I'm back! I told you I'd do it, and I can't quite believe it myself. (between you, me, and the internet, i'm writing this bit before i actually finish the chapter so i'm taking a risk. living on the edge! exciting!) Anyway, here's your chapter!
WARNING: Elf death. foofie01, I'm sorry. I told you I would warn you when I was about to kill of a certain character, so be prepared.
The battle was not going well. Legolas stowed his bow and drew his knives, killing an orc with each as they were unsheathed. Gimli dismembered an orc with a mad yell, then went after another. Aragorn killed a particularly ugly orc, then heard his name being called from above. "Aragorn!" Théoden yelled. "Fall back to the keep! Get your men out of there!"
Aragorn nodded, then turned and repeated the call in Sindarin. "Na barad!" Haldir looked over, and Aragorn yelled again. "Haldir, na barad!"
Haldir nodded, finishing his opponent and pulling one of his soldiers aside to gather the others. "Na barad! Na barad!" He did not see the orc raising its scimitar behind him, did not hear Aragorn's yell of warning. He gasped as his armour split, his cloak darkening, and he fell to his knees. The faces of the elven dead swam before him. Elves he had known, had trained, had loved, all were lying dead. Aragorn yelled wordlessly, sprinting to the Marchwarden's side and cradling him as he slid sideways, grey eyes already empty but for unshed tears. Another elf ran up, her dark hair plastered to her face by blood and sweat, and her eyes widened as she saw who Aragorn held. She gasped, then gave a yell of rage and grief as she hacked away the orcs that were advancing.
Aragorn's tears fell as he gave his own yell of rage, punching an orc in the face and taking its place atop a ladder. He thrust the ladder back into the army, riding it down and jumping off before it hit.
The main gate cracked into countless pieces, the spiked end of the battering ram gutting a man and forcing the rest back. "Brace the gate!" one man screamed, but he fell as a crossbow's bolt hit him, the orcs having thrust as many weapons through the hole as they could.
"Hold them!" another man yelled, cutting a few orcs back.
Ip on Theoden's perch, the king readied his weapon. "To the gat. Draw your swords!" he yelled, storming towards his soldiers. Hid guards followed him, grim-faced.
Aragorn had discovered a staircase that let him return to the safer side of the wall, shunting a few soldiers before him as he ran. The archers, still unable to see extremely well in the dark and chaos, did their best to hit foes rather than friends.
Theoden, as a shining example for his men, had run to the very front of the struggle at the gate and killed a few orcs before one of them thrust its spear at him. It caught his armour and pulled him back a few paces, where he was caught by his guards, who pulled the king back to safety while yelling for the others to make way. "We can't hold much longer," one of the guards growled, dragging Theoden away. As if to prove his point, the gate buckled. Aragorn, however, appeared and ran into the crowd, gripping Theoden's shoulder as he passed.
"Hold them!" Theoden called after him.
"How long do you need?" Aragorn yelled, not glancing over to the king.
"As long as you can give me!" the king replied. Aragorn nodded.
"Gimli!" He grabbed the dwarf and pulled him to a nearby door, which had been overlooked by all present. Gimli opened it and held it for Aragorn, who slammed it behind them. They were clinging to the outside edge of the fortress, a secret little ledge that curved around, almost to the causeway, where orcs were still trying to enter.
"Come on, we can take them!" Gimli snarled, peering dangerously around Aragorn's legs.
"It's a long way," Aragorn said. There was indeed a gap of about ten or eleven feet between the end of their ledge and the causeway, the drop leading to empty darkness below them.
Gimli considered for a moment, seeming to be considering a very painful choice, them muttered "Toss me."
"What?" Aragorn was not quite sure he had heard right, and he glanced down at the dwarf incredulously.
"I cannot jump the distance; you'll have to toss me!" Gimli spluttered angrily. Aragorn grinned, but Gimli caught his arm. "Don't tell the elf?"
"Not a word," Aragorn said, then heaved his friend into the orcs. He leapt as well, landing sword-first in an orc's neck. They ce orcs together, giving the men behind them time to brace up the gate, and Aragorn happened to glance back as the last board fell into place, obscuring the king's face.
Meanwhile, the orcs were setting up massive crossbows, their quarrels as long as a man, and the iron tip log so that none could cut it. They were launched high on the fortress, and were used to pull up more ladders, bigger than the others, these ones with hooks to keep them from falling.
Legolas saw the orcs flooding of of the newly erected ladders and loaded his bow, running for the edge of the wall so as to get a better shot. The biggest ladder yet was rising slowly, weighed down with a hundred orcs, and Legolas shot at the base of the crossbow bolt that held it to the wall. The rope snapped, sending the ladder toppling backwards into the crowding orcs. He had no time to admire this shot, though, as an orc immediately tried to take revenge on him. He drew Variele and dodged it, eyes catching on two lone figures, sanding in a pile of dead orcs upon the causeway. Aragorn turned as the king yelled something muffled, then was caught from behind by a large orc that spun both him and Gimli around to face the oncoming enemy.
"Aragorn!" Legolas yelled. He could not lose his friends this easily. Grabbing a coil of rope that seemed to have appeared by his feet, he cast it down to the causeway. Aragorn threw off the orcs and grabbed Gimli, then caught hold of the rope. An elf and a man appeared behind Legolas, pulling on the rope too as he dragged his friends up the wall. Yet another ladder fell against the fortress's wall as Aragorn scrambled over the top, Legolas grabbing his arms.
"Pull everybody back!" Theoden cried to a guard, eyes swimming with his dead countrymen's faces. "Pull them back!"
The guard ran off, repeating the order as he went. Various voices broke through the panic. "Fall back!" "Retreat!" The gate finally cracked, and the panic grew. "They have broken through!" "The castle is breached!" "Retreat!"
Aragorn shoved people along, yelling to elves and men alike. "Hurry! Inside, get them inside! Into the Keep!"
The orcs flooded the fortress, spreading like a dark stain, and Legolas's last glimpse of the outside of the fortress was worse than a nightmare: Bodies were strewn across the stones, mangled even as they lay dead by the foul orcs. Legolas shot a few more arrows before the doors slammed shut.
...So. Yes, I killed him. I killed off Haldir, and I'm sorry! I really am! Believe me, I still can barely watch that part without crying.
So, to my reviewers! Narylfiel, are you serious? A twin? OMG, thank you both so much for reading and hanging on for so long! That just...wow. Really brightened my day. Twins are great.
Anyway, my dudes, sorry for the gory-ish stuff, but this should be the last of that until the Return of the King. Don't Worry! Tirnel is doing...um, she's alive at the moment. You'll see her soon! Like, next chapter! I'll post that tonight too. Please drop me a line, and I added a new feature onto my profile too: Character Close-Ups! For more details, see my profile! Till next time! 3