A/N: I do not own the characters or settings of the Lord of the Rings, only my own original players in the tale.
Constructive reviews are most welcome.
To Brit: You are correct, the army that attacked Helm's Deep was Saruman's, and though he was servant to Sauron, it should be named as such. Thank you for noticing. As for Lia not knowing who Gandalf was, that's more complicated since I want to explain her abilities in the telling of the story. She has a tie to the land and the Imperishable Flame, and as such she gets flashes of intuition of varying degrees. In this case, she was guided to Rohan to await a man, but she knew not his name or nature until she met him.
The Uruk-hai were orcs, but then, they were also something else. They had been tainted with by means of arcane magic, twisted and made into creatures even more sinister and powerful. Lia sensed this immediately. The puppet wizard of Sauron had indeed been most busy. None of this would matter much, for they were still servants of Morgoth and therefore Melkor as well, unholy abominations crafted by a once noble wizard. Lia had heard of Curunir, for he was one of the original Istari, along with Mithrandir. His loss to the darkness was a grievous blow, testimony to the growing strength of the Enemy.
She approached the Uruk-hai with all speed, not bothering to neither slow down nor worry about their raised weapons. The dank creatures had their sights set on the walls of Helm's Deep, and did not seem to fear an attack from behind. Whether this was due to foolishness or pride she knew not, and cared even less. They were defilers of Arda, one and all, and she would stop at nothing to destroy them.
Lia slammed into their ranks as an ocean hits the shore, and they splintered before her like fragments of sand in their surprise. Her aura, a glowing halo of celestial fury, struck them without mercy, and where its brilliant light touched them, they burned. She moved with an unnatural speed, blazing like a star in their dark ranks. Her horn skewered two of the foul things and she tossed them over her back as if they were feathers, their putrid life blood sliding down the length of her horn, sizzling from contact with the lethal spiral. Her hoofs slashed with unerring accuracy, easily piercing through armor and flesh alike. All around her there was chaos and cries of pain as her aura consumed their corrupted flesh, melting it from their very bones, the stench becoming almost unbearable as the holy light destroyed them.
Through the blood that flecked her face she could see some of the Uruk-hai trying to regroup to launch an attack. She ignored them, choosing to maul those within easy striking range, for she knew the battle would continue to come to her. They outnumbered her and she knew that despite her halo, they assumed they could overwhelm her with numbers. They did not yet understand she was immortal, and would not tire as they were bound to. It was a false sense of victory she would not take from them, for it served to aid her. As she lashed back with her hind leg, kicking completely through the chest of another orc, she looked out over the battlefield, to the distant shape of Helm's Deep.
So many were their numbers, these minions of Saruman. They crashed against the walls of the great keep in seemingly endless waves. Already, the high stone walls were being breached by ladders, and she wondered if the battle was a lost cause, for she sensed a much smaller force was defending Helm's Deep, and she wondered how it came to pass that they had chosen such a place to make their stand instead of fleeing. A blur of movement to her right drew her gaze to an orc that was swinging at her head with a battle-axe, the flesh of his arms set ablaze by the power of her halo.
She watched him come, not bothering to avoid his gruesome charge. He grinned at her in maddened pain, thinking to send her to her death with a fatal blow to the head. His axe swung down straight and true, unhindered and unbarred. It struck her cleanly and with great force, and a horrible shrieking could be heard when it made contact with her flesh. All around them, Uruk-hai whirled to face the source of that awful sound. For an instant, nothing happened, and then the blade of the axe shattered in the hands of the orc, leaving behind nary a mark. He gaped at her in stunned awe for an instant, and then she lunged forward, her horn piercing his abdomen with laughable ease. She twisted her head to one side, cleaving him nearly in two, and then lashed out with a foreleg, neatly splitting another orc from gullet to groin.
The Uruk-hai fell back from her in fear and awe, not knowing what it was that they faced, but slowly beginning to comprehend that she was a terrible foe. They circled her with watchful eyes; their weapons at the ready, and for a moment she allowed this, for it gave her time to size them up as well. Only a few dozen were aware of her, the vast majority of the black army had not seen her approach and were more intent upon felling the walls of Helm's Deep. She knew with time, they would become more aware of her presence and a greater number of them would turn to fight her, but she had no fear of this eventuality. It would be unsuccessful, as she sensed no creature on this battlefield could harm her, and it would aid the cause of the defenders of Helm's Deep to have their enemies' attention divided.
She gave a clarion war cry, the sound both lovely and fierce, and then charged at the orcs that milled about her. They fell on her in packs, weapons swinging wildly. But no matter how often their blades fell, they could not shed her blood, and their steel was destroyed upon her glimmering hide like glass upon stone. She moved so swiftly that her body lost focus, her horn shining as it struck faster then the eye could follow, and they fell before her wrath with pitiful cries that she ignored. As the last of the small group fell beneath the fury of her attack, a thunderous roar rolled over the battlefield, and she paused to glance at the fortified city.
What she saw gave her pause. Where the proud walls of Helm's Deep had once held strong and true, now there was a gaping wound in their imposing height, an open sore that gave free passage into the defenders' city. And in that moment, the Eldar's Folly felt an instant of despair, thinking that perhaps Saruman's army might well prevail.
From the towering height of the walls of Helm's Deep, Legolas Greenleaf stared in mild dismay at the ruins of another section of the walls. It had been smashed to bits by a great explosion, another display of Saruman's power and intelligence. He had planned well for this attack, it seemed. At Legolas' side his kin, the Elves, fought alongside Man and some had already fallen, some who were friends from his childhood. He was both saddened and proud of their sacrifice, for it marked a coming together of the races, even if it was only for a short time. It had been many years since Elf and Man stood together, and even if they were all to die this day, it would be remembered in history that the races had united to make this stand.
He was turning to charge down into the mass of Uruk-hai that was breaching the wall when a bright light captured his attention. He looked out over the battlefield, his gaze drawn almost against his will, until it located the source of that brilliant light. His initial hope that it might be Mithrandir faded, to be replaced by a sense of curiosity. The light was coming from what appeared to be a small star. Even with his keen sight he could not make out any details of the creature, for it moved far swifter then his eyes could follow, but it was too large to be Gandalf, unless the Grey Pilgrim had managed to transfigure himself. Which, when it came to wizards, was entirely possible, but Legolas had a feeling that was not the case.
Whatever was out there appeared to be on his side, for it was striking down the Uruk-hai with savage fury; their black bodies falling in twisted heaps around the shining light. A sense of hope came to him then, though why he could not say, and he turned and ran down the stairs of the wall with renewed vigor, his heart filling with calm confidence once more as he drew an arrow from his quiver and shot down an orc, adding it to his growing list of kills.
Liathandrial finished slaying the orcs that had surrounded her, and then dimmed her light, wishing to move in secret for the moment. Already more of the desecrated creatures were gathering to strike at her, but she wanted to get a feel for what was happening at Helm's Deep, and so she fled from them for the moment. She heard their cheers and jeering calls, and for a moment was tempted to snort in mirth at their stupidity. Such simple, battle minded monsters they were. She tossed her head and let out a sharp whinny, and the heavens heard her and sent down their breath. A great wind stirred up around her and she leaped upon it, and it bore her into the sky high above the battle, so that she might see what was taking place in the keep.
As she had feared, the wall had been completely decimated in one area, and a steady flow of orcs was moving into the fortress. A small group of elves and men had gathered on a hill facing the opening and were systematically picking off the Uruk-hai as they entered the keep, but Lia knew they could not hold out forever. It was only a matter of time before they grew weary and their ammunition was spent. She was tempted to join them at the breach, but hesitated to do so. In a matter of time the orcs would overwhelm the defenders and swarm inside unchecked. Already, they were beginning to successfully scale the walls that were still standing, now that they had managed to destroy part of the keep's first line of defense.
Lia could see that Helm's Deep was sectioned off with fortified interior walls as well, rather like a citadel. It would be very difficult to take, for as each wall fell, the defenders could simply retreat behind another. She decided against joining them, for in such close quarters she was not free to fight with abandon, as she was on the battlefield. Out here, she need not fear injuring an ally, she could strike without mercy or caution, for none here would die save the enemy.
Her eyes turned back down to the milling orcs beneath her, and she screamed a challenge to them that was terrible to hear, and the sky itself roared with her, and Manwe sent down great bolts of lighting as she descended upon them. She came back into their midst with all the wrath of the avenger that she was, striking them down before they had time to even raise their weapons to defend themselves. And so it went throughout the night. Lia would slay one group of Uruk-hai and another would rise to take their place. Her shimmering hide became coated with grime, and her mane and tail matted with gore, but she did not falter or grow weary, although she wondered how many more there could be, and if an end would ever come to this battle.
And then as if Elbereth heard her thoughts, the dawn came, and with it, Mithrandir.