Sword and Arrow

Chapter 48

"Final count, forty-two." Legolas stood among the bodies strewn through the courtyard. He ran his gloved hand along his slender bowstring. Even after that long battle, there was nary a speck of blood on the Galadhrim bow.

"Forty-two!" Gimli exclaimed. He sat on the body of a dead orc, his axe embedded in its head. "That's not bad for a pointy-eared Elvish princeling." Legolas raised his eyebrows. "I myself am sitting pretty on forty-three."

Quick as lightning, Legolas drew an arrow and shot the orc Gimli sat on through the throat, then smiled proudly at the dwarf. "Forty-three," he said smugly.

"He was already dead," Gimli said indignantly.

"He was twitching."

"He was twitching because he's got my axe embedded in his nervous system!" The dwarf hit the handle of his axe, making the orc shudder and twitch.

Legolas grimaced and looked away. Once the orc had stopped twitching, he delicately retrieved his arrow from its neck (but not without prompting another wave of twitching) and backed away. "Any idea where Aragorn and dear Betty have gotten off to?"

Beruthiel and Aragorn had, in fact, gotten off to the room that the King had repurposed for his audience chamber. Gandalf stood before Théoden, leaning heavily on his staff. His cloak and robes were still snow-white despite the blood and dirt of the battle.

"We must ride to Isengard," the wizard advised. "Saruman's army has been dealt with, but he is still the root of the problem. He will only create more trouble if he is let be as is."

"Long has it been that Saruman has created trouble for us," Théoden mused. "It is time we pay him back.

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The mounted company had stopped at the crest of the hill, looking out into the evening. The red glow of Mordor still loomed in the distance, and the sky above it was darker than the rest of the dusk.

"Sauron's wrath will be terrible, his retribution swift," Gandalf said. Shadowfax shifted under him as he tossed his head and whinnied softly. "The battle for Helm's Deep is over. The battle for Middle-earth is about to begin." More softly, as if to himself, he said, "All our hopes now lie with two little hobbits. Somewhere in the wilderness."

With those final words, Gandalf led the way down the hill into the forest that lay between Helm's Deep and the caverns of Isengard.