Chapter 8

What remained of both armies had convened within the great hall. Aragorn immediately took over, pointing to the furniture, statues, decorations, anything movable.

"Grab any furniture you can, move it to the doors! Hurry!" The soldiers began to pile up any furniture they could grab. Caladwen grabbed a nearby chair and tossed it to Gimli, where he placed it in front of the ever-growing pile.

Caladwen sighed, wiping her brow. She looked at her bloodstained hands and bit her bottom lip. Haldir's lifeless eyes flashed through her mind and she groaned, hunching over. Against her better judgment she looked down at her tunic. It had been blue before today, but now it was a deep maroon. She felt nauseas, dread forming in the pit of her stomach.

"The fortress is taken, it is over." Théoden muttered, defeated. He stood before the throne of the hall, leaning on it, his back to the remaining troops. Caladwen looked upon the man in fury.

How dare he give up! He trapped all of us here with him, ignoring our council, and now Haldir, as well as many others, are dead for it. She thought bitterly, the words tasting sour on her tongue.

"You said this fortress would never fall while your men defend it! They still defend it!" Aragorn shouted, as him and Legolas carried a table back to the barricade.

"They have died defending it!" Caladwen spoke. Her voice broke as she though back to all of the men who lay dead or wounded outside. The Uruk began to pound on the door with the battering ram. The timber shook underneath it.

"Is there no other way for the women and children to get out of the caves?" Aragorn looked to the king for answers. Caladwen went silent, glaring at the man. Aragorn waited a moment longer. "Is there no other way?" He asked, this time more urgently.

"There is one passage. It leads to the mountains, but they will not get far. The Uruk-Hai are too many." Gamling spoke up, stepping forward from the men. Aragorn turned to Caladwen, his eyes pleading. She shook her head, knowing what he was going to ask.

"Caladwen they need you. They need you to lead them, to protect them. You are one of few women who can take up a sword, much less a bow. You can provide for them until you reach a settlement." She continued to shake her head at him. She would hear none of it, she was going nowhere.

"I will not leave you to die here!" Caladwen stated fiercely. Legolas had joined Aragorn at her side. He'd be lying if he said he wanted her to go, but he knew it was for the best.

"We all have our destinies, Amin mael. (My Love.)"

"No." Caladwen said adamantly.

"I am not giving you a choice!" Aragorn raised his voice to her. Caladwen flinched, her resolve faltering. "Send word for the women and children to make for the mountain pass and barricade the entrance as you go." Caladwen swore she saw tears in his eyes, but he blinked them away quickly, turning back to the door to finish the barricade.

Helplessly Caladwen looked up at Legolas. He gave her a weak smile.

"I will come for you, I will find you." Legolas said indefinitely. He bent down to meet her, placing a tender kiss on her lips. Caladwen threw her arms around him tightly.

"Do not make a girl a promise you cannot keep." She whispered in his ear. He chuckled, pulling away from her.

"My word is my bond, Amdirvaethil."

Leaving Legolas was the hardest thing she had ever had to do. Every step she took away from him she felt the hole inside of her widen, and by the time she'd reached the women she was empty.

Eowyn looked at her hopeful, but Caladwen spared her no subtleties.

"We make for the mountain pass." Caladwen said, only to Eowyn. Eowyn brought her hands to her lips, shocked and grieved. "Leave everything. We shall take a single days ration and make for the Woods of Lothlorien. If we ride through the night we will make it there by morning. We must leave, now."

The cave erupted into a mix of women's sobs and children's cries. Caladwen looked to all, feeling beaten. She turned back to Eowyn.

"I am merely your sword and shield. They are your people, you must lead them." Caladwen told Eowyn matter of factly. The woman sprang to action, rallying the women to move out.

They had been walking nearly an hour, hastily making their way down the mountain pass. Caladwen felt a presence on the wind and she turned to Eowyn, fearful.

"There is something following us. I can feel it." Caladwen turned, looking up the mountainside where sure enough she saw movement. "It is there!" She pointed to the slope, knowing that Eowyn's eyes couldn't see what she did.

"What is it?" Eowyn began to panic, watching the women and children as they passed. A few stopped, watching the slope curiously, clutching their young tighter to them. Caladwen studied the slope, hoping for whatever it was to come into view, but they were still too far away.

"Get them out of here, I will buy you time." Caladwen commanded her. Eowyn was stubborn and she stood her ground.

"I will not let you die for Rohan alone. I will stay with you." Eowyn spoke bravely, unsheathing the short sword she had taken with her. Caladwen disagreed with her.

"No, Rohan needs you. Now more than ever." Caladwen glanced over her shoulder. The small caravan of women had passed them and now waited a few paces away for their command. "Take them north, do not stop until you reach Lothlorien." Caladwen fished through her bloodied tunic for something. She pulled out a broach of Lothlorien, the one her grandmother had given the Fellowship when they passed through.

Eowyn looked at the broach, taking it hesitantly from her.

"When you arrive you will be stopped. You will tell them Lady Caladwen Amdirvaethil, The Light of Lothlorien, intended of Legolas Greenleaf sent you. You will ask for Galadriel and will give them that broach. Do you understand?" Caladwen commanded. She waited for a response from Lady Eowyn, and Eowyn nodded. "Now go, make haste and do not stop, do not turn around. I will catch up to you."

Eowyn knew that that was lie but again she nodded at Caladwen.

"Farewell, My Lady." Eowyn said somberly, bowing to her. She turned, running back to the women, commanding them to follow her. Caladwen watched them go, travelling down the path.

Once they had disappeared from her sight, Caladwen ran off down the path. She spied a large boulder, somewhat up the pass wall and she clamored up the rocky slope. Caladwen leaned against the boulder, out of eyesight of the advancing troops. She was tired and the climb up the rocky hill took what little strength she had left. Caladwen was certain her wound had reopened, but she didn't care. She was going to die here, but she was going to go down fighting. The Uruks would not take the women and children so easily, that much Caladwen knew for certain.

Caladwen waited what felt like forever before she could hear them approaching. The footsteps of the coming horde grew louder and Caladwen knew that they were upon her. She took a deep breath, steeling herself for the doom that was about to befall her.

"Ed' i'ear ar' Elena, ten Rohan! (By the sea and stars, for Rohan!) " Caladwen cried out, jumping from behind her rock. She aimed her bow at the wall of troops, ready to let it fly.

Caladwen gasped, dropping her weapon to the ground. Before her stood not a battalion of Uruk-Hai, but a cavalry of Rohan Riders, led by Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Gandalf.

"It cannot be…" She whispered under her breath. Her companions smiled up at her, looking no worse for wear than they had before. Caladwen blinked profusely, waiting for them to disappear before her eyes, but they did not.

Legolas jumped down from his horse, patting it gently. He grinned up at his fiancé, admiring how beautiful she looked when she was too shocked for words.

"I told you I would come for you." Caladwen felt her knees melt like butter at the sound of his voice and she ran at him. She slid down the slopes, her feet unsteady on the loose rocks, but she did not care. Caladwen caught herself as she reached the path, picking up speed.

Legolas met her in the middle, catching Caladwen mid air as she jumped at him, embracing him. Legolas spun on his heels, holding her tightly. Caladwen cried tears of joy, placing kisses on any open skin she could find, his lips, his cheek, his neck.

"Oio naa elalla alasse'! (Ever is thy sight a joy!)" She said between kisses. She pulled away as he held her off the ground, placing a hand on either side of his face. She kissed him fiercely, the world disappearing around her. The kiss was returned as he slowly placed her on the ground. "Amin nowe ron n'kayala. (I thought I would never see you again.)" Caladwen whispered, as they broke apart.

"I made you a promise that I had every intention of keeping."

Gandalf cleared his throat from behind them, and Caladwen remembered there were other people there. She looked past Legolas sheepishly, smiling at their audience. Aragorn and Gimli smiled, clapping each other's shoulders, overjoyed to see the happy ending. Gandalf wore a bemused smile.

Aragorn dismounted his horse, joining the lovers. He hugged Caladwen tightly, taking her hand in his.

"The women and children?" Caladwen felt foolish, completely forgetting about them. They were probably terrified, thinking Caladwen dead.

"I sent them north, to the woods of Lothlorien, with my Broach. It was the only place I could think of that we would have found sanctuary. They have at least a thirty minute head start." Aragorn smiled at her.

"We must ride to them, we will be returning to Edoras with Eomer's riders. Rohan has survived." Aragorn gestured for Gimli to join them, and he did, pulling behind him four stallions, one for each. "We must hurry to reach them before nightfall."

The fellowship wasted no time mounting their steeds. Caladwen smiled at Legolas, before commanding her horse to ride out, following Aragorn south to catch up with the women.

And that is the end of Book Two! Book three, The Crownless Again Shall Be King, will be up probably tomorrow so excited!

A few things before I leave you:

ATTENTION ALL PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN FANS! As I said last chapter I've posted the teaser for my next story, Not All Treasure is Silver and Gold, Savvy?(Which if you haven't guessed is going to be PotC) and I've gotten some pretty exciting feed back from it so i'm really excited to start it!

ALSO! Can anyone tell me how to add photo's to my stories? or link a photo? I tried to link one from tinypic but Fanfiction deleted the link when I published it and I drew some pretty awesome pictures of Caladwen I really wanted to share with you guys! Any help is appreciated.

AND FINALLY I'm not sure if any of you have noticed but I like to hide nerd culture easter eggs in my stories (Doctor Who, Firefly, Video Games...) there was one this past chapter from a VERY popular Video Game series about SPARTANS and aliens. So if you see one that you understand feel free to chuckle to your heart's content at our fandoms in joke.

Stay beautiful!