((This continues directly from part one))
Footnotes:
*Anor = Sindarin name for the sun
*Minas Anor - Old name of Minas Tirith
- Part Two -
Sador stumbles to his feet - his back aching and his feet and muscles sore from years of marching and fighting. He is 41 of age now... and a veteran soldier... And the turmoil of battle is showing heavily.
He starts to walk towards the large mess tent - where the mead and wine is being stored... It will ease the pain, and taste well of course.
The dancing and celebrating Easterlings and Variags are everywhere.
And by all right... they should celebrate... This day will be sung of until the end of all days...
The sun is just about to go down in the west, the great flaming ball of Anor can barely be seen as it descends down over the mountains far away on the horizon.
To the east he can barely make out the contours of the mountains just west of the Sea Of Rhûn... the place where this vast army - counting over 30.000 men had gathered to start the assault on Gondor...
He is not far from his homelands. He lets his eyes wander the lands around him - the great battlefield of Dagorlad... The host of so many battles... so many defeats for the people of the east...
Several of his forefathers had fought here at different times, and some had fallen here... Almost right where this camp had been raised - just a little north of the Ash Mountains and the Black Gates of Mordor...
The Great Plague had ironically been a great help for the people of the east... Heavily decreasing Gondors population - and in effect weakening Gondors defences. Osgiliath, which had been the Gondorian Kings seat until that point - suffered such great numbers to the plague that most of those who did not perish, fled the great city and relocated to Minas Anor. This would now become the new citadel for the Gondors.
The plague had given the Wainriders the opportunity they had been waiting for - and they began a massive invasion of the Gondorian lands adjacent to their territory in TA 1851.
Their new empire had included the whole eastern banks of the Anduin
Sadors great grandfather, Merenthôr served as a soldier in the Wainriders armed forces at the time, and fought in the great Battle of the Plains in TA 1856, where the Gondorian King Narmacil II was utterly crushed and slain by the Wainriders as he rode to Rhovanion to retake the lands for Gondor.
Shortly after, the dead king's son - now crowned King Calimehtar of Gondor, retaliated in a great battle right here on the plains of Dagorlad...
His army was helped by rebellious people from Rhovanion - now under Easterling rule.
The battle had been swift, and the Wainriders had been defeated, and suffered great numbers... including Sador's great grandfather Merenthôr.
Now the battlefield was again littered with dead soldiers... Some of Sador's brethren of the east. But mostly Gondorian soldiers, and a few of the horsemen of the Èothèod.
The air had that moist, unmistaken, sweet smell of fresh blood...
The Gondors had totally misjudged where the Wainriders would attack from, and were not prepared at all for this immense onslaught...
The Wainriders had taken them completely by surprise.
They had not come from the expected direction, which would have been from the north or north-east - but instead they came directly from the east along the outskirts of the Ered Lithui. And worse for the Gondors, the Wainriders came more swiftly than expected...
The army of Gondor was strung out when the vanguard was struck by a powerful force of mixed cavalry and chariot-borne warriors. The king of Gondor, King Ondoher - son of Calimehtar who had led the battle against Sador's great grandfather, the King's son, Prince Artamir, and most of the King's Guard were annihilated in the attack. Even the kings nephew Minothar - commander of the army's right wing, was slain.
Sador had fought with great determination, and had killed many Gondorian soldiers, and even a few of the Èothèod.
Still he was irritated with himself for getting wounded... He felt it had been a unnecessary mistake on his part.
But it could not be undone... and the man who was responsible for the wound had now met his doom by Sador's blade, and his remains were lying in the field somewere...
And again he thought about how this war now would end soon...
They would rest here until the break of dawn, and then march to take the completely defenceless Minas Anor - and at the same time end the realm of Gondor...
What a glorious day it would be...
((To be continued very soon))
***
