Booming thunder rolled across the sky!
From afar the sound of galloping hooves shook the ground, and the Orc sentinels upon the walls of the fortress were roused in alarm.
A long, mournful horn call rose from the battlements, and countless Orcs surged up to man the ramparts in defense.
Yet before their eyes came a sight of dread: six thousand horse-archers thundered forward in a tide, loosing arrows under the command of Sigilion. The shafts fell like a storm, darkening the heavens as they rained down upon the walls.
Like sudden downpour, the arrows struck too swift to ward off. Orcs toppled in clusters, pierced through before they could seek cover.
The riders slowed their charge and halted fifty paces before the fortress, yet their bowstrings sang without pause, loosing volley after volley that turned the wall into a death-trap.
The Orcs dared not lift their heads, nor answer back, but cowered behind their crenellations, waiting in vain for the rain of arrows to cease.
"Kill!"
A pathway opened amidst the mounted archers, and forth advanced the King's Guard together with dismounted men-at-arms clad in heavy mail. With siege-ladders upon their shoulders, they rushed to the very foot of the fortress.
The ladders were heaved against the stone, and with swift hands and grim resolve, the warriors began to climb.
The archers held their fire at last. Orcs dared peer out once more, and when they beheld the armored soldiers ascending their walls, fear seized their hearts.
"Stones! Timbers! Hurl them down!"
"Damnation! From whence came these Men? Why are there riders here?"
"Blow the horn again! Are the swine of the kingdom still asleep? If none come, the fortress is lost!"
Their commander's voice cracked in rage.
But even as they sought to rally, a sudden blaze flared from beneath the wall. It was Kaen, who had come to the forefront himself. From his hand the long-sword blazed with holy light, and its brilliance forced the Orcs to shield their eyes in agony.
Beneath that radiance the armored soldiers gained the heights and fell upon the Orcs in bitter contest.
Caden swung his war-axe with fearless might, hewing down the Orc-commander's head with one blow. Rallying the climbers to him, he pressed to either side, carving a space upon the wall for more soldiers to clamber up in turn.
As the heavy infantry and the King's Guard gained the battlements, the West Gate fortress of Gundabad was already doomed.
It was not that Gundabad's Orcs lacked strength, but Kaen's host had fallen upon them too swiftly. Arrows swept the walls clean, then armored soldiers scaled with ladders. The unprepared defenders could not withstand the assault of such elite troops, let alone the near-legendary Golden Armored Guard.
The clash echoed within the fortress, and ere long the great gates swung open. Heavy infantry and King's Guard poured forth from within, their blades dripping.
Kaen, mounted once more upon his proud Mearas steed, lifted his shining sword before the gate and gave command:
"Ride in! All creatures not of Man, all foul and twisted beings, cut them down! Leave none alive!"
"Kill!"
The shout rang like thunder. Kaen spurred forward, charging into the fortress with his warriors at his back. Sigilion and Caden followed hard after, then came the King's guard and heavy cavalry in ordered waves.
The Mountains of Gundabad were three peaks bound together, with deep gorges cleaving between them. In those narrow chasms, sunlight scarce touched save at brief hours of the day.
Bridges of stone and wood spanned the gulfs, caves and halls cut into the cliffs bore witness to ancient craft of Dwarven sires long perished. But now Orcs infested every shadow.
The hosts of darkness had their own semblance of life. The valley bore markets like those of Men, stalls and shops crowded with vile things. Among them wandered some Men as well, those fallen into evil, their faces painted with grotesque colors.
This was the northern capital of the Orcs, thronged with four or five hundred thousand creatures of shadow.
Though the horns of alarm had sounded at the western gate, the vast horde within had not yet fled.
Kaen came like a storm, his body wreathed in gold, his steed a peerless wonder, and it seemed a god of war had descended. Without thought of mercy, he raised his sword and smote.
Experience gained.
+1.
+0.3.
+8.
Wargs, Orcs, and beast-men fell before him as wheat before the scythe. The King's guard and heavy riders trampled all in their path, leaving no survivors.
The horse-archers, unmatched in skill, shot arrow after arrow to the hanging bridges and cliffside paths. Orcs running there fell like hail from the sky.
The horns of Orcs blared again and again, as their scattered forces sought to muster.
The road divided in twain. Kaen gave his order swiftly:
"Caden! Take two thousand heavy riders and three thousand bowmen. Sweep the right path and strike down the eastern gate from behind.
"The rest follow me to the left. Slay every Orc you find, then return by the other way."
"It shall be done!"
The army parted like a flood, surging down both ways. Wherever they passed, darkness was swept away, and no foe remained.
Swords pierced flesh, spears impaled, arrows struck, hooves crushed bone. The carnage was unending.
Kaen himself slew uncounted foes, yet he reckoned hundreds lay at his hand.
He glanced upon his system.
Level: 4 (452/500).
"Good," he thought. "Today I shall ascend to the fifth."
Before the Orcs could recover, he turned his horse and charged the other gorge.
From caves and ancient halls poured rank upon rank of Orcs, planting their spears across the road to bar his way.
And before them loomed three shadowy forms, half-seen, half-felt—the Ringwraiths!
Foremost among them was Khamûl, the second of their dread order. Black vapors streamed from them, rolling to engulf Kaen and his riders. From their mouths shrieked the fell cry that struck terror into mortal hearts, and the pressure of their will pressed hard against the onrushing horsemen.
Yet they had misjudged Kaen.
He raised high his sword, and golden light flared from the blade. It hissed and crackled where it struck the darkness, driving back the gloom with unyielding brilliance.
His charge carried that light before it, forcing the Nazgûl and Orcs to recoil, their cries sharp with anguish.
From the blaze rang the voices of Kaen and his riders:
"Courage and glory!"
"For Eowenría!"
With a crash, Radiance hurled into a Ringwraith, casting it aside. Kaen's sword flashed, and in mid-air he clove its head from its shoulders. The shadow-body unraveled in a scream.
Exp +50
Level: 5 (2/600)
At once the system surged, and power flooded his flesh, gilding his form in light more fierce than ever. The gorge blazed as though the sun itself had fallen within, and ancient darkness, brooding for millennia, boiled away like ice cast into fire.
Orcs shrieked in torment as the radiance seared them, and their lines collapsed. They were trampled and slain until none were left.
Khamûl and another Ringwraith fled swiftly into a cavern and so escaped, spared only by hiding from the light. When they emerged again, Kaen and his host were gone.
By the time Kaen stormed the eastern gate, Caden had already taken it.
Without pause the riders swept out of Gundabad, their charge thundering across the land. For miles they pressed until at last they drew rein.
The lightning strike had been masterful. Of Orcs, five or even eight tens of thousands lay slain.
The soldiers raised a great cheer, their eyes blazing with devotion near to worship, gazing upon Kaen whose radiance now burned brighter than ever before.
Caden asked: "My lord, whither do we ride next?"
Kaen turned his gaze southward, toward the springs of the Anduin. His voice rang:
"Down the river we ride, to succor Tusgar!"