Disclaimer: I do not own ANY of middle earth or any of the original characters!

~Chapter One~

Four men, one of them badly wounded, rode away from the burning ruble that was once there base camp. One of the four was Eomer of the House of Eorl. He was just barely conscious, riding on his horse with his head lolling around. He had a bloody cloth wrapped around his forehead and a nasty cut on his upper arm. The other three men were in better shape with just a cut here and there, they rode alongside their captain making sure he didn't fall off his horse.

"I thought the orcs were wiped out at The Black Gate ten years ago." The shortest of the four said.

"No, not all of them. Some ran off when the Eye was destroyed." The biggest one said. "They were supposed to leave Middle Earth, but judging by the size of that army that just attacked us I'm guessing they hid at the edge of it and grew, in numbers that is." He took a look at his captain. "Eomer isn't going to make it back to Helms Deep in time! We must go to Minas Tirith it's the closest place of aid."

They rode through the remainder of the night and stopped at about high noon the next day when Eomer awoke asking for water. He was helped off his horse by two of the men, Islden and Eyemer, and rested on the ground with a bundled up cloth supporting his head as the other man, Theo, fetched some food and water. Nobody spoke until Theo returned with a bucket of water, two dead rabbits, and four skin canteens hanging from his waist.

"We're about a mile away from the Maring Stream, Thats where I got the water. And just my luck I was able to shoot to rabbits taking a drink." Theo said.

Canteens were handed to everyone which Eomer, more that willingly, accepted and the bucket was placed in front of the horses. Once Eomer had drank his fill he asked "Who all survived?" Nobody answered. "WHO!" Eomer yelled.

Islden swallowed hard and answered "Only us sir." Eomer's face filled with rage, but the rage was wiped away as he started to weep. He wept for the hundreds dead and the friends lost. He put a hand over his face for he dare not let his men see him like this.

"It's okay, Eomer, we're all sad about this unfortunate tragedy." Theo told him as he undid the bloody cloth at Eomer's forehead revealing a deep gash that Theo started to dab at right away with a wet sponge.

Eomer swallowed hard and said "You fail to understand. Those men were my responsibility and I failed them!" He started talking more to himself than anyone else. "I should have put more guards on duty, I should have put at least three facing each direction, but instead I just placed one." He didn't look at any of them the whole time he was talking, and once he finished he realized there were mountains to there right. "Why are we heading east? Helms Deep is west."

"We know." Islden replied. "But you need medical attention, and when I say that I mean more than just dabbing that nasty gash with a sponge." He pointed at Eomers forehead.

Now Eyemer spoke. "And while we're there we could ask for military assistance. They should listen is their king not a friend of yours?"

"He was, but I do not know if he would remember me." Eomer said trying to remember Aragorns face.

Islden yawned. "We should get some rest and continue in the morning. I didn't get a wink of sleep last night."

Thanks for reading! Chapter two coming soon! Review please!