Light of the Stone (Lord of the Rings Story)

39. An Enemy Vanquished in Light

It was over.
Reiness breathed out, her eyes wide as the fire extinguished and Arabia's words hit Morana squarely.
It seemed to take the witch a few moments to grasp the shock, and she slowly fell to her knees, her eyes glazed. Arabia's gaze had no sympathy in it, but it did indeed have a flicker of realization. Morana looked up, her dark eyes wide as her hands fell uselessly to the ground. The clouds seemed to lighten all of a sudden, as if the darkness was leaving them. Reiness watched as Morana closed her eyes, and disintegrated into nothing. It was another click in place. Reiness suddenly screamed as she drew all her power in, and released it across the moor; covering everything as far as the eye-can-see. When it disapeared, every orc, every Ahrithma, every dark thing they'd fought so hard to defeat was gone.
It's over, Reiness thought breathlessly, We won.
As if on cue, a streak of sunlight appeared like a spotlight on her; slicing through the thick clouds. The rain cut out, and the clouds began to fade. Reiness grinned as the stone glinted in the sunlight, the sunlight she hadn't seen in three years. The blue sky, as blue as her mother's eyes, became visible again.
We've won, her bright grin became even brighter.
She yelled out with as much of her voice as she could muster,
"We've won!"
****
Ronan flipped over and rebounded back on his feet, leaping once again at the great orc; aiming a hard kick in his face.
"It's not so easy, now, is it?!" he hissed as Legolas shot another arrow in his back.
Gothafar roared in pain, lashing out at Aragorn on his right. Aragorn ducked the blow and swung his sword, making another deep gash in the orc's side. Suddenly, something was off.
"Ronan!" Legolas yelled.
Ronan was frozen on the spot, his eyes focused in the battle around them.
"Legolas!" Aragorn called, struggling with the bucking orc.
"Ronan!" Legolas yelled again, yanking his son out of the way of Gothafar's flailing limbs.
A white light was coming, crashing towards them fast.
Gothafar and Aragorn had stopped fighting to stare at what was coming, Frodo suddenly appeared, looking almost unharmed.
"Aragorn, what is that?!" he asked loudly.
Aragorn didn't reply, and his expression remained unreadable. The light washed over them, blinding Ronan from seeing anything. When he regained his sight, something was different. It wasn't just the fact that there wasn't an orc or Ahrithma in sight, but the sky was different; it was brightning. Rays began to shine through the clouds, and the clouds began to fade, revealing the bright blue sky. Ronan looked back where Aragorn stood gazing at the sky in awe, Gothafar was gone. Legolas' expression was just as shocked, but his eyes were light as the sun shined brighter. Ronan grinned, they had won.
Rein.
The thought of his sister made him need her presence, he knew that she was quite alive (he could feel it), but he needed be with her.
****
"We've won!"
Reiness' scream rang out across the moor.
"Victory!" Someone else yelled from the army, they yelled in gladness, screaming as their victory set in. Reiness laughed outloud, they had beaten the Black Witch. They had beaten the Black Witch. The realization begun to set in, and the feeling was a better feeling than she had ever felt.
I did it.
The words rang in her head, like she had been struck by lightning.
I did it.
****
The army was heading back to the camp, walking slowly; enjoying the sunlight they hadn't seen in so long. Reiness was in the back, tagging along slowly, pleasurably with Eildron frolicking around behind her. The grass on the moor had turned a luscious green, and birds flitted about. She'd taken her damp hair out of it's braid, allowing it to blow back freely in the light breeze. Eildron suddenly leapt into her, knocking her into the grass.
"Hey!"
She hopped back up and returned his courtesy with a shove, knocking him off-gait with her strong movement. He blacked her path with his tail twitching, a playful hiss escaping his mouth.
"So that's how it's going to be?"
Reiness dodged from side to side, Eildron following her until she ducked under him. She took off and he sprinted after her, trotting up beside her with a pouting glare. Reiness laughed at this.
"Rein!"
She looked forward and spotted her brother running towards her; there were a few cuts on his face, but he was otherwise unharmed. He grabbed her in a tight hug, and Reiness could feel his fast heartbeat.
"You did it," he breathed.
"I did."
She grinned once more and laughed as he swung her off her feet.
"But Mom killed the Black Witch," she added once he put her down.
"But you got rid of all the orcs and the Ahrithmas! You saved us."
He grinned, and she realized that it was the first time he had truly smiled since she'd seen him. His smile mirrored her's, it was one thing that was identical about them, their smiles. Legolas suddenly began making his way over to them, his expression more guarded than Reiness had ever seen. He wrapped them both in his strong grasp, and held them there for a moment. When he pulled back, he was grinning.
"Reiness-"
"I know, I know. I did kill the orcs and Ahrithmas, but Mom killed Morana."
Reiness told him firmly.
Legolas and Ronan shared a look, and both continued to smile.
"So much like her mother," Legolas murmered.
"I know," Reiness replied.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Thalia.
"Thalia!" she sprinted toward her and stopped short.
"What's wrong?" she demanded.
Thalia said nothing, but her expression screamed terror.
"Thalia."
Legolas said slowly.
"What's wrong?"
Thalia looked straight at Reiness,
"Rein," she said, then turned on her heal and ran back through the army.
Reiness sprinted after her, Ronan and Legolas on her heal. Thalia never did this. Ever. Something had to be very, very wrong.
They ran ahead of the army and back up to camp; Reiness drew a sharp breath as she caught sight of Kilith, lying sprawled out on the ground in a pool of blood. Aragorn hovered over him, and Malice' and a tear-stained Aileara slightly behind him.
"What has happened?" Ronan asked urgently.
"He was struggling to kill an orc, and I was trying to aim dark magic at the monster, but I was too late. The orc stabbed him through the stomach," Malice' replied, her voice quivering.
"Is he still alive?" Reiness asked, bending down next to Kilith's body.
"Barely," Aragorn's voice was low, and Reiness could detect hints of pain.
"He cannot die!" Aileara exclaimed, a tear trailing down her face.
"Not like this!"
Ronan put an arm around her,
"We'll find a way," he assured her.
"How? What way is there?!"
Reiness looked up to meet Aragorn's eyes,
"There is a way," she whispered..
She leapt up and bolted into camp, racing into her tent. She flew open the chest, and pulled out her leather knap-sack; digging around inside it until she found a clear vile of clear liquid, and then ran out with the vile in hand.
"What is that?" Malice' asked as she returned.
"The Juice of the Fireflower."
Reiness opened the vile and dripped a few drops into Kilith's mouth before closing it again. Then she waited, holding her breath. The moment was suspenseful until Kilith let out a hard breath, breathing in roughly. He opened his eyes, looking around.
"What happened?" he asked, gasping for air.
Reiness grinned in releif.
"Nothing that matters," Aragorn embraced his son.
Aileara leapt at her brother, wrapping him in a hug. He looked at her, bewildered.
"Kilith, we won the battle!" she told him.
His eyes widened,
"We did?"
He looked at Reiness, she nodded.
"Yes, and we owe it to the Lady Rein."
Thranduil appeared at Legolas' shoulder, a sly smile upon his face.
"It was my mother who killed the Black Witch," Reiness told him.
"But you disposed of the orcs and Ahrithmas," Elrond agreed, walking up with the other leaders behind him.
"You are the hero of this day," Gandalf put in.
"Indeed, she is."
Sam grinned at her from beside Frodo, who's curls were ruffled.
She glanced around, they were telling her that she was a hero. Somehow, that did not seem right.
"I'm not the hero. All the men and elves that put their lives on the line are the real heros," she said defiantly.
They exchanged glances.
"And that it was truly makes her your daughter, Arabia," Galadriel looked over at Ronan, who now had Arabia behind him.
Reiness smiled, and could see the proudness displayed in her mother's eyes.
"No."Arabia's smiled.
"Reiness Greenleaf Wolf is her own person, I have nothing to do with that."

It was right there in this moment when Reiness truly realized what it meant when everyone had always told her that 'she was her mother's daughter.' It meant they believed her to be a strong leader, who didn't allow anyone to tell her how to live her life. Someone who held her own against the world. But now- now- Reiness realized that she didn't want to be just like her mother. She wanted to be her own hero, one known for what she'd done and not her mother. Though Arabia had built her up to who she was today, Reiness was ready to let that streak go. It was time to be her own person.
She looked down at the pulsing stone, shimmering in the sun. This was who she was. She glanced back at Thalia and Ronan, who were smiling at her. She met their smiles with a grin. She was, for the first time in her life, a war hero.

~The End