We arrived on the outskirts of Cair Sirion by dusk the next day, the large city's sunbleached walls standing in stark contrast to the dull greens and browns of the forest surrounding it. A thick fog had descended upon the countryside, the fiery shafts of the setting sun fighting to break through. I could barely make out two guards patrolling the walls, their dark shapes indecipherable in the low visibility.

"Thorondir, are those ours?" I asked, pointing vaguely to the wall. He crouched beside me, squinting a little before slowly shaking his head.

"Haradrim," he muttered as he lowered the cloth of his headwrap. "The city must've already been taken."

"Odd," Aerel added in a quiet whisper. "There doesn't seem to be any damage to the walls."

Uirion grunted. "City's got about a dozen ways to get in. Could've used any of those without even touching the walls."

My eyes narrowed. "I wonder if any Gondorians survived."

Ohtar frowned. "If so, they'd be well on their way to the slave auctions of Harad or Rhun by now. I doubt any remained in the city."

Thorondir cleared his throat. "Not to start an argument, big fellow, but they would've likely kept most of the civilians in the city. Makes it more difficult for us to counterattack since we actually care about collateral damage. And," He added with a grim expression. "They can use the extra labor to supply the front lines."

"Not if they don't have a bridge to cross," I said with a thin smile, reminding them all of our task. "If you have any ideas regarding how to get there, they would be most welcome now."

"Secret entrances sound tempting," Thorondir mused.

"Not to start an argument with you, Little Hawk, but we look just like 'em anyway," Ohtar said with a grin, pinching the scarlet fabric of my clothing. "We can just waltz through the main gate."

"Ah, right..." Thorondir nodded knowingly, casting a sheepish smile in Aerel's direction.

Aerel smiled back before shifting uncomfortably. "None of us speak Haradic though. If we're confronted it could be a problem. I advise a more cautious approach."

Eradan, who had until now been silent, piped up. "I speak a little Haradic."

I raised an eyebrow quizzically. "When did you learn that?"

"While you were busy beating dummies with clubs," he shot back with a grin.

"Swords," I corrected with a slight hint of agitation. "But do you know enough to understand them if they question us?"

He nodded eagerly. "Unless they start asking anything too complicated."

"Define 'too complicated'," Aerel pressed.

He turned slightly red at her attention. "We shouldn't have to worry about it," he replied evasively.

"Are you sure?" I asked. "Our lives will be depending on it."

"Of course I'm sure," he replied somewhat defensively. "We shouldn't have any trouble."

Thorondir took a pensive step forward. "I'd rather not take the risk, captain. If he even gets one word wrong, it could mean the death of us all."

"I won't!" Eradan countered, his voice rising. "I know what I'm doing!"

I couldn't help but notice his brief glance at Aerel. "I'm sure you do, brother. But perhaps Thorondir's right, there are safer options."

Eradan crossed his arms and his eyebrows furrowed. I recognized that stance. Eradan had never been stubborn, but once in a while he would make a decision and nothing could make him change his mind. That's what he was doing now. "Crawling through a sewer isn't my idea of safe. Don't you think they're watching every entrance?"

"In that case, we can just explain ourselves then. I don't like the idea of just walking in either," Aerel admitted, giving my brother a slightly apologetic expression.

Thorondir's chin rose slightly in triumph. "See, even the lady agrees."

I saw Eradan's hands ball up into fists. "Why would it make any difference?! We'll get caught then too if my Haradic is as bad as you all seem to think."

Thorondir smirked, knowing he had the upper hand. The expression made me feel a rush of irritation, but I knew he was right. "The difference is that nobody will notice that a couple of sewer guards 'went missing'. The entire city will know if some blue-eyed fop tries to outwit the gate guards with some half-baked Haradic nonsense."

Eradan leapt into action faster than I could react. His fist connected with Thorondir's jaw, causing him to stagger back a few steps in surprise and pain. He recovered almost immediately however, launching into a flurry of kicks and punches. He attempted to follow up by leaping on top of Eradan, but Ohtar's strong hands pulled him back. I pulled Eradan into a tight bear hug and we separated them both.

"Stop it! Enough!" I exclaimed, waiting for Eradan to stop struggling against my grip. Thorondir spat on the ground, his nostrils flaring angrily.

"You'll be the death of us!" He shouted before Ohtar slapped him in the face.

"Shut your mouth!" He growled. It was the first time I had seen the large man angry, and I knew then that I never wanted to again. "You two imbeciles will alert the entire city before we even try either of your fool plans!"

I gave Eradan just enough freedom to wipe the blood from his chin. He glared daggers at the other man but said no more.

"You're both acting like children," I said. "We've been through a lot, I understand. But take out your anger on the enemy when the time comes, not each other."

I felt Eradan's shoulders slump. "I apologize. I acted out of turn."

Thorondir let out an arrogant bark of laughter. "I should say."

This time it was Uirion's turn to put them in their place. "I'm old enough to see what you're both doing," he said with a grim chuckle. "Trying to impress the lady will get you nowhere, especially not like that. She's been around enough numbskulls to know when she sees two more."

Aerel shook her head. "They're not numbskulls. They've just been away from home for too long. We all have."

"She's right," I said, hoping to defuse the situation. "And we won't ever see our homes again if we don't succeed here. So for the love of Eru, pull yourselves together! At least long enough to do what we came here to do."

Aerel flinched almost imperceptively at my vain use of Eru's name, and I realized I probably should have chosen my words better.

Thorondir pulled away from Ohtar, brushing off his clothes haughtily. "So what's the plan then, captain?"

I bit my lip, knowing that whatever choice I made would make someone angry. "Uirion, come with me," I said, motioning for the others to stay. Though we had initially had our disagreements, the older man was the most experienced of our group and likely had the best council in such matters. He also wasn't particularly attached to either of the conflicting parties.

"What should we do?" I asked, lowering my guard for the moment. Maintaining the facade of leadership was exhausting, but I couldn't afford to lower it for long.

Uirion's eyebrows knit together thoughtfully, accentuated the wrinkles in his forehead. "There isn't a safe option, unfortunately. There rarely is in war. But the sewers will certainly be guarded, especially if that's how the Haradrim entered in the first place. I suggest we enter through the gate and use the sewers as an escape route when they're sufficiently distracted by the... disruption we cause at the bridge."

I let out an audible sigh. I was unsure if his was the right decision, but neither were perfect and I had to choose one. "Very well. Let's be rid of this bridge then, shall we?"

==========================================

Thorondir had surprisingly decided not to argue with my decision. Whether he had been "persuaded" to be silent by Ohtar or had made the decision to himself, he followed my lead without even the slightest sign of disobedience.

We made our way onto the main road, making sure to join up with it far enough away that they wouldn't see us emerging from the underbrush. As we proceeded closer, I saw the bodies of several Gondorian soldiers left to rot in the fields surrounding the city. It looked as though there had perhaps been a somewhat organized retreat from the city through the front gates, though if the bodies were any indicator it hadn't ended well. Several more bodies were piled up on the side of the road, mostly burned save their thick armor. We soon saw a large pit that had hastily been dug in front of a burned farmhouse, and it was filled with many more burnt bodies.

"Cair Sirion must've fallen over a day ago," Aerel murmured as she looked at the corpses with sorrow. "They already cleared the city of bodies."

Orcs never would have bothered to burn them, but the Haradrim were just as susceptible to disease as we were. Still, it would've taken at least a day to find all of the bodies and bring them here. "That means we'll have to hurry before more arrive to reinforce the garrison," I stated.

The dull empty sound of our boots hitting the bloodied pavestones was the only answer to my grim words.

As we neared the gate, I picked out at least ten Haradrim watching the road. Some had shed their armor but others were still in full battle attire; Scaled bronze armor similar to that worn by the Easterlings protected their arms, while their helmets were tall and came to a sharp point at the top. These weren't ordinary Haradrim; They had likely been supplied with armor by their Eastern allies.

One of them approached us, bringing a hand to his temple in greeting. Unsure if we were expected to respond in kind, I waited for Eradan to return the gesture before following suit myself.

"Ach'allaba, uiri'ah," The warrior said, his tone welcoming. Eradan cleared his throat and smiled under his scarlet headwrap.

"Rey ma valli'ah, serbunti," he replied smoothly.

The man smiled, the wrinkles around his dark eyes creasing. "Ma a al'akhii mir alja'anoor?"

Eradan didn't respond for a moment, and my heartbeat began to quicken in fear. What if he didn't know what to say?

After what seemed like an infinitely long time, he replied. "La shay jarori."

The soldier's eyes narrowed and he shook his head slowly. "Akhiro yaser 'iijaa adinat bayda' , 'asher bialqali ealoya."

I could see a hint of sorrow in the man's eyes, his shoulders slumping slightly. Even though he was the enemy, I couldn't help but feel a hint of remorse. These were men, just like us. They were just on the wrong side.

Suddenly one of the others let out an exclamation, causing me to jump in surprise. He pointed to Thorondir, shouting something in rushed Haradic.

He had seen his bow; The distinctly Gondorian design had given us away.

Everything that followed was a blur of chaos. Eradan seemed to understand what was happening and pushed the Haradrim soldier away, drawing his sword and shouting for us to do the same. Thorondir let out a cry of warning as he leapt towards Ohtar, who was still unsheathing his axe. I spun around to see another Haradrim throwing a long javelin right at the larger man as several more warriors converged upon us.

"Look out!" I exclaimed. But I already knew that I was too late.

Thorondir, however, reached Ohtar just in time to knock him aside. But his bravery had put him in the missile's path instead. He let out a grunt of pain as it hit him full-on in the chest, making him stagger back several steps from the force.

"No!" Eradan screamed, eyes wide with fear. Aerel deflected a blow meant for him while he was distracted, cutting down one of the Haradrim as she came to my side.

I felt numb as I watched Thorondir fall to his knees. I had lost men before. But never because of a poor decision I had made. A sickening feeling roiled within me as I forced myself back into the present.

"Go!" Thorondir cried as he slowly rose to his feet, propping himself up with the javelin that he had pulled from his abdomen. "I'll hold them off!"

"We're not leaving you here!" Eradan ran to his side, trying desperately to help him up. As Thorondir slowly rose to his full height, I could see that the wound was fatal. He wouldn't live for more than a few minutes after the adrenaline wore off. Thorondir pushed my brother away, giving him a bloody smirk.

"Arguing with me to the last, eh?" He asked wryly. "Let me win this one-" He coughed, spitting dark blood to the pavestones. "-At least."

Ohtar pulled Eradan back with a strong but gentle hand. "He's right. Let him be."

I felt my eyes begin to sting with unshed tears as I turned to the archer. "Thank you for everything," I forced out.

He let out a hitching laugh and limped forward several steps, dark blood soaking his entire torso. "Isn't like you to be sentimental, Captain. Now go! Get the job done, and maybe commission a statue in my honor."

I couldn't help but smile sadly at his final words as I turned to the others. "Down the alley, hurry!" 

As we made our escape I turned one last time. Thorondir stood proudly, drawing back his bow without even a wince of pain. Nearly a dozen Haradrim rushed towards him, but one by one they fell to his mighty bow. Not once did he falter as he fired again and again, seemingly immune to the pain as he stood against insurmountable odds. More and more enemies swarmed forward, and as we rounded a corner the last thing I heard was Thorondir's laughter as he finally succumbed to his foes, the high notes echoing off the cold stone walls of the city. 

Ach'allaba, uiri'ah- Greetings, friend (Haradic)

Rey ma valli'ah, serbunti - The Serpent smiles on our meeting (Haradic)

Ma al'akhii min aljanoor? - What news from the south? (Haradic)

La shay jarori - Nothing good (Haradic)

Akhiro yaser 'iijaa adinat bayda' , 'asher bialqali ealoya - My brother marches to the White City, I worry for him (Haradic)