King Aragorn surveyed the gathering army that was mustered on the Pelennor Fields. About 2,000 men from the outcompanies had scrambled together in the three days since he had called for them to assemble. Beregond had returned from Ithilien with the rest of the White Guard and the five hundred men of the Ithilien Company, all with grim looks and determined eyes. These were the men Faramir had trained, had fought beside, all the years of Sauron's attacks. They were the ones Aragorn counted on to lead the rest to save his brother and the people of Edoras.

"My lord, where shall my men go?" Aragorn turned to Elfhelm, the Marshal of the East-mark who had fought in the Great War. Quite soon after Aragorn had called for his own army, Elfhelm and about 120 Riders of Rohan had ridden into Minas Tirith with the purpose of obtaining the aid of Gondor in reclaiming their capital. After learning of Edoras's fall, the Marshal had gathered his éored but had not the numbers to successfully attack the enemy. Thus Elfhelm had submitted to the authority of Gondor, and his cavalry, along with the men of Ithilien, was going to be the focal point of the army.

"Your Riders will join the knights of Dol Amroth under Imrahil and the knights of Minas Tirith under my command. We will be at the head of the Company."

As Elfhelm left, Aragorn headed towards his command tent. Though still in the city, Aragorn had found it easier to coordinate the army on the Fields instead of from the Tower. He was halfway there when a familiar voice shouted at him. "Estel!"

Turning quickly, the King was stunned to see his elvish brothers walking towards him, leading their horses. "Elrohir? Elladan, what are you doing here?"

The dark-haired twins gave him identical exasperated looks. The younger, Elrohir, spoke. "We could ask you the same question, Estel. We come here to spend the winter with our brothers and nearly get shot by your archers before someone who recognized us stopped them."

Elladan took over. "And then we find the whole army of Gondor gathering, along with a company of Rohirrim. What in Arda is going on?"

Aragorn sighed. He loved his brothers dearly, but he had so much to do that this interruption was irritating. "Edoras has been conquered by a dark enemy that, surprisingly enough, is not from Mordor. The leaders of the enemy army are a power-hungry man and his friend. Unfortunately his friend happens to be a necromancer and practitioner of dark magic, so the army we are going to fight happens to be the undead bodies of the beings who died at Helm's Deep."

The twins stared at him. Elladan blinked his eyes and somewhere a cricket chirped. "No, really, what is going on?"

Aragorn just looked at them and they saw the truth in his eyes. Elrohir glanced at his brother before speaking for both of them. "We will ride with you."

The King gave a small smile. "Thank you, my brothers. You can have your horses taken care of near that tent over there. If you will excuse me, I must meet with my Captains for a moment."


The twins led their horses over to where Aragorn had pointed. After brushing down the horses and feeding them, the brothers headed over to the Ithilien Company, hoping to find Faramir. They were walking past a small cluster of archers when they overheard their youngest foster brother's name. Figuring that the common soldier would be easier to get information from, Elladan spoke up. "Excuse me."

The soldiers started, having not heard the silent elves. After getting over the initial shock, one of them named Anfin recognized the elves who had fought in the War of the Ring. "M'lords, how may we help you?"

"Forgive us for the intrusion, but we have just arrived and learned of the attack on Edoras. I am afraid we are somewhat in the dark about the details and were wondering if you could enlighten us."

Anfin nodded. "Certainly, m'lords."

"Please. I am Elladan, and this is Elrohir. We are soldiers just like you." 'Well, also the lords of Rivendell, but that is a minor detail.'

"Ver'well, Elladan. Apparently, two weeks ago a dark enemy attacked and conquered Edoras. It took two days for word to reach the King who then sent out spies to find out more about the enemy. So when the spy, I don't know who it was, came back three days ago the King called up the army. Our company got here yesterday. I think Captain Beregond's talking to King Elessar right now, or I'd take you to him."

Elrohir frowned. "Captain Beregond is leading the Ithilien Company?"

"'Course. He is second-in-command of Ithilien. Besides, there isn't any way we'd let some city-man lead us, not on this mission. Only one of them I trust is the King, he knows the ways of the wild."

The twins were still back on the part about Beregond being in charge of the Ithilien Company. "But what of the Lord Faramir? Should he not lead the Company?"

Anfin gave them a grave look. "You haven't head then?" Elrohir shook his head, worry rising in him. "Captain Faramir was in Edoras when it was attacked. He and King Éomer are being held captive by the enemy. That's why we're heading out. To save the Steward. And to rescue Rohan, 'course," he added when the other soldiers gave him a look.

Elladan felt his stomach sink and he knew Elrohir felt the same. Aragorn's agitation suddenly made more sense. He was scared for Faramir. 'Tir, what have you gotten yourself into now?' Out loud he said, "Thank you for telling us."

"You're welcome, umm, Elrohir. Are you riding with us?"

The older twin didn't bother correcting the man. "Yes, we are." 'But first, we are going to talk to Estel.'


They caught Aragorn in the command tent, the Captains having just left. By unspoken mutual concession, Elladan spoke. "Estel! Why did you not tell us that Tir is in Edoras? How could you keep that from us?"

The hurt look in the twins' eyes made Aragorn feel guilty. "I was going to tell you later. These past few days have been stressful and having you two show up has just added to the problem. Now I have more brothers to worry about!"

Elladan tried to calm himself. Hearing about Faramir had troubled him deeply, especially knowing his foster brother's tendency to get hurt. "Please, Estel. Tell us everything."

And Aragorn did, even the part about sending Arwen as a spy. Luckily the two elves were too busy being concerned about Faramir that they didn't pay as much attention to that detail. Elrohir paled when he heard of Pelatarn's dark magic and what he was doing to Faramir. "This is not good. An assault on the mind can be worse than an assault on the body. If this necromancer is powerful enough, he could break Tir before we can do anything. And if Tir's mind breaks... we could lose him."

"How?"

Elrohir closed his eyes as he remembered what his father, Lord Elrond, had taught him. "He would become a shell, alive but without thought, emotion; controlled completely by whoever holds him in his power, much like these undead soldiers. His body would live, but his soul would die."