They rested one night within the sheltering wood.
At dawn Kaen Eowenríel broke camp and led his host onward. After seven days of long marching they at last came again beneath the shadow of the mountains. Gondor's and Rohan's riders had already arrived a day before.
Within the command-tents the captains told of victory and of loss. Wudred spoke first. "Rohan has cut down one hundred thousand of the foe. We scattered more than twenty bands of Wainriders and Variag horse-tribes.
"Yet our losses are heavy: of fifty thousand war-horses only a little over twenty thousand remain; of ten thousand heavy cavalry but seven thousand still ride."
Denethor answered: "Gondor slew some one hundred and fifty thousand, breaking more than twenty Easterling hosts. The Easterling horse is scant, so they fought with grim stubbornness. Our toll is grave as well — of fifty thousand steeds fewer than twenty thousand remain, and six thousand five hundred riders."
Such was the reckoning of the field; a month of lightning assaults would not leave the victors unscarred. Even Eowenría, though led by Kaen himself, had paid dearly: five hundred of the King's Guard, some two thousand armored riders were lost; of fifty thousand horses thirty thousand remained.
This was not a failing of Kaen's courage. On the plain of war the might of one man cannot turn the whole tide; even the mightiest kindred of old, the Noldor and Sindar of warlike renown,had found defeat before Morgoth's legions.
Kaen's order was brisk: "Burn the fallen. We carry our heroes' ashes home. One day here to rest, then march."
They had left in early summer; they returned in the first days of autumn. The strike had been a thunderbolt, it shattered the Dark Men of Rhûn so grievously that for years they would not gather strength to march west again. Sauron's host had been diminished.
Still Kaen would not lead his army back by the road they had come, fearing ambushes that might lie in wait for those who retrace their steps. He kept to hidden ways, following the Running River northward, threading the Old Forest road through the heart of the Mirkwood, to the Anduin Vale. There Gondor's and Rohan's soldiers would take the broad river-home to their realms. Safer, if longer and time, after such a victory, they had.
...
A month later, as they crossed the vast waste of Rhovanian, Kaen beheld a faint green gleam in the northwest. He knew at once the sign: the green Tree of Calencair upon the holt of the Dark-wood Peaks was lighting their path.
"Raise our banners high," he commanded. "Show who we are."
Three great standards were run up and the host rode at the head of their column. As they drew near the shadowed forest, horsemen of the Elves rode forth to meet them. At sight of Kaen they dismounted and bowed in open greeting.
"Hail to the great King of Eowenría!" they cried.
Kaen inclined his head. "We return from the East," he said. "We would pass by the Old Forest-road to the Anduin. Clear the way and spare the folk needless alarm."
The Elf who led them blew a clear horn; a horn answered within the wood. "The road is open. We welcome Your Majesty's return," came the reply.
"Give my greetings to Thranduil," Kaen added with a smile.
...
Fifteen days more and they had reached the Anduin Vale by the Old Forest-way. From afar the high Tower of the King in Tusgar shone with the Star of Eowenríel. The silver and green lights of the Trees mingled over the land, and the men who had ridden beneath them felt their limbs and hearts refresh.
Word of Kaen's return had already reached the garrison: Commander Andric and Lord Domhere rode out to meet him. It had been seven, eight years since Kaen last inspected Tusgar; the city's tens of thousands thronged to greet him with shouts and joy. Kaen rode beneath their banners like a king of old, and the city rejoiced.
He set the troops in orderly quarters and held a great feast, for all knew that their king had come back victorious and had shielded his people. A new song of the Eastern Campaign was composed and sung by the minstrels.
Three days later, within the king's palace in Tusgar, Aragorn kneelt at Kaen's throne. Clad as a ranger and armed in Eowenría fashion, bow and blade at his back, he spoke: "My lord, I have decided to set forth upon a long journey. I would see the world with my own eyes and learn what is within my heart."
Kaen's voice was gentle. "Are you truly ready?" he asked.
Aragorn's gaze was steady. "I prepare myself. In the time I have stood by you I have learned much of what a king must be. Yet those lessons are not all of living; I must walk the path myself — to see, to think, to feel."
Kaen had expected this and felt no astonishment. Aragorn had been brought on the campaign in part to set him upon this road: to introduce him to Gondor's future statesmen, to show him how power is borne, and to let his worth be known.
"Have you thought where to go?" Kaen asked.
"For now, no fixed road." Aragorn shook his head. "I will journey west, to look upon my own folk, to see my mother — I have not seen her in many years."
"A fair plan," Kaen said, and in that moment king and ranger were no longer only lord and vassal but comrades, brothers in arms. Aragorn was foster-son to Elrond and by blood kin to none of Kaen's house; yet the two stood as equals in counsel.
Kaen gave him two counsels. "First, go to the Woodland Realm. Prince Legolas too yearns for the wide world; I shall write to Thranduil and he will consent.
"Second, when your travels in the West have taught you, seek station in Rohan and Gondor. As Elrond's foster-son and once commander of my Guard, you may find worthy office there. Such bonds will be honors in your days to come."
Aragorn fell silent a moment and then asked, "You seemed to foresee my leaving. Have you prepared much for me?"
Kaen's smile was warm. "Beyond the duties of lordship, I have ever held you as a younger brother. Whatever road you choose, I will stand by you. If you yet shrink from great destiny, you may yet take command of my Guard. That, too, is a noble life.
"Wherever you go, remember that Eowenría and Rivendell are your home. If you tire or grow weary, come back. You will find rest here."
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