Hi all, back again. Been super duper busy so, sorry is has been a little longer getting this to you.
Hi to new followers and thanks to those of you who reviewed:
Luna dans les Etoiles - Thank you, well you will sort of find out what happens now. :)
Guest - Cheers!
Aralinn - Thanks, glad you liked it. Hmm, you might not like this one so much. Its actually one of my fav ones but thats for the feels I put into it. This re-edit is better so I hope you do enjoy it for what it is. :)
Shirouka - Hi and no worries, this is actually the first fic of any sort I have ever written so I appreciate the compliment. It is so much better now I am going back over it all and tidying it up though so I'm glad you are getting to read the better version! Yay German, I'm one eight German! :D
Teril - Thanks very much!
ForeverTeamEdward13 - I'm still secretly thinking "go team Jacob" every time I type out your username hehe. Enjoy the update!
WickedGreene13 - Ooh you are going to love the extra feels I have put into this chap then! Probably a good thing you know what happens, although maybe I should change it up? Keep everyone guessing. Hehe. Enjoy. PS. Wicked is going, well wicked! :)
I re-edited this to All the King's Men, by The Rigs. Beautiful song.
A. xx
The feeling of icy cold water seeping into her skin caused Aerlaer to jolt in surprise. Pain immediately shot through her skull and she winced, eyes still closed, before dragging in a breath of air. She tasted earth, water, blood and a strange, biting smoke scent.
Water clearly surrounded her, although her head was easily above it. Slowly she shook her head, not wishing to attract attention, riding the water from her ears. Noise was everywhere, but it was muffled, backed by a ringing sound which made her feel nauseous.
Alarmed, she forced her eyes painfully open, blinking rapidly. She was met with darkness, yet as the ringing in her ears slowly subsided, she detected the close sounds of steel clashing on steel, cries of anger and screams of pain and fear.
Heart beating swiftly, she instinctively reached for a weapon, feeling her bow and, to her relief, her knives at her back. Taking one, she stood, realizing it still rained down heavily upon her.
No matter how much she blinked, Aerlaer could only make out slightly paler shades of grey and masses of impenetrable blackness. Where were the stars? Tendrils of fear as dark as the unknown she stood in, reached her heart. Where was her sword? She'd been on the wall, fighting two Uraks, it was the last thing she remembered. No, there had been an explosion of sorts. She remembered the bright, hot light, the wall seeming to erupt beneath her.
Where were the others? Was this why she could not see, her eyes were injured? Immediately she tried to heal them, drawing on her own lifeforce. Her small moment of concentration was shattered by a nearby roar, followed by an agonizing scream. A wave of panic slammed into her as she heard a distinctive hiss and snarl behind her.
Whirling, she raised her blades and attacked, sinking into flesh as the creature she could sense and only see as a dark presence, shrieked. The Orc went rigid and fell away and Aerlaer gasped in a shaky breath. Where were the others? Where was Legolas? Was he safe? He'd been on the wall too, along with Aragorn and Gimli.
Amidst the sounds of battle around her, Aerlaer picked up the sound of the enemy moving closer. The darkness was paralyzing, her fear threatening to eclipse all else. She took a cautious step backwards, followed by another, retreating from the sounds of the enemy closing in. Her eyes searched blindly, only just picking up the darker than dark, shapes moving closer, their sharp grunts and guttural words.
"It's the Elfhorse!" She made out words from one of them and near froze at the next words. "The Wizard gave his instructions." Aerlaer backed away from those speaking, listening intently for any danger behind her. They, for there was more than two at least, continued advancing and she kept stepping back, knives clutched tightly in her hands.
"Saruman, wants her heart taken back, as proof." At those words, she stumbled back, nearly falling over a body in the knee-high water. I need the light. Again, she tried to heal her eyes but her fear and the danger which loomed made her attempt pointless. In a daring move, she cast down her knife, swiftly taking up her bow and drawing an arrow.
Aiming towards the darker mass, she let her arrow loose, hoping it would hit one of the Urak's, for they were too big to be regular Orcs.
An Urak hissed angrily but did not fall. Hastily she drew another and released it, hearing the sharpened head hit hard armor.
"Look, she cannot see, the explosion got her." One of them growled through its teeth and another laughed raucously. Now shaking, Aerlaer drew a third, releasing it, eliciting an outraged cry. Before she could draw a fourth, the darkness before her engulfed her, her bow ripped from her grasp.
She made to flee, but hands grasped her in a vice grip and panic once again overcame her. Viciously she kicked out, twisting her body, trying to free herself but to no avail. Her arms were twisted in one quick movement, sending pain shooting through her arms and shoulders.
With a hiss, she threw her weight downward, trying to throw off the Urak, but the vile creature did not budge, his strength and weight surpassing hers by far. Desperately, she tried to heal her sight again, but her panicked mind could not draw upon any sense of calmness to do so. The Urak, holding her in his trapping grip laughed cruelly, his breath vile as he spoke against her ear.
"Saruman told us to give the Elfhorse who meddled in his affairs, the slowest death of all for her trouble." He growled into her ear and she trembled as he laughed again, before once again trying to fight against him. "Oh, how swiftly your little heart beats, it is no use, I'll cut it out, even as you scream." The Urak hissed out those last words like a dooming promise, and Aerlaer did finally cry out, the terror of the darkness she could not escape, consuming her.
…
Legolas spun, his blades effortlessly beheading an Orc, before he dodged another upon the wall. Moments before, he had sighted Gimli and Aragorn, now upon the ground, but fine. Aerlaer, he had found also in one piece, after the wall had exploded. A quick assessment as he had fought from the remaining wall reassured him she was truly fine as she had turned, her blades ripping into the throat of an Orc.
Now the ground had settled, his companions' safe, he found himself once again in combat; twisting, dodging and slashing in a repetitive pattern. About him, men of Rohan fought grimly. Each enemy they effectively slain, being replaced by three more. He managed to pirouette, giving himself a quick moment to cast his gaze down where he'd last seen the others. They were gone, perhaps returned to the wall.
The rain fell hard, mixing with the ever-increasing amount blood-slicked stone beneath his feet, making each move precarious even for him. He used it to his advantage, shoving an Urak in the side as it swung at an archer, causing the creature to slip. It snarled but Legolas barely noticed, his ears picking up the sound of a ringing cry from somewhere below.
He froze, as the terror and anguish and worst of all, the complete and utter desolation in that cry, washed over him. He'd heard that same cry before, in his darkest dreams, and it turned his very blood to ice with a terrible foreboding. A foreboding which tightened around his heart and set him into action.
He searched wildly about as he ran, bow in hand and a single blade moving swiftly in his other, forcing his way along the wall, slashing and stabbing at any orc who blocked his path. His heart pounding in fear, he kept glancing down at every opportunity to the rubble below, and ahead of him for any sign of the other Elf. Urak and men fought viciously below, any sight of Aerlaer lost to him. He knew she was down there, somewhere, in real danger. He had to find her!
Recklessly he ran the last twenty feet along the remaining part of the wall, dodging the enemy, only slashing or stabbing at them if necessary. He reached a dropping stair and, determined to reach the bottom swiftly, snatched up a shield which had been dropped, and swung over the wall.
Planting his feet firmly on the inside of the round shield he rode, it skidding uncontrollably down the steep stair, managing to raise his bow and shoot a couple arrows into the mass of Uraks and Orcs in the direction he'd heard Aerlaer cry out. He had to reach her in time, if he didn't... no, he would! he could not bare to think of not reaching her, what it would mean.
Landing on the ground, he picked up the shield and swung it ferociously into an Urak charging at him, before ducking under another and loosing arrows at any who lay in his path.
"Get away from me! Let me go!" A voice cried out nearer to the wall, reaching him above the sounds of the battle raging about him. Thank Eru she still draws breath! Dashing forward, weaving through men and the enemy locked in combat, he finally caught a glimpse of the endangered elleth and his heart both leapt and clenched. Two large Uraks stood before her, a larger third and a fourth, restraining her tightly as she thrashed about wildly in their grip.
Enraged, Legolas reached back for arrows, ready to end the lives of those who deemed to harm her. His fingers caught thin air. He swiped again, alarm growing, realizing he had none, he had used them swifter than they could grow. Oh this cannot be happening. Not this!
Casting about to the water lapping at his legs, he found no used arrows he could salvage. Wait, what is that? Plunging his hand into the water, he withdrew a sword. It was Aerlaer's. Gripping it properly, he rushed towards the three Uraks surrounding her. Barely pausing, he swung the Elven blade up, slamming it down into the closet Urak's shoulder. Snarling in rage and pain, letting go of Aerlaer, the creature turned on him as he made to attack again. This time it raised its own heavy blade, blocking his blow.
Closer, his gaze wracked over Aerlaer quickly. She still fought her other impossibly large captor aggressively, although he held her so she could not escape. She seemed unharmed, from the little he could see of her. The second Urak swung to attack Legolas and he disengaged from the first, heart pounding, as the third blocked him from the fourth which dragged Aerlaer to the wall, away from him. He managed to slash the torso of the second Urak, but only just cut through hard, leather armor.
"Let me go!" Aerlaer's voice cried out again, as the Urak holding her captive, shoved her down into the murky water. Legolas spun away from the other two, intent on killing the vile creature which held her, when he was jerked suddenly back. Turning, he made to attack whoever had grabbed his quiver, only to have his left arm grasped and twisted backwards. Desperate, enraged, he drove the sword he still held forward, only to have it blocked by the other Urak.
Growling, he tried to unlock it from the other's blade. but instead the Urak, which gripped his left arm, knocked it from his grip. Legolas immediately swung at the one who held him, only to have the other Urak latch on tightly to his right arm. Panicked, he struggled to get free, to get to her.
"Cut her throat! This one's hard to hold." One of the Uraks holding him called impatiently to the towering one holding Aerlaer. At his words, Legolas struggled harder, twisting and kicking back, trying every trick he knew to rid himself of their grip. They struggled but a moment, before the third Urak came to their aid, a dirty, armor clad arm wrapping about his throat as the two others adjusted their positions to hold him impossibly tighter.
"No! Saruman's order was her heart. I don't disobey orders." The Urak with Aerlaer growled out. He looked at Legolas and gave a cruel leer before turning back to the elleth, ripping one of her blades from her quiver. The Urak drew it towards her chest, towards her heart and Legolas's own slammed in terror against his ribs, as she bulked violently against her captor.
"Don't harm her!" He called out desperately, still struggling with every ounce of strength he possessed. I cannot lose her, I cannot!
"Legolas?" She called out to him, her voice broken and fearful. The Urak turned slightly and he finally caught sight of Aerlaer's face and beheld her eyes as she looked wildly around in his direction. They were nearly green, and filled with a wild terror, but she did not seem to see him.
"You cannot stop me, Elf." The Urak spat.
"Take me instead!" He tried to bargain, and was met with dark laughter. "Please." He gasped.
"So eager to die, Elf?" The Urak laughed again. "She will die and then it is your turn." He sneered, turning back to Aerlaer.
"Kill me first then." Legolas called out in a last, despairing plead to switch places with her.
"I do not think so." He snarled in reply. Pulling Aerlaer back up by her wrists, he took her blade and pushed it into her chest, trying to pass through the chain mail.
"You can watch instead." The Urak behind him growled and tightened its grip about his throat as he continued to fight their hold.
"It is no use, she is going to die, you are going to see the light leave her eyes." He laughed ruthlessly.
"Stop! Please!" Legolas cried out, fighting uselessly against the three unyielding Urak-hai. "Don't harm her! Please, don't harm her! Please, I'll do anything!"
…
"I can't break through this armor!" Growled the Urak and Aerlaer made to struggle to her feet, to renew her attack on him. Instead she was fairly dragged up only to be slammed hard against the unyielding wall of the keep behind her. She gasped at the force, only to have her own blade driven hard against the finely interwoven chain mail which was her only defense against the death they wished upon her. She had no idea how well the links would hold. She desperately tried healing her eyes again, but there was nothing but terror and darkness.
Nearby, she heard Legolas, he was yelling but she couldn't understand what he said or who to. In her heart, she knew he too had been caught and it only fueled her own terror. She tried to struggle against the Urak again and the pressure of the knife and froze as she heard a link in her chain mail giving away.
There was no escape, there was no way of saving herself, saving Legolas. She searched in the darkness for the other Elf. She knew he was near by his incessant voice, yet she was sure she could feel his presence and that alone she focused on, hoping they would not harm him too. She could not bear it if they hurt him. Just take me, leave him. Saruman only wants me. Leave him. She pleaded silently and felt tears burn, trailing to mix with the icy cold rain she no longer felt, as more links in her armor gave away.
…
"Stop! Please stop!" Legolas cried out, but the Uraks paid him no heed, the one behind him only laughing at his desperate, useless struggling against forces he had no way of stopping. "Aerlaer!" He found himself calling to her, still not ready to give up.
The elleth's gaze finally found his, seeming to lock onto his very soul, wildly terrified, pleading eyes from which tears fell. He shuddered, knowing what came next, and again he struggled and kicked still to no avail. Pain ripped through him, excruciating, breaking his heart as his very being began to come undone. He did not care what they did to him. He wanted to die and then realized he already was.
Reviews always welcome.