A/N: A special thank you to "Freak and Proud" for those kind reviews. They are what I live on. FOLLOW FREAK AND PROUDS LEAD, PEOPLE!
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The battle went on for about three hours, with neither side showing weakness. Only so many Uruk-Hai could fit on the ladders- and there were only so many ladders that could fit onto the deepening wall. Morwen was finding great sport in finding a ladder somewhere along the wall and kicking it off. It was very satisfying to hear the Uruks go crashing into their fellows.
That pit of dread in Berethor's stomach had all but faded, as he was now very caught up in crushing the Uruks skulls. Elegost was knocking Uruks off their ladders as the reached the top of the wall, using any nearby spare arrows, while Hadhod watched his back. Eaoden was spinning his spear like a madman, cutting into Uruk chests and necks, miraculously never hitting any of his fellow soldiers.
Idrial, also in the swing of the fight, was taking Legolas' earlier words to heart and striking at the underarm and neck of the Uruks, knowing their armor was weak there. On the edge of her hearing, she could hear Legolas and Gimli counting off the Uruks they killed. Apparently, Legolas was in the lead. Legolas and Aragorn were nearby, Gimli was farther along the wall.
That's when the battle took a turn in Saruman's favor. While pushing a ladder off the wall, Idrial noticed a strange event taking place below. Four Uruk-Hai were carrying two large, spiked metal balls, one between two Uruks. They were carrying the objects to the drain in the deepening wall. Idrial wasn't familiar with these objects, so she was temporarily distracted from the fight.
An Uruk came up behind her and raised its sword to strike her down. It would have succeeded if Legolas hadn't seen what was about to happen, and struck down the Uruk with an arrow. Idrial whirled around when Legolas grabbed her arm. "That thing almost killed you! What are you looking at?" He called over the clash of swords. Idrial pointed down to the Uruks.
Legolas' eyes narrowed. "What are they doing?" He muttered. Aragorn had also noticed the Uruks. He also noticed the Beserker that was running for the drain, a torch held high. It did not take long for the Ranger to figure out what was about to happen.
"Legolas! SHOOT HIM DOWN! KILL HIM!" He yelled. Legolas whipped out an arrow, took aim, and fired. The Beserker was hit in the shoulder. He let out a roar of pain, but ran on. Legolas ripped out another arrow, aimed, and fired again. This arrow hit the Beserker in the chest, but miraculously, he kept running. This amazed Idrial, seeing as how the Beserker wore no armor. The hits should have killed him easily.
The Beserker leapt forward into the drain.
A deafening explosion rang through the area.
Idrial went down hard, and felt someone else on top of her. Her vision was clouded with rock and dust as debris from the deepening wall slammed into the exposed parts of her body. The ground shook threateningly, and for a moment Idrial believed that it would cave in on itself. But it didn't. Parts of the deepening wall flew everywhere, crushing Uruks and humans and elves alike.
Such debris hit Hadhod, though thanks to his helmet and the size of the debris, he was not badly harmed. He and Elegost were knocked unceremoniously off their feet, and Elegost had to draw his cloak over his face so dust wouldn't get in his eyes. Morwen had to grab the still standing part of the deepening wall to stop herself from mimicking her friends.
Berethor, who was far enough down the wall not to tumble over, stopped with his sword raised. His eyes widened, and his mouth hung open dumbly. What just happened? He thought, swallowing hard. Eaoden was having a similar reaction to the explosion. He, like Berethor, was far enough away from the explosion that he didn't lose his bearings. But he still stared in shock as the deepening wall, the one thing he had believed was impenetrable, partially collapsed.
Eaoden received a painful blow to his shoulder as a punishment for his lack of attention, and he quickly remembered that the Uruks weren't going to stop coming just because the humans were losing. If anything, they would move faster and harder now. Back at the wall, the dust and debris was beginning to clear up. Idrial coughed as she inhaled the dust, greatly disliking the chalky feeling it left in her throat.
She turned over a bit, and saw that it was Legolas that had landed partially on top of her. He followed Elegost's lead from earlier and pulled his cloak over his and Idrial's faces so the dust wouldn't affect them. "Are you all right?" He coughed.
"I am fine. You?" Legolas pulled himself off Idrial and helped her up.
"A slight hit to the head- nothing to be worried about." He muttered, rubbing the side of his head. They both looked down at the ruined wall, seeing that many soldiers had been caught in the explosion. Their bodies littered the ground around the explosion sight. Idrial swallowed hard when she realized that several elven warriors were among the fallen.
But the other thing that drew Idrial's attention was the numerous amount of Uruks that were now spilling through the destroyed wall. Aragorn was one step ahead of her, though. He already had the soldiers in a defensive stance behind him. "CHARGE!" He roared, and the men let out cries and ran forward to meet the Uruk-Hai.
Gimli, caught up in the fight already, let out a battle cry in his own Dwarvish language and leapt off one of the remaining parts of the deepening wall, swinging his axe like a Dwarf possessed. Legolas looked momentarily amused at this, but quickly hardened his expression and acted. He grabbed a shield from a nearby body (Idrial shuddered when she realized it was an elf), stepped onto it, and slid down the steps to the new battlefield, shooting arrows as he went.
Idrial followed close after, taking a moment to think up a strategy. An idea struck her suddenly, and she wondered why she hadn't thought of it before. She tried to see how much water was around the drain, and concentrated on it. (A/N: This I know the translation for, so I'll write it in elvish) "Nîn o Chithaeglir, lasto beth daer, Rimmo nˆn Bruinen dan in Yrrch! Rimmo nˆn Bruinen dan in Yrrch! (Waters of the Misty Mountains, listen to the great word, flow waters of Loudwater against the Uruk-Hai! Flow waters of Loudwater against the Uruk-Hai!)(1) She cried, slashing her sword in the direction of the oncoming army.
The effect was startling.
The water flew up in a spiraling pattern, and suddenly came down on the Uruk-Hai. Violently, I might add. Very violently. As in, Aragorn, the man who had killed countless Orcs in his lifetime, winced when he heard the bones of the Uruk-Hai cracking. Elegost, who had been firing off arrows from his perch on a stable section of the wall, whistled appreciatively. "Good shot, Idrial." He commented.
Idrial smiled, but knew she couldn't pull off that little stunt again. Though she didn't dare show it on the outside, she was weary. The force of the magic that she had just used had sapped a good deal of energy. She discreetly leaned against the wall for a moment, and then immediately snapped back to action. Morwen had appeared during the attack, and was now furiously hacking away at any Uruk that got within seven feet of her.
"She did not lie when she said she had wrath," Hadhod muttered to Idrial as he passed her, hefting his axe. Idrial nodded. Her jealousy and anger towards Morwen was ebbing, however reluctantly, away. It was not her fault that Berethor had lost interest in Idrial…
This sudden thought spurred Idrial into a sudden, violent action, and she hacked the nearest Uruk to small, frightening pieces.
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(1): I know it isn't the Loudwater River, but bear with me, as Tolkien was not so specific as to say what the water in Helms Deep was.