Summary: Songfic to Sound the Bugle by Bryan Adams watch?v=GmWw16GYg7k . The Battle of Pelanor fields has finally come. Will it mean the end of another beloved friend for the three who made it this far? Rated T by Caitie
March 15, 3019
Arwen barely felt the cold breeze as she slid down the trunk of the Mumakil. The massive beast came crashing to the ground, dust soaring into the air around them as it landed, shaking the ground. Arwen watched many stop half a second to watch her and the beast land on the ground. She leapt from the beast's trunk and landed with the grace of her people on the uneven ground. She pushed a piece of her long black hair away from her face, her hand coming back with black and red blood on her hand. Arwen took a step forward only to stop again.
Far ahead of her, in the midst of the fighting was a lone figure. A pale Orc, his face twisted and his body gnarled by whatever torment he had endured in Mordor. He stood alone for none had dare to come close to him. He watched her, his uncrippled hand resting on the hilt of a crooked blade. She started towards him, stopped suddenly by oncoming horses, their riders screaming as they galloped past. When they were gone Arwen looked back to the pale Orc only to find him gone as well. Her keen eyes searched the plains but he was gone.
Sighing, Arwen turned back towards the rider. At the head of the column of horses was a man with broad shoulder and a horse tail hanging from his helmet. Eomer. That was the first of her companions she'd seen since she stepped off the ship. She surveyed the field once more for her friends. She couldn't see Aragorn's new blade, or hear Gimli's bellowing. She searched for the long blonde hair of Eowyn for she knew that Eowyn had come against Aragorn's wishes. None of them were to be seen.
"Arwen." She heard her name as clear as day and knew the voice, it was a voice she heard only in her dreams now. The voice of the husband she'd lost just weeks earlier. She turned towards the voice, looking for him. An arrow flew past her, just a mere inch from her face, it nicked her ear and she could feel the warm blood start to drip down her ear to her neck. The archer stood ahead of her, loading his crossbow once more. Before he could finish her own arrow left her bow and quicker than the blink of an eye he was dead, her arrow square between his eyes.
"To the city," Legolas' voice said. She closed her eyes for a brief second, Legolas was dead, she had remind herself of that. It was not his voice, he was not here with her. "She needs you."
She put away her bow, the white city loomed above her, a city built right into the mountain itself. It had been hundreds of years since she'd seen it last and the sight of it now saddened her. Smoke rose in thick dark columns from the lower levels of the city, the ashes staining the white stone grey. The Mordor army hurled rocks at the city and with every toss a part of the once proud city crumbled.
Without realizing it Arwen had started running. She ducked around people deep in combat and leapt over corpses, refusing to look at the faces of the dead for fear that she may find another loved one in the carnage. She saw Legolas' face in her mind and despair tried once more to creep into her being. She forced him from her mind, instead thinking of her children, the reason she must go on. She couldn't give up on them.
The screaming in the city erased all thoughts from her mind. These weren't the screams of soldiers dying but those of women and children horrified. The white roads and walls of the city were stained grey, and black, and red. As Arwen stepped into the madness within the city she had to stop. The faces of children looked up at her with dead eyes, their throats slashed, their limbs torn from their bodies. Her hand came up to her mouth as she tried to hold back the tears that refused to be subdued. She had seen death many times before but never like this. In every face she saw her children, the faces of Leonid and Alida looking up at her in mortal bodies.
Arwen closed her eyes and breathed in. When she opened them again she didn't see the dead, but the living and those threatening them. Ahead of her was a woman and her infant pushed into a corner, a sickly green Orc with a crooked back closed in on the woman as she cradled her baby against her chest. Arwen started towards them, pulling Legolas' twin blades from her back as she walked. The Orc was so close to the woman now Arwen was sure she could feel the heat of his breath on her face. Arwen drew her right arm back and plunged one of the blades into the Orc's back and the other into his side. Wrenching the blades from his body the Orc fell to the ground, dying with a hoarse cry. "Get inside," Arwen said to the woman who stared at her in fear. She nodded silently before disappearing into the nearest building that was still intact.
The rest of the street appeared to be empty of those living so Arwen pressed further into the city. By the time Arwen reached the second level of the city her hands were stained black and she was sure she wouldn't see the color of her skin for a long time to come. She rounded a corner only to be forced back the way she had come by an Orc hiding in anticipation of her arrival. His crude blade whipped out at her, grazing her forehead as she jumped back. Blood dripped down into her eye as she caught herself at the top of the stair case leading back down to the first level of the city. The Orc snarled at her as he came closer, before his neck step Arwen flicked her wrist, one of the twin blades slicing between his head and shoulders. His head fell from his shoulders and tumbled to Arwen's feet. His body fell next, crumpling before, black oozing onto the stone. As Arwen took a step forward she pushed the head to bounce down the steps onto the first level then walk over the body.
This is where the action seemed to be in the city. She peaked around the corner and saw them, a cluster of Orcs, perhaps fifteen Arwen assumed, no more than twenty. "The house." She went back to the body of the fallen Orc, she looked at the building to her right. It was a small home, two stories tall with windows carved into the stone. She nodded as she observed it. She put the twin blades back in their holsters on her back. She pulled herself up to sit on the window ledge then ducked into the house. The wooden stairs were right before her and Arwen took care to walk carefully up the steps, even though she was fairly certain that if she made the staircase creak the Orcs would not notice it. At the top of the stairs Arwen started her search for the window on the back wall. Turning to her right, so she faced the hall, Arwen started opening doors in search of the window she'd seen from outside.
"Open the door." The first door she opened led to a small room with two small beds. On top of one bed was a child with his back to her, one may have thought the boy was sleeping if not for the puddle of blood dripping onto the floor. Arwen sighed. Just as she started to close the door she heard a creak from inside the room. She stopped, her ears listening attentively. A whimper from the bed with the dead boy made Arwen enter the room. She took precautions to step carefully, not wanting to frighten whoever was hiding under the bed. Arwen lowered herself to her knees and gently lifted the blanket that covered the bed.
Big green eyes greeted her and instantly Arwen lifted a finger to her lips. "Shhh," she whispered. "It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you, little one." She reached her hand out to the small girl and saw the frightened look as she took in Arwen's black hand. "No, no, no," Arwen said, understanding the girl's fear. "It's just dirty, see," Arwen lifted her sleeve to show the girl the white flesh that hid beneath. Slowly, the girl took Arwen's hand and Arwen was able to pull the girl out from beneath the bed. The little girl took great pains to not look at the body on the bed but on Arwen's dirty face. "That's a good girl." Arwen smoothed the girls' silver blonde hair away from her face. "My name is Arwen," she whispered. "What's yours?"
"Ioreth," she said quietly, her voice small and light.
"Ioreth," Arwen repeated. "That's a beautiful name." Arwen's eyes flickered the boy on the bed. "Where are your parents, Ioreth?" Ioreth shook her head, holding a small stuffed doll to her chest. "Alright, I'm going to take you to the palace. Is that alright with you?"
"Are you going to leave me?"
The question took Arwen by surprise. She shook her head. "Not until I place you in the arms of your family." Ioreth stretched her arm out to Arwen, taking Arwen's blood stained hand in her small one. Arwen wrapped her arms around the small child's body and hoisted her up into her arms. "We need to get to the roof," she told the child as she left the room.
"There's a balcony in Mama and Papa's room," Ioreth said quietly. "It's the last one in the hallway."
Arwen saw the door at the end of the hall, it was open a crack and carefully she pushed it open further. Opposite the door into the room was another door, much narrower than the others. The balcony. She set the girl down beside the door and opened it just wide enough to see if anyone was outside, the street was clear, the Orcs must have moved on. "Come, Ioreth," she said, motioning for the girl to follow. "I'm going to lift you up onto the roof, and then I will follow you, alright?" Ioreth nodded, but Arwen could see the fear in her green eyes. "It's going to be alright, I won't let you fall."
Ceilings in Minas Tirith were notoriously low, and Arwen had no trouble lifting Ioreth to roof from the balcony. When Ioreth was safely on the roof of her home she laid down on her belly, from fear of being seen or fear of falling Arwen wasn't sure. Next, Arwen turned around, her back to the house. She stepped up onto the metal railing of the balcony and leaned back in towards the building. Getting her hands and elbows onto the flat roof of the home she hoisted herself up the rest of the way. "Come," she whispered to the child as they crawled to the chimney on the other side of the roof.
From here Arwen could see everything, in front of her was the city, only five more tiers to the top with each getting smaller and smaller the higher you go. To her left was the second tier of the city, a collection of homes all built close together and then a stone path to the next tier of the city. Behind her she could see the battlefield and the lowest tier of the city. Her keen eyes saw the little river of blood washing through the lowest tier. She closed her eyes and turned back to look at the second tier. The street seemed empty but Arwen saw the Orcs at the very end, just starting to make their way up to the next level.
She heard a click, the sound of a crossbow releasing a bolt and then before she could react quick enough pain exploded in her left shoulder. She lurched forward, falling onto her chest. The wind was knocked out of her. With her right hand she reached back and ripped the bolt out while the pain was still fresh. She tossed the short arrow to the ground and looked back to Ioreth. She was unharmed but she was crying. "It's alright," Arwen whispered to the child, trying to comfort her. "Come here," she told the girl. Ioreth started the crawl towards her. "We need to get down from the roof," she said through the pain. Another crossbow bolt flew overhead, striking the building in front of them. Arwen grabbed her bow and turned to the archer, he hid in a building a few yards away, an easy shot even though she was injured. Holding the bow in her left arm she bit down the pain and fired an arrow. She groaned as her arrow left her bow, her shoulder felt like a fire had started within it. She didn't stay to watch the Orc die, she knew her arrow was true. "Come, Ioreth," she said as she crept towards the edge of the roof.
Arwen sat on the edge of the roof. "I'm going to jump down, you're going to follow and I will catch you, I promise." Ioreth nodded as she took her place next to Arwen. Before thinking about the pain she would indefinitely be in she dropped to the ground, the force of her land traveled up her body igniting the fire in her shoulder even more. She cursed and bent down as she tried to swallow the pain. Hesitantly she raised her arms up to the child. "Alright, your turn. On my count, one…Two…Three…" Ioreth jumped into Arwen's arms the force of her fall pushing them both into the building behind Arwen's back.
"We have to go," Arwen said, gritting her teeth as she set Ioreth onto the ground. She reached out her right hand to Ioreth, holding her left close to her body. She started to jog, the child running to keep up. The street was empty so they made their way down to the path up to the third tier. Arwen could feel the blood dripping down her back as they ran, she could feel Ioreth eyes on her, worry and concern emanating from her small body. "It's going to be alright," she said again.
Turning a corner they saw the path ahead of them, a wide staircase about thirty feet high. "Come on," Arwen said, pulling Ioreth up the stairs. She heard foot steps behind them and with just seconds to spare Arwen grabbed Ioreth and pulled her towards her body, shielding the child from the arrow that hit the steps where she had just been standing.
"Run!" she pushed Ioreth up the stairs as she turned around, pulling her bow and an arrow out as she moved. Her arrow flew just as the Orcs behind her had loosed another arrow. There were three this time, two archers and one weaponless. Her arrow struck the weaponless one and he fell lifeless to the ground. The second archer released an arrow before Arwen could reach for another arrow, it struck her lower abdomen and pushed her back against the steps. As she fell back she could hear Ioreth crying, she had stopped on the staircase. "Go!" She yelled. Ioreth hesitantly started up the staircase once more, falling to her knees on one of the steps above Arwen.
The Orcs started towards them, putting their bows down in favor of swords they'd taken off of dead Gondorian soldiers. One of them passed her, making his way after the child. Without having to think she ripped the bolt from her belly and stabbed him in the ankle with it. She screamed as she ripped the arrow from her body, her cries mixing in the air with the Orc's. He tumbled down the steps, a trail of thick black blood dripped behind him.
Arwen stood, her adrenaline blocking out the pain in her stomach and shoulder as she pulled Legolas' blades from her back. As she walked down the steps more Orcs came out of the buildings, they had been watching them and she hadn't even realized it. She was outnumbered, but she was not done. They came at her like a tide washes over the beach. Red and black blood splattered the steps. Her blades sliced through the air, the dim sunlight catching on it every once in a while.
Individually they were not a match for her, but as a whole they were. What they lacked in skill they made up for in force. She felt their blades slice her back, her arms, her chest; she felt the blood dripping down her body. But for every one cut they gave her she gave them two until only four of the remained. She stepped over corpses, backing her towards the steps once more.
How long she had been holding them off for she couldn't tell but it was taking its toll on her. Her head was light and her movements were slowing considerably. One of them had disappeared, but when he disappeared she wasn't sure of. Had she killed him? She didn't think so. She heard the release of an arrow and felt it strike her chest above her right breast. She vision blurred and she dropped one of Legolas' blade to catch herself on the wall. "Arwen." It was his voice again and this time she saw him, standing behind the Orcs. She shook her head and closed her eyes, trying to clear her mind, when she opened them again he was gone. She tried to take another step up to the third tier but she slipped and felt herself fall to the stone steps.
The back of her head cracked on the stone beneath her and her world turned to white. She saw Legolas again, he hovered above her, his face sad. "Open your eyes," he said to her. She hadn't realized they were closed and when she opened them Legolas was replaced by one of the Orcs, he held one of Legolas' blade in his hand. She tried to lift the one blade she still held onto but her arm was too heavy and she could do nothing. She thought about begging but knew it would do no good; she thought about crying, but that would no good either. She hardly felt the knife as it slid across her throat, she couldn't even feel the blood pour endlessly down her neck. The Orc stepped over her body and dropped the knife beside her, she heard the metal hit the stone with utter clarity. She watched, unable to move as the Orcs passed her on the steps.
She closed her eyes, she couldn't breathe she suddenly realized, but she didn't panic, she merely looked up at the sky. The world around her had gone quiet, she could no longer hear the war just outside the walls of the city, she didn't even hear the steps of Ioreth as she came running down the steps to Arwen. She felt her tears though, the girl grabbed Arwen's empty hand and tried desperately to pull her to her feet, all the while her tears hitting Arwen's face. Finally the girl gave up and sat on the steps next to Arwen, she pulled Arwen's head into her lap and held onto Arwen's hand. The little girl cried as she stroked Arwen's hair. Arwen realized the girl was speaking to her but she couldn't hear any of it, she couldn't even open her own mouth to speak to the girl. She felt a cold wash over her body, it was her time, she knew this, she accepted it. Right before her world turned to black she saw Aragorn's face in her mind, and heard Eowyn's laugh, she saw Legolas holding her children. Then she saw nothing at all. A bugle rang through her ears as she gave up. Her eyes staring up at the sky as the sun just peeked through the thick clouds.