The Lost City Of Cirus

Author's Note:
Short chapter I know but it was one big long chapter which I split in two so both are now kinda short but the really long chapter wasn't sitting right with me so I broke it up.
Hope there are some of you out there who are still reading this and if you are please take the time to review, it's always greatly appreciated when you do.

Thirty-One
The Clash Of Steel On Steel

Aragorn dropped his blade and all rushed forwards down the hill. Battle cries all mingled into one roar as they advanced on the enemy. The Chameles let out a guttural roar and ran to meet them.
Archers stopped halfway down the hill and rallied themselves into a several lines, leaving a gap in the middle for the rest of the army to pour through. Aniond took charge of the archers and prepared them to fire a volley of arrows.

"Fire!"

His voice rang out over the battlefield as the air was filled with the buzzing of hundreds of arrows. They sailed down into the front line of the Chameles army and almost an entire row of the creatures hit the ground, pierced with an arrow somewhere on their body.

As the front of Aragorn's army met the front of the Chamele army swords clashed and shields banged together. Aragorn raised his sword and cut down a yellow crested Chamele and brought his sword back bloodied after stabbing another in the chest.

Gimli busied himself mowing down every Chamele in sight, swinging his axe high and low, hacking off limbs and the occasional head if he could reach.

Eomer was proving his worth destroying every Chamele that came near him. Though he would never admit it the Rocs he had seen fighting were fighting well, perhaps better than most Men he'd seen. He still didn't like the idea of having to fight with them and suffered a gash on the arm between his armor plating to remind him not to allow his mind to wander.

Legolas shot off arrow after arrow into the throng of Chameles and as they drew all about him returned his bow to his back in favor of his fighting knives. Twirling them expertly in his hands he grasped them tightly and drove them into the stomach of a Chamele behind him. He then took the two knives up to the throat of another in front of him and brought both blades across its neck, spilling its blood down his front as the Chamele crumpled to the ground, blood bubbling up out of the wound as it lay dying.

However as Men, Elves, Dwarves and Rocs alike stared dropping to the ground without apparently fatal injuries Elrond began to suspect something was wrong. He rushed to the side of one fallen Elf and as he saw the purple lines that traced across his face he drew back.

"Poison." He breathed.

He then pulled the arrow from the fallen Elf's arm and hurried off to find Aragorn.

It did not take him long to find the King of Gondor taking down a particularly large Chamele and he hurried up to him before more could swarm about them.

"Aragorn! Their weapons are poisoned! A deep enough gash from even a sword blade is causing our allies to drop dead. I'm not sure of the composition of the poison but it's highly concentrated."

"I'll spread the word. I think perhaps it's best Elrond for you to take the arrow and return to our camp to analyze the poison, we'll need to you prepare an antidote and I will inform any who receive a wound to return to camp to have it treated."

Elrond nodded and took off back up the hill. He found a stray horse and quickly mounted it and giving it a few words of encouragement sent the horse galloping off towards the campsite.

Aquila was busing herself hacking at any Chamele that dared get close enough to her. It didn't take the Chameles long to come to the conclusion that the female Rocs were just as formidable as the males. They might not have the strength the males had but they seemed to have a lot more anger to throw around.

Aquila lunged hard into green crested Chamele and drove Silmar deep into its gut. It emitted a gurgling noise as it spat up blood before falling to the ground once Aquila had removed her sword.

Casting her eyes about for more foes she spotted some running up over a slight rise and so, returning Silmar to the scarf about her waist, she drew her Scimerang. Drawing her arm back behind her head and twisting her upper body slightly she threw the weapon with all the skill Sphenurus had spent years passing on to her. It hummed as it sailed through the air, spinning on itself as it arced across the sky. A sickening 'crack' reached Aquila's ears as the Scimerang sliced through the necks of three Chameles before continuing on its arc to arrive back where she stood. She raised a hand up and caught it expertly by its handle. The three Chameles dropped to the ground without their heads and Aquila smirked in approval of her weapon's efforts.

Aragorn was back in the fray, after speaking with Elrond of the poisoned weapons, when he spotted Sphenurus at the top of a small hill and Aquila about halfway up it. Aragorn made his way to the bottom of the hill, hoping to reach Aquila to pass on the information he had received from Elrond.

Just as he reached the hills base he witnessed Aquila's impressive skill with her Scimerang but was brought crashing back to earth when he saw a large yellow crested Chamele sneaking up behind her. The creature retrieved an arrow from a battered quiver strung across its back and notched it into its bow, drawing it back to his ear as he prepared to release the poisoned arrow at Aquila's back.

"Aquila!" Aragorn called out as loudly as he could as he dashed up the hill towards her.

Aquila looked down at him in confusion as she heard him call her name and the next thing she knew Aragorn had spear tackled her to the ground. He rose himself up over her to a knee just in time to deflect the arrow with his blade. Aquila looked up from beneath him to see the arrow sail off course and Aragorn leap to his feet and charge at the Chamele. A fluid stroke devastated the creature of its head and it crumpled to the ground, still clutching its bow.

Aragorn returned to Aquila and help the stunned Roc to her feet.

"You need to watch out for their weapons, they're poisoned. Even a slight cut may be fatal. If you do receive an injury by them you need to return to camp to be treated by Elrond. Spread the word if you can." He then started off to rejoin the battle.

"Aragorn…" Aquila finally managed. Gondor's King turned and waited for her to continue.

"You saved my life Aragorn."

"I could not stand by and watch Mirkwood's future Queen be shot in the back. I consider you a friend Aquila and I would hope you would do the same for me were our positions reversed."

He smiled at her and she smiled back. She nodded to him, expressing all she could through that simple gesture as she still struggled for the right words.

He then took off in the direction that the battle ragged the hottest. Aquila watched him go and still couldn't believe what had just happened. One glace at the dead Chamele behind her though confirmed it was all real.

While she stood staring off after Aragorn Sphenurus came up behind her and gripped her shoulder spinning her to face him.

"Princess Aquila are you alright?"

"I'm fine Sphenurus. Aragorn saved me."

"Aragorn? As in King Elessar?"

"Yes. I know it's strange but he did."

"Wow. Well at least you're alright, Prince Legolas would have had my head if anything had of happened to you."

"What?"

Sphenurus pressed his lips tightly together as he realized he'd let his mouth run on.

"Did Legolas ask you to baby-sit me?" She had that icy, accusing tone to her voice and Sphenurus had to fight with himself not to cringe as she spoke.

"Well not in so many words Princess. I don't believe he referred to it as babysitting."

Aquila looked beyond furious now and Sphenurus was beginning to worry it would distract her from the battle continuing around them.

"He worries about you Aquila is all, he just wanted to make sure you'd be safe. He didn't ask for me to fight for you, he just asked me to keep an eye on you."

Aquila said nothing as she spun on her heals and stormed off down the hill and back to the battle.

"Aquila!" Sphenurus called out to her as she hacked her way into a crowd of Chameles.

He chased after her but by the time he reached the hills bottom and the throng of battling Chameles and allies he had lost her in their midst. He cursed himself and headed into the fray, hoping to find her again.

Sphenurus cast about, still looking for the Roc Princess but without result. Stumbling over dead bodies as he made his way further into the seething battle he killed any Chamele that got in his path but his mind was not on the fight.
Desperately he continued his search for Aquila, spinning in circles as he tried to catch a glimpse of her. As he took a few steps back he stumbled backwards over the dead body of a Chamele and landed on his back in the dust.

Groaning he sat up and rubbed at his back. He checked to see that all his weapons were still secure in the silken scarf about his waist before he prepared to pick himself up. Just as he was about to though a soft groaning sounded from behind him.

"Sphenurus…?" A soft voice whispered.

The Roc turned and looked down into the cloudy eyes of Aniond, captain of Mirkwoods army.

"Aniond?" Sphenurus called out in concern as he dropped to his knees and shuffled to the Elf's side.

He sat beside him and carefully lifted him in to his arms. He suffered a deep wound to his stomach and the poison from the blade that had inflicted it had already begun to work its way through his system. Sphenurus could see he was dying and it was evident in the Elf's eyes that he knew it too.

"I'm glad you came." He managed to gasp out, a small amount of white foam seeping from the corner of his mouth as he spoke.

"I wont leave you alone Aniond, you'll be alright." Sphenurus smoothed a hand over Aniond's sweat covered forehead.

The Elf chocked out a laugh, knowing he was far from all right.

"I didn't want to die alone is all."

Sphenurus nodded in understanding, he himself wouldn't want to die alone either. Especially if that death was as slow as a deadly poison working its way through your veins. The Elf's eye became more clouded and more of the white foam he had spit up before began to seep from his mouth, but still Sphenurus held him tightly.

"Legolas…" Aniond gasped after a few moments.

"What? What of him Aniond."

"Make sure he's safe. He is my Prince but I will not be there to protect him. Make sure he's safe Sphenurus……"

And with those final words Aniond died in the Rocs arms, his cloudy eyes staring off into nothing, his chest no longer rising and falling and his heart no longer beating. Sphenurus wept for the loss of the Elf but battle ragged around him and various fights were drawing closer to his location.
He found the Elf's sword and bow lying beside him and laid them across his chest before folding his arms across them. He stood and bowed to the still figure of his fallen comrade before he gulped back the remaining tears he was yet to shed. He took a deep breath and charged into the nearest battle, his voice raised as well as his sword. His word to the Elven Prince to watch over Aquila was temporarily forgotten as he fought with renewed vigor against this enemy from the sea.

Aquila fought her way though the throng of Chameles as she began her search for Legolas. She was still furious that he would ask Sphenurus to look after her when they were supposed to be involved in a serious battle. She hopped to find him so she could say a word or too on the matter before she returned her attention back to the battle.

However as she fought her way through a small group of Chameles she caught a glimpse of blond hair up ahead, surrounded by a group of seven or so Chameles, but it did not belong to Legolas.

Eomer stood in the center of the ring of Chameles and spun around at a rapid pace, desperately trying to keep every one of them in his sights at all times. His helmet lay on the ground a few feet outside of the ring and Aquila assumed it had been knocked off in battle.

The Man raised his sword in front of him as he prepared to end his life fighting. As he drove his blade through the abdomen of the Chamele before him he awaited the cold, sharp bite of the blade he was expecting to come at him from behind. It never came though, instead he heard a yell followed by a strangled howl and then he felt something warm pressed up against his back.

He turned and looked over his shoulder and was stunned to find the Princess of the Rocs standing behind him, her back pressed to his and her sword at the ready. The two then struck out against their foes, keeping their back pressed together so that they could not be attacked unsuspectingly from behind. They fought well together and it did not take the two of them long to dispose of the remaining five Chameles who had them surrounded.

Aquila wiped the blood from her sword on a small patch of dry grass near her feet before she prepared to take off in search of another fight when Eomer grasped her wrist firmly in his hand to stop her.

"Wait."

She stopped and turned to face him, her face giving away nothing of what was going through her mind.

"Why did you do this? Why did you help me? You could have simply left me here to die, I would have done so had I come across you instead."

"Because you are my ally Eomer, King of Rohan. I would never leave an ally to die senselessly in battle. I would hope that now that you know my people desire to help you and not kill you, that were you to now come across a Roc in a position such as you were you would help them."

"I would Princess Aquila. Please forgive me for all I have done to wrong you……and I am sorry for the wrong done to Prince Legolas."

He hung his head in shame and expected Aquila to slay him on the spot and somewhere deep in his heart he would welcome such a response, for what he had done deserved death.

But Aquila did not strike him; instead she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and waited for him to raise his eyes to meet hers.

"I forgive you for the wrongs you have done me and my people but it is from Legolas you must seek forgiveness for the wrong you did him."

With that she walked off in search of somewhere she could be of assistance, leaving Eomer standing alone amidst the bodies of fallen friends and foes.

He recovered quickly though and charged off in search of any one he could help in battle. He vowed that the first to receive his help would be a Roc, for the one who aided him left him forever in debt to that Race.

The Chamele army was depleting and Aragorn now felt strongly that they had a chance to win. But his army was shrinking too, not with so many deaths but many had to return to camp in order to be treated for the poison in their bodies. The King of Gondor knew that the battle had to be ended soon or their numbers would level out again and then who knew if they would be able to win.
Taking a deep breath he filled his lungs with air and bellowed as loudly as he could.

"To the mountains!"

All who heard knew what this meant and many others, shouted in the tongues of Men, Elves, Dwarves and the piercing cry of the Rocs, took up the cry. The field was bathed in bright white light as hundred of Rocs transformed from their Half form into their Eagle forms and took to the air. They flew up high into the mountains as those allies remaining on the ground formed a semi-circle around the Chamele army and began to drive them back against the mountains.

When they had their enemy pressed to the mountains side a ring of archers stepped forward and drew their bows, poised to shoot any Chamele who tried to escape the ring.
Then the creatures raised their heads as the Rocs shrieked above them. They circled lower and lower and the Chameles began to shoot at them with bow and arrows and then the rocks fell.

Each Roc had a large boulder clasped in its mighty talons and they were now releasing them to fall heavily back to earth. As the boulders rained down Chameles were crushed beneath them and they began to surge away from the mountains, attempting to escape the deluge of rocks falling upon them.
The allied army held them back by whatever means they could, the arches released volleys of arrows into their midst and many fell. Those who got beyond the arches were slain by others with swords, axes and other weapons.

Many more Chameles were killed as they were picked up by low flying Rocs and taken high into the air, impaled on sharp talons, before being cast back to earth. Every bone in their body shattering as they collided with the ground.

Horrible shrieks went up as Rocs were shot down with poisoned arrows but still they continued the assault with the boulders. Flying up again and again into the mountains to retrieve the large rocks so that they could be dropped upon their enemy.

To be continued…