Orcish Revenge
Chapter 5 - To War

Èowyn sat in a chair beside Èomer's throne. Two men stood either side of her, their glimmering spears held tightly in their hands. They bowed low as Èomer approached. Èowyn leapt out of her seat and ran to Èomer. She hugged him tightly and then Faramir. Then she saw the three Hobbits standing quietly behind Faramir. She gasped. She stared in shock at Èomer and Faramir.

'What do you think you're doing! Bringing Hobbits here!' She bellowed 'You know perfectly well that King Elessar keeps the Shire very well guarded! Why bring them out of safety and into a war?!'

Merry had never seen Èowyn so mad. He stumbled back in suprise; if Èowyn could be made so angry by their presence then perhaps it wasn't a good idea have left the Shire after all. Èowyn seemed to see what he was thinking in his eyes. She walked over to the Hobbits.

'I am only worried for your well-being. When they removed you from the safety of the Shire, they put you in great danger' She spoke softly.

Then Sam spoke 'Do not blame your brother, nor your husband. We had already left the Shire when Faramir found us'.

Èowyn glanced at Faramir for a moment. 'I'm sorry, I didn't know', then she walked back to her seat and sat down. They all followed. Èomer sat on his throne and called for his messengers. Three men and a woman came into the room. They stood before Èomer and spoke in turn.

'Sire' the first man said bowing, 'Every Orc and Goblin that fled west has been destroyed'

'Good, good' Èomer said signalling for the next to speak.

'The Dwarves have started sealing Moria, the West gate is almost done' the second messenger said.

Èomer nodded.

'Milord' the woman said curtsying, 'Isengard has been returned into the hands of Treebeard once more. The traitors have been banished, and the men of Dunland also.'

'Excellent, King Elessar acts quickly indeed' Èomer said, smiling for a moment.

The last man stepped forward. He looked worn and weary, he had obviously been riding long and hard 'I am the only survivor from the band that chased the Orcs East. All others were captured; among them were Hindike and Legolas Greenleaf. I rode hard to Edoras with the calls of the Orcs behind me: "Come forth King! Show yourself! Or your peoples will suffer!"' The messenger shuddered at these last words.

Èomer thought about this for a while then pulled Faramir to one side. They spoke quietly for a few minutes. They then walked back to the group. 'We shall ride to the aid of our people and the elves. Prepare what force you can! We ride out tomorrow at dawn.' Èomer walked swiftly from the room.

Later that night the hobbits and Gimli were having dinner, Merry and Pippin were chatting merrily over two extremely large beers and Gimli was eating. Sam was sitting quietly thinking about the Shire and if Rosie was all right. Then Faramir walked in and sat down, the others looked at him for a moment.

'Very well' Faramir sighed 'Ask your questions, but first question answered: I was talking with Èomer and Èowyn'.

The hobbits immediately burst out with a million questions and Gimli threw in a few too.

'One at a time!' Faramir shouted above the curious Hobbit's loud voices.

Pippin stood up; as if to signal he was first 'Why was Èomer in Isengard?'

'He was hiding. The Orcs decided that he was the cause of their pain and now they hunt him, just as they hunt your kind' Faramir answered smoothly.

Merry spoke next, 'Why are Hobbits being hunted? And why was Éowyn so worried about us?'

Faramir sighed deeply 'The Orcs know of Frodo's rather important involvement in the War of the Ring. They also knew he was a hobbit. Vengeance, Merry, vengeance is why all hobbits are now in danger'.

Gimli stood up and shouted 'I am going with Èomer tomorrow, am I not?'

Faramir nodded 'I doubt any could stop you from going to Legolas' aid anyway'

'Then why have I had no hearing in the happenings of tomorrows battle' Gimli said guffly.

Faramir smiled. 'Nothing has been said for you to hear. We ride to battle tomorrow at dawn. All here are coming, yes even you three!' He added with a curt nod in the Hobbit's direction.

With that they went to bed. Luckily Faramir had collected their hobbit armour when he had collected Merry from the Shire. They all slept quite peacefully despite the imminent happenings of the morrow. Perhaps they were unafraid; perhaps they felt that if they could win the battle of Pelannor Fields they could win any battle thrown at them.

The next morning the riders of Rohan rode forth from the city of Edoras and into the plains of Eastfold. Scouts had reported that the Orcs made camp along the River Entwash, between the Mering Stream and the Snowbourn; about Fifty miles east of Edoras and on the borders of Rohan.

Seven hundred men rode with the King. Faramir rode at the front with Èomer, but Sam, Pippin, Merry and Gimli rode towards the rear. Merry and Pippin were now tall enough to ride horses instead of ponies and Sam rode with Merry.

After riding twenty miles, they stopped to rest their horses. Èomer called a council to decide how they should attack. Faramir and Merry went to this council and Gimli was asked to "keep an eye" on the hobbits by Faramir.

Pippin threw down his armour and sat upon a rock, cooling his face with water from the nearby Entwash. Sam ate some bread and cheese whilst Gimli smoked his pipe.

Meanwhile Merry sat next to Faramir listening to various riders give their ideas to King Èomer. One rider seemed to have quite a good bit of knowledge of the surrounding area, particularly where the Orcs had set up camp. Merry assumed he was one of the scouts that Èomer had sent out.

'If we continue to the Mering Stream we can cross over the Mouths of the Entwash and attack downhill from behind. This gives us the element of surprise and the downhill advantage!' the rider said smugly, feeling his plan was brilliant.

'What about the hostages!' another rider shouted standing abruptly, 'If we continue to the Mering we will take longer! Did you not hear what the Orcs said? "Come forth King! Show yourself! Or your peoples will suffer!" We don't have time!'

'Sit down you fool! If you heed the Orcs threats, you are an idiot! They only say this to draw out the King! They are empty threats!' the first rider spat.

'Then they have succeeded!' Èomer said separating the two riders 'I have come! I have been drawn out! And not one Orc will lay a finger upon my people!'

All was quite.

At last Faramir spoke 'So, King Èomer, what is your desired course of action? Attack quickly and head to head? Or do we go around them, attack from behind?'

'We…' Èomer stopped and thought for a moment 'The threats may have been only threats, nothing more. But I will not take that chance. We ride forward, prepare to leave. We will attack just after nightfall'

Faramir stood with a nod and took Merry by the arm. They walked quickly back to their things and prepared their horses. Soon the riders set out once more. The mountains wheeled past as the sped past Ered Nimrais. They could see the west side of the Emyn Muil far off in the distance. They came to a wide ford an hour before nightfall. They crossed it slowly, fearing orcish scouts were near.

After almost an hour they came over a hill and stopped. A rugged camp lay beneath them, smoke rose from the camp and indistinguishable grunts and shouts came from within. Here the riders waited till nightfall. Sam switched to Pippin's horse because Merry was asked to ride next to the King. Merry reluctantly left his friends and trotted to Èomer and Faramir.

At last darkness came. The riders quietly rode in, ever closer to the Orcish camp. Èomer drew his sword silently; all the riders did the same. Silence was all around them; no Orc could have heard a thing. Then Èomer whispered into Merry's ear, 'Do you have your horn?'

Merry nodded and pulled it out from under his cloak. Èomer gave a single swift nod. Merry held the horn to his lips, breathed in deeply and blew hard into the horn. The horn echoed through the camp and Orcs screamed with fear. The riders charged into the camp. Orcs spewed from their rough huts and tents. Swords clashed, horses neighed, Orcs screamed and bows twanged. Èomer and Merry stayed as close together as possible. Merry slayed many Orcs and even kept up with Faramir. Faramir had dismounted and given his horse to a rider whose horse had fallen to an Orcish spear. Faramir slowly worked his way to the middle of the camp, always keeping a band of horsemen nearby. One person amongst this band was Pippin. Sam had joined Gimli who had also dismounted, and they were fighting a nasty group of Orcs not too far away. Soon Faramir came to the centre. It was obvious enough where the prisoners were being kept. Faramir ordered a handful of riders to guard the perimeter whilst he and Pippin set them free. Pippin quickly jumped from his horse and ran after Faramir. Ahead of him, Faramir disappeared in through the shadowy doorway. Pippin bounded in after him just in time to see Faramir fall to the floor of the hut, blood splattering across the ground around him.

'Noooo!' Pippin cried racing over to Faramir on the ground. Two large Uruks stood above him sneering. Pippin stood up slowly, rage flowing through him. Blood pumped furiously through his veins, his head throbbed with anger and despair. He drew his sword and advanced on the laughing Uruks. The Uruks raised their swords as well. Pippin blocked the firsts swing, then ducked under the seconds.

'Snuhpack! Kill the runt!' The other Uruk shouted with a grunt of amusement.

'Shut Up Hadgrit!' Snuhpack yelled, taking another swing at the hobbit's neck.

Pippin ducked under the sword and came up under him. He knocked Snuhpack's sword from his hand. Then drove his glimmering sword through the thick, ugly Orc's armour. Hadgrit stopped laughing and strode over to the hobbit with a snarl. He bent over and picked up his companion's fallen sword. Pippin let out a squeak of fright as reason began to seep back through his body. Hadgrit laughed harshly, spitting on the fallen body of Faramir. He then raised his own sword, it was dripping with blood. Rage flickered back into Pippin. The great Uruk swung both swords down upon Pippin. Pippin stepped to one side and blocked the blow with the flat of his sword. Then he took a low shot at Hadgrit's gut. Hadgrit blocked the blow but stumbled back, unprepared for the strength behind it. Pippin saw his chance. He charged forward, surprising the stumbling Uruk. Not knowing what to do, Hadgrit threw himself at the charging hobbit. He landed on Pippin's bent back, Pippin stood quickly. Hadgrit fell to the floor with a great moan of pain. Pippin then stabbed downwards into the heart of Hadgrit with all the strength he could muster.

Pippin left his sword in the body of the dead Uruk and ran over to Faramir. He lay motionless in the corner, sword in hand. Pippin called his name but he didn't respond. He pressed his head to the warrior's bloodied chest, no beat could be heard. A tear streaked down Pippin's cheek.

Faramir was dead.

Revised version - Some slight additions and modifications, fixed spelling and grammar etc. No changes to the story, just an improvement on the writing.