Chapter 10

Perspective

The burning continued to course through my veins. It held me steady as we covered the vast distance between the White City and the Black Gate.

The Black Gate was very…black. The very air was choked with fear. But it was not our fear. At the foot of the gate, we left the army and trotted forward. I rode to Aragorn's right, Gandalf to his left. Legolas and Gimli were on my right, Everlas behind them. Pippin sat in front of me, and Merry was behind Gandalf. Danny and Ro flanked the entire group.

The Mouth of Sauron met us, its large teeth crawling with maggots. I couldn't see its eyes, not that I really wanted to. The horse it rode was frothing at the mouth. The poor animal.

"Well?" It said, "Who here has the authority to treat with me?"

"We come not to treat," Gandalf said, "Tell your master Sauron that he must disband the armies of Mordor and leave these lands."

It turned its head. Aragorn had broken ranks.

"Hm? What's this? This is Isildur's heir? To place all your hope," It spat the word, "On one pathetic human, and on one little hobbit." From its cloak it withdrew a shine of metal, which it tossed forward. It was Frodo's Mithril shirt, "Imagine just how much pain one so small could endure."

None of us reacted, not even the hobbits. On the ride to the Black Gate, I had received news from Shadowdancer. Frodo was alive, and for the time being, away from enemy clutches.

I started to turn blue. It was time the Necromancer paid for the death he had caused.

Aragorn rode forward and drew his sword. In a swift stroke, he relieved the Mouth of its head, "I do not believe him. Frodo is still alive."

I smiled at him. Reaching into my saddlebag, I pulled out a spare shirt and threw it on, "It seems negotiations are over."

We turned our horses around and re-joined the combined force of Gondor and Rohan.

"Sons of Gondor! Of Rohan! My brothers," Aragorn said. I had heard a version of this speech before, "I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me," I remembered thinking nothing could ever take his heart, "A day may come when the courage of Men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of woes and shattered shields when the Age of Men comes crashing down, but it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!"

Silently, a tear traced its way down the dirt on my face. Those words—those words, almost exactly, were what he had told me, minutes before I had told him his destiny.

Eryn shot me a look. I surprised even myself by smiling at him. He winked back.

Silently, I slipped off Black March, pulling Eryn off Andelage. I helped Pippin slip down, and then rescued Merry from behind Gandalf. All around us, people were following our examples. The horses trotted away, but from their posture, I knew they'd be back. Black whuffed in Cassan's face as he passed. Cassan and Riku came on either side of me.

We folded ranks, just as the Black Gate opened. A legion of orcs march upon us, circling us. I was struck by the terrible smell, and exactly how big the force of orcs was.

There was a stand-off.

A big, giant, testosterone-filled standoff.

On our side, so many Alpha males I couldn't even count them.

On their side, filthy, maggot-riddled beasts.

Us.

Them.

They charged.

We charged right back at them.

The first clang I heard was Legolas' twin blades parrying a blow meant for Merry. I kept Pippin behind me, but he fought hard enough and well enough that it was almost like I was fighting back to back with one hundred-year-old Legolas and Everlas, or perhaps thirteen-year-old Estel.

I couldn't believe how fast he had improved. But even as my heart swelled with pride, they came after me.

I could feel his hot breath in my face as I grappled to keep his weapon out of me. All I remember thinking is that I was not going to let this beast be the last thing that I ever saw.

And then I felt it. Something moved against my inner thigh. A tiny movement. It was not unlike the first tentative movements Eryn had made that day in the forest. A tiny cry escaped me. A string of profanities in Sindarian, Dwarfish, and the tongues of man escaped me. The orc was trying to rape me.

The orc fell from my grasp, dead. Eryn had run him through with his dagger, piercing my skin in the process. He turned to me, his stormy eyes flashing.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"I don't know, Eryn," It was true. I felt disgusted.

"Stay behind me," He told me.

Swiftly I kissed his cheek, "No. I fight with you." The orcs were on us again.

I saw the troll. I saw Aragorn get stomped on. Ouch, that must have hurt.

Then, everything disappeared in a flash of blinding light.

#####

"Grandmother? Will it ever stop?"

"Yes, child, it will."

#####

Fire. I was floating over it. There was no feeling. The one who was once Myraneth was no longer within my grasp. The one who was once Lady Wolf was no longer in my grasp.

I was not floating over the fire. I was the fire. It had burned in my veins for so long. It was time, now, to let go of that fire. The fire, however, was as much a part of me as the part that made me Myraneth, and the part that made me Lady Wolf. If I held it a moment longer, though, it would consume me.

I realized that I could not let go of all the fire. A lick of flame would not hurt me, and my body could not live without it.

"Pass the fire to me, Lady." The darkness had no substance, and the voice was not only one voice, but the voices of hundreds. The voices of every Wolf I had ever lost.

I let the fire inside me die down to only a flicker. The rest poured out, into the darkness, blinding me further with its light. But this light was gentle, even beautiful. I caught a flash of the face of Silverfang.

And then I was alone in the abyss.

#####

The loss of the fire sent me crashing to my knees. As I opened my eyes, everything was thrown into greater relief. The near-constant dark presence that invaded me just as I was at my weakest point—on the verge of sleep—was, finally, for the first time in my life, gone. Valor had tested me, and my blood, and my Wolves, and I had passed. Valor had given me the imbalance of the Dark fire and the Light fire. For the first time in my life, I was balanced.

That was my final thought before I passed out from the blinding light and scalding heat.

#####

A long, single note. Was I awake? Had we done it?

A long, single, higher note.

A lone tear. It trailed out of my eyes, tracing a path down my cheek.

My eyelids fluttered. The new relief I could see had not changed, but now I was more able to bear it.

Above me were two of my brothers. One was called Estel. The other was Legolas. Rest. That was what I needed.

"Rest, Myraneth, it is over."

The next time I awoke, I was in a white linen canopy bed. Eowyn was beside me.

"Eowyn, is this Gondor?"

She rushed to my side, "Myraneth, yes. You're finally awake!"

It took me a few seconds to focus on her face, and to realize I really needed to relieve myself, "Eowyn, I'm going to ask the time-honoured 'how long have I been out?' question, but first, I truly have to relieve myself. Where is the chamber pot?"

Taking my hand, Eowyn helped me to stand. I was wearing loose, drawstring trousers, and a soft purple tunic. She led me behind the dressing screen.

As I was using the elaborate pot concealed behind the intricate screen, I realized that I was in the Princess' chambers. I had stayed in this room the last time I had been through Gondor.

"You've been 'out' for just under two days," Eowyn told me. She helped me change into my travel-worn, freshly cleaned tunic and breeches.

We met Cassan just outside the room. He was obviously acting as a guard.

"I'll spread the word," he said, his face breaking into a wolfy grin. That was all the greeting I needed.

At the other end of the hallway was Marybella, the nursemaid. Fairfax and Anna—who I was relieved to see had not suffered any long-term consequences of jumping between two duelling alpha males.

Eowyn and I continued walking. We eventually made it to the Prince's chambers. The first ones I saw were the two hobbits sleeping peacefully in the mountain of sheets.

"They've survived," and just like that, I was down on my knees, crying. It was too, too beautiful. Sam ad Frodo. Against all odds, they had lived to tell their tale.

I was too happy to do anything but kneel there and cry.

People started to trickle out of the room, until it was only Eryn and I left. By then, I had gotten a bit of control over myself.

"Myraneth," Eryn whispered, "Will you come with me? I need to talk to you about something. I promise that we shall not be gone long."

Wordlessly, I stood and took his hand. Before the war, I would not be caught dead doing this. But everything had changed in this war, including my entire perspective.