Talon followed the young guard down into the bowels of the castle of Taunderon til at length they came upon a less frequented portion of the dungeon. Strangely enough, this night it was frequented much more than usual; a small horde of guards seemed to be surrounding someone, taunting and jeering.The young Talasti.

No doubt news of the King's death had traveled fast throughout the Castle; Talon could tell from the jeers and taunts being hurled in the elf's direction that this was so. For a very long while, he allowed them to simply continue their actions...

...and at length finally stepped forward. "Enough!" he growled, drawing shocked looks from the guards, who backed away from the bruised and cut young man, who was laying limply--although rather defiantly on the ground.

Talon stepped inward, giving Talasti a good moment to look at his fearsome features, then unchained him and yanked him up forcefully into his iron grasp. With not so much as a word to the guards, he then dragged the young elf up into Adra's chambers, where he chained his hands and feet around a column.

Then he stepped back to regard the poor young fellow, his eyes never leaving him while he awaited Adra's return to her chambers.

[ 01-25-2003 07:59 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Talon ]

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I would love to have the pleasure of ripping you to shreds...

Continue tracking him on my own...or search out the King's daughter in Taunderon? he pondered.

If Arandil goes to Taunderon, the journey will cost him much time in trying to track the Dunlending. In fact, he may even lose the trail. But he may also discover the chieftain's exact location...

On the other hand, if the ranger continued to track the chieftain on his own, he would have to rely on blind luck to find any traces of him.

As foolish as he is, he is wise and cunning. The Dunlending will undoubtedly try to cover his tracks.

Both choices were extremely risky. If he chooses wrong, the true heir to Gondor will be lost...

Then I'll have to take the throne.

He frowned at the thought, knowing that he may be too weak to do such a thing...knowing that he may share the fate of Isildur...

The night began to grow brighter as the dawn came anew. Arandil quickly put the thought out of his mind and made his decision...

He ran through the forest to find a path that would lead to Taunderon.

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"Do you seek the Daughter of the Moon?"

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I come upon the outskirts of the Taunderon kingdom... As I feared, we shall not receive a warm welcome...

Kronos took in one last glimpse of the massively upgraded defenses...

Meanwhile, back at the campfire...

"So... you advise against it, my Elven friend..." Landi rose to his feet, and proceeded to wake the others...

"Young prince, the decision comes down to you..."

"We shall ride into Taunderon, as planned... I trust you to keep harm at bay..." Trevor said, as smugly as ever...

"So be it..." Landi was the last to mount his horse, they proceeded east...

To Taunderon...

[ 01-14-2003 11:32 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Kronos ]

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The rider's horse walked through the forest and onto the dirt path the ranger was following. Arandil recognized that the rider had come from the same path of Wydde's Wood, so he or she must be friendly...

The ranger waited as the horse approached...

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Feileacan survey the man waiting for his response with the extreme patience of her kindred, while sliding off the horse as she could not ask the beast to make this journey with her.

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She squatted then, cupping Talasti's chin with her cold hand and jerking his face to where his eyes had no other choice but to meet hers. She leaned in as if she were whispering some deadly secret and, in all acuality, she was. "The Ring will only work for evil, my young captive," she whispered. "Only a fool would try to use it for anything else."

At that she drew back ever-the-slightest, staring into Talasti's hardened eyes, letting her words sink in though she was keenly aware that he did not believe her at all. Then cruelly she ended with, "Think of it, what would a pathetic little elf like yourself want with the Ring, but to achieve your own power... already its evil has claimed you!" she hissed almost gleefully, a dark and unpleasant smile gracing her features.

With that she stood, now dropping something--a piece of fresh bread--from her other hand, knowing that chained Talasti would never be able to get it unless someone actually fed it to him. The young man had to be famished; Adra really didn't know if he'd been fed anything at all in the dungeon and if he had it hadn't been something pleasant. The mere suggestion of edible food had to be utter torture...

Then, her smile growing even darker, she placed a picture of cool water, perfectly clear, beside the piece of bread. "Your friends have forgotten you, my young friend," Adra said coldly. "Join me, and you can begin the road to gaining everything you want..."

With this she said no more, but simply waited to see what Talasti might respond.

[ 01-21-2003 12:14 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Adra Slavonic ]

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"It is heavily guarded... I sense much evil ahead..." Kronos gave warning...

"We press on..." Landi, the wizard, said with much doubt...

The group reached the first wave of guards...

"I am Trevor, Prince of Ithilien, open your borders to my party..."

They awaited reply...

Kronos, the elf, was ever mindful of the dangers lying ahead...

[ 01-21-2003 04:03 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Kronos ]

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The ranger turned back and stepped forward, ready to dash into the woods. "The city is not far away." he called to the elf. "If we move with haste, we can make it Taunderon before nightfall."

At the very moment he was about to take off running, Arandil stopped himself and looked back. "Unless you know of a quicker route?"

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"Taunderon has no use for visitors," the leader commented. Even as he did so, he cast a particularly wary look in the direction of their Elven companion. "We certainly have no use for Elves."

Then he turned back to the young Trevor. "You, Prince of Ithilien, would be wise to take your party now and depart..."

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"That's the best joke I've heard in a while... now, you've heard his majesty, he wishes to speak with the king..."

Bendar dropped from his steed, and approached the leader of the guard faction...

"...I am the top warrior of the kingdom of Ithilien, this..." He pointed toward Vereiz,"...is my apprentice, followed by the wizard Landi, and... the elf, Kronos of Dolamroth..."

He now came within inches of the guard,"We will meet with your King, even if it comes at a lethal price..."

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He gave the great unicorn a gentle pat, whispering his thanks to it before turning again to his companion, "i will take news the the king... I am unsure if i will find my way back to you... take care in your journies, we will meet again should the tree's will it."

then he hoped upon the great mount which was provided, taking a moment to catch his barrings, for he was not one of the most trained horsment in middle earth, and this was indeed much more then a horse...

then, after but another moment, he was off..

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And then there was one...

Somehow, he had known that it would come to this. A great choice would be put before him, but he knew not what. Now he knew. Three wouldn't have been nearly enough to overpower the guards of the dungeon and free Talasti, even if he was indeed lightly guarded. If there was any hope in freeing Talasti, more manpower would be necessary. L'Endriel was no captain of war, but that was pretty obvious. Since there was no manpower available, the prudent choice would be to wait for the others.

Unless, of course, he decided to pursue a different strategy.

Stealth might work. Now that he was alone, he would have the ability to pass off as a man. L'Endriel looked down at his garb and smirked. He was dressed a bit differently from the elves, and had twin hatchets at the sides of his legs.

Yes, he would pass off as a man.

Travel if you will to save a mere one...Eirianna had said. L'Endriel gritted his teeth. He knew that this "mere one" was suffering, and suffering alone. He knew that when alone, the suffering only multiplied, and hope gave way to despair.

L'Endriel mounted the unicorn without hesitation and began to ride. He did not know how far Talasti had regressed while rotting in prison, but he knew that sooner or later, everyone had their breaking point. Time was of the essence. He bid his steed to ride faster.

[ 01-22-2003 10:20 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by L'Endriel ]

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His grip on his sword tightened. "Our king has been found dead in the night." he started, then eyeing the elf once more as he continued. "His death was by an Elven arrow."

The squad of guards under his lead picked up on the implication. They tightened their circle about the unwanted guests. "How convenient your arrival then is. If you wish to become enemies of Taunderon, by all means, continue to press onward. If you wish to leave in one piece, however, you would be advised to depart as I have commanded your fool prince..."

[ 01-23-2003 01:15 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Adra Slavonic ]

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It was an image of a large and hideous being, sitting in the darkness of...

Somewhere.

Somewhere familiar; a place she had seen before, even visited once, a long, long time ago. But try as she might, she could not place that locality.

It was as if it were enchanted somehow, that something was preventing her magicks from informing her of where this vicious looking being was.

Then that image segued into another: a woman, darkly beautiful, smiling the smile of a balrog if indeed such a being ever could. A smile of secret events set into quiet motion, here and there, all leading up to....

Eirianna's eyes widened as she jerked her finger from the pool of mercury.

The King of Gondor kidnapped as a babe, long ago, leaving his kingdom under loose leadership. The King of Taunderon murdered, to all appearances by elven arrow. And the elf who it appeared was being set up for the revenge of man...

...was not yet killed.

Why? True he was but a lad, but for what reason was he not yet destroyed? Was it because he had sought the Ring...? He was young, and naive, and open about it; that was a fact.

Someone else, perhaps, sought the One Ring... and perhaps thought this youth knew something, something which would be enough that he would be kept alive. Or he was being used as a trap, to pull the Elven into war with Man, that one turn against the other and thus weaken each other in the process...

...leaving one lurking in growing strength... One who indeed might be seeking the One Ring?

To then use it for....

Now Eirianna leapt to her feet, filled with growing certainty that she was on the right track. She flew upward, following steps carved first in bedrock, then in tamped-down soil, and finally came into the base of a great and ancient oak. As she came out into its hollow base, she went to the cambrium still in the walls, and reaching out one slender hand laid it on the living wood. She dropped to one knee in reverence.

"Thank you, Grandfather," she murmured softly. Then she rose to her feet and exited the tree, to stand in the deep shadows of Wydde's Wood. A piercing keen escaped her lips; soon she was rewarded as Gorfynt came plunging to answer her call. Above her head, his form camoflagued by the forest's canopy, Hecate circled and screamed.

She leapt lightly aboard the stamping Gorfynt, who quieted long enough to turn his noble head and stare at her in welcome. She smiled briefly, and stroked his neck. Then she straightened, her demeanor growing firm.

"Bring notice to those seeking the lad, my friend!" she called up to Hecate. "I ride to the Keep to inform the King!"

With that the magnificent unicorn upon whose back she was astride reared, whirled upon his hind feet, and took off at a mad run, slaloming through the trees, his hooves pounding the duff beneath them into bits.

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The twelve guards were ready, with their hands on the hilts of their swords, it did not matter...

Bendar bull-rushed the main guard, knocking him on his back... before the two guards on opposite sides of the guard that had fallen had a chance to unsheathe their swords, Bendar took them down as well; one of them receiving the hilt of Bendar's sword to his temple, and the other his closed fist...

Vereiz leapt from his horse, pinning a guard near the rear, knocking him out and parrying another guards attack...

Landi, the wizard, threw two guards near the front to the ground with his staff...

With his Lothlorian bow, Kronos was able to disable five guards from atop his steed... hitting three in their digits, and the other two in the hand itself...

With all of the guards incapacitated, Bendar and Vereiz took their weapons and bounded their hands...

"...it's been too long..." Bendar said with warriors' pride... they mounted their beasts... "...Forward! on to the interior gate..." he ordered the guards...

They marched, not knowing what awaited them at the main gate...

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Adra looked to the defiantly quiet Talasti, and snorted. "You are not so brave as even I had thought," she smirked. "You aren't worth the time."

Then she turned her eyes to her crystal, commanding it to show her the visions the Ringwraith had seen. In that crystal appeared the image of a couple of warriors, one who appeared to be a wizard, a young and somehow regally attired young man...

...and an elf.

Adra placed the tip of her right index finger to her lips as she thought. Then she watched the progress of these "visitors" only from her chambers, sensing that an opportunity of sorts was about to arise for her to use...

[ 01-24-2003 11:37 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Adra Slavonic ]

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"Of course, they know we're here [i]now..." Bendar answered back...

"That's not what he meant, prepare yourselves, something wicked this way comes..." Landi said, sending a chill down the spine of young Prince Trevor...

"I shall meet up with you, if you find yourselves within the interior..."Kronos said, before seeming to disappear into thin air...

Kronos took his twin elven short swords from their resting place, between his back and his quiver... He started to climb the castle wall, using his swords as makeshift climbing tools...

Meanwhile

The rest of the group awaited the gate to open...

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--nor did she care. One thing was certain though, and that was that she didn't wish to deal with yet another fool who wanted that blessed Ring; one was quite enough.

Even as the shadows of the night began to fall once more, Adra stood from her perch next to her crystal and stepped onto the balcony of her chambers, staff in hand. Her eyes darkened further as cues from one of her ever-faithful Ringwraiths informed her of the Prince's location, seeming to somehow beg her for allowance to go to him and drag him into the Hellish depths of non-death where all Ringwraiths dwelt.

She smiled wickedly. Not this time. This one is mine.

Reaching out then with her staff, Adra aimed it for a particularly storm-filled cloud hovering in the air above, channeling her dark magicks then through her staff to charge particles within the cloud. Then she sent those charged particles downward, and they sparked with electric fury into four bolts of lightning directed straight for the unsuspecting Prince and his companions, eeriely not even touching the Taunderon guards. As the bolts disappated...

...left in their wake were the dead bodies of the wizard, the two warriors, and the Prince.

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He couldn't be seen... so rather than attract attention by taking unnecessary lives, he carefully made his way to the gate controls...

The guard watched as the lever seemingly moved on its own...

The gates opened, granting access to whomever awaited...

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I wonder why there are so many troops? Its almost like their at war... Arandil wondered.

The ranger had not spoken to the elf for the entire trip, afraid of revealing too much of his quest. It is not Feileacan that worries him though; the spies of this "sorceress" whom she spoke of were. The ranger badly wanted to ask her about that...

Don't ask, don't tell. Best to wait until we find the King's daughter before I ask anything...

Within moments, they arrived to the walls of Taunderon and the main gate. Arandil squinted his eyes to get a better look.

"Odd," he began, interrupting a silence that had followed him for a long time, "A group of men, with their hands bound behind them I think, are marching into the gate."

A strong stench filled the air he was breathing and Arandil turned away. The smell was disgusting. It seemed a cross between wood burning, rusting metal, and dried blood. The ranger realized it was coming from the gate.

Arandil stepped forward with his arm covering his mouth and face as he searched the gate...

He stepped back and walked to Feileacan. "There are bodies...four I think...with their skin burnt. I have no idea what to make of it..."

The ranger became unsure whether it was a wise idea to come to Taunderon at all.

[ 01-27-2003 07:38 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Arandil ]

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Well he knew there were those who continued on the path they had chosen, a path momentarily departed from by the Daughter of the Moon, who he had befriended. Now bringing his powerful wings in more closely to his body, he stooped earthward, the whistle of the wind now a hurricane in his ears, the clear nicitating membranes sliding down over his eyes to prevent them from drying out in his great dive. Down and down he went, until scarcely five feet from the top of the tallest tree he snapped out his wings, converting the dive into a great and swooping arc. He arrowed along the treetops, crying out again; then with but one or two flaps of his wings he headed sunward once more, up into the freedom of the sky.

One more time he circled the position where he knew the others were... or at least were nearby to it. Then he let out a final piercing cry...

...and turned round to go back to Moon's Keep, to let his friend know that those following the path to Taunderon had chosen to heed his warning not.

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....the one who would dare disturb the bare remainders of the day which the kingdom was spending in mourning of a lost king. Even as she watched she knew what would happen next. The lead guard at the main gate rallied his men and unbound the hostages. Then he sent messengers out to other factions of the Taunderon guard to watch even more carefully for tresspassers. Still, they could not find the one who had opened the gate...

...but Adra knew exactly who had. For of the group of tresspassers which she had just killed, there was yet one missing. The elf, who no doubt was a bearer of an elven cloak which would protect him from the eyes of the guards. She watched even as the lead guard scanned the wall of the gate, his look shifting from one of puzzlement to one of understanding to one of complete anger.

He knew.

Adra smiled wicked even as she continued to keep an eye on the progressing events.

”Elven cloak!” the lead gaurd then snarled, actually drawing his sword, suspicion clouding his eyes. ”Who dares...!?” he then seethed, his men all gathering behind him with their own swords drawn, prepared to move in at the command.

At her crystal, Adra yet watched, her look tinged with...

...satisfaction.

She, as well as the Taunderon guards, merely waited...

[ 01-27-2003 10:38 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Adra Slavonic ]

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