Hey guys! I'm sorry It has taken so long to get this out to you! Think of it as a Christmas present! Anyway, please review and I'll see you after the new you!
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Mayleea let out a mighty roar and began her fast approach to the beast of a battering ram. She felt the mental connection with Legolas strengthen.
"Where are you? Where are Rohan's armies?"
"They are gathering their full strength and riding out for Gondor tonight," Legolas answered immediately.
"I only pray we hold on that long," Mayleea said. "Where are you?"
"Aragorn, Gimli and I are out to find an army of a different sort," Legolas replied smugly.
Mayleea shook her head.
"Be careful."
"You as well."
She let the connection slide to the back of her mind as she roared again and dove at the trolls pushing the metal monster. She lit one on fire, but his armor repelled most of the burning acid. Frustrated, she made another pass, but this time, got pelted by a volley of arrows from the Orc around the battering ram. Most of the arrows bounced harmlessly off her chest and face plates, but some went through her wings or stuck in her sides. She growled against the pain, but continued to light up the dusk with jets of fire at the trolls. Night had fallen on the battle field when Mayleea finally had to land. She flew up to the top tower of the city and fell, exhausted onto the white stones. She was panting so hard, the arrows in her side were vibrating. After a minute of rest, she turned and yanked the arrows out before she turned back into an Elf.
She cringed from the pain in her ribs and slid down the wall. She couldn't just sit there and do nothing as the city fell beneath her. The Orc were now covering their boulders with oil and lighting them on fire before they launched them into the city, and the battering ram had just reached the gate. She could feel the shuddering of the gate all the way up at the top of the city. She gulped and realized how thirsty she was. Her throat was dry and her lips as an elf were cracked. She took another minute to collect herself then pulled herself up. She could hear Gandalf shouting orders and encouragement to the men down at the gate. With a little pain, and a lot of work, she managed to phase back to her dragon form and dive down to the gate. She shrunk and landed on Gandalf's shoulder. He nodded to her, but no words were exchanged. There didn't need to be any. They both knew they had one goal at this moment. Mayleea looked back at the gate just in time to see the fiery nose of the beast break through. Pieces of the gate fell and the men had to jump back.
"You are soldiers of Gondor," Gandalf said. "No matter what comes through that gate, you will stand your ground."
Mayleea didn't have time to worry what might come through that gate, because as soon as he finished speaking, a dozen trolls, clad in battle armor and wielding giant clubs crashed through. They were three times as tall as the tallest man and soldiers were flying all over. Gandalf called for a volley, and Mayleea took off into the sky before a badly aimed arrow hit her. The volley took down an enormous beast, but it did little good. With a roar, another took its place and knocked all the men aside with one swing of his club. Then came the Orc, most of foot, some on Wargs. The little vermin swarmed over the men of Gondor like locusts over a field. Mayleea grew large and grabbed a troll with her back feet. She hoisted him high above his comrades and dropped him into the enemy line, making sure he crushed some Orc when he landed. She did this twice more before the Trolls got wise to her. They began watching her, and hitting at her with their clubs when she got close enough to pick them up. Once she got a hold of a troll's shoulder with her front feet and the troll brought his club up and crushed her hand. He paid for her broken bones in a blaze of fire, but she was without the use of her left front foot.
The pain was almost too much to handle, but she suddenly felt Legolas' mind around hers. It was nothing more than a soft reminder that he was there with her no matter what, but it gave her the strength she needed. Holding her broken foot close to her chest, she dove back down and inserted herself in the fight, until she heard Pipipn. He was shouting for Gandalf. She turned her attention from the gate to find the Hobbit. She dodged a fireball as it exploded the top of a building and heard the cry of 'retreat' before she found Pippin.
"Fall back to the second level!" Gandalf shouted from the back of his horse.
Mayleea helped hold them back as best she could. She sprayed fire down onto the entrance, but the trolls and the Orc just kept coming.
"There are too many of them," she said. "I cannot do it alone."
"You are not alone," Legolas said quietly.
This did little to fuel her tired body and spirit, but she knew she had to keep fighting. Finally Mayleea could do no more from the air. She shrunk and dropped into the fight. The soldiers were surprised to see her on the ground at first, but after they saw her fight, they didn't care. She roared and jumped onto the back of an attacking Orc and before he knew what was going on, she had ripped his spine out. He dropped like a rock and she jumped to another enemy. This seemed to be more effective than just sitting above the fight, spitting jets of fire at the enemy. She bounded around a corner and slid to a stop right in front of a Troll. It seemed surprised to see a dragon the size of a pony standing before it, but it soon got over that and pulled its weapon up. She dodged the cumbersome blade and ran easily up the troll's meaty arm. She clawed her way to the back of his neck where she pulled his helmet off and dug her beak in behind his ear. He screamed in pain and tried to grab her, but he didn't have that kind of reach. When Mayleea dug through to his brain, he went stiff then fell forward.
Mayleea shook the acrid blood from her mouth and looked up just in time to see Pippin pushing through the crowd of men. She flew to Gandalf's side as Pippin came up.
"Denethor has lost his mind! He's burning Faramir alive!"
Without thinking Mayleea pushed off the white stone and launched up toward the tower. She clawed the air, rising quickly. She came over the top tower just as she heard the Nazgúl scream again. She glanced back over to find him. He was standing in Gandalf's path.
"Go back to the abyss," Gandalf said, brandishing his staff in front of him. "Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your master."
"Do you not know death when you see it, old man?" The Witch King hissed and urged his beast forward. "This is my hour."
He pulled his sword and held it up to the sky, where it seemed to catch fire as the morning light hit it. Pippin cried out in panic and Shadowfax pawed the ground. It was only when Gandalf's staff shattered throwing him and Pippin from the horses' back that Mayleea dove back off the tower toward the beast and rider. The Fell Beast advanced on Gandalf, and Mayleea worried that she might not reach them in time to help. It roared at Gandalf and then Pippin, who was running at it with a sword.
"You have failed," the Ring Wraith rasped. "The world of Men will fall."
He raised his sword to deliver the killing blow just as Mayleea reached them. She landed hard on the beast's back, behind the Wraith. The Fell Beast's legs gave out and he roared as they toppled off the edge. They rolled over each other, the Wraith barley staying on his animal. Mayleea finally caught the edge of a building and pulled herself up. The Fell Beast seemed to get his wings under him and right himself. They were both dazed, but alive. Mayleea's head was pounding, and there were no whole bones left in her front foot, but she stared him down anyway.
"It's time to die," he hissed at her, but before either of them could move a very distinctive horn sounded on the far edge of the field.
Both Mayleea and the Nazgúl looked to the noise and Mayleea felt her heart skip a beat. Rohan was there. Many more than just Rohan it seemed. Mayleea gave a roar of joy and jumped at the Nazgúl, but he screamed and just avoided her claws. He screamed a warning to the Orc still on the field, then flew away over the mountain. Mayleea was too happy to care about him. She roared again and soared out to meet Théoden. She could feel the sudden fear in all their minds when they saw what they were up against. They hill they had ridden up on was high enough to overlook the entire battlefield and see all of the enemy. She roared her greeting to Théoden and his riders. She could feel more than see Merry and Éowyn among them. She wondered if Théoden knew about that. The company cheered at her appearance and she landed hard on her two back feet in front of Théoden.
"Mayleea," he greeted.
She nodded to him.
"Where is Aragorn?"
"He left us last night. Took the road into the mountain."
Mayleea frowned, but there was nothing to be done about that now. Mayleea knew Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas would not leave unless vitally nessicary. She trusted the Elf far more than she normally would.
"Are our chances as bad as they look?" Théoden asked quietly.
Mayleea sighed and looked at her crushed foot.
"Our fate seems very grim, but not enough for me to stop fighting."
"Then you will fly with us?"
Mayleea grinned.
"Always."
Théoden nodded and she jumped into the air. As the King turned to face his company, Mayleea heard Éowyn whisper.
"Courage, Merry. Courage for our friends."
She could see the enemy forming ranks, setting up spears and pikes and forming lines of archers. This was not going to be easy. Théoden road across the front of the company, directing his captains, then turned to the company itself.
"Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden! Spears shall be shaken, shields shall be splintered. A sword day, a red day, ere the sun rises!"
All the spears went down on the left of all the horse's heads and Théoden road down the line, hitting his sword on all the spears in reach.
"Ride now!" he shouted.
"Ride now!"
"Ride! Ride for ruin, and the world's ending!"
He got to the end and road back to the middle.
"Death!" he shouted.
"Death!" the company responded.
"Death!" Théoden shouted.
"Death!"
Mayleea added her voice to the chant in the form of a roar.
"Forth, Eorlingas!" Théoden shouted.
He began moving his horse forward, slowly at first. The company followed at the sound of a trumpet, all chanting 'death.' Mayleea roared again and kept her wings beating to the time of the hoof beats. The company had to be 800 strong at least, if not more. Still 800 against 10,000 did not have very uplifting odds. She flew low over Théoden's head. As they closed in on the enemy, Mayleea heard hundreds of bow strings being drawn taught. Within five seconds someone in the enemy ranks called for them to fire. Mayleea caught an air current and swooped up higher, just in time to send a jet of fire at the arrows coming her way. There was no way she could save everyone, but she could burn up the arrows in front of her.
All the way down the line, men and horses fell by arrows, but the men left continued to push their horses forward. The call for 'fire at will' came next, but strangely, almost no more men fell. Before the enemy could get more than one more volley off, Théoden's riders were upon them. The front line of horses jumped over the Orc, effectively taking them down, and their spears along with it, so the second line could waltz right through the enemies ranks. Orc were bouncing off the horses chests, with no harm done to the humans or their beasts, but once on the ground, the Orc were getting trampled. Mayleea felt a roar of excitement well within her. For the first time in three days, she let herself believe the tide of this battle was turning.
She soared up and to the right and landed on one of the broken Orc towers. Rohan's armies were blazing through the enemy ranks at a surprising speed. They took out all in their path and scattered the terrified beasts in all directions. There was complete chaos. Mayleea roared again as the sun rose higher in the sky. She suddenly was able to pick Éomer's voice from the din of battle.
"Drive them to the river!"
This was one charge she wouldn't miss out on. She jumped from her perch on the city wall where she had been nursing her broken hand, and charged after the enemy. Théoden's army was regrouping quickly and chasing the enemy toward Osgiliath when something happened that no one expected. Mayleea pulled up short over the allies and sat, in awe at what was coming through the smoke.
Olyphants. The largest group of them she had ever seen, and they were all coming toward Gondor. Mayleea had fought these beasts before, and she had no desire to ever do so again. The beasts were temperamental at best, and when being driven by the nomads from the south, they would kill you just for something to do. They were enormous beasts with six tusks, big feet, and a bad attitude, and they were coming as re-enforcements to the Orc. For the first time in the battle, Mayleea was afraid for her life. She could feel the fear in the men below her. Some were actually thinking of abandoning Gondor for good. Mayleea would have been lying if she said she hadn't thought about it too.
"We will be there soon," came a reassuring voice in her head.
She breathed deep and tested her front foot. It was healing slowly, but it was nowhere near where it needed to be for this fight. She growled.
"Re-form the line!" Théoden shouted to his men. "Re-form the line!"
They did as they were told and as they got into ranks the Olyphant's began to bellow. They lifted their trunks to the sky and their pace quickened.
"Sound the charge!" Théoden said frantically. "Take them head on!"
Before Mayleea could tell him that was not a good idea, he and the other men had charged. She flew after them just as the first beast took out thirty riders with one twist of its massive head. On closer inspection the long tusks growing from the top jaw had spikes and sharp pieces of wood and glass wrapped around them with wire. None of the men on horseback stood a chance. At best they came up to the beast's ankle. Everyone was soon in disarray; horses running without riders, men being smashed by the huge feet and thrown by sharp tusks. Mayleea had to take a few of them down. She spotted the first problem quickly. The men on the back of the beasts. They had huge, wooden structures tied to the animal's back, and they were lobbing arrows and spears over the sides down onto the army. Mayleea growled her joy. The enemy always made things with wood. She liked wood.
She caught a breeze that took her to the left and behind a beast, where she dodged a few arrows, then lit the structure on fire. She could hear the enemy sizzling as they desperately tried to escape the inferno by jumping to their deaths. The driver of the beast had yet to catch fire, so Mayleea helped it along. Instead of just destroying the driver, she spit enough acid to cover the whole beast's head. It went down quickly. When Mayleea glanced around, the men had turned their horses to run alongside the Olyphants. She growled. Running with the beasts was just about the worst idea, second only to engaging them in the first place. She surveyed the rest of the field quickly and noticed an Olyphant moving sporadically. It seemed the beast was aiming for horses and trying to smash them. Mayleea's confusion was soon answered when she heard a sadistic laugh. The source was the driver. He roared with laughter as his Olyphant mowed down all the horses in his path. Mayleea was just about ready to do something when she spotted Éomer.
He was running toward the beast, upstream, a spear held over his head. Before she could do anything to help, Éomer had thrown the spear with impeccable aim and the driver had fallen from the Olyphant's back. As he fell, his foot snagged on the rope attached to the Olyphant's ear. The weight of the driver pulled the Olyphant to the left, and with an angry bellow, the beast crashed into his comrade, taking them both down. Mayleea was impressed, but not as impressed as she was in Éowyn. She ran between the legs and trunks of three Olyphants before she went under one and cut both its front legs and back legs. With a howl, the beast fell onto its side, crushing the men on its back. At the same time Éomer was instructing all his men to aim their arrows for another beast's head. After a long struggle, the beast reared up, throwing the men from its back. It brought its large feet up in an attempt to shield its face from the arrows, but instead, it threw it off balance, making it fall backward.
Despite the three that had just gone down, there were still plenty more to do damage to Théoden's army, plus the Orc still fighting. She growled and went after the healthiest Olyphant she saw. She easily dispatched the driver, then the hundred men on its back, and then the beast itself. She flew up and away from him and paused on an air current. She tried to grow large, but there was an arrow in her side keeping her from growing any bigger than the beast itself. She growled. It was frustrating, but the same size as the enemy was better than smaller than the enemy. She closed her wings and plummeted toward the driverless animal. At the last second, she extended the claws on all four feet out and down so that when she collided with the beast, her razor sharp, albeit short, talons were embedded in the back of the animal.
He bellowed and threw his trunk around. She was not expecting his reach and she didn't have time to dodge. He wrapped his trunk around her back legs and yanked downward. She dug her claws in further, but it did no good other than to make long gashes in the back of the Olyphant. He shrieked and smashed her with extra force into the packed earth. Mayleea felt little orc and human bodies being crushed under her side. She struggled to get up, but the Olyphant was holding onto both her back legs. He lifted her off the ground again and she saw an opportunity to get away. She flapped her massive wings and got into the air, but she had underestimated the power of the beast's trunk. Once again, he yanked her down, right out of the sky and back to earth. That second time crashing back down to the ground had hurt. Finally she rolled over and roared. She kicked out with her back foot while at the same time shooting a jet of fire into the beast's face. He trumpeted, letting go of her in the process.
She rolled over quickly and ripped the arrow out of her side. It hurt, but she could stand it long enough to dispatch the beast. She growled and as ready to let loose another jet of fire when her mind erupted in pain. She roared and thrashed, covering her forehead with her front feet. She couldn't see, she couldn't hear and she was completely incapacitated from the pain. She knew she had one last escape, though it would be the most dangerous thing she had done all day. She couldn't think about it long with the pain in her head and finally she phased back to an Elf. The pain was gone instantly.
She managed to open her eyes, though her head still ached terribly. The sun was far too bright for her to see much, but she did make out an Orc running her way. She pulled out a blade and managed to dispatch him, though it was messy, even for her. She was finally able to see better as another enemy came her way. This one was on a Warg. A full grown warg was difficult to take down for any opponent, but an Elf with a migraine and who couldn't see straight would have a much more difficult time than say… a dragon. She decided to take her chances and phase back.
The instant she was in her dragon form, her forehead exploded from unseen pain. She dropped back to the ground as an Elf holding her forehead, warg still approaching. She growled low in her chest.
"Fine," she said aloud. "I will have to do this alone."
"Not alone. We are close."
Mayleea held her mental connection with Legolas as close as an embrace. He returned it easily, the mental caress bringing them both much needed comfort. Finally she let it slide to the back of her mind as she focused on the task at hand. The warg was just about to charge when a voice came across the din of battle; cool and crisp. Mayleea did a complete 180 when he spoke.
"She's mine."
Her mouth fell open speechless.
"Mayleea is that – "
"Grima?" she asked, answering Legolas.
"Surprised to see me?" he hissed coolly from the back of his Warg.
"You fell," was all she could think to say.
"Yes I did didn't I."
He kicked his beast forward and walked it in a slow circle around her.
"I believe I have your little Elf friend to thank for that. Too bad he missed."
Mayleea knew full well that Legolas didn't miss. Ever.
"What kind of trickery is this?" she asked, keeping him in front of her as he moved.
"No tricks. I simply did not die."
Mayleea blinked, surprised.
"How?" she growled.
"It does not matter," Grima said with a dismissive wave of the hand.
He turned the warg to face her. He bared his teeth and Mayleea brandished her weapons.
"I am going to rip you apart," she spat, her eyes beginning their change to yellow.
"No, no, no little dragon," he chirped, and held up a glowing blue orb.
She paused her transformation as fear sparked inside her. Grima waved the glass sphere around.
"That would not be wise, I think."
"What is this magic?" she asked warily.
Grima leered at her from behind the shadow of his hood.
"It is of my own making. A wonderful little invention really. Keeps that pesky dragon of yours at bay. Makes things a little more… fair."
"Fair for whom?" she asked, stalling.
"Legolas, where are you. Something is wrong."
"We are close," he replied.
Mayleea growled. She was just going to have to hold her own for a little while. Grima couldn't be that good of a swordsman.
"For them," Grima said with a grin as he backed his Warg up. Mayleea frowned until ten huge orcs came from behind him. Of corse it wouldn't be that easy. Mayleea dropped her center of gravity and held the long knives ready. as the orcs circled her, the knives followed until they were held out on either side. Mayleea continued to spin slowly on the spot, her eyes alternating between watching her front and back; one of which was always an open target.
"Beat her to a pulp," Grima instructed. "Then bring me her head."
As soon as the words crossed his lips, the orcs ran forward. Mayleea spun into action, swinging her long knives over her head and down onto the first beast's head. She kicked him off her blade into another orc. She spun both blades back through the gut of another and into the chest of a third. As she turned to meet another foe, an orc blade caught her on the left cheek. It was not a deep wound but it was enough to knock her off balance. She stumbled back and barley dodged a punch from her left. Mayleea hit the ground hard enough to knock the wind from her lungs. She struggled to right herself but soon found large, smelly hands grasping the front of her cloak. The orc lifted her above his head and threw her out of the circle the orc had created.
Mayleea hit the ground on her right shoulder, seriously bruising it, if not more. Despite her pain, she rolled out of it and onto her feet, though she overshot it and landed on her backside. As she struggled to get up she saw Grima fighting to get through the masses of Orc. He pushed his warg forward and he looked panicked. Mayleea suddenly realized why.
She changed from where she sat, her dragon form feeling good. There was no pain and she shot quickly into the sky. Twenty feet from the ground however, the pain came back. She roared and struggled to stay in the air. She dimly realized it couldn't be much higher that she had to get to get out of his range. She tried as hard as she could, but to no avail. She hardly got three more feet up before the pain got so intense it was all she could concentrate on. She screamed, realizing how human the noise sounded. She flashed her eyes open and realized she was falling quickly in her human form. And she was dangerously close to earth. She gathered what strength she had laft and phased to her dragon form long enough to get some air under her wings and slow her down a bit, but almost not enough, before the pain forced her to change back. She freefell five more feet, and landed in a heap. As the dust rose around her still body, Legolas yelled into her mind.
"Mayleea! Mayleea talk to me!"
She was far to dizzy to respond. She couldn't even form words, lot alone send them across their connection into his mind.
"Mayleea just stay awake! We are coming."
She felt his consciousness strengthening hers enough for her to open her eyes. They fluttered of their own accord for a moment before opening fully. She could hear her heart beating in her ears. It was slow and sent pain radiating throughout her with very beat. She tried to sit up, but that was a terrible idea. She groaned and lifted her arms to her face. Her left arm came easily, but her right arm did not move. It didn't even hurt. Mayleea figured that couldn't be a good thing. Remembering she was on a battlefield, she leaned her head up and could see Grima and the Orcs surrounding her. Struggling to get to her feet was not ideal because hurt things might get worse, but she had no choice. She used her good arm to push herself up, not even knowing if her legs would hold her. After stumbling twice she managed to get on her feet. She reached down and picked up one of her two discarded long knives and held her right arm against her chest. She was panting hard, but refused to turn her eyes from Grima.
"How much range does that gem have?" she asked.
"Plenty," he growled, then he nodded to the Orcs.
One stepped forward. Mayleea turned her eyes toward him and her sword followed. He took three steps toward her before she sensed one behind her moving quickly. She drug her body around to meet the Orc, but it was too late. The Orc brought his blade down on her shoulder. Luckily it was armor covered, but the force still knocked her down. She was getting tired of spending so much time on the ground. As the Orc brought his blade up above his head again, Mayleea pulled her long knife off of the ground and met the blow. Pain exploded immodestly from her right finger. She screamed, her dragon voice coming through. The Orc seemed surprised at her sudden outburst. He backed off for a moment while she opened her eyes. Blood was quickly running down here arm and dripping into her face. The long knife fell from her hand, the pommel covered in blood.
It became very apparent as she tried to extend her fingers that something was wrong. Mayleea was dizzy from pain and exhaustion, and the sky was beginning to spin. She realized lethargically that if she passed out now, she wouldn't live, so she tried as hard as she could to get her weapons and get up. With one more kick from the Orc however, she wasn't getting up. Her eyes were closed and she heard Legolas yelling her name, but the fight was over for her. Gandalf was speaking to Pippin and for the first time, she felt herself relax.
"Death is just another path… one that we must all take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass and then you see it"
He paused.
"White shores. And beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise."
Mayleea was ready to see that. As darkness engulfed her, Mayleea thought she saw an enormous shadow above her.
"Kill her," Grima said with a bored wave of his hand.
He began to turn his warg, but a roar stopped him. He spun around, making sure Mayleea was still unconscious on the ground. She was.
"How is this possible?" he asked looking around at his Orcs.
Before any of them could do more than move a finger, an enormous, brown dragon swooped over him, and with an incredibly nimble tail, popped the blue orb out of Grima's hand and up into the air. It roared and shook its head as before finally landing and to everyone's surprise, changing into a human.
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