Protect & Serve LotR-Lord of the Rings Fanfiction - Fan Fiction -WattyAwards2012

Chapter 6: Battle Highs and Lows

Companies of Rohirric cavalry rode through the frenzy on the field, their spears swift and steady in their dance, darting in and out at the Orcs, creatures, and human enemy.

This macabre dance was no formal dance, no structured or choreographed waltz, and no impassioned tango. It reminded me more of old jazz. No rhyme, rhythm, or reason.

It was chaos.

Nothing in my world could have prepared me for this battle. No battle my people's military had seen in ages could have equaled it. And no Hollywood imagining could have done it justice.

There was no overriding command and leadership that moved companies of men about the fields like chess pieces on the board. There was no inspiring music score to tug at the heart and swell emotions of a moviegoer.

There was only blood, death, and dying. And the prayer that you were only on the delivering end of those things.

It was like nothing I could have imagined on that field. Men and creatures fought and died all around me, blood soaking the ground until the dried grass had wilted with the slickness of that viscous fluid.

There were no formations to fight in, at least not for those of us on foot. The Rohirrim on horseback rode back together several times at the sounding of horns from their captains, but those of us on foot continued as we were, pushing forward through the mass of Orcs as we could. Sometimes two soldiers on foot would come together to fight side-by-side, but invariably, one would fall leaving the other to continue fighting alone.

The ground suddenly shuddered behind me as I heard something strike the ground. I tuned to see a snowy white horse splayed out on the ground, his feet kicking impotently against his death pangs.

A great winged creature suddenly descended near the fallen horse, reaching down to clamp wicked teeth around it. The great winged beast of the Nazgûl. I thought darkly to myself that the creature seemed more like a throwback to some ancient line of Stone Age creatures, a missing link surely. And atop the creature was the previously vanished Lord of the Nazgûl, once more returned to the battle.

I fumbled back and away from the creature and his rider, finally realizing that it was Théoden beneath the white horse. In a daze, I watched as Éowyn stepped forward to fight the Black Rider, and Merry so valiantly fighting with her.

My body again quaked as I fought the dark menace that surrounded and shadowed the Lord of the Nazgûl, darker and more terrifying than nearly anything I'd ever before felt my mind immersed in, second only to the terror I'd felt when my mind had been awash with Sauron's evil will.

My muscles continued to shake as I struggled with the task of pushing that menace away, watching Éowyn's battle almost absently. When her shield rose to fend the Black Rider's mace, it shattered, the pain in her now broken shield-arm driving Éowyn to her knees.

She was turned partially towards me as she gazed about in shock, her eyes landing almost unerringly on my face. I saw the pleading in her eyes as she recognized me, but there was nothing I could do to help her. The dark menace of the Ringwraith prevented me from taking even a step towards her to offer assistance. A woman and a hobbit would slay the Witch-king, but I knew this woman would be of no aid.

I closed my eyes, feeling a lone tear of regret roll down and slip from my eyelashes, falling heavily upon my chest. But I did not turn back towards Éowyn. Instead, I turned and walked away, throwing myself once more into the fray, desperate to drown my regret in blood, and amazed that even the Orcs had not strayed into such close quarters with the Witch-king and his winged creature.

My heart pounded heavily at leaving Éowyn behind to face the Nazgûl, but I reminded myself that she would defeat the Witch-king, and she would survive his dark breath. In the end, she would even find a worthy man to give her heart to. Yet in those moments as I walked away with heavy feet, it was no consolation in my heart to leave her behind. My mind recalled again and again the look of pleading and desperation in her young eyes.