All Shall Fade (LOTR-Wattys 2014)

All Shall Fade - Chapter 38 - Shadow of the Supernatural

All Shall Fade

Chapter 38

Shadow of the Supernatural

The ride to Dunharrow wasn’t particularly long; we had left in the morning and had reached the already teeming camp by early evening. The encampment was filled with row upon row of hundreds of white tents, flying the banners of Rohan and surrounded by men and horses clothed in the colours of the Rohirrim. As we rode ahead with the King’s party, the crowds parted respectfully, different men shouting out greetings to Théoden as we trotted past.

“Make way for the King! Make way, the King is here!” A soldier yelled, alerting the others as we entered the camp.

“My lord!” One cried, and Théoden waved as more people began to greet him.

“Hail to you sire!”

“Grimbold, how many?” The King called out to one man as we rode past.

“I bring five hundred men from the Westfold my lord.” The soldier answered.

“We have three hundred more from Fenmarch, Théoden King.” Another man called out.

“Where are the riders from Snowbourn?” Théoden asked.

“No have come my Lord.”

We rode on in this manner, surrounded by the shouts and greetings of the soldiers. There seemed to be a never-ending number of them, but for some reason it didn’t seem to be enough for Aragorn and Théoden. There must have been thousands of men here, so what was it exactly we were facing? In Helm’s Deep we had three hundred men, against ten thousand Uruk-Hai, and we’d won – alright, so we’d had the Elves and Eómer’s company as well, but it wasn’t that much more. How vast could the armies of Mordor be if the men we already had weren’t enough? I frowned in confusion as our party began riding up a steep, winding mountainside path. The meandering path was dotted at each turn with large stones, and upon closer inspection I could see that they were crude, weather-beaten carvings of men, hunched over as if they were protecting the path they lined. For some reason, they seemed to give me the chills as we continued up the path, and as we reached the top Aduial seemed to become uneasy. I glanced up at the tall mountain that overshadowed our camp and shivered – there was something slightly ominous about it that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. The King’s encampment looked out over the soldier’s one below us, offering a view of every singe tent and every small company that arrived. As we rode forward amongst the collection of finer tents that would house us, the horses seemed to get more and more nervous, until many men dismounted and lead them away, giving up on trying to ride them. I nudged Aduial with my heels, and she jumped, and I wondered why she was spooking so easily. Théoden and Aragorn dismounted from their horses and went to overlook the camp below us, but I rode on, anxious to find somewhere for Aduial to rest. Suddenly, she dug her heels into the ground and refused to take a step further. I frowned, urging her to take a step forward, but she just danced backwards, despite my efforts to keep her still.

“What’s wrong with you?” I muttered, dismounting and walking to her head, “Hm? What are you scared of?” She rolled her dark eyes wildly, exposing the whites as she tried to further back away. “Come on, there’s nothing to be scared of.” I assured her, tugging on her reins to pull her forwards. Without warning, she reared up onto her hind legs and I had to leap out of the way to avoid her thrashing hooves. “Aduial!” I cried, reaching for her reins as she threatened to bolt away, but someone else caught them. I turned to see Legolas stepping towards my horse, murmuring softly in Elvish and coaxing her back down to the ground. “Thanks.” I breathed as he handed me her reins and I turned to see that around the camp, other people were having issues with calming their horses.