"Elvish"
The people of Rohan travelled swiftly across the plains, many wanting to get to Helms Deep as soon as possible. Mountains of white covered them on both sides with only plains of grass to see for miles it seemed.
Gimli was sat on a horse, by himself for once with Èowyn walking next to him. He was regaling her with stories of his people and was talking about Dwarf women to her. "It's true you don't see many dwarf women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, they are often mistaken for dwarf men."
The Fellowship laughed loudly when Èowyn glanced back at them, more specifically Aragorn who pointed to his chin and Boromir's. "It's the beard." He told her, the mirth clear on his face and the ones around him.
"And this in turn has given rise to the belief that there are no dwarf women. And the dwarves just spring out of holes in the ground!" Èowyn laughed loudly, her happiness a stark difference to how she was after the death of her cousin and the banishment of her brother. The Men watched as the horse Gimli rode on suddenly jerked forward and dumped the Dwarf on the ground. Boromir and Aragorn glanced at each other before laughing, their hands finding their places on each other's shoulder as they leant against each other and cackled at their Dwarf friends expense.
The Dwarf in question glared at both of them before insisting to Èowyn that he was just fine and meant to do that. "It is good to see my niece happy. I feel as if I have not seen her smile so brightly in so long." The King told Aragorn as Boromir left to help their Dwarf friend back onto his horse with the help of Lady Èowyn.
"Her parents both succumbed to the pain that is death when she was young. I feel that I have failed her and my brothers memory," he told the Ranger and the returned Boromir. "I have not loved her as my brother asked of me. It is I that is the reason for her unhappiness in her life."
Boromir shook his head at the Kings words. "Do not speak such words my King," He said to him, placing a comforting hand upon his shoulder. "Your niece loves you. The only thing she would wish is to see you alive and well." The Gondorian suddenly seemed to go into a trance as if he was remembering something.
As if brought back to the land of the living, Boromir looked into the Kings eyes with a fierce determination before moving in front of him and stopping his plight. "We had a companion that travelled with us some time ago," After speaking these words, he glanced at Aragorn as if to say sorry for bringing Eleniel up but the Ranger only shook his head before nodding for him to go on, the King did not miss this exchange. "I told her of my fears, that I felt I was failing my father and my people but she told me that I may feel this way now but that as time went on, I would soon see that I would rather have my fathers love instead of his approval and pride in me."
"She told me that failure was apart of life. We will always feel as if we could or should have done something but that there is no need to dwell on such things," Boromir said to him as the group of Men glanced at his still laughing niece next to Gimli. "Do not fret over things that have already come to past, my Lord. Only love your niece like you think she deserves now."
The King smiled at him before he clasped Boromir on his forearm in a show of friendship. "Thank you for your words Lord Boromir. Words that I shall always remember."
"Your companion is very wise. Tell me, has she returned to her people and that is why she does not travel with you all?" Neither of the Men answered for some time until Aragorn spoke up, nodding his head to the King.
With a somewhat sad smile on his face, he said, "Yes, she has finally returned home to her family. Something she spoke often of and wished for." Théoden nodded with a smile, not noticing the somber and sad mood his words had brought to the men.
"Well I hope she has found happiness with her people." The King then walked off to talk to his people as they were about to rest for the day, only glancing back at the men to nod in goodbye.
"I hope she has too, my Lord." Aragorn muttered to himself, feeling himself become sad until Boromir asking him if he was hungry shook him out of his reverie. Aragorn smiled at him in thanks before answering that he was indeed hungry. They marched off to find their companions and see if they could find anything to eat.
The group sat off to the side away from the people, each of them sharpening their weapons. Aragorn and Boromir with their swords and many daggers. Legolas with his arrows and daggers and Gimli with his axe and also many daggers. They were a spectacle to the Rohirrim aswell as the soldiers who had not seen so many weapons on one person. They thought it was hilarious.
After Legolas had wandered off to scout around the borders of their campsite, Gimli, Boromir and Aragorn calmly sat and spake amongst themselves when Èowyn approached them with a iron pot in one hand and a stack of wooden bowls not the other. Their was a shy and almost embarrassed smile on her face as they watched her approach.
"I made stew," she informed them gesturing to the pot at her side. "It's not much but it's still hot." The Ranger nodded in acceptance while Boromir and Gimli refused claiming that they were not hungry. Their words drew a curious look from the Ranger as he wondered why they did not want to eat when he knew they were starving. It was only after his first taste that he understood.
It tasted like feet. Not wanting to offend the fair lady, he forced himself to eat another spoonful after the first as she eagerly watched awaiting his verdict. A grimace escaped him before he quickly covered it with a bright smile, telling her that it was delicious. He heard snickers from his companions and he elbowed the both of them discreetly in the gut.
"Really?" Éowyn asked in a relieved voice, a wide smile appearing on her face. Boromir glanced at his friend who nodded his head in an attempt to spare the Lady Éowyn's feelings.
Éowyn turned to leave which gave Aragorn the perfect opportunity to spill the rest of the stew into the grass next to him. Éowyn turned back suddenly, causing Aragorn to quickly bring the bowl back in front of himself as if he was still eating it and spilt some onto his legs. He cursed quietly enough that the White Lady did not hear but not quiet enough where his companions did not. They had to try withold snickers, earning them glares from the Ranger.
"My Uncle told me a strange thing. He said that you rode to war with Thengel, my grandfather," she told him in disbelief. "But surely he must be mistaken."
Aragorn shook his head at her words. "Your Uncle has a good memory. He was only a small child then." They watched as her eyes widened, realising just how old Aragorn really was before kneeling down in front of him closely, inspecting his face. He discreetly leant away from her, feeling slightly uncomfortable at her closeness.
"Then you must be at least sixty, though you do not look it." Aragorn looked at her embarrassed before shaking his head. "Might want to pick a higher number lass." Gimli told her, laughing at his embarrassment.
"Seventy?" She guessed again to which he shook his head. Her eyes became even bigger in disbelief. "Surely you are not eighty?"
"I just turned eighty-eight a few days ago," he admitted, an embarrassed smile on his face. He glared at the laughing Boromir and Gimli although it lost its heat as a smile appeared on his face.
Éowyn gazed at him in astonishment and awe. "You are one of the Dúnedain. A descendant of Númenor, blessed with long life. It was said that your race had passed into legend." A wistful and sad smile immediately found its way onto the Rangers face as he thought of his suffering people in the North.
"Our kingdom was destroyed long ago and there is so few of us left but, we still exist and fight on for our people and hope." Éowyn, guessing that she had brought sad memories to his mind excused herself immediately and walked off to offer stew to others of the Rohirrim.
Boromir watched as she tried to offer to awful stew to others, many who also did not know what they were getting into after taking a bowl of stew. The stew was being fed to the grass more than into mouths. "She likes you." He proclaimed to Aragorn, who glanced at Éowyn as she meandered amongst the people for a moment.
"I know." Was his quiet reply to Boromir and Gimli, who had also said the same thing. The group looked at the fair lady when Aragorn said more. "I have wished her happiness since I first saw her but," they watched as he gazed sadly at the pendant around his neck, the jewel a brilliant mix of blue and white in the light. They had caught many of the Rohirrim especially the children stare at the jewel, wondering where such splendour was found. "I cannot give her what she seeks. My mind, body and soul belong to another and I imagine it shall stay that way until I leave for the Halls of Mandos."
"I can only hope that the Valar and Eru Ilúvatar will grant me with just one chance to see her again before we must be parted for all time and eternity in the afterlife." They all had tears in their eyes as they thought of Eleniel and heard their friend speak of his deep grief, Legolas having returned some time during their talk about Éowyn. The rest of the group wisely went off to sleep, leaving their leader to his thoughts for the night.
He sat there smoking his pipe for many hours until his body gave out and he fell asleep leaning up against a rock. The next day of travel, Éowyn walked next to Aragorn, her eyes glancing at the jewel pendant around his neck every so often.
He knew she was curious as was the rest of her people so he let her be. "Who is she? The woman who gave you that jewel?" He smiled sadly, thinking of Eleniel before answering her.
"A companion of ours, a woman who travelled with us from Lothlórien."
Éowyn looked around at his companions as if trying to find Eleniel. "Where is she? I do not see a woman amongst your companions?" She asked him.
Aragorn played her death over and over again in his mind. Her battered and bloodied body. Her beautiful grey eyes dead and lifeless. A fresh wave of tears threatened to fall but he did not let them. "She died." Was his sad response to her. Éowyn didn't dare ask the rest of the Fellowship about Eleniel ever again.
It was around midday when it happened. The Rohirrim had been walking with haste, their minds only on getting to Helms Deep as soon as possible when up ahead of the group of villagers, a warg scout attacked and killed Háma. Legolas who was with the soldiers at the front killed the orc just in time and ran back towards Aragorn and the King.
"What is it? What do you see?" Aragorn demanded, him, Boromir and Gimli immediately going on guard and drawing their weapons.
"Wargs! We're under attack!" The villagers begin to panic amongst themselves, many of them looking at their families in fear and the children beginning to cry.
The King looked at his niece and rode until he was next to her. "You must lead the people to Helms Deep with haste."
She protested his words saying, "I can fight!" But the King would not hear any of it and urged her to lead their people to Helms Deep until she relented to his request. Aragorn and Éowyn shared a brief look before he too rode off on Hasufel towards battle.
"Estel," A soft, familiar voice called out to him as he felt his sore body float down the river. "Open your eyes meleth nin, you cannot falter now."
"The people of Rohan need you, Estel or they shall perish. Get up!" His eyes flew open, meeting a pair of fading grey eyes as he attempted to sit up but a pain filled groan escaped his mouth so he stopped moving.
His eyes darted around trying to take in his surroundings. His body had washed up onto the bank of the river. What happened to him is all he asked himself for a few minutes until he remembered. The orc, the warg, his arm getting caught and eventually tumbling off the cliff. He tried to move again but once again only felt pain. Searching his body, Aragorn checked to see if he had everything on him when he found that Eleniel's necklace was gone. Grief pierced him as he thought of the last thing she had given him before he left Lothlórien. After awhile, he became tired and felt as his body slowly shut down until everything was black.
While Aragorn lay on the shore of the river, the rest of the Fellowship searched for him as did the other soldiers. "Aragorn!" Boromir called out, Gimli and Legolas soon joining his urgent call.
They were looking for him when they heard laughing. Looking to the ground, their eyes narrowed on the dying orc, blood staining its mouth. Legolas knelt down and roughly grabbed it before demanding to know what had happened.
Gimli and Boromir pointed their blades at the orcs chest. "Tell me what happened and we will ease your passing!"
The orc laughed, coughing up blood as it spoke. "He's dead," it said, laughing some more. "Took a little tumble off the cliff."
It eventually stopped laughing, falling out of Legolas hold onto the ground dead. They saw the sarnithil pendant in the orcs hand and knew that what he had said was the truth. Boromir grimly grabbed the pendant before they all approached the cliff and looked down into the rushing water. There was no way that Aragorn had survived the fall.
Aragorn awoke again when he felt wetness on his face. Groaning, he opened his eyes to see a wet nose in front of him. "Brego?" He said as he saw the familiar horse in front of him.
"Where have you come from my friend?" The horse snorted at him as if to say hurry up and get on my back human so we can get to Helms Deep as Brego knelt down, so Aragorn could gently roll onto his back. They rode off to Helms Deep with as much speed as his sore body could take until he saw the huge amassed army of Uruk-hai heading for Helms Deep. Then Aragorn pushed Brego to go as fast as he could.
Passing under the arch at the entrance and into Helms Deep, Aragorn was met with many whispers of him being alive and smiles from the villagers of Edoras. Moving off Brego, he pushed his body to hurriedly walk into the Hall so he could speak to the King when he's stopped by a huge force of bodies wrapped around him. Looking, he saw a smiling Boromir, Gimli and Legolas each of them sporting relieved smiles before they all punched him multiple times on his body. His body even more bruised now.
"You have some luck lad." Gimli said to him, looking over his body for any pressing injuries.
"You're late," Legolas said, his smile even wider now. Boromir merely looked at him, his eyes shining with relief before he reached into his pocket and brought out Eleniel's pendant and held it out to his King.
"Hannon le, mellon nin." (Thank you, my friend) Aragorn smiled before putting the pendant on and pressing a kiss to the jewel reverently. His eyes met the shocked, teary ones of Éowyn who stood a few feet away from them. He nodded at her in acknowledgment before pushing the doors into the Hall open with the others following behind him.
Ten thousand Uruk-hai. Ten thousand marched for Helms Deep is all that was on the Kings mind. He feared for his people and now felt that he might have led them into a trap. A tight fear gripped his heart as he gazed at his soldiers, realising that they truly were alone. Children as young as fifteen had to fight. Men who were old enough to be grandfathers had to fight. Every able bodied man were ordered to fight. No one would send aid for his people. Not the elves, Gondor, the dwarves. They were alone.
Hey friends! So the battle for Helms Deep is coming up and now I feel like maybe I went through the story too fast a little lol or maybe it's because my chapters are always like 3000 words long... but do not worry, things are changing in the story so good luck with that? Probably going to check in with the Hobbits in the next chapters so say goodbye to Aragorn and the others until maybe chapter 14 or 15 or maybe not because I'm selfish lol. Anyways how are you people? Life going good? I hope so,
Hope you enjoyed the chapter xx