I don't bow to crowns LOTR/Legolas love story #Wattys2015

The black ships...

"What say you?"

Aragorn's words echoed all around the cave hall as he looked at the faces of the ones who were once men. No one dared to look him in the eyes though as he asked again

"What say you?!"

"You waste your time, Aragorn! They had no honour in life, they have none now in death."

said Gimli in a loud whisper which everybody heard. But the man ignored his friend and took a step towards the King of the Dead and looked at him. The blade was raised as he continued

"I am Isildur's heir. Fight with me and I will hold your oath fulfilled. What say you?!"

He spun around a couple of times, making the soldiers step back, away from the sword. When he and the King were face to face again, there was still no reply. Only a smirk made its way onto the leader's face. Not even a second later, his cold skeleton laugh was mocking him as the army around them joined in. It sent chills all over Nymerial's body as she readied herself for whatever could happen next.

But there was no attack, not even a movement towards them. The army just slowly faded away, leaving the mocking chuckles echoing back. Aragorn, knowing it was their last chance of victory in this battle, tried desperately to call them back

"You have my word! Fight, and I will release you from this living death! What say you?"

Nymerial had recovered from the shock that had stopped the pain in her shoulder as she listened to her brother's voice. She stood up straight and yelled at the empty cave wall, knowing they would hear her

"Stand, you traitors!"

The ground started to shake at her words as the men turned to Nymerial, asking if it had been her. She only shook her head and watched dust and rubble fall to the ground. Then, suddenly, she heard a loud clatter and not even a second later thousands of skulls started rolling onto the cave floor. They were coming from every wall surrounding them. The doorway was breaking as the bones rolled over it and started blocking the way out. Aragorn yelled as he and the others started running

"Out! Get out!"

Nymerial ran as fast as she could but she was being buried under the skulls. She couldn't climb out for her shoulder wouldn't let her, every time she raised her arm to search for help, she felt as if the flesh inside her was being torn apart. She heard her brother yell as they were also trying to survive

"Legolas! It is Nymerial!"

Little did she know, the Elf was able to use his years of training as an Elf and he was able to walk on top of the skulls. But when he saw the love of his life being crushed to death by the dead, he jumped towards the center of the cave and started digging carefully but as fast as he could. Nymerial heard the scratching of Legolas' fingers above her and, trying to ignore the pain, she raised both of her arms as high as she could. Legolas saw it and grabbed them, dragging her out of the mouth of death. Her screams filled the cave, echoing over the clatter but no one could have helped her.

The Elf charged for the way out with Nymerial's hand in his. They managed to catch up to the rest of the party and get out of that trap. They reached fresh air just as the last skull blocked the doorway completely. Nymerial immediately fell onto her knees as her shoulder kept bleeding. The Elf rushed after her and carefully lifted the armour that was supposed to protect her from anything: seemed like the blade of the dead was not on the list.

Legolas tore a piece from his shirt and wet it with some water. He cleaned the wound as best as he could, ignoring the hissing from Nymerial. It hurt him to see her in pain, but it was the only way. Once clean, he wrapped the same cloth around her arm, trying to stop most of the bleeding. He pulled back as they heard a soft thud near them. They turned their eyes to Aragorn who was on the ground as well. He was staring at the water in front of them with a despaired look on his face.

Nymerial knew why as she put a hand on his shoulder. There were tens of black ships sailing towards mainland: they were the pirates the Shadow was able to lure onto their side. She could see the men preparing for battle, they had at least three blades for each man. The glimmer of hope that they could win started to disappear from Nymerial's eyes as she looked up to Legolas, wishing he would say everything was alright and that they still had a chance.

The only response she got was a quiet sigh as he turned away from the entrance to the sea. They then suddenly heard a sound behind them, it reminded Nymerial of wind in the night. They turned around to see the King of the Dead in front of them. He turned to Aragorn and said seriously

"We fight!"

The heir of the throne of Gondor nodded, the hope returned to all of their eyes as they saw the army coming out of the caves.