Chapter Thirteen

"So you saw him fall?" Théoden asked softly but firmly.

It was early the next day. It all seemed to perfectly beautiful to Gimli. Too beautiful. Aragorn was dead and the very weather was mocking them.

Ello nodded. "I had a vision. I hoped that Legolas would tell me otherwise." She sighed, but then her head snapped up. "Listen!"

"He's alive!" Someone called.

"Get the king!"

Ello and Gimli looked at each other, and then bolted to the door. The raced down two flights of stairs and Ello began to push through the crowds.

"Excuse me!" She panted as jostled through the crowd in time to see Aragorn dismount.

"Aragorn!" She shrieked. He turned and smiled as she flew into his arms. He looked terrible; his shoulder was bright red and every inch of his body was either bruised or cut.

"What happened!" she mumbled, her voice muffled by Aragorn's clothing.

"Nothing." He murmured as they parted and Ello looked at him apprehensively

"Aragorn, I saw you fall!" then she sighed. "You have ten times more lives than a Buddhist cat!"

Gimli embraced Aragorn and then began to lead him through to the King. Half way up they ran into Legolas.

"You're late." He said. Then he looked Aragorn up and down "You look awful!" Then his face cracked into a smile and they too embraced.

Finally Aragorn reached the King. "My Lord, an army advances at alarming speeds, they will be here by nightfall."

"How many?"

"Ten thousand strong at least."

Théoden paled and nodded. "Every male able to bear arms will be armed. Get the women and children into the caves!" he looked at Aragorn firmly. "We will fight"

It did not take long to arm every male prepared to fight; there were only 300 of them.

"Farmers, stable boys. This is no army." Aragorn muttered

"Most of them have seen too many summers." Gimli muttered.

"Or too few!" Legolas murmured back. Then he looked at Aragorn. "Look at them. They are frightened; you can see it in their eyes. And they should be." He then resorted to elfish "Three hundred, against ten-thousand! They will all die, Aragorn!"

"Then I shall die as one of them!" Aragorn spat back and strode away to get armed.

Vigorously he pulled on his chain mail and reached for his sword, to find Legolas holding it up for him.

"We have trusted you this far and you have not led us astray. Forgive me." Legolas said

"There is nothing to forgive." Aragorn smiled.

Gimli came in, struggling into a suit of chain mail that was far too long for him as he fell to the floor.

"It's a bit tight across the chest."

Sméagol led Frodo and Sam thorough woods and forest lands. Sam made an effort to be nice to Sméagol, but he scarcely succeeded. He could see that some days Frodo could hardly walk; the ring was weighing him down. Sam knew it then. The ring was killing Frodo.

"No."

"Ello-"

"No. No way."

"Ello, this is embarrassing. Is it too much to ask that you stay safe in the caves?" Aragorn pleaded.

"Yes, it is. Aragorn, I haven't been here long, and I can't just wait it all out."

"Éowyn has to wait too. What if an orc got into the caves?"

"No. Don't make me go, Aragorn. I don't know anyone."

"You know Éowyn."

"Not well. And I can fight better than half of those boys over there."

"So can Éowyn."

"Aragorn, please."

"No. I can't be worrying about you in a fight, Ello, and do not look at me like that because whatever happens I will worry, even if you are not my responsibility, you are a child-"

"I am older than some of those boys!"

"Yes, but you are small, and besides- what an amazing prize would you be for an orc? They would beat you badly, and then eat you half alive! Or you would be taken to Sauron, and tortured ten times worse than you were in the sack. Please, Ello?"

Ello sighed and made a pained face. "Fine."

Aragorn sighed. "We will be fine. Éowyn? Can you please take Ello down to the caves when you go, and keep an eye on her?"

"Of course I can. But why can I not fight? Why must I be reduced to looking after the women and children?"

Aragorn sighed, and looked from one to the other. "Please, Éowyn. You know what happened with the rouge orc before. Ello, you still bear the mark of it. If a repeat occurred, the havoc it could wreak would be unimaginable. And, Éowyn, King Théoden wishes for you to remain in the caves."

Éowyn looked bitterly at the floor. "Come, Ello." She said, and with a withering look at Aragorn she took Ello's hand and they walked amongst the crowd toward the caves. But they both turned simultaneously with identical mixes of envy and pain in their faces as they stared at those behind.

"We have decided," Treebeard sighed.

"Yes." Merry breathed.

"That you are not orc spies."

"What!" Merry cried.

"Don't let's be hasty!"

"No! Our friends are out there! And they need our help!"

"It is not our war. Return to your home. I will take you and master Peregrin out of the woods as soon as I am ready."

Merry walked angrily over to Pippin and began to pull his coat on over his shoulders.

"Maybe Treebeard's right. We don't belong here Merry. It's too big for us. We have the Shire." Pippin smiled softly.

"You don't get it, Pippin, do you? When Sauron spreads, the entire world will die, and all that once green and good will be gone. There won't be a Shire, Pippin."

Haleth looked at the new Lord, Aragorn. Ever since he arrived there had been trouble; true, they had cured the king, but now Edoras was abandoned and he was going to fight in a big battle. Wrestling and sparing with his father as a child had been fun, but now his father was dead, and the chance of his own death was high. Men murmured sadly of doom and death, and Haleth turned to the stranger for hope.

"Give me your sword." Aragorn asked.

Confused, Haleth obliged as Aragorn asked. "What is your name?"

"Haleth, son of Háma, sir." Haleth swallowed "Men are saying that we will not live out the night. That it is hopeless."

Aragorn was quiet for a moment, and then wielded the sword with great grace. "This is a good blade, Haleth, son of Háma. There is always hope."

Suddenly a horn blew, and Haleth's eyes opened wide in fear.

Legolas came running down the stairs. "That is no orc horn."

Everyone watched in surprise as a legion of Elves marched into Helms Deep, led by Haldir.

Merry felt like crying as Treebeard carried Pippin and himself through the forest, but he bit back his sobs.

"I will take you to the western boundary of the forest; you can make your way back to your home from there." Treebeard sighed.

Pippin perked up. "No! Stop! Take us south!" Merry stared at him incredulously

"South!" Treebeard cried. "But that would take you past Isenguard!"

"Exactly. The closer we are to danger; the further we are from harm. It's the last thing he'll expect." Pippin tapped the side of his nose."

"Well, that doesn't make sense to me, but you are small. I always liked going south; it always feels like going downhill"

"Pippin!" Merry hissed sharply "Are you mad? We'll get caught!"

"No we won't. Not this time."

Eventually they emerged from the trees, and Treebeard gasped. About fifty to a hundred trees were burnt away.

"Many of these trees were my friends. Creatures I had known from nut and acorn. They had voices of their own!"

"I'm sorry Treebeard." Pippin sighed.

"Saruman! The wizard should know better." With that, Treebeard let out a great cry, and Merry watched in elation and hope, as many Ents came plundering out of the wood, all as angry as Treebeard; they came to fight.