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New Dawn Rising	By : RavenHeir Category: -Multi-Age > General Views: 1027 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Lord of the Rings (and associated) book series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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New Dawn Rising

Disclaimer: I do not own any of J.R.R Tolkien�s creations or characters. If I had the ideas first, I�d be a millionaire though! The characters of Aurora, Raven, Eoden and Halden belong to me as well as any others that are mentioned in the following story.

A/N: This is my first piece of writing, so be gentle. Tstorstory is AU, but not OOC. This story assumes that Sauron knew Frodo and Sam were attempting to destroy the ring when they hiked up Mt. Doom and when his orcs caught them, he took the ring and killed the two Hobbits. With the ring, he was able to take physical shape and lead his army of Orcs against the companies of the West. The battle did not go in their favor and thus the dark reign of Sauron began. This story takes place 2,000 years in the future in a Middle Earth ruled by the Dark Lord.

A/N Please note that because this story is set partially in the distant future, there is new kinds of technology that both forces have.

BTW: I need a BETA reader.

Prologue: The Longest Night

�It is often safer to be in chains than to be free.� Frank Kafka

It was always dark. The sun had not shown through the perpetual darkness that had settled across the land shortly after the Reign of Night began. No place was safe from the rule of the Dark Lord himself. His dominion extended from the deepest caves to the highest mountains. Few dared to challenge his authority and even fewer dared to rebel against the darkness.

But it was these few that gave a slight ray of hope in a land and time otherwise devoid of such a luxury. A few who dared to die standing then live a life on their knees. And it was these few, six hundred to be exact, who were the last remainder of the rebel forces in Middle Earth. Here they stood, 2000 years to the day when the companies of the West fell and the Reign of Night began. Ironically, it appeared as if their last stand would be in the same place where their ancestors failed so many years ago; the Black Gate.

A lone figure, cloaked in the shadows, stood on a cliff above the amassed rebel forces, made up primarily of farmers, blacksmiths and other commoners. All battle-weary and fatigued, they stood barely a chance against the Dark Lord�s hundreds of thousands Orcs, Uruk-hai, oliphaunts and Easterlings. It appeared as if history would repeat itself come daybreak.

�You know, this moody, brooding look is hardly becoming a lady of your stature. Could I not get you into your dressing gown and to a bath, your majesty,� called a female voice from behind the lone figure. The female came up behind the figure, pieces of her black, waist-length hair dancing on the wind.

�Rae, you know very well I�ll be dead before you get me into one of those frilly things. And I bathed just yesterday at the Anduin,� came the curt, sarcastic reply from the solitary figure standing watch over her soliders.

�I know. I thought a little levity might lighten the situation. Certainly can�t hurt,� the girl named Rae replied as she came to stand next to her oldest friend. Pushing back her black cloak, Rae sighed as she noticed the faraway look in her friend�s ebony-colored eyes.

�Does it ever get easier, Rae? All this fighting and it hardly seems like we ever make a dent in Sauron�s forces. Would it be easier to surrender and live a life of servitude,� the girl beside her said with a sigh.

�Was it not you who said in your speech to our army tonight, �it is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees,�� Raven, or Rae as she wnownnown, asked her friend.

�At least they�d live,� her friend replied softly, a lone tear making its path down her ivory-white face.

�Phoenix�Aurora, look at me,� Rae said, turning her friend�s face to her own, �these people are not here because they have to be. They are here because they want to be. Because they believe that the sun can rise again someday. But if you abandon them, that one light in their otherwise dark lives will die. You give them hope. That�s more than any of them could have ever asked for.�

�Too long have I lived in the shadows of my ancestors. Too long have their mistakes haunted my dreams. I have a debt to repay to these people and only my blood will accomplish that,� Aurora, known to most as Phoenix, replied gravely.

�Yes, their mistakes were grave. But it wasn�t all their fault. You can�t blame yourself for the choices of others. King Elessar was your father and the Lady Arwen was your mother; they are not you. You walk a different path, Aurora Darkstar; one that will end in the downfall of Sauron and a new age of prosperity in Middle Earth,� Rae said with anger in her voice as she shook her life-long friend.

�Rae, look around. There is no end to this darkness. It�s like the longest night with no hope of sunrise on the horizon. All we can hope tomorrow is that their deaths are quick and painless,� Aurora yelled back, breaking free of her Rae�s grasp and walking to the very edge of the cliff.

�What of you? Certainly you don�t wish for death anymore than the rest of us,� Rae said quietly, panic beginning to rise in her steely-gray eyes.

With a sigh and her hbowebowed, Aurora spoke solemnly, �For 2,000 years I have watched those closest to me die for a cause not their own. I have buried the one person ever to breach my walls and crawl into my heart. I have killed more people than most will see in a lifetime. At yet still I linger on. Not by choice, for by all accounts I should be dead. I�ve been run through with a sword more times then I can count and stabbed in the back with more than one kind of weapon. This immortality of mine is a curse; damning me for all eternity to walk a life of bloodshed, never living but not quite dead. After all I have seen, Rae, I do not fear death; I welcome it.�

For minutes that seemed like eternity, the two warriors stood watch over their people; Aurora over her army and Raven over her coven. Both contemplating the outcome of the slaughter they�d knew they would face come morning. Finally, Raven broke the silence by saying, �I know of the peace you seek. I only have to look into your eyes to see the despair that I know linger in mine. When I met you over so long ago, your eyes were the color of the fairest sky that has not been seen in this land for ages. Yet with each death by your hands, those eyes changed from their true color into a black like the very gate we storm in the morning. I have watched as your hope died a little more with each passing year.�

�Then why continue this charade? It is physically impossible for us to defeat the Black Company. Yet people willingly follow me to their deaths. I never asked to be their hero; I never asked to be their queen,� Aurora said with venom in her voice as she whipped herself around to face Raven, auburn hair spilling around her wild eyes.

�You didn�t, but you are. I know you didn�t ask to be their savior, but you are. A hero isn�t someone who chooses to be one. A true hero is someone who rises to the challenge when all others do not. That is who you are; a hope and a light in a continuous sea of darkness. That is what you do, Queen Aurora Darkstar of the Numenor kings,� Raven insisted, then took a deep bow before Aurora.

�I told you it isn�t fitting for the Matriarch of the Order of Shadows to bow to another,� Aurora replied, her ebony eyes dancing with mirth.

�And I told you I�d only bow to the one who taught me all that I know,� Raven said as she stood back up, the beginnings of a smile tugging at her tanned face.

Suddenly, a flurry of movement behind the two young women caught their attention. Both turned to meet who they assumed was their enemy, sword and knives drawn. Raven and Aurora both dropped their weapons when they realized who it was; Aurora�s second-in-command.

�Halden, don�t you know by now that by sneaking up on two old war veterans like ourselves, you risk losing a limb,� Aurora said with a sigh as she re-sheathed her knives.

�A thousand apologies, your highness and Matriarch,� Halden said with a smile as he took a deep bow before his friends.

�What is with the royal treatment today? Did you two plan this,� Aurora asked with a small smile as she looked at her two closest friends.

�That would require me to willingly talk with this Haradirrim prince and we both know I�d rather burn in Mordor before I�d do that,� Raven replied stoically, but the laughter in her gray eyes betrayed her true meaning.

�Just as that would require me to openly associate myself with this hell-witch from the Coast,� Halden retorted with a snort.

�As interesting as this comical banter between the two of you is, I�d very much like to know what Halden and his company found on the fields today,� Aurora asked, the seriousness of conversation immediately evident.

�We found just what we always knew we would; bones and dust over two millennia old. But we were able to secure a few good pieces of land to bury the bombs in. They are set to detonate whenever one of those missing links in evolution step on them,� Halden reported.

�Good. At least the element of surprise is still with us,� Aurora said softly.

�That�s not all you found, was it Halden,� Raven asked, her silver eyes glowing with magic.

�I have told you time and time again; stay out of my mind, woman,� Halden replied quickly, �but you are right, we did find something else of importance on the field.�

For a few agonizing moments, the three stood face-to-face, each waiting for the other to break the silence. Finally, Aurora broke it by asking, �Well, what did you find? And by the gods, don�t you make me guess.�

�I didn�t want to tell you initially. I thought the items would bring up too much of your past,� Halden replied softly, the laughter gone from his emerald eyes, �but I do think you should know.� He then opened the leather bag he had been carrying and unwrapped it. All three of the friends simply stood still for what seemed like ages, looking at the what Halden had found on the old battlefield.

�I thought those items had long since vanished to legend,� Raven murmured.

�Apparently not. We found them among what we assumed were the remnants of King Elessar and his company,� Halden said gravely, �I figured they belonged to you more than anyone, Phoenix.�

Slowly and without a word, Phoenix moved towards the items Halden held in his hand. Gently, she picked up the handle of the broken sword and the pendant, both showing signs of their age. Suddenly, as if electricity had shot through her hands, she dropped them back into Halden�s waiting hands.

�You had a vision, didn�t you,� Raven asked, moving to grasp her friend�s shaking hands.

Jerking her head up to meet her friend�s gaze, Phoenix slowly looked at the silver ring on her left hand. A ring that held just as much power as the fabled One Ring. Turning her face to meet her friend�s, Phoenix commanded softly, �There�s been a slight change of plans. We are not marching on the Black Gate tomorrow. Rather, we will attack them from the past. Raven, be ready with the Order of Shadows in one hour. Halden, inform your troops that there has been a change in our travel plans.�

With a curt nod, Phoenix turned and walked back towards the encampment, her soft boots never making a sound on the rough earth beneath her. When she was gone from their sight, Halden turned to Raven and asked with confusion in his voice, �What did she mean �we will attack from the past�?�

�She�s going to attempt the Evermore spell,� Raven replied, then turned to follow her friend, all the while the tattoo of moon and sun on her forehead glowing brightly.

A/N the quote in Aurora�s speech was by Dolores Ibarruri, a Spanish Communist memoirist.
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New Dawn Rising