A/N: Thoughts will be in italics.

A/N: Khuzdul is the language of the Dwarves.

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"I believe that legends and myth are largely made of truth, and indeed present aspects of it that can only be perceived in this mode; and long ago certain truths and modes of this kind were discovered and must always reappear."
- J.R.R. Tolkien

Chapter 19

The Wainriders

The great dust cloud was still a fair distance away although the far seeing eyes of the elves could see the approaching force clearly. Rahan stood motionless, deep in thought and memories.

"Rahan … hello … I asked what those things were."

The Captain was silent a moment more before he spoke.

"Those are war chariots and though I would not have thought such a thing was possible, those who ride in them are of a race of people called the Wainriders - I had thought these people long gone." He said quietly and almost as an afterthought.

She looked at her Captain, frowning in puzzlement.

"Wainriders? Hmmm. I thought I was familiar with all the races on Arda although I can see now that I was incorrect."

She sighed then turned to the others.

"Ok. Let's put together some information - like yesterday. Input - ideas - anyone"

Again, it was the Captain who spoke.

"Wainriders are an Easterling people, and for lack of a better description were, or are, land pirates - like the Corsairs in temperament and desire for the spoils of conquest. These warriors, though skilled, are territorial, vicious, have no code of honor but their own and even train their women in the warring arts.

The Wainriders held their own with the forces of Gondor for 100 years until they were finally decisively defeated in what is known as the Battle of the Camp. They disappeared after their defeat and it has been thought that those who survived the retreat through the Dead Marshes had been absorbed by other cultures. Apparently that assumption was wrong."

There was silence for a moment as Anayah stared off into the distance.

"Anayah, what are your wishes"

She suddenly came back to the present.

"I'm sorry"

"I asked you what your wishes are in this matter."

With only another small pause, she turned towards the others.

"Everybody - hoods up to hide your ears. You are mercenaries hired by a Chieftain of Harad, looking for a second escaped prisoner. Play it by ear but play it smart - my life may depend on it. Do not engage these people unless I give the word or if I am unconscious or dead - at which time you can pretty much do whatever you want. I need to see these people and their war chariots up close to see what they are all about so if something happens and you are put to the test and find it is impossible to fight them sword to bow, the twins and Rahan are to harry these things and Semoro, Saeros and Súrion will drop back and meet them arrow for arrow. Be careful - I don't want any of you to get yourselves hurt!

Rahan, ride Elias - Loki belongs to one of your partners that I killed. Semoro, Saeros and Súrion to the back - you three keep yourselves in position."

She quickly dismounted and while Rahan slid from Loki to Elias, making a quick adjustment of the stirrups, Anayah took her rope off her saddle and after looping it around her waist, handed the other end to Rahan who tied it loosely to the saddle. Everyone else had moved into position and they slowly began to ride forward.

"Be careful, sister. Ada would kill us if we came back without you."

"I love you too, Elladan - now hush - they are almost upon us."

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There were ten sleek black chariots, nine of which carried a driver and bowman and one, which bore a driver as well as a man of rank - a human they assumed was the Commander of the warriors.

Anayah kept her eyes downcast as the Commander's chariot came abreast of Elias. The human looked at the group, carefully scrutinizing each mounted and black cloaked rider before he finally turned to Anayah and lewdly looked her up and down.

"Toad" Anayah thought to herself.

Finally, the human turned back to Rahan.

"What business do you have in Hoth territory stranger"

None of the six mounted elves moved nor did they relax their aggressive postures and when Rahan spoke, his voice was unhurried and low, verging on the edge of menacing.

"We have been hired by a Haradhrim Chieftain to find and return his property."

He motioned with his head toward Anayah.

"We have recaptured one of the runaways and now we seek the second. Perhaps you have seen him? He also is an elf."

None of the elves failed to notice the humans exchanging looks or that the chariots had been spread out into an offensive formation, or that their bowman now had their hands on their bows.

"We would be interested in acquiring your prisoner as a gift for our leader - how much do you want for her"

Rahan shifted in the saddle, his hand moving a little closer to his sword.

"She is not for sale. I again ask you if you have seen our other elf"

With a nod of the Commander's head, and after his bowmen notched an arrow, he stepped down from his chariot and walked up to Anayah.

"Like the other elf in our High Chieftain's possession, this one is in Hoth territory and I claim her in our leader's name."

Quickly drawing his dagger, the human cut the rope that was holding Anayah and after grabbing her around the neck with his arm, started dragging her backwards toward his chariot. Her elves could draw their swords or go to their bows swiftly but Anayah knew that none of them were faster than an already notched arrow and knew she had to do something to distract the warriors. She did the first thing that came to mind and started cursing at the Wainrider warriors in Khuzdul, the language of the dwarves, then drove her elbow with great force, into the Commander's diaphragm.

Though he grunted from the impact, he did not loosen his hold on her neck and instead, spun her around and while holding onto the front of her tunic, he slammed his fist into the side of her head, as punishment for her injudicious conduct. Her vision exploded into a million sparkles of light, the noises around her dimmed and her knees buckled. Suddenly, there was a loud bang and the Commander let go of her and when he did, Anayah fell face first onto the ground.

It was Elrohir who had seen the attention of the Wainriders waver, and had seized their moment of inattentiveness to light the firework he had been saving for a prank. The diversion could not have worked any better. Though the elvish horses had been startled, their riders quickly had them settled while the horses pulling the chariots, used to the sights and sounds of battle but not of exploding fireworks, were running amok. Because of this, when the bowmen finally released their arrows, none came anywhere near the mounted elves.

Rahan had seen Anayah fall but with all ten chariots milling around, he had been unable to reach her. The elves drew their swords and joined the battle in earnest although they found it difficult to engage the occupants of the chariots without endangering their horses, for the length of an elvish sword was no match for the length of the spears each chariot also carried. When Saeros, Súrion and Semoro finally broke free of the melee and started picking off the drivers of the chariots, the remaining warrior was forced to either take up the reins of the frightened animals or jump from the chariot - either way, the drivers and bowmen were being systematically killed.

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Anayah shook her head - not the wisest thing to do after almost being knocked out by a blow to the temple. The fogginess was dispelled and with a clearer head, she pushed herself to her knees.

A pair of panicking horses ran by at that moment and while trying to avoid her, turned sharply and tipped the chariot onto its side, spilling the Commander onto the ground, right in front of Anayah. When the human got to his knees and found himself face to face with and extremely irritated she-elf that he had just man-handled and hit viciously in the temple, he started to draw his sword. Anayah did not give him a chance to fully draw his weapon and slammed a fist into his face. It was a truly satisfying feeling to feel his nose shatter beneath her knuckles, just as it was to see the blood start to discolor the lower half of his face as well as his chest.

Her attention was drawn away from the human when she heard someone shout a warning.

"Anayah! Behind you"

She spun, expecting to see a warrior behind her. It was no warrior - she couldn't get that lucky. Two empty chariots, horses running almost side by side, were bearing down on her and there was no way for her to get out of the way.

"Valar protect me."

It was all she had time to say before dropping to the ground and curling her body into a tiny ball while covering her head with her arms and praying that a miracle would occur and that the horses would miss her. It was not to be her day, however for one of the offside horses tripped over her, his hoof hitting her left shoulder blade. When she reflexively uncurled as a response to the pain of being kicked, she accidentally moved into the path of the second chariot and one of its horses stepped on her thigh. Then they were gone and things got extremely quiet.

Then she heard the sounds of footsteps running towards her, recognized her Captain's voice, and knew it was he who now knelt beside her.

"Anayah" He said worriedly. "Talk to me baby girl."

After Rahan had pried her hands off her head and she had finally relaxed enough so that she could straighten out, she started to shiver as the realization hit her of how close she had come to being killed. The Captain took his cloak off and tucked it around her and although she tried to push the elf aside and sit up, her Captain's persistent hands on her shoulders prevented her from doing so.

"I want you to lay here until your brothers' can check your injuries."

Again, she tried to push his hands away.

"Rahan, we don't have time for this. We have to hide the chariots and take the horses away - now let me up"

He tried to think of something that would distract her from wanting to move.

"You were pretty lucky - in fact, a lot luckier than the Commander of these warriors."

She looked at him sharply.

"Why? What happened"

Rahan motioned towards a cloak-covered body, a pool of blood peeking out from underneath the cloth that covered him.

"The horses only grazed you. The wheels of the chariot got him … too bad, isn't it"

Anayah looked over at the still body that lay not too far from her and there was sadness in her eyes.

"Yeah. Too bad. So help me up, Rahan, we have things to do."

"Child will you just hush and lay still? I have Semoro, Saeros and Súrion taking care of the horses and chariots and your brothers are looking for a suitable campsite for tonight. Your responsibility for the moment is to lie still until your brothers return. You may command in battle but when it comes to your health, you must answer to me."

Anayah promptly stuck her tongue out at the elf who just laughed at her.

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Rahan had been settling the horses for the evening when he heard the sound of raised voices. By the time he reached the campsite, he met an irritated Elladan walking in his direction with an assortment of twigs, leaves and dirt in his hair and all over his cloak. A smirking Elrohir was following closely behind his twin. Elladan stopped in front of Rahan.

"She is impossible" he said while forcefully brushing the debris off himself.

Rahan reached a hand to the elder twin's hair and removed a small twig and a leaf.

"And what would make you think that, Lord Elladan"

A snort from Elrohir was abruptly cut off by a glare from his angry brother. He turned back to the Captain.

"I just wanted to check her injuries and she told me she was fine."

The Captain shook his head.

"And I assume that you pressed the issue"

Elladan paused for a moment.

"Well … yes. How could she be fine? Two very large and very heavy animals stepped on her - how could she be fine"

Rahan stared in the direction of the campfire.

"Was she by any chance playing with sticks and rocks"

"Uh … yes. Why"

He leaned a little closer to the elder twin and half-whispered.

"You interrupted a battle strategy session."

He put an arm around the frustrated elf's shoulders and after motioning toward the fire with his head, started walking back.

"I must apologize to the two of you for not explaining this facet of your sister's life a bit better."

The three elves stopped and watched in fascination as a full-grown, she-elf sat on her palette and played with various small stones and twigs, using her blanket covered legs as mountains for her warriors.

"How old is she" Elrohir said with a quiet chuckle.

Rahan laughed.

"It may look a bit bizarre, but Anayah is profiling this new enemy and their war chariots and before she sleeps this night, she will have worked out the strengths and weaknesses of the chariots as well as of those who use them as a tool of war. If she did not feel that they were a significant presence in this area, she would not be doing what you see her doing at this moment."

He sighed.

"However, you are correct - she does need to have her injuries looked at."

He straightened up, straightened his tunic and took a deep breath.

"I guess that 3,500 years was all I was fated to live - I will go speak to her."

Walking to where Anayah was sitting on her sleeping palette, Rahan sat on his heels then spent some moments silently watching what she was doing and slowly he began to realize that it all made sense.

Sensing her Captain's dawning comprehension, she looked up at him and smiled.

"Open field battles only"

She nodded.

"They are totally useless on any kind of hilly terrain or in or near wooded areas. The chariots need a large open area to turn in plus it is easy to tip them over if they turn too sharply or the wheels hit a rock and lever the chariot upwards. The warriors we saw were poorly trained and their horses were easily excitable, which means they were both not only poorly trained but inexperienced as well."

Elrohir brought tea and handed Anayah a cup, then also handed a cup to Rahan and his brother.

"Rahan" she said excitedly"unless these Wainriders are planning a conquest, then their chariots are just a show of force and not much else. Their glory days are truly in the past and which also probably means that we will be dealing with a wacko leader with delusions of grandeur."

She started to draw some lines in the soil and Rahan and the twins moved so they could better see what she was doing.

"I got a look at how the horses' harnesses were attached to the chariot and I discovered a weakness."

"When did you get a chance to do that" Elladan asked.

Anayah looked up sharply as the twin spoke.

"Do you want some more leaves on your head" She winked to take the sting out of her words and was rewarded for her efforts by a smile from her oldest brother.

"Just before I covered my eyes in terror and in the hopes that I wouldn't be killed, I got a good look at the harnesses. They are attached by a single leather strap to the base of the single-tree."

She looked pointedly at the twins.

"To you harness and wain "challenged" elves, the single-tree is the long pole-like looking thing that is attached to the chariots and runs between the two horses. The strap from the harness to the chariot can be reached easily with either an arrow or a sword and if you can detach that strap the horse becomes uncontrollable and is halfway to his freedom. A chariot without a horse is nothing more than a piece of wood on wheels. Now don't get me wrong - in the right situation, these war chariots can be a lethal weapon."

Everyone took a sip of their tea and Rahan put another log on the fire. Anayah stared into the fire for some moments before she spoke again.

"We know that whoever is holding Legolas and Estel has a deadly arsenal at their disposal and we must respect that. If they have war chariots then we will probably be dealing with a stationary civilization of some size and if it is a large civilization then I would guess that it is directly on the other side of this forest."

She looked at her Captain.

"Tomorrow we will go find our brother and friend. Until then, we should all get some rest. I'm going to go say goodnight to Elias."

Anayah started to push herself to her feet but the moment she put her weight on her left arm, every muscle on the left side of her back started screaming at her and with a groan of pain, she sat back down. Without any further discussion on the matter, she let Elladan and Rahan help her lay down on her sleeping pallet then while Elrohir assembled the appropriate healing herbs and made a pain relieving tea, she let her oldest brother look at her injuries.

The bruises were black, large, ugly looking and painful, but her brother and Captain both agreed that they didn't feel anything was broken. She drank her tea without protest and just before she fell asleep, had one more thing to say.

"I guess I was lucky, wasn't I, Rahan"

"Yes, young one - you were indeed."

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At dawn the next morning, Rahan was just leaning over Anayah to wake her up when her eyes came open. With a look of mock-contriteness on his face, he handed her a cup of tea, noticing that she grimaced with pain as she sat up. She smelled the tea carefully then glared at her Captain.

"It's only a mild analgesic."

She growled at the elf sitting in front of her before she drank it.

"You are getting to know me too well, my friend."

He reached out and brushed the hair out of her eyes.

"I know that you will drive yourself onward whether you are in pain or not. I just wish to make things a bit easier for you."

She smiled at the elf and remained silent.

"The others returned late last night and Semoro reports that all went well and that neither the horses nor the chariots will be a problem to us any more. They will wait until your brother puts the numbing cream on your injuries then we will all meet to decide how we are going to do this."

He got up and left her then so that she could enjoy what would probably be the last peace and solitude any of them would experience for some time.

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They all agreed that Anayah had a valid point about the possible size and location of the city of the Wainriders. Though at one point, these people had been a nomadic people, they knew they could not rule out the possibility that was no longer the case. Indeed, when they finally reached the northern edge of the forest and got their first look at Hoth, they were all awestruck.

"Holy sh….."

Without taking his eyes off the city, Súrion covered Anayah's mouth with his hand. She did not object as she stood silently staring at the large city. Semoro walked to her side, laid a hand on her shoulder, and leaned close to her ear.

"When we were returning last night, we came across a camp of slavers who were talking about the High Chieftain winning an elf in a horse race."

All heads turned to the Second-in-command but when they all had the same puzzled looks on their faces, Semoro sighed and over-patiently tried to explain that the elf, probably Legolas, was part of the bet for the horse race and when the High Chieftain won, she won the Legolas.

Anayah put her hand on the elf's forearm.

"She? The High Chieftain is a woman"

Anayah turned to Rahan.

"I'm going to want a look at her so I can see what we are going to be up against - what a leader is like is often a good indication of how her warriors will fight."

She turned and made sure she had everyone's attention.

"Ok everybody - and you two, Elladan and Elrohir … you are very much a part of this so if you have anything to add or suggest … do it. I will need suggestions, input - anything will help. We are going to assume, for the moment, that Legolas is being held in the Palace by this High Chieftain and Estel is somewhere else in the city so we must find where the new slaves are being kept, especially western slaves."

She turned to the twins.

"This is going to be an extraction so here is the breakdown. Elladan and Elrohir will do recon as a search group, Saeros and Semoro will search as a group and Rahan and Súrion will stay with me. I want to know the layout of this town - military, troop strengths, armament, businesses, slave quarters - everything. I want to know how many times a day these people belch, how many times they take out the trash - everything - and I want the information by yesterday. We don't know what conditions Legolas and Estel are in but if they are being held as slaves, it can't be a good condition so the sooner we find them and extract them, the better it will be."

She was really getting into the moment and grabbing Súrion by the front of his tunic, she pulled him down so she could look into his eyes.

"Remember - low profile … and don't get caught. We don't want to become a part of the teeming masses."

There was dead silence until Súrion said while trying to keep a straight face"What's a teeming mass"

Again, there was dead silence until Anayah finally sighed.

"Oh, forget it."

She turned to walk away and Súrion put a hand over his mouth and laughed silently while everyone else's eyes twinkled but when she whirled around and glared at the Silvan Guard with squinted eyes, he tried his best to look innocent.

Standing beside Rahan, Elrohir frowned.

"Is it always like this"

Rahan chuckled.

"Sometimes, yes. When Anayah plays, she plays hard and when she works, she works hard and she truly knows the difference between the two. Our team needs to blow off a little steam once in awhile and laughter serves to remind us all that somewhere, the sun still shines."

When everybody had settled, Anayah turned toward the twins.

"This might seem a little like overkill to you two, but when we go in, we will be prepared. Now let's go get this thing done."

The seven elves touched gloves then silently moved off in different directions and within a few moments, the forest was once more silent.

TBC

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CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur: Thank you for your review. Now that all of our chess pieces are on the board … well who knows what may happen next? I hope you continue to enjoy the story.