eowyn could ask them. But Dolly didn't move fast enough. Eowyn saw that Tess had the Evenstar necklace and walked over to Tess and looked her straight in the face before asking, "Where is Lord Aragorn?"

Tess looked startled and she quickly turned and ran. Dolly spoke quickly to Eowyn and explained what had happened. Eowyn seemed slightly shaken when she was told of Aragorn's death. Dolly told her that Tess had been witness to the whole event and she wouldn't speak about it. As a matter of fact, Tess hadn't spoken since Aragorn died. So no one was actually sure as to what had happened to Aragorn.

Tess ran away to where the horses were being stabled. She found Aragorn's horse and buried herself in the horse's mane and neck. She cried for along time and spoke quietly to the horse in her anguish. She just absorbed the comfort that she felt by being with horses. It made her feel so much better.

"It's all my fault," she admitted bitterly. "It's my fault that he died. If I had only paid more attention to what was going on, then he wouldn't have had to save my neck and died. If only…"

Legolas listened to everything that Tess had said, staying out of sight. Now he knew why Aragorn's death had bothered her so much. The girl blamed it all on herself. But it wasn't her fault. She couldn't have done anything differently. Aragorn wouldn't have wanted her too. Aragorn had known the risks. He had known that it was either her life or his. Arwen would understand why Aragorn had died. Everyone would, including Tess. That was once Legolas felt it was the right time to tell. And now wasn't the time. Aragorn himself should have been the one to explain, not him.

Aragorn was drifting down a river, unconscious. He was dreaming. He saw Arwen. She looked so beautiful, yet so sad. Why should she be sad? Elrond was going to sail with her into the west. She had no reason to be upset. She was with her family and would remain as an immortal. That was what he wanted for her. If she loved him, she would leave Middle-earth.

He heard her voice in his head. "Estel, wake up… Your time is not yet up. You have much more work to be done. Go and find the others. The battle has yet to begin. The people need you. Go to them."

Aragorn felt life in himself once more as someone or something sniffed him. He rolled over and cracked an eye open. He saw a very hairy muzzle and screamed. He jumped up and back, getting away from the muzzle. The owner of the muzzle was a very rattled looking horse. A horse that he had befriended in Rohan. Brego…

"Mellon-nin, I set you free… Why have you returned?"

Brego bent his forelegs and lowered himself to the ground so that Aragorn could mount. Aragorn was weak and slowly slid onto the horse's back, grasping the mane tightly as the horse stood up. Then with Aragorn's command, Brego began to move forward. Along the way to Helm's Deep, Aragorn saw an army coming towards Helm's Deep from Saruman's land of Isengard. An army of at least ten thousand. Helm's Deep would be easily overwhelmed and beaten by this force. No one would survive this battle. Not unless they were warned. But even then, they would most likely lose.

So onward to Helm's Deep Aragorn rode.

People were heard muttering near the gates. Someone had returned. Tess heard the news and rushed to see who it might be. She knew that it wouldn't be Aragorn. She hoped it was but somehow she knew it was just a fool's hope. So she ran and almost fainted when she saw Aragorn ride into Helm's Deep. She was absolutely shocked at his appearance. He looked like death but he was alive.

"Aragorn!" she cried.

He turned towards the voice and smiled when he saw her. "Did you miss me mellon-nin?" he asked with a smile on his face.

"I thought that you were dead! I saw you fall from the cliff. I truly believed that you were dead. Don't you ever scare me like that ever again!" said Tess as she smacked him.

"That hurt!" he said reaching up to touch his stinging face. Tess raised her hand to smack him again but he grabbed it.

She glared at him before jerking her hand away. Then she handed him the Evenstar. She quickly explained why she had it.

"Legolas found it in the hands of the Orc whose Warg took you over the cliff. He said that you would have wanted me to have it until it could be given back to its rightful bearer. I don't what made him think that, but I took it anyways."

"One of these days, when the time is right, you will know."

"When will the time be right?"

"After the battle for Helm's Deep."

Tess nodded and said, "So is their anyone you need to talk to?"

"Yes, where is Theoden King?"

Tess took Aragorn to where Theoden King was staying and stopped at the doors. Aragorn asked her to come with him but she politely refused saying that their affairs were none of her concern. Aragorn gave in and allowed her to leave. Then he entered the King's room.

Later that evening, everyone was preparing for battle. Everyone put on some form of armor—even Legolas! Despite Aragorn's wishes that Tess would go into the caves with Eowyn and the other women and children, she refused to do so. She felt that she would rather be fighting with her friends. She also shortened her hair so that it wasn't in her face or a problem during battle with her dagger. It ended up being as short as Aragorn's hair and since she hadn't really been taking care of her hair, it had finally begun to match his hair in color and looks. And since the clothes that Tess wore now were also that of a Ranger's, she looked like a shorter version of Aragorn at the moment which shocked all of their friends.

Eventually they were all in position at the wall. Then a surprise came. An army of Elves, led by Haldir, the Elf that the Fellowship had met in Lothlorien, came to the gates. They were let in and took up positions with the Men. Aragorn was going to instruct the Elves. So he lined them up before checking on his other friends.

Gimli was having trouble seeing over the wall. Legolas just had to pick a spot with an excellent view for archery but the wall was quite high in that area. So high that Gimli couldn't see over it. So it gave Gimli something to complain about.

"You could have done so much better with the picking of a spot Elf!"

"Ya? And then where would the spot have been? This is the best place for archery and you know it! So stop your damn complaining as it is getting quite old!" argued Legolas.

"Oh keep your wig on sissy!"

"What did you just say?"

"Oh nothing…"

"Oh it was something! Why I oughta…!" and then Legolas began to beat up Gimli.

"Five bucks says the Elf wins," said Tess with a yawn to Dolly as she watched the two behave like little children. Why her four rowdy cousins (three being boys!) were much better behaved and much younger too!

"You're on!" said Dolly as she watched too.

But sadly, neither of them won since Aragorn broke up the fight a few minutes later. "Save it for the Orcs," he said to them both.

"They were just trying to lighten this grim and depressing mood," said Tess. "And it was working quite well, I must say."

Aragorn shook his head and walked away. Not but a moment later, the Orcs were heard arriving from Isengard. They marched to the front of Helm's Deep where they lined up a short distance away from the fortress. That's when everything began to go downhill…

Rain. It was everywhere. It was pouring and visibility was very poor (excuse the pun!). Tess was having a hard time seeing with the rain blurring everything and Dolly was too seeing as the rain kept messing with her glasses. Everyone was miserable and the battle hadn't even begun. And things were about to get even worse.

Within minutes of the battle's beginning, it was very painfully clear that Rohan was going to be on the losing end of the battle. Rohan's small forces, combined with the Elves, were just not large enough to defeat Saruman's forces. The number of Orcs was just too great when it was compared with the number of Men and Elves. But the deathblow came when the Orcs set a 'bomb' off underneath the wall causing its collapse.

Tess, Aragorn, Gimli, and Dolly, along with many others, were thrown to the ground because they had been standing on the part of the wall, which lay above the drain. Saruman's forces raced into the opening in the wall. Everyone who was on the ground quickly got up and came head-to-head with the Orcs. Dolly whipped out a second sword and sliced two Orcs' heads off at the same time. Tess had both her dagger and sword out as did Aragorn and was getting every Orc that she could. She stabbed them in the chest, sliced their heads off and generally was very vicious and showed no mercy to these Orcs.

Gimli was merrily chopping away with his axe, as happy as could be. Legolas was in his element. From the wall he was able to use his preferred fight style with was quite different from the others who preferred a more active approach to fighting. He was able to hit many Orcs with his Lothlorien long bow from the wall. Everyone had really thrown themselves into the battle and it was showing clearly.

A group of Orcs were trying to break through the door. Theoden and his men were trying their best to barricade the entrance. Legolas threw a rope down to Tess and Dolly telling them to climb up the wall. So they sheathed their weapons and quickly climbed once at the top, they lowered the rope to Aragorn and Gimli, telling them to grab on and that they would be pulled up. So they did and the three worked together to raise the Man and Dwarf. Once the whole group of five was at the top of the wall, they raced down to see what Theoden needed them to do.

Theoden split them up into two groups. Tess, Aragorn and Gimli were to go outside and fight. In the meantime, Dolly and Legolas would help barricade the door. So the three snuck around to a hidden door and followed a ledge around to the front. They quickly decided a plan of action. Tess and Aragorn would jump across and Gimli would have to be tossed. The Dwarf actually asked to be tossed which surprised them both but they agreed. Tess jumped first and began to clear a path for Aragorn who would toss Gimli before jumping himself.

The three threw themselves into it, knocking the Orcs off the pathway to stall for time while Theoden's men fixed the door. After about 20 minutes or so, Theoden ordered for the three to come back inside. So they came back and then Aragorn remembered something that Gandalf had told him. Gandalf would be coming at dawn with Eomer and his men.

So Theoden and a group of men, Aragorn, Tess and Legolas (Dolly and Gimli decided that they preferred to fight on the ground than on horseback), rode out to meet Gandalf and his reinforcements and kill as many more Orcs as they could. At dawn, Gandalf and Shadowfax rode up with Eomer and two thousand more men. Within a few hours, the Orcs were finished off and the Battle for Helm's Deep was won.

Eowyn had had the SUV in the caves incase they had to flee the caves which they did, but at the end of the battle, she return it to Tess and Dolly. They thanked her for taking care of it and she thanked them for allowing her to use it. Gimli and Dolly were relieved to be able to ride in the SUV once again. Neither had enjoyed the horses though Tess, Aragorn and Legolas seemed completely at home on the backs of horses. So Dolly was driving the SUV back to Rohan while the others would ride horses and Gimli would sleep.

As they were preparing to leave Helm's Deep for Rohan, Tess asked Aragorn about what he was going to explain to her and when he was going to tell her. He replied that he would tell her once they arrived at Rohan again. She thought that he was avoiding it but said nothing of it. She would know eventually and if it was very important than Aragorn would have already told her.

Or so she thought…

[Author's Notes:

Cliffy! Cliffy! I'm evil I know. Two other chapters will happen before we find out what will happen next. In the next chapter, we will catch up with Sam and Frodo and meet some new characters. And in chapter seventeen, we'll check back in on Merry, Pippin, Emily, and Kate. And in chapter eighteen, we will find out what happens next to Aragorn, Tess, Legolas, Dolly, Gimli, and Gandalf. Part II will be winding down soon and Part III will begin. Until the next chapter, please read and review! Next chapter due: Sunday, August 29th.

Reviewers! (I will reply in the next chapter. Sorry but I don't have time to do it now!)