Book 3: Where It Ends [Legolas]

Chapter 16

The days following the battle were a bit chaotic. Aside from the overwhelming number of wounded soldiers overflowing the rooms and halls, Gondor was rendered leaderless. The Steward had gone mad. Not just from the knowledge of Boromir's death, but the grief when his younger son, Faramir, was dragged back from Osgiliath dead due to their army not being able to reclaim the abandoned city from the enemy. Though the sight of Sauron's army at their doorsteps pushed him over the edge. The city was nearly lost before the battle began, though thankfully Gandalf took charge to give those from Rohan a chance to join the fight. Though that still wasn't enough for Denethor. Rather than wait for the enemy to knock down their doors, for he already believed the battle was lost, he decided that he did not see a reason to live anymore. The man wished to join both of his sons in the afterlife. Pippin caught onto his crazed plan and warned the Wizard. For Faramir was not dead. The Hobbit had been the only one to notice, but the man would hear nothing of the sort. He set fire to them in the room one would burn the dead kings.

Pippin saved Faramir from an even terrible death, but the Steward was lost in the chaos. Thus, this event left the throne vacant. Boromir's brother did not want the title, when he finally woke up after receiving the much-needed care. His shoulder became injured from an Orc arrow and would take time to mend. Still, he never wished to rule. He saw what it did to his father. All eyes naturally looked to Aragorn, but the Ranger felt hesitant to reclaim his birthright. And none could force him to take it.

Merry had also been brought into the halls of Gondor. Gimli nearly tripped over himself watching Pippin half carried, half dragged his friend towards the healers from the battlefield. The Dwarf rushed to help. He had been found among the corpses, unconscious, and bleeding from a head wound. His arm didn't look good once the healers removed the armor. A burn mark charred the inside of the glove to the wrist.

Pippin offered to assist those from Rohan searching for anyone still clinging to life in the field beyond Gondor. Not expecting to find Merry lying under a body beside an oliphaunt corpse. And much like Éomer with Éowyn, till her eyes finally opened the morning of the third day, he refused to leave the Hobbit's side.

Linnéa worried for Merry. She hoped that he healed from this without any lingering effects. Like Bifur, who's communication skills were never the best after an ax got stuck in his head. Finding the healers, the princess requested that she be one of the first to know about his condition since the others had their hands full. Gandalf searched for any signs of Frodo and Sam, Legolas given the task to send word to their allies about their victory. Aragorn tried to organize what remained of their forces. That left Gimli and Linnéa to sort out those well enough to move about the destroyed field beyond the walls. They needed to send off their dead and also get rid of the creatures as well. And as terrible as some might think, they started to loot through the corpses for weapons still in decent condition to put back into their armory.

It was exhausting work, all retreating to bed well into the evening. Eating dinner, half would nearly fall asleep where they sat. It was almost as hard as the battle. For the labor of sorting through the overwhelming number of the dead, and trying to act as diplomats to the rest of Middle-earth pulled them in many directions at once. By the second day they made ground, but depending on what their next course of action would be, those beyond the wall halted their activities to conserve their strength.

Choosing to sit away from crowd in the evenings, Gimli, Legolas, and Linnéa found a quiet alcove where they could just barely hear the murmurs of the others. The princess wobbled a bit beside the Elf, as her eyes struggled to stay open. Her group of soldiers had been trying to figure out what to do with the dead oliphaunts. It took a lot of manpower to discover an efficient way to collect them into piles for contained bonfires. The empty bowl sat heavily in her lap. The Dwarf began to worry she may pitch forward accidentally and hurt herself. Though Legolas would reach out before that could happen to right herself up. It didn't last long. Finally Linnéa leaned more to the right unconsciously to settle against the prince's shoulder. He pretended not to notice that anything was unnatural about it, continuing to eat with the opposite arm to not disturb her. Though he sensed Gimli's glare on him across the small space as the two sat in a mildly uncomfortable silence. Thankfully, Aragorn joined them eventually, a bit amused by the silent stand-off between the two males, while Linnéa innocently slept.