A Promise- a LOTR Fanfiction (Legolas) ❤︎ ✓

Chapter 18: Battle of Hornburg- Part One

"That is no Orc horn." Legolas mutters, running out of the room and up the stairs, Aragorn and Gimli close behind. I linger for several moments, thinking about what just happened, but I shrug it off and follow. I decide to act as if nothing happened.

"Send for the King! Open the gate!" Someone cries, and I emerge outside. I can't find the others, so I squeeze and push through the crowd to get to the front. Ignoring the glares and nudges of the men around me, I make it to the front at last to see an army of Elves marching towards the gate. The gate opens and I get away from the crowd, running down another flight of stairs to greet them. Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn are already there, along with the King.

"How is this possible?" Théoden murmurs. A single elf emerges from the sea of elves and smiles. Haldir. These are the Elves from Lórien!

"I bring word from Elrond of Rivendell. An alliance once existed between Elves and Men. Long ago, we fought and died together." Haldir responds, looking around. "We have come to honour that allegiance."

"Mae govannen, Haldir. (well met, Haldir.)" Legolas greets Haldir, smiling. Aragorn unexpectedly hugs him, looking relieved to have help from the Elves.

"You are most welcome." Haldir says.

The army of Elves behind Haldir suddenly lower their bows and turn in unison, their footsteps echoing through the stone walls. I smile to myself a little. We now stand a chance against the Orcs.

"We are proud to fight alongside men once more." Haldir declares.

We make our way back up to the top of the wall and find places to stand. I position myself next to Legolas and Gimli, fiddling with my swords and flipping them in my hands anxiously. I have a bad habit of flipping my blades in stressful situations, which isn't really good. I do it out of instinct, so I don't exactly realize I'm doing it so I don't focus on not cutting myself. Once, I was twirling them absent-mindedly and my left dagger slipped from my grasp. I caught it, but I obtained a long scar running along my palm.

"Argh, you could have picked a better spot." Gimli complains to Legolas. Legolas smiles at the short dwarf, trying to see over the thick stone wall. I smirk and gaze at the horizon, where an army of Uruk-Hai slowly approach us. Above them, the sky is stormy and dark, the clouds threatening to spill rain on us at any given moment. There are no stars. The Uruk's torches flicker in the distance, burning bright against the dark of the night, like small, evil stars that symbolize battle.

Footsteps approach us and I tilt my head to see Aragorn walking nearby, about to pass us.

"Well lad, by the luck you live by, let's hope it lasts the night." Gimli says to Aragorn, who stops walking and turns to face us. I nod at him in acknoledgement. Thunder growls in the sky and I cast a weary glance at the clouds.

"Your friends are with you, Aragorn." Legolas tells him. Aragorn smiles and continues to walk away.

We stand in tense silence for several minutes, just watching. Watching the Uruk-Hai thunder closer and closer. Watching the clouds collect above us. All you can hear are the footsteps and chanting of the Uruk-Hai, and the occasional cough or sigh of a man.

"Do you think-!" I turn to ask Legolas a question, but am cut off by an abnormally loud rumble of thunder from above, and rain starts to fall down on us. I shut my eyes, the droplets cascading down my face, on my clothes, in my hair. How ironic that, on the eve of battle, there's a rain storm. I wait for the rain to lessen, but it never does. If anything, it gets heavier and the air chills. I shiver and continue to watch the Uruk-Hai. I can now see their ugly faces and designs in their armour. They shout and yell, stomping on the ground.