Brigands were rushing upon their camp! Probably that Falowik had arranged to make them a flock of sitting ducks here by Deadmen's Dike, like as not. Falco's good ears were what saved him. His eyes were no help, for he'd been staring at the flames, and their afterglow made his eyes useless.
Falco heard the crunch of broken earth, and the whistle of a sword, and ducked. He was missing some hair on top now, but that was fine so long as his neck was still in place. He drew his sturdy dwarvish sword and, on quiet hobbit feet, scurried out of reach of the ruffian's second swing. Though he was stout himself, he was quick, and before the oaf could pull back, Falco had struck him on the shin bone hard as he could, and danced out of the way again. The man fell with a roar, and Falco let him lay. His eyes had adjusted to the half-moon-lit dark now, and he looked in all directions, ducking low until he could find an advantageous point to re-enter the melee.
This reminded him of the Battle of Bywater in more ways than one, except for the chaos. Whereas the Heroes of the War had organized their hobbit army well, few in their party had enough time to pay attention to what was happening to others; only themselves. So it was left to Falco to see that for all their superior numbers, the brigands were being mowed down by their smaller number.
Lira took one down, and her bird, Corn, blinded another. No sooner had another attacked Lira than Gorby shot that one with an arrow. Meanwhile, Eswen was filling the air with arrows that all hit their targets, and then took a heated sword and took out two more! Finėwen killed yet another!
These female fighters, both human and elven, were actually quite good! Falco was more of a realist than most hobbits, and that was saying something. So he quickly allowed his opinion to be altered regarding these fighting maidens' value to the group.
But Lira went down. And now Lumiel was the worse for wear. It was time to lend aid where he could. Falco snuck across the battleground, watching the mounted archers with one eye to make sure they didn't pin him to the ground, and came up behind Lumiel's attacker and split his head open. He deserved no better.
The melee changed now. All the ruffians on foot had been killed or wounded, and only the mounted brigands remained, numbering five. They moved away and took a position on higher land than that of their camp, behind a broken down wall. From there they began loosing arrows.
Thoronmir yelled out orders to douse the fire and take cover. Falco kicked the body off of the Elf maiden, whose face was covered with blood; her right hand was bloody too. Falco offered her his arm and helped her back to the others, and moved next to Gorby and Anson. Lumiel was shaky, but refused to lay down and rest. She wiped her face with her hood, and looked fierce and grim. Falco was glad she was on their side, but he kept that to himself.
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