The Fairy of Middle Earth

Chapter 135: The Battle of Taur Lithlad

A fog seemed to travel with them now. Rolling over the hills with their advance. The air had grown humid rather quickly. They were a small patrol, sneaky and listening. Looking for any sign of the elves. 'They should have arrived by now' Thurmog thought to himself. He was by far the sneakiest of all the orc also he was the craftiest. His sense of loyalty was non existent. He would sell his own mother to save his own skin. That was what his fellow orc thought of him. There was something wrong. He knew where they had been and the direction they were going. This is the place where they should be. He should hear something, smell something, see anything at this point.

With silent hand signals he sent a few of his spies forth. These orc did not wear metal armor. They were clad in leather and carried weapons of stealth. They could slink between the shadows and never be seen or heard. As they advance he scans the terrain. Craggy hills and evergreen trees. Under his feet a bed of their needles. He waited several moments more then he really should have needed. He attention drawn to the direction his spies had gone. All was silent but for the wind. Then a slight rustling of those needles in the distance. Silently he pulled his dagger from its sheathe and pressed his back to the rough rock behind him.

Why couldn't he smell the elves? It just was not making sense. Even if it were humans out there he should smell them, yet there was nothing. That was when he realized he could not smell the orc either. The arrow came from the darkness and pierced the fog to stick into the dirt above his head. His eyes shifting up to look upon the long elegant shaft. He dropped his dagger immediately.

He knew how to submit and he did so, down on his knees. His forehead to the ground. Groveling and begging for mercy. It was an elves natural instinct to kill orc and Thurmog knew that well. "Have mercy on Thurmog and he will tell you things." He whined and cried to the elves that surrounded him.

"What could you tell us that we don't already know orc?"

It was a deep smooth voice that asked such a question. He smiled before lifting his head then looked this tall glowing elf in the eye. His yellow round orb being pierced by the pale cold gaze of the elven eye. "The army that comes has 5000 orc, 300 troll, 2 maybe 3 hundred nasties all manner of foul creature the dark lord has created and a balrog." Thurmog grinned then to the Elf.

"A Balrog?" The elf asked and leaned in.

"Do you need more?" Thurmog chuckled.

The commander had Thrumog shackled as the bodies of his spies were all piled up before him. 'These are not ordinary elves are they?' He thought to himself. Soon he was being lead away and through the dark and fog. It was on this first journey that he began to realize the army of the eastern elves was massive. Far larger than he had been lead to believe. They passed garrison after garrison of mounted warriors and pikes. Then later rows and rows of archers. They were already assembled and ready to fight. They were not splintered and unaware.

Perhaps Thurmog was on the wrong side of this. Perhaps so were his kin. Unlike these old orc the new orc didn't have a particular beholding to the Dark Lord. They had idea's more their own. They wanted land of their own and to rule themselves. To betray their lord would not be a surprise. Finally they stopped before a large ornate tent and he was surrounded by guards. Not that he had any desire to go anywhere.

Thurmog was a new orc. One of the race Melkor had been working on since coming to the east. Created from Avanati and other races of elves these orc were taller and straighter than the old but perhaps not as muscular and powerful. He was gawked at by those that came near.

Before he knew it he was being shoved through a tents opening and there before him were some of the tallest and most intimidating looking elves he had ever seen. His jaw fell a little slack and his head tilted back to look up to them. Each of them seemed to glow with a light that almost hurt his eyes. He found himself looking away and his heart racing.