Steel clicked off stone ground, the noise like frozen rain pounding the vale though the steel was cold but those it protected were blazing hot. Thogen held his war hammer high, his words were crisp orders and his troops listened. They had been stationed in Gondamon for a few weeks now dealing with a rising Goblin threat to break their Siege over Sarnur, Goblins rose in giant hoards to strike the flank of the dwarves and now it was time for one side to lose. "Check arms, tighten leather, fix plates! We march to war! To glorious death!" Thogen yelled, his armour glowing with torchlight and a fresh layer of polish, he was a mighty war master and he made sure everyone could see it, friend and foe. Gondamon was filled with life, dozens on dozens of armoured dwarves got themselves and others ready for battle, they check one another packs and helped strap armour on. Many noble warriors of Durin's Folk gathered, they looked as ready as they ever would, Duinn and Khlosi, both high held Lords took up arms for the day and they knew they would be needed. For a lord to be on the battle field is key, it shows his folk that he is willing to fight along side with them, to win or lose with them in both life and death and that drives the army. "Point me to these goblins brother and I will kill them all myself! Where are they!" a voice called out, Thogen glanced around and to his surprise Barkgrim Flameturg stood in the gateway, great axe in hand and looking as high and mighty as always. Thogen beamed a bright smile and made way to his brother in arms and gave him a large hug "How good to see you my brother, with you here we cannot lose. You come alone?" Barkgrim shook his head a little before speaking, "Goblins to close to Thorin's Hall especially with your army off from Noglond. I ordered them to keep the halls safe." Thogen nodded, he understood that the Blue Mountain Regiments first duty was to protect Thorins Hall.
It was all coming together, the dwarven host was now larger then it had been in a long time, beards had been tucked into belts, helms placed over solid heads and axes gripped tight in hand. The dwarves of Ered Luin were ready for a great battle, the spoke to one another to boost morale, they drank from flask to calm the nerves and now they waited for the orders. Thogen raised his newly forged hammer once more into the air and started to give an order though it was cut short, someone rode in from behind. The elves came.
Thogen watched in disbelief, like the dwarves the elves rode in with dozens upon dozens of warriors. Each warrior rode a top a beautiful white steed, well kept and moved with such grace that they could match their masters movements. With motions that could only be described as a gentle breeze they dismounted and together moved towards the dwarven army. Their outfits all in matching order, light robes still holding good protection and offering swift movement if needed, most held bows but still many held shield and sword. "Greetings to the Dwarven Lords of Durin's Folk, we have heard the call of your people and like times long ago we have come to honour such old alliances. Let us rise together for both our homes are at stake." Their leader spoke, Thogen and all others bowed either body or head to greet the welcomed elvish force. "You are most welcome in our ranks good Lords and aye, let use raise weapons side by side to stomp out the evil that lingers. Let us march to war!" Thogen said, he meant every word. With only the dwarves going to battle many would have been injured but now with a greater force in numbers and now with archery skills they surly could put up a good fight to anything they met.
"Formations! Banners assemble!" War master Thogen ordered. Shield bearers marched to the front ranks, their heavy armoured rattled and together they moved to the front gate, they were the bulk of the army and very much so needed in battle. Soon the Hammer guard marched behind, all members wielding massive axes, long spears, duel weapons or anything that would make quick work of a foe. Archers gave some distances behind the Hammer guard, it was filled with some dwarves like Khlosi and Duinn but mostly now the legion of elves filled the rank. Two banners rose behind the archers, they held the crest of the Longbeards, the support members held them high for all to see and at last the elvish shield guard took the rear. It was a mighty group of warriors, every single one of them knew what was to come. Thogen took the front of the army, he raised his hammer high once more before ordering the army to move out, at once everyone moved forward and now they began to walk, towards Rath Teraig, to battle, to glory, to goblins.
Battle sounded it sweet tune in times of war, Rath Teraig was the stage it played on. The allied force had entered the fields of the killing zone and from all distances you could hear a greater fight happening. "Archers take front rank! We have the advantage over those goblin runts if we spot them!" Thogen called out, the elvish commander did the same, dwarf and elf alike marched to the front if they carried a missile. The group still moved deeper into Rath Teraig, they had yet to meet goblins who would stand and fight, most routed to holes int he mountain or cowered behind rocks out of sight. "This does not feel right master dwarf .." an elf spoke, her words rang like soft flowers on Thogens ear and he could not help but find himself caught in her beautiful features for a moment. "Aye, so stay alert .." Thogen grumbled, his eyes had been darting to every moving shadow, he was not going to let the goblins get the first strike this time. It had been nearly half an hour of marching, smoke filled the sky and blocked out a good deal of the light. The cries in the distances had faded and now there was an strange silence. Three small stones rolled down to Thogens side, his eyes caught sight of them from under his helm. "Halt!" he ordered, his eyes looked to the stones once more then up towards the cliff from where they rolled down from. Something wasn't right, it was quiet, to quiet. "Goblins!" Thogen called and soon as his voiced filled the valley dozens of goblins took place on the high ridge, bows already knocked with arrows and ready to rain death, they had got the upper hand again, or so it seemed.
Goblins, they always seemed to pop up when you least expect it and they thought to get the better of the dwarves this time with the high ground and catching the company off guard but they did not expect to see elves with them. The elvish lord called out an order, Thogen heard words like it before, smooth like silver and flowed like soft like a ribbon but all the elves understood. In a single fluent motion arrows were knocked, drawn and released and just as fast goblins started to fall from the cliff and down to the ground. "Fire bolt and arrow! " Thogen ordered the dwarvish archers, some had started to fire with the elves but many like Thogen were caught in the beauty of their movements. It seemed the goblins could not get off a single shot, volley after volley fired at the goblins killing them just as fast as they started to take another place and almost as soon as they appeared they had went away. Maybe all dead, maybe running for their lives. Dwarves cheered in the ranks, they felt untouchable with such archery. Khlosi smirked and Duinn boasted lowering their bows. First blood had been spilled by the allied force but the goblins would not back down so easy it seemed. A bright glow came from the ridge, so bright it looked as if the very sun was at the top of it. Giants balls of fire appeared, they started to roll towards the alliance.
"Shields front ranks! Shields now! Break the roll before they split up our force!" Thogen howled trying to turn as many shield bearers as he could to face the coming fire. They all wore thick steel but even steel can not hold out scorching heat. Two dozen dwarves had reached the front in time and formed up a shield wall, they locked together like dragon scales and met the rolling balls of fire. Sparks and embers flew into the air burning beards and hair. "Hold!" Thogen growled, his teeth grinding as he felt the heat behind his shield, others did the same as they stopped the rolling force, not a single blazing fire broke the line. Together the unit broke apart and pushed the fire away, they tried to do so quickly in case more danger appeared. The dwarves could hardly get back into rank before shouting came from the valley ahead of them, a great shadow filled the land, a goblin hoard so large it turned the ground black came into sight. This force could have been said to be every single goblin in Rath Teraig, they charged at a great speed and clawed closer to the alliance any way they could. "Archers! Bring them down with a volley" Thogen called, his dwarves popped up from gaps behind the shield wall and let loose a quick volley of bolt and arrow, even a tossed axe. Goblins rolled to the ground with blood spraying into the air with the impact, still the giant force pushed forward like a forest fire, it seemed to not slow down. Behind the shield wall the elvish general could be heard, his command again sent another massive wave of arrow towards the enemy seeming to bring down the entire first rank of the goblins. Again the goblins just climbed over the fallen like a tidal wave of water rushing over the land, it was now time for dirty work, face to face.
The two forces crashed together and soon the battle sounded, like a thunderstorm all around crashing and banging could be heard. Both sides pushed to gain ground on the other but seemed to be locked in a stalemate, the crude weapons and crafted axes started to come over head. "I kill little turds like you in my sleep!" Barkgrim roared, his axe splitting a goblins head right in half, Ullfar looked a bit surprised at the sight but still fought on, he was aged but with age was experiences, he brought his foes down with sharp skill. Shield bearers like Asudrom and Thalamath stood strong, they ducked hes behind their wide shields to avoid club strikes and used weapons of their own to hack knees, feet arms and neck when ever they could. Still elvish archers fired arrow that whistled by ears and struck true on targets like goblin eyes, foreheads, mouths. Thogen held his position, his hammer sounded with crashing booms striking down at his enemy, his voiced trailed with every strike "This is Thanbukhebâb, let it sound off every one of your heads!Echo my hammer, like the forges you were crafted from! Let each strike be louder then a thousand hammers upon anvils! Slay those who stand before us! Victory!" he cheered, goblins winced at every booming hit the mighty hammer gave off as if the crushing sound hurt them, surly this was no ordinary hammer.
The battle was hard fought, both sides still not willing to give up a single inch, Duinn had fired all of his arrows and now took axe and long sword to the enemy cutting down those who climbed over the way, the dwarves cheered at every one of his kills. The goblins numbers may have taken many deaths but it still seemed like the hoard grew, soon it was at the point were three goblins pressed against a single shield and with that they shield wall was bound to break. "Hold, we will get the better of them! Keep holding!" Thogen shouted, he tried to keep the dwarves focused but it was hard, they were so out numbered. A cry came from behind them all, a noise he knew all to well from these siege battles. A troll.
Drool dripped from the mouth of the beast, its ugly yellow nails dug into its skin scratching around its eyes and snot blowing from its nose, the Troll had been forced onto the field after a disturbance with its cave and now had its eyes on the Elves who protected the rear. With a single reaching arm a smaller tree of the valley had been uprooted and now smashed the ground several times with taunting strikes coming from the beast, though it did not seem to faze the elvish line who formed a tight shield wall. More commanding words came from the elvish lords, their soldiers moved in unison to formation and now waited patiently. With another cry of the troll it started to charge, its large legs thudding its feet into the ground brought it closer and closer. With a graceful command three volleys of arrows met the troll, arrows sunk into skin though most deflected. Khlosi had taken arms with the elves and found himself firing with the unit, his aimed arrow piercing an eyeball of the brute. The troll raised its arm to wave the tree to the shields below but was only met with a wave of striking swords against its body, skin split as razor sharp weapons slashed at it and shields kept the creature a distances away. It was having a hard time landing a blow but it was not the only one having difficulty, the dwarves had been pushed back.
Asudrom had been helping Thogen keep the troops in formation but the goblins still continued to grow in number, they pushed so hard that the shield wall had split, now single members of the broken wall faced many goblins at once alone. Hroskold, Barkgrim, Hosgrim and others took to the gaps and thrust the enemy back with the shafts of their weapons giving space before they could cut down the enemy. Barkgrim was a deadly warrior, his axe moved like lightning and his strike could match the pain, with a single swing two goblins were cut right in half while a third nearly shared the same fate. The hammer banner members tried to keep the enemy held back as long as they could but were still getting greatly out numbered dwarves started to fall, dead or wounded it could not be seen yet. Thogen still beat away the enemy with Thanbukhebâb, the goblins kept a distance away fearing to hear the booming strike but one brave foe landed a hard spear strike to his ribs causing him to double over in pain .. to his sides more brothers were falling, Asudrom nearly taken over, Hroskold and Byl standing back to back in a finale stand. His eyes set on the waving banners of Durin's Folk. They still held high in the air by Hilfa and Kveltrild, they did not fall so he couldn't either and then the elves started to kill.
The troll moaned in pain, spears pierced into muscles and arrows covered its skin like a pin cushion, the striking tree waved side to side as the troll did its best to try and land some blows but with every move the elves seemed to strike seven times over and it was not long before more and more arrows struck true to its head. With a dulled moan it fell backwards limp. The elvish shield wall turned as if it was mechanic, it formed to face the pushing goblin force and at an order they charged. The whistling arrows took down goblins who stood in front of the wall and picked off goblins who tried to do serious damage to dwarves, they moving force of elves seemed to make killing look elegant and like a dance. "Here friend, you are in need of aid" a noble looking elf spoke down to Asudrom who was on the ground with a serious injury, he tried to laugh but the pain was to much. Since the the dwarven shield wall had fell chaos had filled the battle but now the elves restored the balance, a new wall had formed and the injured tried to make back to safety. Thogen looked to the waving banners again but now he saw the hand of an elf, blood dripped from his shield which was protecting him "There are to many War master, you and your dwarves should fall back. We will come with you" he spoke, he was right. The lives of his kin was not worth wounded pride. "Retreat! Get to the shield wall and retreat!" Thogen ordered taking the elves hand. Slowly and when they could dwarves moved back to the elvish shield wall, helping hands pulled wounded back while those still able cut down foes who tried to kill the weak. Command after command came from the elvish generals lips, troops moved at each word and soon more arrows pierced the bodies of goblins who came in pursuit.
Both sides seem wounded, goblins started to retreat, those who pressed on met dwarven axes and elvish arrows. Dwarves who stayed to fight took grave wounds or even fell on the field. Cries came from the ground, blood soaked warriors held hands so that they may be found, those who could tried to get them to safety and the elves assisted. "Cover my troops, we are wounded .. we cannot take another fight like that right now." Thogen spoke to a elf, he knew if the goblins turned with another force they would all be killed. Slowly they all made back to Gondamon, to rest, to heal, to fight another day. That was a great battle in a long war, a war that seemed to be coming to a close.
