Of Swords and Fire (Percy Jackson/LOTR)

Chapter 2: A visit from a friend

Merry and Pippin gathered the last of their supplies. They both had finished packing and gone out the door when Merry cried out: "But we've forgotten our swords!" And they rushed back in at once. The gleaming of steel brought back a wave of nostalgia – why couldn't things been more simple? As simple as whack the enemy with your sword, don't go near the ones on the Nazgul and listen to Strider. But now it has to all come with plagues and controlling people and who knows what else. And we got ourselves another dark power who we don't even know the name of! Pippin let out a sigh of frustration. Merry sheathed the sword back into it's leather sheath and quietly chuckled. "Makes Sauron seem easy, doesn't it? "They stepped out into the front porch.

"Ready, Merry?"

"Of course, Pip."

They walked off together past the front gate in silence.

"Merry?"

"Yes?"

"When do we have second breakfast?"

Merry smiled to himself. Perhaps this is like old times.

Aragorn frowned to himself. He had been too late to stop Gondor from falling. The enemy's hands grow longer, every day. His loyal men are being turned into theirs. It seemed almost impossible that he would win. Maybe it is impossible. He thought to himself. The door suddenly bursted open in the throne room. "It's never impossible, Aragorn." Said a voice that he never thought he'd hear again. Aragorn squinted. A wizard in white robes walked in with his staff, emitting a strong aura of magic. "Good to see you, Gandalf!" called Aragorn.

"My, my. What have you been doing since I left?" They both laughed and told each other tales about what they had done in the last 40 years. "And What have the dwarves been doing?" asked Gandalf. "The dwarves have taken back Moria, and Erebor is expanding." Explained Aragorn to Gandalf, smiling.

"Good, good. That is some good news." Gandalf suddenly turned grave.

"But I came here for other reason to catch up, as lovely as it was. Gondor has been taken, I hear."

Aragorn nodded. "And Rohan, and Mirkwood. But the Treegarth of Orthanc is holding strong, and too are the dwarves of Moria. They cannot get past to the East as long as those still hold sway over those passes. Erebor is alone in a sea of foes. I think the communications have been severed between Erebor and us, but I've got a hope that they are holding out."

"The doors of the great dwarf – kingdoms are not a push open door, Aragorn. It requires 30 dwarves to open and close, and the hinges are made of pure mithril. Little doors are a better defence. They will hold out for many months inside, but they will not last forever. Assuming Dale isn't taken, it would take an army to march for 56 days to get there." Gandalf said gravely. Aragorn glanced outside the high windows. The glass was covered in frost, like it did back in the war of the ring, or during the king of Angmar's rule.

"I will do what I must. "Aragorn replied with finality. "I will see you again, whether on the battlefields, or in a dark cave." Aragorn stood up in his throne. He was no longer a ranger, in the far north. He was a king.

"HOLD THE BARRICADE!" Cried out Gimli.

Dwarves rushed to the door, securing it with pieces of fallen debris. The door boomed once again, and stone fell from the ceiling. Oh, well. This may be my last fight. At least it is in the dining hall. Thought Gimli dejectedly. Foul voices spoke outside the crumbling door, in a voice Gimli had heard before. "May the orcs go to the deepest parts of the world and never return!" Gimli whispered under his breath. Well, this may be the deepest part of the world. He thought.

A grimy dwarf shook him out of his thoughts. "Gimli! The doors will not hold for very much longer. Shall we ready our weapons?" Gimli simply nodded. He stood up on a cracked table and then said:

"Dwarves! Gather your weapons. Stand tall and stand firm! No foul creatures will take this chamber as long as one dwarf still takes breaths!" Gimli then pounded his shield and the other dwarves followed salute.

They waited.... But what they saw weren't what they expected. A noise came from behind the barricade. Orcs shrieking in pain. Then silence. A elven face peeked out of a hole in the door, only to get a rock as a welcoming present. Legolas quickly dodged and said behind the almost broken door, "Well, that wasn't a very nice present, was it?"

Legolas peeked through the hole again and look at the flimsy barricade the dwarves had made. He poked one single tiny rock at the bottom of the makeshift barricade. The entire stone barricade fell on the floor in a cascade of rocks. "I thought dwarves were supposed to be a master at stone working, Gimli." Legolas said, smiling. "That was a complete rush job!" Gimli huffed. Many dwarves nodded their heads and muttered in a wary way. Many shot distrustful looks at the elves. "No thank you? I didn't know that dwarves have become that stubborn." Said Legolas, breaking the frosty silence.

"Fine." Gimli gestured for Legolas to come inside. "I'll show you a dwarven feast, eh? Then you'll have to pay that debt 100 times over!" Gimli grinned and opened the door.

"I feel like I should be the one paying, but we'll see what this dwarven feast can do." Legolas strode in the ruined door. The other elves walked through the stone door, still eyeing the dwarves with beady silence.

The Grey Havens was aflame. The riders glanced at the burning city, their faces slack with horror. Tiny dots were still moving in the distance, and the screams and screeches were still audible from this distance. The riders hurried their horses, which broke into a run. They bolted pass the battlefield, littered with the wounded and dying. Many crude spears lay bloodied on the ground. They saw small figures – dwarves? They kept galloping into what remained of the onslaught. At last, when their horses were tired out, they saw what was happening. Elves and Dwarves were finishing off the last of the orcs. A dwarven warrior plunged his heavy axe into a Dark-elven. The thing fell down feebly. The dwarf swung his axe at the cursed figure, and it did no more harm.

Elves shot arrows at the retreating crowd of evil. ¾ of the band pursued it, and the rest remained on the lookout for more surprise attacks. This was known as the Battle of Mithlond where the Elves of the Grey Havens and the Dwarves of the Blue mountains fought against a surprise attack of Turned and other evil creatures of middle-earth. Other history reports that only Elves participated in the battle, but the red book (Written by Meriadoc Brandywine, arguably one of the most famous hobbit and a master at herb lore) says that:

The battle of Mithlond took place in the north – west part of the Grey Havens battlement. This was a famous battle, due to it having been the first assault of the Grey Havens since the Elder Days and it having Dwarven reinforcements from the Blue mountains, or Ered Luin. This was the first step in the renewal of the friend-ship. It was said that the river Lune ran on dark red water for 2 days after the incident.

And so the battle for Mithlond was over. 

Thanks for reading guys!