Chapter 11

That night, Tippithil and Taithirin stayed up. Tip, being more proficient at energy manipulation, drew energy from rocks, something Taithirin thought impossible. Taithirin, in turn, drew energy from Tip. Taithirin was working on what seemed to be a rope.

"So eh, Taith…" said Tip, "you've started your own… militia?"

"Mercenary Company" corrected Taithirin

"Yeah, yeah same thing. Hey, what are you working on?"

"Climbing rope"

"Eh?"

"I'll show you"

Taithirin turned to reveal a sharp, thick metal tip at the end of a rope, and a thin silver strand ran through the rope. Taithirin swung the loop and released it, it lodged in the stone thanks to the extra energy Taithirin put into it.

"Pull it out" dared Taithirin.

Tip walked up to the cave wall, and spent ten minutes trying to pull it out.

Taithirin grinned. He walked up to it, there was a "click" and then Taithirin pulled it out effortlessly. Tip gawked.

"How'd--" he was interrupted by Taithirin.

"All brawn and no brain? Come on, think. Try putting it back"

Tip swung it. He knew the rope would need a boost of energy to penetrate the rock, but he wasn't touching the tip, so he couldn't boost it, but then he remembered the silver strand running through the rope. Thin, but pure silver, good enough to conduct large amounts of energy. He swung and released, the tip going deep into the rock.

"Alright, can you pull it out now?

Tip pulled it out effortlessly. He was confused. Taithirin read the expression.

"There's more to it, you've figured half of it out. Prove that you don't have the brain of a dwarf."

Tip took offence to that. He searched the tip, and then he saw a small crack. He pulled it with his fingers, Taithirin sighed. Tip blushed and used his magic. The crack opened up and a thick, sharp metal rod shot out. Then he understood. He tried the other side, sure enough, there was another one. He retracted them and tried to lodge it again. It worked.

"Aye Taith, you are a genius"

"Lesser brains would have taken much more time to figure it out, though. I've made an additional one, keep that one."

An hour later, the snow storms had calmed. Taithirin walked outside of the cave. He looked down into the cliff, the same cliff that Erath had fallen into.

He saw torches, and a mass of troops marching, in the direction they were going to go, to Gondor.

'Tippithil! Tiro!" look Tip ran over and looked down. He frowned.

"Uruk-hai. They march to Osgilliath." Said Tip "Their attacks on the city have become more frequent. It will fall soon."

"Not if I can help it." replied Taithirin.

He moved and woke up his riders.

"They will get there before we do."

"So you're coming?"

"Ye—that's beside the point. We will get there after the attack had started"

"Better than not getting there at all."

Arianel was confused. "Huh?"

"We head towards Osgilliath."

It was at a time like this when you generally did not argue with Taith. Even if Tip was the ranking officer. They began their decent in the dark, their path lit by firelight.

Osgilliath

Ziomir was pacing in the barracks. If Mordor attacked again, then they would not hold out. They had sent for help from Mina's-Tirith and Rohan. Those troops were ready to fight, although Ziomir had a feeling that it was not enough. A scout ran into the office.

"Sergeant Ziomir! Uruk-Hai have been spotted moving toward Gondor!"

"Uruk-Hai? Are you sure? How many"

"Three thousand"

Ziomir muttered

"Three thousand? We match them in numbers, but their strength exceeds ours.

Ziomir walked on the walls of the city, the walls that had been, and would be in a battle. The walls were cracked in some parts, and scratched. The masons were doing hurried repairs. The gate was wrecked from past battering rams. The doors would need to be replaced. He looked at the plains stretching out of the city; they were beautiful under the rising sun. The green grass would soon be bloodstained, and he knew that they would not last out the battle. And then he saw them. The uruk-hai were marching towards them. His heart jumped. The gate was not repaired yet.

"Shore up the gate!" yelled Ziomir from the wall. "They're here!"

He ran down, and got everyone into position.

"Archers to the walls, Riders up front! Be ready when they come through!"

The Rohirrim lined up at the gate, and pointed spears at the gate, ready to skewer the first few that came through. Some archers climbed onto rooftops, ready to shoot the first uruk that came into range. They could see the ram, but it was out of range. There was a wall of shield in front of it. Suddenly, they broke into a sprint.

"This is it." Said Ziomir, "Are all the civilians on the west side?"

"Yes Sir."

The first arrows were launched. The battle had started.

Tip & Taithirin

"Tip, charge up everyone's sword, to scare them a bit."

Tip nodded.

"We go in; I blow my horn to get their attention. Tip's squad hides behind the bushes and fires when we are about to hit them. That will confuse them and give us an opportunity to break their ranks. Tips squad moves in and does a frontal attack after that. Everyone understand?"

The white riders and Tip nodded.

They mounted their horses and charged. As Taithirin blew his horn, some Uruks turned and got a scare. Four people, clothed in all white and with blazing swords.

"Leithio!" fire The elves released a volley of arrows taking down the first two ranks almost instantly. This caused panic among some of them. The riders clashed with the Uruks, swords ablaze.

"Herio!" charge It was quite a sight: A hundred elves breaking cover, some firing, some running with their longknives out. The uruks broke ranks, making it much easier for the horses to maneuver.

Taithirin motioned to the riders. They formed a line and charged the few protecting the ram. The elves were taking care of the rest. Two of the uruks had long spears, one pointed at Taithirin as he charged, just before the spear gave him a third nostril, he swung off of Feran (pronounced fey-rahn) as he trampled the uruk. Taithirin spun, slicing open another uruk's armor. He fell to the ground. Arianel sliced another uruk's head off, and Trinis skewered an uruk that was about to slash Taith's back. Taith picked up a sword from a dead uruk and threw it at another one, the sword lodged in his hip. That was the last of them. The uruks that were operating the ram had by now dropped the ram and had drawn their swords.

Taithirin grinned. How dumb do these guys get? They think I'm going to fight them? Taithirin pointed to the uruks with his sword and ordered the archers on the walls to kill them. His order was obeyed, and three of the five were dead. "Hado i philinn!" hurl the arrows . It took a bit for the elves to load and fire, but the remaining uruks were eventually shot by Mirkwood arrows. There were still a lot of uruks on the battlefield, they had only slain a third.

"Get all of this stuff out of the way, and get out here and help!" he yelled through a barricaded gate.

The gate was unblocked and riders and footmen ran out onto the battlefield. The Rohirrim lowered their spears to level with their horses' heads and charged the remaining uruks. Taithirin whistled for Feran and mounted him. Feran caught up with the riders easily. Taithirin raised his sword and flicked his wrist in a circle, rallying the White Riders. Soon Arianel, Farr, and Keldr were to his right. To his left were the Rohirrim. Something else in front of him caught his eye. An unorganized horde of orcs lead by a Nasgul was emerging from the northern woods.

"New target" shouted Taithirin, pointing to them with his sword. The Riders broke off from the Rohirrim and began galloping toward their next target. Some infantry was also rushing to them. Among those, Taithirin saw Ziomir. Ziomir did not recognize Taithirin; he was cloaked and hooded, as usual. The last Ziomir saw him he was off training, not the head of a Mercenary Company.

As they got closer, Taithirin realized that all of the orcs were armed with bows. A second after that, a volley of arrows flew up from them. The Riders' lives were at stake. Thinking quickly, he raised his left hand. The missiles caught on fire. As the arrows burned brighter they slowed down. Before they hit, the arrows were completely still and almost completely burned away. The orcs were now weaponless and the riders swept over them, trampling some and slashing others. The orcs broke ranks. Both forces were now spread out across the battlefield. Taithirin skewered an orc as he rode past. The Nasgul was straight ahead. He lit his sword on fire and rode up beside him. The Nasgul attacked him, but Taithirin parried it. Taithirin continued fighting the Nasgul with one hand, but he drew a knife secretly with his left, and lit it on fire. The Nasgul swung horizontally and Taith had to duck to avoid it. This caused him to drop the knife. He broke off and circled to the knife. The knife was hot, so he transformed the heat into movement, the knife zipped to him. He lit it again, and threw it at the Nasgul, charging it up with extra energy unless he missed. He didn't, but the Nasgul parried the knife. At the same time though, an arrow hit the Nasgul, lighting his robe on fire. It shrieked and galloped into the woods. Taithirin pulled up to Tip,

"Damn it Tip," said Taithirin looking down at him, "can't you leave the good kills to me?"

"Nope" said Tip, grinning.

A few hundred orcs and uruks remained.


w00t, 5 pages. Long enough chapter for ya?

I'm going to be revising chapters 1-10, so chapt. 12 wont be coming out for a while.