A Song for Middle Earth (Legolas x OC romance)

13. Preparing for Battle

Eileanór's POV

"Eileanór."

Eileanór.

"Eileanór, please."

'Is it so hard to let an elf rest..' I grumbled in my mind, cracking my eyes open to seek out the source and of the male voice not in my head. The light that assaulted them made me cringe and shut them, letting out a soft grumble.

"Eileanór, you need to wake up."

'Aragorn?' I wondered.
With an attempt to shift onto my side, I earned a groan of pain from a male voice beneath me, and sent myself into a fit of coughing. Traces of water escaped me as my choking woke me up further.

The solid form beneath me shifted, followed by a whinny of effort. Looking towards the sound, I found a brown horse with its mane being gripped by Aragorn's hand, trying to help him shift out from beneath me. With a grimace, I pushed off of him, backwards onto my knees, hunched over as my lungs kept convulsing.
The horse pulled Aragorn into a sitting position, where he shifted behind me and wrapped his arms around my middle, giving me an abrupt, sharp squeeze. It forced water out of my throat, and he followed with another thrust. My head span at the assault, and my stomach joined in my lungs convulsing, making me double over and throw up more water that burned as it left me.

Aragorn's arms released me before his hand began to rub along my back.
"You're okay.. breath, you'll be okay.." he soothed as I panted, sucking fresh air into my aching but blissfully empty lungs.

Every muscle in my body ached, and my hip felt as though it were burning. The brown horse came around me, letting Aragorn hoist himself onto its back. Cethin appeared, nibbling and licking at my nose and chin, worrying over me.

"It's okay, Cethin. We made it.." I whispered, voice cracking as I hugged her around the neck, pressing my face into her soft mane. She let out a whimper of sorts, before turning her body and kneeling for me to climb onto her. I slid up, loosely keeping my arms around her neck with my legs limp on either side of her middle, feeling too exhausted to sit up.

{"Come, Cethin."} Aragorn commanded from somewhere to my left.
Cethin began moving, and I gripped a little tighter as she trotted as gently as she could beneath me.
"If you start feeling faint, let me know. You can ride with me."

"Yes sir.." I mumbled.

A half hour passed before I'd had enough of the awkward position and forced myself upright, gripping Cethin's mane and scanning our surroundings. A sound akin to rumbling or thumping reached my ears and I swivelled my head, trying to pinpoint it.

"Aragorn!" I called, before diverting the course he led and urging Cethin to gallop to our right. The motion sent pain coursing through me, but I ignored it until we came to a high rise over the plains.

Below, in the distance, stood an army. I heard an soft gasp behind me as Aragorn caught up.

"We need to go warn Théoden." He hissed, before turning his mount and hurrying away.

Eileanór.

The sound of a voice in my head made me flinch once more, yet relief washed over me as I realized it was familiar.

"Grandmother.." I whispered, gaze skimming towards the north.

An army comes to you.

With a huff, I glanced at the orcs below, then at Aragorn's retreating form. {"Yes, I can see that. We make for Helm's Deep to warn the people of Rohan."} I answered quietly aloud.