Elf Dream

Chapter 5. Edoras

“Théoden, son of Thengel, too long have you sat in the shadows.” Gandalf said, his voice full of power.  The man with black hair tried to crawl away from Gandalf, but Gimli took care of him.

“I would stay still, if I were you.” he growled at the man.

“Hearken to me! I release you from the spell.” chanted the wizard. Suddenly, the old man on the throne began to laugh.

"You have no power here, Gandalf the Grey!” In response, Gandalf threw back his grey hood, revealing white underneath. The king was thrown back against the throne, wheezing and coughing. Gandalf pointed his staff towards Theoden,  said angrily,

“I will draw you, Saruman, as poison is drawn from a wound.” In a much deeper and charismatic voice, Theoden responded,

“If I go… Theoden dies.” Gandalf bared his teeth and moved his staff forward, pinning Theoden/Saruman to the chair with magic.

“You did not kill me, you will not kill him!” Gandalf ordered.

“Rohan is mine!” the voice hissed.

“Be gone!!” shouted Gandalf as Theoden lunged towards him. Gandalf hit him with tip of his staff, flying backwards into the throne. Suddenly, a woman rushed in, supporting the King and keeping him from falling. When Theoden next looked up, I was astounded to see that his face had changed. Instead of looking like he was two hundred, he now looked more like fifty five, or sixty. He whispered something to the girl and looked at Gandalf.

“Gandalf?” he wondered, his eyebrows furrowed.

“Breathe the fresh air again, my friend.” Gandalf said with a faint smile upon his lips.

“Dark…” he mumbled, then in a louder tone. “Dark have been my dreams of late.”

“Your fingers would remember their old strength better if they grasped your sword.” suggested Gandalf. The guard who took our weapons, Hama, rushed towards him with the King’s sword. Theoden reached towards it, hands trembling. He wrapped his hand around the hilt and slowly drew it out of the scabbard, gazing at the sword. In the corner, Gríma, the black haired man, tried to escape, but Gimli planted a foot on his back. Theoden turned his gaze towards Gríma, hate filling his eyes.As the guards threw him out of the hall, he groaned and whimpered,

“I’ve only ever served you, my lord!” Theoden walked towards him, teeth bared.

“Your leechcraft would have had me crawling on all fours like a beast!” the king growled malignantly.

“Send me not from your side!” pleaded Gríma. With a howl of hate, Theoden raised his sword, ready to strike down Gríma.

“No my lord!” Aragorn cried out, grabbing Théoden’s arm. “No, my lord. Let him go. Enough blood has been spilled on his account.” Gríma scrambled to his feet and, pushing through the crowd, ran away.

“Hail, Theoden King!” shouted the crowd, as they knelt to him. Theoden glanced around for a moment, then asked,

“Where is Theodred? Where is my son?” he disappeared into the hall with Gandalf. Legolas, Gimli, Aragorn, and I went into the hall and sat down. Gandalf and Theoden were nowhere to be seen. We waited there for a while, until they returned, and started talking of war and stratagem and what not.

Gimli, Legolas and I watched as Aragorn and Gandalf argued with the king. Finally, Theoden decided that we would make for Helm’s Deep, a fort. As we saddled the horses, Gandalf and Aragorn resumed talking of war, how likely it was for us to lose, and how many men we would have. Soon, Gandalf departed, leaving us with the King. I didn’t know where he was going, but I assumed it was important. An hour later, we were back on horses, riding to Helm’s Deep. Gimli seemed to immediately take to Éowyn, the king’s niece, and was chatting gaily with her over the course of the day. I sat behind Legolas, listening to the conversations around me, and tried to learn anything I could from them. Most of it was just mindless chatter, though. We camped that night and resumed our ride in the morning.