ASHLEY
"Pull back," Gandy shouts," to the second level! Hurry, get the women and children out of here! Get them out!" I look worriedly around at the sea of people, knowing the upper levels weren't much better off than the first. "Ashley, you need to find safety! I don't need the Princess of Gondor dead before we can get your father on the throne."
"Well, I ain't no princess," I shrug with false nonchalance," and I'm as stubborn as my daddy, so you can bet your ass I'm gonna fight till I find my elf." He sighs with a smile, used to my little quirks at this point and knowing to just go with the flow. "Now, let's win this and make Sauron's ego little smaller!"
"Quickly, get on Shadowfax!" Not feeling nearly as comfortable on the white horse as I did on Thalion, I try to step back only to have Gandalf sit me in the saddle before climbing up himself. "Hold on tightly, Ashley, and try not to fall." I wrap my arms around his waist and bury my face in his back, trying my best to ignore the pain racking my body as Gandalf gallops through the streets, calling for soldiers to retreat.
"Gandalf!" Gandy wheels us around on Shadowfax to face the small voice that belonged to no other than Pip. I cling to Gandy, swallowing back bile. Oh, this horse has it out for me. "Denethor has lost his mind! He's burning Faramir alive!" Gandy leans down and picks the Hobbit up and puts him in front of him on the horse. I reach around the wizard and place a comforting hand on Pip's shoulder, one of his hands covers mine and squeezing tightly.
We make it to the upper level when a large, gray monster lands on the ground in front of us, a black-clothed man on its back. The monster reminded me of a snake with its smooth skin, but it had wide leathery wings that were capable of knocking a man off his feet. The person on the Fell-beast's back wore strange armor that looked like tarnished silver, his armored hands gripping the reins tightly and marching the Fell-beast towards us even as Gandalf brings out his staff.
"Go back to the abyss," Gandy commands in a tone that brooked no arguments. "Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your master."
"Do you not know death when you see it, old man," the person questions in a deep tone. He draws a sword and raises it high, sounding smug. His helm made it impossible to see his face, and I wasn't sure I wanted to even if the helm wasn't there to shield my eyes. "This is my hour." Flames burst across the metal of his sword and a terrible screech leaves the Fell-beast's mouth, making Pip scream and me cover my ears. Gandalf's staff shatters into pieces, sending the three of us to the ground hard.
"Goddamn it," I rasp, my shoulder throbbing from me landing on it.
"You have failed. The world of men will fall."
"How about a message from all of us that live in the world of men?" I was standing now, holding up my pistol in shaky hands. I haven't had much of a chance to use it since coming here, so I have plenty of ammo and a great target to hit. "Go fuck yourself!" Before I could squeeze the trigger, the Nazgûl and Fell-beast fly off, seemingly hearing something I couldn't. "Why do I get the feeling that we're about to get it up the ass?" A horn sounds in the distance and I can see Gandalf smiling as Pippin helps him to his feet.
"Rohan is here," he tells me confidently. "We may just win this after all."
FELAGUND
Felagund glances around nervously, he was barely a man and already involved in one of the biggest wars in Middle-earth. Wouldn't his father be proud if he could see him? There are six thousand soldiers all together, not counting the little Hobbit that had been snuck in the ranks when the king was not looking. They could use all the men they could get considering Lord Aragorn, the elf, and the dwarf have gone into the mountain and most probably would not be returning. Barely a mile away was fifty thousand Orcs that they knew of and the men of Gondor.
He swallows thickly, a lump building in his throat and his stomach twisting in fear. If this was to be his last battle, then he would show bravery. His face was a mask of courage while inside was turmoil. The king gallops in front of the army, expression one of grim resolve.
"Arise," he shouts in a loud, clear voice," arise, Riders of Théoden! Spears shall be shaken, shields shall be splintered, a sword day, a red day 'ere the sun rises!" Sunlight floods down on the riders, bathing them in golden light. Felagund rests his hand on the hilt of his father's sword. Théoden rides along the long line of warriors, running his lance along his front line's spears, the noise loud and echoing. "Ride now! Ride now! Ride! Ride for ruin and the world's ending!" He turns his horse to face the enemy. "Death!"
"Death," his army repeats loudly, charging forward after their King. The first volley of arrows knocks some soldiers off their horses, but misses Felagund by mere inches. The second volley kills the men on either side of him, but still he goes forward with the mask in place and his sword drawn. His horse is felled by an Orc warrior and he falls to the ground, taking the Orc with him in a tackle. His sword goes through the creature's throat, killing it, and Felagund moves to the next opponent.
ASHLEY
Shadowfax rears up and uses his hooves to kick the mausoleum doors wide open, shocking the guards and Denethor. He was standing over Faramir, thick oil trickling down his face while his men surrounded him, holding lit torches to drop on the piles of wood. "You set that man on fire and I'm breaking my boot off in your ass," I yell, making the guards back away quickly. Denethor roars, snatching up a torch and holding it aloft with a smug look.
"You may triumph in the field of battle for a day," he tells us darkly," but against the power that has risen in the east there is no victory." He drops the torch onto the pyre, the oil-coated wood going up in flames with a whoosh. Gandy gallops forward, using a spear he took from a guard to knock Denethor off his feet while Pippin and I drop onto the pyre. With a grunt, he and I work to move Faramir, rolling him off the pyre and onto the ground, patting his shirt until all flames had been extinguished. Denethor lets out an enraged shout as he gets back to his feet
"No! Do not take my son from me!" He runs to us, pushing and pulling to keep us away from Faramir in desperation, not even noticing as the fire quickly spreads to his soaked robes. I hit at him, trying to get him away before he burned us all alive, but I was in an awkward position with hardly any upper arm strength. Thankfully, Shadowfax rears up again and kicks Denethor back in the raging fire. Faramir's eyes open slightly as he watches his father burn. "Faramir..."
For just a second, sanity entered Denethor's gaze and he stared at his son with love. I cradle Faramir's head in my lap, swallowing back bile as the stink of burning flesh fills the room and Denethor scrambles off the pyre with a shout of agony. Still screaming, Denethor runs out of the tomb and off the edge of the level to his death hundreds of feet below, nothing more than a ball of flames.
"So passes Denethor, son of Ecthelion," Gandalf says solemnly.
FELAGUND
The enemy forces are fleeing as Felagund and the others attempt to drive them into the river. The joy of winning is quickly squashed when twenty Mûmakil are spotted in the distance, each of them carrying war towers filled to bursting with Haradrim archers. "Reform the line," Théoden commands," reform the line!" Felagund mounts a horse and joins the other riders, charging towards the new enemy.
The Mûmakil step on soldiers and their horses while their tusks swing back and forth, impaling any in their path. The archers send volley after volley of arrows raining down on the Rohirrim. Felagund grunts as he takes an arrow to the shoulder, adrenaline helping to mask the pain and enabling him to keep fighting despite the losing odds.
ASHLEY
Gandy, Pip, and I sit on a small porch, covered in sweat, grime, and blood. I heave a sigh, past the point no return. Asthma was as unforgiving as the enemy and it was beginning to take its toll, but I continue to ignore it in the hopes it'll just go away. "I didn't think it would end this way," Pippin says quietly.
"End," Gandy asks in a gentle voice. "No, the journey doesn't end here." Pippin and I look up at the old wizard in curiosity. "Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass..."
"I was kinda hoping to live 'til I was eighty, and even then, I wanna die peacefully in my sleep," I quip breathlessly. Gandy smiles, giving a shrug.
"Then perhaps you should find an empty room and get some rest." I laugh at that, pulling Pip close to me in a hug. Boom! Our heads turn as the wooden doors protecting us give a shudder under a particularly hard blow. "Lay down," Gandalf half-sings," your sweet and weary head. Night is falling, you've come to journey's end. Sleep now and dream of the ones who came before."
FELAGUND
Felagund stares up at the blue sky in wonder. Never had it seemed so beautiful before. He smiles, managing to ignore the mass of arrows buried in his body as he focuses on the sight before him, his last one in this realm. As the life leaves his eyes, he begins to see things he'd never thought he'd see again: his mother, young daughter, and his baby brother. They grinned at him, beckoning for him to come to them.
"Just relax, my baby boy," his mother's sweet voice cooed," relax and it will all be over. No more war, no more ruin. Just peace and your family for the rest of your days."
And then Felagund was no longer in Middle-earth but in a great, green country surrounded by all his loved ones that he'd thought lost forever.
KHARL
"Late as usual," an Orc shouts at the ship our group had commandeered. "Get off your ships, you seas rats! There's knife work here needs doing." Aragorn leaps over the edge of the leading ship, landing on the docks with Gimli, Leggy, and I following behind him, charging at the Orcs with our weapons ready.
"There's plenty for the both of us," Gimli growls to Leggy as the rush of battle hits us. The ghost army charges out behind us, yelling and no doubt making the Orcs scared beyond belief. The Orcs scream, trying to retreat as we crash into them, slaying as many as we could. With five thousand ghosts on our sides, it would be an easy battle. The Giant Elephant thingies will probably be the hardest thing to take care of.
It was easy to finish with the small group waiting for the ships, then we moved on to the larger battle happening just outside the gates of Gondor. Ash is in there somewhere. The gates to the city have been smashed open and Orcs were swarming around there, screaming curses at the people trying to defend themselves. With a growl, I run my sword through the neck of one of the human soldiers on the ground, not even stopping to make sure he was dead before moving on to the next.
"Legolas," Aragorn shouts as the Elephants grow closer. Stopping only long enough to figure out a way up, the elf sprints forward and grabs ahold of one of the tusks, climbing up to the strange saddle on top of its head to kill the humans inside before bringing the Elephant down with a few arrows. It narrowly misses me as it falls to the ground, the ground shaking beneath its weight.
"That still only counts as one," Gimli snaps. Ghosts climb up the rest of the Elephants' sides, bringing them and their riders down with barely any effort. Soon enough the battle is over and I've barely broken a sweat.
Ash leans heavily against me for support as we all watch Aragorn walk across the field to the Ghost King. "Release us," the king demands.
"Bad idea," Gimli advises quietly," very handy in a tight spot, these lads, despite the fact they're dead!"
"You gave us your word!"
"I hold your oath fulfilled," Aragorn nods. "Go, be at peace." Slowly, the army dissolves into dust and are swept away in the wind.
"You fought with ghosts," Ash asks in disbelief.
"Yup," I nod.
"Was it as awkward as it looked?"
"Oh yeah."