Brothers In Arms: A Middle Earth Story

Chapter 12: I Walk Now in Green Fields

"Eradan, look out!" I cried, winding up to swing again. But I knew it was too late.

The wraith lunged full force toward Eradan, burying the knife deep into his chest. I screamed out with all my might, swinging at the wraith as I did. My own blade cut into the creature's shoulder, the crunch of flesh and sinew filling the air as it let out a screech that matched mine. Though no blood issued from the wound, I knew I had struck true.

Malbeth withdrew then, pulling the knife blade from my brother's heart as he shrunk back in pain. Eradan's eyes met mine, and a tear fell from them as he collapsed. Aerel used the momentary distraction to strike the wraith in the back, causing him to fall to the ground. He immediately rose to his hands and knees and, like a phantom spider, skittered away into the shadows of the alley he had crept from in the first place.

I barely even noticed him flee as I let my sword clatter to the pave stones and ran to Eradan's side, catching him as he fell.

"No, no, no," I said through tears. "Not you of all people. You weren't supposed to go."

His eyes just barely fluttered open, his face pale as a corpse already. "We all were going to eventually... It was only a matter of time."

"No, not you," I said through gritted teeth, in denial of what was to come. "You were the one who was supposed to make it home."

Eradan put a bloody hand on my chest, as if to comfort me. "Then you go home for me. Tell mother and father I died with honor defending our beloved city."

"You did, brother. You did," I said, letting the tears flow freely, not having the heart to tell him that our family had likely not survived the razing of the Pelennor. "Your memory will live on for generations to come."

"Let not my death be in vain," he gasped, his gaze shifting to something just behind my shoulder. "Let not the city of our ancestors fall. Let it see the dawn once more, and the coming of a King who will unite us. Let it look over a land untainted by darkness, that our people may-" He coughed, and a drop of scarlet blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. "May know peace."

Suddenly, as if awakening from a deep sleep, his expression changed, and his pain seemed to subside. "What is this?" He asked, a faint smile forming on his youthful features.

"What?" I asked, looking behind me to attempt to see what had caught his attention. "What is what?"

"The sun..." He whispered, reaching out toward the dark sky. "The sun rises in the depths of night. And look there," he said, pointing to something I could not see. "The fields are full with the growth of spring." His hand lowered slightly, as if he was touching something beside me. "I walk now in fields of green, where the Enemy can never find me," he said, his voice barely audible as his eyelids grew heavy over milky eyes. "I can feel the grass growing tall on the roadside, and I can hear the laughter of children as I draw near to home. Come with me, Turin," he said, taking my hand in his. It was cold to the touch, and as pale as newly fallen snow. "Follow me to paradise."

With those last words, the last of his life left him, his eyes fixed on that place of beauty that only he saw.

I let out a cry of anguish, feeling sick with grief as I watched him die. My brother, the one who had been with me since I was a little boy, had left the world of the living. The little brother who I thought would long outlive me. The little brother who I tried so hard to protect for my entire life... The little brother I had failed.

I gently closed his eyes as I let the tears fall freely, his frigid hand still in mine. Aerel came to my side, tears of her own dampening her face as she put a comforting arm around me. We lingered there a moment longer, and at that moment I did not care if Orcs came upon us and slew us where we stood.