The sun was just beginning to creep down the sky, and I was trying to push my men a bit farther before nightfall. They were tired, and should we have not been in friendly territory, I certainly would not have risked such a long march. We had travelled nearly all day through the realm of Ithilien, and despite my mens' strength they had reached their limit.
I gave the order to halt and sent five men into the forest to gather wood for the fires. Dismounting from my horse, I told the quartermaster to break out the last of our fresh provisions, as we would easily be able to reach Cair Andros the following morning.
As the men found places to sit and rest, Barhador, my first lieutenant, looked over to me, 'Sir, shall I set the first watch?'
'Not yet, give them a few minutes rest, and set the watch after the've had their share of food and water.'
Barhador bowed his head slightly, 'Very well, sir', and walked off to convey the message.
I turned my head to look at the setting sun, and let out a heavy sigh.
Some hours later it was nearly dark, and still we had no wood for the fires. The men were getting restless, no wood meant no food for them. The five men I’d sent earlier had not returned, so we organized another party to scour the forest.
By now, we could barely see our hands in front of our faces. The only light we had was that of the moon, and what few torches we had brought with us. I was getting worried, perhaps Ithilien was not as safe as I’d thought.
Upon our return I conferred with Barhador, 'Tell everyone to form a perimeter around the camp, I fear that we may not be alone.'
'As you command.', said Barhador, and turning on his heel to depart, but stopped as a shrill scream cut through through the trees.
There were more screams soon to follow, as a volley of arrows peppered the grounds around us.
This is a re-upload of a story I published years ago, since I deleted the old account. Also updated screenshot, fixed some grammatical errors and generally tried to make the piece read a bit more smoothly. Will post part 2 soon. Check out my other characters on my profile and PM me if you want to RP! :D
