Chapter Eight~
When we leave I am dressed in chainmail and armor, a helmet hiding my face. Haldir is really pissed that I want to fight but I had shushed him with a kiss saying,
"I'm going, and you can't stop me." as we leave one guard stops me and says,
"Head to the wall soldier." I only nod before nodding to Haldir who returns the nod and goes to his troops. I climb the stairs of the wall and find Gimli, Legolas and Aragon talking. As I approach I can faintly hear Gimli saying,
"Let's hope they last the night." I stand right behind them and stifling a giggle and say in my loudest voice,
"BOO!" causing them to turn and look at me with amazed faces.
"Anna?" questions Aragon but hushing him by putting a finger to my lips. He nods but says before leaving,
"You are foolish to not heed the King's words." with something like concern and worry evident in his voice. As he leaves a clap of thunder shakes us and as I look up can see the clouds covering the sky. As I return my gaze to the horizon I can see the enemy army approaching lit by torch light.
"Are you sure you want to be up here?" Legolas asks me but laughing I say,
"Roger is safe with Eowyn, and yes. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."
"Well that's grim." Gimli says causing all of us to laugh but we quickly settle down as the rain begins to pour down on us. From behind we can here Aragon speaking in Elvish to the Elvish archers who would fire first along with the others. As the enemy army comes closer and closer Gimli jumps up and down before saying,
"What's going on out there?"
"Shall we describe it to you? Or shall we find you a box?" I say startling Legolas who was about to say the same thing. I wink at him before laughing just as the two others begin to laugh along. Suddenly an arrow from our side is let loose and Aragon screams for them to hold. But the damage is done and one Uruk-hai falls down dead. As the front line of Uruk-hai run forward Aragon calls out to fire and a volley of arrows fly into the air. So it begins the battle to break the Deep. Volley after volley of arrows fly through the air as the never ending stream of Uruk-hai try to make it to the wall. Soon arrows from the other side fly hitting their marks causing men along with Elves to fall. Then ladders appear from the other side of the wall and Aragon shouts for the men to get out their swords.
"LADDERS!" comes the cry but the beasts have already made it over and the real fight begins. More and more come over the walls and begin to push back the Alliance and I can't concentrate on how many there are. All I can do is fight as hard as I can, without getting killed along the way. It's then I remember the spiked ball that will bring down the wall and so turning to run I am stopped by the swarm of Uruk-hai. Slicing into as many as my sword can reach, I push my way through to try and warn the men by the wall to stop the explosion. As I slowly make my way towards the causeway I can see the two carrying the ball and know I have to do something. Looking around I grab a forgotten bow and several free arrows and taking aim with one try to hit one in the neck, the weakest spot of the armor. I manage to hit one square in the neck causing the ball to fall sideways but another steps up to take it closer to the wall.
"ARAGON!" I cry looking around for him but unable to find him. As I race away from the wall that will explode, I am just a hair away from being blown to smithereens. As giant chucks of the wall fall around me I duck and weave through the falling debris. The endless sea of Uruk-hai swarm into the gap within the wall and I notice Aragon, the King, Gimli and Legolas getting ready to charge. All I can do is pray they make it out alive since I have already changed things by simply being here. Turning back around I see Haldir in serious trouble as his men retreat to the Keep to try and gain ground in order to fight. As the other retreat I race towards Haldir dodging men and Uruk-hai both, slicing into any beast that crosses my path. As I make it closer to Haldir I run around to the side where he would get stabbed and make it in time to slice off the head of the one who would stab him. As I do this my helmet falls off during the forces of my swing. As the Uruk-hai falls down dead Haldir turns to see me with wide eyes. Smiling weakly, we begin to fight anew knowing we were fighting for each other, in order to make it out alive for the other. It was in that moment I realized I loved Haldir; his arrogant ways, his all importance, his almost never seen smile and his almost never heard laugh. As we fight we hear the call,
"The wall has been breached! RETREAT!" turning to look at one another we don't need to be told twice before we run for the safety of the Keep. Haldir holds my arm as we run, pushing our already fatigued bodies to the breaking point. At one point I stumble and fall, Haldir stopping only a fraction away from me. Struggling to stand I feel something stab my shoulder and scream in agony. The sound of a thud makes me look up to find Haldir has killed whoever has just stabbed me and bending down to pick me up he carries me into the Keep just as the doors begin to close. As soon as were inside Aragon comes rushing over to us as Haldir sets me down on a bench by the door.
"What happened?"
"She saved me, and now I fear I have not done the same for her." says Haldir as I try to breathe normally. Legolas comes over to try and help as Aragon goes to speak with the King. As Legolas removes my chainmail I can feel blood pouring out of the wound from my shoulder and ask him,
"Is it bad?" he looks at it through the tunic I wear and says,
"Your old wound is reopened." he looks grimly at me before calling,
"We need to get her out of here and to someone who can stitch her up!" great going Legolas, let the King know I'm here why don't you. But it seems he isn't paying that close attention as he speaks with Aragon. Standing, I am helped by Haldir who carries me down into the caves where I am meet by Eowyn and Roger.
"She is in need of healing." Haldir says to Eowyn who leads us to a chair before rushing off to get supplies. As I sit I notice Roger is crying and says to him,
"Easy there kiddo, I've been stabbed before." he sniffles just as Eowyn comes over with thread and a needle. Groaning I allow her to stich up my wound as we listen to the endless banging coming from above. I am vaguely aware that Haldir is holding my hand before all consciousness leaves me, the pain from the stab wound too much, the knowledge that I almost died, that Haldir almost died…..it was all too much for my mind to take and so I slipped out of the world of the living into a strange dream. In it I can see myself standing in a clearing surrounded by tall trees that look familiar but strange at the same time. As I look around I see someone coming towards me and try to reach for my sword but it's not there. Looking down I notice I am dressed in a white flowing gown, my hair is flying free around my face. When I look back up the person standing before me looks just like Morgan Freedman only in pure white robes. He smiles kindly to me before saying,
"I am Eru Ilúvatar, God of Arda." his voice is just like Morgan Freedman, that powerful resounding voice that shakes bones but is kind to the heart. Coming to stand before me he reaches out to tuck a stray hair from my face before continuing on,
"You fought valiantly dear child. You saved one who should have meet his death and in so doing changed his fate."
"If I did something wrong, I am so sorry." I said not knowing what else to say frankly. He laughs before speaking again,
"No, no, it was never written in stone that Haldir die. In fact it was never meant to be." returning his hand to his side he turns around to walk a few paces away from me.
"What will happen now? To me and my brother?" I ask needing to know, just needing to hear that I can have a future with the one I love. He seems to understand this or at least be reading my thoughts because he says,
"You will return."
"NO! No, I don't want to." I say stepping forward towards him reaching out to touch him, but think better of it. He turns around to see me, his face filled with sadness and understanding.
"I know your heart beats for Haldir, but you will return when all this is over."
"Can't I stay? Can't I choose?" I ask him but he shakes his head before smiling weakly.
"I wish you could, I wish I could see you and him happy together but the path has been set and I will not change it." the image begins to fade then and I reach out to try and grab onto the fading light as a voice speaks into my ear,
"I am sorry Anna Wynn of the Other Earth."