Welcome back to the fic To Be Forever Faithful. School is finally beginning to come to an end. Yay! This is my belated-birthday/early one- year anniversary special. I'll try to make this chapter longer, though that is definitely not a guarantee. For those of you complaining about my slow updates, I'm sorry. I do have a life and school is never easy during May. I'll try harder this summer. Well, enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything associated with Tolkien Enterprises or Lord of the Rings.

ooOoo

To Be Forever Faithful

By: Ponytail Goddess

Chapter 15: Attack

Morning. The bright sun rose over the treetops, its creamy light flowing down through the trees, creating leafy shadows on the forest floor. A single elleth walked through it all, followed by her own tall, dark shadow.

Belegwen sighed as she squinted in the sunlight. She was so tired and confused. So many things had happened the night before and she was not even sure if what she remembered was what had really happened. "That kiss... Was it just comfort, or was it something more?" She murmured to herself as she hiked up a tall, wooded hill towards the northern border.

All she was truly aware of was her own exhaustion. She had now not slept for a few days and was about to go a few more without it. "Dearest Valar, please let this patrol be as uneventful as the last." She quietly prayed as she finally spotted the tree that hosted the central talan. Finding some energy, she broke into a slow jog to reach it more quickly.

Her graceful hands took hold of the rope ladder that fell from the tree and she hoisted herself up the steps slowly. At the top of the tree, Belegwen came face to face with a rather fair, blonde-headed ellon. She did not know who it was. He simply smiled at her as she hoisted herself up onto the platform.

"You are the Marchwarden sent by the Lady, correct? You are here to take over for me?" He asked, visibly glad to see her.

"Yes," Belegwen responded.

"Very well then. There has not been any action here as of recently, so there is nothing to report to you. Thank you for helping me by coming out here. I will now return to the city." He stated, then deftly grabbed the sides of the ladder and slid down it quickly, not bothering to use the footholds. Belegwen watched wearily as he started to run in the direction she had come from. Quickly, she found herself pulling the ladder back up into the talan. All would be well, provided she did not fall asleep on the patrol.

ooOoo

It started as a feeling of unease, but Belegwen could not see anything in the night and did not know what was wrong. A pulsation started to be felt through the floorboards of the talan she was on. It started to feel more defined and rhythmic.

"What is out there?" Belegwen murmured, squinting as she gazed into the distance. Suddenly, her mind became aware of what was happening. The ground was shaking and something was coming their way.

Immediately, she crouched down and looked out into the night, taking a quick notice of the other wardens silently following her example. There was a blazing light growing in the far distance. It was not that of the sun though, but the light of many flaming torches. Leaning forward dangerously on the edge of the talan, Belegwen peered towards the light to try and see what was in the distance.

When she finally made out what it was, she gasped and then jumped back from the edge. Orcs! A large herd of them! There had to be at least two hundred of them out there, perhaps more! Never before had she seen so many orcs together at once! As the rumbling got started to get heavier, Belegwen speedily jumped into the next tree.

Heledhril looked surprised when she landed next to him on the talan. "Heledhril!" She whispered urgently, grasping his shoulders for emphasis, "There are two hundred orcs approaching! We are going to need more wardens and fast! Run and notify as many wardens as you can! Send them all here! Now go!" With that said, Belegwen leaped back onto her own talan.

Her breathing was no longer steady, but she stuck her hand in her mouth anyway, attempting to make the emergency bird call for her wardens. It worked. She projected it at all directions, hoping the orcs would not take notice. The group was moving quickly and Belegwen estimated they were going to be there in less than five minutes. Her wardens stood at alert, ready to receive her next instructions.

Adjusting her fingers, she made a different call. All of the wardens immediately took up their bows, knocked their arrows, and were ready to fire upon her next call. Yanking her hand from her mouth, she quickly drew out her bow and loaded it with an arrow. Her hand quivered with fear as the rumbling was now shaking her deck, leaving her excess arrows and lembas rattling and moving on the wooden platform.

She tried her hardest to focus, feeling for the first time the immense pressure that came with being in charge of the wardens. One wrong move and all of their lives would be at stake. Haldir was not present to guide her movements now so she had to get this right the first time.

Belegwen knew would have to give the signal soon. The orcs were quickly approaching the golden wood. She could hear their blood curdling screams and see their disgusting faces in the orange firelight. Her heart beat faster and faster as she realized the wardens would not be able to hear her bird call over all of the ruckus.

Her eyes widened when she realized what she would need to do. "I shall have to scream it and give away my hiding place." She thought to herself, fear dancing in her dimly lit eyes.

"Oh dear Valar..." She whispered inaudibly to herself as tried to build up the strength necessary within her to complete her duty.

Then, with all of the might she could muster up, her voice screamed out, "FIRE!"

At that moment, the battle had begun. The normally calm night was filled with screams of agony as arrows soared swiftly through the air and hit their targets, the first line of orcs falling. However, they were simply trampled by the next wave.

There were simply too many of them for twenty wardens to take on at once. As the front lines kept falling, the others came closer and closer, some even ducking and dodging all of the arrows deftly. Soon she saw a group of them climbing up her tree, their claws destroying the bark and their fires scorching its lovely branches.

Out of arrows and time, Belegwen had no choice but to grab up her sword and fight them defensively as they approached. They had all heard her scream and now her tree was swarming with them. She flung her sword back and forth, beheading two, then gouging one through the stomach. Slimy blue blood splashed onto her face and sword as she flailed wildly. The orcs just kept coming and coming though.

Rapidly, Belegwen noticed that she was tiring; her normal accuracy and speed were no longer what they usually were. She was becoming sloppy. There were now twelve orcs crowded around her on the large talan and more were approaching from halfway up the tree. Belegwen was being totally overwhelmed.

She screamed and jumped back as she felt a burning sensation on her foot. Quickly, she kicked the fallen torch off of the talan, though it had already done its damage. Flames started to jump up beside her. She could feel the heat of the smoke on her face and smell the revolting scent of her own burnt foot.

Suddenly, Belegwen gasped as strong hands grasped around her neck, claws sinking into her fair skin. There were orcs swarming all around her, touching her, clawing her... One was on fire... She couldn't breathe... Her sword... Air...

Something unexpectedly stabbed her middle and she fell over out of the tree, taking a hard landing onto the ground. She started gasping and sputtering, her hands trying to find the source of pain. It was coming from her side. They had stuck her own sword into her side! "Oh no..." She whispered weakly, her jaw quivering. Grabbing Nimrodel, she yanked it out of herself and screamed as excruciating pain hit her like a punch.

Slowly, her vision started to dim. Another orc was standing above her. With the little strength that she had left, she proceeded to jab him through the chest with her sword. He screamed and hobbled away as she lost her focus on the battle surrounding her.

Fading. Everything just faded away.

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"Oh no! No!" Rumil screamed as realized he had stepped on an Eldarin body that was sprawled across the ground. "Belegwen! Belegwen, do you hear me?! Belegwen!" He cried out as he shook her limp body. She was bleeding so much. Quickly, he checked her wrist for a pulse and found a faint one.

Tears filled his eyes and poured down his face ,making clean pathways through the dirt and orc blood that covered it. Through all the fire and chaos, his face was filled with worry for her. "I will not let you perish! You must live, my friend!" He sobbed as he quickly grabbed her up with one arm and started to run towards the city, slashing orcs with the sword he held in his other hand as he came upon them. Nothing slowed him down, not the dense forest foliage or the heated flames. He used all of his power to try and get her to the healer's talan before it was too late.

"Please live Belegwen! Please!"

ooOoo

Edited by P.G. on 05/19/20.

There we have it. Feel free to comment, as always. Yes, I know, it wasn't much longer than normal. Sorry. I'll also try to update sooner this time. Thanks for reading. Have a nice day!

-P.G.