ERNIL

Chapter 22 ~ Dust to Dust II

Filthy clouds rumbled with thunder overhead, but it could hardly be heard over the appalling din which drowned the barren plain.  It seemed that all Mordor was emptied, and in that seething host each throat was shrieking its scorn for the invaders of the Black Land.  The forces of the Alliance were arrayed before the gate, Greenwood, Lórinand, Lindon, and the Númenórean remnant, all awaiting the signal to charge and let come what may.

Thranduil grimaced beneath the rain of wretched black arrows.  A thicket of them were already lodged the face of his shield.  Those shields were the only things protecting them, armorless as the woodland forces were.  Those in the first rank held theirs out in front to catch the flying shafts, those behind lifting theirs overhead to create a protective canopy.

His ears rang with the hideous noise, and the stench of death carried by Mordor’s host would have made him retch were he not so accustomed to it now.  He could feel that around him all nerves were wound tight before the onslaught, and only his presence and that of their commanders restrained the mass of the army.

The fall of arrows thickened uncomfortably, and wounds were being taken.  Thranduil constantly battled the reflex to blink merely to keep his eyes open. 

What in Elu’s name was Gil-galad waiting for?

Glancing aside as best he could, he saw that his father’s division was enduring an even greater pummeling than his was.  It galled them all to stand and do nothing.  Casualties were already beginning to thin the ranks, and the shrieking rose to an unbearable roar.

At last something snapped.  There was no signal, yet Thranduil watched in horror as Oropher’s formation collapsed and rushed forward, alone, straight into hell.

“No, no, no!”

Belain, what should he do?  They obviously trusted the others to follow; King’s Guard or not, they would be cut to shreds without support.  Would his joining them only make matters worse?  Would Gil-galad abandon them all to be killed?  Could he do nothing as his own father was slaughtered?  

Thranduil pushed his standard bearer forward and his entire command surged toward the Orcs with a vengeance, the might of Greenwood close behind them.