It was all a rush, from the moment Theoden King arrived at Helm's Deep. Godwine was yelling command after command, Gæded and the others of her patrol running about with arms full of armour, weapons and other equipment, taking them to where they were needed, then running back to Godwine to be issued with their next task. The only moment of respite Gæded found was when she was stopped by one of the Royal Guard, who was off doing some errand for Theoden King, and was recognised as the rather idiotic woman who'd insulted Theoden King outside the Meduseld, for he was the guard that Gæded had said it to and he'd ordered her to be chased from the city. Now, however, he pardoned her for what she said and told her that she was free to go back into Edoras. But after that, it was back to work.
Gaeded kept working until nightfall of March 3, when all the preparations had been made and the army of the enemy was fast approaching. Godwine organised the patrol, that was to be stationed on the Deeping Wall. It was there she found out that her brother, Guthred, and her childhood friend, Aethrand, were conscripted to help fight, as both were young, able-bodied men. Aethrand was stationed on the wall above where the drain was, Gæded on the part of the wall next to that bit and her brother on the part of the wall closest to the mountainside. Gæded acted as though she felt strong, but inside, she was terrified - for her own life, for her brother's, for Ælfræd's and for Aethrand's.
As she stood alert on the wall, Ælfræd by her side, rain began to fall from the dark skies above. It made a tinkling sound on her helmet and on the armour of those around her. The weather began to worsen, the rain getting heavier and heavier. Soon, a flash of lightning filled the skies and a thundering boom followed. Fitting for the battle ahead, Gæded thought to herself.
On the horizon, though Gæded struggled to see it at first, was tiny lights and figures marching in their direction. The shadows grew bigger and bigger, showing a large mass of beings, of which consisted Gæded did not truly know, though she could guess it was made up of Dunlendings and many kinds of orcs. Shortly, though the sounds of the rain and thunder, came the clink of steel against steel, roars of fury and screams of pain and dying.
"You look very tense, Gæded."
Ælfræd was looking over to her, a small smile on his lips, though in his eyes fear was bright, despite trying to put on a brave face.
"I am scared, Ælfræd. I have been though much pain and suffering, but almost always me and my friends have always survived, despite the odds being against us. Now, however, death is inevitable and I do not want to lose you, or anyone else that I care for."
Ælfræd held out his free hand for Gæded to talk hold of, which she did and he squeezed her hand, trying to comfort her some, "We will survive. You said that you've always survived despite the odds being against you, so I am sure that is what will happen here." He pauses some, "We have a farm with a sheep and a dog waiting for us, so we can't die."
Gæded would nod, smiling some at the dream that the two had come up with for when the war ended, "We do."
Soon, the army of the enemy broke through Helm's Dike and reformed, marching towards the main fortress of Helm's Deep. Godwine and other maegisterwigends shouted commands and all followed them. The enemy shot a volley of arrows from a distance, taking out a few near Gæded, one from her patrol. It steeled her, somehow, putting her into that mindset of survival that had kept her alive this long. As the enemy got closer, Godwine ordered the archers to notch their bows and get ready to fire whilst another maegisterwigend ordered Gæded and others who were armed for melee to start dropping rocks on the enemy. This managed to cause the enemy to break ranks, some going to try to break down the doors of the fortress whilst others bringing forth ladders to try to scale the Deeping Wall.
Gæded and her patrol began pushing down the ladders, but where one was pushed down, two more rose up. This became quite exhausting for Gæded, especially as it was the middle of the night and Gæded's mind was drifting to the idea of a warm, comfy bed, instead of fighting in the cold, dank night. But her duty was here and she couldn't abandon it.
Then, seemingly from nowhere, orcs began attacking from behind. It was completely unexpected, but it also put Gæded in her comfort zone. With spear and shield, she cut down as many enemies as possible, quickly losing count as she protected those pushing down the ladders from getting stabbed from behind. After a while, the orcs stopped coming from behind and Gæded quitely thanked whoever had done it, so that she could go back to pushing down ladders.
The battle seemed to be going slightly in the eorlingas' favour at this point...
A blinding flash of orange fire, a loud boom like thunder, rock flying and a incredible force sending Gæded flying to the floor beneath her feet.
The Deeping Wall had been breached. The wall had exploded... right where her friend Aethrand was. Gæded prayed to Bema that he'd somehow survived that, though she had little hope in that moment.
Gæded's remaining patrol, led by Godwine, was told to retreat back to the main keep. Gæded ran, taking Ælfræd's hand and pulling them both away from the fight and up the stairs, making sure both of them survived.
The patrol kept fighting as long as it could, before Theoden King called many of those inside the keep to take part in a cavalry charge, including Gæded's patrol, though they were towards the back of it. They pushed the enemy back and Gæded felt victory upon them.
Indeed, the eorlingas were victorious this day.
For Gæded, she remembers little of it, apart from the main turning points of the battle. She remembers the aftermath more clearly - it was filled with pain and mourning.
