Post by Haldir on May 26, 2011 16:43:41 GMT
Two days prior...
For days he'd heard elves speaking of how the earth was whispering things to them, but Rai Amdir Valen had never been blessed with that gift. Instead he relied upon actually tracking enemies, scouting missions, and his own martial prowess. If the earth was whispering that meant only one thing to Rai, and that was that there was a problem heading towards his Golden Blossom. If ever he could be more strict about his regiment, now was the time. Haldir had sent him north towards Silverlode. There had been a sense of haste in his voice, and so Rai and his small group of elves moved with the utmost speed.
After moving for nearly six hours the elf party stopped and made camp a few yards from the northern edge of the forest. For people who didn't know the woods and couldn't move like the elves the distance may have been a day of travel or more, but not the men under Rai. They'd been handpicked by Haldir, along with Rai for this particular type of job. With night coming, all of them decide moving on was not a good idea. So, they rested.
It had been roughly an hour since the last elf had fallen asleep. Rai had taken first watch as he usually did. Encloaked atop a branch roughly thirty feet from the ground he sat watching, waiting, for anything to happen. Then... nothing. Another hour passed by. Only two more till his watch was over and he could rest. Still nothing. The third hour would not be nearly as boring.
Out of the corner of his eye Rai caught bits of movement. It hunkered and nearly shambled, randomly pushing off with its hands. Silently the elf made his way to a kneeling position, his bow coming from his back and an arrow quietly knocking. The figured shuffled closer to the camp and then quickly stopped just out of the range of the fire. It ushered around some motions and soon there were nearly twenty behind him. Rai's eyes widened a bit as he pulled two more arrows out and knocked them along with the previous one. All the figures made their way towards their companion and Rai just stood to his full height. The original figure started to shamble forward...
One. Two. Three. Three arrows left Stormsong and found home just infront of the figure's foot. A warning. Then, the oh-so well known screech of the goblin ushered. Rai was already moving after he shot. He had raced around to the right and lined them all up infront of him. Two arrows knocked and shot before the screech ended. The first went through the loud ones temple and into the goblin to his right's leg. Two were down. The other arrow hit the goblin to the right of the now crippled goblin.
"Vori tia shyraes!" bellowed Rai as he dropped down to a lower branch and fired another arrow through a goblin's chest. By now the goblins were in utter panic. At first they had been trying to get closer to their target, the sleeping elves, but after losing three men and now having all the elves awake they were fleeing. Rai moved to cut them off. Hopping from branch to branch he found his way to forest edge infront of them. Putting away his bow he drew Soulspite and the sword glistened under the moonlight and hummed as it was drawn. The elf dropped down to the forest floor, a concentrated grace in his movements. The goblins saw him touch the ground and were overcome by fearful bravery. They could either disperse and die to the Lorien elves, turn and retreat into the group of elves, or try and overcome the single elf infront of them. They chose the final idea. Rai just smiled to himself.
The goblins came and in moments had Rai inside a half circle. He wasted now time, however, and stepped into the first one, sending it flying with a solid boot. Another jumped for him, and landed in two pieces as Soulspite bit into flesh and emerged on the other side. Now two goblins came, both fell before the blade could find home in them. Arrows had caught them in the jaw and temple respectfully. The elf party had caught up already. Outmatched and outplayed the goblins fell one after the other. Not a single one of them would escape on this night.
Only moments after the fight, the elves bagged a goblin and made their way back to Lothlorien. Haldir would be interested in their finding.
One day prior...
"Are you sure?" asked Haldir, obviously hesitant to the idea of goblins being so brash as to attack an elf party. Rai just nodded again. The two had been talking for nearly two hours and still Haldir wasn't sure if it was possible. Either way, the evidence was real. His Ranger-Captain had brought a dead goblin, but it wore no symbols of leadership or even of rank. It was just a goblin. It had a gondorian blade, most likely found or stolen from another goblin. It wore patched and pieced leather armor that looked to come from not only elves, but possibly the tabard of Rohan. It was a goblin in every since of the word. A scavenger and absolutely hideous. Haldir sighed and shook his head at the whole thought, but nonetheless congratulated Rai and patted his shoulder a bit before rebagging the goblin and carrying it away.
"My lady, why didn't you tell me a rider came from Rivendell?" asked Haldir, but the Lady of the Forest was silent. It was not uncommon for her to be silent when she thought the answer didn't deserve a response. The Marchwarden scowled abit, but nodded his understanding.
"What did he say then?" asked Haldir, but the Lady of the Forest was already producing a scroll with a ribbon tied around it. She handed it down to Haldir and ushered for him to leave. With a slight bow he retreated out.
"Friends of Lorien, a great war is brewing once again. A war that I believe can be stopped by a single hobbit. If he is to be successful though, we must defend him. I beg you to send guards to the north, south, and southeast. A party of nine left here with haste. They carry the fate of us all on their shoulders. We'd do well to ease the weight.
Elrond, Lord of Rivendell"
The scroll was short and percise. Something was coming to Lorien, and now it was all starting tp piece together. The goblins, Elrond, and a hobbit? The last part was still confusing, but if the Lord of Rivendell was correct, it would all make sense if, and when, the hobbit arrived. Haldir had to prepare. The only thing left to do was talk to Celeborn about troops.
The Lord's chambers were coming into sight when Rai appeared to his side and bowed.
"Marchwarden, another scouting party has returned. They speak of a horde of goblins moving along the Northeastern border. They seem to head for Moria." he said calmly.
"How many strong?" replied Haldir.
"Five hundred, possibly more. They aren't forced marching. They also don't seem to have a ranking officer."
"Take your border-guard unit north. heckle them from the forest edge, but do not get into open combat with them. I'll bring a force to Silverlode and we'll stop them there. Understood?"
Rai nodded and was gone as quickly as he had appeared. Now things were getting bad. This many goblins this far away from Mordor was not only uncommon was could only mean one thing: Elrond was right. A great war was coming to Middle Earth. Haldir made his way into Celeborn's chambers and bowed his respect.
"You come seeking troops." stated Celeborn flatly, Galadriel now at his side. The two were a magnificent pair. They could rival the gods for beauty. Haldir nodded.
"Yes, my lord. My Ranger-Captain killed a goblin party last night, and just now a scouting group comes saying a goblin horde atleast five hundred strong is marching towards the Misty Mountains. Lord Elro-" but the Marchwarden was cut off by Celeborn.
"Take seven hundred archers and five hundred warriors. Stop this horde from reaching their destination. I saw the letter from Elrond. We will do our part." said Celeborn, obviously already knowing of the circumstances. No doubt Galadriel had spoken to him prior to Haldir's visit. The Marchwarden just bowed and left the chambers to gather men and march for the Silverlode.
Present time...
Silverlode River was a majestic waterway that came from the Misty Mountain, flowed through Loriend, and emptied into Anduil. Any army wishing to travel so close to Lorien would have to use it at some point, especially if they were heading towards the Eastern Gate of Moria. When the river first entered Lorien from the Misty Mountains it bent hard southeast and the flow slowed it's pace a bit. This bend would be the perfect place for the assault. The elf battalion had arrived nearly an hour ago, and only moments ago Rai and his border-guard unit had arrived. They had managed to take no casualties, but there was a few wounded elves. The border-guard was ordered back to Lorien, but Rai insisted on staying. He'd started this fight two nights ago, and wanted to see it through. After a small back and forth the Marchwarden just sighed and nodded.
Four hundred archers stood in the trees of Lorien, south of where the goblins would be marching. They would be the perfect flanking unit. The remaining soldiers stood along the river. Archers infront of the warriors, Haldir and Rai infront of them. After a long moment the goblins finally came into sight. They were nearly a thousand strong, someone had miscounted, but that didn't matter. They moved without discipline and had no real ranking leader amongst them. They would break. Haldir knew it. He drew his bow back and fired the first arrow. It caught a goblin a few rows back from the front in the shoulder and sent him to the ground. With that the goblins were running towards the river. Archers along the river fired relentlessly. Arrow after arrow embedded in goblins and they dropped one after another. When they got within a hundred yards of the elves, Rai finally fired his own arrow. This was the signal for the archers in the trees. From the side came hundreds of arrows pentrating into the goblin lines. As the side volley flew, the warriors stepped up infront of the archers along the river and drew their blades. By the time they needed to actually fight the numbers of the goblins would be far whittled down.
Haldir put away his bow and drew Dawnstar, Rai followed suite drawing Soulspite. The two stepped into the goblins valiantly. Goblin after goblin fell with few elves even being wounded. Without a leader, and without the numbers they were like wheat being harvested. They dropped rapidly. In a matter of moments what began as a stand, had turned into a slaughter. No elf died, a few took wounds, but none of them grave. The goblins were sorely routed. A few stragglers broke away. Some headed to Moria, maybe ten in all. A few headed towards Mirkwood, roughly twenty in all. Haldir wiped the blood from his blade and looked about him.
"Burn the bodies. Keep them away from the river. Send word back to Lothlorien. Tell Celeborn we'll be home on the morrow."
