Rangers of the North (Aragorn)

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Minas Tirith

They stood on the shore of the river and waited for the Corsair ships to pass by, the ghost army invisible to the pirates.

"You may go no further. You will not enter Gondor." Aragorn called when they were close. The men on the ships laughed. Averael watched Aragorn, then turned to the ships.

"Who are you to deny us passage?" The captain sneered at them. Aragorn whispered to Legolas, who then fired an arrow into he man behind the captain.

"We warned you. Prepare to be boarded." Gimli said.

"Boarded? By you and whose army?" The captain shouted.

"This army." Aragorn said. The King of the Dead and his army appeared behind them and moved across the water, into the ships. They spread over the water and up the sides of the boat, stopping for no blade, killing all those who stood in their path. The Corsairs were dead before long.

Aragorn, Averael, Legolas, and Gimli walked towards the ships as the ghosts vanished again and started to steer the seemingly empty boats. Aragorn helped Averael into the boat and smiled at her briefly before motioning for everyone to duck under the edge of the boat. 

"Late as usual, pirate scum." They heard an Orc say once they got closer to the city of Minas Tirith. "There's knife work here that needs doing. Come on, ya sea rats! Get off your ships!" Aragorn looked at them and nodded, then they stood and jumped from the ship.

"Remember what Gandalf said. Don't stay too close." Aragorn grabbed Averael's hand for a short moment, squeezing it before slipping it out again. She nodded. They ran towards the confused orcs, Army of the Dead trailing behind them. The ghosts took down the orcs in waves, killing everything in their path. 

Averael continued on killing orcs that were missed by the ghosts. The fight was hardly a challenge with the dead army. She watched a mass of green translucent bodies swarm over a massive elephant-like Mumakil, bringing it down with ease. She paused for a moment, then dashed back to one of the boats. Grabbing a coil of rope, she headed towards the battle.

She found a horse whose rider had been killed and mounted it, kicking it into a gallop towards another Mumakil. As she neared, she reared her horse and spoke to another mounted soldier briefly, handing him one end of the rope. They rode in separate directions, Averael in front of the beast, the other rider behind. They passed each other and continued around again, wrapping the rope around the legs of the beast. The Mumakil tripped and fell face first into the ground, toppling over the men riding it. She grinned, watching from a distance as the men were picked off by more riders, glad that her plan had worked.

She was quickly shown up, however, as she turned to see Legolas climb a moving Mumakil with ease, take down every man atop it, and perch on the beasts neck, firing three arrows directly into its brain. He slid down the Mumak's trunk as it fell, landing gracefully on the ground.

"That still only counts as one!" Gimli shouted, angry at Legolas's show.

They fought on. The Dead Army were efficient warriors, and flooded through Minas Tirith, killing all of Mordor's troops. They swarmed over each level of the city, and over the plains below it.

When the fight was finally over, orcs and other enemies lay strewn on the ground, as well as Gondorian and Rohirrim men. Averael saw the Army of the Dead standing before Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, and ran over to them.

"Release us." The King of the Dead demanded.

"Bad idea." Gimli whispered. "Very handy in a tight spot, these lads, despite the fact that they're dead." Aragorn ignored him and the King of the Dead glared at the dwarf.