The Sands of Rhun: A Middle Earth Story(Book 2)

Chapter 36: Into a Dark Dawn

                  

Caledorn gazed out at the marching Easterlings, who were hurrying along the road from Redoir to the battlefield. There were at least five thousand, Caledorn thought to himself.

   "Those are Khanar's men, I take it," He whispered, turning to General Tariq. The general peered through a long spyglass in the direction of the battle itself.

   "No... They're Dengesh's. Khanar must be holding his men in reserve, to deal the final blow. Dengesh must be planning on flanking Rukil." 

   "We can take them on, correct?" The elf asked hopefully.

   "Easily. Men, to arms!" Tariq shouted, standing and turning around to face his massive army. Line upon line of Easterlings stood in silent discipline, awaiting orders. Leading each group was a general, though one of the groups was led by Pallando and Alatar, who were quietly arguing amongst themselves as usual.

   "How will your men tell each other apart from the enemy?" Caledorn inquired, raising his eyebrow. He frowned when he saw Pallando and Alatar, but decided to ignore them.

   "Simple. The Khan's men wear gold armor, Dengesh's wear silver. Khanar's men have entirely different armor, it's bulkier and their helmets are different. My men know who's who, believe me." He laughed and turned his horse about to face his army.

   "To battle! Forward!" the general cried, raising his axe into the air. The Easterlings marched ahead, ordered and silent. A cry from the enemy army signaled that they had been seen, and Dengesh's men quickly turned to face their newly discovered enemies.

   "Kharai, gabata!" Tariq shouted loudly. As one the Easterlings in the front row of each group put their shields in front of them, forming a wall without a single gap. The men in the second row raised their long halberds and put them over the shoulders of their companions in front of them. Archers put arrows to their bows in the third and fourth rows, aiming them into the sky.

   "Yara!" As one the archers fired, sending up a black cloud of arrows. Alatar sent up a massive fireball, and Pallando raised a shield to protect his men. Khanar's men rushed to protect themselves from the volley, raising their own shields in the air to block the deadly rain. Cries of despair and pain filled the air as the arrows landed among them, and those that had survived the volley formed together to protect each other.

   Dengesh suddenly rode to the front of the enemy line, shouting at the men and ordering them into formations. They quickly formed into an offensive wedge, and began marching slowly toward Tariq's line. Tariq's archers began firing at will, attempting to break the enemy offensive.

   "Why is Dengesh leading?? Where's Khanar?" Caledorn shouted over the deafening sound of the battle.

   "Hah! The old snake is probably too cowardly to face us!" Tariq replied, his voice filled with pride.

   "Somehow I doubt that," Caledorn said skeptically. "Stay here and continue fighting, I need to find a vantage point." The elf spurred his horse into action, riding away from the battlefield.

 

   "Elves... I knew he'd run as soon as the real fighting began," the general muttered to himself.

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   Caledorn rode until he reached the top of a tall plateau, where he stopped and looked over the battlefield. From here he could see both battles unfolding. His keen vision allowed him to see what was taking place in detail, and he could see that Rukil's army was already engaged in close combat with the Orc force. Tariq's army was fighting Dengesh's and outnumbered the enemy two to one... So where was Khanar and his force?