Baldor leads a small force of Rohirrim knights on patrol through the moonlit fields of Rohan. As they ride, a man wearing civilian clothes runs towards the patrol, he waves his arms frantically as he shouts something about an attack on a village. After calming the man down Baldor asks what is happening. The villager responds by saying his village, Angleton, is under attack. Baldor thanks the man and points him in the direction of the nearest safe village. He then rides with his knights in the direction of Angleton and arrives on a hill outside of the village. They see what seems like a massive bonfire, but in reality it is a dozen thatched houses burning at once. As they enter the village they see bodies strewn throughout the main street. They would see a couple of guards, and several villagers with makeshift weapons, all lying dead.
Down the street they see some guards fighting dunlending wildmen. Baldor barks an order and the knights form a wedge. Baldor lines up beside them and orders a charge. The charge is too late however, as the guards had already been slain. The orcs, who numbered two dozen, died under the lances of the elite knights. The knights draw their swords and enter a fierce melee with the wildmen. A small band of shieldmaidens arrive to reinforce the wildmen.
Suddenly, the fighting stops. Both sides withdraw to reform their lines. Both sides grow anxious, waiting for the other to charge. Then, the chieftain who leads the dunlending forces emerges from their lines and, in a deep hoarse voice, challenges Baldor to duel. Baldor, in halting dunlending, agrees, so long as the defeated side will surrender their men. The chieftain agrees to the conditions and soon the duel commences.
Baldor draws into a defensive stance, waiting for the chieftain to make the first move, he does. The chieftain shouts out "Know that Bjorn Bloodaxe has slain you!" Bjorn makes a lunging attack at Baldor, but all the blade meets is a wooden shield. Baldor then rams his shield into Bjorn's chest, staggering him and buying Baldor a few seconds. He then thrusts his sword into the dunlending's side and the blow connects, driving deep into his ribcage and piercing the heart killing him within a few seconds.
The knights cheer as they see the lifeless body slump to the ground, but the reaction from the dunlendings is quite the opposite. They draw their weapons in anger before remembering the conditions of the duel. Shamefully, they throw their weapons on the ground, all except one. A tall, red-headed shieldmaiden draws a short sword and charges at Baldor. She catches him off guard and slashes at his head; the blow connects but succeeds in merely knocking his helmet off. He responds with a well-timed slash at the shieldmaiden's arm. With light armor, the blow does heavy damage to the arm, slicing a deep gash. The woman falls to the ground, screaming in agony. Baldor contemplates killing her but seeing her writhe in pain on the ground makes him change his mind.
Baldor's lieutenant, Leofric, walks up to him. "What are you planning on doing with the captives?"
"I think we should take them prisoner," Baldor replies. "We could interrogate them as to why they have strayed this far from Dunland."
"Very well sir," Leofric replies," I shall gather the prisoners up and take them to the capital."
As the men bind the hands of the Dunlendings, Baldor spots another force of Rohirrim knights being led by man dressed in a mercenary's armor. As they ride up Baldor stops the mercenary.
"We saw the smoke and fire from a distance. We came to see if we could help, but it looks like you have beaten us to it."
Baldor thinks a moment before saying, "There are too many prisoners for my men alone to transport. Do you think that maybe you could help us move them to the capital?"
"I would be honored to help you, I'll take half of the prisoners, and you'll take half."
"That sounds fair to me." Baldor says.
After splitting up the prisoners, Baldor and the mercenary ride to the capital of the remaining Rohirrim, Windfall. Built in the years following the disastrous War of the Ring, Windfall has resisted multiple assaults by the forces of Saruman. It is built on four levels, each slightly higher than the other. On the first level is located the main wall, the barracks, and a few taverns. The second and third levels each contain walls, homes, shops, and taverns. The fourth level consists of a massive courtyard for public gatherings and a near impenetrable castle. The castle itself has only one possible entrance, the gate, which is guarded at all times by the elite guard of the king. It is into this mighty fortress city that Baldor and the mercenary ride.
Meanwhile, in the fortress of Isengard, Saruman has been pondering the threat of the last remnant of Rohan. Surely his army is more numerous than any pitiful force the horse-lords could muster. But yet the Rohirrim had delt him defeat after defeat. He realized that the best way to defeat them would be to kill their best commanders, Baldor and Prince Thaelon. The two leaders had the love and support of the people. He calls for one of his best commanders, Azdush. The uruk walks through the two black doors leading into the main room of Orthanc; he looks to see a pedestal in the center which a glowing bluish black orb is lying upon. 'Must be the Seeing Stone.' He thinks to himself. He looks to his left and sees a bent old man holding a staff sitting upon a black marble throne. "You wanted to see me my lord?" He says as he bows before the wizard Saruman.
"Yes my faithful servant," Saruman replies. "I have called you hear for a reason. The problem of the remaining Rohirrim army has been troubling me. My spies report that over the past few months, the size of their army has grown exponentially, as soldiers fleeing from broken rebellions elsewhere have swelled their numbers. I will give you command of 30,000 men to fight these rebels. Don't engage them in a pitched battle immediately though, wait for an opportune moment to strike. Now go, crush this rebellion."
Without a word, Azdush stands up and makes his way out of the citadel. He sees his army gathered before the doors and soon they leave to make war on the resistance.
As they march, they happen across a large patrol led by Thaelon, Prince of Rohan. Thaelon spots the massive army and realizing that his patrol would be no match for the army, he orders them to retreat back to the capital and alert the king to this new danger. As they ride away, a force of warg riders chases them for a ways before giving up them up.
Thaelon enters the city and rides to the citadel. He is admitted to the throne room by the palace guards, members of King Tyrgon's elite legion of bodyguards known as the Stormcloaks. Thaelon enters and sees his father sitting on the beautifully carved wooden throne recovered from the ruins of Meduseld, the Golden Hall of Rohan in Edoras, the former capital.
"Father, I have urgent news," Thaelon says. "I was out on patrol with some of my men as usual, but as we were about to turn around and head back, we stumbled across a massive uruk army, my estimate is over 30,000 uruks."
Tyrgon thinks for a moment before saying, "Don't stress it, this fortress can withstand any attack as long as there are men inside willing to defend it. Bring in that peasant friend of yours, Baldor I believe his name was."
Thaelon's face turns red as he tries to defend Baldor. "Father! How can you say that about him? Don't you know he is the son of a nobleman? I say that makes more of royal blood than you. You don't even have the privilege of being a member of the royal house of Eorl."
"SILENCE BOY! I gained my position as king through… certain legitimate means. I will not have some upstart soldier usurp MY throne!"
"Heed my warning or not, a large army will assault this city. And unlike you, father, I shall not be comfortable to sit in a keep while good men die to defend you. I shall take charge of the defense and defend the people."
"Have your way boy, go and die in whatever manner best suits you, I care not." With this last statement, Thaelon storms out of the keep and begins preparing the defenses of the city.
Baldor awakens the next day to find the city busy. All along the outer wall defenses are being prepared. Archers and ballistae line the walls as swordsmen stand in long rows behind them. Standing in the street, he sees Thaelon directing the defenses. He walks up to him to see what is going on, though he guesses why in his head.
"Greeting friend," Baldor says. "What's going on here?"
Thaelon turns to face him. "We are preparing for a siege. I spotted a large uruk army heading this way as I was returning from patrol yesterday. I have scouts out marking their position. They should be due back for report in the next few minutes."
As he says this, the gates open and a rider gallops through and stops in front of the two commanders.
"My lords," the exasperated scout exclaims. "The uruk army is nearly upon us. They will be here within an hour."
Baldor then recognizes the scout. "Leofric? What in the blazes are you doing as a scout?"
Before Leofric can answer, Thaelon answers for him. "I selected him to be the scout. You know well that he is the best rider we have. The stealthiest too, I might add."
Baldor sighs. "Leofric, I would've had no problems letting Thaelon command you, but you should have asked first. Under normal circumstances I would be forced to confine you to your quarters, but I have need of your skills. There is an army led by Lord Eorl at Deglor Keep. Ride there and see if you can enlist their help. Now go."
Without a word, Leofric, though tired, furiously gallops back out the gate and along the road to the west.