It was a cold, pitch-black night. The moon and stars had vanished behind thick clouds, and a bitter wind swept over ground stripped down to grass roots, leaving everything silent and desolate.
Suddenly, urgent hoofbeats rang out in the northeast. An Easterling rider, his face drenched in sweat, glanced behind him in panic, then swung his whip and lashed his mount hard. Under its master's whip, the already panting Easterling warhorse quickened its strides, somehow picking up speed once more.
Yet the warhorse's efforts were useless. Three pursuers in gleaming silver plate armor still chased the rider and his mount, and the distance between them continued to shrink.
Soon, one of the pursuing riders raised a rune-covered war bow while racing along on his Elves Horse. As he drew the string, the two deep-blue gems on the bow gradually brightened. At full draw, their light gathered around the Noldor Arrow resting on the string, bathing its silver arrowhead in an icy blue glow.
Then the rider released the string. The arrow shot toward the fleeing Easterling like a bolt of deep-blue lightning.
The Easterling rider seemed to sense something. He suddenly twisted to look back, just in time to see his pursuer release the bowstring. The blue light reached him in an instant. The mounted Easterling assassin had no time to react. A brief stab of pain gave way to piercing cold and endless darkness.
His body stiffened instantly, leaving him unable to balance on the galloping horse. Within seconds, he toppled to the ground. When his corpse struck the hard earth, it shattered into several pieces.
Hollimion put away his Sapphire Rune Bow and urged his Elves Horse alongside the slowing Easterling warhorse. He brought it under control, handed its reins to a companion, and said quickly, "Beris, deal