Chapter 10
Adrianna followed the throng of Faye, Men and Elves towards the battlements of Helm's Deep. The sounds of a marching army moved closer and closer in the distance, as Uruk Hai appeared over the top of the hill like swarms of ants. The darkness was lit by the thousands of torches carried by the huge advancing army.
The Faye Princess felt for the women and children in the caves and wondered if they could hear the sounds overhead and knew that they would be absoloutely petrified and worried deeply for their husbands, sons, fathers and brothers.
Adrianna passed the March-warden elves, trying to find either one of her friends or her brother. She passed a row of Elf archers before she spotted Gimli standing beside Legolas. She had to compose herself before she approached as she almost burst into a fit of laughter upon seeing that the dwarf couldn't see above the wall. She approached them before coming to stand in between Legolas and the faye warriors.
Gimli grumbled and stood on his tiptoes; straining to see above the top of the wall. "You could have picked a better spot." The elf only smirked in response, as Aragorn came to stand beside them, clapping a hand on Legolas' shoulder. "Well lad, whatever luck you live by, let's hope it lasts the night." The dwarf stated as he addressed the man.
Thunder rumbled around and lightning flashed, revealing the sea of approaching Uruk-Hai marching forwards, their footsteps growing louder and louder. Lightning flashed again as rain began to pour. Adrianna looked up and closed her eyes under the pounding rain to calm her nerves.
"Your friends are with you, Aragorn." Legolas stated, watching the faye warriors moving about beside him.
Gimli shifted from one foot to the other, "Let's hope they last the night."
The Uruk-Hai leader stepped onto a rock outcrop so that he could better command his army. Aragorn then stepped away from Legolas and Gimli, and gave Adrianna a reassuring smile as he stepped up to the higher point on the battlement so he could command the elves and faye's.
"A Eruch n, dano il faelas a hyn an uben tanatha le faelas! Show them no mercy! For you shall receive none!" He stated.
The Uruk-Hai leader raised his sword and commanded his army to stop with a terrifying animalistic cry. The Uruk's stopped on command and began to growl in anticipation of the upcoming battle of slaughter and blood-shed.
Gimli jumped up and down, straining to see, "What's happening out there?"
Adrianna turned around to reply, but upon seeing the amusement filled eyes of the elf she stopped herself. "Shall I describe it to you?" Legolas asked, turning to grin at the dwarf, "Or would you like me to find you a box?" Adrianna burst into a fit of laughter, which caused the dwarf to also laugh good-naturedly.
As the elves, men and faye's slotted arrows into their bows, the Uruk Leader cried out once, encouraging the Uruk-Hai to start roaring and thumping their spears furiously as if to discourage the men fighting against them.
Adrianna shivered, holding the arrow in her bow with a shaking hand, "I worry for the women and children in the caves." She stated. Suddenly, she lost her grip and gasped as the arrow flew free from her bow. "Shit." Legolas, Gimli and the faye warriors turned to look her with wide eyes; it wasn't in shock of her firing without orders...it was her language which had caused them all surprise.
"Hold!" Aragorn demanded, watching intently as the Uruk-Hai army stopped their roaring and thumping, and with a hollow groan, the Uruk that was shot collapsed to the ground with an arrow protruding from his neck.
"Great shot, Addie." The faye Prince's voice broke through the silence as he turned to complement his little sister on her aim. The other Uruk-Hai bared their teeth and roared with anger, and with a cry, the leader thrust his weapon in the air and the Uruk-Hai army started charging towards the battlements.
"So it begins." The King stated.
"Tangado halad! Prepare to fire!" Aragorn ordered as the faye's and elves steadied their aim.
"Faeg i-varv du na lanc a nu ranc. Their armour is weak at the neck and beneath the arms." Legolas stated for both races on the battlement.
"Leithio i philinn! Release the arrows!" Aragorn ordered with a wave of his hand.
Arrows from the battlement rained down upon the Uruk-Hai below, killing many of them. The roars of the ugly beings was heard from the battlement, and as Adrianna notched another arrow into her bow, she saw Gimli jumping from the corner of her eyes, "Did they hit anything?" He asked.
"Give them a volley." Theoden ordered.
"Fire!" The Captain of the guard called.
"Fire!" Another repeated.
The Uruk-Hai continued to advance towards Helm's Deep, more and more Uruk's replaced the fallen ones as they came closer and closer towards the lower battlement of Helms Deep.
"Fire!" Aragorn commanded.
"Send them to me! Come on!" Gimli growled impatiently above the thwang and screeching of arrows.
The Uruk-Hai start to load ladders onto the walls, pushing them up with their long spears. "Pendraid! Ladders!" Aragorn alerted the elves and faye's upon the battlements. The warriors and soldiers drew their blades and prepared themselves for combat against the Uruk-Hai army. The first ladders were almost reaching the walls with huge, nasty Uruk Berserker's on the top of them. "Swords! Swords!" Aragorn ordered.
"Good!" Gimli roared, bringing his axe over his head and through the back of the first Uruk-Hai to reach the top of the ladder. He went down like a sack of potatoes; knocking a few others off the ladder as he went. "Legolas, two already!" He chuckled, pausing his combat to hold up two fingers.
"I'm on seventeen!" The elf replied.
The dwarf was outraged, "Argh! I'll have no pointy-ear outscoring me!" He turned around in time to slaughter a Uruk just climbing over the wall by whacking it in the groin with his axe. "Nineteen!" Legolas called, firing two arrows.
Adrianna impaled her sword into an Uruk-Hai before pulling it out of the creatures gut just in time to slice across the neck of another. She had no time for the competitive banter of the dwarf and elf, therefore, she fought the Uruk's where she could no longer hear them.
"Na fennas! The Causeway!" Aragorn called, directing the faye and elf archers towards the Uruk-Hai column. The archers obeyed the order and released their arrows upon the enemy, causing the Uruk-Hai running along the side of the causeway to fall to their deaths. Although many of the Uruk's were killed, it did not stop the column from advancing. At the bottom of the Deeping Wall, two spiky bombs were lodged in the sluice gate by an Uruk-Hai. The rest of the army opened a path and a bigger, vicious looking Uruk-Hai carrying a torch roared loudly, gaining the attention of the faye Princess.
"Aragorn!" She called, warning the Ranger of the Uruk-Hai as it began to run towards the bombs.
"Togo hon dad, Legolas!" (Bring him down, Legolas!) Aragorn yelled over the battle cries. The blonde elf ran to the wall and Adrianna covered his back whilst the handsome Prince drew numerous arrows to shoot the Uruk with. The elf pierced the Uruk's shoulder with the first arrow - yet the creature continued to run as if he was unharmed. "Dago hon! Dago hon! (Kill him! Kill him!)" Aragorn cried.
Legolas shot at the Uruk again; causing it to stumble. The Prince held his breath - awaiting for the creature to fall dead to the ground. Instead, the Uruk threw itself and the torch onto the bombs. Causing an enormous explosion and blow away a large part of the wall. Rock, debris and bodies were cast everywhere, and even Aragorn and Adrianna were thrown back by the force of the explosion and onto the ground, knocked unconscious.
"Brace the Gate! Hold them! Stand firm!" The King ordered.
Gimli noticed the Uruk-Hai charging in with Aragorn and Adrianna in their path and, with a cry, he jumped down from the wall and landed on the Uruk-Hai army, taking them out as he stood.
"Get up you two! Urgh!" Soon the dwarf was overpowered, and Aragorn had luckily awoken in time to see Gimli falling.
"Gimli!" Turning, he reached down for the Princess and pulled her up by both arms, sliding an arm around her waist to hold her securely. "Hado i philinn! Hurl the arrows!" He yelled up to the elven and faye archers. As if on cue, the majority of the Uruk's charging towards the man, dwarf and faye were taken out seconds before they could step through the hole in the wall. "Herio! (Charge!)" He ordered.
The ranger took Adrianna off to the side and away from danger as the elven soldiers and faye warriors charged towards the Uruk-Hai streaming in through the hole in the wall.
Aragorn struggled to hold both the dwarf and the Princess in his attempt to move them both away from the danger of the battle, and his silent prayer for aid was answered when Legolas grabbed hold of a shield and sent it sliding across the ground. The elf then hopped onto it and surfed down the steps, releasing three arrows which slaughtered three oncoming Uruk-Hai. The Prince then kicked the shield to stab an Uruk-Hai as he landed at the bottom before he ran over towards Aragorn and took Adrianna from his arms.
"Aragorn! Fall back to the Keep! Get your men out of there!"
Acknowledging the Captain of the Guard, Aragorn ordered the elves and faye's to fall back. "Na Barad! Na Baraad! Haldir, na Barad! To the Keep! Pull back to the Keep! Haldir, to the Keep!" Upon hearing his name, the March-warden nodded towards the Ranger before turning back to face his enemy.
Aragorn struggled to restrain a kicking and screaming Gimli as he tried to carry the dwarf back. "What are you doing?" Gimli grunted as he awoke. "Argh! What are you stopping for!"
As Aragorn released Gimli and pushed the dwarf in the direction he ordered everyone to go in, he turned around just in time to see Haldir falling to his knees, "Haldir!" He cried, running to the March-warden's side, catching him seconds before he collapsed onto the blood and rock covered battleground. The elf rolled his back, his eyes empty and unseeing to which Aragorn bowed his head in grief. With a cry, the Ranger jumped onto a ladder and swung onto the ground, killing and slaughtering Uruk's as he went.
"Brace the gate!" A Guard demanded.
"Hold them!" Another called.
The King drew his sword, "To the gate! Draw your swords!" Theoden and his commanders came towards the gate which was under heavy attack. Uruk-Hai were knocking down and hacking through the splintered wood of the gate as they attempted to get inside.
Adrianna's eyes flickered open, and she was a little disorientated to begin with. As her vision unblurred, she realised that Legolas was trying to bring her too and that they were in the midst of battle. She shifted her position in his arms so that he would put her down, and upon feeling her booted feet touch the unstable ground, she grabbed hold of the elf to steady herself.
"Shore up the door!" Theoden demanded.
Adrianna could've burst into a fit of laughter at the sight of Gimli being launched through the air by Aragorn. But it was the wrong time and the wrong place for laughing. She drew her bow and unsteadily notched an arrow before firing it into the crowd of Uruk's breaking in through the gate. She could see Aragorn joining Gimli on the bridge in fighting, and knew that it wouldn't be long before her friends would be in too deep.
"Make way!"
"Follow me to the barricade!"
"Watch our backs!"
"Throw another one over here!"
Adrianna left Legolas's company to climb the stairs onto the higher battlement where she found herself joining in the centre of chaos. Uruk-Hai loaded and fired enormous hooks over the battlements where hundreds and hundreds of them began to climb onto giant ladders as they rose higher and higher towards the walls; locking onto the edges with steel-like grips.
The faye Princess hacked at one of the ropes with her sword and watched as the ladder fell back and crushed many of the Uruk-Hai below. She turned on her heel to see Legolas looking quite surprised and impressed at what she had done, and turned to the ladder coming closer and closer towards the wall. He notched an arrow into his bow and fired straight through one of the ropes; watching as the ladder - once again - fell back and crushed the Uruk-Hai below.
The faye ran to the side of the wall where she could see her two friends fighting and was soon joined by the elf. "Aragorn!" Legolas called, throwing the Ranger a rope. Grabbing hold of the dwarf in one hand and the rope in the other, Aragorn pulled himself and Gimli to safety.
"Pull everybody back! Pull them back!" Theoden ordered.
"Fall back! Fall back!" The Captain of the Guard repeated.
"They've broken through! The castle is breached. Retreat!"
"Fall back!"
"Retreat!"
Legolas grabbed hold of Adrianna's forearm and began to pull her inside just as Aragorn shouted, "Hurry! Inside! Get them inside!"
"Into the Keep!"
A/N: Thank you to everyone who has spent the time to read/review/favourite/alert this story :D
I hope you are all enjoying everything so far, and I can assure you that there will be a lot more fluff and some slight jealousy ;)
Please review :) xx