So…it has been a really long time since I've updated this story and I'm really sorry. Most of it is the same, just a few changes here and there but if you've read my story before then you probably still recognize it.
I left because I was having a hard time getting a solid outline done for this story which eventually lead to me loosing my inspiration and finally gaining major writers block. A few recent reviews and messages from loyal readers has pushed me to come back and I love you for that. It's a new year so why not make finishing this story part of my resolution?
I hope all those who have read this from the beginning, come back. And to all those new readers, I thoroughly hope you enjoy my take on a tenth walker story.
Nimirher wasn't sure how long she had been staring out at the gnarled trees of Fangorn forest. Their twisted branches stretched high reaching towards the blackened sky. The constant smoke that charred the cobbled ground of Isengard, stained their trunks dark with soot. No longer did this forest seem alive. No creatures roamed their mossy floor, no sun shined bright upon their canopies.
What was stirring in this aging world? What dark thoughts tempted the wizard Saruman? The black stallion she sat upon nickered at her and pranced in place. He too wished he could hear the ancient creaking of the walking Ents as they talked in their ancient tongue.
This land grew morbid with dark deeds. Ten years she had traveled alongside the leader of the White Counsel and now she no longer knew who that man was. Saruman grew crazed with an unknown power, spending hours in his counsel room muttering words of a wicked tongue. She knew he obsessed over the Palantiri, seeking images and words from an evil that should've been destroyed long ago. Saruman was no longer a wise wizard but a greedy man obsessed with power.
A strong breeze from the east swept the stench of rotting flesh under Nimirhers' nose. Dipping low against Talagors neck, she urged the horse forward with a light kick to his side and watched as the ground flew by under his swift feet. The sun was already starting to dip below the Misty Mountains, turning the land over into shadow. She leaned forward farther and pushed her horse faster, needing to make it to Orthanc before night fell completely.
Talagor flew through the southern gate, taking a sharp left down the stone tunnel leading himself to his stable. Nimirher hated leaving him down there by himself. He was the only horse housed in the stables and all she could hear through the stone walls was the howling of the wolves caged in dens beneath the floor. Gently moving her horse to his stall, Nimirher dismounted but left his riding gear on. Filling his bin with fresh hay, she left him behind to head to the tower.
She was eleven years old when Saruman took her in. As a baby she was dropped off on the doorsteps of a Gondorian blacksmith where him and his wife took her in as their own, but when she started showing signs of a darker past they no longer wished to care for her. A small child with ancient power was seen to possess dark magic. With Saruman in charge of the White Counsel, the wise man could swept a spell over entire cities. When he was approached with the frightened child, he decided to take her in as his student. The elder wizard had saved her life that day and she would forever be grateful but as time drove on, his intentions behind her adoption grew sinister.
Nimirher ran down the tunnel and up the steps towards the only door adorning the black tower. She had to make it back to her room before he noticed her absence. If she was to escape with Gandalf tonight she had to be swift and silent. She had risked her life climbing those stairs to see his face but she needed answers. Answers to questions that even the grey wizard didn't know.
Draped in his normal garb of long grey robes, Gandalf raced towards the tall tower of Isengard. Dark deeds were surely at foot and he needed wise words from his old friend. Dismounting from Shadowfax, Gandalf approached the iron door and wound his way up the steep staircase towards Sarumans' counsel room.
Nimirher knew Gandalf would be arriving in Isengard today and she could hardly contain her excitement. But even as she sat in deep meditation she could hear the heavy footfalls of a troubled man upon the stairs. Jumping to her feet she ran to her door, ripping it open to see Gandalf round the corner towards Sarumans room. She stared in puzzlement at the old man. He never forgot to greet her.
Slowly walking around the corner, Nimirher could already hear the raised voice of Gandalf.
"What talk is this? What are you saying Saruman?" Creeping closer to the door, Nimirher waited to hear her teachers answer.
"It is time for us to choose. A new age is upon us, a new power is rising. Nothing that Elves or Men or Wizards can do will avail against it. Its enemies are utterly doomed, but its friends…."
She could hear the heavy thud of Gandalfs' staff against the floor as he approached the still form of Saruman, "You are saying that we should join with Mordor? With him?!"
"Does that displease you? Where is the ring Gandalf? Why do the servants of Sauron seek it in the Shire? Have you hidden it there? Would you rather see the Dark Lord have it, or Saruman of Many Colours?" Nimirher stepped back from the door. She wished at that time she could've said she was surprised by his statement. But alas, she would've been lying to herself because that wizard did nothing but speak of dark deeds to the one creature that could bring ruin to Middle Earth.
"Neither of you will have it!" yelled Gandalf. Lightning crackled behind those doors; magic slowly crawled across her skin. She stood no chance against the both of them if things got out of hand. And with the chills that raised along her spine, she knew it would be going downhill very soon.
"There is a third choice. It is to remain here, until you tell me where the One Ring may be found."
"Saruman, if you do this, if you delay me here, Sauron will surely get it then!"
Saruman threw a curse at Gandalf, and a heavy thud slammed against the door, pushing him across the floor. The force of the impact sent Nimirher flying from the metal door, her body slamming into the stones behind her. The wizards were fighting with their mighty staffs and all she could do was listen. Listen as her friend got thrown around by the one man she should've been able to always trust. He no longer fought on the white side.
Bolting down the stairs towards her room, she locked the door and waited. Locks around the tower were useless if Saruman could blast through with a wave of his hand but that false sense of security was all she had.
Leaning against the thin metal, she couldn't get her mind to erase the last words Saruman had said, ' Then he will know his good servants…and his enemies.'
Nimirher knew he would send poor Gandalf to stay captive atop the tall tower. Knowing she could climb up there while Saruman spent his night hours in the cellars of Isengard, Nimirher would plan an escape. The dark shadow was taking over this land and Nimirher would fight against it for as long as she could.
She waited in her room, her pack by her side, the Elven sword Gandalf gave her strapped to her hip, and all she had to do was wait for the screech of the eagle. She concentrated trying to hear the heavy wings of the large bird but found it difficult through the screaming of orcs below. The constant clinking of metal as they made massive numbers of armor, the tortured screams of the creatures Saruman bred below and the steady chopping of the orchard outside her window were a heavy burden on Nimirhers' mind. How could she have let Saruman get this way? What in his right mind told him it would be a good idea to form a relationship with Sauron? In every thought that ran through her mind, she knew that he would no longer stay loyal to Sauron just like he had no longer stayed loyal to her. He would try to take the power for himself.
It wasn't until the slow creeping of dawn and the disappearance of the orcs underground, did Nimirher hear the call of Gwaihir. Like the heavy beating of a burlap, he beat his wings so fast, pushing himself higher to reach the top of Orthanc. Grabbing her pack, she ran out her door like Sauron himself was at her heels. She would have to trust Gandalf that he would postpone Saruman long enough for her to escape.
Careful not to trip, she was out the door and sprinting towards the stables. Already her lungs burned but she forced her feet to carry her faster.
Mounting Talagor, they flew out the stables in steady haste. No longer would she have to spend her days in a tower, no longer would she have to dwell in a dark land, and no longer would she feel like the weapon Saruman had been training her to become. Gandalf would help her hone her abilities, and she would use them to defeat the evil forces in Middle Earth.
Overhead passed the great shadow of Gwaihir with Gandalf upon his back. Nimirher would meet him in Rivendell.