[maikafanawen]

The orcs jumped out of the trees, running into the horses and dwarves. Ani Dao immediately took her place beside Burzdol, who was trying to pull out his sword. He would have used his bow, but he knew that one arm must stay on the reins, and dismounting would be foolish. The assassin gritted her teeth and tried to stop him,

“I admire your courage Master Elf, but you have not the strength.” Burzdol, determined, unsheathed his sword and held it above his head.

“We shall see,” he said. Ani Dao swung off her horse and in a leap ran an orc, who was coming at Burzdol, through with her own blade. The wounded elf hacked away at the creatures as they approached him on his mount. The she-elf threw off any other attackers making their way towards him. She tried to spare her knives in case they had to run and she had no opportunity to collect them. Swinging her sword, strategically blending it with her agile movements, orcs fell in black heaps before her. Taking down the monsters had led her further from Burzdol, where orcs began to overwhelm him. They had noticed that he was weak and chose him as their target. To her surprise, he fought back well, aside from his wound. The creatures then began encircling Ani Dao. She turned furiously deflecting arrows with her sword. Trying to steal a glance back at her friend, a scimitar sliced a gash on her right shoulder. Grinding her teeth in pain she lunged at the attacker, severing his head in a single swipe. A shout from Durin informed Ani of the archer taking aim at her. Ani Dao’s eyes began to fill with tears from the pain, and could not see her opponent. Blood seeped through her fingers as they held her sword arm’s shoulder. Blinking the water away, she saw the Uruk and pulled a smaller orc in front of her, shielding her from the arrow. She was terribly outnumbered.

Holding tight to her sword, she kicked and dodged her way through the circle of orcs and away from the archer’s view, running back to Uesse. She mounted him swiftly, holding tight to the reins. From her seat she could see the others of the company struggling to fend off the mob. Rearing her horse to face the front of the company, she kicked him hard, charging through the crowd, trampling the monsters in her path. When she had gained the front, Hathalas, Belegond, and Yanithe joined her. Kicking a scimitar out of the way of an orc trying to hack away at her horse she raised her bloodied weapon above her head. The four then charged, weaving in and out of the dwarves and other horsemen quickly slicing at the enemy. Their little rampage wiped out half, but there were still many more to defeat. The pain in Ani Dao’s shoulder throbbed. Pushing it from her mind, she resumed her place beside Burzdol and averted their attention from his weaker side.

Stealing a quick glance at him, she noticed his eyes were bright with pain. His wound had begun to bleed again, and his strength was failing. How many more are there? Will we be able to defeat them all? How much longer do we have? Blood ran down her arm, making her sword hand slippery. Veins throbbed in her arm, trying furiously to pump blood. She pressed on, determined to protect her friend.