Misted Shadows

Death Arrives (11)

The ground shook beneath my feet as flaming boulders were hurdled towards the city. I watched as they exploded onto people's homes below and the ricochet hitting those running on the streets. Volleys of arrows were sent onto the ramparts, hitting the soldiers atop them. The sound of bodies hitting the ground echoed within the city and the screams of women and children chilled me to the core.

I heard footsteps run near me and looked over to see Denethor. He looked with bewilderment at the chaos below us.

He backed up and yelled, "FLEE FOR YOUR LIVES! RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN! RETREAT!"

Thousands looked up at him with fear and before they could take a step to run, I punched Denethor in the temple knocking him out instantly.

"PREPARE FOR BATTLE SOLDIERS! DO NOT RETREAT! FIGHT FOR YOUR CITY!" I yelled.

I heard my voice echo through the city and watched as men turned back to their posts and began firing back at the army of orcs. They began to barricade entry points and load pieces of fallen buildings into trebuchets. Footsteps ran down the stairs behind me and I turned around to follow them. I glanced over at Faramir, but his eyes did not open. I said a prayer for him and hoped I could save him in time.

The sound of metal clinging down the streets was all I heard as I ran to the outer wall. Women and children fled into undamaged homes and prayed they would see tomorrow. Soldiers yelled at one another to rally here or there. Cries of men dying rang out overheard and their bodies hitting the pavement below made my teeth grind.

I cut off from the group I was following to stop at the house we were staying at. It was untouched, thankfully, so I ran into my room and threw on my battle clothes. I hooked my belt around my waist, tucked both my blades into their holsters, and got ready to leave the room when something hit me.

'If I do not survive this Aragorn, please know that I died for our people. I love you.'

With that being said, I charged out of my room and headed towards the entrance of the ramparts. I made it there in under a minute, but when I arrived it was hell. Towers were slowly being pushed towards us and arrows whizzed past my face. I rolled over a nearby dead soldiers body and took his bow and arrows; he wouldn't need them anymore.

"AIM AT THE TROLLS!" I yelled to the soldiers around me.

Everyone began firing at them. I hit one in the eye, causing it to stumble back and fall on other nearby orcs. Although we helped stop a few towers, more were coming. I saw from the corner of my eye as one finally made it to the wall. I aimed my bow at it and fired at the first orc to step out.

I hit him dead on and kept firing, hoping that this would give the soldiers enough time to fight back. I reached back for another arrow and found that I was out of them. I tossed the bow and threw off the arrow satchel.

Orcs were swarming the wall by now. Only a handful of guards and me were keeping them back, but it was soon becoming just me. I looked around for an escape route to a higher level and saw one just a few feet away.

I was ambushed from behind by an orc and felt its blade touch my back. I yelled in pain, but used that pain to fuel my stamina. I quickly turned around and sliced his head off. I fought orcs the entire way back to my exit before I could finally turn around and run.

The doors were shutting up ahead and I reached them just before they shut. I stumbled into a few soldiers and landed into someone's arms. I looked up and didn't know the man, but he walked me to the nearby wall and examined my back.

"It's not deep. Keep fighting soldier," he said.

I nodded my head at him and tucked everything back into place. I breathed a sigh of relief and took off running again. I made it to the gate just as everyone else did. I watched as soldiers fell to their death just in front of me and knew it would definitely cause nightmares later on.