At the End of All Things [LotR / Legolas] Book 3

XXVIII

It didn't take long before the battle made Ára loose sight of Legolas, though she would at times see him in her peripheral vision - which calmed her at least a little.

    "Ára!"

Hearing her own name she whipped around, her eyes first finding Legolas' widened eyes before they flitted over to the men besides him, all of them crouched down and covering their heads in fear. She knew what was coming before she could hear the whooshing of large wings. Putting her twin-blades back into the harnesses on her back, she turned around to meet the Fell-Beasts that were flying straight towards her, Nazgûl's on their backs and claws reaching out to snatch her.

Glancing to the side she saw Gandalf, his eyes halfway closed as a moth flew past him. Hearing familiar screeches she looked up just in time to see Gwaihir collide with the first Fell-Beast, the other eagles following quickly behind. Smiling to herself she continued her own battle, sliding her twin-blades out of their sheats on her back and hacked through the orcs with renewed energy.

The ever-watching eye of Sauron kept its impenetrable stare on her, occasionally flickering over to Aragorn. So when she felt the stare move away for a long time she got suspicious and once she parted the head of a particularly pesky orc she glanced up towards the tower, her swords lowering in horror as she saw the Fell-Beasts flying at full speed towards the mountain that Frodo and Sam were hopefully close to entering it's giant gates.

    "Blasted bats," she hissed, her eyes flitting to the side and finding Legolas' who was already looking at her. his head offering a small nod of understanding as he realized what she had to do. Once again putting her twin-blades back in their sheats she started running; her body gaining momentum as she ran straight for the closest orcs, jumping just as they swung at her with their blades. Her right leg found one of the orcs heads and she used her momentum to launch up into the air, her form changing into that of a dragon before her body could start to descend towards the ground again. With a roar she flapped her wings growing in size until she was as large as the Fell-Beasts, taking up the chase on the beasts and their riders.

*        *        *

Ará had positioned herself in-between the entrance of the mountain and the Fell-Beasts, she had her hands - or rather claws - full, the beasts attacking from every angle. She had spotted Sam, Frodo and the creature Gollum all heading into the mountain, and she hoped they would be able to cope with the slithering being who looked like he had no good intentions. From a distance she could hear Legolas screaming Aragorn's name, and she hoped with all her heart that everything would be all-right in the end.

The beast carrying the former king of Angmar came at her, the beasts claws ripping into her wings as she was distracted by her thoughts. Tearing herself away from its claws she was immediately attacked by another beast, who's claws ripped at her throat and sent her crashing into the ground. She launched herself back into the air within seconds, fighting to keep them away and worrying slightly about the amount of blood that she could feel trickling from her wounds. It was draining her for her powers, and she knew she couldn't keep this up for long.

Just as the thought crossed her mind she could feel teeth sinking into the back of her neck. With a roar she was thrown to the ground once more; one of the sharp rocks digging into the scales on her belly. To her horror she could feel herself changing back, her claws retracting and her large scaled body shrunk until she was all skin and torn clothes. She could hear the snarling laughs of the Nazgûl's and she shakily got to her feet, shrugging her shoulders to rid herself of some of the pain wracking through her body.

    "You'll never get them," she hissed, squaring her shoulders.

    "You think you stand a chance, little girl?" The Nazgûl hissed mockingly, the Fell-Beast he was riding settling down right in front of her. "You might be one of the maiar, bur you do not have all your powers here, and the Valar does not seem to favour you much."