Chapter 16: Battle of Helm's Deep... The Loss of a Friend

This chapter is dedicated to @KatiaSpn who has  read every chapter of this book and still looks for more. It's so nice to see dedication in reading my stories! Thank you so much for the support!

Remember elven is underlined! Long Chapter ahead!

"You could have picked a better spot" Gimli grumbled standing between Asteria and Legolas. It was nightfall and all able fighters were ready. They wait for the Uruk-Hai to appear as Haldir and his army of Elves were posted in their positions ready to fight. Asteria looked around and could see the scared young boys that were forced to fight, her heart ached for them as Gimli's words broke her out of her trance "Well lad, whatever luck you live by, let's hope it lasts the night" Gimli said to Aragorn as he nodded at him as Legolas and Asteria looked at him with their bows in hand "Your friends are with you Aragorn" Legolas said as it started to thunder over them; there's a call for rain. "Let's hope they last the night" Gimli spoke again earning a sad smile from Asteria.

As Asteria and Aragorn shouted orders to draw bows, the Uruk-Hai marched and drew closer; after a few flashes of lightning, it started to rain. The Uruks stopped just before the wall as Asteria shouted to the army of elves "Draw bows and hold! Show them no mercy! For you shall receive none!" All the elves drew their bows and held their positions as Gimli was trying to look over the wall "What's happening out there?" he questioned as Legolas looked at him "Shall I describe it to you? Or would you like me to find you a box?" Legolas asked at Gimli started to laugh and Asteria joining in a bit.

Legolas looked at Asteria with eyes of deep longing and love; they didn't have to speak; they knew that they were telling each other to be careful. The Uruk-Hai started to shout and bang their spears to the ground in a taunting manner; it continued until an older civilian let loose an arrow hitting any orc in the neck; killing him. "Hold!" Aragorn shouted. The rest of the Uruk-Hai get angry at their fallen comrade and begin to shout and charge the wall. The battle has begun. "Prepare to fire!" Asteria shouted as all the elves including her and Legolas notched arrows and began to aim as Legolas shouted "Their armor is weak at the neck and beneath the arm!"

"Release arrows!" Both Asteria and Aragorn shouting orders as the few men and elves released arrows at the army. Asteria could hear Gimli questioning if they hit anything and he was ready for a fight. After a while of shooting arrows, the Uruk-Hai was hoisting up ladders to the keep's wall. Asteria quickly switched to her sword she got from Haldir "Ladders!" Legolas was still shooting arrow after arrow as Aragorn, Asteria, Haldir and Gimli as well as the elven army began to fight the orcs that came over the walls.

Gimli kills an orc from the ground as it stands over him "Legolas! Two already!" He shouted over to Legolas as he stops for a moment and turns to him "I'm on 17!" He said proudly! Gimli looking fed up irritated "I'll have no pointy-ear outscoring me!" He shouted back as Asteria moved and killed an orc behind Gimli "If we are counting my lords, I am on 30! Do try and keep up boys!" She said winking at them as she slid across the ground effortlessly taking out two orcs by their legs. Legolas looked at her smiling as Gimli continued to shout "The lass gets a pass because she's an elf maiden!"

As they continue to fight the Uruks, Asteria and Aragorn push down ladders which in turn falls and lands on the Uruks killing them in the process. Asteria could see Gimli standing on top of the wall swinging his axe killing the Uruks with each sweep as they climb up the ladders to the top of the wall as he counted. A pack of Uruk-Hai are advancing up the causeway towards the main gates, shielded by their shields on their backs and at the front of the group. Aragorn notices this as he turns to the elves "Causeway!" Asteria turned hearing him as she swiftly ran up to the wall drawing her bow as well firing at the Uruks coming up the causeway.

As Asteria and the elves were distracted firing at the causeway, Aragorn notices an Uruk; holding a torch running towards the wall; he shouts to Legolas who was still firing arrows "Bring him down, Legolas!" Asteria turned and could see Legolas shoots arrow after arrow trying to bring the Uruk down as it dove into the sluice. In an instant, the wall blows up, demolishing the wall as bricks fly everywhere. Asteria landed in a puddle of water as Aragorn lands near her. Their ears ringing from the explosion as Aragorn crawled over to Asteria; in attempts to help her. As the Uruks run through the gap of the wall, Gimli notices the Uruks are running towards Aragorn and Asteria "Asteria! Aragorn!" He yells as he runs and leaps into the pack of spear laden Uruks from the top of the wall as Asteria moves to get up watching her dwarf friend leap into them in horror "GIMLI!"

Gimli survives the jump and stands in the pool of water in the gap of the wall and begins to kill the Uruks as they advance, but is thrown backwards by one and lands under the water. The Uruks begin to run over him; Asteria stood strong with her sword in hand with Aragorn following suit as she looked to him nodding and begins to run to where Gimli was as Aragorn shouted to the elves behind him "Release arrows!" the elves quickly let loose arrows, missing Asteria as she swiftly killed any Uruks near her as she moved to reached Gimli.

Legolas watching from a distance in horror watching his beloved jump into the fray of Uruks; he grabs a shield and throws it in front of him, using it to slide down the steps, firing arrows as he slides, and releasing the shield straight into the body of a Uruk as he reaches the bottom. Asteria meanwhile, grabbing Gimli who resurfaced from under the water and drags him away as the Uruks flow through the gap in the wall, fought by the elves.

Asteria, Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn continue to fight and kill the Uruk-Hai behind the wall, Théoden looks on and shouts to them "Aragorn! Asteria! Fall back to the keep! Get your men out of there!" Aragorn and Asteria looked at each other nodding as they started to shout orders to fall back to the keep. Asteria sees Haldir on the wall fighting as she shouted to him "Haldir! To the keep!" he looked to her nodding as he gestured to his elves. Legolas and another elf grab Gimli on both arms; dragging him away as he protested "What are you doing? What are you stopping for?" Haldir continues to beckon the elves to leave "To the keep!" as he turns to kill and Uruk, one runs up to him stabbing him into his side. He clutched his side feeling blood, and stumbles a bit.

As he turns to try and get away another Uruk stabs in the back; in turn Asteria sees just as it happened "Haldir!" Asteria then begins to fight her way to the top of the wall as she killed Uruks one by one trying to reach her friend. Haldir kneels seeing the dead elves around him, as he goes to fall; Asteria reaches him, catching him "Haldir! No..please no!" She said holding on to him with tears in her eyes.

He looked at her as it was the last time he would ever see her again. The young elf maiden who watched him as a child; fighting his soldiers during training, wanting him to show her how to shoot an arrow and watched her excelled as a warrior "Forgive...me....Aster...ia.." his voice was weak as the light in his eyes dimmed. He was dead; in her arms as her tears fell "No... my brother... please.... You cannot leave me just yet.." she said softly as she kissed his forehead with her tears falling onto his face. She places a hand on her chest and then to Haldir's.

She looked up and sees Uruks running towards her; in her newfound anger she leaps up, punching an Uruk in the face and jumps to the top of a propped-up ladder, swinging it to the ground and falling with it, she jumps into a group of Uruk-Hai on the ground. Anger surged through her body as she fought the Uruks; killing them one by one as she made her way up to the causeway; she was starting to struggle a bit as one Uruk sliced at her arm leaving a large wound on her upper arm but that did not stop her from fighting.

Meanwhile, outside the wall as well, Aragorn and Gimli open a secret door on the right hand side of the causeway on the rocks. They could see Asteria not far from them as she fought. They had to give Théoden time to pull back and block the gate and save their friend. Gimli looked torn and hesitated for a moment "Toss me." Aragorn looked at him confused "What?" Gimli stutters a bit then looks at Asteria again "I cannot jump the distance! You'll have to toss me! I need to get to the lass!" Aragorn nods a bit and reaches down to Gimli's back as he closed his eyes and then opens them "Don't tell the other elf" Aragorn nods again "Not a word" and then throws Gimli onto the causeway close to Asteria with Aragorn following behind the dwarf. "What are you doing on this side of the wall?! Legolas would be angry!" Aragorn shouted as they fought the Uruks "I am angry! Haldir has fallen!" She shouted as she kicked a Uruk off the causeway. Aragorn stopped a moment with his eyes widened by the news as he in turn got angry himself slices the head of a of Uruk off.

They continued to fight off on the causeway as Théoden's soldiers barricaded the gate once again as Théoden shouted out to them "Aragorn! Get out of there!" They all turned to look at Théoden as the gate was fully boarded up and then heard Legolas shout "Aragorn! Asteria!" he said as he threw a rope down to them from the Hornburg wall. Aragorn's grabs hold of it and uses his other arm grabbing Gimli; Aragorn looked to Asteria as she nodded, she moved and wrapped her arms around Aragorn's neck and under arm so she was not choking him despite how light she was as Legolas and two other soldiers pull the rope up as they were dragged over the wall with Legolas grabbing Asteria as Aragorn grabbed Gimli retreating into the keep as the Uruk-Hai finally break through the gates flooding Helm's Deep.

As the night slowly turned into day, the Uruk-Hai are using their ram to batter down the great hall doors as the men are running to barricade it from behind. Legolas grabbed Asteria's face checking her over; making sure she wasn't too hurt "I'm alright...." He looked at her and can see that the normal glimmer in her eyes has disappeared; she looked not her normal self as he knew not why but now wasn't the time. They both quickly helped Aragorn and the others barricade the doors as Théoden spoke "The fortress is taken over. It is over" Aragorn stopped and looked at Théoden "You said this fortress would never fall while your men defend it. They still defend it. They have died defending it."

Asteria looked at Théoden's face as he had a face of defeat; she was not giving up "Is there no other way for the women and children to get out of the caves?" she asked Théoden as she watched him look down "Is there no other way?!" she asked again as Gamling spoke up "There is one passage, my lady. It leads into the mountains. But they will not get far. The Uruk-hai are too many." She looked down in thought as Aragorn spoke up "Tell the women and children to make for the mountain pass. And barricade the entrance!" He said to Gamling.

"So much death" Théoden said sadly "What can Men do against such reckless hate?" He asked as Asteria and Aragorn look at him "By fighting back my lord." She said in such resolve he has never seen before. She did not look like a Princess of Lothlorien; she looked like a warrior, suited up for a battle covered in dirt and blood as Aragorn went up to him "Ride out with me." He said as Théoden looked at him "Ride out to meet them" he said to the king of Rohan. Théoden nodded "For death and glory..." he said in reluctance as Asteria stepped up "For Rohan. For your people." Aragorn said as she spoke "The sun is rising Aragorn..." They both look to the window as they could see the light peered to the window as Asteria softly spoke "Gandalf..."

"Yes.........Yes.........The horn of Helm Hammerhand......shall sound in the Deep......one last time." Théoden said in confidence as he rallied his men. Gimli leaves to blow the horn of Helm Hammer hand sounding it off. Legolas helped Asteria mount a horse due to the large wound on her arm; she readied her sword as Legolas, Aragorn and Théoden as well as the rest gathered onto horses "Fell deeds, awake. Now for wrath......now for ruin and a red dawn." They all draws swords as they could hear Gimli sounding the horn off. The Uruk-Hai break through the inner door as Théoden shouted "Forth Eorlingas!" as they galloped through the masses of the Uruk-Hai through the hall, killing those in their path. Gimli sounds the horn again, as they leave Helms Deep and ride onto the causeway where thousands of Uruk-hai still crowd. Suddenly Asteria is drawn to a white light and looks up. Gandalf appears on top of the hill top next to Helms Deep riding Shadowfax who rears "Gandalf..." She said as her voice was laced with hope and in a short moment she could see a large army appear behind him and could hear "To the king!"

Gandalf and the Rohirrim ride down the steep hill towards the Uruks who surge forward holding their spears in front of them. As Gandalf nears the Uruks he sends out a bright white light from his staff, blinding the Uruk-hai. They ride over the Uruk-hai and into their masses, killing and fighting. The Uruk-hai are fleeing from Helms Deep, Théoden, Gandalf, Asteria, Aragorn, Legolas ride after them. They run to where a forest of trees has suddenly appeared. Eomer suddenly rides out in front of the men "Stay out of the forest! Keep away from the trees!"

As the battle was over and they made their way back to Helm's Deep; Asteria found herself sitting by Haldir's body, in tears as she cleaned him up for burial. She silently cried thinking of their past;

*Asteria's Memory*

"My dear little Asteria, take up your bow like this" Haldir said to the young elfling as he was showing her how to use a bow. He knew she would watch from the trees as he trained his soldiers; soon after a while he would call her a little sister and decided to teach her regardless of how Galadriel felt. He felt she would be a fierce leader and warrior. "Okay now aim, and release it to the target" He said as she did so, hitting a bulls eye. Haldir smiled at her and he quickly picked her up in the air with her giggling "You did it perfectly my little one!" he said spinning her around!" Asteria had a large smile on her face "I love you brother Haldir!" she said hugging him"

*Out of memory*

Asteria cried at the memory as she placed a hand on Haldir's face "May you rest well... my dear brother..." she said softly as she leaned and kissed his forehead. Haldir was always there for her when she needed him. The grief was too much for her to bear as she cried harder laying her head on Haldir's chest and sobbed more realizing he will never breath again. Legolas, Gandalf, Aragorn and Gimli watched on with grief in their own hearts as Legolas walked forward a bit but was stopped by Gandalf "Give her time. Her grief is too much.." He said softly. Legolas knew this, he felt the pain in his own heart from her grief. Everything she was feeling; he felt. He nodded to Gandalf as him and Gimli left the room with Aragorn not too far behind.

Gandalf stepped forward sitting on the other side of Haldir facing Asteria. "My dear Asteria..." he said softly as she sniffled and picked her head up looking at Gandalf's with red, teary eyes. Gandalf smiled sadly as he tread lightly on his words "He was a great man... You will see him again, in the halls of the Valinor." He said softly placing a hand on hers giving her a kind smile. They sat for a while before Asteria nodded slightly at him as she took a deep breath looking at Haldir "How can I leave him now?" she asked softly "He was always there for me... And I couldn't not get to him in time" Gandalf saw what she was doing. She was taking his death for her own to be blamed. He quickly shook his head "No my dear one. His death was not your fault. You know this. He would be proud of the warrior you are but he would not want you to mourn like this" he said as he saw Legolas back in the doorway; he knew the elf wouldn't stay away for long, not with the bond they have. His own eyes watered as he felt the loss as well.

"You are not alone... Know this my dear. We are all here for you and we will need you." Gandalf continued as he stood up moving to where she was placing a kiss on her head; he could hear her soft voice "Thank you Gandalf.." After a few moments, Legolas joined her side; she didn't notice at first until he placed hand on hers, snapping her out of her trance of Haldir's dead body. "Asteria... please... do not suffer alone... I am here." He said softly as she turned her head to him with tears in her eyes. He could see she was grieving; he knew what Haldir meant to her and it broke his own heart. In an instant, she quickly wrapped her arms around him; sobbing. He wrapped his arms around her, cradling her as she gently caressed her hair "I will never leave you..." He said softly as he could feel her anguish start to lessen and her sobs became softer.

After a while, she ended up falling asleep in his arms as he lifted her up effortlessly to the area where they were tending wounds; she still had a deep wound on her arm that she did not treat. He laid her down and began to clean her wound as she slept. "I will never leave you, my love. My beautiful lady of starlight.." he said softly as he bandaged her up. Aragorn came up behind him with a small smile "Is she alright?" he asked; concerned for his friend. Legolas looked to him nodding slightly "She needed to grieve. She ended up falling asleep but I believe with some time she will be alright... She knows she has us..." he said looked between her and Aragorn as the ranger smiled placing a hand on Legolas's shoulder "She does.. And we need her. She is a light in this group" Legolas smiled as he nodded in agreement.

After a few hours, Asteria woke up finding herself in a cot, covered with a blanket. Legolas sitting next to her, moves and grabs her hand smiling at her "Easy... You had a bad wound that was getting infected. You passed out" he said softly as she looked at him as she slightly nodded and then sitting up "Where is everyone?" she asked looking around as he stood up, helping her up in the process "Waiting for you. We were not going to Isengard until you awoke. That was what we all decided, Théoden included." He smiled at her placing a hand on her cheek. She leaned into his hand smiling slightly at the thought, she became such an important member of their broke fellowship "Haldir..." she said softly as Legolas smiled again kissing her forehead "He was taken to Lothlorien for a proper burial" he said in reassurance for her which she gladly accepted. She could not continue to grieve not when another battle was so near.

She noticed she was wearing clean clothes and her hair was re-braided as she looked at Legolas "Eowyn and some of the women cleaned you as you slept. I re-braided your hair the way you normally do it." He said with a smile as she looked at him for a moment then reached up kissing him, which at first he stood a moment unsure if he should because of her grieving heart but then wraps his arms around her kissing her back; passionately. After a few moments, they pulled apart as Legolas caressed her cheek with his free hand "It will be alright Asteria.." he said as he kissed her forehead softly which she accepted. She knew Haldir would not want her to continue to grieve; she had to be strong. She was strong, just as her heart was strong and she had Legolas as well as Aragorn, Gandalf and Gimli. She, right there, swore to herself she would not lose anyone else even with her last dying breath. "I love you...Legolas... as I live and breathe I love you" she said softly as his eyes scrunched in confusion as he looked down at her with a small smile "I love you Asteria..." He knew, as he looked in her eyes, she was trying to be strong; not just for herself but for the rest of them.

"Let us get ready to leave. Gandalf said we must go to Isengard" he said as he led her out of the medical room to where the others were "Let us go then." As they made their way out of Helm's Deep, Gandalf with Eomer, Théoden, Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn all on horseback following "Sauron's wrath will be terrible, his retribution swift" Gandalf said as they look to the other side of the hill on Mordor. Thunder and lightning erupt and the darkening sky turns red. Asteria looks at Gandalf who bore a grim look on his face "All our hopes now lie with two little hobbits..."

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