Sorry it's been so long everyone. First Middle-earth was swallowed by a galaxy far, far away, then finals ate me. Anyway, many, many apologies for making you wait. Here's the latest:
Chapter Eleven
Rhìmbron could barely concentrate on his own battle, he was so busy watching the others. He had never fought beside them before, and to see the living legends this closely was even more impressive than the most far-fetched stories.
King Elessar seemed to glow with a strange light, and his face was more noble than the graven images of the great kings of old. Andúril flamed in his hand in the sunlight, and a great wrath shone from his eyes. Rhìmbron was surprised that the men who faced him had the courage to lift their blades to his great sword and to stand firm before the power of his gaze. But perhaps they took comfort in the fact that he was a Man, and even the greatest of Men is more familiar to the lesser members of that race than the other two creatures who fought at the king's side.
Elladan, son of Elrond, was even more a relic of past glories than King Aragorn. The Elves might have been fading, but that fading had yet to touch the firm face and form of the Rivendell Elf. His curved blade was a silver blur cutting between the swords of those who faced him before they could move their own weapons to meet it. His smooth face and ageless eyes, star-lit even in the morning, burned at once with a terrible rage and a terrible sorrow. Anger of more power than Rhìmbron had ever seen blazed from the Elf's strange eyes, but it was melded with a deep sadness that the man could not fathom. He tore his gaze from the Elf Lord with difficulty when he heard a harsh cry in a strange tongue.
Gimli son of Gloin stood firmly in the dust, swinging his large axe. Despite the narrow alley and proximity of allies, which should have made fighting with a battleaxe not only difficult but dangerous to friend as well as foe, Gimli seemed to have no trouble with his weapon. The axe seemed an extension of the short Dwarf's arms, swung with more strength than that of the hardiest of Men. His eyes burned with a fire as hot as any forge, and his grim smile warned his enemies to beware as much as the deadly, blood-etched axe's sharp blade.
"Gimli, you are next!" Aragorn commanded. The Dwarf glared and seemed about to refuse, but the king continued. "Get to the Lady Éowyn, and see that Legolas does not do anything foolish."
Apparently the Dwarf accepted that as good enough reasoning for leaving the field of battle when enemies were still standing, for he took a last mighty swing that sent his opponents leaping backwards—two of them bleeding, one of them badly—then charged towards the wall. Rhìmbron did not know if his king truly thought the prince needed looking after (certainly after that reckless stunt on the roof he would have believed it likely), or if he simply wanted to get the Dwarf and his large axe out of the small space for fear of exuberance overriding caution. A battleaxe is not the sort of weapon one would choose for close work in a confined area. Perhaps it was a bit of both reasons. Rhìmbron knew the king was wise; that he was as wise without time to think as he was with careful planning should have been taken as a given, but the Ranger had never bothered to wonder before.
He spared a glance behind him as he heard a thud and the sound of breath being released in an explosive gush. Apparently Gimli had missed the Elf's hand. Legolas's face twitched a moment as if endeavoring very hard not to break into a smile, but Rhìmbron decided he must have imagined it, for after he blinked the prince was as serious as Elladan.
"Again, Gimli! Leap upwards this time!" The Elf's musical voice rang easily through the ragged clash of fighting.
"I can jump without aid, Master Elf!" The Dwarf's lower tone rumbled clearly beneath the clash of metal; it seemed to echo with the hint of rocks and stone.
"Well enough for a Dwarf, I suppose," Legolas responded doubtfully.
Rhìmbron turned away, amazed that the two were called fast friends. It seemed to him more that they were eternal rivals, ever trading short words and barbs. Then he frowned; none of their dialogue seemed to carry actual venom. It was more a sort of fond back-and-forth, and though he had only met them this night, he would be willing to swear that it was filled with more laughter than anger. They were strange indeed, he decided, and resolved not to try and figure them out—at least not now, when he ought to be concentrating on the man he was fighting, not trying to puzzle out the heroes he was surrounded by.
There was a grunt and then a loud quavering of wood, punctuated by a few quieter grunts and a light Elvish chuckle, then a heavy thud as if something had landed hard. The Ranger knew that Gimli must have dropped to the other side of the wall, for rather than a continuation of taunts between the two, Legolas then called out, "Aragorn, come now!" There was the faintest hint of anxiety in the Elf's voice, and Rhìmbron looked to the king to see what could be the cause. Aragorn was more than holding his own against the three men he was fighting, and as Rhìmbron watched one of them went down to a harsh blow from Andúril.
Rhìmbron looked around, trying to see what danger threatened his king. Already, there were only six of the enemy left, and another had just fallen to Elladan's dance of steel. Then the Ranger caught movement above him. He glanced up, and saw two archers scrambling over the roofs towards them. They were moving carefully, for the buildings were unstable and often cloth covered holes and gaps in the wood. But they would soon have a perfect angle with which to rain arrows upon the remaining companions' heads.
"Go, my liege! Quickly!" Rhìmbron shouted. He heard the ring of metal carving metal, and saw Aragorn slice Andúril's tip through the rough chainmail of one of his remaining opponents. Then Elladan was at the king's side, easily taking the attention of the remaining guard from the Man. Rhìmbron finally dispatched his own opponent, urgency lending him speed, and joined Elladan and Mallor in dealing with the remaining four. Aragorn frowned, but sheathed his sword and backed towards the wall where Legolas was crouched gracefully.
The Elf reached down a hand, and King Aragorn lunged to grab it. Using the momentum from the Man's lunge, the prince was able to quickly haul him up. Aragorn was less sure of his balance on the thin wall, but managed to steady himself with Legolas's assistance.
"Mallor!" Aragorn shouted. The Ranger turned to see the king waiting for the other man, then looked back just in time to parry a blow from a staff before it met his face. He looked at Elladan, who had paused for a moment.
"Estel," the Elf shouted, "more are coming!"
"I know!" he called back. "Mallor, hurry!" The man dodged backwards from the fray and ran to the wall, sheathing his sword as he went. Elladan casually parried the blade of the man's former opponent.
From the corner of his eye, Rhìmbron saw King Aragorn leaning down towards Mallor. The Elf held the king's arm to steady him, but his eyes were on the rooftops. Mallor jumped but not high enough. He missed the outstretched hands and fell back in the dust.
"Quickly!" Elladan commanded the Ranger, who leapt again, this time just catching Legolas's slim fingers as the Elf leaned halfway off the wall towards him. Aragorn reached for his other hand as the Ranger dangled in the air.
"Join the others!" Elladan commanded Rhìmbron hurriedly as the last of their enemy fell to the ground. The Elf rushed past him towards the mouth of the short alley, sword out and gleaming in the pale, dust-shrouded sunlight. "Go!" With a start, the Ranger realized he had been staring, and turned away.
He saw King Aragorn finally catch hold of Mallor's swinging wrist, and he and Legolas hauled him up. They helped guide him over the wall, and then dropped him lightly down the other side. Off-balance from the sudden release of weight, Aragorn wavered, but the Elf kept him from falling. Wordlessly, the king grasped the Elf's shoulder and pointed. Rhìmbron turned just as the sound of steel met steel. The rest of the enemy had found them!
Rhìmbron moved back and pulled out his sword to aid Elladan, but the son of Elrond was a warrior unmatched by many. With a few quick thrusts so graceful it looked more like dancing then fighting, the Elf cast the first soldier's corpse to the ground.
"Rhìmbron!" he heard his liege hiss sharply. "Come now!"
The man turned away from the Elf once more and ran towards the end of the alley. He had only taken a few steps, however, when he felt a sudden sharp pain in his shoulder and he fell. Dimly, he saw an arrow protruding from his chest's left side, and wondered where it had come from. He heard his king speaking, and looked up, but could not understand his words. Is he speaking in another tongue? the Ranger mused in confusion. But no; it did not even sound like real words. It was more like a rushing of wind. But how had his king sucked the wind into his mouth, and how could it be so loud?
Shadows were creeping now, and though he blinked furiously, it was darkening in his eyes. That is strange, Rhìmbron thought distantly, I thought there were hours yet 'til dusk... Then he saw no more, and all he knew was night.
………
Aragorn froze, staring as Rhìmbron slumped to the ground. The Man still breathed, but it was a near thing. Despite his talents for healing, the king knew that he would not be able to save him here, and his eyes burned. The only hope the injured Ranger had was in the mercy of their captors, and in the hopes that they would be skillful in healing and willing to do so to a prisoner. Where they in Minas Tirith, Aragorn could have easily taken care of him—but here, fleeing from a small army, there was nothing he could do.
The thought must have been apparent in his eyes, for when Elladan met his gaze, the Elf nodded sharply. "Get down!" he called to them, "you are perfect targets, and our presence is now more hindrance than help to Rhìmbron."
Aragorn was about to argue when he was interrupted by a thunk as an arrow stuck quivering into the wall inches from Legolas's outstretched hand. Elladan's sword flashed, and the next man to enter the alley fell in a bloody pool. The mouth of the street was too thin to allow numbers to overwhelm the Elf; he could easily cut them down before they could get through. But the archers, now being swelled by greater numbers from the obviously-failed ambush, were another matter entirely. Legolas unslung his bow and smoothly fitted an arrow to it, releasing three that found their targets before eyes could blink. But the enemy had not given up on their own attacks in the face of the Elf's retaliation. Aragorn gasped as sharp pain grazed his cheek and ripped at his hair.
Elladan looked back and saw the blood leaking down Aragorn's face. "Get down!" he shouted again. "Go; I will follow swiftly!"
"What of Rhìmbron?" asked Legolas anxiously.
Aragorn answered instead. "We can do nothing for him now but hope that our enemy wants live captives rather than dead. I have not the provisions with me to properly treat such an injury; we must trust his life to captivity." The words left a foul taste in Aragorn's mouth, and Legolas's eyes hardened unhappily. He quickly fired another two arrows, but the third slipped from his fingers and he gave a faint cry. Aragorn looked at him sharply, but could not see where he had been injured. The Elf recovered himself quickly, and caught the arrow in mid-fall. Elladan spared a glance over his shoulder. "Get them out of here, Aragorn, Legolas!" he commanded, summoning the authority his father had left him. "I shall find you later!" He turned back to the front in time to dodge a low-swung blade and spin up inside the owner's reach, slitting him vertically. The Elf dodged the spray of blood and jabbed at another man. He shot an insistent glare back at the younger prince.
Legolas hesitated only a moment more, but the moment was long enough for another arrow to find its mark. Aragorn nearly fell from the thin wall in surprise as it pierced his shoulder. Whispering something in Sindarin that was too quiet for Aragorn to hear—but which the Ranger was certain was impolite—Legolas grabbed him and swung from the wall. The Elf landed lightly, back on his feet instantly; Aragorn stumbled only slightly, but it was enough to make him rebuke himself for his clumsiness.
Éowyn gasped at the sight of the arrow protruding from Aragorn's shoulder, and Gimli growled low in his throat. The three waiting on the other side of the wall had heard the sounds of battle fade and then resume, but they could not leap high enough to cross the wall on their own, and did not want to risk shaking either Elf-prince of king of men from the top by moving the frail wood.
And so they had waited, sword or axe in hand, anxiously looking between the dusty paths ahead of them and the cloaked figures on the wall above. There was no time for explanations now, however, and all knew that they needed to put distance between themselves and their pursuers—although the other three did not know why they were not joined by Elladan and Rhìmbron.
Aragorn nodded down the alley and switched Andúril to his left hand—the injured arm—so that he could clamp his other hand to his shoulder to slow the flow of blood. He did not wish to waste the time to tend to his wound now and knew from experience and skill that it was not grievous. He ignored Éowyn's pointed look and started off. Legolas was right at his side, bow out and arrow notched, although the Elf was careful not to walk so close that Aragorn would feel overly watched. Éowyn was not nearly so careful, and continually sent him glances that spoke plainly her dislike of leaving his wound to bleed freely and untended.
Gimli and Mallor brought up the rear, and Aragorn could feel their questioning gazes on his back, but there was no time to speak. He had to lead them away from Rhìmbron before the man bled to death, and trust that their enemies would see to his wounds. Before they were more than a few feet from the wall, there was a loud shuddering noise, followed by the sound of wood collapsing on wood. They froze and turned back, but could see nothing over the wall but a great cloud of dust filling the air.
Suddenly Elladan leaped smoothly over and was sprinting towards them seemingly before he had touched the ground. "I cut a building's supports," he explained quickly. "There will be confusion to shield our disappearance for a time, and enough minor injuries that someone is sure to see to Rhìmbron in the chaos. But we must flee before they learn that we were not caught by the collapse! Tolo!"
Without another word, Elladan was past them. The others quickly raced to keep up with the Elf, now abandoning stealth for speed, although still their footsteps were light and both Elladan and Legolas were utterly silent on the dusty streets. Both Elves were scouring the ramshackle buildings with fierce, bright eyes. There were watchers whose eyes were fixed on them, but they were hidden in fear within the shabby buildings. The bedraggled, poverty-stricken citizens of the Outer City were not the foes they searched for. Although any one of them could bring the guard upon them with a cry, none of the companions thought it likely that the gaunt, dust-eyed people would risk the attention of the strange band of blood-streaked fighters to do so.
Still, they had to escape their eyes; if their path was seen, it would only be a matter of time before the soldiers were once again behind them—or even waiting ahead. Ostad was shrouded in cold, overbearing danger as much as in dry, choking dust.
Reviewer Responses:
Deana – thank you, and terribly sorry you had to!
AM – Gimli quite agrees with you.
Slayer3 – I hope it was good! If I'm lucky I'll see it this week-end…
Lil Pippin Padfoot – Yay, 100th reviewer goodness for you! Er—um. Well, about that rescuing thing…yah…well…um…I'm just going to whistle and look innocent, shall I? Remember, if you kill me, they'll never rescue him. Just, uh, keep that in mind, okay? Point Dexter Andrew, thanks for helping out. And I know she's crazy. That's why she's here. We're all crazy here:) I hope your shoulder's better now, at least! Sounds painful.
Quiet Infinity – well, I'm detail obsessed, what can I say. It makes my life far more difficult than it ought to be when it comes to drawing comics, but oh well…at least detail-obsession has its upsides! Thank you for the wonderful review!
lindahoyland – Thank you, and NOPE! Bwahahaha.
Cosmic Castaway – um…tee hee? Ingratiating smile? Don't kill the cliffie-writer? All that? Heh. I'm really glad you're liking it so much! However, calling it an escape…well, I think you might overestimate their chances. ;)
Aranna – Forgiven instantly! I knew you knew he knew she knew he knew it. Yeah, I follow you. ;) Glad everybody likes the details! And suffocation is always a plus. Either that or I'm a little too Episode III-focused right now…nah, suffocation is always good, I was right the first time. Wonderful praise, I'm very happy, and I forget…huh? What do I forget? Wait, what's going on? I can't remember…if I praise all of you, will you forget I didn't update in forever? Heh. Yay for passing midterms, belated 'though the congratulations is! And that wasn't a sigh of relief, it was regret. So there. :P
Jebb – See? Lots of sword-swinging for you! And I'm sure that knowing that he annoyed Gimli had nothing whatsoever to do with Legolas's antics. Nope. Not at all. Well, I was gonna have Aragorn say that, but then I realized that Gimli would laugh so hard he'd kill himself. Or Legolas would do so for him. And, by the way, might I mention how much I especially love reviews that require me to apply a Darth Vader Force Choke to myself in order to prevent me from waking the sleeping roommate? Yeah, that's what happens when you have a morning class and your roommate doesn't but you check your reviews…hee hee hee! Ah man, now I'm watching A New Hope with Aragorn/Han, Legolas/Luke…so I guess Arwen is Leia, and would that make Gimli Chewie? The Wookiee almost has as much hair…er. But then Sauron is Legolas's father, and methinks continuing with that line of thought would make both Legolas and Thranduil kill me…and Sauron too, probably…and Elrond, and the twins, because that means Arwen is Legolas's sister which…I'm just going to stop talking and go boil my head. Right now.
Susan W – Back from head-boiling. Yeah, yeah, we'll rescue ol' what's-his-name eventually…lol. I dunno, actually, how much there'll be. Maybe just a few chapters, maybe twenty. No idea. We'll see where the story drags me off to! Ah, yes, understatement is holy. And you gotta love idiots who go "hey look at the skinny little Elf, he'll be easy to—urrk!" don't you? And immensely dense. Yes. Like, we're talking Guiness Book dense, here. And…immensely slow, too, on the update front. Er. Yes. Sorry about that…
Laiquendi – Hopefully it was long enough to make up for how late this one was in showing up! Gimli…clucking…feathers for a beard…mental image…dying of laughter…hee hee—er, um, not laughing. Nope. Definitely not laughing. Not at the Dwarf with the big, shiny, very sharp axe, at least. Um…could we have a certain Elf come in here and cause some head 'splodiness to save me from said axe, please? Thank you.
ForeverFaramir – I completely understand. College got a little crazy and I haven't had time to write. Soon…hmm, "soon" is such a relative term…just ask little Eldarion. Sure, FF, Faramir will be along "soon"…not necessarily Man-soon, of course…more like Elf-soon…but soon is soon, isn't it? Heh. And I will have you know that I immune to all glariness. Too much time spent in the crossfire of Legolas and Gimli will do that to a person. ;)
EastCoastie – Background, heck, he's fallen off the face of the story! lol Just think of his role here as akin to Arwen's in the books. He'll be along…eventually. But until then, he just gets to be the underlying motivation for certain characters and events. So really, he has a decent-sized part…it just happens to be an off-screen part. And totally forgiven on the late review! Am I forgiven for the late update? Hee. P.S. Hawkeye rocks, as does MASH ;) And you plug me on your profile! Eeee:D
Anyway, immensely sorry about that. Finals really did eat me. I mean it. Fortunately, being a Boba Fett fan, I can find my way out of any stomach eventually. But I'm afraid I have potentially bad news…well, for you. Good news for me. I go home today—leaving in about an hour, actually, so apologies for typos, I wanted to get this out first. So we are now going on Summer Possible Hiatus. That means, basically, I have no ideahow much writing I will or will not get done over the summer. There could be two updates a week. There could be two updates a month. There could be two updates the entire summer. There could even be none. I have no idea whatsoever. So I don't want to promise anything, because odds are I'll be totally wrong. So, I'm very sorry about that…you can check my homepage for updates, I guess, on story-progress should there be any…I'll try and remember to do that. And at the latest, I'll be back midway through September when Sophomore year starts. Again, many apologies for all this…but at least I didn't leave you with a horrible evil cliff-hanger or anything like that…! ;)