Authors notes: Thank you for the reviews. Hope you enjoy this part.

OO

It was a few hours before dawn when the first casualty fell. An arrow flew through the darkness and struck the man, slicing through his throat. He fell to the ground silently and his last view of this mortal world was that of his life blood staining the earth.

It was minutes before the alarm was raised by that time four more had died.

The battle had begun and no one could see the enemy.

Aragorn heard the cries of his men and he barked out orders. The soldiers who had before been stood waiting in tense silence burst into action. The arrows continued to fall as shields were hastily raised in a desperate attempt to protect themselves.

Soon word spread along the ranks and elves, dwarfs and men all lined up, weapons ready. They were as prepared as could be and now all that awaited them was death, even it meant theirs. They would kill many before they fell.

"Archers, the left flank. Fire!" Aeolian cried as he watched the men fall, being picked off by unseen enemy archers. The elves loosened a volley of shots and cries in the distance signified the arrows had hit their marks.

"Form up!" a voice cried. Aeolian turned to see Eomer ride towards them. "Form up."

The horse lord was on one of the few horses they could find.

The bay horse drew to a halt. "A party of orcs have just attacked my men on the right flank. We saw them off. Watch the rear, scouts have reported movement...no one is sure who is who. If they are ours they are not responding." Eomer finished his report.

"I will see you when this is over for a drink to toast our victory. Good luck to you!" he shouted and turned his horse. As quickly as he arrived he was gone.

Aeolian frowned. Movement to the rear and attacks before dawn. Azian was right this plan was going to fail. A hail of arrows clarified this. Scowling into the darkness he opened his mouth to give the order to fire but then one of the arrows caught his eye. Picking it up his eyes widened and he uttered a curse. They were arrows of Gondor. Somehow confusion had set in and they were firing on each other.

"EVERYONE DOWN! DO NOT RETURN FIRE! ITS FRIENDLY FIRE!" Aeolian yelled. The response was immediate, the elves ducked down hiding behind any available stone, tree or log. Another hail of arrows brought about a few muffled exclamations of pain.

"Eyren!" Aeolian called the elf nearest to him. Crawling on his stomach Eyren came to his side.

"Find those soldiers and make them stop. This is a trap."

Eyren nodded and quickly crawled out of sight.

OO

Thranduil watched as arrow after arrow appeared out of the darkness and struck the unfortunate soldiers, his horse pranced nervously, frightened as it sensed the fear and blood.

"Gandalf!" he called and flinched as he felt an arrow whistle past his face. The wizard appeared at his side as if he had materialised out of thin air.

"We need light and we need it now."

"Dawn is not for a few hours." Gandalf mused.

"You light up the sky with something or I will personally shoot you myself." Thranduil snapped.

"Be right with you." He muttered and disappeared back in the darkness. A few seconds later the sky was lit up by two balls of white light. At that moment Thranduil realised it might not have been such a good idea as the bright light blinded everyone in the vicinity. Thranduil blinked rapidly and then his jaw dropped open in shock. Just over a hundred metres in front of them stood an army of orcs. How the creatures had managed to advance to such a short distance was beyond belief. The orcs looked equally surprised to suddenly be revealed. They rose from their crouching position. Gleeful expressions lit up their faces and they charged.

Gritting his teeth Thranduil drew his sword.

"Charge!" he snarled and grinned as the soldiers behind him roared.

OO

Azian lay on the ridge watching as the battle unfolded below. When the white lights went up he thanked Gandalf silently as he could now see the area clearly.

"What's the plan?" Kiren asked. Azian studied the field of battle further before answering.

"The wild men on the left flank." He said indicating the group of savages massed on the left.

"Wild elves?" Kiren asked with a grin. Azian smiled in return.

"Let's see if our spies among the men have succeeded in making the stories of the wild vengeful spirits of the elves fiercesome enough."

"Jamaryn and his warriors have been working on that. They attacked a few patrols and isolated encampments. The reactions were...well...amusing. According to our spies the stories have been exaggerated to ideas that we drink the blood of our victims."

"Berries ought to do the trick." Azian said thoughtfully. Scrambling down the ridge with Kiren following Azian approached the warriors gathered below.

"Jamaryn." A tall elf stepped forward.

"We have some wild men to scare."

The elf smiled grimly.

"My pleasure."

Immediately the elves hurried into action. Materials were gathered, horses were readied and mud was smeared across their fine features. It took less than half an hour for the elves to transform into supposed vengeful spirits.

Azian looked over the elves with a satisfied expression.

"Good. I have seen worse after the drinking of the mid – summers festival five seasons ago but it will do."

Several of the elves chuckled as they remembered that infamous festival, happy memories of times past.

"Mount up. Let's go."

OO

Aragorn ducked as an orc charged him, swinging his scimitar wildly. Before he could fight back an arrow plunged straight into the skull of the dark creature. Turning Aragorn saw a Rivendell elf nodding at him.

"I am glad to see you have learnt when to duck." Elrond said as he joined the man.

"Too many bad experiences have drilled it into me." Aragorn retorted taking the head off an orc that ventured too close.

"We have to advance past the flanks or this plan will fail." Elrond said as he stepped forward to press the attack.

"I know but its easier said than done."

All conversation halted as three orcs hurried towards them.

"LORD ARAGORN!!!" A voice cried. Aragorn turned leaving the final orc to Elrond. He saw an elf of Mirkwood running towards him.

"The archers!" the elf exclaimed breathlessly. "They are firing on us not the enemy!"

"What?" he exclaimed.

"Your archers have pinned us down."

Aragorn cursed and fought his way towards the captain of the archers.

"CEASE FIRE!" he yelled. "Cease fire you are firing on our own positions."

The call for a cessation in fire echoed down the line and the firing stopped.

"Lord Eomer said there were enemy in the forest to our rear." Kyren continued.

"Damn it!" Aragorn frantically thought through his options. He could not send the archers on an exploratory mission as they were not trained for a situation like this.

"Captain, move the archers onto that hill and pick off the central part of the formation. We are going to push forward and need them weakened."

"Yes Sir." The archers moved off.

"Go back to Aeolian and say that I have sent a party into the woods."

Kyren nodded and hurried off.

"Feren!" Aragorn called looking for his lieutenant. Luckily the man was in close proximity and found his king quickly.

"Sir?"

"I need a group in the woods to our rear. There have been reports of orcs. If they attack us we will in serious trouble."

"Yes Sir!" Feren moved away summoning soldiers as he passed.

Aragorn turned and waded back into the main battle wondering if any luck would ever go there way.

OO