"Samantha, what are you doing here?"
Sam glanced over her shoulder. Eowyn was standing there, watching her with concern. "Remember what I said about the glass ceiling?"
Eowyn nodded.
Sam grimaced. "It seems it exists everywhere. I'm supposed to stay here and look after everyone in case we lose."
"But you are a warrior," Eowyn came to stand next to her. "You should be manning the walls with everyone else. It is what you have trained for."
"Yeah," Sam grunted as she applied more pressure to the plastic, attempting to jam it into a small crevice without dislodging anything… or making it blow up. "Tell them that. We're both in the same boat." Finally, she straightened and examined her handiwork.
"What is that?"
Sam patted the stone above the crevice. "Our saving grace, if it works." She turned back around. The women and children were gathered near the mouth of the cave, all watching the stairway expectantly. "You know where the path through the mountains is, right?"
Eowyn pointed. "It is hidden in the many tunnels further in. It leads to the mill road that runs west."
"Good. I need everyone to wait there. If you hear an explosion, start running. Here," she handed Eowyn three of the small homemade grenades. "Throw these down the other tunnels when you run, after lighting them. I've timed the fuses," she fingered a small patch of straw. "The length should give you five seconds after lighting them before they go off. Just roll them down the tunnels and run. It should keep the orcs from picking up your scent."
Theodred's niece took the grenades, eyeing them warily. "And what of you?"
Sam held up her radio. "The batteries fading fast. I'll need to be very close to make sure the charge goes off."
Eowyn's eyes widened. Ala and Frea had told them of the power of the weapons they created. "And if you are too close to them?"
Carter smiled. "I'll have to make sure I'm not too close then, huh?"
"Jack?"
"Yeah?'
"Why don't I get to hide in the cave?"
Jack laughed, looked as his friend, and laughed some more. He hadn't had anything to laugh at all day. "You wouldn't want the men to think you're chicken, would ya?"
Daniel looked down the row of elves standing next to them, then down at the orc army that was swiftly approaching across the flat plain in front of the Deep, then back at the elves. "Can I get back to you on that?"
Daniel sighed as Jack chuckled again. This was really too much. Five years ago he'd been a simple archeologist, whose biggest concern had been where he was going to get more funding, and graduate students, to continue digging at a sight south of Cairo. He wasn't meant for this king of stress, he really wasn't.
"Do you wish to hide from battle, Daniel Jackson?"
Daniel turned to the jaffa, who was watching him with mild concern. "Jack, how do I answer this question?"
The colonel shook his head. "Oh no, you poked this tiger, you deal with it."
Daniel sighed. "No, I wouldn't."
"But did you not say-"
"Yes, I did," Daniel interrupted, drawing the attention of the elves closest to him. "It was a hypothetical question. Meaning I really wouldn't want to hide from battle."
Teal'c did raised eyebrow #15, the 'I-really-don't-belive-you-but-i-wont-say-anything-because-I'm-more-scary-when-I'm-quiet'one. Daniel sighed deeper.
"How's the gash doin'" Jack asked after another moment of silence.
Daniel touched the sides. "Tender, stings like a sonofabitch. Other than that, fine."
The three went back to watching the orcs as they marched. He guessed he felt like the Syrians when they watched the armies of Ramses march towards their stronghold. It didn't seem to end, just a black wave moving through the night. "Sam should be up here," he half whispered.
"Eh, she's right where she needs to be," Jack countered, his voice hardening. "Those women don't have half the experience she does. PLUS she's the only one I'd trust to set off that plastic and not kill everyone down there."
"You think it will actually work?"
Jack shrugged. "Don't know. Hopefully they won't have to find out." He looked back at the columns of orcs and took a deep breath. "Yo, Legolas, you still got that bet goin'?"
The blonde elf turned and looked down the line at his companions. "Yes, Jack."
"Care to add another person to the pool?"
Legolas smiled, his eyes lightening in his amusement. "If you wish. What would you bet? Gimli has promised me his best battle axe."
Jack's grin turned feral. "How about a trip through the Stargate, if we ever find it?"
The blonde considered for a moment, then nodded. "It is done." He looked down into the fray. "It will be difficult. Gimli and I are already in our forties."
Jack nodded as a flash of lightening lit the sky, followed closely by another. "You ready for this Danny-boy?"
Daniel nodded, trying to calm the butterflies that were steadily attempting to escape his stomach. Being in battle with guns was one thing. Fighting creatures stronger than humans with nothing but bows, arrows, and swords was another.
"Good, then you wont mind going up to the top of that Hornburn thing."
Daniel started. The Hornburn was the position closest to the inner hall of the Deep, the place were the oldest men and youngest boys were stationed so they could make a hasty retreat if the orcs broke through. "Yeah, Jack. I would."
The colonel turned to his friend. "Non-negotiable. Carter gets stuck in the caves, you get stuck in the rear. Besides, they might tip the oil too soon, then where will we be?"
"Colonel O'Neill is right, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c cut in. "You are injured, and unfamiliar with hand to hand combat. It would be better if you were not upon the front of the battle."
Daniel opened his mouth to protest.
"You don't go, we'll carry you."
The archeologist admitted defeat. Jack would too, if he thought it was worth it. "Good luck," Daniel said, clasping his friend's shoulders tightly before working his way to the Hornburn.
Jack watched as the arrows made their way over his head and onto the battlefield. In the dim light he saw orcs falling, heard their screams as they were stuck by the falling arsenal. "Whoa."
"Are you prepared for this, O'Neill?"
Jack glanced at Teal'c before turning back to the field, wincing as an arrow shot through the neck of one of the orcs. "Not really, no." He smiled. "You?"
"A warrior is always prepared to die."
Great, leave it to Teal'c to make you feel bad during the worst battle you'd ever seen in your life. "Ready, Big Guy?"
Teal'c nodded, and Jack thrust the straw fuse into a small oil burner in front of them. The straw caught and burned steadily. "One-Mississippi, two-Mississippi."
Jack threw the grenade, and it exploded just over the heads of the orcs, some of them fell clutching their upper arms and legs. The shrapnel was definitely a plus. "One second Teal'c."
The colonel smiled to himself as the next volley of grenades exploded on the ground, tearing holes in the lines of the orcs. The elves paused in their firing occasionally as an exceptional blast lifted a few of the orcs off their feet.
Damn, Jack thought as their supply began to run low. So far they had kept a section of the wall relatively free of the orcs. Further down, they weren't doing so well.
"Perhaps we should have given those further down a share of our weapons, O'Neill."
Jack shook his head. "And have them blow their arms off? No way. Besides, we're covering things pretty well here."
Unfortunately, the orcs were learning swiftly. Soon, the section in front of the wall they were protecting was free of any orcs.
"Oops, time to move." The two hefted the grenades further down the wall, stopping near Gimli and Legolas. "You guys need help?"
"You take those things away from here!" Gimli shouted. "He's already been boasting about how many he's got, and I'll be damned if those orcs don't make it up this wall!"
Jack shrugged and began throwing grenades again, despite Gimli's protests. Gotta love field artillery.
Too soon their supply ran out and Jack sighed. Well, they had a good run.
"If you two are quite finished," Gimli yelled from his position down the line. "Here they come!"
Jack turned his attention back to the battle. The orcs were raising huge ladders, already manned. The colonel pulled his two long knives out and held them ready. You owe me God, he thought as the first orc jumped down almost on top of him. It's time to pay up.
__________________________
Teal'c soon lost track of the colonel in the mêlée. The orcs were pouring onto the walls faster than they could cut them down. Fortunately, they were also extremely easy to dispatch, capable mostly of swinging their weapons wildly in the hopes that they would hit something. Compared to the jaffa's smooth practiced movements it was pathetic.
The only thing that bothered the warrior was their numbers. Aragorn had been accurate when he estimated them to be at least ten thousand strong. Even if every man on the walls killed at least twenty orcs, there would still be thousands more to deal with.
Great Isis, Mother of all, Teal'c thought as the orcs continued to swarm over him, invoking the one goddess that the Goa'uld seemed to fear. Look well upon our battle tonight. Even though the jaffa was not normally prone to prayer, the thought brought him some measure of comfort.
________________________________
Oh, shit, Oh, shit, Oh shit, Daniel thought as he watched the orcs swarming over the walls, fighting with the flashing gold that was the elves and the duller colors that signified the humans from Rohan. Some of the boys standing near him were shooting arrows and throwing rocks, cheering when the missiles hit a target. Daniel occupied himself mostly with stirring the oil and making sure the fires were as hot as possible. Two large pots were set up along the upper walls, prepared to drop oil down on the orcs if they broke through the main gate. Another, small pot was set up above the door to the keep proper, their last resort.
"Good luck, guys," he whispered, then looked around when a shout caught his attention.
"Legolas! Bring him Down! Kill Him!"
Daniel searched the crowd of orcs for Aragorn, then he was knocked backwards by a sound he never would have thought to hear in Middle Earth.
____________________________________________________
Sam looked up, ignoring the worried cries of the women and children as the cave shook and groaned. Even though they were deep within the caves the noise from the blast echoed deeply. It sounded like a couple of claymore mines, or a construction blast.
"Eowyn," she pushed through the crowd of people till she located the blonde woman. "Start leading the women into the tunnels. If you hear another loud blast, light the grenades and throw them down as many tunnels as you can."
"What of you?" The other woman asked, her eyes filled with worry.
"Don't worry about me. You need to get them out of here." Sam spun around and began picking her way through the uneven floor of the cavern, detonator in one hand, long knife in the other. Eowyn had provided her with chain mail, and would give her enough protection to keep fighting and let the other women escape if the orcs made it through.
Thankfully, there were no more large blasts. Sam checked the plastic to make sure it was till in its niche. That done, she stood behind one of the rock outcroppings and waited for them to come.
"I wont let you stand alone, Samantha."
Sam glared at the blonde as she made her way towards her. "You're supposed to be in the tunnels," she hissed.
Eowyn only smiled. "I am a warrior as well, Samantha. I would not leave a fellow shield maiden behind to face death alone." She pulled her sword from its scabbard and threw the empty piece of leather to the cave floor. Her thick skirt was gone, and the thin under shift had been sliced off almost at mid-thigh. Even her hair had been braided back.
"Then whose leading the women?"
"Gwylin knows the path as well as I do. They will be long gone from here before this battle has ended." Eowyn moved behind another outcropping and kneeled.
Sam turned her attention back to the staircase. If she was going to die, at least she'd have company.
____________________________________________________
"Pour!"
Daniel smiled to himself amid the hissing of hot oil meeting skin. It had been hell trying to keep the oil from splattering everywhere when the rain started, not to mention keeping the fires going high enough to heat the pots. Just listening to them scream was reward enough. The orcs hadn't seen that one coming. Those that hadn't been burned slid down the bridge, knocking down the others like dominoes.
"To the keep! To the keep!"
Daniel turned and saw the elves that had been fighting in the inner bailey. They climbed up the short ramp, and all those who had been able to made it. He knew that those doors were nearly impossible to penetrate, and even then were designed so that at the flip of a lever tons of stone and rubble would block them.
He looked down again and saw the gates give way under the orcs' onslaught.
"Again!"
The second vat went, pouring more oil on the orcs that had managed to climb back up. He could see orcs heading down the wall, the elves and men running ahead of them to the small portals that lead back into the keep.
"Go, go!" Daniel pushed the boys back towards the keep proper. He waited until some of the orcs made their way through the slick archway before kicking the remains of the fire onto the burned orcs.
The whoosh of the oil catching was louder than he had imagined.
That done, he ran into the keep proper, and was surprised to see that he had been one of the last people to make it back in.
"Smells like a bar-b-que," Jack said. The colonel was sitting on the floor, nursing what looked like a broken hand, with several broken fingers to go with it. It also had a few new cuts along his face and arms.
"Yeah," Daniel said, looking outside the thin slit windows of the keep. The gateway still burned, allowing few orcs through. Until the flames burned down they would have some respite, at least.
The archeologist checked his internal clock. Just two more hours until dawn.
He hoped to God that Gandalf would keep his word.
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