Chapter Eleven
Author's Note: Finally my internet works again! Thank you so much to those lovely people who reviewed, it means the world to me! Maybird54, thanks for the constructive criticism! I don't have time to edit her character in earlier chapters, so I've tried to improve her, please tell me what you think as I may have failed miserably! Please, please, please, review! Thanks!
Treebeard strode through the forest and sighed deeply when he saw the tree. "Now, release them, come on." The roots groaned and Merry and Pippin shot out of the earth. Treebeard lifted them up and put them onto his shoulders. "Now sleep." He told the tree. "Eat Earth. Dig Deep. Sleep.
"It is no longer safe here, Master Hobbits. The forest grows restless, the Ents must council." Treebeard finished.
Merry and Pippin looked at each other.
"Théoden, you must stay and fight! Draw Saruman away from your women and children."
"Gandalf, I know what you would have me do. But I will not cause further death to my people." Théoden said firmly. "We must flee, to Helms Deep. I will not risk open war."
"Open war is upon you, whether you would risk it or not." Aragorn said.
"Last I looked, Théoden, not Aragorn was King of Rohan."
And minutes after soldiers were shouting the message to the people of Rohan; "We flee to Helm's Deep. Do not burden yourself with treasures. Take only what provisions you need."
Gandalf rose and strode into the stable, Aragorn followed him. "Théoden has a strong will, but I fear for him." Gandalf sighed. "He thinks that he is leading them to safety, what they will find is a slaughter. He will need you by the end, Aragorn. Look for me on the fifth day look to the east at dawn." With that Gandalf mounted Shadowfax, and took off rode away.
"Whoa! Whoa boy!" someone yelled. Two men were holding ropes attached to a horses bridle; the horse was rearing and bucking. Aragorn signalled for someone to give him the rope, and they hastily obeyed, desperate to get away. Aragorn slowly began murmuring in Elfish, and when the other man scurried away, he scarcely noticed. Slowly, he worked his way up the rope until he reached the horse's head. The horse stilled, but still quivered with slight fear. Aragorn continued to murmur. "Ho nam a ther?"
"His name is Brego." Said Éowyn, who had entered behind Aragorn.
"Sin nam as kinglige" Aragorn whispered.
"He was my cousin's horse." Éowyn said softly. "I have heard of the magic of the elves, but I did not expect it in a ranger from the North."
Aragorn looked at her. "I was raised in Rivendell for a time. Set this horse free. He has seen too much of war." Éowyn nodded and they walked in silence back to the Kings home.
Night seemed to come quickly that night, as if eager for the next day, the day of departure, to come. Aragorn found Ello sitting up in a bed, a single candle on the table beside her, her nails digging into her arms. He sat on the bed next to her. "You should sleep; it's a long way to Helms Deep."
"I don't want to sleep." She mumbled
"Why not?" Aragorn asked.
"I get nightmares. About all sorts of things, sometimes about my family; my brothers and father. Occasionally my mother, if you can even call her a mother." Ello made a face. When she continued her voice was small. "But mostly about Frodo and Sam."
"I know." Aragorn murmured, and she rested her head on Aragorn's shoulder.
"She's alright Aragorn."
"What?" Aragorn asked, completely lost.
"Arwen." Aragorn hung his head and Ello continued. "I see you worrying, missing her. I know how you feel, so I looked for her. She is fine Aragorn. But she misses you too. God, Aragorn, she misses you bad."
Aragorn was silent for a moment.
"Aragorn, I know what you feel like. I have felt similar, I can tell you. I bear a mark of one I once loved around my neck."
Confused, Aragorn looked over. She was fiddling with something around her neck again. In the dim light he could see a gold chain, like the one Frodo wore. And, he could see a silhouette.
A silhouette of a ring.
"What is that, Ello?" he asked. She heard the change in his voice, and looked up.
"Oh. It's not what you think it is, Aragorn, look." She held it towards the candle, and Aragorn could see it. It was beautiful, but not gold. It was a light shade of silver, twisted with white and pale pink. "It's not even magic. I wear it around my neck, because it got too small for me eventually. You see, Aragorn, it was a gift from my father. They last thing he ever gave me. He gave it to me on my eighth birthday. It was the last time I ever saw him."
They had done it! Sam was unsure whether to be glad or afraid that they had scaled the mountain and could now see the black gates towering so high that you could walk along the top of them, and then just stroll onto the top of the mountains that the gate was built between. Frodo watched Sméagol warily; the guide was tense, that much was clear. Frodo realised that they had reached Mordor, and they had not seen Ello for days now. Did that mean that she could not come back? Presumably it did. But why, she couldn't be dead could she? Thoughts for Ello and for Strider, and Merry and Pippin and Legolas and Gimli flooded Frodo's head and a strong, sad yearning for Gandalf took over. But Frodo could not dwell on others. He had to focus on the matter at hand. It was impossible to try and have fun now, but he had to concentrate.
"Mr. Frodo, look, the gates are opening!" Sam cried softly.
"Oh, oh, oh, no!" Sméagol put his hands over his ears. Troops were marching straight toward the gate. "Evil men, bad men! Come to pledge alliance to Sauron."
"Mr. Frodo, I think I can see away down!"
But Frodo saw the rock Sam was perched on cracking. "Sam, no!"
But with a small cry Sam was gone.
Ello screamed. Her eyes flew open and she clamped her hand over her mouth. She was breathing heavily, and shaking, things she was doing too much of lately. She swiftly pulled herself together, flipping her hair over her shoulders and rubbing her eyes. She was not alone for long, though. Aragorn came in swiftly.
"Nightmare?" He murmured.
She nodded mutely and Aragorn pulled her out of bed.
"Time to go." She nodded again. Aragorn squeezed her arm softly. "Do not worry, Ello. It was just a dream. Dreams twist many thoughts."
"I know, I know. I'm good."
"You will be alright. You have to believe." She nodded once more and Aragorn gently kissed her forehead and left. "We leave in an hour."
She quickly slipped into her clothes. The king and Gandalf had agreed that it would be safest to wear a thin dress over her original clothes.
For the first time since leaving Earth, she looked at everything in her bag. There was a first aid kit, a really good one, one bar of chocolate and a few wrappers, a water bottle, her phone and, there- at the very bottom of the bag. She pulled out a photo frame and stared at it sadly. She didn't know how long she stood there for, staring.. She only 'woke up' when Legolas walked into the room to see what was taking so long.
"Ello?" he came up behind her. "Oh. Ello is that your family?" She nodded mutely; she had simply slotted a small photograph of her father into the photo frame with a photo of her and her brothers, and she had all the memories she needed. Too many. Legolas put his arm around her shoulders and she smiled.
"I miss them. God, I need to stop." She sighed as she put the frame back into the bag.
"Doing what? I don't think I have ever seen you do wrong!" Legolas' mouth twitched.
"You haven't known me long, have you? I have to stop crying. It's embarrassing." She yawned.
"Did you get no sleep at all last night?" Legolas teased as she slipped her bag onto her shoulders. She did not smile.
"No. I had nightmares the whole night."
"Forgive me. I was careless."
"Legolas, its fine. I'm just tired. I'm not going to die. Calm down."
A few seconds later Legolas slung Ello over his shoulder. "Oof!" she gasped. "Legolas put me down."
"You said you were tired." But he lowered her down to the ground all the same.
"I'll survive." She mumbled wearily.
"At last!" Merry breathed as Treebeard declared that they had reached their destination. Treebeard let Merry and Pippin down, and made a deep, groaning sound in the back of his throat. And one by one, the Ents emerged from the woods. They were big, and small, thick and thin, young and old, and even awake and seemingly asleep. Merry looked at Pippin, who looked confused.
"What-" he began, but Merry said "shush!" and pointed at Treebeard, who was making the deep sound again. "They are deciding whether or not to help."
Treebeard turned around. "The council of the Ents has begun."
The whole population of Edoras left the gates in a slow ooze of people, young, old, afraid, excited. Gimli and Aragorn were riding next to Éowyn, whom Gimli was entertaining with stories of dwarf women. Ello sat behind Aragorn, mostly just staring into space. Legolas was ahead of the main surge, keeping lookout.
For three days the citizens of Edoras travelled alongside the four travellers. Early the third day, Háma and another soldier rode ahead of even Legolas, to examine the rocky outcrop ahead. Théoden did not doubt the ease of the passage, only the fact that it would be the perfect place for an orc ambush.
Ello gasped sharply as her eyes glazed over. Aragorn twisted in the saddle and grasped her shoulders just before she fell to the ground.
It was black around the edges, but Ello could see clearly. She could see Háma, and another of the King's bodyguards. They had ridden ahead. A giant wolf face leers down over a giant boulder. A warg rider. An orc is its rider. It leaps onto one of the men; Ello cannot see who. It is thrice the size of Gimli. The other man attacks the orc. It is too late for the first man. He and his horse lie dead on the floor. It is Háma. Ello sees a boy in another part of her mind; Háma's fourteen year old son. Legolas leaps onto the boulder. "A scout!" he calls, as he shoots the wolf through the head… it is fading…
Ello gasped again as her eyes closed, then reopened. She stared at Aragorn, and wordlessly pointed ahead.
"Excuse us" Aragorn muttered to Éowyn and Gimli, galloping forward
"No, don't tell me what's going on." Gimli grumbled.
Aragorn rode to the King, and in a matter of seconds the King was aware of the whole situation.
"SOLDIERS OF ROHAN, FOLLOW ME!" Théoden called, and all around horses thundered towards him. "Ellora, find Éowyn. Tell her she must not fight! Tell her that she must get the people to Helms Deep as fast as possible!"
Ello nodded and slipped off the horse. She wound her way through the sea of legs and soon found Éowyn amid the peasants, who were beginning to panic.
"Éowyn!" she called, "Éowyn, Théoden says this; we are under attack, and you mustn't fight! He says you have to lead the people to Helms Deep!"
Éowyn made a pained face but nodded. "Come! Hurry! Stay together!" she called, as the people surged in a desperate bid to hasten.
She stared at Aragorn as he regained control of his horse.
"Aragorn!" Ello yelled frantically, being jostled by the people. "Aragorn, what do I do?"
"Go with Éowyn!" He called, but his voice was lost through the babble o
f terrified voices, and Ello did not want to be left behind. But legs shoved her around and she fell to the floor, her hands covering her head. The stampede rushed on top of her, until Éowyn herself almost fell over Ello.
"What are you doing there?" she cried, "You shall be crushed"
Éowyn pulled Ello up.
"Sorry, it wasn't intentional. I'm not used to this-I used to be tall."