The next morning, those who had survived that horrible onslaught were working around the clock. Some were doing everything they could to keep the door closed, some were eating what could pass for meals in those circumstances, some were volunteering to help tend the wounded, and still others were trying to get some sleep. Please understand that they were all taking turns in one of those four tasks. Aladdin looked out a high window to see sunlight peeping through and it was then that he remembered the words of Merlin: "Look to my coming at Helm's Deep on the first light of the third day."
"I will not be taken like this, as though I were an old badger in a trap," a familiar voice said behind him. Aladdin turned around and saw Stefan who had already put his armor on.
"I will go out to fight once again, will you ride out beside me?" he asked.
"If it means life or death, I shall," said Aladdin with a smile. Stefan returned the smile as he put his helmet on. One of the younger soldiers was sent to lead Grumpy to a great horn so that the Dwarf could blow loudly into it. The sound caught the forces of Isengard off guard enough that they stopped pounding on the door. That was not smart of them. Out of the door rushed those who had been defending Helm's Deep, they let loose their arrows, swords twirled from the hands of the horses' riders and even the horses themselves seemed to know to kick the filthy goblins.
But the goblins were not to be taken down so easily. They fought back quickly, swords clashed upon swords, axes beat upon shields. Aladdin knew this fight may not turn in their favor, but then Abu pulled his ear, and he found himself forced to turn his head in the direction Abu was pointing at. He saw Merlin upon what appeared to be a giant fox with armor. Then right behind him came the Riders of Rohan. They all rode down the hill to the battle, there seemed to be a great light shining down, blinding the goblins. Now the tides of battle had indeed turned. The men of Phoebus battle courageously and Merlin with his new steed easily twirled his staff, the fox because of its padded paws and different muscles from a horse leaped nimbly around the goblins in a manner a horse could not.
Quickly outsourced, the remaining goblins began to retreat into the nearby woods. Merlin told everyone on his side not to follow.
"Don't worry, where they're going, they will find no shelter," he said, barely had the last goblin entered the woods when it appeared that many of the trees started moving. They heard the terrible screams and shouts of the goblins.
"I don't even want to imagine what happened in there!" exclaimed Eilonwy.
"Nor will you have to my dear," replied Merlin.
"Merlin, where is Shadowfax?" asked a confused Stefan.
"Oh yes of course," said Merlin, he whistled and up came Shadowfax from down the hill, it was clear that he was limping badly.
"I'm afraid during our little adventure to find Phoebus and his Riders my friend here suffered a little boo-boo. But as if sent by the Valar this fellow appeared to bear me so Shadowfax could heal properly. This here is Tod, and as you can see because he is a fox, he is quite nimble and I found recently that he moves with amazing speed through forests, and is quite handy in battle as you have all just witnessed," explained Merlin. Phoebus rode up to Stefan and Eilonwy.
"Phoebus my dear nephew, can you forgive an old man who was blinded and couldn't see the truth two inches in front of his face?" asked Stefan.
"Uncle, I will gladly forgive you, the way you just lead the defense of this place, you have clearly deserved honor. I am just glad we can fight alongside once again," replied Phoebus, never losing his smile.
"Oh Grumpy, by the way, I managed to kill 43 goblins," Robin Hood told his friend.
"Not bad for a fox, I got 44," said Grumpy with a rare smirk.
"45," replied Little John, rubbing his bandaged arm. Robin Hood laughed while Grumpy looked like he had been kicked in the stomach.
"What was that about?" asked Phoebus confused.
"Just don't get involved," replied Aladdin.
"Right, now far more serious business is at hand. Merlin pointed towards the distance. Everyone present looked to where he was pointing, it didn't take long for them to realize he was pointing towards Mordor.
"The Horned King will hear of this victory. His retribution will be swift. The Battle for Helm's Deep is over, The Battle for Middle Earth will soon begin," he warned in a grave tone that was almost unbecoming of him.
Author's Notes: Now those of you who are only familiar with the films may be wondering why I didn't cut over to Mickey and Donald, the reason is because it was easier for me to focus on one part of the story for a moment. We will be returning to them in the next chapter. Some may feel it was a little odd for Merlin to suddenly be riding a giant fox, well the honest truth is that the inspiration came from a fanart that I loved so much that I wanted to use it in my story, and therefore had to explain why he was no longer riding Shadowfax, without him feeling like a jerk. Some may feel I'm getting superfluous with adding Little John into the game to see who could kill the most goblins, but hey three's a magic number and this isn't supposed to be a perfect translation.