A/N another fun chapter. Enjoy.
The first scene, I extended from the movie for my own entertainment.
Nira sat next to Éomer and some of the other soldiers around the fire. They talked quietly, ignoring Nira as they spoke of the coming battle. Éowyn and Merry walked out of the tent near them.
"To the smithy," Éowyn said, laughing slightly. "Go."
Merry hurried off to the blacksmith, Éowyn smiling at him as he went.
"You should not encourage him," Éomer reprimanded.
"You should not doubt him," Éowyn told her brother.
"I do not doubt his heart," Éomer laughed. "Only the reach of his arm."
The rest of the soldiers joined in and laughed. Éowyn glared at them.
"Why should Merry be left behind? He has just as much cause to go to war as you. Why can he not fight for those he loves?"
Éomer closed his eyes, before standing.
"Éowyn, you speak not just of him. Battle is no place for a woman. Women would not stand a chance against orcs."
"I did," Nira spat, standing.
"You are an archer. This battle with require swords."
"Shall we see who is better at using a sword, Éomer?"
Nira drew her sword and pointed it at Éomer. She stepped into the open area between the tents. Éomer drew his sword and grinned.
"This shouldn't take too long," he laughed. "Women cannot compete with men."
The soldiers in the area all laughed. Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn watched from off to one side, knowing Nira could stand her ground. The pair crossed blades, acknowledging each other.
"What will you do if I win?" Nira asked.
"That's a big if," Éomer replied.
He struck at her, and she blocked his attack. After ten minutes most of the men in the area were watching them. Nira smiled before attacking with more force. She spun around and struck his sword, sending it into the air. She caught the hilt before kicking Éomer's legs out from under him. He landed on his back, and she stabbed the blades into the ground, crossed over his neck. All the soldiers were silent as she knelt down beside him.
"Still think women can't fight like men?" she asked.
She stood and pulled her sword out of the ground. She looked around at the soldiers who looked at her in amazement. She moved over to where she had been sitting before. She removed her travel pouch and sat down, pulling out a cloth. She began to clean the blade of her sword. Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn walked out of the shadows. Aragorn and Gimli sat down around the fire, while Legolas took the spot directly beside Nira.
"What is she doing?" one of the soldiers asked.
"She cleans all her weapons before battle," Aragorn told him. "It keeps her mind off what is to come."
"That shouldn't take very long," Éomer snapped, bitter for being beaten by a woman.
"Really?" Nira asked.
She picked up her bag and turned it upside down. All the weapons fell out of it onto the ground. Her arsenal of weapons lay in firelight for Éomer to see, six swords, five quivers full of arrows, three bows including the one from Elrond, eleven long knives, and thirty-one daggers.
"Still think it won't take me long?" Nira asked laughing.
Aragorn readied his horse for his departure. He tied his sword to his saddle and led his horse toward the crevice.
"Just where do you think you're off to?" Gimli asked Aragorn as he passed.
"Not this time," Aragorn replied. "This time you must stay, Gimli."
Legolas walked up beside Aragorn with his horse. Aragorn turned to the elf.
"Have you learned nothing," Legolas said, "of the stubbornness of dwarves?"
"You might as well accept it," Gimli stated. "We're going with you, laddie."
"Very well," Aragorn said. "But Nira cannot."
"As if you have a choice, Ranger," Nira said.
All three turned to see her perched on Aragorn's saddle, grinning. She raised an eyebrow as she jumped down.
"You go without me. I'll follow. Have you learned nothing of the stubbornness of women?"
Aragorn sighed in defeat. Legolas and Gimli got on their horse, before Nira had returned with hers. They rode into the narrow road into the morning.
"What kind of army would linger in such a place?" Gimli asked.
"One that is cursed," Legolas told him. "Long ago the men of the mountain swore an oath to the last king of Gondor to come to his aid to fight but when the time came when Gondor's need was dire they fled, vanishing into the darkness of the mountain, and so Isildur cursed them never to rest until they had fulfilled their pledge."
They found a doorway surrounded by skulls. Above the doorway, there was an old writing.
"The way is shut," Nira read. "It was made by those who are dead. And the dead keep it. The way is shut."
A sharp wind blew passed them, and the horses ran in fear.
"I do not fear death," Aragorn hissed.
"Nor I," Nira agreed.
Aragorn enters, slowly. Nira followed close behind him. Legolas and Gimli ran after them.
A/N oooooooo the beginning of the end. I hope you liked it. Review, tell me what you thought.