[ EU ] A Gondor soldier tells his child a tale about the mighty warrior Aragorn , son of Arathorn .

Guess I was a little long winded. 
 
 Great walls encircle the city of Minas Tirith; but even they can ’ t keep out a cool breeze. 
 A lone figure walks the streets of the city. He is seen by many but his cloak and hood obscure his face. The sound of raised voices, draw his attention to a familiar home down the street to his side. Curiosity overtakes him as he approaches and listens outside the window… 
 
 “ I am too ready! ” shouts a young man. “ Stupid old men to say I ’ m not old enough! ” 
 “ Son, you are barely 15. They are right. Yes, you are a good fighter; but it takes more than that just fighting to be a warrior. ” replies the boy ’ s father. 
 “ What do you know about it? I can defeat men twice my age with a sword. I can shoot a flying sparrow out of the sky with my bow. And there ’ s no man that scares me! ” yells the boy. 
 
 In a tone of voice that can only be described as a combination of anger, sympathy, remorse and tenderness… the father stands and speaks. “ That is part of the problem… you are too young to know what scares you. ” 
 The father continues “ Every man has something he fears. Doing what ’ s right, even when you ’ re afraid, is what makes a man great. That fear may be a man, it may be a beast, it may be monster… it may even their own destiny. ” 
 “ Son, you have heard some of the tales of King Elessar, and I know how much you have admired him. He is a great man for you to model yourself after, but… ” 
 
 “ Don ’ t even try to say that the King is afraid of anything! ” the young man jumps to his feet and shouts “ That ’ s treasonous to say things like that! ” 
 
 Anger at being interrupted overwhelms the boy ’ s father for a moment “ Sit down and be quiet! Or you will have a difficult time sitting for a week. ” 
 
 Even the eavesdropper crept closer to see if the boy would listen to his father. Watching the boy sit back down a thought came to his mind… Maybe there ’ s a man that still scares this boy afterall. 
 
 The father continued speaking as he did before the interruption. “ As I was saying… as strange as it may seem, King Elessar was afraid of his destiny to be king. That is why when the Enemy attacked this city, the Steward was the one charged with organizing our defenses. And he failed, miserably. Our soldiers were not given direction or orders to prepare. Men were running around in circles trying to figure out what to do. Neither of the Stewards sons, who were our commanders, were not in the city to help us. Faramir was our Captain and he had taken men to try and defend Osgiliath. His older brother Boromir, our General, was gone on a quest for his father, which we later found out was the same quest Aragorn was on. Boromir did not survive the journey. ” 
 
 “ Wait… ” again interrupted the young man “ You said OUR soldiers and OUR commanders… ” 
 “ Yes son… I was there ” said the father with a look of greif 
 “ But why didn ’ t you ” 
 “ Why didn ’ t I ever tell you I was a soldier? ” interrupts the father “ Because I was afraid; afraid for you. Afraid that the stories of my past, would alter your plans for your future. Afraid you would have no parent to teach and guide you. ” 
 The young mans mind was racing with images and memories of his father. He was always tall and strong. “ He taught me to use a sword and bow. The other soldiers always showed him respect. But he ’ s just a mason. He builds walls and houses. He ’ s not… ” 
 
 The boy looks up again at his father who is now holding a soldiers sword. A moved brick sitting on the mantle reveals the sword ’ s hiding place, tricks of the trade for a mason. The young man almost had to slap himself out of his stupor. The realization that his father was not always a mason, threw everything he had ever known up in the air. He had no idea what to think anymore; so he decided that maybe he should listen. 
 
 Again the father spoke “ All these years I have hidden my past from you. But you have followed the same path as I anyways. So I think you need to hear a bit more. The day of battle many men died in this city and in the fields before it. If not for King Elessar we all would have. Before he was King he was known as Aragorn, and long story short, he was the direct descendant of Isildur. And he was the only man that could rightfully claim the throne of Gondor. But he did not want it… and that ’ s part of what makes him so great. He was not drawn to power. ” 
 
 “ Aragorn was raised by the elves and knew of his lineage since he was young. But through that knowledge he knew of the evil that had corrupted Isildur, and he was afraid that power would corrupt him as well. He traveled the world and hid himself further, calling himself Strider, a mere ranger. But he was so much more than that. It wasn ’ t until the One Ring was discovered and the evil lord Sauron tried to retrieve it that Aragorn started to accept his destiny and become who he was meant to be. ” 
 
 “ I was not there for the adventure that took place around that ring; I know only what I have been told. But what I have been told, I know to be true. Aragorn led a group to destroy the Ring but the group broke apart; it had to. The task could not have been completed the way they had planned. Aragorn led part of the group to save others that had been taken during an attack. They traveled across mountains and fields and even forests. When they reached Rohan the battles really began. But through those battles, great alliances were reformed. And those alliances still remain today because of him. ” 
 
 The young man moves closer to the edge of his seat listening intently to his father ’ s words. 
 
 “ I said that Aragorn saved us, and that is true. But the great wizard Gandalf is the only reason we survived long enough to be saved at all. He showed up in Minas Tirith days before the attack. When the fighting began we didn ’ t know what to do. Gandalf took command; issuing orders, yet standing beside us to fight. For an old man you would not believe how dangerous he was to the enemy, he alone slew more than any of us. The army outside our gate appeared limitless. When they broke through the gate, I can ’ t even begin to describe the sounds or the fear we felt. But we knew we had to stand our ground. We had to do what we could, and take as many of them with us as we could. ” 
 
 “ Like an answer to our payers we heard trumpets sounding from outside and we knew they were not the horns of the Orcs… they were the horns of Rohan. King Theoden and the entire Rohirrim had come to our aid. On their great horses our allies charged the enemies ranks and crushed many foes under their hooves. As much of a blessing as they were to us they suffered mighty losses. The worst of all was their king. Theoden himself fell on the battlefield to the Lord of the Nazgul. Much to everyone ’ s surprise, the monster that killed the king was slain moments later; by none other than the king ’ s niece. The Lady Eowyn had snuck into the ranks of riders and came to her uncle ’ s side when he was struck down. ” 
 
 “ Where is Aragorn while all this was happening? ” queried the young man anxiously 
 
 The man set his sword down and sat in the chair near his son “ Back in the time that Isildur ruled, there was an army that had sworn allegiance to him. But when the time came for them to uphold that promise, they did not come. For that, Isildur cursed them to never rest until their promise was upheld. So even though they died, their spirits did not leave middle earth. Being the sole heir of Isildur, Aragorn had the power to summon those spirits and he used the promise of release to call them to his command. And they followed him. With the power of a “ Dead Army ”, Aragorn was able to intercept the enemy reinforcements that were sailing to Gondor. They slew every enemy on the fleet of ships and then Aragorn took those ships for himself. He gathered every able bodied man he could and sailed to Minas Tirith. ” 
 
 “ Wait, you ’ re saying the King was controlling an army of ghosts? ” the son asked “ If they were so powerful why would he not make them stay and fight until it was all over? ” 
 
 “ I asked the same question. ” said the father with a smile. “ Simply put, they upheld their oath. When the Aragorn landed with his ships the enemy thought they were getting their reinforcements. Talk about a surprise; warriors springing over the rails and driving through the orc forces. The enemy forces were broken and soon after defeated. That wasn ’ t the last fight against the orcs, but for that day we were done. I and many others started searching through the bodies in the city and field to look for surviving men. The ones that could be saved were returned to the city. The king himself worked among the healers saving as many lives as possible. Two days after the battle, we assembled again with the king and marched on the Black Gate its self to draw out Mordor ’ s army. The last part of the company trying to destroy the Ring of Power was close to the end of their journey. We needed to clear a path for them. At the gate the king spoke with another of Sauron ’ s servants; in an instant the king beheaded him and rode back to our army. I can not give justice to the words spoken by our king in that moment but I can tell you that the power in his voice strengthened our hearts and solidified our will. Not one of us questioned his command; then or now. The gates of Mordor opened and their forces closed the distance between us. At the kings call we charged. The moments after were a blur… men, orcs, trolls, a flurry of war… and then the earth beneath our own feet shook. Mount Doom erupted in the distance and the dark tower crumbled. The enemy was defeated. The following days were filled with joy of victory along with the sorrow of the fallen men. Aragorn was King. His kingdom to be rebuilt. And old alliances forged new again. ” 
 
 “ So let me get this straight. ” interjected the young man. “ The city was under siege, the wizard was here leading the army, Rohan showed up with their cavalry, and then Aragorn shows up after the majority of the fighting was done? That doesn ’ t really make him the savior of the city. ” 

