The Wraith of the Tunnels

By

Mooshroom

The air in Gondor was cold that night. A young boy ran about outside the gate, the piercing breeze stirring his unkept hair. The way he was running, was as if he was being oppressed. There were sounds behind him, constantly terrifying the boy. He stumbled across something huge, something shocking. A wide, black gap was open at his feet. From his view it was a bottomless pit, but it ran much deeper than that. From somewhere around him, the boy heard a bloodcurdling yowl. Something was trying to get him to jump, was trying to drag him down with their cold claws. He turned around and ran as fast as he could to the gates, a shadowy figure close behind, yowling and screaming at him. The sound tormented him, stuck close with him in his mind. He came back inside the gates, and was sent straight to see King Aragorn.

"Are you sure?" She asked. "Of course I'm sure!" The girl answered. She looked about 24, with rich black hair falling a bit past her elbows.

She was wearing two small, long blades between her shoulders, ready for a fight. "I mean, Kris. It's dangerous." She pressed again. Kris shook her head, her black hair flipping over her shoulder. "Nothing is dangerous for me mother." Kris smiled. Kris and her mother, Diana, lived out in a small cottage, just outside of Rohan.

Diana sighed. "I cannot let you answer King Aragorns call. My darling, last time you came back, you looked like you had been through hell and back." She gave her a hug, pulling away gently. Then Kris gave her a kiss on the cheek, trying to soothe her anxious nerves. "Mama, I did go through hell and back. He sent me to kill a large pack of orcs." She laughed as she said that, not thinking of its negative impact.

"I don't want you to leave this house! I'm bolting the door!" Diana cried, flailing about.

"Mama. They want me to investigate, I wasn't planning on fighting a pack of orcs." Kris stopped her. "I'll be okay." They had this moment, where she looked into Kris's eyes, and Kris gazed deeply into hers. "I love you, you stubborn girl." Diana pinched Kris's cheek, and kissed her forehead.

"You can go but-" Diana was stopped short by her daughter. "Yes! Thank you mama! You won't regret this I promise!"

Diana simply watched Kris run off with a smile on her face, shaking her head. "That girl will be the death of me." Diana whispered, sitting down in her chair.

Kris ran her fingers through her soft hair, which she had cleaned only yesterday. She stood outside her home, her blades ready in one hand. -I'm going to do this, for my friend.- she thought. After the ring was destroyed, Aragorn and Kris became close friends, sharpening each other like iron and iron. Now he needed her aid, and Kris was more than happy to help a friend in need. She walked in the wet grass, footstep by footstep she came closer to Gondor.

She stopped somewhere along the trail in the plains, sitting down to eat. Kris pulled a couple fresh loaves of bread from her bag, hungrily eating one of them. Somewhere in the distance she heard a cry for help, getting louder and louder until she lept to her feet.

Both of her blades were now in her hands, slowly approaching the sound. From around the rocks, a large dog, most likely a wolf was cornering a boy, but it wasn't attacking him. He looked at Kris, crying.

"Help me, please help me!"

"Stay there!" She called. Kris launched herself into the dog, her smaller dagger in her hand. She stabbed the dog, until she contentedly drew blood from its chest region. The dog fell and died, the little boy breathing once again. "T-thank you!" He called. Kris kneeled in front of him, holding his hands in her blood covered ones. "What is your name, boy?" She asked. She could feel his hands quivering in hers, terrified. "Isaac ma'am!" Isaac said. Kris smiled and tilted her head. "Isaac, your a strong boy. You look about nine or ten. Why Are you out here, all alone?" Kris asked. He shook his head. "It chased me. I didn't want to come out here!" He defended. Kris pulled him along with her. As they walked, she pressed further. "What chased you out here, Isaac?" She asked. "The ghost," he said, whimpering. "What ghost?" Kris asked. "The one that's making those holes in the ground!" He cried. "Wha-" Kris looked back, and the boy that she had a firm grip on, was replaced by a huge, black, hole.

Kris sat across from Aragorn in the throne room, still shocked.

"Tell me exactly what happened again," Aragorn said, noticing her quivering fingers. "There was a boy, I was pulling him with me. I had a perfect grip on his forearm, he couldn't have escaped. He told me a ghost had chased him out there, when I turned back to face him, something else stood in his stead." I spoke clearly, letting my words ring across the large room. Aragorn was leaning forward, obviously curious. "A large, bottomless hole." She finished. Aragorn jumped out of his chair, aggressively pacing now. Arwen, his wife, stood a distance away, looking worried.

"What troubles you?" Kris asked, her eyebrows furrowed together. "We know little of these holes. A new one appears everyday, beckoning our children. Mostly our boys." He said, concerned.

Kris store into the distance. Confused and scared. "And this is why you summoned me?" Kris asked, her hands shaking worse than before.

"Yes." Aragorn replied, slightly regretting that he chose his friend for this. "Then I will fight it off, whatever it is, it's going to regret it ever decided to touch Gondor."

I walked along the stone streets, I needed a boy. A hardy boy, not some child who would run off in fear. And I thought that I had found him. A boy, about 10 or 11 was cleaning out the stables, his face said that he had been working hard all day, and needed a break. "What is your name," I called to him, and he turned around in confusion. "My name is Troy, ma'am." He called back. "How about a break, you look tired. I can pay you to come with me on a little adventure to help the king." Kris said, sharpening one of her two katana. He dropped the shovel. Troy walked over to me, excitement in his eyes. "Okay, where are we going?" He asked. Kris smiled. "Outside of the gates." Kris said.

Troy and Kris walked down the sparkling city, and soon made it to the gates. They left the city, the cold winds unsettling both of their heads of hair. Troy stopped Kris, shaking. "Ma'am, I hear something." He said, walking up a little further. "Can you lead me to it?" She asked, anticipating.

The boy turned around and nodded, running off into the wood. She followed close behind, sprinting as fast as she could to keep up with him. Kris would not loose this boy, not like Isaac. Troy came to a halt in front of a hole, much like the last one. "She says... we have to go down." Troy said casually. He grabbed one of the vines on the inside, and started climbing down deeper into the hole. Kris followed him closely behind, having to grip the vine tightly so she wouldn't slip. Kris couldn't see, it was perfectly black down there, only her and Troy. "Is she saying anything?" Kris asked Troy. "She's singing, she is singing very nicely." He answered. "What is she singing?" Kris asked, the vine thinning beneath her hands at last, meaning they were close to the bottom.

Troy took a deep breath.

"Five little boys, playing with their toys. The woman sat close by, when the youngest began to cry. 'He's been a naughty boy' she said, so there she grabbed him by the head, and threw him in a hole of dread. Down there he screamed for days and days, with only her for company. She was his friend, untill at last, she killed him with her whispering." He sung.

Kris was taken off, a bit scared. "The bottom is here ma'am!" He called, standing on the ground. Kris heard him scream, and she called out for him but he never answered. "Wherever you are you cowardly bastard woman, you are not to harm him! You will have to go through me before you lay a finger on that boy!" She screamed, and something pushed her off the vine to fall on the ground. With the wind knocked from her lungs Kris stood warily. A ticking noise came, constantly. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock.

The noise was driving her mad, so she pulled out her swords. She walked down a tunnel, wanting to find whatever took her boy.

She came across a room, with a rancid smell. Troy was sitting by a candle in the corner, crying.

"Troy?" Kris asked warily. "She's mad now, you've made her mad!" He sobbed. "Where is she." Kris asked sternly. Troy slowly stood to his feet, his head slouched down though the rest of him was in perfect gait. His arm slowly came up, and he pointed to something in the room. Terrified, Kris slowly looked over, and there it was. The shadowy black figure, let out a blood curdling scream, and charged for Kris, but she was fast. She unsheathed her blades, slashing her across the stomach. Another scream came, and she grabbed Troy to pull into another room.

"No! You coward!" Kris yelled. Fury rose in her. She would kill that thing, whatever it was. She ran into the next room. The ghost was standing there, facing Kris directly. She dropped Troy, and he ran away. She reached out to me, her eyes pure red and skin pitch black.

Kris tried to reach back out, maybe she was making peace. But her hands found her neck. Kris was pinned to the ground and writhing, the hands squeezing her neck tighter and tighter. Kris couldn't breathe, and the hands were far too powerful to remove. Her eyes started to roll back in her head, lungs with the burning lust for air. Just when she thought for sure it was her end, Troy hit her with a stone behind her head.

She let go, and Kris gasped for air, wheezing and puffing. She drew her blades, and hit her many times, until at last she struck her enemy down to her ruin. She lay dead on the ground, and Troy was jumping about, praising God. "You killed her! You did it!" He cheered, throwing his arms around Kris. She smiled, and hugged him back, but then doubt settled in. This wasn't right, it was just another trick. She felt his arms start turning to stone around her, and she pushed him off. His eyes were red, his skin turning black. Troy let out a scream much like the woman had, then Kris realised she was not speaking to Troy. The woman shifted back to her true form, the tall wraith. Kris looked behind herself to see what she thought she had killed. Slowly, the corpse shrunk down into the small body of... Troy.

"No!" Kris screamed. "You devil! You made me kill him!" she screamed in anguish. Her whole body pulsed with a hot anger, and she lunged for her, shoving her blades smoothly into her heart. "I hope your happy. I'll kill you. And everyone deserves to be happy before they die, no matter how much people hate them." Kris spat at her, and she flinched. With a swing of her sword, her head fell off of her shoulders, and she angrily tied it by the hair around her sword. Kris carried Troy's body with her, and though she had victory, it felt more like a defeat. Kris held him close to her heart, ever so often she would cry into his shirt. The climb out of the hole was easy, almost effortless. Kris felt a burning guilt in her stomach, like someone had grabbed all of her insides and stirred all the things into a big pile of mush.

"This belongs to you." Kris tossed the head on the ground infront of Aragorn. He was in the middle of a council, with the whole of the old fellowship. But she didn't care. No matter how many times what was left of the fellowship met, Troy was still dead. He died for the cause Aragorn brought out. And Kris would never be the same.

Aragorn looked shocked. "You, killed that thing?" Aragorn asked, his face concerned. "Yes. But she made her mark as well." Kris set Troy's body on the ground, removing the blanket she had used to cover him.

"Oh no," Kris heard Arwen say from behind the throne. Aragorn's elf wife approached the body, wrapping her arms around him. "I knew this boy," she said sorrowfully. "He died bravely." Kris said. A tear streaming down her cheek. "And the problem is solved?" The king asked. Kris tilted her head and glared at him, crying. "Never Call me back here again. I want nothing more to do with this place." She spat, turning to leave the building. Kris left the gates of Gondor, the chilling breeze melting away, as the sun erupted from the dark clouds.

Kris stood there for a moment, letting the wind stir her hair and go straight to her heart.

"I'm sorry..."