Holding the gate was tiring, and useless, and they were all going to die. When Aragorn appeared, Aerin wondered why it took him so much longer than them. ''Hold them!'' the King insisted. ''How long do you need?'' Aragorn asked. ''As long as you can give me!'' The King said before rushing off. ''Gimli!'' Aragorn called out before they both disappeared. ''What are they doing?'' Aerin asked, but no one gave her an answer. ''Shore up the door!'' the King ordered, and the guards brought bars right away, trying their best to seal the gate. ''Come,'' Legolas told Aerin before he took her hand and all but dragged her away. ''What are we doing?'' Aerin asked, running and stumbling through the crowd. ''You'll see.''
''There. Ladders,'' he explained, directing Aerin. ''These are bigger,'' she noted. ''We have to shoot them down.'' Aerin replaced her bow and aimed at the Uruks carrying the ladders. ''They're attaching the ladders to the wall. Shoot for the ropes and chains,'' Legolas instructed. He shot one of the chains and Aerin shot the other; both ladders fell back crashing all the Uruks on them and below them. ''Aragorn!'' Legolas quickly threw a rope down the gate.
They were sealing the gate and Aragorn and Gimli would have been left outside on their own. Aragorn swiftly jumped onto the rope, holding Gimli with him, and Legolas pulled them up. ''I will never get used to it,'' Aerin admitted in awe, ''You're so much stronger than you look.''
''I could say the same, mellon nin,'' he smiled.
''They have broken through! The castle is breached! Retreat!'' King Théoden's words echoed through the crowd. The sealing of the gate was unsuccessful, and the realization of it made Aerin's heart sink into her heels. They obeyed, rushing back, fighting a few of their foes on the way. They managed to reach the inner gates and enter the fort safely. ''The fortress is taken. It is over,'' said the King when they were behind closed doors. ''You said this fortress would never fall while your men defend it. They still defend it. They have died defending it!'' insisted Aragorn.
The door started banging. They reached the inner gate, and were trying to bring it down as well. A loud thump followed another... and another... and Aerin wanted to scream at the top of her lungs like a mad woman. She saw no way out of it. ''Is there no other way for the women and children to get out of the caves?'' Aerin asked, but nobody gave her a response. ''Is there no other way?!!'' She shouted. ''There is one passage,'' Gamling finally replied to her, ''It leads into the mountains. But they will not get far. The Uruk-hai are too many.''
''Then send them for the mountains! They cannot stay in the caves!'' Aerin cried out, ''Aragorn?!''
''Send word for the women and children to make for the mountain pass. And barricade the entrance!'' Aragorn commanded. ''So much death,'' the King barely whispered to himself, the desperation in his voice and his eyes making Aerin's skin crawl, ''What can men do against such reckless hate?''
''Ride out with me,'' said Aragorn, ''Ride out and meet them.''
''For death and glory?''
''For Rohan. For your people.''
''The Sun is rising,'' commented Gimli and Aerin looked to the window. The first sunrays of a new day streamed into the room. They almost could not believe it. The night had passed. They had seen the light of another day, even if it were to end there. They had survived the night. They had stood through hours on their feet, tireless in their resistance. They had made it that much. She did not even notice the flow of time. Those sunray seemed to Aerin almost as shocking as waking up from a ten-year sleep would be. She couldn't wait to see Haldir, they had nearly done it!
''Yes,'' said King Théoden, ''Yes! The horn of Helm Hammerhand shall sound in the deep, one last time.''
''Yes!!'' exclaimed Gimli, rushing out to blow the horn himself. ''Let this be the hour when we draw swords together.'' Aerin smiled. Aragorn, Legolas and Aerin went for the horses with the Rohirrim. Mounting them, they rode out with the King as Gimli sounded the horn. ''Fell deeds awake! Now for wrath! Now for ruin! And the red dawn! Forð Eorlingas!'' the King shouted and his words led them to battle once more.
They slayed the Uruks who had breached the inner gate and made their way out. Then the Sun shone its rays upon her face, and that itself brought hope to her heart, as odd as it might sound. There was something so pure about that sunlight, something so lovely - Aerin felt almost loved by the heavens, enveloped by the golden rays. She wanted to feel those rays on her skin for years to come. This was not the day Aerin Evenstar will die.
They galloped down the causeway, fighting their way into the Uruk army. They were successful in that too, and they were wiping them out of the entrance way, and Aerin knew the Sun had come to our aid. The Uruks couldn't have been as focused and relentless as during the night. But halfway down, Aerin froze. Not in fear or sorrow, but in happiness and hope so sudden that it stunned me. ''Gandalf,'' Aragorn said. Aerin wasn't imagining it. And her heart jumped with joy; Gandalf did not stand alone. ''It's Èomer!! Èomer is back!!!''
Gandalf and the Rohirrim charged down into the valley, clashing against the Uruk-hai that opposed us. More than half of the beasts ahead of them turned their attention towards their reinforcements and charged against them. One after the other, they slayed the ones who still stood. Soon, the Sun shone brighter and it all but blinded the beasts, leaving them weaker and disorientated before their forces, and they used that chance wisely. Seeing how quickly their fates had switched and how quickly they were being slain, the Uruks started fleeing, realising they could not prevail, not anymore. They chased the Uruks as they fled, but someone shouted ''Stay out of the forest! Keep away from the trees!'' and so they went no further. The forest started swaying and thrashing as if alive, and horrible sounds emerged as the trees seemed to have attacked the fleeing Uruks. Aerin could barely believe it.
The sound of Aragorn's laughter filled Aerin's ears as he ruffled her hair and hugged her. When she hugged Legolas, she did not want to let him go. But there was someone else she needed to see. Someone she was desperate to see again. To hug and kiss again.
YOU ARE READING
to love someone else
Fanfiction''My heart doesn't matter, does it? Even if it is true, and he feels something for me too, it is still doomed to fail, isn't it? Elves can only love once. I am doomed to die of heartbreak, it's my fate as I know Haldir was the one... I'd never want...
