Nerwen the Green and the Search for the Entwives #wattys2019

Chapter LVI: The Siege of Ichidoragon

Chapter LVI: The Siege of Ichidoragon

They needed two days to cross the Lavnen, then the military caravan – almost three kilometres long – resumed marching.

Three days later, Coeris warned them of the presence of Easterling patrols; they didn't do anything to hide, because they counted precisely on being spotted to prompt a confrontation with at least part of the Easterling army, distracting them from the western front.

The battle took place on February 28th, on a flatland about halfway to Ichidoragon, where they found around 8000 infantrymen deployed and ready; the fight lasted several hours and ended with the resounding victory of the three allies. The few survivors were caught and then released, so that they would break the news of their defeat to the capital city and warn their emperor that the triple army would march on Ichidoragon and make scorched earth all the way through. The prisoners, incredulous they would escape death and torture – which they wouldn't hesitate inflicting, should their position be reversed – rode away headlong, not out of fear of the army coming from beyond the Red Mountains, but because of the presence of the Entwives: ancient stories, told in low voices around the campfire or in front of the hearth during winter nights, narrated of terrifying beings looking like trees, which had scoured their land so long ago that it had become a legend... and now, this very legend was proving frighteningly real. Indeed, the Entwives had taken part in the battle, hurling boulders they had ripped up from the ground and flinging them in the midst of the opponent army, then charging side by side with the cavalry that had swept away the enemy lines.

This way, a terrifying reputation preceded the triple army; the few villages and remote farmhouses they met on the march to the Easterling capital they found deserted, and therefore they were able to go on without the slightest hindrance.

Coeris, who had kept an eye on the freed prisoners, came back reporting she had seen a number of couriers leaving Ichidoragon headed westward, certainly dispatch riders chasing after the army that was marching to Mordor, carrying orders to recall part of it for the defence of the capital city. Through the Eagle again, they learnt that about 7000 soldiers had been detached from the forces heading for the Dark Land and were returning to Ichidoragon marching at maximum speed; they reached the town while the three armies coming from beyond the Orocarni were still one day away.

On the fifth day of March, under a pouring rain, at last Nerwen, Aryon and the armed forces accompanying them arrived within sight of the enemy capital. The Avar prince deployed the troops in formation, with the Entwives at the centre and Coeris flying above them along the whole line, so that they would appear all at once on the horizon in an daunting sight; and indeed, the apparition of 11.000 soldiers on a line of almost three kilometres, accompanied by gigantic walking trees and an enormous eagle, impressed greatly the inhabitants of Ichidoragon, undermining the Easterling warriors' spirits in spite of their officers' ferocious encouragements, which didn't sound very convincing. Even the emperor, who was watching from the highest tower of the castle, felt distraught.

Ichidoragon was strategically built on a large rocky cliff, just over one hundred metres high, rising suddenly up from the plain, almost vertical on one side, while on the other side, the slope was just slightly less steep. It was impossible to take with a frontal assault, and the walls had defence engines such as ballistae and onagers; but the besiegers could count on siege engines more formidable than the traditional ones: Fimbrethil and her companions. Almost 150 Entwives would act like as many trebuchets and catapults, with a deployment that could not be compared to any other siege in all of the history of Arda so far. At the worst, they could starve Ichidoragon because, even if well stored with food and water, sooner or later the defenders would finish their stocks. What mattered, was having removed a substantial part of their forces from the assault that Sauron was preparing against Gondor; if they would conquer or not Ichidoragon, was of secondary importance.