Hope ↠ LOTR

IX. Fight

The drumming continued to increase in volume the more time that passed, shrieking beginning to accompany the harsh beat surrounding them.

"Frodo," Sam breathed out when seeing Sting glowing a bright blue colour.

"Orcs!" Legolas called out.

"The door!" Athena cried before her and Boromir rushed towards it.

He reached the door before she did but reeled back when two arrows shot through the air and lodged themselves into the worn down wood. She was unable to see what was happening from behind him, only hearing the familiar whizzing sound of the arrows before he pushed her back into the room and worked on closing the doors, Aragorn joining them as they heaved it shut.

"They have a cave-troll," he informed them out of annoyance.

Legolas threw the three of them various weapons that lay strewn across the floor, Athena catching one of the spears before pushing it up against the door. When they had barricaded it they retreated back to the tomb with their weapons drawn. She positioned herself between Legolas and Aragorn, her bow in her hands with an arrow nocked and ready to be fired. Gimli stood atop the tomb of Balin with his axe clutched in his hands and rage flowing through him.

"Let them come! There is one Dwarf yet in Moria that still draws breath!" He bellowed while the Orcs pushed against the doors, trying to force their way to the Fellowship.

"Athena, breathe," she heard Aragorn say from beside her.

He had noticed how tense she was standing beside him, her own silent anger beginning to consume her in place of the grief she felt, but he worried that if she allowed it to take over she would become reckless and blinded which would cause her fighting abilities to become hindered. At his words she let out a deep breath, relaxing her muscles and in turn relieving her brother's worries.

The Orcs began to break through the door, splinters of wood flying out from the cracks that they created while their unsightly faces peered through the holes left behind. The three people armed with bows began to fend them off through the gaps, Legolas firing the first shot and killing one of the beasts. Aragorn did the same but their arrows did not stop the battalion of Orcs from breaking down the only thing that had separated them from the Fellowship. As soon as the wooden doors hit the ground she released her arrow into the skull of an oncoming Orc, not taking the time to watch it fall lifelessly to the ground as she swiftly nocked in another arrow before firing it at the next Orc she laid eyes on.

The three of them were vastly outnumbered and they could not hold them off for long, the Orcs began to swarm them and those with axes and swords leapt into the fray. Even the Hobbits let out a battle cry and pushed themselves into the commotion. Athena ducked from the swinging sword of an Orc before pivoting to the side and shooting her arrow into the side of it's head from a close distance, switching to her sword after the encounter because she found it easier to use it in close combat situations, unlike Legolas who continued to fire his arrows at the monsters.

Just when they had begun to get used to fighting off the Orcs, thundering footsteps echoed towards them. Her eyes widened when she saw a monstrous beast burst into the room, letting out inhuman roars. It was the cave-troll Boromir had warned them about. It had a chain cast around its neck and eyes filled purely with bloodlust, it easily towering over all of them. Legolas shot an arrow into its shoulder but it had little reaction to it, or to him. Instead it had already focused on Sam and began to bound towards the Hobbit that only held a small sword in his hands.

"Sam!" She cried out in horror when she watched the troll bring down it's mighty mace.

Thankfully, Sam had ducked away from the blow and crawled his way between its legs to escape certain death, but it was still after him. Her and Aragorn shared a look before he rallied Boromir to aid with Sam. She rushed towards the Hobbit, watching as the grotesque beast lifted up its foot, but it never crushed the Hobbit beneath him because Aragorn and Boromir had reached the dangling chain in time and tugged on it, forcing the troll to reel back from the force of the men. Athena hurried to collect Sam up from the floor and move him from underneath the hovering foot in case their grip failed them. He clung onto the sleeve of her tunic as if he were scared to let go of her—which he was—before she set him back onto his feet, the troll now occupied with the others.