A/N: I have to give a great big thank you to my beta reader who saved my ass and is responsible for this chapter getting out. Thanks Kayleigh you're a big help. Also thanks to all my faithful reviewers.

Keep Moving Forward.

Blood from both man and his enemy was being spilt on grassy knolls. The Wargs and their riders showed no mercy in trying to kill the soldiers of Rohan that had taken up defense for its people. Even though the enemy was fierce and more than savage like their numbers were dwindling rather quickly. The soldiers of Rohan fought almost with a fevered desperation. It was because in the back of their minds they thought of their people.

The women and children who had no means of defending themselves fueled every one of the warriors fighting against the Warg Riders. This source of determination did not abridge the amount of danger being cast their way. There were downfalls that meant some of the soldiers had lost their own battles. Others could not be concerned over their fallen comrades because the battle was ongoing and would not stop for grievances. The battle would wage on without those who had fallen.

The dwarf was more than ready to take on the challenge that the Warg Riders had brought. He felt that a good orc slaying had been long over due. Gripping his axe he spotted a Warg coming towards him just after his short stumbled from Arod. The adrenaline propelling through his veins was nothing compared to the damage he wanted to bring to each and every one of the Wargs and their masters. Gimli felt himself grinning like what had to be an idiot as the Warg charged at him.

"Bring your pretty face to my axe," Gimli yelled out with a little too much excitement.

As the Warg got closer and closer Gimli's thrill skyrocketed. As he began to lift his axe and bring it down into the next of the Warg an arrow shot from nowhere and embedded itself into the Warg killing it. Looking to the direction where the arrow came from, the dwarf felt put out in missing the opportunity to kill an enemy. From a ways off he spotted the elf and felt a tinge of anger but it was more overshadowed by the urge to show the elf how to kill a horde of Wargs.

"That one counts as mine!"

Legolas sent a quick smirk the dwarf's way before running off to face more of the enemy. Muttering under his breath, Gimli turned to look for more Wargs to hack his axe through but instead found himself under hundreds of pounds of stinking Warg. The smell invaded Gimli's nostrils all too quickly. He found himself gagging and trying to push himself from the beast. Never had he smelled something so horrible.

"Ahh! Stinking creature!"

Gimli pushed more against the creature, his face twisted in disgust. Just when he thought his situation could not become any worse an orc appeared looming over him. Snarling the creature looked down at him ready to attack but Gimli was too quick and twisted the neck of the orc above him. The orc collapsed on top of the Warg and in turn on top of Gimli. Gimli felt the weight of both creatures on top of himself. He let his limbs wilt to conserve on the amount of energy he was using to keep himself propelled.

Aragorn had played the slayer to another Warg rider and had rendered the foul creature dead. He took the moment that his miniature victory had brought him to survey where else his services were probably needed from atop his horse. With his momentary look around he spotted another orc making its way towards what appeared to be Gimli trapped underneath a Warg and an orc. With haste Aragorn grabbed up a spear that was embedded in the ground and threw it in the direction that the orc was. The spear caught the orc right as it was over Gimli.

It fell over adding to the pile that was already on top of Gimli. The dwarf could feel the air leaving his lungs in a burning manner. His face began to turn a modest shade of purple. Once he got himself free he was definitely going to demonstrate the fury of his axe. Aragorn satisfied that the spear meant its target was about to turn on his horse when he suddenly found himself on the ground.

Aragorn got up quickly none too disturbed about what had occurred. A Warg and its rider almost passed him by but with no thoughts whatsoever Aragorn grabbed onto the coarse fur of the Warg and propelled himself behind the beast's master. Aragorn commenced in fighting the orc off in attempt to quickly kill him but something went wrong. His hand caught itself in the harness of the Warg. He did not let the mishap hinder him.

With his other hand he still continued his struggle with the orc. It took only rapid seconds for Aragorn to prevail and for the orc to be pushed clean from its mount. The only dilemma left was freeing himself from the harness. It was a problem that he simply could not address fast enough. The Warg, never slowing down its pace, headed right for the cliff and because it lacked both direction and brain cells went right over with Aragorn and all.


Merry and Pippin sat on the hard wood of Treebeard's shoulders. Both of the hobbits were uncomfortable but that aspect was far from their minds as they rambled through the forest. When they were with Treebeard they felt safety and it made them both feel sorry because both Merry and Pippin knew that all of their friends were not in the same position on them. They were all facing danger. The two hobbits had grown very much since the day they had took that great chance and left the safety of the Shire with Frodo and Sam.

Feeling somewhat bored at Treebeard's slow and steady pace, Pippin looked around and something caught his eyes. Smoke.

"Look! There is smoke to the south!" Pippin exclaimed this with curiosity and shock.

Whatever the source of the smoke was could not be a good thing. Merry knew what was in the southern direction Pippin's attention was turned to. He wanted to be wrong though.

"Isengard," he asked directing his question at Treebeard.

"There was a time, when Saruman would walk in my woods, but now, he has a mind of metal and wheels. He no longer cares for growing things." Treebeard explained this slowly at his own pace.

He recalled on the times when Saruman was a peaceful friend and brought no harm to the woods where Treebeard and his people, his family resided. Treebeard was knocked from his thoughts by the whispers of the two hobbits atop his shoulders. When he came back into the reality everyone else was present in he saw what the unthinkable. The very one thing he wanted to deny was coming to life. Pippin turned to Merry who was perched a bit higher than he was.

"What is it?"

"It's Saruman's army!" Merry said with eyed disbelief. "The war has started."


Amara stood adjacent to Saruman hoping that the pure hatred she was feeling for the wizard was amplified enough where Saruman himself could feel it. They were both standing on a balcony looking at what was a devastating sight to Amara but an excellent sight to Saruman. Beyond and below the balcony were thousands upon thousands of urk-hai. They were Saruman's army that he was going to order to march to Rohan. The vast number of his army guaranteed a great devastation.

The thought of 'what the hell am I supposed to do' came to Amara's mind, as she did nothing but look at all the grotesque urk-hai below her. Saruman had not said a word other than this was the army he had been building since they arrived. He simply stood beside her as if he was waiting for her to say something. Amara found being there surrounded by so many of her enemies unsettling. Ultimately, she felt that if anything she came here to accomplish or thought she could accomplish was to happen she would have to play Saruman's game first.

As stupid as the empath thought she was it was up to her to get out of the mess she had gotten herself into in the first place. The cold air around her made her fingers numb and she tucked them under her armpits for a bit of warmth. Amara waited for Saruman to do something say something but it was apparent after five more minutes passed that he wasn't going to do anything. If she wanted to go back inside to the bit of relative warmth the tower provided she was going to have to take the first step. Amara cleared her throat and walked a step closer to the wizard.

"What…what do you want me to do?"

When she asked the question she never wanted to come from her mouth her eyes fleeted from the balcony's floor to Saruman's tall lean figure. A smile grew on the wizard's face that looked all too foreign to the man. It made Amara want to look away from him. He turned from the sight of his army and faced Amara with the smile still on his face.

"Have you decided in cooperating?"

Amara didn't answer right away. She felt that she had no choice but to go in one direction for the moment.

"Yes," she sighed out. "Yes I have."

"Excellent." Saruman brushed past Amara and with his staff tightly in hand went back inside. Amara looked at Saruman's retreating form and just knew that if she had said no he would have gotten his way anyhow. Somewhat hesitantly, Amara followed Saruman back inside.

"Where are you taking me now?"

She followed closely behind Saruman thinking things that she shouldn't have been thinking at the moment. Torture tactics flew through her mind thanks to the numerous books she had read and the television she had watched in her life before Middle Earth. The wizard said nothing and Amara thought that she wasn't in any position to ask questions but she would try anyway. She ignored the nasty looks she got from the looming orcs she passed by on the way to a destination unknown.

"What is going on," she demanded to know.

Every ounce of brave in her body was being put forth. Of course from the very beginning she had not felt one hundred percent confident in her abilities to defeat the wizard because Gandalf himself could not. However now she felt a little differently about everything. She knew there had to be something she could do to stop Saruman.

They came to a door Amara felt was familiar. Saruman went into the room that the door was behind and Amara knew where she was. It was the room Wormtongue had guided her to before when she first meant Saruman. She entered in behind Saruman and found Wormtongue standing inside as if he was waiting for them all along. Amara went to stand a tiny bit closer to Wormtongue than Saruman. At seeing Wormtongue closer there seemed to be something there in his face.

It was only faintly detectable but thanks to her ability to feel others emotions, she did not have to rely on his facial expressions to guess what was going on inside of him. There was worry etched within his being which was more than hidden well from Saruman. What that worry was for Amara had not the slightest clue. She caught herself staring at Wormtongue and quickly looked in another direction.

"The troops will be sent momentarily," Saruman informed the two of them but was mostly speaking to himself.

"You can't do that," Amara said furiously.

"I can do whatever I please!" Saruman whirled his attention to her and pointed his staff at her. In his small fit of rage, energy poured forth from the staff and made its way in Amara's vicinity. The force was so powerful it knocked her from her feet. Amara slid a few inches across the black floor and upon coming to a stop glared dangerously at Saruman.

The anger coming from the wizard seeped into her and mingled with her own.

"How can you turn on those who used to be your friends?"

Saruman watched as Amara tentatively got to her feet.

"The same as you have my dear."

Amara shook her head. "You know as well as I do that I did not and would not turn on my friends. You made me tell you the truth god damn it!"

Giving a short rough chuckle Saruman said, "Without realizing it you have betrayed your friends. Through the good will and intentions you thought you were giving you have betrayed the ones you love."

"That's not true," seethed Amara.

"What you thought to be a smart plan and a noble act was really quite stupid and it will be your stupidity that will either get you or your friends killed."

Wormtongue looked at the slight hurt in the woman's eyes but then quickly looked back to his master. Seeing the youthful woman suffering so was not pleasant to him. He worried on how Saruman's army was going to succeed in defeating Rohan if they were seeking shelter through Helm's Deep. No matter how many troops he had out there it would be meaningless unless they could figure out a way to somehow breech the fortress. Wormtongue voiced his opinion to Saruman in an attempt to be helpful and perhaps take some anxiety away from the woman.

"Helm's deep has one weakness, its outer wall is solid rock but for a small culvert at its base, which is little more than a drain."

"You won't win," Amara whispered.

Saruman had turned from her and was now at a pedestal. He poured a small black rockish substance into a metal ball and without a care in the world said, "That is where you are wrong."

'Just because you've acquired explosive doesn't mean you win dude,' Amara thought grimly.

Wormtongue came up and behind Saruman and watched his actions closely. There was amazement in Grima Wormtongue's eyes as he caught on to Saruman's plan of how he was going to penetrate Helm's Deep. Grima was no unintelligent man and did not need much explanation on many things but this was not one of them.

"How can fire undo stone? What kind of device could bring down a wall?"

"If the wall is breached, Helm's Deep will fall." Saruman did not wish to elucidate of what he had created and felt he did not have to.

"It won't," Amara butted in. "Even if you did breech the wall does not declare you the victor and for your actions you won't be!"

Grima glanced at Amara worrying that her words would put her in even more danger. He had a sort of fondness for her. It was not as strong as his fondness had been for Eowyn but it was there nonetheless.

"Even if it is breached," Wormtongue started as soft and respectful as possible. "It would take a number beyond reckoning, thousands to storm the keep."

"Tens of thousands."

Amara knew exactly what he was talking about and guessed all too right that Wormtongue didn't have a clue what Saruman was talking about. She had been shown the army before the man and on a much higher platform.

"But, my lord, there is no such force."

Saruman bid Wormtongue to follow him and they walked out onto the balcony the room held. Amara felt the awe Wormtongue was containing. The chants the army was shouting reached her ears from outside and made her shiver. The dark speech was not friendly on the nerves.

"A new power is rising." Amara heard Saruman say over the chants. "Its victory is at hand. This night the land will be stained with the blood of Rohan! March to Helm's Deep! Leave none alive! To war!"

Amara felt something leaning in the category of unbridled hatred reach within her. She looked at Saruman through eyes that became more and angrier by the second.

"There will be no dawn for men."

At Saruman saying that darkness began to creep its way into the deep blue of Amara's eyes.


"Aragorn!" Legolas called out the ranger's name as he looked around the region where the medium sized battle had taken place. They had prevailed and each and every Warg and its rider were dead. There were casualties but for their fierceness and bravery they would be honored. Currently, Gimli and Legolas were looking for their missing friend.

Both of them just knew that Aragorn had survived. Aragorn's skills as a warrior were far superior to many others present. This fight would have provided no challenge to him.

"Aragorn," Gimli called out in his deep booming voice.

Legolas was about to turn to the dwarf and order him to organize a search but something caught his ears and looking at Gimli, the dwarf must've heard it also. It was a coughing sound mixed with gurgles. Legolas turned his attention away from Gimli and spotted an orc a small way from him. He jogged up to the foul creature feeling that it would know something of the whereabouts of his friend. If the orc knew anything he was going to tell them, of that Legolas was sure.

Both he and Gimli made their way over to the orc. Clearly the being was dying as a hefty amount of blood was being coughed up by it.

Resisting the urge to simply sink his axe into the orc only because he needed answers Gimli said, "Tell me what happened and I'll ease you passing!"

A sinister smile crossed the face of the orc and it bared sharp yellowing teeth. Its laugher the small amount that it could bring forth through the pain was few and far between each breath that it took. It was more than pleased to be able to tell and elf and a dwarf, his very enemies that their friend was dead.

"He's…" the orc stopped to cough up more rancid dark blood. Legolas impatience took over and he kneeled and grabbed the orc. "He's dead," the orc spoke again with pleasure. "He took a little tumble off the cliff."

Legolas gripped the orc more roughly. "You lie." There was distaste over each part of Legolas' features.

With no more words to give the breath left the orc and it fell limp in Legolas' grasp. Legolas let the orc go wondering for a split second if the orc really was lying or not. Something with a sparkle caught the eye of the elf and his gaze traveled down to the orc's hand. Well within the orc's limp grasp was the Evenstar. That gave Legolas the answer he sought.

With the necklace in his hand, Legolas stood up and walked to where the edge of the cliff was. This news could simply not be true as much as the truth was staring him right in the face. He looked down at was below the cliff and found only a fast moving current of water. There was no possible way that Aragorn could have survived a fall such as that. Legolas felt Gimli come up beside him and look over the cliff just as he was.

Aragorn was gone.

They had lost yet another friend to the Battle against Sauron. Legolas could not believe that something like this had happened. He had seen war before and lost many friends to it but Aragorn was one person he never imagined would fall so easily. He imagined that amongst the chaos that had ensued he had not noticed the absence of his friend from battle. So soon after Amara had gone off into who knows what sort of situation her brother had perished. Had the Valar forsaken their family?

Théoden assessed the devastation before him feeling that what was happening was all too real. He felt that this before him the bodies of soldiers he had known and the carcasses of both Warg and orc everywhere was as clear a sign he needed that Saruman was coming. It pained him to see such a sight and have it embedded into his mind for who knows how long but it was part of what he had to do in order to keep the people of Rohan safe.

"Get the wounded on horses," he directed to Gamling, whom he was all too relieved to know had survived the Warg attack.

"The wolves of Isengard will return. Leave the dead."

His last sentence came out hesitant and cold. Théoden caught the look the elf had shot him but could do nothing about it. Should they linger any longer in one spot they would be a considerably weaker target than they had been in the first place. Théoden placed a hand on Legolas shoulder knowing the desolation that was going through the elf at the loss of Aragorn.

"Come," he said quietly but neither elf nor dwarf moved from their spots.

Théoden decided it was best to give the two their space, even if it was for only a short while. He turned and left the two. Gimli looked down into the fast moving river with unrestrained doubt. Aragorn was one tough man and would not simply let water as rough as it might be stop him. It felt like if they left they were abandoning any hope of Aragorn returning.

It frustrated them but there was nothing that could be done.

"This is Aragorn," Gimli said after a few minutes breaking the silence. "He will come through."

Legolas said nothing for no words would come from his mouth nor do any good at the moment. He could only continue to do what he had been keeping hope and moving forward.