Thank you for your nice reviews! This is, sadly, the last but one chapter.
Dr.Lust: Thank you for your help with the Greek! I just corrected it.
10. Aftermath
After the Fall of Sauron, the forces of Mordor were overcome with fear and fled before the fierce onslaught of the host of the west.
"Victory! Victory! Sauron is defeated!"
Cries of victory could be heard everywhere on the field and the men were filled with new hope. They had won!
After the battle was over, Leonidas let his gaze wander over the battlefield. Here and there he could see the red cloak of a Spartan among the many dead.
They had lost many brave warriors, but their enemy had lost countless more. Against all hope they had won. The gods must have been smiling on them.
A weary and bloody Aragorn came up to the Spartan king.
"We have won, my friend." He stood for a while beside Leonidas, both silent.
"We should gather our dead and bury them as they deserve," the Spartan finally said.
Aragorn nodded and before he left, he turned back and said softly.
"We could not have done it without your brave warriors. I thank you for your help."
Leonidas nodded once.
"It was an honour to fight at your side."
It took them the rest of the day and all of the next one to gather their dead and bury them. More than half of the Spartans had fallen.
Gandalf had brought back the Ringbearers, they were alive but unconscious.
They left the Black Gate on the second day after the battle and started to march south to the Fields of Cormallen where they set up a more permanent camp.
There the wounded were tended and the weary rested.
On the sixth of Gwirith, a great celebration was held, to honour the Ringbearers and to remember the warrior that had fallen in the war against Sauron.
There Leonidas and the Spartans were again thanked for their support and many praised their valour.
Leonidas raised his mug in remembrance of the fallen.
"Hail the victorious dead!"
The celebrations lasted well into the night.
After some time, while the others were still feasting, Leonidas got up and went to the edges of the camp. Something seemed to be calling him into the surrounding woods.
He was wary of this feeling, but he couldn't sense any ill intent, so he slowly walked into the shadowy woods.
There, in a small clearing among the trees, stood a tall and beautiful woman with long dark hair in the starlight. Nightingales sung around her.
She was waiting for the king of Sparta to come to her.
(A/N: Whoever can guess who that is, gets the next chapter dedicated to him!)