Weaving a Song

Chapter 104

"Perhaps it is easier when I forget my own predicament." Haldir admitted. "For then things look much better than they otherwise would. So I am trying not to dwell on it."

"I suppose if it works," Legolas trailed off as he saw some of them men looked as if they could not go on. "But the horrors of this land are paralyzing for the mortal."

"Not for all of them." Haldir said. "And Aragorn is compassionate yet."

"Yes." Legolas said quietly as Aragorn dismissed those who could not go on with courage for another task. That night all was still and silent. No war songs broke through the night, no horse whinnied, nothing but the howls of the wolves. This was a breeding ground for nightmares and no one dared sleep through it either. Tomorrow they would come to the end of their folly, but for tonight they would cling to what hope they had.

*

Thranduil pulled his army back to give leeway for the Orcs to come from the mountains. They waited for two days before the sounds of approaching Orcs came. "This time we do not stop." Thranduil said softly. "We will make them pay for everything they have ever done, and more besides." The Elves were barely holding themselves back. Emotions that had been built up for years, for some since the Second Age when Sauron had first begun his reign, were brimming over and threatened to overflow in a flood that would rival any natural disaster that had yet happened.

These Elves in particular were not called more dangerous, less wise for nothing. They had passion in emotion that other Elves simply did not. However, even so, their skills as warriors were perhaps even greater than most others save for perhaps a few like Glorfindel who were legends on their own because of their constant fight with the darkness. A combination of ferocity and unmatched skill had a way of evoking fear in all who came across them, and even Sauron had once feared the army of Eryn Galen. He had feared it so much that he had made sure to wipe it out the first chance he got, at Dagorlad.

But Thranduil's people had continued on, and now their chance for full retribution had come.

The horses were getting more and more restless as their owners did as well, until at last the Orcs were in sight. "Kill them all." Thranduil said, his voice as if he were talking in conversation, but it was far deeper than it had ever been in court. The archers released a horde of angry arrows into the approaching army and the result of those that had been hit but not killed turned into a now angry and punctured mob racing toward them.

"Break," Thranduil said. Spearmen rushed forward and swordsmen covered their flanks. Arrows still buzzed overhead, crashing into the oncoming Orcs with ferocity, most killing at least one Orc. The Orcs crashed upon the spears, skewering themselves up to four deep end to end. The Elves would heave these spears covered in Orc bodies into the oncoming mass to knock a few out of the way or to simply slow down the rush.

"Ready the cavalry." Thranduil said to Ortherion who nodded and turned his horse around and galloped into the army. Thranduil watched with blazing eyes as the horde of Orcs herded itself into the center of his army as they tried to break it.

Are you ready? Ortherion asked.

Thranduil waited until he saw the Orcs funnel into the 'broken' part of their army. Yes. "Get ready," Thranduil said over the sounds of battle. The Elves seemed to pause and then almost as one they broke apart from the center as the Elven cavalry stampeded through the center of the army. "Follow after them, push them back from whence they came." Once the stampede galloped by Thranduil pushed his own horse after them, the army following behind. Elves flew through the trees once more killing those the cavalry missed.

Orc bodies littered the forest until they reached the mountains. The Orcs prepared for Thranduil's army to stop here once more. "Fan out and push them back." Thranduil said, now breaking to the front of the charge. The cavalry expanded lengthwise and when the Elves appeared out of the forest the Orcs discovered it was larger than what they had counted on. The Elven army began closing in on them once more and this time pushed them against the mountains.

Finally the Orcs sounded a retreat and went into the only mountain pass Thranduil's people had left for them to take. Thranduil glanced up at the trees in the mountains, knowing there were more Spiders here. "Take caution, but keep pushing them through." He said.

The Elves in the trees slowed, this time making sure there were no surprises waiting for them. Taenron purposely pushed his horse in front of Thranduil along with two other guard members. "You aren't going to die from an ambush if I can help it." Taenron muttered when Thranduil glared at him annoyed. Ortherion rode up to Thranduil's side.

"Why not move faster?"

"We have time." Thranduil said softly. "Not much, but we do. At this rate, our warriors can rest while they walk and tend their injuries if they have them. We are still keeping them from moving out of this pass, our army moving along on either side of this mountain keeps them from circling back. No, if we move faster we may only break ourselves upon their spears. Besides, an ambush only works if they truly have an element of surprise."

There was an Elven cry of warning and then a screech as a Spider rolled out of one of the trees dead with an arrow through each of its eyes. Thranduil moved his horse around it as if it were nothing more than a bother and then kept riding. "As I said, their ambushes will not work as well at this pace."

Ortherion eyed the Spider. "Point taken."

*

Coming out of the mountain pass was the hardest part of this battle for Thranduil's people. The Orcs knew they were coming and had had time to regroup. If they had had any other leaders beside Thranduil and Ortherion things might have ended worse, but they were lucky and this time were well prepared to face their enemy.

The panthers had tracked with them toward the back of the army. For the past century, Thranduil had realized they might make valuable warriors just as much as his own people and after working it out with Ortherion they had found a way to train the panthers as well. Thranduil whistled sharply and one of them came to his side.

He sang very softly to it for a minute before he swung back on his horse. "Cover them from above. The army on either side of us will move first. As soon as they hear the sound of battle have them break cover and charge the Enemy. We will follow last and try to hit them unexpectedly." Ortherion nodded and messages were sent by bird both ways. They waited until they heard a confirmation and then Thranduil whistled again. A good twenty panthers slipped through the army ranks and almost invisibly navigated the rest of the passage. "Ready the archers."

The archers moved forward so that they were in the last of the cover of the mountain. The Orcs were all waiting, ready to kill. Thranduil's eyes flickered up at them as a signal and this time the arrows were lit on fire and sent into the Enemy. The Orcs howled and then hissed surprised as they were quite literally bit into as the panthers unleashed their own fury into the Enemy's ranks. Not a minute later, the Orcs were surprised as two attacks came on either side. The Orcs pressed back against each other so that all hoarded in the center, but yet they still faced different directions.

A horn call sounded and the Orcs let loose growls of frustration as they realized they had been tricked. Thranduil's part of the army collided on their confused ranks with a vengeance and the Orcs milled confused before leaving another pile of their dead bodies behind as they retreated once more. "After them!" Thranduil called.

This time it was both fast and slow as they routed the Orcs. The Orcs would run barely out of the way before they would turn and fight once more. It was a confused melee and Thranduil's folk lost a few before they gained the momentum once more. Battles lasted for hours at a time before chases would once more resume. Days passed in this way, and as they were stopped for what would be the final time, one last battle took place. On that same day, the few who chose to fight at the Black Gates watched as the Gates opened and their fate was about to be decided.