A/N: Okay...we are once again nearing the end of another book! The Two Towers is coming to a close, and I am writing Return of the King as I type! Woo! Anyway...the battle at Helm's Deep begins...

Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings.

Chapter 13

Anariel stood by Legolas and Gimli on the battlements as they watched the approaching Uruk-hai army. It would be a lie to say that she wasn't scared. She was terrified. She'd never seen so many Uruk-hai in her life. The ground practically shook with their heavy footsteps.

"You could have picked a better spot," Gimli grumbled as he strained to see above the wall.

Legolas smirked and Anariel giggled. Aragorn came up from behind them and Gimli turned to him, "Well lad, whatever luck you live by, let's hope it lasts the night."

"You're friends are with you, Aragorn," Anariel said smiling.

"Let's hope they last the night," Gimli grumbled and Anariel rolled her eyes.

Anariel looked back out at the approaching army that was illuminated by a lightning strike. Then it began to rain. Anariel scowled at the sky, and Legolas chuckled. She stuck her tongue out at him, ignoring how childish it was, but she soon grew serious as Aragorn began to speak to the archers.

Show them no mercy! For you shall receive none! He commanded loudly as he walked across the battlement.

Anariel watched as the Uruk-hai army stopped and they all began to yell and stomp in anticipation. "What's going on down there?" Gimli asked, straining to see.

"Would you like me to describe it to you?" Legolas asked smiling as he looked down at the dwarf. "Or would you like me to find you a box?"

Gimli laughed good naturedly, and Anariel giggled before she shared a significant look with Legolas. They had an entire conversation in that one look. It could be translated as, "Don't you dare get killed. I love you."

Anariel looked down at the Uruks again, they were animals. They were all yelling and screaming and pounding the ground with their spears. Suddenly, Anariel heard the twang of an arrow being released and watched as a single orc fell to the ground.

Hold! Aragorn yelled, but it was of no use. The arrow had already hit its target and the Uruk-hai leader raised his spear in the air for a moment, before the Uruk-hai charged at them.

Prepare to fire! Aragorn commanded the Elves and Legolas immediately had an arrow notched and drawn back.

Their armor is weak at the neck and beneath the arms. Legolas said quietly, whether to himself or Anariel, she didn't know.

Release the arrows! Aragorn yelled and immediately the hundreds of arrows shot into the air, making the night look even darker.

"Did they hit anything?" Gimli asked and Anariel winked.

Théoden sent them a volley and more arrows rained down upon their enemy, yet the Uruk-hai continued to advance. Anariel fought the nervousness in her stomach. She would be fine once an orc was trying to kill her. Your focus is only on killing it before it kills you. No time to worry then.

"Fire!" Aragorn yelled and more arrows littered the night sky.

"Send them to me! Come on," Gimli growled impatiently.

Anariel noticed something along the walls and her eyes widened. Aragorn apparently saw the same thing she did because almost instantly he yelled, "Ladders!"

Anariel unsheathed her sword and waited for the orcs to appear over the wall. "Swords! Swords!" Aragorn shouted and all the Elves put away their bows and retrieved their blades for close combat.

Finally, the miserable creatures appeared and Anariel immediately went to work. She beheaded an orc and pushed his body back down onto many other orcs, causing them to fall to their deaths. Anariel was going to stay as close to Legolas as she could. He had yet to put up his bow, and she knew that he would only use his knives as a last resort.

Anariel had just slashed an orc across the chest when she heard Gimli shout, "Legolas, two already!" Anariel glanced around just in time to see the dwarf hold up two fingers proudly.

"I'm on seventeen!" Legolas replied grinning and Anariel rolled her eyes. Men.

"Argh! I'll have no pointy-ear outscoring me!" Gimli said as he hit an orc in the groin with his axe, before killing it as it fell.

Anariel focused on the orcs in front of her when she heard Legolas fire two more arrows. "Nineteen!" he woodland elf shouted.

Anariel parried a blow and dealt her own, disemboweling her opponent. "Twelve," she muttered under her breath. This was going to be a long night.

Gimli stood between two ladders, hacking away at the orcs that tried to climb up, "Seventeen! Eighteen! Nineteen! Twenty! Twenty-one! Twenty-two!"

Anariel had somehow managed to stay close to Legolas the entire battle so far. She didn't know how she managed it, but she had. Legolas was still firing arrows left and right, and she was stabbing, slashing, and beheading any orc that dared to breathe her air.

During a break in the attack, Anariel looked around. Her eyes focused on the causeway. Her eyes widened as she saw the orcs slowly making their way up the causeway, their shields over their heads. "Aragorn!" she shouted. "The causeway!"

Causeway! Aragorn shouted as he directed the Elf archers to fire their arrows at the steadily approaching enemy.

Anariel watched as her kin released their arrows. The orcs on the sides fell, but still the column continued to advance. Anariel gritted her teeth, and turned her back upon the causeway to fight the orcs that had been coming up from behind her. She slashed and beheaded them all. She didn't bother to cringe at the fact she was covered in orc blood…now was not the time. Later. Later she would cringe.

Anariel had just run her blade threw an orc when she heard Aragorn shout, Legolas, bring him down!

Anariel turned and watched as Legolas' arrow lodged in the shoulder of an orc who was running with a torch by the Deeping Wall. Although the orc stumbled he did not fall.

Kill him! Kill him! Aragorn shouted and Legolas fired another arrow, this time it hit the orc in the neck.

Anariel watched as the orc flung itself and the torch forward, then there was a tremendous explosion, and Anariel was thrown back. She hit her head on the wall, and for a moment, everything was spinning. Shaking her head to clear it, ignoring the throbbing pain the action caused, she got up and looked about.

Orcs were everywhere and as soon as she moved, they began to swarm her. She heaved herself up and gripped the hilt of her sword tightly. She cut down an orc, "Thirty-two," she muttered under her breath.

Legolas looked around, but he saw no sight of Anariel. Fighting the fear that tugged at his heart, he snatched up a shield and tossed it on the edge of the wall. Getting a running start, he jumped up onto the shield and surfed down the side of the wall, firing arrows as he went. It was no different that sliding down the banister like he had when he was an elfling when his father wasn't looking. He landed at the bottom and kicked the shield into an orc's gut, killing the filthy creature.

Aragorn ran up to the wall and looked through. "How long do you need?" he asked Théoden, who was trying to brace the gate.

"As long as you can give me!" Théoden answered.

Aragorn nodded and turned to the dwarf, "Gimli!"

The dwarf nodded and he and Aragorn slipped out a side exit and onto a ledge. Aragorn peeked over the ledge. "Come on!" Gimli said impatiently. "We can take 'em!"

"It's a long way," Aragorn said raising his eyebrows.

Gimli took a peek over the edge and mumbled, "Toss me."

"What?"

Gimli huffed. "I cannot jump the distance. You'll have to toss me!"

Aragorn nodded slowly, not showing the amusement he felt. He went to grab the dwarf, but he held up a hand. "Oh," he said hesitantly. "Don't tell the elves."

"Not a word," Aragorn promised before tossing the dwarf onto the other ledge before making the leap himself.

Aragorn and Gimli fought at the beginning of the causeway, each felling orcs left and right. Gimli was practically hacking at anything that moved. Aragorn was slashing and stabbing for all he was worth, even though his sword arm felt like lead. But he kept fighting. It was that…or death.

Anariel fought her way down the wall slowly. She knew that any minute, if anyone still had a brain, they would be telling them to fall back. There were simply too many. She had just stabbed another orc when she glimpsed blonde hair. How she knew it was Legolas, she would never know, but something in her gut told her that it was him. She immediately began to fight harder, making her way towards where she thought he was.

When she finally saw him he was aiming an arrow. She watched as he released the arrow and it sliced through one of the ropes the Uruk-hai was using to raise their super-ladders. The result sent the ladder falling back, taking all the orcs with it. Anariel smiled proudly. Yes, she knew that this was not the time or the place, but still couldn't fight the pride she felt.

"Aragorn!" Legolas called as he threw a rope down to them, and began to pull them up.

Anariel ran to his side to help him, and he glanced over at her with a relieved smile on his face. They soon had pulled Aragorn and Gimli up onto of the battlements. Legolas looked up and saw another super-ladder being pulled up. He carefully took aim and fired at one of the ropes, the result sent the ladder tumbling back to the ground.

"Pull everybody back!" Théoden cried. "Pull back!"

"Fall back!"

"Retreat!"

"Hurry! Get them inside!" Aragorn shouted as he, Anariel, Gimli, and Legolas started to make their way towards the keep, though Legolas was still firing arrows back at the Uruk-hai as they ran.

Please review!

ArthursCamelot