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Haleth
"...But at last Haldad was slain in a sortie against the Orcs; and Haldar, who rushed out to save his father's body from their butchery, was hewn down beside him. Then Haleth held the people together, though they were without hope..."
The Silmarillion
Red light from fires and failing daylight glinted off the tip of the orc blade now protruding from her brother's back. Haleth heard nothing. She couldn't see Haldar's face. But she felt it.
She felt the life fading from her twin even as the wild orcs let out screeches of glee. Their scattered peoples, women and children cowering behind the wooden barriers between the rivers while the men bore arms, seemed to halt as one.
In a matter of moments, they'd lost everything. Haleth had lost everything. Her father had gone further out to rally them. The people were proud but weeks of fighting drained them. So he had done what only Haldad, greatest chieftain, could do. He'd led from the front.
And there he'd died. Haleth watched the orc yank its sword free. Haldar dropped to his knees. His face fell into the dirt just beside their father's blood stained chest.
What hope of victory did they have? With the setting sun, the orcs could only grow bolder. Her father lay in the mud. Her brother now lay beside him. Their wooden barriers smoked and smoldered as arrows dipped in fell fires set them ablaze.
Haleth turned at the sound of steel hitting rock. Her brown hair caught in the blood dripping down her face. The man beside her stood weaponless. In the chaos, he stilled completely. At his feet now lay his blade.
Someone cried to retreat. Retreat to where? Retreat to what? Safety lay only in their weapons and courage.
Pain shot through her shoulder. Haleth fell to the ground as a man rushed past, towards the women and children and elderly. Her ears rang. Dirt filled her mouth. She could see Haldar's still hand.
Haleth spit out the mix of mud and blood onto the ground and pushed herself up. What hope did they have?
None.
"Haladin!" She picked up the sword the man on her left hand dropped. "To what do you run?"
A few glanced her way, eyes filled with terror. They had no leader. No path. No hope. She had no hope to give them, but what did that matter?
"When all hope is gone, to what do you turn?" Haleth scrambled around one of the barriers. She took a deep breath and pointed her steel sword at the sneering orcs preparing a final assault. No. It would not be the final assault. "We do not need hope to defend our homes! Our people! We need only courage and pride!"
Haleth swallowed back tears as she came up on the bodies of her father and brother. The orcs laughed. Perhaps they had never seen a woman take up arms against them. They would regret those laughs. They would regret the steel they had used to cut down her family. They would regret ever facing the Haladin in battle.
"With me, Haladin! When the immortal elves sing songs of our deaths, let it be with jealousy!"
Shouts went up from both sides. "For the Haladin!"
"For Haldad!" Her throat ached as she screamed over the sounds of battle. The stench of death watered her eyes. "For Haldar! For the Haladin!"
Ringing filled her ears as she slammed her sword down on an orc blade. She looked into its narrowing yellow eyes. Haleth spit. They did not have hope. She did not have hope. But she had pride. And she had steel.