Sorry about all the title changes. Turns out, there are a lot of stories called The Lost Child. I'm still not sure if I like this one, so it you have any suggestions, please let me know.
Chapter Six
Attack on Rohan
The next morning when Felipe got out to the barn, Quildë Minë was already there cleaning out stalls. Her long hair was braided and then wrapped into a bun so it would stay out of her way. She wore the same clothes as the day before. Nodding a good morning to her, Felipe set to work cleaning the other half of the stalls. They finished extra early and so decided to take a nice long, but quiet ride outside. They chose their favorite mounts. Quildë Minë took Brentino without a second thought and Felipe took a tall, but stocky black gelding. The horse's name was Gohora and had already seen his years in battle. He was now there to teach the younger children how to ride and as well as a guide for the younger horses. His wisdom seemed to rub off on the other horses.
They rode towards the edge of the mountains near the borders of the country. Entering a grove of trees, Brentino became a bit skittish. Quildë Minë murmured soft and comforting words in his ears but it didn't seem to help. He danced from side to side, but did not pulling at the bit. His head was craned to the side as though he were listening to something. Slowly, but steadily he stepped off the trail and headed toward the deeper part of the woods. Quildë Minë let him go, curious to find out what was making him act so. Felipe followed, also puzzled by the horses behavior. They entered a small clearing hidden amongst the trees. It was a perfect circle and the grass was tall and lush. Taking several more steps in, Brentino suddenly stopped and sniffed the ground. This was when Quildë Minë noticed that there was something lying in the center of the clearing, for the tall grass was patted down, but she couldn't seen the object of concern. She swiftly dismounted, leaving Brentino with Felipe. Wading through the grass, she began to smell a horrible stench that was all too familiar to her; the smell of death…decay…and evil. Pushing back the tall grass, she gasped when she realized that the smell was coming from a dead horse. It was the mare Felipe had rode when they had been attacked. Her belly was large, obviously from having eaten so well in the past month. Her throat had been slit open with a raged knife and blood stained the earth. There were many heavy footprints surrounding the mare and the grass. The footprints were not that of horse…or human.
Hearing Quildë Minë gasp, Felipe come over. Seeing the mare and the state that she was in, his breath caught in his throat, which caused him to cough. Hearing the cough, Quildë Minë jumped. She turned to Felipe and walked over to him. That was when she noticed it was very quite in the forest; too quite. There was no joyful singing of the birds and no wind whispering in the trees. She quickly leapt onto Brentino's back,
"We have to get out of here," she said quickly and turned back to where she thought they had come in. Pausing, she looked back at Felipe, who lingered only for a moment. He too turned, but stopped when he realized that he also had no idea where they had entered the clearing.
"Where do we go?" he asked, obviously still frazzled.
"I think it was over here," Quildë Minë replied softly, "I see hoof prints leading that way."
Felipe nodded and followed Quildë Minë out. Just as the trail was in site, a crashing noise was heard behind them. Brentino halted, but did not move from there. Turning in the saddle, Quildë Minë's eyes widened in horror. Felipe also turned to look. Hundreds of huge, black, creatures were running in their direction. They were not orcs, but were obviously evil. They almost resembled a human. Their hair was long and tangled and they were covered in steal armor. Upon the armor was a white hand. Tearing her gaze from them, Quildë Minë kneed Brentino in the sides. He raced back onto the trail and headed back toward the city. Felipe stayed, dumfound, until he was almost jerked out of the saddle. When his gelding had seen the others leave, he quickly followed, sensing that his rider was in a state of distress.
The horses and riders raced back to the city, quickly leaving the terrifying creatures behind. When the guards at the gates saw them, they quickly opened the doors. They were obviously in a hurry and could not be stopped. Together, Felipe and Quildë Minë raced toward the palace. Skidding to a halt, they both flew off the horses, handing the reins to a startled guard. Racing into the hall, they paused briefly to bow to the King and Prince.
"What brings you in here at such haste, Felipe?" Prince Théodred asked, glancing silently at Quildë Minë, "And who might you be?"
"There is no time to explain," Felipe began, "There are hundreds of 'orc' beings on their way here. We saw them in the woods along the border and they began chasing us. My guess is that they are planning on attack on Rohan."
"You say orc beings?" questioned a voice in the shadows, "So they are not orcs?"
"No," replied Felipe shortly, knowing whom the voice came from, "They are much larger and run in the daylight."
"There are no such beings in existence," the voice said again, this time the speaker stepped out of the shadows.
Quildë Minë gasped when she saw his face. He looks hauntingly familiar, even though she had not met him during her time in Rohan. He was very pail and had black hair, which was in tangles. A scar ran down the side of his face. Taking another step forward, the man took the King's hand. For the first time, Quildë Minë really looked at the King. He looked very old, almost as if he had aged very quickly. His hair was white and long. His skin was wrinkled many times and his eyes held a far away look, almost lost. Sitting hunched on the throne, a death grip on the arm rests turned his frail hands even whiter. 'So this is the mighty King?' Quildë Minë said to herself, remembering all the brilliant stories of his fighting and war victories. 'What happened to turn him so?'
"Well I believe what I say," Felipe said calmly, "Whatever they may be, they are evil and dangerous, and they are heading this way."
"Come," Théodred said as he glanced at his father, "We shall talk elsewhere and find Éomér."
"What about me?" Quildë Minë asked, forgotten for the moment.
"You may come along," Théodred replied as they quickly exited the halls and went to the armor room to find Éomér. As they walked, Felipe filled the prince in on why they had been in the grove and what they saw. Théodred agreed with Felipe and decided to call the riders to them. Halfway to the armor room, Éoywn came running to them,
"There is a great host of creatures headed this way. My brother has already sent word for the riders to gather, but we must warn the King."
"He has already been informed," Théodred sighed, knowing that it hadn't been any good, "Go, be with him and we will rid these creatures."
"Please let me fight," Éoywn begged, "You know that I know how, and I'm sure that you could use the help."
Théodred hesitated for a moment and then replied, "You may come and help the men get ready, but you cannot fight." Éoywn nodded and quickly hurried after them, giving a questioning glance in Quildë Minë's direction.
They rushed into the stables and found men running about, readying their horses. "What should I do?" Quildë Minë asked.
"Go and saddle as many horses on the right as you can," Felipe replied without thinking, "They are all warrior horses." Quildë Minë nodded and was off. The guard at the palace gates had already brought Brentino and Gohora to the stable and put them in their stalls for the time being. Fortunately he had left them tacked.
Turning to Éoywn, Théodred said, "Help the men get their horses ready. I will distribute the weapons."
"What about your horse, my Lord?" Felipe asked, "Whom do you wish to ride?"
Hesitating a moment he responded, "Whom do you think I should ride? Is Shadowfax ready yet?"
"I'm afraid not, my Lord. But there are many good horses here for the taking," Felipe replied.
"Then choose anyone that you think will suite. Please do not consider if the horse is worthy enough, just get me a mount."
Nodding, Felipe was off to get tack for a tall, gray gelding.
Within fifteen minutes, all the Riders were mounted and ready for battle. Hesitantly, Felipe wondered if he should go and fight. Along with extraordinary horse skills, he was very good with a sword, and bow. Unluckily for him, he had no armor and did not think he could get any in time. Deciding that he would be all right, he turned to run and get Gohora. To his surprise, Quildë Minë was already leading him and Brentino out.
"Thank you," Felipe replied as he swung into the saddle, gladly finding that Quildë Minë had also attached his weapons. Seeing the girl spring onto Brentino he asked, "Where do you think you are going? This is no place for a child."
"I am hardly a child," Quildë Minë replied shortly, "I surely am older than you. I am going to fight. I feel I need to, for some sort of revenge. I'm not sure what draws me, but I am coming with. You cannot stop me, and you needn't worry, I am quite skilled with my daggers, which I have plenty, and a bow. My swordsmanship needs work, but I will survive." Without listening to Felipe's response, she tapped her small gelding on the sides, and rode toward the front of the group, who were now beginning to depart.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ah ha! Another chapter done! I promise I will have the next chapter up sooner, unless of course we keep having so many Tornado warnings. They're scaring me half to death. Of course, maybe they'll keep me up and I can stay up later to work on the story. Who knows? Anyways. I hope you like, please review.