Chapter 3
Camron was having a pleasant time in Minas Tirith. He had made friends in his long trip south, because his group gradually accumulated the knights and soldiers from other areas. Surprisingly, many Hobbits, or Halflings, as some called them, came out of the Shire to join the war efforts. Entire legions of little men, only about four feet, marched valiantly down the road out of the Old Forest. They were led by two unusually large Hobbits, Peregrin Took, 'man' of Gondor, and Meriadoc Brandybuck, 'man' of Rohan. How odd, Cameron often thought, that such small people could seem so experienced, so… prepared, for battle.
Out of the Shire could be heard a strange, yet pleasant sound, from the Old Forest:
The Road goes ever on and on
Out from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
Let others follow it who can!
Let them a journey new begin,
But I at last with weary feet
Will turn towards the lighted inn,
My evening-rest and sleep to meet.
[pic]* * * * * *
The messenger Gaerin became a very good friend to the young knight from Eredluin, and Gaerin prepared Camron about Minas Tirith. Camron traveled very little in his time as a knight, and although there was a call for men to go to Gondor for the war, Camron instead journeyed to Mirkwood to head off smaller attacks all around the area. The Uruk-hai saw that Rohan would be a perfect place to attack, now that its best fighters had left for Minas Tirith and the larger battle.
"Cam, we should be on our way. Minas Tirith is still a few days away, and we need to make haste. The enemy doesn't take breaks, you know!"
Camron and the knights had been following the North-South Road from the Far Downs in the Shire. Now, he decided to linger in Westfold in Rohan, and had been there for several days, trying to 'harbor his strength'.
"Gaerin, you are worrying. Hastiness is not always wise. Let's rest here. Travel light, you know. We have too many people to go too quickly," Camron said light-heartedly.
"You, Sir Knight, have spent too much time with the Ents! You're being very carefree about all of this. Do you not realize that we have the spirit of Saruman on our hands? We know not of what he's capable of. There will be more information in the Capital. Let's go!" In his heart, Camron knew that what Gaerin said was true. Yet, this battle could be nothing compared to Gondor's most recent one, and the knight was not worried.
Camron did decide to leave the next morning, and they traveled far in a short while. With the urging of Gaerin, they journeyed quite late into the evening, and left again at dawn.
"We're making excellent progress," Gaerin confided, "We should be in Minas Tirith in a day, possibly two. I take it you harbored your strength enough to get moving, and I appreciate it. No man will be happier to see those gates than I. I really don't feel like I'm doing my part if I'm not there."
Although Camron did not fully understand this, he was glad that they were almost there. The company's light traveling had taken the original group from Eredluin six weeks, and they were weary.
Chapter 4
Gaerin had escorted Lena back to the Healing House, where she resided. He left her at the door with a bow.
"Thank you, Gaerin. Please tell the Queen Evenstar that you were an admirable guide. You spoke so eloquently, I feel like a 'man' of Gondor myself!"
As soon as Lena walked through the wooden door, she heard the familiar cry of, "Lena! Are you asleep on your feet? Have you not heard me hollering for you to go to the herb-room and find me some dried sage and fresh rosemary? Go now, and hurry!" Although Ioreth promised her the entire day off, the healer was quite glad to have help, and didn't mind using it. Lena hurriedly ran to the large greenhouse where the herbs and plants were kept and found the tiny, single-use pouch of dried sage, and picked a handful of rosemary.
When Ioreth wasn't hollering at her, she sat in her small room with dark pine floors and whitewashed walls. Her four-poster bed had a thin, silky, lavender canopy, and was made of the same pine as the floor. Comfort- wise, it was rather hard to sleep on, but by the end of the day, she was glad to fall onto the white linen sheets and pillows, if only due to sheer boredom.
She walked down the hall into her room, and picked up a book of tales given to her by her mother when she was very little. Her family, before she went to Rivendell (where she also met Aragorn, who lived there), was an important part of her life, but now was merely a faded image in the distance, a forgotten memory. The book was full of her favorite tales and fables, written by her distant hobbit cousins, and her father, who died in a battle many centuries ago, had written in it as well.
There and Back Again,
A Hobbit's Tale
By Bilbo Baggins
Frodo Baggins
Samwise Gamgee
Elanor Gamgee
And the list went on until it finally just said:
Several Hobbits
The book was full of songs, poems, and tales. It followed the adventures of many hobbits, throughout their days. There were detailed maps, diagrams, even pictures of weapons and people. Unfortunately, Lena had had very little time to read in the book, and had only gotten a quarter of the way through, in fourteen years.
She picked it up now, and flipped to the chapter about the end of the third age, and the battle that occurred.
As I heard, the battle was quite large. The Enemy had easily twice as many creatures than we had, and that was before the Nazgul had even arrived. Then, apparently, the warriors from Rohan arrived, with seven score of knights, led by the aged King himself, may he rest in peace. Then, the Nazgul King, riding on his bird-creature, his filthy, evil, servant, set out to attack the Rohan King, Theoden, who, according to Merry, was a very kindly old man. Alas, that the foul creature attacked Theoden King's beloved horse! And, with a sudden jolt, the horse fell on the King.
During this time, as I have heard from Merry also, a masked rider who bore him from Helm's Deep made their way to the front of the battle grounds. Poor Merry then fell off as the rider took off their helm and golden tresses cascaded down her back. The lady Eowyn, to everyone's surprise, took her sword up to the creature while Merry snuck behind it. When the lady fell, though not to her doom, Merry took his shortsword and—
Lena could read no more. This was treading on dangerous ground. I need to get over this eventually, she thought. But not that day, for during her reading, the sun had descended over the plains of Middle-Earth into Valinor.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Arwen Undomiel spoke to her husband in their chambers. "I feel it. How can you say they are not coming? You feel the attacks as well. I know you feel the tremors."
King Aragorn replied, "I feel them, yes. But what can we do? I agree we must not lie idle, yet this is not a simple solution. We have no idea who or what we are dealing with. We must stop them ere they reach Gondor, yes, but will they bring the rest of Middle-Earth to ruin first?"
Camron was having a pleasant time in Minas Tirith. He had made friends in his long trip south, because his group gradually accumulated the knights and soldiers from other areas. Surprisingly, many Hobbits, or Halflings, as some called them, came out of the Shire to join the war efforts. Entire legions of little men, only about four feet, marched valiantly down the road out of the Old Forest. They were led by two unusually large Hobbits, Peregrin Took, 'man' of Gondor, and Meriadoc Brandybuck, 'man' of Rohan. How odd, Cameron often thought, that such small people could seem so experienced, so… prepared, for battle.
Out of the Shire could be heard a strange, yet pleasant sound, from the Old Forest:
The Road goes ever on and on
Out from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
Let others follow it who can!
Let them a journey new begin,
But I at last with weary feet
Will turn towards the lighted inn,
My evening-rest and sleep to meet.
[pic]* * * * * *
The messenger Gaerin became a very good friend to the young knight from Eredluin, and Gaerin prepared Camron about Minas Tirith. Camron traveled very little in his time as a knight, and although there was a call for men to go to Gondor for the war, Camron instead journeyed to Mirkwood to head off smaller attacks all around the area. The Uruk-hai saw that Rohan would be a perfect place to attack, now that its best fighters had left for Minas Tirith and the larger battle.
"Cam, we should be on our way. Minas Tirith is still a few days away, and we need to make haste. The enemy doesn't take breaks, you know!"
Camron and the knights had been following the North-South Road from the Far Downs in the Shire. Now, he decided to linger in Westfold in Rohan, and had been there for several days, trying to 'harbor his strength'.
"Gaerin, you are worrying. Hastiness is not always wise. Let's rest here. Travel light, you know. We have too many people to go too quickly," Camron said light-heartedly.
"You, Sir Knight, have spent too much time with the Ents! You're being very carefree about all of this. Do you not realize that we have the spirit of Saruman on our hands? We know not of what he's capable of. There will be more information in the Capital. Let's go!" In his heart, Camron knew that what Gaerin said was true. Yet, this battle could be nothing compared to Gondor's most recent one, and the knight was not worried.
Camron did decide to leave the next morning, and they traveled far in a short while. With the urging of Gaerin, they journeyed quite late into the evening, and left again at dawn.
"We're making excellent progress," Gaerin confided, "We should be in Minas Tirith in a day, possibly two. I take it you harbored your strength enough to get moving, and I appreciate it. No man will be happier to see those gates than I. I really don't feel like I'm doing my part if I'm not there."
Although Camron did not fully understand this, he was glad that they were almost there. The company's light traveling had taken the original group from Eredluin six weeks, and they were weary.
Chapter 4
Gaerin had escorted Lena back to the Healing House, where she resided. He left her at the door with a bow.
"Thank you, Gaerin. Please tell the Queen Evenstar that you were an admirable guide. You spoke so eloquently, I feel like a 'man' of Gondor myself!"
As soon as Lena walked through the wooden door, she heard the familiar cry of, "Lena! Are you asleep on your feet? Have you not heard me hollering for you to go to the herb-room and find me some dried sage and fresh rosemary? Go now, and hurry!" Although Ioreth promised her the entire day off, the healer was quite glad to have help, and didn't mind using it. Lena hurriedly ran to the large greenhouse where the herbs and plants were kept and found the tiny, single-use pouch of dried sage, and picked a handful of rosemary.
When Ioreth wasn't hollering at her, she sat in her small room with dark pine floors and whitewashed walls. Her four-poster bed had a thin, silky, lavender canopy, and was made of the same pine as the floor. Comfort- wise, it was rather hard to sleep on, but by the end of the day, she was glad to fall onto the white linen sheets and pillows, if only due to sheer boredom.
She walked down the hall into her room, and picked up a book of tales given to her by her mother when she was very little. Her family, before she went to Rivendell (where she also met Aragorn, who lived there), was an important part of her life, but now was merely a faded image in the distance, a forgotten memory. The book was full of her favorite tales and fables, written by her distant hobbit cousins, and her father, who died in a battle many centuries ago, had written in it as well.
There and Back Again,
A Hobbit's Tale
By Bilbo Baggins
Frodo Baggins
Samwise Gamgee
Elanor Gamgee
And the list went on until it finally just said:
Several Hobbits
The book was full of songs, poems, and tales. It followed the adventures of many hobbits, throughout their days. There were detailed maps, diagrams, even pictures of weapons and people. Unfortunately, Lena had had very little time to read in the book, and had only gotten a quarter of the way through, in fourteen years.
She picked it up now, and flipped to the chapter about the end of the third age, and the battle that occurred.
As I heard, the battle was quite large. The Enemy had easily twice as many creatures than we had, and that was before the Nazgul had even arrived. Then, apparently, the warriors from Rohan arrived, with seven score of knights, led by the aged King himself, may he rest in peace. Then, the Nazgul King, riding on his bird-creature, his filthy, evil, servant, set out to attack the Rohan King, Theoden, who, according to Merry, was a very kindly old man. Alas, that the foul creature attacked Theoden King's beloved horse! And, with a sudden jolt, the horse fell on the King.
During this time, as I have heard from Merry also, a masked rider who bore him from Helm's Deep made their way to the front of the battle grounds. Poor Merry then fell off as the rider took off their helm and golden tresses cascaded down her back. The lady Eowyn, to everyone's surprise, took her sword up to the creature while Merry snuck behind it. When the lady fell, though not to her doom, Merry took his shortsword and—
Lena could read no more. This was treading on dangerous ground. I need to get over this eventually, she thought. But not that day, for during her reading, the sun had descended over the plains of Middle-Earth into Valinor.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Arwen Undomiel spoke to her husband in their chambers. "I feel it. How can you say they are not coming? You feel the attacks as well. I know you feel the tremors."
King Aragorn replied, "I feel them, yes. But what can we do? I agree we must not lie idle, yet this is not a simple solution. We have no idea who or what we are dealing with. We must stop them ere they reach Gondor, yes, but will they bring the rest of Middle-Earth to ruin first?"