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Ents_of_Wrath  by bryn

Disclaimer: This story is non-profit and sole product of the author's own insanity. All recognized characters and places are property of J.R.R. Tolkien, New Line Cinema, and any successful Elf-nappers, hobbit-nappers, Men-nappers, etc. etc.


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~ Chapter 4: And Isengard Trembled Before Them ~
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"At last Gandalf halted and beckoned to them; and they came, and saw that beyond him the mists had cleared, and a pale sunlight shone. The hour of noon had passed. They were come to the doors of Isengard."

--- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Chapter 8, "The Road to Isengard."

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And so it was that Gandalf the White, followed by the Three Hunters: Aragorn son of Arathorn, Legolas of the Elves, and Gimli of the Dwarves; Théoden King of Rohan, Éomer of the Riddermark and his entourage of twenty Rohirrim, came to stand before the gates of Isengard.

The fully intact gates of Isengard.

Gandalf furrowed his bushy brows and gazed up at the towering gates. They had been flung open, but were not destroyed, as they ought to be. Why?

Thinking perhaps it was an illusion, some devilry of Saruman, the stately wizard dismounted his steed Shadowfax and prodded the gates with his staff.

They emitted a healthy thump.

Gandalf pursed his lips and looked the gates up and down, squinting in the noontide sun. The gates should not be standing. The gates should have been destroyed...  Perturbed, the wizard began to pace and mutter.

Aragorn and Legolas exchanged worried glances as the wizard continued walking back and forth for several minutes, mumbling incoherently under his breath. Théoden, Éomer, and the rest of the Rohirrim sat quietly upon their mounts in polite and embarrassed silence. Gimli emitted several throaty grunts, though as he was prone to habitually make such noises, his thoughts on the matter could not be discerned.

At length, the wise Mithrandir seemed to remember his charge. Turning to the Three Hunters and uneasy Rohirrim, he threw up his hands and smiled apologetically. "I seem to have been misinformed," he stated, more to himself than to the others. "How peculiar, but...."  The wizard cast one final glance upon the gates and shook his head. "Well, never mind. I suppose all is in good order."

Legolas again sought out the eyes of Aragorn. Aragorn met the Elf's gaze and frowned. Gandalf the White, all-knowing and powerful wizard risen from the flames and fire of Khazad-dûm, should not "suppose" anything.

Nonetheless, both Elf and Ranger dutifully followed the Istari through the archway along with the Men of Rohan, though neither could be blamed for choosing to ride at the very back of the company.

* * *

The Great Attack was underway.

Pippin watched as the enraged Ents charged the dark tower, their wrath and fury humming through the air as piercingly as their screams. With horrific shrieks the Ents leapt and flung themselves at the black walls, gnashing and tearing and clawing at anything that stood in their way.

Alas, as anyone who has ever tried to crush rock with a flower may recall, the poor Ents against the cold stone of Orthanc was as effective a tactic as trying to drown a fish. They could leap no higher than twice their body length (which was approximately to Merry's knee), and only succeeded in tearing their silky petals as they viciously pounded themselves into the wall.

The whole affair became disastrous once Saruman released his minions. The orcs were having a field day: plucking the enraged flowers off of the ground and engaging in such cruel tortures as "Sauron loves me; he loves me not" and "Shelob had a baby and its head popped off." The wizard's dark warriors proudly displayed the carcasses of their victims, wearing the flowers strung about their necks in chains or tied within their matted hair. Many an Ent was reduced to wailing petals of despair as he faced an orc bearing the head of a daisy or rose he knew tucked delicately behind the foul creature's ear.

Then the wolves came, simply snapping the hapless Ents in two with a quick bite of their monstrous jaws.

Pippin was forced to drag Merry into some deserted slave quarters, and there the two hobbits sat, huddling in terror while the massacre raged all around them. At least, Pippin was huddling in terror. Merry, on the other hand, was grinning from ear to ear as he watched the demise of the shrieking little flowers. It worried Pippin that Merry did not seem the least bit concerned about their current situation, and the younger hobbit was, on several occasions, forced to pull his gleeful cousin away from the windows. Merry was enjoying the battle far too much than Pippin thought acceptable. Even more concerning was the fact that Treebeard had disappeared shortly after the battle began, and there were several crumpled daisy petals stuck to the bottom of Merry's feet.

* * *

Blood-curling shrieks and harsh Orkish laughter grated the ears of Gandalf the White and his company. At first the group balked, not wanting to face whatever awaited them, for they had not sufficient numbers to combat the enemy. However, with Gandalf's assurance that Saruman had been overthrown and was no more, the brave little company gathered themselves together and charged through the last tunnel...


...straight into the welcoming army of Saruman.

* * *

Haldir of Lothlórien nearly fell out of the tree he had dozed off in, so suddenly was he wretched awake. The screams again pierced through the crystallized silence of the Golden Wood, shattering the peaceful slumber of night.

Below him, Rúmil yelped in terror (evidently, the brother of Haldir had not had as secure a resting spot within his tree). Feeling weak as a trembling autumn leaf, Haldir dropped down beside his kin and wordlessly placed a shaking hand upon Rúmil's quivering shoulder.

Both brothers cried out in terror and spun around as the scream suddenly came from directly behind them.

"AAAIIIIII!!!"

Haldir and Rúmil stared in dumbstruck silence as the Lady Galadriel ran through the forest in her nightclothes, long golden hair unbound and flowing behind her. "We must rid the forest of daisies! I demand an immediate removal of them all! They shall be the end of us if we do not!"

The barefoot lady vanished into the trees as quickly as she had appeared, still screaming and ranting about the relatively insignificant flowers. The two brothers stared in the direction she had fled. Haldir promptly shut his mouth when he realized it was hanging open. Confused, he turned to Rúmil, who blinked several times as if to make sure his eyes had just witnessed the sight, and shrugged.

"Galadriel!" Celeborn came staggering out of the bushes with a goblet of warm milk in hand. "My beloved wife, it was but a dream! Galadriel? Galadriel!" He paused when he caught sight of the two brothers and shot them an anxious look. Haldir and Rúmil wordlessly pointed him in the direction which the fair lady had fled.

Giving the two guardians a swift nod of thanks, the Lord of Lothlórien hitched up his robes and charged into the eaves after his queen.

"It was but a dream!"

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:) The End.

Special thanks to the people I managed to coerce into reading this tale (your reviews never failed to put a smile on my face and brighten my day). THANK YOU!!!

Vanity2, Yilantri, WickedFantasies, Thalia Weaver, Laurel Whitney, Miss Kaltia, Jen Littlebottom, Wraith Squadron, Sigil Galen, Aelfswythe, technetium, wellduh, Allyrien Chantel de Montreve, Jedi's Honor Bound Witch, kim, Lyrique, Phoenix Flight, ccg, Rabia, e, The Evil Old Woman, Rhikat, Yuffie-Girl, JastaElf, Nancing Elf, Yami Kimiko, Ithilien, SilentStep, Jeanne Dark, EdnaTod, Lauren, o0-Key-o0, Red-Dragon675, panther7x, and Hoo-ah.   

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