Adult-FanFiction.org : Lord of the Rings

In a land of shadows	By : Nuredhel Category: -Fourth Age to Modern times and beyond > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 1448 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings, it belongs to Tolkien, and i do not earn any money from this work of fiction, it is solely written for entertainment and not for profit at all.I do not own Lord of the Rings, it belongs to Tolkien,

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
Chapter thirteen: Monsters and mayhem
The only true monster
Is fear itself
The only true death
Is the death of the mind
The only true loss
Is the loss of hope
The morning light was slowly creeping up over the forest, warm and bright and the monsters that remained tried to flee the burning rays but the forest was almost completely alive now. The trees would have nothing of it and none of them escaped with their lives. They were all pulled apart and a thick layer of blood and tissue and gore covered the ground. As soon as the monsters were gone they opened the doors again, prepared to receive the convoy. Poicano was running around shouting orders and the healers were ready. Nireariel had been resting well and she felt strong but she also had this strange feeling of mixed joy and fear. She had no idea of how he would react to the news she had to give him. They prepared beds and got the medicine ready and then they just waited. The kitchen was busy preparing food and some ran around gathering blankets and sheets for the beds, it was a near chaos but it served its purpose, nobody had time to think about the monsters and the terrible sight of the once so pristine garden outside of the castle.
Nireariel managed to hide her emotions to her family and friends, she was really so busy it became easy. Not even Meldariel suspected anything and Nireariel did notice that her mother in law seemed a bit distraught and sad, why she had no idea but she reckoned that she would be told soon enough. Meldariel was incapable of keeping secrets. Raina and Astarion were resting and Nireariel knew that she would need their help if there were many severely wounded elves coming in. She felt strong but to heal many she needed a lot more power than her own. They ate and waited and Astar came walking, he and some of the guards had checked the perimeter and the palace was structurally sound. The enemy would not manage to destroy anything and it was a good report to be given. Nireariel had feared the strength of these beasts but it wasn’t great enough to get through the solid rock no matter how hard they were trying.
As the sun reached zenith they heard the first hooves thundering up along the path towards the palace and everybody got ready. The riders appeared out of the wood and they stopped and stared in disbelief at the grotesque sight. The hill was covered with vines and vicious looking thorn bushes and the ground was a sea of body parts. The horses whinnied and tried to protest but the riders forced them through the once so beautiful garden and up to the entrance. Nireariel stood there with her heart thundering in her chest, she felt very nervous and her eyes were constantly searching for her beloved. When she saw him she could not help it, she let out a small shriek of relief and he saw her and jumped off his horse with fleeting almost weightless elegance. Before she knew it she was almost crushed in a tight hug and he whispered to her, incoherent words of endearment. She took in his scent and she could have cried with joy knowing that he was there again, that he was safe and sound.
Thranduil kissed her brow and she could feel that he shivered ever so slightly. “Meleth, I am so glad we are together again, but the wounded has to have first priority, you have got to help them.”
She nodded and kissed him back. “Of course my love, I will do whatever I can.”
The healers and the guards started carrying the wounded elves into the palace and suddenly Nireariel had more than enough to do. She and Poicano did some triage and divided them into the ones who needed immediate care and those who could wait and Galadriel was the one in the worst condition. Nireariel could barely feel any life left in her and Celeborn wasn’t able to carry her any more, he had given her so much of his own light he was practically fading and Poicano and two guards had to physically restrain him and pour some liquids into him and it contained a heavy dose of sleeping concoctions. Nireariel was terrified of Galadriel’s state, she was virtually teetering on the edge and there was no time to loose. She got Raina and Astarion to join her and then they all sang. They had gathered the wounded elves in one room so that they all would benefit from the song and Nireariel allowed the trance to overtake her while she slowly opened up to the power resting within her. Galadriel and the others were covered with a strange blue light now, they were all glowing and Poicano could only stand there, staring at the miracle.
Nireariel was struggling, it was draining her power like nothing ever had but she could not quit. Astarion and Raina were giving her extra strength and they could see that the light returned to those who were dying.
After a long time Nireariel broke out of the trance, she had nothing left to give and she felt how she was swaying in the chair, she was dizzy and light headed and Poicano shook his head in disbelief. “They will make it, even Galadriel. You have done the impossible my lady.”
Nireariel just managed to produce a very faint smile before she almost passed out from sheer fatigue. Suddenly strong arms wrapped around her and lifted her, she just grunted and allowed him to lift her and carry her off to their private chambers. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against his shoulder, enjoyed the contact. He placed her on the bed very gently and a servant brought a cup of hot tea and some food. She felt famished once more and ate with shivering hands. She noticed how tired he looked and he smiled at her and pulled his outer clothes off with stiff and almost mechanical movements. “It was hell Nir, I cannot describe it otherwise. And it still is hell out there, I fear that ada may have been right, that this is the end.”
Nireariel sighed and pulled the blankets aside, slid underneath them. “Come, rest with me, you need that now.”
He just nodded, got of the rest of his clothing and lay down next to her, pulled her into his arms and relaxed. “I am glad to see that you have managed to keep everybody safe, the palace is strong enough to keep the beasts out”
Nireariel just nodded, let her head rest on his shoulder. He kissed her gently and sighed, she could feel how his body prepared for sleep and she knew that he needed it now but she had to tell him. She gathered her courage and swallowed. “Meleth, there is one thing I need to tell you.”
He just mumbled. “Go on”
She turned her face towards him. “Remember the last nights before you left?”
He looked puzzled. “Yes? I hope I wasn’t too vigorous? I didn’t hurt you?”
She could hear concern in his voice and she had to grin. “You would never hurt me, not like that anyhow, but the truth is, there is hurt to come, lots of it! And joy too I hope”
He didn’t understand at all and she sighed and took his hand, placed it on her belly. His eyes widened as he too sensed that spark of light and life that was a freshly created elven spirit. “Oh valar!”
She nodded. “Yes, I thought so too when I found out.”
He grasped her, trembling and she could see the fear in his eyes. “Nir, what have I done to you? We didn’t think it was possible for you to conceive once more?!”
She nodded and hid her face against his neck. “Obviously we were wrong, but fear not my light, I somehow know that it will end well. This child has inherited my powers, it is already protecting me.”
He gasped and she could see tears forming in his eyes. “Nir, when this baby is born, swear to me that you will start taking those herbs you once spoke of, my heart cannot take any more shocks of this kind!”
She had to laugh. “I will, I swear I will. Neither can mine. But you are glad?”
He nodded, kissed her. “How can I not be glad? If only these monsters were dead and gone I would be singing with joy!”
She smiled and allowed herself to fall to rest again, he caressed her gently and kissed her hair. “Then I know that it is at least some hope left in this world, some light in this darkness.”
She closed her eyes. “Yes there is, and now my dearest, let’s get some sleep before those monsters return once more. “
They both fell asleep almost instantaneous, tired and scared as they had been. Poicano checked in on them after a few hours, the healers were busy still but they would not loose anyone, the elves they had brought with them would be fine. Now the monsters were the only problem. They had let the horses go and sealed the doors once more but now the place was overcrowded. The elves who stayed out in the forest had sent a runner during the day, they were alright so some of the healthy and strong left the palace to spend the nights in the trees. It was the only way to solve the problem and they could just hope that the monsters didn’t change tactics and started chasing the tree dwellers. Oropher and Legolas had met their wives again and were sleeping and the rest of the elves prepared for yet another night of attacks.
Ravenne had really problems looking at the gwhyym without cringing, they were beyond ugly! She had no idea that something like that existed and now the place was crawling with the small nasty critters. The scouts the gwhyym had sent out had found the group and they were all screaming out loud trying to be heard. It was a racket of another world and Narriar snarled and raised his hand, shouting something. The gwhyym shut up instantly, all of them. It was obvious that they had a great deal of respect for the Ce’agar. Narriar was kneeling down and Ravenne had to grin, the gwhyym didn’t reach his knees! She stared at the peculiar faces, they looked a little like rats, but with extremely wrinkled skin and their eyes were extremely small and their mouths wide and filled with teeth that would have made a dentist faint. The heads were covered with short rough and very thin hair growth, everybody was the same color, light sand colored and the females were hard to separate from the males, the only difference was that the females had breasts and wore a lot of rather flashy and strange jewelry. Ravenne wished that she could place some perfume underneath her nose, they did indeed stink, really bad! The skin was shiny and fatty and she presumed that it was the source of the stink. The ears of the things were extremely long and soft like bunny ears and they reached their shoulders. She saw that the females had pierced them, some had half a jewelers shop hanging from the pieces of soft tissue. It had to be rather uncomfortable. Their arms were rather long and thin with only four fingers and their legs stocky and short, they did also have a tail that indeed looked a lot like that of a rat, Vayana was obviously beside herself with disgust. The creatures were covered with rather well made clothes made from leather and natural fibers and it revealed that they really were rather intelligent in spite of their appearance.
Narriar got back up, he had spoken to the leader of the gwhyym scouts and he made a grimace and nodded at the others. “They have tracked the attackers, they are the same who came to this place, a huge group, at least fifty.”
Glorfindel nodded. “Did they see where they were heading?”
Narriar sighed and nodded, he stared at the group of rather excited Gwhyym. “Yes, north. But they have managed to determine that they are heading north east, not straight north. That makes me a bit worried.”
Ravenne frowned. “Why?”
Narriar shrugged. “There is an old story I heard as a child, there was some sort of natural disaster ages ago, some dared to climb one of the tallest mountains and they saw that the skies to the north east were glowing red. Like some huge fire was burning.”
Ravenne shook her head, she tried to not think about the familiarity of that description. Were they indeed heading for the Lithui version of Mordor?
Erestor seemed to have the same idea, he was a bit pale and Elrohir was fidgeting with his sword with a very nervous expression upon his face. Gwan and Magon looked just as calm as usual and Vayana was pale. Ravenne sighed. “I think we are somehow helping history repeat itself, only that this time it is far worse than back when Frodo brought that darn ring to Orodruin.”
Glorfindel sent her a wry grin. “But I bet there won’t be any giant eagles carrying us back to safety afterwards.”
Ravenne had to smile but she saw that Narriar didn’t quite understand it. She had to explain everything to him some day. It was obvious that the gwhyym intended to follow them and Ravenne had her doubts, could these small creatures really keep up? Before long the path was filled with tiny creatures in armor and they all carried very good weapons. The one who had to be the leader gave Narriar two beautiful long knives or rather short swords and he thanked the tiny guy with obviously joy. Ravenne had to take a closer look at the two blades. They had obviously been made for Narriar and they were just perfect. She could hardly believe that these ugly things could create something that lovely. Narriar smiled. “They just have this gift, they can shape metals like none other. It is as if it molds itself after their will.”
Ravenne raised an eyebrow and looked shocked. “Without the use of fire?”
He nodded. “Yes, I don’t know how they do it but they can shape both metal and rock with their mere will, at least some of them. They train for years before they manage to do it but I think they all have that gift more or less.”
Ravenne had to take a deep breath. “That is amazing, then I guess we will have good use of them.”
Narriar nodded. “Indeed, they are good allies, they do regard us elves as something close to deities and I think that is odd since we are so different. I mean, to them I bet we look rather ugly.”
Ravenne had to laugh. “Yeah, I bet they think that wrinkles and stink is sexy!”
Narriar nodded. “Yes, the more wrinkles the more attractive they are. I have seen some who were unable to see due to too much skin.”
Ravenne started to walk behind Narriar, the rest followed them. “On earth they have a breed of dogs that look almost like that, the Shar-pei. They have too much skin.”
Narriar nodded and started jogging through the canyon. “The worlds are filled with strange creatures.”
They got out of the oasis and followed the canyon over a ridge and down towards a huge plain. A river crossed it and Narriar had started to become a bit tense. This was unknown terrain and they might encounter dangers rather unexpectedly. And it wasn’t long before they had their first encounter with the native creatures of this realm. Ravenne was walking behind Narriar and the rest of the group was behind them, the Ce’agar warriors had spread out through the terrain to scout for tracks and the gwhyym followed them. Ravenne had just spotted a very weird patch of huge red flowers when they heard a cracking sound from up ahead. Narriar reacted with a speed that was nothing short of amazing, he had his sword ready and seemed almost relaxed when a huge beast rushed through the bushes towards them. Ravenne had to compare the thing with a wild boar, it was just bigger with a shorter different snout and very vicious looking fangs. If this was a carnivore or an omnivore was hard to say but it was very angry. It let out a strange bleating sound and charged towards Narriar who crouched down a bit and then sprang forwards as if he had springs underneath his soles. The blade was shining in the sharp cold starlight, it looked like a flash of lightning and she had to marvel at the sight of his skill, suddenly the sword was buried to the hilt in the animals chest and it just dropped dead as if it had been hit in the head by a bullet. Narriar pulled the blade free and shook the blood off of it, he was taking his time but she did notice that he kept a keen eye on the surroundings. He sheathed the blade again and grinned. “These creatures are infamous for attacking like that, but they are stupid and easy to kill”
Ravenne stared at the dead animal, it was absolutely not a docile creature and probably very dangerous. Those teeth would cut someone in two if it got the chance and she could see that it had some rather claw-like hooves. It looked a bit like a mix of a pig straight out of hell and a Tasmanian tiger or perhaps a pit bull.
“Are they herd animals?”
She could hear the shiver within her own voice and Narriar shook his head. “No, the females do form small herds while they have young but the males are solitary animals, this is a male as I am sure you have noticed.”
She nodded, no doubt about that. The animal didn’t stink, that was a small surprise, in fact it had a rather pleasant odor that reminded her of herbal tea for some reason. Narriar shouted an order to his men and he smiled at her as if he knew of what she was thinking. “Yes, they do not smell that bad, it is some glands they have that produce the scent, some of the other tribes harvest them and use them to make medicine.”
Ravenne had to make a grimace, even if the smell was good she could not really see herself or someone else hunting these ugly things just for the sake of a few glands. Narriar was almost running now, as if in a hurry and she had to keep up. She could hear that Erestor had some problems with the pace and Vayana was constantly swearing to herself, why she had no idea. They continued running for what had to be hours, it was hard to tell how time moved in this place and Ravenne felt a bit confused. Elrohir grinned at her. “I have a watch, we have been running for four hours!”
Ravenne had to groan, her feet were beginning to ache and the backpack she carried was very heavy. Narriar wasn’t even short of breath, he was obviously back to normal after his injury and his eyes were constantly scanning the surroundings for any sign of danger. They reached the river and followed its banks when one of the Ce’agar scouts came running out of the bushes, he looked excited. “My chief, we have found a dead one!”
Everybody stopped and stared and Narriar ran after the warrior, the group followed him. They stopped at the bottom of a scree where some very miserably looking trees were trying to cling onto life. A couple of weird looking creatures took to the wings with cawing sounds and she had to look twice before she was able to determine that these were not birds but some strange bird like bats with beak like mouths. The thing they had been eating was rather easy to spot, it was a dead monster and it didn’t smell a bit better than the one they had performed an autopsy on. In fact it stank so badly that even Narriar took a few steps back. The creature lay on its back and it was sprawled between the boulders as if it had just toppled over and died. But the cause of death was very apparent, something had taken a huge chunk of its flesh out of it, it had almost been cut in half.
Narriar was studying the wound with apparent interest, he took a twig and poked at it. “It has been attacked by its own, see? The teeth marks on the bones are absolutely not from any predator we know about.”
Glorfindel made a nasty grimace. “So they do commit cannibalism too, do you think that this creature was weak or had done something wrong?”
Narriar frowned, his eyes were distant. “I do not think that these creatures are so smart that they have the capability of punishing their own for mistakes they do. I think this one was weaker than the rest and then hunger just overcame them. This is a worker, the warriors are larger and stronger, it must have been one of those who killed this fellah.”
The Ce’agar warrior who had notified them of the dead creature pointed at it’s head. “Look, do you see the color of its lips?”
Ravenne and Narriar moved closer, Ravenne had to pull a piece of the fabric of her cloak over her nose, the creatures lips were indeed discolored, in a strange purple hue and Narriar bit his lower lip before he bent over and grasped the things jaw, forced it open. Ravenne cringed, its teeth didn’t exactly look like a dentists commercial, and she could understand that these creatures were very foul tempered, it had to suffer from a never ending toothache. Narriar didn’t look as if he liked it a bit but he touched the things tongue and teeth and stared at his hand afterwards, sniffed it. “It smells like green roof mushrooms?”
The other Ce’agar who had joined them there sniffed his hand too and they nodded eagerly. “Yes, it has to be, look, there are pieces of it stuck between his teeth.”
Narriar pried loose a bit of the mushy substance and Ravenne looked at him with confusion. “They like mushrooms?”
Narriar looked a bit stunned. “Apparently they do? Weird, I thought they were solely carnivores but these mushrooms smell a lot like meat and they are rather delicious too when fried over an open flame.”
Vayana tilted her head. “Then it could not have been the reason why it died?”
Narriar was studying the dead beast with interest. “I guess not but what then killed it? Maybe it was sick somehow?”
Erestor was standing there taking notes and he was writing like crazy with his tongue in the corner of his mouth and an eager glimpse within his eyes. To him this had to be very interesting. Elrohir stood there looking a bit bored and Gwan and Magon were studying the creatures strange armor while they discussed its weaknesses. A gwhyym came scurrying through the scree, the ugly little things stopped, panting. “Dead ugly thing, up ahead.”
Narriar tossed his head around and stared at the gwhyym with disbelief. “What? Another one? Show me now!”
They followed the gwhyym and the small thing was soon joined by others who were chatting away at the noisy language of theirs. They ran towards the river and there, by the banks did indeed another monster lay dead, it was clenching its gut and its eyes were bulging and this was indeed a warrior. It had fallen into spasms and it had blood around its mouth. Its death had been both swift and painful and Narriar stared at it with fascination. “Friends? I think this one ate of the other one we found, and it killed him!”
Vayana was approaching the carcass very carefully. “Yes, I think you are right, see? It has tried to regurgitate its stomach contents, and the posture is rather typical for poisoning.”
Ravenne looked at the dead monster with narrow eyes. “Then that mushroom has to be very poisonous to these creatures?”
Vayana nodded, her eyes were shining. “Indeed, there are some things that cannot be eaten by some species although others can thrive on it. “
Narriar had turned around, he grasped one of the gwhyym. “Return to your people, tell them to eat as much of these mushrooms as they can, and feed them to their animals too. Then run to my tribe and tell them to do the same thing.”
Vayana was almost jumping up and down. “Oh Valar, what would I not have given for a proper lab right now, I could possibly isolate the toxin from the mushroom and turn it into a weapon.”
Narriar shook his head. “No time for that and no need. We are going to use it nonetheless.”
Ravenne and Glorfindel spoke as one. “How?!”
Narriar had a wild glimpse within his eyes. “By feeding them!”
The others stared at him with confusion and Narriar was grinning like a moron. “The plains up ahead, there has to be some herds of Bhilak there yes? Ilhirar, you remember the time we found that herd of Bhilak that had been eating fermented Thogi fruits?”
The warrior nodded slowly. “Yes my chief but why are you talking about that now?”
Narriar smiled, the smile was a bit vicious. “If we can decimate the number of enemies before we even encounter them it will be to our benefit. I have a plan”
He knelt down and caught the eyes of everybody. “The gwhyym can gather as much mushrooms as they can when we reach the plain, thank the ancestors that this is the right season, there ought to be tons of it down there but since these mushrooms grow within the river gorges and in other dark spots the animals can’t get to them although they are crazy about them.”
Ravenne understood the plan. “You will make sure that the bhilak eat the mushrooms and then you will make the monsters eat them?”
Narriar nodded. “Yes, there is a plant growing in the forests here that makes the animals act as though they are drunk, they lose their fear. We will make a whole heard eat the mushrooms, they we will send them straight into the lap of those monsters and I bet they can’t say no to a free meal?”
Glorfindel rubbed his chin, his eyes were dark but there was a hint of a devious grin around his mouth. He nodded. “That might work, will the animals become docile from that plant?”
Narriar nodded. “Yes, almost like they are sleep walking. Herding them will be no problem, we sometimes do this if the herds come too close to our camps for comfort, they can cause terrible damage if they run amok. “
He turned to the warriors. “Gather as much of the starflower herb as you can, brave gwhyym, get the mushrooms. We are going to poison those monsters!”
The gwhyym cheered and disappeared and the group started moving again, Ravenne felt a strange sensation of triumph, it was a splendid idea of it worked and she admired the way Narriar was thinking. He was smart and used everything to his advantage, that was very clever of him. They followed the river and Narriar decided that they needed to rest for a few hours. They were hungry and Narriar allowed them to build a small fire. Some of the Gwhyym came with huge loads of mushrooms, they were big with a flat top and a fleshy appearance and they did smell like meat. That was probably the reason the beast had eaten it in the first place. Narriar took a few of them and put them onto a smooth stick, held them above the fire until the outer skin fell of and they got a nice dark color. He held the grilled mushrooms out and Ravenne grabbed a piece and tasted it carefully. It was indeed delicious, it tasted a bit like nuts but it was salty too and the aftertaste did remind her of good bacon. It was really delicious and before long they were all grilling mushrooms and stuffing themselves with the delicacy.
Ravenne slept for a few hours and when she woke up the camp was ready for action. The gwhyym had gathered several hundred pounds of the stuff and the warriors had managed to get a lot of the herb too. They carried it all in nets made from woven grass and now they moved forward onto the plain. Behind the plain lay a range of mountains and she could see that the skies behind it looked a bit red. It had to be a volcanic area and she swallowed hard and tried to concentrate on her job. The gwhyym had informed them that the scouts had reported of at least two huge groups of monsters up ahead between the plain and the mountains and she could see that Narriar was right about the animals. The plain was almost alive with huge herbivores. The Bhilak were obviously this worlds version of buffalo and elk. They were huge and bulky and had short stubby legs, low set long heads with great antlers on and a strange snout that resembled that of a taiga antelope. She had hardly seen a more bizarre animal and their long flowing fur had weird patterns of grey, brown and yellow.
Narriar looked very pleased. “That is good, my warriors will distribute the mushrooms out over the area, when they get the scent they will be coming.”
Ravenne did see that the beasts were grazing peacefully and the warriors were almost hidden in the tall dry grass. They followed the paths made from the animals and left heaps of mushroom mixed with herbs here and there. Ravenne could only hold her breath as she waited for the animals to catch the scent of the delicacy. It didn’t last long, she saw that a herd of bulls rushed forwards, started to eat with ravenous appetite. Others saw them and joined and the animals were making low rumbling sounds, trying to push others out of the way so they could taste the good stuff too.
Narriar smiled. “It won’t be long before we can gather them and send them towards the monsters, they are up ahead now and I bet that they will bring plenty meat with them back home too.”
The mushrooms were eaten, every last crumb of them and the animals became calm once more, and now they were actually absurdly calm. They just stood there, hardly blinking. Narriar shouted and order and the warriors started to push the herd forward by clapping their hands and making shooing sounds. The beasts obliged, they started moving in the right direction and Narriar waited until they had what had to be at least two hundred of the strange animals assembled. He called out again and the warriors opened the horns they carried in their belt and took out embers, lit fires. Narriar grinned at Ravenne. “They are afraid of fire, we will chase them with it”
The warriors set the grass on fire and the animals roared with fear and the herd was caught by a sense of panic, the herd instinct was very strong and they ran like one being towards the forest beneath the mountains. The fire wasn’t that fast at all but the animals ran and disappeared out of view. Narriar nodded and she could see the hope and determination within his eyes. “Let us hope they run straight into the groups of monsters.”
He bent down and spoke to some of the gwhyym. They appeared to become very proud and ran off, chasing after the animals. “I told them to go and see if the trick has worked. They are small and stealthy, they won’t be detected.”
Gwan made a grimace. “And us? What now?”
Narriar pointed up towards the mountains. “We move towards that area there, I think I could be a pass. At least we have to try. The enemy is behind those mountains.”
Elrohir sighed and patted his backpack. “It has to be at least two more days of walking, if not more, damn, this is gonna be tough!”
Narriar just nodded and started walking again, his eyes were distant and Ravenne knew him well enough now to know that he was worried. She did not ask him though, she didn’t want to upset him further. They walked rather fast and she knew why, out on the open plain they were clearly visible for anyone with the keen nightvision of the Ce’agar and the other creatures of this world. The warriors had spread out and kept in contact with small sounds, Ravenne knew that these were the best of the best and she had no doubt about that. After a few hours of marching they reached the edge of the forest and Narriar stopped and allowed the others to gather around him. He stared at the forest with narrow eyes and Ravenne tilted her head, she did notice how his jaw muscles were clenched and his face told of doubt. One of the other Ce’agar bowed his head. “My chief, this is a very old forest, and I do not like the atmosphere here, neither do I like the scent. The trees look hostile.”
Narriar was kneeling down, he was staring at the forest the whole time, he didn’t remove his gaze from it even once. Then he started to chant, he was almost whispering slow soft words which sounded enchanting and beautiful but yet filled with a strange power. Ravenne stared at him with huge eyes, she had no idea he had such skills too. The song was haunting and otherworldly and they could hear a strange rustling within the forest, as if the trees were shivering and shaking their branches. Ravenne felt the hairs in the back of her neck standing up and she heard some creaking noises that were rather scary. Narriar was sweating and his eyes were almost completely black, the other Ce’agar were staring at him with respect and the gwhyym were kneeling down, staring into the ground and they shivered. Glordindel whispered to her. “I have never heard of such abilities before, he is speaking to the very forest itself.”
Ravenne whispered back. “My ada can do something almost like this, and so does my mother and siblings, but I think Narriar is better at this than any of them.”
Narriar let the song end, the forest fell quiet again and he got up, he looked proud but also tired. “I have seen the forest and its spirits, they are angry and in despair, evil has poisoned the very soil here. The trees are upset and confused, I have told the spirits of our quest and intentions and the spirits have promised that no harm will come to us but they bid us be careful. Not all the plants in there are on the side of good in this, some are wild and wicked and do not care about good or evil.”
The others just nodded and Narriar started walking into the dark forest. The silvery leaves of the trees were still rustling but the sound wasn’t threatening now, more welcoming. It was very dark underneath the branches and Ravenne was glad she had such good eyes. They walked in silence and the Ce’agar were moving very close to the group now, the gwhyym too. There were many eyes keeping watch and Ravenne could feel a weird sort of energy from the trees, it was vibrant and vigorous and still in an indescribable way wild and untamed and just waiting for something. She did not really want to see this energy released, it would be a terrible sight she feared.
They walked on towards the mountains, the distance was greater than they had imagined and they had to set up camp again before they reached the end of the forest. Narriar forbade any fire and they made camp between some huge boulders. Ravenne had problems relaxing, she felt that energy throbbing through the very air itself and Narriar sat down and she leaned against his chest, he ran his fingers through her hair. “You feel it too? The monsters have been hunting in this forest too, they didn’t find anything to eat but they killed many trees and now the very forest itself is trying to protect itself in whatever way it can.”
Ravenne turned her head around, stared at his shining green eyes. “Do you think there is danger here? For us?”
He sighed. “Yes, it is dangerous, even to us. Like I said, not all of the trees care about the spirits, they may attack even if we are friends.”
Ravenne just shivered and he wrapped his cloak around them, kissed her brow lovingly. “Try to rest my love, I will watch over you.”
She smiled and closed her eyes, she did doubt that she would get any sleep but sitting there with him was enough for her. Slowly she relaxed and suddenly she was sleeping like a rock. Narriar remained sitting there as still as he could so he wouldn’t wake her up, she needed her rest. The others were watching over the camp and everything was quiet.
Ravenne woke up to the sound of the gwhyym chatting away at an insane speed, the small creatures were jumping up and down and they looked very excited. Narriar sighed and got up, shook himself a few times as if to wake himself up properly and then he walked over to the Gwhyym which were shouting even louder than before. Erestor stuck his head out from underneath his blanket and grunted, he did not look at all pleased. Narriar said something with a very stern voice and the gwhyym immediately shut up, all of them, at once. Then one started to speak and Narriar listened intently. He turned around and lifted his hand, waved at the group. “Get up everybody, they have brought us good news!”
Ravenne stretched and yawned, she felt so much better now. She had needed the sleep and she realized that it was morning, or at least, what passed off as morning here. Glorfindel was rolling his blanket back together into a tight roll and he yawned too. “So, what good news is that?”
Narriar grinned, a rather vicious grin. “They have found several dead monsters, our little scheme was a success.”
They all cheered and Narriar spoke to the gwhyym once more. “They will continue to track them and see how many of them that perish from our little trick. “
Glorfindel grinned and got his backpack back on. “The more the better, one dead monster is one we won’t have to fight.”
They left the camp in a hurry, eager to get out of the forest. Narriar spoke to his warriors every now and then and she did sense how tense they all were. This was unfamiliar territory and everything could pose a threat. They walked on for a couple of hours and ate some lembas Erestor had brought along, it tasted like nothing and Ravenne hated the stuff but it did give her new strength. They crossed a rather large stream with strong current and then they slowly walked up towards a hilltop. Narriar had his hand on his sword all the time and they felt the dense atmosphere of this forest as something almost solid. It was pushing against their every sense and made them nervous and jumpy. Narriar suddenly stopped, he stared at the forest ahead of them, his eyes narrow and body language tense. “I sense danger, something is very wrong here!”
Glorfindel pulled his sword and then the others did the same. “I sense it too, there is something evil lurking nearby, something unnatural.”
Vayana got to the middle of the group and the Ce’agar warriors spread out, their shining eyes made them look a bit like some huge predators in the darkness. Ravenne had her sword pulled too and felt how her mouth was dry and her heart pounding in her chest. Narriar didn’t move, she could barely see him breathe and yet she heard him, a soft whispering humming that seemed to mold into a strange harmony with the song of the forest around them, but not with the grove ahead. There was absolute silence and Ravenne knew that this was unnatural, a forest should never be that quiet. She remembered what her father had told her, remember who you are. She took a deep breath, forgot about her civilized ways, forgot about her family, allowed her feral self to emerge from the depth of her soul. She bared her teeth and her eyes started to glow in the nasty golden tone that had scared her mother so much.
It happened suddenly, so fast nobody had a chance to see it coming. Suddenly roots and branches and vines were moving around them, whipping about like blind hungry snakes. Narriar yelled an order and the Ce’agar started fighting. They moved with such grace, with such strength, unimaginable elegance and yet filled with a fury and will burning as fierce as the flames of a dragons heart. Glorfindel and Erestor fought with their blades and so did Haldir who had kept rather quiet through the entire expedition, he didn’t like it there and now Ravenne could clearly see the difference between the warriors of Aman and those of Lithui. Glorfindel and Haldir fought in the style they had learned, controlled and determined, Magon and Gwan were a little more fierce and used far less finesse but their technique was nonetheless amazing. The Ce’agar on the other hand almost went berserk, they were snarling and growling and fought with teeth bared and eyes ablaze. Ravenne forgot about thinking, she just cut away at branches and roots and skipped and jumped out of the way. The gwhyym had fled the scene, they did not dare to get any closer and maybe it was for the better, they would have been crushed before long. The trees were making terrible creaking roaring sounds and they sounded so angry. Ravenne had never felt such hatred before, these trees hated anything made of flesh and blood. It was as if something had poisoned them, made them hallucinate and attack something that wasn’t even there.
No matter how they were cutting away more roots and branches came rushing towards them, tried to grasp them, smother them, crush them. The Ce’agar protected each other’s backs and Narriar was fighting like a mad man. He was so fast, so full of grace and as deadly as a force of nature. Ravenne knew now why he was the leader of these elves, he was most certainly the best fighter among them. Some Ce’agar warriors got hurt and were pulled away from the danger zone by their brothers, Elrohir got smacked across the chest by a huge branch and flew backwards, he lay immovable on the ground and Vayana knelt down next to him, she was pale. The branches and roots were swirling around, searching for something to kill. Erestor was fighting well, he had been a warrior before he became a scholar and old techniques were remembered and put to good use. Ravenne felt that the blade she held was the best she’d ever had, it was amazing and soon she fought alongside Narriar. They were making progress, the strange possessed trees were starting to slow down, as if their strength was fading.
Then the ground beneath them began to buckle and move and more roots appeared, apparently even more determined than before. Ravenne didn’t know where the words came from but she shouted at Vayana. “Start a fire, now!”
Vayana obeyed, she had a lighter and dropped it into the dead leaves that covered the ground. The effect was frightful, the trees went into a fit of panic or something, they had roots and branches flying around them and the noise was deafening but the wicked trees seemed to have forgotten all about them. Ravenne saw that the others were able to back away and she and Narriar was about to follow them when a root suddenly shot out of the ground like it had been launched by a grenade launcher. Ravenne cut the top of it with a very elegant move and she heard a shrieking noise that didn’t resemble anything she’d ever heard before. Suddenly her feet were pulled away from underneath her and she fell hard onto her back, unable to regain her balance since her feet were held together by another root. Damn, these things could cooperate. Narriar threw himself forward, his blade cut through several roots and sap was raining everywhere like blood but it was too late. Ravenne tried to throw herself out of the way of a very long black root that moved like a poised rattlesnake. She almost made it, the root hit her in her side underneath her armpit where the armor didn’t give much protection and she felt the impact as a violent thud. It didn’t hurt, that was the weird part of it, even when she did feel the root penetrating deep into her chest. She didn’t scream, she found that she couldn’t. The root rushed back out of her body, releasing a flood of blood and she coughed once, blood spatter covering her lips and chin. Narriar let out a terrifying scream in fear and rage, he hacked the root into several tiny pieces before he fell down on his knees next to her.
Vayana yelled and abandoned Elrohir who had been pulled to safety by the others, she could clearly see that this was an injury nobody or nothing could have any hope of surviving. The root had penetrated the heart sack and Ravennes chest was filling up with blood, she was drowning in it. Narriar just gasped, he took her hand and Ravenne tried to speak, she wanted to tell him to go on and lead them to victory, to tell him how she loved him but she was unable to. The world was fading from her view and she fought it to no prevail. She let out a gargling gasp and went limp. Ravenne sobbed. “I am sorry, I am so sorry, nobody can survive something like that.”
The trees seemed to have given up the fight now, they had gotten silent and the warriors dared to return, Narriar just sat there, staring at her with eyes wild with grief, he was leaning down, removed the blood from her face with a gentle touch and Vayana saw something in his eyes that made her shout a warning to the other warriors.
They reacted, Narriar had just enough time to pull his dagger and aim it for his heart before Glorfindel and Haldir dove in as one and wrung it from his grasp. The Ce’agar warriors grasped their chief and pinned him to the ground, he was screaming with grief and rage but even he wasn’t strong enough to wrestle himself free from the grip of at least five other warriors. He screamed something in his own language but nobody seemed to react. They held him down and Erestor stared at Ravenne’s body with a very pale face. “By the Valar, I am not going to be the one who tells her father what’s happened to her!”
Haldir gave Narriar’s dagger to one of the other Ce’agar elves. “Please, try to think clearly. We have to move on. “
Vayana sobbed again. “We can’t just leave her here? No!”
Glorfindel had a terrible expression within his eyes, they all suddenly realized how he had looked when he fought that balrog so many millennia ago. “We have to, believe me, I do not like it a bit more than you!”
Vayana saw the hurt in his eyes and she was very wise and able to read people very well, he felt something for the fallen warrior, more than just friendship or admiration. Erestor knelt down next to her. “It is too late to do something for Ravenne now, she is no longer here. You have to concentrate on Elrohir. His ribs are broken damn it!”
Vayana wiped some tears out of her eyes with her hand, she gasped. “Yes, you are right, I have to take care of the living.”
She got on her feet slowly, feeling as if all strength had left her. Gwan and Magon just stood there, staring with sad faces. They had seen how Ravenne had been fighting and knew that she was the best of them if you didn’t count Narriar as one of the group. Narriar was sitting there, rocking back and forth with dark eyes, the other warriors were still holding him and he was making some guttural sounds that sounded so horrible Vayana wanted to scream at him and tell him to shut up!
Glorfindel swallowed. “Tend to Elrohir, then we have to move on. Cover her with something, we can honor her later.”
Haldir grasped a blanket and moved over to cover Ravenne’s body but then something happened that made them all just stare and hold their breaths in utter disbelief. Ravenne started moving, her arms and legs shaking in violent spasms and strange groaning sounds came from her throat as her neck and heels tried to meet behind her back. Vayana just stared and made a small squeak, the gaping wound in Ravenne’s side was shrinking, with wet disgusting sounds it just disappeared and the blood disappeared too. Ravenne’s piercing golden eyes opened again, she stared up at the skies and then she screamed, a terrible piercing wail that made them all jump. They were witnesses to the impossible, the unthinkable. Glorfindel had fallen to his knees, his blue eyes wide open with awe and shock. “Ai Valar!”
Ravenne tossed about, still not completely conscious and Narriar was staring at her whispering strange words, the other warriors had let go of him, they too stared at Ravenne with huge eyes. Some of them grasped talismans and amulets as if to protect themselves from evil. Then she sat up, so fast she almost head butted Vayana who was leaning over her, frantically trying to explain this miracle to herself. Ravenne let out a piercing cry, shook like a tree in a violent storm and then she closed her mouth and just stared at them with her cat like eyes ablaze.
Narriar groaned, he stared at her and tears were streaming from his eyes. “I dreamt it, I remember now. You told me that you could lose me, but I could never lose you. Now I know why!”
Ravenne shook her head, opening and closing her eyes, her hand touched the place where the wound had been and she shivered. “Oh Valar!”
Glorfindel was still on his knees. “Ravenne? How in the name of Morgoth’s rotten teeth is that possible? You were dead!”
She took a deep breath and her eyes filled with realization and deep horror. “Gods, no!”
She curled up and Narriar embraced her, pulled her into his arms while he shook and whimpered in relief. Vayana bit her lower lip, she did not know whether or not she should say anything but felt like she had to. “I have heard of your mother, of her skill and curse. Is this…?”
Ravenne sighed and closed her eyes, leaned towards Narriar heavily. She felt her head spinning and she was thirsty and she did not want to even think about the things she had seen. She nodded. “Yes, it is, it is my curse. I thought that my curse was something entirely different but I was wrong, I was just destined to be with a certain someone.”
She grasped Narriar’s hand lovingly and smiled at him. “My mother can persuade death to let a dying person live as long as someone else dies in their place. My curse is obviously even worse, I cannot die”
Narriar whispered to her, his voice shivering. “Are you sure?”
Ravenne kissed his cheek. “Yes, I cannot tell you what I just went through but the dark angel will never touch me, ever.”
Glorfindel cocked his head. “A true immortal, such a rare thing. It has to be both a gift and a terrible burden but I am sure that you will see this soon enough.”
Ravenne just nodded. “Please, I need something to drink, and something to eat. We have to move again right away.”
Narriar just held her, he was whispering to her, telling her how he had wanted to join her and she knew that only quick reactions had prevented a complete disaster. He would have done it, he would have taken his own life if she had died for real. She just sighed and thanked the Valar that the others had managed to control him. Vayana brought her some lembas and a cup of thin wine, she ate slowly and a strange determination started to grow within her. This enemy was about to face an opponent unlike any other, she bared her teeth and her eyes were blazing. Yes, if need be she would face the queen alone, and then only one would remain standing and that would not be that bitch!
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In a land of shadows