The silence was unbearable; the awaiting for the Urusk to come and for death to come knocking on their door. No one could claim that they weren't afraid for the odds were still not great despite the arrival of the Elves, and there was a large possibility that they wouldn't survive the night.

Aragorn was walking back and forth in the aisles where Míriel and the rest stood, encouraging his Elf warriors. Míriel was standing next to Legolas, and next to him was Gimli. The Dwarf was too short to see anything over the stone walls and complain over this several times as the sun set in the sky and the dark clouds spread across it instead.

"You could've picked a better spot," Gimli muttered again, making Legolas smile an amused smile.

Míriel was very much aware of the fact that Legolas had picked this sport precisely for this reason; just to annoy the Dwarf. Her eyes wandered out to see the fires of the Uruks as they marched toward them at a steady pace, their torches not at all representing the amount of them. The Uruks were truly many, more than ten thousand surely.

It was hard to imagine how the Hornburg would be able to withstand this attack, which was very discouraging. Míriel turned around as she heard Aragorn approaching them and sent Legolas a glance. Aragorn looked out over the Uruk army with a strange, but determined look in his eyes. His tensed look showed that we was concerned.

"Well lad, whatever luck you live by, let's hope it lasts the night," Gimli said. He was referring to the fact that Aragorn seemed to be impossible to kill. He had fallen off a cliff and still, he stood there, which sure made it seem that he had some higher spirit protecting him.

Lightning flashed over their heads suddenly and there was a boom of thunder. They were not lucky with the weather though, not even with Aragon amongst them.

"Your friends are with you Aragorn," Legolas said as the lightning lit his blue eyes and made them look like ice.

"Let's hope they last the night," Gimli muttered quietly, being just as positive as ever.

Aragorn patted each of their shoulders and walked away toward his other soldiers. As soon as he left the rain started pouring down from the sky and Míriel was soaked after only a couple of minutes. She thanked herself for thinking of braiding her hair before the battle to keep it out of her face, as well as making her vision clearer and she could now see all the Uruks and felt the bitterness of fear in her heart. Míriel had not been in such a huge fight for decades, and even more, this was a battle.

"Show them no mercy..." Aragorn shouted to his archers. "... for you shall receive none!"

It was pretty obvious advice, though, for the Orcs never had any compassion for any life; they were heartless creatures. The Uruks stopped their marching and simply began roaring and howling at them from the ground. Gimli jumped at his spot and tried to see over the stone wall, but failed again.

"What's happening out there?" he asked Legolas.

"Shall I describe it to you?" Legolas asked smugly. He glanced down at Gimli with a chuckle. "Or would you like me to find you a box?"

Míriel chuckled and Gimli laughed amused, allowing her to forget all the Uruks for a moment. One of the Uruks down at the solid ground howled and they all started banging their spears in the ground which caught their attention again. It was getting closer and closer for the battle to begin.

Suddenly Legolas touched her hand with his and she almost jumped up since she was so surprised.

"Have courage, Míriel," he said to her. "Remember your promise to me."

"I would not forget it," Míriel said with a smile.

No matter what happened that night, she was glad to be at Legolas' side. The time she had gotten to spend with him during this journey was more than she could have ever asked for and she had gotten to know the Elf all over again. The way that he had changed since they first met was remarkable, despite not remembering all the events that had caused him to change so in the beginning.

Míriel turned her head towards the great army and heard one of the Uruk-Hai roars again. The other in the army all made a sound in response and let their torches fall to the ground. They looked as if they had the win already, their confidence was frightening to most of the Men of Rohan.

Aragorn drew his sword and so did everyone else with their weapons. Those who had bows loaded and drew them, though they waited to open fire until the enemy side to start the battle. Míriel suddenly heard the sound of an arrow releasing from the string, flying toward the Uruk-hai. The arrow hit the chest of one of the large Uruks, killed him instantly as he fell to the ground. Míriel turned her gaze toward where the arrow had come from and saw that it was an old man, and he seemed very scared of what he had just done.

"Hold!" Aragorn yelled.

Instantly, all the sounds from the Uruk-Hai disappeared and it fell completely quiet. For moments or so, it was quieter than it must have been in a grave. The Uruks once again let out outraged cries - they growled because the other side had attacked them first. They started running forward with no more doubts, starting the battle.

"Prepare to fire!" Aragorn yelled. Míriel aimed and waited for orders. As soon as Aragorn gave them it, she released her arrow and saw the front row being cut down.

"Did they hit anything?" Gimli asked which was a pretty dumb question.

They had hit very many indeed and the whole front line had fallen dead. There were many more Uruks to come, though, and Gimli would surely get his fight. The Elves reloaded their bows as other shouts of fire came from the walls. The Uruks reached the wall and Míriel saw how they lined up ladders at the side of the wall.

"Ladders!" Aragorn shouted as a warning.

"Good!" Gimli said with a smile on his face. He wanted to fight and win that stupid competition of his and Legolas'.

The night turned into a great battle, and Míriel could hear all the sounds of people getting hurt. There were cries of Men and Elves and roars from the terrible Uruk-Hai. The sound of swords meeting as the enemies charged toward the men and there were painful screams as people were killed. Míriel could even hear the sound of bones breaking. The heavy rain fell from the sky and soaked everyone which did not make the vision better for those without the good eyes of the elves.

Míriel heard how Gimli and Legolas had started their stupid game again - counting how many Uruks they could kill. An Uruk hurried toward Míriel and she slid her sword across its chest before pushing it away. It fell back toward the ground and then she stabbed it in the stomach. Her blade struck another Uruk hard across the neck. Míriel turned to look for Aragorn as a sound of an explosion diminished everyone's hearing. A large piece of the wall flew up in the sky and the smaller ones rained over the people on the wall.

Míriel had managed to avoid the blocks of the wall but saw that many had been crushed under them. She saw how the elves - and Gimli - lead by Aragorn fought down on the ground to prevent the Uruks from coming in and taking the castle since they had blown the stone wall which had created a huge hole in the stronghold.

After seeing Legolas making a grand entrance down at the ground, Míriel decided to join him down there. As soon as she had reached the ground she began fighting side by side with him. She turned her head and threw her dagger at the back of an Uruk's head that was about to kill one of the Elves. She ran and pulled the dagger out of the filthy animal's head - spun around and cut an Uruks head off. She turned around and saw how they were as good as inside the fortress already and that what they had done was not enough.

"Aragorn! Pull back to the keep! Get your men out of there!" Théoden shouted from the top of the tower. He knew that they had lost the wall and needed to regroup inside the keep, figure out a way to win this.

"To the keep!" Aragorn shouted. "Pull back!"

Míriel killed one last Uruk and was about to search for Legolas to pull back with him. Just as she did so she saw how an Uruk attacked Haldir from behind and cut him in the chest and leg. It was if everything suddenly went so slowly even if time passed fast. She saw how Haldir fell to his knees, seeing the blood flow out of his wounds as if he had never seen it before. Míriel tried to call his name out, but no words escaped from her lips. She started hurrying toward him instead, but somehow her legs did not want her to run to his aid. Every step felt as heavy as if she weighed as much as a giant.

"Míriel, no!" Legolas shouted but she ignored his voice calling for her to get back to the keep. Legolas knew that Haldir was lost, but Míriel did not want to see that. She needed him to be alive and well when she got to him.

Míriel pulled her dagger out but had not even reacted before another Uruk had swung a deadly stab in Haldir's back, killing him almost instantly. Míriel saw her friend fall to the ground to die; the same friend she had known for most of her life on Middle-Earth. She made it over to him and fell to her knees next to him. Tears ran down her face as she turned him around to see him breathe his last breaths - he was still alive in her arms.

His fair face was already turning grey and his eyes were losing its colour. He was dying, and it was happening so fast. There was so much Míriel wanted to say to him but there was no time to say them. She tried letting doing something with her powers, anything that would have helped him. Nothing seemed to work, though, for Míriel was still not in control of her gift and she was too weak to help her friend.

"Be strong... Ilmarë, my dearest friend," he said quietly, his voice being the only sound she could hear among the panic around her.

Míriel could hear how his heart stopped beating inside his chest and his time in this world was now over. She could feel a single tear run down her cheek and land on his cold hands. It was a strange feeling inside of her as she knew that she would not see Haldir again in this life; and Míriel felt as though she was falling apart inside. Then she recalled what he had called her; he had referred to her as Ilmarë. But why? Haldir knew perfectly well that he name was Míriel.

"You were a great friend, Haldir," she whispered to him.

He truly had been, and she meant every word she said. Without him and his brothers, the battle would already have been lost. Now there was hope and she was going to win this battle for him, for his brothers and for all she cared for in Middle-Earth. Míriel leant down over him and kissed his forehead softly before letting him go. Aragorn kneeled next to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked into his eyes and saw that even he had tears threatening to flood over any second.

"Go, Míriel," he said to her softly, sounding so calm. "Find Legolas and Gimli."

Míriel took a last glance at Haldir - wished that she could have taken him back to Lothlórien where he belonged so he could rest in peace - and walked away. She promised herself to come back and take his body, ask the Elves to bring it back so he could have a proper memorial. He deserved that. She tried not to look back at him, but she did after hearing a battle cry. Míriel's eyes saw Aragorn jump onto a ladder and swing himself down to the Uruks - a suicide attempt it looked like to do so.

"Aragorn!" she cried, but he was already gone.