A bone-chilling bite in the air woke Handorth from sleep. As he raised his head, the other warriors began to stir and lifted themselves onto their feet. A clanking from over the hill behind them was getting louder, and the rising sun was heating the air. Handorth stepped up to the tree as lines of soldiers in single-file began streaming through the woods around them.
The Easterling captain jumped up to the tree's branches and climbed the trunk once again. He stepped up branch after branch, sometimes leaping to new heights. Eventually, he reached the top as the thinning trunk began to sway and lean. Handorth leaned out and peered through the thin branches, although it was impossible to miss the amazing scene which lay below: hundreds of fighters from the Dark Lord's legions, some from Dol Guldur, some from the Dark Tower itself, and some coming directly from lands in the south and east.
Armoured and spear-carrying soldiers flowed over the land and between the trees, and a great din arose: the sound of war-metal and a thousand feet pounding the shaking earth. This was certainly not going to be a surprise attack. The Dark Lord was prepared for open war. He was gathering all armies and sending them out in all directions to finally send the fear of Mordor into the very hearts and souls of the free peoples. Horns sounded and their sound rolled over the landscape. Meanwhile, Handorth heard another horn from the north.
His scouts had returned! Handorth leapt down branch after branch, eventually landing with a powerful thump on the bare rock. His scouts mounted the hill to bring him their information: the going to Lorien was straight and flat and easy. The assault would be upon the Elves swiftly, and whatever surprise they lost with such vast numbers, they made up for with those numbers.
Handorth located the captains of the newly arrived legions and transmitted the information to them. They decided to stop until the last of the army caught up with them, and they could prepare for the final charge. As the last companies arrived over the hills, Handorth could hear the soldiers bellowing in answer to their commanders, and their voices shook the air and sent the forest-birds fluttering away. The Dark Lord would soon achieve dominion over all.
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Where is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? They have passed like rain on the mountains. Like wind in the meadow. The days have gone down in the west. Behind the hills, into shadow.
How did it come to this?
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