[ElentariGreenleaf]

Imthôlion watched the orcs approach from the east, though he could see little of them through the dense fog. He notched his first arrow and released it, having to guess where to aim. A scream and a thud told of an orc's death. Imthôlion's impaired aim was still deadly. Imthôlion and Duinare rapidly fired arrows at the approaching orcs, while Erfalas run ahead with his sword.

“Imthôlion!” cried Arilewen. “Duinare! I carry no weapon!” She darted to her left as an arrow sailed through the air toward her.

“Get behind that boulder,” said Imthôlion, indicating its location with a tilt of his head. “Stay there and don’t move.” Imthôlion continued to fire on the orcs, but now worried about Arilewen. Now with a greater sense of urgency, he and Duinare killed as many orcs as they could before running to Erfalas’ side with drawn swords.

“We mustn’t let any of them pass,” Duinare said as he was driven close to Erfalas by an orc. “Arilewen carries no weapon.”

Imthôlion swung his sword at the orc who ran at him, cutting its head off in one stroke. Three other bodies lay at his feet, but were soon joined by many more of the foul creatures. The three brave elves strove to defeat the orcs, but there seemed so many of them. Cut off from the rest of the group, Imthôlion faced three orcs at once. He was pushed back past Arilewen’s place of hiding, though he did not notice. One of the orcs fell, and then the second was decapitated. Imthôlion looked for the third and pulled out his bow. He fired as he saw the orc raising his sword to attack someone.

Arilewen had been looking away from Imthôlion’s duel, when she felt a callus covered hand grab her shoulder. She tensed, ready to fight for her life, when the grip loosened as suddenly as it had caught her. She turned to see Imthôlion drop his bow and dive out of reach of an orc’s sword.

Imthôlion jumped up and dodged the orc’s attacks as he struggled to pull his sword from its scabbard. The orc’s blood, which covered it so thickly, had rendered the sword stuck. Narrowly avoiding having his hand removed from his wrist, Imthôlion reached for a hefty piece of a tree’s branch that lay on the floor near him. Rolling out of reach of the orc, he swung the branch, hitting the orc on the side of its head, slaying it instantly. He caught his breath while trying to remove his sword from its sheath, but it was stuck fast. Hearing the battle cries of his companions, including Arilewen who had found a dead orc’s sword, Imthôlion picked up the sword of his latest kill and ran to join the main fight. He hoped the fight would not last much longer, for he was tiring.