The Eastern Woman

Blue blood

"Let's move, soldiers!" shouted Degarre. "Our General is over there!"

Hammon launched the attack. It was not easy.
To reach the esplanade where the battle was taking place, the horses had to gallop along a hill, covered with gravel.
Degarre was at the head of the legion.

After leaving Goneril in Fangorn Forest, days before, he was sure he would never see her again. The woman's absurd plan was to go to Isengard to face none other than Saruman the White, which meant condemning herself to certain death. When the other mysterious Sorcerer had commanded him, Hammon and Lassalle to return to the camp, Degarre had made up his own plan.

He knew where Goneril had hidden all their gold: dozens and dozens of chests, all placed in a cave near Rivendell, the small kingdom of Lord Elrond. No one would ever go there looking for the treasure: the Elves minded their own business, the Dwarves were too busy looking for diamonds in their caves and mountains, and the Orcs were afraid to enter Elrond's reign. Therefore, Rivendell was a sufficiently isolated and protected territory to hide a treasure.

He had the idea of ​​going there with all his soldiers, take that gold and then break up the legion. Everyone would have continued in peace with their lives, after all there was enough money for each of those five hundred men to live happily until death.

It was a second meeting with Gandalf, in a valley of the Mark, to make him change perspective. The Istari was not looking for them. He was determined to find Éomer, nephew of Théoden, and his Rohirrim. Instead, he had come across the mercenary soldiers of the East, who, after vainly awaiting the return of Goneril, had restarted their march.

Degarre had imagined that their Generaless had been killed by the Orcs of Saruman. It could not be otherwise. And, in his heart, the thing did not displease him. That woman had been a cruel murderer and the world with her death had lost nothing. Indeed, with her disappearance, they were free.

Gandalf's words had been a kind of cold shower for him: he had informed him that not only Goneril was alive and well, but that she was at the court of Théoden, at that time. She had incomprehensibly chosen to help the people of Rohan. And she was not at all happy to have seen her legion disappear suddenly, leaving behind only dull embers and some food.
To be more precise, she was furious, the Wizard had added.

This was enough to make Degarre reflect: Goneril had a vindictive spirit. If he had seriously robbed her treasure, there could have been terrible consequences. She wouldn't have stopped until she would have found him one day, maybe many years later, when he would have been an elder placidly sitting in the garden of the beautiful house that he dreamed to build with that money; she would suddenly appear from behind and cut his throat like she had done with Mainard. Twenty years could pass, thirty ... but she would have found him sooner or later.

Degarre didn't want to risk that.
When Gandalf had told him that Goneril, Théoden and the people of Rohan had taken refuge at Helm's Deep, and that they desperately needed help, he had decided to intervene. If Goneril was still in that world, he had to continue to remain loyal to her.

"Kill them all!" Hammon screamed. That gigantic multitude of monsters looked like a black river, but the young captain noticed that they were quite uncoordinated. They had not been prepared to fight: Saruman had created a race of fierce and fully armed Orcs ... but they were not warriors. They had the instinct to kill, but they didn't know exactly how. Big, tall and stupid, his mother would have said.

Soon, even the Uruk-Hai's realized they were defeated.  They were ten thousand, but they had to face a good number of archers and infantrymen of Rohan, the Rohirrim, five hundred mercenaries, and above all a Wizard.
It was indeed Gandalf the secret weapon.  With his Light he was able to kick most of those beasts into the abyss.