10. Orcish Fighting

Eilian sat with Thelion and Maldor, working out the details of the day's exercise. The weather once again threatened rain, and the day was grey and dark. They would be lucky to see the sun at all today, Eilian thought. His arm in its sling was bound tightly to his side. Thelion had wrapped it carefully from shoulder to elbow, and Eilian was uncomfortable with the resulting immobility. But restrained as he now was, he would not be tempted to bring his injured arm into play during the training exercise.

Maldor's plan for the exercise called for the masters to name one of the novices as captain of the group. Now they needed to decide who that captain would be.

"It cannot be Tonduil," Thelion said at once. "He would not be able to manage it, and naming him would only be cruel."

Maldor considered that claim for a moment. "He was quick enough to point out the problem that Galelas's aggressiveness caused," he said reflectively. "He recognizes the importance of working together. And he is becoming bolder in saying what he thinks. But," he conceded, "I think that you are right. It should not be Tonduil. Either Legolas or Galelas would be an interesting choice, though."

"I spoke to Legolas while we were on watch this morning," Eilian intervened quickly, "and I am hoping that he and Galelas are negotiating a truce. In my opinion, we should not complicate matters any further by naming one of them as today's captain."

Reluctantly, Maldor agreed. "That leaves us with either Annael or Isendir," he said. He paused and then went on slowly, "I think that Isendir will be the more illuminating choice."

Eilian considered Maldor's suggestion. If they chose Annael, the novices would probably split themselves into the same two groups into which they had been dividing all along. Even if Legolas had been very persuasive with Galelas this morning, Eilian doubted that Galelas would be able to accept the choice of Legolas's best friend as the group's leader. Following his own friend, Isendir, would be difficult enough for the competitive Galelas, but he just might be able to manage it and, if he did, he would learn something in the process. On the other hand, Annael and Tonduil could probably be counted on to follow Legolas's lead in reacting to the choice. Thus both Galelas and Legolas would have to decide to contribute to or disrupt the unity of the group.

Eilian nodded slowly and could see that Thelion, too, was signaling agreement. The choice of Isendir would be illuminating indeed. The three of them rose and made their way to where the five novices were sitting. As the masters approached, the five of them got to their feet and waited to hear what the terms of the day's exercise would be.

Maldor did not keep them in suspense. "Today's exercise will once again allow you to practice devising a battle plan and following a captain's directions while carrying it out," he said. "The difference is that today we will choose your leader for you." He paused, and Eilian could see them shifting a little uneasily. They were well enough aware of their own differences to see the problems that some choices for captain might create. "Your captain today will be Isendir," Maldor finished.

The choice evidently surprised them, for they stood in silence for a few seconds. And none of them looked more surprised - and uneasy – than did Isendir himself. He glanced apologetically at Galelas, who was drawing a deep breath.

"Good," Galelas said.

The rest of them stared at him, and Eilian noticed that Legolas was smothering an elated smile. Good for you, brat, he thought. I knew that you had it in you. Thelion was standing close to Eilian's right side, and Eilian thought that he heard the blade master snort softly. He would guess that Thelion would take a great deal of pleasure in watching his charges succeed, and he was grateful that his little brother had masters like Thelion as well as one (and Eilian fervently hoped that it was only one) like Maldor.

"Yes," said Legolas. "Good."

Now the other novices' startled eyes had swiveled to Legolas, and it was Galelas's turn to smile. Rather a grim smile, Eilian thought, but still a smile.

Isendir looked deeply relieved. Annael and Tonduil exchanged glances with one another and then shrugged simultaneously.

"You may have some time to plan your strategy," Maldor said. "Let us know when you are ready." Followed by the other two masters, he once again retreated to the rock.

The novices regarded one another for a moment in silence. "Does anyone have any ideas?" Isendir asked.

After a moment, Galelas spoke. He might have voiced acceptance of Isendir as captain, Legolas thought wryly, but he had not lost any of his confidence in his own ideas. "I think that we should try to do the opposite of what we did yesterday," he said. "Instead of sticking together and letting the masters surround us, we should split into two groups when they approach and draw them in between us."

Legolas could see Annael looking disgusted that Galelas had immediately suggested taking the opposite tack from the one that Legolas had devised the day before. "They will never let themselves be drawn so," he said irritably. "They are far too shrewd."

Legolas suppressed his own annoyance at Galelas and spoke up. "But remember," he said, "they will be fighting as Orcs, not as themselves, and Orcs are not shrewd." Annael turned to stare at him. Then a small, quizzical smile crossed his face, and Legolas knew that he would go along with whatever was happening and sort out the details later. He felt a rush of affection and gratitude toward his friend.

"It could work," Isendir said slowly. "The five of us would be coming at the three of them from two sides. They would have trouble defending themselves."

"I think that we should try it," said Legolas. And then he could not resist adding, "Even if it fails, we will learn something in the attempt. This is supposed to be a training mission after all." Galelas shot Legolas a hard look at this expression of less than wholehearted confidence in his plan but said nothing.

Isendir walked toward the masters. "We are ready," he said.

Maldor nodded. "Use the tall oak tree as your heading again today," he said, and then he, Thelion, and Eilian disappeared into the woods.

The novices set out in the direction indicated, listening as they had learned to do for the sound of the oncoming attack. Today, the masters let them wait, growing more tense as time passed. The darkness of the day added to their nervousness, particularly as they moved into denser tree cover. They had probably walked a league before the sounds of oncoming assailants came from their left. They turned in that direction, waited until the masters had emerged from the woods and begun their Orc-rush toward them, and then drew neatly apart, with Galelas and Isendir on one side and Legolas, Annael, and Tonduil on the other. The masters charged between the two groups and then, turning in different directions, began to do battle.

Eilian had had difficulty remembering his Orcish identity and falling into the novices' trap. He had managed to charge stupidly into it, just as he was supposed to, but he was annoyed enough to be ready to attack whatever novice was to hand with as much vigor as he could manage. When he had turned toward the little group on his right, he had found himself faced at first with Legolas. But his younger brother had moved a bit further on, and he now was doing battle with both Annael and Tonduil.

If he had been fighting like an Elf instead of an Orc, he might have been able to manage the two of them, even with his arm bound. After all, he had been using a sword since before either one of them was born. As it was, however, even when Thelion turned to help him, having apparently just "killed" Isendir, it was too late. Annael managed to get under his defense and touch him. He immediately lowered his sword, stepped aside, and stood next to Isendir to watch the rest of the fight.

The scene in front of him presented a marked contrast to the chaotic novice efforts he was used to seeing in these exercises. Directly in front of him, Thelion had just "killed" Tonduil, but Annael was holding his own. The more interesting sight, however, was presented by Legolas and Galelas, who had Maldor nicely trapped between them. The unarmed combat master was swinging his sword vigorously, but even as Eilian watched, Galelas touched the tip of his sword to Maldor's back while the master was busy with Legolas.

Then something happened that made Eilian blink. Maldor began to lower his sword, but Legolas continued to come at him. Perhaps he had not seen the "kill," Eilian thought. As Legolas backed the master up, however, Galelas managed to get one of his feet tangled in Maldor's, and the master went down hard on his backside. Only then did Legolas back off, a look of innocent astonishment on his face. Eilian narrowed his eyes. He had seen that innocent look on his little brother's face far too many times to be taken in by it.

He glanced at Isendir and Tonduil, who were standing next to him. Both of them were round-eyed and open-mouthed. They had obviously seen the same thing Eilian had, although they presumably thought it was an accident – an enjoyable accident, but an accident nonetheless. Thelion was still preoccupied with Annael and had missed it. Galelas and Legolas were now closing in on Thelion from behind, and within seconds the battle was over, and the five novices were crowing happily and slapping one another on the back.

Thelion, too, was smiling and congratulating them. Maldor was getting slowly to his feet. He walked toward the little group, which turned to face him. His eyes were fixed on Galelas and Legolas. Eilian saw a flash of alarm in Legolas's eyes that was quickly hidden by the impassive mask that all Wood-elves could assume when they wanted to. He did not think that the look would be noticeable to anyone who was less familiar with Legolas than Eilian was, but, when he turned to look at Maldor, the unarmed combat master looked decidedly suspicious. He might not have regarded Legolas's face with loving attention from babyhood as Thranduil's family had, but he had trained novices for over a century now and knew exactly what they were capable of.

"Congratulations to you all," Maldor said, at last. He leveled his gaze at Legolas and Galelas, both of whom appeared to hold their breath. "You see what can be accomplished when you cooperate. And now that you see the power that lies in working together, you will need to give some consideration as to how that power should best be directed." There was a moment's uncertain silence. Then, tight-lipped, Maldor added, "Good work."

They all relaxed. Eilian caught a quick look being exchanged between Galelas and Legolas, and then they all began to move back toward the campsite, the novices chattering contentedly to one another. Eilian caught his brother's arm briefly and murmured in his ear, "I am proud of you, Legolas." Then he released him, pleased by the happy glow on Legolas's face. He knew that he should disapprove of novices who deliberately dumped a master on his rear end, but he could not bring himself to do so. It was all he could do to keep from grinning along with the novices.

They had just begun the walk back to camp when Maldor, who was in the lead, raised his hand for silence. Instantly, the novices stopped talking. Almost simultaneously, Thelion and Eilian stopped in their tracks and then began to scan the dense trees to their left. In a heartbeat, Thelion and Maldor were pulling their bows from their backs. "All of you novices, into the trees," Maldor ordered.

And before he said anything more, all of them knew. The noises that now reached them were unmistakable. Orcs were approaching rapidly through the woods. And they were downwind of the Elves, meaning they almost certainly knew that the Elves were there.

Legolas was stunned. Orcs seldom appeared by day, but perhaps the dark weather and the dim light of the forest had made these Orcs bold. Or perhaps they had been sheltering nearby and had heard Elves' voices and the sounds of the training battle. They would have had trouble resisting an opportunity to join in whatever they believed was happening. Wherever these had been, it was nearby, for their approach left the Elves no time to flee or to send the novices to safety.

Hearing Maldor's order, Legolas was up in an oak tree almost before he had time to draw breath, grabbing his own bow and making ready to use it. As he glanced around at his companions, he noticed with dismay that Eilian was still on the ground, his sword at the ready. His brother had no bow, he realized, and could not have used one if he did have it. "Let me fight from here," Eilian called to Maldor. "I will be useless in the trees."

After a second, Maldor said something to Thelion, and the blade master dropped to the ground next to Eilian and drew his own sword. Legolas knew that Thelion's role as blade master had been hard earned. The Orcs would not find fighting his sword a good trade for dodging his arrows.

"Get ready!" Maldor was calling. "They are coming. Take careful aim. If one of you even comes near another Elf with an arrow, you will wish that an Orc, not I, had charge of you. Stay under cover. The Orcs are coming from that direction, but I want Galelas and Annael to be ready to fire in the other direction if they spread out." Legolas resolutely dragged his thoughts away from Eilian, nocked an arrow, drew his bow, and waited for a target to appear.

The Orcs swarmed out the trees much as the masters had done only a short time ago, only there were many more of them – perhaps as many as twenty. They had barely begun to appear, however, before a rain of arrows cut down those who were in the lead. Wood-elves were Middle-Earth's archers, and even the novices were deadly with a bow.

The arrows from the Elves in the trees kept most of the Orcs from the two on the ground. But when Legolas glanced down, he saw that Eilian and Thelion were back-to-back and battling three of the creatures. He remembered Maldor's threat, took careful aim, and shot one of them but then had to move to a more sheltered spot in the tree. Some of the Orcs had bows, and they had sighted the Elven archers and were returning fire.

Legolas could see Maldor turning now and urging Galelas and Tonduil higher into the branches, for their current position was too exposed to the arrows coming from below. Suddenly, Maldor jerked, twisting awkwardly and flinging his head back. Legolas saw him tumble from the trees to the ground with heart stopping slowness, struck by an Orcish arrow that had found its mark while the master was turned away issuing orders to the two novices. Legolas froze for only an instant and then moved hastily toward the trees above where he lay, firing arrows to keep the Orcs off him. Thelion and Eilian were hacking their way frantically toward Maldor on the ground, and the other novices were also converging above the area.

"Keep firing at them!" Legolas cried, worried that his companions' attention had been diverted by Maldor's injury. Arrows flew like a swarm of bees, and the Orcs were falling back, evidently uncertain about how many Elves were still in the trees. By this time, the number of surviving Orcs had dwindled to perhaps half of their starting number. The concerted flight of arrows seemed to stun them, and with frustrated roars, they withdrew.

Legolas dropped to the ground next to where Thelion and Eilian were hurriedly examining Maldor's injury. The other novices quickly joined them. The ground around them was littered with dead and dying Orcs, and the stench was suffocating. The novices were white-faced and, like some of the other whom he could see, Legolas found that his hands were trembling slightly, but they were at least outwardly in possession of themselves.

"Annael, Legolas, and Tonduil," Thelion ordered, "keep your bows ready and stand guard around us. Tell us if you hear the Orcs returning." Legolas did as he was told but found himself taking frequent glances back over his shoulder at the wounded Maldor.

The unarmed combat master was unconscious, having evidently struck the back of his head against a tree limb when he fell. The Orc's arrow protruded from his left thigh, held in place by the barbs on the arrowhead. "It will have to be cut out," Thelion groaned, "but we cannot do it now. The Orcs will not stay away long." He glanced at Eilian and pointed to the black substance that showed on the protruding shaft. "I fear that the arrow was poisoned."

Legolas swallowed hard. The poison would take time to work, but not a great deal of it. Maldor needed a healer.

"We have to get him into the trees," Thelion said. He wrapped a fold of his tunic around his hand, reached toward the arrow and, with a sharp movement, broke the shaft. The arrowhead was still in place, but it would now be possible to move Maldor with less jarring of the wound. Thelion picked Maldor up and then jerked his head at Galelas. "Get up in the trees and take him from me," he ordered, and Galelas hastened to obey. Thelion leapt up after them and helped Galelas to move the unconscious Maldor higher among the leaves.

"Everyone back into the trees, now!" Thelion ordered. "You, too, Eilian. We have seen that they have very few archers. If we are out of reach, they will have to rely on them, and we will have the advantage."

Legolas swung back into the trees. Suddenly, Eilian was next to him. He had slung Maldor's quiver and bow onto his own back and was fumbling at the wrappings that bound his injured left arm tightly against his body. Thelion had arranged them and had tied them at the back, and Eilian could not get at the knot.

"Help me get this off," he commanded.

Legolas glanced at him quickly. "No," he said.

"I am ordering you to help me get this off," Eilian cried.

"No," Legolas repeated.

Eilian looked incredulous. "But I am ordering you!"

"You can add your disciplinary report about me to Maldor's when we get home," Legolas maintained. "I will not help you to destroy your arm. I have already done enough damage."

Eilian let out a strangled cry of fury and grabbed the dagger that he, like almost all Wood-elves over the age of thirty, kept in his boot. He began to hack awkwardly at the bindings, unable to get an angle on the tightly wound cloth that would not also cut his chest. He was talking savagely to himself in what Legolas recognized as Dwarvish. Legolas had had Dwarvish lessons and was reasonably fluent, but Eilian was using a vocabulary that Legolas's tutors had not covered.

Thelion was arraying the novices in the trees, spreading them out to take advantage of the cover offered by dense foliage and still be able to shoot in all directions. "Legolas," he called, "move to that limb right above you. You will have better shelter." Legolas obeyed and then waited for the attack.

With a vicious exclamation, Eilian clasped the dagger in his teeth and followed Legolas to the higher branch, where he began hacking at the bindings again. Legolas ignored him as best he could and readied his bow.

"They are coming back," called Thelion.

The Orcs came toward them once again, and Legolas fired steadily, amazed by both their daring and their stupidity. With the Elves all in the trees, the Orc swordsmen were unable to use their weapons, and the Elves' arrows were finding their marks. Legolas had known that the other novices were quick and accurate on the training fields, and he now saw that the years of practice that all of them had undertaken had made them equally lethal when it counted. They were beginners in terms of battle strategy, but if all that were required was standing still and shooting a bow, they were more than capable of doing it.

Eilian had at last cut through the bindings on his injured arm. He shook it out of the sling and stood up, readying Maldor's bow. He plucked an arrow from the quiver on his back, nocked it, and hesitated for only a second before drawing the bowstring back to his habitual anchor point by his right eye tooth. He felt a warning twinge in his left arm and then loosed the arrow, striking an Orc in the throat and killing it instantly. Savage satisfaction swept over him, and he drew again. It had been far too long since he had engaged in real battle, he thought, and shot one of the Orcs at the base of the tree in which he and Legolas perched. His arm twinged again. He would have to shorten his draw, he thought, and nocked another arrow.

When he looked around for a target, however, he found that the continued pressure of the Elves' archery had finally driven the greatly diminished group of Orcs into flight. Eilian had absolutely no objection to shooting an Orc in the back and did so. It fell where it was struck, and then the area was empty of anyone but Elves.

They came quickly down from the trees, Galelas and Tonduil bearing Maldor between them. "We need to get that arrow out," Thelion was saying, "before any more of the poison gets into his system. You novices stand guard. Eilian, I am going to need your help." Eilian knelt beside him, the excitement of the battle fading as he refocused on the injured Elf.

Thelion pulled a small pouch off Maldor's belt and opened it to reveal a collection of emergency healing supplies. He glanced at Eilian. "I am going to cut the arrowhead out," he said. "Be ready to pack and bind the wound." Eilian nodded. Thelion drew his own dagger and poured a solution from the healing pack over it. "Hold him," he commanded and then, as quickly as he could, he dug the arrowhead out of Maldor's thigh. The unarmed combat master jerked and groaned but remained blessedly unconscious. They let the wound bleed freely for a moment to clean it, and then Eilian packed it with herbs, and they bound it tightly with clean bandaging from the healing supplies.

Eilian glanced around at the young Elves standing guard. He did not like the sight of his younger brother and his companions standing among dead Orcs and watching for the return of live ones. "We need to get out of this area," he said to Thelion, who nodded agreement.

Then Thelion frowned at Eilian as if he had suddenly realized something. "Why is your arm out of your sling?" he asked crisply.

Eilian hastily slipped his arm back into the sling. "Protecting my arm would have done us no good if we had not lived to enjoy the results," he said rather defensively. Thelion snorted and then picked up Maldor and flung him over his shoulder.

"Move back toward the camp, quickly," Thelion ordered. "Keep alert as we go." He started off, with the rest of them following, bows in hand.

They reached the campsite having seen no more of the Orcs. Thelion lowered Maldor to the ground and took a brief look at him. Then he began issuing orders. "Annael and Legolas, find some branches that we can use to rig a litter. The rest of you, look for vines that will be strong enough to use for ties." The novices began to scatter into the woods. "Do not go far," Thelion called urgently. "I believe that the Orcs are gone, but we cannot be sure."

"What were they doing so close to my adar's stronghold?" Eilian worried quietly to Thelion. "Ithilden and Adar need to know about this." Thelion nodded in wordless agreement.

The novices did as they were told and were soon back with branches and vines. Under Eilian's direction, they used them and Maldor's cloak to construct a litter. Galelas and Thelion carefully eased Maldor onto the litter, and Thelion then covered him with his own cloak.

They picked up what was essential in their gear and repacked it so that it could be carried by three of them, for four would be need to carry the litter.

Thelion and Galelas made ready to pick up one end of the litter. "Isendir and Tonduil, take the other end," Thelion commanded. "Except for Eilian, we will spell one another off. We need to get Maldor home as quickly as possible." They picked up the litter and began moving. Eilian's arm was now throbbing steadily, as he walked along behind them, but they were on their way home, he thought, and he would soon be in the hands of the healers again.

Before they had gone far, the skies opened, and the rain that had threatened all day poured down upon them. There was little that they could do but struggle on. Slowed by their burden, they would have to walk through the afternoon and the night to reach home by the next morning. Maldor needed a healer's care, and there was no time to waste.