Paths That Lead Home (LotR F.F.)

Chapter 27: Red Skies at Morning, Friends Take Warning

Abby's POV:

Lightning danced across the sky as an Uruk-hai raised his sword and slew the man before him with one sweep of the sword. The Uruk then looked up at me, and sneered.

Shit.

I spun on my heels and ran in the opposite direction, back into the Keep. I passed Legolas as I ran. He had two blades in his hands and was engaging with three Uruks at once. He was holding his own very well. Nearby, another elf was fighting two Orcs with his sword.

I looked back and sure enough, the Uruk was still after me. I returned my gaze to the front of me and skidded to a stop when four Uruk-hai stared down at me.

I'm a dead woman.

Suddenly, the four Uruk-hai erupted into flames. The intensity of the flames knocked me back onto my butt as well as a few other nearby soldiers. I looked up and saw a cloaked figure leap over me and slew the Uruks. He was fast and swift with his swings and even fended off a few nearby Uruks all within seconds. The figure looked back at me, but the hood of his cloak covered his face.

A screech erupted from behind me. I looked back and found the Uruk that followed me had an axe in its skull. The creature collapsed, revealing a grinning dwarf.

"You alright there, Lassie?" Gimli asked.

I nodded. "Now I am. Thanks." I looked back to the hooded figure, but he vanished.

"Aragorn!" One of Théoden's men called from the top of the wall. "Fall back to the Keep! Get your men out of there!"

"I will not give up so easily," Gimli growled. He raised his axe ready to take on the Uruks, but I grabbed him.

"We need to retreat!" I yelled.

"A Dwarf does no such thing!" He growled.

"Except for this time." Legolas swooped in from nowhere, wrapped his arm through Gimli's, and began dragging him towards the Keep. I followed, linking my arm around Gimli's other arm and helped Legolas drag the struggling Dwarf away.

"What are you doing?" he protested. "What are you stopping for?"

"Na Barad! Na Baraad! Haldir, na Barad!" Yelled a voice.

I looked up and saw an elf on the wall motioning for the other elves to retreat. He looked like that one elf from Lothlórien that served Galadriel. Haldir, I think it was. One Uruk-hai came up to him. They both swung their swords and both flinched. The elf swung again and slew the Uruk. The elf looked around, but the second his back turned, an Uruk came up from behind and brought its sword into the elf's back.

"Haldir!" I heard a woman scream.

My vision flashed white and suddenly, I was somewhere else entirely. A courtyard with a white, leafless tree in the center. I took a hesitant step forward and the tree bursted into flames followed by murderous screams.

My eyes flung open and I bolted upright. My breathing was heavy and sweat poured down my face. I had to blink a few times while I registered that I was in a bedroom, and not in the middle of a battle. There was an adjacent window from me and it showed the land of Rohan, with the sky turning red from the sunrise with the city of Helm's Deep below.

I looked over at the bed near mine and saw Éowyn sleeping soundlessly. Lucky. She's probably having a nice, dreamless sleep with no death or war. I wiped my head and tried to steady my breathing.