Egbert Elric

Getting the element of surprise wasn't the last move that Bill Lovie would do in order to make sure his plan of destroying Tree Hill would succeed though as on top of destroying the Eyes, and luring the Orcs he also lured away most of the Tree Hill army in the moment they were most necessary. In order to do this Bill created a Kings letter in which he ordered Earl Scott to accompany the Tree Hill trade mission to Forks with as many troops as he could possibly spare as Bill believed that an insidious force was preparing to destroy Forks from within. While Earl Scott didn't believe or even understand where this came from he was honor bound to follow the words of his king so he took nearly fifty percent of the Tree Hill army and accompanied the Tree Hill trade mission on its mission to Forks.

With the command of the city falling out of the hands of Earl Scott the vacuum of power fell to the hands of Sayden Nighting of whom was told by Bill Lovie that the Orcs were incoming and was promised the Lordship of Tree Hill for his assistance in destroying Tree Hill. As fate would have it, not only was most of the Tree Hill army not at their post because of the trade meeting in Forks. But the leader of the Army, and Lord of Tree Hill Earl Scott was also not in Tree Hill when the attack was underway. This meant that the city which would have already been in serious trouble due to the surprise attack which was incoming were nearly completely at the mercy of the orcs without the majority of their army in the actual city. While significant number of nobles were in the town as Bill had not made the trip something anyone outside of Earl Scott was even allowed to go the devastation was surely planned to be incredible in the early moments.

The Orcs moved across the plains in as perfect a following of the directions they had been given by the Circle of Magi as the Orcs were probably capable of. Destroying two villages as they moved they overran the out keep that guarded the initial approach to the city. While the out keeps were meant to have been occupied by nearly fifty men each the deployment schedules had been purposely screwed up by Sayden Nighting. With the out keeps not alerting to an attack the Orcs were on the doorstep before anyone knew what had happened, and it was in that moment that the fate of the city was sealed. The Orc army was within 100 feet of the gates when the first guard saw there arrival, and scanning across the field it was a blanket of green as the Orcs were seemingly endless in number. The guard ran the alarm bell, and then the men manning the gate attempted to close it. All the Tree Hill guards that were present in the area swarmed the gate in the hopes they could hold the gate until it could be closed. Traven Goodsbrow, and the Oakheart twins Frasier, and Thomas Oakheart were in the vicinity and would also move in the direction of the fighting at the gate. Traven and the Oakheart twins would be overwhelmed alongside the rest of the guards at the gatehouse and the Orcs swelled into the city from the main gate shattering the cork that held the Orcs at bay. Once they had control of the gate the Orcs quickly destroyed any resistance that managed to form in the outer city, while they began destroying and setting buildings ablaze. The rampaging force of Orcs massacred there way through the packed market which was located near the main gatehouse, and since Tree Hill was so far inside the borders of Lucerne no one was really threatened and thus hadn't fled as the bells had tolled. The massacre continued unabated until southward of the main gatehouse the Orcs would come to the castle of the Typhon's in the form of Typhon's Keep.

Located in the northern section of Tree Hill the estate of House Typhon was a small but secure keep that had long controlled the northern section of the city. A vassal of House Scott they would be within their estate as the city burned and the northern half was completely wiped out. House Typhon would hold off till the very last minute trying to allow more people to flee inside the keep including Lord Robett Highport and three of his men at arms, and it was only when the Orcs begin to reach the gatehouse that Lord Typhon finally commanded it shut. Blocking their gates the Orcs arrived on the scene the males took to the walls and fired upon the Orcs drawing major attention to themselves and slowing the advance as the Orcs attempted to take the Keep. As the Orcs poured all along the walls Lord Typhon would attempt to get people out through the rear of the keep but they discovered that the gatehouse has been sabotaged and couldn't be opened. The front gate was finally bashed down as the defenders on the wall begin to run out of arrows, but the defenders had created enough time that they had been able to place a barricade behind this forcing most of the Orcs to use makeshift ladders, and ropes to climb onto the walls. Getting onto the walls the Orcs would take horrible casualties but there number were unending and they were able to wipe out the defenders including Lord Typhon and two of his sons, and would thus gain entrance into the courtyard within. Lord Robett Highport led a brief counter assault at the main gatehouse attempting to bar the entrance but was killed alongside his men after the walls had been completely overrun. The final son of House Typhon would defend the inner hold nearly alone trying to protect his mother, cousins, and sisters but watched as the Orcs killed the remaining gaurds and the rest of House Typhon were massacred in the inner hallway. Jaime Typhon would survive the destruction of Typhon Keep after he was covered by the body of his slain brother and knocked unconscious. Waking up hours after the massacre of his family he would attempt with failed results to find anyone else alive and realizing he was alone he would hide himself in the Typhon cellar where he would attempt to plan his escape. With the massacre the Orcs would move forward towards the Scott Keep of which was only real place that any sort of defence could be mounted.

Last stand at the Gryphon Gate

Lucas Scott was in the House Scott Keep when the first Orcs begin piling into the city itself, and when he learned of this he became overcome with fear that Haley, Brooke, or Peyton were stuck out there so he ran throughout the inner keep in an attempt to find them. As he ran out of his room he saw his father sitting at his desk not looking like he was very stressed, and he was surrounded by several men including two from House Nighting. Dan Scott was by this point making sure that all their preperations to abandon the city were in place, but had discovered that the tunnel exits that they had put in place had been sabotaged and thus there was no escape for them. Not realizing who was the cause of this they immediately assumed the cause was Bill Lovie, but in fact the tunnels had been sabatoged by Morrigan of whom hadn't be capable of allowing the tratiors to get away with what they had done. Leaving the inner keep he found Haley and Brooke early on but couldn't manage to find Peyton Sawyer inside the inner courtyard. He went to the personal Scott armory and donned his armor alongside his brother Nathan and prepared to enter the city in search of her, but as he reached the inner gatehouse he saw Peyton screaming his name. Peyton had been able to return to the keep before the massacre and now she was crying so much that Lucas had to hold her up, and he would hand her over sadly to Brooke and Haley of whom he forced to return inside the inner Hold.

With his plan in place he scanned around for Peyton of whom he knew deserved a goodbye with the plan he had in mind. It didn't take long for him to find her in the crowd and when he did he ran to her side leaving time for the other men of his party to also say brief goodbyes if they had ones. By this point the defenses of the eastern bridge were becoming increasingly dire until the distraught Franklin Lee II. arrived from the destroyed part of town with nearly fifty men from House Lee and managed to reinforce the bridge house long enough for them to close the bridge. As they crossed the bridge Frank Lee is said to have in his despair over the death of his wife that he had sat down and allowed himself to be killed by the Orcs.

And with that Lucas kissed her, and the kiss was so intense for her that she couldn't manage the strength to hold onto him as he pulled away and then ran to the bridge. As she attempted to chase after him, she was grabbed by Karen Scott of whom knew that her son was going to do exactly what he was going to do, and she didn't want to lose Peyton as well. Peyton tried desperately to pull away, but Karen held a death grip on her, and it took a minute before she was able to get away and when she did Lucas was already on the bridge, and the guards wouldn't allow her through. Peyton attempted to get onto the wall to see him but the guards forced her back farther into the keep where she eventually met up with Brooke, and Haley who watched with her from the Dragon Tower what they believed was going to be the death of Lucas Scott on the bridge. By this point the other houses of the south west Keep were finding themselves becoming under attack as the Orcs were spreading throughout the city, and the defenses of the southwestern keep were in disrepair and Jimmy James planned to attempt to defend them anyway but the arrival of Hank James changed the plans of Jimmy James and Anakin Oakheart. Hank James would explain to the two lords that the defenses had completely collapsed and that only the defenses of the water could save them alongside telling Anakin about the death of his twin sons and his grandson while telling Jimmy about his wife and child's death. Hank James decided to stay in the James Keep and die defending it while the remainder of the Oakheart, and James households would pull all of their men and women and forces and pull them to the western gate.

As Lucas continued to fight on the bridge, Peyton went to find Nathan and found him ordering around men, and making seemingly no effort to save his brother from the situation he was in. She grabbed Nathan by the collar and punched him in the face for the person he had become, and she kept hitting him until he pushed her off him, and ordered one of his men to escort her back to the tower, and to lock her, Haley, Brooke and his mother on the balcony. By this point Leah, and Lauren Oakheart arrived and told them that they had arrive with their family and people alongside House James and all of their people and they had just barely managed to get through the western gatehouse before the Orcs had overrun the entire route. Han, and Lucas Oakheart they would say were leading the defense of the western gatehouse alongside Jake James.

The Defence of the Bridge

Lucas and his party alongside five men at arms of various houses proceeded to hold the bridge for almost an hour under extremely difficult circumstances. At first he moved far past the bridge as he shouted for people to hurry up and get inside, but after fifteen minutes he started to see the first trickle of Orcs moving forward and it was in this moment that he held the road for a time stopping Orcs with carefully aimed bow shots. Perwyn Guntbold, and Hansal Oakheart were also firing arrows near him, while Deert, and Hank were directing people towards the bridge and making them hurry. He and the rest of the party were slowly pushed back by their numbers as he didn't want to be cornered in the street, so he pushed himself to the first tier of the bridge and thus allowed the people to continue getting inside the Keep. While they were pulling back two of the other men at arms fell to Orcs, and Deert took a horrifying blow to his arm of which when Lucas moved to him they were both very aware that the wound might be fatal, but he refused to retreat and they covered it as best they could. His desperate fight continued as the Orcs begin swarming at him in increasing numbers, and during this time he held the front of the bridge standing side by side with Perwyn Guntbold while the other men at arms, and the party joined the archer fire from the walls as they devastated the incoming Orcs. At times they would be assisted by some of the fleeing soldiers, but they basically held it alone against hundreds of marauding Orcs for nearly a half an hour. Wave after wave failed to get by him and Perwyn Guntbold, and as his success seemed more and more likely guards from the wall joined his defense of the bridge. They continued to hold until finally they were confronted by the largest Orc any of them had ever seen, alongside nearly half a dozen other massive Orcs and hundreds of others that also tried to get by.

Defeating Lugdush

The Orc was Lugdush and was the second highest commander behind Jurden Hardaxe himself, and was perhaps the strongest of the lot and for this reason Jurden had sent him at the vanguard and when watching Lucas murder Orc after Orc he saw his chance to rid himself of Lugdush. The Orc moved up to the lines surviving archer fire from the walls without any pause, and raised his sword before killing the man next to Lucas and sending Lucas, and Perwyn flying to the ground and knocking Perwyn unconscious against the ground. Lucas called out for the other men to retreat, but they refused to leave him and his party stood side by side with him as Lugdush attacked again. Deert would be the first to fall as Lugdush ignored a slash across his chest from Lucas and cleaved Deert Davion nearly in two, and followed by this Lucas ducked underneath another slash from Lugdush and slid behind him engaging two of the other massive Orcs. While Lucas fought them Hansal was slashed across the face by Lugdush and killed, while the three men at arms were killed by the other Orcs with Lugdush with the last Orc dying as it killed the last man at arms leaving Lucas killing the remaining Orcs while Lugdush and Hank James II. battled.

Dodging blow after blow Hank was joined by Oliver Slinde of whom would slash Lugdush badly on the leg knocking him to the ground, but when Hank went for the killing blow Lugdush would grab him and break his neck before throwing him into the moat. Lucas by this point had killed three of the large Orcs, and one of the final was able to overwhelm him and push him to the side, and as it raised its axe to kill him an arrow struck it in the head. Looking to the source of the arrow he saw his brother Nathan on the wall, and the two shared a quick look before Nathan aimed his bow and fired once again into the mass crowd behind them. As Lugdush cornered Oliver against the side of the bridge and prepared to kill him Lucas jumped on his back and was able to stab him through the less armored back part of his neck killing the massive Orc. Now exhausted from that fight and standing alone on the bridge he was finally forced to pull back when nearly 50 Orcs almost surrounded him, causing him to jump into the moat. Oliver was able to get inside the gate but those on the wall believed he had been struck down and killed. The Gryphon gate was then shut but Lucas was stuck on the outside of the wall.

Closing the front door

But Lucas was not dead. He managed to sneak his way around the city, and it was during this time that he would further his fame. He managed to sneak back to the outer city gate, by moving silently through the sewers that ran from the Scott Keep all the way to the front entrance of the market which was just a short run to the gatehouse. Finding none of the Orcs had worked on clearing the sewers he was shocked to find dozens of people hiding themselves in the sewers, and warning them they needed to quickly make their way to the keep he kept moving arriving at the market entrance, and leaving the sewer he looked out and saw the gatehouse. Flowing through the gatehouse were the Orcs, and he knew that unless he stemmed the tide the Gryphon gate would be overwhelmed with little difficulty, and thus he snuck his way along the side of the road and made his way into the tower where he killed the three Orcs guarding the main floor of the gatehouse before making his way upwards into the actual door mechanism room. Once there he wiped out the Orcs who were now holding the gate house. There were dozens of Orcs spread throughout the gatehouse tower but they were in a rampaging mood and thus he was able to ambush them room after room until he had cleared his way to the actual mechanism that would control the portcullis. Once he had control of the gate house he closed the outer gate. By shutting this gate he had managed to stem the flow of Orcs entering the city, and through this act most likely saved the inner city who was having great difficulties holding. Quickly making his way onto the ramparts he was forced to briefly fight his way along the wall before he jumped off the wall onto the roof of a house below. As he jumped off the roof he took an arrow to the shoulder, and then as he was continuing to run away he took a shot to the back which took the air out of him as it struck his lung. Making his way from roof to roof he would get himself all the way back to the keep and seeing the keep wall, he was able to fashion a rope that he used to climb back over the inner wall, where he was found by his brother Nathan passed out on the wall.

Morrigan Enters the City

As the Orcish army swarmed into Tree Hill Morrigan would make her way to a local farm where she had ordered her men for months to burrow a tunnel beneath Tree Hill that would connect directly beneath Gryphon's Gate. Moving her way through the tunnels she would eventually arrive at the entrance which was inside her home in the keep where she was living under the guise of Lady Morrigan Sylne of House Slyne. Leaving her house she heard the screams and could smell all the death around her but her soul brought her to the wall where she found a mortally wounded Lucas Scott. Lucas had two arrows in him of which one had pierced his lung and was too much for him to handle and survive. Holding his head up she would use her Magi to heal him, and as he was healed and she removed the arrows she rested him along the wall and used her Magi to enchant Nathan into sensing where his brother was and coming to find him.

Back in the City

The moment Lucas was pulled back into the keep was the moment that most point to as the moment that the Battle ended for the city itself, and following this the situation was one of a siege except for the incoming relief force. Nathan called out for men to come help him carry Lucas inside, and they carried him into the locked tower overlooking the city, and then called for a doctor. Miraculously Lucas was unhurt, and only had cuts, and bruises to show for the act that saved the city from immediate death. It was in this moment that the first stems of jealously begin from Lucas's brother Nathan. While Nathan had led the defenders in their retreat back to the keep and had maintained order during the battle, all of this was forgotten as the people lot their minds over the return of a living god to them in Lucas Scott.

Nathan Scott would storm out of the room as in his eyes everyone was ignoring him, and as he did he silently walked over to the wall and watched the people stem from the keep, and make their way to see Lucas Scott. As he watched this he saw for the first time that day Haley, and she was running around with a desperate look in her eyes. When he saw this he thought for a moment that she was coming for him and he felt hope, but as he walked towards her, she saw him and for the briefest moment she looked as if she would go to him, but instead she kept moving and pushed her way through the crowds and into the tower where Lucas was.

Massacre at Hyphon's farm

With the city on the verge of utter destruction, and the Orcs massacring the few survivors within the walls and outside the Keep the forces of Lucerne were preparing to gather in Forks for what they assumed would be a massive reinforcement effort. At this time Bill Lovie, and House Lovie's forces would be only a day away from Forks, and he was trying to find a way to make the forces of Lucerne stand down and not assist the city he had planned to destroy. His oppurtunity would come when the main army of Tree Hill which had been ordered by him to Forks on the day of the attack massed alongside hundreds of volunteers and prepared to move inside the city from the eastern gate so to give the defenders more time for the relieving force to arrive. At this point Earl Scott asked for permission for the forces of House Swan, and House Arryn to join with them, and when the raven arrived with Bill Lovie he knew he had his chance.

He sent four ravens in responce to Earl's letter. The first was to Earl Scott himself of whom he told he was going to send the full wieght of House Arryn, and House Swan to the western side of Tree Hill so that the route into Tree Hill would be opened to them. He sent two more ravens to House Swan, and House Arryn which told them that they were to move to the northern end of Tree Hill, and they they were to wait in the forests there for the full force of Lucerne to arrive. With this in mind Earl Scott would assemble his forces, and without checking in with Charlie Swan who was the only one who knew nearbye that he was walking into a trap he moved his forces towards Tree Hill. As his forces were leaving out the gate, it would be Jacob Swan who would follow with Earl Scott alongside several of his bodygaurd, and they would join what would be a doomed effort. The final raven would be the most deadly and had been sent to Alex Kirsh who was located in a small mountain cave north of Tree Hill more then a day ahead of Earl Scott. He would order Alex Kirsh to infiltrate the northern gatehouse and wait there until the arrival of Earl Scott, where upon his arrival he would trap his forces by closing the gate.

Earl's forces would arrive at Tree Hill nearly a day and a half later and were exhausted due to the speed at which they had been marching to Tree Hill. Upon their arrival they saw that the gate was open, and few Orcs were defending the area so they moved quickly into the area believing that the forces of House Swan, and House Arryn had blocked the main army from being able to ambush them. At the same time as they were moving it was the movement of Alex Kirsh in the northern gatehouse that would seal the fate of the army of Earl Scott. Alex Kirsh had waited for Earl's forces to arrive, and once they neared the gatehouse he begin to lower the gate so that they couldn't get inside. Earl's forces now stuck on the outside saw a large force of Worg riders moving towards them from the east, and thus they moved northward, and when the Worgs hit them they were trapped in Hyphon's farm. The Worgs overran their positions all across their lines, and despite attempts by Earl to get the troops under control they were cut down in their hundreds by the rampaging forces of the Orc Worg Riders. As they attempted to shift westward they saw the main Orc force moving towards them and realized they were trapped and doomed. The Worg Riders and the main Orc force would together over the course of several hours massacre the entire force and capture several of the soldiers for slavery.

Relief of Tree Hill

Main Article : Failed Relief of Tree Hill

Harbert Darkmore would lead the forces of Darkmore alongside the forces of House Greymane and was thus present at the Attempted Relief of Tree Hill which ended with the arrival of James Lovie II. who forced the armies to return to their states and then passed the Edict of Tree Hill which banned anyone from entering the area.

The Third Battle of Minus Ithil

Main Article : The Third Battle of Minus Ithil

With Aragorn`s success in gathering the forces of the Sindar Elves of High Forest he would send word to William Lovie III. of whom had succeed in gaining his father`s permission to lead the forces of Lucerne into Gondor and drive away the Mordor Orcs so that they could then relieve Tree Hill. In terms of the Sindar Elves of High Forest they would travel by boat from High Forest to Osgiliath where they would land north of the port city and meet with the overall forces in the area just north of the Battle site itself. The Orcs for there part had recently sent a smaller force through through the Morgul Pass of which had been moving southward towards the fortress of Narvine of which they would as usual most likely raid the already barren farmland north of Narvine and then retreat when they were opposed. William Lovie III. would lead the Lucernian army alongside his main commanders in Lucerne in the form of Charlie Swan, Renault Scarlet, Jack Shepard alongside many others of whom the main ones they would be meeting east of Stormwind in the Rhunian province.

Eddard Starke led the eastern forces alongside the Lannisters of whom were behind the attack surprisingly even before the acceptance of Bill Lovie and these two massive forces would send most of their forces to Lamedon but the leadership remained at Stormwind where it would meet the main army as it came through. The western forces of Lucerne led by the Greymane would lead their forces as well eastward with their army being the furthest behind but using ships from Highgarden, and Fogtown the armies were moved eastward towards Lamedon. The Gondor forces would begin to marshal under the command of Aragorn Elessar III. and while the vast majority traveled to Osgiliath to prepare a smaller force traveled to Lamedon where they would meet William Lovie III. once his army had gathered and was preparing to cross into Gondor.

Aragorn Elessar II. would watch with silent fright as the nearly sixty thousand Lucernian troops would mass themselves on the west side of Lamdeon, and it was only upon the arrival of the flags of House Lovie signalling the arrival of William Lovie III. that Aragorn crossed the bridges of Lamedon and met with the Lucernian leadership. William Lovie III. would be awaiting him alongside nearly his entire leadership of whom had arrayed themselves as much as possible inside a massive tent that had been brought for this very occasion, but knowing the importance of this conversation noone outside of William was to speak and it was in this way that Aragorn entered the tent of the Lucernian King and the two would speak one last time before going to war.

Look at the world father. You were born into this land, and you have told me hundreds upon hundreds of times how much you used to love it. Look at everything you have done to it. You destroyed a city for no reason, killed hundreds of good men out of fear. Is this how you want to be remembered father. Is this the world you want to leave behind? I know you were a good person once. I have all the evidence laid out in front of me as to why you are the villain of this world, but I don't fully believe it. Don't end it all here, and be remembered as a monster..

``My prince the King has entered the camp and will be here momentarily.`` ``That is good. Thank you Ser Percy.``Despite my fears Hayden Percy was one of, if not the most loyal man I knew and he deserved to be treated with respect. I could hear them through the tent, and it made me sick. I could remember the days when it was me that made him feel that way, and I hated her for it. Sometimes I thought to myself in moments like this how different my life would be if I had gotten pregnant during one of the hundreds of times we were together, but for whatever reason the gods didn't want that for me. I would be in that tent right now holding him close, and knowing with every fiber of my being that I was loved. I was noble born, and on the same level as Bella, and yet she had so easily eclipsed me in so little time that it just didn't seem fair. I felt a hand touch my shoulder, and immediately grabbed for my sword before laughter slowed me and Emmett's head appeared from beneath the helmet as he pulled up the helmet. "I didn't mean to startle you Levia." A fool wouldn't have believed him as he continued to laugh and I struck him in the chest right beneath his breast plate, causing him to stop laughing. As he stopped laughing the sounds of Bella from within the tent grew momentarily louder, and I couldn't stop myself from looking at the tent for a second before answering. "You didn't startle me." I felt his hand go back to my shoulder as I stared at the tent, and as I looked back to him I saw the understanding in his eyes, but also I could feel pity and that was something I didn't want. "It's fine Emmett." His eyes didn't believe me for a second, but I didn't have time to deal with this right now. "I'm going to catch some sleep make sure he doesn't stay up too late we have to be ready for the morning." I said it more harshly then Emmett deserved, and as I walked away from him leaving him with nothing more then a nod of my head I felt terrible. Emmett just wasn't a person you should ever be rude too. Born of commoner blood it was his kindness that had pulled him into our group, and it was that same kindness that had led him to becoming the gentlemen he was now. I would have to make a point to bring him something as an apology after the battle, but I couldn't think on that now I just needed to get away from that tent that I wanted to be in more then anything. I found myself searching hopelessly for Obella when I overhear a Starke man talking about how Robb Starke is with her. Going to the Starke part of the camp I see her sitting with him outside their tent rubbing the hair of that giant wolf of his, and as I watch them I feel happy for my sister. She deserves that kind of happiness, and I know that Robb Starke will treat her well. I turn around and walk to my own tent, and as I move through the seemingly endless ranks of tents, and men that we have gathered I feel a sense of dread wash over me. I have never been in a battle and yet here I am walking through camp thinking on Will, and hoping for a good life for my sister, and yet I ignore the fact that tomorrow we wade into the unknown with nothing more then a hope. I'm glad that me and Jasper will be by Will's side tomorrow, as I don't know how I could handle the fear of not knowing what was happening with him throughout the entirety of the battle. I reach my tent and open the flap revealing my sleeping sister Dorea within, and I smile as she jumps up holding a small dagger. "There is no threat from this direction dear sister." She put her dagger away with a smile before sitting up in the bed. "You can never be too safe. Uncle told me once that when your surrounded by enough men you need always keep a dagger near you lest you find yourself pierced by things other then steel." She laughed as she said it, but I saw how hard she had clenched that dagger, and I knew her well enough to know that she was afraid. I didn't blame her for fear, for I was afraid too. "Oh my god Dorea when did Oberyn tell you that?" I didn't need to even think on which uncle would tell her such a disgusting thing. "It matters not for Oberyn always speaks the truth of such things." She smiled at me once more before laying back down, and pulled the blankets up to her shoulders. I moved to take off my armor and piece by piece put it on the stand. Each piece of armor had been intricately crafted, and designed for the every whim I had when I was thinking of my armor, and yet looking at the armor now I wondered whether I had ever really thought I would be in a situation where I would need it. "Levia?" Looking to the sound of Dorea she looked so small under the blanket, and I went to her now clothed for sleep and sat at the edge of her bed. "Whats wrong Dorea?" She shrugged at me, and the way she did it reminded me of how truly young she was. Less then sixteen name days and here she was standing on the edge of the world sleeping one more time before we entered a battle with strange monsters. "There is nothing wrong with being afraid. I would be scared for your mental health if you weren't afraid." "I'm not scared to fight tomorrow." I tilted my head at her, and she pushed me playfully. "I'm not I swear...its just." "Just what sister?" "I just wonder about something Melessa Vaith said when I was leaving." "What did she say to you?" "She didn't say it too me, but I know it was actually about me." I nodded at her to continue. "She was talking about Elize Scorpian. She was saying how no man would ever want to marry Elize because she was constantly armored, and that men hated that." The moment she said it I felt terrible for her. Here she was on the eve of battle not afraid of dying, of which I'm sure she was, but she was more worried about her marriage possibilities if she did fight. "Let me tell you a story Dorea." She grabbed my hand and I rubbed her hand with my thumb as I begin. I knew the story wouldn't hold up to close examination, but as I watched her eyes close and open I knew her sleepy mind wouldn't put it together. "Once there was a prince of a great kingdom, and this prince was beloved by all that he met. He had ladies fawning over him at every turn, and yet one day the tough lady of another land came to court, and he looked at her with a smile that melted her heart. This lady thought as Melessa did. She believed that her love for swords, armor, and horses would turn him away. But the prince smiled at her, and each day he saw her he smiled again. One day the lady would be walking with her horse by the stables when the prince appeared in all his beauty and splender, and once again he smiled at her. The lady was lost in his eyes, and the smile he gave her melted her heart away. The prince told her she was a beautiful girl, and took her hand walking alongside her and the horse." I looked down as I felt her move her head onto my lap, and I watched her fall chest move up and down, and felt such peace watching my sister sleep. I don't know why but I felt the need to keep telling my side of the story. I didn't want to wake her so I begin whispering it to her, and perhaps it was selfish but I wanted to hear it for myself. "From that day forward the two shared a secret smile between them, and whenever he smiled at her she knew in her heart that he loved her. It didn't matter that they didn't marry, and it didn't matter that he was promised to others because she knew she was loved."

After speaking together it was Aragorn that would lead the Lucernian army across the bridges of Lamedon and the Lucernian marched eastward towards Osgiliath and the eventual battle that everyone had been waiting for. The now combining forces of Gondor, and Lucerne would meet at Osgiliath with their two forces gaining immense numbers after aligning together, and this led to a serious escalation in belief on specifically the side of the Gondorians of whom had been spending years watching the Orcs overwhelm them. With both forces combining plus the eventual assistance of the Sindar Elves they had almost ninety thousand human troops and nearly ten thousand Elven troops of which would be opposed on the other side by the main orcish army of more then one hundred thousand.

The Attack

The two armies crossed the river and made their way to the hills west of the location of the Orcish Army, and from there pieces of the army begin to separate and move to their positions with heavy cavalry moving into the south, and north while the forces of Cair Andros, and Dal Imnil met them south east of Pelagir in the forests that the Sindar Elves had hidden themselves in adding another five thousand troops to the alliance. With one night before the assault the Shadow Council would meet and spent time together, and throughout the night they were joined by other young nobles that William had befriended, and this was the way they spent the day before the assault. During the night the armies would move into a closer position to the Orcs with the Gondor Army arraying itself directly before the Mordor Orcs in an attempt to get their full attention while the Lucernians and Sindar Elves would hide themselves as close as possible and once battle was met they would charge. At this point the besieged forces of Gondor inside Minas Ithil still had no idea that relief was coming and it had been decided that they would not make any attempts to alert the defenders as it was possible the Orcs might intercept the attempt and then everything would change dramatically for the plans of the attack. By this point the Magi Commander of the Lucernian forces in the form of Edward Cullen would group together with the Gondorian Istari and would discover to their great happiness that Ren the Unclean the Nazgul commander of the Orcish armies was not present on the battlefield. Despite the the fact that Ren the Unclean was not present the Kingdom of Orthanac was present with a force some five thousand troops and led by the Magi Sa-Uluos Thelvhian of whom also had some five other Magi with him and thus realizing they would be facing a significant Magi threat Edward Cullen would gather the Magi in the Lucernian army and alongside the Gondorian Istari would prepare a plan to attack the Orthanac forces and crush the Orthanac Magi swiftly.

The Ambush

With the Orcs embroiled in combat with the Gondorians they were completely focused in front of them and missed the Lucerne army, and they definitely missed the High Forest trees as they charged out as well. The first signs the Orcs had that things were changing was when the cries of battle appeared behind their lines, and the Lucernian cavalry along with the Ents of High Forest slammed into their rear, while accurate archery fell into the core of the Orcs. During this initial assault Jamie Lannister and the Lannister cavalry would overrun the center of the Pitghost Tribe and during this overrunning of the Pitghost Tribe their overlord Ghorgauth, and all his warchiefs would be killed leading to a complete route of the Pitghost tribe who fled eastward. Moving past the Pitghost tribe the camped army was cut down in their hundreds during the initial assault the forces of Gondor as well would switch themselves and become more aggressive as they realized the trap was on thus the Orcs felt pressure from all sides which only increased the desperation of the Battle. William Lovie III. alongside his Shadow Council and many other noble young men were in the thick of the main cavalry charge and William himself got into a fight with a large Troll of whom had killed several others around him including Lord Osgood Elbertson, and Davin Percy II. and fighting against the Troll he was pushed back and nearly killed by the Troll before his personal guards would mass around him and murder the giant Troll.

But as Ugreek reached him and raised his mace, Aragorn suddenly lunged up and stabbed the Orc through the chest before swiping across and nearly cleaving him in two. Ugreek coughed out blood before falling backwards dead. Aragorn looked around at his men who seemed to be still shaken, and without another second thought he screamed out a battle cry and flew back into the Orc lines followed by the rest of his force behind him. The Orcs for their part were now broken as a force, and all along the line begin to realize they were defeated. A renewed cavalry charge led by Jamie Lannister alongside the Reynes would finally smash the only surviving leader in the fourth and only surviving child of Ugreek leaving the army completely leaderless.

Massacre

With the Orcs realizing they were surrounded and Aragorn having killed the Orcs leader the nature of Orcs led them to a full scale retreat. The defeat was hopeless as they were utterly surrounded, and as they ran they were cut down in their thousands by the vengeful attackers, and those that managed to break the line were taken down by the accurate fire of the Sindar Elven archers. The few hundreds of Orcs that managed to escape the main battle found themselves cut down by the Lucernian and Gondorian cavalry of whom had attacked the besieging Orcish army and had been preparing to assault the remaining Orcs.

Nearly fifty thousand Orcs were destroyed in the battle with the loss of just under fifteen hundred in the Gondor Army, and less then five hundred in the Lucernian Army meaning the battle was far more then just a victory. The Battle cemented the alliance between the three nations and in this way led to the continuation of the Journey which would not lead the alliance towards the Lucernian city of Tree Hill where they would lead their army in the liberating battle of the Second Battle of Tree Hill.

Commemorating the Losses

Second Battle of Tree Hill

Main Article : Second Battle of Tree Hill

As the human/elven alliance destroyed the Orcs that had held the Gondor siege of Minus Ithil for many years, Jurden Hardaxe paid this little heed despite the fact that he was sent word of it from some of his scouts who had been watching that siege for any signs of Mordor weakness. Jurden over the decade of the siege had become obsessed with maintaining his own power, and had basically become uninterested in actually ending the siege through conventional means. Alongside this he also had a growing belief that the humans were completely useless and for all of these reasons Jurden Hardaxe made no effort to double his scouts or anything that might have assisted him in stopping the coming ambush. And if all of this added up wasn't enough he was also still being whispered to by Morrigan who was telling him that it was all a trick and Sauron was only days away. As the Sindar Elven/Human forces moved to the high ground of the area near the bridge of Weidenhouse and from this position they begin planning the method they would use to end the conflict. As the planning begin it became clear that the fight would be started during the night as town they were in described the fact that they noticed very little activity in the Orc camp during the night most likely due to the fact that they had become completely confident in their lack of any kind of threat.

The Night Comes

Waiting for the night to come William would be able to watch for the first and last time the Orcs setting off their massive drums and horns in order to force the defenders to be unable to sleep during the night and thus exhausted during the day. Hearing this many among the attacking army grew even more angry at the fact that the defenders had been forced to endure this for all this time without anyone helping them. William would spend the night with Leven, Jasper, Emmett, and Edward as the Shadow Council as they were not openly to each other calling themselves spent a few last hours with each other before they all knew everything was going to change. Finding themselves greeted throughout the night by every lord who not wanted to speak to William they couldn't help but see how different things had become for the naive group. The Orcs by this point had no contact with their scouts, and yet they still remained completely unaware. Morrigan would at this point make her final step towards sealing the fate of Jurden Hardaxe when she would convince Jurden to host a large party for his Orcs which made them all drunk and even less prepared.

The Massacre

As the night neared the Orcs would begin their party and the loud noise would alert the alliance that this was underway, and also awake most of the defenders of Tree Hill of whom were prepared for what many believed was the final attack. The party continued, and the alliance moved itself completely into position against the now scout less Orcish force, and pushed in many places all the way against the wall with the entire Orcish force within the city itself or dead outside. The night came and the army would move on their predetermined signal of which moved everything forward. The infiltration of House Scarlet into the under tunnels of the city begin as Saiden Scarlet led a large force of hundreds into the tunnels in the goal of reaching the estate of House James and once the attack was underway they would spring upon the already ambushed Orcs. From the west the forces of House Greymane, and House Ordos would move themselves through the broken shattered western gate and encountered hundreds of Orcs in differing stages of drunkenness and the fighting wouldn't spark any concerns from the Orcs as it was all believed still to be a part of the party. Seeing the ambush was underway it was at this moment that Morrigan finally ended the charade and came upon Jurden while he was standing in his residence.

Aftermath

The battle would end with the complete destruction of the Orc army and the liberation of Tree Hill. When the armies of Lucerne and Gondor entered the remains of Tree Hill, they found the sad remnants of a once truly mighty city. Food, aid and supplies were rushed to the city, but before the true rebuild could begin Andrew Lovie would take the reigns of the King of Lucerne following a duel with his father.

Following the coronotation of William Lovie III. the tournament of Nortburg was held to celebrate this occasion, and during this many foreign kingdoms sent people to represent them and try to regrow relations with Lucerne as most relations were on life support under the rule of Bill Lovie. One of these groups was House Manderly of the White Knife, and they would send many members including Wylis Manderly and his wife and daughter, as well as Marlon Manderly the uncle of Wylis. Wendal, Winfred, and Wynafryd Manderly also traveled to Lucerne in order to help arrange the marriage contract between House Manderly and the Kingdom of Lucerne, and during this time Wendal would take part in the tournament of Nortburg where he listed quite well. After the tournament ended Wylis would come to speak with William Lovie III. and the two would discuss marriage options between the houses, and on the advise of Charlie Swan William's father in law it was decided that Miley Black would be married to Winfred Manderly the only son of Marlon Manderly. Miley would be recalled as quickly as possible to Nortburg where she met with Wylis, and Marlon and was seen to be exceptionally beautiful and smart and thus Marlon immediatly accepted the arrangement, and it was decided to happen shortly after. It was agreed between Wylis, and William that following the marriage the two groups would begin arrangements to bring the Manderlys into the sphere of Lucerne, and away from the growing threats of Bolten, and the Iron Islands.

Once the Manderlys returned to White Knife the wedding was already being planned, and it takes longer then expected after Ironborn raid several ships filled with wedding supplies purchased from Pontus. When the wedding is finally planned Miley Black and basically her entire family alongside many nobles of Forks travel to the White Knife for the wedding. Lucas Scott travels northward and alongside Morrigan joins the fleet going to White Knife and acts as the sort of commander of the defence of the fleet despite be uneeded due to the high strength of the fleet. On the trip to the White Knife Lucas Scott grows to be friends with Miley Black and the two share stories of their youth with Lucas withholding much of the true darkness that he went through. One night Morrigan finally confronts him on why he has lied so many times to Miley, and he breaks down revealing that he is trying to make himself believe it wasn't as bad as he knows it was, and the two share a kiss before making love in his room beneath deck.

Arriving at the White Knife Lucas Scott was shown around the land by Wylis Manderly and his wife of whom held hands the entire time they walked Lucas around White Harbor. Lucas would remain with Wylis after his wife had to leave to wake up their youngest of whom needed milk, and the two would discuss the situation in White Knife, and Wylis was completely open as Lucas had a letter from William saying that Lucas was to be fully trusted with sensitive information for he was a loyal servent. Wylis discussed with him how the Boltens had begun sending word to White Harbor stating that the White Knife was deemed a part of the larger plans for Bolten, and that if they did not join with the Boltens then other steps would be taken to have them join. Lucas questioned whether they could hold off the Boltens, and Wylis told him that it was going to be difficult for the Boltens as the Manderlys had a large fleet which would make crossing very difficult, but if they were able to land they had significantly larger ground forces and in that case White Knife would fall. The two would be interrupted when a messenger told Wylis that Domeric Bolten and his cousin had arrived in White Harbor with several other nobles, and wished to attend the wedding. Domeric Bolten would demand food be given to him so that he was under the guest right while he remained in White Harbor, and an honorable man Wyman Manderly would give him this while also allowing Domeric, Jordin, and Cerwynn Bolten to attend the wedding itself. Before the wedding itself Domeric was able to convince Wylis Manderly the heir of White Knife to allow him to see Wyman and Domeric finally speaking to the Lord of White Harbor would attempt to convinse him to move away from the Lucernian direction he was going, and at first the Lord of House Manderly planned on lying and saying he was still thinking, but as Domeric seemed to be such an honest man Lord Manderly would be honest with Domeric as well revealing that after the wedding the negotiations would begin in order to merge White Knife with Lucerne. Apologizing to Domeric, he would tell him to enjoy the wedding but there was nothing he could do to change anything as Wyman knew that Ramsey had killed his sister and couldn`t accept this, nor could he accept aligning himself with the goverment of the Kingdom of Bolten, and with this Domeric left the room completely discouraged that he had failed so completely.

Following the confrontation of sorts between Domeric, and Wyman Manderly the Lord of White Knife would command the wedding to move forward, and without any further discussions the wedding would move forward. The wedding went by without a hitch as Miley Black, and Winfred Manderly became man in wife in a marriage that most saw seemed to already have found love between the two, and Lucas would make a point to meet fully with Domeric Bolten following the end of the wedding ceremony. With the ceremony Domeric would once again speak with Lord Manderly of whom this time refused to even speak with him sending instead his brother Marlon Manderly to tell Domeric that he was happy he came but it was time for the Boltens to leave White Knife. Following this Lucas would be alerted to Domeric being in the main hall with Jordin and Cerwynn by Egbert Elric, and Julessa Bearmant and he leaves the docks to find Domeric waiting outside the hall for him. The two leave the wedding and speak of many things, and Lucas is shocked at genuinly nice Domeric appears to be, and Domeric tells him a story of Bolten, and despite how well the two get along the conversation takes a dark turn when Domeric is forced to threaten Lucas with the knowledge that if Lucerne interferes anymore in the White Knife that he will be forced to intervene himself. Lucas knows that Domeric is a capable young man and knowingly takes this threat as more then just a hollow gesture knowing that Domeric will do this despite his gentle nature. Following their conversation Lucas receives a raven and it instructs him to return to Lucerne where he is to meet with his uncle Kieth in Highgarden, and he is to do this with all possible haste.

Look at the world father. You were born into this land, and you have told me hundreds upon hundreds of times how much you used to love it. Look at everything you have done to it. You destroyed a city for no reason, killed hundreds of good men out of fear. Is this how you want to be remembered father. Is this the world you want to leave behind? I know you were a good person once. I have all the evidence laid out in front of me as to why you are the villain of this world, but I don't fully believe it. Don't end it all here, and be remembered as a monster..

"Lord Scott, Domeric Bolten has returned from speaking with Lord Manderly and hes in the main hall with his cousin and a girl." "Take me to him Lady Bearmant." "There he is Lucas." He was leaning against a pillar when I first saw him. He was smaller then I would have thought standing no more then six feet in hight. His armor was an impressive thing to see though, if you looked past the sigil of a flayed man which adorned it. I felt a presense behind me and turned around to see Egbert Elric pat me on the shoulder, and then followed in behind him was Julessa Bearmant of whom still shocked me by her size even now after having been around her for weeks. "Captain Turntell says the ship will be ready in the morning Lucas." "Thats excellent news." "He's leaving Lucas." I turned immediately knowing Julessa was talking about Domeric. I didn't have to say anything, they both knew I had to speak to him and without a word I moved towards the door following behind Domeric and two other men of which one I knew to be his cousin, while the other girl was said to also be a member of his family but as to who she was I did not know.

When it came to dividing up the responsibilities of the attack on the lands of the Malfoy's it was House Scott that was obviously a part of the planning of the Invasion of Westbridge as they were a Lord House and Lucas Scott was very popular with the young King of Lucerne in William, despite the fact the two were estranged due to an argument between them when Lucas finally learned of Brooke Scott, and the King. While this planning hinged on several different sections the overall plan back in Lucerne was one that needed to all work together in connection in order to leave the path open for the main army of the King to engage Westbridge itself. Several houses would move against the outskirt castles, and towns south of Westbridge, while House Lovie and its vassals alongside others moved against the southern half of the Westbridge entrance. This meant that House Scott was required to take control over the invasion of the town of Breadin to the south east of Westbridge. The town of Braedin was the ancestral home of the large House Curtley, and as such it was heavily defended by the forces of House Curtley who despite their disloyalty to House Malfoy they were not willing to simply give in to outside pressure. This meant that House Scott when they left for the long trek north they prepared to siege the town, and its keep that the Order of the Green Dragon said was so heavily defended. House Scott left Tree Hill alongside their vassal houses and the sworn houses and made the long trek northward towards the village of Pomer. House Oakheart would send large forces under the command of Anakin Oakheart of whom was joined by his son Lucas Oakheart of whom was increasingly hateful towards his father for continuing to not get revenge for the death of Thomas Oakheart by Dan Scott, and Lucas was using this as a chance to build fame outside of his father in order to start his own cadet branch of the family with his sister Leah Oakheart, but was playing his father into believing he was trying to rebuild their relationship. During the times they were riding Lucas rode his horse beside Marvin Scott a man who despite being his cousin he barely had known and he came to find that the two had a lot in common, and they begin to build a true relationship.

When the Scott's were given command of the taking of Braedin William knew that with all the conflict between himself and the Scott's due to his affair with Brooke he would need someone to watch them, and thus he would recall his cousins from House Tyrell to Lucerne. It was decided that the majority of the forces of House Tyrell would follow the Scotts in the taking of the heavily populated and defended town of Braedin. Alongside assisting in the siege they would be placed in a position of watching Dan Scott in secret and seeing what manner of loyalty he showed during the campaign. Nearly four days into the trek he was greeted by the horse of Loras Tyrell riding up beside him, and the two of them came to ride together the rest of the way talking about random things. When they arrived they didn't join the main camp and instead passed west where they took control over the small village of Pomer where they left portions of House Faust to maintain its control and to make sure no one left the town and warned everyone else.

Scouting the Keep

Lucas Scott, and his cousin Marvin Scott were placed in a leadership role by William Lovie III. for the purposes of this siege and as such they took a small elite group of troops and during the middle of the night they went and surveyed the defenses of Breadin. When they reached the outskirts they were clearly able to see the true extent of the defenses, and realized quite quickly that the town was defended by what appeared to be a large keep that while it didn't surround the entire town it defended what must have been the House Curtley Estate alongside the center of the town. As they returned to camp and all the scouts begin to flood back they attempted to find the most simple way of taking the keep without taking horrendous casualties. Loras Tyrell advised that his scouts reported to him that the northern part of the town appeared to be undergoing some sort of construction and that he believed he could use this too his advantage and attack that section with House Tyrell and his sworn houses. While this was happening the entire castle had been surrounded, and thus Dan Scott would arrange for a parley with the members of House Curtley. Joining Dan in the meeting were the Patriarch's of the other vassals present and many of their heirs, while House Curtley sent their prince in the form of Barister Curtley II. and a few of the defense commanders to meet with them.

As they were leaving for the meeting it was the Tyrell's that revealed to several others the true directive of William Lovie III. through his own writing, but they worked hard to keep that they had revealed this truth so that they could do as William wanted and see if Dan would be loyal. Dan Scott would outline the terms of surrender, and made sure to note that William Lovie had said that they would retain control of Braedin but they would need to swear oaths of loyalty to the Kingdom of Lucerne. Dan Scott though would deviate heavily from the offer made by the King when he lied and said that a demand had also been made to allow a garrison of their castle until the conflict was over, and he did this directly in front of Dylan Tyrell of whom knew the true orders from William but remained silent. The last terms were obviously not acceptable to the prince, and so he regrettably rejected the surrender and prepared to return to the castle. As he was leaving he was told by Loras Tyrell that the Scotts had planned to have him captured and all his men killed. Hearing this just as he was leaving Barrister would return to Braedin with the belief that House Tyrell was on their side more then House Scott, and because of this it would affect the situation with Braedin. When Barrister Curtley II. returned to Braedin he met with the commanders and discussed how House Tyrell had told him that he was in danger and that only they had kept him from being killed.

The leadership of Braedin led by House Curtley became divided under the opinions of though's that wanted to speak to this House Tyrell and get them to accept the surrender of the city, while the other side wanted to basically fight to the death under the leadership of Varin Curtley. Barrister the heir of House Curtley said that he had talked openly with the prince of House Tyrell and that this young man appeared very much to want them to survive. Others would argue that Barrister was being used, and just didn't know that. The argument raged throughout the night, and Barister Curtley the Lord of the city remained passive until finally siding against his heir and deciding to fight hoping relief would come from Westbridge. His son was utterly shocked that his father had turned against him, and fled the room with several of his loyalists for the northern gate. Barrister when he arrived

The Siege

With knowledge of how truly defended the town was they prepared for the siege the next day as they knew that was their time frame that they had to complete the siege and take control of the town. Lucas planned to have House Scott, and its Vassals move against the town from the south, while House Tyrell and its sworn houses moved against the northern side of the town. This plan was coupled with the silent constructions of his cousin Marin Scott who had constructed several secretive devices which he believed would allow the troops to enter the fortress unhindered from any fire that might come their way. These moveable siege towers were something he had devised while drawing and this would be the first time he had a chance to use them. As this was going on House Tyrell was already in position in the north, and thus was sitting waiting for what Mace hoped would be a message from House Curtley. While the north was peaceful the southern side which was defended by Varin Curtley was provoking the actions of House Scott. Varin had his men fire shots into the field in front of where the House Scott men were mobilizing, and blew his horns all night long to try and keep the preperations from being made.

The Tyrells Move

As the forces of House Scott moved their forces into position for an attack the following day, the forces of House Tyrell would move another plan into action. Mace Tyrell devised a plan where he would take control of the town through the relationship that he had built with the leadership of House Curtley, and his son Loras had played the game perfectly to the point that during the morning Barrister Curtley II. would sneak out of the northern gate and meet with the leadership of House Tyrell. The plan was for House Tyrell to enter the northern gate peacefully, and do this before House Scott sacked the city Barrister would lead the front echolons of House Tyrell into the gate, and they would move into the cities northern side at nearly the same time that House Scott made their attack on the southern gate.

The Fall of Braedin

As the forces of House Tyrell moved into Braedin the forces of House Scott moved against the southern gate completely unaware that fighting was happening on the southern wall. The forces of House Scott moved slowly across the field using their siege machines that blocked fire, and thought this was the reason for the lack of firepower against them, but instead it was because the southern gate was falling to House Tyrell. As they reached the gatehouse the gate door opened, and Mace Tyrell II. walked towards the machines letting them know that the battle was over. Dan Scott, and Mace Tyrell II. would nearly come to a duel, but Loras, and Lucas were able to calm the situation down, and losses were minimal outside of the defenders who lost significant numbers in the suprise attack by House Tyrell.

Staying and Leaving