The Lady of Rivendell

Chapter 22

The Uruks parted quickly as they made their way out of the keep and towards the causeway, trampling those who did not move quick enough and striking those who tried to get in their way. Down the stone ramp, they rode as the King and Aragorn moved out of the way and Legolas spurred his steed straight through the Orcs as Allora swung her sword, the first trickles of sunlight peeking out from the horizon and the sky began to turn from black to white.

Allora was crouched behind Legolas as she pulled his face back for a single kiss, a good luck kiss, a goodbye kiss, and she leapt off the horse.

She felled a few foes before Legolas rode in a circle around her, trying to maintain the distance between Allora and the Uruks so she would have time to call upon the light.

The Lady of the Elves, the Lady of Rivendell held her necklace tightly in one hand as she gripped her sword with the other and she began to chant in Elvish as the sun began to rise and she felt the first light of the dawn wash over her. Her sword hummed with power that she silenced as she focused upon her task.

"From the hope of the dawn,

I call upon the light from which I was born,

Turn to dust the enemies that bathe in this light,

As dawn and day transforms the darkest night!"

And like every time she had done this before, Allora felt as if her insides were being filled with sunlight as it rose from her toes all the way up to where her hand clutched her necklace and her eyes closed as her head tilted back and she spread her arms out as sunlight, as daylight, as the light of the dawn emanated from her body like an explosion.

The light she summoned was harmless to her kin, to the mortals and to Gimli, but to the Orcs, to the Uruk-Hai and their enemies, it was deadly. It was as if the sun was right in front of them rather than in the sky as they were disintegrated into dust, burned into nothing and reduced to ashes. And the hope of the dawn began to extinguish the darkness of the night.

Theoden, Aragorn and their men were forced to look away and shield their eyes from the light, but as the bubble of sun grew as it destroyed their enemies and Allora's strength began to wane rapidly as exhaustion tugged at her.

In the past, she had never been able to hold the spell for more than a few seconds, but this time they had everything riding on it as she tried to hold out longer until all their enemies were dead.

But Legolas had other ideas as he dismounted his horse and braved the light to its source.

"Allora! Allora, you must release the light! You must stop!" he begged.

Her face was beaded with sweat and her whole body seemed to tremble with effort despite the way her skin glowed the way a star does in the sky and the sunlight surrounded her body like a supernova.

"A little longer," she muttered through the wind that rushed past her ears.

"Allora, you may not survive a little longer! You must stop now!"

And her eyes opened, the blue colour now gold as she beheld Legolas, her lips dry and chapped. "Not if it saves you."

"I do not need to be saved," Legolas said as he hesitantly lifted his hands up to cup her face, her skin warm to the touch and alarmingly so. "I need you to live. I need you."

And her concentration broke as Legolas kissed her and the light began to recede as the ocean did before a tsunami, rushing back to the source from whence it came. And Legolas was glad his eyes were closed, for even in that darkness, he saw the bright flash of light before he felt Allora grow limp in his arms.

The night was indeed fading as the sun began to rise, a ring of destruction formed around them as ash, burned armour and scorched limbs littered the blackened earth, the white horse untouched as it cantered over to its rider now that the light was gone.

But despite what the future High Lady of the Elves had done, there were still at least a few thousand Uruk-Hai still standing, and now they were all charging at the two Elves.

Fear began to pound at Legolas, fear of not being able to keep the female he loves safe from harm as he watched the army close in on them. He took Orothel out of Allora's hand and tucked the blade into his belt before he sat Allora's unconscious body onto the horse and climbed up behind her, resting her head on his shoulder as the high ground was his only advantage and the enemy closed in from all sides.

He had nowhere to go. No direction to ride in that was clear and their friends were much too far to help them as they tried to fight their way to them. 

But he wasn't going to give up. His Allora had hope that they would survive this battle, and Legolas was not about to let that hope die out.

He drew one of the broadswords he'd stolen from Allora earlier as he raised it in the air, about to steer his steed forward in a full gallop when the sound of a horse neigh cut through the noise of the battle.

And the remaining warriors fighting for Rohan looked to the east, they looked to the dawn, to the light on the fifth day.

Atop Shadowfax, sat Gandalf as he gazed upon the valley with the light of the dawn behind him. And then rode a figure next to him.

Eomer.

"Rohirrim!" He bellowed, his sword in the air, his voice echoing across the valley as hundreds of horses rode to his side, no doubt the rest of his party of two thousand riders behind him. "TO THE KING!"

And the warriors of Rohan charged into battle with Gandalf at the lead, forcing the Orcs to look straight to the light of the dawn, the light of hope and the very light that had emanated from Allora as she still lay in Legolas' arms, and he grinned as he always did when that feeling of hope in you grew stronger.

Legolas turned to the west as he flourished his sword and let out another battle cry as he went charging through the ranks of the Orcs.

And so the end of the battle began. 

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The Orcs were not exterminated, but rather, they fled. They fled in fear as their numbers dwindled and Theoden King raised his sword into the air and cried, "VICTORY!"

And Legolas looked down at the sleeping Elf in his arms as her chest rose and fell slowly, as he cradled her head in his arms and brushed the strand of hair from his face.

"We have won, Allora. You were right, Your Highness," he whispered to her as he pressed his lips to her forehead and returned to the company of their friends.

Gandalf was quick to heal the exhausted Lady of the Elves, but she still slept several hours more before she gained enough strength to awake, Legolas sitting at her bedside as he bickered with Gimli about a final count of how many Orcs they had killed.

And when Alora's eyes opened, she settled the debate by declaring herself the winner.

And she had never seen Legolas smile so brightly than when he was assured that she was ok.

Aragorn and Gandalf were relieved to see that she was ok as well, but they did not have much time for reunions, for the next morning they set out to return to Edoras.

The battle of Helm's Deep had drawn to an end.

The battle for Middle-Earth had only just begun.

And the fate of it all rested in the hands of two little Hobbits.