--------------------

Arandil nodded, the thought still on his mind.

"Its probably the only chance we have. The guards on the wall seem to be occupied with something. They won't spot us if we move quickly along the river bank."

The ranger searched for a stream leading inside...and spotted one a few yards away. Arandil and Feileacan moved through the forest until they reached the flowing river. From there they followed it, under cover of darkness, into a tunnel...

"Tell me," Arandil said in a low voice to the elf. "Has anything happened to Taunderon that has caused its army to be so alert?"

--------------------

She was one of the two elven women the demon had attacked in the woods of Moon’s Keep...

Adra frowned, then snorted disdainfully, knowing that this had to be the “rescue team” for the young Talasti. Either the elves in that village were foolish enough to not see a Ringwraith and a message seared in evil as a threat, or someone was acting against the advice of others more wise. Adra figured the second, for she somehow sensed the strength and wisdom of that other female elf...

...the one who had the power to blind her demons...

Adra was interrupted from these thoughts when there came a knock at her chamber doors. Pulling herself from her crystal, she stood and floated to the door gracefully, opening it to reveal the guard. He opened his mouth to tell her of what had happened at the gate, but she rose a hand to hush him. “I know of your troubles at the main gate,” she said soothingly. “Tell the Captain that it will do him little good to continue seeking the elf; he has probably already used his trickery to get safely within our walls or perhaps even has fled after discovering his companion’s untimely demise. Even with my magicks I cannot say where he is, nor do I know what it is that he seeks if it is here he remains.”

She paused at that then, pursing her lips thoughtfully, the look on her face implying nothing but concern. But inside she was simply gleeful, in an evil sort of way of course, for a wicked idea was coming to her mind. “Strange that an elf should be travelling with men...” she then added, seeing the rising concern in the guard’s eyes. Then she added, “Even now I have also become aware that a female elf and another man are sneaking into our kingdom through our waterways.”

The guard looked alarmed for a fraction of a second, then polished it off into a look of mild concern. "Shall we intercept them, my lady?” he asked.

Adra nodded, the look on her face implying that she regretted having to do so. “I’m afraid you must. But capturing others will only lead the elves of Moon’s Keep to send more to oppose us and weaken our defenses, now that they have murdered our king. After all, they sent this one,” she said, waving at the chained Talasti, “They have sent these others now sneaking in via the waterway...and perhaps they even had a hand in what has happened at the gate, for I know not of any other elf folk who would disturb us.”

She quieted at that, watching as anger gelled in the depths of the guard’s eyes. She had to fight the wicked smile, knowing her plans were proceeding perfectly. “Do you suggest that we take more... aggressive actions against this meddling and murderous elf?” the guard then queried.

Adra’s icy blue eyes met his. “Yes, my friend. We must. Now go, and tell the Captain of the Guard I wish to speak with him. Also make certain to send a squad out after the interlopers in the waterway. Time is key.”

The guard bowed respectfully. “Yes my lady, at once.”

With this he turned and departed hurriedly...so hurriedly, in fact, that he didn’t even note the wicked smile that had finally risen on Adra’s face. Discord between elf and man was beginning, and would soon lead to discord among men if Adra played her cards just right.

Her evil plans were at last bearing fruit...

[ 01-31-2003 12:48 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Adra Slavonic ]

--------------------

She looked over and smiled at him, well no one had said this would be easy.

--------------------

Yep, I pretty much stood there in silence, I found mental tranquility and verbal hush to be the way of life in such hectic enviroments. It was as of now that I couldn't manage myself, every second she, Adra Slavonic: an sadistic being of uncomprehendable savagery, had a sneer of confidence. At times it even was directed to me which only angered me so much more than I had been angered me so, yet I controlled myself sustaining an expression of lull.

Yet my verbal mental incarceration was slipping at every moment and at times I thought I would explode to expose every edge of anger, instead of intelligently composing myself.

Many things angered me but they were scrambled and unanswerable by even my emotions. I just wandered around them in the void of my mind attempting to clasp them with and intelligent perspective, but that didn't help. They were simple questions that challenged the views, but when challenging yourself their was always a long tide of meditation.

The questions where:

1. Am I angry at the beautiful lady for the root of the altercation or the woman before me?

2. Is it me that is falling further into darkness or this inhuman being?

The list went on and on, but I still couldn't answer it, but maybe if I heard myself say them outloud, just maybe the thought process could change.

"Adra--" I said, my words aiming for her attention though my pause was only momentarily it was not a hesitant of fear by her face that turned to see me.

"Do you believe that I--an elf of such youth to be falling to darkness quicker than the plans that you accumilate, or is it that you hold greater darkness than even I can comprehened?" The statement was delivered cunningly without even a stutter betweein my words, I had assured myself of that with a recall of them in my head only seconds after I spoke them.

It was in the silence of the room that led me to gaze at her deepily, my red fox orbs reaching for her soul to grasp it's very intentions, but I was too short and she was too evil to touch even spirtually.

[ 01-31-2003 09:06 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Talasti ]

--------------------

Arandil frowned, embarrassed for these recruits.

They HAVE to be recruits if they're moving through the water wearing armor on their legs.

Arandil only made a half smile to Feileacan in an attempt to reassure her.

"They're probably as foolish as they are reckless." he said as they continued walking their way through the ankle-high water.

Before long, Arandil and Feileacan reached three tunnels, one going straight ahead and the others left and right. He stopped as two men, dressed in mail armour, emerged from the tunnel in front of them. Two more guards came out of the other tunnels, but did not advance on them. All except one were armed with spears.

Again, Arandil frowned at the ambush.

No wonder I couldn't figure out where they were going...they seperated.

The captain in front of them, holding a sword unlike the others, stepped forward. He pointed the blade at Arandil.

"Surrender your weapons," he stated, "And we will let you live. We will try and make your punishment as lenient as possible."

The ranger, who hadn't even touched his sword yet, nodded towards the elf. "What about her?"

The captain looked at Feileacan and his face flushed red with anger. "She...IT...will never leave this place. Her kind has dealt us a horrific blow and we will have justice!"

The ranger looked at the man quizzically. "What has happened? What have the Elves done to earn such hatred?"

The guard looked and nearly spat at him as he shouted. "They killed our King!"

Arandil moved fast and gripped the spear of one of the guards of the left tunnel. He tried to yank it from him, but he still held a grip and was pulled forward. The ranger punched the man across the face, then struck the other guard in the forehead with the blunt end of the spear.

During this time, the captain was only able to give a surprised expression on his still-red face.

Arandil dropped the spear and unsheathed his sword. "Keep them alive." he said to Feileacan. "And leave the loudmouth awake. I have some questions that need answering..."

--------------------

At length he sighed, and raised his head. Eirianna stared back at him, her clear gray eyes troubled.

"It would indeed appear that there is great and surreptitious evil present, my daughter," he said at length, waving his hand toward the disc. "I too find this greatly disturbing, that a prince of man has long been taken... and now a king of man has been murdered, and his death contrived to appear fabricated by Elven hand.

"We have been approached by man to give aid regarding this prince... and I could assist not. Now the King of Taunderon..." He waved once more toward the disk.

"Indeed, it is as you suggest. It would appear that someone is setting man against elven... and the only reason I can think this might be designed is to weaken them both, as you say."

Now he paused, and turned away from his daughter, another wave of his hand indicating he was through with the vision her moon-disc had shown him. She let forth a small sigh, and took it in her hand, letting the silvery substance which had filled it absorb into her hand before replacing it about her neck. Still not speaking, she quietly waited her father's edict.

For surely one was forthcoming.

Gildur strode again to the great arched window, and gazed out upon the quiet beauty of Wydde's Wood. However, all he could see were the shadowy images of the warriors of man, their hands full of weaponry and fire, their harsh cries filling the quiet shadows as they came in hordes to attack the Keep.

This simply could not be allowed.

He turned and faced Eirianna.

"By Elven magicks, and under the protection of the Ents, we shall withdraw from the sight of Man," he at last said heavily. Clearly this was not a choice he was making lightly; much there was that elven had learned from man, and much could man receive in turn from the tutorage of the elven.

"I will not allow my people to be drawn into a war they do not deserve. I shall protect our own."

--------------------

"What of the boy, and the noble E'rae?" she asked of length. "As well as the one I chose as brother? Are we to forget them too? Are we to hide away, and leave them to whatever dire fate awaits them at the hands of man?

"And in regard to man," she went on, abruptly changing track. "What of this lost prince? Perhaps if we can assist in finding him, the men of Taunderon would see the possibility that their own king was not felled by Elven hand. It is not logical to strike against one, and give effort to benefit the other."

She paused a moment, considering, sniffing a bit to see the brief fire that flashed in her father's eyes. For though he loved his daughter dearly, he was King of the Elven, and once an edict had been declared he would have none gainsay it.

She ignored the look, and straightened before him.

"Father," she said softly but with that firmness the mighty oak maintains against the gale. "I would return along the path I had taken. I shall use the magick of which I have been blessed with understanding, as well as my own ability with the bow, and shall join with those who seek the lad and who would stand before that evil which creeps like mists among the autumn trees."

She stood tall and silent before him, unspeaking then, until she saw the slight change in his attitude and in his eye. He bowed his agreement, then, and lifted a warning hand to her.

She knew full well what that meant.

"It is understood, Father," she replied in a quiet voice. "I shall not gain entry into Moon's Keep again...

"...until the goals I have set out to take have been reached, and man and elven are reconciled."

With that she stepped forward and wrapped her arms about Gildur in a tight embrace, holding him as though she might never see him again. For indeed, this was something even her magicks could not tell her at the moment.

His returning grip seemed to reach out to prevent her from leaving as she finally backed away a bit. Then, kissing her father on the cheek, she abruptly whirled about and strode out of his Great Hall, soon coming to her rooms where she adorned herself with a travelling cloak and her personal bow and quiver of arrows. Going to a drawer, she took out an embroidered bag, which she fastened upon the sash that bound her slender waist.

Then she departed from the Keep, calling out for Gorfynt as she went. And even as she leapt upon his broad and powerful back, to flee the outer walls of the Keep, even though she kept her eyes focused straight upon the path which twined amidst the trees ahead of them, she could yet feel the very wood cry out in anguish when Moon's Keep and all those within it suddenly slipped into the shadows behind her....

Never to be found by man again -- or indeed, by her -- until the mysterious evil threatening Middle Earth had been successfully thwarted.

The call of the ever-circling Hecate alive in her ears, the warmth of Gorfynt's hide beneath her, she lifted her face and urged her mount to a gallop. Behind her was nothing but trees and shadows and a strange sense of emptiness which only made her heart grow heavy in her breast, and made the creatures of Wydde's Wood cry out in secret pain.

[ 02-01-2003 02:22 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Eirianna ]

--------------------

...or you will die here. For though you may desire the One Ring....

...you lack the power to wield it. And if you did have the power to wield it...”

She trailed, her look darkening into a promise of death. As if on cue to that, her crystal responded once more to the sights her minions were taking in throughout Middle Earth, and particularly one region of Middle Earth which Adra had taken great interest in. In the view of that crystal shone the image of a flaxen-haired elven woman whom Adra was beginning to recognize well...

...and was beginning to hate with every fiber of her being. That elven woman was astride a great and mighty unicorn and was headed...

Adra’s eyes grew even darker. She turned from the depths of her crystal to Talasti once more. “You will assist me, whether it is your choice or not. Even now your “friends” come, but they come not for you...” she paused, sensing the fall of Wydde’s Wood into shadow. “...they come merely to protect themselves, and they would not stand for one such as you seeking the One Ring regardless of what they may claim. With me...” she again smiled wickedly, “You will have a power that they cannot even fathom, that they will never hold. For I will control them all...”

**************************************

As Arandil and the Feileacan began to take on the Taunderon guards rather boldly, the eyes of the demon flared into brillant life in a certain sort of demonic...

...amusement. The female elf seemed to somehow sense the watching eyes, but Arandil either did not or paid it no heed. The move was foolish on his part. Even as he whirled on the Captain of the Guards, his face quizzical yet firey, a demonic screech suddenly filled the air, certainly defeaning any who was near, even the Taunderon guard. Before those ears could recover, the demon stepped out of the shadows in the form of a black and inky shadow of evil. The waterways suddenly fell into an abnormal chill, sending shivers of evil down the back of the ranger and the elf. The Tuanderon guards...

...were strangely unaffected by this. Even as that shadow of evil descended upon Feileacan and Arandil and caused them confusion...

...the Taunderon guard recovered from the initial shock and moved in, their eyes firey with anger at Arandil’s foolish attack. The Captain of the Guard took the still-surprised Arandil off-guard and placed his sword parallel to the ground and under Arandil’s chin, holding it tightly to his throat and therefore holding him in place against the wall of the particular water tunnel they stood in. His eyes pierced the ranger’s. “You are an ally of THEM!” he seethed.

Even as he did so, the shadow of evil that was the demon fell upon the waterways once more, pinning the two intruders in place. Some of the Tuanderon guards took Feileacan with little difficulty. “Take her to the castle!” the captain ordered. Even as those guards began dragging Feileacan along, the Captain then turned his eyes back to the ranger, who was still pinned to the wall, the chill of evil still looming like a shadow about them. “What reason do I have to keep you alive, you puppet of Elves?” he growled then fell silent, waiting for a reply.

--------------------

Was it that in truth I was what she believed I was or was it that I felt sadistic and evil for the fact that I brought those to rescue me in a situation that could injure them? I simply frowned in reply and continued on a trip of silence. Placing my head down and my eyes closed my mental ability focused on tranquility so I once could be at peace with self to find that this darkness was not me.

I knew it wasn't and I knew she did too...

She's just an evil being who uses wizardy..

--------------------

That being the guard and the sword against my throat...

Arandil pondered the man's question, uncertain over what the answer should be.

If I do not speak he will kill me anyway.

The ranger looked into the guard's eyes, saw the rage barely being held back, then looked at the shadow behind him...already shaping itself into a dark cloud.

Arandil realized what must be done. He must now show the evil that has descended upon Taunderon that he does not fear it, and to show the courage that lies dormant in the hearts of the Men of Middle Earth. He looked to the guard...

"I am Arandil, son of Arungvir, Chieftain of the Dunedain."

Then he shifted his eyes to the darkness that gathered before him, sensing the demon staring back.

"Descedant of the House of Isildur. Heir to the Throne of Gondor. My title is recognized by the Steward of Gondor and if I am slain, he will bring war to Taunderon while you fight with the Elves."

Arandil glared at the demon while waiting for a response...

--------------------

Kronos had found himself walking into this scene while looking for another route his party might use to enter the Castle walls...

Camped out against a near by stairwell, he blended against the sewer wall and took out the guards...

Kronos approached Feileacan carefully,"Why do you enter through the sewers?"

He awaited her reply...

--------------------

Ulfhak the Scourge could still sense "it"...the cloud in his mind...the thing that keeps calling him even from his sleep. As he led his army south to conquer Taunderon, he still felt the calling. His troops were now a day's march from the kingdom of Man...but Ulfhak couldn't wait. He must find it!

The guards' boots echoed the hallways of the keep...while the rotting shoes and sandals the orcs wore barely made a noise as they scuttled their way through.

Eventually they reached a chamber, richly decorated...with a dark, shadowy feel to it.

Ulfhak crept silently into the keep...the noises in his head were turning to whispers. The orc saw an elf, standing there bound by chains, but before him was an ugly (from an Orc's point of view) human female, wearing a black suit.

It was then that the whispering turned into a voice. It was loud enough to seem it was coming from right next to Ulfhak, and carried with it a sinister tone. It echoed in his ears and head as he heard it.

"Her name is Adra Slavonic, a sorceress. She is my lieutenant as you are my champion, Ulfhak...the Scourge of the Iron Hills."

Ulfhak would have dropped to his knees and whimpered had the voice not frozen him in place. Not just him either; the two other orcs were just as petrified. They knew who was speaking, the only one who had the power to stop them from breathing so they could hear him clearly.

The Dark Lord himself...Sauron.

"I have sent you to aid her in the search for a lost possession of mine. Submit to her as you have submitted to me. Do not fail me, Ulfhak."

Then he was gone. Ulfhak felt air enter his lungs, and he heard his two supporters inhaling again.

It is his will, and my duty to never question it. he thought.

Ulfhak stepped closer to Adra and bowed his head. The other two orcs did likewise.

"The Army of the Iron Hills is at your command, my Lady. What are your orders?"

--------------------

On and on they flew until at length the darkness about them seemed to lighten a fraction; with a brief snort the spotted unicorn came to a halt at the edge of Wydde's Wood and stood dancing and jigging, his breath steaming out into the cool night air. The Daughter of the Moon reached out a soft hand to steady him, then moved that hand and reached into the bag hanging from her waist. From it she drew forth a mushroom cap and some dried leaves; she crumbled the leaves and sprinkled them into the cap. This she held up toward the sliver of moon which so scarcely lightened the woods, and watched with a clear, calm gaze as those barely-there motes came down in a dancing swirl to play in the cup-shaped piece. She let them gambol therein for a moment, then made a sign above the cap. The motes quieted, then swirled about to form an image.

Eirianna's eyes darkened to smoke as she watched the images coalesce.

So, that one coming to us, and who now travels with Feileacan, is a prince... as is another one, but one of elven blood she mused as she watched the events unfold. And into that growing darkness comes more: an orc brings dire promise of assistance.

Yet nowhere in those sparkling swirls came there information of her chosen brother or the noble elf from her own Keep. She frowned, wondering as to their absence, and straightened with a sigh. The young Talasti was still prisoner; it was for his sake that she had returned after bringing information of dark designs to her father. But those she had returned to join appeared to have disappeared... and others had then popped into being in their stead.

She sat atop the shivering Gorfynt, mulling a course of action. Truly, a bold entry would not be the best thing she could do. Then a thought struck her.

Raising her eyes from the scenes in the mushroom cap, she now raised a hand as well and made a sign in the air. After a few moments, a ghostly shadow came fluttering to her: a luna moth. It settled on her outreached hand with a gentle shimmy of it's minty wings, it's feathery antenna waving in delicate acknowledgment of her summons.

"Fly hence and inform the fey Prince that I am here on the outskirts of Wydde's Wood, and would join with them in the retrieval of the young Talasti," she beseeched the insect. "I thank you for your help."

With that she lifted her hand yet higher and set the moth on its fluttering way. It headed in a zig-zag course directly to the kingdom of Taunderon, where it came to a tickling landing on the cheek of the elven Prince. Securing a strong foothold, it quietly whispered what Eirianna had asked directly into his ear.

[ 02-05-2003 12:44 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Eirianna ]

--------------------

retrieval???

Something else, beyond the party's absence, was happening in the kingdom of Taunderon... and Kronos welcomed the mystery with open arms...

He came now, even closer to Feileacan,"Why is it you come here... is it for... Talasti..."

He again, waited...

--------------------

Iiiiiiiiiisildur!!! it hissed yet once more, then falling into a deathly silence.

The information regarding Arandil’s lineage then travelled along a link forged in evil between the Ringwraith and Adra, almost immediately flashing on the crystal before the eyes of the Orc and the Sorceress, and perhaps the young Talasti as well.

Adra’s look didn’t betray a hint of the slightest emotion during all of this. But she did take one step forward towards her crystal in a certain sort of...

...anticipation.

She couldn’t help it. Isildur was the last to bear the One Ring before it was lost, so perhaps this supposed heir knew something of its current whereabouts. If not, however, Adra had other reasons for having a particular interest with this Heir to the Gondor throne...

...and none of those reasons were particularly pleasant. She was well aware that the true Heir to the Throne was missing, for she had played a role in his sudden disappearance while he was just an infant...

Adra directed her icy blue eyes towards the Orc, barely withholding a burning desire to go forth and find out what this Ranger possibly knew. Likewise there was a burning desire within her to seek one other out, one who just might have powers that could thwart the Sorceress from her ultimate goal...

Which, of course, would simply not do.

She pointed to her crystal, whereupon the image of the Captain of the Guards and Arandil froze in place. “To prove your loyalty to me, you shall go and retrieve this Ranger from the waterways and then bring him to me in tact, for he may have vital information concerning something I am most interested in. Go and waste no time, for there are other matters which demand my attention, and soon. There shall be no one who will stand in the way of my goals; no Ranger, no Orc, nor any elf...”

[ 02-05-2003 10:16 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Adra Slavonic ]

--------------------

He slowly came to a near by bend in the tunnel, Feileacan close behind... peering down the passageway, he saw a guard holding a man against the side wall... also, a being drowning in blackness, seeming to wait in anticipation...

Without hesitation, Kronos took up his bow...

A mithril arrow found it's self lodged into the guard's upper shoulder, causing him to instantly drop his sword...

Writhing in pain, the guard fell unconscious...

The wraith now approached the man... Kronos quickly took two more arrows from his quiver, enchanting them with elven magics... they ignited in flame...

With the ringwraith ablaze, Kronos charged with the grace of an Elven Prince... His short swords ready for melee combat...

Kronos, Feileacan, a shaken-up Arandil, and fire now battled the ringwraith...

Death could not come to this wraith, but Kronos would wait out it's patience...

[ 02-06-2003 01:21 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Kronos ]

--------------------

"Wait," she ordered the Orc in but a whisper, extending one arm and holding out her hand to place emphasis upon the whispered word. For Adra was now keenly aware that there was another elf present in the picture, if not only for the fact that enchanted arrows had momentarily thwarted her Ringwraith. Even as the Ringwraith began to shriek, others of its kind began to gather in an effort to retaliate...

...but they heard the orders of their Mistress as well.

Wait, my servants.

She finally cast her icy blues towards the Orc. "Strange that those seeking my young prisoner would resist capture, if capture would bring them closer to him. How foolishly they play into my designs..."

She grinned demonically then, sending her final order to her dark minions. In the blink of but an eye, all the Ringwraiths and Demons at her command simply vanished from the waterways, leaving only the wounded Captain of the Guards, the remainder of his men, and the three interlopers.

Adra was most interested in what they would now choose to do...

...for she had plans of her own...

--------------------

...and finally lifted off in a tiny whirlwind of its own making. It flew up in a looping arc, circled once about the heads of those it had approached, then shot off in a direct line away from them. This line soon degraded to the up and down zig-zag flight it normally followed; another period of time passed before it came to a landing on the Moon Daughter's palm.

She frowned at the silence it maintained.

"There is no reply?" she queried of the insect. The moth remained silent, merely flapping its wings slowly in the shadows of the forest's edge where they were hidden.

Eirianna pursed her lips, and wandered to where Gorfynt was standing in silence of his own. The faithful unicorn nickered softly to acknowledge her presence, then quieted as she began stroking his neck with her free hand. On the palm of her other hand, the luna moth yet waited.

"I find the lack of communication strange to say the least, if not troublesome," she whispered at length. Although she seemed to be staring off into the shadowy woods, the vision of sorceress and orc and imprisoned elf and murdered king danced in her eyes.

"Did you pass knowledge of their immediate adversaries?"

The wings of the luna seemed to droop at this.

A soft smile came across Eirianna's features. "You followed explicitly what I had directed; it is my error that more information was not given. Please, I beg of you, return to Taunderon. Inform the fey Prince and the heir to Gondor, indeed, and the elven Feileacan, what indeed they are truly up against. Let all know of my being here, waiting. I dare not make a bold entry into the kingdom without prospect of aid from within. But night soon shall fade, and in the light the darkness they battle shall fade somewhat as well.

"Then go ye hence to the young elven, Talasti, and bring him hope. A rescue is in the making. And while you do this, I shall remain here, thinking."

A lift of the arm and the moth was sent along it's return path, where once again it entered into Taunderon and came before Arandil and Kronos and Feileacan. There it obediently flew, from one to the other, utterly ignoring the fallen Captain of the Guards, whispering in one ear and the next all that Eirianna had bidden it do, before alighting on the ear of the Heir to the Throne of Gondor.

There it waited, gathering its strength so that the second portion of its mission could be undertaken, waiting as well so that any in its presence could send message back to the Daughter of the Moon.

[ 02-06-2003 01:59 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Eirianna ]

--------------------

"You," Ulfhak said, turning to one of his captains. "Ride back to the army and order to make camp near the river. Have them purge nearby forests and begin construction of siege weaponry. We are not assaulting Taunderon."

The orc nodded and scurried off. Ulfhak looked to his other officer. "Take thirty of your Riders, dismount them, and have them sit around outside the walls. I might be joining you shortly."

As soon as they were both gone, Ulfhak stepped closer to see the crystal better. The orc waited anxiously for the order to go to battle...

[ 02-07-2003 08:44 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Ulfhak the Scourge ]

--------------------

[ 02-21-2003 04:36 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Feileacan ]

--------------------

Kronos gave the moth word the princess shall not wait much longer for their arrival...

He motioned the two new friends to flea the sewers, and head back the way they came...

Back to Wydde's Wood...

[ 02-07-2003 10:39 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Kronos ]

--------------------

But the ranger did not make a move.

A shivering cold fell upon his body as he heard "it"...so cold that he could not move.

Arandil knew what the sound was, for he heard it before in the Elven forests. It carried with it the same familiarity when the ringwraith spoke it to him...

Isildur

Neither Kronos nor Feileacan heard it; it was only him. He stared into the darkness of the tunnel ahead of him, not even noticing the moth landing on his ear.

Voices were in his mind, almost drowning out the moth's whispering. He couldn't hear them clearly, and they grew louder and more furious. However, he still heard what the creature had to say...and it was enough to snap him from his trance.

Arandil shook his head, and watched his two comrades flee the tunnel from where they had entered.

The voices were gone, and the ranger was able to move now. Without saying a word, he took off after his friends...

This "Daughter of the Moon" must be the one who could help me. he thought.

--------------------

"Your kind is so arrogant...so full of pride...it sickens me!" Ulfhak told the elf, and grabbed the man's hair. "I'm looking forward of stripping the skins off your people and feeding them to the wargs."

Ulfhak smiled, displaying a row of jagged rotten teeth. Unknown to him, however, disaster was about to fall upon his troops.

Outside Taunderon...

The orc captain and his men waited impatiently outside the walls in the forests. Their wargs were ordered to return to the army as they dismounted, waiting for them to return.

"Look!" shrieked a scarred soldier. The captain lept over to him and watched as three figures left a large hole in the wall.

The orc squinted his large eyes to see better, and recognized two elves and a Man. He held up a rusty axe and waved his hand in the air, signalling his men to advance.

"What're you doing?" asked one orc. The captain snarled as he spoke.

"We're going to smash some heads..."

"But Ulfhak isn't here yet!"

The captain shook his head. "I've waited far too long for this! Stay back and cower under a rock for that fool Ulfhak; I'm going forth to win glory for our tribes!"

At that, the captain gave a war cry and charged through the forest at the three warriors. Only half his troops followed, however, as the rest retreated into the woods.

They feared their master's wrath more than the weapons of their enemies...

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"Orcs... approaching from the West..."

Not yet in view, Kronos relied on his keen senses...

"We could out-run them..." Kronos said, as he focused on the two steeds Feileacan and Arandil rode in on...

His emphasis on 'could' a sure sign of his battle pride, he waited to see what the others would decide to do...

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