It was not long before the company of Rohirrim reached one of the many towns pillaged and burned by Orcs. Theodred was silent as he surveyed the dead citizens, his dead citizens, strewn across the ground. Then, he spoke. "I would like to bury the dead. Perhaps, after we have seen battle, we will return and give our people better resting places. For now, we must ride on, lest we come upon more dead like this—ones we might have prevented. Ride!"
The company thundered forward in a great pounding of hooves. On and on they rode, with scouts sent ahead to find where their foes might lay in hiding. Before long, reports were brought back of a company of Orcs ahead of them. Theodred ordered all riders forward without a moment of hesitation. "We came to do battle, and the battle approaches. Every man at the ready, as we go to fight for our people. Courage, men! Vengeance shall be ours!"
They rode forward at even greater speed than before, and the Orcs soon appeared. They were marching in a square formation towards yet another of Rohan's villages. The hated flag bearing the white hand of Saruman flew above them. Theodred paused while mentally comparing the sizes of the two forces. The Rohirrim were outnumbered, but their superior fighting skills would turn the battle in their favor. The Orcs were mostly infantry; the more dangerous archers were few, and there were no warg-riders. He called Eomer to his side. "You will lead half the men to the right, and I shall go to the left. We must encircle them tightly, or their weapons will cut us to pieces. Go for their archers as soon as possible. For Rohan!" he added more loudly. "Eomer is taking half of you. Ride hard! Take from them what they have taken from us! For Rohan!" A great cheer went up as the company rode forward to meet their foe.
They had not caught the Orcs by surprise. As soon as the cheer went up, the enemy in front turned around and charged the riders. They met in a great clash of steel as the men in front strove to take out the Orc archers. The infantry behind them took advantage of this and spread out quickly to evade the deadly circle. The Rohirrim now had to fight further apart, which greatly lessened their effectiveness. Theodred, however, maintained his calm. Orc after Orc fell beneath his quick blade as he cleared a path for his men to Eomer's forces. Once the two groups met, the battle went in favor of the Rohirrim, but not without a price.
In clearing a way for the two forces to join, Theodred had placed himself in the thickest of the Orcs. A sudden blow from behind sent Theodred spinning onto the ground. He quickly regained his footing and continued to fight. There were so many Orcs . . .too fast . . .he was all alone . . .too many enemies. . .Orcs . . .surrounding him . . .fighting . . .weapons . . . .
And then, he was down.
When the two forces finally met, Eomer led a charge to help his cousin, but many unfair blows had been dealt him. Two Rohirrim quickly picked him up and rode away from the fighting, while the rest finished the battle. Compared to the large number of slain Orcs that lay underfoot, only a few Rohirrim had been lost. Losing Theodred was now the main concern.
With the battle finished, Eomer made his way to where Theodred lay on the ground. He looked over his wounds before speaking. "Prince Theodred is severely wounded. We must return him to his father's house. There he may be cared for, if he is not beyond help by that time. Gather the dead and bury them quickly. A few of you, ride back with me now. No time must be wasted in getting Theodred to help." He pulled Theodred up on to his own saddle and mounted behind him. Two strong men, one cousin, and a wounded prince rode home with all speed.
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