31 / 12 / 22 ~ And in which Eleanor is definitely out of her depth.

Disclaimer: "The Lord of the Rings" is the property of J. R. R. Tolkien. I only claim ownership over Eleanor Dace, Rávamë (aka "Tink"), and the subsequent plot of their story.

A/N: So… hi again… two more years later.

Ok, look guys, I really have no reasonable excuse for the time gaps at this point other than: life genuinely has got extremely busy in a good way for me in the past few years. Just to list a few of the highlights from the past 24 months alone: my IRL career took off, I changed jobs twice, moved cities, my social sphere doubled in size, and I started getting properly treated for a long-standing condition and had improved a lot since then. Oh, and I went from being in my late 20s to early 30s, which came with a mini existential crisis (especially since I started this story when I was just 24 and was fully convinced I had to finish it before hitting my next decade).

So suffice to say, that is the reason for the long delay. And I'm sad to say the reality is there might well be long delays on updates for the rest of the story. I meant it when I said in the last update that I still love this world, I love this story, and it still feels like coming home. And I think it always will. But I also have a life I love and that I've worked hard to build over the past few years, and I need to keep things balanced.

"Ok, Rella, but what exactly does that mean though?" I hypothetically hear you ask.

Well, it pretty much means that I'll update only when I enjoy sitting down to write, when I have time, and when it doesn't interferer with the things that are keeping me healthy. This story has never felt like a chore, and I don't ever want it to start feeling like one. And that means it could be months before another update, it could be years (though I sincerely hope it won't be again.)

That's just the way this fic is going to fit into my life now.

Thanks so, so much again for so much support and love over the past few years. Now, without further rambling from me, let's get you into the update.

Part III : Chapter 19

- The Storm -

"Do one thing every day that scares you." — Eleanor Roosevelt

The flash of light hit first, then the sound.

We were far enough up on the walls that the shockwave wasn't enough to hit us with flying chunks of smoking debris. But to all my elf enhanced senses, it still felt like being hit by a speeding bus with pillows covering its front bumper.

I was thrown flat onto my back, head swimming and ears ringing. I just lay there for a few seconds, stunned, the back of my skull throbbing from where it had struck the cold stone…

I also dimly remember wondering how in hell Saruman had come by enough black powder to make a full-size bomb…

Then Boromir's blurred auburn head appeared over me.

"—u're alright! —et up!" He was shouting, only every other word making it through the ringing in my ears.

The world swayed as he hauled me upright and onto my feet, steadying me as I fought to regain my balance. All around us, several of the dead and wounded soldiers who'd been on the battlements had been thrown clear by the blast, scattering like rag dolls across the mezzanine and stairs below.

As my eyes came back into focus I automatically looked down into the valley, frantically searching for my friends. The explosion's shockwave had blasted most of the ranks of elves back several metres from the Deeping Wall.

Many looked injured, several had been killed instantly…

My already thundering heartbeat howled in terror for them, crawling up into my throat and choking me with panic…

But then I saw them.

Aragorn lying on his back from where he'd been thrown clear along with a few other lucky frontline elves. Gimli's stocky form crouched low atop the wall, his axe braced over his head in cover. Legolas was on the other side of the gap, already climbing back to his feet, but looking just as dazed as I'd been by the concussion. I even caught sight of Haldir, pulling a piece of debris from his shoulder, and shouting at his surviving men to get to their feet and defend the breach.

They had all somehow managed to survive the explosion that had destroyed the Deeping Wall. But it had left the Uruks with an almost perfectly unobstructed path to the narrow stairs leading up into the keep…

And it has also left them right in the path of the entire bloody army.

Boromir gave voice to my thoughts before I even knew they were there.

"We need to get them out!" He shouted over the chaos, the noise still a bit fuzzy through my still ringing ears.

"H-How?!"

He pointed to the path leading down the side of the keep into the valley.

"Up the staircase! We can clear a path for the survivors to retreat into the keep. Then close it off."

"We—" I felt physically sick with the confusion and terror, my head spinning, throat constricting, strangling the words in my throat. "I…I…"

Boromir's hand appeared on my shoulder, steady and sure as a cliff withstanding a hurricane.

"There's no one else, Eleanor," he said, impossibly gentle but firm among the screams and roars around us, voicing exactly what my fear-riddled brain was trying so hard to deny. "We are the only chance they have now."

He was right.

Theoden's men who hadn't been killed by Uruks or blasted off the walls by the explosion were now desperately trying to brace the main gates below, and the surviving conscripts were pinned down trying to dislodge the remaining ladders from the battlements. Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas and the surviving elves in the valley had no way out.

They would all die trapped down there if no one helped clear a path, and there was no one else.

Just us.

I clenched my eyes shut and forced myself to picture that outcome in my mind. Made myself envision what it would be like to face that outcome…

My imagination showed me with the bodies of Aragorn, Gimli Legolas all lying still and glassy-eyed among the countless dead.

I almost doubled over again, biting the inside of my mouth until I tasted blood. Every atom in me recoiled from that mental image, but it did what I'd hoped for—transforming the paralysing terror in my belly into cold steel. Steel I could use.

"O-ok…" I heard myself croak, then setting my jaw and trying again. "Ok."

The second the words were out of my mouth Boromir began scanned the ground around us, littered with the bodies of dead or dying men. He spotted a recurve bow and quiver on a fallen conscript soldier, and snatched it up without hesitation. The boy it had belonged to couldn't have been more than seventeen. He'd been taken down by a stab wound to the side, blue eyes still open wide to the night sky.

Boromir thrust the weapons into my arms with an adamant look I'd never seen on his face before.

"You can do this," he told me without a trace of doubt. "Stay behind me. I will not let them get to you. Just keep as many of them off me as you can, for as long as you can."

I couldn't find my voice to answer, so I just nodded once.

Then we were sprinting for the path that led down into the valley.

As we reached the top of the stairs to the Deeping Wall we passed under an archway. It was in worse shape than the rest of the surrounding wall. Much like the arch Eowyn had collapsed down in the caves its already weak mortar was crumbling from the shockwave, only remaining standing by virtue of a few hap-hazardously placed support beams. I silently prayed the whole thing wouldn't come down behind us, leaving us trapped in the gully with no other way out.

A gully that was rapidly filling with heavily armed monsters.

The water of the river had rushed back in from where the explosion had blasted it back, and while the current was making it hard work for the Uruk's to move forward, they still moved.

Barely pausing in his stride, Boromir snatched up a discarded round shield from another fallen soldier on the way past, and braced it on his free arm.

He took one last look over his shoulder to me.

"Stay close."

And we started down the stairs.

The rain was coming down like the heavens had opened, and I was spending most of my brain power focusing on not slipping on the narrow stone steps.

I didn't see a stray crossbow bolt blur out of the dark towards us, but Boromir's shield came up to catch it before I could even react. The shield he'd taken wasn't terribly large, but my friend was an experienced enough warrior to know exactly how to use it to cover me as well as himself. I kept close behind him, my free hand anchored onto his shoulder the entire way down.

Without regular torches or brazier light it was getting harder to see clearly through the darkness and the rain. But the sounds of the on-coming Uruk-hai were only getting louder.

"Tink," I whispered aloud, my voice trembling almost worse than my hands. "Please, help me."

'Always,' I heard in reply, already understanding what I was asking for.

My vision instantly flooded with monochrome details through the dark, Tink forcing my eyes to take in more light than they would naturally. It still stung like needles, just like it had during the warg attack, but I was braced for it this time.

The steps ahead lit up, along with the first of the quicker Uruk-hai who had been fast enough to already make it halfway up the stairs. They gave themselves away to the human warrior in the dark with roars of attack before they charged.

"Keep behind me!" Boromir yelled over his shoulder one more time, right before diving straight into the oncoming wave of jagged black armour and blades.

No time left to think, I pulled an arrow from the quiver on my back and knocked it against the bowstring, muscle memory from all of Legolas' teaching guiding my hands. I drew back to the corner of my lip, remembering at the last second to keep both my eyes open, held my breath as Tink continued to flood my eyes with night vision, took aim, and released the shot.

That first arrow went way wide, but it didn't matter. With so many it was damned near impossible to miss. My shot hit the Uruk behind the one I'd been aiming for, punching through it's shoulder instead of the exposed neck. It was just enough to knock it back, toppling a few others under the weight, and it was enough to get me focused. My other senses dimmed as my arms and eyes found their rhythm, muscle memory from hours of target practice with Legolas in Lothlorien coming back with every shot. It must have only been a few seconds we were on those stairs, keeping pace behind Boromir, but it felt like hours.

As another of my better shots landed in an Uruk's thigh, Boromir kicked it off-balance and over the edge of the staircase.

As it fell, I looked down and caught the briefest glimpse of Aragorn still on the ground not far below when the blast had thrown him..

He was pulling himself to his feet, looking dazed and unsteady on his feet. The sound from the explosion was probably playing merry hell with his balance and reflexes, I thought distantly. Unless he'd hit his head or burst an eardrum, he should be alright.

But then I looked down at the exploded hole in the Deeping Wall and realised it wouldn't need to be.

The water that had stifled their approach had slowed to a trickle, and the main wave of Uruk-hai had started to charge in fully.

"Aragorn!" I heard myself shout on pure instinct, realising that I'd yelled his name at the exact same time as another familiar voice.

A booming dwarven voice.

I watched through my night-eyes as Gimli appeared roaring out of the darkness above the oncoming hoard, and launched himself off the Deeping Wall like a cannonball, straight down onto the heads of the charging Uruk-hai. His battle axe cleaved straight through the neck of one and through the shoulder of another in a single mighty downward swing.

I didn't see where he landed, but I heard a splash from the river water.

Without warning the claustrophobic darkness suddenly rushed back in before I could find him, the aching strain of my night vision vanishing in a rush.

'Short bursts, boss. I can't keep it up for too long or I'll knock us out,' Tink's voice, tinny with strain filled my mind before the panic of my lost sight could set in.

She was right. I could already feel the post-strain dizziness creeping in. Too many more times for too long, and we would keel over unconscious in the dark, bleeding from the nose and ears.

"Just make sure I can see to aim when the target is too far," I said out loud, knocking another arrow and grinding my teeth against the vertigo and fear. "I'll manage the rest."

For want of a better analogy: for the next twenty seconds Boromir played the tank, while I played ranged DPS from the back, thinning out the herd as best I could while Tink turned my night-vision off and on whenever needed. I still have no idea how Boromir stopped them all, even with my shots getting better there were just so many. But true to his word, not a single Uruk-hai made it so much as a step past him.

Eventually we got far enough down the stairs that I could start shooting at the Uruks on the ground and walls, managing to take a few down with well-timed shots at their unprotected legs.

A wave of adrenaline-charged relief washed over me as my night-vision eyes spotted Aragorn up on his feet and pulling Gimli out of the water by the back of his chainmail. All around them Haldir's recovered elven warriors were also back up and quite literally beating back the invading horde with everything they had.

The relief was short-lived though. When Tink flooded my eyes with another burst of night-vision again a moment later, I spotted yet another familiar figure up on the wall on his own.

Blond, tall, and quickly becoming surrounded as more Uruks poured up over the battlements.

Legolas had been forced to swap his bow for his short-range knives, and was blurring between attacking and dodging blows from at least four axes and serrated swords. I watched with a mix of terror and awe as in the span of a couple of seconds they each fell like sheaths of wheat under his lightning-fast bladework. I'd never actually seen him fight like that before…

But I also watched as one of those serrated blades clipped his brow. Barely a scratch, but it was still a head wound, and they bled like crazy. A sheet of blood was suddenly running down the side of his face and into his left eye…

Just as a fifth Uruk appeared silently over the wall on his now-blinded left side.

It was such a stupidly close shot to try and take, looking back.

One wrong twitch of my hand, one second of breath held too long, and I could have easily hit him.

But when I tell you my entire body moved without me telling them to, I'm not being metaphorical. There was zero thought involved as, in one single motion, with my heart in my throat, I knocked another arrow, aimed, held my breath, and let it loose.

From across the mayhem of the gully I saw that arrow fly perfectly, straight past Legolas' left ear, flicking up his hair as it passed.

The shot sank home into the Uruk's throat, which wasn't bad considering I'd technically been aiming for its head.

I had just long enough to see it topple backwards off the wall as Legolas whirled on the spot, wiping the blood from his face. His blue-grey eyes found me in the gloom, lit up in a brief flash of a torch's light.

I saw all the colour run out of his face as he saw me there.

Then the dark flooded back in again and he was gone again.

This time my head spun like my world had been tipped sideways, partly with the strain of Tink's night-vision and the adrenaline, but also the horrified realisation of what could have just happened. What might have just happened if I hadn't moved.

The image I'd conjured earlier of lifeless blue eyes staring up at me invaded my mind, and I had to physically bite the inside of my mouth to force it away. My heart still clenched in a way I knew distantly was completely new, but I didn't have the time to stop and dwell on it.

I felt the tell-tale trickle of blood starting to leak from my nose and my left ear, and raising my arms to draw my bow again suddenly felt like lifting rocks.

"Come on! Up into the keep!" Borormir was shouting and waving to the other soldiers, and I suddenly realised with another wave of relief that we'd somehow cleared the base of the stairs enough for the surviving elves to start retreating.

I flattened myself against the wall of the citadel as wounded warriors and archers began to flood past me up the stairs, many of them beaten and bleeding, some of them carrying the wounded who could no longer walk on their own.

It wouldn't last long though. With less of the men and the front, more of the Uruk-hai were spilling into the gully with every second I knew we'd couldn't stay long. With every fresh burst of Tink's night-vision I saw less and less allies, and more monsters trying to rush our retreat.

But still Boromir held them off.

Again, I have no idea where he found the strength or stamina, but he did not move.

Not a single Uruk-hai made it within a foot of the stairs while he was planted there.

"Eleanor!" He suddenly bellowed over his shoulder. He had to pause to take the head off one of the charging monsters before finishing. "Get back up to the keep! Cover our retreat from the top!"

I looked around frantically for the rest of my friends, not wanting to even consider about leaving without them despite the mortal danger. Instead I only caught the briefest glimpse of Haldir and his brothers helping the last of the defending elves get down off the battlements.

"What about the others?" I yelled, unable to help myself.

Boromir turned from the fighting just enough to meet my eye.

"We'll be right behind you! I promise! Go!"

I had literally no other choice but to trust him.

So I turned and started running back up the stairs as fast as I could without tripping or knocking any of the other soldiers out of the way. I knocked an arrow and held it as I went, just so I'd be ready to cover them the second I reached the top, but as I did, something made the back of my neck itch.

I couldn't help it.

I was maybe only half-way up to the rickety archway when I stopped and looked back, just as Tink activated my night-eyes one last time.

The last of the elves were all staggering and limping up the stairs after me, but my friends weren't among them. I frantically looked past to see Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn had made it to Boromir's side, the four of them forming a protective ring around the foot of the staircase as more and more Uruk-hai piled on their attack.

A flash of gold metal from Boromir's direction drew my eye, and I saw he'd somehow managed to lose his shield. In response he'd drawn the slender but razor sharp golden dagger given to him by Galadriel. He was using it in his offhand in a reverse grip to strike wherever his sword missed—slicing and stabbing at weak points he found in their armour, too quick for them to effectively dodge.

It was a technique he'd seen me use whenever we'd practised together, I realised with a jolt of pride.

But then I understood why they weren't retreating up into the keep with the rest of us.

Just a short distance away Haldir, Orophin and Rumil were running along the Deeping Wall towards the base of the stairs in a sprint, cutting their way through hordes like they were cutting their way through thick branches. I watched as Orophin and Rumil leaped gracefully off the wall and hurtled past Gimli and Aragorn onto the stairs…

At the precise same time I saw the flash of a serrated blade, and Haldir lose his footing.

I watched him fall face first to the floor of the battlement, and for a breath I didn't understand what I was witnessing.

Then the Uruk-hai, bigger than any of the others I'd seen that night, rose over the battlements, its helmet adorned with more spikes and sharp edges than any of the others surrounding the keep. Haldir rolled onto his back in time to see the monster looming over him, reaching for his fallen sword, but it was too far out of reach. I was able to see the Uruk-hai's blackened teeth as it exposed them in a smile, raising its axe triumphantly as it loomed over the downed Matchwarden of Lothlorien. The blade reflected red with fresh blood in the torchlight, and I had just enough presence of mind before the terror set it to realise Haldir wasn't moving because his leg had been sliced open.

He couldn't run.

He had an Uruk-hai general bearing down on him, and he couldn't stand to fight.

He was the last one out there covering the final retreat.

And he was going to die for it.

My insides filled with ice as I heard the others shouting his name. My mind went to Merileth, flashing imaginings of what the loss of him would do to her, her brothers, and the budding ties of a family that had begun to grow between them.

My arms once again went to move of their own accord, but I knew I was too far away to help.

We were all too far away.

Legolas and Gimli were locked in close combat with three other Uruk-hai at the base of the stairs, and Aragorn–now running at a dead sprint through the chaos–wouldn't make it back up onto the wall in time to help. There was no way for me to get close enough to even try and help, even if I changed down the stairs at full speed, my arms were too shaky to shoot from that distance without risking killing Haldir.

All I could do was watch it happen, helpless, my perception of time slowing to a crawl.

The speed at which Aragorn flew towards him was inhuman, but still not fast enough. The Marchwarden had braced himself up on one arm, a snarl of defiance on his face, blood beginning to stain the stone around him black in the darkness. I watched the Uruk-hai general heft its axe overhead for a final downward swing that would surely kill the Haldir in a single blow…

And it was like a piece of a puzzle had suddenly clicked into place in my mind…

I suddenly saw not just everything that was happening in front of me, but what needed to happen…

What an elven queen with the power to see glimpses of the future had set in motion all those months ago…

When she had granted each of us our unique and unexplained gifts.

'The knife is weighted so that no matter how it is thrown, or from what distance, it shall always strike with the blade first.'

"Boromir!" I howled so suddenly and so loudly my lungs and throat burned. The soldiers around me even slowed in confusion and alarm, but I barely noticed. All I could think was he had to understand what I just realised.

I dropped my bow completely, cupped my hands around my mouth and screamed I tasted blood.

"Boromir, the knife! Your knife!"

Boromir turned only slightly, confused, our eyes meeting for the shortest of heartbeats.

There was a terrible moment when I thought he hadn't understood…

But then with a speed I'd rarely seen normal humans capable of, he whirled back towards the fight, dropping his sword completely, and fluidly switching his golden knife into his dominant hand. Then, just like I'd shown him back when we'd practised together on the journey to Helm's Deep, my friend flipped the elven throwing dagger over in his hand, drew back his arm so the handle brushed his ear, and hurled it with all the strength of his upper body.

Galadriel's gifted blade flew perfectly, spinning end over end through the dark like a golden pinwheel, clipping Haldir's shoulder plate as it went…

And sank to the hilt in the Uruk-hai general's left eye.

A/N: And there we are! Hope you all enjoyed it, and Haldir being saved somewhat made up for the two year cliffhanger.

If you're still in need of an RB fix, you might be pleased to hear that while finishing this chapter I also finished a new chapter for Insolent & Insufferable from Boromir's POV (specifically his first interaction with Sarra after reaching Helms Deep.) Let me know what you think if you do decide to have a look!

A few quick points to share before I go:

Firstly, my former wonderful Beta is now working full time as a dentist and is unlikely to have time for do the kind of checks we used to. So in all likelihood whenever updates come, they will be edited and checked by myself and trusty Grammerly, and that will have to be enough. Hope you all understand.

Finally, a PSA for all you long-time readers. You may remember once upon a time that I'd list the usernames of everyone who reviewed to thank you guys directly, but given that it's been to years and there are literally more reviews and comments than I can count now, I hope you'll understand if I can't really do that anymore. What I will do is remind you guys that I read and cherish every single one. Always have. Always will. I even have a few saved because they're so kind and thoughtful.

Thank you so much for them all.

As mentioned in the first author's note, I can't and won't make promises on when the next chapter (currently titled "Dawn") will be finished, but as of now about 1/3 is drafted. So until the remaining 2/3s are done, I truly appreciate your patience with me.

Until then, much love,

Rella x