Talion saw his target running into the distance and inwardly smirked. The warchief was dead and he didn't even know it. With practiced proficiency, Celebrimbor temporarily took control over his ranger counterpart and moved with the speed of a shadow to thrust Urfael into their opponent's neck before beheading him, causing all other observing uruks to lose morale and sprint in different directions.
As the warchief's blood fed the fields of Nurn, the Bright Lord retrieved the rune that he left behind, imbuing their bow with extraordinary power. Talion then sighed, sheathed his legendary blade and looked around. The time was nearing when they would be able to forge a new ring and forever destroy Sauron along with his army.
"Another pawn falls." Celebrimbor observed as he phased next to Talion.
"Indeed. However it is the king who must be removed before peace can reign once more." With a silent nod of agreement, the Elven ring-smith disappeared as the former captain of the Black Gate moved to the location of his next target towards the Nurnen fishery.
Sprinting along the road laid out by the uruks and his mind elsewhere, the ranger almost missed the presence of another man approaching from the left between two small mountains. He was quite tall, had no visible hair on his head, wore a mask that covered his face entirely, a slightly shredded brown jacket, black shirt and black pants with matching boots. Upon further inspection, Talion also noticed he held a blood-stained blade resembling something an uruk would use in his right hand, dripping black onto the land. It was short and straight with a rounded edge but without a doubt lethal.
"Be careful." Celebrimbor advised. "I sense something more to him than meets the eye." The ranger disregarded his warning and slowed his pace as the two men began to meet.
"Are you one of the tribesman?" He asked the mysterious man. No answer as Talion stopped and the man continued his approach. "Just who are y-" That was as far as he got before the other man seized his throat in a mighty death-grip, plunged the blade into his stomach and kicked him away, blood quickly flowing from the wound.
Severely injured but not dead, Talion swiftly got up and drew Urfael as his assailant continued to move forth. The other man slashed at him and although Talion blocked the strike, he could tell there was immense power behind it. With a sharp push, the attacker's blade flew outwards and Talion went on the offensive as he wraith-stunned the man and both ranger and wraith slashed repeatedly and adding more gashes to the attacker's chest before delivering a disorienting punch to the head, sending him sprawling to the ground.
What happened next was extremely strange however. The other man was on the ground, clearly weakened and when Talion attempted to brand him, nothing happened. Even when he had dealt with uruks who were more strong-willed than their underlings, they showed signs of being influenced by the attack by shaking their heads before returning to combat. This man however, merely stood and resumed his assault.
The Bright Lord paid for their failed attempt at recruiting another follower when the assailant wrapped his arms around Talion's midsection lifted him two feet off the ground, constricting his arms and crushing the bones within his chest and limbs before a hand pushed against his chin and snapped his neck so hard that the flesh between the head and chest tore open. Talion's head was now facing the opposite way it should've been as blood sprung from his throat onto his killer's clothes.
Defeated, Talion was still able to see from his lifeless eyes as the man dropped his body to the ground and left without a word. No final insult, no sarcastic comment, nothing.
Whoever this man was, he had just made a very powerful enemy.