In An Age Before – Part 104

Chapter Seventy-one

The Riders of Lüdhgavia – The Third Age of the Sun

It took Helluin but moments to understand the whispers on the breeze. Such dire tidings spread with so soft a voice, she thought.

To avenge their murdered king, the Dwarf army had marched seeking foes, and in the lands 'twixt Celduin and Carnen they would find none save the Men of the North. In their scattered townships and homesteads, the riders would be no match for even three and a half thousands at arms. And Dwarves were fearsome fighters; the more so when wronged.

My actions have again brought doom to my allies, the Noldo thought, just as they did to the Avari in Calenglad and the folk of Oropher in the Last Alliance. Am I e'er fated to be the ruin of my friends?

Seized by guilt and dark memories, Helluin turned from the river and let forth a piercing whistle. 'Twas so sharp and powerful a note that Beinvír recoiled beside her by reflex. The warrior repeated that summons thrice ere she took to scanning the horizon with her sharp eyes.

"Pray explain, my love," the Green Elf asked, "for thou hast baffled me."

"I fear I have wrought the destruction of those whom we were tasked to save," she answered, "for whosoe'er else in this land shalt the Dwarves find to avenge themselves upon save King Lüdhgavia and his horsemen?"

A gasp caught in Beinvír's throat, for no others lived in the lands 'nigh save their friends, and she could appraise their chances in battle just as quickly as her beloved.

"Hast thou a plan to aid them?"

"Not much of a plan," the Noldo admitted with a sad shake of her head, "and what of one I have depends upon swift passage and the raising of alarms. Cavalry may stand well against strong infantry, but t'will need sufficient numbers just the same."

The Green Elf nodded in understanding. Helluin repeated her whistled call.

It seemed to her that they waited fore'er, yet 'twas really no more than a quarter hour ere her sharp blue eyes marked movement upon the eastern horizon. Another quarter hour it took to resolve into a horse approaching at a gallop. Thither came Dágeleb, his coat rippling like quicksilver in the sunlight, his mane and tail spread by the wind of his passage like the pennants upon a tall ship. At a furlong, he raised and shook his head and whinnied a greeting, and Helluin raised a hand in return. It seemed only moments ere he stood before them.

"A boon I owe thee for thy aid," he told them, "and so I have answered thy call."

Helluin bowed her head to him.

"I have great need of thy aid, my friend," she told him, "for the breeze whispers fell tidings to my ears."

"I too have heard 'aught of trouble in the east," Dágeleb said, "yet I understand it little."

"And I fear I understand it only too well. I must raise the defenses of the Men living in this land ere they art swept aside by an army of Dwarves marching from the north. These I have wronged, though with good reason. Now I fear they seek to avenge themselves upon our friends."

Dágeleb regarded her words with his full attention. He was curious to know more ere he rode ignorant into a vendetta.

"Howsoe'er hast thou come to wrong thither Dwarves? 'Aught that I know of them says they keep to themselves amidst the Emyn Angren, prospecting and seeking their fortunes as Dwarves art wont to do. Whyfor go they hence for vengeance?"

Helluin sighed and drew forth the Ring. It lay cold upon her palm 'neath the clear blue sky, and the horse nickered and stamped nervously at the sight of it.

"'Tis a fell token, I deem," he said.

"An army we found marching south a week past," she told him gravely, "and thence through questioning learnt that they marched to worship a God of Fire in the east at the behest of their king's Ring. With its master's voice did it entreat and bewitch him thus, to offer his peoples' allegiance to none other than the Dark Lord Sauron, to whom all such Rings answer. I stopped their march by slaying their king and taking his Ring."

To this the stallion rolled his eyes and snorted.

"Into the fire thou hast thrust thy hand indeed," he said, "yet I too might have taken the same course in thy place. The armies of the Fire God, as thou calls him, I have seen at times, raiding to the east of these lands. Yrch and evil Men. Long have they done ill thither. Very well. Let us raise an alarm."

Helluin bowed her head again in thanks.

"Then by thy leave we shalt ride south and east."

The stallion nodded in agreement and suffered the Elves to mount. Lightly they sat upon his back, without tack or saddle, as Elves art wont to do when they ride at need. Then Dágeleb sprang away and his speed was greater than any living steed. Leagues passed 'neath his hooves as Arien carried Anor westward, and Beinvír thought they might yet outrun their lengthening shadow. Twice only that day did they stop. Once at twilight to drink at a stream, and again at full dark for a quick meal. Then on they galloped into the night. For a Lord of the Maeras, finding footing by starlight and moonlight held no dangers, and even were he to misstep, his lightness afoot and his speed would have carried him onward in safety.

Now, though no tales tell of their ride, nor sing the praises of their mount, yet still, as dawn spread the hues of morning 'cross the land, well 'nigh fifty leagues had fallen behind them. So they came with Anor as their herald to the Great Mead Hall of Lüdhgavia, and Dágeleb shook his head and snorted at the reek. A few riders lay unconscious 'nigh the doorway, stinking of brew. A few dogs bared their teeth and growled in greeting.

"Thy errand accomplished and thy goal at hand, I salute thee and wish thee good fortune" the stallion told them, "but for myself, I cannot quit hither settlement soon enough. I shalt be going and quickly. Summon me again if thy need is dire, O Helluin."

"That I shalt do if the need is indeed great, my friend," the Noldo said, "and great thanks hast thou of me for thy aid this day. I blame thee not for seeking fresher air and freer pastures. 'Tis a torment to my senses as well and I abide it only with difficulty. Indeed I wonder if t'would not be a blessing should the Dwarves burn it to the ground."

Dágeleb rolled his eyes and whinnied in agreement. Then he turned and took his leave at a fast canter.

Helluin and Beinvír made their way to the door of the mead hall, and finding it unguarded and themselves unchallenged, kicked it open and called forth to those inside,

"Arise! Arm thyselves! Defend thy homes! An enemy marches upon thee!"

They were met with the stench of stale mead, the snores of besotted Men, and the growling of dogs. Somewhere in the shadows towards the rear of the hall someone was retching. Elsewhere came the sound of someone passing water and groaning in relief. Helluin shook her head. After riding through the night to raise the alarm, she felt like burning the hall herself.

Think thou as do I that 'tis a scant service we do the world to preserve these wretches? Helluin asked her lover in silence eye to eye. Whate'er value could Mithrandir foresee in these mortals?

The Green Elf rolled her eyes, for the same thought had come to her as well. Still she reverenced the Maia.

Little enough of his wisdom have we, I wager, she said, and the ways of the Wise art oft hidden, 'tis said. I should set aside his request only with trepidation, beloved. Perhaps if these riders rouse not to thy call?

Helluin nodded and a grin shaped her lips.

Uh-oh, Beinvír thought, that look I have seen aforetime and know well enough.

With purposeful strides, Helluin made her way to the hearth where lay a few coals preserved through the previous night by 'naught but dumb luck and the insulation of ashes. One of these she quickly hooked with the toe of her boot and sent airborne into a pile of kindling in a trough that stood 'nigh. Seeing the first tendrils of smoke rising from it, she gestured Beinvír to follow, and walked briskly from the hall and out into the morning air. 'Twas still foul, bearing the stench of the settlement, yet far cleaner than that within. Thither the two ellith stood before the doors, biding their time and counting it off silently in their heads.

They had but ten minutes to wait. The Green Elf had sniffed the air and detected the scent of smoke. Helluin believed she could see a faint haze spreading from the hole atop the thatched roof.

Suddenly the door was thrown open wide and a disheveled Man burst from inside, staggering, eyes bloodshot, and hair a-tangle. He took two steps past the threshold, wobbled as if he would fall, then doubled up and vomited, heaving up the rancid contents of his revels ere he spat to clear his mouth. His wild eyes lit upon the Elves, and though they stood not two fathoms from him, he screamed at the top of his lungs, "FIRE!"

Helluin looked askance at him. Somehow, he had managed to lose one boot and one arm from his tunic, the front of which bore impressive stains from mug and gullet. After looking him up and down she then turned and quickly surveyed the space before the hall, then returned her gaze to him and asked, "fire say thou? Whither?"

Beside her, Beinvír cocked her head towards him in question.

The man stamped in half-intoxicated impatience and gestured wildly behind himself.

"Thither! The Great Hall is aflame!"

The two Elves looked past him at the structure, seeing 'naught but the barest wisps of smoke wafting lazily from the door. They ignored it and looked thence to each other as if in disbelief.

"By the Gods, art thou blind?" The Man asked as he strove to keep his balance on unsteady legs.

Seeing no flames as yet, the Green Elf theatrically sniffed the air.

"I mark but the faint scent of smoke. Surely thy lord keeps kindled a fire in his hearth?" Beinvír asked him. "'Tis likely 'naught but the backwash from some hapless crow or squirrel plugging the chimney. Pray let it burn away."

The man stared at her. The hall had indeed burnt to the ground as oft as once a generation and he knew 'twas not the smell of a roasting fowl.

"Lunatics," he sputtered as he staggered further from the doors. He passed them and took up a cry of, "Fire! The hall of our lord is afire!"

And when he had woven several more strides, he bellowed, "Wake! Fire! Wake!"

He stood screaming thus, unhindered and unheeded at first. Helluin and Beinvír stood watching and shaking their heads. It seemed that none cared, yet 'twas not entirely so.

His alarm was eventually effective, for folk came from their homes to gawk at the disturbance. Some came closer and soon they stood pointing and gesturing, for by now, sure enough, visible smoke was rising from the roof. And now finally some bedraggled Men staggered from the hall. Others came from different directions to congregate thither. A couple of braver or more curious Men actually sauntered inside. After what seemed a long interval these returned, gasping and coughing, but pressing before them Lüdhgavia and his knights and those few servants present.

Now the king was still so inebriated that he came hence supported on both sides by vassals, and fell upon his face when they released him to stare back at the hall, for finally actual flames could be seen within and smoke was roiling from the doorway. Shortly later, another group who had gone in after the first hastened forth bearing such treasures as they could save; a trove of weapons and armor, some tapestries and gilt cups, and a couple of wooden chests. These things they dumped unceremoniously beside their king.

For the better part of the next hour the throng watched the hall burn. None attempted 'aught to stave off the flames. Rather they watched and gossiped and pointed. Some ate snacks and drank. Some told unrelated tales, their laughter seeming incongruous indeed. It could have been a crowd gathered to watch a petty criminal pilloried in a town square. The Elves watched it all in silence. At last the roof caved in and the crowd began to disperse. By then, Lüdhgavia was finally conscious, sitting unsteadily and watching the fire whilst shaking his head and mumbling. A few of his knights lay 'nigh, but they had resumed their slumbers, splayed senseless upon the ground.

Incredible! Helluin thought, shaking her head in amazement. They have just watched the centerpiece of their settlement burn to the ground, and all of them from their lord on down have regarded it with no more interest than would a herd of cattle. Huh. And I had thought to rally them. What a farce.

Beinvír, seemingly reading her mind, made her way to the now homeless king.

"My lord, be it far from joyous for me to bring thee tidings of danger upon the heels of disaster, yet 'tis just so," she said.

Lüdhgavia regarded her with a blank stare of his bleary eyes. 'Twas at first no recognition in them. Then he seemed to recall 'aught from some old tale, and after sweeping her from head to toe with his gaze, gave her his attention.

"Though the burning of thy hall is…unfortunate," she told him, "I wager it can be rebuilt grander than aforetime." To this the king gave a half-hearted nod ere she continued. "'Tis another danger of which we have come to warn thee, O King."

To this, Lüdhgavia sat straighter upon the ground and his eyes flicked to Helluin who stood 'nigh.

"Aye," the dark warrior said, hedging, "'tis no less a danger than a fell army marching hither, seeking to avenge upon thy folk some wrong which has befallen them."

"More Yrch, no doubt, damn their black blood," the king slurred.

"Nay, O King," said Helluin, "'tis rather an army of Naugrim," and at his expression of incomprehension, she clarified in the Common Tongue, "of Dwarves, King Lüdhgavia, come south from the Emyn Angren."

"We believe they seek not after thee in particular, for I wager they know thy people not," Beinvír told him, "and yet their ignorance shalt not be thy salvation."

The king sputtered and prepared to protest, but Helluin spoke first and silenced him.

"Like a sapling that stands before the flood, thy lands shalt be o'errun, thy people driven hence ahead of the tide, and thy homes put to the torch, for the wrath of the Naugrim burns hot," Helluin warned, "or so it hath always done in Ages past."

She looked him deeply in the eyes and held thither his consciousness with her will.

"Many tales could I tell thee of long years gone and bloody battles fought," she softly said, "of the sack of Menegroth whither King Thingol of Doriath fell, and of the host of Belegost in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad o'er 4,800 years ago. They have fought for their own gain and they have fought as allies, yet now they seek to serve the Dark Lord himself. Now they art enemies, O King…thine and mine."

Now whether 'twas Helluin's words or the spell she had woven o'er him, Lüdhgavia had sobered noticeably. He stared from one elleth to the other, his lips set in a grim line.

"Thy enemies and mine, thou say," he said, "and though they be fell, 'twill not be upon this day that we shalt surrender our lands and homes to invaders." As he spoke he paid not a bit of attention to the smoldering remains of his own hall. "This land is ours and ours alone. 'Tis the land of our fathers and their longfathers aforetime, and we shalt fight for it. Tell me now, shalt thou fight beside us?"

"Aye, O King," Helluin answered.

"Aye," said the Green Elf, "beside thee we shalt fight."

And then a dark and eager voice spoke saying, "to battle at last. E'er I thirst. Pray anoint my blade again with the blood of thy enemies, O Helluin."

The king's eyes fairly started from his head in disbelief, but Helluin drew Anguirél from her scabbard and held the black sword up in the morning light.

"Hail, O Anguirél, to battle we go at last. Many shalt fall and may the count of the slain appease thee…for a time."

And the black blade seemed to glow in grim anticipation.

"For a time," it agreed.

But the Sarchram, which had sent hence the fëa of the Dwarf King to the Void a week aforetime, remained silent at Helluin's waist.

Now though the rousing of the Men seemed to take much time indeed, yet 'twas truly only shortly after noon ere the first companies mounted their steeds and made ready to ride. Other companies would quickly make their way thither from the outlying settlements, for signal fires were kindled and the alarm was passed from hamlet to hamlet with great speed. One company was led by King Lüdhgavia himself and another by Captain Tröben, the very captain who had first brought the Elves to the city after they had saved him from the Yrch. Helluin and Beinvír had hoped to see Captain Ërlick, but 'twas reported that he was gone far afield. Others would give battle this day, for they were closer.

Northeast they rode, and after five leagues had fallen 'neath their hooves, Helluin dismounted and bent to the earth. The tremor she had first sensed lay still ahead and had changed not its course.

"Another two leagues hence, I wager, O King," the Noldo reported to Lüdhgavia, "and they march to meet us." For they have marched south with haste this past week whilst we walked west.

The king nodded from atop his dark stallion. 'Twas good to have such scouts, he thought, wondering still howsoe'er Helluin could sense her enemies at such remove. He had come to realize that an army of her kindred would be well 'nigh impossible for mortals to approach in any numbers sufficient for an assault. He knew not the folly such an approach would entail, even were it to succeed.

Now after Helluin remounted, the king signaled the advance and the double file column of riders continued forward towards their enemies. To the fore rode a vanguard of archers and spearmen numbering one hundred strong and surrounding the king and Captain Tröben. Fifty counted themselves the bodyguard of each lord. Behind them followed another four hundred riders making up the two equal companies. If 'twas their strategy, the columns could peel off upon separate courses, each behind its own commander. The two ellith, however, would remain with the king.

For the rest of the afternoon they rode ere Helluin again signaled the king for a pause, and he stopped his force ere reaching the crest of a rolling ridge. Thither both Elves dismounted, and with stealth made their way to the top, thence to espy their enemies.

Now the Dwarf host stretched in three marching companies behind a vanguard bearing long axes and numbering a hundred. Directly towards the Elves they marched, about a mile distant. To either side the ground lay flat and grassy, but past its first spring green; ideal country indeed for cavalry. Yet the Naugrim were heavily armored and heavily armed. No careless bolt would slay them and the riders would soon learn that the Dwarf armor would turn many a sword blow. They would also learn how strong of arm and spirit these enemies were. A sweeping stroke of a broad-bladed axe could well 'nigh cleave an unarmored man in two, or break the ribs of one encased in plate. And Helluin knew that once inflamed by battle, few were the causes that could turn away their wrath.

We art five hundreds set against three and one half thousands, Beinvír said silently to Helluin as she looked her in the eyes. And though the Naugrim have no archers amongst them and the Northmen have the advantage of being mounted, still this battle could be quick to turn ill.

Aye, Helluin agreed. 'Tis a chancy engagement at best. Alas that Ërlick has not joined us. Another two hundred riders could be a great aid in this cause.

She searched the horizon for some tell-tale rising of dust, but no such did she espy. And perhaps none would I espy, for the ground has a full coverage of grass for many miles 'round, the better to soften the beating of hooves, she thought. With all the tramping feet of the Dwarves so close to hand I should be hard pressed even to hear the rumor of their passage in the ground itself were they not close to hand. Ahhh well.

In the west she saw storm clouds rising.

"The enemy is 'nigh, O King," Helluin reported to Lüdhgavia as she and the Green Elf returned to the mounted column. "They art as we saw aforetime; three and one half thousands afoot and heavily girded for war."

"A strong force they art, O King," Beinvír added, "and even mounted thou shalt be sorely matched, perhaps even o'er matched, for thy force is outnumbered seven to one. I doubt Helluin and I can slay more than one in ten on thy behalf."

Here the king looked worried for a moment, but quickly reclaimed his confidence.

"We shalt ride down upon them and slay such a tithe that the rest shalt be only too willing to withdraw. Surely such foes shalt abandon the field rather than fight to a bitter end once one in three lie dead. Oft have we put enemies to flight ere we slew all."

But Helluin was shaking her head ere he finished and he cocked his head to her in question.

"Know thou 'aught of these foes such that thou would gainsay my wisdom?" He asked.

"I do indeed," the Noldo told him with certainty. "Oft enough aforetime have I seen armies of Dwarves fight 'til their foes lay vanquished, or fled the field just as thou hast said, when the losses o'ercome their foes' will to fight. Once only have I heard tell of an army of Naugrim withdrawing from a battle, and that in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad in Beleriand whence fell Azaghâl, Lord of Belegost, to Glaurung the Fealóce¹. 'Twas o'er 4,500 years ago, and in their withdrawal from the field they slew all who would have stayed them 'til none dared hinder their march. They art a warlike and steadfast folk, O King; hardy warriors, well armed and well trained. Underestimate them at thy peril." ¹(fealóce, a fire breathing dragon (sing.) Quenya)

Now the king gave pause for thought upon Helluin's words; the odds against his company would have stood badly enough against him had his foes been Easterlings or Yrch.

"Hast thou some strategy that might aid us?" he asked.

Eyeing the approaching thunderheads, Helluin asked, "to the God of Fire in the East they had marched, and into flames mayhaps they shalt still march this day. What say thee to firing the grass in a crescent to the fore to halt them? Thou may then ride down upon them from the flanks and from behind. I know the Naugrim art given to marshalling their ranks in lines, and save when surrounded, ill-favor fighting a foe from more than one direction."

As had the legions of Khazad-dûm in their battle upon Dagorlad in the War of the Last Alliance, the ranks replaced each other at the battlefront, bringing rested warriors e'er to the fore of the fray as they advanced against the ranks of their foes. 'Twas the instinctive tactic of the Dwarves, for to hammer unceasingly at an obstacle 'til it yielded.

Lüdhgavia had harkened to Helluin's wisdom and he nodded his agreement.

"Bring torches unlit," he ordered a lieutenant, "and pass the word to Captain Tröben that his archers wrap arrowheads in oiled wool. We shalt fire the field of battle before the foemen." To the sergeant of his guard he said, "kindle hither a fire, small and smokeless, that the torches may be lit ere the opening charge. Hasten now, for the enemy is nigh."

The officer of the guard nodded and hurried to gather kindling.

"O King," Helluin said to Lüdhgavia as they waited for his orders to be carried out, "when all stands ready and thy soldiers arrayed in their files ere the charge, allow first Beinvír and myself to appear upon the crest of the slope ahead of the enemy. I shalt offer them one last parlay; to turn back north or away to the east, or to be destroyed."

T'would have been a great boon from Helluin. To allow this house of the Naugrim to enter the service of the Great Enemy would have been magnanimous indeed.

For a moment, the king looked Helluin in the eyes. Perhaps they need not fight after all? But then he perceived the doubt in her sapphire stare. Nay. In all likelihood the Dwarves would turn not, and ere night fell, many would lie fallen upon the field.

"Do 'aught as thou see fit, Helluin, but we shalt be ready should thy parlay fail."

To his words, Helluin and Beinvír nodded, and then dismounted, returning thence to the lee of the slope for to keep a watch upon their advancing enemies, whilst behind them the preparations for the battle were quickly achieved. When the North Men finally stood ready and their king signaled it thus, the foe's vanguard lay not two furlongs from the crest behind which the two ellith lay. They rose to their feet as one.

"Halt! Halt thou, O sons of Mahal!" the Noldo cried out in Khuzdul. "'Naught shalt thou find in this land save death. Turn away!"

Her words of command, shouted 'cross a scant twenty score yards of grass in their own ancestral tongue by one of alien race, shocked the entire army of the Naugrim to their core. Few were those who had e'er learnt 'aught of that tongue in all the Ages of Arda, for e'er had the Dwarves been loath to teach. Since the establishment of their mansions in the Iron Mountains, their kindred had taught none.

Now Helluin's reminder of their debt of reverence to their creator brought them to stillness and their forward march ceased. No small count amongst their numbers had whispered long against their king's new course; to offer their service to the God of Fire in the east, whose servants claimed him a peer of Aulë¹, Father of the Dwarves and God of the Forge. Indeed many a soldier had thought their course blasphemous. ¹(The claim of Sauron being a peer of Mahal/Aulë was false, for in the beginning he had been a Maia in the Vala Aulë's service. Sil., Valaquenta, OtE, pg 26).

But others, more numerous and more powerful within the army, clove still to the will of their king; the more so following his unavenged death at the hand of some craven and unknown murderer. One thing only did they know for sure. Their lord's killer had taken a treasured heirloom, had in fact robbed his corpse, and with its loss had come a diminution of their inspiration and a faltering of their resolve. And since his death, those officers who still followed their deceased lord's wishes had fought an increasingly difficult battle of wills with the dissenters. Indeed 'twas an increasingly harsh line that they'd enforced just to hold the army together, and yet now there stood one before them issuing a challenge to their mission, and thereby jeopardizing their very cohesiveness. Ere any could answer, the dark figure upon the rise spoke again.

"Take thy steps back, north to thy mansions in the Emyn Angren whence thou came. Or if thou must, then into the east, to thralldom and misery. I have known this God of Fire thou seek to serve aforetime, and he is 'naught but a breaker of oaths and a tormentor of slaves!"

And with those words, open dissention flared amongst the Dwarvish host. Many voices rose upon both sides and the army was close to breaking ranks. Yet one amongst them spoke with the passion of his father, though the words had come from further east.

"Hear me and heed not the enchantments of this strange Elf. Our king set before us a path, and though he hath fallen, his orders stand!"

The army fell silent, and though some did so grudgingly, they harkened to him.

"We make our own way and take no orders from those unknown to us," he cajoled them, "even when spoken in our own tongue! Such words beguile, and even were there truths amongst them, marked thou not the threat at their heart? This ragged stranger seeks to turn us from our way, from the way of our king, as if we were children to be frightened and cowed with threats and hearsay and lies!"

Upon the hill Helluin groaned out loud and the Green Elf rolled her eyes.

Below them, the soldiers straightened, tightening their ranks and reclaiming their resolve. The army was again poised to advance.

"A stranger to thy house I may be, but I have spoken no lies," Helluin told them, causing them to pause again. "I am Helluin Maeg-mórmenel of the Noldor. For o'er 5,000 years I have warred in this Middle Earth. Thrice I have met thy God of Fire in battle. Thrice he hath escaped me! His servants I have vanquished in combat aforetime.

I know this god and his name is Sauron, called also Gorthaur, the Abhorrent One. He is an ancient spirit of evil! Long has he been the Enemy of my people. Long did he serve Morgoth Bauglir, the greater evil of old, the enemy of thy creator. Be ye ware if thou would serve him! He keeps not his word, but e'er twists his promises to his own gain," Helluin warned. "To thy doom only shalt thou go should thou follow the path of thy king, for Sauron has bewitched him to his service."

Now again was the spirit of the army challenged, for the name of Sauron had been heard in ancient tales, though none from their mansion had e'er had dealings with him. Yet their lore carried weight the less whither Sauron was concerned, and so finally 'twas the words of the late king's son that swayed the army and decided their course.

"The words of this Elf thou shalt not follow," he cried out in a great voice, "for such folk hath ne'er been friends to our house! Our king was the father of his people, the fifth of his name! Wisdom and prosperity only came of his taking oath with the fire god, and in token of his esteem did he gift my father a token; a Ring of alliance! That Ring's power many sensed, and I not the least, for as our king's heir, unto my hand should it hath passed. Yet I feel this Ring still! I feel it closer now than I have in many days. Indeed, I feel it 'nigh ahead, as if t'were abiding with this Elf, and in that do I see a thing strange and fell. I should hew off the head and hand of this stranger, thither to find our king's token, I wager, and thither to avenge his murder in the same stroke!"

Now he had the full attention of the Dwarf army and the dark Noldo marked the waves of anger seething from the soldiery. In his words, she had heard her earlier fears given voice. The king she had slain and whose fëa she had sent hence to the Void had indeed been the father of his people and the founder of his mansion, and he would ne'er again return to lead them in Middle Earth. More pressing though was the newly cemented resolve of the army.

'Naught fosters solidarity like a visible enemy, the Noldo thought, ahhh well.

On the plain below the two ellith, the Dwarf prince raised his long, double-headed axe and cried out, "I am Zärlagab, son of Inkishûsh, and I will avenge my father this day! I will avenge our king! Stand with me now, brothers!"

And the army surged forward, his to command.

"A fine parlay that was, meldanya," Beinvír muttered, ere she let forth a piercing whistle to signal the North Men's cavalry.

Now the Dwarves came on at a trot, quickly closing the distance, but ere they covered half the space separating them from the Elves, swarms of arrows trailing black smoke arced into the sky. Upon the fore of the army they fell and quickly the flames caught on the drying grass, so that as the vanguard of the army ground to a halt but 30 yards from the crest of the slope, their ranks were faced with a wall of fire. For a moment confusion reigned. Then the horns of the North Men shattered the air and the pounding of hoof beats shook the ground.

O'er the line of the slope charged two rows of riders, King Lüdhgavia at the head of one, Captain Tröben leading the other. Swiftly they rode down upon their foes, spears bristling in the sunlight. From other riders came flights of arrows, slamming into their targets from no more than twenty yards, and some found their marks. To eye or throat, or the seams twixt mail and helm they struck, and the warriors of the Naugrim began to fall.

Yet 'twas not so many from their count as to stay their wrath, and after their first moments of dismay, the Dwarves closed ranks upon their flanks, meeting their enemies with bitter strokes of their axes. All 'round Zärlagab the vanguard was compressed, whilst the better part of the combat took place to the sides of the army's column.

In the beginning, when Aulë first showed forth his creations before Ilúvatar, his spouse Yavanna, mistress of all that grows, lamented the damage her husband's works would inflict on her own. 'Twas for the olvar who flee not that her heart was turned, but the Dwarves that Aulë created spared the kelvar little more, and in battle t'would hew horses as quickly as the foes who rode them.

So 'twas that many a mount was hamstrung or beheaded, and many a rider unhorsed. For those riders, afoot and greatly outnumbered, out-armed and out-armored, fate was harsh. The heavy axes of the Dwarves made short work of their leather armor, and what plates they wore were riven and shivered. Constrained thither in the aisles 'twixt their own columns and the army of the Naugrim, a growing litter of Men and horses lay fallen, and their comrades were loath to ride o'er them on their return charges. Indeed these obstacles hampered the North Men's attacks so that soon Helluin and Beinvír could foresee the failing of their strategy and the loss of the field. As their return charge passed the massed ranks of the Dwarves, thirty of the five hundred riders lay fallen.

Worse yet, the vanguard of the Naugrim with Zärlagab at their center was advancing to their flank facing the column of the king. Once they gained that position they would be able to concentrate upon that flank of the battle, engaging the North Men's charges in a war of attrition ere switching their focus to their remaining flank. Upon the flank facing Captain Tröben, the Dwarves' lines merely held position in a solid defense.

I see their strategy and 'tis a good one, the Noldo thought, for once King Lüdhgavia's column is slaughtered, their ranks shalt concentrate upon their other flank, worsting Captain Tröben's cavalry with the press of their numbers. This I cannot allow!

'Nigh on 4,000 years aforetime Helluin had convinced the Avari ofKing Telpeapáro of Calenglad i'Dhaer to do battle with the Yrch who had invaded their forest from the northern Hithaeglir, lest the Onodrim call forth their Huorns and sweep clean the wood of all that went upon two legs. The battle had been a disaster. War had been unknown to the Avari, and the horrors of the killing had driven them from the field with great loss. In guilt and rage, Helluin alone had remained, and she had slain the Yrch to the last ere burying her fallen allies and taking her leave. Three millennia later she had convinced King Oropher of the Greenwood to join the Last Alliance and march to war in Mordor. In the ten years that the fighting had raged, the king was lost and o'er two-thirds of his warriors as well. Even a thousand years later, her guilt and shame would not allow Helluin to approach her old friend, King Thranduil. But at the heart of it all and still too clear in her Elvish memory, was the death of her own younger brother Verinno upon the ice of the Helcaraxë during the Exile of the Noldor. From Aman he had followed her with trust, his curiosity and imagination fired by his older sister's tales of the wonders she had once seen in Middle Earth on the Westward March. And now before her lay the coming decimation of Lüdhgavia's riders, the very people she had been commanded by a Maia to lead west into Anduin's vale.

To be continued

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