The Stranger in Middle Earth
I do not own the rights to Lord of the Rings
Chapter four
Preparing for the storm

AN-I've re written this chapter because I thought up a new scene after I had posted this originally. It doesn't completely change the plot but it would be better to read this one.

I was leaning against the battlements at Helm's Deep looking out over the land in front of the fortress. There was no cover there and a large army would have no room to move. In many ways it was the perfect place for a fortress. The building itself was designed in a very good way. There was a long twenty foot high wall, called the Deeping Wall, which men could stand on three ranks deep. Next to that was the Hornburg, the castles keep and gatehouse which was circular and offered perfect line of sight for archers along the battlements. The Hornburg was in two parts with an outer and inner wall with a round walkway between them. The two walls were connected together by a stone bridge. I was on the battlements of the Hornburg's outer wall. My poleaxe was resting against the wall next to me and my left hand was grasping the hilt of Alaric. I'd had my wound bandaged and seen to by the healers at the fortress. It wasn't a bad wound so I was sent on my way quickly, there were more badly wounded than me. After a few minutes by myself I heard someone walking up to me. I turned towards the person and saw Rickard there.

'Are you alright?' he asked me.

'More or less. Where have you been?'

'Taking a look around the place. Did you know there's a massive cave behind the fortress?'

'No I didn't. I'll take a look myself later.'

'You're feeling guilty aren't you?'

'What do I have to be guilty about?'

'Surviving. Remember what my father said once or twice?'

'He said a lot of things.'

'I know. Well, what I mean is when he talked about surviving Tewkesbury while your father didn't.'

'I remember. He said that he wished that he'd died and my father lived.'

'Then mother would tell him to shut up. You can always regret but you have to keep living.'

'I know. It's just. I wish that more of our men had lived.'

'If we had everything we wished than I'd be sitting in Rome right now drinking wine in a tavern for the rich with a few barmaids and a giant sack of gold.'

I looked at him for a moment.

'What?' he asked me.

'I've never been more happy that I couldn't see inside your mind.'

We both laughed for a moment until Rickard's gaze shifted towards two riders approaching the fortress.

'Who are they?' he asked me.

'A couple of stragglers maybe. Perhaps mercenaries looking for some quick money,' I listed off.

'Maybe. As they got closer and reached the causeway I noticed something.

'Impossible,' I said.

'What is it?'

'Come on!' I shouted at him and we ran down towards the courtyard in the heart of the Hornburg where a statue of a long dead King named Helm Hammerhand kept a constant vigil over his fortress. Moments after we arrived the two riders rode into the courtyard and I realized that I was right. One of them was Aragorn. He looked tires, battered, beaten but alive. The second was on a white horse. He was in his late sixties with greying black hair a little longer than mine, he was a little stocky but in good shape for a man his age, on his face was a layer of thick stubble. He carried a large dark brown sack and strapped across his back was a great sword. He climbed off of his horse and when he saw me and Rickard he allowed a small smile to creep onto his face.

'Father!' Rickard shouted.

'Uncle,' I said and the two of us ran towards him and hugged him.

After a few moments we let go of him and he looked at the two of us.

'I see you two have been getting into trouble again,' he said and gestured at the bandage on my face.

'Well, at least it's not a repeat of the armoury incident,' Rickard responded, his smile still plastered onto his face.

'James,' Aragorn said with urgency, 'let's go.'

'Alright,' he then said to Rickard and I, 'Come on you two.'

We followed Aragorn and Uncle James to the main hall. Legolas was there outside the hall and Aragorn got his jewel from him. I then noticed something. Lady Eowyn was looking at Aragorn with what I first thought was surprise but there was something else there. Something deeper. We then entered the hall and King Theoden was sitting on a throne while he consulted with several military officers. When he saw Aragorn he looked as if he'd seen a ghost. Quickly, Aragorn and my uncle walked forwards and both bowed.

'Theoden King,' Aragorn started, 'this is James Harris, John's uncle and Rickard's father. I met him on the way here and we encountered the army of Isengard which is marching on us as we speak.'

'He is right,' my uncle confirmed what Aragorn had said. 'It is one of the largest armies I have ever seen. It is a truly great host.'

'A great host you say?' asked Theoden.

'All Isengard is emptied.'

'How many?'

Everyone in the room was silent as we awaited the size of the enemy army but I knew it was bad. My Uncle had been there at Bosworth with us and at Tewkesbury before that so it would take a lot to unnerve him.

'Ten thousand strong at least,' Aragorn said at last.

'Ten thousand?' Theoden asked, shocked at how bad it was.

'Jesus Christ,' cursed Rickard.

'It is an army built for a single purpose,' Aragorn went on. 'To destroy the world of men. They will be here by nightfall.'
Theoden was silent for a moment and closed his eyes to clear his thoughts. Then he opened them and with strength and charisma in each step he strode out of the hall towards the doors and said with strength, 'Let them come.'

We followed him out of the hall and to the gatehouse. There he ordered Gamling, who I guessed was Theoden's second in command, to make sure that every man and boy who could use a weapon was to be made ready for battle. He then lead us to the gate where some soldiers were strengthening them by nailing wooden planks to the gates. Eventually we stood just outside the gates on the causeway.

'We shall cover the causeway and the gates from above,' he instructed the Rohan officers. 'No man has ever breached the Deeping Wall, or set foot inside the Hornburg. Within these walls we will outlast them.'

'I hope the men behind these walls,' my uncle said to the king in a voice which was lowered so the Rohan soldiers wouldn't hear him, 'are as strong as the walls are. Otherwise we may not survive this battle.'

'Aye,' agreed Gimli who was standing close by. 'This is no band of mindless Orc's. These are Uruk-hai. Their armour is thick and their shields broad.'

'I have fought in many wars Master Dwarf and James Harris. I know how to defend my own keep.'

Theoden said to the Dwarf and my uncle before walking back into the fortress. As we went I said to my uncle,

'It's not all bad news, uncle. From what I've seen of them I doubt that the Uruk-hai have cannons.'
(For those readers who do not know, a cannon is a metal tube which uses a black powder to propel metal projectiles over a long distance, several of which have been built for the defences of Minas Tirith)

'They'll have to deal with us hand to hand,' Rickard added with surprising enthusiasm and mimicked a few punches, 'and then we'll teach the Uruk-hai not to mess with Englishmen!'

'Even if we had a hundred knights it will be hard to win this battle,' my uncle stated but failed to deflate my cousins optimism.

'Well I'm sure we'll send a lot of them to Hell where they belong.'

'Then Hell will soon be overflowing with how many there are,' my uncle deadpanned. 'You haven't seen them yet. If you had you'd understand me.'

We had now reached the top of the inner wall of the Hornburg where Theoden was outlining what he believed would happen in the battle.

'They will break upon this fortress like water on rock. Saruman's hordes will pillage and burn. We've seen it before. Crops can be re-sown. Homes rebuilt. Within these walls we will outlast them.'

'They do not come to destroy Rohan's crops and villages, they have come to destroy its people,' Aragorn almost shouted. I didn't blame him, I thought that perhaps Theoden didn't see how grave the situation was. 'Down to the last child.'

At this Theoden turned around and almost hissed at Aragorn. I couldn't hear what they were saying but I knew it was bad.

'John, Rickard,' my uncle said to us, 'come with me.'

I knew that tone in his voice. It meant that he was about to say something that he knew we didn't want to hear. We followed him to a part of the courtyard near the statue.

'Now listen to me,' he said loud enough for Rickard and I to hear but not anyone else. 'You know how bad the situation is. We don't have a hope in Hell of winning this battle.'

'But the code Uncle,' I quickly said. 'Defend the weak and defenceless.'

'John, I have always admired your loyalty to the code of Chivalry, it's a quality you share with your father, but like him you use it as a law. It's a guide to how a knight should live his life. We have no oath to this country and Aragorn explained to me where we are now. We have no loyalties here.'

'I do. I want to stay here and not run like a coward,' I said to him, I knew that would touch a nerve. He angrily slapped me across my face.

'Don't you dare call me a coward nephew,' he almost growled, appearing more like a bear than a man.

'Father,' Rickard slowly said to him, 'we should stay.'

'What?' he asked his son.

'These people have no chance I know but with us here we increase the chance of victory, not by much but it's better than nothing. I say we stay and fight.'

My uncle sighed and shook his head.

'I made a promise,' he simply said.

'To who?' I asked him.

'Two promises actually to two different people. To your father John, I promised him as he lay on the field dying, choking on his own blood, that I would make sure you lived in a family and not be left alone as we were when your grandfather died at Agincourt. Rickard, I promised your mother that I would not let you or your brother, get yourselves killed.'

'Uncle,' I said to him, my voice filled with finality, 'I'd rather die here than spend the rest of my life knowing that I ran away and let innocents be slaughtered. I'm staying.'

'So am I,' Rickard agreed with me and crossed his arms.

'Well, if you both want to die than we'll die together,' Uncle James told us. 'Let's get ready. We have until nightfall then it all ends.'

'But we're not going to die,' I told him with absolute certainty.

'You can't be sure of that,' he snapped.

'We have reinforcements on the way. Two thousand men.'

'So we're gambling on two thousand men arriving here soon even though we have no guarantee of them arriving. Try to be realistic you two. We have no hope.'

I knew he spoke the truth and I couldn't think of anything to say back to him. Then I saw my answer. Eothain and Freda with a woman. The way they spoke to each other and how the woman held them close.

'Uncle, look at them,' I gestured at the small family. 'Yesterday, those children didn't even know if their mother was alive and they'd be dead if we weren't brought here. I saved the lives of those two children.'

'Your point John?' he asked me, crossing his arms.

'My point is that even though there is no hope I know that there are miracles.'

I have been a soldier my whole life. I've seen dozens of battles and thousands dead. Yet in my life the saddest thing I had ever seen was what I saw in the caves. My Uncle was an experienced soldier and had been an officer in the army of King Richard so when Theoden had learned of this he'd been summoned to help plan the defence leaving Rickard and I to help carry out the worst job. We went into the caves to round up conscripts.

'This is wrong,' I said to Rickard as we watched young boys and old men being taken from their families.

'I know but,' Rickard paused, 'I suppose Markus would say we have no choice. Then I'd swear at him for not having a soul.'

'And then he'd remind us we have a job to do,' I said distantly as we walked forwards to find soldiers.

Rickard and I went our separate ways and I found myself walking towards two people, a woman of twenty, maybe twenty five years and a boy of thirteen years. Both had dark blonde hair and blue eyes. With each step filled with shame I walked forwards.

'The King has ordered that all men and boys who can bear arms be called up to fight,' I said to them and the woman grabbed me.

'No! You can't force my brother to fight! You can't!' the woman screamed into my face, her eyes red with tears.

'I'm sorry but it's not my choice,' I told her, not bearing to look her in the eye.

'Please! I'll do anything but don't force him to fight! He's all I have,' she pleaded and then she forced me to look at her. Even with the desperation clear in her eyes I was shocked at what she said. 'You can have me, do anything you want to me but don't make him fight. I promised our father that I wouldn't let him die! Please. I'll do anything you ask.'

I knew what she meant and I was shocked that she'd think me capable of such an act. The desperation in her eyes was almost too much to bear. But I'm a knight, I had to follow my orders.

'I'm sorry,' I said one more time and then forced her to let go of me. As I lead the boy away from her she collapsed to her knees and wept.

'Cenric!' she screamed. 'Cenric!'

'Sunniva,' he said as I lead him away from his only family.

Not long later Rickard, Uncle James and myself stood in the armoury and watched as boys too small to wear armour and men too old to carry weapons were being made ready for war. A few moments earlier Aragorn had stormed out of the armoury after an argument with Legolas which ended with the words "Then I shall die as one of them".

'I've seen better soldiers on a farm,' Uncle James whispered to us.

'It could be worse,' said Rickard.

'Not by much,' I told him.

'John sir,' young Eothain, now wearing a mail hauberk, a helmet too large for him and had a sword on his belt, said to me. 'I've done as you asked sir.'

'Thanks. Now let's get ready.'

Eothain and I walked to a table where my armour had been spread out by Eothain.

'Now follow my instructions for putting it on,' I told Eothain, who had agreed to be a temporary squire.

For the next half an hour he helped me put on my armour. Rickard and Uncle James had persuaded others to help them with the task. We started on my leg armour and Eothain strapped each metal plate into place on my legs. Then I put on my hauberk and Eothain strapped on my cuirass which was ornately decorated with a curved ridge pointing up towards my neck and at the tip of the point was a fleur de lys. Eothain then strapped on the armour which protected my arms, carefully strapping each piece into place. Once that was done I moved my arms and legs and found I could still move in the armour. I felt protected in it. Then my gauntlets were strapped on. My gauntlets fingers were all connected together, not giving me as much movement with my fingers but kept me well protected. Then my bevor was added around my nack and finally my sallet helmet. When that was on I let Eothain put the belt which held Alaric around me and he then handed me my poleaxe.

'Thank you,' I told him.

'You're welcome sir,' he said to me.

'Now go and see your mother then get up to the outer wall.'

He nodded and then hurried out of the armoury which was empty apart from me, my family, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli. By now my Uncle and my cousin were wearing their armour. My armour was very similar to my uncles. The only two differences was that his armour had more ridges and larger plates on his shoulders and his helmet was a different style. While mine was a sallet helmet his was an armet with a visor. Rickard's armour was made in Milan so had no ridges but still possessed an elegance. His helmet left his eyes more exposed than mine or my uncle's but it gave him more visibility. On his left arm was his shield with his coat of arms on it.

'Well, we're ready,' my uncle said, his visor was up and his massive great sword was still strapped to his back.

'Now all we need is a woman waiting for us later,' Rickard said in a voice which made me wonder if he was serious or not.

My uncle looked at him for a moment and then said,

'I thought you denied everything when a man was seen half naked in the streets outside the tavern,' he dryly said to him.
We all laughed a little and I was sure that Rickard's face had turned red beneath his helmet. Our brief moment of laughter was short lived though when we heard a horn blowing.

'That's no Orc horn,' I heard Legolas say and we all hurried out of the armoury to get to the battlements.

When my relatives and I arrived outside what awaited us was certainly not an army of Uruk-hai. Reinforcements had come. Elves, clad in ornate armour and elegant cloaks and carrying fine crafted bows of the finest make stood there. When we saw them I heard their leader say,
'We have come to honour that allegiance.'

Aragorn quickly stepped towards the Elf and then hugged him before saying,

'You are most welcome.'

The elves in perfect precision then turned right towards King Theoden and stood to attention.

'We are proud to fight alongside men once more,' the Elf leader, whose name was Haldir, proudly declared and I smiled. We had a chance.

'Wait a minute,' Rickard suddenly said to me, 'Markus denied everything as well.'

AN: Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Helm's Deep next! YAY!

Review responses:

TimC34: Well I certainly try to.
Kiya: DON'T DIE LAUGHING! I'm glad you liked Rickard, I'm trying not to make him an annoying side character that everyone wants to kill *cough Jarjar cough*

Please review and give me some feedback.

Have a nice day.