Strangers No More

I do not own the rights to Lord of the Rings

Chapter Thirty Six

The Battle Comes Close

Aragorn stood on the hill in Southern Ithilien flanked by a pair of his guards. The hill was wide with gentle slopes and occasionally there was a tree, shrub or boulder. North of the hill was a large forest and a small village named Edwistchien, inhabited by Rohirrim who had lost their homes during the war of the Ring. That reminded him that Eomer was assembling his own forces but the Rohirrim would not be ready for another war for a few weeks at least. The army was camped on the north slope of the hill, eleven thousand soldiers ready to defend Gondor. The King of Gondor however was focused on the south. In the distance he could see smoke rising from villages which had been attacked. Refugees were still streaming north.

'Your Majesty,' Faramir, wearing the garb of a ranger, said to him. 'Your Majesty, my men have just returned from scouting. The enemy have built a camp four miles away.'

'And what of Lord Harris?'

'He has based himself at a small village a mile away. His sons and nephew are trying to evacuate the local towns as fast as they can before the enemy attack comes.'

'Good. Send a rider to Lord Harris. He is to continue his evacuation work until sunset. After that he and his men must join us here by sunrise tomorrow. I fear that is when the battle will be fought.'

'I remember something Boromir said to me once,' said Faramir. 'Anywhere can be turned into a battlefield no matter how beautiful it is.'

'He was sadly right. Still, this will serve us well as a place to fight.'

'Certainly. I will send the message to Lord Harris now.'

'Thank you.'

Faramir walked away as Aragorn looked at his men who were preparing the ground for the battle. The Fire Hands were cutting down trees and moving boulders to get rid of the cover for the enemy. Cannon crews were rolling their weapons into place and carts of powder and cannon balls were being covered by animal skins to keep their contents dry. He looked at a few of the Ribaults being checked by their officers as well. Aragorn thought about how much warfare had changed since he had become king. The only soldiers in Gondor's army who still used bows were the Rangers, the rest of the army used crossbows and firearms. More than that, the Ribault had only been used in one battle so far where three of them faced an enemy cavalry charge. A quarter of the horses had been torn apart and the others fled. The world was clearly changing.

I swung Alaric through the Harad's neck and my enemy's corpse fell dead from the horse. I looked around me at the small skirmish around the hunters hut. I and my twenty knights had been able to persuade the hunter and his family to flee only ten minutes before an enemy force arrived. We were outnumbered two to one but we had just been able to hold our own in the cavalry battle around the hut. Next to me Mathew on his horse parried a blow and cut off his enemy's sword hand before driving his sword through the man's neck. I looked through the visor of my helmet and saw one of my men being trampled by a Harad rider. I knew we couldn't hold them for much longer.

'Withdraw!' I shouted. 'Withdraw!'

One of my men blew a horn and at that my knights retreated. We galloped north west to where I knew Rickard was leading a cavalry patrol to check that the refugees were able to escape. Ahead of us was a light scattering of trees so it wasn't hard to move quickly. Behind us though, the enemy, who were lighter armed, were gaining on us. I urged my horse to go faster as I looked over my shoulder at the enemy. My horse leapt over a small stream and I looked about a quarter of a mile ahead of us. On a hillside there I saw Rickard and his twenty horsemen. He appeared to notice us and he led his cavalry at full charge down to help us. I just hoped they would make it in time. Just before the enemy could properly catch us there was a sudden horn blast and, out of a dip in the ground close by, suddenly charged Edmund and his cavalry who crashed into our enemies left.

'Turn about and charge!' I ordered and spun around on my horse and together we cleaved a path through our pursuers.

My flickering blade went through three men before our combined charges drove the enemy into retreat. Just after we were finished Rickard and his men galloped into the battlefield.

'Missed it then,' he stated and looked at the bodies.

'I'm afraid you did Rickard,' Edmund told him as he slid his blade back into his sheath.

'Damn. My men managed to get the hunter to safety though. I don't think there should be any more villages to clear out.'

'We'd better head back to the hut,' said Mathew. 'I reckon there'll be food in there that we can't let the enemy have.'

'You're right,' I agreed with him. 'Rickard, go back to your father and tell him that our area is clear of people to evacuate. We'll be heading back to him soon.'

'Good. I met a rider from Markus earlier. He's spying on the enemy camp.'

'What do we know?'

'Just that they're making camp there and they've sent out a few raiding parties. I think they'll march out in the morning and we'll meet them in battle tomorrow afternoon.'

'Got it. I'll see you later Rickard.'

'Take care, John. These woods aren't safe.'

At that Rickard and his men rode away while I took mine back to the hut. Edmund went on to double check the local villages in case they had missed anyone. At the hut we found a few of the Haradrim who were looking for any food but we saw them off quickly. After searching the hut we found a few deer carcases and a dozen rabbits. We took the rabbits and, knowing that we couldn't take the deer on our horses, we burned them. Nothing was left behind for the enemy.

My uncle stood in an inn which had been abandoned in the face of the enemy advance. In front of him was a hastily made map of the area with all of the local villages and homes drawn on it. Most of the villages were circled in red ink showing they had been evacuated. Around my uncle messengers were rushing in and out, carrying messages from the various patrols and leaving with new orders.

'Lord Harris,' one messenger said to him, 'a message from Sir Markus.'

He then handed my uncle a note which he quickly read.

'Damn,' my uncle said and threw the paper away. 'Go and tell Markus that he must get away from the enemy camp at once and return here within the hour.'

'Yes milord,' he responded and rushed away.

'Lord Harris,' another said to him, 'word from the second company. The people at this village,' he then pointed at one of the un-circled villages on the map, 'are refusing to leave their homes.'

'For God's sake,' my uncle said and ran his hand through his hair. 'We can't spare any men. Order the second to leave them and return here. The village is in God's hands now.'

'Yes milord,' he answered before leaving quickly.

'You,' he said and pointed at a messenger as he scribbled an order to move back to the king on a piece of parchment, 'find Sir Edmund and give him this message,' he passed the note to the man. 'Sir Edmund should be in this area here,' he told him and pointed at a point close to the hunters hut. 'Now go,' before the man had even left the room he was sending orders out to other patrols, mostly to check the few remaining villages and homesteads and then to return back to him.

My uncle heard the door open again and glanced up to see a Ranger hurry in. He walked over to my uncle and bowed quickly before speaking.

'Lord Harris, I bring a message from the king. You must leave here by midnight at the latest and then join the main army with all your forces. Be there by dawn.'

'Tell the king that I will leave as soon as I can. That's all.'

'Very well milord,' he bowed again before leaving.

'How many messengers do we have left here?' he asked one of his officers.

'Eleven.'

'Send them all out with the same message. 'Abandon patrols at once and withdraw to Edwistchien. Any villages not evacuated are to be left to fend for themselves.'

All of the messengers in there with him heard it and looked down heartened as they left with that sad order. My uncle moved on to his next instructions.

'I want all the men we have here to begin the march to Edwistchien. Infantry will go first followed by the cavalry. I'll leave last with my personal guard.'

'Yes milord,' an officer responded and left to organise the march.

My uncle stayed there for a while, responding to messages from his men who were finishing their patrols. A few hours went by but my uncle didn't move. When all but he and his guards had left he took a quill and red ink and circled the village he was at.

'Let's go,' he said to his guards and they retreated.

AN: At first this chapter was going to be in the same one as the main battle but the battle still hasn't been finished and I didn't want to keep you all waiting forever so here's the prelude to the next battle. I hope you enjoyed it and please give me your thoughts.

Also, I've published a Star Wars story called "The Empire of Earth". Check it out if you want.

Review Responses:

ATP: Yeah, the new villain knows the weaknesses of the Orcs well and is creating their own new servants.

Kiya Namiel: Don't sulk. Just so you know, the sacrifice thing was more than just pointless violence as you will see.