Mordor, such a vast and barren dark land full of orcs, and they came to oppose it only with a couple hundred of men and a dozen elves.
The foul air and sun hidden by the clouds of darkness was almost like staring at Barad Dur all those years ago.
Shrieks of fear. Screams of agony.
Turning around, the faraway look in the eyes of her warriors told the Queen they were all thinking the same. All of them, save for Astar and Isilyá were involved in the Battle of the Last Alliance. They all saw the horrors a war such as that offered.
They all knew of the heartbreak.
"We will survive this." Onethea encouraged, her hand coming to rest on Dainir's shoulder.
She could not promise their survival of course, they all knew they would probably die unless the Valar smiled upon them. But the words needed to be said. They needed to cling to hope, because that was all they had.
Legolas was the one who reminded Onethea of that the previous evening.
"Here or in Valinor." Dainir agreed, before his lips spread into a smile. "But just so you know, we expect a tour."
The Queen returned the small light hearted smile, before her features fell into an unreadable mask. Not a moment later, the expressions of the other elves mimicked hers.
Legolas could clearly see why the great dangerous Minsay'lir warriors were so feared.
The prince knew, especially as a small party of them began riding closer to the Gates, that war was only moments away. For that reason, he too schooled his expression to one of indifference, hoping that he showed even half of the power Minsay'lirs held in just their eyes.
The Black Gates grew and grew in front of them. They stretched high above the small group of warriors that came to talk with the enemy. The metal gates were closed and remained as such even after minutes of the free folk waiting.
"Where are they?" Pippin was the first to wonder.
"Let the lord of the Black Land come forth. Let justice be done upon him!" Aragorn called out in hopes of gaining a response.
And it worked.
The gates slowly groaned open. Out came a servant of Sauron riding a horse clad in armor. The rider had a helmet hiding all of his face, except his strange mouth dripping with blood.
"My master, Sauron the Great, bids thee welcome." The mouth of Sauron said and Onethea's brow rose. She did not know since when Sauron was considered as Great. "Is there any in this rout with authority to treat with me?"
"We do not wish to treat with Sauron, faithless and accursed. Tell your master this, the armies of Mordor must disband. He is to depart these lands, never to return."
"Ah, old Greybeard." The Mouth turned to Olórin with obvious smugness. "I have a token I was bidden to show thee." From his robes he took out a shinny shirt of sturdy chainmail. All of them immediately recognized who it belonged to.
"Frodo." Pippin whispered, his voice cracking with pain.
The servant of Sauron threw the chainmail to Olórin so that he could confirm the authenticity. The Queen knew that even if the item was truly the hobbit's mithril shirt that they did not have the actual hobbit. If it were so, then the Mouth would not only present the chainmail, but would throw Frodo's head at their feet.
The others did not think that way.
"Frodo!" Merry shouted, but was silenced by the wizard.
"The halfling was dear to thee I see. Know he suffered greatly at the hands of his host." The Mouth taunted. The Queen knew that the statement would be true had they actually captured Frodo. She herself suffered greatly at the dark lord's hands. She had many scars to prove it. "Who would have thought one so small could endure so much pain? And he did, Gandalf. He did."
"You should leave lying to your foul master. At least his words are more believable than the fabricated story you wish to spin." Onethea spoke, ignoring the heartbroken looks the others wore. Even Olórin, old and wise as he was, believed the servant.
The Mouth turned to the Elven Queen, prepared to taunt her personally, when his attention was caught by Aragorn. The heir rode forth until he was less than a foot away from the servant.
"And who is this?" The foul creature wondered. "Isildur's heir? It takes more to make a king than a broken Elvish blade."
His mocking was interrupted by Aragorn slicing his head off with the mentioned broken blade. All stared at the rolling head in shock.
"I guess that concludes negotiations." The dwarf voiced.
Aragorn, ignoring the joke, turned back to the Fellowship. "I do not believe it. I will not." He stated, determination clear in his eyes.
The next moment the gates groaned open again. Only this time, the free folk could see a massive enemy army riding out.
The group of negotiators rode back to their soldiers with Aragorn telling them to pull back.
Arriving to the army, they dismounted and released the horses. The Queen figured it would be better fighting on foot. There was no need for the horses to die unnecessarily. The only one who momentarily kept his horse was Aragorn, in order to inspire the troops. The Queen stayed silent for she had already said all she had to say.
"Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails. When we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the age of men comes crashing down. But it is not this day. This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand. Men of the West!"
The men cheered, hope and determination to succeed flaring in their hearts. The elves merely exchanged glances, yelling was not something they did in a fight.
Forey leaned towards his wife. "The new king does know how to provide a speech, don't you think?"
"Do you think he wrote it beforehand?" She asked in return and the two snickered.
Beside the Queen Gimli looked up at the elven prince.
"Never thought I'd die fighting side by side with an elf."
The enemy surrounded them.
"What about side by side with a friend?" Legolas questioned.
The dwarf smiled. "Aye, I could do that."
Onethea's lips quirked as she heard the two. Who would have thought the son of Thranduil, who probably hated dwarves almost more than anything else, and a dwarf, who hated elves in general, would become friends. The elleth could not wait to see Thranduil react to that news.
"I hope you're able to die side by side with elves, master dwarf, because it will most probably come to pass." Yinrí called over to Gimli. His only response was a blank look.
Aragorn nodded to the Queen and together the two stepped away from their forces. Their action attracted the Eye of Sauron. Onethea's lips formed a smirk. It was just as she predicted.
"For Frodo." Aragorn claimed and the two royals rushed towards the giant army.
Without hesitation the elves followed their Queen. Merry and Pippin ran after them and soon the soldiers followed.
Another battle began.
Onethea twirled her swords, cutting through the first lines. She killed orc after orc with no reluctance. On moments when her people cleared room she would switch to her bow, before returning to swords. Again she protected others as much as she could and Dainir guarded for her when there was need.
The same way the Minsay'lirs protected their Queen, they also looked over Legolas. They did not want anything happening to the Mirkwood prince, because they knew how much he meant to the Queen. At the same time Yinrí fought side by side with Gimli, the two protecting one another.
In no time at all Onethea was covered in blood. She ducked and deflected, before decapitating as many as she could. On a few occasions her arrows sailed through the air, trying to fall the flying nazgul, but that was not needed for long. Out of nowhere eagles came to help protect the light.
The Queen travelled through the battlefield striking down the enemy. She drifted away from her kin, but the war was so great that she did not even notice.
Dark forces had them outnumbered and there was no time to stop. Every moment of hesitation, of doubt was quickly repaid with wounds or even worse, death. The Queen, so experienced as she was, did not pause. Not even for a heartbeat. Her movements were fluid and connected.
She swirled around, decapitating the orcs around her. But after a while, as she made to move even further into the battlefield, she caught sight of a scene she never wanted to see.
Her eyes locked on a blade, stuck through a warrior's stomach. Slowly she lifted her gaze up to the person and the moment their gazes connected, her world stopped.
Deep blue eyes on forest green.
Her heart fell and she was sure she forgot how to breathe for a few minutes. In agony she watched blood pool out of the wound and to the ground. Her lungs constricted and she wanted to be sick.
Through the torture she felt, her eyes stayed locked with his. After what felt like a lifetime, Legolas fell to his knees unable to support himself any longer. And nothing else mattered in that one moment. Nothing but him.
Seeing him lying on the ground in his own blood, her world crashed. And something inside of her snapped. Something Onethea herself did not know was still there.
Her blood boiled in a way she had not felt in forever. A terrible scream of anguish tore itself out of her throat. Every eye turned to the suffering Queen.
When her gut wrenching scream died out, her fear, her pain, her anguish changed to something else. To scorching anger. Her blood kept on boiling, the pain familiar and welcomed. Her eyes glazed in cold fury and she slowly turned. Her eyes passed her people, Dainir immediately knowing what had to be done, before her stare locked with the dark lord's Eye on top of Barad Dur.
"Sauron!" She yelled beyond outraged.
"What is it little elfling?" He taunted. "There is nothing you can do." The dark lord was watching the Queen in joy. He had tried in various ways in the past to break her, but he never managed to crush her as much as she was crushed now.
But he could not see that she was not destroyed now either.
"I am not a little elfling. I never was. Not to you, Sauron the Deceiver." Her eerie voice responded.
"You are powerless."
"That is what you think." She chuckled, rage filling her very being giving her power she never thought to feel again.
From where Legolas laid on the ground, his eyes were locked on Onethea. He gave no regard to Ráyneil and Astar by his side, trying to save him. He preferred to watch the Queen as she glared at the Eye of Sauron.
Then his heart shuddered when she marched forward alone. However, she did something he did not anticipate. Neither did the other elves as they all froze at their Queen's action.
Onethea began to sing.
"Three rings for the elven kings under the sky.
Seven for the dwarf lords in their halls of stone.
Nine for mortal men doomed to die.
One for the dark lord on his dark throne.
In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie."
Her voice was low and ominous. Her whole being surged with power that was not there a moment before. Her green eyes and golden hair began illuminating lightly, shining and changing to silver.
She was glowing.
"Ash nazg durbatuluk
Ash nazg gimbatul
Ash nazg thrakatuluk
Agh burzum-ishi krimpatul"
Her voice, clear yet dark as it was, was strangely mesmerizing. Hypnotic.
Those who heard her paused in their actions. The song was eerie yet they could not not listen to it. The unusual feeling was frightening to the men. They were afraid that in their moment of pause the orcs would slay them. Yet the voice was so mesmerizing.
The elves were untouched by the hypnotic powers. It did not affect them, but they still could not look away. For the old ones it was so long since they last heard that type of songs. Mesmerizing songs sang by Onethea, full of raw power.
The orcs were affected the most. Their bodies did not only stop at the sound, more than that, they began moving towards the Queen. Where her song stopped the men with its enthralling ability, where it shocked the elves with its magic, it redirected all of the orc's attack away from the men. Instead of the whole army that came, the foul creatures rallied only against the Queen.
Even Sauron could not look away from her. Such was the power of the gift from the Valar.
"One Ring to rule them all
One Ring to find them
One Ring to bring them all
And in the darkness bind them."
Onethea knew what her singing would do, she was the one who controlled the magic after all. The enemy being drawn to her caused her no fear. She wanted the dark creatures concentrated on her and only her, so that the others had the possibility to survive.
If everyone was fixed on her, Legolas had the chance to stay alive. That was all she wanted.
Also, the power surging through her was old and long missed.
The orcs did exactly what she wanted, even the Deceiver could not resist her. She enjoyed it. The fallen maia had a reason to fear her all those ages ago.
As the orcs and the trolls and the nazgul came to where she stood, the song stayed on her lips. Her lips lifted in a threatening smile. She swirled her swords in anticipation.
Then she danced.
"Three rings for the elven kings under the sky
Seven for the dwarf lords in their halls of stone
Nine for mortal men doomed to die
One for the dark lord on his dark throne."
Legolas did not notice his pain. Did not care that his wound was now tended to by the Minsay'lirs. All he could think off, all he could concentrate on, was the singing and fighting Queen.
Now he understood why she always seemed to dance while fighting. With her singing while she was twirling her blades, wounding, killing, decapitating everything that came close, it made sense.
Next to the prince Dainir also had his eyes fixed on his Queen. He was surprised that her powers returned to say the least. He, as well as the rest, were all sure that Sauron had taken them ages ago. But the general was worried.
The power came back after lifetimes and Dainir had heard how long it took the Queen to master them the first time around. He feared that her energy would deplete with the sudden strong use of the newly returned magic.
He was also afraid of the ruthlessness he had heard surged through Onethea when she sang such powerful songs. Especially when the songs were dark. And there was no song darker than the one she sang then.
But the old magic, the ruthlessness, the cold heart were all a good thing during the war. Particularly when one had the whole enemy army going against oneself.
"One Ring to rule them all
One Ring to find them
One Ring to bring them all
And in the darkness bind them."
Dainir felt a dark presence behind him and he swirled killing the orc. It seemed that despite the Queen's powerful magic, the enemy forces were too many for her to enchant. Still the majority of orcs were attacking Onethea. The general was afraid that she would be overrun.
"Forey, Ayasël, Sakéya, Bannin and Monray." The mentioned elves sprung to attention as the general called upon them. "Go help the Queen."
The five of them nodded and instantly did as was asked. They all knew that the rage of the Queen would lead her to do crazy things. They knew the only way she could keep the agony at bay, was to strike down those who caused it.
"One Ring to rule them all
One Ring to find them
One Ring to bring them all (Three rings for the elven kings)
And in the darkness bind them. (Under the sky)"
It seemed that the five Minsay'lir warriors were not needed to protect the Queen. Because despite the vast number of her foes, Onethea was fine. She swirled and turned and twirled and ducked and jumped and slashed and stabbed and decapitated everything that came close.
Somehow she singlehandedly managed to one by one kill not only the orcs, but the trolls as well. Even the nine undead, now eight without their king, were no danger to her. Their beasts could not shriek over the Queen's persistent singing.
They were all destroyed, fallen, doomed. The Queen killed every single enemy that stood against her swords.
"One Ring to rule them all
One Ring to find them
One Ring to bring them all (Seven for the dwarf lords)
And in the darkness bind them. (In their halls of stone)"
Sauron was outraged. He could not believe that the elven Queen, the one he had had tortured for a year in order to take her powers away, still had those powers. He could not believe she obtained her grip on them. He was so sure he would win. So sure there was nothing and no one capable of standing against him. Not now when the time of the elves was coming to an end.
And yet there she was. The old Elven Queen he feared, coming back to show him just why he was afraid. And there was nothing he could do to oppose her, because her dark song had him captivated.
Him and every single member of his army.
The orcs gave no regard to their fallen comrades, instead they all attacked the elleth. Or at least they tried, until she took their heads off too.
It was a deadly dance she preformed. A dance she knew, a dance she perfected so long ago that now all odds were in her favor. Not a single enemy blow landed on her skin, while all of her strikes fell true.
At her side, five of her people, covered her just in case. She was too angry to tell them to leave. Besides, deep down she knew the five of them were great warriors who would make sure none of them would get injured.
In the fight of the Minsay'lirs there was worry for their Queen. Worry as to what her anger would do after the war. They hoped it would dissipate when all was over, but for now even if for a moment the anger began leaving, it would come back stronger than before every time Onethea's eyes would gaze upon the dying Legolas.
The prince knew that despite the great work Ráynil and Astar preformed, the stab straight through his stomach was deadly. He knew he would die. He could only hope Onethea would somehow survive, because through the rage she radiated he could clearly feel her anguish.
Onethea on her part could feel the prince's worry, moreover she could feel the pain. Her own stomach ached as she tried to carry some of his pain for him. She did not know how she could have been so stupid as to distance herself from him during the battle.
She knew, from ages past, that someone close to her would die in that last war. And who was closer than the one with whom she shared her soul?
"One Ring to rule them all (Nine for mortal men)
One Ring to find them (Doomed to die)
One Ring to bring them all
And in the darkness bind them."
The song faded off after a long time. The enemy forces were almost half less than before, but they still outnumbered the free folk many to one. Sauron was relieved to be finally able to look around on his own accord and just as he was to order his troops to slaughter the Minsay'lirs and their Queen once and for all, his eye flashed to Mount Doom.
Onethea smirked as she saw it.
The Eye was concentrated directly on the mouth of the Mountain's entrance. Frodo and Sam had nearly succeeded.
In order to buy the hobbits enough time to fight off whatever it was that forced one of them to put on the Ring, Onethea resumed humming. There was no need to go back to the song, because the humming was enough to slow down the nazgul from flying over and stopping Frodo in his mission.
True enough only a moment later, Sauron let out a piercing scream of rage and anguish. The dark forces screamed with him and Onethea kept on humming as Barad Dur collapsed in on itself.
Sauron's Eye was no more and neither was the fallen maia.
They had won.