The horses galloped through the woods, Eomer leading them with Lauretar beside him. The men were jubilant that they finally had a destination.

‘What do you mean to do?’ Lauretar asked Eomer, hoping he didn’t sound foolish.

‘Go find them and wait. When our friends arrive we will see to a plan that will rid us of these wretched attackers,’ Eomer replied. Lauretar nodded and looked ahead. A strange feeling was on him all day; it seemed to make the back of his neck prickle. Nothing more than a slight fright, nothing I can’t handle he told himself repeatedly.

* * *

Meanwhile Rohan’s scouts continued their way northeast, unaware of the eyes that were upon them, vigilantly watching, waiting for the right moment. They were close now, so close to the whereabouts of their ally and their countryman. A man sat in the trees waiting and watching, bidding his time, an arrow notched into his bow. He pulled back and let loose. The arrow screamed in the air and its aim was true. The man reeled back as his horse shied and he hit the ground with an arrow through his eye. His companion pulled on his horse’s reins and unsheathed his blade right before another arrow hit him square in the chest. The horse bucked, lost his footing and fell down rolling over his rider. The man was killed instantly.

The assassin jumped down out of his perch nestled between the branches. He wore a fur pelt wrapped around his shoulders on top of his leather breaches and tunic. Concealed within were a hunting knife and twin fighting swords alongside his bow and arrows.

He reached down into a pool of thick mud covering his fingers with it and pressed his mark upon both men’s foreheads. Satisfied with his job he pulled on his wolf’s-head hood and broke into a run. They would know, they would know of their peril now. The Timberwolves were here.

* * *

‘An adventure of a lifetime you have lived lads, an adventure indeed,’ Restorad chuckled cheerfully holding his daughter close. They sat down close to a decent fire now that they were safe. Koran, Luinear, and Xander had just finished telling their tale. Aragorn sat in a corner, his feet up on a smallish boulder, smoking his pipe. The rest of them all sat huddled close to the warm flames.

‘We will need to go back now and find Eomer. We can’t stay here any longer than we have,’ Aragorn said raising his head staring diligently at his companions. They all turned to stare at him with unreadable expressions on their faces. ‘You know as well as I do Restorad what we need to do. We’ve lingered too long and can’t risk losing anymore time.’

‘And for once I agree with you old friend,’ he replied looking back at both boys. ‘I’m afraid that I must ask you to join us for one final adventure,’ he added. They all nodded and stood up. Aragorn got up with a grunt and brushed off the dry dirt from his tunic.

‘We go southwest and meet them by the fords; there our final move will be decided,’ he said as he headed for the cave entrance and crouched by the opening.

Aragorn raised his hand to stop them as he looked on carefully at the scene beyond the oval fissure. Restorad held his breath as he realized that the birds had stopped chattering. Something was dreadfully wrong.

‘The birds aren’t chattering anymore,’ Xander said as realization struck him. Ice seemed to flood their bodies and time seemed to slow down. They could hear their hearts racing through their chests in apprehension.

They slowly stepped out of the cave and made good way quietly through the trees in a rough column before an unearthly scream erupted from behind them.

* * *

‘What is your price for the kills?’ Rayden asked the Timberwolf that now stood before him.

‘Ten pieces of gold, twenty pieces of silver,’ he replied coldly.

‘Here’s fifteen in gold, tell your captain that I will be needing your services soon,’ Rayden retorted.

The assassin ran into the forest and jumped into the trees disappearing out of sight into the overgrown branches.

A Dunlending suddenly crashed out of the trees onto the dust away from his post with an arrow through this chest. The men hurried towards their injured comrade as he lay on the ground screaming.

Rayden grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and faced him. ‘What happened?’ he asked. The man began to shake furiously as he tried to answer. Rayden shook him even harder. ‘WHAT HAPPENED?’ he screamed furiously just as an arrow whistled through the air and rammed into his shoulder support. He was thrown back into the dirt dazed and furious. ‘TO YOUR BATTLEPOSTS! DON’T JUST STAND THERE, MOVE!’ he bellowed as he got up and pulled out his own blade.

He ran towards the trees with twenty men at his side to where his man was posted. There was no sign of his attacker or of any other person. He scanned the trees with piercing eyes, nothing moved but they needed to. He tuned to Blayda and whispered to him: ‘Get the men ready. We move out when the pale face of the moon shows itself.’ Blayda nodded and headed back. Rayden sheathed his blade and with a deep sigh started to head back himself. They were found, but they weren’t going to give up without a fight. He would make sure of that, he thought as he scratched the scar over his eye.

* * *

The scout made his way back towards the Rohirrim, his face pale at what he had just witnessed. He ran through the forest and into the encampment ignoring everybody in his way. He soon spotted Eomer among his men seated next to the fire.

‘My lord!’ he called out urgently and knelt beside him. Eomer turned and the soldier whispered into his ear. The words had barely left his mouth when Eomer’s eyes widened in disbelief. He stood up and called out to his men to move out quickly before he half ran over to his mount, Lauretar close behind him.

‘What happened?’ he asked urgently, trying to keep up with him.

‘An attack,’ Eomer responded curtly.

‘What! What kind?’

‘One we should have looked to a long time ago,’ he said as he lifted the saddle over his horse. He turned around and put a hand on Lauretar’s shoulder. ‘We are not alone in this hunt for the enemy,’ he whispered and Lauretar felt his heart drop and a fear as frigid as ice creep into his blood and heart.

* * *

Koran lunged at Luinear to clamp her mouth shut as Aragorn, Restorad, and Xander pulled out their weapons. Restorad grabbed his daughter and held her close. They were wide eyed with fear. Two bodies lay on the ground shot with arrows that were all too familiar to the Ranger. They stood back to back in a circle, waiting for a sign of an attack but nothing moved. For a long while they didn’t themselves but in the end they breathed again. Aragorn made his way to one of the bodies nearby and put a hand on his neck.

‘Not too long ago,’ he whispered through clenched teeth.

Restorad stood beside him looking down at the mess of the two bodies. ‘You know what this means Aragorn,’ he murmured.

Aragorn nodded and said one word: ‘Wolves.’

* * *
REVIEWS! REVIEWS! REVIEWS! Sound familiar? Well i haven’t had them in awhile so i expect some from u guys soon. nOr you’ll never see ch.11! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!