Ok... another slightly out of character chapter =/ Hope you don't mind it too much..

Chapter 26

Eomer was still dizzy and felt like vomiting. And it was understandable. Including the last one, the two Gondorians saw about 5 of the Ngami exit his body.

"What's happening?" the King of Rohan finally asked as he got a better look around.

"I'm not sure myself… Faramir seems to know about it," the King of Gondor looked at the Steward.

"It's… very complicated… And does anyone feel like we forgot something?" he suddenly changed the subject. Sharing a look, the two Kings looked around and all three men found out what bothered them.

"Should we free him?" Elessar asked as they stood before another restrained man.

"I don't see why… He does still hate us," the Rohirrim frowned.

"We can't just leave him here… I doubt he will wake up anyway," Faramir reached with his dagger for the rope and cut it as the body fell to the ground.

"Someone will need to carry him."

"Don't look at me!"

"Well we could drag him…"

"If you are all done!" the light intercepted and stepped closer to the trio. "We still have an army of Ngami here."

At that, growls, hisses and shrieks were heard as every single shadow started flowing together in what looked like a giant ball of dark.

A few seconds later, the ball took shape. It formed a massive spider body. The legs were covered with gray hairs and on the end; it had four fingers with long black and sharp nails. It had the face of a man, pale and bald with sharp teeth showing as it growled.

The three comrades looked up at it. The only source of light now was the figure as the monsters shadow fell upon them and covered the sky.

But when the figure looked at them, it didn't see fear. No, it was far from it. They didn't even flinch as it formed and hissed. The first response was after it stood above them, but it wasn't what it expected.

"Spiders… why is it always spiders," Eomer sounded annoyed as he drew his sword.

"Don't tell me you're scared of the little guys?" Aragorn laughed as he took out Andúril.

"I agree with Eomer on this… I just hate them," Faramir sighed and reached for his blade as well.

"Well… this one is big," Elessar looked at both of them and smirked when he saw they were both laughing.

"Seen bigger," they both said and all three charged the abomination. Behind them, the light stood, mouth opened wide as it watched them off. Never had it seen anyone like these three. They were really something different. Looking at Dona, it kneeled and begun to heal his mind as best it could. No one deserves this torment.

Eomer was the first to clash with the monster as he sliced its leg. Hissing, it raised another of its 8 and aimed it for the King's head. But instead of meat, it connected with metal, as Andúril blocked its path. The few moments of distraction were enough for Faramir to slide on his knees under its belly with his sword raised and sliced it. Green blood oozed from it as it covered the blade, snow and man.

Shrieking, the over-grown spider jumped back and away from the three humans. The two Kings joined the Steward as they all stared the monster down, not even a blink of fear. Faramir ignored the slime, as he was accustomed to this sort of things. Being a Ranger, he had done things far more disgusting than this.

Growling and bearing its fangs, the abomination turned its butt under its legs and released a large spider wed, directly at the males.

Needing quick action, the three could have evaded the web, had it not been for the deep snow that made his hard to act. But time was up, as the web fell on them and stick to their bodies.

Seizing the opportunity, the monster moved closer, as the trio used their swords to try cutting the web. They succeeded just in time to jump out of the way of three lags with four sharp claws each.

The two Rangers regained their footing faster and lashed at the spider, managing to cut off the front two legs. As it wanted to move back, it found itself restrained by the former Marshal as he held it firmly by its third leg.

The Prince ran under it and brought his sword right into the abomination's chest. But at that, it got on its back four legs, knocking Eomer to the ground and smacking Faramir to the side with the second one.

Aragorn stood behind the Rohirrim and watched as the monster raged and try to take the sword out. Seeing an opportunity, Elessar made a dash towards the other King, put his feet on the man's back and used him as a springboard to launch himself in the air so high he was face to face with the spider.

Smirking, he brought Andúril from atop him and sliced the over-grown spider's head in half, before landing neatly on the snow as the lifeless body of the monster fell before him.

Waiting a few seconds, the other two got on their feet and joined the elder man as he poked one of the spider's legs. When no movement came, he smiled and said: "Well, that went better than I thought."

"Which part? Killing it or using me as a skipping stone?" Eomer glared at his friend.

"Both," Elessar grinned back.

Faramir sighed and pulled his blade from the monster's chest before saying: "Now what?"

"Now, life returns to the mountains," the light stepped away from Doan and before the trio.

"What do you mean?" Aragorn put away his sword and looked puzzled.

"The Ngami have kept the darkness on these mountains. Because of them, everything was slowly dying and fading. But now that they have been defeated, life and light shall once again spark here."

And at that moment, rays of sunlight pierced the thick tops of the trees. Animal voices were heard once again as birds flew around them. The snow started melting as fresh green grass was visible under it.

And as the sun's light landed on them, they saw how horrible they looked. Hair messed and sticking together as their garments were worn and wet. They also lost their packs. Probably when they were running…

The three royals looked around themselves, shocked and surprised at the sudden changes of the forest. And then they looked back at the light, eyes almost demanding an explanation.

"Just what are you?" the King of Gondor asked.

"He is the guardian of the Sango. Spirit of the Great White Tree…" the Steward stared at the figure as it nodded.

"Very bright of you to figure it out Faramir. But allow me to introduce myself formally. My name is Lenatir and I am the guardian of these mountains. The Sango are my people, who I protected from the Ngami for as long as I could. But my power was fading with time and failed. Hiding in the ice glacier you saw in the village, I managed to survive. And then, I found a human who had the ability of foresight. Through his dreams, I was able to connect with him in hopes he would free my people," he smiled at the Steward.

"So… you used us to kill the Ngami for you?" Eomer raised an eyebrow as he wanted to make sure he understood.

Before anyone could say anything, the light bowed deeply and said: "Please, will you be able to forgive me! It was the only way to save my people!"

The three blinked a few times in surprise, shared a look before smiling nervously.

"Well… none of us died… And we got something from this trip," Aragorn wanted to put a hand on its shoulder, but decided not to, not knowing if he could actually touch it.

Looking up, the figure saw the other two nodding and smiling. An expression of gratitude seemed to plaster itself on its face.

"I am forever indebted to you," and just then, groans were heard as they all looked at Dona who they had all forgotten about.

"Well… there is something we need right now…" Faramir scratched the back of his head as it looked at him.

"We have no idea how to get back," Eomer didn't even look at it in embarrassment.

The light was stunned for a few seconds, before chuckling. These mortals… It whistled and three, pure as the snow white horses arrived from the woods.

"My friends here shall lead you back to the village. And please, will you take Dona with you? I can not physical counteract with anything."

Two of the three looked at the same person and the third one rolled his eyes and sighed before moving and picking up the unconscious man.

Turning towards their rides, they each stepped closer. Eomer's didn't even move as the King rubbed its neck. The other two flinched a little and neighed before they climbed on.

Wow! Almost done :O